Chapter 6- Operation Phoenix

Emma slumps down onto her mothers couch with a grunt. She runs her fingers through her curls and leans her head back, staring at nothing but the ceiling above. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't stop thinking about Regina and their last encounter.

"She'll come around, Emma," Mary-Margret says as she folds laundry and separates the clothing into three neat piles. "Just give her some time."

"We haven't spoken in a week."

Mary-Margret stores away the empty laundry basket and picks up one of the piles of clothing. She looks over at Emma. "Think about it. You threw a lot of information at her the last time you spoke and she needs time to process everything. She spent the last two years believing that Robin was her true love. Then in one day, a stranger, who also happens to be her son's birth mother, comes along and tells her that she never truly loved him. See where I'm going with this?"

Emma sits up. "Yea, I get it. I just want to talk to her."

"And you will," Mary-Margret reassures her. "If there's a soft spot in Regina's heart for anyone other than Henry, it's most definitely for you."

"But that's just it! It's me! She took a spell to forget her true love and she forgot me!" Emma yells, completely dumbfounded. She brings her hand up to her forehead and exhales. "How could I be her true love? And how could she not have known? None of it makes any sense."

"Some people choose to ignore what they truly feel," Mary-Margret states, her tone falling soft. "Regina may have loved Robin but clearly she was never in love with him. And anyone with eyes could see how she feels about you, the memory potion was just a way of confirming it."

Emma furrows her brows. "You mean you knew and never thought to tell me?"

"Well I never knew for sure, it's just something I suspected. Especially after seeing her behaviour while you were hospitalized," Mary-Margret explains. "At first I thought she was visiting you out of guilt, but she never left your side. She didn't let a soul touch you until she knew exactly what they were about to do. It came to the point where David and I had to force her to go home and get some rest because she refused to leave. She was worried about you even after she healed you."

A pleasant shot of electricity makes its way into Emma's chest and a smile reaches her lips. She knew Regina had made frequent visits while she was in the hospital, but not to the extent that her mother had just described.

"So you aren't the least bit surprised about all this?" Emma asks.

Mary-Margret laughs. She puts the last pile of clothing into its respective drawer. "Are you? I can't say I wasn't shocked at first but when I really thought about it, it made sense. Let's face it, Regina is good at many things, but hiding her emotions is not one of them."

That much was true. When Regina felt something, she felt it with her entire being. No matter what the emotion, signs of it were bound to slip out no matter how hard she tried to conceal it. It's both a blessing and a curse to feel as deeply as she does. Emma just can't believe that she'd been so focused on protecting Regina from her dark emotions, she hadn't even payed attention to the positive ones. Her mother on the other hand, seemed to have pieced the puzzle together without a problem.

"Just give her some space for now," Mary-Margret continues as she heads over to the kitchen. "Let her reach out to you. Besides, I don't think she's the only one who needs time to think about all this new information."

"If you're talking about me, I've done all my thinking."

"If you say so," Mary-Margret smirks. "How's Henry handling all this?"

Emma shrugs, happy for the change in topic. "Alright I guess. He understands how things need to be for now, probably more than I do for that matter. I'm just grateful that Regina and I have been able to share time with him the way we have."

"And how's that been working out?" Mary-Margret asks.

"Pretty great actually," Emma admits. She joins her mother in the kitchen, propping herself up on the stool opposite of the sink. "Regina actually suggested that we create an evenly divided schedule so that we'd both have equal time with him. If only it had been that easy five years ago."

Mary-Margret laughs as she begins to rinse the dirty dishes in the sink. "We've all come a long way since then."

Emma nods in agreement.

The last five years had been a jumble of life-altering events and as a result to that, her relationship with Regina had drastically changed since the day they first met. They've shared five eventful years of growth and development, and Regina doesn't remember a single moment of it. Her memories, her thoughts, her feelings, everything related to Emma is gone.

Maybe Emma had more to think about than she let herself believe.

"Is Henry with you tonight?" Mary-Margret asks.

Emma leans over the counter, resting her chin over her fists. "No, I'm bringing him over to Regina's after he finishes school."

"You better get going then," Mary-Margret says with a laugh, gesturing past Emma to the clock that hangs on the wall behind her.

Emma whirls around. Based on what the clock reads, she should have left already. Henry would be finishing school shortly and though he won't necessarily mind that Emma is a few minutes late, Regina will. Emma knows Regina values punctuality and she made it clear while they made this arrangement that Emma was not to be late on a single occasion. She hadn't been late yet and she wasn't about to start now.

The goal is to get her and Regina back on speaking terms and pissing her off even slightly wasn't going to accomplish that.

"Right, thanks," Emma says with a smile. She gets up off the stool and tucks it back under the counter. She looks up at her mother with a hopeful gaze. "We're going to get her out of this right?"

Mary-Margret nods. "We'll find away. With this family, we always do."

Emma speeds down main street, pulling a dead stop right in front of Henry's school. She rolls down her window and peeps her head out. By the looks of it, the school bell hadn't even rung yet. Emma exhales in relief, leaning back into the driver's seat. She made it, and with time to spare.

Seconds after the bell rings, a herd of children push their way through the doors. Emma keeps her eyes peeled for Henry, hoping he'd manage to spot her yellow bug through the swarm of kids that spill onto school grounds.

"Mom, unlock the door," Henry's voice sounds from the passenger side of the car.

Emma turns around. Sure enough, her son stands on the other side of the door in his black fall coat and wrapped in his grey and red, striped scarf. He waves at her with a sly smile. She lets out a laugh and unlocks the passenger's side. "Hey, kid. How was your day?"

"It was fine," Henry shrugs as he gets into the car. "So have you spoken to mom?"

Henry always did have a way of getting straight to the point, something he and Regina have in common. Emma shakes her head as she puts the car into drive. "No, as much as I've wanted to, she needs her space."

"We need a plan, a way to get her memories back."

"We?"

"Yea. We'll call it—" he stops to think for a moment. "—Operation Phoenix."

Emma takes a quick glance at her son before looking back at the road. "Interesting choice. Why Phoenix?"

"Reminds me of mom," he says simply as he adjusts his scarf.

If she thinks about the animal's symbolism, Regina certainly does fit the description. It warms Emma's heart to know that Henry sees his other mother as such an emotionally strong and capable woman. She smiles at the sentiment. "It's perfect."

"Where should we start?"

Emma checks the time indicated on her dashboard. There's enough time to make a short pit stop before heading to Regina's. She quickly turns the wheel and makes an abrupt turn onto Main Street. "Gold. Magic got Regina into this, so we'll need magic to get her out."

"Are you sure that's such a good idea?" he asks.

Emma pulls over by Gold's shop and puts her bug into park. "We gotta start somewhere, kid. I'm gonna go in and ask him a few questions, you stay in the car."

"But—"

"Stay here," she demands.

"Fine."

Bells chime as Emma opens the door to the shop. Although Gold isn't exactly known for his desire to help out of sheer kindness, his experience with magic surpasses everyone else in the town. He's bound to hold some answers as to how Regina can get her memories back. Emma doesn't care about the price, she just wants all of this to be over with and frankly, she misses Regina.

Gold steps out from the back of the shop, wiping down a bronze trinket with a small cloth. "Miss Swan, what pleasure to see you back in one piece."

"We have a different problem on our hands."

He nods with a smile and holds up the bronze object to the light to ensure he hadn't missed any spots. "Ah, yes. Regina."

"Right," she stares at him with furrowed brows. "How did you know?"

"News travels rather quickly in this town," Gold states. He places the object down onto the glass counter, finally making eye contact with Emma. "I suppose you're looking for an elixir?"

"I'm not really sure what I'm looking for, I just hoped you'd be able to help somehow. Whatever your price is, I'll pay it."

A wide grin develops across his face. "Quite determined are we?"

Heat inches its way up Emma's neck. "Can you help or not?"

"Unfortunately for you Miss Swan, conjured magic will not reverse this rather unfortunate incident," Gold states as we walks around the glass counter.

Emma's shakes her head in confusion. "So that's it? We just let her think that I was never a part of her life?"

"I'm afraid so," he says. "She manipulated the spell to target true love."

"I know that."

"Then you'll also know that there's only one thing that can break it. And since she doesn't know who you are, it might be hard to come by."

Of course it is. Regina definitely wouldn't have wanted to make reversing the spell so easy. What would be the fun in that? Emma rolls her eyes as she places her hands on her hips. "Let me guess, true love's kiss?"

She hears the words come out of her mouth. Oddly enough, the thought of it sends a warm, tingling feeling up and down Emma's core. Something about the possible solution seems natural, and to Emma's surprise, she doesn't find herself rejecting the idea. But Regina would. Like Gold said, she has no idea who Emma is.

The warm feeling in Emma's chest disappears in a flash, disappointment taking its place.

Gold shakes his head. "In this case, you may need something stronger than a simple kiss."

"Like what?"

"The most powerful act of true love. Sacrifice."

A loud thud sounds from the back of the shop. Emma jumps, snapping her gaze to the direction of the sound. She looks at Mr. Gold and raises her index finger to her lips. As she takes quiet steps toward the back of the shop, she hears another bang, this time followed by quick footsteps. Whoever it is, they're running. Emma sprints to the back but she's too late. The crook had escaped.

She looks around for any possible escape routes, noticing the back window had been opened, leaving a space large enough to fit a whole person. Though how big a person, Emma isn't sure. The window isn't exactly the largest in size; she definitely couldn't fit through that even if she tried.

"Who on earth had the audacity to sneak into my shop?" Mr. Gold demands from the doorway.

Emma moves closer to the window and continues to examine. "I'm not sure, but based on the looks of it, they weren't your average height…or size for that matter."

"What makes you believe that?"

Emma points to the open window. "There isn't any other exit point than that window. It's not exactly the kind of window you and I could fit through with ease."

Mr. Gold approaches the window. "You best hope you find this person before I do."

"I'll send David to search for more clues," Emma says as she pulls out her phone and types in a text to her father. "For now, try to see if anything is missing."

She catches a glimpse of the time as she slips her phone back into her pocket. Her eyes widen. She'd been here almost twenty minutes and Henry was supposed to be at Regina's ten minutes ago.

"I gotta go, David will be here soon," Emma says quickly. She starts to make her way past Mr. Gold and out of the shop.

Mr. Gold stops her. "I must warn you, the path you're about to embark on is not an easy one. I've seen this kind of spell in full effect before."

"I'll find a way," Emma brushes past him before turning back around. "What do I owe you?"

He rests both hands on his cane. "This one's on the house."

The car ride to Regina's is unusually quiet. Henry sits in the passenger seat and stares straight ahead, his face drained of all colour like he'd just seen a ghost. Emma's glance shifts between the road and her son. She's never seen him so distant before.

"Everything okay kid?" she asks.

He nods.

Emma isn't satisfied with his response, all too aware he's keeping something in. His pensive state is nothing similar to the optimistic, curious and lively Henry Emma knows and loves. How could his mood have changed so drastically? She knows prying into his thoughts would likely ruin the chances of him actually sharing them so Emma decides against it. She lets him be, hoping he'd eventually talk about what's on his mind, if not with her, then with Regina.

After all, it isn't like Emma is in the best of moods either. She left Gold's shop feeling more uneasy and uncertain about the whole situation than she did walking in. There was no real answer to Regina's problem, only one very vague possible solution. Sacrifice. She can't plan towards that. She can't use her magic to help. She can't take action. If sacrifice is the only way to help Regina regain her memories, then that means all Emma can do is wait, and waiting for things to unfold isn't exactly her forte.

The uncomfortable silence between Emma and Henry comes to an end when they pull up into Regina's driveway.

Henry turns to Emma before stepping out of the bug. "You should come inside."

"I'll try talking to her," Emma says with a nod.

Emma's heart beats harder against her chest with each step toward Regina's door. She's walked down this stone pathway dozens of times but this time is different. Everything is.

Henry rings the doorbell and before Emma can even take a breath, the door swings open.

"Is everything alright? What took so long?" Regina asks.

Emma feels Regina's glare drill through her. Before getting into what will most likely be a heated conversation, she hugs Henry goodbye and gestures him to go inside. He nods. Regina happily greets him with a kiss on the forehead and a glowing smile, one that touches every corner of Emma's heart. If only it had been directed towards her.

Henry closes the door behind him, leaving her and Regina outside on the porch. The glowing smile is wiped away in a flash and replaced with the hard glare from earlier.

Emma sighs, unable to take her eyes off the ground beneath her feet. "I'm sorry, Regina, I made a little pit stop on the way over here and lost track of time."

"Okay, I was just—" She stops.

Emma's jerks her head up and eyes Regina with furrowed brows. Her complexion is much paler than usual and is a stark contrast to the dark circles that encompass her eyes.

Regina closes her eyes and brings a hand up to her forehead, using her other hand to search for something to lean on. Something isn't right.

Emma lurches forward and reaches for Regina's free hand. She pulls her in, keeping her steady with both hands; one placed delicately on her lower back, and the other firmly laced between Regina's fingers.

"Are you okay?" Emma asks.

Regina slips out of Emma's hold. "I'm fine, just feeling light headed. Thank you for bringing Henry."

She offers a slight smile and heads back inside.

Though Regina gave her a smile, Emma knows it was forced. Not out of anger or annoyance, but due to that fact that she clearly isn't well. It's as though she suddenly didn't have the strength to bring a smile to her face.

Emma's stomach coils. Could this have something to do with he spell? Some sort of side effect? Gold warned her that he'd seen the spell in full effect before and that it wouldn't be easy. Is this what he meant? She'd have to talk to Regina about any other symptoms she might be feeling and talk about it with Gold. Although, it might be a little easier said than done considering Regina doesn't of think Emma as anything more than Henry's birth mother. Emma needs to somehow regain Regina's trust if she wants to be seen as anything else.

She'd let her be for now, but not without reassurance. She needs a pair of eyes on the inside. Emma reaches for her phone in her pocket and sends Henry a text message.

Regina didn't look so well after you went inside. Call me if she needs anything, okay?

Emma waits for his reply before getting back into her car.

Not long after, the phone vibrates in her hands.

I will. Operation Phoenix is still a go.

Emma dreads the drive back home. When she first told Hook about Regina's mishap, and how she loved Emma all along, Hook hadn't taken it too well. Everyone else in town seemed to have seen it coming and barely showed any sign of surprise. Hook's reaction was sort of…well the same, but with a ton of jealousy added on. He prefers not to hear anything Regina related anymore, which Emma understands completely—Regina is pretty much all she's been talking about since Robin's passing—but what she can't wrap her head around is that he feels threatened by the whole thing. As though Emma finding out about Regina, would change everything.

Would it? She won't deny the short bursts of excitement that race through her from time to time whenever Regina comes to mind, but surely it didn't mean anything serious enough to break the relationship between her and Hook. Then again, why would Hook feel so insecure?

Her mother was right. Emma hadn't really done much thinking after all.

When she walks into the house, she's immediately greeted by the fresh scent of basil and garlic. Had Killian cooked? She slides her leather jacket off and throws it over the back of the couch before taking reluctant steps to the kitchen.

Emma stops at the corner of the dinning table and crosses her arms, watching Hook stir what looks like a pretty big pot of tomato sauce.

He turns to her with a beaming smile. "Hello, love. I hope you're hungry."

Truth is, with all that's going on, Emma's too stressed to even think about eating, but she wasn't about to tell Hook that. Based on the condition of the kitchen, he had clearly put in a lot of work to make a decent dinner and she doesn't want to ruin that. She walks over to him and nods. "I'll set the table."