A/N This one was a little rickety getting starting. I'm not sure if I'm still entirely happy with it, do you like?

It had been three days since Emma's confrontation with Ruby in her secret alleyway, and Emma had been for the most part, miserable.

Living with her as they were her parents had picked up on that. Everyone had picked up on that.

Even under Snow's constant questioning if he knew why, Charming had not told his wife. He had even endured her rather potent pout. The David part of him knew that outing someone, even more so to their parents, without their permission could be really bad. The James part of him knew what he had been taught all of his life. That love was love, and it didn't matter who you loved as long as you're love was true.

Emma however had grown up in the world that David knew the rules of, and so he thought it best to stick with what David knew.

Which left Snow still not knowing what was bothering her daughter, and knowing that she couldn't very easily ask her. You'd have to be rather oblivious to notice that she wasn't the most open person.

You'd also have to be oblivious though not to know that Snow was an almost painfully caring person, and wouldn't stop until she had done her best to help those she cared about. That was how Emma ended up cornered in the kitchen while making coffee the third morning of her overly obvious misery.

"Emma, is there something wrong?" The brunette finally asked, and the tone of her voice made it obvious that she had been wanting to ask for some time. Charming instantly looked up from his coffee, and Henry dropped his pencil mid-twirl as he finished the math homework he should have done the night before.

The would-have-been princess however instantly bristled at the well-meaning question. Forevermore in defense mode.

She would love to open up to Mary Margaret, to Snow, to..., her mother. But she was painfully stubborn, and would always back away when approached. Especially in front of others.

"I'm fine. No offense, but I'm just having a little bit of trouble adjusting, to all of this." Emma made a wide gesture to the three of them, her family, with her filled coffee cup, before stalking off to hide in her room.

Her answer was almost obviously a lie. Not only the fact that she was fine, which was too easy not to believe. Also though the fact that she was having trouble adjusting. At first, in the enchanted forest, it had been hard. She was however a creature trained to adapt well to change. Now, she almost wished it wasn't true, but she was the most comfortable in this situation as she had been her whole life.

The drama with Regina was mostly sorted out, the woman was getting the help she had obviously needed all her life. She had found the family she had spent the majority of her life looking for. She had even found out why she had never felt quite right in the world she was living in.

If only the terrible problem of the woman she was still head over heels in love with could be fixed somehow.

–

Spending a good amount of the morning holed away in her room had stewed the subject of that 'somehow' into a dire need in her head.

The idea that what she and Ruby had had wasn't true love still stung. It stung very badly. It didn't however make her stop wanting Ruby return to her not brain screwed state.

So when everyone had left the apartment, and she had made herself presentable, Emma made her way to the home of one of the two people in Storybrooke that she thought may have the answer to what could break the curse over Ruby.

Surprisingly, it wasn't Rumpelstiltskin.

She shifted on the doorstep, of the formidable mansion. Never did she think she would be here by her own decision again.

At her insistent knocking the door almost flew open, and with the force of it, and the magic in the town... Emma was surprised to find Regina holding the handle on the other side, and not standing across the room surrounded with flames.

Not that she would ever admit it out loud, but the idea of Regina with control over her magic actually scared the hell out of Emma.

Yes, she had been told about Regina's little Magic-aholic meetings with Dr. Hopper, she still wasn't convinced that Regina wouldn't want to scare the hell out of because she could.

"Miss Swan, come in. To what do I owe the pleasure?" It was hard to keep all of the sarcasm out of her voice so Regina didn't. Instead she just smiled her most sincere smile, and tried to look at Emma in the best light.

"I actually have a, magic question for you..." The blonde responded, a bit hesitant to be alone with the once evil Queen. She entered the mansion anyway, and followed the mayor to the same room she'd been taken to when she first came to Storybrooke.

"I thought James would have told you, I'm actually trying to resist magic. I'm sorry I can't help you.." The thing that shocked Regina the most was that she actually did feel sorry.

"It's not that I want you to perform any spells.., or.., whatever.." Emma looked at her hands, one resting across her thigh, and the other gripping her knee.

Suddenly the sheriff felt very self-conscious. Regina owed her nothing, and if she started asking the questions on her mind it wouldn't take the older woman long to figure out why she wanted to know the answers.

The brunette woman studied her as if she were a very interesting specimen. Standing as she did so, and going to the little drink bar she had oddly fitted into her study. Her hospitality was unnerving Emma, as it always had, but with a rejuvenation.

"What is it that you want to me to do then?" There was humor in the mayor's voice, and without its wicked edge that too was unsettling.

Emma shifted, and looked around the book-lined walls. Regina was still watching her.

"Do you want something to drink? I don't have anything much stronger than apple cider sadly."

"No, not really..." The idea of apples being served to her from Regina, no matter how hospitable she was being, was not at all appetizing.

Regina had tried to put her into an infinite sleep filled with all of her regrets, and misdeeds, with an apple.

"I was wondering if you had any idea how to break the border curse..." The shorter woman finally let her thoughts be known. She had finally come across a way of phrasing it that didn't sound totally obvious.

"I don't think it's because you want to reunite the seven dwarfs is it?"

Well maybe Emma hadn't been as inconspicuous as she thought.

"No. It's not. I, and a few other people including her grandmother, would really like to have Red back."

"Have you tried, true love's kiss? In my experience it breaks any curse." Regina couldn't resist that one, she, however, didn't know that it only drove home the heartache Emma had been feeling the past few days. She only wanted to tease her about the fact that she knew of their, supposedly so well kept, secret.

"I don't think there is a true love to kiss." Emma swallowed thickly, and almost swore at the way her words sounded choked. She was not about to start showing weakness to the enemy.

"Oh." Regina, for the first time in a number of years, felt a wave of regret for the dig. "You do know that the kiss only works if both parties are in love?"

It was the most obvious thing. The most obvious thing to anyone who had firsthand experience, or knew the ins and outs of magic.

Briefly Emma wondered why Henry hadn't told her this. Then if she wondered if he'd known.

"I did... n't." The blonde couldn't help the smile spreading across her face, she had hope. Hope filling like a balloon inside of her, and surprisingly, it was leaving little to no room for the awful feelings that had filled her to the brim lately.

"If making her fall in love with you again doesn't work, you can always try shoving her over the border again." Regina told the elated sheriff that was already standing as if she could use this new knowledge to fix her problem right away.

"I do wonder if it works like an on, off switch." Regina all but joked.

"Thank you." Emma grinned over her shoulder at the smirking mayor.

Never did she think she would be laughing at Regina Mills' jokes.

–

After Emma's conversation with the mayor, and her hurried return home, reality set in. Emma still had to make Ruby fall in love with her, all over again. In order for her to remember falling in love with her in the first place. Magic was so confusing.

She was sure that they would have just been better of in Fairytale land, or whatever it was called, with electricity instead. Less people would have died, and this curse never would have happened.

Then she would have never had Henry, and Ruby would be like twenty years older than her.

So maybe magic was a good thing... Confusing.

Although she still had a long way to go on the 'get Ruby back,' front. Emma had decided on one thing.

She had to stop being such an ass to her parents, who she may have been keeping a subconscious grudge against for sending her away over twenty eight years ago, for twenty eight years. Then again, without that, no Henry, no Ruby.

It was time for her to stop being a baby, and see the good they had meant by it, and stop subconsciously punishing them.

What would be the best way to do that? Show them you trust them. She was seriously in need of some motherly, and possibly fatherly, advice.

This reasoning lead to Emma sitting across from her parents at the kitchen table. Focusing mainly on Snow, as she opened her mouth, hoping this would come out right.

"Snow, er, I'm sorry I still can't get out mom." She looked at the table, thinking, great start Swan. Back up to those big eyes she was sure Henry got straight from her.

"Not the best way to start this conversation, sorry. But there's something I think you should know... Me being your daughter I guess.." Emma stopped again. She was never good with words.

Ruby had always loved that, said she preferred her actions, especially when those actions were explaining herself with another use of her mouth.

"Emma, you don't have to tell us anything you don't want. I don't want this to be awkward for you at all."

Snow really could say all the right things at all the right times. No wonder she made such a good queen.

"I do want you to know. That, that's the point. It's not so much because you're my mother... It's because I trust you." Emma took a breath, why does this feel so serious? Because it is.

She was speaking fully to Snow now, since Charming basically already knew. She took a breath, moment of truth. It seemed you could tell those trusting brown eyes anything. "I'm.., gay... I like women. Specifically one, Ruby."

The way Snow's face softened it wasn't unexpected. That was though, because Emma hadn't expected anything. She'd been to scared to think that far.

"You two are together?" The obvious aww tone in her voice made Charming flinch, and Emma's heart melt, for the good or for the worse. Her mother liked the idea her daughter and her best friend together. She thought they were cute.

"Eh- not at the moment." Emma looked again at the table beneath her hands. It was suddenly looking very fuzzy and bright. Voicing that fact made her heart hurt.

Ruby had actually been avoiding her since the incident in the alley. All of her plans for pursuing curse breakage seemed to melt as that one extremely painful thought swirled around and around in her head.

By jumping the gun she had ruined, or seriously effected chances of Ruby falling for her again. Seriously.

"She kind of forgot our love story when she crossed the border." Emma tried to joke about it but she just ended up sounding frail. The hope that had filled her for the past hour seemed to have found a pinprick in its balloon and was slowly leaking out.

Snow started to say something, but was interrupted by a sudden pounding on the door..

"Who?" Charming grumbled, standing from the table, and walking to the door. Only for it to open as he reached it.

"I thought- since she didn't remember that the full moon wouldn't effect her. But it has. James, she's out, and she's turned, and she doesn't know what's happening. All those months of gaining control, gone..." At the sound of Granny's strained voice Emma was up and to the door along side Charming in an instant.

"I'm not as young as I used to be, I can't catch her..." The old woman was hardly breathing, and Emma's eyes were glued to the crossbow in her hand, and the red cloak tossed over her shoulder. "How was I supposed to explain that she needed to wear the hood? That she's a werewolf?You've gotta' catch her. You've gotta' get her before she hurts someone, or herself."

"Let me do it. Let me go after her." Emma all but demanded.

A/N Another cliffhanger... Sort of. Did you like it? As always tell me in your review.