Chapter 6

Emma only dared to fix her stare when Regina turned her back, preparing a glass of her famous chilled apple cider for her. It was a haste decision - the blonde knew, to come running to the Mayor's house after reaching that epiphany back at the bar. But Ruby and Mary Margaret had been insistent and she knew she had to play along. Besides, it helped to boost her confidence and if she was ever going to do this right, that was what she needed the most.

"So, what do you want to talk about, Ms. Swan?"

Much to her surprise, Regina's tone was free of malice when she stalked over and handed Emma the glass, placing herself beside the blonde on the couch in the living room. Emma felt her throat turn dry as she remembered the events that happened on that very couch just weeks ago. For some reason, that felt so far away right now.

"I um…"

Fuck, Swan. Get it together.

"This… whatever it is between us, needs to end."

Regina raised an amused eyebrow. "Oh? And what, exactly, is between us?"

Emma took a deep breath and steadied herself, "Everything, Regina. You know what, let's start from the beginning. I know you hate me because you think I'm trying to take Henry away from you, right?"

When Regina said nothing else and only took a sip from her drink, Emma took that as a prompt to continue.

"Well, guess what? I'm not. In fact, on the contrary, I believe we can work something out – like me getting him on Mondays or something. But it'll be totally up to you, I respect your decision. I just… I just want us to get along."

Regina blinked at the woman in front of her and tried hard to control the genuine surprise she felt from manifesting on her face. This Emma, the one sitting not three feet away from her, was definitely not the Emma Swan that came clashing against her in the first few days they had met. Regina's eyes met Emma's wide ones and she felt something – a sudden jerk in her heart, if you could call it that. As if something that once had been chained, was now finally free but still confined.

"Why?" Regina asked skeptically.

"Look," Emma sighed, running a hand through her blonde curls. "I know this is going to be hard to believe and hell, I bet you'd hate me even more when I tell you this. But, I just have to say it out. If I keep it in, it'll just consume me from the inside out. I know we started off on a bad note: fights - physical and sexual alike, the constant threats you made to me, my reciprocal ones, and all these negative energy surrounding the both of us. Frankly, I'm tired of all this bullshit.

"I don't want to come to work one day to see that you have planted an enormous amount of paperwork on my desk just because someone said they saw me on the street with Henry. I don't want to end up in a near argument with you every time you and Henry come to the diner and the kid runs up to me. I don't want fights that end in rough sex and then us avoiding each other for days – even weeks, after. I want none of these."

Emma paused to take a breath and Regina folded her arms. "Then what do you want, Ms. Swan?"

"I want all of the above to stop."

Regina scoffed. "So you think I'm just going to step aside and let you take Henry away from me, is that it?"

"No," Emma threw her hands up, exasperated. "You still don't understand. I don't want, nor intend, to take Henry away from you! Yes, he is my birth son and there definitely will be times where we will hang out together, but obviously not without discussion with you. Nevertheless he's staying right here, in your life. And maybe in time, if you'd let me, I would too."

"What?"

Regina's voice came out shocked and unexpectedly soft that Emma brought herself to meet dark eyes which clouded with uncertainty. No doubt, she had rendered the Evil Queen to a one word sentence and Regina had her mouth slightly agape, as if trying to assure if the meaning she had comprehended from Emma's sentence was what the blonde had actually meant.

"You were right, you know, about me. I do move from place to place because I don't see a point in getting attached to places or people. But this time, it's different. You see, there is only one reason why I stayed here in Storybrooke, you. I wanted to get to know you."

"But… you hate me," Regina shook her head, stunned.

"I did," Emma admitted.

"But as the weeks passed, I knew you were doing what you had to do as a mother: to protect your child. All those times we came charging at each other head-on, it was just a defence mechanism on your part. That day at the mines, I finally saw you – the true you. How you got so worried over Henry, how the anger that overwrote the fear in your eyes was just your way of protecting yourself from the people around you that saw you as a demanding leader most of the time, and how you possibly berated yourself for letting Henry get himself in danger.

"I bet it's no secret to you that I was brought up in the foster system and mark my words when I say this: you're the kind of mother every kid in the system can ever dream of. Because in the end behind all those masks you put up to people, you still… well, you chose your child. And I think… I think that quality in a person already precedes the rest of their other qualities. And that is the woman I see, the one I want to know."

For once, Regina could not find anything to say. It had already been a shocking reveal that Emma wanted them to get along, but this… this was impossible. It felt like for the first time in a long time, someone had actually taken the time to analyze her and to try and see her for who she was beneath all that skin. Regina could not bring herself to feel or hope anything as her eyes never left the blonde's, suddenly seeing her in a whole new light. She felt the situation so crazy to the point that Regina wondered if she had a drop too many previously and had imagined this whole scene up. But a cough from Emma pulled her from her train of thought and she knew this was as real as the fact that she had once been the Evil Queen.

Emma watched the emotions play out on Regina's face, shock unmasking the woman beneath. In a parallel world, Emma had envisioned herself as an awkward teenager confessing her feelings to a crush and this palm-sweating, nail-biting situation was no different. She shifted on her bum, the smooth velvet couch suddenly feeling uncomfortable. The nerves increased at Regina's prolonged silence and Emma lightly coughed, hoping to get attention.

Regina cursed herself internally for having been caught off guard but schooled her features, transforming into the cool and composed Mayor she had always been.

"I'm not looking for romance, Ms. Swan."

All these were only an act on her part, Emma knew as she clenched her fists and gritted her teeth. She was definitely no stranger to rejection, that having walked with her in the most part of her life. But for some reason, this hurt. The words came out of Regina's mouth and plunged straight through her heart, making Emma feel disgustingly vulnerable. Still, Emma ignored the ache and continued.

"I know," Emma's voice cracked a little and Regina pretended not to notice. "But I want to try, if you'd give me the chance and if you'd give yourself a chance at happiness too."

Giving a little scoff, Regina set her empty glass on the coffee table.

"You're not thinking straight, Ms. Swan. I fear my drinks might have been a little too strong than expected."

The brunette prepared to get up but was stopped by a firm hand on her arm and that alone caused her whole being to tense.

"I'm perfectly sober," Emma murmured. "It's okay. I know… I know it's a lot to take in right now and I know it's almost impossible, seeing how our history was born from animosity. But I'm determined."

Dark brown eyes raked between hazel ones, and Regina felt herself softening. The feeling coursing through her veins was like a stroke of serendipity – she thought she would be content with Henry, but her heart cannot deny the kind of intimacy she craved from a lover.

There will be an emptiness inside you – a void you will never be able to fill.

Maleficent's voice reverberated around her head and Regina shut her eyes tightly. It was a dull truth and yet she had been willing to try with Henry, to get as close to loving him with such a curse. When she finally dared to meet Emma's eyes again, Regina found that the pure desperation and sincerity swimming within those hazel orbs mirrored hers and for once, there was that glimmer of hope.

"I… I don't know," Regina admitted and that was all she could stutter out, because the turmoil raging internally was overwhelming.

"I understand," Emma nodded, releasing her hold on Regina's arm and stood up as well. "I could give you some time to think about this and I will respect your decision. But… just remember that I have feelings as well."

It was an obvious hint from Emma not to keep her waiting, and the larger part of Regina smirked, thinking what a fool Ms. Swan was to actually take a gamble with her feelings on her. But the other side – this newfound side, felt herself wanting and craving for someone to love and care for her again. Regina wanted happiness so much she'd take on anything, butshe needed confirmation.

"Why?"

It was a simple question that shadowed actual meaning and Emma knew her answer would serve as the ultimate push to let Regina make her decision. If she was going to do this, she was going to do this right.

"Because I believe you're worth it."

And that did it. Despite the larger part of her screaming no and berating her for being weak, Regina gave the barest hint of a smile and nodded. This could very well be the road to her damnation but she was a Queen once, Regina decided. She could probably turn the situation around should she sense anything amiss.

After sending Emma out, Regina closed her front door and leaned against it, daring herself to exhale a heavy breath. The night's events had turned out unexpected and the brunette knew she needed to clear her head.

On one hand, she knew a large part of her still disliked Emma Swan. At first, it was because of the threat she felt when she first found out that Emma was the birth mother of Henry. The brunette knew fairly well that Emma had no legal power to take Henry away but who could blame her, Regina mused. When she first adopted Henry, the mother had specified for it to be a closed adoption – no details, no means of contact, nothing. It came as an instinct to Regina to grasp tightly onto anyone she loved, to not let them easily slip between her fingers again.

On the other however, Regina could not deny the funny feeling that surfaced since the incident at the mines. Being her usual self, she had brushed it aside, opting to drown herself in paperwork than to deal with matters of the heart. But Emma appearing at her doorstep tonight just proved that she could not ignore it anymore. It was suspicious though, that the blonde would suddenly have a change of feelings toward her and would want to pursue her. But Regina wanted this; she wanted to feel cared for, and Emma had been the one to reawaken that feeling back when she offered to get Henry back for her.

She would spend the weekend to mull over this, Regina decided as she made her way into the study. But for now, this was an excuse enough to get inebriated.

[-]

"Kid, I need to tell you something."

"Yeah?"

"About Operation Cobra… we've been going in the wrong direction this whole time."

Henry frowned. "What do you mean?"

It was the early afternoon on Sunday and they were seated at their usual booth at Granny's, talking over hot cocoa and donuts. It came as a pleasant surprise when Regina allowed Henry to leave the house when she caught him trying to sneak out, even though he had told her that he was meeting Emma when she questioned him.

Emma had only laughed it off when the boy recounted the earlier scene, although feeling slightly jumpy because she had not called to meet Henry today for nothing. Emma loved spending time with Henry, really. But after some consideration, she had decided to let Henry know about her plan (the fabricated one) despite her worry that he might reject it.

"I am the Saviour, and I am supposed defeat the Evil Queen and break the curse to bring back everyone's happy endings right?" Emma traced out as she fixed her gaze on her son, studying his every reaction.

Henry nodded slowly, curious as to what his birth mother was getting at.

"I just figured something out last night," Emma said. "To bring back everyone's happy endings, that includes your mother's. Since I'm the Saviour, that includes saving the Evil Queen from her darkness as well. Whatever bad things your mother had done in her past doesn't define who she is now, but rather who she can become from here. And I believe that everyone deserves a second chance."

Henry just continued staring blankly at her and Emma stared back nervously, afraid the kid would see through her or accuse her of being on the Evil Queen's side. From Henry's point of view, Emma could see just how easy it is to jump into such conclusions seeing that they were just discussing how to go about finding a loophole in the curse to bring down the Evil Queen. To her surprise, Henry suddenly snapped his fingers and gave a large grin.

"That's right! Why haven't I thought of that before?" He squealed and leaned forward so much he almost spilled his beverage. "The Saviour saves everyone and the Evil Queen because she is good! Saviours don't kill people, they save them! And also because you're the product of true love, it all makes sense! Gosh Emma, you're a genius!"

She knew she should be feeling relieved, but Emma cannot help that sick feeling in her gut knowing that she was lying straight to her son's face. But certain things need to be done in sacrifice to accomplish certain others.

Emma smiled and reached a hand forward to lightly ruffle the kid's hair, "Not a genius without you."

"But how are you going to do it, save the Evil Queen?"

"Love, Henry. I only have to love."

The word sounded foreign on her lips and although she flashed a smile, it harboured no real emotion behind it. Emma had been in this world long enough to know it didn't just lack love, it was cruel as well. But if being cruel was what it takes to get back the people she loved, then Emma would gladly play the part.

"You love my mom?" Henry asked, somewhat surprised.

"I like her, currently," Emma tried. "She still has that soft side of her you know, and that is you."

That was perhaps the truest statement she had said in the span of two days and Emma felt comically proud. But that lasted only a few seconds as she watched Henry droop his head and sigh.

"What's wrong?"

The brown haired boy shrugged. "Mom… she doesn't love me. She can't. When the Evil Queen cast the curse, it put a void inside her heart."

"But she loves you, Henry. I can see it, and void or not, she's trying. That's why we have to give her the chance to change. Only then can we break the curse and save her from the damned."

"But how do you know we can succeed? What if we fail and she becomes more evil?"

"Then you only have to trust yourself to believe," Emma smiled, surprising even herself to find comfort in that statement.

"Ms. Swan."

An all too familiar voice husked behind her and Emma felt her whole body tense in instinct, for reasons more than one. Then slowly turning around, she gave her most casual laugh.

"Hey, Regina."

The brunette only nodded at her before fishing out a five dollar bill from her purse and handed it to Henry.

"Henry, go get yourself some ice cream. I would like to have a chat with Ms. Swan."

The air around them was thick with unanswered questions and for a second, Emma thought that Henry was going to refuse. But then he only grinned up at his adopted mother (which served as a surprise to both women) and scampered away, giving his two mothers privacy.

Emma swallowed as she watched Regina gracefully slide herself in the booth, seating opposite her with arms folded across her chest in a body language of defence. She was silent and the blonde waited, half in anticipation and the other in dread, until Emma could not take it anymore.

"Look, it's okay if you don't want to do this. Just know that my feelings for you will nev-"

"I agree."

The curt answer startled Emma and she stared back into brown orbs, searching for confirmation.

"What?"

Regina sighed. After that eventful Friday night, she had spent almost all of her waking hours thinking about it, her conscious mind and strong feelings playing a constant game of tug-of-war. But when she had caught Henry sneaking out to meet a certain blonde, Regina knew she had to make an effort if not for herself then for the sake of her son.

"We can start by being… amicable," Regina replied. "I don't want… I don't like…"

"You want to take things slow," Emma finished for her and Regina was somehow relieved that she wasn't forced to say the words out.

"Yes," the brunette agreed.

Emma tried her best to limit the displeasure showing on her face. She loathed commitment and time was a huge aspect of it. The blonde knew she cannot afford to take things too slow as she recalled Mr. Gold's words to her on the day she returned with the tiny flask from the mines.

"You wouldn't want to take too long, dearie."

Emma frowned suspiciously. "Why? Time has stopped here."

The man gave a chuckle and shook his head as if he were addressing a child. "Oh but didn't you notice? Time has started moving again ever since you came. And that is why you should get your job done as soon as possible."

"But I still don't understand. What happens if I don't?"

"Unfathomable things, just like how all things with Fate are."

Emma said nothing, only nodded. For now, she did not care about the implications. She only knew she needed to get one thing on mind: do her part in the prophecy and fulfil the duty as Saviour.

"What's in that bottle anyway?" Emma gestured toward the flask still in Mr. Gold's hands.

Almost instinctively, the man curled his spindly fingers around it and slipped it into his coat pocket.

"You don't need to worry about that, Deputy. It will worry about itself once the curse breaks…"

Then he looked straight at her.

"If you succeed, of course."

The mere insinuation of the possibility of her failing was incentive enough to fire up the determination in Emma and the blonde narrowed her eyes.

"I will definitely succeed," she growled. "Just watch me."

Coming back to the present, Emma looked at the woman opposite her who returned an unsure gaze and smiled. Words are such a powerful thing, Emma thought. A mere confession from her was all it took to reduce the hard edged, commanding Mayor into uncertainty and nervousness.

"Like I said, I will respect your decision. If you want to take things slow, I am all for it, as long as I get to be near you."

The small smile Emma shot her sent butterflies fluttering in her stomach and Regina found herself returning it as her thumb running through the crescent indents made on her hand from her earlier nerves, now enjoying the feeling of starting afresh.

As Henry bounded back up to them with two more sundaes ("Ruby's treat!" he had exclaimed), as she watched Emma immediately scooped a whirl of ice cream onto her tongue and who gave a sheepish smile upon realizing she was caught being stared at, and as her son slid in beside her and flashed a grin at her asking if chocolate was okay, Regina thought that maybe, just maybe, this might be the happy beginning of a new ending for her.

[-]

"How are you and Regina, Emma?"

The question made Emma's spoon of cereal freeze on its way to her mouth and the blonde almost forgot that Mary Margaret and Ruby had been the ones who unconsciously given her the idea at first. It had been a week ever since Regina agreed to them "going slow" and being "amicable" and it had been disappointing, really.

With the time limit in mind, Emma had tried clichéd ways in getting more physical contact with the brunette in hopes of 'speeding up the process' (if you could call it that): gently brushing their hands when they walked together (but that got thwarted when Henry always chose to insert himself between the two), deliberately standing closer to the brunette when they were washing the dishes together on a day when Regina invited her over for dinner (which happens almost every day now), and even asking for a goodbye hug (which was immediately turned down, much to Emma's embarrassment and annoyance).

It was evident from all the small things Emma had spent with Regina in the past week that the older woman definitely had some issues in regards to touching or relationships in general and Emma found herself wondering on occasion who the girl before the Evil Queen was. But she forced herself to stop thinking; Regina Mills destroyed thousands of lives after all, why should she care how her life was destroyed?

"Not that good," Emma spoke when she remembered to answer. "We've been going slow for a week now and it's infuriating."

Mary Margaret shot her a pitiful look as the pixie haired brunette went behind the kitchen island, filling a mug with orange juice.

"You just have to give her time. Regina seems like the kind who wants a serious relationship and would make sure the other party is serious too before fully committing."

Mary Margaret was right, Emma decided. Unfortunately, that was what she dreaded the most as well.

"I know. I just really miss her, you know," Emma mock sighed, a prompt she knew would get the other woman to take the initiative to elaborate on ways to help her.

In truth, Mary Margaret had been her one and only confidante in regards to this matter and she was so patient and understanding that Emma found herself wanting to confess the truth more than once, only to stop in the nick of time. Emma knew that this whole plot was a dangerous road that could spiral her down to darkness at any time, and that the Emma she was would never resort to such emotional manipulation on a person. But that worry was soon tossed away during late nights on her bed as Emma assured herself that she was doing this for the greater good: to get everyone's happy endings back. And it was this strong case of cognitive dissonance that spurred Emma on with her plan.

"Well," Mary Margaret replied as she leaned against the counter and sipped from her cup. "You can subtly try to go into the next step."

"The next step?"

"Yes, to woo her!"

Emma frowned. "I don't understand."

"You said that she wants to be amicable right? Do you think that you and her are amicable now?"

Emma thought about the dinners she had been having at Regina's house and the days where Henry succeeded in convincing his adopted mother to stop by Granny's where they would 'coincidentally' run into her. Their conversations would be filled with snide remarks thrown to and from (but this time without malice) and most of the time even though she tried her best to hide it, Emma would spy that slight upward curve of Regina's lips directed at her whenever she said something funny.

"We are," Emma affirmed and Mary Margaret broke into a smile.

"Then you should start showing her just how serious you are!"

"But how?"

"All those days Regina had been the one inviting you to dinner, right? Maybe you should do the same this time! It's Saturday today, you could fix a dinner date with her or something!"

Mary Margaret's enthusiasm was contagious and Emma nodded, taking in her roommate's words as she pushed the soggy cereal around in the bowl. Mary Margaret had a point; if she wanted to move things faster, she had to contribute to this relationship as well. As an idea formed in Emma's head and she gave Mary Margaret a thank you hug, the blonde knew just what to do and exactly what preparations were needed.

A/N: Hey people! Life has started for everyone in 2014 this week and since it's my last term for this year, I am piled with five projects on my hands. Still, I will try to update as said before: within a week. But I apologize if I exceed. The story is finally getting on to the juicy parts and I do hope you will understand Emma's state of conflict in the later chapters. All mistakes are mine and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.