A/N: I remember saying that I needed to concentrate on life for awhile and would not be able to update so regularly. This might actually happen one of these days. However, today is not that day. Enjoy.

When Emma woke the next morning she was disoriented. The sun fell through the wrong windows, the sheets were softer than she was used to and there was carpet where there should have been polished wood. But then she registered something that felt right and it was an arm that was snaked around her waist and the accompanying body that was spooning her. Emma closed her eyes again, a soft smile touching her lip. She didn't even need to turn around to know who was holding her, she just knew and it made her feel... nauseous.

Emma opened her eyes in panic and slapped her hand over her mouth. Her stomach recoiled and she slipped gracelessly from the bed and with a thud onto the floor. She picked herself up and dashed toward one of the doors, hoping more than knowing that it was the one to the bathroom. She groaned as a headache hit her with force as she stumbled into what was - luckily - the bathroom. She barely registered the voice behind her, softly calling her name, before she kneeled in front of the toilet to empty the contents of her stomach.

She heard footsteps behind her and then two hands were softly gathering her blonde locks which had fallen around her face.

"Shhh, it's okay." Regina said, rubbing her back.

Emma convulsed in another wave of nausea but her stomach was empty and she merely spit into the white bowl. She leaned back against two steady legs, looking up and into compassionate brown eyes.

"The alcohol," she said seemingly reminding herself that she had been drinking last night and that the reaction of her body had nothing to do with being held by Regina.

The mayor nodded. She leaned over and retrieved a glass from her cabinet, filling it with water.

"Here, drink this," she said handing it to Emma as she crouched down beside her. Emma shifted and leaned against a wall, closing the toilet and leaning on it. Regina pulled the lever to flush while Emma drank the water.

"Hmmm," she made and leaned her head against the cool tiles at her back.

"Want some more?" Regina asked, taking the glass from her.

Emma shook her head.

"I can't believe I... ow, my head," she said and put a hand to her temple.

Regina let her hand drift to her other temple caressing it gently.

"You must be disgusted with me," Emma said in a small, sad voice.

"I've been drunk," the older woman said.

"Yeah, but you've been drunk in Fairy Tale Land. I can hardly imagine people puking their guts out all over the place. It's probably butterflies and rainbow kisses where you come from."

Regina laughed at the image but sobered quickly.

"You have no idea where I come from," she then said introspectively.

"You could tell me," Emma suggested.

"You know the fairy tales and... I'm pretty sure you know that they're medieval tales from Europe so... that's pretty much how it was.. well, besides there being real magic and magical creatures. Poor people drank water... for the rich it was wine or beer. For most people being drunk was pretty much a way of being. Of course, getting drunk took a while but... well, the reaction to that was pretty much the same. We're not Disney characters, Emma, though some of our... traditions and folklore might have been affected by those tales as well," Regina explained.

"I'm clueless... I mean, I've been there. I've been in the Enchanted Forest but... it wasn't like we were feasting at a banquet or anything. Mainly, we just trudged through the woods trying to find a way home," Emma said.

Regina nodded.

"I'm sorry, I'm such a baby about this," Emma then said.

"You're hungover, that's as close to being a baby as you can get - apart from being sick, that is. So... it's okay."

Emma wanted to make a reply but they both looked up when they heard a door close somewhere on the floor.

"Did you close the door to the guest bedroom?" Regina asked in a low voice.

"I'm not sure... I think so," Emma gave back in the same suppressed tone.

There was a knock on Regina's bedroom door.

"Mom, you awake?" It was Henry, of course, and he sounded slightly puzzled. Emma assumed that it didn't happen very often that he was awake before his mother was.

Regina rose from her place beside Emma and slipped out of the bathroom. She went to her bedroom door and opened it.

"Morning, Henry," Emma heard her say.

"Hey, morning... I thought you might still be asleep."

"No, just running a little late. We should both hurry or we'll be late for service," Regina told Henry. She tried to smile but she was aware that it kind of failed in the face of how nervous she was. This was exactly the kind of situation she had wanted to avoid in not getting involved with Emma, that Henry could somehow catch them, be confused about it. He didn't need this kind of confusion in his life and neither did Regina herself.

"Alright, I get dressed," he said and turned. He looked back at her once more before he went back into his own bathroom and Regina tried another smile, more successful this time. He closed the door behind him and Regina took a deep breath before she looked along the corridor to the guest bedroom. The door was closed and Regina let the air out of her lungs in a relieved huff.

She closed the door and went back into her bathroom where Emma said on the closed toilet and held her head in both hands. Regina refilled the glass with water and searched in the cabinet for some aspirin. She found them and handed them to Emma with the water.

"Thanks," Emma said and swallowed the pills.

"Emma."

"Hm?"

"Would you... stay in the bedroom while I... shower?" Regina asked and seemed somehow embarrassed about it.

"I hadn't planned on joining you. I mean, not that I wouldn't... I mean...," Emma stammered and then blushed.

"I didn't mean that. I just... I don't want Henry to know you're here. In the house... not to mention my bedroom," Regina explained.

"Oh, no. No, I don't want him to know, either," Emma instantly agreed. "He would only be... confused. It's... confusing," she said and seemed to share this particular notion.

"Thank you," Regina just said and waited for Emma to leave the bathroom so she could take a shower.

Emma was walking along the gangway past the Jolly Rogers. She could already see her dad standing near the benches further down the way. He'd agreed to meet her here when she called him ealier.

She had dressed and left the mansion this morning after Regina and Henry had gone to church. Regina had given her a spare key to lock up and she was now fingering the small item in the pocket of her coat. She knew that Regina would want it back but for now it was nice to believe she had a right to carry it.

The morning had been turbulent for her, emotions had dropped into her lap without any warning as she remembered the events of the night before. She wasn't sure what to make of it all, she wasn't sure if she was really feeling what she seemed to be feeling or if it had something to do with alcohol or attraction or sexual frustration. But she knew that she liked Regina and that she wanted her in her life. And that was why she had to talk to her father now.

"Hey," she greeted him and he smiled at her. He came toward her in this way of his, hands already reaching for her but she took a conscious step back and he looked at her surprised.

"Emma? Are you okay?"

"I'm good, a little hung-over from yesterday," she answered and then turned for one of the benches. She sat and he didn't hesitate to sit down next to her.

"I heard Ruby and you had quite the celebration," David said and grinned.

"Well, we sure drank a lot, I'm not sure about the celebration-thing."

"Oh, really? I thought you were enjoying Fairy Tale Day," he said looking indefinately pleased with himself that he had come up with the idea and the moniker. She knew that he didn't try to be obnoxious or self-congratulatory. He was just... priviledged and though she knew he'd come from a poor family and had to work hard most of his life, he still was male and white and straight and those things did help him in his society as it did in the one he was living in now. And he wasn't aware of it, he wasn't aware that his boyish good looks and his charm didn't help with some of the resentment people felt. You couldn't smile away hatred.

"I'm not sure Fairy Tale Day was such a good idea, dad," Emma said frowning.

"Really? I'm sorry to hear that. I mean... I'm sorry. I haven't even stopped and thought about how you would feel about this. I know it sounds like we're unhappy here and can't wait to get back home but... well, we were actually hoping that you would come with us. Back home."

Emma didn't know what to say to this. They had never talked about it and she had never even considered leaving this world to become a princess. She had thought her parents knew that. Sure, she was born in the Enchanted Forest but those few weeks she had spent there so far hadn't instilled any kind of home sickness in her. And, of course, this wasn't even the point, she had to remind herself.

"That's not what I meant. I was talking about you pressuring Regina into agreeing to help you... and not even realizing that some people wouldn't want her to, that some people wouldn't want her anywhere near Rumple's magic," Emma explained.

David looked at her a little stunned then he frowned.

"I didn't mean to pressure Regina into helping us. I thought she'd want to, I thought..."

"She does want to help, dad. And if you'd asked her privately she wouldn't have batted an eye and told you so. But you haven't seen the looks some of the people gave her... and she was standing there with Henry. People still feel the same kind of hostility toward her that they always have. They're afraid of her, yes, but... in a way, the fact that she tries to be a good person now... might be dangerous for her," Emma explained.

"I haven't thought about that... I thought, everyone would be pleased," David said.

"I don't know what kind of stuff Rumple has in his shop and... I don't know, his house but... he was the Dark One, after all. I don't think many people would want Regina near that stuff."

David nodded.

"Do you think she would... use it against us?"

"No, dad. That's not what I'm saying. She's not interested in doing anything harmful but people might think she does," Emma said in a rather annoyed tone.

David didn't seem to get that the people of Storybrooke, his friends, might break out the pitchforks to go on a witch hunt.

"Well, she brought that onto herself, you know? The distrust... I don't see that I did anything wrong here, Emma. If she wants to help then that's great. If she thinks she's safer if she stays away from it... well, we could probably find a solution without her. It might just take longer."

"And you don't care that she might be in danger because of what you said yesterday?"

"If Regina's in danger, she brought it on herself, Emma. She was the one cursing us all," David argued.

"So much for not pointing fingers or laying blame," Emma said and stood. She went to the water that was lapping at the gangway. She looked out onto the grayness of it, the day was overcast and it already smelled like rain. It fit Emma's mood.

Her father stepped next to her. He looked at her with a thoughtful expression.

"What's going on, Emma? Before we went to Neverland you could have cared less if some people looked at Regina resentfully. You did that yourself quite frequently as I recall."

"Neverland changed things, dad. It's about Henry. We're both his parents and... that makes Regina part of my family. I have to make sure she's safe," Emma told her father and he nodded.

"Okay, but I guess there's no going back now. She has agreed to help but... well, we had some kind of council back in the Enchanted Forest. It would probably be good for us to sit down around a table again and duscuss what should be done about getting us home and Rumple's possessions. Regina should be part of that, she is, after all, the mayor of this town."

Emma nodded.

"That's probably a good idea."

"You should be there, too," David told her with a smile.

"In my official capacity as sheriff? I don't know," Emma said but David shook his head.

"In your official capacity as savior," he corrected her and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Let me think about that... before you send out invites to your council," she told him and turned back to staring over the water.

"You're still angry with me. Look, Emma, I'm sorry but we all know a very different Regina. Some have suffered a great deal under her, others less... you have only known her for two years."

"And yet you still want her help," Emma accused him.

"Yes, because she was Rumple's student and knew some of his magic... better than anybody else here. We need her to get home."

"So she's merely useful? That doesn't sound like you. She's a human being, you know. She has a son... we have a son and if people are threatening her, they're threatening him." Emma was slowly losing patience over this discussion and she was balling her hands to fists and working her jaw.

"I don't see that anyone has threatened her as of yet, Emma. People have been looking at her with hatred for a long time."

"It was different last night," Emma pressed through her teeth.

"How different?" David asked but she wasn't sure what to tell him. She had seen the way people looked at Regina before, she had looked at Regina angrily, resentfully. But last night... they had threatened someone Emma... loved and it had frightened her.

Emma looked away from David, she couldn't look him into the eyes anymore. It wasn't altogether his fault. Things had changed for her, the people in this town hadn't. And why would they? Why would they be touched by a kiss beyond passion, a flirtatious wink or the vulnerability of an abused wife, the pain of a young girl whose lover was killed by her own mother? They didn't know Regina like she did, they didn't want to know her like she did.

"Emma?"

The blonde shook her head, bringing herself back to the moment.

"I'm sorry, I'm really hung over," she said and tried a small smile.

"Is that all it is? You look pale," he said and lay a hand on her shoulder.

"Stress at work, too," she said.

"Snow told me about the boy. Will he be alright?"

It was a spark, an idea that came so suddenly to her that it almost made her laugh out loud.

"Yeah, I think... Dad, do you think you guys could take Gordon in?"

"Excuse me?" David looked at her puzzled.

"Gordon, the lost boy mom told you about. He's seventeen, pretty smart but has some... well, I would say his biggest problem is attitude. He's never really had any rules in his life but... I think that he respects you, mom and you. We were all on Neverland, you were practically the first authority figures he got to know besides Pan... and that guy was toxic. I mean... you could be a positive force in this boy's life," Emma enthused.

"Emma, I... I mean, you know we're trying to have a baby... not a seventeen-year old orphan."

"But couldn't you have both. He's... a great kid. He just needs guidance and you're potentially the best parents anyone could have. You have so much love to give and I know... I really know that you want to be someone's parents, to teach them values. It's a little late for me. I love you guys but... I pretty much got my ducks in a row, but Gordon hasn't and... well, I think it's the right thing to do," she said with a grin.

"Are you mocking me?"

"Just a little but think about it and tell me I'm wrong. Plus, now that Henry and I have moved out, you have the space," she told him.

"I'd have to talk to your mom about it. And.. we'd have to meet the kid... I don't know, Emma..." David heaved a sigh.

"I know you wanted to... focus on yourself for awhile, on your relationship with Snow... on having a new baby. But this boy needs your help. And I don't think he would be a big... disruptor of your plans. He could be helpful, someone to try out parenting on. Look, you could try it, okay? I'm not saying, he has to stay with you until he's legal but you could at least try it," Emma argued.

David looked at her thoughtfully, seemingly contemplating her words for the first time. She knew it was a good idea. She felt that David and Snow would be amazing parents and not just to their own children. They could help Gordon and he might even help them in some small way.

"I'll talk to your mother about him. But we really need to meet him first, talk to him. So this is not a yes, it's a maybe, okay? And only if your mother agrees," he said and she lifted her arms in a triumphant gesture.

"Yes!" she exclaimed and then hugged David. "It'll be great... okay, maybe not great but it'll be good. You'll see. You will like him, he's an okay boy," Emma told David excitedly.

"We'll see," he said trying to calm her enthusiasm but she could see in the tiniest smile around his lips that he was starting to like the idea.