Hey! I know this is a shorter update, but it would have been adding unnecessary stuff to make it longer, so I didn't! Hope you like it! Please review and let me know what you think!

Snow practically jumped into David's arms, and he pulled her into a tight hug. Regina shifted awkwardly beside them. Her eyes flickered to a clock on the wall and it was late evening in Storybrooke. She frowned, not realizing there would be a difference in the time. When David let go of his wife, Regina nudged him and pointed to the clock.

"We left in the morning, though?" he said, confusion etched in his features.

Realizing that there must have been a time difference or something, Regina asked, "Snow, how long were we gone?"

"Ten days. How did you get back? I didn't know there were mirror portals that led here!" she answered, looking at David as she spoke, but David's eyes were on Regina.

"That can't be right. We were gone over three weeks!"

"Yes, I'm not sure how it works, but apparently time is different here than in the Enchanted Forest. Perhaps you should ask Rumplestiltskin," she countered.

Snow shook her head slowly. "Why would David need to? You're the one who created this mess!"

"Forgive me for not wanting to talk to the man that put a death sentence on my life that caused this in the first place!" Regina snapped.

"No, she's right, Snow. I don't want her anywhere near Gold," David argued defensively. "I'll talk to him tomorrow."

"Where's my son?" Regina asked, moving further into the apartment to look around for Henry.

"He and Emma went out for ice cream," the other woman muttered. "You can go home, I'll tell him you're back and he can decide for himself if he wants to see you. You shouldn't be here when he gets back."

"Excuse me?"

Snow looked as though she was trying to gather her gumption. "Well, we shouldn't force him to see you if he isn't ready," she answered meekly.

"Snow, he's her son! Of course he'll want to see her," David argued, surprising Regina.

The front door opened and Regina's head shot up, suddenly nervous that maybe Snow was right, maybe Henry didn't want to see her.

Her worries were put to rest when Henry saw David and smiled excitedly, then he rounded the corner and saw Regina. It only took half a second from then until his body was slamming into hers, his face burying into her neck. When he pulled away, he looked up at her with amazement. "You're back!"

"Yes, sweetheart. I'm back." Her eyes flickered to David, and she amended, "We're back."

"How did you do it?"

"David and I built a mirror portal. We just came through," Regina answered, cupping his face and looking at him lovingly. He didn't hate her. He was happy she was back.

Henry turned to look at David with wide eyes. "You did?" he asked, his voice taking a tone of amazement.

"Hey, don't look at me," David answered. "I just did the heavy lifting, your mom did all the work. It was impressive. Her power and magic got us back here."

"You're still using magic?" Henry asked, turning to look at Regina sadly. "I hoped you wouldn't use magic anymore. It's bad."

Tears threatened to raise in Regina's eyes, and she looked at her son with the same sad look he was giving her.

"Henry," David said, bending slightly to look the boy in the eye. "If your mom hadn't used magic, we wouldn't be here. She did so much good for us, and she saved me many times with it. And she saved our friends, too."

Taking in David's words, Henry nodded slowly. "You made friends?"

Regina cupped Henry's chin, tilting it up to look at her. "We did. You'll know of them, of course. Mulan and Aurora."

"Sleeping Beauty? But I thought she was asleep?"

"True love's kiss woke her. Just like with David and Snow. But yes, they helped us with our journey to get back to you. To get David back to... to Snow and Emma."

As though hearing his daughter's name shocked him from the moment, David looked at her, taking her in. He reached for her, pulling her into a hug, his hand cupping the back of her head. "I've missed you," he whispered, tears filling his eyes. "It's good to be back."

"Uh, yeah. It's good to have you back, David," Emma answered, hugging him back hesitantly.

Regina looked down at Henry again, giving him a soft smile. "You just got back from having ice cream?"

"Yep! Rocky road!"

Chuckling, she smiled and ran her fingers through his hair. "That's my boy." Regina hesitated, looking at the other adults, then bending to look him in the eyes. "I'm going to go home now, but maybe... maybe you can come see me soon?"

"Okay," Henry said, nodding eagerly. "Maybe tomorrow?"

"I'm not sure that's the best idea, Henry," Emma interjected.

"And you say this as the person who has been parenting for all of five seconds?" Regina snapped.

David stepped between the women, resting one hand on Regina's shoulder and shaking his head. "I'll go tomorrow with Henry," he said, looking between his daughter and Regina. "And if everything goes smoothly, which I have no doubts that it will, Regina gets to see her son as much as he wants."

"What the hell are you thinking, David?" Emma growled.

"We can't trust her," Snow cut in.

"Yes, we can." David looked at his family and shook his head. "Regina is my friend, and I trust her, with my life in fact, so for now you're going to have to trust me."

Regina sighed, nodding slowly in agreement to having David there for her to see Henry. At least it was David and not one of the others. "So, tomorrow?" Regina asked Henry, squeezing his shoulder.

He nodded eagerly, wrapping his arms around his mother's waist in another hug. "I'm really glad you're back."

"Me too, sweetheart." She pulled away from him, giving him a soft smile. "I'd better get going, but I'll see you then. I love you."

"I love you, too, mom."

Regina felt her lip quivering a little at his easy reply, and she quickly covered it with another smile. Moving away from him, she nodded at the three adults and started making her way to the door. David hesitated, looking at Snow quickly, then following Regina.

"Let me drive you home," he offered, ever the gentleman.

"No, that's okay," Regina declined, pulling the door open.

"Just let me. You live all the way across town and... and we don't know how people will react to you being back."

Her eyes flicked to Snow, who looked utterly perplexed. She opened her mouth to argue it again, but something pleading in David's expression had her nodding. "Okay. Thank you. And would it be okay if we stopped at the grocery store, too? I doubt anything in my house is edible."

"Yeah. Just uh, let me grab my keys." David moved back toward Snow, squeezing her arm and telling her he'd be back soon. His eyes swept the kitchen, but Snow moved toward the row of hooks by the door, reaching into one of the coats and taking out his keys.

"Here you go," she said softly, resigned and disappointed at his need to get Regina home safely.

David walked back to the door, taking the keys from her and nodding. "Thanks, I'll see you soon," he reminded her, then motioned for Regina to go ahead of him.

Neither of them spoke on their walk down to his car, nor when he started the engine and put it in gear. It wasn't until they were on their way to the grocery store that David murmured, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be using you to avoid my family."

"Why are you?" she asked softly.

"I just... I know we've been trying to get back, and it feels good to be home, to see them again, but it also feels like a lot of pressure."

"I can imagine. David, it'll be alright. Snow loves you, and Emma will learn to. Just relax; don't think about the pressure."

"She was so closed off when we were pulled through the hat, she didn't even want to talk about us being her parents, and when Snow pushed, she was upset with us for not letting her be cursed with us."

Regina reached over, resting her hand on his arm. "David, just make it clear you're there for her, and then let her come to you. And you have a good reason for not letting her be cursed, explain that."

"We tried. She didn't want to hear it."

"Maybe Snow made some progress while we were away."

"Yeah, maybe she did."

They didn't talk much after that, but David took comfort in the fact that he was still, for the time being, in her company. When he pulled into the parking lot for the grocery store, he squeezed her hand lightly, then reminded her that no one would bother her if she was with him. Regina gave him an uneasy nod, and they headed inside.

It was a quick trip, picking up simple necessities for her refrigerator, and some easy meals for her to make for herself. She didn't know how often Henry would be with her, or if he would bother to actually return home at all, at least with any type of permanence. She hated that thought; it was his home for his entire life, and now Emma was acting as though Regina couldn't be trusted, as if she couldn't mother her son. Sure, she'd been the Evil Queen, but she was, at the very least, a decent mother to Henry. She taught him well, gave him anything he needed and most of what he wanted. She'd raised him.

David had been right, nobody bothered them at the store, aside from a few wayward glances. She'd realized she didn't have her purse with her, so David asked the clerk kindly to let him return the next day to pay for the groceries, and since he was their Prince, the clerk had allowed it. They left the store, returning to the truck with two bags full of her chosen items.

Regina chuckled softly to herself when David loaded up his arms with her groceries and they started up the walk to her house.

"What's funny?" David asked.

"Deja vu?"

"Ah. Yeah, this is familiar, isn't it?"

Regina nodded and grabbed the door handle, having already forgotten again she didn't have her purse, so she also didn't have her keys. Shrugging, she waved her hand over it and unlocked the door. She stepped inside, holding the door for David and closing it once he was inside. They headed into her kitchen and Regina looked around with a furrowed brow.

"Time really was different here. I thought maybe Snow was... I don't know, confused or something." She noted the apples in the bowl on her island were slightly wrinkled, but not as rotted as they should have been for how much time had passed in the Enchanted Forest.

David laughed lightly, shaking his head. "You thought she was confused about how much time had passed?"

Regina gave a soft hum, searching through the bags he'd set down and pulling out like items. She put some of the refrigerated items away, moving through to check for any spoiled foods. "Well, she was probably beside herself, she could very well have been in denial or something. She's not exactly-" Regina cut herself off, looking at him apologetically. After a pause she said, "You should go home, David."

"I know. I am."

Regina turned to look at him, noticing that he was still standing in the same spot by the island and watching her. She walked to him, taking his hand and tugging him to face her. "Dear, you will be fine. Just settle your nerves about Emma, and be yourself, she'll love you, she's your daughter."

"Thanks, Regina. See me out?"

She nodded, walking with him to the door. David turned, pulling her into a hug. Regina hesitated a moment, then brought her arms up around his shoulders, her elbows bent crossing her forearms around his neck.

"You'll be fine," she told him again, this time as a soft whisper into his ear. "I promise. And if you need to talk, I'm here. Okay?" Regina said the words, not really believing he would come to her, not once he settled back in with his family and their bad views of her.

David nodded, pulling from the hug slowly. "Thank you. I'll see you tomorrow, with Henry."

Giving a curt nod, Regina moved to open the door, letting him out. "See you then." Once he was gone, she closed and locked the door, leaning against it and sighing. She was all alone again.