Chapter 5 The Gift of Truth
Stepping out of the Tardis back in Storybrooke Regina let out a sigh of relief, no time had passed since they had left and everything appeared as it should be,
"So, what do you think?" Grannies for dinner "as we're already here anyway" she smiled at Emma,
"Sure I'm game for that" she replied taking her phone out of her pocket, I'll just text Henry, tell him to get his a.. uh butt down here" she quickly amended
"You do that dear, and you" Regina addressed the Doctor "would you like to join us for dinner before you go, it's the least I owe you"
"I'd love to" she smiled following them into the diner "as long as it's not fish fingers and custard"
"eww!" Emma said a little louder than she intended
"My sentiments exactly" the Doctor laughed as she slid into the booth they had chosen; Henry came charging in just as the three were looking over the menu's
"Hi" moms he squealed excitedly "and….." he trailed off
"Oh kid meet the Doctor, Doctor this is mine and Regina's son Henry" Emma introduced
"No way" Henry gasped eyes as round as saucers as he took in the Doctor "you're the Doctor as in the blue police box I just passed on my way in here is a real Tardis, the Tardis, your Tardis?" the kid squealed barely able to contain himself,
"Wait how do you know about the Tardis Henry" Regina asked puzzle
"you know I can actually understand that question coming from you mom, you grew up in the enchanted forest then when you came here you might as well have lived in a literal bubble, but you Ma" he said turning to look at Emma incredulously "You were supposed to have lived most of your life in the actual world, how can you not know about the Doctor?" he asked
Emma shrugged sheepishly as Ruby deposited drinks onto their table, "cheers Rubes" she smiled taking a sip of chocolatey, cinnamon goodness "Enlighten me on this Doctor business kid" she smiled
"The Doctor, born in Gallifrey, Travels through time and space in a stolen Tardis, Regenerates when she dies, has two hearts, Doctor Who, only one of the best shows ever, but I never knew she was real" he said voice full of awe "I guess I shouldn't be too surprised though after all my family are a bunch of fairy-tale characters" he shrugged "Is that true by the way?" he asked turning his attention to the Doctor,
"Which part?" she replied
"Well all of it I guess but firstly do you really have two hearts"
"I sure do" the Doctor replied not sure if she should be impressed or concerned by how much that the boy knew about her, finding herself falling on the side of a little of both "I'd have your mum show you" she continued, smiling over at a very surprised looking Regina "but honestly that heart removal thing just doesn't look at all comfortable for the person its happening too, so I think we'll leave em where they are" she laughed as Regina let out a sigh of relief, "So there's really a show about me?" the Doctor asked
"There sure is and it's amazing" Henry raved "Hey will you take me somewhere in your Tardis" the boy begged "can I be your companion
"I don't know about being my companion" the Doctor chuckled "But I'm sure a little trip in the Tardis can be arranged, if it's okay with your moms?" she glanced up at the two dumbfounded women
"Please moms" Henry pleaded when both failed to answer
"Yes of course" Regina replied "if you don't mind, you've done so much for me already, I wouldn't want to inconvenience you further"
"The pleasure is all mine" the Doctor smiled warmly,
"I still can't believe you've never heard of the Doctor Ma" Henry repeated a short while later between mouthfuls of Grannies homemade spaghetti,
"Sorry to disappoint Kid, I guess I just wasn't really into that sci fi stuff growing up, it was more your dad's scene than mine"
"Really" Henry asked ears pricking up with interest
"sure" Emma shrugged "he loved those alien films, had a whole collection of em, no offence" the blonde looked at the Doctor catching herself a little too late and choking on her mouthful of food as swallowed to quickly when she remembered the company they were in
"Careful Emma" Regina scolded her as she whacked her on the back quickly dislodging the food,
In amongst the chaos of Emma's choking none of them noticed the bell of Grannies chiming to indicate that the door had been opened, nor did they see the two people cross the threshold, it's was only after Emma had regained her composure and the Doctor had finished laughing about the blondes alien mishap and was ensuring her that she was in no way offended that a familiar voice wafted over in Regina's direction making her turn her head to look for the source, There, much to her surprise on the table behind theirs sat Danny with his mother Eileen, both looked a lot older than when she had last seen them but it was them as true as she was sitting in the booth next to theirs.
"You know they don't know who you are" the Doctor whispered having followed Regina's line of sight, "You can leave it that way if you like or you can tell him the truth, its entirely up to you"
"But I don't understand how is he here? I purposely left that village alone when I cast the dark curse, I was very specific about who I brought here so how can he have ended up here?" the brunette whispered back urgently,
"I guess they weren't in that village anymore, when you cast your curse" the Doctor shrugged "Not to mention that you made it so that your younger self believed that Daniel was dead and when you cast that memory spell and you extended it to erase almost all memory of Eileen, the nanny that you made your past self believe she was avoiding in that town wasn't even real, you made a fake one to stop yourself from ever venturing there. So, it's perfectly possible that the real Nanny moved with her son, and you brought them here believing them to be somebody else"
"I suppose so" Regina sighed as she caught the cloud that had fallen over Emma's face as the blonde too clocked Danny and Eileen,
"I think we should go now" the brunette mumbled leaving the money for the meal on the table along with a tip before rising from her seat and heading out the door, Emma, Henry and the Doctor hot on her heels,
"Come on Henry, I'll show you my Tardis now" the Doctor smiled
"Yes" Henry cheered running ahead to examine the box
"What do I do?" Regina asked looking at Emma
"Follow your heart" the blonde replied without skipping a beat, her own heart aching.
Half an hour later Danny and Eileen left the diner, Regina who still hadn't made up her mind on what to do spontaneously decided to follow them and pulled the blonde along with her, leaving an ecstatic Henry in the care of the Doctor,
"No travelling until we get back okay" she said ruffling his hair
"promise" he replied excitedly scooting back inside the Tardis to continue his exploration.
They hadn't been following long when the two turned into a pathway leading up to a house, the door of which had flown open long before they had reached it, a little girl ran down the path long raven hair flying behind her as she threw herself into Daniels welcoming arms
"Daddy" she squealed happily snuggling into his neck "Nana, your home"
"we weren't gone long you daft banana" Daniel laughed heartily as he carried his young daughter into the house behind his mother closing the door behind him as he went, as if pulled by magnets Regina crept up the path after him still dragging the blonde behind her she walked past the front door stopping at the window next to it, peering through it she found herself looking into the lounge of a happy family home, Eileen had taken a seat in a rocker with its back to the window and picked up some knitting while Daniel was happily greeting two more brown haired girls, one who only looked a couple of years older than her little sister while the other looked to be in her teens. Regina had seen enough; her decision was made.
"I'm not going to tell him" she whispered turning to face the blonde "It'll only bring him confusion and hurt, he's not the Daniel I once knew and he hasn't been for a long time, Danny deserves this happiness with his family, who am I to taint that in any way, I say we leave well enough alone and go on our way" she smiled feeling a weight lift from her shoulders and knew that she had made the right decision, Emma smiled back at her nodded and started to walk down the path, they were almost at the gate when the front door opened and a voice called out,
"Were you really going to leave without saying hello Regina?"
"You remember me?" Regina asked confused as she turned to face Daniel who was walking down the path to meet her smiling and nodding,
"When your curse was broken, all my memories came flooding back, both as Danny and Daniel, it was confusing at first Daniels memories were like a weird dream, they almost felt like they didn't happen to me but I muddled through them in the end, so did you want to come in and meet my girls?" he asked
"I should go" Emma mumbled
"You're welcome to stay" Daniel smiled
"No, I'm good, you two should catch up, I'd only be in the way, I'll catch you later Regina"
The brunette barely had a chance to nod before she became engulfed by an arm and the smell of man's cologne,
"I'm so pleased to see you he said leading you into the house and I know Ma will be too, Regina I know what you did for us, you gave us the greatest gift and I really can't thank you enough" he enthused as he steered the brunette into the house, "Look who's here Ma" he said they entered the room together "I said it was Regina didn't I"
"Regina sweetheart" Eileen beamed dropping her knitting to jump up and pull Regina into her arms surprisingly fast and agile for a woman of her age, "how wonderful to see you again" Regina hugged the woman back her scent bringing happier memories of her childhood that she had thought were long forgotten rushing back, over the older woman's shoulder, through the window she could see Emma still hovering at the gate, pale drawn face looking wistfully at the house, her heart went out to her,
"Regina, that's my name too" the little girl that had greeted Daniel at the front of the house announced looking up at the older brunette with big brown eyes
"Really" Regina smiled down at her temporarily distracted from the blonde outside
The little girl nodded "Daddy said I was named after the woman that saved his life" she smiled proudly
"And you were" Daniel smiled down at his daughter ruffling her hair, "and this is her"
"Wow" little Regina looked up at her name's sake in awe before dashing off and big Regina got another glimpse at blonde still standing by the gate seemingly having an internal battle with herself,
"This is Hattie" Daniel introduced his middle child, blue eyes identical to her fathers glanced at Regina curiously "and Sarah" he introduced his eldest child who like Hattie had eyes that matched Daniels,
"It's really lovely to meet you all" Regina said looking out the window again just in time to see the blonde's retreating back as she appeared to have come to decision and turned around to leave, "I'm really sorry, but I have to go" the Brunette said heading for the door almost crashing into the beautiful brunette woman that little Regina was pulling through it,
"It's really, really her mama" the little girl was squealing excitedly
"So, you're the famous Regina" the woman smiled warmly extending a hand which Regina accepted "I'm Esmerelda, Daniels' wife" she introduced herself,
"It's lovely to meet you" Regina replied returning her smile with an equally warm smile of her own a glow of happiness filling her heart at the knowledge that Daniel had such a happy full life "I'm sorry to cut this short but I really must go" she said urgently moving past the woman in the doorway "We'll all meet up and catch up soon" she called over her shoulder as she left "I'll cook" and on that note she was tearing up the path and out the gate after the blonde,
"Emma, she called out, to the hunched over blonde up ahead of her "wait up"
"What's wrong" Emma asked startled to see tears streaming down the brunette's face once she had caught up, "What did he do?" she asked fire burning in her eyes, "I'll kill him"
"Nothing" Regina replied a watery chuckle escaping his lips, "and that really shouldn't have sounded as funny as It did to me after all the trouble we've just been to, to save him from my mother" she smiled "He hasn't done anything wrong at all Emma, but thank you for defending me" she smiled coyly
"I'll always defend you" Emma replied glancing down shyly
"I know you will" the brunette smiled
"But I don't understand" Emma frowned "If he didn't do anything wrong, what's with all the tears" she reached up to brush a fresh one away with her thumb, Regina leaned into the touch and sighed,
"He's so happy" the brunette mumbled closing her eyes and losing herself in the touch more tears falling unchecked "He has a gorgeous wife, his Ma, three beautiful girls, hey, you'll never guess they only named their youngest Regina" she let out a small chuckle "He's had a great life and he found love, he really did" she let out a choked sob.
"I'm so sorry Regina" the blonde whispered pulling her friend into her embrace tears falling from her own eyes as her heart broke for Regina,
"What?" the brunette pulled back to look at Emma brow furrowed in confusion "Why?"
"Well, I Just, the tears, Daniel" she flailed hopelessly "It's because you want to get back with him, right? Be a family with Henry" she said head hanging and tears dripping off the end of her nose as she spoke "I'm sorry it didn't work how you wanted it to" she whispered
"I already have a family with Henry" Regina reached out and gently lifted the blondes chin "or at least I hope I have" she gazed into green eyes swimming with tears
"You do?" the blonde asked hardly daring to hope,
"I do" the brunette replied leaning a little closer,
"But the tears" Emma floundered
"Are because I'm so happy for Daniel and his family and more than a little overwhelmed by the love that I feel for someone else" Regina whispered moving her hand to gently caress the blonde's cheek, "I don't love Daniel like that anymore Emma" the brunette leaned in so close that Emma could her breath on her lips "I love you"
The second the words left Regina's mouth, the blondes' lips had closed the gap between them catching Regina's full red lips in passion fuelled kiss, their mouths working perfectly together neither seeking dominance, the brunettes tongue snuck between her lips eliciting a delightful groan from the blonde as she welcomed it and caressed it with her own, strong arms wound their way around the brunettes back pulling her into their firm embrace and Regina felt herself melting in the Emma's arms,
"I love you to" the blonde replied breathily when the need for oxygen finally forced them to part, to which the brunette smiled and replied
"Let's go home".