Scars.

They were everywhere on Regina's body. Everywhere. Visible ones and those that could not be seen with the naked eye. But she could feel them. Every single day. Knew that they would follow her for the rest of her life. Like a grease stain on a picture or an ink stain on a white cloth, these scars would slowly fade into her skin and become a part of her.

She frowned as she looked at her face in the mirror. Her hair was still smooth and shiny. Her eyes were still her eyes. Dark. Almond shaped. But one didn't have to search for long before finding the first scar. Right there. Upper lip, right side. Regina lightly traced the scar with the tip of a finger. Despite the time that had passed, the scar still felt rough around the edges. Like it had not yet become a part of her. It did not hurt. None of her visible scars did. Only the scars that were invisible caused her pain. She wondered. Would she ever grow to accept this scar? Would there be a day where she looked at herself in the mirror and barely noticed the scar on her lip? The boot print on her stomach? The lines on her neck?

Regina gently tugged the collar on her turtleneck sweater down to expose her neck, and she immediately flinched upon looking at it. The wound was still covered in a plaster, and it would continue to be so for a while, but she could still see the thick, angry red lines from the belt around her neck. She did not touch the lines. She never did if she could avoid it. And she preferred to keep her neck covered at all times. For Henry's sake. There was no reason to scare him by flaunting her 'seatbelt laceration'. A lie, but a necessary lie. She could not ever tell him the truth. She simply could not. He would be devastated. He was just a child. No almost ten year old boy should be exposed to that kind of cruelty. Not even if their mother was the one to bring the cruelty inside their house.

Regina quelled a sigh. She should not be thinking about this now. She had plans. Was supposed to be somewhere. And she hoped that a trip to Steveston would lift her spirit a little. She took a step back and looked at herself in the full figure mirror. Black turtleneck sweater. Black leather pencil skirt. Yes, today was in fact a skirt day. She felt slightly proud of that. Her life had become all about celebrating the small victories, and wearing a skirt (and a pencil one, even!) was most certainly a victory. Perhaps she would not feel comfortable wearing a pencil skirt tomorrow, but that did not matter. Today she did. She took a step closer to the mirror, inspecting her face again. A light coffee colored shade on her eyelids. Black eyeliner along the waterline. For the first time in months, she had given herself smoky eyes, and now as she stood here and looked at herself, she willingly admitted that she had missed that look. And she had missed her favorite burgundy red lipstick too. This was very her. Her trademark lip color. Killian hadn't liked her red lipstick. Well, he liked it at first. Had called it alluring and sexy, but later when he started getting more and more controlling, the compliments had changed to grim words, and he had claimed that the lipstick made her look 'slutty'. 'Like you're begging to give every man in the room a blowjob,' he once sneered at her.

Today Regina couldn't for the life of her fathom how he had seen any connection between red lipstick and a blowjob, but back then she had not dared arguing against it. She had simply stopped wearing the red lipstick. Because it was easier not to. Because it was easier to only put it on when he asked her to. And oddly enough, he always did whenever HE wanted a blowjob.

Regina recoiled and had to take several deep breaths through her nose. She did not want to think about that. It made her gag. And gagging was not good for her wounds. She shook her head and forced herself to think about something else before her palms dampened and she started to feel nauseous. Then she brushed her hands over her skirt and left the bathroom.

In the hallway, she happened upon Zelena. Her sister smiled at her. "Look at you. You look fantastic."

She meant the skirt, Regina knew that, but none of them addressed it. Regina merely smiled and did a little mock-spin as to show off her outfit.

Zelena chuckled, pushed a lock of red hair behind her ear. "Are you sure that you don't want me to drive you? Because I don't mind."

But Regina shook her head and lifted her hands. Signed: 'I will drive.' She had missed driving terribly. Killian had more or less taken control over her Mercedes. He didn't like the idea of her driving unless she absolutely HAD to. Perhaps it was the idea of her driving away that made him feel like that.

"Alright," Zelena said and flashed her another smile. "Are you looking forward to meeting up with Emma?"

Regina nodded. Yes, she was in fact looking forward to that. Meeting up with a friend for coffee was something else she had not done in a very, very long time, and just the idea that she now was able to, was making her feel... Well, not giddy, she doubted she knew how to be giddy any longer, but definitely happy.

"That's good. I'm sure it'll be nice," Zelena said.

Regina was certain of that too. And she was certain that she would end up running late if she did not leave at once. So she continued down the hall, down the stairs until she reached the hallway. There she put on her big fur collar coat. It was cold today. As she buttoned it, she did a little shift just to make sure that she felt comfortable in the skirt. She did. The corners of her mouth lifted slightly. Oh, the opportunities were endless if she could grow comfortable wearing skirts again. All her dresses which were hanging abandoned in her closet upstairs.. Regina thought of that as she left...

It hit her when she was about halfway to Steveston. She had been enjoying driving and had been enjoying Tracey Chapman and 'Fast Car' taking over the sound side.

But then she got a headache.

Just like that. A completely random attack case of intense hammering behind her forehead. It had her gasping for air and muscles tensing in her entire body. She had no choice but to pull over. Her legs shook slightly under her as she got out of the car and took deep gulps of the sharp, cold air. God, that hurt so bad! When would it stop, she wondered. These random attacks of sharp headache. Another blitz attack. When her father had died, she had developed stress-migraine, but it had disappeared when Henry was born.

When would this disappear? And why did she keep getting it? She did not have a concussion any longer. Her brain was fine nor had she suffered a scull fracture. It didn't make sense that she kept getting these sharp pains. Perhaps she ought to make her doctor aware of it. Or perhaps yet another psychosomatic symptom. Stress.

But she did not feel particularly stressed right now. At least she didn't think so. She felt sort of okay mentally. As okay as someone in her situation could feel.

She rubbed her forehead in slow circles much like her father had done when she was younger and had come down with whatever illness. She supposed it helped a little, but still, why did he have to slam her head into a wall? Why couldn't he just have used his fists?

Regina scoffed. Was she seriously complaining over HOW he had hurt her? She most certainly needed to sort out her priorities.

A car slowed down and came to a stop right next to hers. An elderly man emerged from the driver's side, and Regina's first, instinctive reaction was panic. There was a man here and she was all alone and unable to call for help. But then she forced herself to relax. Perhaps she was a woman all alone, but she was also a woman who was standing by the side of the road, rubbing her forehead repeatedly. It was only natural that someone had grown concerned and had stopped their car.

Not everyone wanted to harm her.

"Good morning," the elderly man greeted.

Regina's mouth twisted. Now came another difficult thing. Having a conversation without saying a word. Just how was she supposed to do that without coming across as impolite?

She smiled and bowed her head, hoping that would be a sufficient greeting.

"Is everything alright, ma'am?" he asked, making the wrinkles around his eyes more pronounced when he frowned. "Are you having car trouble?"

Regina shook her head.

"Do you feel ill, ma'am?" he continued. "Do you need any help?"

Regina shook her head again and smiled. Tried her best to indicate that she was perfectly fine. She just couldn't answer him.

"If you're certain..." he pursed his lips, clearly not very willing to leave her standing on the side of the road.

Regina nodded and smiled more genuinely now. What a nice man. He was not out to harm her. He was just a kind person who wanted to make sure that she was alright. And she was. The headache was subsiding again. It always did. Sometimes it took hours. Sometimes just a few minutes. Today it had only lasted a few minutes, and thank god for that. Otherwise she would have been forced to cancel her coffee appointment with Emma. It would have been unfortunate, but unavoidable. She was absolutely no good when she had a headache.

"Alright then. Well, I wish you safe travels, ma'am," the man said as he went back to his car and climbed inside.

Regina climbed inside her car too. It was time to drive on. Otherwise she would be late, and she hated being late for an appointment. Hated the idea of the other person being forced to wait for her. She always tried never to give the impression that her time was more important than the other person's. That was not the case at all.

She buckled her seatbelt and switched the radio back on. Cringed upon realizing that Tracey Chapman had been replaced with someone playing an electric guitar in a fashion that would have made Henry go 'yay!' and start bopping his head to the music.

But Regina had never been one for this kind of music, so she flicked between the radio stations until she found one that played gentle piano music (which would have made Henry go 'aww, mom, seriously?'). Regina turned the volume up a little. Beethoven. The Moonlight Sonata. She had always enjoyed that particular piece. She had in fact been in labor with that playing. Yes, she had insisted on piano music while giving birth. Malena had found that particularly strange, but Regina's words had been law that day, and so piano music had played while she gave birth to her son.

Regina continued her drive towards Steveston and felt relieved that the headache had subsided again. She quickly made the decision not to tell Zelena about this. There was no reason to, really. She was okay now, and lord knew that Zelena already had experienced her fair shares of Regina's headache attacks. So had Henry. Unfortunately. Regina wished that there was a way for her to control the headache attacks around him, but there was not. Henry was always so sweet when it happened. Gave her a cold cloth to press against her throbbing forehead. Covered her with a blanket when she needed to lie down. Switched off the television if she needed quiet. He was acting like such a little grown up, and Regina sighed. It wasn't right. More than anything, she wished that her little boy would go back to being just that...

The temperature had dropped further when she reached Eugenia's Inn. Regina parked the car and looked at her face in the mirror. Her makeup was still sitting where it should. On the outside, she looked fine.

But she was nervous, though. She couldn't even remember the last time she had been on a café. Or just outside the hospital. Or the house back in Montreal. Killian hadn't liked when she went out on her own. So she had mostly avoided it.

But Killian was not here. He no longer had a say in what she did. There was only one person who had. Herself. Regina swallowed thickly. Wished that she wasn't so nervous about this. It was not such a big deal, was it?

It was just coffee with a friend.

Everyone went out to have coffee with a friend.

God, it had been so long since she last gained a new friend.

Did she even know to make friends? Or had she forgotten that?

She had forgotten many things during the time she was in Killian's clutches.

Smiling, for once. Her smile had gradually faded over time. All she could muster was a weak imitation of a smile whenever Killian had told her to: 'smile, love.'

Regina swallowed something again. She was allowing him way too much headspace when she should not. She was supposed to head inside the inn and meet Emma Swan for coffee. Not sit in her car until the end of time because she was nervous.

She patted her purse to ensure that the stack of post-its she had packed at home was still there. They were. Then she ran her fingers through her hair. She still wasn't completely used to the shorter locks, but it was better than the long tresses. She wasn't sure she ever would let her hair grow long. She feared that it forever would be a reminder of too rough hands yanking at it.

Stop it. Stop thinking about him.

She forcefully pushed the unwelcome thoughts out of her head as she opened the car door and stepped outside. It was indeed cold. But fresh. Regina breathed in the air. Perhaps she would go for a walk later. With Henry. If he wanted to come along, of course. Perhaps she could coax him with the promise of a cup of hot cocoa afterwards. He loved cocoa.

Regina began walking from the car and towards the inn. It looked exactly as she remembered it. She had missed it. Had missed being here. She would have to come here more often in the future. Coming to Steveston had always made her feel happy in the past, and according to her therapist, she should strive to do things that made her happy. Reward herself.

For what, exactly? Not succumbing to abuse?

Regina frowned. No, she should not be thinking like that. That was not the correct mind-set.

It was much warmer inside the inn. Regina stood in the little wardrobe and wiggled to slip off her coat. As she carefully hung it on one of the hanger, she did a little shift just to make sure that this was still a skirt day. To her joy, it was. She actually felt fairly comfortable right now. Perhaps she wouldn't later, but the only thing that counted was the here and now.

After having ran a couple of fingers through her hair and tugged slightly at the collar on her turtleneck to make sure it was still covering the plaster on her throat, Regina went inside the inn itself. The fire was flicking merrily in the fireplace, and she immediately felt warmer. This truly was a cozy place indeed.

There was no one behind the counter, and the inn would have looked very empty if it hadn't been for the blonde sitting by one of the tables. She was wearing jeans and a tanktop, and Regina's first and imminent thought was that it had to be cold, wearing only that. She studied Emma Swan a moment. She looked like she was miles away. Regina could recognize that sort of look anywhere, and she briefly wondered what Emma Swan was thinking about.

She walked over to the table where Emma was sitting and shifted slightly as she waited for Emma to notice her arrival. She did not want to tap Emma Swan on the shoulder again. It had seemed rude enough the first time.

As she shifted again, she ended up scraping her heel over the floor with more sound than anticipated.

Emma Swan's head snapped up, and she was clearly surprised as she said: "huh."

Regina smiled in apology because she could see that she had startled Emma. That was not the intension. After a moment, she had to raise an eyebrow, though, because she was certain that Emma was looking a little too intensely at her. Perhaps she had been in the middle of a day dream and struggled with returning to reality.

"Hi," Emma said and smiled.

Regina returned the smile and looked at the empty chair across the table. She felt slightly awkward just standing here. And her feet hurt a little too. It had been too long since she had worn high heels on a regular basis.

"Sit down," Emma Swan said quickly.

Regina sat down and roamed around in her purse until she found what she was looking for. Her little stack of post-its. She felt Emma's eyes upon her, and when she looked up, Emma was smiling at her. Regina returned the smile and slid a pre-written note across the table. 'As you can see, I came prepared.'

"Yeah, I can see that," Emma smiled. "Which was very clever. I think I lost my stack of post-its."

Regina tilted her head slightly at that. Lost a whole stack of post-its? How did that even happen?

"It's so typical for me," Emma continued, shaking her head slightly. "I constantly misplace things and throw them out by mistake."

Regina found herself smiling at that. She couldn't really relate to it. She was notorious for keeping everything. Old receipts for instance. She had a whole briefcase full of them. Because you never knew when they would become important again.

"So, are you ready for some coffee?" Emma asked.

Regina nodded and wrote down her answer on another post-it note. 'Yes, that sounds great. I didn't have any coffee this morning.' she hadn't really been in the mood for coffee earlier, and it had seemed silly to drink any because she knew she would be having coffee later. She pushed the note across the table towards Emma.

"We should order then," Emma said briskly after having read the note and looked around in the diner. Then she leaned back slightly and called: "hey, Eugenia?"

"Yes?" came the response from the kitchen. "I will be right there, miss Swan."

"Just Emma," Emma called back and sounded like she was trying not to laugh.

Regina smiled again. Emma seemed to fit right in here in Steveston. She already knew how to speak to Eugenia. And she looked more well-rested than she had the last time Regina saw her. Her cheeks had gotten some color. Her eyes seemed brighter. And even her hair looked to be more ashine than it had been on the train. Regina was pleased to see that. She was pleased to see that Emma Swan seemingly felt at home here.

There was a bit of scuffling about from the room behind the counter, and then Eugenia Wolf emerged. She looked exactly like she always did in her flour covered apron and glasses perched on her nose. She looked at Regina and a smile formed on her lips and made the wrinkles around her eyes more pronounced. "Regina," she said warmly. "I didn't know you were coming today."

Regina smiled and shrugged. Did her best to make it look like a lighthearted 'well, here I am'-gesture.

"Now, what can I do for you?" Eugenia asked, still smiling as she kept looking at Regina.

"We'd like some coffee," Emma said and glanced at Regina. "Right?"

Regina settled for a nod in affirmative.

"Two coffees, please," Emma said to Eugenia and glanced at Regina again. "I've forgotten if you use milk or sugar?"

Regina felt Eugenia shift slightly next to her, and that prompted her to look up at the grey-haired innkeeper.

"No milk, two sugars," Eugenia said and put a hand on Regina's shoulder. "I've known how she likes her coffee for years. Isn't that right, Regina?"

Regina nodded and mustered a teeny, tiny smile. She wasn't feeling entirely comfortable with having Eugenia touching her. It made her feel tense. And she wasn't sure she liked Eugenia's tone either. Regina could easily hear the pity in it.

"Both milk and sugar for me," Emma interjected. "Three sugars and lots of milk."

"So, cappuccino?" Eugenia quipped, and Regina had to crack a smile. Hell would freeze over before Eugenia Wolf lost her sense of humor.

And Emma was amused too. "Almost," she said with a snicker.

Eugenia chuckled, and Regina was certain that she saw the elderly innkeeper glance at the stack of post-its for a brief second before saying: "I'll find that for you. Won't be a moment."

Emma thanked her.

Regina smiled.

They did not manage more conversation before Eugenia returned with their coffee. "One for you and one for you," she announced as she placed the cups of coffee on the table. She looked only at Regina as she said: "you just let me know if you need anything else." She patted Regina's shoulder lightly once more. Then she disappeared back through the door that lead into the kitchen. The music was switched on and Regina reckoned that they wouldn't see more of her unless Emma called for her.

She couldn't help but frown as she looked at the now closed kitchen door. In one way it was nice to be treated like she was a lost daughter returning home, but...

"What?" Emma asked and interrupted Regina's stream of thoughts.

Regina shrugged lightly.

But Emma Swan clearly wasn't one for giving up. She asked 'what' once more time, and Regina found it impolite not to give an answer. So she grabbed a blank post-it note and scribbled down: 'it's probably nothing. I'm just being paranoid.'

It only took Emma a few seconds to read the note, and when she was done, she looked back up at Regina and said: "try me. I'm the mistress of paranoia."

Regina found herself smiling again. The mistress of paranoia. What an expression. You could easily tell that Emma Swan was a writer. And most certainly the kind of person one could confide in. Regina tore off another note and wrote down what was bothering her. 'Did it seem to you like she was feeling sorry for me?' she pushed the note towards Emma and wondered it was perhaps SHE who was the 'mistress of paranoia'.

"I don't know. Maybe," Emma said after having read the message.

An honest answer. Regina appreciated that. She appreciated people who did not try to sugar coat the truth. She wrote a new message on a new note: 'Sometimes it can be hard to figure out whether people are just being nice or if they feel sorry for me.' before she could get the chance to regret being too open, she pushed the note over to Emma.

"I understand that," Emma said with a slight nod. And she looked like she really, genuinely did.

Regina offered a slight shrug as though to brush it off and then reached for the stacks of post-its again. Now she could barely stop writing. And she could not stop being open either. 'I think that's one of the reasons why I find it so easy to be around you. You didn't know me before. You only know this version of me.' as soon as she had given the note to Emma, she regretted it, though. This version of me. It was too much. It was getting too close. She couldn't exactly reach across the table and snatch the note out of Emma's hand. But she could steer the conversation elsewhere. And she would. As quickly as possible, she scribbled down another note: 'But enough about me... How are you? Do you like Steveston so far? Have you made any new friends? You're starting at Dragon Publishing tomorrow, right? How do you feel about that?' she ended up regretting that note too, though. As soon as she had given it to Emma, she wished that she hadn't. She had a feeling that she was bombarding Emma Swan with questions.

It was hard to make friends as an adult.

And it was even harder when you were unable to say a word.

But Emma didn't seem the least bothered by her many questions. She chuckled lightly. "I really like it here," she said. "It's a beautiful little town. I've taken so many pictures of the harbor already, and I'm planning on trying The Rabbit Hole's drinks this weekend. Or the next."

Drinks. Regina smiled. She could not remember the last time she'd had a proper drink. Because of the pain killers she was still taking, she was not allowed to drink excessively. But when she was off the medicine, she most certainly would. She felt slightly envious of Emma Swan. Oh, to be young and still have the stamina to go out for drinks in the weekend.

She snapped out of it and wrote on the note she had just given Emma. 'Just be careful with the Poison Apple drink. That's a nasty one. Gives quite the headache.' The Poison Apple was deathly if you had too many of them. Regina had experienced that first hand.

Emma chuckled. "I'll bear that in mind. As for friends... I've talked some with Isabelle Gold, and she seems really sweet. And Sheriff Graham too."

Regina nodded eagerly. Yes, Graham and Isabelle were both very nice people indeed.

"So yeah, my first two weeks here has been really great," Emma continued. "But.." she leaned forward as though she was about to tell Regina a secret, and her voice was lower when she continued: "I think someone might be slightly... interested in me."

Oh? Regina raised an eyebrow and scribbled on a new post-it. 'Care to elaborate on that?'

"Sure," Emma said as soon as she had read the note. She took a quick sip of her coffee and then continued speaking in that same, hushed tone: "Ruby. I think she might be getting a thing about me."

Regina made a silent 'oh' with her lips. She understood why that could be problematic. Ruby was a sweet girl, but Emma had just arrived here. And she didn't seem to reciprocate Ruby's feelings. Or did she?

"Yeah," Emma mumbled.

Regina took another post-it note and wrote on it: 'well, Ruby is a very nice girl.'

"Yeah, she is," Emma was quick to agree with her. "But I don't think she's... my type." She shifted on the chair. "I suppose I ought to have a little chat with her before it gets out of hand. I don't wanna give her false hope or anything."

Regina nodded slowly. Took a sip of her coffee. Emma Swan was a very decent person. Taking the talk with Ruby instead of beating around the bush. That was a very decent thing to do. She swallowed the mouthful of coffee (and ignored her slightly achy throat), and then she wrote on another post-it note. 'that's probably a good idea. But knowing Ruby, everything will be fine. She takes everything quite lightly.'

"Good," Emma said. "I'm glad this won't break her heart or anything."

Regina smiled a little and shook her head. Ruby's heart would be fine, she was certain of that. Eager to keep the conversation going, she tore off another post-it note and wrote another message. 'Are you looking forward to start working at Dragon Publishing tomorrow?' she pushed it across the table and patiently waited for Emma's answer. She was growing more confident in this way of communicating. It was as easy as it had been on the train. It wasn't awkward or anything. Regina felt like she was acing it pretty good.

"Yeah, definitely," Emma replied with a nod. "Malena seems very nice if a bit..."

Oh yes. Malena always 'seemed a bit...' to new people. Regina tried not to seem too amused as she scribbled underneath the question. 'Eccentric? Intimidating?' many people had used those two words about Mal many times. Regina felt a slight stab of guilt somewhere in her stomach when she thought about Malena. She missed her. Missed talking to her. But she was not certain how to re-establish their friendship.

"Fond of dragons," Emma said. "I've never seen so many dragon statues and figures before."

Now Regina could not help but smile. She swiftly grabbed a new note and wrote what she felt like was a fun response to Emma's comment. 'If she could transform into a dragon herself, she would.' That was true. Many, many times, Malena had said that she identified as a dragon and absolutely nothing else.

"I also saw the one you gave her," Emma continued. "It was very nice."

Regina settled for a shrug and sought solace in a sip of her coffee as she felt the guilt stab in her stomach again. If only she had to strength to reach out to Malena.

"She talked about you."

Regina raised an eyebrow and hastily scribbled on a post-it note: 'what did she say?' that she was curious about. What had Malena said about her?

"She just asked how we met, and I told her that we met during the train ride from Toronto to Vancouver, and then she asked if you were staying permanently in Vancouver, and I said yes," Emma Swan quickly summarized and seemed to stumble slightly over the words. "I hope I didn't say something wrong to her."

She sounded worried, and Regina hoped that she could soothe her worries with her next message. 'You didn't. Not at all. Don't worry.'

"She was happy to hear about you. She said it had been a while since she last saw you."

It was not Emma Swan's fault that Regina was a coward who couldn't reach out to her oldest friend. Nor was it Emma Swan's fault that Regina currently was feeling incredibly guilty. Regina drew a lock of hair behind her ear and wrote underneath the reassuring words on the post-it: 'it has. Quite a while, actually. I know I should reach out to her, but it's so difficult. I haven't seen her since before it happened. Everything is so different now.' Too different. She and Malena were both talkers, and Regina feared that reuniting with her oldest friend would not be the same. The conversation worked with Emma Swan because she had not known Regina before. But Malena had. And she would find that Regina had changed so much. And then she would feel pity. Blastered pity. Regina could not stand it.

"Your accident?" Emma asked, and Regina noted how light and 'daily' her voice sounded. Bared for any pity. How refreshing.

Regina nodded and her fingers seemed to move on their own accord as they inched up towards her covered throat. She was not even thinking about.

"I understand," Emma said quietly.

The words didn't invite to further questions and conversations, and perhaps that was exactly the reason why Regina felt like sharing. The lack of follow-up questions was refreshingly new. Most people wanted to know. Asked. Told her how sorry they were when they found out that Regina could not speak. And then they looked at her with pity and curiosity in their eyes.

But Emma Swan did not.

And before Regina knew of it, she was writing on another note: 'Vocal cord paralysis. That's what it's called.'

"Vocal cord paralysis?" Emma quietly repeated.

Regina nodded in confirmation and could not blame Emma for having to repeat the medical term. It was a mouthful for sure.

Emma seemed to quietly chew on that for a moment. But once again, there was no follow up questions. Instead a change of subject: "how is your fairytale loving son doing?"

Regina perked up. Any excuse to boast about her son was welcome. She grabbed a blank post-it note and began scribbling. The words were always coming so quickly when it came to Henry. To be perfectly honest, she probably could continue writing about him for days. 'He's doing well, thank you. He's very happy that I'm home, but he keeps talking about wanting to live a different place where it's just the two of us. I have a feeling he wants me all to himself.' Oh, that was a long message. She was practically rambling in writing. Oh well. It would look strange if she discarded the note and started writing a new one. She handed it to Emma and hoped that she didn't mind reading Regina's gushing about her son.

"You guys don't live alone?" Emma asked curiously.

Regina shook her head. Oh, that's right. Emma did not know that she and Henry lived at Zelena's place. A new note was written. 'No, we're currently living at my sisters place.' as she slid the note towards Emma, she noted that her little pile of post-its was thinning rapidly. Hopefully, she had brought enough. Switching to her phone would be weird. As an afterthought, she wrote a little comment underneath the first one: 'To be honest, I think he wants a bigger room, too.'

"Let me guess... he wants his room to look like a pirate's ship?" Emma asked and grinned.

Regina smiled too. Henry would probably love that. He was often talking about how he wanted his new room to look like. He hadn't mentioned a pirate ship yet, but it wasn't impossible that he would. If only he could get his own room soon. Properly. Seriously, she could not keep living at her sister's place forever. She was a grown woman, and sooner or later, she had to move on. She knew she had to.

But perhaps now was not the time to think about that. 'to be honest, I think he'd be happy as long as he gets a bunk bed. That's the only thing he ever talks about when he speaks about his future room. Always a bunk bed,' she wrote and gave the note to Emma.

"A bunk bed, huh?" Emma snickered. "I think I would have loved that when I was his age."

Regina tilted her head, silently urging Emma to go on. It seemed like they had only talked about Regina and her life. And that was not how a friendship worked. It had to go both ways. Regina wanted it to go both ways. Because she was interested in knowing more about Emma Swan.

"I had this horrible, princess-y pink bedroom with flower decorations, canopy bed and ruffles and shit everywhere. It was awful. The walls were bubblegum colored, the carpet on the floor was pink, and the curtains were these long flowy things with flower prints all over. And my bed was obviously shaped as Cinderella's carriage," Emma quickly revealed and sighed slightly.

Regina furrowed her brow. Canopy bed? Ruffles? Cinderella's carriage? That did not sound too bad, did it? It seemed like a dream come true for most little girls. But perhaps Emma had been wanting a different room.

"I was forced to have that room until I was fourteen," Emma revealed and rolled her eyes. "My adoptive mother refused to change anything about it, and she kept asking me why I never had any friends coming over. She didn't understand that I was embarrassed over my room. Or maybe she did, but she definitely didn't want to hear about it."

Oh. Now Regina was really frowning. That was not good. Not good at all. A fourteen year old was not a little girl. And a teenager should not be forced to live in a princess-themed room. That was horrible.

"Well, let's just say, the princess room met its demise when I went crazy and spray painted the walls black," Emma said with a hoarse chuckle. "My adoptive mother was furious and screamed at me. She thought that I'd had a psychotic episode or something like that. I remember that I yelled back at her that I hadn't, I just couldn't stand being stuck with a princess room anymore."

Concern rippled through Regina. Sure, Cora Mills had not exactly been a warm mother, but what Emma had just told her was terrible. What sort of mother screamed at her child? What sort of mother forced her fourteen year old daughter to live in a princess-themed room? She had to be deeply disturbed.

"my adoptive mother is... very difficult to be around," Emma said and was clearly trying to lighten the mood. "She doesn't really understand what boundaries means. She sort of... holds on too tightly on the people she loves. Does that make any sense to you?"

Oh yes, it absolutely did. Regina perfectly understood what it meant when love was confused with control. She nodded solemnly and scribbled quickly: 'it does.'

Emma looked thoughtful for a moment, but then she smiled instead. "I've just been rambling on about myself, haven't I? We were talking about your son. How old is he?"

Henry. Regina felt herself smiling again as she wrote. 'He just turned ten last month. He's growing up way too fast.'

Emma Swan chuckled as she read the message. She had probably sensed Regina's enthusiasm when it came to her son. "And where's he hanging out while you're here?"

Regina scribbled underneath. 'my sister isn't working today. She'll pick him up from school.' she had barely moved the pencil away before Emma Swan bowed her head to read the message.

"Oh, okay."

Regina gave a quick smile and noted that there seemed to be a lull in the conversation. She used the opportunity to sip her coffee. Ouch. Oh no, that hurt. She had to remember to drink regularly. That was important after the surgery. It would make it feel less dry. Setting the cup of coffee down she glanced at the table. The post-its notes were piling up. The table looked like a right mess. Regina did not like mess. She absolutely hated it.

"Does this bother you?"

Regina looked up at the unprompted question. Emma was looking at her, and Regina raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"I saw you used sign language with your sister and your son, and I thought that it might bother you. You know, not being able to communicate like that with me?"

Oh! Regina immediately stopped feeling confused. Emma wasn't talking about the mess. She was worried about whether this method of communication bothered Regina. That was very considerate, and Regina couldn't quite stop smiling as she wrote another message: 'no, not at all. I quite enjoy this way of communicating with you. Writing my answers down is nice, and to be perfectly honest, my son is actually so much better at understanding sign language than I am at using it.'

Emma leaned in slightly and pushed a stray curl behind her ear as she read the message. Then she smiled, quipped: "Well, I definitely think that these post-its makes for a nice tablecloth."

Had Regina been able to laugh out loud, she would have. But she could not. She would have to settle for a smile. And then when she felt like her silence and the absence of laughter from her was too awkward, she wrote another message ('Have you stopped by the garage yet?') and pushed it towards Emma.

"I've swung by a few times," Emma replied. "And I've actually seen a car I might buy. It's this little yellow bug. It's adorable. And cheap."

Regina was amused, she could not deny that. A yellow bug. That wasn't something she herself ever would have chosen, but she felt like it would be the perfect car for Emma Swan.

"What?" Emma teased. "You don't like yellow bugs?"

Regina smiled as she shook her head slightly. Not to indicate no, but simply because she was amused. She wrote a new message under the one she had written a moment ago: 'quite the contrary. I can't imagine a car more suitable for you.'

"I'm really glad you think so. When I lived in Toronto, I was driving this amazing bright green Volkswagen. It was amazing. A rusty old thing from the sixties, and Lily kept going on and on about how it wasn't a proper car. Whatever the hell that means. She was sometimes very opinionated."

Regina frowned as she wrote her thoughts under the first message. 'Well, I don't see why she should decide which vehicle you drove.' She really couldn't. It was Emma's business to decide and nobody else's.

"Well, I suppose she kinda had a right to," Emma said and shrugged slightly. "She often borrowed the car when she was driving to work."

Regina nodded a little at that and tore off another post-it. She still had more to add to this conversation, and she wrote: 'Lily was your roommate? Couldn't she just use her own car?'

"Actually, Lily was my girlfriend," Emma corrected. "We lived together."

Ah. Regina nodded once. Lily had been Emma's girlfriend. But that still did not give her any right to decide what car Emma should drive, Regina bitterly thought to herself. Her memories of Killian and his opinion about her Mercedes was still painfully fresh in her mind.

"We were together for two years, and then she broke it off. Just like that," Emma mumbled and looked down at the table.

Regina felt the utmost compassion for Emma Swan. She sounded so vulnerable, and she too had been let down by a partner. Albeit not in the same way as Regina (thank god for that!) but she had still been let down, and Regina did not for a moment doubt that it had been terrible for her. She did not think that just because something terrible had happened to her, it did not mean that others suffered less. That was not how things worked. And Emma Swan had been hurt, that much was obvious. She wrote another note. 'I'm sorry to hear that, Emma.', and pushed it across the table.

"Yeah, well," Emma said and shrugged lightly. "It is what it is, right? Life. One moment you're dating someone, and then you're not."

Yes, indeed. One minute you thought you had met your prince charming, and the next you find out he was actually the devil in disguise. She was applying much more pressure to pencil than what she previously had as she scribbled down another message. 'You're quite right about that. The world of dating can be a bit of a battlefield.' Yes. Sometimes in the most literal ways too... she lost track of her thoughts and glanced discreetly at her watch. It was almost lunch time. How time flew. She wanted to be home to have lunch with Henry. And honestly, she was starting to fade a little bit. She was not used to being out and about. She still had not regained all her previous strength. At least not her mental strength. She would probably have to take it easy for the rest of the day. Read a book. Watch a movie with Henry. Rest. But that was okay. It was well deserved. And well worth it. She had enjoyed herself far more than she thought she would. And she had accomplished to do a perfectly normal thing. Have coffee with a friend. She looked back at Emma who was smiling at her. "This has been really nice."

Regina nodded, wrote another note. 'it has, but I'm afraid I have to be off now.' it was definitely time to head home now. She was starting to feel really tired.

"Of course," Emma said lightly. "It was nice of you to drive here to have coffee with me."

Regina offered a smile as she got on her feet. But she could not help wondering, though. Emma sounded almost overly grateful. As though she was fearing that Regina found the drive tedious. That was definitely not the case at all.

Emma got on her feet too, and Regina felt only slightly awkward as she gathered all the post-its notes and stuffed them into her purse. Then she slung the purse over her shoulder. Flashed Emma another little smile she hoped would do it for the goodbye that forever would be stuck in her throat. Then she turned and headed towards the door.

"Are you coming to Steveston again? It would be really nice to have coffee with you again sometimes."

Regina immediately stopped and felt herself smile at the question. Yes. She would love to drink coffee with Emma Swan again. But... oh god. Her doctor's appointment next week. Doctor Anton had to look at her wound to make sure it was healing properly. And Regina knew that she would be needing plenty of time to recover from that. The thought of someone touching her throat already made her feel a little sick. She roamed in her purse for a moment. Found her cellphone and tapped away on the little screen to write a message. 'I wouldn't mind stopping by for coffee again, but I'm afraid I'll be quite busy for the next few weeks.' She turned the phone screen towards Emma.

"Oh. Okay," Emma mumbled and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

That was quite possible the most disappointed 'okay' Regina ever had heard, and she thought to herself that Emma Swan was used to being rejected by people. Which was terrible. And Regina refused to be the next one to reject Emma Swan. She flashed said blonde woman a little smile before she wrote a new message on her phone. 'But you have my number, so feel free to text me whenever you want to. I'd love to hear more about how you settle in with your new job. And whether you decide to buy the yellow bug or not.' Then she turned the screen towards Emma so she could read the message.

"Sure!" Emma said, now sounding positively optimistic. "I'll keep you updated."

Regina was very satisfied with that. And she wished that she could have stayed for longer. But she was getting so tired. And she tended to get a headache when she got tired. Her gaze flickered towards the door again.

"Say hi to your smart son for me?" Emma asked almost shyly.

Regina smiled and nodded. That she would definitely do. It was kind of Emma to include Henry in their conversation.

"Cool. I'll just... see you around?" Emma said and tilted her head slightly.

Smiling and nodding as a reply was starting to feel insufficient, but nevertheless that was all Regina could do. Then she wordlessly formed the word 'goodbye' and surprised herself by giving Emma's shoulder the slightest of touches. Then she turned around and walked towards the door again.

Her car was cold when she entered it, but that did not matter. Regina felt lighter than she had when she arrived here. She had successfully met up for coffee with a new friend. Perhaps it was still possible to get something similar to a 'normal' life.

She switched the engine on and found her phone in her purse. Wrote a message: 'I will be driving home now', and sent it to Zelena. She liked receiving regular updates from Regina. And Regina did not mind sending them.

The reply came even before she had put a hand on the wheel, and Regina quickly checked it: 'How did it go?'. She smiled and allowed her chest to make that strange rumbling sound that now was her laughter. Three question marks. Zelena had clearly been curious. And perhaps a little worried about the answer too.

But there was no reason for that. 'It went really well. I used the post-its just like I did on the train.'

'And Emma? Was she nice this time too?'

Only two question marks. Less worried now. But definitely curious still.

Regina smiled as she texted back. 'Yes, she was. I think she and I can become good friends. I'd like that very much.'

'That's wonderful, sis! I'm so happy you had a good time!'

Regina settled for sending a thumbs-up in response. So was she. She was tired, but happy. Because she had gained a new friend. For the first time in two years...

To Be Continued...