Author's note: This chapter is mainly Henry but it includes Evil Charming moments and explains what will happen in the next chapter (that will be the last).

Henry sneaked out of the house before his mother or grandparents woke up. He got his bike and rode to the beach house; he wasn't going back to Storybrooke without Regina. Last night while he tried to fall asleep, he understood how bad it had been for his mom to hear all those awful things David had said. But inside his heart, he knew David had been lying and that in reality he had feelings for Regina.

"Henry, what are you doing here sweetie?" Regina asked as she opened the door. "You shouldn't be here."
"Do you love him?"
"Do I love who?"
"David! Do you love him?"
"Henry, I think Mr. Nolan left his feeling cleared yesterday. Don't you think?"
"He's been sad ever since he left the house and I know he loves your or that he at least has feelings for you! I know he had a talk with mama but none of them told me about what."
"Henry." She looked at her 11-year-old son and saw how good his soul was. "I know you are trying to help me, but don't worry I'm fine."
"You're not fine!" She could sense how mad he was in his voice. "It's my fault everyone came here; I brought them to this place. I knew you would bring David here so I told grandma. I'm so sorry mommy."
Regina pulled him into a hug and held him close to her. "It's not your fault sweetheart."

After two hours of talking, Henry finally convinced Regina to go back to Storybrooke with him. Part of her wanted to go so she wouldn't let her son down, but part of her wanted to stay in the beach house where she felt protected. She knew going back to the town would mean a lot of people would try to hurt her or get back at her for what she had done to them, and for the first time in her life Regina felt in danger.

"Where are we going?"
"To Storybrooke."
"I know that, silly boy; I was wondering where in Storybrooke shall I park my car?"
"Oh." Henry laughed awkwardly like he used to do when he was a toddler. "Granny's?"
"That's right in the middle of town, are you sure?"
"Mom, are you afraid?"
"What?! Don't be ridiculous."
"You are!"
"I'm not… I'm just not sure David wants to see me."
"I told you he does, I know he does. I can feel it."
"Okay. I'll park behind Granny's and he can come meet us there."

Henry called David, who was worried sick about him, and told him it was necessary for him to come to Granny's. When his grandpa asked over and over again why and what was going on, the 11-year-old just made up ridiculous excuses so he didn't have to tell the truth. He knew David would be happy to see Regina but he wanted their reunion to be a surprise and if he told him his mom was there he would get suspicious and Snow White would find out.

An hour later, David parked his truck next to Regina's car behind Granny's. He couldn't believe she was there and as soon as he saw her he felt a warm feeling taking over his heart, like they were meant to be there together. Nothing was said in the first few minutes of their meeting, he didn't want to ruin the moment and he knew she was mad at him. But nothing matter. It didn't matter that his wife would probably find out about this meeting and be mad. It didn't matter that Regina was mad at him for all the awful things he had said the previous day. And it sure as hell didn't matter that the entire town would be against him if they found out he was in love with The Evil Queen.

"Aren't you going to speak? I rode my bike all the way to the beach for you to just stare at each other and say nothing?" Henry said as he looked at them.
"Thank you, Henry. Thank you for bringing Regina back to me."
"He didn't bring me back to you, he brought me back to town."
"Why did you come back? And don't tell me it was for Granny's pancakes, because as good as they are, I won't believe you."
Regina tried not to laugh at his silly joke. "I came back for my son, he's the one who went looking for me."
"Henry, would you give your mom and I a few minutes?"
"Of course, I'll be having a hot cocoa."

As they watched Henry run inside, David moved closer to Regina trying to close the space between them. He was happy she hadn't moved away or pushed him back, that meant she wasn't completely mad at him. Softly, and hoping she wouldn't reject him, David kissed her. He could taste in her lips traces of apple, which indicated she had been drinking apple cider that morning or the previous night. It was a soft kiss and none of them tried to take control like all the other times they had kissed. With that kiss, Regina understood everything he had said the day before had been a lie, he didn't really mean it.

"Why did you say all those awful things?" She looked into his sky-blue eyes trying to find the answers to all the questions she had inside her head.
"Because I had to protect you, Gina."
"Protect me from who David? I'm strong enough to protect myself!"
"I know that!" He kissed her again before he kept talking. "I know you're strong enough to protect yourself. Believe me, I really know that. But if I just told everyone that I was in love with you, they would come after you."
"That you are in love with me?"
"Yes. Regina Mills I am in love with you."
Tears filled her eyes as she heard him saying he loved her. "I'm in love with you too. The night you came drunk to my house you said you loved me but I didn't believe it because you were drunk. And then yesterday when you said all those awful things about me, I just thought that maybe you hadn't been drunk and you had been pretending all along."
"They say drunk people speak the truth." He smirked. "I haven't been pretending all these days we've spent together. I love you and I don't want anyone to hurt you."
"You are the one who's going to get hurt by all of this. They hate me already, but they love you; they admire you, David."
"I don't care about the love and admiration, all I care about is you!"
"They are here!" Henry yelled as she run out of Granny's. "There's a furious mob coming this way and Whale is their leader."

Henry wasn't lying; the mob could be heard from all around town. And yes, Whale was their leader. David knew he had to take Henry and Regina out of there as soon as possible but if he used the truck he could injure someone on his way out and he didn't want that. He had to come up with a plan and fast.

"What are we going to do?" Regina looked at him desperately. "We have to get out of here."
"Do you have magic? Is your magic working?"
"I haven't been able to control it yet, so it's not really working."
"Mom! Gramps! We have to run!" Henry was terrified; he didn't want the mob to hurt his mom. "This is my fault; I shouldn't have brought you here."
"Sweetie, this isn't your fault. David and I will fix this, I promise you."

David ran to the front of Granny's to face everyone. Regina and Henry ran after him, she didn't want him to face the angry group of people on his own; that wouldn't be fair. She knew they were trying to hurt her and she didn't want him to protect her and get hurt in the act. For some reason, Regina felt inside her heart that something terrible was about to happen, she didn't know what but she could feel it. As she stood next to David, she made sure Henry was behind her and no one could hurt him. They would have to kill her before they even thought about harming him.

"David, hand her over and we will not hurt you." Whale said as he stood in front of the mob. "We just want her!"
"You'll have to kill me before you get to her."
"Oh, I'd love to kill you. You're not my prince so I won't cry your loss."
"Whale get lost. Leave Regina alone."
"I'm warning you, Charming, if you don't hand Regina over, we will kill you as well."

Regina moved over so she could stand in front of David. She could feel Henry's hard grip as he held onto her arm and she could sense David's worry. No one in this town would hurt the man she loved or her son before she fought them, she wasn't going to die without a fight. Her mother had taught her how to be a strong woman and, in her weird way, how to protect the ones you loved.

"It's me who you want, Whale, don't hurt them. I will go with you where you want me to go."
"See David? That wasn't so hard." Whale pulled out a gun from his jacket and pointed it towards Regina. "Any last words, your majesty?"

As Whale took his shot aiming Regina, Henry let go of her hand and stood in front of her. The bullet hit him on the chest perforating his lungs. Regina's scream was the last thing the boy heard before he passed out. Whale ran away before anyone could catch him.

"Henry! Sweetie open your eyes for mommy." Regina kneeled down and put her hands on his chest making pressure so he wouldn't bleed out. "Someone call an ambulance!"
David held Regina as they both talked to Henry. "Come on kid, open your eyes so we know you're okay. The ambulance will be here soon and we'll take you to the hospital, everything will be okay."
Henry opened his eyes slowly and, with the strength he could get from his weak body, pulled Regina closer to him. "Be happy, mommy." He whispered in her ear before he fainted again.

The doctors operated on Henry as Emma and Snow White arrived to the hospital. Once David explained to them what had happened, they sat down in the waiting room. No one spoke; they didn't have the energy to fight. The tension between Snow and David hanged in the air but their minds were focused on Henry. Regina and Emma sat close together praying for their son, the only thing that had brought them together without fights for the first time in their lives. The four hearts raced every time they saw a nurse or a doctor walking by the waiting room, but it was always to let them know that the surgery was still going on. All they wanted was to know Henry was going to be okay and that he would be showing off his smile in no time.

But that wasn't what the doctor said when the surgery was done.

"Henry lost a lot of blood and there were some complications during surgery."
"What does that mean?!" Emma and Regina asked at the same time, but they already knew the answer.
"We don't think he has much time left. Maybe he will live through the night but not much longer after that. If I were you, I'd say my goodbyes." The doctor looked down trying to avoid the sad looks on their faces. "You can take turns to go see him."

Regina decided she wanted to be the last one to go see him. As they all walked in and out of Henry's room, she felt her body getting weaker and weaker. If what the doctor said was true, she would lose the only light in her life since Daniel. During the first years of the curse, when she adopted Henry, he was a sweet little boy that made her smile every single moment of her life. As he grew older and found out who she was, he started hating her but that didn't stop her from loving him. All she had done in the last years of her life was love that boy with everything she had and now she was about to lose him without being able to save him. She wished magic could save people from dying, but she knew at this point his death was inevitable.

"Regina," David said, "it's your turn."

When she walked into the room, she couldn't help the tears that rolled down her face. Her boy looked so fragile and helpless. The prayers hadn't helped and nothing else was left to be done. She was going to lose Henry.

"I remember when you were younger, and we would go to the beach house, you were terrified of the ocean and the waves. You would hug my leg and beg me to pick you up and protect you. I felt a real mother there and it was in that place where we were the happiest." She made a pause to clear her throat. "That's why I took David to the beach house. I was afraid he might change his mind about me and decide that I was evil after all. I knew at the beach house I would feel all the good times we've spent there and all the love I could feel you had for me and feel stronger." Regina squeezed his hand trying to make him wake up. "You make me stronger, Henry. I'm sorry you got hurt because of me and my actions. It should had been me that got shot, not you. As hard as it is for me to accept what the doctors are saying, I know this is my goodbye." She didn't realize David was now standing at the door in case she needed someone to hold her. "You are the best son any mother could ever ask for and you taught me how to love again. I'm sorry I'm late to your request but…you're going to be a big brother now. I'm pregnant and I know my baby will have the best older brother in the world. Wherever you go from here, my precious son, never forget that your mother loves you with all her heart. Be at peace Henry, you deserve it more than anyone else in the world."

Regina leaned forward to kiss his forehead and that's when she heard the flat line. Her precious Henry was gone. One minute he was riding his bike to the beach house and the next he was dead. She wanted to believe that he had heard her and wherever he was he would know he was going to be a brother. Since he was four years old, Henry had wanted her to have another baby so he could play with someone and take care of a younger person. But she had never been able to make his wish come true. Now, when her son was gone, she was finally able to make his dream real. She was going to have David's baby.

"That was exactly the goodbye he needed." David hugged her from behind and held her close to him. "And I'm sure he is really happy about the baby."
"I hope he heard me. I hope he knows how much I love him."
"He knows, believe me, he knows."
Regina turned around to look at him. "Are you happy about the baby?"
"I am happy we are going to have a baby, especially because I know that's what Henry would have wanted."