"I said I wanted to ask you out on a date," Emma said.
"Oh."
"Oh? That's all you have to say?"
Regina opened her mouth as if to say something and then closed it again before repeating the action. When she did it again, Emma asked, "Would you please say something?"
"I'm confused," Regina said. "You want to go out with me and somehow making your mom a child plays into this?"
"No. I mean yes, but, wait, listen, when I picked up that vial, I was thinking about how I wanted to go out with you but I didn't think that you would or that it would be a good idea with how things are between you and my mom. I was thinking that if you two could get a long and put the past in the past then maybe it would make it easier to ask you to go out with me," Emma said, speaking at a rapid pace, even more nervous now that she had confessed. "I swear, until you told me what the spell did, I had no idea I was the cause of this."
Regina walked over to the bed and sat down, not saying a word. Emma stood there at first waiting for Regina to blow up at her, but she still sat there being quiet.
Emma walked over and still got no reaction, so she sat down next to her.
"I'm sorry," Emma said. "I didn't mean for this to happen."
Regina leaned forward, her elbows on her knees, her hands clasped in front of her.
"You wished for your mom and me to get along." Regina said. "Why couldn't you wish for something that is actually possible?"
"I didn't know I was making a wish," Emma said.
Regina sat back up and looked at her. "I know you didn't."
"Does that mean you aren't mad at me?"
"Oh no, plenty mad," Regina said. "But that will have to wait as we have a bigger issue now that I know what has happened here."
"I think it's a big enough issue now, but what are you talking about?"
"It is as I just said, you have wished for the impossible. Your mother is going to be child until she grows back up to adulthood, assuming she can even age and isn't stuck in this form forever. Gold wasn't wrong, there is no reversal for this magic. It has to run its course and give you what you want. There is no magical way out."
"That doesn't mean it's permanent," Emma said. "It just means you and mom have to come to terms about some stuff."
Regina let out a small laugh as she stood up. "Come to terms about some stuff," she repeated. "Let me be as clear as possible with you. As much as I would love to have your mother back in her adult form – a sentence I'm not sure I would ever utter – it's not going to happen."
Emma got to her feet, "Why not? I get that you are mad at me, but you can't let my mom stay in this form to prove a point about it."
"This has nothing to do with you," Regina said. "Didn't I just admit I would rather have your mother back as her ever-cheerful adult self?"
"Then what is the problem? You and mom have been getting along better before all of this. You at least stopped trying to kill each other. That girl down there idolizes you, you see that right?"
Regina stepped away from her. "That girl is naïve," she said.
"Of course she is," Emma said. "She's a child. And she has no idea anything about this world. It's confusing for her and the only thing she has to latch on is you."
"I don't want her latching on!"
"I know this makes you uncomfortable, but this isn't impossible."
"Yes, it is," Regina responded.
"Does this mean you aren't even going to try?" Emma said.
"Let me make this clear to you Miss Swan, there is no way your mom and I can make amends or whatever it is that you wished for us when your mother is a child," Regina said. "If she was an adult then I don't know maybe she and I could try and talk without killing each other, but her like this, no, that's not possible."
"It must be or the magic wouldn't have turned her into a child."
Regina was about to say something in response when there was a knock on the door.
Emma was closer so she opened it to find Snow standing there.
"Regina," Snow said. "Can I come in?"
Emma looked over at her and Regina opened her mouth to say no, but instead Emma said, "sure, come in, I was just leaving." Emma gave Regina a look before leaving and closing the door behind her.
"What do you want?" Regina asked.
"That thing called a movie is over and Henry gave me this book, I thought maybe you could read it to me," she said, holding up a copy of "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone."
"You can read. You had good tutors."
"But this book is from this world," Snow said, looking down at it and then up at Regina. "I might need you to explain it to me."
Regina's eyes went to the book. She remembered Henry reading the Harry Potter books – it started with her reading them to him. She had been amused by the idea of how this world viewed magic.
Back before Emma destroyed her curse and her son still believed she hung the moon and the stars – much like how Snow used to look at her.
"Go get changed – by yourself – into your bedclothes," Regina sighed. "Give me some time to change my clothes and then yes, I will read to you."
Snow smile lit up and she rushed from the room, even as Regina shook her head. She couldn't believe Emma had put her in this position.
"Idiot," she said under her breath even though she wasn't sure if she was referring to Emma or herself.
…
Emma tossed and turned on the couch. She had been on edge since her conversation with Regina. Funny enough it was not because of Regina's insistence that this was impossible – it was because they hadn't actually addressed the fact that Emma wanted to date her.
It was like that part of the conversation hadn't existed. Was this Regina's way of letting her down easy? Or did Regina not even want to discuss it as a possibility?
Or did Regina not want to talk about it because of young Snow?
Her mind had run the gamut of possibilities.
The only thing she knew for certain was that Regina and Snow had not put aside their differences when she had left them alone. Her mother was still a child and Emma was beginning to wonder if she was going to stay that way.
She didn't understand how her mother had gone from what was clearly adulation of Regina to hating her. And why is it that Regina wasn't outright hating Snow. She thought that Regina had been at odds with Snow from the beginning.
It didn't make sense, and she wasn't sure how to make sense of it.
But she needed to. She was the one who caused all of this and at this point she would be happy if Regina would remain on speaking terms with her, to say nothing of dating.
How to solve this was the problem.
What she needed was someone to talk to – someone who would be unbiased but also knew all the happenings that went on the Enchanted Forest, someone who knew Snow and Regina. Unfortunately, she couldn't think of anyone who fit that bill.
Somehow, she managed to fall asleep that night, but the next morning someone was poking her awake.
"What?" she mumbled before opening her eyes to see Snow standing there.
"You should be up and making breakfast."
Emma groaned, but sat up. "Trust me when I tell you Regina doesn't want me anywhere near her kitchen, much less cooking her food. Why are you up so early anyway?"
Snow shrugged. "I thought I would go riding today, and maybe Regina would want to go."
This got Emma sitting up. "I don't think that is a good idea." In fact, Emma was fairly certain it was the worst idea she had ever heard.
"Why?"
Emma wasn't sure how to answer that question so she asked one of her own.
"Have you ever gone riding with Regina before?"
"No. I mean when we would travel with my father, although we were in a coach at the time. Every other time I've asked she's been busy, but we're not home anymore so maybe she isn't busy and we could go riding," Snow explained.
"Even though you aren't home, she is still busy."
Snow frowned and sat down next to Emma on the couch.
"She read to me last night. Henry let me borrow a book."
"She did?"
"Yeah, not very long cause I got sleepy."
"Does she do that a lot, read to you before bed?"
"Sometimes. Sometimes my father comes in and I have to leave."
Emma paused, considering if she should go down the line of questioning she was considering.
"Does your father and the queen get along well?"
"Married people love each other."
"Ok, but does he treat her right?"
Snow looked at her as if she was confused by the question.
"You said earlier that you were afraid that your dad would be angry at Regina over the magic, does he get mad at her often?"
"Father yells sometimes, never in front of me, but I've heard him before. But he is king and that is a hard job and he loves Regina, I know he does. He fell in love with her as soon as he met her just like it's supposed to be. That's what it is going to be like for me one day when I find my true love," Snow said.
From what she knew of her parents' past it wasn't an immediate love at first sight, but Emma wasn't about to burst Snow's bubble on that one. She also had her doubts given what she knew of Regina's past that she in anyway loved the king – and she had her doubts as to his love for Regina. This was another reason why she needed to find some third-party who could explain the goings on of the Enchanted Forest to her.
Then it occurred to her – Granny. She always seemed to know what was going on in Storybrooke whether she was directly involved with matters or not. Surely, she was the same in the Enchanted Forest.
"Hey, why don't we go someplace for breakfast, rather than cooking a meal here. It would allow Regina to maybe have some free time later in the day for you to spend with her," Emma said. "How does that sound?"
"What do you mean go someplace? We always have our meals in the castle."
"Sure, but here in this world, we have places we can go and get a meal. Kind of like how we went out and got you clothes," Emma said. "Trust me, it will be better than Regina having to cook for us all."
"She shouldn't be cooking at all," Snow said, some of that petulance coming back. "Why aren't there more servants around here?"
"That's just not how things work in this world," Emma said. "Look, I get it, things are really different here from where you are from and it will take a while to get used to, but this world isn't so bad."
"I don't want to get used to it, I just want to go home," Snow said.
"I know you do," Emma replied, putting an arm around her. "And I promise I'm going to do whatever I can to make this right again."
….
Regina took her time that morning before going into the office. She had her home to herself and she was taking a moment to enjoy that. Emma had left with her father, Henry and Snow to go eat at the diner. They had invited her, but she had turned them down, telling them she needed to get some work done.
It wasn't a full lie, she always had things to get done, but she didn't have anything pressing she needed to deal with, which was why she was taking her time. Snow had again slept in her bed last night after falling asleep while listening to her read Harry Potter.
Regina had considered moving her into the guest room, but didn't. She had a lot on her mind – and not just with the young Snow. The realization that this was all happening because Emma wanted to date her had surprised her.
They had become closer – spending time with each other and not just for magical lessons.
Still, she hadn't expected that Emma thought of her in that way.
She had always found Emma to be attractive but she had never entertained the thought of them being together. It seemed ridiculous to her – and for the simple reason of her past with Emma's parents. Yes, it was more so Snow than Charming, but either way the idea that the daughter of Snow White was interested in the Evil Queen was ludicrous.
Yet, Regina now found the thought of it impossible to get out of her mind. Did she want to go on a date with Emma? And if she did, what would they do on this date? And if it went well, then what? And if it went poorly, then what? She had a hundred questions swirling in her brain about this.
She wished she had someone she could talk to about this, but frankly the person she was closest to in this world outside of Henry was Emma.
Of course, all of this was moot since they would never go on a date because of Snow.
Regina saw no way out of this wish that Emma had made. Yes, she was done being at odds with Snow the adult, but this wasn't adult Snow. This was a child, a child who Regina had come to hate, whom she had blamed for the direction her life had gone in. This child who was so naïve she didn't even see how horribly Regina was treated by her father.
She had managed to lock away those memories of her forced marriage to the far recesses of her mind, but seeing young Snow was just bringing it all back.
How could she make amends with a child who didn't even know they were at odds?
….
Emma excused herself from the table after inhaling her food, so she could speak with Granny. Going up to the counter, she asked Granny to come down to the end.
"I'm a little busy for chit-chat," the older woman said.
"I know, but I was wondering if you had some time later that you and I could speak," Emma said.
Granny looked over the table she had just come from. "I assume this has something to do with Snow," Granny said. "It got all around town yesterday when you took her clothes shopping. Magical lessons not going well?"
"Something like that," Emma said. "Anyway, she is sort of stuck in that form for a while and I was hoping I could speak with you later about the Enchanted Forest."
"Why?"
"Well, it's complicated. Let's just say I have no knowledge of that place for the most part and I would rather speak with you about it," Emma said.
Granny gave her one of those appraising looks as if deciding whether to call her out on this, but instead she nodded.
"Come after the lunch crowd," Granny said. "I'll make some time then, not a lot of time mind you, so why don't you tell me specifically what you are wanting to know about so I can get straight to the point."
Emma glanced back at the table and then to Granny. "I need to know about Regina's marriage to the king."
Emma was surprised when Granny asked her, "Are you sure that's a road you want to go down? You might learn things you don't want to know."
"I know," Emma said. "But I don't see any choice. I need to know why all of this happened. I need to know why Regina and my mom became the people they did."
