Sorry for the delay in updating – I've been tweaking a few things until I was happy(ish) with them. I have plans to finish this up soon (it's already waaay longer than I thought it would be), and then perhaps continue in a separate story following on from this when I get a further storyline better mapped out. In the meantime though, I hope you enjoy where this is going, and where it wraps up for the time being.

And as always, I love hearing what you have to say, so please leave your love, hate, criticisms and everything in between!

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"Moms?"

Both women turned to find their sugared up son, chocolate decorating his face, sporting a wide grin.

"Can I stay at the B&B tonight with Ruby?"

Regina frowned at the eagerness in her son's tone, still rather sensitive when it came to Henry and his affection towards her. Emma caught the pained expression flash across the older woman's face, and as eager as she was to spend some real time alone with her love, not when it made her doubt her relationship with Henry for so much as a second. "Kid, we just got your mom back on her feet. Don't you think tonight should be a family night?"

Smiling at them in a way that made it impossible for anyone to deny his Charming heritage, Henry slipped into the booth across from them. "I think tonight should be for you two." Displaying an emotional maturity that was way beyond his years, he reached across the table, taking both of his mothers' hands. "So far you've argued and then you were sick. You've hardly had any time to be happy together."

"We'll have plenty of time, Henry," said Regina, squeezing his small hand.

"Have tonight," he said, this time to Regina alone. "I'm not going anywhere, mom. And I know you don't like being around people too much, and lately, you've had to live with gramps and grandma."

"Henry, sweetheart, you know I love spending time with you!"

"And I love spending time with you," he replied quickly. "But you two deserve some time just you two. And tomorrow you can come get me and we can all have breakfast together?"

Emma didn't want to be the one to answer, instead turning to look at Regina. If the brunette wanted the kid with them, then home he would come. She was also rather suspicious as to his motive.

"Sweetheart, are you sure?" asked Regina hesitantly. "You know Emma and I being together doesn't mean that we want to spend any less time with you."

"I know, mom," he grinned. "Now I get to spend more time with both of you. But you two need grown up time too."

Regina raised an eyebrow at that one, and Emma felt a blush rising on her cheeks at the phrase that was very Snow. She could only imagine what particular scenario spurred that conversation. She still shuddered to think of it, and hadn't made tacos since. "Grown up time? Henry, with your mother around do you really expect I'll be getting any of that?"

The boy responded with a chuckle, going into full out laughter when he caught the scandalized expression on Emma's face.

The blonde instantly retaliated, pulling her hands back from her son and Regina, and launching into a tickle attack on both of them, not stopping until the older woman practically begged her to. She smiled as the brunette settled against her side, letting her head rest on her shoulder, her flushed cheek warm against her skin. "Kid, are you sure about tonight? Your mom is right, just because we're together doesn't mean we want to spend any less time with you. If anything we want to spend even more time with you. All together, as a family."

"I know, ma," he smiled brightly. "And I love that we're really a family now. I love that you guys are really getting on." He turned to his adoptive mother. "And I love that you smile like you used to."

For the umpteenth time that night, Regina found herself battling tears. "I love that I can," she whispered, reaching over the table once more to clasp his small hands. "How about I promise to wear that smile to lunch tomorrow? Give you time to digest the mountain of cake you've consumed, and no doubt will continue to consume tonight?"

He grinned at being given permission to stay at the B&B, hoping his plan would work. Quickly extricating one of his hands from his mother's grasp, he dug in his pants pocket, carefully extracting a small glittering pouch, which he held out proudly. "This is for both of you. Empty it on the ground when you get outside the diner."

Regina frowned as she accepted the pouch, catching the familiar scent of fairy dust. "Henry, what is this?" She passed the pouch to Emma for the blonde to inspect.

"A present for you both," he said, adopting a slight blush.

"Henry Mills, anyone would think you'd been planning this behind our backs all day," smirked Regina, taking in his cheeks, flushed red with embarrassment now it was out in the open that he had put so much thought and attention into making a special gift for them.

"Well it wouldn't be a surprise if I told you about it!" he grinned, his expression an exact copy of his blonde mother's adorable grin.

"I thought they were never going to let us leave," moaned Emma as she and Regina finally stepped out into the cool night air in front of Grannies.

Regina nodded. "As nice as it was to have people like me, I think I could do with them liking me a little less."

The blonde chuckled. "Well, next time feel free to start bringing out the Evil Queen a little bit."

"Faced with another of your mother's hugs I just might," smirked the brunette. While she was prepared to start trying to get along with her former enemy, it was still a little early (by a considerable number of years) for hugging, no matter how much Snow had had to drink.

"So what do you think this is?" asked Emma, warily raising the pouch Henry had gifted them with earlier. "When he pulled it out earlier my first thought was that it was a condom," she admitted.

Regina turned to the blonde with a raised eyebrow.

"What!? It looked like a condom wrapper, all silver and shiny."

"Miss Swan, I-"

"Regina, seriously, you're Miss Swan-ing me now?"

The brunette merely chuckled. "I just can't believe you thought Henry was trying to give us a condom. He's ten! And furthermore, what in this realm or any other would we need one for?"

Wishing she had never admitted her earlier thoughts, Emma narrowed her eyes in a glare at the other woman, arms crossed to complete the childish huffy posture.

Regina reached out, tugging the blonde's hands into her own. "Come on, let's find out what he actually gave us." She took the pouch from Emma's hand, her nose wrinkling at the smell of the fairy dust that was part of its contents.

"Why do you keep screwing your face up at it?" asked Emma.

"The smell of the fairy dust. It's always made me want to sneeze," shrugged Regina. "Now, are you ready?"

"As I can be," said Emma, watching as the brunette opened the pouch, emptying the contents into the night. Almost instantly, the dust began to glow, falling towards the ground before suddenly becoming animated with a life of its own. The glowing particles began to dance around the couple, creating an arch over their heads as the road in front of them became illuminated in a soft golden glow. "So we've to follow the yellow brick road?" asked Emma with a giggle, watching as the glow illuminating the pavement moved out in the direction of the mansion.

"You live in a town full of fairytale characters, dear, so I would say it's a fair assumption," smiled Regina, linking her arm with the blonde's.

Emma glanced behind her at the diner, making sure that no one was watching from the windows of the diner before turning to Regina. "How much have you had to drink tonight?"

"Why does that matter?"

"Is it enough that you'll skip down the yellow brick road with me?" asked the blonde with a grin. If she was going to do this, she was doing it right.

Regina rolled her eyes. "See, I was right, even alone with you I get no grown up time."

"Skip with me and I'll show you just how grown up I can be when we make it back to yours," smirked the blonde, leaning in and nuzzling at the older woman's neck. She pulled back to look into lust darkened eyes, painted red lips quirked in a sexy smirk.

"Then we'd best get a move on, Miss Swan." She smirked at the shudder that ran through the blonde at her use of the title this time. "I'm not known for my patience."

"Please tell me you caught that on video," grinned Henry where he stood next to Ruby, the pair having run upstairs to get a clear view of Regina and Emma opening their little gift.

She held up her cell phone. "Of course I did! What do you reckon, we break it out at the next birthday, or do we keep it for their wedding?"

"Wedding?" asked Henry, eyes wide with excitement.

On reaching the mansion, quite some time later thanks to the pair finding it impossible not to tease each other on the way, stealing kisses, and letting hands wander, they gasped as the dust that had been illuminating their path suddenly flew up, creating an elaborate light show above their heads, finally ending with a spectacular magical firework that culminated in rose petals raining down on them.

"I think our son is a little romantic," chuckled Emma.

"I have to agree," smiled Regina, reaching out to brush away a few petals that had caught in the blonde's hair. "Although where he got it from I'll never know."

Emma smirked. "You haven't seen nothin' yet, Mills." She tugged the brunette by the hand up the path towards the mansion, only stepping to the side when they reached the door. "So, do I get to come in, or is this the part where you tease me with a goodnight kiss at the door and leave me hanging?"

"If you don't come in I think I may be forced to drag you in," said Regina, opening the door with a flick of her wrist, before wrapping her arms around the blonde's neck, pulling her in for a deep kiss. She smiled when she felt the blonde's arms wrap tightly around her waist, lifting her off her feet for a second time that night as she was carried inside.

"You have no idea how good it heels to be able to hold you like this and not be scared I'm going to break you," whispered Emma as she pulled back, letting the brunette slide down her body to stand on her own two feet once more.

"It's nice not to feel so broken," admitted Regina. She smiled as the arms around her waist tightened further. Looking up into the blonde's brilliant green eyes, she couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the depth of the emotions she found there. She wondered how long it would take her to become used to that. Or if she ever would. "Would you wait down here for a few minutes?" she asked after a few moments.

Emma frowned.

"Please?" Regina asked with a hopeful smile. "Five minutes is all I ask."

Emma continued to frown.

"Emma, you know I want this. I want you," said Regina. "But I want this to be something to remember."

"It will be, no matter what," said Emma, leaning her forehead against the brunette's.

"Just five minutes," pleaded the older woman.

Leaning in to press a gentle kiss to plump lips, Emma released Regina from her arms. "Five minutes. And not a second more."

Regina smiled gently and nodded. "I promise. I just have a couple of things I want to do…"

"As long as one of them isn't changing out of that dress," the blonde informed her. "I want the privilege of peeling that off."

With a wink and grin, the brunette disappeared in a swirl of smoke.

Upstairs, Regina absent mindedly waved her hand, magically straightening the room up as she crossed over to her vanity. Sitting on the low stool in front of it, she took a deep breath before reaching into the small jewellery box she kept. She carefully withdrew the brass ring by the ribbon attached to it. The ring Daniel had given her all those years ago. She had always kept it with her, unwilling to let it go, until now…

On the walk home tonight, Emma's arms wrapped around her, she had thought back to the last time she was so happy. Memories of Henry as a baby were plentiful in her mind, but thoughts of Daniel, and their time spent hidden away in the stables had also crept in, brought to the surface by Gold's earlier rather cryptic words. Turing the ring over between her fingers, she let herself smile at the memory of the day he had given her it. He had always wanted her to be happy. Thinking of the blonde downstairs, of her True Love, she knew in her heart that with Emma, she was happy. As happy as Daniel would have wanted her to be.

She slipped the ring over her finger, enjoying the familiar feel of the magic that inhabited their homeland. Even with magic here in Storybrooke, the magic that came from their homeland always had its own unique buzz to it. She wondered if Emma would feel it, too, for she intended to show the blonde the ring. Intended to destroy it afterwards. As much as she had loved Daniel, and part of her always would, she knew, it was time to let him go. It was time to let him go, and give herself completely to Emma.

Hearing the soft tap on her bedroom door, she smiled at the blonde's patience, having expected her to come barging straight in. With another flick of her wrist, she sent small, softly glowing fireballs to hover around the room, casting a warm glow over the place. Moving towards the door, she took a deep breath before pulling the door open to find Emma practically bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Five minutes exactly," she breathed before wrapping her arms around the brunette's neck and crushing their lips together. They stumbled backwards into the room together, the blonde clearly aiming for the bed. She was halted, however, by Regina's hands on her hips. Opening her eyes, Emma scanned Regina's face, frowning when all she saw was a warm smile. "What's wrong?"

The brunette shook her head. "Nothing. There's just something I want to share with you before we do this." She took the blonde's hands from around her neck, leading her to her huge bed, where she perched on the edge of it, the blonde doing the same. "This." She slid the ring from her finger, placing it in the blonde's palm.

She watched Emma study the small item, turning it over in her hands.

"You feel it too, don't you?"

Emma nodded, frowning at the sensation the ring created in her hand.

"It's the magic of the Enchanted Forest." She clasped their hands together, the ring between their palms. "It was created there, so it still holds some of the magic of that land. To those with magic, it feels…different, almost out of place here." She paused, looking to their joined hands. "Daniel gave me that ring. It's from a horse's saddle. He gave me it, as a promise…" She looked up at Emma, a sad smile on her face, ignoring the tears that gathered in her eyes. "I've kept it all these years. But it's time to let it go. It's time I moved on."

Emma brought her other hand up to gently cup the older woman's cheek, wiping away tears with the pad of her thumb. "You don't have to do anything."

Regina shook her head. "No, I do. I want to do this."

The blonde continued to stroke the brunette's cheek. "Regina, it's okay if you still love him. I'm not, and I never would try to replace him. I love you, and I know you have room in your heart for us all. Daniel, Henry, me…"

Regina had no words, and so to express the overwhelming emotion swelling in her chest, she surged forward, crushing her lips to Emma's. To the blonde's credit, she didn't miss a beat, both hands coming up to cradle the other woman's face, neither of them noticing as the ring fell and became caught in the sheets beside them. She willingly opened her mouth to the brunette's questing tongue, moaning as she brought her own tongue to meet it. She whimpered against the older woman's lips as she easily slid to straddle her, the skirt of her dress hiking up with the movement. Emma dropped her hands to the bare legs now exposed to her, marveling at just how soft the skin under her palms was.

Pulling back, Regina panted as she took in the sight of the flushed blonde now trapped beneath her slight frame. "Make me yours," she breathed.

"Shit!"

"What?" panted Regina, leaning up on her elbows to see Emma leap from the bed, trying to retrieve the dress she had just stripped from her body and thrown across the room. The dress that was currently on fire. "Emma, don't touch it!"

The blonde whirled to look at the brunette with almost comically wide eyes. "It's burning!"

Regina could only smirk. "Yes dear, I can see that." She flicked her wrist, extinguishing the fireball beneath the burning garment, putting the lingering flames out with a further flourish of her fingers, leaving the ruined dress to fall to the floor. She reached out the same hand to the blonde, pleased when she simply sighed at the ashes that used to be a particularly well fitting dress before coming back to bed.

"I should have guessed you couldn't just light a few candles," chuckled Emma, crawling back up the bed to lay beside the brunette. "Had to be fireballs."

"Well, they are rather my trademark," smiled Regina, creating a tiny one in her palm, before manipulating it with her fingers, causing it to hover close to the blonde's pale skin, warming the pale flesh beneath. Her smile turned positively devious as she heard Emma's breath hitch at the sensation. "You might learn to like them yet," she grinned, leaning down to let her tongue follow the heated trail left by her fireball. She ignored the raging fire still to be stoked between her own legs for the minute, choosing to focus instead on the fire of her creation, hovering so close to her lover's skin. The blonde trusted her and her use of magic, but she wondered how long that would last if she let her attention waver and her fireball hovered a little too close.

Regina lay on her back, catching her breath. She grinned into the darkness, unable to stop the laughter that suddenly bubbled up in her chest.

"Oh, way to make a girl feel good, Regi!" said Emma. "Take her best efforts then laugh at her!"

Turning on her side to look at the blonde, Regina shook her head. "I don't mean it like that," she smiled, her fingers reaching out to trace patterns on the pale skin of the woman next to her. "I was just thinking…"

"About?" asked Emma as one hand reached up to stroke through Regina's tousled locks.

"This," smiled the brunette. At Emma's frown, she knew further explanation was necessary. Turning to lie more comfortably on her front, she let her chin rest against Emma's chest. "When I was staying with you at your parents, and I was in your bed…" She paused, burying her face in Emma's side as she felt her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. She only looked up when Emma's prodding of her shoulder became too annoying to ignore.

"You started so you better finish," smirked the blonde.

"I thought I already did," grinned Regina, raising her head. After the party, which to her great surprise, was actually a success, with many of the town's citizens showing up to celebrate the fact she was no longer dying, and was now almost permanently to be found in the arms of their Sheriff. Rolling her eyes, Regina sighed. "Fine. When I was staying…I kept thinking…that I was in your bed, just not in the way I'd imagined."

Emma grinned. "Oh really? So just what did you imagine?"

Pushing up to all fours, Regina crawled over Emma, resting a hand either side of the blonde's head while her hips straddled those eagerly seeking friction below her. "What we've done and few things besides."

"Oh well don't let me stand in the way of you completely bringing those thoughts to reality…" grinned the blonde, biting her lower lip in anticipation.

Regina grinned back. "So nice of you to be so willing," she teased. "You might not be when you hear what I've got in store."

"I've already survived your fireballs," grinned Emma. "Let me guess," she added with a smirk. "I've no idea what you're capable of." Her words trailed off into a moan as talented lips kissed a path down her neck, teeth and tongue teasing the sensitive skin. "I so owe Ruby for watching Henry tonight, especially with the sugar rush he was running on."

"Emma?" The brunette had just been drifting off, taking in the sight of her lover curled against her chest in the pale light that streaming in her window when it occurred to her.

The mumbled reply was muffled against her skin.

"Ruby's watching Henry tonight, yes?"

A nod against her chest.

"How can she possibly be watching him when it's a full moon?"

"Is now a bad time to tell you that dress you destroyed earlier on was my only one?" asked Emma, forcing her head up to meet the sleepy gaze of her lover.

"Don't change the subject," growled Regina, her voice hoarse thanks to the blonde forcing her to be quite so vocal about her appreciation.

Emma sighed. She had been hoping to keep Regina occupied enough so that she would fail to notice. "Regina, you asked me if I trust you, and I do. With my life, and more importantly, with Henry's. You trust me the same?"

The brunette blinked a few times to clear her eyes, looking deep into the green eyes of her True Love. "Of course I do."

"Then trust me, this is just one of those things you don't need to know," said Emma with a sleepy smile, leaning up to press a soft kiss to plump lips before settling down against her chest once more.

Regina pouted in the darkness, part of her desperate to shake the young woman resting against her chest awake and demand an answer. With a sigh, she let herself settle once more, one hand stroking through soft blonde curls. "He better now come back with a single claw or bite mark."

"Regina, you're going to have more bite and claw marks than he will."

"Makes two of us."