At six thirty the following evening, Emma and Henry turned up on Regina's doorstep.

"You made it," Regina said in greeting.

"Told you we would," Emma said with a smile, handing her a bottle of wine. "Don't say I don't know how to be a good dinner guest."

"Thank you." Regina wrapped her other arm around Henry as he hugged her. "Hi sweetheart."

Henry beamed up at her. "Did you make lasagna?"

Regina laughed. "Of course. Come in. And keep your hands off the cookies," she added, when Henry headed straight for the kitchen. "They're for dessert." She hesitated, looking at Emma. "Sorry; that was …"

"You being his mother," Emma finished with an easy smile, shrugging her jacket off. "Don't worry about it."

"How often do your parents want you to check in?" Regina asked knowingly.

"Every twenty minutes," Emma admitted. "I talked them down from ten."

Regina rolled her eyes. "You'd better set an alarm then, Miss Swan; I'd rather not have the hero brigade breaking down the door."

"Good point," Emma said, pulling out her phone to do just that. "Is it odd that I didn't realise you cooked?"

Regina raised an eyebrow. "You knew that."

"I knew you baked," Emma said. "I just kind of assumed you'd have, you know, someone to do that for you."

"I did growing up," Regina admitted. "I learned while I was here. I find it relaxing. Do you cook?"

Emma laughed. "God no. I burn water."

"How do you burn water?" Regina asked.

"I don't know," Emma admitted. "I've managed it though. Thankfully, Snow can."

Regina looked like she was about to ask something else, but at that moment, Henry stepped out of the kitchen asking when dinner would be ready, and she immediately changed the subject, ushering them into the dining room.

Over dinner (which was delicious - Emma had to agree with Henry's announcement that Regina's lasagna was the best), Henry filled Regina in about school and his dad, and Emma mostly listened, marvelling at the easy relationship mother and son had fallen back in to.

When they had finished, Regina rose to clear the dishes, but Emma waved her off. "Regina, you cooked; the least I can do is clean up."

"I appreciate the offer, Miss Swan," Regina said, "but …"

"She has a system," Henry finished with a grin.

Emma sighed. "At least let me help you carry the dishes out?"

Regina relented and the two cleared the table, Emma relocating to the kitchen with her glass of wine while Regina loaded the dishwasher.

"Mom?" Henry asked from the doorway, causing them both to respond. "Uh, Regina-Mom."

Regina smiled, her eyes a little sad. "Yes honey?"

"Um, is it okay if I grab a couple of books from my room?" Henry asked.

"Of course," Regina said. "They're your books."

"I know," Henry said, "but I don't want … I mean …"

Regina dried her hands on a tea towel and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Henry, this is your home. It will always be your home, no matter what happens, no matter how old you are and no matter where you live. Okay? Taking a few books out isn't going to change that."

Henry hugged her tightly and Emma averted her gaze, pulling out her phone as it buzzed to warn her that she was due another text home.

"What exactly are you telling them?" Regina asked, alerting Emma to the fact that Henry had disappeared upstairs.

"'Still alive, put the swords away, xoxo'," Emma said flatly.

"You're not really being that flippant, are you?" Regina asked.

"Well, I'm not adding the 'xoxo'," Emma said with a smile. "Snow expects it. Otherwise she'd think you were texting for me."

"That's the second time you've called her that," Regina commented cautiously, picking up her glass.

"What am I supposed to call her?" Emma asked.

"Mom?" Regina suggested. "Mother? Mama?"

Emma sighed. "I guess it hasn't sunk in yet. I … I had a mom. Once. A family adopted me pretty much straight away. And then three years later, they had their own kid and got rid of me."

"They did what?" Regina asked, her voice very quiet.

"They sent me back," Emma said, one hand gripping the counter behind her. "I guess part of me worries that the moment I acknowledge them as my parents, I'll lose them."

"I'm sorry," Regina said.

"You didn't make them send me back," Emma said with a weak smile.

"No," Regina agreed, "but …"

"Let's leave it," Emma said. "You did a lot of bad things, Regina, but if you hadn't, neither of us would have Henry in our lives. And he makes up for a lot."

"Did you …?" Regina hesitated. "Did you hold him? When he was born?"

Emma shook her head. "I couldn't. I knew if I did, I wouldn't be able to let him go. I didn't even look at him. I still carry his last sonogram in my wallet."

Regina frowned. "Sonogram?"

Emma mimicked her expression for a second - of course, there had been nothing like that in the Enchanted Forest, but … "Didn't the curse give you that kind of knowledge?"

"Me, no," Regina said. "Everyone else, yes."

Emma bit back a laugh. "So everyone else settled into this world like they'd always been here while you tried to figure out technology all by yourself? Are you sure you weren't cursing yourself?"

"Well, it was Gold's curse," Regina muttered. "Sometimes I wonder." She cleared her throat. "What's a sonogram?"

"It's easier if I show you," Emma said, pulling it out. "I don't understand how it works, but they scan your belly and can see how the baby's growing. This was two weeks before he was born, see?"

Regina shook her head, leaning closer to see it. "That's amazing."

Emma smiled sadly. "Closest thing I have to a baby picture." She cleared her throat and tucked the picture away again. "So, I asked you a few probing questions yesterday, and I've read the storybook - do you want to ask me anything? Make us even?"

Regina chuckled. "There's actually only one thing that's been really … not bothering me, I suppose, but … Why a star?"

Emma smiled, turning her arm to better show off the tattoo on her wrist. "It's for my best friend. The only other picture I keep in there." She pulled out the second picture in her wallet, the one she kept tucked behind Henry's sonogram. "Her name was Lily."

"What happened to her?" Regina asked softly, looking at the photograph of two teenage girls, one dark, one fair, pulling silly faces at the camera.

"I hope she's out there somewhere, happy and safe," Emma said, "but I don't know. Lily was an orphan too, except she got adopted properly. She had everything I wanted - parents, a home, a family, security - and … she didn't seem to care. She was always running away and making bad choices and getting me into trouble."

"That must have been frustrating," Regina commented.

Emma snorted. "It was. We met when we were eight and we were inseparable, pretty much immediately. When we were fourteen, I snapped. I told her that she was dragging me down with her and she could ruin her own life for all I cared, I wouldn't let her ruin mine." She sighed. "I regretted it immediately. But I got moved to a different home that evening, miles away. I never saw Lily again. I hope she turned her life around, but I've always had this sinking feeling that she just kept spiralling."

"And the star?" Regina asked.

"Lily had a birthmark," Emma said. "It looked just like a star. When we were about ten, I told her how jealous I was; the only marks I had on my body were scars, and she had this cool mark that connected her to her parents, wherever they were."

"Did she feel the same drive to find them?" Regina asked curiously. "If she had parents, I mean."

Emma grimaced. "I don't know. She always said she didn't fit in. She never talked about finding her birth parents the way I did, but … it wouldn't surprise me. When I told her that, she grabbed a marker and drew a star on my wrist as well and said, "There you go, we're sisters now."." Her grimace turned into a laugh. "Of course, being Lily, she managed to grab a permanent marker; it didn't rub off for weeks and I got in a whole lot of trouble."

"Did that happen a lot?" Regina asked.

"I swear, she used to insist she was …" Emma trailed off.

"Cursed?" Regina finished.

"Maybe I should try and find her," Emma murmured.

"You can't save everyone," Regina said as Henry's footsteps returned from upstairs.

"I know," Emma said with a sigh. "She was probably being dramatic anyway. I got the tattoo to remind myself to always remember that the every time you talk to someone could be the last time. And I'm still not very good at that."

"I don't think anyone is," Regina said, glancing up at the clock.

Emma followed her gaze. "We'd better go; I promised them I'd be home …"

"Of course," Regina agreed, bestowing a smile on Henry as he appeared in the doorway. "Did you find them all, honey?"

"Yeah, I've got them," Henry said.

He looked a little forlorn and Emma reached out to ruffle his hair. "I'd ask if you want to stay the night but if I come home without you, your grandparents might just have a heart attack."

"Another night?" Henry asked hopefully, looking from her to Regina.

"Of course," Regina and Emma both answered.

"Thanks Moms," Henry said with a grin.

"I'd offer you the leftovers," Regina said, "but they'd probably worry I'd poisoned them."

Emma chuckled. "There was something unusual in there though, wasn't there?"

"Red pepper flakes," Regina answered. "Gives it some kick. I do have something for you though."

Emma watched her disappear down the hallway. "Where …?"

"Her study, I think," Henry answered, craning his neck to look.

Regina appeared again a moment letter, holding a small piece of paper. "I made a copy," she said, a little briskly, thrusting it at Emma. "You should have one."

Emma's breath caught as she gazed at the photograph, the baby that smiled toothlessly up at her. "Is this …?"

"Henry, the day I brought him home," Regina answered.

"Thank you," Emma whispered.

Henry hugged Regina tightly. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I'm sorry I said you weren't my real mom and that you didn't love me. I know you do. And you are."

Regina swallowed hard, kneeling down to embrace him more fully. "It's alright, Henry. I was always afraid of what would happen when you found out you were adopted and … I wasn't ready to deal with it, so I panicked. I'm sorry."

Emma went to retrieve their jackets to give them a bit of privacy, but another check on the time had her regretfully calling Henry to her side.

"I'm sorry," she added to Regina, "but …"

"It's alright," Regina said, her voice resigned. "I'm just grateful that …"

"You're his mother," Emma said. "I'm grateful that you're allowing me to be his mother too."

"I've been thinking," Henry said over breakfast a few days later.

"Oh?" Emma asked. "Is it about how you've missed way too much school recently?"

Henry pulled a face. "I was hoping you'd forget about that."

Emma smiled, stealing a berry from his fruit pot. "No way, kid. I'm a responsible adult now, remember? Cora made it necessary, but we need to get you back there. What were you thinking about?"

"You can't both be 'Mom'," Henry said bluntly. "It'll get confusing."

"Oh." Emma dropped her gaze, focusing on her pancakes, which suddenly looked far less appetising than they had a minute ago. "I understand that. I mean … do you … do you want to go back to 'Emma'?"

"No!"

The immediacy of his response soothed something in her heart, and she chanced a glance up at him. "So what were you thinking?"

"Well, there's other words for Mom, right?" Henry asked. "I could use one of them for you, and keep Mom for, you know, Mom, and then you'll both know who I'm talking to."

"Right," Emma said, everything settling back into place within her (she'd only been 'Mom' for a matter of months, how did it suddenly break her heart to think she might not be again, even if he wasn't going anywhere?). "So what do you think?"

"Well, Dad calls Gold 'Papa'," Henry said slowly. "So I think that's a family thing. So I was thinking he could be Papa, and you could be Mama."

Emma smiled, thankful when it came easily and unforced. "That sounds great to me, Henry, just … You know Neal and I aren't getting back together, right?"

"I know," Henry said. "He's getting married."

"Oh, good, he told you," Emma said.

"Uh huh," Henry said. "We're meeting her for lunch today."

Emma froze, her fork halfway to her mouth. "Excuse me?"

"Well, Papa called Tamara and told her everything," Henry said. "She's getting here this morning." He tilted his head, his gaze travelling over her shoulder. "I guess that must be her."

Emma spun around. Sure enough, there was Neal, speaking to an unknown woman. "Henry, stay here."

"But Mama …"

"Stay here," Emma repeated, as Ruby came over, looking concerned. "Yes, she's a stranger; yes, I know about it. Keep him here." She stepped out of the diner just as August rounded the corner, doing a double-take when he saw Neal.

"Neal," Emma called. "Did you want to mention something?"

"Of course," Neal said with a smile. "Emma, this is Tamara, my fiancee. Tamara, this is Emma, Henry's mom."

"One of them," Emma said, a little sharply. "Neal, can I have a word? Quietly?"

Neal rolled his eyes and followed her out of earshot. "I don't need to report everything to you, Emma."

"My responsibility is the safety of this town," Emma said. "Does she know?"

"I told her everything," Neal said.

Emma frowned. "And she believed you?"

"Not everyone is suspicious as you, Em," Neal said calmly. "Tamara's open-minded."

"I'm just saying most people would not have reacted like that," Emma said with a sigh. "Have you at least warned her that this place is paranoid about strangers?"

"I have," Neal said. He hesitated. "She wants me to try and get joint custody of Henry."

"We can work something out," Emma said. "And we will. But with everything that's happened …"

"A mutual agreement is best for Henry," Neal finished. "I absolutely agree with you and I've told her that as well. I'm trying to convince her to relocate here, or at least closer to make that easier."

"That will make it easier with Regina as well," Emma said.

Neal raised an eyebrow. "You do remember that you are Henry's mother, right?"

"Biological mother," Emma said. "I'm not his legal guardian. Regina is. I signed away my rights. Legally, I have no claim to Henry at all. I considered changing that, before the curse broke, but we're coping right now. And Henry doesn't need that. But it does mean that we do need to consider her in all of this."

Neal nodded. "Alright, fair enough."

A pair of arms slipped around her waist. "Do I need to call for back-up?"

Emma tilted her head to smile back at August. "That's Henry's soon-to-be stepmother."

August nodded to Neal. "Congratulations."

Neal gave him an easy smile. "Thanks. If that was all, Em, I promised her the tour."

Emma sighed. "Yeah, that's all. Thanks for the warning about lunch."

Neal grimaced. "I was going to bring it up, Emma; I swear. When I introduced you. Which I would like to do properly?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah, of course." As she moved to follow him, August's arms tightened around her waist. "And good morning to you too."

"Morning," August murmured, pressing a kiss to her cheek, but his eyes were fixed on Tamara.

"What are you thinking?" Emma asked.

"I swear I know her from somewhere," August said slowly. "I just can't think where."

"He's done what?!"

Emma winced, leaning back against Regina's couch, watching the other woman pace around her office.

"What was he thinking?!"

"I think he was thinking he wanted his son to get to know his stepmother," Emma said dryly.

"Stepmothers are bad news," Regina snapped. "I don't trust her."

"You're a stepmother," Emma pointed out.

"Yes, and look how well that went," Regina said, sinking into the chair behind the desk. "Do you trust her?"

"She didn't lie to me," Emma said.

"But?" Regina prompted.

Emma sighed. "But she also seemed to be … I don't know … she didn't outright lie, but …"

"But that doesn't mean she didn't hide the truth," Regina finished.

"I mean, maybe Neal's right," Emma said. "Maybe I am just a paranoid sort. But they've only known each other a few months, even if he is marrying her and they are in love, and … I mean, I would not believe anyone that easily, if they told me fairytales were real."

"She could be humouring him," Regina admitted grudgingly. "Or was until she realised the whole town believed it. We can't all be crazy, can we?"

"No, but you can be a small town isolated from reality," Emma said. "I just … I don't know. Do you think I'm jealous?"

"Of Tamara?" Regina asked. "I thought the puppet was your 'True Love'."

"He is," Emma said, ignoring the nickname. "I'm very happy, it's just that … Snow seems to think it's jealousy."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Your mother sees everything very black and white. Neal is in love with Tamara, therefore Tamara is in love with him. If you're right, there's a chance that she's tricking him. And that kind of thing doesn't happen in Snow White's world."

The trace of bitterness in her voice caught Emma's attention. "It was never just Daniel, was it? She never realised how awful it was being married to my grandfather."

"How do you know it was awful?" Regina asked sharply.

"You were barely an adult," Emma said softly, "and I read the book. You were forced into it. It didn't go into detail, but I can't imagine any of that was fun."

"Leopold doted on that girl," Regina said quietly. "Gave her everything she wanted, reasonable or not. Damn near bankrupted the kingdom to do so. So of course she has always seen her father as a good man."

"You never corrected her?" Emma asked.

Regina gave her a sardonic smile. "I wanted to protect her."

Emma's phone rang before she could respond, August's name flashing up on the screen. "Hang on," she murmured, answering the call. "What's up?"

"Where are you?"

Emma frowned. "City Hall, why?"

"I'm at the station," August said. "We need to talk, Emma; I've-"

"August?" Emma asked, when he fell quiet. "You've what?" She pulled the phone away from her ear to check the screen; the call had dropped. "Weird." She hit redial and waited.

But instead of August's voice, she was met with the cool female voice of the automatic message. "The number you've dialled is temporarily out of service. Please try again later."

Emma's gut was churning. "Something's not right."

"What is it?" Regina asked.

"I don't know," Emma said, "but something's not right." She hurried out of the office, only mildly surprised when Regina followed her, keeping easy pace with her in spite of her heels.

"Where are we going?"

"Sheriff Station," Emma answered. "August said …"

As they rounded the corner, August emerged from the station, and relief flooded her for a second, before she realised that something was very, very wrong.

His face was pale; he stumbled once, twice, and then collapsed to the ground.

Emma screamed, throwing herself down beside him, desperately checking for a pulse. "No, no, no, no, this is not happening; this is not happening!"

Somewhere in her mind she was vaguely aware of Regina calling an ambulance, her parents arriving, Henry arriving and letting out a horrified cry of his own.

All she could focus on was the lack of life under her hands, the stillness of his chest, the silence of his heart, and she kissed him, praying that it would work a second time, but this time there was no magical cure.

"Can't you do something?" Henry asked Regina, his voice shaking.

She had the boy in her arms, Emma realised, something that her parents would normally have argued about but they were clearly distracted by the tragedy unfolding before them.

"I can't, sweetheart," Regina said, genuine remorse in her voice. "I don't … There is no bringing back the …"

"He's not dead," Emma snapped.

"Emma," Snow said gently.

"He's not," Emma repeated, brushing the hair back from his face. "He can't be."

"There might be an answer."

Emma looked up, wide eyes darting around until they fell on Mother Superior.

No - the Blue Fairy.

"You can help him?" Emma whispered.

Blue smiled gently at her. "I can try. He's not quite dead yet, Emma, but I must warn you: all magic comes with a price. You may not like this one."

"Emma …" David began.

"You made a deal with Rumplestiltskin to save your true love," Emma said sharply. "At least I know she's not trying to screw me over."

Blue knelt down on August's other side, touching his face and then his heart with all the tenderness of a mother. Her hands were shaking a little, and Emma realised that August was wrong in his assumption that she didn't think of herself like that.

Her hands glowed for a second, before the light grew to envelop August's whole body. Emma squeezed her eyes tightly, until the light dimmed.

When she opened her eyes, however, August was nowhere to be found.

Instead, there was a young boy lying on the ground where he had once been.

Snow took a tentative step forwards, kneeling beside Emma. "Pinocchio?"

The boy's eyes opened and Emma's heart leapt into her throat.

They were his eyes. This boy was August, de-aged to about seven years old.

"It's alright," Snow said soothingly, as the boy tried to get up. "Do you remember what happened?"

Pinocchio shook his head. "I'm sorry. Was I bad?"

"No, sweetheart, you had an accident," Snow said, glancing at Emma. "Do you … Do you know who this lady is?"

Pinocchio studied her face and then … shook his head again. "I'm sorry."

Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before pasting a smile on her face. "It's alright."

"Emma," Snow began as she got to her feet.

"Someone …" Emma swallowed hard. "Someone should go and get his father. Excuse me."

"Emma, what did she do?" David asked as she passed.

"Deaged him," Emma said flatly.

"Not Blue, Regina," David said.

"Nothing," Emma said. "I was with her when August called. Whoever kill - Whoever did this, it wasn't Regina." She brushed past him, and through the crowd, breaking into a run as soon as she had space.

Finally, somewhere in the trees surrounding Storybrooke, she stumbled to a halt, collapsing on the ground in tears.