The sunlight was warm, and the morning rays danced across the bedroom, gently highlighting the tousled hair of a very soundly sleeping Regina Mills. Emma's eyes scrunched around the corners as she grinned. Looking down at the woman wrapped around her, no one would ever believe she was the same person who had conquered lands, destroyed lives, and done more truly evil things than Emma really wanted to take inventory of.

In the peaceful quiet of the house, the woman resting on her stomach with an arm wrapped possessively around the sheriff's stomach looked more like the young Regina Emma had met just a few days ago. Though the magnificently thick, dark hair was shorter and the face a bit older, the differences were so minute it was hard to believe this woman sleeping on her was anywhere near the woman that had cursed an entire town into unhappy endings.

Emma's thoughts ran the gambit from what the shift in her relationship with the former mayor would mean to everyone's lives to why it was she had yet to ask about the scar on the other woman's lip. Her mind drifted, and, as it lazily shifted from random thought to random thought, the hand wrapped around Regina made gentle patterns along the smooth skin of the older woman's back.

"I realize this may come as a surprise to you," Regina said in a husky, half-awake voice, "but I'm ticklish, Emma."

Jerking in surprise, the blonde pulled her hand up. "Sorry."

Regina let out a contented sigh as she rolled over to face her companion. "It's fine, dear. Did you sleep well?"

Emma's eyebrow rose and she gave a cheeky smirk. "What little I had was great."

The brunette rolled her eyes, but her own equally cheeky smile gave away that she wasn't altogether annoyed with the answer. "I'm glad to hear it. How long have you been awake?"

"About half an hour." Emma shrugged. "I would have gotten up, but you look cute when you're sleeping, so I figured I'd stick around and watch."

Rolling her eyes, Regina pushed back to lean against the headboard, not bothering to pull the sheets up with her and leaving most of her unclothed body exposed. "Many things I've been called in my lifetime, but cute is not one I can recall." With a deep chuckle, she added, "My eyes are up here, dear."

"And?" Emma glanced up with a sparkle of mischief in her eyes. "I know where I'm looking."

"Have I mentioned you're incorrigible?" Despite the rebuke, Regina blushed slightly, and the ever so slight red rushed down her body to disappear under the covers that still hid her legs from view.

The sheriff pretended to think about it for a moment. "Yeah, I think you have. It was right after you said I was your true love." Smirk still in place, she leaned forward to kiss the other woman on the cheek. "I call dips on the bathroom."

"We have two, Emma." The exasperated sound in Regina's voice was matched by her amusement. "Go use the one across the hall. It's where all of your toiletries are."

Facing dropping into a serious expression, Emma tilted her head to the side in thought.

The sudden change in demeanor from the blonde stopped Regina mid-motion. "What it is? What's wrong?"

"We have two?" Emma's voice shook slightly.

Regina gave a slow blink while she tried to find the train of thought the other woman was on. It took her a moment, but she finally caught up. "Yes, dear, we have two bathrooms in our home, and," she moved back onto the bed and scooted closer to the blonde, "our son will be waiting for us at the diner soon." She kissed the younger woman on the cheek. "And, once we pick him up, we'll go get your things, and we'll bring them back here to our home."

Pulling back to see the other woman's face, Regina gave a very gentle smile. "Our home, Emma," she repeated softly.

The blonde glanced down at her hands where they rested in her lap and tried to reign in her emotions. "I guess you're not the only one with issues, huh?" She gave a self-depreciating chuckle.

Laying a hand over Emma's, Regina looked up into the other woman's eyes and allowed her mouth to briefly twitch down. "We both have a great deal to work through, but I'm confident that… well, that we," she paused and swallowed down the sudden lump in her throat. Despite herself, surprise shown in her eyes at the thought that she couldn't quite vocalize. Licking her lips, she swallowed one more time and pushed herself to say what she was positive they both needed to hear. "I'm confident that we will work through it and be all the stronger for it."

"Together?" Emma gave a weak smile.

"Of course, dear," Regina's more assured, haughty tone returned. "You don't think I'd allow you to get off that easily, do you? You don't get to sweep me off my feet and then just leave. That's not how this sort of thing is done."

The blonde cocked an eyebrow. "Sweep you off your feet?"

"Quite literally, as I recall." Regina gave a bright grin and again slid off the bed to stand. "I didn't realize you were so strong, Ms. Swan."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Again with the 'Ms. Swan.?"

Chuckling on her way to the master bathroom, Regina replied in a light tone, "You like it!"

As the door shut behind the brunette, Emma gave a little snort of amusement. "Yeah, I do, Madam Mayor," she answered to the empty room before slipping off to the guest bath.


"Good morning, Ruby. It's a beautiful day, isn't it?" Archie stepped into the diner with Pongo in tow. He gave a bright smile to everyone in the room, nodding to the Charmings and giving a little wave to Gold and Belle who sat in a booth in the corner.

"Good morning, Doctor Hopper," Ruby stopped cleaning the counter and walked around to kneel. "And good morning, Pongo. How about some bacon?" Pongo's tail wagged quickly back and forth and he pawed at her arm as he gave a little yelp. Her smiled grew a bit wider. She looked up. "What would you like?"

"I'll take my usual, please." Archie waited for her to stand before giving a tug on Pongo's leash to lead him to a table on the other side of the diner. Once dog and owner were settled, they both looked up to see Henry bounding toward them. "Good morning, Henry."

"Hi Doctor Hopper," the young boy said in a distracted way before he sat down in the floor in front of the dog. "Hi Pongo!" Henry gave a pat to the floor next to him, and the dog settled down beside him with his head in Henry's lap. Beaming at the dog, Henry began to rub Pongo's head until the dog rolled onto his side to allow the boy to give him tummy rubs, which Henry was all too happy to give.

The adults watched the interplay between the boy and the dog as they waited for their food.

"Maybe we should get him a dog?" David shrugged at his wife. "Regina's house has a huge backyard. It'd have plenty of room to run around."

"You can't be serious?" Mary Margaret rolled her eyes. "There's no way Regina would allow a dog in her house."

"Pongo was almost my dog," Regina's voice caught the couple unawares, and they both jumped in surprise. She just barely managed to hold her laughter at bay while she continued, "But I was not permitted to have pets in the castle. Mother considered it below us to have pets indoors."

"So why didn't you keep him as an outdoors pet?" Emma asked genially before motioning for her mother to move to sit next to her father so she and Regina could have a place to sit.

The brunette's eyebrow rose and her face fell into her typical poker mask. "What makes you think I didn't?"

"Really?" Emma rolled her eyes. "Before our first cup of coffee?"

David and Mary Margaret watched the interaction in silence. Their eyes darted back and forth between the two women across from them, but they said nothing.

"You're right. It is a bit early," Regina answered with a sigh. "Pongo was Daniel's dog. After… after," she cleared her throat. "He disappeared. I never knew where he went, but I was pleased to see him here, and," she frowned, not really wanting to finish the thought. It was clear she was torn between telling Emma the story and not wanting to overshare in front of others. Finally opting for telling Emma and choosing not to care the others were listening, she finished, "Doctor Hopper has proven to be the perfect caretaker for Pongo."

"You were going to have a dog as a pet?" Mary Margaret didn't bother to hold the skepticism from her voice.

"Yes." Regina's eyes narrowed. "Is it so hard to believe that, at one time, I wanted a dog?"

The pixie haired brunette quirked an eyebrow. "Well…"

"How about some breakfast?" David cut in before things to could get ugly. "We were waiting for you before we ordered."

"I'm surprised the kid hasn't tried to gnaw off his own hand or something." Emma chuckled. "This is late in the morning. Henry's normally already eaten and wanting something else by now."

"Pongo seems to be a good distraction," Regina answered while she watched their son play with the dog. "Perhaps we should consider allowing him to have a dog?"

"You think he's responsible enough to take care of a dog?" The blonde frowned.

"He did find you, break a curse, and manage to make his way safely through a rather perilous encounter with my mother, Ms. Swan." Turning back to her companion, Regina shot the sheriff a look that was partly sarcastic and partly serious. "I believe he's proven to be more mature than most in this town."

"Well, when you put it that way, then, yeah, sure." Emma shrugged and was rewarded for her snarky reply with a genuine smile and chuckle from Regina.

"I think I'd like to order something now," Mary Margaret mumbled. "My stomach's a little unsettled."

"Must be something you haven't eaten yet, dear," Regina quickly commented before wincing at the pinch she received under the table from Emma. She shot the blonde a death glare, which was returned to her by her companion.

David flagged Ruby down and then called Henry over to the table as a way of again breaking up the tension.


"Hi Mom, hi Ma," Henry said as he plopped down in a chair at the end of the booth that Ruby had placed there a moment before. "You two look sleepy."

"Hey kid," Emma gratefully took the cup of coffee offered to her by Ruby. "We had a long night."

Henry gave a thought look to them and then glanced over to give his grandparents with a confused look before turning back to his mothers. "How come?"

"We had a lot to discuss," Regina answered smoothly face never veering from its calm state. "Ms. Swan and I needed to work a few things out before you could come home."

Henry seemed to think about that for a moment while everyone ordered their meals. Finally, he asked in hopeful voice, "Does this mean that Ma and I are going to live with you now?"

"Yeah, kid, we're moving home," Emma answered with a quick glance to see her parents' reactions. Much to her relief and surprise, they looked neither shocked nor upset. Resigned would be the best descriptor, she decided. "When we're done here, we're going to go over to Mary Margaret and David's place and grab our stuff, okay?"

He nodded. "Okay." Turning to his grandparents, he asked, "Does this mean everyone is going to stop fighting now?"

"Well, Henry," Mary Margaret's voice was tight with inexpressible thoughts and emotions, "your grandfather and I want you and Emma to be happy."

It wasn't really an answer, and it didn't satisfy Henry's curiosity about the situation. "Ma, are you and Mom like a couple now or something?"

Emma chocked on air, and Regina opted to ignore the shell shocked sheriff in lieu of answering their son's question. "How would you feel about that, Henry? If Ms. Swan and I were a couple?"

"I don't know." He shrugged. "I mean, I'm okay with it, I guess, if that means no more fighting." He looked over to his grandparents. "True love makes people happy, right?"

"I'd like to think so," David answered carefully. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, if Mom and Ma have true love, then they'd be happy." He looked earnestly at his grandparents as if their answer were a matter of life and death. "So, if they were a couple with true love like you and Grams, then everyone would be happy, right?"

"No one ever said they had true love, Henry." Mary Margaret winced as soon as the words left her mouth. After everything she had witness over the course of the past few days, even she had a difficult time not believing that such was the case. "But, yes, if they," she stopped herself and finally looked up to meet Regina's watchful gaze, "If you," she directed it at the other brunette, "have true love, then I would think you'd find happiness." Her voice lowered gently, softening in tone. "Are you happy, Regina?"

The silence at the table stretched out uncomfortably while the two rivals stared each other down. Finally, Regina answered in a surprisingly thoughtful tone that held no harshness, only a rare touch of honesty. "It comes a little bit with every day that Emma and Henry are present in my life and I don't feel the need to turn to other things to fill my time and my… void." Her frown deepened. "One day at a time, Ms. Blanchard, is all I can take, but each day becomes easier with those I care for there to help me." Her face flickered with annoyance at having admitted the last part aloud.

David nodded. "Will you ever stop?"

"I honestly don't know that I can completely stop." Regina knew what he was asking even as the others tried to catch up to them. "It's more than… than an addiction. It's an innate part of who both Emma and I are as individuals… and as a couple." She looked over to the blonde who was quietly watching the exchange and then to their son who was also trying to take everything in she said. "I'm not sure that I can stop, but I am sure I can stop using my skills for more questionable endeavors."

Henry's mouth twisted in thought. "You mean you'll stop being evil?"

Regina winced at his words, but it was Mary Margaret who surprised the table by correcting him. "You shouldn't call her evil, Henry." The sigh that escaped her was both resigned and determined. "I should never have started calling her evil in the first place. It probably only made things worse," she added, mostly to herself.

"You think?" Emma muttered under her breath, but was ignored by her mother.

Henry glanced around the table. "What do you mean?"

"Someone once told me," his grandmother answered with a quick look toward Regina, "that Regina was always the Queen, and I was the one who added 'evil' in front of her title. In a way, that's probably true." She tilted her head in thought. "In other ways, it's not, but it doesn't matter now. Now what matters is making sure you're safe, happy, and in a home where you're loved." Her eyes dipped down to look at the table in front of her. "So maybe it's time that we all started with a clean slate so that can happen."

His little mouth twisted more in a remarkable approximation of an expression the others had seen on Regina's face several times throughout the years, Henry tried to place everything into perspective. Looking directly at Regina, he asked pointedly, "Is this everyone's happy ending?"

There was dead silence in the diner. The other patrons who, up until now, had been pretending not to listen gave their full attention to what was about to be said at the Henry's table while those seated at said table held their breath and waited.

To Regina's credit the shock she felt on the inside did not show on her face, though she knew that it registered on Emma's. The feeling was too strong for the other woman not to experience it, too, and she was almost sorry for blonde. It was an unpleasant experience, to feel utterly stunned and thrown off kilter by what appeared on the surface to be such a simple question.

"Well, Henry," she began carefully, "we don't live in a storybook. This life isn't a fairytale, after all, but I'd like to think that you, Emma, and I could be very happy together as a family. Don't you?"

He grinned. "Yeah, I think so…"

The touching family moment was broken by the sound of the diner door flinging open and the sound of metal hitting metal. "There you are, your highness," a tall, dark, woman with strikingly white hair and very deep, dark purple eyes strolled toward them. "I've been searching for you for a long time. We have unfinished business."

"Regina…" Emma's voice held the fear and uncertainty everyone in the small diner felt.

Regina stood, moving Henry to sit next to Emma and then pushing the chair out of the way to allow her to stand directly in front of the table where her family sat. "I didn't realize you were in town, dear. I'm afraid I'm a little busy right now. Perhaps you should have called to set up an appointment?"

"You know where I've been," the other woman snarled, "and I owe you for what you did to me and to my daughter." She narrowed her eyes. "It's time for a little payback."

Emma looked to her parents and hissed under her breath. "Who the hell is that?"

Henry answered quietly, "I think that's Ursula."


A/N I know she's not canon, but I needed a villain to go up against the family for that epic showdown, and I couldn't use Gold, Cora, or Hook because of all the canon stuff that's happened on the show. So… yeah… you get me creating a whole new character for this to work out. In fact, I was thinking maybe this might need to be a series... maybe... like maybe this story is getting a wee bit too long? Please don't kill me.