Operation Happy Ending: Two

I don't own Once Upon A Time.

Please enjoy. (This chapter is dedicated to doritodorkito. Thanks so much for your reviews!)

"What was it like? In your mind?"

They were on the couch when Henry asked her. Well, to be more accurate, Emma and Henry had turned themselves so they were lying upside down, their heads resting on the ground, and they were watching the television mindlessly. Emma's head was beginning to hurt with all the blood rushing to it. She collapsed on the ground and hauled herself up onto the couch, sitting properly this time. After a moment, she grabbed her son's feet and tipped him over. He caught himself before he crashed to the ground and was up like a flash, turning a glare on his Ma.

"Ma," he whined. "No fair."

"Life isn't fair, kid." She shrugged. "Sucks to be you."

He scowled and clambered onto the couch next to her. Emma smiled at him. He was…happier, she thought. He still liked to wear those professional slacks and the button down shirts and vests, which Emma never suspected a child of hers to like, but he was a little more ruffled now. Open.

"Are you avoiding my question?" he asked, eyes narrowed. Oh yeah – and he was still sharp as a tack.

"No!" Emma denied. "Okay maybe." His eyes narrowed further. Could he even see out of them? "Fine. Yes."

"If you don't want to tell me, I'm sure Mr Gold will tell me." He moved to stand but Emma snagged the sleeve of his vest and pulled him back.

"You are not going to Mr Gold, mister." He crossed his arms. "Fine. Okay, look," she ran a hand through her hair and sighed. "I don't know. It was weird. Super weird."

"Was it like the sleeping curse? Were you trapped in the red room?" From his wide eyes and somewhat frantic grasping of her hand, Emma knew he was concerned. And he had every right to be. Everything she'd heard about that room was just pure shit. And for Henry to have been subject to it…He still had nightmares sometimes.

"No," she assured him. "It wasn't the red room. There was no fire" except for that one time she'd been in a fire "and I wasn't trapped." Except for those times she'd been trapped in various places… "I was just in my mind and I couldn't get out." She frowned. "I guess Cora wanted me to be with just me forever."

"So you were trapped," he insisted.

"No." Her frown deepened. "It's hard to explain. I knew there was something wrong but I didn't know what. And I knew that I was in my mind but there was nothing weird about that because," she shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, Henry. It's really hard to explain."

He was silent for a little while and just leant on her. His shoulder dug a little into her but Emma didn't mind. "When did you realise that something was wrong?"

Emma's eyes unfocused a little and Henry watched, fascinated, as a little smile crept across her face. She tilted her head a little. "I was in a dark room. It was so dark that I couldn't see anything and I couldn't move."

"I thought you said you weren't trapped!" Henry exclaimed. Regret flickered across Emma's face and Henry sank back into the couch. "Oh," he said quietly. "It was a memory?"

Emma nodded. "I have a couple of bad memories, Henry," she said. "But just listen, okay?" She took a deep breath. "So I was in the room and I couldn't see anything and everything sounded super weird. Like echoes." She closed her eyes to remember. "And then I heard someone calling my name. Emma – ma – ma – ma," she called, pretending to be an echo. Henry grinned. "And it was your mom." He nodded, urging her to continue. "Boy was I surprised to see her there. And she was stumbling around and I knew that she couldn't see me but she kept trying to get to me."

"And that's when you knew something was wrong?" Henry asked with a little twist to his mouth.

"Nah, I knew the second someone else was in my head. And then, even though I knew I was in my head, that was the second I realised I was stuck in my head." Henry thought about that for a moment before he nodded, letting Emma continue.

"So anyway, I took your mom out of the dark room and we chatted for a while and then she got me out of there."

Henry fixed his ma with a look that told her she wasn't getting out of the conversation that easily. "What was being in your mind like, though?"

"Oh Henry," Emma grumbled, shifting uncomfortably. "I don't know. It was like all the things I had experienced and all the things I'd seen in my whole life were on loop."

Henry nodded, taking that in. "And after mom healed you?"

"Well, I was still stuck inside my head with Regina because…" she trailed off. "Actually, I don't know why. Maybe because of something Cora did. Or she poisoned me or something. Anyway, whatever, we were stuck." She shrugged. "My mind is kind of boring, Henry. There wasn't much to do there.

A roundabout way of saying she was, that she felt, alone, Regina thought. She had been hovering in the doorway for a few minutes. Always alone. "I thought your mind was exquisite," Regina commented. "It was very expressive." She recalled Emma's mind vividly reacting to stimuli – the dark ripples of pain, the clarity of the memories with each detail painstakingly fixed, not blurry, all scents and sounds and even a touch of the emotions Emma had experienced. "And surprisingly well structured."

Mother and son turned to look at Regina: Henry was curious and Emma was surprised. "What do you mean structure?" Henry piped up.

Regina quirked a brow. "Structure is how things are ordered and put together. Like, for instance, the structure that tells you when to eat and when it is your bedtime." Henry rolled his eyes at his mom's reminder. Then he opened those brown eyes pleadingly and slumped his shoulders.

"Please mom? Tell me about Ma's mind?"

Regina looked to Emma, who just shrugged. "One question and then you go to bed," she said firmly. Henry nodded vigorously.

"Okay. Okay." He frowned heavily and took his time sorting through the questions he wanted to ask. Finally his face lit up. "Okay. Tell me about the structure, then. Please?"

Regina moved into the room and sat opposite her family. She smoothed her skirt as she pondered the question. "As I said," she began, "it was surprising how well structured it was. There were doors," she told Henry, after silently checking with Emma that it was alright to tell him. "Doors that filled an endless hallway, ever growing, expanding, right into the distance. And behind each of the doors was a memory or a dream. It was quite spectacular."

Henry's eyes widened. "Wow," he breathed. "Ma, that is so cool!"

Emma blinked. "You think so?" She smiled shyly.

"Yeah. I mean, you must be crazy smart or something to have a really neat mind."

"Nah that's ridiculous," Emma scoffed. "I just hate thinking about shi – stuff," she corrected her expletive hurriedly, "so I put it away. Which is unhealthy," she acknowledged, "so if you have any problems, Henry, you come straight to us and tell us about it." She nodded firmly, proud that she'd made that into a teaching moment.

Henry ignored her.

"She must be really smart, right mom?"

Regina considered that before nodding slowly. "It certainly suggests that. I have been in other minds." Emma stiffened at that, which Regina took note of. "But none of them were quite as organised or beautiful as Emma's." She smiled tenderly at the blonde woman who slowly relaxed and smiled back. Then Regina turned sharp eyes on her son. "Time for bed, Henry."

He moaned and groaned but his mothers wouldn't budge so he clumped up the stairs to his room. They followed and each murmured their goodnights and adjusted his blankets. Emma closed the door behind her, Regina waiting for her just outside of Henry's room, and they walked down the hall together

Emma stopped outside her room – the guest room – and paused. Her hand rested on doorknob and she glanced shyly at Regina. "Did you really think my mind was exquisite?" she asked softly.

"Oh yes," Regina breathed. "It was one of the most beautiful places I had ever been."

Emma nodded. "And those other minds you were in," she began, somewhat hesitant.

Regina smirked and stepped forward. Emma, entirely willing, allowed the darker woman to press her back against her door. "Are you jealous?" she purred in the blonde woman's ear. Emma fought to stop her eyes from rolling back. God that woman had a voice. Regina nipped her lobe in reprimand. "I said," another nip, "are you jealous?"

"Yes," Emma groaned. She lifted her hands and grabbed Regina's hips, pulling the woman firmly against her own body. Both women let out sounds of satisfaction at the feeling; for Emma that was a low groan that sent a bolt of heat through Regina, and Regina sighed slightly, which made Emma shiver.

"And if I told you that your mind was simply sublime? That I itched to open every single door? That sometimes at night I dream about tiptoeing into your room and slipping into your mind so that we can go through some doors together." Her smirk became deliciously wicked. "Particularly that red door I saw. It looked," she licked her lips. "Enticing."

Emma growled and stepped backward, opening her door lightning fast. She turned Regina around in her arms, making the woman's eyes widen, and shoved her onto the bed. The blonde locked the door easily with a click and stalked to the bed. She lifted a leg and straddled her woman. She laid her palms on either side of Regina's head and lowered herself slowly.

Regina was entranced by the bunch of Emma's biceps and took the opportunity to raise herself on her elbows a little and latch onto her right arm. She dug her teeth in and ran her tongue over the flesh she had caught. Emma was suspended between a yelp of pain and a moan and, when Regina's eyes flickered to her and she bit a little harder, Emma hissed. She tensed her arm and shoved the woman down onto the bed. Then she completed her descent and fused their lips together in a hot kiss.

"I," Emma grunted, "love," another kiss was planted, this time on Regina's neck, "you." Regina beamed at the words.

She hooked her arms around Emma's neck and pulled the woman down so they were lying on their sides, facing one another. She slowed their kisses down from their frantic pace. After all, they hadn't been on their date yet and Emma had been so wonderfully emphatic that 'nothing would happen' until after that. And the slow, lazy kisses made Regina shiver, made her ache to touch more and bite harder and to taste.

Emma pulled away finally, her lips swollen and red Regina noted with pride, and stroked Regina's hair out of her eyes. "We have to stop," she whispered. Regina nodded her agreement. "I love you."

"And I love you." Regina took Emma's arms and turned, pulling one across her stomach. "But if you won't take me," she smouldered, looking over her shoulder at the blonde, "then I suppose I will make do with you holding me."

Emma grinned. "If you're trying to trick me into having my wicked way with you, it won't work Regina."

The brunette shuffled back until she was comfortable. And then, in an entirely conversational tone, she murmured, "Oh my dear, don't be mistaken. I will be having my wicked way with you."

Emma chuckled and tightened her hold on Regina. "I look forward to it."

They were quiet for a long time. "You really do love my mind?" Emma asked softly.

Regina opened her eyes with surprise. Clearly this was more of an issue for Emma than she had realised. She turned in the protective circle of Emma's arms and rested her forehead on Emma's sternum. After a moment, she brought her head up so she could press her lips to the warm skin.

"I do," she said. "I thought it was divine. You really have no idea – other minds are cluttered and confusing and useless. They are filled to the brim with uselessness." Regina pressed her lips, just brushed them lightly, to Emma's shoulder. Her hands rested quite comfortable on Emma's stomach. "I fell in love with your mind, Emma. I really did." Emma hummed her approval of the words. "And, you know, you have magic." Emma hummed again. "You can take me into your mind at any time."

"One day, love," Emma promised. "We'll go in together and have a look around." She smiled and laid her cheek on the top of Regina's head. Her hold tightened again. "There is a whole floor dedicated to you," she whispered. "And more popping up with every minute."

Regina's heart fluttered at the thought of doors – of Emma's memories of her – being created and she couldn't deny that there was little else she wanted more than to continue making memories with this woman.

But it was late and that was a heavy topic laden with conversation. So she just snuggled in and murmured, "I hope some of those are behind the red door." She nipped the blonde's collarbone.

"At least half."

There you go, doritodokito. I hope that you liked it and, of course, that all you others liked it as well. Please review and leave a note about something that you would like to read. I'm away at the moment with little internet access but I'll make it work. Happy reading, readers :)