Author's Note: Alright folks, here we have it. The final part. This has been a lot of fun to write and your response has been so lovely. Thank you all for coming along on this ride with me! I hope you enjoy the end!
Emma's heart pounds rapidly in her chest as she is lowered farther and farther down into the air shaft. She's petrified of what she will - or possibly won't - find when she reaches the bottom. A large part of her had wanted to wait, to let Regina do this when she arrived with Graham. She was Henry's mother after all, she should be the one to save him.
But Emma wasn't willing to risk waiting for her. Those minutes could be the difference between - well, they could just be the difference. And so she had strapped on the harness, and here she is.
"Henry!" She calls every few minutes as she gets lower and lower. "Henry!"
And finally, from out of the darkness comes a weak light and an even weaker voice. "Emma?"
Her heart nearly bursts with joy.
Regina flies out of the cruiser before Graham even gets it in park.
"Where is he? Where's Henry?" She calls as she races forward to the group that's all crowded around something. Her stomach turns as she considers what it could be. "Where is my son?"
"Regina." Kathryn says as she takes in the brunette. She sees the same fear written all over her face as had been on Emma's before they'd lowered her down.
"Kathryn. Where is Henry?" Regina rushes to her, picking out the semi-familiar face in the crowd.
"He's still down in the mine." Kathryn explains softly, her hand coming to wrap around Regina's arm in support. "But we just lowered Emma down and -"
"What?" The words don't make sense. It's her son down there, she's the only thing he's got, and yet…
"We found an old air shaft, which we think will lead us down to Henry. We lowered Emma down to get him."
"Emma." Regina says the name, her mind trying to wrap around what's going on. "But I -"
Kathryn smiles gently and says what Regina already knows, but doesn't quite understand yet. "He's her son, too."
"Henry!" The word comes out on a sob as Emma takes in the sight of Henry at the bottom of the shaft. He's covered in dirt and grime and there are some tears in his pajamas, but he's clutching his backpack - and the damn Space Paranoids game - and smiling up at her.
"Emma!" He grins, reaching up towards her. "You came for me."
"Well of course I did." She says as she grabs onto him, pulling him tight against her. "I'm your mother. I'm supposed to help you."
Henry buries his face in her neck as she tugs on the rope that they'd tossed down as a signal wire to let them know to pull her back up.
David feels the tug on the line and his head snaps up. "Pull them up!" He shouts over to Michael.
Regina whips around to face the open shaft, where the cable is slowly being pulled up. She clutches Kathryn's hand, unaware of her actions, and prays, tears streaming down her cheeks. She'll do whatever Henry wants, whatever he asks of her, as long as he's okay. She'll never yell at him again. Just let him be okay. Please, god, let him be okay.
It seems to be taking hours for Michael to pull the cable back up and Regina can't even breathe as she waits, but finally there's a shock of blonde hair and the cable turns, spinning the mayor around and revealing the boy clutched in her arms, still clad in his Iron Man pajamas.
"Henry!" She gasps out, rushing over and falling to her knees as David and Sean help lift them the final few feet up and out of the shaft.
Tears are pouring down her cheeks but a beautiful smile is lighting up her face as she takes in her son, nestled in Emma's arms. And as the mayor carefully releases him into her waiting grasp before being pulled away to be unharnessed and checked over, the thought flicks through Regina's mind that maybe she doesn't have to do it alone anymore.
But then it's gone in the sea of emotion that crashes over her as she holds her son in her arms, not caring about the dirt or anything but holding him and smelling his hair and proving to herself that he's real and he's alive and he's here with her.
"Henry. Henry. Henry." She sobs against him, just like she'd done on their first night in Storybrooke. "I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry."
Henry just hugs her tight, all of the pain and fear from the morning erased, and murmurs over and over, "It's okay. I'm okay."
It isn't until they've made it to the hospital, away from all the hubbub at the mine, that Regina catches sight of Emma again. The mayor had been whisked away by her friends as soon as she was lifted out and then left to deal with calming her citizens and figuring out what to do about the mine situation.
Regina had been too wrapped up in her reunion with Henry to notice the other woman's absence, and then had been far more concerned with getting Henry to a doctor than anything else.
But now, as she stands in an empty waiting room, she watches as the mayor hobbles in on an ankle that is obviously re-injured, and feels all those feelings from the mine crashing over her again.
"Regina." Emma offers her a wobbly smile, and that's all it takes for Regina to break.
She's sobbing before she realizes it, and it's only Emma's arms around her that keep her from sliding to the ground. How the mayor manages to keep them both standing is beyond her, but Regina just clings to her, as though afraid to let her go. She buries her face in Emma's neck, unknowingly mirroring Henry's actions, and when she realizes just how similar the two smell, she pulls back to stare at Emma.
"Hey," Emma whispers, carefully wiping tears off her cheeks, "it's okay."
"Emma." She croaks, already leaning forward, her eyes darting to pink lips. And then she's kissing Emma, brushing their lips together in a gesture that's filled with all the emotion that's still swirling through her.
"Madam Mayor." A nurse calls as she steps into the room and the two break away quickly, Regina's eyes widening at the realization of what she's just done. "Dr. Whale will see you now."
Emma presses her forehead against Regina's for a moment, just staring into her eyes. "Don't leave without me?" She asks, her voice small.
"We won't." Regina whispers and then watches as Emma limps away, following the nurse.
"He's got a few bumps and bruises and I've given him a mild sedative to help with the pain and let him get some rest, but other than that, Henry is one very lucky boy." The doctor explains to her before opening the door to the room where Henry is waiting. "I'll send someone in with the discharge papers for you in a few minutes."
"Thank you, doctor." Regina offers, although she's already moving into the room to where Henry is sitting up in bed, glancing through his comics.
He looks up at her and offers her a smile that morphs quickly into a frown.
"Henry, what is it? Are you in pain?" Regina spins around to call for the doctor again before Henry's voice cuts her off.
"No, Mom, I'm fine. It's just… they threw away my Iron Man pajamas. And I lost my Avengers vs. X-Men comic somewhere."
And after everything that's happened today, all Regina can do is laugh. "I'll buy you another pair. I'll buy you a million pairs. And all the comics you can read." She says as she pulls him close and plants kisses all over his face.
When she pulls back, she runs her hand down over his cheek. "I am so, so sorry, Henry. About everything that happened this morning and -"
"I'm sorry too, Mom. I didn't mean to upset you."
"I never should've grabbed you, Henry. The last thing I ever want to do is hurt you and -"
"I know, Mom. It's okay. I think I just pushed a little too hard." He offers her a smile, although it doesn't quite reach his eyes. "We can go back to Boston."
She thinks about her promise while she was waiting for him to be rescued and of Emma Swan and the kiss that they'd just shared. "Well, I think that we might stick around. At least for a few more days."
Henry's smile does reach his eyes this time as he wraps him arms tightly around her. "I love you, Mom."
"I love you, too, Henry."
"Well, looks like you've managed to take it up to a Grade II sprain, Madam Mayor." Dr. Whale announces, sounding much too cheerful about that fact.
Emma just offers him her best mayoral death glare. "Well, looks like you can bandage me up and send me on my way then, Dr. Whale."
"Madam Mayor -"
Emma cuts him off. "I did what you wanted last night, but there is no way I am staying here overnight again. I will sign myself out against doctor's orders if I have to, but I have a situation with the mine that I have to deal with. So I am leaving here right now and I am taking my son and his mother with me."
Dr. Whale doesn't even try to argue.
Kathryn is waiting, car keys in hand, when all three of them arrive back in the waiting room at just about the same time.
"Emma!" Henry rushes to her to hug her tightly and Emma returns the embrace with a smile, glancing up at Regina.
"Hey, kid. Everything okay?"
"Yeah, except they threw away my Iron Man pajamas."
Emma laughs at that. "I think we can get you a new pair. Oh, and speaking of, I think this might belong to you. Sorry it got a little crinkled." Emma says as she takes the Avengers vs. X-Men comic book from Kathryn and hands it to Henry.
"My comic book!" Henry beams at her. "Thanks, Emma."
Emma swallows hard against the emotion rising in her throat. "You're welcome, Henry."
"Alright," Kathryn's voice breaks in. "I know three people who need to get home and get some rest. So let's roll."
They all follow her out to her car and Regina makes no complaint when they bypass the B&B and head for Mifflin Street.
"Hey," Kathryn says, grabbing Emma's arm to stop her from following Regina who is carrying a sleeping Henry through the door. "I called Mary Margaret while I was waiting for you guys and managed to talk her down from coming over here to check on you tonight. Graham is taking care of the mine site for now and Ashley has cleared your schedule for tomorrow, so just… relax for a little, won't you?"
Emma wraps her arms around the lawyer and squeezes her tightly. "Thanks, Kath. For everything."
Kathryn smiles as she releases her. "Oh, and Emma?" She looks pointedly toward the stairs where Regina has disappeared with Henry and then smirks at Emma. "Use your damn crutches, this time."
She shoves the crutches into Emma's hand while the mayor just laughs. She knows what Kathryn is saying, without saying it. "I will. Thanks."
Emma walks quietly into the room, slowly lowering herself to the bed on the opposite side of where Regina sits. Henry sleeps quietly between them, as Regina runs her fingers gently through his hair.
Neither woman seems to know what to say, so they just focus on the little boy between them. Finally, Regina speaks.
"We fought this morning." Her voice is nothing more than a whisper and she never moves her gaze from Henry. "I was so tired and so stressed and Henry said something and I just snapped. I grabbed him. And I saw this fear in his eyes, fear that I never wanted to see there. That I never wanted to put there. And when I looked in the mirror -"
Emma's hand closes over Regina's. "You aren't her." Regina's eyes snap to Emma's. "You are an amazing mother and Henry adores you. By tomorrow he will have forgotten all about what happened this morning, if he hasn't already. And that's because he knows how much you love him and that you'd never hurt him. So, you see, you'll never be her."
"H-how -"
Emma just shrugs. "After I gave up Henry, I used to look in the mirror and see my mother, even though I had no idea what she looked like. All I could think about was that I'd turned out to be exactly like her."
"No, you didn't." Regina says vehemently, surprising both of them. "Your mother left you on the side of the road. You gave Henry up to a loving home. It's completely different."
Emma smiles softly at her. "The same is true for you."
Regina swallows and looks back at Henry. The quiet settles around them like a blanket and Emma continues to hold Regina's hand.
"Daniel would've loved it here. Henry knew that. I knew it too, but I couldn't - it felt like a betrayal, being here without him, in this perfect little town that was exactly what he always dreamed about."
Emma says nothing, just squeezes her hand.
"After he died, everything felt like a betrayal. Breathing, smiling, laughing. If it wasn't for Henry -" Regina's voice catches. "Daniel saved me. He showed me what love - true love - and happiness were. And without him, how was I ever supposed to feel that way again?"
"I don't think it's a betrayal." Emma says quietly. "I think he'd want you both to be happy, wherever that might be and whatever that might entail."
Regina offers a tentative smile. "I think you're right." She breathes for a few minutes before she speaks again. "You're the first person I've kissed since he died."
Emma's eyes widen at that. "Oh god. I - I'm sorry - I -"
Regina squeezes her hand and shakes her head. "I'm not. I'm - I'm a lot of other things. Confused and worried chief among them. But I'm not sorry."
"You don't need to be worried." Emma offers. "Confused, I get though."
They both chuckle softly.
"You don't have to do it alone, you know?" Emma says then, speaking aloud Regina's thoughts from the mine.
"Wh -"
"I mean, I know I gave Henry up. And he is your son and I would never, ever try to take him from you. And everything I said before still stands. If you want to leave and never see me again, I won't try to stop you. But - he's also my son. And I think today was the first time I was really able to admit that and everything that it meant. And if you want - and only if you want - I'm here. I'm ready to be here, in whatever capacity you need me to be."
Regina stares at her. It really isn't that simple - there are so many factors that she should bring up - but as she looks from Emma to Henry, she realizes that maybe it is. Maybe being happy is that simple. At least to start out. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Emma confirms, smiling widely.
"I think - I think that I'd like that."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"So, uh, does this mean that you're gonna stick around for a while?"
Regina nods. "I think it does."
"Well, then, uh, maybe sometime, Kathryn or Mary Margaret could watch Henry and I could, uh, take you out to dinner?"
Regina finds herself nodding again. "I think I'd like that, too."
"Good." Emma murmurs as she leans over to gently kiss Regina again. She leans in to meet Emma's kiss willingly.
And between them, a small smile slips onto Henry's face. It hadn't gone exactly according to plan, but that didn't really matter - not when he had both his moms together like he'd hoped for.
Mission accomplished.