Chapter Two: Truth be told

Emma followed Regina outside, Regina was walking fast, if she could run, she would have.

"Can you believe him? Really, I think he has finally lost his marbles. He actually believes-"

Regina was lost in her own thoughts. This can't be. I love Daniel, Daniel loved me. It was true… he was mine and I was his. We were happy, he accepted me, was always there for me, then he was taken away… This can't be. She can't be… I don't love her. She's annoying, LOUD, gosh she's really loud, she's even making my voice sound more like hers than mine the way she keeps yapping-

"Regina!" Her thoughts were cut off by her own voice screaming at her.

"What?"

"Regina, I've been calling out your name for the past five minutes. What is up with you?"

"What is up with me? Really, Miss. Swan. Nothing is up with me, except for the fact that you won't be silent for at least five minutes."

"Well, sorry, your Majesty, if I seem to be the only one worried about our current predicament." Regina stopped on her tracks, turned around, eyes blazing and came into Emma's personal space.

"Do you really think I'm not worried? Just because I don't voice my worries every chance I get, does not mean I'm not worried about this. I'm worried that I won't be able to get back to my own body. I'm worried that I promised Henry that we would find a way to fix this. I'm worried we haven't even come close to fixing this, and I'm worried that you… that… I… I'm worried." She found a bench nearby and decided she needed to sit down and breathe. She was tired, her head was killing her, and she was almost going to say something she was sure she would regret, because it was ridiculous.

Emma leaned against the pier railing, she looked out at the water, and let herself breathe for a moment before speaking. "Listen, Regina, we'll find a way. We'll make this ok. There has to be a way to get our bodies back." She let out a deep breath "What did Gold mean when he said that you know what you have to do, but that you can't do it alone?"

"There is a way… but this is just so absurd. You can't be my-"

Emma turned around suddenly and faced what looked like a very confused version of herself.

"You aren't seriously thinking that anything that came out of Gold's mouth is actually true, are you?"

Regina placed her hands on her head, her elbows were on her knees.

"Are you?" Emma asked in disbelief

And as Regina lifted her head there were tears rolling down her cheeks.

Emma kept staring at her, shocked by what she was seeing. She saw obvious pain and confusion, and it was her face that looked so pained and confused. She came to Regina's side on the bench. Emma placed a hand on Regina's shoulder "I think you need some rest. Actually, we both could use some rest and some food. God, I'm starving."

Regina was suddenly chuckled, which scared Emma at the sudden change of emotion.

"Regina?"

"Yeah, no, rest, food, sure… Ok." Regina had no more left in her, so she got up, and looked at Emma.

"Come on, let's go to Henry, I'm sure his grandmother is feeding him her famous rabbit food spread."

"I'm sure, she murders carrots daily, she might switch to killing Brussels sprouts, but that's if we're lucky." Emma was trying to lighten up the mood, she could tell Regina was very confused by all of this and so was she.

They fell into an uncomfortable silence while on their way to the apartment. Once they got inside Henry ran to them both.

"Did you find out anything? Did Gold tell you anything about what happened? What did he-"

Emma had to cut him off "Hey, Kid. How about you let us grab some coffee and some of your grandma's ra-… food and we can all talk about it after we eat? Ok?"

Regina felt relief immediately after Emma had talked to Henry, if she hadn't, she might have lost it again.

"I'm going to go use the bathroom." Emma nodded to Regina and pointed where the bathroom was.

"Wait, uhm… " she went to Regina's side and whispered so that she would be the only one to hear.

"Just so that it's no surprise, I have a bellybutton ring." Emma blushed a bit and Regina gave her a small smile.

"I was wondering what that was. Do you have any aspirin?"

"Yeah, it's in the bathroom's cabinet"

Regina made her way to the bathroom.

She had found the pills in no time, quickly grabbed two and swallowed them down with some water from the faucet. She splashed some water on her face, closed the cabinet and stood there staring at herself in the mirror, she didn't know what to think. She touched the face that would be Emma's, the skin was very soft, features were strong, but the eyes… the eyes were definitely her own. "Some souls are bound to each other." "They say that you can see the person's soul through their eyes." Rumple's voice rang in her ears. She wasn't going to deny to herself that she didn't feel anything for Emma. Sure she could be annoying at times, ok most of the time, she was rude at times, snarky at times, beautiful at times, when she smiles… she felt like everything… Regina had to shake these emotions out, she could not let herself become weak towards them. Plus, Emma made it very clear to her that the idea of being her soul mate was ridiculous and not possible, which it is, it had to be. Didn't it?

*knock knock*

"Regina, Are you ok in there? I promise I have some chicken on the grill if you're worried about the mass murder of carrots that would befall you." Regina looked at herself again, she was smiling. It was so easy for Emma to make her smile, no one apart from Henry could do that. Maybe, just maybe…

"I'll be out in a second, please don't stop the rampage just for me."

Emma was whispering now "Honestly, it's not just for you. I'm sick of eating tofu dinners and carrot salads every day." Her voice came back to normal "Ok then, Water or Coffee?"

"Coffee."

Emma smiled back, knowing that she had already brewed two cups.

"And Emma…" Regina whispered now "Thanks."

Regina heard her go back to the kitchen, she took another look at herself, and the smile was still there. She took another breath and fixed her hair up a bit before opening the door.

"Hey, mom!" Henry grabbed her hand and started leading his mother to the empty chair on the table.

"Hello Regina." Charming gave her a half-smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Hello Charming" she returned the smile, that didn't quite reach her eyes either.

"I hope you like carrots with your chicken." Snow said as she handed Regina a plate

"Dressing?"

"No, thank you"

Snow gave her a nod

"This is strange, isn't it?" Henry looked at Regina

"Well, if dinning with your mother, at your grandmother's place after saving the town and then having said mother look like your other mother isn't strange, then I don't know what is." Emma had come back from using the bathroom and ruffled up Henry's hair, giving him a big smile

It was strange; everything about today was absolutely strange. It felt as though the world had turned upside down, like someone was playing a prank on them.

Looking at herself being so playful with Henry, Regina thought how natural Emma made it look, even if it was in her body. It didn't feel wrong looking at herself that way, not with him. She remembered how she would get home from work when Henry was young, she would take off her shoes and play with him for hours upon hours. She missed that, she missed being the mother Henry needed, the one that could be playful at times, the one that would cuddle with him on his bed and read stories until he fell asleep in her arms.

"Hey." Henry told his mom "Do you like the chicken? Emma made it." Henry made a face that clearly told her that it was probably not edible.

"Did she now? Let's see." Regina took a bite and tried not to make a face as she noticed that it tasted more like cardboard with spice than actual chicken.

"So, how's the chicken?" Emma handed Regina a cup of coffee

Regina managed to swallow before fixing up her face and answering.

"It's… good."

Emma didn't believe a word of it, but she wouldn't say anything of it because for the first time ever, Regina was actually being nice, just because she could. She knew she wasn't the best cook and she also knew that a bit of truth from the other woman wouldn't have hurt her, but she let it go.

"So, could Rumpelstiltskin help you? I mean, did he give you a spell, or a potion, anything?"

Snow had tried to let the dinner go as simple and as "care free" as it was going, but she couldn't help herself. It was bad enough having Emma in Regina's body, but when Emma's body was talking like Regina, her posture… Regina's, the way she carried herself was all Regina. It felt so out-of-order that she had to ask if there was hope that this could be undone and fast.

"He said he couldn't help us, that he couldn't help with magic… that it was only knowledge that he could give us and then he gave us this story about souls and how they are bound together-" a loud clang was heard

"What!?" Snow had dropped her fork on the plate

"I mean, it was all bull. He was obviously playing with us." Emma tried to calm her mother

"But Emma, did he seem like he was lying to you?" Charming asked

"Well, no, not exactly, but he's a very good liar. I wouldn't be surprised if he could fool even me."

Emma kept answering some more questions all the while trying to calm down her parents. Henry looked at his mom, she had stopped eating and was averting everyone's eyes.

"Mom, is this true?" Henry's question hung in the air. Regina couldn't answer her son, sure she could feel a certain pull towards Emma, but maybe it was just the fact that she raised their son all these years. Henry does have a lot of her mannerisms. She didn't want to lie to him anymore, so she said the only thing she could.

"I'm not sure, Henry." She looked at him with confused eyes. She knew that all he ever wanted was the truth.

"What?" Emma asked Regina. She stared at the other woman, her answer had left her and everyone else but Henry dumfounded.

"I said… I'm not sure." She locked eyes with Emma's and saw how wide they were, she couldn't bear the thought of what the other woman's mind was going through. Regina got up from the table and headed for the door.

"I need some air."

"Regina, wait. We need to talk about this." Emma followed Regina out the door, making sure she grabbed their coats.

They left the rest of the family still sitting on the table, staring at the door that was left wide open.

"What just happened?" Snow finally said

"I think my mom likes Emma and… I think Emma likes her back." Snow's face was worth her weight in gold. The pure shock of hearing Henry's words really did finally leave her speechless.

"I know something is up, Henry, but I don't think that's it." Charming tried to reason with him

"No, they like each other. Don't you see the way they look at each other? My moms like each other. Don't you think that's a good thing?" Henry said as a matter of fact and continued to eat his bland chicken with a side of rabbit food. Charming went to check if Snow was ok. She had gotten up and walked straight to her bed.

"Regina! Would you wait a second?" Emma was practically running after her. God, how does she do this with these heals!

"Come on Regina, give me a break… I'm not used to these… What are these anyways?" Emma was not trying to start a conversation about shoes again, but she had to try everything.

Finally after a few minutes Regina got tired and started moving at a slower pace. Emma cached up with her and before Regina could do anything about it, she felt someone grab her by the arm making her stop dead on her tracks.

Her heart was racing and not just from the walk. She closed her eyes, took a few breaths, and composed herself before facing Emma.

"Here" Emma handed her a coat

Regina grabbed it, she was freezing.

"Thank you for stopping, I wasn't sure how long I could keep that up." Emma was clearly out of breath

Regina was silent, her face giving nothing away, apart from the obvious need to catch a few more breathes because of the walk.

"Now, will you please explain to me what happened in there?" Emma asked her with genuine curiosity

"I think you know what happened in there."

"Regina, if I did, I wouldn't be asking you."

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"The truth would be great."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand."

Regina let her eyes falter for a second and Emma took notice.

"Listen, Regina… Whatever it is I promise I won't judge you for it. I might not understand you all the time, but I am a good listener when I want to be. Right now, something tells me you need to tell me something. So trust that I won't judge you and trust that I will listen." Emma kept her voice calm and sincere and so Regina found herself looking back up at green eyes. Emma gave Regina's arm another squeeze.

She saw that she could trust her, but she was still scared, she wasn't supposed to feel any of this. It was as if everything changed the moment she heard the truth at Gold's store. She went against her better judgment once again and opened up.

"I said I wasn't sure about what Gold had told us, but the truth is… I'm not sure about a few things. You see, I believed that Daniel was the only person that I could ever want like this. I never thought that I could start feeling like this for anyone else. I don't know when it happened, but…"

"Hey, it's ok." Emma hand went from Regina's arm to her hand and gave her another gentle squeeze.

"I care for you. I care for you, Emma. More than I should. I don't know if this is because you're Henry's mother, or if it's because of everything that's happened as of late, or if I've been carrying this a long time, but I do know one thing and that is, that I care for you. I also know that caring for you will only hurt you, because everything that I have ever cared for gets hurt. Sooner or later, it's a crushed heart, one too many lies, placing my trust in someone I shouldn't have, and I don't want that to happen to you… I don't want to hurt you, but I will. Given time, something will happen and I can't live with myself if I let you walk into something that will only leave you torn."

Tears were rolling down her cheeks. After a few moments Regina looked back at Emma, afraid of what she might see. Would she see understanding, fear, confusion, acceptance, disgust, pity, or a million other things. Whatever Emma would show her, could not take back the fact that she felt a mixture of relief and fear, for she had just told the absolute truth. It was a truth that would change things. Good or bad, she didn't know.