One Week Ago:

Regina leaned forwards against the front door that had just closed behind her, her palms and forehead rested against the cool white surface.

This was it, he had really left. What on earth was she going to do now? She had been trying so hard to win his affection back, but her efforts had come too late; he was gone forever. Sure she would get to see him again occasionally, but it would never be the same as it used to be. To Henry, she would be just like one of those distant relatives some people have, those of which are visited with only out of obligation, and usually only once or twice a year during holidays or special occasions.

Summoning up the will to make herself move, she turned around and took in the room in front of her. The foyer was exactly as it had been only a few minutes ago, and yet everything looked completely wrong and out of place. Henry's absence from the house seemed to cause the whole meaning of the word 'home' to change. Home should be the place where one's family is, but Regina Mills no longer had a family, and therefore she felt like she no longer had a home either.

She began to move forward but had no idea of what to do next. She felt lost, and as a result, she ended up just walking slowly throughout the house. It was far too quiet, and felt way too big for only one person.

As she completed a circle of the main floor, she noticed something lying at the top of the winding staircase. After climbing a few of the steps she recognised it as a teddy bear. It had been Henry's favourite toy when he was a toddler, he had never gone anywhere without it. Regina smiled sadly as she picked up the fluffy, light-brown stuffed animal. It must have fallen out of the last box that Emma had carried down to her car, Regina thought to herself.

If only Henry could have stayed that age forever. Back then he had loved her, truly loved her. He actually wanted to spend time with her and always had absolute and undoubting faith in her. She remembered him being so smart already, and remembered herself being so proud to watch him grow up. If only she had known then what was to come, she would have cherished that time much more dearly.

Hugging the teddy bear to her abdomen, she ascended the rest of the staircase and soon found herself outside of Henry's room. No, his old room. Regina held on to the door frame, almost afraid to enter. To step inside and to see all of his personal belongings cleared away would mean Henry was officially gone.

"Don't be ridiculous." She told herself. "You know damned well he's already gone."

Taking a cautious step forward, she entered the room. Most of the furniture was still there, but the shelves and surfaces were completely empty. Standing there in the middle of the room and holding her only relic from Henry's childhood, she felt incredibly alone.

Regina sat down on the bed, hugging the somewhat floppy and worn out stuffed animal to her chest. She allowed herself to cry until she had no more tears left in her to shed.

Present Day:

Henry awoke at 6:30 in the morning. He had originally set his alarm clock so that he could have plenty of time to get ready for his new school, but now instead he lay there thinking about his trip back to Storybrooke. Sleeping hadn't made him change his mind, in fact he was more set than before on going back. He threw the covers back excitedly and hopped out of bed. He walked over to Emma's room, she had left her door open and Henry half-stepped inside.

"Emma?" He whispered.

She was fast asleep and didn't respond.

"Emma?" He said louder.

The blonde stirred, groaning.

"Emma!"

She quickly sat up in a panic, "What! What is it?"

"It's 6:30."

"Okay...?"

"So I think you should get up."

"Oh." She slumped back into the pillows, now wide awake.

Henry entered the room and sat on her bed as she allowed her body to catch up with her mind.

"Kid... don't scare me like that."

"Sorry," Henry grinned.

Emma sat grudgingly back up and slid her legs out from under the covers, yawning into her hand.

"Why are you up so early? Did you decide to give your new school a chance after all?"

"No, I just forgot to turn off my alarm."

"Oh..."

"I want to go back Emma."

She nodded. "Alright... why don't we talk about it over breakfast?"

"Okay."

"I'm just going to go have a quick shower, but why don't you get dressed and give it some more thought. I want you to really think about it because we can't keep moving back and forth like this. If you go back you're going to have to commit to it... for now at least. If you go back to Storybrooke only to end up leaving again, think about what it will do to your mom. She'd be devastated. So I want you to be absolutely sure, without a doubt, positive that you don't want to stay here okay?"

"Okay." Henry said again, although he was certain he had already made up his mind.

fifteen minutes later

Emma and Henry were sitting on bar stools at the kitchen counter, they both had a bowl of Fruit Loops in front of them and Emma had a fresh mug of coffee in her hand.

"I want you to think about the reasons why you wanted to leave Storybrooke in the first place." Emma said. "Do you remember what they were?"

Henry thought. "I didn't want to be sad anymore. I thought it was my mom's fault."

"But you don't anymore?"

Henry chewed a spoonful of cereal as he thought. "Now I'm not so sure. I don't really feel any different here, except now I'm missing home too."

"I think you just need to give it some time. You're going through a rough patch, those can be really hard to overcome and you only just got here, everything is still unfamiliar and new which is probably adding to your stress. Once you've settled in I'm sure you will feel much differently, this can grow to be your home too."

Henry shrugged. "I don't know."

"Listen, I'll go with whatever it is you decide on, but my instincts are telling me that you should stay here. At least for one school term. That way you will really know if Boston is the right place for you or not. You'll never know if you don't give it a chance."

Henry thought about it and was starting to feel anxious. Emma was right. This was a really big and spur of the moment decision and it was going to affect a lot of people, including the new school and both of his mothers. But he had already gotten so excited about going back... They ate in silence for a while as Henry's thoughts conflicted him.

After a few minutes Emma spoke up. "You said you thought it was your mom's fault that you were unhappy. Why did you think that?"

Henry remained silent for a while. "I think because... she was always so busy and didn't seem to have enough time for me."

"If you went back," Emma continued softly, "why would it be any different than it was before?" Emma wasn't saying this simply to upset him, she just didn't want to send him back if he was going to end up regretting it.

"Because last night I was remembering how she started acting after I asked her if I could move in with you. She started trying to talk to me a lot more and tried to spend more time with me, but I wouldn't let her because I was still mad at her and I thought... I thought she didn't deserve it. I thought she had lost her chance. But I think maybe it was partly my fault that we stopped being as close as we used to. I blamed her for not paying enough attention to me, but I know that I was the one who stopped wanting to spend time with her first."

Emma had stopped eating to listen to him. "Henry you can't blame this on yourself." She said gently. "There must have been a reason you pulled away from Regina."

"I don't even remember why now." Henry said guiltily. "I just know that it was stupid and I wish I never did. A few days before we left she told me that if I stayed with her she promised she would try really hard to be a better mom. I thought she was lying and was just saying that to get me to stay, but I think she might actually have been telling the truth and I want to give her another chance. I miss her, and not just because I'm here, I think I missed her before we left."

Emma heartbrokenly listened to the burdens of the ten-year old; he was much too young to have to be dealing with all of this. "So what happens when you go back to Storybrooke? Do you think everything will magically be better? As much as I want to believe it for your sake, that's just not how these things usually go."

"I still think we have to try."

"You've reached your final decision then?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll talk to your new school later and tell them what's going on." She reached out and patted his hand. "I hope this all works out. I really do."

"Me too. Thanks Emma."

She stood up to clear her empty breakfast bowl away.

"Oh, and Emma?"

She looked at him expectantly.

"I'm sorry I put you through this."

Emma smiled. "Don't worry about me kid. I'm made of strong stuff." She put the bowl back on the counter and pulled him into a big hug which he gladly returned. "Now, why don't you go try calling your mom again."

"Good idea." He bounded off towards his room to get the phone.

He was going home.