The night seemed never ending.
Not because of the great sex the two women thought they'd be having but because Henry had missed an entire day of school classed and couldn't be found anywhere in Storybrooke. Regina's imaginative mind was conjuring up worst-case scenarios without end. Henry kidnapped. Henry getting lost in the forest. Henry drowning in the lake. Henry running away because he hated her. There were so many bad things that could happen to little boys and Regina couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her beautiful prince.
Sheriff Graham had left the Manor two hours ago. He was searching the perimeter again, accompanied by Leroy, his six friends, David Nolan from the pet shelter and several other inhabitants of Storybrooke. While Regina was feared by many, her wife and her son were well loved within the community. She and Mary Margaret had wanted to go with the search party but Graham had been able to convince them that it was best they stayed in case Henry came home.
When the doorbell rang at just a little past six the next morning, the two of them involuntarily jumped until Regina finally got up from the stairs they'd spent the night on to open the door, her wife close on her heels. On their doorstep stood Henry, right next to a blonde woman wearing a red leather jacket.
"Henry," Regina cried out and flung her arms around the boy, tears lacing her voice. "We've been so..."
But before she could end the sentence her son freed himself of her embrace and stormed past her into the house and up the stairs. She heard Mary calling after him about not being so rude to his mom and that they'd been worried sick about him but all that came back was a
"She's not my mom and neither are you. Emma is!" followed by the loud bang of a closing door. Regina felt her wife's hand on her shoulder, her presence right beside her.
"Uhm, hi", a hesitant voice said. The woman who'd come with their son was weakly smiling at them. "I'm Emma, Emma Swan."
"You're Henry's birth mother?" Mary quietly asked and the woman nodded. "Well, I believe we should thank you for bringing him back home, back to us," Mary Margaret went on, always friendly. "Would you like to come in and enjoy a glass of my wife's apple cider?"
"Anything stronger?" the blonde asked with a crooked smile and followed the two inside.
"I just can't believe our son left for Boston just because of that stupid fairytale book I got him last Christmas."
That night they were lying in bed, cuddled up to each other and talking about the day's events.
"I know honey. But this isn't your fault," Regina's gentle voice whispered into Mary Margaret's ear. "He's got an overactive imagination, there's nothing we could do about it. Let's just be happy Belle didn't yet get around to giving him those Harry Potter books she's been reading lately. I'd rather be the Evil Queen than some guy called Voldemort who doesn't even have a nose."
Mary Margaret chuckled and buried her nose into Regina's neck. Her wife could always get her to smile, which was one of the things she loved the most about her.
"I love you, Gina," she said before succumbing to sleep, trusting that everything would be alright as long as she was with her. "I love you more, M," Regina mumbled before falling asleep herself.
It had been a week since Emma Swan had arrived to their quiet little town and Regina was starting to feel worried. Why would the woman stay, without a job and only a room at Granny's, if it wasn't to be close to Henry? Did she want to take their son away? Henry was distancing himself more and more each passing day and no matter what she told herself - that this was just a phase or that Dr. Hopper would eventually break through to him - and no matter how many times and how consistently Mary reassured her of his love for her, Regina still felt scared as hell. She couldn't lose her son, their sweet little boy.
Also, since the day they'd met Miss Swan, weird nightmares were plaguing Regina's sleep. Nightmares where she was dressed in fancy middle age or baroque dresses, killing people, throwing fireballs and taking hearts out of people's chests only to crush them to dust. But in the dreams that were disturbing her the most, she was killing her own wife without feeling any kind of remorse. After one of those, she would wake up, drenched in sweat and reaching out for the woman soundly sleeping next to her. They felt so real and each time she thought she'd lost her wife again and again. The dark circles under her eyes were living proof to herself, her wife and all of Storybrooke; proof, that the mayor wasn't sleeping well.
And her wife? Well she was acting weird sometimes as well… Sometimes… Well, it was hard to believe, but sometimes it almost seemed like she was afraid of her; like when she'd reached out to touch her wife's pale face just yesterday, Mary Margaret had flinched back from her hand and apologized for being startled right the second after. But this happened too often these last days to be borne by merely surprise or daydreams. Something was wrong and Regina was anxiously waiting for the bomb to explode - the ticking was haunting her all day long.
The bomb should explode sooner than Regina thought.
It was late at night when she awoke to the shrill screaming of her wife and hands tightly holding onto her. Sensing her wife in danger Regina was wide-awake in a second, sitting up in the bed and taking in the scene around her. There were way too many people in their bedroom and a dark figure was trying to pull Mary Margaret out of their shared bed.
"What do you think you're doing?" she yelled at the intruders. "Get your hands off of my wife!"
The man was startled and let go, making the sobbing figure of Mary Margaret fall back into her. She held her wife in a tight embrace and turned on the light on her nightstand, finally enabling her to see who exactly was inside of her room.
"Emma? Henry? ... Mr. Nolan?" she said with surprise in her angry voice. "What gives you the right to break into our bedroom?"
"I'm here to take my wife back! Even I had never thought you would stoop down to such a level to hurt her!" the blonde man said and jogged around the bed to Mary's side.
"Snow darling, don't you remember me?" he said, hope in his eyes when Mary Margaret looked up from her place in Regina's arms. The green eyes clearly weren't recognizing him and his smile faltered but just as he turned around, a soft voice spoke into the silence: "You found me."
Seconds later Regina found herself sitting alone in their bed, helplessly watching the reunion, her wife in the arms of David, and herself... remembering.
'SNOW?' Regina couldn't believe it. But what she could believe even less was the fact that she was the Evil Queen, a monster who'd brought despair and hopelessness over the whole Enchanted Forest and killed numerous people. Remembering those dark times and seeing her wife... no, her stepdaughter... her enemy... in Charming's arms was more than enough to break her. And with a lone tear trailing down her cheek she disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke.
When Snow let go of David, Regina was long gone. But even then she didn't right away notice the missing presence that had been with her for 28 years, for that was when she recognized Emma as her long lost daughter. Her sweet, little baby was a beautiful grown woman and... "Oh my god!" Snow screamed out, flinging her hands into the air. "I'm a grandma... The grandmother of my own adoptive son... I... I am sorry but I really need a moment for myself. Could you please...?"
Henry and Emma nodded, trailing out of the room. Charming made no move to leave. "David?" Snow silently asked. "You too, please. I really need to think."
The prince hesitated but finally left Snow to her thoughts: "I'll wait for you in the living room, Snow."
Silence. Snow sat down on the bed, elbows on her knees and her head in her hands and cried. This was all too much for her. Finding Emma. Finding Charming. Her own son her grandson. She... Snow White.
And Regina...The woman she'd shared the very bed she was sitting on for 28 years with. The Evil Queen? Her stepmother? But… how? It had all felt so real but how could it have been when clearly one party of their relationship did have a huge advantage for all these years - namely knowledge. Regina was the one to cast the curse, so of course she remembered. But why did she pretend to be her wife, to be with the woman she'd hated for so long, when she could've led any life she ever wanted, here in Storybrooke?
Snow wiped away her tears and got up from the bed. She didn't want to - she just wanted to sleep and forget for a moment - but her husband and her daughter were waiting for her. Her family.
She knew now, that what she had with Regina was nothing but a lie, probably Regina's idea of torturing her, of making her life miserable. Oh and how greatly it had worked. The hole in her heart was more than enough evidence for Regina's success, her ultimate revenge. It made her unbelievably sad to know that the woman didn't even stop from faking love for getting back at her. Everything had felt so real.
Downstairs in the living room she didn't only find her family but also Belle.
"Snow", the brunette woman immediately said. "Do you have any idea where Regina could be? I'm kinda worried about her"
The shocked faces of David, Snow, Emma and Henry met her.
"You don't remember, Belle?" Snow whispered sadly, taking one of the woman's hands.
"I do," Belle said, squeezing Snow's hand for a second before letting go. "I called you Snow, didn't I?"
"But, but why would you be worried about Regina then?" David asked, the other three nodding their heads. "She's the one who created this whole mess!"
Belle sighed and said with confidence, "Because she's not the Evil Queen anymore and I take it that she needs a friend now."
She gave a pointed look towards Snow and David.
"I know what she's done... And hell, she's done some stuff that hurt me as well... Still. I've known her in the Enchanted Forest for how long? Maybe three hours at the most. She's been my best friend for 28 years though and I won't just forget that," when she saw Snow opening her mouth to protest, she held up her hand for everyone to stay quiet. "I know she probably knew, remembered, all that time. But the friendship we have? There's nothing fake about it and I won't abandon her. She needs to know she's not all alone like she's been before the curse," she paused and looked directly at Snow. "So please, if you know where she might be, tell me."
Snow thought about it for a moment but finally answered - Belle was a grown woman and if she wanted to go and see Regina, she should.
"She might be in the forest, where that little trail runs along the creek. She always liked to go for a run there," Snow softly said, seeing the very woman in tight sports gear running in front of her.
That was when Henry was two. Their little one had been staying with Ruby and Granny in the diner while the two women went for a run together. Snow wasn't one for jogging but Regina had finally convinced her to join her at least once. She'd quickly regretted her decision though, panting like a train while Regina ran backwards and smiled that pretty smirk at her untrained self. It had ended with making love under the troll bridge though, so the morning hadn't been a total disaster, quite to the contrary even.
A cough disrupted her thoughts and Snow blushed, remembering where and most of all who she was with.
"Sorry, I trailed off there for a moment. Well, either there or at the cemetery visiting her father's grave."
Belle nodded. "Thanks you. I'll be off then. Maybe Rumple could help me with some magic if I don't find her..."
Right after the door had closed behind Belle, Snow felt strong arms encircle her waist from behind and turn her around. David leaned in to kiss her for the first time since they'd been reunited and Snow closed her eyes and nervously waited. But as soon as she felt the firm lips upon her own and the stubble of his chin on her own, she pulled back. David was clearly confused.
"Sorry", Snow sheepishly said. "You're scratchy. It takes some getting used to after..."
"She kissed you?" David's head turned a dark shade of red. He obviously was furious. "How could she!" he paused and then looked at her with a mixture of rage, disbelief and disgust. "She... She didn't... you... Snow?" But the way his wife couldn't look into his eyes told him everything he didn't want to know:
Snow did have fucking sex with the Evil Queen!
But with Regina knowing all the time - didn't this make it... rape?
"I'm going to fucking kill that bitch," the prince yelled and stormed out of the house, Emma and Snow hot on his trail, Henry begrudgingly staying behind after being told so by his biological mom.
AN: To tackle some questions that might arise already:
No, poor Regina didn't remember a thing.
And yes, Henry was punished by his moms (for running away to Boston) - I just skipped that part in the story. You can decide for yourself just how much but don't kill him off :'D
Yes, magic is back.
And well. People just started slowly remembering/dreaming once Emma got to town - makes it less complicated ;)