A/N: Wow. Just wow. Thank you all for those wonderful reviews! I'm so happy the emotional nature of Regina's viewing Emma's memories read the way I hoped.

Laurathechef is entirely responsible for this chapter being remotely legible :) It may or may not have been in crayon when I sent it to her haha

As always I claim no ownership of the show, characters, plot, or settings. Any resemblance to any real people, places or events is entirely coincidental.

Enjoy!


"Here you are, Madam Mayor," Ruby said, sliding a glass of ginger ale and a short stack of plain pancakes across the table to Regina.

The idea of any food the morning after the night she spent hugging her toilet was enough to churn her stomach, but the familiar scent had an odd calming effect on her internal distress. "What's this? I just asked for the ginger ale."

"I know, but I thought since you wanted something to settle your stomach instead of your usual coffee, you might like something light and carb-y to help, too. On the house, don't worry about it," Ruby answered her with a grin.

"I'm sorry?" asked Regina, confused at the unsolicited kindness. Even with the way she'd changed after living in Storybrooke, she wasn't used to its residents doing things for her.

Looking around to make sure she was safe from Granny's wrath for perceived slacking off, Ruby slid into the booth across from Regina. "Here's the thing: Snow was my best friend in the old world. In a lot of ways she was like my sister. But since the Curse broke, Emma's become one of my best friends, too."

"I still don't see how that translates into free pancakes for me," Regina deadpanned.

The waitress smiled, but instead of the promise of danger in her wolfish grin, it was a warm, caring expression. "I know what you're doing. The whole town does. We all saw how you took charge after we lost Emma."

With a wry chuckle, Regina took a sip of her ginger ale. "Usually me taking charge has been something most people here have preferred to avoid."

Ruby's eyes narrowed as if she were trying to pierce Regina's soul. "You and I both know that's changed. You've changed. You went through hell in Neverland - I heard anyway - after you stopped the trigger. You absorbed a damn death curse to get Emma and Snow back and you fought your own blood sister for us. You're a hero now, and the whole town knows it."

A lifetime of abusive schooling from her mother and magical training from the Dark One had taught Regina how to plaster on a mask that would show nothing of her inner thoughts to anyone looking at her. That training failed her miserably. Her eyes were the size of saucers and her mouth was hanging open. "You…they do? What happened to the mob that wanted to burn me at the stake after the curse broke?"

"Of course we do! That was a heat-of-the-moment kind of a thing," the waitress folded her hands and leaned over the table, maintaining eye contact to drive her point home, "Think about it: we'd basically just been woken up. Our last memories before the curse were of fighting you. We got our memories back and it was like we were back in the Enchanted Forest. I think once people settled back into life here, and realized that electricity, central heating and air conditioning, not to mention the Internet and indoor plumbing, beat the hell out of scrounging a life out of the mud back home, they started cutting you some more slack. Fighting as hard as you have against the baddies and then working your ass off to help Emma now…well, people notice things like that."

"I really don't know what to say, other than thank you for the pancakes," Regina finally managed, trying to calm her racing heart and steady her suddenly short breath.

"No worries there, Madam Mayor. Granny's orders, and ones I happen to agree with: you eat free here while you're helping Emma. I'll even keep an eye on Henry for you sometimes, if you need the time to wake Emma."

By that point Regina was sure she looked like a goldfish. "Call me Regina, please. And thank you for all you're doing. I appreciate the effort more than I can say."

Ruby rewarded her with a grin and got back to her tables, leaving Regina behind to come to grips with what she'd been told.


David pulled the door to Granny's open, hearing the bell tinkle as it announced his arrival with Snow. The ringing had always seemed like a gentle, warm way of entering the usually bustling diner, but this morning, his attention was focused on the people inside more than anything else. They were due to meet with Regina to hear about how the dream catcher experiment went the night before. The entire way over, Snow had been too agitated to talk much, knowing not only that they could be close to finding out how to wake their daughter, but also that it might be someone closer than they originally expected that might be able to wake her.

Ruby met them at the door. Instead of gesturing to their usual seat, the waitress gestured to a booth in the corner. Turning, they could see Regina, hunched over a glass of what looked like ginger ale and a plate of half-eaten pancakes. It was enough of a departure from her usual routine that tendrils of niggling worry started crawling up David's spine. Sharing a concerned look with Snow, they moved through the diner to the booth.

"Regina?" Snow greeted as they slid in across from her.

When the older woman looked up at them, Snow gasped at the sight. David had to stop himself from reacting in much the same way.

Regina looked haunted. Dark circles under her eyes belied how little sleep she'd gotten the night before. Her skin was pale, as if she hadn't taken the time for her usual beauty regimen, but it was the absolute fear dominating her expression that took them both aback. "Regina?" Snow repeated. "Are you okay?"

"Fine," Regina rasped. She attempted to clear her throat but ended in coughing. "Sorry, my throat's a bit raw this morning."

"Late night?" Charming asked.

The Mayor gave him a dry chuckle. "Try no night at all. I tried coffee but my throat couldn't take the heat."

Snow leaned across the table. "What happened? Did the dream catcher work? Did it tell you who Emma's True Love is?"

Moving back, away from Snow, Regina spread her hands in a defensive posture. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. I never said the dream catcher would give me a guaranteed True Love answer. All I said was that I thought that if it could show me Emma's last hour of thoughts, what or whomever she spent the most time thinking of would be the person or thing we could use to wake her up. I wasn't…I wasn't prepared for what I did see."

"What are you talking about?" Snow pressed. "What did you see?"

Regina shook her head. "I can't tell you. I won't tell you."

"What are you talking about? You need to tell us. We're her parents," David declared, surprised by her reaction.

"And if Emma were still a minor that would hold some weight under the laws of this realm. Nevertheless, she is an adult. Think of me as a doctor or psychiatrist. I can't divulge what I saw in her mind, especially regarding her memories."

"Regina!" Snow chided.

With a sigh, Regina turned to the younger woman and tried another tack. "Snow, do you remember when we were fighting to the death in the Enchanted Forest, and I would have done anything to ruin your life, steal your happiness, and in general make your existence as full of misery as I possibly could?"

"How could I forget?"

The corners of Regina's mouth turned upward for the first time that day as she delivered her punchline. "Not even in those days would I have willingly told you the horrors that I saw of Emma's memories last night."

Silence reigned for a moment. The three of them took turns meeting each others' expressions. David cleared his throat. "Are you sure there's nothing you can tell us about it?"

"Think about it this way, shepherd: the version Emma gave Archie in her letter to him was fit for Sesame Street compared to what I saw last night," Regina drawled.

Snow gasped.

Looking at the teacher, Regina nodded. "This raspy throat? When the memories finally finished, I spent most of the next hour hugging my toilet."

"Hence the ginger ale?" asked David.

"Give that man a prize," Regina deadpanned, "When I was the Evil Queen I saw, and caused nightmares beyond most people's comprehension without batting an eye. Seeing what Emma thought about in the last few minutes before putting herself under a Sleeping Curse? I was throwing up like Henry did, back when he was six years old and had too much candy at Miner's Day."

David's eyes were so wide he felt like his eyebrows had disappeared into his hairline. "Seriously? It was that bad?"

With a sigh, Regina fixed him with her most pointed gaze. "Almost any other person would have painted the walls with their brains or jumped off a skyscraper long ago if they'd lived through what she had, especially after the last few years when each and every single one of us piled onto her suffering."

"Oh my God," Snow breathed.

"I know," acknowledged Regina, "We all have a lot of work to do making this up to her."

"We all do?" asked David.

Regina shrugged. "It was my casting the curse that drove the two of you into shoving her in a tree and shipping her alone to Maine. I also cut into her pretty badly when she got back from the past, and again later on. Far be it from me to deny my role in everything."

"So what do we do now?" Snow asked after tensing at Regina's words.

"Well, I for one am going to go talk to Archie," Regina answered, finishing the last of her ginger ale.

"Archie?" wondered David.

Regina nodded. "Emma's had far more psychological trauma in her life than anyone as gentle as her should have had to suffer. I think it would be a good idea for all of us to talk with Archie. We need to know how to handle her when she's awake. I think Dr. Hopper could help prepare us for how she might react. I was actually on my way over there now."

Snow and David shared a look as Regina got to her feet. "Wait! How will we wake Emma up? Did you see who her True Love is?" Snow pleaded.

They watched as a pink tint came to the Mayor's cheeks. She looked flustered for a moment before sliding her composed mask into place. "It was inconclusive," she all but squeaked before hurrying out of the diner.

"Did you see that?" Snow hissed, punctuating each word by pounding David's shoulder. "She got embarrassed and ran out without answering me! It's got to be her that she saw in Emma's memories!"

David chuckled, rubbing the sore area on his upper arm. "Okay, okay, you're convincing me. I think she's right, though. We need to figure out how to handle Emma when Regina wakes her up."

Nodding, Snow took his hand in hers. "We have a lot of things to make up to her. Let's go see Archie later on and then see if Regina will let us in to see her."

"I think it might help things along if we took Regina aside over the next few days and somehow let her know that we don't bear the old grudge anymore. I mean, I'm sure she understands that from how we've been working together, but hearing it from us directly might knock something loose in her and push her to realizing what we think is the truth here," David noted.

Snow gave him a blinding smile. "That's a wonderful idea! Why don't you talk to her first? I have to go get Neal, but you could go to her office with the excuse of it being Sheriff's department business."

Without eating the meal they'd intended on, Snow and David got up and walked out of Granny's, missing the two women seated at the counter following their departure.

"Well, isn't that interesting, Ursula?" Cruella murmured with a sly smile.

"The Savior being kept at the Evil Queen's mansion? That's fascinating, Cruella," the sea-witch grinned. "The question now is whether or not we tell Rumpelstiltskin."

No one in the diner saw the slight shimmer in the reflective metal covering of the counter.


Rumpelstiltskin moved away from his cabin's only mirror – indeed its only reflective surface – and after draping a thick black cloth over the fixture, moved to the window and looked out at the thick old growth forest. The errant realization that it wasn't really old growth as this world knew it, but instead was artificially created at his own whim and Regina's vision of her happy ending made him giggle.

So, the witches' allegiance was wavering. He didn't put a huge amount of trust in them to begin with, but seeing how they were considering screwing him over, his whatever faith he had in their help evaporated.

It was time to make alternative plans.

The author's location wasn't terribly hard to determine. Once the mansion proved empty except for blank storybooks that matched Henry's, it was easy to guess that the Apprentice had trapped him in Henry's book. He could still write, but he was in a prison so unique that it would take either a genius or an extremely powerful magic user to free him.

After centuries of living, Rumpelstiltskin just happened to be both.

If the Savior was being kept at Regina's, his former pupil would have established powerful barrier spells around her residence to keep out anyone but those she deemed trustworthy. Regina's magic was nowhere near the match for his, but she was still someone to be careful with.

First he would get the key to free the Author. Then he would deal with the traitorous witches.

Then he would get the Savior's blood.

Then he would get his happy ending.


Regina sat alone in her office. She'd dismissed her secretary for an early lunch, needing to come to grips with the conversations she'd had that morning. The warmth and kindness from Ruby was so unexpected it was as if aliens had landed in front of Town Hall. To be told that not only did few townspeople still bear a grudge against her but also that there were many who were happier in their new land than the old, and topping that off that they saw her working hard at redemption and appreciated it?

She was far outside her comfort zone. Used to open hatred in the Enchanted Forest – which was what had necessitated her practice of taking hearts to control the unruly among her subjects – and fear in Storybrooke during the Curse giving way to disdain, the warmth in Ruby's profession of friendship came as a total surprise.

It made facing the bigger dilemma in her life that much easier, though. She stood up from her desk to pace around the office. Walking always helped her thought process, and the times in her life when she needed clear thoughts more than at that moment were few and far between.

By her own theory, Emma's final conscious thoughts identified herself as the Savior's True Love. Regina sighed as she looked out the window behind her desk. It wasn't as if she'd never been attracted to women in the past; there were several among her chambermaids that had caught her eye in her past life. Attraction to Emma Swan was a given. The woman was vibrant, strong, and gorgeous, if overly skinny from a lifetime of inadequate caloric intake. Regina shook off the errant thought of putting some meat on Emma's bones with her cooking; it felt a little too domestic for a reality she wasn't prepared to confront yet.

But being attracted to Snow's daughter? If the irony were any thicker she'd climb Mt. Olympus to find whatever deity had decreed such a twist in her fate and beat them senseless with their own scepter. The spawn of the person who had caused her more trouble than any other living being save possibly Rumpelstiltskin himself being her potential True Love was ridiculous.

And yet…

She missed Emma.

There was a hole in her life without Emma's presence. If she was being honest with herself, the void had been there since the blonde's return from the past, but had only intensified since she put herself under the Sleeping Curse. No one was ever able to verbally spar with her the way Emma was, despite her lack of formal education. Her spirit and quick wits made her a formidable foe. Whenever they went toe to toe over anything, be it the way Henry was raised – despite Regina's feelings that as his primary parent allowing Emma to have time to see him she should have had the final word in all matters – to the various and sundry threats to Storybrooke's safety (where again she should have had final say as Mayor), Emma refused to take any of her crap.

And she was gone. But not gone, Regina shook her head to get rid of the negative thought. Simply temporarily unavailable. The sudden clench around her heart was nothing more than missing someone that had become a dear friend, a worthy co-parent to their shared son, and a cherished adversary. Nothing more.

Nor were the tears moistening her eyes, threatening to overflow onto her cheeks anything more than that.

Not at all.


"Come in, Deputy," she called, ever formal.

David entered the office, hesitating briefly when he saw evidence of tear tracks down Regina's cheeks. Whatever she'd been doing or thinking about had upset her greatly. "Regina?" he asked, approaching slowly. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, David. Do you have the forms from the Sheriff's Department?" she deflected, looking away to her desk.

He grinned at her evasion, but held up the requested folder. "Yeah, I brought them over, but first I want to know why you're so upset."

"I'm not upset. I'm perfectly fine, Deputy," she snapped, unwilling to let her earlier vulnerability show to someone far deeper in her circle than Ruby.

Settling into the chair in front of her desk, his grin became a smirk. "Well, then I won't hand over this folder until you tell me what's really going on."

So used to blustering, her defensive posture weakened in an instant. "Why are you being so persistent about this? It's not as if you actually care about my emotional state," Regina protested, folding in on herself.

His expression turned caring. "Believe it or not, I think we're more alike than you realize."

She snorted. "Whatever. Oh dear God Henry and Emma are rubbing off on me. I can't believe I just said that."

David chuckled. "I see it like this: you never wanted to be a queen. You wanted the simple life with the stable boy. I was the same way: all I ever wanted was to be a shepherd on my family's farm. I never wanted to be royalty. It just happened when I met Snow. At the time I didn't know who she was but…"

"But life happened, didn't it?" Regina finished with no note of questioning in her tone.

"Life happened," he agreed, nodding. "Anyway, my point is that I think I understand you more than you give me credit for, plus there's the whole thing where you literally saved my life before we came back here from Neverland. The slate between us is clean as far as I'm concerned, and I know you're having some trouble with everything that's happened. Talk to me. We're family."

She scoffed, which he recognized as another evasion. "That's a bit of a stretch, dear. I may have once been your wife's stepmother, but that was eons and worlds ago."

"You're also the co-parent of my grandson. Emma may be his birth mother, but the way you've allowed her back into his life speaks volumes," David answered.

The firm steady tone he used brought her attention back to his face. No mocking or pity showed in the man's expression. It was unnerving to be on the receiving end of such kindness from a former enemy, but maybe that was the Savior's – Emma's – real job: not just breaking the curse, but bringing peace wherever she went. "The tension over the past few months briefly overwhelmed me, but I'm firmly back in control, as you can see. Now, what official business did you bring for us to discuss?" she snarked, but there was no venom behind her words.

David's grin came back full-force. "Well, since you insisted so kindly."

"Whatever," Regina responded before rolling her eyes at herself again.


A/N: The awkwardness of early season 2 notwithstanding, I love the possibility of a Charming/Regina friendship. They play off each other fairly well. I can't wait for more of their scenes.

What did you think? Reviews are like chocolate!