"Over here," Regina heard someone say and she opened her eyes to see Ruby running toward her. She blinked a couple of times and then felt movement next to her – that woke her up completely as she needed to check on Snow.

What she saw was Snow – the adult Snow, looking at her in surprise.

They quickly extricated themselves from each other as they woke still huddled against each other.

"Are you two, ok?" Ruby asked as she reached them.

"Yes, I think so," Regina said, as she got to her feet. Ruby helped Snow up.

"Snow!"

Regina turned and saw Charming and Emma coming into view. Charming ran up to his wife, picking her up in a hug, and whirling her around before setting her back down and checking her over for any injuries. Emma was the next to give her mother a hug.

Once they were done, Emma pulled back as Charming again hugged Snow close. Emma paused a moment and then came over to Regina.

"You ok?" Emma asked.

"Yes," Regina said. "Looks like the storm cleared out."

Emma looked up at the clear blue sky and then back to Regina. "Yeah, the rain stopped a few hours ago and so we came out to look for the two of you. It's great to have you both back. How did that happen by the way?"

"You mean us returning back to normal? No idea," Regina said. "We fell into the river, got out, tried to walk back toward town but we were too tired, so we rested and when we woke we were like this."

"That seems a little anti-climatic after all of this," Emma said.

"Things are back to normal and that is all that matters."

"Hey Emma," Charming said. "We should get your mom and Regina to the hospital to get checked out."

"Come on," Emma said. "Henry will be happy to be able to hug his mother in public."

Regina glanced over at Snow, but neither woman said anything as they began to walk out of the woods.

…

A couple of weeks passed and Regina was at work when her secretary buzzed in to say Snow was there to see her. Regina paused a moment before responding. They hadn't actually spoken to each other since they had returned to adulthood.

At the hospital, Regina had gotten checked out and hugged Henry before returning home with him. Emma had been in the room with her father and mother and Neal. Regina didn't want to intrude on the family moment, so she and Henry had just left.

In the days that followed, Emma had checked on her a couple of times, but she hadn't heard from Snow nor had she reached out to her.

And she and Emma had not talked about the kiss or anything about them dating.

"Let her in," Regina said.

Regina stood up and moved from around the desk when Snow came into the office.

"Hi," Snow said.

"Hello."

There was an awkward moment of silence before Regina offered her a seat and she moved back behind the desk.

"I thought we should talk about what happened," Snow said.

Regina took a deeper breath. "I think the point of all of this was to leave the past in the past."

"We've tried that," Snow said. "Despite all that has changed between us, we've never really talked about this. I don't think we can leave it in the past any longer. We need to deal with our past."

Regina didn't want to have this conversation – she never did.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Regina said.

"No," Snow said. "I didn't come here to hear an apology from you. I know you are sorry for what happened. I'm here to apologize to you."

Regina took another breath in.

"I would never have told Cora if I knew …"

"I know you wouldn't have," Regina interrupted, not wanting to go there.

"Please, just let me say what I need to say."

Regina nodded.

"I was a child and I didn't think things through back then. I didn't see what was right in front of me, which was that you weren't happy and you weren't in love with my father. I was selfish and I saw only what I wanted to see. I wanted a replacement for my own mother. It never occurred to me that you didn't want to be that person."

"You were a child," Regina said. "I was the adult …"

"But you weren't," Snow said. "You were a teenager Regina. You should never have been put in that situation and you wouldn't have been if it weren't for me. I had no idea that you heard what I said to my father about wanting a sibling and I didn't know when he came to your room that it was … unwanted."

"Ok, that's enough," Regina said, standing up. "You were innocent. You never intended for your actions to cause me harm. But what I did – I intended it. I made those choices. I have to live with those choices. I will live with those choices."

Snow must have sensed that Regina would not or could not go any further with this conversation and she backed off a bit, but knew there were things that needed to be said.

"That day you saved me from the runaway horse," Snow said. "I was in awe of you. You were my hero and out there when I was a kid again, you again saved me. I have seen you are good person and while yes you have done things you will have to live with, it's been refreshing to see you return to being a good person. I mean that, even before all of this, I noticed the change in you and I'm happy that you have found your own way back to that person."

"I didn't do it all my own," Regina said. "It helps that I have people like my son who believe in me."

"And Emma," Snow said.

"Yes, well, she's been a good friend."

"There was one other thing I thought we should discuss," Snow said. "That kiss."

Regina had already shut down one conversation, she certainly didn't want to discuss with Snow how she had kissed Emma.

"I don't think I should be talking about this with Emma's mother when she and I haven't even really talked about it," Regina said.

"I'm not talking about you and Emma kissing," Snow said, even as there was a slight smile on her face. "You are both adults after all. All I want is her happiness. And believe it or not, I want you to be happy as well. If you are concerned at all about my interference in that relationship, let me assure you now that I won't. No, I was talking about when you and I were out there in the storm, when we were both younger. You kissed me on the top of the head as I fell asleep."

"So?"

"So, don't you think it is strange that you kissed me and then we wake up and we're both back to normal?"

"What are you suggesting?"

"We both know only one thing can break a curse."

Regina laughed.

"We weren't under a curse so if you are suggesting that me trying to comfort you as a small child was anything more than that, you're crazy," Regina said.

"Alright, alright," Snow said, smiling as she got to feet. "In all seriousness though, thank you for caring for me while I was stuck as my younger self. I know it couldn't have been easy for you, which makes me appreciate it even more."

"I would be lying if I didn't say that your current form is your better form."

"I can say the same about you," Snow said.

….

Regina answered the door later that evening to find Emma standing there holding a single pink rose out to her.

"Thank you," Regina said accepting it from her while she moved out of the way for Emma to enter.

"I heard you and my mom had a talk today so I thought it would be safe for me to come over and ask you if you would like to go on a date with me," Emma said.

"And if I say no, am I going to get transported back to some other age," Regina said, but she said it with a smile, so Emma knew she was joking.

"No magical coercion this time," Emma said. "Just a nice, normal date."

"I'm not sure the word normal will ever be part of the equation for us," Regina said. "But yes, I accept your invitation. Do you want come in and sit, maybe have a drink and talk for a bit?"

"I would like that a lot," Emma smiled. Regina turned to lead her in, and she only got a few steps when Emma said, "Maybe we could talk about the true love's kiss you shared with my mom."

Regina stopped in her tracks and whirled around to face her. "It was not a true love's kiss," Regina said, emphasizing the word not. "Please tell me she isn't telling people that."

"She just told me and dad for all I know," Emma said. "She seemed pretty happy about it actually."

Regina rolled her eyes. "She would be. As I told her, we weren't under a curse, so it wasn't a true love's kiss and that is the end of it."

They got into the main room and both took seats on the couch.

"Can I ask you something?" Emma said.

"Yes."

"Discounting true love's kiss, what is it that you think that got you and mom back to normal?"

Regina had given this some thought because she too had wondered what it was because even with her talk with Snow earlier today, she didn't really feel differently about what had happened in the past. She still felt hurt over Daniel's death.

Then she had to accept that it wasn't about her hurt. She would never not feel pain over his death.

Even their small talk hadn't really gotten into the depths of what Regina's life had been like when she was forced to marry the king. She hadn't wanted to talk about it and still didn't. There were some things she needed to keep buried.

"I'm not entirely sure," Regina said. "When she was about to go into the river, I knew I had to do what I could to save her. It didn't matter that she was embodiment of the person who I had hated for all those years. She was helpless. Maybe it took realizing that she and I were both helpless back then to forces beyond our control. Maybe it just took both of us saying we were sorry. I don't know."

"I'd like to think that you both came to a mutual understanding that it's ok for you to get along," Emma said. "That's it's ok that you have both grown and changed and understand each other better now."

"This isn't a Disney movie," Regina said.

"I don't know, I still got the girl, didn't I?" Emma smiled.

The end