The only positive, as far as Regina was concerned, to come from the curse breaking was the fact that no one bothered her anymore as she went about her errands. As mayor for the town, it was nearly impossible to go anywhere from picking up her dry cleaning to going to a movie without someone wanting to speak to her about some trivial matter or the other. As The Evil Queen, no one wanted to be around her unless absolutely necessary.

It made shopping for groceries go much more quickly.

Of course, the fact she no longer shopped for two but only for one also made quick work of ticking items from the grocery list, but that was a far less pleasant reality. There was a time not too far in the past when she could recall being irritated with a young and mischievous Henry who tried to sneak fruit snacks and candy bars into her shopping basket when he thought she wouldn't notice. Now, she would give anything just have that time back with him. He could sneak in as much as he wanted, and she wouldn't bat an eye.

With a heavy sigh, she slowly walked among the produce, looking for fresh spinach and kale for her salads, something Henry would have rolled his eyes at. After plucking them from the shelf and dropping them in her basket, she considered her list as she ignored the harsh looks and irritated grumbling of the other store patrons.

Her final items were bananas, cherries, strawberries, and apples, the ingredients she used in her morning shakes. It didn't take long to find the first three and pile them into her basket. The last ingredient was one about which she was very particular, and she slowed down to take her time as she picked up and began to inspect the apples she planned to buy.

"Planning on poisoning someone soon?" Ruby Lucas's voice cut through Regina's bubble of calm.

"Soon? No." Regina rolled her eyes and continued to cherry pick through the apples.

The younger woman raised an eyebrow. "I thought you got all of your apples for free."

"Apple trees only produce apples during certain times, dear. In case you missed it, this is not the time of the year for trees in this area to produce. I'm sure you're familiar with basic agriculture, or," Regina shot a defiant gaze over at the other woman, "do you only use trees for more personal, biological needs?" She raised one perfectly sculpted eyebrow in refute.

Not missing a beat, Ruby shrugged. "No, I use your flowerbed for that."

With a roll of her eyes, Regina turned back to the apples, effectively dismissing any further conversation with the other woman. Ruby, however, was not ready to end their little back-and-forth. "For someone trying to change their image, you're not doing a very good job." She nodded toward the fruit in the older woman's hand. "I'd stay away from apples, if I were you."

Regina's jaw flexed with the immense effort it took not to snap. Carefully and precisely placing the fruit into her basket, she turned fully to Ruby and responded in a clipped, controlled tone. "Miss Lucas, if your purpose for this intrusion was to annoy me, you've succeeded. You may stop now. I'm done here, and I would appreciate it if you would stop bothering me. I have other places to be."

Ruby gracefully stepped to the side but continued to talk to the former mayor. "I'm not really trying to annoy you. That's just an added bonus." She grinned at the hard look she received. "I'm really trying to be helpful. Look, Emma and Henry say you're trying to, you know, be better, and I figure that," she gave a noncommittal shrug of her shoulders, "if they're willing to give you a shot, then maybe I will, too."

At that revelation, Regina came to a sudden stop and turned to completely face the other woman. "Why?" Her voice was harsh, the edge sharp enough to cut.

"Because," Ruby glanced around, suddenly losing her nerve, "I know what it's like to be out of control, and," she fidgeted under the intense scrutiny she was receiving, "you might not have intended to do it, but your curse gave me a second chance. I figured I'd return the favor."

Regina narrowed her eyes. "Your grandmother has tried to kill me since the curse has been broken."

"Yeah, but, to be fair, you were on a rampage, and we'd just remembered all the crap you'd done to us. Also, you caught her arrow in midair. That's a whole different level of terrifying." Despite herself, Ruby blushed. "But it was also kind of cool, now that I think about it."

The older woman's frown deepened as she considered what her next move would be. She was unsettled by this random outreach from one of the people in the town. It felt wrong, and she couldn't help but wonder what Ruby was actually after. No one tried to make friends with The Evil Queen. That's just not how things are done. Crossing her arms and looking down her nose at Ruby, Regina finally responded with a small smirk on her lips, "It's remarkable the skills you can fine tune when you have years in exile in which to practice."

"I can imagine," came the quiet, uncomfortable response.

Regina decided to play along for now. "In what could be perceived as an unfortunate fact, apples happen to be my favorite fruit." She uncrossed her arms and shifted her weight. "I'm not going to stop eating them simply because other people have a bad association with them to me."

Ruby shrugged. "Suit yourself. I just thought I'd throw that out there." She turned to walk away, and was stunned when she heard Regina call out to her.

"Ms. Lucas?" The former mayor's voice was lighter, less sure. The younger woman turned back around to make sure she'd heard correctly. "Thank you for the advice." Even more shocked, Ruby simply nodded in answer and turned on her heels to leave.