25.

"Nice tan you've got there Emma, went on vacation without telling anyone huh?" Ruby grinned down at her and Emma smiled sheepishly.

"About that… I'm really sorry I left without saying goodbye Rubes, I just needed to… uh… get away. Some stuff happened and I had to figure out what to do with my life."

"So you're back for good now?" Ruby asked, tapping her pen against the little notepad in her hand.

"Well –"

Emma was about to answer but got distracted by the jingling bell above the door, announcing another customer. She smiled at the sight of Regina in her impeccable pencil skirt and blouse. Dark eyes scanned the diner quickly before coming to rest on where Emma was already seated in a booth.

Ruby raised her eyebrows as Regina headed straight for them. "Nice tan you've got there Madame Mayor, been on vacation huh?"

Ruby grinned cheekily as Emma shot her a glare.

"I was indeed," Regina answered, she sat down across from Emma without hesitation and looked up at Ruby with a tight smile, "the usual for me Miss Lucas."

"A burger with fries for Emma and a chicken salad coming right up," Ruby announced, winking at Emma before heading back toward the kitchen.

Emma sighed, catching Regina's raised eyebrow. She shook her head. "Don't ask."

"Fine, I won't," Regina answered, leaning back and crossing one leg over the other, "so how did it go with the Sheriff?"

Emma grinned and raked a hand through her hair. "I've got the job, I'm starting Monday."

Regina's entire face softened and an answering smile spread across her features. "I'm glad. I hope you'll enjoy police work. I doubt there'll be much excitement but sometimes Mrs. Gruber's dog runs away into the woods, so that means some extra exercise."

Emma laughed quietly and nodded. "Sounds perfect to me."

She watched Regina begin to fidget slightly. It was just a tiny movement really, her fingers dancing across the silverware on a napkin next to her hand. She remained silent and waited patiently.

"Have you thought about where you're going to stay? The Bed and Breakfast is certainly a possibility, even though it is for guests rather than residents. Not that we have a lot of guests coming to Storybrooke… either way, have you given it some thought?"

"Actually, Graham said that there's an apartment near the station that I could rent. I'm going to look at it later today but it seems to be a good deal."

Regina nodded. "That sounds like a reasonable solution. What about your things? I mean you probably have to get furniture and other belongings from Boston?"

"Uhm… not really. Most of my stuff is in my car anyways and I rented the place in Boston already furnished. My lease will be up next month anyways and I've already contacted the landlord that I won't be coming back. She offered to send me anything that I might've left."

Emma looked down at the table, picking up the crinkled paper of her straw and dipping it into the little water ring that had formed around the bottom of her glass of coke. It seemed even more pathetic now, that all of her belongings fit into her admittedly rather small car. There was hardly anything she was fond of aside from her leather jackets and a pair of old worn boots.

She'd always told herself that it was because she wasn't home much anyway due to her job, but in hindsight she had to admit that she never wanted to get attached to anything because it was most likely to get lost or break.

She looked up when warm fingers covered her still moving hand.

Regina had leaned forward and was looking at her with a furrowed brow. "Are you alright?"

Emma smiled and turned her hand so that her fingers slipped between Regina's. "Yeah I'm fine. Just thinking. I… uh… I really feel like it's time for me to settle, or rather find a place that doesn't make me want to live out of my car most of the time."

"And have you?"

"Found it you mean? Yeah, I definitely have," Emma replied with a grin.

Regina was smiling brightly but their little moment was interrupted by Ruby. She grinned down at their entwined hands and they reluctantly released each other so that Ruby could put down the food.

"Enjoy you two," she chirped, the smirk on her face still a little too smug for Emma's liking.

"Thank you Miss Lucas," Regina replied politely.

Ruby turned around and Emma glanced at her food, but suddenly Ruby was beside their table again. "I just want to say that I think this is great, I mean both of you are so cute together and I'm just really happy for you."

Regina was basically staring at Ruby open-mouthed while Emma was hoping for a hole in the ground to swallow her, or Ruby, or both of them.

"Thank you, Ruby. I guess," Emma eventually answered and Ruby beamed. She turned and walked away with a bounce in her step.

She turned back to Regina and found the mayor staring down at her salad with an unreadable expression.

"That was… uh… unexpected huh?" Emma ventured in a light tone but frowned when Regina didn't react.

"Hey listen, I'll go tell Ruby to keep it quiet," Emma offered. She was about to get up from the booth when Regina's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist.

"No it's fine, really."

Emma slowly lowered herself back to her seat. "You sure? It's not a big deal, if you're uncomfortable with people in town knowing that you and I are… sort of working things out, I can make sure Ruby won't go screaming it from the rooftops."

"I'm not uncomfortable at all, it's just something I have never had to deal with before, not like this. Frankly, I don't care what people in town think or who knows, the only one who matters is Henry."

"I agree," Emma answered, finally turning to her burger and fries.

Regina's hand that had previously been wrapped around her wrist snagged one of her fries and she watched with a small smile as Regina ate it daintily.

"You could've ordered some you know."

Regina shrugged and speared some salad onto her fork. "I don't eat greasy food."

"Yeah right," Emma snorted and smiled to herself.

To Emma it seemed like they'd just taken a major step forward and skirted around a discussion that could've been quite strenuous on their blossoming relationship.

Ever since returning from Florida a few days prior she'd lived in a constant state of happiness and she wondered when that feeling would finally wear off. Well, it wasn't about to happen any time soon and they ate in companionable silence until Regina had to return to her office.

Standing outside Granny's, Emma shoved her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket.

"Would you like to come over for dinner tonight?" Regina asked.

"I'd love to."

Emma closed her eyes as Regina leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss against the corner of her mouth.

"See you later."

"Yeah," Emma answered dumbly and watched Regina saunter off toward her car. Oh yeah she was definitely more than happy.

...

Regina slowly rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. A headache was starting to form behind her eyes and she had another dozen or so tax reports to go over.

A knock on her door caused her to look up. "Come in."

Her assistant stepped into the office, her arms full of folders. "Here are the lists you wanted to see. I also have an overview of the money we made from the fair."

Regina nodded. "Thank you Aurora, I'll take a look later."

"So, how was your vacation?" Aurora asked.

Regina raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like her assistant to inquire about her personal life but she recalled the conversation they'd had soon after Emma had left Storybrooke. Aurora had told her that going after what she really wanted was never easy. And she couldn't have been more right with that.

"It was fine actually, very… relaxing."

Aurora hummed quietly. "That's great. Oh and have you heard? It seems like we have a new deputy in town."

Regina narrowed her eyes at her assistant's innocent tone. "Yes I'm aware."

"Does the new deputy happen to drive a yellow bug?"

"Indeed she does," Regina replied.

Aurora smiled. "Well great."

She looked like she was about say more when a knock at the office doors interrupted them. The tip of a dark cane pushed the door open further and Gold stepped inside.

"I apologize for showing up unannounced but it seems the front desk is understaffed," Gold said with a vile little smile.

Regina frowned and shot a quick nod toward Aurora. "That'll be all for now."

"I'll be right outside Madame Mayor," she answered and quietly moved past Gold, closing the door on her way out.

"Make an appointment next time," Regina said coldly, leaning back in her leather chair and balancing a pen between her fingers.

"Well seeing how this is a particular visit, I assume that there will be no next time Madame Mayor," Gold replied.

"So you're here to call in that favor."

"I am indeed."

Gold slowly moved to the chair in front of her desk and lowered himself to sit, both hands resting on top of his cane.

Regina clenched her jaw, her fingers idly twirling the black pen in her hands. "So what is it you want Gold?"

"There is someone I need to find and since I've helped you locate certain individuals before, it only seems fair that you do the same for me."

Regina furrowed her brow. Why in the world did Gold think she would know how to track down people when she'd asked for his assistance with the same task not too long ago? There had to be a catch and knowing Gold it wasn't going to be pleasant. She remained silent, waiting for him to continue.

Gold smiled briefly but leveled her with a serious glance a moment later. "I'm aware that it must seem odd, me asking you for this, but I have my reasons. There is someone from my past whom I've tried to reconnect with for many, many years but they have alluded me so far. Now, it has come to my notice that Deputy Swan has a special talent for finding people who do not want to be found."

"What are you saying Gold?" Regina asked between clenched teeth.

"Let me make it clear Madame Mayor, I need you to send Deputy Swan on a mission. She is the only with the required abilities and I'm sure she wouldn't be inclined to help me without your influence. I want you to convince her to find that one specific person for me and if she succeeds, your debt will be repaid."

The pen in Regina's hands snapped cleanly in half, small pieces of plastic raining down her desk. "This deal is between you and me Gold, not Mi… Deputy Swan."

"I think the alternative would be even less pleasant, wouldn't you agree?"

She stared at the small orange light that indicated the oven was turned on. The rich smell of lasagna was starting to waft through her kitchen but she barely registered it. She was deeply in thought, her mind trying to bend and shape the new information in a way that would finally make sense. But none of it did. Not really.

Why did Gold have to involve Emma in this? There was something else, something he wasn't telling her. Gold was a man of many secrets and she'd never cared to dig deeper, but now it seemed that she wasn't getting the whole picture and that unnerved her more than she was willing to admit.

A knock at the front door shook her out of her thoughts and she took a quiet breath. She fluffed her hair with both hands while she made her way to the door.

Emma was waiting on the other side with a smile on her face and a bottle of wine in her hands. She shuffled her feet and glanced up at Regina almost nervously.

Regina couldn't help but smile in return at how utterly adorable Emma was being. "Would you like to come inside?"

"Yes," Emma replied and handed her the wine bottle.

Regina glanced at the label and led the way into the kitchen. Emma groaned behind her. "It smells amazing in here."

"Thank you," she replied and put the wine down, "the lasagna will be ready soon."

Emma shoved her hands into the back pockets of her jeans."Awesome. Where's Henry?"

"Upstairs doing his homework."

"Right. Good."

Regina smiled at Emma's nervousness and inclined her head toward the living room. "Would you like to sit down until dinner is ready?"

"Yeah, sure."

Together they left the kitchen and settled on the couch instead. Emma sat down, leaving a respectable distance between them, resting her hands in her lap.

Regina had no idea what could've possibly happened between this afternoon and now that made Emma so nervous but she intended to find out. She intentionally scooted closer and waited for Emma to meet her eyes before she reached out and trailed her fingertips along a prominent cheekbone to a slender neck, her thumb stroking back and forth across the underside of Emma's jaw. "What's wrong?"

Emma relaxed into the touch, her eyes closing briefly. "Nothing. I mean nothing serious, I'm just being… me."

Regina raised her eyebrows. "What does that mean?"

"It's just… I'm not used to being this happy. Everything almost seems too good, you know? I guess I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Emma, you deserve happiness," Regina said quietly, her heart clenching painfully at Emma's words. She leaned forward, invading Emma's personal space, and gently brushed her lips across the blonde's.

Emma responded to the kiss and raised her hands to cradle Regina's face between them. She scooted even closer and wrapped her arms around Emma, fingers tangling in the blonde tresses at Emma's neck. She felt the urge to have Emma as close as possible, very well knowing that Gold's request could soon take Emma far away if she didn't find a way out of this deal.


A/N: you guys are awesome. this story's almost to 400 reviews, that's amazing. I know I've said it before and I'll keep saying it: I really appreciate the support. there are some more chapters to come but I think that we're past the peak and now it's downhill toward the finish line.