Chapter Fourteen

Boston, Massachusetts
October 22, 2008

It was Emma's twenty-fifth birthday.

Of course, Regina couldn't forget this day if she tried, considering it coincided exactly with the anniversary of the day she had cast the dark curse.

It was also the anniversary of the birth of the prophesied Savior.

That thought had troubled her slightly, once she had gotten home Portland the day after she'd just met Emma, and it occurred to her that Emma was not only born on the day of the curse, but also the same year. Of course, that troubled Regina at the time, and the thought did cross her mind that Emma might have been the Savior, the child of Snow White and Prince Charming.

She might have been that Savior.

But, Regina was sure she wasn't. She was sure lots of little girls were born that day, and Rumple's prophecy distinctly stated that the Savior would turn up on her 28th birthday, not that Regina would meet her in some seedy bar in Oregon on her 17th.

And certainly fate would protect the Savior from jumping into bed with the Evil Queen, wouldn't it?

Regina was sure it was just a coincidence, but it forced her to remember Emma's birthday every year, none-the-less. It had been over five years since she'd last seen Emma, and she rarely crossed her mind these days; nothing more than a fleeting thought now and again.

But this day - every year on Emma's birthday - she missed her. And every year on Emma's birthday, Regina wondered if she made the right choice. Emma had been half-asleep and probably didn't even remember telling Regina she loved her.

And, of course, Regina knew she didn't really love her, but she feared if she had let this go on any longer, Emma would have gotten dangerously close to that emotion. But she wouldn't love her, she would love the persona that Regina put forth. No one could really know her, truly who she was, and still love her anyway.

It would have only been a matter of time until she failed to live up to Emma's ideals, to Emma's vision of who Regina was, and Emma would smarten up and run far, far away. Evil Queens don't get happy endings, and Regina knew it was foolish to think she would when she'd done nothing to deserve it.

And Emma certainly deserved better than her.

Regina was convinced she didn't need love anyway, not romantic love. She had a son who adored her, and Graham to look after her physical needs. What more did she need?

She knew the answer to that, but she wouldn't admit it, not even to herself.

And yet, as she sat alone in a booth at an upscale Boston restaurant, nursing her drink and barely touching her food, she had to wonder where Emma was now. She was sure Emma had likely settled down. She was a beautiful girl, it wouldn't take long for someone to snatch her up, she was sure.

She wondered if she was married? She wondered even more if she was married, was it to a man or a woman? She wondered why it even mattered to her, now?

She wondered if Emma had ever changed her number, and she bit her lip, resisting the urge to call and see.

Emma sighed as she sat across from the empty chair. Her 'date' had been in the bathroom nearly thirty minutes now, and she was well aware that he had caught on to her. She set her jaw, knowing this wasn't going to be an easy bounty, especially now that he knew her face.

She was usually better at this. She should have known better than to agree to a date today, however, knowing she'd be distracted. There had been a time in her life that her birthday was just another day, but that was before her seventeenth.

As much as she tried to force herself to forget about Regina, she was finding it nearly impossible, and her birthday was the hardest day. It didn't matter how many people she'd been with, no one compared, and eventually she'd given up even trying to look, and thrown herself into the bailbonds game, fully. The only dates she went on were set-ups like this one, and normally, when she was focused and on the ball, they went much better than this one had.

She should have known better.

"Miss?" the waiter said, looking sympathetic as he walked over. Emma was grateful, at least, that they hadn't ordered their meals yet, so she'd only have to pay for the drinks.

"I know, he's not coming back," she nodded, trying to look at least a little broken up about it. "Sucks, you know? Because it's my birthday."

She reached into her purse to grab her wallet, but the waiter stopped her. "It's alright, it's on us tonight. Happy birthday."

Emma smirked and shook her head. "Yeah, thanks."

She handed him a tip anyway, and started to headed out the door, without a second glance at the brunette she passed, sitting alone at the corner booth.

She headed across the street to her Bug, and glanced into the window of the building she was parked in front of, more out of habit than really looking for anything.

And she couldn't believe what she saw.

"Regina?"

Regina's neck snapped up at the familiar voice, and her jaw dropped as she looked up at the blonde staring back at her. Emma was in a short teal dress, strapless and tight, and for a moment, Regina couldn't peel her eyes off of Emma's body to look at her face.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Regina swallowed hard, trying to regain her composure.

"Having dinner, what does it look like?" she snapped. She didn't really mean to, but Emma's abrupt appearance had taken her by surprise, and distracted her… from thinking about Emma. "What are you doing in Boston?"

"I live here," Emma replied, the anger slowly dissipating from her voice, as she sat down across from Regina.

Regina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, so you're just inviting yourself to join me, then?"

Emma shrugged. "Well, I was having dinner at the restaurant across the street, but my date bailed and I was going to just go home, but as fate would have it, I ran into you."

"On your birthday," Regina noted.

This time, Emma was surprised. "Yeah, funny how that always seems to work out, isn't it?"

Regina's mouth went dry. This was the third time she'd accidently run into Emma on her birthday. Maybe her Emma-the-Savior theory wasn't so far off base, after all.

And then she saw it. The challenging glint in Emma's eye, the way she set her jaw; she'd always thought Emma reminded her of someone, right from the first morning after, but she could never place it. Until now. Emma had always looked so innocent, so naive, but now, that challenge, that determination, that was all Snow. Emma was every bit her mother's daughter.

And suddenly, Regina knew how badly she'd fucked up.

But she couldn't let herself be defeated this easily, savior or no savior. She just needed to get Emma the hell away from her, no matter what conflicting feelings she might still harbour toward the blonde.

So Regina plastered on her best fake smile, the one she used when speaking the the people of Storybrooke - one she'd never used on Emma before - and spoke in the most condescending tone she could muster up. "Is there something you would like, Miss Swan?"

If Emma faltered, Regina didn't see it. Emma's jaw was still set and her eyes were still determined and Regina knew for sure now she wasn't dealing with the same pliable young woman anymore. "Yeah, actually. An explanation would be nice."

Regina quirked an eyebrow. "And just what, exactly, do I owe you an explanation for?"

"Well, let's see," Emma said, leaning forward and speaking in a hushed voice. "You spend a whole weekend trying to introduce me to new things, then you call me up and get me to touch myself over the phone for you, then you change your number and disappear from my life for five years? That's fucked up, Regina."

"I told you right from the start, it was just sex. It was meaningless and it was going to end. It's not my fault if you can't understand boundaries."

"What? What the hell are you talking about? You called me," Emma reminded her.

"I know. But I'm not the one who was getting too attached."

"I wasn't attached to you, Regina, don't flatter yourself. I've never been attached to anyone in my whole life, why would I start with you, when you made it clear from the start that you didn't want me?"

"Well, if you weren't attached, you sure had a funny way of showing it."

"You know what? Fuck you!" Emma snapped as she stood again, and leaned in close to Regina over the table. "I'm not the one who bedded a fucking teenager with no family and no friends and expected her not to get attached to the first person who showed her any sort of real affection."

"That wasn't affection, Emma. And, for the record, I wasn't interested in your baggage then, and I'm certainly not interested now."

"You know what? You're not even worth my time anymore. I was a naive kid back then, and I thought I needed you, even little slices of your time, here and there, but I don't need you anymore."

With that, Emma turned on her heel and left the restaurant, without another glance.

Regina watched out of the corner of her eye as Emma got in her Bug and took off, and she waited until Emma was gone, before she dropped her head to her hands and cried.

October 22, 2011
Boston

Emma swallowed hard as she glanced at the little boy grinning in the passenger seat next to her. When she'd wished not to be alone on her birthday, she hadn't really meant she wanted the kid she'd given up for adoption to just drop back into her life.

And demand she come home with him.

To Maine.

Emma hadn't heard from or seen Regina again, since that night three years ago, but, being that it was her birthday today, the thought of going to Maine of all places, was a more than just a little unsettling.

And next to her, this boy was rattling on about a curse and a savior and Emma figured that was just her luck that her kid would get adopted out to some horrible mother, someone bad enough that he would refer to her as the "Evil Queen."

Emma cringed. There were more than a few foster mothers in her past who could have been awarded that title, and she'd thought giving her kid up for adoption would have saved him from that kind of a life. Didn't adoption agencies screen applicants a little better than the foster system?

Apparently not.

Regina paced in her foyer. Henry had been missing for hours, and she was sure it was no coincidence that he just so happened to disappear on what should be the Savior's 28th birthday.

But she couldn't guess the connection.

She knew something would make Emma return to Storybrooke, but what did that have to do with her son? Emma had been in prison in Phoenix when Henry was born, but she'd gotten him from an agency in Boston. Henry had never been out of Storybrooke, and Regina would have known if Emma had been here.

But something deep down told her, Emma was coming tonight.

She was coming to break the curse.

Emma rolled her eyes as she got back into the Bug. Henry's therapist had just told her he was the Mayor's kid, and though Emma wasn't quite sure what town Regina was the mayor of, she had a very, very bad feeling about this.

Regina's kid would be about the same age as Emma's, and she recalled just how good Regina had looked, just a short time after having a baby. Emma and thought she didn't even look like she'd given birth.

And now she had a sinking feeling she knew why.

And when she pulled up in front of the large white mansion and watched the brunette come running down the steps, her heart sank.

How the fuck is this even possible?

Emma shifted her weight from foot to foot and bit her lip and she considered just bolting. Regina hadn't even glanced at her yet, and she knew she could made a run for it and never come back.

But something made her want to stay.

"I found my real mom!"

Emma's heart skipped a beat as Henry took off into the house and Regina looked up, meeting her eyes for the first time since she'd gotten out of the car.

"You're Henry's birth mother?"

Eleven years had led up to this moment, and Emma suddenly had to wonder how many chance meetings could be passed off as coincidences? How could random run-ins in Portland, Tallahassee, Boston and now Storybrooke, Maine, all on the same day, just mean nothing?

None of this made sense and she didn't know whether to scream or cry or laugh or run but Regina was staring at her and she knew she needed to say something…

"Hi."

Alright, we've made it to the turning point now. This was the moment I was waiting for, and now all the cards on the table. How will Regina and Emma's history affect them now, moving forward?

Will Emma break the curse? Does Emma love Regina? Does Regina love Emma? Can Emma forgive her? And how long can they really last without a real conversation about the baggage BOTH of them carry?

Tune in next week as the mystery unfolds…. ;)