Author's Note: Thanks again for all the reviews, favorites, alerts, etc. It really does mean a lot to me, and I really enjoy reading everyone's take on the story. This chapter sets up things that are going to start happening and I know it may not be how everyone envisioned it going but I do have a plan, I promise. I hope you'll stick with me and enjoy it. :)

"How did it go?" Mary Margaret asked when Emma walked back into the apartment.

The table was set and all of the food that had been delivered was spread out on the table. Emma snagged a cookie and ate it, ignoring Mary Margaret's reproachful look.

"It went fine. I dropped the kid off, asked Regina about my brakes, and left."

"You asked her about cutting your brakes?"

Emma nodded as she settled down and began filling her plate.

"And what did she say?"

"That she didn't do it. And that she didn't hire anyone else to."

"And you believe her?" Mary Margaret tried to keep the question as neutral as possible, but Emma could hear her skepticism.

"Yes. It's like my superpower. I can tell when people are lying to me. And Regina wasn't lying to me." Emma studied Mary Margaret. "But you thought she'd done it too, didn't you?"

"You and Regina aren't exactly on the best terms. There's everything with Henry and you beating her candidate for sheriff. There's just a lot of bad blood. And Regina can be ruthless when she wants to be."

Emma took a bite of her sandwich. "Well whatever she may or may not be, she didn't cut my brakes."

They ate in silence for a while and Emma had to admit that if nothing else, the people of Storybrooke sure knew how to cook. Maybe that was why she had stayed?

Finally, after her plate was cleared, she brought up the question that had been nagging at her mind. "So, this idea Henry has about the town and the curse… where did that come from?"

Mary Margaret sighed. "He's a lonely little boy. He doesn't have any friends at school really. But he's got such an active imagination. So I gave him a book of fairy tales to read and… that's how it all started."

"And I supposedly believed all this too?"

Mary Margaret smiled. "I think you were humoring him, like we all do. Well, all except Regina. She doesn't like Henry's theory."

"Can't say I blame her. She's the evil one according to him. I wouldn't like it either. Plus, it's one thing to believe in fairy tales, but another to believe that the whole town is cursed and everyone is a fairy tale character. That's not normal, Mary Margaret."

"I know. And Regina's been sending Henry to Dr. Hopper to try and nip everything in the bud, but ever since he found you…" Mary Margaret smiled softly, "you gave him hope."

Emma shook her head and took her dishes to the sink. Then she turned back and looked at Mary Margaret again. "Do you think Regina is a bad mother to Henry?"

The teacher looked shocked by the question and didn't seem to know how to answer it. "I - I mean -"

"Mary Margaret, I need you to tell me the truth here. Do you think she's a bad mom?"

"She can be very strict with him, which I know upsets Henry."

Emma shook her head. "Not what I asked."

"She isn't exactly a touchy feely person either."

Again Emma shook her head. "Mary Margaret, do you think Regina would ever purposely hurt Henry?"

Mary Margaret frowned. "No. Of course not."

"Do you think he's right and that she doesn't care about him?"

"No."

"Has Henry ever come to school with bruises or gone hungry or not had a steady place to live or clothes that he needed?"

"No. No. Emma, why are you asking this?"

"Because I want to know if Regina is a good mother. And you just answered my question." Emma turned to go upstairs.

"Emma, those things don't necessarily make her a good mother. And just because you gave him up, it doesn't make you a bad mother." Mary Margaret called after her.

Emma turned and looked down at the brunette. "No, it doesn't. It doesn't make me a mother at all. And maybe you're right and those things don't make a good mother, but they make a better one than I ever had, and that's all I ever wanted for him."

"Emma -"

"I'm going up to bed. I have an appointment with Dr. Whale in the morning, and I want to be well rested. Dinner was really good. Thanks again for everything."

"Of course." Mary Margaret replied to Emma's retreating back, a frown settling on her face.

Dr. Whale removed the bandage over the hole they'd had to drill above her temple to cut off the artery that had been bleeding into her brain. He examined the wound and the staples holding it together, nodding and mumbling under his breath as he did so. Emma tried hard not to fidget.

"Everything appears to be healing up nicely, Emma. The swelling of the brain has gone down completely, which is a great sign, and none of the tests we've run show any signs of any other bleeds or problems. I think it's safe to say that the bleed was caused by the head injury from your accident and that we repaired it successfully."

"Does that mean that I'm cleared to drive?"

Dr. Whale frowned. "Not just yet. I'd still like to track your recovery and see you a few more times before I release you to drive." He looked at his patient, who looked crestfallen at his answer. "Why do you ask, Emma?"

Emma sighed and looked up at him. "I know you said that this memory stuff could just be temporary and I could wake up tomorrow and remember everything but - so far it hasn't happened. I don't remember this town, I don't remember anyone in it, and frankly, Dr. Whale, I don't have any reason to stay here."

"Henry is -"

"Henry is Regina's son, not mine. And I don't know why I was staying here before, but… for my own sanity, I need to go back to Boston. That's where my life is. Not here."

"Are you sure you want to make a change this big right now?"

"It's not a change for me, Dr. Whale. It's what I know. I feel uncomfortable here, with everyone staring at me, waiting for me to remember when you and I both know that chances are, I won't. I know that I'll recover better in Boston than I will here. So please, can't you release me to drive?"

Dr. Whale sighed. "I can't do that. Not today. Come back in a week and if everything is going well with the recovery, and if you promise to continue to see a doctor in Boston for follow up visits, then I will release you."

Emma narrowed her eyes. "Really? One more week and I'm free to leave?"

"As long as you seek medical help in Boston."

"Deal." Emma shook his hand for fair measure.

Emma stood on the porch of the mayor's house, taking in the sight of it. It was large and imposing, to be sure, but Emma thought it also looked like it could be a warm and inviting home at times. It was comforting to know, at least, that Henry had grown up in a place like this, where there was plenty of room for him and where he had obviously never known poverty.

Emma had questioned Mary Margaret a bit more this morning, finding out that it was just Regina raising Henry. With that knowledge, she raised her hand and knocked.

It took a little longer this time, but it was once again Regina who answered the door. "Miss Swan," she greeted almost cautiously.

"Hi." Emma tried to smile. "Is it still okay if I talk to Henry today?"

Regina blinked and then nodded, opening the door a little wider to allow Emma to enter.

"Thank you."

"Henry, come down here please." Regina called up the steps once Emma had entered the house.

No movement was heard upstairs and Regina sighed. "There's someone here to see you." She tried and this time, heavy footfalls could be heard as the boy rushed for the stairs.

Emma could see the pained look that Regina was trying so hard to hide. She frowned as the kid came into view at the top of the steps.

"Emma!" Henry exclaimed as he raced down the steps to tackle her with another hug.

"Hey, kid."

"What are you doing here? Did you remember?"

"I'm here to talk to you for a little while. And no, I don't remember anything."

Henry frowned at her answer, but then lit up again. "What do you need to talk about?"

Emma glanced at Regina. She didn't really have a problem with the woman being there when she talked to Henry, but she thought it might make Henry more resistant. Regina seemed to catch her line of thinking.

"Why don't you two use the living room for your talk? I'll be in my study if you need anything."

Emma nodded her appreciation and Henry quickly led her to the living room, settling down on the couch. Emma took in the room and, even knowing that Regina would probably have a fit, sat down on the coffee table that was directly across from Henry. She needed to be looking him right in the eye for this conversation.

Regina frowned as she watched Emma sit on her coffee table from her vantage point just outside the living room, but said nothing. She wasn't even supposed to be watching or listening to them, but she needed to know what it was that Emma seemed to want to talk to Henry about.

Once they were settled, Emma put her hands on her knees and rubbed up and down a few times before she finally began to speak. "So, I had an appointment with Dr. Whale this morning."

"What did he say? When does he think you'll get your memory back? Everything's okay, right?"

Emma laughed a little. "Whoa, kid, slow down, okay? He said everything looks good with my recovery so far. But Henry, he also said that it's very possible that I will never get my memory back."

"You will. I know you will. You have to."

"Henry," Emma leaned forward, "this isn't a story. It's real life. And things don't always end with happily ever after."

"But Emma -"

"He also said," Emma cut him off, "that as long as everything continues to go well with my recovery he would release me to drive in a week."

Henry's brow furrowed for a moment. "Okay."

"Henry, when Dr. Whale releases me to drive, I'm going to drive back to Boston." Emma spoke gently, as though trying to cushion the blow.

Henry's eyes widened. "No! You can't. You can't leave. We need you here! I need you here. Please, Emma. You just can't leave. The curse is -"

Emma reached out and squeezed Henry's hands, cutting him off. "Henry, there is no curse. It's just a story in a book that you want to believe because it makes life seem more exciting. And I understand that, believe me, I do. But you have to understand that it isn't real."

"Yes, it is!" Henry protested.

"My life is in Boston. That's what I know. And that's where I'm going to go next week. I'm sorry if it hurts you or upsets you but… it's what I need to do."

Tears slipped down Henry's face. "No. You can't leave me with her. She's evil, Emma. This is exactly what she wants."

"Henry," Emma's voice was sharp, surprising both Henry and Regina. "You have to stop this. Your mother is not evil."

"Yes, she is! And she's not my mother."

"Henry." Emma reached out and actually took hold of Henry by the shoulders. "It's enough. Seriously. It has to stop. I understand that sometimes this world is hard to take and that it's much more exciting and fun to imagine you live in a world where fairy tales exist and things are as simple as good and evil, but it isn't true. There is no curse. Your mother is not evil. And you need to stop saying that she is."

Tears continued to roll down Henry's cheeks. "This is what she wants. She wants you to leave. She wants you to not believe. Don't let her win, Emma. Please, don't let her win."

"Henry, if your mother is evil, if she honestly wanted me gone, then why did she pull me out of that car? Think about it. I was all alone. If she hadn't stopped, I would've died. She could've let me there, pretended she didn't see me and just continued on. But she didn't, Henry. She stopped and she came over and she risked herself to pull me out of a burning car. What part of that says evil to you?"

Henry frowned, trying to find the explanation for his mother's actions. There had to be one.

"She didn't cut my brakes. I asked her and she told me herself that she didn't."

"She was lying!"

"Nope. I have a superpower, kid. I know when people are lying to me and your mother was being honest. She didn't cut my brakes, but she did save me. That's what good people do, Henry, not people who are evil."

"At the hospital –"

"At the hospital, yes, your mom was a little mean. But it was only because she was trying to protect you. She thought I was faking my amnesia and that I was hurting you by doing that. She loves you, Henry. She wants you to be happy. How is that evil?"

"Emma –"

"Do you honestly believe that she doesn't love you?" Emma asked, her eyes staring directly into Henry's. "Can you look me in the eye and tell me that she's never shown you any kind of love before? That you don't have any happy memories with her? Can you do that?"

Regina felt her breath hitch as she waited for the damnation about to come from Henry's lips. But it didn't come.

Henry looked at Emma and opened his mouth, but found that he couldn't speak. Because he could and did remember times when he had been happy with Regina. When he'd loved her and she'd loved him back – at least in his child's mind. But it had all been a lie, because she was the Evil Queen. Hadn't it?

"See." Emma gestured between them. "So if you believed it then, why can't you believe it now?"

"She took me away from you! She's trying to keep me from you."

Emma's eyes closed and she took in a deep breath before she opened them again. "Henry, when and how did you find out you were adopted?"

Regina leaned closer in the doorway, still staying out of sight, but trying to take in every word of their conversation. Emma was asking questions that she'd always wanted to ask but had never been able to.

"A month or so before I came to find you." Henry admitted quietly. "I overheard Mr. Gold talking to her about it. About how I wasn't really her son – how she'd adopted me and never told me about you."

Emma nodded slowly, in some kind of understanding. "And so you tracked me down."

"Because I needed you. I knew I had to find you."

"Henry, did you get the book before or after you found out you were adopted?" Emma pressed.

"A couple days before."

Again, Emma nodded. "So you were given a book of fairy tales that I'm assuming had pictures that looked like some people here in Storybrooke in which the Evil Queen looked like your mom. And then you found out that your whole life had been a lie."

Regina nearly burst into the room at Emma's comment. How dare that woman say that Henry's whole life had been a lie? She had no idea what Henry's life had been because she had given him up.

"Yes!" Henry nodded quickly.

"So you projected your anger at your mom for lying to you onto the book. And you allowed yourself to believe that she was evil, because only someone who was evil would do something like that."

Henry wasn't as quick to say yes this time. "I wasn't projecting."

"I think you were. I think you were angry and that made it easy to believe that what was in the book could be real. But Henry, it isn't. And your life wasn't a lie. You are Regina's son."

"I'm yours!" He protested, although it seemed slightly weaker than before.

Emma sighed. "Henry, I gave birth to you. That's true. But I also gave you up. And when I gave you up, I asked for a closed adoption. That means that you and your mom weren't supposed to know who I was. And I wasn't supposed to ever see you again. I wanted it that way. And just the fact that I'm here right now is in violation of that agreement. If your mom really wanted to, she could have me arrested for violating the adoption agreement. I think the only reason she hasn't was for you."

Henry shook his head again, but said nothing.

"I gave you up. I made the decision that you should never know who I was. I chose to give you up. And your Mom chose you. She chose you to be her son. She chose to love you. You are her son, that's not a lie. I'm not cut out to be anyone's mother, Henry. That's not who I am. And if that makes anyone the villain in this story, then it's me."

Henry continued to cry silently as he looked at her.

"I'm sorry, Henry." Emma told him softly. "But I am leaving next week. I know that you might hate me for that and that's okay. This is what I need to do. And maybe someday you'll understand and forgive me. But even if you never do, I just want you to know that when I gave you up, I wanted to give you your best chance. And I did that. You got that here, Henry. And I don't regret it."

She leaned forward and kissed his forehead. "Goodbye, Henry."

"No, Emma, please!" Henry called from the couch, but Emma just kept walking.

Regina had just barely made it into her study when Emma crossed over the threshold. She kept her head down, as though reading the papers in front of her, until Emma cleared her throat softly.

"Um, Madam Mayor?"

Regina schooled her features before looking up. She couldn't let it show on her face that she'd heard everything. "Yes, Miss Swan?"

"I just wanted to let you know that I, uh, finished my talk with Henry. He's a little upset but I think he'll get over it. Eventually."

"And why is he upset?" Regina asked, her eyes boring into Emma.

"Because I told him that I'm going to be leaving town in a week." Emma admitted. "I know that it's customary to give two weeks' notice when leaving a job, but… I hope one is enough."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out her badge. "Mary Margaret said that you had backed Sidney in the election. I thought that he could take over for me."

Regina watched as Emma placed the badge down on the desk. "You're serious about this?"

Emma nodded. "It's what I need to do. It's what's best for all of us, I think."

"Then I accept your resignation, Miss Swan."

"Thank you." Emma said. She turned to leave the room, but stopped and turned back. "We were never friends, were we?"

Regina looked up in surprise. "No, Miss Swan. I can't say that we were."

"That's too bad." Emma smiled sadly. "Regardless though, I just want to say thank you for everything. I don't know what happened between us but I know it can't have been easy having me here. I can't explain my motivations for why I stayed, because I don't know what they were. But I do know that I'm so thankful to you."

"And why are you thankful to me?" Regina asked, genuinely wanting to know what Emma was thinking.

"You saved my life, for one thing." Emma shrugged. "But more than that, you loved my son and made him your own. After I gave him up, that was what I worried about the most. If he would be happy and loved and well taken care of. And now I know that he is. I don't have to worry any more. So I'll be forever thankful for that."

Regina found that she couldn't say anything. She only offered a small smile to the blonde.

"Goodbye, Mayor Mills."

"Goodbye, Miss Swan."

Regina watched Emma go and was surprised to find that the joy she always expected to feel when Emma finally left wasn't there. Instead, it was just more of the same emptiness that had been there since she'd enacted the curse.