A couple of days passed by and Emma was more or less back on form. She was slightly closer to figuring out who had cursed Regina. There was no one new in the town, but there were plenty of people holding a grudge against her. It was just a matter of figuring out which one it was.

"Are you going to insist on bringing food to every catch up we have?" Regina asked

"Only if you're going to insist on scheduling them over meal times" Emma replied, sipping her coffee with a smile. A pretty snappy reply from someone who considered the entire morning to be a mealtime, but Regina's only response was to sigh.

"Fine" Emma wiped her hands on a napkin "I'm done. Anyway I don't have anything else to talk about, except the sleeping curse"

Emma hadn't mentioned it to Regina since they talked in her hallway. She felt slightly tense bringing it up, but if someone was trying to take down Regina, and (for a couple of days at least) had managed, they probably weren't doing it for the benefit of the town.

Regina nodded and waited for her to continue.

"Gold said the needle had to have been taken by someone very powerful or with insider knowledge." She said, miming inverted commas at the last two words.

"Henry?" Regina asked

"I know" Emma said "conveniently the person most likely to distract both of our attention away from figuring out who it really is. The only other people who could have taken it were you or Gold. Or Belle, but that's ridiculous"

"He thinks I cursed myself?" Regina raised an eyebrow

"Maybe that you stole it and were up to mischief, but I think that to implicate either of you points to him. He wouldn't nominate himself alongside two people who would be immediately decided innocent if he didn't want the same treatment" Emma replied

"So you think it's Rumple?" Regina asked, shifting uncomfortably in her seat.

"I'm just keeping an open mind" Emma sipped her coffee again. Regina surveyed her in a way that reminded her of when she first came to Storybrooke. It was probing but Emma had nothing to hide from her these days. It still made her slightly nervous.

"Well" Regina said after a while "I don't have anything else to discuss" she picked up her fountain pen and jotted something down in a leather bound notebook. Emma though she wielded a pen something like how David did a sword. It was elegant. It had been just a pen, but now it was brought to life.

"Thursday next week? 11am?" Regina's voice interrupted her reverie "Or is that a fabricated meal time too?" She didn't smile but her eyes seemed bright with amusement.

"There is literally meal called elevenses" Emma replied, standing. This time Regina did smile. "How about 12.30 and we can both eat at the same time?" Emma asked

Regina checked her diary.

"Hmm, 1 o'clock instead? Or is there such a thing as onesies?" Regina asked

"There are, but they're not a mealtime" Emma paused to think of a way to describe them that wouldn't end in Regina's disapproval of adults wearing baby clothes, and of her for knowing what they were. She was acutely aware of Regina watched her expectantly.

"You know, you don't need to know what they are." Emma turned to leave. As she reached the door she turned around. Regina was still watching her and frowning slightly.

"Anything else?" Emma asked

"You seem happy." Regina said, and then almost as if she felt she was being too nice she added "I'm glad you've lost that sour-puss expression you wore all last week"

"Sour-puss? What are you, like 100 years old?" Emma laughed

Regina frowned at her.

"No offence" Emma said "like if you are"

"I am not 100!" Regina raised her voice and looked back in outrage

"I mean you look really good for your age" Emma said, ignoring her protestation.

"Get out of my office, Ms Swan" Regina said sharply and returned to her paperwork.

Emma waited until she looked up again and saw the corner of her mouth curl. Regina's tell. Emma smiled cheekily back before disappearing around the door.

Emma tied her hair up loosely and sang aloud to her music. This was her first night alone since she could remember. Snow and David were out and Henry was with Regina. She finally had time to sort out her feelings about everything that had been happening recently.

"Hey ma!" Emma heard Henry shout over her music.

"Hey" she shouted back "what are you doing here?" She appeared in a baggy Runaways tshirts and pyjama pants.

"I'll let mom explain" he said, heading upstairs to his room.

"Oh hey" Emma said, just noticing Regina loitering stiffly by the door. She turned her music down. "You ok? Can I get you a drink?"

"Tea, please" Regina said, ignoring the other question. She followed Emma to the kitchen.

"I'm sorry to just turn up. I asked Henry to call but you didn't answer" she said

"Oh, my phone is charging" Emma said in her defence, this was her first night off in forever. She set the kettle on the stove and turned back to Regina

"So…what's up?" Emma asked. Regina brushed hair from her face, Emma suspected to buy herself a moment of composure.

"It's Robin" she said. Emma said nothing though her stomach lurched. "He's...having doubts about our future"

"Oh, Regina" Emma said, she felt a pang of guilt. The kettle began to whistle.

"I'm sorry" Emma said, remembering Robin's dejected face in the Rabbit Hole.

"It's not your fault" Regina replied "He thinks it's mine. He doesn't think it can be love if it's not true love"

"That's not true" Emma said, looking for a cup.

"No it's not. He might just be trying to save face. I think he's embarrassed" Regina said "and apparently he doesn't like sleeping inside so now he's not going to" she looked up at Emma. Her eyes might be glistening, but Emma had to look down at the boiling water she poured.

"I can't imagine you sleeping in a tent" she said and watched the teabag rise buoyantly to the top of the cup.

"Well exactly" Regina said. Her tone stopped Emma dead. She put the kettle down with a thud on the stove. She finally realised what Regina was saying. Robin wasn't just mad, he was leaving her.

Emma looked back at her, not speaking, hardly even breathing. She couldn't stand the idea that she had caused Regina this pain.

"Moms?" Henry called coming down the stairs. "What were you doing?"

"Talking. About stuff. You don't want to know" Emma said awkwardly.

"Gross" he said and Emma smiled. "Movie?" He asked

Emma looked at Regina "You want to stay for a movie?"

"I'll start one with you, I might leave once I've finished my tea" she said, picking it up from the counter.

"That's fair" Emma said "Pulp Fiction?" She asked, turning to Henry

"Excuse me?" Regina asked

"I was just testing you" Emma smiled at her "You're still Regina"

"I would watch that" Henry said, hopefully

"Yeah? Ok, let's watch it" Regina looked like her eyebrows might detach from her face. "In about six years." Emma said.

"Maybe eight" Regina said, relaxing and giving Emma a reproachful look. Henry sighed and pulled his phone out.

"Lord of the Rings is on in five minutes" he said, scrolling through the TV guide.

"Nice work, kid" Emma said

"I've had my fill of dwarves and sorcerers in the real world, do I have to watch them in fiction too?" she asked, though Emma and Henry knew she would watch it.

Emma laughed whenever anyone in this town talked about "fiction". She caught Henry's eye and he smiled, knowing what she was thinking. He passed them both to make popcorn.

"Salty or sweet?" he asked

"Salty" they replied in unison. Regina looked approvingly at Emma.

"Let me do it" Regina said, taking the popcorn from him "You add too much salt"

Emma and Henry retired to the sofa. One look at Emma's face as she sat down was enough to raise Henry's suspicions.

"What's up?" He asked. He had changed so much over the time she had known him, but he had always seen right through her.

"I think I did something bad" she said quietly so Regina wouldn't hear over the now popping corn. He looked back at her waiting for the rest of her thought. She didn't know how to explain her role in the end of Regina's relationship.

"It's like in season 6 of Buffy when her friends bring her back from heaven. I think your mom is Buffy and I ruined heaven" she said.

"Well" Henry started "if they didn't bring her back in season 6, she wouldn't have saved the world in season 7"

Emma nodded slowly and looked back at him. What he said was true, but Emma wasn't convinced Regina needed to be unhappy to save the world, especially considering how the last curse came about. Maybe she would be happy with someone else…but she wasn't going to think about that.

"Are you sure you're not a fairytale character?" Emma asked. Regina placed a bowl of popcorn on the table and sat on the other side of Henry. "

A wise old man? The owl from Sword in the Stone?" Emma asked him.

"Archimedes?" He said "that is my middle name"

Emma laughed "what is your middle name?"

"Daniel" he replied, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He turned his attention to the TV.

Emma's heart throbbed. She looked over Henry's head at Regina who was already looking at her. When Emma looked at her she saw an open book. She loved Henry fiercely and battled darkness every day to keep him in her life and Emma saw it. She saw when her reactions were based in defensiveness, pain and fear because she had been there herself. Emma had never met anyone brimming with as much love and pain as Regina.

Her heart ached with empathy. She reached out and put her hand on Regina's, which rested on the back of the sofa. To her surprise Regina let her, she even turned it slightly and Emma wrapped her fingers around Regina's. A lump formed in her throat as they just looked at one another.

Emma woke suddenly when Snow and David returned. She heard them exchange surprised but polite words with Regina.

"Hey guys" she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Henry stirred too. Someone had tucked a blanket around them.

"Bedtime for you, I think" Regina's soft voice came from nearby.

She squinted and the light hurt her eyes. Regina was talking to Henry. He got up and went to his room in a sort of sleepy daze. Emma continued to squint up at Regina.

"You too I think" She said and smiled down at her.

"You're welcome to stay too if you like, Regina" David's voice came from nearby. The smile dropped from her face and she straightened up.

"Thank you but no, I'd rather sleep in my own bed than on a sofa. Charming as it is"

Somewhere in the back of her mind, Emma thought this was funny, but her main focus now was opening her eyes without them hurting. She got up to follow Regina to the door. She passed through it and turned to face Emma.

"Thank you for a lovely evening" Regina said

"Sorry I fell asleep" Emma said, "it must have been pretty boring for you" she tried to suppress a yawn.

"I think it was exactly what I needed" Regina said with the slightest hint of a smile.

"Well whatever you need, we'll be here." She smiled at her and received another one of those searching looks. Emma watched her eyes flick over her face. She suddenly became very aware that she was in her pyjamas and smoothed her top down her sides.

"Do you think next time you might wear proper clothes, or should I bring pyjamas?" Regina asked with a smirk

"Are you kidding me? You're lucky I was wearing anything" Emma said. Regina's surprise was plain on her face and Emma felt heat rise to her cheeks.

"Bye Regina" Emma leant forward and kissed her on the cheek like it was the most natural thing in the world. She smiled at Regina, who hesitated for a moment then turned away.

Emma closed the door and turned back to face the apartment. She was slightly dazed by what had just happened, with how easily she just crossed a line of physical contact that was not usually accidentally crossed.

She noticed Snow watching her from the kitchen and went over. Snow refilled the kettle and put it on the stove. Emma yawned, though she was feeling more awake now.

"Is something going on?" Snow asked her quietly. David was folding the blanket Emma and Henry had been sleeping under out of earshot.

Emma's immediate reaction was a defensive one. Her body language changed from being relaxed to crossing her arms. She had a snappy reply on the end of her tongue when she looked into Snow's eyes. There was nothing there but a want to comfort Emma. She diffused and felt bad for almost letting her frustration out on someone who just wanted to help her.

"Mom" she began, "I lied to you the other day."

Snow looked hurt but didn't interrupt.

"I thought I was keeping someone else's secret, but it shouldn't have been a secret anyway and it's all gotten out of hand." Emma continued.

Snow walked around the counter to hug her. She let herself be comforted. She didn't feel she deserved it, but she did feel like she needed it.

"It wasn't about my new hat was it?" Snow said, as she let her go. Emma smiled.

"No it wasn't, I like your hat" she replied

"Well in that case I'm sure you felt you were right in that moment, to tell that lie. If you can't tell me what it was, that's ok. If you can" she shrugged "I'll do what I can to help you. Clearly something is still not right"

Emma didn't know why, but her heart banged in her chest.

"It was about Regina" she began, almost squinting at Snow who did not seem to be surprised at all as she took the whistling kettle off the hob to pour some tea.

"It wasn't Robin who woke her, it was me" Emma said slowly. Snow gasped, but recovered quickly.

"You, you saved her?" Snow stammered

"Yeah, mom" Emma was embarrassed and looked away. "It wasn't what it sounds like, I kissed her hand. I just wanted her back so much and I didn't know what would happen without her, how anything would happen without her…" she trailed away remembering her complete despair at the time "I just wanted her to come back" she said.

Snow flung her arms around Emma again, almost winding her.

"Mom" Emma struggled "are you ok?" Snow held on "I can't really breathe"

"Sorry" Snow said, releasing her though she held onto her arms.

"It's just, you've opened up your heart and that's amazing" Emma didn't know what to say. Her parents, hell everyone in this town, sometimes had a fairytale way of talking that was pretty difficult to respond to in real life.

"And I mean, Regina is more like the woman I used to know than I have seen her in years. I think it's fair to saw we've all moved on, a lot has happened. It's still a shock-a great one-but a shock, I mean she was married to my father, which makes her-"

"Mom" Emma interrupted, not wanting to hear what that made her "we're not a thing. It wasn't like that. The kiss.'

"What?" Snow asked

"It's not like how it is with you and dad" Emma shifted on her feet

"Well no, everyone is different-" Snow continued

"No, mom, it's not..." She struggled to find the words for what they weren't and she grew frustrated with Snow for making her say it plainly. "We're not in love" she said, her stomach flipped saying it out loud.

"Oh" Snow said, frowning slightly "sorry I just saw the way you…" she seemed to decide that sentence was not to be finished "so it was like when you kissed Henry and broke the curse, it felt the same?"

"Um" Emma thought for a moment. No it didn't feel like that at all. She felt a nervous energy around Regina that was only soothed when they were together and being real with one another. Regina had just demonstrated how quickly she shut other people out. As soon as Snow and David returned she was tense and defensive.

"It's just different, mom" she said quietly.

She couldn't explain how what she felt for Regina was different from what snow felt for David, but she said that is was and Snow accepted that, at least nominally and that was all Emma needed right now.

Snow kissed her on the cheek and wished her goodnight. It was late and she was tired but she tossed and turned in bed, her mind wouldn't let her sleep.

"Henry Daniel Mills" she said to herself quietly in the dark of her room "that woman".