Mary Margaret has a much needed conversation with her daughter. Emma sits under the apple tree in Regina's yard until the mayor agrees to talk.
"What happened out there, Ma?"
Henry pinned his blonde mother with a perceptive stare after Regina had left. She'd barely stayed long enough to say hello, simply pulling him into a tight hug for longer than was normal before turning and striding out, not even sparing David or Mary Margaret a glance.
"Not now, kid. Please?" Emma groaned, dropping her forehead onto the kitchen island as she waited for the coffee to drip. David gave her shoulder a sympathetic pat as he passed her, in the midst of making dinner while Mary Margaret tended to the baby. Henry, however, insistently nudged at her hip.
"She looked really upset. What did you do, Emma?"
"Ugh," Emma grunted, lifting her forehead from the counter and giving him the stink eye. "I see how it is. Throw around the title of 'Ma' and 'Mom' when it suits you, huh?"
At that, her son couldn't help but smirk. He definitely had Regina's cunning. "Emma," he said again, in that tone of voice that Regina used whenever she was in a scolding mood.
"Alright, jeeze. I may have said something stupid to upset her… But I'll fix it, I promise."
"Well what did you say?"
"I, uh…" Emma shot her father a helpless look.
"Henry, sometimes it's best to just let two people figure out their problems on their own, you know? Emma and Regina are… good friends. They'll be fine. Have faith in your mothers." Prince Charming to the rescue - except for that hesitation about the good friends bit. Emma squinted at her father and he just smiled guilelessly at her.
"Fine," Henry grouched, kicking his legs as he sat slouched on the high stool. "Can I go play video games?"
"Go for it," said David, grabbing more items from the fridge.
Henry slunk away to the TV as Emma finally poured herself a mug of fresh coffee. She wandered closer to her father, turning away from Henry's direction and lowering her voice.
"So… Something on your mind, dad?"
"Hm? No. Nope." He flashed her another smile and kept cooking.
"Really? No interesting ideas?"
"I don't know what you're talking about." He grinned, blinding her with his pearly whites. "Why don't you check on your mother and Neal? Dinner will be ready in a half hour."
Emma gave her father another suspicious squint before heading into the bedroom. Mary Margaret had retreated there earlier after Regina's departure and she now found the short-haired brunette lying on the bed with Neal resting on her chest, rubbing soothing circles on his back.
"Hey mom."
Emma sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, holding out her arms for her baby brother. Mary Margaret passed him over and sat up with a frown.
"So what happened between you and Regina?"
"We got into an argument." Emma shrugged her shoulders, nestling little Neal into the crook of her arm and giving his tummy a rub. "The demons' influence has everyone acting a little touchy. It's fine. We'll get back to work tomorrow."
"Okay. What else happened between you and Regina?"
Emma froze up.
Damn it, they know!
"W-what do you mean?" she said instead, dumbly.
"Emma Swan," Mary Margaret said, tisking softly. "Do you really think your own mother wouldn't notice when her daughter develops feelings for someone?"
"I… what?" Emma paled, unsure of how to respond except to keep playing stupid. That she didn't immediately snap back about how they'd only been mother and daughter as of three years ago proved she'd grown in many ways and had at least come to terms with it. It still didn't make it any less uncomfortable that this woman - who was barely older than she was, fucking frozen time curses - was talking to her the way mothers spoke to their daughters about dating and boys and all that crap that she'd long ago accepted that she would never hear.
"Oh, don't give me that," said Mary Margaret, scowling in a way that looked more cute and amusing than serious. "You and Regina have always had a certain… 'spark' between you two. I never imagined it would become anything because of how things were back then, but now that you're actually getting along…"
"No offense, Mary Margaret, but this really isn't a conversation I want to have with you."
"Now who's the one throwing around the title of 'Mom' when it suites you?" Mary Margaret arched an eyebrow at her.
"You heard that?" Emma mumbled. Her mother hummed in the affirmative. "Ugh. Sorry. It's just… weird. I grew up without anyone to have these talks with, so I just… It's uncomfortable, you know? I don't know what to say."
She nuzzled her face against Neal's head of soft hair, partially to hide herself from her mother's careful stare. He seemed to be okay with this and busied himself playing with the collar of her shirt.
"We're just talking, Emma," Mary Margaret said, her voice patient and soothing. "I just want to know how you're doing. How you're dealing with all this. Regina can be… difficult. But she's come a long way, and I never stopped loving her despite everything that's happened between us. I care about the both of you and I want you both to be happy. If you make each other happy…"
"Awkward," Emma managed, looking very pink in the cheeks.
"Oh, stop thinking so hard about my being your mother right now. Just talk to me like I'm your roommate Mary Margaret."
Emma gave her mother a strange look.
"Come on," Mary Margaret encouraged, crossing her legs beneath her and scooting her butt a little closer as if they were teenagers sharing gossip. "Gimme the scoop. Spill the beans."
"Even worse," said Emma, making a face and gently placing Neal back into his mother's arms. "I'll talk, just stop with… whatever this is."
"Fine," the brunette pouted.
"We shared True Love's kiss." Her mother gasped. "Twice." Another gasp.
"Emma!" Mary Margaret nearly squealed, her face alight with joy for her daughter. "That's wonderful! There's no better confirmation than sharing True Love's kiss!"
"Except for the fact that I screwed up. Royally."
"What? How?"
Emma grudgingly recounted the past few days, including the way Regina acted after they'd combined their magic and her big blowout at the bridge.
"I know I shouldn't have used the whole 'True Love' thing, but I wasn't thinking straight."
Mary Margaret gave her a "Duh, obviously" look, but Neal was starting to fuss so she reclined back against the pillows and held him aloft, making little kissing sounds at him.
After a moment of silence, Emma said, "So what do I do?"
"What do you want to do?"
I want to-
But her thoughts led to somewhere entirely inappropriate - apparently Emma Swan had a fantasy about angry make-up sex despite never actually having had sex with Regina before - so she shook the image from her head and said, "I have no idea. Apologies aren't going to cut it."
"Apologies always help," Mary Margaret said, slowly. "But those take time. Saying it right after the fact won't do anything when she's still hurting. You have to show her that you really want to earn her forgiveness - that you deserve her forgiveness."
"I don't think I do," Emma whispered, more to herself than to her mother. But her mother heard her all the same.
"Emma." When Emma finally met her eyes, she continued, "Do you care about Regina?"
"Yes."
"Do you love her?"
Even without True Love's kiss as proof, Emma knew the answer to that in her heart. "Yes."
"Then figure it out."
Emma started. That hadn't been the advice she'd expected to hear, certainly not from Mary Margaret Blanchard of all people. But she had yet to truly understand that her mother was more Snow White than Mary Margaret after regaining her memories, and she knew exactly what her daughter needed to hear even if they hadn't been a family for very long.
Besides, Snow White believed in a bit of tough love.
"Oh." Emma blinked, once, twice. Then her features settled, and she knew what she needed to do. "Thanks, mom."
Mary Margaret smiled and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Any time."
The evening air was cool and she was glad she'd brought her red leather jacket.
Emma sat back against the tree, her legs stretched out and Pandora's box held loosely in her hands. She'd never noticed before, but the grass here was perfectly trimmed, and it really shouldn't have surprised her considering whose backyard she was in.
"What do you want, Miss Swan?"
Emma blinked against the sudden light from the back door, taking in the silhouette of Regina's slender form, clad in her usual fitted slacks and dress shirt with a matching blazer. She had a hand on her hip and she looked ready for a fight, verbal or otherwise.
Emma sucked in a deep breath, calming her racing heartbeat.
"Can we talk?"
"I have nothing to say to you."
"Then I'll talk, you listen." When Regina didn't move, she motioned towards the bench near the hedges. "Please, sit."
The moment dragged on for so long that Emma was worried Regina would just slam the door and ignore her for the rest of the night. To her relief, the mayor finally moved out into the backyard, perching herself stiffly on the edge of the bench with a guarded look on her face.
Emma just stared at her for a moment, wishing the other woman didn't feel the need to put up all her walls and close herself off like that. She knew how expressive her face could be and it hurt that all she saw now was a stoic, emotionless frown.
"Talk then," Regina barked. Emma looked down and fiddled nervously with the box.
"I… I want to apologize to you for a lot of things. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness right now but that's not why I'm here. I screwed up. I should never have forced anything on you, not the magic or the expectations, and definitely not the True Love stuff. You wanted space and I disrespected that, all because I-"
Her throat tightened and she took another deep breath, still avoiding Regina's eyes. "I was selfish. I wanted more than you were ready for, all because I finally found something amazing - really amazing - and I was scared to lose it, so I clung to it because that's what orphans do, when they think life has finally given them something good and so they have to cling to it, otherwise if it's lost, it's gone forever, and the thought of losing you forever-"
She halted her rambling with a trembling breath, only just noticing that tears had sprung in her eyes and dripped down her cheeks. She didn't move to brush them away, hoping that it was dark enough that Regina wouldn't notice them.
"It's stupid and irrational and I know that, but it doesn't excuse how I acted or what I did, and I just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry and I won't do it again. It's not fair to you, and I never wanted to hurt you like that. So I- I'll give you space from now on, I'll learn how to use Pandora's box on my own, and when all this demon stuff is over with, I promise to do this by your terms. If you want to keep Henry with you, I'll only be by to pick him up on the weekends or something-"
"Stop talking, Emma."
She looked up sharply to find that Regina was now kneeling next to her, her expression clouded with a million different emotions that reminded Emma again of how amazingly complex this woman was. After a moment, her expression settled on an unhappy, unsettled look.
"I'm having difficulties concentrating when there is an emotion raging inside me that I know is not my own."
It was as close to an admission as she could get, and to her relief, Emma just nodded once in understanding. Leaning forward, the brunette pressed her lips to the blonde's in a soft kiss, feeling a sudden warmth wash over them and ease the weight of her heart just a little. As she pulled back, she used her thumbs to stroke away the tear streaks on Emma's cheeks. The blonde wasn't as sneaky as she'd like to think she was.
Assured that her emotions were entirely her own now, Regina shifted over to sit against the tree next to Emma, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply as a cool evening breeze drifted over them, surrounding them in the fragrance of her apple trees.
"Which sin was that?" Emma asked softly.
"Envy, I think." When Emma craned her head around to give her a confused look, she explained, "I was really mad at your… lack of experience. Considering how powerful you are, being the Savior and all."
"You were… jealous?"
"If you must put it that way." Regina sighed. "But that wasn't the problem. It was perfectly reasonable that you wanted my help. The problem was our magic, combined…"
Emma shifted beside her. "Back at Gold's shop…"
"Yes. I… I've never experienced magic quite like that before. And the way I reacted, it wasn't…"
"Normal? Familiar? Safe?"
Regina twisted her head around in surprise and Emma laughed, quiet and subdued.
"You didn't like the way you reacted automatically to it."
"No, I didn't," Regina agreed. "I exercise full control over everything in my life, including myself. The things I felt and the way I acted, that was… not me. Not the usual me, anyway. And that was… frightening."
Emma nodded slowly. "I know what you mean. Sad part is that I know exactly how you feel, and yet I hadn't realized it at the time. Of all people, I should have known. I should have understood."
"I don't blame you. I admit, I can be difficult."
Regina blinked in surprise as Emma's hand gently closed around hers, fingers entwining. "Well, some things are worth fighting for," she said simply.
Regina rested her head back against the apple tree and stared out at the quickly darkening sky. They sat like that for a while, just existing, hands clasped together and resting on the grass. Emma's thumb gently stroked the side of Regina's palm, conveying warmth and reassurances and promises without a single word uttered.
Questions danced on the tip of Regina's tongue but she didn't have the courage to ask them, not outright. Eventually she settled for, "How do you know you're fighting for the right thing?"
"Well-"
"And don't say Fate or some crap about fairy dust," Regina warned. "Because we all know how misleading that usually is."
"I wasn't going to." Emma grinned a little and set Pandora's box onto the grass by her thigh so she could settle her free hand against her chest over her heart. "I was thinking something a little more trustworthy."
"Your heart?" came the startled reply.
"Yep. My heart. And the things I feel."
She didn't say those three words. She didn't need to, not yet. Just the promise that they were there, waiting, was all the confirmation Regina needed.