"What is that noise?" Emma stumbled into the kitchen wearing her night clothes. Her hair was pulled haphazardly back in a messy ponytail, and her eyes refused to focus. "It's 5:30 in the morning, Regina. Why are you awake?"
"That noise is the coffee grinder, Ms. Swan, and I'm awake this early because Henry will be up earlier than normal so he can finish his homework." The brunette poured the freshly ground coffee into her French press and poured the hot water from her kettle over it.
"Oh, right, his homework," Emma grunted and took a seat at the island as the aroma of coffee wafted through the room. "I can't believe you're already dressed. Do you ever not look like you just came out of a fashion magazine?"
Regina glanced over to the other woman and gave a little sneer of disdain. "Do you ever look like you didn't just roll out of bed and put on whatever was least dirty from the floor?"
"No, not usually," the sheriff countered with a small grin as she began to wake up. She ran her hand over her face and scratched at her head. "Smells good, though. I could use some coffee this morning."
"Difficulty sleeping, dear?" From behind the paper she was reading as she waited for the coffee to brew, the former mayor sounded uninterested in the answer.
Emma rolled her eyes. "I didn't get a lot of sleep last night, but I'm willing to bet you didn't either. Speaking of, I've got a question for you, Regina."
The paper lowered. "I may have an answer."
"How many people died in the name of supporting my parents' good deeds?" The young woman looked road wary and beaten down as she asked her questions. "I mean, if hundreds, maybe thousands, died in a war, that means there were at least two sides fighting and at least two sides being killed off, right?"
"This is what you think about as you try to drift off to sleep? No wonder you didn't sleep well last night." Though she sounded irritated with the question, Regina stepped toward the island and placed her paper down so she could give her attention to the other woman. "I honestly don't know how many people died in your parents' army, but I highly doubt any person died at your parents' hand simply because they felt like killing someone that day for the purposes of entertainment. Is that what you want to know? Do you need to be told that your family's orders which sent good men to their death were more altruistic than my orders to send my men to their death?"
"No," Emma shook her head slowly from side to side. "I've already told you what I want. I want to know the truth. Look, there are three sides to every story. There's your side, their side, and what actually happened. I learned a long time ago that, if I wanted to really find something out, I needed to know the whole story - all three sides, so I'm asking you about yours."
"You mean you're not going to leave here today with Henry and declare me a 'lost cause?" Regina was genuinely surprised, and, for once, it showed on her face. "There may be hope for you yet, Sheriff."
Emma shrugged. "We all have a past, Regina. What matters is what we do with the present and the future. Besides, how does it help you cope with your addiction if I walk away because of something your addiction ultimately caused?"
Regina stared at the other woman, eyes guarded and posture rigid. Finally, she gave a nondescript hum before turning to open the fridge to begin pulling out ingredients for omelets. "I hope you like mushrooms in your omelets, Ms. Swan."
"As much as I would love to say that the Evil Queen cooked something for me that didn't end in anyone being poisoned or cursed," Emma joked as she stood up, giving her best grin, "I have to be somewhere this morning. Now that I'm up, I might as well go take a shower and get going on it. Can you take Henry to school?"
"Yes, but," the older woman hesitated. It was clear she was uncertain about something. Finally stopping her preparations for breakfast, she turned to fully look at the blonde. "Will you wake Henry before you take a shower?"
"Yeah, I'll tell him that it was my idea for you to take him to school," the young woman answered as she headed back upstairs.
Regina huffed but the look of relief on her face belayed any underlying irritation that the sheriff knew her motives for the request.
"Hi, Mom, what's for breakfast?"
"Henry," Regina breathed his name out as if it were a quiet prayer of thanks. "I thought omelets were in order," she answered with a smile on her face. "What would you like to drink?"
His little mouth twisted in thought for a moment. "Apple juice?"
Despite herself, the surprise showed on her face, but she strolled to the fridge and poured the requested drink before placing it in front of her son. "I've finished the corrections…"
"I know it's bad, but there's been a lot going on, and it's kind of hard to focus on school stuff with all this other stuff going on." He winced, waiting for her to counter with everything he should be doing as opposed to everything he was actually doing.
"I wouldn't say it was bad," she answered quietly as she placed an omelet down for each of them. "Given all the distractions recently, I'd say you're doing quite well."
"Really?" His eyes lit up at the praise, and the look broke Regina's heart just a bit more as she realized the reason he looked so excited was because she had so rarely given him praise in the past, only criticism.
"Yes, really, and I can tell you're getting better dealing with your subject matter. You just need a bit more practice with your grammar and subject/verb agreement." She sipped her coffee. "You know I've always been proud of how well you do in school, Henry."
He looked down at his plate and pushed the eggs around. "I didn't know that," he mumbled. "I thought you hated it when I didn't get A's."
"Only because I know how smart you are, and I know that you're more than capable of making A's." Her voice was gentle as she answered. There was no anger or irritation, only a desire to help him understand her point of view and to, maybe, understand his. "I know I can be pushy, but it's only because I want you to do well and be the best you can, but," she bent down so they made eye contact, "don't ever think I'm not proud of you. I am. You're my son. I'll always be proud of you."
They shared an awkward silence as Regina sipped her coffee and Henry tried to eat his breakfast. Once he finished and had placed his plate in the dishwasher, he looked at her with a confused and emotional face. "I'm going to go get my paper from your study so I can fix it before school." He turned to leave but stopped at the exit. "Hey, Mom?"
"Yes, Henry?"
"I'm proud of you, too," he said quietly before he quickly scampered away.
She watched him dash away as she let the tears fall, unable to hold them back.
I'm just going to sit over here in the corner and cry for Regina for a little bit. No one mind me...
