Regina strolled into the diner, stopping to grab a coffee on her way home. She would need the extra caffeine that night. It was a couple days after Christmas and the days off she took for the holidays were definitely coming back to haunt her. Her paperwork was piling up and she knew sleep was going to have to be sacrificed yet again in order to keep the town running. As she walked up to order her usual, she couldn't help but notice Granny giving her a strange smile from behind the counter. The more she looked, the more the woman had a look of...what was that, sympathy?! On her face.
"Can I order?" she asked, annoyed that this woman was gawking. Just then, Ruby stumbled up in front of her, looking slightly frazzled as she looked back at her grandmother.
"Sorry about that, Mayor Mills! Are you just getting your usual, today?" Regina nodded at the younger woman, still annoyed that Granny would be so rude to a paying customer who was the mayor, no less. She grabbed her coffee, paid her bill and gave a small, uncomfortable smile to Granny before turning on her heels and leaving the diner.
"Granny, what the hell's gotten into you? It looked like you were going to go hug her or something."
"I just...she seemed extra lonely today"
"What are you even talking about?" Ruby asked, unsure why on earth Granny would suddenly care about the mayor. At this, Granny nodded absentmindedly and looked out the window of her diner at the retreating form of Regina's car as it drove off, sighing sadly. Ruby stared at her grandmother for a moment before shaking her head and returning to her tables. Granny glanced over at the radio she kept behind the counter and grabbed a rag, continuing her day's duties.
Regina sighed as she got home, rolling her shoulders back and dropping her bag to the floor by her desk. Placing her coffee down, she noticed a bag full of what looked like mail sitting next to the door of her office.
"Henry?" she called out "Henry, come in here this second!" she heard his little footsteps bounding down the stairs and looked up as she heard him sliding into her office, eyes lit up with excitement.
"Henry, what are these?" she said, holding up a handful of letters, all addressed to 'Sleepless in Storybrooke'. Henry smiled, hardly able to contain his giddiness.
"Letters from people who heard you on the radio!" her eyes were wide with shock
"Henry, you gave them our address?" she asked, in disbelief.
"Well...yeah!" he shrugged "the radio station called, saying they had a bunch of letters for you there, wanting to know where to send them." Regina sighed as she looked down at her son. She couldn't find it within herself to get angry, since he was very clearly trying to help. She cupped his chin with her hands and offered him a small smile.
Emma Swan sat down at her kitchen table, laptop open, a look of determination on her face.
She had contacted the radio station. Apparently, they had set up a P.O. box for all the fan letters Sleepless in Storybrooke had been receiving. They said they couldn't give her the address, but that they forwarded all the letters they got. She had opted to type up a letter, rather than try to write one out. It was more official that way. Easier to read, she thought. After a few moments of hesitation, she began typing.
"Dear Sleepless and Son…
She laughed at herself, knowing she could easily have just written "Henry and Regina", but figured that might be a little too creepy.
"I'm not usually the kind of person who listens to call-in radio shows. I know that's a dumb way to start this, but it's the only way I can think of to really express what happened to me the other night when I heard the two of you on the radio. On the other hand, maybe I'm just losing my mind."
She continued to write, knowing she was probably sounding crazy, and yet knowing in her heart that to not do this, to not try, would be even crazier. Emma Swan had never been much for writing, and yet she found that the words poured out of her in this moment, things she felt she could never express danced out of her mind and onto the screen in front of her. When finished, she gave it one final look over before nodding to herself and clicking "print".
Regina crossed her legs, cupping her mug of hot coffee with both hands.
"I'm telling you, Regina. You have got to get back out there" said Kathryn, placing her own cup of tea back on the table. They were at Granny's for their weekly coffee date, and Regina looked around quickly, worried someone might overhear this embarrassing exchange.
"I hardly think that's necessary at this point, Kathryn" she said pointedly, brushing a piece of her hair behind her ear. Kathryn smiled and rolled her eyes.
"Look, it's been long enough, Regina. I mean, it's normal to be craving some kind of romantic connection…" at this, Regina shrugged.
"I have my hands full enough with Henry, I can't say I really need anything more in my life" she sipped at her coffee again and placed it back on the table.
"Regina" she said, placing her hand on Regina's "Henry is ten years old. You've done a great job raising him on your own, but don't you think it's time to take care of yourself, too?" Regina thought for a moment before shrugging again.
"I haven't even seen anyone I'd be interested in" she said, dismissively.
"That's alright" Kathryn smiled "Just be open to the idea...go on some dates! It's not like I'm telling you to go find a lifelong commitment! Just go have some fun, Regina!"
"Alright, fine! I'll consider it!" she said, laughing, before flipping her hair and continuing with a more comfortable conversation topic.
Though Regina carried on with her day-to-day responsibilities, more and more sacks of letters started finding their way to 108 Mifflin.
"This is ridiculous!" she exclaimed when she came home one day to four giant bags of hand-written proposals and cards from people she'd never met. She opened the door to find Henry laying on the living room floor, surrounded by torn open envelopes, a letter in hand.
"Hey, mom!" he called without looking up.
"Henry, why are you reading those?" she asked, hanging up her coat and walking toward him.
"Somebody's gotta screen 'em to make sure they're good enough!" he replied, matter-of-factly. She rolled her eyes and sighed, not even mustering enough annoyance to fully commit to a scowl. Her son cared enough to make sure her crazy-potential-radio-suitor was worthy of her affections. The thought of that alone made her smile and sit on the couch behind him, picking up a stack of letters to go through herself.
She quickly found that the letters ranged from sweet, to slightly creepy, to downright explicit. She nearly shredded the entire pile when she got to one including a picture of a stranger that she had no desire to see.
"You okay?" asked Henry, upon seeing her reaction.
"Yes, Henry, I'm fine. Just a little shocked at some of the things people send to a complete stranger…"
"Oh, did you get a nudie pic?"
"Excuse me?!" she demanded
"Lots of people sent naked pictures in...I've been putting them in that pile" he said, pointing to a surprisingly large gathering of letters "It's obviously a 'no way' pile". Still not believing the words he was saying, she put the letter down in the appropriate pile, making sure the picture was face-down. She then got up and decided it was time to make dinner for the two of them, having read enough letters for a lifetime.
