Regina came down to the dining room where the Charming family had already gathered for breakfast.

"Good morning Regina," Snow said smiling.

"Good morning, everyone," Regina said, glancing over at Emma, who didn't look back. Regina took a seat at the table and Snow put a plate of pancakes down in front of her – pancakes shaped like animals. Of course, Regina thought.

"So, Emma updated us on everything," Charming said.

"She did what?" Regina asked.

"About your general and her coming up with a plan for us," Charming said. "Do you think we will be leaving soon?"

"Tomorrow," Regina said. "We are going tomorrow whether she has a plan or not. Bobby is going to back today to make sure he is where we will appear and lead us to Taren. Where is Bobby anyway?"

Regina looked around, expecting to see Bobby camped out in front of the television.

"He went into town with Henry– he is a curious little fairy isn't he?" Snow said. "By the way, this general of yours, is she the one that …"

"Yes, she is."

"I didn't even get the question out."

"Trust me. Whatever it was that you were going to ask, Angie was the one," Regina said. "She was very good at her job."

"She?" Charming said. "So, she was the one who …"
"Again, yes," Regina said. "That was her too."

"Don't take offense," Charming said. "But can we trust her?"

"Yes," Regina said. "She's nothing but loyal. A little aggressive at times, but loyal."

"I bet," Emma said. "Probably the type of person who would never hold back vital information."

And there it is, Regina thought. Emma's anger at her from the night before was still present. She should have known that was the kind of attitude she would get after what happened the night before.

"Wait," Emma said. "Celine told you that we were going to fall in love."

"Yes."

"And you kept this a secret from me?"

"Yes, but …"

"No. No buts," Emma said, standing up. "You've known since you got your memory back that she predicted this, and you chose not to tell me. Instead, you chose to keep pushing me away. You chose to do that."

"Emma, I …"

"No. Don't Emma me," she said. "You know just don't even talk to me right now."

Regina thought about staying and arguing with her, but the expression of anger on Emma's face stopped her. She did the only thing she could do – she walked away.

And now she could tell that Emma hadn't calmed down over night.

"Can we talk? In private?" Regina said, looking at Emma.

"No," Emma said. "We can't. Because I need to get some more sword practice in before we go." Emma stood up. "Besides, there is nothing to talk about. Clearly, you were right, and this Celine has no idea what she is talking about."

"Does someone want to fill us in?" Charming asked.

"Oh, sorry," Emma said. "We should be open and transparent shouldn't we. Because you see Celine, the seer, predicted that Regina and I were going to fall in love – information that Regina here has been keeping to herself because she doesn't want to be in love with me."

Emma made to leave, even as Regina stood up. "Emma," Regina said, but Emma made it to the door and left. She turned back to the table where Charming, Snow and Henry were all staring at her.

"That wasn't exactly accurate," Regina said.

"Which part?" Snow said, crossing her arms.

"I should probably go after her," Regina said.

"Sit," Snow said with such force Regina actually took a seat. Then Snow smiled as she turned to her husband. "Why don't you go check on our daughter?"

Charming didn't waste any time getting out of there and Snow turned her attention back to Regina.

"This is where you start talking," Snow said.

"I really think I should be talking to Emma, not her mother."

"I don't care," Snow said. "What did this seer say – exactly?"

Regina took a breath and then launched into what Celine had told her and about how she told Emma that the night before, including Emma's reaction.

"As you can see, she is still upset," Regina said.

"Sounds like she had the right to be," Snow said.

"And don't I have some rights here too?" Regina said. "I needed to process all of this."

Snow sighed and took a seat across from Regina. "Yes, of course you do, but what Emma is upset about is pretty clear – you pushed her away. Once you knew about this – remembered this – what you did was purposeful."

Regina thought about this a moment. "Let's be honest, you can't possibly be happy with the idea of me and your daughter," Regina said.

"All I care about is my daughter's happiness," Snow replied. "Also this isn't about me. This is about you and Emma. Now you two have grown closer – anyone can see that, but are you in love with her?"

"I don't know how to answer that."

"What does that even mean?"

Regina was growing increasingly uncomfortable with this conversation. The last thing she wanted was to be discussing her feelings for Emma with Snow.

"I don't know that Emma and I would be where we are if it weren't for me coming back here without my memories," Regina said.

"What does that matter? It happened."

Regina could definitely see where Emma got her optimism from – or was it simply a refusal to see things as they were.

"That woman – the one without the memories she isn't me," Regina said. "And that's when the feelings began so how am I supposed to reconcile that – how is she supposed to? That isn't fair to Emma."

"Then why tell her what the seer said at all? You must have known that in doing so you were opening this up to at least a conversation with her about how you feel."

"Emma is risking her life by coming back to Prydain with me and I just thought it wasn't fair to keep it from her any longer."

"That is twice you have used the word fair. The Regina I used to know wouldn't have cared one way or the other. Maybe what you need to reconcile is the fact you are no longer the woman you once were."

…

Charming was thankful that he had been left to talk with Emma. The last thing he wanted to do was stick around while Regina and his wife spoke about the bombshell that Emma had just laid on them.

In fact, he was still trying to process it.

Emma and Regina – in love.

He knew that Emma had grown closer to Regina after going through all they had but love was something else. And clearly this had upset Emma – not about the love part – the part where Regina kept it a secret.

So, his daughter was in love with a woman that was once her parents' biggest enemy. Neither he nor Snow viewed Regina that way any longer, but it was still going to take a while to get used to this new dynamic.

Charming found his daughter in the small area near the woods he had made to do sword practice and where Snow practiced her archery. He felt proud to see her going through some of the movements he had taught her. If the curse had never happened, he would have taught her the use of a sword growing up and by this age he would have had no doubt she would have mastered it as he had.

It was hard not to think about all the things they missed out on Emma's life and they had sworn that they were going to make the most of the time they did get to share with her.

"Your form is very good," he said to her as he got closer.

"Thanks," she said not breaking stride.

He stood there for a while just watching her go through her motions.

"Do you love her?" he finally asked. He was certain of the answer, but he knew it also needed to be said out loud.

She stopped what she was turning, but her side was turned toward him. She looked down at the ground.

"I don't know," she said, turning to look at him. "I don't know how I feel about her, about any of it. All I know is I'm so sick and tired of her holding back on me. Why can't she just talk openly and honestly with me?"

Charming went over and picked up his own practice sword and gave it a few swings.

"I don't know Regina well, obviously, but I do know she was a different person once before. Your mother doesn't talk about it much, but she has spoken of how kind Regina was when they first met," Charming said. "When she first mentioned it, I admit I was surprised. I had this whole concept of who Regina was, so to hear your mother speak of her in endearing terms was well shocking."

"I think because Snow saw her that way first it made it harder on her to see what Regina became," he continued. "Your mom – ever the optimist – wanted to believe some part of the Regina she met as a young girl was still in there somewhere. I can't condone the things Regina has done in her pursuit of what she determined was revenge for Snow's actions, but I can at least acknowledge that Regina was hurt by what happened with Daniel. She lost the man she loved and your mom played a part in that even if she didn't do anything intentionally to hurt Regina. She was open and honest with Snow when your mom found out about Daniel. It didn't turn out well so I can understand that Regina learned not to be open and honest with others."

"Are you saying I should just give her a free pass?" Emma asked.

"Not what I am saying," Charming said. "I'm just saying that Regina has gone through a lot since the moment she went to Prydain. Now she has her memories back and maybe she's still trying to figure out exactly who she is, and maybe she is closer to the young woman who met your mom all those years ago than she is the Evil Queen, but she is still trying to figure it all out. Doesn't mean you give her a free pass, but maybe you give her a little understanding."

"I think I have been plenty understanding," Emma shot back. "She could have said something. I have been practically begging her for some sort of validation that the people we were, the relationship we had before all of this, isn't what it used to be. Then she tell me this last night and doesn't seem to understand why I am upset. Where is the understanding I should be getting from her?"

"I don't know," Charming said. "Perhaps that is a question you need to ask her. You know you can't ignore her forever."

"I know, but for now, I don't want to talk to her," Emma said. "So, lets spar."

…

Regina was grateful when she got a call from Angie asking her to come over because she had a plan ready. Grateful because it allowed her to escape from the conversation with Snow. It didn't however do much to stop her from thinking about this current predicament with Emma.

Now she was questioning why she even told Emma at all.

She arrived at the preschool where she was greeted by Angie.

"Where is the sheriff?"

"Attending to other matters."

"No offense but you were never particularly interested in the specifics of any of my plans in the past," Angie said. "So perhaps we should wait until she is available. Or I did have a proposal for you."

Regina raised an eyebrow.

"Let me go with you," Angie said.

"Excuse me?"

"Let me go with you," Angie repeated. "I have created a plan for you but it's based on second-hand information. If I was on the ground with you then I could see things for myself and make changes as needed. Your best option is to let me go with you."

"Are you joking? I can't really tell."

"No, I'm not joking. In fact, at this point I am willing to beg you to let me go," Angie said. "I'm dying here Regina. I get it, you say you had no way of knowing what jobs we got here but this … this is not something I can continue doing. Please. I need this."

"Ok."

"Seriously?"

"Sure, why not," Regina said.

"I don't know, I guess I expected you to say no or give me some reasons why not. You aren't the most agreeable person I have ever met. Not even close actually."

"Well, as you can see, I've changed. Hopefully for the best this time."

"And all it took was forgetting your actual identity and basically becoming a preschooler," Angie said.

Regina shook her head but also gave a small smile. "I wasn't that bad."

"That's not the rumor going around town," Angie said. "I heard you couldn't even dress yourself."

"Now that is not true," Regina said. "I may have needed a few reminders I should change my clothes but that is it. I had more help getting dressed when I was queen. Some of those outfits were not easy to get into."

"You had an entire army of men and women who would have volunteered to help you with that at anytime if I recall," Angie said.

"But not you," Regina said. "You may have been the only person to ever challenge my authority as queen."

"I didn't challenge your authority, I merely let you know that you weren't the all-powerful bitch you pretended to be," Angie responded. "I always did my duty when called upon."

"Yes, you did and I'm still sorry for it," Regina replied.

The real source of animosity on Angie's part had nothing to do with curse and the preschool. It had happened back in the Enchanted Forest. Regina had sent Angie on a mission – asked her to lead a mission – despite knowing that Angie's mother was ill. Angie hadn't wanted to go, hadn't wanted to leave her mother because she knew she was near death and so she had asked Regina to send another, but Regina told her she was the only one she trusted to go. She told Angie she would have her own physician care for her mother while she was gone.

Angie had gone as asked.

And as she promised Regina had her physician care for Angie's mother, but it wasn't enough. She died before Angie returned.

When Angie did return, Regina was at the gate to the castle waiting for her.

She wanted – no needed to be the one to tell her.

"You apologized at the time," Angie said.

"I did, and you didn't accept it back then," Regina said.

"And what, you think I will now?"

Regina sighed, "No, you don't have to even now. Maybe I just needed to say it again."

"You really have changed," Angie said.

"I sincerely hope so," Regina responded.