A/N: Alright, 100,000 words, 500 reviews - I think we're all pretty psyched about this story. I know I am (even if life gets in the way of updating daily at the moment). Thank you all, you guys rock.
"Are you angry with me?" Ruby asked her best friend over a cup of coffee they were sharing at the diner.
"I told you, I'm not angry, Ruby. Do I wish Emma had come to me when she knew she had feelings for Regina, yes, but I'm glad she had someone to talk to. You're a good friend, you've always been that to me and now you're being it to Emma, too," the short-haired woman said. She smiled at the waitress.
"If it's any consolation, if it hadn't been for my heightened wolfie-senses, I wouldn't even have known and Emma wouldn't have told me anything."
"Well, I only had my mother-senses and they... worked it out somehow," Snow answered. "Emma is a very private person but I wish she would confide in me more. But I see how it would have been difficult for her with her having feelings for Regina."
"I wasn't sure how you would react to that particular news... I never would have thought you... were just going to be okay with it," Ruby said with an apologetic smile.
"Well... I'm not sure I'm 100 per cent... but then... I don't know, Ruby, I mean, they're obviously in love and how could I...," but there she stopped as she had noticed someone coming through the door. It was one of the people she'd been talking about and the dark-haired beauty nodded at her in greeting.
Ruby turned and also looked at Regina, she smiled at her.
"Madam Mayor, hello. What can I do for you?" She rose from her seat while Regina walked toward her.
"I'd like to have a couple of sandwiches, rye bread, one chicken salad, one turkey. To go, please."
"Coming right up," Ruby said and was already turning for the pass-through to give the order to Granny when Regina added:
"Oh, and two slices of cherry pie."
"Having a late lunch with Emma?" Ruby asked conversationally.
Regina looked from Ruby to Snow, she seemed to stiffen for just a moment but then she nodded.
"Yes," she simply said.
"Regina, won't you sit with me while you wait?" Snow asked her after a moment's contemplation.
Regina inclined her head in assent and slipped into the booth across from Snow. Emma had already told her that Snow wanted to talk to her, though, she had thought that the other woman would prefer a more private setting - somewhere where she could tell Regina honestly what she thought of her relationship with her daughter.
"So you got Emma to eat rye bread? How did you manage that?" Snow started the conversation.
"She eats just a little healthy with a lot unhealthy. I'm bribing her with the cherry pie," Regina answered.
"Of course," Snow said.
They looked at each other as they both contemplated what to say next.
"Is Emma at the station?"
"No, she's at the shop... Gold's shop. We're looking through everything. I needed a break and we both needed to eat," Regina explained.
"Right, and how is it going? Have you found anything yet? Anything helpful, I mean?"
Regina shook her head.
"Not so far," she said.
It seemed to Snow that Regina was tired and yet nervous. She kept tapping the table top with her finger nails.
"Is it... as you know, I don't really know about magic but... is it taxing work? You seem tired," Snow commented.
"It's... a little... exhausting. Gold has a lot of... stuff. I've already come across some things from... the castle. There was a jewellery box, I think it was your mother's - it had her initials. It was empty, though," Regina told Snow and the younger woman nodded.
"I think I remember the one you mean. Do you think... I could have it?"
"You'd have to ask Neal, it's his shop now."
Snow nodded.
They sat for a moment in silence again. To say that things felt awkward between them would be an understatement. Every conversation they had or could have seemed to inevitable end up in a reminder of what had happened between them over the years, the things done and said.
"I meant to talk to you about Emma," Snow finally said.
"I know," Regina answered. She wasn't very forthcoming.
Emma had said Snow was 'okay' with them being together but the dark-haired woman wasn't sure what that meant, she wasn't even sure it was the truth. She couldn't imagine that Snow could be happy that Emma loved her; David's reaction, though it hurt Emma, made more sense to Regina.
"I'm happy for Emma. I wanted her to find love and I see that you make her happy. I'm also glad for you, that you found love again."
"But you're not happy that we love each other," Regina guessed at the core of Snow's words. She raised a challenging eyebrow at the younger woman.
Snow sighed.
"I'm... I don't doubt that you love each other, Regina. I can see that you do. I just... it's difficult to accept," she wrestled with the truth.
"Well, I'm glad you're honest with me. Let me be honest, too. I love Emma. I don't feel that I need either your acceptance or your permission to do so but I'm glad for Emma that she feels she has both from you. But Snow, I swear, should you or David take this away from me... Emma or Henry, or both of them... I will not let that happen ever again. Do you understand me?"
"Regina...," Snow started but Regina interrupted her:
"Do you understand?"
"Yes, I understand but... we're not out to destroy your happiness, Regina. We never were," the teacher argued.
"Well, you were successful in the past without even trying," Regina gave back and they looked at each other.
Ruby interrupted their silent appraisal as she brought Regina's order.
"Here you go," she said and then noticed the tension between the two women. "Is everything alright?"
Regina closed her eyes for a moment, breathing deeply.
"Thank you, Ruby. I think... I thought we could at least be... civil, Regina. I know..."
"No," Regina interrupted Snow once again. The following words seemed to come out strained. "I'm sorry. Working around Rumple's magic puts me on edge... I know you mean well, Snow, you always do..." She opened her eyes again. "All you need to know is that I love Emma. And I won't hurt her, ever."
Snow looked at Regina for a long moment. Then she nodded.
"Good, I think we're on the same page then. But... what about this magic-stuff... is it alright for you to work in the shop if it... effects that way?"
"We'll only be working there on the weekends. I should be fine," Regina told Snow.
"Hey, would you maybe like a hot chocolate to go? You could bring one for Emma, too. I know chocolate always makes me feel better," Ruby suggested. She was still standing at their table since there were only a few other patrons and she had been listening.
"That would be... it's probably a good idea," Regina contemplated and gave Ruby a small smile.
"It'll only take a minute," the waitress said with a smile and went back to her counter.
"Hot chocolate?" Snow asked as if she had been left out of an inside joke. She'd never seen Regina drink hot chocolate before.
"It worked for Harry Potter against the dementors," Regina answered and Snow had to laugh.
"Magical remedies by J.K. Rowling?" she asked.
"It can't hurt to try. Magic is a lot about believing... and as Ruby says, chocolate usually makes us feel better, doesn't it?"
Snow nodded.
"It certainly does," she agreed.
"I wanted to ask," Regina then said as she seemed to have worked through her resentment from before. "David. Do you think he'll... come around? About Emma and I?"
Snow was obviously surprised by the question and had to think about what to say in answer to it.
"It's because of Emma, she... takes it hard that he's so set against us. And Henry, too," Regina added, explaining her worry.
"I don't know, Regina. Sometimes I think he just needs time but... he's brooding and that usually doesn't help. It's a downward spiral. I think at this point the only thing that will help is time and... you being good to Emma."
"I'm not planning on being anything but good to her," Regina agreed.
Ruby came back with two cups of hot cocoa.
"One for you and one with cinnamon for the sheriff. I put it all on Emma's tap," she said and smiled at the mayor.
"Thank you, Miss Lucas."
"I'm Ruby," the waitress said as Regina rose from her seat. The mayor looked at the younger woman for a moment and then she smiled.
"I'm Regina," she said and picked up her order. "Thank you, Ruby. Snow," she greeted and then left.
"You seem to like her," Snow said to her friend who took the now vacant seat across from her.
"She helped Belle and... well, she's good for Emma. So as long as she's nice to everyone, I'm gonna be nice to her," Ruby explained. "I hope that's okay?" she added a little unsure.
"Of course, it is. You can be friends with whomever you want, Ruby. I just hope that you'll always be my friend because I need... you. You're a good person, Rubes," Snow answered.
Ruby blushed at the compliment.
"I'm not sure Regina and I will be friends but I like to get along with her. And I'll always be your best friend, as long as you'll have me."
"Forever then," Snow said and lifted her coffee cup.
"Forever works for me," Ruby answered and clinked her own mug to Snow's.
"Hello, luv," came the voice from behind and to her right as Regina exited the diner. Hook was leaning casually against the building smiling up at the mayor as she descended the stairs.
"What are you doing here? I told you I'd call you," Regina said looking over her shoulder into the diner. Everybody seemed well occupied with food and conversation.
"And I told you I had to talk to you in person," he said and made a come-hither motion.
"Don't try to be cute with me, Hook. Just tell me what's so important."
"You're working in the shop," he said.
"Yes, Emma and I... well, and Neal if you can call staring at Emma working," she told him and had to remind herself that her jealousy wasn't something she wanted Hook to know about. "But I guess as it's his shop he can do as he pleases."
"Have you found anything yet?"
"Nothing worthwhile, at least not for someone who's set on leaving here. And it's not like you've given me anything to work with. I'm not sure what I'm even looking for," Regina gave back.
"Right. I... have been thinking about... conversations I've had with Cora."
"Spare me the details of your pillow talk, please," the dark-haired woman said with a fake smile.
Hook laughed lightly.
"Believe me, I wouldn't share those if you paid me but... we talked about Rumple a great deal... and you, how he stole you from her and made you his student?"
"It's not like she ever offered to teach me," Regina argued.
"And she certainly regretted that. Especially in the moment when you pushed her through that... portal? What was it, she never said, but she was sure you got it from Rumple."
"A mirror," Regina said thoughtfully. "But it only worked once."
"Yes, because he enchanted it... with something. A spell, maybe?" Hook asked.
"I don't know. He gave me the mirror and told me how to use it. I didn't get to see what he did to it."
"It stands to reason, though, that if he could enchant one mirror..."
"... he would have been able to do it with others as well. Unless... he obtained the mirror when it was already enchanted," Regina argued.
"Cora seemed to think he could do it himself, that he could make portals."
They looked at each other and then they both smiled.
"It's probably a spell or an object... maybe another mirror," Regina contemplated.
"Then you know what you're looking for now. And when you find it you'll give to me?"
"Maybe I'll use it myself," Regina gave back with a wicked grin.
"I thought you wanted to stay here... playing mayor to an empty town?"
"I have been known to lie to people, especially the Charmings, dear," Regina told Hook.
"But you'll let me use the thing... whatever it is, to get away from here, right? I don't have to say that you have a standing invitation on board of the Jolly Roger, do I?"
Regina gave him a knowing smile.
"I'll see that you get to leave here, Hook, but I'm not going to set foot on that ship ever again. Now, I should get back to the shop. Emma's probably wondering what's taking me so long," she said.
"I'd say Neal is keeping her plenty busy or he wouldn't be the guy I know. We'll talk again, soon," Hook told her then inclined his head in a goodbye before he turned and walked away.
Regina watched him go, the smile gone now from her face. She felt tired of this cat-and-mouse game but it at least gave her some information she could use. There was something stirring inside her, though. Talking to Hook like she was still the Evil Queen seemed to wake the dragon within. Regina knew that it was all the result of working in the shop but she wondered if she had underestimated the effect it would have on her. Running into Snow hadn't helped... but maybe the cocoa in her hand could. She took a sip, then another. At first the creamy beverage made her frown in disapproval but as she emptied the small cup she found that it made her indeed feel better, warming her. It lasted only for a short while, as Regina entered the shop to Emma laughing with her ex.
"I'm glad to see you both so hard at work," Regina commented as she walked through the jumble of Rumplestiltskin's former possessions. He had kept a tidy place - except for the backroom - but now things lay around haphazardly, every possible surface was laden with objects big and small and many had already found their ways to the floor.
"We were just taking a break, talking about the past a little," Neal said easily.
"That same past when you had Emma arrested?" Regina asked conversationally and saw Neal stiffen. She smiled at him and handed Emma her cup of cocoa.
"Regina," the blonde warned and then smelled the rich aroma of chocolate. "You brought me cocoa?"
"It was Ruby's idea," Regina said and put their lunch down, clearing a spot from a small jewellery box. "I talked to Snow at the diner and told her about this. She may want it, it was her mother's." She said as she handed the box to Neal.
He took it.
"How do you know?" Neal asked looking at the box.
"Her mother's initials," Regina answered as she tapped on the lid where three letters were carved into the wood.
Emma looked at the box, intrigued.
"This was my grandmother's?"
"Yes, dear. Leopold kept it along with all her possessions in a locked room in the castle. Like so many other things it made its way here and into Rumple's shop."
Regina looked around as she said this. There were many things she remembered all around her, other things she knew about, and the rare thing she didn't know existed but still intrigued her now. The stirring in her chest was back and she grabbed onto the glass case with both hands.
"You okay?" Emma asked.
"Yes," Regina gave back automatically but as she looked at Emma, the sheriff could see that she was not. There was a coldness in those eyes she remembered from her early days in town but they already seemed to melt as she was looking into them.
"Maybe we should call it a day," she suggested.
"You've only been here for two hours," Neal argued, seemingly just to remind the two women that he was still in the room.
"Neal, I think... Ruby forgot to pack plastic forks for the pie, could you maybe...?" Regina asked him.
"Oh, okay. I'll be right back," he answered and left the room for the back. Neal was living in the apartment above the shop, a place Rumple had used as additional storage space but also to cook and sometimes sleep at when he stayed late.
"Come here," Emma said as soon as Neal was out of sight and pulled Regina into her arms. "This place isn't good for you, love. We should just let someone else rifle through all this junk," she said.
"I might actually know what we're looking for now," Regina said savoring the tight hug from her lover. They stood like that for a moment, then Emma pulled back a little to kiss Regina. It should have been just a small kiss, reassuring, loving but it became clear at first lip contact that Regina needed more and Emma wasn't one to disappoint. They parted breathlessly when they heard Neal's clomping footsteps on the stairs.
"You were saying," Emma said with a slight smirk and Regina laughed.
"Later," she said quietly as Neal entered the room.
"Here you go," he said and handed two small forks to Regina.
"Thank you, Neal. How about... we take our lunch outside. It's nice and warm and we've been cooped up here for long enough."
"That's a good idea," Emma agreed. "I'll probably be back later," she told Neal.
"Okay, I'll just... keep working some more, see what I can find. Maybe I'll get this over to your mom later." He said lifting the jewellery box.
"I'm sure she'll be happy to get it back," Regina said as she picked up their lunch and walked to the door.
Emma waved at her ex as she opened the door for Regina and they exited. Neal was left looking after the two women. He still wasn't sure what was going on with them but he was now sure that he didn't like it at all.