"Henry?" Emma called from the front door. "It's time to go! You ready?"

The ten year old was in his mother's room, having gone up to see if she wanted to come with them to drop him off at school. He had expected to find her fixing her make-up, brushing her teeth or something else along those lines. Instead he had found that she had already gone back to bed. She was curled on her side, crinkling the clothes she had only just put on less than two hours previously. One thing she had done however, was take off the black blazer she had been wearing over a white blouse and black business vest.

Henry had already said her name a few times but she hadn't reacted. After that he knew he shouldn't try any harder to wake her. If he did he would only disrupt her rest, and it most likely wouldn't result in her coming with them anyway.

"Henry!" Emma said, slightly breathless after rushing up the stairs in search of him. "What are you doing? We have to– Oh..."

Emma stopped when she saw him standing with his back to her, his attention focused solely on his adoptive mother. The blonde folded her arms heartbrokenly. Henry had been trying so hard to spend time with his mother lately but most of the time she was either resting or felt too poorly to leave the house. Most of the time the three of them ended up tucked under a few blankets on the sofa watching a movie. Emma knew Henry appreciated these moments, but she also knew they weren't enough.

Emma stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Why don't we just let her sleep for now Henry. I'll ask her if she wants to come with me when I pick you up after school alright?"

"I guess..."

"Come on, we're gonna be late."

The ten year old remained standing there, staring at his mother as if hoping it would wake her up.

"Henry." Emma insisted.

He placed a gentle hand on Regina's arm.

"Bye Mom." He said quietly to the sleeping brunette.

He glanced back at his mother one more time before entering the hallway and following his birthmother towards the car.

"Sorry Henry." Emma said. "I know you wanted her to come with us... But I'm not surprised she went back to bed. She wasn't feeling very well this morning."

"She's never feeling very well." Henry muttered.

Emma looked at him sideways. "Henry, you know it's not her fault." She reminded him softly. "She wishes she could spend more time with you too."

"I know..." Henry said sadly before they each went to their side of the car and got in.

"Emma?" Henry asked as he was putting his seatbelt on. "Why does my mom sleep so much now?"

Emma sighed internally as she started the engine. She didn't look at him and instead proceeded to pull out of the driveway. She wanted to tell Henry the truth, she knew he could probably handle it but Regina had asked her not to.

"Your mom's been through a lot kid. She's still recovering. What happened to Regina a few weeks ago was really hard on her. Both physically and emotionally. Sleep is the body's most natural way of healing itself and she just needs a bit more time to recover."

"Really?"

"Yeah, she won't be like this forever. She's gonna be fine, I know she is."

As Emma drove she shot a glance at the ten year old. He was hugging his backpack a little too tightly, but at least some of the light had returned to his eyes.

Emma took the main street route to get to the elementary school. As they were passing by Mr. Gold's shop she saw the man himself out front, making his way to the entrance to open for the day. Emma's eyes narrowed suspiciously when he stopped walking and seemed to focus on her. Watching her. As they passed by him she could see the smile on his face as he raised his hand in a wave. It was one of those smiles that seemed friendly, but was the type which she always saw through.

He knew. She thought to herself.

He knew that she knew about the curse.

"Mr. Gold waved at you." Henry said. "Didn't you see?"

"Yeah..." Emma said distractedly, looking at the shopkeeper in the rear-view mirror. He had turned to watch her, leaning against his cane.

"So why didn't you wave back?"

"Umm... because I'm driving." She thought up quickly. "Gotta keep both hands on the wheel, you know?"

"Since when?" Henry asked.

Emma mentally hit herself. She knew Henry had often seen her driving with a coffee or snack in her hand, or rummaging through her stuff while on the road.

"Since now. I've been thinking I should try to be safer in the car."

She felt Henry eyeing her strangely as she focused on the road. She was trying to suppress the sense of foreboding she was getting in the pit of her stomach at the way Gold had been looking at her.

Once they had arrived at the school, Emma pulled into a parking spot and got out with Henry to walk him to the playground.

"Thanks Emma." Henry said, pausing to hug her once they were inside the gates.

"Don't mention it." She smiled, wrapping her arms around him.

She noticed Mary Margaret waving at her from a little across the playground. The schoolteacher appeared to be making her way towards the pair of them.

Every time Emma saw her lately she found that she had to brace herself because no matter how much she wanted to, she could no longer look at Mary Margaret as simply her friend. Emma had ultimately forced herself to accept the truth about her, but she still couldn't quite come to terms with it. And Mary Margaret didn't yet know who Emma was, but at some point in the future she would. And then what?

"Good morning you two!" Mary Margaret beamed as she approached them.

Emma smiled. "Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good, thanks. How are you?"

"Yeah, fine."

Mary Margaret gave her a knowing look and Emma gave a friendly shrug in response. Knowing that Emma didn't want to talk about it, Mary Margaret didn't push the subject.

"So Henry," Mary Margaret said enthusiastically. "You think you're ready for our science test today?"

Henry shrugged.

Emma patted him on the shoulder. "He sure is. You've been studying hard, haven't you?"

"I guess."

"Come on, don't sell yourself short. I know you'll do great."

Henry shrugged again and Mary Margaret and Emma shared a sympathetic smile.

"I'm sure you'll do very well Henry." Mary Margaret encouraged with a smile. "Well I need to go help organise the younger children before we go inside, but I'll see you in class okay?"

Henry nodded, giving her a small smile in return.

Emma noticed the sadness in Mary Margaret's eyes as she shared one last look with her. The teacher knew that Henry was still having a hard time with what had happened to Regina.

Emma crouched closer to Henry's height. "Hey," she said softly. "You're gonna do fine, I know how hard you studied. Don't worry, I'll try to convince Regina to come with me after school and maybe we can pick up something from Granny's on the way home."

Henry nodded. He gave another small smile and Emma stood up again. She felt terrible having to leave him here when she knew he just wanted to go home to be with Regina. She thought back to their trip to Boston, it had been fun. All three of them had just been happy; for the most part anyway. She wished they could just move back there; start Regina's treatment and forget about the curse. Just live a normal life with no world-destroying spells to break, no princes and princesses to match-make, and no uncertainty over everyone's safety once the curse was lifted.

She loved Henry so much. She didn't know if she could stand seeing him unhappy for much longer.

Emma reached out to give Henry another hug and the boy leaned into her embrace, returning her hug tightly.

"Have a good day. I'll see you after school."

Henry stepped back first, eyes downcast as he nodded. Emma placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Her brow furrowed sadly at how unresponsive Henry was being this morning.

"Are you sure you're okay Henry?"

"Yeah..." He said unconvincingly.

"Look, I know you're worried about your mom, but don't worry. She's gonna be fine. And you'll see her in a few hours. Just... try to do your best today and then this afternoon we can celebrate the test being over."

"It's just... She seems to be getting worse." Henry said.

Emma gave a small sigh. "I know she does..." She crouched in front of him again. "But don't worry. She has an appointment at the hospital in a few days and they'll be able to tell if her condition is getting too serious. If they do they may start her on a new treatment if they think she needs it. I know it's hard seeing her this way but I promise, she will get better."

She smiled when she saw the corners of his mouth lift ever so slightly. The bell rang and the children around them began to move towards the building.

As Emma stood up again she could see that Henry was still quite upset.

As a result, she made up her mind to do something she had never actually done before. She had always wanted to when dropping him off at school, but never wanted to embarrass Henry in front of his classmates. However, now was as good a time as any to start, and she thought Henry could really use it right now.

Emma leaned forward to press a gentle kiss to her son's forehead.

"I love you Henry."

Suddenly she was struck by a what felt like a strong summer breeze. It tossed her hair, and it was as if a ray of sun had suddenly shot right through her. It was warm, and it felt... she couldn't describe it. Like happiness? Love?

She stepped backwards from Henry in confusion, and based on the look on his face she knew he must have felt it too. They were both speechless.

"What... was that?" Emma was finally able to ask.

The atmosphere around them seemed to have changed. Yelling could be heard in the distance, but people were also laughing, hugging each other, even crying.

"The curse..." Henry said, looking around the playground at the sudden commotion from parents, students and teachers alike. "I think you broke it!"

"Wh–" Emma's mouth was hanging open in surprise as some parents hurried back from the parking lot to see their children.

"But how?!" Emma stammered. "I didn't do anything!"

"It must have been true love's kiss. Like in the book! Does this mean you believe me?!" Henry asked, beaming as he gripped her arms excitedly.

"Yeah... I guess I do." Emma said distractedly, looking at the scene around them.

"The curse... I was right, it was real!" Henry exclaimed, hugging her middle.

"Yeah..." She said, returning the hug but still staring around in awe.

"I knew you could do it!"

"Henry wh– Oh my god..." Emma finished to herself, looking past him.

Mary Margaret was standing a few meters away, Emma hadn't seen her return but there she was.

Emma was not ready for this.

The brunette was slowly coming closer and Emma could already see the tears in the other woman's eyes. She looked unbelievably happy, more so than Emma had ever seen.

When Mary Margaret was only a few steps away she paused, eyes watery as she took in the sight of her daughter for what could be argued was the first time. "Emma." She whispered, an emotional smile on her face.

The blonde stood speechless. She had known for a while now that this moment would eventually come, but she'd had no idea what she would do when the time actually arrived.

She had also assumed she would have more time before the curse broke. More time to plan, more time to come to terms with things.

Her gaze dropped tentatively as Mary Margaret cupped Emma's face with her hands, as if she was memorizing every detail.

"You found us."

Emma felt tears in her eyes as Mary Margaret pulled her into a tight, but affectionate hug. Emma had hugged Mary Margaret before but this was different. It took a few moments before Emma was able to slowly raise her own arms, lightly returning the hug before she needed to let go. Mary Margaret's arms lingered around her daughter for a few moments longer before pulling away. There were a few tears rolling down her face.

"Snow!"

Emma and Henry saw Mary Margaret freeze, almost as if she couldn't believe she had actually heard it. Her expression changed as she recognized the voice.

Her daughter couldn't help but smile as David and Mary Margaret ran to each other, meeting in the middle of the playground.

Henry and Emma couldn't hear what the two were saying, but Emma felt herself blush when the two shared a long, passionate kiss.

Regina's eyes fluttered slowly open. She knew she hadn't woken naturally, but as her eyes swept the room she found it empty. So no one had woken her up then, not intentionally anyway.

She glanced at the clock and saw that Henry must have just started school. The brunette gave a regretful sigh as she pulled herself into a sitting position. She had only meant to lie down for a few moments. Henry had been asking her all week to take him to school but every morning she had found herself feeling too ill or too tired. It was becoming very clear that dialysis would soon be a necessity, and she decided that at her next appointment she would ask Dr. Whale about beginning her treatment.

She was extremely grateful that she had Emma around to help out lately. She didn't know what she would have done without her support.

Grabbing her blazer from the bed beside her, she slipped it on and moved towards the window. As she pulled back the curtains she discovered that the street seemed empty; so no one outside had disturbed her then. There was no sign of the yellow bug either, which meant Emma had probably gone to the Sheriff's Station or to Granny's for a coffee.

Perhaps she really did just wake up on her own.

Regina let the curtains fall and moved to sit down on the bed again, wondering if she should just try to go back to sleep. Her eyes fell longingly on the pajamas that sat folded on a chair nearby.

However as she was debating what to do, she got the feeling that something wasn't quite right. Her eyes narrowed as her arms folded defensively in front of herself. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but she was certain there was something wrong.

A/N: Thank you for reading, please let me know what you think! xx