The fairy tales Henry talked about were true. Emma lay down on the bed with her eyes wide, unable to stop staring at an unfocused spot on the ceiling. So she really was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, Storybrooke was a cursed town and Regina was the Evil Queen. Still, Emma couldn't help but think, Regina was not evil at all. Maybe she had done awful things in the past, in that fairy tale land Henry said they came from. But here, with Henry… Regina was only a mother, trying to protect her son. The wrong way, maybe, but a mother after all. That was more than Emma had ever had.
She could hear Regina crying inside the bedroom, despite how the woman kept her sobs as quiet as she could. In the middle of the night, the forest could be completely silent for some seconds. And it made Emma sleepless. She turned on the mattress, wondering what could she do to help Regina or why did she care so much about the woman now. She sighed and crawled out of the sleeping area, climbing down the ladder as quietly as she could. "Regina?" she whispered, wanting to warn the woman that she was going to the bedroom. She knocked on the door softly. "Regina, can I come in?"
No answer. She opened the door slowly and glanced at the bed, noticing the woman under the covers. Curled up into a ball and hugging one of the large pillows that decorated the bed, she could see only her hair. Sighing, she walked into the room and towards the bed, biting down on her lip. "Hey." she spoke, again receiving no answer. "I know you're awake, and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable by this." she spoke as she sat down on the edge, hands playing with the covers. "You say I can't leave now that I have come, but you don't want me to stay. You talk about happy endings, and I've never known what that is. So, I want to propose something to you. I could stay, but I don't want you to hate me. I don't want to be Henry's other mom or anything, don't get me wrong. If it is going to hurt him, I won't leave. I owe that to him, and to you. So I will stay, make things well. We will see how it goes, then make a decision. Together." she whispered, waiting for an answer. The seconds that passed seemed eternal, and so she decided to leave. Standing up, she walked to the door and turned to look at the bed for a last time. She still could hear sobs, even if Regina's cries were calmer now. She was still awake, her breathing heavy and tired. "Goodnight, Regina." she whispered. "Sleep well." she added before closing the door behind her.
Regina was unable to move, to blink, to think. Her heart beat fast, and she felt something that she did not remember she could feel. Hope. Emma Swan really was the savior, and even if she hated the thought of Henry loving the woman as a mother more than he loved her, she wondered if it could work. What if Emma could bring not just Henry and the other inhabitants of the town their happy endings, but also hers? And so, she rushed to get out of bed, opening the bedroom door and calling the woman.
"Emma!"