Chapter 2

Regina Mills sat at the kitchen table already dressed for work. The green park ranger's outfit was certainly not her personal style but having to wear it was a small sacrifice to make when it meant she got to do the job she loved. She sipped slowly on her coffee as she watched her girlfriend, Mal, spread mayonnaise on bread, making a lunch for her daughter, Lily. Regina's gaze shifted to the girl she loved like her own. The eleven year old was munching slowly on a piece of toast, a slight scowl on her face, always displeased to be told she had to eat breakfast even though it happened every morning. Regina couldn't help but smile.

If someone had told fourteen year old Regina as she stood by her father's graveside, or eighteen year old Regina as she stood at her boyfriend's graveside, or twenty one year old Regina still working up the courage to tell her mother that she wanted to leave the family business to pursue the career she actually wanted, or even twenty five year old Regina hesitating to agree to go for the coffee that the beautiful blonde at the bookstore kept asking her about, that one day she would get to be this happy, she very well might have laughed. Yet, here she was. Six months ago, after a year of dating Mal, she'd moved in with Mal and Lily and now this place felt more like home than any place she'd ever been.

Mal walked over to the table and set Lily's packed lunch down, ruffling the girl's hair.

"Mom," Lily groaned, squirming away.

Mal just chuckled and turned her attention toward Regina, who was clearly lost in thought. "What's got you smiling?" she asked as she rounded the table to stand beside Regina, reaching over and prying the coffee mug from the other woman's hands, smirking as brown eyes looked up to meet hers.

"Hey," Regina protested, startled out of her train of thought. Her eyes narrowed as she watched Mal sip coffee out of her mug, "That's mine, get your own."

Mal shrugged, still smirking as she took another gulp and then finally handed it back to Regina. She leaned in close, her mouth just a hair's breadth away from Regina's ear, whispering so that Lily wouldn't hear, "I'll make it up to you tonight." She grinned smugly at the slight shiver that went through her girlfriend's body at her seductive tone. She stayed that close for a beat and then she tilted her head, kissing Regina's cheek and straightening. "Okay, I've got to go to work and get organized before the shipment arrives," she reminded, although the reminder wasn't necessary. She owned a small bookstore in Town and Tuesday was always shipment day. "You'll drop Lily off at school?"

"Yes," Regina confirmed with a bob of her head and a smile, "Have a good day dear."

A few hours later, Regina was surrounded by trees and chirping birds and as she traipsed through the forest she couldn't help but sigh contently, humming as she studied her compass and her map and then looked up at a nearby tree. She was looking for nests, trees to mark as not to be touched by the lumber operation moving closer to this part of the forest by the day.

Before he'd died, Daniel, her first boyfriend, had been the one to put the idea in her head. The possibility that she didn't have to cut down trees simply because of her family name. Instead, she could chose a job much more suitable for her, a job protecting the forest. Not that the Mills Lumber business was out there clear cutting its way through the forest, per say. Although, some days Regina suspected that her sister, Zelena, who'd recently taken over the business while their mother travelled, wouldn't actually have a problem if that were the case. Her father, and even her mother, however, had had more sense than that, building a responsible business. Regina was determined that Zelena wouldn't ruin that, not under her watch.

She smiled as she spotted a nest, setting her pack, the compass and the map down, and pulling out the blue spray paint as she moved closer to the tree to mark it clearly.

Emma and Elliot were playing hide and seek when Emma heard the humming. She was looking for Elliot, who was actually quite good at hiding despite his size given the fact that he could literally disappear, when the sound peaked her curiosity. She moved away from the direction that she was sure Elliot was hiding and toward the sound instead. She peeked around the side of a tree and spotted the source of the sound - a lady with dark hair and a green hat. Her eyes widened in surprise at the sight. She'd sort of forgotten that other people existed. In the six years since she'd last seen another human, her memories of any life besides this one she had in the forest had become foggy at best. She'd sort of started to wonder if she was the only person left on earth.

She watched curiously as the lady studied a piece of paper and some shiny thing in her hand. Part of Emma wanted to step out from behind the tree and say hi but uncertainty and fear kept her rooted firmly in place, continuing to watch in fascination instead. When the lady set the paper and the shiny thing down and turned her back, moving further away from the tree Emma was standing behind, Emma darted out from her hiding spot, scooping the shiny thing up in her hand, and sprinting away, disappearing deep into the forest before she could be spotted.

Later that night, Regina sat curled up on the couch in the living room, looking up as Mal descended the stairs, "Lily in bed?"

"Yep," Mal nodded her confirmation, "Despite her best efforts to negotiate her way into a later bedtime."

Regina chuckled. Trying to negotiate her way out of bedtime was definitely a Lily move. She was already dreading the girl's teenage years - she had a feeling they were going to be very interesting. "Not on your watch, though, right?" she smirked.

Mal chuckled too, dropping down onto the couch beside Regina, pulling one leg up and under herself, getting comfortable, "Most definitely not. Those puppy dog eyes don't work on me, just on you."

Regina scoffed, shaking her head, but she didn't outright deny it, there wasn't really any point. She did cave to Lily much more often than Mal. Although, the longer she lived here, the more comfortable she grew in her role as second parent to Lily. She was definitely getting better at being firm when she needed to be. "I made tea," she motioned to the tray on the coffee table.

Mal smiled, picking up the mug closest to her and taking a sip, "See, this is why I love you."

"Tea?" Regina quirked an eyebrow, "That's why you love me?"

"Well," Mal drew the word out slowly, "there may be a few other reasons." She waggled her eyebrows up and down.

Regina laughed at her girlfriend, shaking her head and picking up her own tea mug, sipping slowly.

"So how was your day?" Mal asked casually, cradling her mug in her hands, letting the warmth seep into her fingers.

"Good," Regina nodded, although her brow creased as she recalled her day.

"Your expression says otherwise," Mal immediately picked up on the look on Regina's face and the instant worry on her own face was unmistakable, "What happened?"

"Nothing," Regina shook the expression away, "It's just...I lost my compass. I don't even really know how."

Mal set her mug back down on to the tray and used one of her now free hands to reach over and brush dark hair away from Regina's face, running a thumb gently over Regina's cheek in a comforting motion, "I'm sorry hun, I know your father gave that to you and it meant a lot."

Regina sighed, closing her eyes and leaning into Mal's touch, "It's okay."

Mal sighed too, "I know it isn't," the thumb continued the soothing motion, "you don't have to pretend it is.

Regina blinked her eyes back open, staring intently into the blue eyes looking at her with so much concern. It scared her sometimes how much Mal loved her and understood her. "I just...don't really want to think about it right now."

"Okay," Mal nodded, always willing to give Regina what she wanted, she transitioned easily from concerned girlfriend to just girlfriend, "Then how about you let me take your mind off of it?"

Regina's cheeks flushed instantly at those words.

Mal grinned devilishly slow at the reaction. She pried Regina's mug out of her hands and set it on the coffee table. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I made a promise this morning, after all," the devilish smile grew, as she moved closer so that her lips were inches away from Regina's now, her eyes darting down to look at those lips, "and I don't like to break my promises…"

Regina was the one to close the gap, one hand reaching up to thread through Mal's long blonde hair as their lips connected.

At the same time, somewhere deep in the forest, Emma sat beside Elliot in the clearing near the edge of the cliff. She swung the compass from it's chain watching it spin in fascination. "What do you think it is?" She looked up at Elliot but the dragon just tilted his head, as if to shrug, and then he looked back up at the stars.

She sighed. Elliot seemed unhappy with her encounter today. She'd chatted endlessly about it all afternoon but he kept giving her strange looks. She didn't think he liked people. Well she was a person and he liked her. But she didn't think he liked other people.

She watched the object spin a moment longer before shrugging. She didn't think she was going to be able to figure out what it was but, whatever it was, it was pretty. She used the chain to put it around her neck, letting it hang like a necklace, and then she leaned back on her elbows and joined Elliot in looking up at the stars.

The happy look Elliot gave her as he motioned with his head towards the brightest star made her smile.