"Put the rest of that pie into the freezer, Henry. We'll have it later tonight." Regina walked into her house, locking the door behind her. Henry nodded, dropped his backpack on the floor and ran to the kitchen. "And please put your backpack in your room!" she called after him. He had the worst habit of leaving his things scattered everywhere. But as she hung up her coat, she smiled, admitting to herself that it was nice to have his clutter around the house again.

Regina followed Henry into the kitchen, where she found him eating cereal by the handful straight from the box.

"Henry! We just had lunch." Regina shook her head.

"Hey, I'm a growing boy," he shrugged.

Regina walked behind him and grabbed a bowl and spoon out of the cupboard. "Even growing boys don't need to eat with their hands." She placed the bowl in front of him and handed him the spoon.

Henry smiled. "But it tastes so much better this way." A quick glare from Regina got Henry taking the spoon from her and pouring the cereal into the bowl. "So, what's for dinner?"

Regina laughed as Henry shrugged again. "Well, I haven't cooked for you in a while. What do you want?"

"Lasagna," Henry answered immediately.

Regina smiled. He always loved her lasagna. "Then you shall have it." She went to the fridge to see what ingredients she was missing. While making the list, she had a thought. "Henry, do you remember that horrible snowstorm when you were eight?"

Henry nodded. "Sure. We couldn't leave the house for 3 days. You wouldn't even let me build a snowman. But to make it up to me, you let me build a blanket fort in the living room and sleep in it in my sleeping bag, and we roasted marshmallows in the fireplace."

"Well, how about we do that again? Blanket fort, marshmallows, sleeping bags… What do you say?"

Henry looked at her for a minute. Oh no. Was he too old for this now? She didn't want to be an embarrassing mom, still treating him like a little kid. But then he said, "can we get ice cream, too?"

Regina tilted her head. "Marshmallows, pie and ice cream? I think that might be too much, even for you." She reached out and took the sugary cereal from him as he tried to pour himself another bowl. She went to put it back in the cupboard. "But, as long as we're roasting marshmallows, I suppose I can buy chocolate and crackers to make s'mores."

When Regina turned around, Henry was grinning at her. Regina said, "but, before we can do that, I know you have that math assignment to finish."

"Aw, mom!"

"I have to go to the grocery store anyway. I expect it to be done by the time I get back."

Henry frowned, but didn't argue. He put his bowl and spoon in the sink, grabbed his backpack and headed up to his room, screaming, "don't forget the marshmallows!"

…

After 28 years of visiting the same, unchanging grocery store, Regina was an expert at quick shopping. She had gotten everything on her list and was heading for the checkout when she turned the corner and nearly bumped into Marian.

"I'm sorry," Marian said, before looking up and seeing who it was. "Oh."

Regina swallowed. "Marian. It's good to see you up and about. Are you feeling better?"

Marian was staring at her. Regina didn't flinch, didn't look away, and kept her gaze steady and open. "I am feeling very well, thank you," Marian said.

Regina waited a moment, but neither of them seemed to have anything else to say. So she nodded, and walked past Marian.

"Regina," Marian said. Regina turned around to face the other woman. "I heard what you did to help me. With the potion. I just wanted to say thank you."

Regina looked at her. Marian seemed sincere. And only a little apprehensive. "You're welcome," she said. Regina waited a moment, seeing Marian struggle, as though she wasn't sure she should say anything more.

Finally, Marian said, "I saw you with your son at lunch. It seems he and Roland are friends."

Regina wasn't sure where this was going, but Marian didn't appear hostile. "Yes, they get along quite well."

Marian was choosing her words carefully. "I think it would be nice for our boys to get together. I'm glad Roland's made new friends here." Marian looked directly into her eyes. "I don't want to keep Roland from anyone he's grown close to."

Regina looked at her, understanding everything she was saying. "How does Robin feel about that?"

Marian broke eye contact at that. "Robin has been… acting strangely since he broke the freezing curse."

Regina stood a little straighter. "How so?" she asked carefully.

"He's been wonderful with me, but he seems to have a temper. And very little patience." Regina waited for Marian to elaborate. "Earlier today, he was yelling at one of his merry men, just for being a poor archer. I've never seen him yell at his men before. He also kicked out another man, for a minor prank. He's rarely ever kicked men out of his band, and when he has it's been for something really bad." Marian stopped suddenly, as though she suddenly realized she was rambling. She sighed. "I'm sure it's fine. I just…" She looked intently at Regina. "He's been saying some severe things, and I don't think he means it."

Regina stared. Was Marian apologizing to her on Robin's behalf? Regina had no idea how to react to that. Marian wished her a good day, and walked away.

…

Regina somehow found herself back in her car. She had been distracted, going through the checkout, thinking over what Marian said about Robin's behavior. Could she have miscalculated the potion's effects? Regina had to know more about Robin's behavior. She pulled out her phone and called Little John. It wasn't hard get the details from him. It seemed John was concerned, too, and happy to share information.

When Regina hung up, she reviewed everything she knew, and was forced to admit that the potion may have had unintended consequences. She still had questions, though, and unfortunately she knew just who might be able to help answer them. So even though it was the last thing she wanted to do, she decided to make a stop on her way home.

It was David who opened the door for her. "Regina," he said.

"I need to talk to you and your wife," Regina said, walking past him into the apartment.

David muttered, "no please, come in, I insist" behind her as he closed the door.

Mary Margaret came down the stairs. "Regina! What are you doing here? I thought you had Henry tonight."

"I do," Regina said. "He's at home, doing homework. I'm on my way back to him now. Is Emma here?" Regina did not want the savior hearing this.

"No, she's out with Hook," David said. He did sounded less than thrilled.

I bet the pirate is where Henry got those horrible table manners, Regina thought.

"Is everything okay?" Regina marveled at how Mary Margaret could manage to look concerned about everyone all the time.

Regina said, "I need to ask you some questions about the memory potion I made."

Mary Margaret's face fell. "It's Robin, isn't it? Has he been behaving differently?"

Regina wasn't there to give information, she was there to gather it. "David, can you remember exactly what changed about Snow after she took the potion?"

"Everything," David said. "She was completely different than the woman I fell in love with."

Regina glared at him. "Okay that's very sweet, but not at all helpful. I need specifics. What did she say or do that seemed out of character?"

David crossed his arms and thought. Regina noticed his face looked strained - obviously this was not a common pastime for the prince. "Well obviously, she wanted to kill you. It wasn't like her because she always believed you had good in you, since you saved her life. She believed that despite all you had done, you still deserved another chance. But it was like that belief was gone. She had lost her hope."

Regina looked at Mary Margaret. "Do you remember feeling differently when you were under the potion?"

"Of course," Mary Margaret said. "I remember looking around at my life as if I was seeing it for the first time. And there were things I didn't like. Living in the woods, for instance, while you lived in my father's castle. It was as though I remembered believing you could be forgiven, but I didn't believe it anymore."

"And when the curse was broken?"

"It was like I got my faith back. I had hope again."

"Hope," Regina repeated. "That's what you lost when you took the potion."

Mary Margaret looked at her. "You said that was the part of me that fell in love with David. That's why I took the potion to begin with. I was in so much pain, holding on to the hope that we could be together, even while knowing it would never happen."

Regina nodded. Robin hadn't chosen to take the potion, but he still had reasons to do so. Loving Regina had been painful for him - not because he had hope, but because it meant going against his code, his honor. That makes sense, Regina thought. If he was yelling at men and kicking them out for things like lying and lacking basic skills, it must be because he was clinging to his code.

"What makes sense?" David asks. Oops. Had she said that out loud?

"Never mind. I have to get back to Henry." Regina started walking toward the door.

Mary Margaret stepped in front of her. "Regina, wait. Tell me what's going on. Maybe I can help."

"Really?" Regina crossed her arms. "How exactly do you plan on helping?"

Mary Margaret looked at David, then back to Regina. "Well, if you plan on breaking the curse -"

Regina interrupted her. "I don't. It can't be done. Robin is fine, it's just an adjustment period, that's all."

David said, "of course it can be done. I did it."

Regina turned to him. "Yes, you did. Why don't you tell me about it? I would love to hear exactly how you got the merciless Snow White to fall in love with you all over again."

David answered as though he hadn't detected that her voice was dripping with sarcasm. "I just refused to give her up. I fought for her. Even though she didn't love me, I still loved her."

Mary Margaret smiled at him. "You gave me my hope back."

Regina thought she might be sick. These two were so nauseating. "Okay, well thanks for the lovely bedtime story. I've got groceries in my car, so I have to be going."

Regina walked out, ignoring Mary Margaret's voice, imploring her to "let me help" and "talk about this".

...

When Regina got home, she brought the groceries straight into the kitchen, where she found Henry chopping vegetables. Henry looked up. "Hi mom. I finished my homework, so I thought I'd give you a hand in here. Where were you?"

Regina smiled. "Since when do you cook?"

Henry shrugged. "Emma would let me help whenever she cooked in New York. Not that we would cook that often. We had a lot of take-out."

Regina started putting things away. "Well, I'm glad to have an extra pair of hands."

"So what took you so long?" Henry asked.

Regina wasn't sure how much to say. "Oh, I just had to make another stop on the way home."

Henry's head shot up and he stared at her with wide eyes. He couldn't possibly know… could he? "Did… did you get ice cream?"

"Henry, no! Enough dessert. Let's get working on that lasagna."

Henry had gotten quite good in the kitchen. Regina had often let him be her "little helper" when he was younger, but that mostly involved stirring and handing her things. Now, he could actually do tasks more independently. The lasagna was soon in the oven, and Regina set a timer before she started wiping down the kitchen.

"Mom?" Henry asked. He was sitting on a bar stool and looking at her. She put the towel down and met his gaze. "Don't think I don't notice when you dodge my questions. Where did you stop on the way home?"

Regina walked over and sat on a stool next to him. "I wasn't dodging the question. I was just… figuring out how to answer it."

"How about truthfully?" Henry suggested.

Regina sighed. He was relentless. "I stopped by to talk to your grandparents."

Henry looked confused. "Why? You hate them."

Regina's mouth dropped. "I do not hate them." Henry gave her an I'm-not-buying-it look. "I don't. I haven't tried to kill them in ages."

Henry laughed at that, and said, "okay, but you still don't usually spend time with them by choice. So, what was it?"

"I needed to ask them for some information," Regina admitted. "About the memory potion Snow White took. I had some questions about what effects it had on her."

"Effects?" Henry asked. "I thought it made you forget whoever you love."

"Well, there's more to it than that. Remember your storybook? Snow White's personality changed after she took the potion."

Henry looked concern. "Did something happen with Robin Hood?" Regina nodded. "He didn't try to kill anyone, did he? That's what Snow White did. Is the memory potion also a killing potion?"

Regina looked at him. Sometimes he was so much like Emma. "That's not how the potion works. It affects everyone a little differently."

Henry thought that over. "Then why ask my grandparents about how the potion affected Snow White?"

"The effects of potion depend on the feelings of the person who took it. I wanted to know more about what Snow was thinking and feeling before and after she took the potion."

"Okay, so what did you find out?" Henry asked.

Regina considered that. She was still trying to figure out exactly what she had figured out. "In order to take away a person's love, it has to erase the part of that person that fell in love."

Henry hesitated before speaking. He seemed to realize they were stepping into conversation topics Regina would rather avoid. "So what part of Snow White was erased?"

Regina felt relieved. Good, a safe question. "Her hope. Maybe the potion only works when a person's love causes conflict. Snow White was conflicted because she loved David, but couldn't be with him. Her hope was making her cling to that love. The potion had to erase her hope so that it she could forget him."

Henry nodded. "Okay. And what about Robin?"

Regina looked away. She would tell him, but she wouldn't let him see how much it hurt her to talk about it. "Well, I think Robin's conflict was clear."

"But what did the potion have to erase in Robin that made him love you?"

Regina winced. "I don't think it was about what made him love me. I think it was about what made him want to be with Marian. He was trying to be honorable, and live by his code. His feelings for me were pulling him away from his code. The potion removed the pull. So I guess now, he's sticking to his honor."

The oven timer went off and Regina went to the stove. But Henry wasn't done with his questions. "So what did Robin do that had you worried?"

Regina pulled the lasagna out of the oven and set it on the stove to cool off. "It's nothing serious. He's just been a bit hard on his merry men." Regina turned around to find Henry looking at her suspiciously. Regina looked into his eyes as she said, "I promise, that's it." It was true, after all. There was no need to worry Henry as long as the only way Robin had changed was by becoming a bit more strict. But when he was back with Emma, she would look into it more.

Just in case.

…