Mary Margaret was just pulling the pizza she had made - a favorite of both Henry and Emma - out of the oven when she heard the sound of a car pulling up out front. Regina - it seemed - had heard it too, because Mary Margaret could hear the sound of her heels clicking rapidly across the floors toward the front door. Mary Margaret quickly set the pizza on the counter, flicked the oven off, and ran out to join Regina.
By the time she made it to the foyer, Regina had already flung the door open and rushed outside, collapsing on the ground and clinging fiercely to Henry as she cried. Mary Margaret smiled softly to herself as she watched Henry hug Regina tightly.
"It's okay. I'm okay." Henry whispered against Regina's ear as she continued to cry. Her words were mumbled by her sobs, but he could just make out "came back".
"Of course I came back, Mom." He assured gently. "I had to. And I brought Emma, just like we planned."
At those words, Regina's head snapped up and she looked beyond Henry to where Emma Swan once again stood awkwardly watching their reunion. Her hair was shorter and her skin tanner, but it was most definitely her.
At the sight of her and the feel of Henry in her arms, Regina felt something shift inside her. The void Maleficent had said would never be filled felt much smaller now.
Henry was out of the car before Emma could even stop it fully and for a brief moment she considered just pushing down on the gas and heading straight back out of town. But as much as that would be the easy option, she knew she couldn't actually do it, so she finished parking the car and climbed out.
She watched as the front door flew open and Regina raced down the steps, practically collapsing as she embraced Henry. Behind them she saw Mary Margaret moving out onto the porch. The sight of the woman brought a small smile onto her lips.
But the smile faded as the scene suddenly changed. It wasn't Mary Margaret standing there but a man in a leather jacket. And Regina wasn't wearing black slacks and a blazer, but a cream colored dress.
She blinked hard and the image faded, but she was then faced with Regina's dark eyes staring up at her.
"Hi." She mumbled awkwardly, feeling a huge jolt of déjà vu.
She watched as Regina stood and Henry turned to look at her. She could see Regina's mouth moving, but all that she could hear was Henry's voice.
"I found my real mom!"
"You're Henry's birth mother?"
"Emma?" She felt a hand on her arm and looked down to see Henry holding on to her. "Emma, what's wrong?"
She blinked and shook her head. "No-nothing. I'm sorry." She looked up at Regina, who was still just standing, looking at her. "Mayor Mills, I am so, so sorry. I had no idea that Henry was coming to find me. I swear. And I -"
Regina held up a hand to stop her. "I know, Miss Swan. It's alright." Then she offered her a small smile. "Thank you for bringing him back."
Emma could hear the emotion in her voice, so she nodded. "Of course. This is where he belongs." She glanced down at Henry to make sure he understood, but he was cuddled up against Regina's side, looking completely content. If that was the case, then why had he run away and acted like he didn't want to come back? It didn't make sense. But then, that was par for the course lately.
"Well, um, now that he's back safely, I'm just gonna go." She said, shoving her hands into her pockets.
"No!" Regina said quickly, shocking everyone with the intensity of her voice. "I mean, it's getting late and you've been driving for so long. You must be tired and hungry."
Mary Margaret moved down the steps finally, closer to the woman who was her daughter. "I just pulled a pizza out of the oven. Please, come in and at least eat before you go."
"I - I shouldn't. Really, I don't want to intrude."
Regina stepped forward and reached out, gently grasping Emma's arm. "Emma." She whispered the name. "Please, come in and eat."
Looking into her eyes, Emma found she was powerless to resist. "Okay. But just one piece."
"Yes!" Henry grinned, grabbing Mary Margaret's arm and tugging her toward the house. "Come on, Miss Blanchard, we have to set the table."
Mary Margaret looked back at Emma, itching to reach out and hug the woman, but allowed herself to be pulled into the house by Henry.
"Regina -" Emma started once they were gone.
Regina shook her head. "Come in and eat. We'll worry about the rest later." Then she gently pulled the blonde into her house, shutting the door tightly behind her.
Dinner went well. Too well, actually, in Emma's opinion. It felt so easy and natural to be with these people, to sit around the table and talk and laugh with them. And Emma knew full well that those types of feelings only spelled disaster.
She'd loved spending time with Henry and found herself falling more and more in love with the boy with every minute. And although she'd only known her for a week, sitting beside Mary Margaret and laughing with her felt as natural as though she'd known the woman her whole life. And then there was Regina. She knew that there had been no love lost between them before, but now the woman seemed genuinely happy to see her. It was confusing enough without the fact that every time Emma looked at her, she kept seeing flashes of her looking panicked and in need of help. Emma knew that she was only setting herself up for one hell of a fall, allowing herself to feel comfortable here, as though they were some sort of big happy family or something. That couldn't be further from the truth and Emma knew she needed to get out of Storybrooke as soon as she could, no matter how much it might initially hurt.
She saw her opportunity when Regina announced it was time for Henry to get ready for bed. She half expected some kind of tantrum from Henry, but the boy just hopped down from his seat, put his dishes in the sink, and then came over to her, hugging her tightly. She could feel his little fingers digging into her flesh, as though trying to keep hold of her forever, but then he pulled back a little and his grip loosened.
"Bye, Emma." He whispered and she felt her heart clench. The first time she'd given him up, he'd only been a day old, unable to say goodbye, and she'd known she was doing the right thing for him. The second time, she'd been able to leave because she knew it was what was best for all of them and because she couldn't remember anything about him. But now, this time, she'd had time to get to know him. She knew what a great kid he was and she knew what she was giving up - what she had chosen to give up.
A lump formed in her throat and she had to blink back tears and swallow hard before she could speak. "Bye, kid." Was all she managed, but it seemed like it was enough. Henry offered her a wide smile, hugging her tightly one more time before he released her and moved over to hug and kiss his mother goodnight.
Emma watched him go, her heart breaking as she did. She stood up then, moving her own dish to the sink and then offering a small, obviously forced, smile to the two women still left in the dining room.
"Thank you for dinner, Mary Margaret. It was wonderful. And Regina, thank you for letting me stay."
"Of course, Emma." Mary Margaret smiled at her.
Regina nodded at her and offered her a smile.
"I, um, I'm just going to head out then." Emma said, shoving her hands into her pockets once again.
"No." Regina shook her head quickly, "You can't leave tonight."
Emma's brow furrowed. "What?"
"It's getting late. And you've been driving for two days straight. The last thing you need to do is get back in the car and drive some more." Regina said logically, trying to keep her voice steady. "Besides, the last time you tried to leave in the dark after driving for a long time, you wrecked into our sign. I won't have you wrecking again, Miss Swan."
"Regina, I'm fine. I can -"
"No." Regina said again, her voice taking on a hard, almost dangerous tone. "You will not leave tonight."
Mary Margaret stepped forward, reaching out and touching Emma's arm. "You can stay in your old room at my place for the night. It's still all made up for you."
"I -" Emma tried to protest, knowing that the longer she stayed, the worse it would be when she left.
"No arguments, Miss Swan. You'll stay with Miss Blanchard or you'll stay here, but you will not attempt to leave Storybrooke tonight."
Emma let out a sigh. It was obvious she wasn't going to win this battle. "Fine. But just for the night."
Mary Margaret and Regina wore matching thousand watt smiles.
Emma woke to the sound of the clock tower striking the hour the next morning. She had fallen into a pretty deep sleep the night before after a goodnight hug from Mary Margaret that had been rather intense. The teacher had held her just like Henry had, clinging tightly as though to make her stay. Emma knew they'd been friends, but felt like her reaction was a little over the top. Still, it had felt nice to have the woman hugging her and she'd relished the feeling until Mary Margaret finally let her go. When she climbed into her bed, she swore she could smell apples lingering on the sheets, but the scent comforted her and helped her drift off easily.
She'd had the same confusing dreams, flashes of faces and snippets of conversations that all rolled over each other so that she couldn't make out any of it. She did know though that Henry and Mary Margaret had featured heavily, along with Regina. She thought about asking Mary Margaret about them, but decided against it. She was only staying one night and now she was planning on leaving.
She had felt strange coming back with Mary Margaret, but also 'right', and she found herself thinking about what Dr. Rhodes had told her. Maybe Storybrooke was the best place for her to stay during her recovery. There were actually people here who could tell her if her flashes were memories or just crazy dreams.
But even as she considered staying, she knew she couldn't. She had given Henry up in a closed adoption. Even being in the same town with him was a possible law suit or jail sentence waiting to happen, and she'd done enough of that in her time already. Regina may have been nice the night before, but she knew very well that the woman would want her gone that morning.
With a sigh, Emma climbed out of bed. She could smell coffee brewing downstairs and silently thanked Mary Margaret for leaving the pot on for her. She knew the other woman would be at school already, so she headed down the stairs without thinking about what she was wearing.
She was nearly to the bottom of the steps when she caught sight of the person sitting in the kitchen sipping a cup of coffee. For a moment she thought that it was Mary Margaret, but then the woman turned.
"Madam Mayor," she said, her voice giving away her surprise.
Regina turned on her chair to face Emma, offering her a warm smile. "Good morning, dear."
"I - um - Mary Margaret isn't here." Emma offered weakly, feeling suddenly very self conscious about the fact that she was wearing only a tank top and a pair of tiny boy shorts.
"I'm not here to see Mary Margaret. I'm here to see you." Regina turned and gestured toward the basket of apples sitting on the island counter. "I brought you some apples."
"To enjoy on my drive home?" Emma questioned, the words falling out of her mouth before she could think about them.
Regina jerked back just a bit at the words she'd spoken to Emma on that first morning. "You remember that?"
Emma gripped the hand rail of the stairs, searching Regina's face for something. "I - I don't think so." Her face scrunched in concentration. "I don't know why I just said that. It just came out." Then she looked over at Regina again, her eyes wide and almost pleading, a confused expression on her face. "But that did happen before, didn't it? You brought me apples?"
"Yes." The mayor nodded and noticed how Emma seemed to relax just a bit at her words, while her face still held the strange look. "Emma?"
Emma startled a bit at hearing Regina call her by her first name. "I -" she glanced down at her clothes again, finding the perfect excuse in them, "I wasn't expecting company. I'll be right back."
Regina watched her retreat up the stairs with a frown. She hadn't meant to startle Emma, she'd only meant to try and make her feel comfortable. She should've realized that the apples might have triggered memories that were less than pleasant, but the night before it had appeared as though Emma didn't remember anything yet. Still, despite Emma's words to the contrary, it was obvious that she was remembering things, even if she didn't recognize it.
Regina needed to be able to convince her to stay, and only as she watched Emma's long, bare legs (don't go there, Regina) moving up the stairs did she realize that it might not be as easy as she'd originally planned. It seemed that nothing with Emma Swan was. Everyone else in the town was easy to manipulate into doing what she wanted, but that had never been the case with Emma. It had been nearly impossible to get the drifter to leave when she'd wanted her to, and now it seemed that the same would be true when trying to get her to stay.
Fiddling with one of the apples in the basket, Regina's mind began to work overtime, trying to come up with a way to keep Emma in Storybrooke.
Emma shut the door to her bedroom - no, Mary Margaret's guest room - and leaned heavily back on it. Seeing Regina downstairs, saying those words, apparently remembering but not really, it had all thrown her for a loop. So she'd done what she did best and ran. But she knew that sooner or later she would have to face the mayor again, so with a fortifying breath, she pushed off the door and moved over to where her clothes were.
She would get dressed, go back downstairs, assure Regina that she was leaving, and then climb in the Bug and go. It would be easier that way, not having to say goodbye to Henry or Mary Margaret. And once she got settled wherever she was, she'd see about possibly changing her name so that it wasn't so easy to track her down.
Regina looked up as she heard Emma come back down the steps. She was fully dressed this time, in her skin tight jeans and tank top, the knee high boots and red leather jacket completing the outfit that she'd been wearing when she first came to Storybrooke. Regina wondered if Emma had done that on purpose, but remembered that she had favored the jacket and figured it had been an unconscious decision.
"Madam Mayor," Emma spoke as she moved across the room, "I just want to assure you again that I am leaving. I don't want any trouble and I -" Emma stopped speaking mid sentence, her eyes fixed on Regina's chest.
"Miss Swan?"
"My necklace." Emma murmured, her eyes still trained on the circular pendant that hung around Regina's neck. She glanced up briefly, meeting brown eyes, before looking back down at the necklace again. "You're wearing my necklace."
Her fingers reached out and ran over the pendant, ghosting over olive skin as they did. Emma jerked her fingers back as soon as she felt Regina's flesh and saw the woman shudder at her touch. "I - I'm sorry. I -"
Regina swallowed hard, trying to push down the feelings that Emma's caress had stirred. "No, it's fine. You're right. It is your necklace."
"Where did you get it?"
"Mr. Gold found it in the woods after your accident. He gave it to me." Regina's fingers moved to the clasp on the back of the golden chain.
"No." Emma reached out, her hand curling on Regina's arm to stop her. "Don't."
"It's yours." Regina replied, trying to read Emma's face.
Emma shrugged. "It was. But it looks better on you. Keep it. Please."
"Emma."
Emma looked away, her gaze focusing on the basket of apples. "Thank you, for the apples. I will take them for the ride home."
Regina stood then, moving into Emma's personal space. "You're leaving?"
Emma looked confused. "I thought that's what you wanted? I shouldn't be here. I shouldn't be anywhere near Henry."
"But you want to be." Regina countered, hoping that she was right.
Emma picked up the basket and moved away. "It doesn't matter what I want."
"I think it does." Regina replied, reaching out and catching Emma's wrist in her grasp. "We should talk about this, Miss Swan."
"Madam Mayor -"
"Come have breakfast with me." Regina countered quickly. "We'll discuss it and then you can choose what you'd like to do."
Emma blinked, trying to understand what was going on, but then nodded. "Fine. But after breakfast, I'm leaving."
Regina inclined her head in acknowledgement, slipping her arm through Emma's like she had with Belle on the road all those years and worlds ago. "Whatever you say, Miss Swan."