They appeared almost instantly right in front of Granny's diner. Emma wasn't sure if she was going to be nauseous or not. All of a sudden everything started happening at once. People were exiting the diner faster than Emma imagined was possible given the small door. Henry was the only face she recognized as he hurled towards his Moms. One arm went around Regina while his other small arm reached for Emma. They encircled him into their arms before Regina lifted him up. The boy had grown in the time they had been gone. Emma had one arm around Regina while the other arm was around Henry. She finally had her whole family back. Three foreheads pressed together as Henry continued to cling to both of them.
"I knew you would come back." Henry shouted as Regina put him down. Emma kept her arm around Regina's waist as the crowd got bigger. They were surrounded before Snow and David stepped through the crowd of people towards them. Emma was pulled away from Regina instantly as Snow pulled her into a hug. Henry remained clinging to Regina as she watched the exchange with sad eyes. They had been back for two minutes, and Emma was already someone else's.
Emma pulled away after she let her Mom hold her before she stepped back to Regina's side immediately putting a protective arm around her waist. Snow looked stunned.
"You can't tell me that you still love her after all you know now." Snow said bitterly.
Emma didn't answer. She just pulled Regina tighter to her side and pulled Henry closer to them.
"Emma she took your childhood. She took you from us." Snow said.
"I would appreciate it if we could move this somewhere quieter." Emma said with spite dripping into her voice. The crowd parted immediately as Snow led Emma, Charming, and Regina away. Emma gestured for Ruby to take Henry. There was a lot that she needed to say that he didn't exactly need to hear.
Inside the sheriff's station, the yelling started again. "She took you from us." Snow said calmly, but Emma could hear the anger in her voice. David was the one yelling. It was so incoherent that Emma had no idea what he was even saying.
"Everyone shut up." Emma shouted causing the room to suddenly become eerily quiet.
"You chose to put me in that wardrobe." Emma said standing right in front of her mother and father pointing a threatening finger in David's direction.
"We didn't have a choice." David shouted. "We had to save everyone. We sent you here to save everyone."
"But you didn't think about me for a damn second." Emma said turning towards Snow. Emma's face softened immediately at the look on her mother's face. "I grew up alone." Emma said repeating that same statement for what felt like the thousandth time. She looked back then at Regina and felt calmed immediately knowing that she wouldn't be alone again.
"We can't just let what she did go Emma." Snow said softly.
"What she did?" Emma asked again raising her voice. "How about what you did?"
Snow stepped back a little at that.
"Emma, you don't have to do this." Regina said from behind the blonde.
"I will do this. They should know." Emma said turning back to her parents. "Did you know that Cora ripped Daniel's heart out because you told her about them? Did you know that Cora verbally abused Regina her whole life? Did you know that she wasn't even allowed to escape? Did you know that your fucking father forced her to marry him? Did you know he fucking raped her?" Emma was screaming at the top of her lungs then.
Fresh tears were already flowing down her face as Snow looked down at the floor. "No." She finally said in the smallest voice.
"Did you know that the Dark One created the curse? He has been pulling the strings all along and you all have been puppets in his fucking game." Emma shouted again as the sobs took over and prevented her from speaking.
Regina reached for her, but David stepped in and tried to place an arm around his daughter. Emma pushed him away before seeking the comfort of Regina's arms. Snow watched them intently for a few minutes as Emma calmed quickly in Regina's arms. She took a moment to think about how she could have raised Emma. She thought of a small girl with beautiful blonde curls crying in her arms over a nightmare. She thought of how she could have been the one to do that instead she was watching the woman that hated her calm her daughter. She was watching the love exchange between them as her daughter's green eyes bore into the brown eyes of the Evil Queen. Emma seeking grounding that Snow or David couldn't provide for her, but there was no question that Regina could.
The blonde was calm when she turned back towards her parents.
"David and I are leaving. I need to talk to Henry. You two will sit in here and talk peacefully about all of this. You will listen Mary Margaret." Emma said moving towards her.
"I can't do that Emma." She answered.
"Mom, I need you to do this." Snow melted at the words. "I love her, and I will not be happy in my life without her."
Snow shook her head as Emma moved towards the door with David. Snow tried not to hide her disgust as Emma stepped back across the floor to place a soft, lingering kiss on Regina's lips. "Don't worry. I will be back in two hours for you."
David and Emma left leaving Snow alone with Regina. David was obviously uneasy about it, but he trusted his daughter. He also knew that Regina had been presented with many opportunities to actually kill Snow, but she didn't do it.
Henry was sitting in the kitchen of the mansion when Emma got there with Ruby. Emma could see the questions in Ruby's eyes, but she ignored them to take Henry into the study. He sat down on the leather couch. He looked so small in that moment.
"You can't let them kill my Mom." Henry said looking up at Emma with sad eyes.
"No one is going to kill her kid." Emma said.
"You haven't been here." He said. "Leroy wants them to execute her."
"And what has everyone else said?" Emma asked sitting down beside him.
"Archie thinks we should pay attention to how much she has changed. He said that there is no way you would love her if she wasn't different, but she killed Graham. Leroy said with magic she is unpredictable. He said she could kill all of us."
"She would never hurt you." Emma said placing a hand on Henry's shoulder.
"I know, but she was evil Emma. We can't just let her get away with that. That isn't the way the world works." Henry said looking down.
"Henry there is a lot that you don't know about the way the world works or her life. She never had a chance to be anything but evil."
"You can always decide to be good." He said looking back up at Emma.
"I know you think the world is black and white Henry, but it isn't. It isn't simply just good and evil. There is a grey area. Do you consider me good?"
"Yes." Henry answered quickly.
"Would you still think that if I told you that I have stolen money from other people before?" Emma asked.
"That is illegal Emma." Henry said.
"And that is evil right?" Emma asked.
"Yes."
"So, am I good or evil?" Emma asked looking at him.
"You're good. You did those things for survival." Henry said definitively.
"What if I told you that your mother did those things for survival?" Emma asked.
"I don't understand." The small boy said looking up at his blonde mother for some type of answer.
"Your mother had the world against her since she was a little girl. She loved someone once, and he was taken away from her so that her mother could make her queen. They hardened her. They made her who she was. No one ever loved her but the one they took away from her." Emma knew this was a touchy subject. She couldn't tell Henry too much because she didn't want her son to have to hear the graphic details, but she needed him to understand.
"Can I see her?"
"Yes." Emma answered before they left to head back to the station.
Snow was crying openly when Emma entered the building. Regina looked exhausted. Emma could tell that nothing bad had happened while she was gone, but she could feel the thickness in the air.
Henry ran to Regina then and jumped into her lap. He buried his face into her neck. "I'm sorry Mom. I know you aren't evil. You are in the grey area." Regina looked confused at first before she looked up at Emma silently having a conversation over their son's head.
"Everything is going to be alright Henry." Regina said. "I will take him home Emma. You need to talk to Snow."
Snow waited until Regina had left the building to look up from the desk. "I can't believe I never knew any of that."
"You were a little girl." Emma responded from across the desk.
"All the signs were there Emma. I should have been able to tell even as a little girl." Snow said crying again.
"No you shouldn't have. Your Mother died, and you just wanted someone else in her shoes. Everyone around here has to stop blaming themselves." Emma said. "I have to stop blaming you and David for being lonely my entire life. I have to stop blaming Henry's father for making me not trust anyone. Regina has to stop blaming you, and you have to stop blaming her. You have to stop blaming me for loving her. That won't help anyone."
"I know." Snow said after a few seconds of silence. "I am calling a town meeting for tomorrow. We will discuss what we will do then."
"I won't let them lock her up. I certainly will not let them kill her." Emma said intently.
"I know you won't." Snow answered.
Snow and Emma left the station then and went their separate ways. When Emma entered the house, she was amazed at how normal and quiet it seemed. She entered the kitchen, and saw a site that made her heart swell. Henry was sitting at the kitchen table eating dinner with Regina. She smiled when she saw that a place had been set for her. Regina turned when she heard the door close.
"Everything should still be warm." Regina said with a small smile.
Emma didn't know why the sudden change had occurred, but Regina seemed lighter. Regina seemed honestly happy for the first time in a long time. Emma moved to the table and put the food on her plate.
"Well, I sure am happy that I didn't have to catch this." Emma said with a small laugh.
Henry asked a thousand questions about the Enchanted Forest before he finally agreed to go to bed. David had agreed to keep guard outside of the house to make sure that everything remained calm. Emma was sure that the majority of the town was too afraid of Regina to make an attempt at her life.
"How did it go with my Mom?" Emma asked.
"Well, I think we will always have a long history, but I think everything has changed now." Regina answered.
"Are you going to tell me anything else?" Emma asked.
"No. Snow and I agreed that it would be best to keep everything, including that conversation, in the past." Regina said.
Emma loved the feeling of the comfortable mattress against her back. The silk sheets made her feel like she had returned from a long, very uncomfortable camping trip. She let herself sink into the mattress with Regina in her arms. She felt content for the first time in a long time. She wondered how long it would stay that way before all of the negative possibilities of the town meeting the next day seeped into her brain. Emma didn't sleep, and she knew Regina didn't either. They laid there quietly for most of the night until sleep finally overtook both of their bodies. In the end, Emma knew that she would do anything to protect Regina.