Little Lion Man

Regina was down on her knees, both her arms holding Luca tightly against her. While it had been in concern for him at first, now that she knew he was fine, the contact was providing more comfort to her than anything.

Luca seemed to sense that. As he usually did when he knew something was wrong, whether it be from memories of the past, or a passing holiday or birthday without the family they left in Storybrooke, Luca allowed any contact she needed for comfort. He was still a bit stunned himself and found himself staring forward as well.

Henry slowly sat up. He wasn't stunned in the way the other two were, but he was definitely thrown off by this. He didn't know if he was ready, but now that didn't matter. He was here. They were here. There was no going back. He opened his mouth to speak, but it was cut off before any sound was released.

"Regina? Luca?" A woman ran up from the side and dropped beside the pair. "Oh my God, are you okay?!" She placed a hand on Regina's shoulder and looked them both over.

"Y-yes." Regina said, still trying to catch her breath. "Luca?" She looked down at him and he nodded.

"I'm fine." He said and both he and Regina looked slowly towards the other boy.

"Henry…are...are you okay?" Regina said slowly and her voice was so quiet.

"Yes." He spoke just as softly.

"Here, let's get you all up." Susan reached a hand down and Luca took it, standing with her help. Henry stood up on his own while Susan helped Regina as well. Regina pulled Luca in again, her eyes looking up and down Henry. The red head glanced around the group of three, trying to understand the stiff and stunned postures.

"Thank you." Luca looked at Henry, looking confused, but starting to come out of the shock. Henry looked away from Regina and took a few extra seconds to respond.

"I guess now we're even." He said softly and Luca let out a small laugh.

"Yeah."

"Henry…" Regina said again, still trying to absorb the situation. Her breathing was deeper and Henry took his own deep breath before giving her a small, hesitant smile.

"Hey Mom."

It was just two words. Two words that she heard in some variation all the time, everyday. Two words that she had heard from this boy in front of her plenty of times in the past. But it had been a long time. A very long time.

She was so distracted in her haze that she didn't notice Susan's very confused expression, now looking back and forth again.

"Regina." She started, placing a hand on her shoulder again to gain her attention. "Is everything okay?" She asked carefully. Regina blinked a couple times.

"It's…I…yeah." She finally nodded, though Susan was not convinced.

"You call me…if you need anything at all, alright?" She looked seriously and a small smile appeared on Regina's face.

"I will. Thank you." She nodded, though Susan could still see clearly how off kilter her friend was. She also knew though, that Regina would talk to her when she was ready. Clearly, something huge was happening and she didn't need someone on the side, meddling.

When Susan walked hesitantly away, Regina took a few deep steadying breaths. She could use Susan's support in this moment, but then knew there was no easy way to explain right now. She didn't have the time it would take to both describe her situation, and do it without the rather huge components that would make her friend go running for the hills. She'd need to figure out a way to explain all of this later.

"What…when…how did you get here?" She finally asked Henry, not really knowing exactly where to start. This was so much to handle with no warning. Henry, for his part, didn't seem too surprised from the question, though he didn't want to answer.

"I walked." He started, knowing it wasn't the answer she was looking for.

"Where are you staying, Henry?" She asked, watching him a little more closely now.

"There's a hotel a few miles away." He knew the truth was going to come out now, but was still nervous of her reaction.

"And is…Emma there?" She asked, faltering just the slightest. She realized, with a bit of surprise, she couldn't remember the last time she used that name.

"Uh…not there, no."

"Where is she?" She knew his fidgety posture was due to more than just being face to face again. He looked down at his feet momentarily and Regina took the time to observe him. The growth spurt was excepted but still surprising. She had held this boy when he was only days old and now he was a teenager. It was a lot to take in. "Henry?" She watched him take another breath.

"Assuming she hasn't fixed her computer yet, I'd guess she's still in Storybrooke." He barley glanced up but he saw her startled expression. "But I can't be sure."

"Who is here with you?" She took a step forward, momentarily forgetting her shock over his arrival.

"No one." He admitted, knowing well enough there was no more point in being elusive.

"Then how did you- No wait." She stopped and rubbed a hand over her face. "I'll take you back home with us and we can discuss everything there. It's been a long day." She didn't wait for him to give her an answer. She just turned to lock up the center and returned to the car, driving both boys back to the house for what should be a very interesting conversation.

Henry was trying to take everything in stride. This was not at all how he expected things to go. However, he went with it. He got in the familiar car and sat behind Luca. Regina didn't say anything as they drove. No one did. He wouldn't say he was uncomfortable per se. But he was definitely feeling a bit nervous and maybe even a little excited if he could interpret that feeling in his gut.

He looked out as they pulled into a driveway. He had wondered where they lived now. While it wasn't the mansion, they certainly weren't suffering by any means. He had a few ideas about how this was all made possible, but that wasn't important right now.

They walked up to the front door, still in silence. Regina directed them in and Henry looked around their home. It was definitely nice. Clean and well kept. But then it wasn't like he would have expected. While the mansion had been so pristine, there was hardly any proof of his existence, save for his room, this home was clearly a family place.

There were pictures around, ones Henry already had questions about. The backgrounds showing they had most definitely not simply come straight here from Maine. One with mountains gave him a second of pause, but he moved on. He couldn't start asking about that yet. There were too many important things to discuss first before their travel experiences.

"Are you boys hungry?" Regina's back was a bit stiffer than normal and Luca noticed right away. He smiled up at her.

"I'm fine. I ate over there."

"Good. Henry?" She glanced at him.

"I'm uh…I'm good." He fidgeted slightly, feeling more than a little odd and out of place right now. Regina looked back to Luca and cupped his cheeks in her hands.

"Are you sure you're okay?" She asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm good." He smiled at her again and it seemed just the slightest bit of tension was released from her rigid posture. He glanced at Henry and then back to his mother. "Are you?" He asked quietly. Now she did smile at him.

"Yes. Why don't you get ready for bed. I know you're tired after last night."

"Okay." He paused to lean in and give her a hug. He was plenty confused, but he knew beyond any doubt that his mother was being affected much more than him. She was the strongest person he had ever met, but that didn't mean she didn't need support herself. He had decided years ago, that he would always be that for her.

"I'll be up in a few minutes." She said and gave him one more comforting squeeze before releasing him. He made sure to look Henry directly in the eyes before leaving the room and heading up the stairs.

The second he was out of sight, silence descended on them. Regina paced a few steps towards the kitchen and after a few seconds, Henry hesitantly followed. He stepped towards the table and glanced at her. After another moment of the awkward silence, Regina took a seat and nodded towards the one opposite her. Henry dropped into it immediately.

"I took a bus. A couple busses." Henry answered her earlier question, needing to break the silence anyway. Regina studied him for a moment.

"You came all the way here by yourself." She said more as a statement than anything.

"Yeah."

"And your parents were okay with that?" She asked ad Henry's eyes snapped to hers. She didn't stumble over her words anymore. She spoke evenly and held his gaze.

"I didn't tell anyone." He admitted, but Regina found she wasn't too shocked by that.

"Because they wouldn't have let you come?"

"Because she would have come with me and then…" He tapered off, looking to the side and seemingly trying to work out how to explain.

"I don't understand. Why didn't you want Emma to come?" She did notice he only said "she" and not "they".

"It's just…it's complicated. It won't be long till she is here anyway. I just…I guess I wanted a head start." He said and Regina was still trying to understand.

"Let's start somewhere else. Why are you here? Why are you here now?" She clarified and Henry focused in on the easier part of that.

"Well…now because I just found you."

"What do you mean?" She asked and Henry took a calming breath.

"We've been looking for you for a long time, Mom." He took a few more deep breaths as he looked into her eyes. "A little while ago, after you put Luca in school, his name finally showed up in this search Emma does. Your name shows up a lot, but it's never actually you it seems. Luca though, I knew it was really him. And that meant you two were here."

"You've been…looking for us." She said slowly. It wasn't like she hadn't considered it, but it was still interesting to hear from the one person she thought would never want to see her again.

"Well, Emma always has. Since the day you left. But you stayed off the radar pretty well. Except once Emma thought she found you in Colorado. But then she realized she was wrong about that too." He looked down and Regina tilted her head.

"We stayed there for a month." She said quietly and Henry's eyes snapped up again. He looked surprised and then almost saddened. Regina was a little confused by the reaction.

"You really were there? That article in the paper…that was really about you?" He said and Regina's eyebrows rose.

"Yes, I suppose. We helped when there was a big accident in the town we stayed in. Though when the reporter asked for a statement, I didn't give him one. I didn't know he took my name." She said curiously.

"That and there was a picture. It was hard to tell with all those people, but it looked like you a little."

"Why did you decide it wasn't?"

"Because-" He stopped himself and Regina narrowed her eyes.

"What is it?" She asked and he sighed before answering.

"Emma bought a plane ticket the next day. She left a few days after that and stayed there for two weeks trying to find you. Asking everyone and trying to find out where you went to. But no one knew who you were, so eventually, she had to give up." He finished and Regina just stared for a few moments.

She was spinning again. This was a lot to take in so quickly. She had thought about it, but she hadn't really ever considered someone actually showing up. Until six months ago, they didn't stay in any one spot for longer than a matter of weeks. When they left Storybrooke, they were both in such an adventurous state of mind, that they just explored. Regina didn't realistically expect to see a familiar face in real life ever again.

She definitely didn't expect this. None of this. Henry here. Now. Sitting at her kitchen table. Finding out Emma had gone all the way to Colorado to seek her out. She had a brief second of emotion when she remembered that they left just less than a week after that accident, which meant Emma would have either missed them by a hair, or that she was possibly there the day they left. She shook out of that though. She worked hard to keep those feelings at bay.

"I don't understand how that was the only time your name came up, like for real." Henry started again. "I mean, I know Emma checked everyday in the beginning. And then constantly after…uh." Again, he seemed to catch himself before continuing. She knew he was keeping a lot back. Two years was a long time though. There must be a lot to tell.

"We actually went out of the country for a bit." She decided just to answer that first.

"Oh." He nodded, taking a few calming breaths.

"I still don't understand…why are you here Henry?" She placed her hands on the table, flattening them out on the surface. She watched the hesitant and nervous expressions crossing his face. It took his several more moments to respond but Regina didn't say another word.

"Mom…I-"

A ring sounded out in the room and both flinched hard. Regina reached for her phone, intent on turning it off. But then she saw the I.D.

"I'm sorry, I have to take this." She hit the button quick and stood from the table, stepping out of the room and out to the porch outside.

Henry couldn't hear her, but could tell that whatever was happening on the line wasn't just a simple conversation. Regina had grabbed that phone urgently and was pacing now. He watched her facer go from concerned to surprised to happy and then beyond. He was paying attention then. She moved into excited and stayed there, pacing faster and seemingly completely forgetting his existence as she talked quickly on the phone.

Luca came back down the steps, now barefoot in pajama pants and a t-shirt. He narrowed his eyes slightly when he saw only Henry before he heard a sound and saw his mother coming in from the porch. When she stepped in, she caught his gaze and smiled wide. She walked quickly and grabbed him in a tight hug.

"Guess what?" She said in a tone that was both quiet but also excited.

"What?" He asked and she was nearly vibrating.

"That was Becky." She said and Luca paused before realization settled and he started smiling at her.

"Lilly?" He asked and she nodded. "She's coming? When?!" He bounced a few times on his heels and she laughed.

"Tomorrow." She couldn't stop smiling.

"Did they say for how long?"

"Just that we'll see. There's no guarantees right now, but as of tomorrow, she will officially be your foster sister." She finished and he smiled happily. She hugged him again and rested her cheek on his head. It was when she did that, that she saw Henry sitting there and she paused in her celebration.

It was such an interesting sensation. Being emotionally tugged in two different directions so severely. Not even an hour with Henry hadn't given her time to process and now the news she had been waiting for, for months had just come in. She was over the moon but so completely confused at the same time.

"Alright, well, I told her we'd pick her up tomorrow, so get to bed. That way you won't be too tired to play at the park." She squeezed his arms and he nodded.

"Alright, goodnight, Mum."

"Goodnight, sweetheart." She watched him go, such a warm, happy smile on her face.

She took a few moments to gather herself again, busing herself getting glasses of water. She came back to the table, silently handing one to Henry before taking her seat again.

"You're going to be a foster mom?" He asked to break into the silence again. He sounded only curious and Regina was slightly surprised at that.

"Yes. I've been trying for awhile now. It's not like Storybrooke. No quick magic solutions." She gave a small shrug and Henry nodded. "Since we did kind of appear here out of nowhere, it's been a longer process."

"Are you…are you going to adopt her…um, Lilly?" He glanced at her, still trying to sound nothing but neutral. He could feel the delicate balance in the air and didn't want to disrupt it.

"Well that's a little down the road. It's taken awhile just to become a foster parent. She isn't a baby but she also isn't old enough to determine what she needs. We'll see how she adjusts. If she wants to stay."

"Cool." Henry looked back down at his hands, trying to process his thoughts with the news he'd just received. Regina watched him another moment before leaning forward.

"Henry…if you came here to tell me to go back to Storybrooke…I'm sorry but-"

"That's not it. Not exactly."

"Well, honey, then your family-"

"It's just Emma now." He blurted. Regina paused, not sure how to respond. "Things…things really changed after you left. That's kind of why I'm here, I guess."

"Henry…I know you blame me for a lot, but I won't go back there to fix-"

"Mom." He stopped her again. "I don't." He looked seriously at her. "I didn't come here because I blame you and want you to fix it. I came here because…because everything is my fault and I need to fix it. I'm here because…because I'm sorry."

Neither were quite sure how long they sat there for. Both were just a little too overwhelmed by everything to know what to say. After Henry just blurted it all out, he didn't know how to follow it up. Was Regina really interested in hearing about his pity party? Maybe…maybe not. He had so much he needed to say, but part of him worried it would end up burdening her and that was exactly the opposite of what he wanted to accomplish here.

Regina was just trying to understand the boy in front of her. He sounded more than two years older. But then he had always been beyond his years. He was an interesting kid in that sense, because while he had a maturity about him rarely seen in children his age, it was his childlike fixation on good and evil being so black and white that was hugely responsible for the breakdown of their relationship.

Regina would never pretend to not have made the mistakes she did. She always loved Henry, but she made very poor choices with him and she knew that. But she tried. She tried so very hard to earn his love and then she tried to just give him what he wanted. Time. Space. More time. More space. And when that all still wasn't enough, she gave him an unlimited supply. She couldn't fathom why he was returning that final gift.

She was definitely curious though. She couldn't pretend not to be. What had happened to that perfect family of his? He said it was only Emma. Did that mean his grandparents, the oh-so-wonderful Prince Charming and Snow White, were out of the picture? Neal, the man that had started the events leading to her final decision. The man Emma had chosen. The man Henry had chosen. Was he out of the picture? And why? And how? And when? She wanted to know all these things.

But she couldn't just ask. This wasn't the same boy she raised. She wasn't the same woman that mothered him. It wasn't all necessarily bad, but they had both grown. Grown apart from one another. In different parts of the country. Different parts of the world. They just weren't the same mother and son they had been and Regina didn't know if they could be again, or what they could be now.

Neither knew how long it was until the silence finally broke again. At some point, Regina picked up the phone again and handed it to Henry.

"You need to call Emma."

"What? Why?" He looked startled and Regina attempted to give him a small smile.

"Because I'm sure she is losing her mind right now. Call her. Tell her you're safe. That you're staying with me until she gets here." She tried to stay in a mature, responsible role. Focusing more on the fact that a child was across the country from his parent and needed safe shelter, than the fact that that child was her son she hadn't seen in two years and that that parent was not just any woman.

Henry held the phone for a long time before he did anything. This was not going to be a fun conversation. That, he had known since making these plans. While he had been writing his letter to her before going, he had known this moment, would be uncomfortable. He guessed it was better than face to face though, as he had assumed it would have been.

Finally, after several more moments, he put her number in. He wasn't surprised when it answered on the first ring.

"Hello?!" The answer was frantic and Henry knew she'd probably answered every single call like that for days.

"…Mom?" He said hesitantly.

"Henry?! Oh my God, are you okay?!" Her voice was so loud that he pulled the phone away from his ear. It was not on speaker, yet Regina could hear her easily from her side of the table. She didn't breath for a few seconds after that, her hands staying still and flat on the table.

"Yeah, I'm fine." He said in a tone that was clear he knew how much trouble he was in.

"Do you have any idea how worried I've been?!" She yelled and Henry flinched again.

"I'm really sorry-"

"Where are you?!"

"Um…well…"

"Henry, I am not kidding with you right now. You tell me exactly where you are." She said and Henry bit his lip.

"I'm…I'm in San Diego-"

"San Diego?! That's…that's on the other side of the freaking country! Why are you in California? Wait, your letter…Henry explain." She finished and Henry took a deep breath. He knew the reaction would change here.

"I came here to find Mom." The line went silent for only a few seconds.

"You…Henry…why would you think she's there? And why wouldn't you tell me? Where are you staying? Do you have any idea how dangerous this is?!-"

"She is here. Right here actually. Like…right next to me." He knew he'd done it now. The line went completely silent. He couldn't even hear her breathing. Curiously, he looked up and his brunette mother seemed to have the same reaction. "Mom?" He said, not even sure which he was speaking to. Maybe both.

"…You actually…you actually found her?" Emma's voice lost all panic and anger and was replaced by a quiet disbelief.

"Yeah." Henry replied, just as quietly. He didn't move and there was another, very long moment of silence before he heard her again.

"…You know you're still grounded for the rest of your life, right?" She said and Henry let out an involuntary laugh at the break in tension.

"Yeah."

"Good…just so we're clear."

"So, uh-"

"Text me her address right now. I'll be on the next flight out." Emma seemed to find her voice again.

"Okay."

"And you do as she says and you stay safe Henry."

"I will." He said and Emma sighed.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll see you soon."

"Bye." Henry pressed the end button on the phone and handed it back to Regina. He noticed neither woman asked to talk to the other, but then a minute on the phone probably would have started them on the wrong foot.

"There's a guestroom down here you can use. I'll show you." Regina stood and her posture suggested the stress of the evening was weighing in heavily now.

"I still have that room at the hotel. I'll be fine." He tried and Regina spun.

"I will not let my son-" She stopped herself and shook her head. "That would be very irresponsible. You'll stay here, we can get your stuff tomorrow." She turned and continued down the hall, pointing out the bathroom as they went, until they stopped in a plain room. "Help yourself to anything in the kitchen. I'll uh…I'll see you in the morning." She cleared her throat and stepped around him. Henry turned to watch her go.

"Goodnight Mom." He called after. She froze for a second. She turned just slightly and glanced back.

"Goodnight Henry."

So, a couple things i want to address. First is i know there has been a large absence of Emma, but the entire next ch is about her and i have to say i am so very excited to share that one. It will fill in one big blank and you will finally see what Regina said in her letter :)

Next, and i'm addressing this because of a few messages i've gotten now about Regina and her friendships. Several people have mentioned that Susan can't be a real friend because she doesn't know about Regina's past... okay.

This is absolutely ridiculous. No one, and i mean NO ONE knows me through and through. But i would NEVER say that my friends aren't "true" or "real" b/c of that. No one needs to know every single thing. And the idea that you not only have to constantly face your past, but share it with others to be allowed to call them friends is one of the most ridiculous things I've heard. At some point, Regina is allowed to MOVE ON. It's HER business, not anyone else's.

I just want to clear this up because if you're thinking i'm going to have Regina sit Susan down, pour her a cup off tea, and then explain the number of hearts she removed from bodies...well then i'm sorry to say you'll be disappointed, lol. Regina left to find happiness. Not to introduce her demons to everyone she meets.

I don't mean this to sound angry, i was just so surprised to get more than a couple messages about this. Just wanted to be clear :) I do hope you can still enjoy the story.