"Hey, Rubes," the waitress heard the greeting from behind her and turned.
"Emma, hey. Could you help me with this?" she asked and pointed at the wooden stand-up display that showed that day's specials.
"Sure," Emma agreed and they lifted the display and carried it together into the diner.
"You're closing up late today," Emma said looking at her watch. They left the diner and Ruby locked it.
"Some guys came around after the fair closed. They were in desperate need for some fries to soak up the alcohol they had consumed so..."
"They didn't bully you into serving them, did they?" Emma asked because Ruby didn't seem too happy about her late customers.
"There are few people who would mess with a werewolf like that, Emma," the waitress answered with a toothy grin.
"Yeah, I suppose," Emma agreed laughing lightly. "So you just did it because you're a nice person?"
"Well, yeah. That and... one of them was your new best friend Dwyer," Ruby told Emma and watched the sheriff stiffen at the name.
"Hm," she made but didn't say anything. It wasn't necessary, Ruby was very perceptive when it came to body-language - among other things - and she could easily detect that Emma was still angry at the man. "What did he want?"
"Care to join me on my evening walk?" Ruby asked pointing down the street.
"'Course not."
"Well, he wanted fries but... people also know that I'm part of the council you mentioned so, I guess, he and his friends were also happy to have me overhear their conversation," Ruby told Emma.
"You're on the council?"
"Why are you surprised? Your mom's my best friend," Ruby said.
"I figured that Granny would probably be on the council, you know... one per family, or something. That would make you, Granny..." Ruby nodded. "The dwarfs, erm, blue, Archie... who else?"
"Geppetto... Marco to you. At home, there were some knights but I think only two of them made it back here... I'm not even sure if they'll be there. This is not exactly a security issue," Ruby completed the list.
"Right... so what did they say? Was Dwyer angry at me?" Emma asked.
"They didn't talk about you at all, actually," Ruby answered.
"Really? Huh. That's kinda disappointing. I hoped to have intimidated the lot..."
"I don't know about intimidating them, Emma... I think Dwyer was actually sorry at how he approached the mayor, or rather, that he did it in front of you and Henry," Ruby tried to explain.
"Well, he'd better be sorry and not do it again."
"What I'm getting at... the people of this town respect you, Emma. You're the savior and they want you on their side. Regina... she represents the other side, she is... their enemy," Ruby tried again and saw Emma frown at her words.
The sheriff stopped their leasurely walk and turned fully to her friend.
"She's not. She's trying to help."
"They don't want her to. At least not Dwyer and his friends. These guys don't want her help at all. But I had others talking to me. Some think Regina might be helpful but I don't think they want her near Rumple's shop, either."
"What do you think?" Emma asked and by the open look on her face she wanted an honest answer.
"I've been asked that a couple of times today... I think at the moment Regina would do pretty much everything for you."
"You mean, for Henry?" Emma corrected but Ruby shook her long mane.
"No... I mean, she would do anything for Henry but that's not what I meant. I think she would do anything you asked of her," Ruby clarified.
"That's not... she wants to help, to undo what she did. That has nothing to do with me," Emma protested and then resumed their walk.
Ruby followed but didn't say anything more. She let Emma think about her words for now.
"She's just... these people don't understand her. She's trying so hard... to prove herself... to Henry. She wants to change but nobody's giving her a chance. I'm trying to do that," Emma rambled, then stopped abruptly.
"Why do you think she would do anything for me? I mean, she hasn't said anything to you, right?"
"The mayor and I are not exactly on friendly terms, Emma, though... I guess we've come to respect each other. It's the way she looks at you. She likes you..."
"We're friends," Emma interrupted.
"She more than likes you, then," Ruby clarified but Emma shook her head.
"You're wrong... she... no." Emma kept shaking her head as she was trying hard to swallow some feelings that were working themselves free.
"Emma, what...?"
"I'm in love with her, dammit," Emma burst out.
They stared at each other for a long moment. Then Ruby smiled softly.
"I thought you might be," she said and by the look of her she was proud of Emma for finally acknowledging it.
"That's not really a reason to celebrate, Rubes. She doesn't love me, she... wants us to be friends and that's... I mean, I wanted to be her friend but I also want... her. And that's not gonna happen. And, I guess, it's actually the sensible thing to do - or not do. We would be a disaster together... but... I can't help but want... that disaster... I don't even make any sense," Emma exclaimed frustrated.
"You do make sense to me," Ruby disagreed. "But I think you're wrong. I think you would be good together and I think she wants you, too."
Emma shook her head.
"She could have had me last night..."
"You did go to the mansion!" Ruby exclaimed wide-eyed.
Emma nodded.
"You were almost drunk out of your boots... did she throw you out?"
"No, she... put me in her guest bedroom," Emma said but didn't confess that she spent the night in Regina's bed.
"You can't even see how special you are to her, can you?" Ruby asked shaking her head at the blonde.
"Special?"
"Yes, special. Today in the diner, that man threatened her. He was lucky she didn't barbecue him right then and there. But not only that, she stood by while you defended her... that's completely unheard of. You were so drunk last night you could hardly walk and she lets you into her house... while Henry was there, too? That's... almost beyond belief, Emma. She likes you. I'm almost willing to bet that she loves you, too," Ruby argued. "Can't you see?"
"I only know what she tells me. And that is a big, fat NO," Emma gave back. She breathed deeply and turned to resume their walk but for the moment she just stood, breathing.
Ruby lay a hand on her back, rubbing it.
"I don't know if she will but... I hope she'll come around. I think you'd be good together. I think you would make each other very happy," Ruby said and Emma smiled at her gratefully.
"Thanks, Ruby. I... I haven't told anyone else... I wasn't even sure until what happened at the diner. I wanted to take that guy's head off."
"These people aren't your enemies, Emma. They're just scared," Ruby argued.
"Of the woman I love," Emma said sadly. "Is there nobody who... trusts her?"
"Not that I heard. I think Granny would... if she could stand behind her with a crossbow the whole time," she tried to lighten the mood but saw at Emma's face that she failed. "I'm just kidding."
"And yet she wouldn't trust her, though Regina's probably everybody's only chance to get home," Emma said.
"Not everybody wants to go back?" Ruby mused and she started walking again.
Emma joined her.
"You don't?"
Ruby shook her head.
"Not to the Enchanted Forest, anyway. I mean... it probably sounds selfish. Granny wants to go back, Snow and Charming... but I want to... see more. I also want to get Belle out of here. I think if she could just get away from here where everything reminds her of Rumple... I've asked Hook if he'd found a way yet but he hasn't. Though I think it might be a good idea to... travel with him," Ruby said.
"On a ship? Ruby, you're a werewolf," the blonde reminded her friend - as if she needed a reminder.
"I'm aware but this... I can't watch Belle just... sleep away her life. She's so young, so full of life... or she was. I want for her to have adventures she'd been dreaming about before. I want her to have... an exciting life, a full life. Here... she's just going to... function in that man's dead shadow."
"I wish there was something I could do," Emma said and the words sounded hollow and meaningless to her.
"There is," Ruby said and Emma looked at her. "Involve Regina. I don't care. I know she will do anything for you and she's the one who's going to find a way... I want her to. I want for her to help Belle get better, get away from here - with or without me."
Emma lay an arm around Ruby's shoulders and they kept walking for awhile.
"I'll make sure she has excess to Rumple's magic. We'll find a way together," Emma promised Ruby and the brunette gave her a small smile for it. They had rounded the block and were almost at the library now.
"I think I'm going to see if Belle's still up," Ruby said with a sigh.
"There's no light on," Emma pointed out.
"She doesn't always turn on the light. Sometimes she just sits in the living room in the dark at this hour. And if I don't get her to go to bed, she'll fall asleep on the couch and still be there in the morning. She... simply doesn't care anymore."
"I wish I could..."
"Just help Regina find a way to cross realms. It'll help," Ruby told Emma who nodded.
"Okay. Give Belle a hug from me and tell her that we miss having her around," Emma said and then hugged Ruby tightly.
Ruby answered the hug in kind and they parted.
It was his cell phone ringing that roused him from sleep and he blinked dazedly at the green digital number of his alarm. Almost midnight. Who would call him at this hour? he wondered and picked up his phone.
"Ma?" he answered it a moment later in a sleepy voice.
"I'm so sorry, Henry. Did I wake you?"
"It's almost midnight, of course you woke me. What is wrong?" he asked believing that Emma wouldn't call him at this hour if it wasn't important.
"I... It's nothing... you should go back to sleep. Night..."
"Wait! What were you calling about?" Henry insisted on knowing.
"Nothing important. It can wait till tomorrow. I wasn't aware of how late it is. I'm sorry," Emma said hurriedly, rolling her eyes at herself for having been so impulsive, so stupid.
"I won't be able to go to sleep until you tell me why you called," Henry argued.
Emma sighed.
"It's... stupid. I just... your mom said something the other night that had me thinking about... music, what kind of music she liked. See, it's silly. Go back to bed," Emma told her son but waited for him to answer, possibly tell her to get a life and hang up on her.
"She likes classical music," Henry said after a moment's hesitation.
"Really?"
"Yeah, that's what she listens to most of the time... at least when I'm around. I know she likes it but I think she also wants me to like it. Kind of an educational thing," Henry explained.
"Does she just like all the stuff or... does she have a favorite composer?"
"Chaupin is her favorite," Henry told her. "But she also likes guitar music... you know, the kind of stuff they play in South America, that kind of thing. I don't remember any of the names of the guys but... she likes latin music, rhythmic stuff. She also listens to this blonde singer... what's her name?"
"I don't know... Britney Spears?"
"Shakira!" Henry called out.
"Shhh, your mother might hear you," Emma warned him.
She heard the whisper of covers moving through the line and Henry quietly walking.
"What are you doing?"
But there was only breathing coming from the other end of the line and the noises Henry was making. It sounded like he was opening his bedroom door and then he seemed to step out onto the landing.
"She's still downstairs," Henry whispered and Emma could hear him return to his room.
He hadn't needed to tell her this, though, she already knew. Emma was standing in the shadow of the mansions garden hedge, watching Regina through the window. The mayor was sitting comfortably in one of her plush armchairs with head phones over her ears. She seemed to be working on something while also listening to her music. Every now and then she would simply close her eyes and nod her head to the music, tapping her pen on her bend leg. She looked adorable and so lost in what she was listening to, Emma had to know what it might be. That's why she had called Henry.
"Shakira?" she now found herself asking. At least, that was someone she knew.
"Yeah, especially her Spanish stuff. She sometimes turns it up loud and dances to it, too. But only when she thinks I'm not home," he told Emma in a conspiratorial tone.
"You sneak around a lot more than your mom's aware of, don't you?"
"I sneak around a lot more than anyone's aware of," Henry gave back and Emma could hear some mischief in that voice.
"I'll make a note of that and will keep a close eye on you in the future," Emma gave back but she was smiling.
"You can try," he only said and Emma laughed. "I let you go back to sleep now, Henry."
"No, wait. Don't you wanna know her favorite song?"
"Her favorite song?" Emma was intrigued.
"It's the song she's set to wake her in the morning," Henry said. "It's 'Underneath Your Clothes.'"
"I know it," Emma said.
"So... did you just want to know to know or... have you something planned. Some... friendship-thing?" Henry asked curiously.
"I may have something planned but I'll have to... work on the details yet," she said leaving him to wonder what she might be up to.
"Are you going to make her a mixed tape?" he couldn't help asking and just barely kept from giggling.
"I.. I... no, I mean... who's got tapes anymore? I... I think you should really go to bed now," she then told him and he could hear that she was flustered.
"I'm already in bed, ma."
"Then go to sleep now. I'll talk to you tomorrow."
"Night, ma," he said.
"Night, Henry. Love you," she told him.
"Love you, too," he answered and then the line went dead.
Emma put her phone away and looked back at the house. Regina wasn't sitting in the arm chair anymore but Emma couldn't see her at the moment. When she reappeared in Emma's line of vision, she was coming toward the window looking outside. Emma froze for a second but then pushed herself deeper into the shadow of the hedge. Her heart beat so fast, even though her breathing seemed to stop. She knew if Regina detected her she would probably... be angry beyong reason, and rightfully so. Emma had no business being here, this was stalking. But she had just wanted to know... what Regina was doing at this hour, why she was still awake. And if... if she was thinking about her, maybe?
Regina stood in the window looking out but seemingly not looking at anything in particular. She was probably seeing little beyond the reflections from the lighted room behind her. And she was so... breathtakingly beautiful in her shiny blue pyjamas, her hair unusually wild now at the end of the day after she'd run her hands through it so often. So relaxed, so... at home.
Emma closed her eyes, leaning her head back into the hedge. She was beyond control, beyond reason. She couldn't possibly think that this woman, this amazing, beautiful woman could love her. And yet, she wasn't altogether unaffected by her, either. What was going on behind those caramel-colored eyes?
When Emma opened her eyes again and looked back at the house, the lights downstairs had been turned off. Regina had gone to bed and Emma decided that she would do the same. She would also not come back here to spy on Regina ever again. Stalking was against the law, she should know. But she knew it would be hard to stay away with someone as tempting to lure her back there as Regina Mills.