Chapter Five

Regina took in a deep breath as she leaned down to pick Henry up from the playpen, and turned back to face Mal. Emma was standing beside Mal now, beaming proudly, and oddly, Regina felt that her presence somehow put her a little bit more at ease.

"This is Henry," Regina said. "Henry, this is Mal."

"He's cute," Mal said, with a nod.

"That's it? He's just cute?" Emma asked, scrunching her nose up and staring at Mal, who was still completely oblivious to her presence beside her.

"Hush, Emma, what else do you expect her to say?"

Mal smirked and raised an eyebrow. "Am I being sassed by a ghost right now? I wish I wasn't missing this."

"Yeah, why can't she see me?" Emma demanded, turning back to Regina.

"I don't know," Regina insisted.

"You don't know what?" Mal asked.

Regina let out an exasperated sigh. "Why you can't see her. And this little game of telephone is going to get old, very fast."

"Well, once we get this unfinished business sorted out, and send her on her way, you won't have to anymore."

"Regina! You said I could stay," Emma reminded her.

"I know. Relax," Regina said to Emma, before turning back to Mal. "Mal… don't talk about her like she's not in the room. She's not just… some pest to exterminate. She's a person."

A more serious look came over Mal's face. "Regina… can I speak to you, alone?"

Regina turned her attention back to Emma. "Emma? Can you…"

"Ugh." Emma rolled her eyes, and dissipated from Regina's sight without a word.

"Is she gone?" Mal asked.

Regina nodded as she placed Henry back in his playpen and handed him some toys to play with. "Yes. And she didn't look impressed to be banished from the conversation."

"Regina," Mal said, more firmly than Regina was expecting. "She's not a person. She's a ghost."

"She has feelings," Regina pointed out, defensively.

"I'm sure she does. But you can't go getting attached to her, because she can't stay here."

"Well-"

"No, Regina, this isn't optional. You have a hard time letting people go, I know that, but she can't be at peace here."

Regina sighed. "I don't know what her unfinished business is. I asked her, and she doesn't know either. And besides, you find all this supernatural stuff interesting. I thought you'd be more excited to have the chance to experience it first hand."

"I'm not saying I'm not excited," Mal insisted. "I just have more knowledge on the subject than you do, and while you're worried about her feelings, I'm worried about her soul."

Regina opened her mouth to object, but changed her mind. "Alright, let's not start fighting within the first five minutes of seeing each other again."

"Oh, I see motherhood has subdued you," Mal teased with a playful glint in her eye. "But yes, I'd like to at least get settled before we start bickering again."

Regina nodded. "I'll show you to the guest room."

"I remember where it is," Mal insisted, picking up her bags and heading toward the stairs, as Regina followed. "So tell me, what else is new in your life? Or who else, perhaps?"

"Oh, I'm not seeing anyone right now," Regina said immediately, as a new fear washed over her. She'd never considered that Mal might be seeing someone now.

"Neither am I," Mal said off-handedly. "Right now."

Regina sighed as they reached the top of the stairs. "I'm sorry I didn't call sooner."

"Regina," Mal stopped her. "Don't. It's fine. It's the past and we were both trying to move on. I could have called you, too."

Regina nodded as Mal started off toward the guest room, and she continued to follow. Both of them knew that Mal would have called if she thought Regina would have answered. But Regina had always needed more of a cooling off period, and usually she would be the one to initiate contact when she was ready. This time had been different.

"This is where I saw her first," Regina acknowledged, as she followed Mal into the guest room. "Emma, I mean."

"Why did she wait so long to reveal herself to you?"

"I… I don't think she controls it. It just… happened."

Mal shook her head. "No, she can control it. She probably just hasn't realized it yet. What was going on, when you first saw her?"

Regina shrugged. "Nothing, really. I was just coming in here to change the sheets after you said you were coming."

"Did she hear you talking to me on the phone?"

"Yes, actually," Regina said. "She was worried that you were going to exorcise her."

Mal smiled. "Well, that was it then. She might not realize it, but she revealed herself to you, subconsciously, as a self-preservation method."

"That actually makes sense. So, if she figures out how to control it, she could reveal herself to you, too?"

Mal shrugged. "I don't see why not. It might take some practice, but it would make things easier. And Regina, I wasn't kidding before. She can't stay here."

"I know. You're right, I know. But Mal, is there really any harm in treating her like a guest in my home rather than an other-worldly invader, at least until we get it all figured out? She's so young, and she's been through a lot and it's got to be scary."

Mal sighed and nodded. "Yeah, I know. But I also know how quickly you get attached to people and how hard it is for you to let go."

"No has ever been as hard to let go of as you were, and I survived that," Regina pointed out.

Mal raised an eyebrow but didn't comment. Instead, she dropped her suitcase on the guest bed and started unpacking.

"So, how have you been?" Regina asked, desperate to change the subject, at least for now. "Life looks like it's treating you well."

Mal shrugged. "Can't complain. I've been spending a lot of time travelling down south, as you may have ascertained, doing some freelance writing and photography, but…"

"But?" Regina prompted, when Mal trailed off.

"I don't know… I've been considering maybe coming back here, for a while."

"Back to Storybrooke?"

"Maybe." Mal shrugged. "I haven't decided yet. I've been having fun, but it's getting a little lonely. I haven't landed in a place yet where I think I might want to put down roots. I guess I've been getting a little homesick."

"Well, you're welcome to stay here as long as you like," Regina offered, without a second thought.

"We'll see. For now, let's just play it by ear, okay? I only have about a week right now, before I have to leave again. I still have deadlines to make, you know. But… who knows what the future might bring, right?"

When Mal and Regina made their way back downstairs, after Mal had finished unpacking, Emma was back in the living room, sitting by Henry's playpen, watching him play with his blocks.

"Hey," Emma said, looking nervously up at Regina as she entered the room. "So?"

"So?" Regina asked, confused.

"Did you guys, like… figure out how to get rid of me?"

Regina shook her head, quickly. "No, and don't think of it like that, okay? I'm not trying to get rid of you."

"Emma's here?" Mal asked, following Regina's gaze to the empty space on the floor by the playpen. "Ask her to try to materialize for me."

Regina glanced back at Mal. "She can hear you, you know. You can talk to her."

"Right." Mal nodded. "It's just sort of strange to talk to an empty space. No offense, Emma."

Emma stood up. "What does she mean, 'materialize'?"

"Mal thinks you can control who can see you, but you're doing it subconsciously."

"No, I'm not," Emma said, defensively. "It just… happens. I don't know how."

"I know," Regina said. "But if it's subsconscious, you may just think it's just happening, without knowing that you can control it. Henry could see you because you had no reason to fear him. I couldn't see you until you needed to talk to me, to make sure you weren't going to be exorcised. And maybe Mal can't see you because-"

"Because you're afraid of me," Mal finished for her. "Because you think I'm going to do something to get rid of you. But I'm not. Emma, I wouldn't even know how to do that."

Emma stared at Mal for a moment, then looked back at Regina. "I… when I was a alive, I used to have a kind of superpower. I could tell when anyone was lying. Do you think that would still work?"

"I don't see why not," Regina replied.

Emma looked back at Mal. "I think you're telling the truth," she said, nodding as though she were still trying to convince herself.

Mal drew in a quick breath, then a smile slowly spread over her lip. "Oh… there you are."

"You can see me now?" Emma asked, her eyes widening.

Mal nodded. "So you can control it."

"Yeah, I guess so. But, I probably shouldn't let anyone else see me, right?" Emma asked, turning back to Regina. "Like, you probably don't want anyone else to know?"

Regina gave a non-committal shrug. "Well, you know as well as I do that no one ever comes over, save for Ruby, and she was the first one to guess that you were visiting Henry as a ghost anyway. It's probably fine if she knows, and… well, you can't leave the house so no one else really ever will."

"You can't leave the house?" Mal asked, her interest piqued.

Emma shook her head. "No. I used to be anchored to my grave and then one day I ended up here. I can walk through walls inside the house, but I can't seem to get out. I've even tried when the door was already open, but it's like there's some sort of forcefield."

Mal nodded. "So your unfinished business is definitely inside this house then. It's got to Henry."

"I'm not so sure it is," Emma replied. "I mean, it would make sense but, he already has everything I could want for him, and I know he's safe and loved. What more can there be?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it's where we have to start. I know you probably don't want to go, but Emma, you don't belong here. Your soul needs to rest."

"But where am I gonna go?"

"I don't know," Mal admitted. "But your existence proves there's something more after mortal life ends. It's an adventure, Emma, not something to fear. Regina and I, we're not going to force you out, we're just going to try to help you take the next step, alright?"

Emma sighed and nodded. "Okay. But I don't think it's going to be as easy as you think it will be."

Regina smiled tightly as she listened to Emma and Mal talk. She liked having Emma around, and she liked that Emma's presence had prompted Mal to come back into her life... she really wasn't ready for either of them to leave any time soon.