2: March 21st, 7:51am

"Babe!" —bzzt bzzt bzzt— "I got you, babe!" —bzzt bzzt bzzt—

Emma wrenched her eyes open and sat up, swiftly patting down her whole body. Nothing was missing, and she was wearing the same pajamas she was wearing the night before. She reached up to her head, then breathed a sigh of relief - her hair was still normal, too. Whatever this curse was, at least it didn't come with a Hot Topic dye job like the last one.

Her phone buzzed again, then clattered off her bedside table, and she jumped. Her phone!

She dove under the bed again, cursing whatever mad Frenchman had invented the concept of déjà vu, and managed to snag the phone before it buzzed too far under the bed. The screen was lit up, and she could see her notifications - it was working again! She swiped through them quickly: Kwazy Cupcakes, her horoscope, and… a text from David?

She thumbed it open and read, with a sinking sensation in her stomach, 'Can't do the early patrol - kid has a cold. Cover for me?,' and then, yup, praying hands, winking face, shrimp.

Emma groaned. Her phone was obviously still broken if it was notifying her of texts she received yesterday. She tossed it onto the bed and hoisted herself to her feet, stretching and moving towards the kitchen. At least she'd bought oatmeal last night so she wouldn't have to make it through the morning on coffee alone this time, she thought, and then tripped over the boots at the edge of her bed.

By the time she made it to Granny's, Emma was both confused and grumpy. She shoved through the door, ignoring the cheerful jingling of the bell above her head as she stripped off her sodden gloves and hat and moved towards the counter. Why couldn't this new curse have taken the slush with it?

"Morning, Emma!" Marian called across the diner, balancing yet another improbably tall stack of plates on her arms as she brushed past on her way to the dish room. "It's miserable out there today, isn't it?"

"You said that yesterday," Emma grumped, clinging to her foul mood, "And yes, of course it is." She tossed her hat on the counter and propped her head in her hands.

Marian paused and considered her, a frown on her face. "You weren't even in the diner yesterday, Emma. Are you feeling all right?" She juggled the plates briefly, shifting them over to free an arm to reach out and feel Emma's forehead.

Emma jerked back. "You said that yesterday, too!" Marian cocked a skeptical eyebrow at her and hauled her load into the dish room as Emma groaned and dropped her head into her hands. "It's another memory curse, isn't it?"

"It's a what?" Marian said, drying her hands on a towel as she returned. "Wait, don't you want your coffee?"

"No time!" Emma called over her shoulder as she rushed out the door, almost bowling Kenai over in her haste as he struggled to see around his fish cooler, "I gotta go talk to Regina - I'll be back later!" She did even glance back at the crash and twin groans of pain she heard behind her as she hurried down the street towards Town Hall.

"It's a memory curse!"

On second thought, perhaps she should have checked in with Eilonwy before bursting into Regina's office at 9:15 am on a Tuesday, because throwing the door open and yelling about curses was not the kind of first impression she wanted to make on the King and Queen of Maldonia. "Ahem, Your Majesties," she said, grimacing at her own awkwardness, "would you excuse us? I need to talk to Re- to the Mayor, just for a minute."

Regina grabbed Emma by the arm, fingernails digging painfully into Emma's skin even as she waved graciously to her guests, towing Emma to the hallway behind her. The moment the door between them and the royal couple clicked shut, she trained a furious look on Emma. "What on Earth are you talking about, Emma? You know how important this meeting is for the well-being of Storybrooke as a democracy - what could possibly be so important as to threaten that?" By the end of her rant, she was nearly nose-to-nose with Emma, who broke out in a grin.

"You know I love it when you go all political-nerd on me," Emma said, but sobered quickly. "Last night, there was- or, well," she hedged, "I guess you might not remember it…"

Regina growled, and Emma hurriedly added, "Doesn't matter - one of those huge purple curse clouds came through last night and I think it wiped everyone's memory again. Do you remember it?"

Regina froze for a moment before sighing and pulling a notebook out of the pocket of her slacks. "I don't," she said, "But that would be the point, wouldn't it? That's why I made this." She tapped the cover of the notebook, which seemed to ripple oddly to Emma's eye. Regina opened it and began rifling through the pages. "It records each major use of magic in town by date, and can't be erased by magical means. I don't know about you," she smirked at Emma, "But I was getting a little sick of trying to guess who had erased what each time we got even a little cursed."

Emma laughed, and Regina folded the notebook open to the page marked March. "Let's see," she said, trailing a finger down the pages. "There's when we repaired the docks after the last freeze… there's the fireworks spell Merlin used at the Twilight Parade last weekend… ooh, someone tried a spell to turn a human into a skunk, that's gotta be Lilo trying to curse Myrtle again, we'll have to talk to her about that…" She looked up and shook her head. "There's no record of a curse here, Emma. And no one could have stolen this from me to change it, or erased it by magic. Are you sure it wasn't a dream?"

Emma sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I didn't think it was. It was so real - I saw that stupid purple cloud come through town last night, and then this morning Marian didn't even remember that I was just in Granny's yesterday. We even had the exact same conversation we did yesterday."

Soft thumbs came up to rub at the frown lines between her eyes, and Emma glanced up to see Regina looking back with a soft smile on her face. "Emma," she said gently, "It sounds like you might just be a little stressed. Why don't you take the day off?" She brushed the hair off Emma's forehead and laughed softly. "I think the routine is starting to get to you, if you're equating boring conversations about the weather with curses."

Emma ducked her head and grinned, her panic melting away. "Yeah," she said, "Maybe you're right. Things have been feeling a little same-y, you know?" She shrugged, tucking her hair behind her ear. "I'll be fine, though. It's just me and Mulan today, since David's off on sick baby duty, and you know how much she hates dealing with "the citizens.""

"As long as you're sure," Regina said, then waved her hand imperiously. "Now begone with you! I have royal business to take care of."

Emma sketched a wobbly curtsy and retreated, Regina's delighted laughter echoing down the hallway after her.

The rest of the day passed in a weirdly pseudo-familiar haze. Deciding to treat the whole thing like a weirdly prescient dream, Emma went out on patrol, just like she remembered doing the day before.

Winnipeg didn't seem all that enthused by her knowledge of the difference between heffalumps and woozles, but he was grateful to be addressed by his full name, and managed to give a full police report without hmmphing once.

Archie was impressed by how quickly she found each huddling collection of Dalmatian puppies, even managing to grab the last group before they ran into the lake and took her with them.

At lunch, a spare napkin saved Regina's blouse before it could be stained in the first place, and she looked at Emma quizzically when she blamed her forethought on her dream, explaining the rest of the morning's successes.

"It all beats me," Emma said, shrugging. "Only thing I can think of is that there are too many memory curses overlapping each other in my brain. Think they could have given me dreams that can see the future, or something?" She flashed a hopeful grin at Regina, who frowned.

"It's extremely unlikely, if not impossible," she said, pulling a fry from the bag in front of her and chewing it thoughtfully. "If anything, I would think they'd be much more likely to give you short-term memory loss."

"Ah," Emma said, grabbing a handful of fries herself and stuffing them into her mouth. "Well, I guess that's something to look forward to, then," she mumbled around them, snorting a laugh at Regina's grimace.

By late afternoon, though, the familiarity was starting to grate on her. Remembering its sad state in her dream, she left her phone at the station, but that didn't save her from being soaked head to foot by Madame Mim, who once again started a fight with a squirrel in the park who she insisted was a transformed version of her ex-girlfriend.

Bedraggled and exhausted, she felt the thuds of Gertie's footsteps before she saw him, and turned to shout after him, "You better get those kids back before bath time!" as he stomped down the street. She flashed a tired thumbs up at a startled Mrs. Shoemaker as she rounded the opposite corner, and slogged off towards the station, where she knew towels would be awaiting her.

Regina found her there, again, pulling the towel from her face and tapping her now-intact phone where it rested on the table. "Didn't feel like answering your texts?" she said, and Emma could hear the hurt in her voice.

Emma groaned, dragging one hand down her face. "No, sorry, I left it here earlier and just now got back. What's up?"

"I told Henry about what happened earlier - he wants to have you over for dinner to talk about theories," Regina huffed.

"Your kid's a nerd, you know that?" Emma said, grinning.

"Oh, so he's my kid when he's a nerd?" Regina said, placing a hand on her chest in mock offense.

"Yeah," Emma said. "Where do you think he gets it from?" Regina dropped the towel back over her face with a thwap as she laughed heartily.

"Seriously, though," Regina said, and Emma peeled the edge of the towel back. "You looked like you were having a rough day earlier. Come on over and I'll make sure Henry doesn't bother you - at least long enough to make sure you eat something healthier than a Pop Tart."

Emma's smile faded at the familiar comment, suddenly reminded of the weird coincidences that had plagued her all day. "Thanks, Regina," she said, "But I don't think I'd be very good company today. I think I'm just gonna go home and sleep it off, you know?" She ruffled her hair with the towel one last time and grinned. "Tomorrow, though," she said, "Once I've slept this off - let's go do something: you, me, and the kid."

Regina smiled. "He'd like that," she said. "All right, it's a plan. But don't go home empty-handed, at least. I made you this earlier, just in case." She waved her hand and a container of something delicious-smelling appeared on the desk beside them. Regina held it out to her and said, "Since I know full well there's no food in your house right now-" Emma tried to take the container, but Regina held it fast, looking her in the eyes as she said, "And don't try to skip the vegetables. I'll know."

Emma laughed nervously, but Regina kept her poker face just a moment longer before snorting out a laugh herself. "You looked so scared," she said. " Go, go. Go home, eat some dinner, go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow when you feel better."

Hefting the container in farewell, Emma braced herself as Regina twisted her wrist and flicked her fingers, sending Emma home in a plume of lavender smoke.

The smile didn't leave Emma's face for the whole evening: not while she heated up her gifted dinner, not while she savored every bite of it, not even while she brushed her teeth or changed into her pajamas.

In fact, the smile stayed firmly in place right up until she heard a horribly familiar boom rattle its way through her apartment, and it barely had time to turn into a frown before the purple cloud billowed through to take her away again.

3: March 21st, 7:51am

"Babe!" —bzzt bzzt bzzt— "I got you, babe!" —bzzt bzzt bzzt—

Emma just stared at her phone as it clattered off the nightstand the exact same way it had for the last two mornings in a row, then flopped back onto the bed.

She wasn't an idiot - she'd seen Groundhog Day. She knew exactly what was going on. And, to be honest, she was a little surprised it hadn't happened to her yet. Four separate curses, fuck knows how many portals between worlds, and even a time travel spell, but not a single time loop to show for it?

Honestly, whoever was writing the Disney Channel Original Movie of her life sucked.

Sighing, she hoisted herself out of bed and fished her phone out from under it, flicking through the notifications. Yup: Krazy Cupcakes, her horoscope, and David. Out of curiosity, she clicked on the horoscope notification to expand it, and read:

March 21st: This may be one of those days when you don't know which way to turn. For some reason, you just can't make a decision, so you keep going around and around. Get out and walk for a while until your head stops spinning. Talk to someone you trust. Wait until your mind clears before you make your next major move.

Emma grunted in disgust - even broken clocks were right twice a day, she supposed - and chucked the phone onto her bed. Heading towards the kitchen, shed nearly face-planted as she tripped over her boots again. She kicked them out of the way with a grunt and reminded herself to find a better place to keep them, once she was out of this.

"Morning, Emma!" Marian called across the diner, still balancing those stacks of dishes.

Emma interrupted, "It's miserable out there today, isn't it?" before Marian could continue, not bothering to stomp the slush off her boots before squeaking her way across the floor to the counter.

Marian reappeared, frowning, and said, "You know, I was just about to say that to you! How odd."

"Not odd," Emma said. "I knew you were going to say that - we had this conversation yesterday." Marian opened her mouth and Emma held up a hand. "'You weren't even in the diner yesterday, Emma.' That's what you were going to say, wasn't it? And then you were going to ask me if I was feeling all right." Emma said smugly, folding her arms.

Marian rolled her eyes. "Of course that's what I was going to say, because you weren't, and you know I get worried when you say things that don't make sense. Remember the first time you tried to explain memes to me and I thought you were having a stroke? That doesn't prove anything."

Emma shifted on her stool, squeaking it rhythmically as she pushed back and forth against the counter. "Right…" she said. "Bad example."

"Seriously, though, are you feeling all right?" Marian said, holding a hand out to feel Emma's forehead.

Emma jerked away. "Stop doing that!" Marian pulled her hand back, a hurt look on her face, and Emma sighed. "Nothing's wrong with me, I promise - we're stuck in a time loop. Or, at least, I'm stuck in a time loop. I don't think you guys remember it."

She took one look at the Marian's still-skeptical face and knew it would take more to convince her. Emma snapped her fingers. "Wait! I know - Kenai is about to come in with his load of fish for the day, and he's gonna run into Archie and spill it all over the floor!" She swiveled around on her stool, "Just watch, it'll happen any second now."

Marian leaned over the counter next to her and propped her chin on one hand. After a minute, she tipped her head over towards Emma and whispered, "How many seconds are we supposed to wait?"

Emma scoffed and hopped off her stool. "I swear, he's headed in here any minute now!" She stalked over and wrenched the door open, peering out. "See!" she said over her shoulder to Marian, "Here he comes now!"

Someone tapped at her shoulder and Emma jerked aside, pulling the door further open. "Excuse me," Archie said when she turned to see who it was, "But could I squeeze past you?"

At the same moment, Kenai said, "Ah, thank you, Sheriff!" as he breezed through the door she was holding open. He nodded at Archie as he passed, "Doctor Hopper," and continued on to drop his cooler of fish on the counter. "Delivery for Granny!" he said to Marian, who looked like she was about to laugh.

"You sure you don't want to spill them all over the floor instead?" she said, and Emma stuck her tongue out at her as Kenai protested that he hadn't done that in weeks, at least! Emma dropped the door, almost knocking Archie to the ground as it swung shut behind him, and stalked over to the counter, finger outstretched. "No, see, wait. That's because he—" she waved at Kenai, "And the door, I was—" she swung her arms open as if she were holding the door again, "And then Archie—!" She groaned. "This didn't happen like this yesterday."

Marian slapped the counter. "All right, that tears it. Granny!" she shouted towards the back kitchen, pulling her apron over her head.

A series of ominous clangs and a billow of smoke erupted from the serving window before Granny's head popped out. "What is it this time?" she barked.

"Emma's acting weird. I'm gonna go get her checked out, okay?" Marian was already tugging Emma towards the door, ignoring her protestations.

"Eh, so what else is new," Granny said, and waved her spatula. "Just be back in an hour, and don't forget to tell Regina. You know she hates to be left out where that one is concerned."

"Already on it!" Marian said, and, true to her word, she was already pulling out her phone and putting it to her ear. Emma sighed, and resigned herself to her fate.

Doctor Sweet was, in general, infinitely preferable to Doctor Whale, in that he didn't look like a weasel on PCP and he didn't try to grope her during her physicals, but if he didn't stop shining that stupid light in her eye, Emma was going to kick him into next week.

Sweet grinned at her sour expression and tucked the light into his jacket pocket. Looping his old-fashioned stethoscope around his neck, he cracked his knuckles and shrugged. "She seems to be in perfect health," he said, "So whatever the heck's going on probably isn't because of something I can fix." He rolled his eyes. "Not that it ever is in this crazy town. Can't somebody just have simple bronchitis at some point, instead of a cursed lung?"

"Thank you!" Emma said, throwing up her hands. "That's what I keep saying. It's never a robbery, it's always gang wars between bands of gnomes, or something!"

"Gnomes aren't real," said Regina, clasping her hands together as if holding herself back from examining Emma with magic herself, "Obviously."

Emma snorted. "Right. Obviously."

Marian put a placating hand on her shoulder. "Emma, I think we're getting off track. Why don't you tell Regina what you told me on the way here?"

Emma sighed. "Fine, but I reserve the right to come back to the gnome point later."

And so she told them about the loops - about soaking her phone in the first fight with Madame Mim, and breaking it when Gertie knocked her down, about waking up the next day to a fixed phone and being able to anticipate what was going to happen the second time around, about waking up this morning to the same events, the same conversations.

By the end of her rambling explanation, Sweet' eyes had glazed over, but Regina's had sharpened, and she pulled a familiar notebook out of the pocket of her slacks. "Don't bother," Emma said, and Regina frowned at her. "You showed me that thing yesterday, too, and it didn't have anything in it that would explain what's happening."

Regina rifled through a few pages anyway, then sighed and put it away. "All right, so if nobody cast a curse yesterday, how else do you propose to explain this loop you say you're experiencing?"

"I'unno," Emma said, hitching a shoulder. "I just kind of figured magic could explain it. Seems to work for pretty much every other disaster in this town."

Marian snorted from where she was sprawled out on the child-sized chair in the corner. "I mean, she's got a point." Emma leaned over to offer her a high five, and Marian slapped it quickly before adding, "For once."

Emma gasped. "Traitor!"

Pointedly ignoring them, Regina replied, "Usually, you'd be right. But not when that "disaster" involves time. I mean, you saw how complicated Zelena's spell was, and that was just to go back in time once." She frowned, peering into the distance as if consulting the magical library in her head. "If what you're saying is true," she continued slowly, "You're going back in time once a day, and none of the rest of us are. That would be a distortion of the temporo-thaumaturgic boundary, which should be nearly impossible to do."

Emma frowned. "Ignoring those last few words, which I'm pretty sure you made up, isn't that what your original curse did? To Storybrooke, I mean - you lived the same day over and over again, and you were the only one who knew. Couldn't it be something like that?"

"Yes, but Emma - you also know how much I sacrificed to cast that curse." Regina held her gaze and Emma nodded, chastened. "I doubt someone is out there in the woods sacrificing their loved ones in order to cast a secret curse on you to ruin your day."

Emma fidgeted on the exam table, the paper covering crinkling underneath her. "Well, what else could it be?"

A hand shot up, fingers wiggling in the air just above the level of the exam table. "I have an idea," Marian said from her tiny chair. "Emma, didn't you say you hit your head on that first day, when you we trying to fight that Cyclops—"

"Gertie."

"Right, when you were trying to fight Gertie?" She turned to Sweet. "I don't know much about medicine here, but back in the Enchanted Forest I know you had to be careful listening to anyone who had hit their head, because they would see things that weren't there, or hear people who weren't talking. Could that be happening here?"

Sweet stroked his chin and nodded, saying slowly, "It's possible… Concussions can really confuse a person. I wouldn't be surprised if one could give somebody déjà vu bad enough to convince them they were living the same day over and over again."

"So, what," Emma said, folding her arms and thumping her heels against the side of the exam table, "We're all going to assume it's a brain injury and not, I don't know, some sort of fairytale curse? InStorybrooke?"

Regina shook her head. "You said it yourself - the curse resets every evening at the same time, right? At about 10:15ish?" She snorted. "If it doesn't end at midnight, or at the tolling of the 11th hour at a stretch, it's not a real fairytale curse."

Marian nodded. "She's right. Every kid in the Enchanted Forest knows that. Goes hand-in-hand with True Love's Kisses and sleeping curses in terms of magic clichés - no offense meant," she said, nodding at Regina.

"None taken," Regina said. "They're clichés for a reason, after all."

Emma stared around at them, flabbergasted. She leaned forward on the exam table, crumpling the paper covering in her hands as she clenched them into fists. "Come on," she said. "This isn't even the strangest thing you've seen this week! Why is this so weird for you guy— spplt, ack!" She sputtered as Sweet took the opportunity to stick a thermometer under her tongue. "What're yu doin'?" she slurred around it.

"Taking your temperature so I can admit you for observation," he said calmly, noting a number down on her chart. "Sounds like you might be sticking around for a while so we can keep an eye on that head injury."

"I ha' yu all," Emma muttered, crossing her arms.

"I know you do, dear," Regina said, patting her shoulder. "But we're doing this for your own good."

Sweet pulled the thermometer out from her mouth and Emma insisted, "You'll see - tonight when the curse resets! You'll see I'm right!" even as she was ushered down the hallway to an observation room.

"I totally believe you," Marian said, giving her a double thumbs up. Emma flipped her the bird.

4: March 21st, 7:51am

"Babe!" —bzzt bzzt bz—SLAM

Emma's arm shot out from under her blanket to immobilize her phone, then fumbled along the side of it to find the snooze button. When it finally went silent, and she rolled over onto her back to stare up at the ceiling, only one word came to mind.

"Fuck."

She rubbed a hand over her face and considered. Yesterday had gone… not so well. She really had to find a different way to approach this, because spending another full day plugged up to various monitors in a hospital bed was not exactly her idea of a party, though the shock on Regina's face when they had heard the muffled boom at 10:17 and she saw the purple cloud roll through the town with her own eyes was almost worth the price of admission.

It didn't get her any closer to a solution, though, as satisfying as it was. Emma sighed. Maybe Marian wasn't the person to start with - she should probably go straight to the top of the chain first.

She picked up her phone and dialed. "Hello, Regina? Yeah, can you meet me at Granny's in," she pulled the phone away from her ear for a moment, "Seventeen minutes? I have something I need to talk to you about."

Twenty-four minutes later, Emma was sitting at the back booth in Granny's with Regina, her own back to the door so Regina had a clear view.

"Why am I here?" Regina asked. "I have a meeting with the Maldonian royal family in fifteen minutes. Besides, how is this supposed to prove—?"

Emma hushed her. "Shhh, just watch the door. Archie's going to pick up his hat and walk over to it right about… now," and Emma saw him gather his things and stand up, moving towards the door. She cheered internally. "And then Kenai is going to come blowing through the door without looking in 3…2…1—"

A crash and the sound of ice cascading to the floor brought a smile to Emma's face. "Disaster," she said, delighted.

Regina frowned. "Kenai does that at least once a week, I don't see how that proves anything."

Emma sighed. "Fine - call the office and cancel your meeting," she said, and grabbed Regina's hand, tugging her to her feet and pulling her towards the door, ignoring Marian as she caught sight of their joined hands and wiggled her eyebrows at Emma. "You want more proof? I'll get you more proof."

"Winnipeg here," Emma said, gesturing at the portly man in his red crop-top, "Thinks that heffalumps are stealing his honey. Is that about right?" she asked him, and he nodded, bewildered"

Emma pointed behind Regina. "And in just a minute," she said, "A portal is going to open over there and 99 Dalmatian puppies and one full-grown Dalmatian are going to come through it because Pongo made a wish on a magic lamp."

When the portal opened a moment later, the wind it generated blew Regina's hair back as she turned to stare at Emma, who held up a finger. "And now, to catch them." She smiled at the horrified look on Regina's face. "It's a good thing I already know where they're all hiding, isn't it?"

By the time they made it back to Regina's office for lunch, she looked stricken, and sat down heavily in the chair behind her desk. "This shouldn't be possible," she said, numbly accepting the burger when Emma passed it over to her.

Emma had already begun disassembling her own burger, scraping off the beetroot salsa and unearthing the hidden pineapple and horseradish. She shrugged, "Yeah, you said that last time, and the time before that, too." Satisfied that she'd gotten all the unsavory elements off, she reassembled her burger and took a bite. Swallowing, she said, "I guess this kind of stuff really was rare back there, then, huh?"

Regina unwrapped her burger robotically and took a bite, pausing to look down at it. "Shallots and bleu cheese, it looks like," she said.

"'Good, but not terribly adventurous,'" Emma replied, and Regina glanced up at her in shock.

"How did— oh. Never mind." She tapped her fingers a few times on the burger wrapper and sighed, placing it back down on the table. "And to answer your question, yes, any kind of time travel was exceedingly rare in the Enchanted Forest. It's one of the three barriers magic cannot cross," Regina held up her fingers and counted them off, "Death. Love. And time."

"Bullshit," Emma said. Regina raised her eyebrows, and Emma rolled her eyes. "I've seen people in this town break the laws of magic at least three times by now - not least of which was your sister sending me back in time to a world I never even lived in in the first place!"

"Zelena can't even be bound by the rules of basic human decency," Regina said, "So why should we assume magic would be any different?" She sighed and put her burger down, brushing her fingers together to dust off the crumbs. "I suppose you have a point."

"Thank you!" Emma said, running her fingers through her hair and tugging on the roots. "I honestly never thought it would be this hard to convince a town of fairytale characters that I'm in a Groundhog Day scenario!"

Regina cocked her head and said, "What does a holiday in February have to do with this?"

Emma sputtered and slumped over in her chair, defeated. "I am literally so horrified by that question, you have no idea," she said.

"Of course, dear," Regina said, eyes sparkling, and Emma flipped her off with a laugh.

Really, she should have known that bringing Regina on board would turn the whole endeavor into a nerd fest.

They were camped out on Regina's spacious dining room table, books spread across every inch of the gleaming cherrywood surface, scrolls piled high on one end and spilling onto the floor. Regina was studying a page in a particularly large volume intensely, humming to herself as she discovered interesting tidbits.

Emma, meanwhile, had had the book in front of her open to the same page for the last twenty minutes and hadn't absorbed a single word. Not because she didn't understand it, although she admitted that might be a factor, but because Regina, aside from humming, was also wearing the most distracting pair of reading glasses, which really wasn't fair. How on earth was she supposed to concentrate on - Emma glances down: elemental determinism? - when Regina was sitting across from her wearing reading glasses?

The front door suddenly slammed shut and Emma jumped, startled to realize that she'd been staring at Regina for the better part of twenty minutes. She was still blushing when Henry stomped his way into the dining room, but she managed a calm, "How was school, kid?" without her voice cracking like a teenage boy's, so she decided to call it a win.

Henry looked at her oddly, but said, "Eh. Same old, same old, really. What's going on here?" He nodded at the table full of books.

"Your mother has managed to get tangled in some sort of magical time-repeating spell, despite all rules of logic and magic saying it's not possible," Regina said, rolling her eyes. Henry frowned, glancing at Emma.

"I've been Groundhog Dayed," Emma clarified.

"Ah," Henry said, face clearing. "That sucks." He turned and stomped into the kitchen, calling over his shoulder, "I'm gonna get a snack, okay?"

"See?" Emma said, spreading her arms triumphantly and beaming at Regina. "Our son knows what I mean!" She shouted into the kitchen, "Did you know your mom is an uncultured barbarian?"

Henry popped his head around the doorframe and grinned wickedly. "Yeah - kind of explains why the two of you get along so well, doesn't it?" He ducked back into the kitchen swiftly, and the pen Emma threw bounced harmlessly off the wall where his head had been.

Regina sighed and took off her glasses, rubbing the bridge of her nose. "We may as well take a break," she said to Emma. "I'm not getting anywhere, and I know this all might as well be Elfish to you." Henry set a cup of tea in front of her and she smiled up at him. "Thank you, dear."

"Why don't you bring Zelena over to help?" Henry said. "Her magic's a lot different than yours, Mom - she might know more about this kind of stuff, you know?"

Regina put her hand on his arm and squeezed. "Thank you, dear, that's a wonderful idea." She paused, then glanced over at Emma. "Actually, we may as well invite your parents over, too."

Emma frowned. "Why? Snow knows about as much about magic as I do about rock climbing, and David is pretty much as magical as a brick."

Flipping the tome in front of her closed and taking a sip of her tea, Regina said, "You're not wrong, but think of it this way - if we break this curse and your mother finds out that we didn't tell her about it, but we told Zelena, she will be insufferable."

"Ah, shit," Emma said. "All right. I'll call my crazy relatives and you call yours. Guess we're having a good old-fashioned family dinner."

"Saint Ignatius' Restorer of Time potion is for reversing the effects of writer's cramp," Regina insisted, gesturing at the scroll, "Not for ending a time curse!"

Zelena sneered. "And just which one of us has cast a successful time travel spell, exactly?"

Across the table, baby Roheline suddenly made a gurgling noise where she was being bounced on David's knee, and burped puréed carrots in a horrifically orange streak down his shirt. David lifted her up and away from him with a grimace on his face.

Zelena cackled and reached over to tickle Ro's nose. "Joining the family business so soon, darling? I'm so proud!"

Argument already forgotten, Regina nudged Zelena and smirked. "She knows a Charming when she sees one, that much is obvious."

Emma stifled a laugh at her father's indignant look, but the warm smile on Snow's face gave away the game - the unspoken rule of the Mills household, Emma knew, was that you never brought up the fact that the Mills' sisters' sarcasm was a cover for their affection.

She caught Snow's eye and rolled her eyes fondly as Henry called from the kitchen, "Food's ready!"

They worked through dinner - a lasagna Henry made himself, which Regina praised endlessly, and Emma diplomatically picked distressingly crunchy pieces out of to hide in her napkin - and Emma spent the whole meal trying to imprint every moment in her memory as the clock ticked closer to the time when the curse would roll through town again.

By ten o'clock, it was obvious that they weren't going to find a solution in time, and Snow began to get teary-eyed.

"But what if it never breaks?" she said, chin trembling. She clasped Emma's hands in her own. "Don't worry, Emma," she said earnestly. "We may not remember, but we will always-"

"If you end that sentence with 'find you' I might puke on you, too," Regina said, giving a scornful look to David's stained shirt.

Emma awkwardly reclaimed her hands and shrugged. "We'll figure out a way," she said, catching Regina's eye. "We always do, right?"

Regina nodded. "Just be sure to come tell me again tomorrow," she said, "and I'm sure we'll get through this in no time."

"Yeah," Emma said, even as the rumbling boom sounded in the distance. "I know we will."

And then the darkness came to take her away again.