Regina climbed the ladder again, timidly crawling through the sleeping area. She looked around her, wondering how much time it had been since she had been up there. Henry's comic books were covered in dust, but Emma had cleaned some. Regina reached for one of them, smiling as she passed the pages. She stopped for a second, feeling Emma stare at her.
"What?" she questioned, closing the book.
"I'm not going to stay much longer in town." Emma started, swallowing hard and closing the book. With a sigh she left it on the nightstand and turned fully to Regina, sitting criss cross. "I have a job to attend, bills to pay. My whole life is in Boston, I can't change that. And I know you've hated me since the moment I got here. I know you think I've come to take Henry away, but it is not true. I've only come here because even though I have not been there for Henry for ten years, I wanted to make sure he got home safe. I wanted to be there for him, at least this one time. I don't even know what a home is, I could not do it. But, you are his mother, you are his home. I know right now he doesn't really like you, and it must be hard for you. I cannot imagine it. So I will stay just two or three days, then talk to him and make sure he is alright before I leave, then we can all go on with our lives."
"You don't see it, right?" Regina asked, feeling tears in her eyes. If only Emma knew the pain that ran through her veins, if she knew how much it hurt. The brunette hugged her knees and sighed, hiding her face from the blonde. She hated crying in front of someone. "He has met you now." she spoke, softly at first. It was a short sentence, but it meant the world for her. "From this moment he will never think of me as his mother, he'll always think of you."
"What?"
"Emma, I am not Henry's mother." she was in tears now, unable to say more than two sentences straight. "It's been like this for years now, you know? He has hated me since he discovered that he was adopted. When he was little he asked about his father for years, and I had no answer. But I managed for him to learn it as okay that he had no father, and then when he was nine started wondering why. I tried for him to not to find you, even if it was for selfish reasons. But he did all these things to find you, and now you're here. I haven't been able to stop it, and trust me, I wanted to. You're in his life now, and I have nothing to do against that. But, even if I am not his mother he is my son. I just… I just want him to be safe, and if you leave he won't be."
"Regina, no if. I will leave. I am not going to stay, and I've told him that. He knows it."
"He knows that, but he doesn't believe it. He has hope, Emma." Regina laughed softly, not really wanting to believe she was saying this. Regina, the Evil Queen, knew she had been finally defeated, despite no one else knew yet. "I can't fight hope."
"But I will leave, I will no—"
"Okay, let's say you leave. And then what? You will leave him, how will be him after that? Do you realize how will he feel if his biological mother leaves him, again? Do you think he'll be happy about that? Do you think it will make him hate me less?"
"No, but—"
"Emma, as much as I hate to say this, you have to stay. I don't know for how long, but not just for two days. And deep inside, we both know Henry will make it so you don't leave. He has that power, of making people be together." Regina explained. The woman gave Emma a last tearful look and shook her head, wiping the tears away. "I'm going back to bed. This… this has all been an awful idea." she muttered. Rushing towards the ladder, she hurried and climbed down, crossing the living room.
"How can you even know that?!" Emma questioned, jumping off the sleeping area and to the floor, tripping but rushing to follow the woman. Regina turned, facing her for many seconds in complete silence. Green eyes found brown ones, then lowered to her cheeks, to her lips. The blonde felt her heart ache, but did not know why. I think I am the one dizzy now.
"Because that idiocy Henry always speaks about, about the book, about the fairy tales… it's true. This is written. That Henry would find you, that you would come here, that you will stay. That I'll never get my happy ending. It's written, and I can't change that despite how much it hurts. Not that I want to change it either," she added with a sigh. "Giving up my happy ending means giving Henry his." She turned around and opened the door of the bedroom. Regina hesitated for a few seconds, not caring her feet were on the cold floor, the same way that Emma did not care she was only wearing a tank top and her old pajama pants. "Good night, Miss Swan." were the woman's last words before closing the door behind her.