A/N: Thank you so much to the few of you who commented on the last chapter. Your reviews keep me motivated. xx

Emma and Regina rode the elevator up to their apartment in an uncomfortable silence as they wondered about what had happened back in Storybrooke.

"I suppose Henry'll be annoyed that we're disturbing his solitudal homework time." Emma said as they got off of the elevator and headed down the hall. "He wasn't expecting us for hours was he?"

Regina simply shook her head.

Emma unlocked the door to their suite and looked around for Henry. "I guess he's in his room hard at work."

Regina nodded thoughtfully, but she looked around curiously. The dvd player was on even though the television was off, and it was counting up as if there were a movie still playing. She could smell the fading scent of microwave popcorn, and with the two of them gone all day, Regina had assumed Henry would have set up in the dining room for more workspace but the table was spotless.

"I'm going to call Mary Margaret in a few minutes," Emma announced as she took her coat and shoes off. "I just have to go to the bathroom first… for real this time." She joked, because the last time she'd said that she'd secretly bought the carriage ride tickets. "Want me to come get you when I'm ready? I think I'm going to call her on the computer."

"Yes that's fine. I'll go check on Henry." Regina responded.

When she reached his room, Regina knocked softly on Henry's door. "Henry? We're home."

"You can come in." Said Henry's voice, and so Regina opened the door. "Hey Mom," He said, looking up from a book. "You guys are back early."

"Hi sweetheart. And yes we are… I'm afraid something came up. Did you have a productive day?"

Henry nodded, but the look on his face gave him away.

Regina studied him for a few moments before looking around the room. She saw a bowl with leftover popcorn kernels sitting half-hidden beside his desk.

"Henry do you want to tell me the real reason you didn't want to come with us today?" She asked, not unkindly as she sat down on the bed in front of him.

Henry reddened. "What do you mean?"

Regina just gave him a look.

"Okay." Henry gave in. "Umm…. Well I kind of thought you and Emma might want to spend the day with just the two of you." He said, avoiding eye contact.

Regina looked confused. "To go shopping you mean?"

Henry nodded, but then shook his head.

"Then what?" She pressed gently.

"Mom… I've been noticing the way you and Emma act around each other…"

"The way we act around each other?"

"Yeah… it's… it's just like the way Grandma and Grandpa are with with each other."

"What?"

Henry nodded sheepishly. "I know you're friends but… I think maybe you're more than that, only maybe neither of you know that you both feel that way. Please don't be mad at me. I know I might be wrong. I know I don't know much about adult stuff, but I've read a lot."

"I–" Regina faltered.

"I'm really sorry if I'm wrong… but I'm not a kid anymore… I know two girls can like each other. You know… that way."

Now it was Regina's turn to flush, but there was also a small smile on her lips. "Henry…" She began, breathing an affectionate sigh. "We didn't want to tell you this way, but you're not wrong Henry." She responded softly, brushing her fingers through his hair. "It's true, Emma and I are more than friends, but we've only just come to terms with it a few days ago. In fact, the reason we wanted to spend the day with you was to tell you about us."

Henry looked relieved. "Wait really?"

"Yes." Regina smiled, but then she frowned. "Henry… are you really okay with this? I was afraid of how you might react, but I take it as a good sign that you wanted to… well, set us up today?"

"Mom, this is awesome! It means we can be a real family, it means you and Emma can both be happy! I knew you deserved another true love!"

Regina's breath caught in her throat. "Do you really think that's what Emma and I could be?" She asked hopefully.

"What else would it be?"

"Oh, Henry…" Regina whispered, pulling him into a hug. "What did we do to deserve you? You have no idea how much it means to me that you're okay with this."

"How could I not be okay with it? Mom, I want you to be happy, and I want Emma to be happy. Living with both of my parents under one roof is all I could ever ask for."

Regina playfully tapped his arm. "What are you talking about? We've all been living under the same roof for months." She quipped.

"But it was always going to be temporary. Emma originally moved in just to take care of you, she was only supposed to stay until you recovered from taking those pills right? But then you got even more sick… She was only ever going to stay until you got better."

Regina nodded thoughtfully. "I suppose that's true…"

"And now she'll stay with us forever!"

"Well…" Regina laughed. "Forever is a long time but… yes I hope so."

"Does this mean you're going to get married?"

Regina's breath caught at that, "I don't know Henry, Emma and I only told each other how we felt two days ago. We have a lot to deal with right now as it is. Why don't we take it one step at a time, okay?"

"Okay…"

Regina squeezed his hand gently. "It was really sweet what you wanted to do for us today Henry, but what did I say about lying to us?"

"I know… I'm sorry."

"Hey, what are we talking about?" Emma asked from the door, smiling as she saw the other two sitting together. Her grin faded a little as she noticed tears in Regina's eyes, but she felt a little comforted that they seemed to be happy ones. "Wait, I missed something didn't I? What's going on?"

"Emma!" Henry let go of Regina and bounded towards his other mother, hugging her tightly. "I knew I wasn't wrong. You and Mom… you're in love, right?"

Emma looked a little stunned as she met Regina's eyes. "You told him without me?"

"No. Well, yes… I mean, no." Regina gestured with her hands in place of apology. "He guessed it for himself and I only confirmed it."

"Wait for real? Kid, how did you know?"

"All you guys have been doing since we got here is hugging and staring at each other. And… well, when I thought about it it made sense. Even in Storybrooke… it wasn't obvious to me then… but you guys were always together. It's like you needed to be together. I hoped I was right. I didn't think you guys knew how you felt yet though… since you never said anything. I wanted you guys to spend more time together so you could maybe see it too."

"So you thought you would take it upon yourself to fix us up on a date today did you?" Emma asked for clarification, putting her hands on her hips to feign suspicion.

Henry cringed at the term. "Yeah I guess, but don't say that word. It's weird when it's you two."

"Which word? Date? What's wrong with the word date?" Emma asked with a grin.

"Stop saying it."

"What do you want me to say instead of dating? Maybe Courting? Going steady? Wooing?"

"Gross, none of those."

"Henry…" Emma laughed, ruffling his hair. "I really don't understand you."

Emma looked down at Regina, who was gazing at her fondly. "Well Regina, it looks like we can't go on any more dates… even though we didn't know we were even on a date today… but I think your son is saying he wants me to do a better job at wooing you."

"Emmaaaa." Henry whined, covering his ears with his hands.

Regina chuckled at Henry's embarrassment and pulled him into another hug.

Emma's smile faded as she sat down on Henry's desk chair. She gave a heavy sigh as she remembered why her and Regina's day had been cut short. "Unfortunately I have to put a damper on this conversation by saying that something potentially bad has happened back in Storybrooke.

"Wait what?" Henry exclaimed, pulling back from Regina's embrace. "What happened?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet… I told Mary Margaret I would call her back once we were at the apartment. Come on, we can call in the living room on Skype. I'm sure she won't mind if you're both there too."

"Hey," Emma greeted her mother as they started the video chat on her laptop. "Can you hear us okay?"

"Yes I can. Hello! Oh it's so good to see you all." Snow gushed.

They could see David coming up behind Snow from the kitchen in the loft. He waved at them before wrapping an arm around his wife. "Emma, Regina, Henry." He greeted. "I hope you're all doing well. How are you feeling Regina? Is it nice to be away from the hospital? You're looking a lot better."

"Thank you." Regina responded. "Yes I am glad to be away from there, and I am feeling much better than when I left Storybrooke."

"We're so happy to hear it." Snow responded with a smile.

Emma was anxious to get into the story. "Okay, so on the phone earlier you said there was like a magical rain storm that hit the entire town? Did I hear that right?"

"Yes, an hour or so ago." David answered. "It was like nothing we've ever seen before."

"Are you sure it wasn't just, you know, rain?" Emma asked dubiously. "Weather can be crazy without magical intervention."

"Emma, the whole sky lit up. It looked as if there was a glass dome surrounding the entire town that was cracking under a lightning strike. This was something way beyond a regular storm and we know Gold was behind it."

"How?" Regina asked curiously.

"He was seen wielding the Blue Fairy's wand by two of the dwarves." David replied. "But it was strange. To us it seemed that whatever the rain was, and whatever broke the barrier were two separate spells."

"So what are you saying?" Emma asked. "The curse is already broken and magic is already there so what the hell could these spells have been?"

Regina's face had gone pale. She grabbed the other woman's arm and Emma looked over in surprise. "Emma… I could be wrong but… it sounds like whatever this is, it might have destroyed the barrier around the town."

"Wait… the one keeping everyone trapped inside?"

"The very one." David responded, sounding uneasy.

"Has that been confirmed yet?" Emma asked in a panic.

Snow nodded. "Belle and Gold have packed up and left together. Ruby said Belle mentioned something about New York City."

"Left Storybrooke?" Emma asked in shock. "And their memories are still intact?"

"Well as far as we know, yes."

"Wait, if the barrier is down this means you guys can come visit us in Boston!" Henry exclaimed excitedly. Regina gave an uneasy smile, rubbing his arm softly.

Snow and David agreed, smiling at his enthusiasm to see them again.

"But it also means…" Emma turned to meet Regina's gaze, not finishing her sentence. Her heart started beating fiercely as she turned back to the computer. "Is Dr. Whale still locked up? Are Spencer… and the Blue Fairy?"

"Dr. Whale and King George are still in their cells, yes. But as for Blue…" Snow shared a look with David before she continued. "She's dead."

"What?" Regina's eyes widened in surprise. She glanced at Emma who looked just as shocked. "How the hell did that happen?"

"Gold. He killed her," David responded. "Or, at least we're pretty sure he did. The circumstances were suspicious and she was killed from within a locked, padded cell at the hospital. Who else could have gotten to her in there? We doubt the fairies would have wanted to hurt her, and they are the only other ones in town who have magic. We're pretty sure Gold is the one who caused all of this. He broke the spell on the town line using the wand… We know he's been wanting to leave."

"But what was the rain for if the spell that broke the barrier was something different?" Emma asked.

"We've been wondering about that. Think back to the day Regina went missing… it was the rain that took down the protection spell around the house right? The spell around the town line might not be so different, just on a bigger scale. Maybe it took two types of spells to break the barrier."

Snow nodded. "Regina you had trouble leaving the house after the curse was broken right? What if it was more than just fear of the townspeople? What if you physically couldn't leave the property? It could have been similar to whatever was around the town, but just on a smaller scale and only directed at dark magic users."

Regina nodded thoughtfully as she considered this. "But I was able to leave with David. During the fire, he brought me out to the truck before that rain ever hit. I know because I never saw it. Sidney and Blue must have got to me before it happened."

"Regina's right." David said. "During the fire Regina, you were trying to tell me that the protection spell was down. You're right… it was gone before the rain put the fire out. So if what Snow thinks is true, if the protection spell was keeping Regina in, it was taken down so that you could leave the house, which would give them access to you."

Regina felt a cold chill run through her. She frowned as she thought it over. "The rain put the fire out. And the fire wasn't a real fire if I remember correctly. You told me it didn't damage anything."

"That's right." Emma said.

"The rain that washed over the town, and the lightning that broke the barrier are two completely separate spells." Regina thought aloud. "The lightning or whatever it was, broke the barrier… so what did the rain do?"

David's cell phone rang just then and he glanced at the ID. "It's the emergency line at the station." He observed. "I'd better take this."

Snow nodded as he disappeared from the camera's view. "I know what you're thinking Emma… I know it's frightening, but we don't think anyone apart from us and the dwarves know about the barrier being broken. I think for now you shouldn't have to worry about anyone coming after you in Boston. Besides, the city is huge, how would they find you?"

"They would find us…" Emma answered bitterly. "They would stalk the hospital and follow us home or something."

Regina shifted uncomfortably and drew Henry closer to her.

David reappeared at Snow's side. "Regina I just had the strangest–" He trailed off as his cell began to ring again. "Sorry, I'll tell you in a minute." He said, leaving the frame again.

Regina shared a perplexed look with Snow.

Emma was thinking back to the day she, Regina and Henry had escaped town, when she had tornadoed into Gold's shop and thrown the wand at him. Despite her rush she had seen the look on his face when he picked it up; he had looked dangerously victorious.

"This is my fault…" Emma said. "I gave the Blue Fairy's wand to Gold. Without it he wouldn't have been able to break the barrier."

"Emma we don't know that for sure." Snow said.

Regina bit her lip, "both sides of the coin…" She muttered to herself.

"What is it?" Emma asked softly.

"Light and dark magic. That must have been how Gold broke the barrier. I still have no idea what the rain did, but whatever spell Gold used on the town line, I think he needed Blue's wand because he required both light and dark magic in order to do it. It's not uncommon that both be needed in order to enact complex spells which can affect a whole population. Usually the intention behind it is cooperation between the two parties; the repercussions at stake are so great that checks and balances must be in place to ensure that the spells are cast for the right reasons. But… well you know how Dark Ones can be. Leave it to Gold to find a loophole."

Emma was nodding slowly. "Well I don't know a thing about magic, but if that's what you think, it sounds valid to me."

David's cell was heard ringing again and they saw him retreat into the background to answer another call.

"What the hell's going on with the Sheriff's Station?" Emma asked, nodding back towards David.

Snow glanced back at her husband, and he nodded at her in response. "I don't know… But I'm sure we'll find out very soon." She said to the camera. "Whatever it is, it doesn't seem to be an emergency. So… David and I will continue trying to figure out what the rain spell did… but in the mean time, the three of you should be careful. We are going to try to monitor who might be leaving town, but we're not going to be able to keep track of everyone if word gets out that the barrier is down. If someone with a grudge gets out and follows you to Boston, things could get messy."

David slipped his phone into his jacket pocket and came to stand beside Snow again.

"What was all that about?" Snow asked, wrapping an arm around him.

"Apologies."

"It's okay, you had to take the calls, and you didn't miss much." Snow responded, rubbing his chest.

David breathed a laugh. "No not that. The calls were from people who were apologizing…" He trailed off, looking at Regina on the screen. "For what they as a collective group did to Regina after the curse broke."

"What?" The brunette whispered in surprise, stepping closer to the screen.

"I only heard from a few people, but they said they've been feeling horribly about going after you the day the curse broke. They said it wasn't fair to attack you like that, because they finally believe that you really have been sick all this time. And they believe now that you weren't planning to hurt them."

"About friggin' time," Emma said, throwing her hands up in annoyance. "I don't see how they ever thought it was fake. Do they still think Regina killed Sidney?"

"I don't know about that part, but they definitely don't agree with what happened around Regina's kidnapping."

Regina frowned. "I don't know… this seems like awfully convenient timing to me. The barrier is down and suddenly everyone doesn't want my head? What if it's a trap to lure me back into town so they can finish me off?"

David shrugged a little. "Well if it makes you feel better, one woman I spoke to on the phone still hates you for casting the curse." The prince gave her an apologetic shrug. "But she thinks the 'justice' you were faced with was handled badly. She said the rain seemed to wash her out of a sort of brain fog, and since she didn't know how to get in touch with you directly, she asked me if could I pass on her apologies."

A small breath escaped Regina's lips and her shoulders sagged a little. She wanted to believe it but it sounded too good to be true, which meant it probably was.

"I think we've just figured out what the rain spell did." Snow said. "Just like the way it undid the fire, it seems to have lifted some spell off of the townspeople. Someone must have cast it in order to get everyone to turn on you Regina."

"But then who lifted it?" Regina asked, frowning. "Gold? Performing an act of mercy over the town before making his dramatic exit? Forgive me but that doesn't sound like his style."

"Who else could have done it?" Snow wondered.

"Blue." David surmised. "What if the rain started when she was killed? What if her death undid some of the spells she cast in town? What if one of those spells was one that caused the town to turn on Regina from the day the curse broke?"

"This is a whole lot of ifs and maybes…" Emma held up her hand. "I don't know about you guys, but I want to know exactly what happened today."

"But Emma how are we supposed to do that?" Snow asked, at a loss. "All we know is what we saw, and what the dwarves saw."

"Isn't it obvious? We have to talk to Gold."

"But no one knows where's he's going, correct?" Regina asked. "New York is one of the biggest cities in the world. He could be anywhere."

"We can still call him can't we?" Emma argued. "I mean, he may be the Dark One but this is the twenty-first century. He still has a cell phone."

"Well yes that would work, assuming he would take any of our calls." Regina said dubiously.

"Regina's right." Snow said. "I don't think he wants anything to do with anyone from Storybrooke right now."

"But then why would he release everyone from the curse on the town line?" Emma asked.

"He didn't do it for everyone else, he did it so he and Belle could leave." David frowned, folding his arms.

"Henry what are you doing?" Snow suddenly asked, squinting her eyes.

Everyone's heads whipped around to face Henry, and they saw him holding Emma's cell phone up to his ear. "I'm calling him."

"Henry!" Regina and Emma said in simultaneous shock.

"I wanna know if this means Mom is really safe in Storybrooke!" He said, dodging Emma's attempt to grab the phone.

"Henry, give Emma her phone back." Regina ordered.

Henry frowned, but immediately did as he was told. Emma lifted the phone to her ear and heard it still ringing. "I really doubt he's going to– oh, hello?"

The others all seemed to hold their breath as she put the phone on speaker.

"Miss Swan, you'd better have a damned good reason for disturbing me, I'm a little busy at the moment."

"Gold! Where are you?" Emma asked.

"That's my business."

"Why are you going to New York?"

"Once again, my business."

"Yeah… To be honest I'm surprised you answered. It was actually Henry who called you but… we were wondering what you did to the town line? If you were able to leave, does that mean anyone can leave town now?"

"Ah I see. You're worried about an army of angry villagers coming after a certain evil queen?" Gold's sly voice asked.

Emma and Regina shared a look. "Well… basically… yeah."

"I shouldn't concern myself too much if I were you. They should be much calmer after today. And the barrier is only down temporarily. It allowed for Belle and I to leave, but I don't see too many more people wanting to leave Storybrooke, especially now that the biggest threats to them are gone. Our dear townsfolk are far more boring than they'd like to think."

"And by biggest threats you mean–?"

"Regina and myself of course. And now if there's nothing else you need–"

"Wait! How did you break the barrier?" Emma asked quickly, after receiving a silent gesture from Regina telling her to ask.

"With a little help from a fairy. That wand you gave me came in quite useful."

"Did you have to kill Blue to use the wand or did you really just want her magic for yourself and decided to eliminate any potential threats?" Emma's tone was more accusatory than she had intended.

"Now just what are you insinuating?" Gold's voice grew darker.

"Well what do you expect me to think? If you ask me, the timing was pretty convenient." Emma used Regina's words.

"Miss Swan, it was a pleasure to speak with you, but I'm afraid Belle and I are eager to continue our trip."

"Why are you going to New York?" Emma tried again.

"I think I'll say my goodbyes now. And tell everyone listening in that they can expect us back in Storybrooke at any time, so they'd better steer clear of my shop. I'll know if anyone's been tampering."

"Wait, Gold–"

"Enjoy being stuck in Boston. Don't call me again." He said in a quiet growl, likely so that Belle, wherever she was, couldn't hear.

Emma clutched the phone. "He hung up." She announced unnecessarily.

"What did he mean by that? Stuck in Boston?" Henry asked.

"I suppose because we still don't know what will happen if we try to go back to Storybrooke." Regina said. "Spell or no spell, the townspeople do still despise me. Just as they have since our days in the Enchanted Forest. Perhaps they won't want to kill me anymore but…" She trailed off, there was a vein slightly visible in her forehead as she frowned.

"Crap, I wish we could have asked him more about the rain…" Emma chided herself. "Why can't I ever have just a straightforward conversation with him?"

"He basically told us didn't he?" David said. "The rain did reverse some spell. It must have affected half the town…"

"Affected them to what?" Snow asked. "Make them want to harm Regina? If the spell was cast over the whole town then why didn't it affect all of us?"

"Maybe it did…" Emma said thoughtfully. "Maybe if there was ever a spark of hatred… the spell emphasized it and brought out your worst selves. Everyone was still in control of themselves but their hatred was heightened. Do you remember when the curse first broke, you both wanted to throw Regina in jail? You wanted to punish her for casting the curse."

Regina sucked in her breath a little at that, and looked at Snow and Charming, feeling a little hurt. She hadn't known about that.

"Really?" Henry asked with wide eyes.

"We're not proud of that Henry, but yes, I'm afraid we did. Emma made us see reason though." Snow said, smiling apologetically at Regina.

"We're sorry Regina." David said sincerely.

"It's okay… you certainly weren't the only ones." She responded.

"But it didn't seem as if everyone were affected…" David asked. "What I mean is, why wasn't Emma? Or Granny? Or Kathryn?"

"In Granny's case," Emma responded, "I think initially she was only helping Regina because you two were backing her up, and then she was later able to see on her own that Regina wasn't out to hurt anyone. And Kathryn was still Regina's friend. I think it helps if the person started with genuinely good intentions. The spell probably can't control you if you don't let it."

"She's right," Snow agreed. "Granny for example, she can be a little short tempered at times, but she has good morals at the core."

"Not everyone has something against Regina." Emma said, tugging Regina closer, feeling badly for having this conversation at all.

"So this is what I'm to take comfort in?" Regina stated bitterly. "Everyone hated me to begin with, but the only thing that made them act on that hatred was this spell that Blue probably cast?"

"Well at least we know they wouldn't have normally been so heartless." Snow reasoned. "Maybe they would never have tried to bar you from leaving town if that spell hadn't been over them. They would probably have still been mad about the spell keeping them trapped in Storybrooke, but… maybe they wouldn't have tried to to kill you when you wanted to leave. Maybe they wouldn't have tried to stop you from going to the hospital."

"Maybe I don't want to go back there after all…" Regina muttered to herself.

"I'm sorry Regina," Emma said. "But we already knew how much the townspeople suck. Who cares what they think? All that matters is that you have family, and friends like Kathryn who care about you. At least we know the rest of them aren't under a spell any more. That means they won't keep trying to hurt you right? If they want to spend their lives holding on to an unhealthy grudge, that's on them."

Regina winced a little but tried not to let Emma see it. She shared a look with Snow, who gave her a sympathetic smile, knowing exactly what Regina was thinking; Regina herself was known to hold onto an unhealthy grudge.

David's phone started ringing again.

"Maybe we should let you go now, you guys seem to have your hands full there." Emma said. "Thank you for keeping us informed. It's a little comforting to know that all that happened before we left was at least in part due to a spell cast over the town."

Snow was frowning. "I don't know though. We blamed the Blue Fairy earlier, but this still seems more like Gold's style than hers. I mean, why would she condemn the rest of the town to seek vengeance on Regina? That doesn't seem very fairy godmothery to me… to practically turn everyone into their worst selves."

"Well we know she wasn't so great to begin with." Emma responded. "Her magic turned dark after she tried to wipe all of Regina's memories the day after the curse broke. We know this because Regina saw it in the vision from the Blue Fairy's wand. So maybe Blue's motives weren't so good from the start. Maybe she's done more shit in the past that caused an evil to take root inside of her… and then trying to hurt Regina was the final straw which caused her to upset some universal force or something. We already know Blue had it in for Regina, I wouldn't put it past her to want to get everyone riled up against Regina in order to hide the fact that it was all Blue's doing. She seems to love covering her own ass and laying the blame on others."

"'Caused an evil to take root inside of her?'" Regina quoted. "Sounds like someone's been studying," she murmured softly, running her fingers gently through the back of Emma's hair.

"Studying?" Snow asked in confusion.

"Yeah," Emma replied, rubbing her shoulder sheepishly. "Henry's been letting me read the storybook. I remember the book saying that about other characters… I mean people…" Emma nervously met Regina's eye. "But I never read about it happening to Blue. That doesn't mean it didn't happen though right?"

"I agree, it's possible." David said thoughtfully. "Blue's dark path might have begun long ago. She may have thought she was doing things for the right reasons but in the end if she was hurting people to help others…"

"Well the book has certainly left a lot of other things out." Regina agreed bitterly. "I wouldn't be surprised if it glossed over the more grittier aspects of Blue's history."

"Not everything she did in the book was good." Henry spoke up. "She made it so that Grumpy couldn't be with his true love, and she wouldn't help Pinocchio when she decided he shouldn't have another chance even though he was just a kid."

"I always thought she was the pinnacle of good." Snow buried her face in her hands. "I just don't know what to believe anymore."

David rubbed her back. "It means the line between good and evil is thinner than we once believed. Even you and I, wanting to lock Regina in a jail cell when she was already so sick… that's certainly not honourable behaviour."

"I suppose you're right." Snow sighed, looking to Regina again. "Again, we're so sorry."

Regina shook her head softly. "Don't be. We all know I am certainly not just the innocent victim in all of this."

Emma rubbed Regina's arm comfortingly. "Well I have to admit, my brain is good and hurting now."

"I agree," David said. "We may not have all the answers, but at least we have more of an idea about what's happened."

"Charming, what do you say?" Snow asked her husband. "Should we go out and see if there are any new developments?"

David nodded. "We can talk again later?" He asked the other three.

Emma and Regina agreed.

"Let us know if anything changes." Emma said.

"Will do. It was nice to see you all."

"You too." Regina responded softly.

"Bye!" Henry said, waving at the two on the screen.

"Goodbye Henry." Snow blew him a kiss, before the call was ended.

Regina breathed a deep sigh, sharing an uneasy look with Emma. "So…" She sighed. "The barrier is down… anyone can leave Storybrooke. Anyone can come here…"

"I know…" Emma said, drawing Regina closer and wrapping her arms around her. "But don't worry, no one knows the barrier is down yet. We have time."

"But how much time? I might need to be here for years until I can get a transplant. If I even last that long…"

Emma bit her lip. She hated when Regina said stuff like that. "I wonder if Snow and David would be able to come up here, like Henry said… I wonder if either of them would want to take the tests? I know Gold said the barrier being down was only temporary, but whatever he's doing in New York is probably going to take a bit of time."

Regina deflated a little. "I don't know, I wouldn't want to impose on them."

"They wouldn't see it as an imposition Regina. You know them, you know what they're like. They would want to help you."

"But it's risky. Especially because we don't know how long they'll have to be outside of town. I wouldn't want the barrier to go back up and risk them reverting to their cursed selves." Regina looked dubious.

"I didn't even consider that…" Emma muttered. She sighed. "I hate this. I hate all this uncertainty."

Regina's expression changed as she noticed the anxiety that was badly hidden in Emma's expression. "Something else is wrong too." She observed. "What is it?"

"Oh," Emma waved her hand. "Nothing, I'm just worried about the barrier."

"Are you sure that's all it is?" Regina studied her in worry.

"Yeah, I'm alright." Emma insisted. She rubbed her hands delicately down Regina's arms. "Now what do you say, should we make some dinner? Our day out got cut short but I'm famished. Some food will help us to think."

Regina gave a gentle nod in response, but she continued to watch Emma in concern.

After dinner Emma announced that she wanted to go up to the roof deck for some air. Just as soon as the door to the apartment closed, Emma heard it open again and saw Regina quickly pulling her coat on. "Would it be alright if I joined you?"

Emma couldn't say no, even though a part of her did want the time to think. "Yeah that'd be nice." She responded softly.

Regina looked relieved as she closed the door behind her and double checked that it was locked, before joining Emma. When they turned the corner to the hallway with the elevators, they saw that one of the elevators was wide open and there seemed to be construction workers fixing something inside it. There was still a few working ones on the other side but there were some tools on the floor in the middle of the hall.

"We can take the stairs if you want?" Regina suggested.

"Are you sure? It's like eight floors up."

Regina nodded. "I could use the exercise." She said lightly.

"Okay…" Emma responded unconvinced. "But if we get tired we can just step out onto any other floor and take the elevator the rest of the way up. Well… a working elevator that is."

"That works for me." Regina agreed softly, and so Emma led the way to the stairwell.

She opened the door and held it open for Regina, and then followed after her. They both looked up the somewhat dark, but very clean stairwell.

"Eight floors seems like twenty from this angle." Emma complained.

"Come on, a few floors won't hurt us." Regina encouraged her.

"You're right." Emma admitted in defeat. "Well I guess we'd better get started if we ever want to make it to the top." She held out her hand for Regina, who graciously accepted the offer.

As they started to ascend the stairs, Emma started to get a sense of deja-vu but she couldn't quite place it. She was too worried about Regina. She could hear the brunette already panting.

"Do you need to slow down?" Emma offered. "I don't want you to overexert yourself."

Regina shook her head. "I'm okay." She huffed.

"Okay, just let me know if I'm pushing it."

Regina nodded, and continued to hold onto Emma's hand as they climbed higher.

As they circled up another level, Emma finally placed the horrible deja-vu feeling she had. She quickly glanced back down at Regina who was a step behind her, and whose softer hand was grasped tightly in her own. Emma had just remembered a nightmare she'd had during the time Regina had been missing, a dream which was eerily similar to this. She and Regina had been running up the seemingly endless stairwell of a skyscraper, running away from someone who had kept Regina prisoner there. When they reached the roof, Emma had nearly fallen off trying to protect Regina from a bullet. Non-dreaming Emma now had a feeling of uneasiness in the pit of her stomach. It was just a dream, she told herself. Just a coincidence. Nothing bad was going to happen to them here, this apartment building was completely private, completely safe.

Even so… "Regina I'm actually getting pretty tired. Is it okay if we step out here and take the elevator the rest of the way up?"

Regina nodded, and then followed Emma towards a door which exited onto a floor five levels up from their apartment. They found the elevator, which was in the same spot as it was on their floor, and then selected the button for the Sky Terrace.

As the elevator began to lift, Regina linked her arms with Emma's. "Did you think I couldn't handle it?" She asked softly.

"I know you could've." Emma replied, giving her a small smile. "But to be honest that stairwell was giving me the creeps."

"Really why? You know only tenants and employees can use it."

"Even so… You just never know who else could be in there… and anyone could just come in at any point and try to like… I don't know… murder us."

"You watch too much television Emma." Regina chided affectionately. "Or maybe it was all that talk of ghosts in the park earlier. I'm sure the building has security cameras all over that place."

"Yeah, but I'd rather avoid a missing persons' search via security footage in the first place." Emma quipped, nudging Regina's shoulder.

Regina smirked. "Okay, from now on, maintenance or not, we take the elevator."

"Sounds good to me." Emma said, leaning forward to share a quick kiss with Regina as the elevator dinged to let them know they'd reached the top. The doors opened into an indoor lounge with floor-to-ceiling windows, and couches and tables to overlook parts of the city. They walked through this room and out onto the patio.

"I love this! It's way bigger than I expected." Emma said, looking around.

There was already a group of three people sitting around an outdoor gas fireplace on the left side of the roof deck, but other than that the patio was empty. Emma spotted another seating area with a second fireplace and so she nodded towards it. "Want to sit over there?"

"Perfect." Regina agreed quietly. She looked around at the view of the city as they walked towards it and took a seat side-by-side on a couch that was facing the fireplace, and a view of the city. "I agree, this is very nice." Regina said, settling into Emma's side.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, taking in the crisp evening air and enjoying the warm tones of the sunset.

Regina leaned her head against Emma's shoulder. "Emma, please tell me what's wrong."

"I told you, I'm fine."

"No, you're not. Please Emma, I know something is bothering you beyond just what your parents told us. You don't have to try to protect me from it, if that's why you don't want to tell me."

Emma's shoulder's sagged a little. "I don't know… I guess… I feel so useless way out here in Boston. What if something bigger is coming, you know, back in Storybrooke, and they need help? Whatever happened isn't over, that would be too easy wouldn't it?"

Regina pressed her lips together. She nodded in understanding as she looked off into the distance and listened to the sounds of the city around them. "Emma… I'm doing a lot better now, I'm sure if need be I could get myself to the hospital for my treatments. If you think your parents might need your help then you should go, even if just for a day or two. You don't have to stay here with me every single day. And I'll still have Henry with me."

"No. I do have to stay here with you." Emma responded quietly.. "I can't leave you… I can't. But I also don't like leaving everyone back home to fend for themselves. It's a conundrum."

"Your parents can fend for themselves." Regina gave her an affectionate smile, which Emma returned with a small one of her own, but Regina could see that Emma was still concerned. "However, I do understand how you feel. I've felt that same helplessness… leaving the people of Storybrooke trapped in a town they have no desire staying in."

"What do you mean?" Emma asked curiously.

"I felt guilty leaving town without first removing the barrier, but I also knew I wouldn't be able to help them if I stayed. It's a much different situation I'll admit, but you're still faced with a difficult choice right now."

"That was different," Emma responded. "The townspeople wanted to kill you, they should be stuck where they can't hurt you."

Regina shook her head. "Not all of those who were trapped felt that way. Kathryn for one, she wanted to come with us, remember? But she was stuck too."

"True…"

Regina breathed a derelict sigh. "I wanted to be the one to break the barrier. I owed it to them. I wanted them to see that I'm on their side."

"We'll find other ways to show them. And let's not forget… Gold said that the barrier being down was just temporary. We might still need to find another way to permanently break it."

"That could be one of his tricks."

"Maybe… but I don't see why he would lie about it. Do you think it will only be down until he and Belle go back to town?"

"I don't know. I agree it's frustrating being so far away. I might be able to understand more about what kind of magic he used if I could just be in Storybrooke." Regina replied.

Emma breathed a tired sigh. "That reminds me, what did you think about what Henry said? When he was wondering if it was safe for you to go back to Storybrooke?"

Regina tilted her head to the side in a silent question.

"I mean, do you think that means he wants to move back there?" Emma clarified.

"Oh I see…" Regina nodded. "I'm sure that's what he meant. I don't know… it still seems too early to risk something like that."

Emma looked relieved. "I was hoping you'd say that."

"You were scared I would want to move back tomorrow, weren't you?" Regina teased.

"The thought did cross my mind." Emma grinned. "Since it's practically all you've been talking about for the past two weeks."

Regina's eyes softened. "It's my home, I believe it always will be. But even I can recognize that it would be idiotic to run back into the fire."

"Regina… I was wondering though… what if one day, we just slipped back into town, you know just the outskirts, and I could try to heal you with my magic? No one would even have to know that we're there. We could call my parents first to make sure the coast is clear."

Regina frowned as she thought over this. "But Emma you've tried that before and it didn't work. You just don't have the experience to cast a spell like that. And I'm sure the price of that kind of magic would be far too steep."

"But what if I don't care what the price is? What if you taught me how to do it?"

Regina shook her head slowly. "Even so, that could take weeks, months even. It took me a long time to master my powers and I had a teacher who could actually use magic. Need I remind you that I'm quite incapable of doing so at the moment?"

"Okay… well what if you just told me everything I needed to know while we're still here in Boston, and I can try it out once we get to Storybrooke?"

"Oh so now that it's your idea to go back to test the magic, now it's okay to risk a trip to Storybrooke?" Regina retorted, despite the teasing and affectionate look in her eyes.

"I know, I sound like a hypocrite." Emma sighed. "But I hate just doing nothing Regina. Especially now that I can't give you the kidney transplant."

Regina's eyes saddened. She huddled more closely to Emma and gazed into the flames that were dancing behind the glass of the fireplace window. "This is my fault." She murmured. "I wished for you not to be a match. I did this. I didn't want you risking your health for me."

"Don't be ridiculous Regina, you couldn't have controlled this. It's just biology, I either was going to be a match for you or I wasn't… and unfortunately… I'm not. You not wanting me to be a match didn't change my blood type, this wasn't the universe granting you some sort of cosmic wish. It's just bad luck."

"Still, some days I feel as though the universe is working against me." Regina said, closing her eyes.

"I get that… But we'll figure this out Regina…" Emma assured her, wrapping her arms protectively around the brunette. "We'll figure this out together."

Regina breathed a deep, troubled sigh. "Emma… if you were told you may only have a few months left to live, what would you do with your time?" She asked softly.

"Me?" Emma asked, her gaze drifting off for a moment as she thought. She drew the brunette closer, pressing a gentle kiss to the top of her head. "I would spend every second with you and Henry."

Regina breathed a laugh. "Good answer."

Emma grinned. "Seriously though, this isn't about what I want. What do you want?"

Regina's gaze dropped. "What I want is to live four or five more decades."

The brunette's answer cut through Emma like physical pain. "I know… But you will, I know you will." She murmured, closing her eyes as she continued to hold Regina. They were both silent for a few minutes until Emma broke the silence. "Let's go on a trip Regina." She said dreamily.

"A trip?" The brunette asked a little sleepily. "Like a vacation?"

"Yeah... you've seen so many worlds, but you've barely seen any of this one. I've never even been out of the country… what do you say we explore this place together? I've always wanted to see the world, and there's no one else I would rather go with."

"Emma don't be ridiculous..." Regina said softly. "I can't, I'm too sick for that."

"No you're not. All you need is to keep up with your dialysis treatments and there are clinics all over the world. We could just schedule your appointments before we go and the doctors here could help us do that. Let's go to Europe, I know you've always wanted to see it. Come on, what do you say? Where do you want to go? Paris? We could eat croissants and drink espressos... we could have dinner at sunset on a riverboat on the Seine, and finish off with a night view of the city from the Eiffel Tower. Or we could go to Rome? What about London? You could go to Buckingham Palace and meet the Queen, I'm sure you have a lot in common." Emma nudged her.

Regina breathed a laugh. "Hardly. And besides," she squared her shoulders a little. "I am the only queen."

Emma's eyes sparkled at the lightness in Regina's tone. "Come on, there must be somewhere you want to go?" She asked gently.

"Hm," Regina closed her eyes as she thought. "I've always liked the idea of Italy, it just seems so beautiful there."

"Then Italy it is." Emma said matter of factly. "We can tour Florence and Rome and Venice and Milan... and with your love of pasta I'm sure I could finally get you to eat actual meals there. You're right... Italy is the one. Should I head down to the passport office now?" Emma teased.

"Emma..." Regina breathed through her smile as she leaned into the blonde, there was a faraway look in her eyes. "If things were different I would love nothing more than to go to Italy with you."

Emma wrapped her arms around the other woman. "See? You can't go yet... there is so much more for you to do here." She mumbled into Regina's hair as she held her close.