A/N: There's been a guest review among the latest additions - thanks to all of you, you're amazing - pointing out that Graham wasn't a good guy. That as a huntsman, he was mainly a killer. While I know that's true for the huntsman, I don't think it's true for sheriff Graham. The man Emma knew was a good guy. I'm trying to make this distinction clear. I think that episode 'We Are Both' was important because they were mainly becoming new characters with the memories and the knowledge of two other characters that had both existed individually (and if I sound a little like Tuvok from Star Trek: Voyager - I've been watching too much of that lately, sorry).

They were on their way back to town. Emma was staring out the window of Ruby's truck. She hadn't been able to bring herself to enter Graham's cottage, it seemed too personal, somehow invasive.

"You know, maybe you should get away for a couple of days. You could go back to the hut. Henry's with... Regina, right?"

"Yeah, I asked David to take him. He's probably already there."

"Then take a few days off," Ruby suggested but Emma shook her head.

"I'm a city child, Ruby. Do you know what I did as a kid when I wanted to be alone? I went to a mall and just walked through the stores, looked at things, sometimes I took something... nothing big and I was never caught."

"That sounds awful," Ruby said with a shiver and Emma smiled - for just a moment. "We lived pretty much in the woods. There was a village nearby but... well, we kept to ourselves, of course. But whenever I wanted to escape there were the woods, a tree to climb or a fallen log, a small cave to crawl into among the roots of a giant tree."

"Sounds awful," Emma gave back and Ruby gave her a big smile.

"It was heaven," the waitress said. "And these woods... they are very much like the ones at home. It's like they came with the curse," Ruby pondered.

A vibration interrupted the following silence and Emma went through her pockets to find her phone. It wasn't there. Ruby reached between their seats and pulled it free.

"Must have lost it," she said.

"I didn't even have it on me at the cabin," Emma murmured and checked it. "Three phone calls from... Henry. And a message."

"It probably just came to life again. There's no connection so far in the woods," Ruby said while Emma read the text her son had send her.

'Mom's been crying. Did you two have a fight? Where are you?'

Emma started typing a response.

'I'm out of town for a few hours - sheriff's business. Yes, we' but she didn't know what to tell him about what had happened between Regina and her. Should she tell him that his mother killed Graham? It wasn't like he hadn't known and yet... it seemed too cruel. He was still a boy, he still needed to be protected. But she didn't want to lie to him. So instead she simply deleted the message completely and didn't tell him anything. She knew she would have to talk to him at some point... about why she wasn't even friends with Regina anymore... but she couldn't just now.

"Hey?" Ruby roused her from her thoughts.

"Hm?"

"I thought if you didn't want to spend time at the hut you could... leave Storybrooke for a couple of days. Go to... Boston or New York. As far as I remember you didn't have a decent vacation since you started working as sheriff."

Emma looked at Ruby for a long moment.

"I can't just up and leave right now, Rubes. I can't leave Henry... I don't know, it would feel like running away. And I'm so done running," she explained.

Ruby nodded.

Emma lay a hand on her friend's shoulder.

"Thank you, though. You know... you were so great these past weeks. I could always talk to you, and you were there to give me advice. You're a great friend, Ruby."

"So are you... and your mom. I couldn't have lived, literally, without her. You two are very much alike and I... I kinda feel like your godmother... I may have been your godmother, under different circumstances," Ruby said and smiled at Emma.

"That's one of those Storybrooke paradoxes, isn't it? I mean... you're younger than I am."

"Only in years, Emma," Ruby gave back with a wicked grin and they both laughed.

"I wish I could... help you, you know. With Belle."

"I know and I'm far from giving up hope, especially... I think she's getting better. And I think I have Regina to thank for it," the brunette said with a sidelong glance at Emma.

"You know that she talked to her?" Emma asked without pretending that she didn't know about any of this.

"Yeah, Belle told me. And I know you were keeping me busy at the diner that day, didn't you?"

"Regina thought you wouldn't like if she talked to Belle and I didn't have anything else to do so...," Emma said with a frown.

"So you conspired against me?"

"No, I.. I just thought...," Emma tried to explain but Ruby grabbed her hand and squeezed it before she returned it to the steering wheel.

"It's okay... because it helped. Belle was down in the library while we had our council meeting yesterday. I found her there among her books when I dropped by afterwards. She told me that she had talked to Regina... about Rumple and... Regina's lover, I don't know his name..."

"Daniel," Emma provided after a short pause.

"Yes, Daniel. She also told me... that she thought Regina was in love."

"What?" For a moment, all color drained from Emma's face but then she realized that Ruby was talking about her, she was the one Regina was - supposedly - in love with.

"Did Regina tell her?"

"No, but apparently Regina got a text while they were talking and Belle said that... her face simply lit up. Belle asked her if it was from Henry and Regina said that it was from you."

"Oh," Emma said.

"Yeah," Ruby agreed. "It seems it's gotten to the point where it's become pretty obvious," she continued carefully.

"Well, it should be obvious pretty soon that... that nothing's going on anymore," Emma gave back with a set jaw, her eyes straying out the window again.

"Do you really want it to be over?"

"Want it? No, but... how can I be with her, Ruby? She killed... a friend, a... someone I might have fallen in love back then. He was... a great guy, and she just... I think she was jealous, and how ironic is that? She thought I was taking him away from her and now... but it's over."

Ruby watched Emma rub at her face, wiping away tears that had started falling again.

"I liked him, too, you know. We weren't really friends which is... also ironic, I guess, considering that we were both wolves in a way... I guess I'm more used to thinking bad of Regina than you are. Most of us are and I guess, after we got our memories back... we went back to thinking the worst of her."

Emma nodded, she could understand this so much better now. But Ruby wasn't finished talking:

"But, you know, yesterday when I came back to the library... Belle sat among some books and she... looked content, not happy but content. And you know what she said? That seeing Regina... smile when she received your text, it gave her hope that... things would be better, that she could remember Rumple at some point and not be in pain. Regina gave her this and she may also be the person who could help us get away from here. I hope you don't think I'm disloyal... to you or Graham but... I'm thankful to Regina. And the next time she's at the diner I will serve her a generous slice of cherry pie with cream because I know she likes it."

She looked over at Emma for a moment then back at the road. They drove in silence for a while.

"I don't think you're disloyal, Ruby. And I'm glad, Belle is doing better."

Ruby nodded.

"She's not all bad, you know that," she argued for Regina.

Emma didn't answer, she just kept staring out the window for the remainder of their drive back into town.

The following days were hard for Emma. It was hard to get out of bed, it was hard dressing for work and actually going. It was hard to not see Henry because he refused any attempts she made. She had finally sent him a message that she'd been out of town on sheriff's business that evening, that had been all. He had asked again if his moms had been fighting and she simply said, yes, and that she didn't want to talk about it. He had tried again but she hadn't even answered that text, and she felt bad about it but... it was just another hard thing to do.

And then there was David. He didn't speak to her, either, and Emma wasn't even sure why. He was just dodging her calls and when she asked her mom about what was going on, Snow said that David was wrapped up in his mission to get everyone home.

Emma knew that her father's reaction could have something to do with what Ruby had said was 'obvious,' that something had been going on between her and Regina. But she found herself unable to talk about it to anyone but the waitress. She couldn't just go to her parents and say, yes, I had feelings for her but not anymore. She couldn't get either confession across her lips in front of her parents.

She couldn't even admit to herself that she was thinking about Regina. A lot. Not just about what she had done to Graham and how betrayed she felt about it... but she thought about her smile when she had opened the door Saturday morning. She thought about how she had wanted to kiss her right then but had waited - impatiently - for permission to do it. It had been so frail... and then it was gone, or destroyed... or maybe she had just pushed it away. This love.

Regina wasn't feeling any better than Emma but she had Henry to think about. She didn't want him to see her cry, even though she knew he could see the residue of it each morning. And he had asked her about it that first day. And he had asked if she and Emma had been fighting. Regina hadn't admitted to it, she had just said that it was a misunderstanding, that it would be okay. But she didn't think it would be and he had probably seen it, too. And now he was avoiding her as much as he could.

She had lied to him again and she felt bad about it. She knew that it hadn't even been about protecting him, it had been about protecting herself. But she felt unable to talk about Emma, even though she was constantly on her mind. The look in her eyes when she had understood what Regina hadn't been able to say. There was so much hurt, so much pain. And maybe, Regina thought, she had taken something from Emma back then that... her love was no substitute for. Maybe Emma had loved Graham more than she could ever love her.

If that was the case, it was probably best that it all ended now. That at least was what Regina told herself. But she still lay awake each night, crying bitter tears about what she had destroyed. That was how far honesty got you, for her... and yet, she had known that she couldn't be with Emma if she wasnt't honest. Looking at it this way, the end was inevitable. And maybe it was really better that it ended now... as long as nobody knew, as long as Henry didn't know what had been going on... what had almost happened.

Tuesday evening, Emma sat in the living room and waited for Henry to come home. It was already late, past the usual time he would come home but she hadn't heard from him or Regina that he would stay at the mansion longer. So she waited. And finally she heard a key in the front door and rose from the couch. She stood in the doorway to the living room when he entered.

"Hey, kid," she greeted him but he only looked at her angrily. He let his backpack fall to the floor and slipped out of his jacket. "Can we talk about this?"

"You didn't wanna talk about it before. Why would you now? You don't have to explain yourself to a silly child who doesn't understand anything! That's what you're thinking, isn't it!" he accused her, yelling at her, angry tears already running down his face. She could see that he had probably held all these emotions in as long as he'd been with Regina but now they broke free - because they could. "But I understand more than you think! I know that you love her!"

Emma took a momentary step back. She felt like she'd been hit. Henry stood and stared at her for a moment, waiting for an answer but Emma was too stunned.

"I know you love her," he repeated and started for the stairs, only wanting to run to his room.

"Henry, wait... I... please," Emma asked him and he turned. She came over to him and put her arms around his shoulders. She hugged him tightly. "I'm sorry," she said.

"What happened?"

"I... let's sit down," Emma directed them to sit down on the stairs. She still had an arm around his shoulders when she said:

"Your mom... no... both of us, we thought that... we were having feelings for each other."

"You thought that?" Henry asked.

"Well, we felt it, I guess... but... we were wrong. We're too different," Emma tried to explain.

"What have you been fighting about, ma?"

"Henry, please," Emma almost begged.

"Tell me. I have a right to know," he insisted and she smiled at his choice of words but then sobered again.

Did he have a right to know? He was their son, their relationship - whether it was good or bad, whether they were fighting each other or trying to be friends - affected him. She had made that clear when she first told him that she wanted to be friends with Regina. But now it seemed too personal to share what had happened with him. And she didn't want to ruin his own relationship with either of them.

"It's got to do with Regina's past... she told me something and..." Emma shook her head.

"What did she do?" Henry asked and now he sounded wary of the answer.

"It's not important," Emma tried but he shook his head.

"It obviously is to you," he argued.

"I don't want... Henry, it's bad."

"Most of the things mom did were. I know that, I've known for a long time. But she has changed. Doesn't she regret what she's done?"

"She does," Emma answered.

"Then..."

"Henry."

"You said you wanted to talk but you don't want to talk. You just want for me to shut up and let you... get away with... not being together. But you're in love. You love her," his tears were coming in earnest now and hers were falling, too. "I think it is True Love. And you can't fight True Love!" he yelled again. He shook off her arm and ran up the stairs, slamming his door behind him as he entered his room.

True Love? Emma thought. Why would he think that?

But then, how could he not think it? His grandparents were exhibit a, weren't they? It was the predictable ending to every romance in his book, it was the culmination of everything anybody ever wanted. And, of course, he wanted his two mothers to have it - possibly even with each other.

But it wasn't true. It couldn't be true. Emma wasn't even sure it existed... apart from her parents. And who knew, maybe it even got lost when the curse took effect and it just wasn't possible in Storybrooke. After all, there had been a line of guys she could have fallen in love with... Graham, August, Neal, Hook... but she just didn't feel for them the way... she felt for Regina.

But that didn't mean... anything anymore. She couldn't love a woman like that... she shouldn't love a woman like that.

Emma put her head to her knees like she had done sitting in front of Graham's cabin and she tried to suppress those feelings. They weren't real, they weren't true. She couldn't go on having them and not... have that love.

"Damn you, Regina, damn you," she whispered as she got up from the stairs and went back to the living room, engulfing herself in a blanket on the couch in front of a blazing fire.