A/N: This is more of an Epilogue than a full chapter.

Regina and Emma walked down the street towards Granny's with Henry between them. It wasn't the most romantic spot for their first date "date", but neither one of them really expected anything about this meal to be romantic. They were doing it to be seen.

They'd explained it to Henry, that with his grandparents knowing there wasn't much point anymore in hiding what they were doing. After all they weren't doing anything wrong. What they didn't tell him was that they both expected a certain amount of backlash to the town finding out that the Savior and the Evil Queen were seeing each other romantically. Of course Henry had wanted to go to dinner with them, because he didn't anticipate what Regina in particular feared, that some of the towns people would feel they had the right to comment.

So they'd arranged for Neal to take Henry for the evening.

And then he'd wanted to come. "I do not need a big brother." Emma had told him, but he'd winked a bit at Regina and suggested that maybe she did instead. They'd even laughed in the strange and uneasy peace the former Evil Queen and the son of Rumplestiltskin had found in their shared backgrounds.

Regina squeezed Henry's hand and gave him a kiss on the forehead, and Neal asked again if maybe they needed him to come in and sit across the dinner as backup. They declined again and the two mother's watched as their son went off with his father. "Remember the rules, Mr. Cassidy!" Regina called after him.

"Two vegetables! Different colors. Beige doesn't count."

And even Regina smiled at the little joke before turning to look at the door of the dinner as if facing a battlefield.

"Hey..." Emma said, drawing her attention back to her. "This isn't like marching to your execution. It's eating a burger."

"One of those things at this place is certainly a death sentence." She inhaled again. "Besides, I've faced an execution before. It had a lot of the same cast of characters."

Emma reached down to squeeze her hand. "It's just dinner. And no one is going to say anything to our faces."

"Or I'll light them on fire."

"If we could perhaps get through the evening without any emulations that would be a good thing." Emma said seriously, but then cracked a smile and leaned in to kiss her. It was long, passionate, their lips lingering and Regina sucking a little on her lower lip before the kiss finally broke.

"We could stay out here and do that." Regina said quietly.

"We are on a public street, Your Majesty. If we stayed out here and made out people would notice." Emma smiled mischievously. "And then I wouldn't get the satisfaction of watching you eat a hamburger."

"If you keep teasing me about that, I'll go back on that little agreement."

"No you won't." Emma squeezed her hand and they walked up the steps together. Emma opened the door for her and although no one paid them that much mind initially the dinner became quieter with each little romantic gesture. When Emma took her coat for her, and held out her chair. When they ordered wine. When their hands slid across the table to touch each other.

But by that point it wasn't a performance. They had forgotten the audience.

Because they had both been putting off this moment for so long that when it finally came the only people in the world they could see was each other.

And they could, finally, see each other.

Fin.

A/N: Thank you all for reading. This has been really satisfying to write. A word on the ending, and the title, this fic has always been about the possibility of a relationship, a beginning, and so it seemed right to end where they were really starting. More fics set within this same universe are not only possible, but likely, including a season 1 prequel fic. But this one has a natural end here. I have many to many people to thank, but especially SgtMac7 for all the help she's given me over the last few months bouncing ideas and dialogue off of her. This fic would not be the same without her advise and encouragement.