A/N: Mhhh, pizza and beer - nothing to do with the story, just my dinner. Enjoy - the story.
Regina was hurrying down the street. She had chosen the way out of town toward the city limits and Emma had a hard time keeping up with her.
"You must be hungry," she commented and Regina looked at her.
She breathed in deeply, then out with a sigh. She slowed herself to a more moderate pace.
"I just want to get out of town for a short while," she said as they passed the last house to their left. It was the convent.
Emma held her hand out for Regina to take and the dark-haired woman entwined their fingers. They walked for a while longer until they came to a bench.
"Is this where you were headed?"
"It is," Regina said and they sat down. "I used to come here when Henry was a baby and I just needed to get away from everything. I would push his stroller here and just sit and think, holding him. Later when he was learning to walk I would walk with him in a small circle. We still came here when he was older. He would play explorer in those woods and I watched him from here or we... we played hide and seek... I haven't been here for a couple of years, though."
"I can just picture you. I wish I had been here to experience these things with you," Emma said and looked a little sadly at her lover.
"That would have been nice if I... had been different then but I wasn't. I was still full of hate, full of... rage. I'm feeling it again and..." Regina shook her head. She handed Emma the bag with their sandwiches. "Let's have lunch."
"Hey, it's okay, you can talk to me about this. I'm not going to run for the hills, or something. Not again," she promised and cupped Regina's cheek.
"Remember when you promised me hugs and kisses for when I'm feeling the side effects of Rumple's magic? I think I need some of that now."
Emma smiled.
"My pleasure," she said and held her arms out for Regina to snuggle in. Before long they forgot the world around them as they were engrossed in a make-out session.
"Mhhhhmmm," Regina made as she put her head on Emma's shoulder a while later. "I'm feeling much better. You're better than chocolate," she teased.
"Wow, that's quite the compliment. I mean, chocolate!" Emma teased back and they laughed.
"Well, I know how much you value your sweets, darling. I would never ask for a compliment like that."
"No, no, I must say, you're definately better than chocolate, too. Even hot chocolate with cinnamon... I think you're better than just about anything... I've ever tasted," she said with emphasis.
"Mhhm, I think someone's going to get lucky tonight," Regina said smiling but Emma made a face.
"I promised Tink that I would take the night shift tonight. Sorry."
"Well, I'm pretty sure you'll be more sorry than I'll be when the clock turns ten-thirty and you'll know that I'm at home, alone... probably thinking about you," Regina told Emma while looking up at her almost coyly.
"Now you're just being cruel, woman. It's sad how easily you'll have me replaced by... what exactly?" Emma asked lifting an eyebrow at her lover.
"I wouldn't say replace, Emma, but I'm definately going to... do you really want to know the intimate details of... this personal ritual of mine?"
"Personal ritual? Is that what you used to call masturbation in the Enchanted Forest?" Emma asked laughing.
"I see you don't want to know, you just want to make fun of me. Have it your way," Regina said mock angrily, pulling herself up and out of Emma's arms.
"I wasn't making fun of you, love, really... I..." Emma scooted closer to Regina, sliding her arms back around her and whispering hotly into her ear. "And I really, really want to know about your... personal ritual."
They leaned back into the bench.
"Alright," Regina said. "But I won't tell you now." She saw Emma pout and kissed her lips. "There's a time and place for everything and this isn't it."
"Probably best. Getting all worked up and then having to wait over twenty-four hours to have you naked again... that's torture," Emma agreed.
They sat quietly for awhile, just holding each other, their hands entwined.
"I ran into your mother at Granny's," Regina then said.
"You mentioned it earlier. You talked?"
"Yes, but I'm not sure it went too well. I was... well, I was honest with her but... not very nice. And I'm not sure it was just me being on edge about Rumple's magic. Sometimes... the things she says, the way she says them, rub me the wrong way. Do you understand?"
"I understand that you two have a lot of old baggage to work through. You didn't... like fight, or anything, did you?" Emma asked with a frown.
"Of course not. We were... civilized. It was... okay, I guess, for us," Regina said with a small smile. "Ruby was sweet, though. I think... I'm not sure but I can imagine... maybe, being friends with her?"
"That's great. I think she likes you... I mean, despite everything, she... never said that I shouldn't be in love with you. She was really great and she appreciates what you did for Belle," Emma said.
Regina lay her head back on Emma's shoulder and Emma could tell that Regina didn't want to talk about what she did for Belle. She knew her girlfriend considered it as too little in the face of what she did to her years ago. But for Emma it was one of the steps Regina took in the right direction and she was proud of her.
"Your mother wasn't the only one I walked into today. Hook was waiting for me outside the diner," Regina then told her.
"Really, what did he want?"
"You remember the call I got the other night when we were at your place? He said he needed to talk to me. He's always either cloak-and-dagger or let's-get-down, I thought he just wanted to... continue where he and my mother left off but he actually had some thoughts about... whatever it is that might get everyone home," Regina told Emma.
"Well, I can understand anyone wanting to get down with you," Emma said with an easy smile. "What did he tell you?"
"He thinks it's something that turns mirrors into portals," Regina said.
"Like 'Alice in Wonderland'?"
"More like 'Cora in Wonderland.' It's how my mother came to be there," Regina gave back but didn't say that it was her who pushed her mother through.
"And Rumple made that portal?"
"That's what Hook thinks and what my mother thought... according to Hook."
Emma contemplated this.
"So what is it? A spell?"
"Or some kind of device. It could be a mirror. I know it doesn't sound like this is narrowing it down but it actually helps to know what it does. I'll just have to search for something that reacts with a mirror, or a spell. Our search has just gotten easier," Regina said confidently.
"If Rumple had it, that is," Emma argued.
"I think it's safe to assume that he did. He orchestrated everything perfectly, it would be foolish to think he hadn't thought of some way to go back."
"But why hasn't he done that? He could have left as soon as he found Neal," Emma said.
"Yes, but at that time Belle wasn't quite herself and he would have to have left her behind. And when Belle was herself again..."
"Neal was presumably dead and we were all going off to Neverland," Emma remembered.
Regina nodded.
"Would you do me a favor?" Emma asked after she thought about everything for awhile.
"What kind of favor?" Regina asked suspiciously. Emma looked like she wasn't going to like what she was going to ask of her and she wasn't one to just give a promise because someone asked her to.
"Don't come back to the shop with me today. Just go home. I want you to... get Henry, go home, relax. I don't want you near that shop until next weekend. Those things... all that magic... does things to you. I," she hesitated for a moment. "I don't wanna lose you, Regina."
To Emma's surprise, Regina nodded.
"Really? It's worse than you thought, isn't it?" Emma asked in a high-pitched voice that bordered on panic.
"It's... bad, yes. I told you I can handle myself and I do but... it effects me more than I thought it would. But now that we know what we're looking for, or, at least, have an idea... I guess you can look for yourself a while. You could look at the mirrors today. You can test them by... putting your hand to the glass. You should make sure to stand securely, don't lean into it, hold onto something with your other hand. Just to be safe, okay?"
"Okay," Emma said and nodded. She could tell that Regina was more worried for her than for herself.
"Don't hold onto Neal, though. It should be something that doesn't swoon when you touch it," Regina warned with a raised eyebrow and Emma had to laugh.
"And if I find the right mirror, should I push him through just to make sure it works properly?" She asked with a smile.
"That's always an option but I would want to be present at a test-run," Regina gave back easily.
"And do the honors?"
"No, I left those days behind me." And suddenly it wasn't funny anymore, it was serious and Emma could see the color of Regina's eyes darken as she seemed to remember something.
"Your mom?" she asked but already knew the answer.
Regina nodded her head.
"I didn't even stop to consider where she might end up. I just wanted her gone," she said in a grave voice.
"She did horrible things to you," Emma argued.
"She was my mother," Regina gave back but let herself be held by the blonde.
"Cora knew you loved her, Regina," Emma said. She pulled away a little to look into her lover's eyes again. "I love you," she said and kissed her.
"I love you, too, Emma."
Emma walked into the station whistling. She had spent two more hours at the shop that afternoon but hadn't found anything - and she had checked every mirror for prossible portal-making abilities before she had called it a day. She found that she still had some time before she was supposed to be at the station and went to the mansion instead of home. Her reward had been another hour of making out with her woman before she had to leave for work - needless to say, it had put her in a good mood.
"Someone's happy. If staying here all night gives you such pleasure, you're free to do it every night, Emma," Tinkerbell greeted her and grinned.
"I bet you'd like that but it's not gonna happen. And believe me, come morning I'll be as grumpy as... Grumpy," she said with a smile of her own.
"If it's not work that makes you so happy... may I take a wild guess at a certain beautiful mayor?"
Emma stopped in her tracks as she was about to hang her jacket over the back of her chair.
"What?"
"I saw you two today... out by the convent, holding hands. Blue... Mother Superior asked me there. She still hasn't given up on me joining the 'sisters,' like I would volunteer for nun-duty!" Tink said, rolling her eyes over the other fairy. She noticed that Emma had sobered at her words. "Come on, Emma. If you didn't want anyone to know you shouldn't be making out in public. And yes, I saw you two when I left the convent again. You make a pretty couple, nothing to be ashamed of."
"I'm not ashamed," Emma said quickly. "It's... just... I haven't told everyone I think should know. You're right, we're not exactly hiding... and yes, we are a couple," Emma admitted with a shy smile.
"I'll say, and good for you. Does that mean that Killian is still in the dark about your... coupling?"
Emma rolled her eyes at her colleague and someone she would very much like to call a friend in the future.
"He doesn't know and... I would like to tell him myself, if it's all the same to you."
"Hey, I don't gossip. And I know how the man gets when he's heartbroken... not a pretty sight," Tink told Emma.
"He'll get over it."
"Without a doubt but I don't wanna be the bearer of bad news."
Tink took her boots from her desk and rose from her seat. She stretched before she pulled her own jacket from the rack and slipped into it.
"Mother Superior wants you to join the convent? Just because you're a fellow fairy? I don't even get why they keep up the charade, it's not like they actually believe in God, is it?"
"She said something about... everybody being two people in Storybrooke. I don't quite get it but obviously that other her believes in a benevolent Christian God. It's all bunkum, if you ask me. Fairy Nuns? That's just what this or any other world needs!" Tink scoffed.
Emma smiled.
"Does that mean that you don't think fairy magic is good magic?"
"Good, bad, it's all the same. I don't think magic has a conscience, or rather, it has a conscience but it doesn't have a moral. The only thing it wants is something in return when you use it," Tink said.
"All magic comes at a price," Emma quoted.
"You can put it that way. The difference is the price you're willing to pay. Usually the higher the price the shadier the person who works the magic."
"So you think it's the person who is good or evil?" Emma asked.
"Isn't that always the case? But not only bad people are willing to pay a high price to get what they want out of magic, Emma. Sometimes people are just desperate, hurt, or have nothing to lose. Fairies don't ask much of magic and they're not willing to give a lot... except for the dwarves' lives that is... but then they make them," Tink explained.
"What do you mean with the dwarves' lives? They don't kill them, do they?"
"Not actively, but the dwarves work in the mines their whole lives. And not a very long life. Grumpy and the others are older than any I have ever seen but they've left the mines."
Emma thought about this.
"So if they go back... to the mines in the Enchanted Forest, back to their work, they will die?"
Tink nodded.
"Yes. It seems unfair that fairies pay their magic in dwarves's lives, doesn't it? But from what I hear of that Rumple fellow, he had a way of coaxing other people to pay for his magic, too," the fairy commented.
"That he did," Emma agreed.
"Well, I'll see you in the morning. Make sure to stop by The Rabbit Hole when you make your rounds. I'll be there later, maybe we can have a beer together," Tink suggested.
"Or a coke," Emma gave back and the fairy waved her hand.
"Rules, rules, rules," Emma heard her say as she left.
An hour later, Tinkerbell entered Granny's for an early dinner. She was surprised to see Belle sitting at the counter, she hadn't seen the young woman since the day that Rumple-fellow had killed Pan and himself with that sinister-looking dagger.
"Hello," she greeted the few patrons cheerfully.
Besides Belle there were only five other people present - Ruby, of course, Granny, that red-haired head-doctor and two dwarves, Grumpy and Sneezy, if Tink recalled correctly.
"Hey, Tink. You're early tonight," Ruby greeted her.
"Wanted to beat the crowd. Seems I was only so successful. I'll have a quarter-pounder cheese, the works, and a soda."
Belle smiled at the fairy.
"You sound like you've always been living around here," she said.
"I'm good at fitting in," the blonde gave back. "You all look like I've interrupted some secret conversation. You all don't plan a heist, do you? Not that I care, I'm off duty," she said shrugging.
They had been talking, or rather, Sneezy had come up with a theory and some of them had pitched their five cents in while others had been been suspiciously quiet over the matter. And so it was Sneezy again who said:
"Say, you're working at the station with Emma. She been different lately, maybe... preoccupied?"
"I don't know. Emma has seemed preoccupied to me since I met her. Always out saving people, that girl," Tink gave back. "What about her?"
"Sneezy, this is humbug and if Snow heard you talking like that about Emma... well, she wouldn't be happy," Grumpy told his friend.
"I don't see why she wouldn't be, Grumpy. If what Sneezy says it's true, it's a good thing, isn't it?" Belle wondered aloud.
"A good thing? THAT is supposed to be a good thing? You're forgetting who we're talking about here," Grumpy gave back.
"What are you even talking about?" Tink asked.
"The savior and the Evil Queen. They've been awfully chummy lately. VERRRY chummy, if you get my drift," Sneezy said with a grin.
Tinkerbell looked from the dwarf to Ruby who didn't look very happy, neither did her Grandmother.
"That's idle gossip and you better not go spreading it around," the old woman said and went into the kitchen. "Ruby, the soda," she reminded the younger woman. Ruby nodded and moved to get Tink her drink.
"I'm not spreading anything around," Sneezy said. "I'm just sayin'."
"Say it in your own four walls then," Grumpy told him and slipped from his stool. He pulled his cap over his head and smiled a little at Belle. "Good to see you," he mumbled before he turned to the door. He stopped.
"Neal," he said. "Ahhh, haven't seen you there. You alright, buddy?" he asked the man who stood as if thunder-struck by the door.
"Hey, Bae, wanna join me for dinner?" Tink turned and greeted the man.
"No, I'm... no, I've got something else to do first," he said and left the diner.
Grumpy turned to Sneezy.
"Now you did it," he said and walked out, his friend following him - sneezing.
"What was that about?" Tinkerbell asked.
"You know that Neal is Henry's father, right?" Belle asked.
"Sure, I... oh, and Emma... right, they were together. But they aren't anymore, are they?"
"No, but that doesn't mean he's over her," Ruby said as she put the soda in front of the fairy.
"And now she's with...," Tink started saying but stopped herself. She looked at the remaining patrons but everybody looked at her like they already knew what she didn't say. "I see," she said and took a drink of her soda.