Happy holidays, everyone! This one is a little more upbeat, hope you enjoy.

"Sorry about that." Emma had disappeared from view after about fifteen minutes and been gone for at least another thirty.

"Was that Henry?" Regina asked, her voice wavering slightly. She'd never gone this long without seeing her son, never mind talking to him.

"Ruby. She's been manning the phones at the station and called to let me know the evidence came back from the lab." Emma set a shopping bag down on her usual chair. "Is she okay to let in on this?"

Regina nodded. While she couldn't say for sure who had and hadn't been in that room with her, she knew Red, the old Red, well enough from years of having her watched. The girl was weighed down by guilt for all the pain she'd inflicted as the wolf. She'd kill to protect those she loved but she wouldn't be involved in senseless violence.

"Okay, good. I talked her through running the evidence, but seeing as no one in Storybrooke is in the system it didn't help much. So I was thinking I'd go, just for a few hours."

"Of course." Regina had to admit that she was surprised Emma had stayed with her this long. "Take whatever time you need."

Emma took hold of Regina's hand almost tight enough to hurt, her green eyes intensely focused on the brunette. "I will be back by tonight. And if you need anything, anything at all, you call me and I will be here in an hour. Okay?"

It took Regina a moment to adjust to the intensity and emotion in Emma's voice. Nobody talked to her like this, as if the mere thought of leaving her pained them. "Okay," she said softly.

Emma gave her a small smile and then let go, turning to the bag she'd left on her chair. "I got you a book so you won't get bored," she said, handing it to Regina. "I hope it's an okay one."

Regina had never heard of it before, but it didn't look completely terrible.

"I also got you a friend." Emma pulled a teddy bear from the bag and sat it down next to Regina in the space where she'd slept the night before.

"A friend?" Regina looked at the bear skeptically. She hadn't been given such a toy since she was a child, and those were all dolls meant for looking at but not touching.

"Just in case you need someone to hold onto," Emma said. "Plus he'll protect you. He's absolutely ferocious."

Regina couldn't help herself. She actually laughed at that. Maybe it was the purple bow around the bear's neck or the grin on his face, or maybe it was the grin on Emma's.

"But if you don't want him I'll go drop him off in the children's ward."

Regina pulled the bear closer to her side, tucking an arm around him. "No." She paused, not quite sure what to say. A grown woman giving another grown woman a bear seemed odd, but the gesture was so heartfelt. "Thank you, Emma," she said, and then Emma leaned down and brushed her lips against the mayor's forehead.

"I'll be back before you know it," she promised.

Ruby handed over the file. "I glanced at it," she said, pulling her chair up beside Emma's desk. "It's horrible. Is Regina okay?"

Emma opened the file, wincing at the photos of Regina's various injuries. She'd almost forgotten how bad it had been. Regina looked so much better now. "She's recovering just fine." She flipped to the page of DNA results.

"We've set up an emergency center over at the school. Your dad and I have been working on trying to help people find family members, so I was thinking I could collect DNA samples by claiming they're for that purpose." Ruby shrugged. "If that's even legal."

"My dad," Emma echoed. "I am never going to get used to that."

"Is that a yes, then?"

Emma blinked up at Ruby. "Yes. Good plan. You can take the lead on that and I'll go poke around the crime scene, I guess."

"Maybe you should come with me. Your family has been…"

Ruby was cut off by Henry shouting Emma's name as he ran into the office. The brunette snapped Regina's file closed and brought it back over to the deputy's desk before the boy careened in to hug Emma. "I'm so glad you're back." Henry took a step back, bouncing on the balls of his feet with excitement. "This has all been so cool. I wish you'd been here to see all of it."

"I'll be back soon, kid," Emma promised.

Henry stilled. "You're not staying?"

Emma hated to disappoint him, but she had to admit that she hated to disappoint Regina more. Henry had this whole world of fairytale characters to explore. Regina had no escape, just a nightmare. "I need to take care of your mom."

Henry crossed his arms, giving Emma a frustrated look. "You're the Savior. You're supposed to be here helping out. Not hanging out with the Evil Queen."

Emma was suddenly glad she hadn't taken Henry with them to the hospital. Not if he was going to be like this. Regina didn't need any added heartache. "I'm helping the person who needs it the most, okay? People can take care of each other here in Storybrooke, but your mom is all by herself."

"Because she deserves it," Henry protested.

"Henry!" Emma snapped, forcing herself to stop and take a breath before she screamed at the kid. "I don't care what she did in the past. No one deserves what the people in this town did to her." She held out her hand towards Ruby. "Give me the pictures."

Ruby placed a hand over the file. "That's a terrible idea."

"He needs to see."

Ruby got up from her desk and went to Emma's, bending down to talk to Henry. "We really need to focus on our investigation, Henry. And more importantly, the town needs your help. You have to get back over to the school."

Henry glanced between the two women, and Emma sighed, slouching back into her chair. "And call your mom. She needs you, too."

"She's not my mom," Henry said. "You are, even if you aren't acting like it." He turned and sprinted out the door, both eager to get back to helping and furious with Emma.

Emma slumped down further. "Since when are you so good at talking to kids?"

Ruby sat down at the edge of Emma's desk, putting the file down between them. "Since when are you in love with Regina?"

"What?" Emma straightened up again. "Why would you ask that?"

Ruby flipped open the folder. "You wanted to show these to a ten year old."

"I just want him to stop being such a jerk."

"Because it hurts Regina," Ruby pointed out. "You left her side to work on this case, not to see your family."

Emma ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe suddenly having a family is a little overwhelming."

Ruby offered a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure it is, Emma. It's a good reason to run."

"I don't plan to run." Just a few days ago Emma had been ready to leave Storybrooke for good, but not anymore. Not if this was where Regina was. "I don't know, Ruby."

"Don't know what?"

Emma picked up one of the pictures, Regina's tired eyes looking up at her. "When I fell."

Emma couldn't help smiling when she saw Regina still holding the bear. As she bought it earlier she was sure it was stupid, that Regina would hate it. But somehow it was working.

Regina smiled back at her as Emma came in. She had to admit that she hadn't been entirely convinced the blonde was coming back for her at all. "Hi."

Emma slumped into her chair easily, as if she'd never left. "How are you feeling?"

"Well, everything hurts. But it hurts a little bit less." Regina had been talking to just about everyone about how she felt, and she was sick of it. "How's Henry?" she asked, eager to get to a different subject.

"Oh, you know, the usual." Emma's smile was tight. "Really excited about fairytale characters, irrationally angry at his mothers."

"At you?" That didn't sound like Henry at all. "Why? What happened?"

Emma gestured to the room. "I'm here."

"You need to go back," Regina said quickly, even though she hated the idea of losing the only person who cared. "He must be lonely."

Emma reached forward and took Regina's hand lightly, wishing she didn't have to say this. "He's only angry because I'm with you. Because the Savior and the Evil Queen aren't supposed to be friends."

Emma had been expecting the pained look that Henry's harsh words always caused, the slight wince at her old title. Instead, Regina allowed herself a small smile. "We're friends?"

The sheriff stood up and came to stand next to the bed. "I think we might be. Unless…"

"Unless?"

Emma blushed, tightening her hold on Regina's hand and feeling the brunette clasp hers in return. "Unless we're something more than that."

For the first time in days, Regina's eyes no longer looked so haunted. She let go of the bear and brought her free hand up to cup the back of Emma's head, urging her down for a kiss.

Emma lingered close for a moment, and Regina kept her eyes shut, just reveling in the moment. If only they could barricade the door and stay in there for days, tangling up in each other and sharing more kisses. As if none of this had happened. No attack, no curse, no Storybrooke, no Henry, even. She opened her eyes.

The blonde was still hovering over her, looking down at her. Without a word, Regina set the bear down on the table and Emma slipped into bed, under the blankets unlike the night before. Regina had been awake all day in spite of her exhausted body, but now that she could feel Emma against her, there to protect her, she let go.