AN: Language warning in this chapter.

Ch. 5 – Love and Determination

Henry squirmed in his seat as mother and son stared at the red traffic light ahead of them.

"Come on, come on. Green, green!"

"Henry! I swear, if you yell at one more traffic light I'm turning this car around."

"Sorry, but every second we sit here, she gets farther away!" Henry grumbled still bouncing in the seat.

Finally, the light turned green and Regina pressed the gas.

"I already told you Henry, I don't think we can get to her in time, I'm not driving all the way out of town."

"We have to catch up to her; I have to give her the book."

He leaned forward, straining himself against the seatbelt, willing the car to go faster.

"Come on mom, floor it!"

Regina turned a stern gaze on her son, "Henry, I will not go 80 miles per hour through town!"

Slumping back in defeat, Henry held onto his book tighter with a determined expression etched on his face.

As they turned onto the highway however, heading towards the town line, Regina found herself driving faster than she normally would.

XxXxX

Emma Swan was never one to be called a grandma driver, when she had a destination in mind, she drove there with purpose. No dilly-dallying, no messing around on her phone, she was a safe driver, but she was a bit of a speed demon. Today however, as much as she had told herself to leave town immediately she could barely bring herself to go the speed limit, trying to prolong her time here in Storybrooke as long as possible.

Leaving Henry had been one of the hardest things she had ever had to do. She wasn't a crier, but the waterworks hadn't stopped until she made it to the highway. She had no idea where she was going to go or when she would get to see Henry next. All her life, all she wanted was a loving family, parents who cared for her and treated her with kindness. When she had Henry, she loved him from the moment she set eyes on him, but at 18 and in jail, there was no way she could have been a good mother to him. She gave him up to give him his best chance, praying he would go to a good family.

Never in a million years would she have thought he would end up in the hands of The Evil Queen from a Fairytale land that was actually her home and the same woman no less whose curse was the reason Emma had grown up in the system without parents.

Parents, after all this time wondering who they were and why they gave her up, she had finally found them. Only to discover they were the same age as Emma herself and didn't remember who they really were let alone recognize Emma as the little bundle they gave up 28 years ago.

This entire situation was so completely screwed up; Emma half wished it was all a dream. That she would wake up back in her apartment realizing it was some crazy nightmare due to too many drinks the night before. But no such luck. The town of Storybrooke was real, finding out she was a Princess from a far off land was real, and grasping the fact that her parents were Snow White and Prince Charming was very real. But the cherry on top was knowing that the woman who had taken care of Henry, her son, for the past 11 years, the woman who had cursed an entire kingdom, and the woman who Emma had begun to care for was actually a god damn Evil Queen. What the hell.

"How?!" Emma blurted out, disturbing the silence in her car, "How did this fucking happen?"

"I mean, seriously, all I wanted to do was bring Henry home, that's it! Simple! But no, nothing ever goes right, does it. Why would it, I've never had good luck before, why start now?"

Through her rant, Emma failed to notice a black Mercedes quickly coming up behind her.

"That stupid town, everyone there is crazy, full of God damn fairytale characters! I just can't freaking believe it. I find out I'm royalty, my long lost mother is Snow White, and I start having feelings for a psychotic witch who is the mother of my son!" She's raging now.

"What is wrong with me, how did I even get into this mess, and who is that jerk riding my ass?!" Emma looked into the rear view mirror glaring at whoever was driving behind her flashing their lights and now honking their horn.

Just as Emma was about to give them a certain hand gesture her eyes widened in recognition of the car.

She faced forward again seeing the town sign just up ahead, she was so close to leaving town, what on earth was Regina doing following her.

Slowing down the car, Emma pulled over, confused and still slightly flustered from her earlier tirade.

As soon as her foot hit the ground, she saw Henry rushing toward her as fast as he could go while carrying something.

Her mouth opened in surprise, "Henry?"

She knelt down as he crashed into her, holding on tight.

Regina walked towards the pair, her heels clicking on the pavement.

"My god Miss Swan did you have blinders on, I was flashing my lights at you for the past quarter mile."

Emma rolled her eyes, that woman never missed a chance at sarcasm.

She pulled back and looked at Henry, "Hey, what are you doing here?"

He stepped back just enough to show her the book, "I had to give this to you before you left." He said, pushing it into her hands.

She stared at it then looked back up to him clearly confused, "Henry, this is yours, I can't take it."

He shook his head stubbornly, a trait he picked up from both his mothers, "No, I want you to have it. I still don't know why you're leaving, but you can't forget who you are Emma."

A fresh wave of emotion came over the blonde as she listened to the young boy, tears creeping their way down both their cheeks.

"I know you think I'm just a silly kid, but I know the curse is real, it has to be and I know you'll break it one day. You might not believe in me, but I believe in you," He threw himself into her, hugging her as tight as he could, not wanting to let go. "I love you Emma."

A fresh sob escaped her throat as she wrapped her arms around her son holding onto him for dear life.

"Oh Henry…"

Turning her head she whispered into his ear, "I love you too," before kissing him on the cheek.

It was then she felt the strangest sensation she had ever experienced. It was like the next beat her heart made tripled in strength and a wave of energy radiated out from her chest. She opened her eyes with a gasp as she saw a surge of light shoot through the air, spreading in all directions.

Apparently Henry had felt something too because he pulled back and looked at her with wide eyes, "What was that?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Emma shook her head, "I don't know."

It wasn't until a voice from a few feet away spoke did they realize what had happened.

"Oh my god."

Henry and Emma turned their heads to look at Regina who wore an array of expressions on her face from fear to confusion to astonishment.

Henry took a hesitant step towards her, "What mom," another step, "what just happened?"

But in that moment Regina only had eyes for Emma.

"You actually did it, you broke the curse."

XxXxX

Emma and Regina were still locked in a heavy gaze while Henry looked back and forth between the two women with his mouth wide open in shock.

"It's real?" he choked out, "It's actually real?"

His eyes fell on his brunette mother. She still looked stricken as she slowly turned her head to face him, not saying a word. She had no idea what to say.

"I knew it, I knew it!"

"Henry…" Emma muttered, tearing her gaze away from Regina to look at her son. Neither woman needed his 'I told you so' speech at the moment.

Unfortunately, Henry wasn't done, "Ha! What was it you said, it's not real, they're just made up stories, there is no curse? Well guess what, I was right, I was right all along!" He pointed a finger at Emma, "You're the Savior, your parents are Snow White and Prince Charming," then turned his finger to Regina, "and you're the Evil Queen. You cursed everyone."

"Henry, stop."

He looked back to Emma, eyes wide, "No, Emma, my whole life was a lie! You grew up alone because of her." Henry turned hard eyes back to his step mother and spoke in a low voice, "Did you ever even really love me?"

Regina flinched and looked away.

"HENRY! That is enough!"

Both brunettes startled at Emma's outburst, but Henry was in the most shock. Emma was never stern with him. That was always Regina's job.

Emma walked over to him and knelt down taking his arm in a firm hold, "Henry, listen to me, I know you're upset and overwhelmed right now, so am I. But this is why I was leaving, I found out the curse was real yesterday and I couldn't deal with it. I'm sorry that I lied to you but I wanted you to grow up with as normal a life as you could, I didn't want you to have to deal with fairytales and all the other nonsense that comes with it."

She sighed and slightly loosened her grip on his arm.

"But I guess that is kind of shot now that I just broke the curse."

Emma slid her hand down his arm and took both of his hands in hers, "Look, none of this is going to be easy, it's not every day you learn you're a character from a storybook. But I don't want you to talk that way to your mom."

He frowned, "You're my mom."

"Yes, I am. I gave birth to you and I love you with all my heart, but Regina is your mom too. She is the one who has taken care of you your whole life. Maybe she was the Evil Queen once upon a time, but here, she's Regina, she's your mom. Can you honestly tell me you don't have any good memories with her?"

Henry stayed defiantly silent, his eyes trained on their hands.

"Give her some respect Henry, I know she doesn't want to be the woman she once was. She's cared for you and she loves you, I want you to remember that."

Silence.

"Okay?"

Grumbling, he nodded his head in acknowledgment.

"Good, now go get back in the car."

He turned, shuffling his feet as he climbed into the back seat, lugging his heavy book with him.

Emma finally turned towards Regina who was looking at her.

"Are you still leaving?" she asked dryly.

Emma held back her snort, "Hell no, my parents are back there and they know who they are this time!"

She lost focus for a second as she realized, "It's going to be a bit awkward with Mary Margaret though after some of the stuff we've talked about… but Jesus, I've waited my whole life to meet them and I'll be damned if it doesn't happen."

Drawing her eyes back to Regina's she continued, "Sorry Regina, but I guess you're not going to get rid of me that easy. Drive Henry back to your house, I'll follow."

Emma was about to walk to her car but she noticed Regina's hesitation and for a split second a fearful look fell upon the older woman's face.

"Regina?"

Sighing, she gave Emma a hard glare, "My curse of 28 years just broke Miss Swan, a curse that had everyone lose their memory of their real identity and taken away from their home, do you really think I'm just going to be able to stroll back into town? I'll have a mob at my house waiting to wring my neck." She glanced to the car quickly, making sure Henry hadn't heard her. He didn't need to know what she was sure some of Storybrooke's citizens had in store for her.

Emma opened her mouth to respond but nothing came out, somehow that thought hadn't formed in her brain yet. But she knew Regina was right, people would not be happy. Although, what surprised Emma the most was the vulnerability she saw on the mayor's features, if this had happened a few months ago, Regina wouldn't hesitate to put up a fight, Emma thought. Not that Regina was about to give herself up, but the very fact that this emotion was showing through meant that Regina's iron-clad walls were starting to crack, she was different than when Emma first met her, she wasn't as cold and cruel, she was more, more human. And Emma quite suddenly realized she felt the need to protect her.

Henry had been right about everything having to do with these fairytales so far, maybe her being the Savior was true as well. She was supposed to save everyone who was cursed, but maybe above everyone else, she was supposed to save the one person who was the most broken, the Queen herself.

Steeling her features, Emma turned on her heel and marched purposely over to Regina, standing in front of her and looking straight into her eyes.

Regina withdrew slightly from the sudden invasion of her personal space, but didn't take any steps back.

Emma raised her arms and grasped both of Regina's shoulders, giving them a light squeeze, slightly surprised when Regina didn't immediately shake her off.

"I'm not going to let anything happen to you."

The look on the brunettes face would have been comical had it not been such a serious situation.

But soon the mayor realized the blonde was indeed, quite serious and her confused expression turned to a weary one.

"Why do you care what happens to me, all of this is my fault."

Emma just continued to look into her eyes, sea blue at chocolate brown, and tried to convey the words in her head that she didn't quite understand yet, the words she just couldn't quite say to Regina all in that one look, before she simply stated, "I just do."

Emma released her hold on Regina's shoulders and took a step back closing her eyes. She drew in a shuddering breath trying to calm her heart which had unknowingly increased in pace.

Focusing once again on the brunette, Emma gave her a small smile before saying, "Let's head back to your house Regina, we'll figure out a plan from there."