We climbed through the canopy
Only to find a crack in our gauge
The last thing a look you gave
And then we tumbled out of control
I tried to strike a deal with
The universe me and my
Deals with the universe – Tori Amos 'Beauty of Speed'
...
1983: Storybrooke, Maine
Regina came to first.
Her dark eyes fluttered open in confusion. She wasn't in the library of Gold's compound anymore. Light was streaming in from windows and she was in a soft bed, wearing a foreign feeling garment. She sat up and took in her surroundings. She saw blonde hair billowed out on the pillow next her: Emma was asleep. Their hands were joined under the bed covers.
"Emma?"
The woman beside her stirred and opened her eyes, she smiled up at Regina. "Where are we?"
She sat up and looked Regina over, blinking the sleep out of her eyes and becoming startled with the realization of what had happened.
"It worked," Regina stated in disbelief. She pushed back the covers and launched herself out of bed, running over the plush carpeted floors and to the window. Outside she saw she was in a town. Large houses with a strangely paved road, and on the horizon was the clock tower. The time read 8:15.
"Henry!" Regina raced across the room and flung open the door, jogging down the hallway and pausing in front of another. She opened it up, and immediately spotted her son in bed.
Emma followed after her and found Regina waking Henry up and giving him a long hug. She motioned for Emma to join them on the bed and all three embraced.
"Seriously, where are we?" Emma's voice sounded different, she cleared her throat.
Regina smiled brightly and leaned in for a kiss. She pulled back from her lips and whispered, "We're home."
A knock from downstairs interrupted the moment, and Regina, safe in the security of knowing both Henry and Emma were safe with her, marveled at the sleek hallways and the spiral banister of the house she found herself in.
When she pulled open the door she was shocked to find Kathryn dressed in a black suit standing on the other side.
"You're not dressed yet?" Kathryn said in shock and annoyance. "Come on, Regina hurry up, we've got a huge order to ship out today, and please tell me you didn't forget about the conference call with our manufacturer in Tokyo?"
"I'll…I'll get ready right away," Regina stood still for a moment as a barrage of memories came flooding into her head like she'd been struck by lightning. She went back upstairs and found her closet, admiring the fine clothes hanging inside.
Kathryn waited downstairs in the kitchen, putting on a pot of coffee. Emma came back into the bedroom and found the bathroom, flushing the toilet and turning the facet on and off several times. "This is so weird…"
"We enacted a curse, Starling," Regina hummed to herself merrily as she dressed.
"Where's Aspasia?" Emma suddenly asked moving to the window to look outside. In the driveway a yellow 1969 Volkswagen beetle was parked.
"I think that's your horse…" Regina pointed out the car, "And that one is mine."
A black Mercedes Benz was parked next to Emma's car.
….
"Stop making out up there, and let's go," Kathryn's voice filtered up from downstairs. "We have to drop off Henry at school."
Everything was new and exciting, the curse had planted them into the future, and memories were coming in to Regina's head. Gold was no more, in fact, it was like he had never existed at the all. The clock tower displayed the time and the library was underneath, nothing more. Kathryn drove them into town, and they dropped off Henry at school.
"Henry, do you….?" Regina wasn't sure what she was going to say.
"I know what to do, Moms," Henry said to both Regina and Emma. "Bye Kathryn."
He threw his backpack over his shoulder and went on his way.
"Moms?" Emma asked in surprise. "I kind of like that kid…"
"I love him," Regina said, reaching to the back seat and taking Emma's hand. "I think you'll love him too."
Kathryn parked on the street, and the people of the town waved and smiled at Emma and Regina as they walked to a store front. The sign out front read, "Enchantica: Pleasure Palace."
Regina knew instantly. It was their store. A whole shop full of her inventions. Large electric vibrators and novelty sex items. She walked inside and looked around, getting a bit teary eyed as she realized her dreams had come true.
"Emma, will you go down to the club and check with Mal about the drink order sometime today? The damned town has been drinking us dry, we can barely keep enough alcohol on hand," Kathryn asked as she set to work on opening up the store. "Oh, and Aurora is off suspension tonight so please ask Mal to keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn't fall asleep in the dressing room."
Not only did Regina own a sex toy shop, she also owned a strip club, and a profitable one at that. She shared a look with Emma, as things were definitely looking up in life.
"Also, there's a new box of trial items in from the West. Can you two it home and test it out? We still haven't found a decent double ended dildo to sell, and the last three vibrators had defective clit ticklers," Kathryn was still going on about the trials and tribulations of running a sex toy shop.
"If you want me to watch Henry tonight so you two can really put those toys to the test without worrying about him hearing you, you can bring him over around nine," Kathryn added as if it was a totally normal everyday occurrence.
"I think we can test out those toys, yes, ma'am," Emma said with a laugh, her cheeks tinged pink as she wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and put her head over her shoulder. Regina playfully picked up a flog and swatted Emma with it, earning herself a sweet kiss.
"We'll have to test out the toys for the boys too," She sighed in contentment, looking at the snake head vial hanging around Emma's neck and asked, "Oh, Kathryn, refresh my memory: do we have any cowboy outfits in stock?"