NOTE: This chapter is just a little fluffy because we all need a little fluff in our lives

Emma waited in her car, trying to figure out what to do, what to say. How did one ask someone who used to be an evil queen out on a date?

Tink was making it seem like this was easy but it was anything but easy. First of all, true love's kiss aside, Regina and her had spent a lot of time hating each other. Was she really supposed to believe that would all magically disappear?

She had been putting off asking Regina out for days and Tink was becoming impatient and she didn't trust the fairy not to tell Regina. She finally got out of her car – after checking her reflection in the mirror – and approached the house. She rang the bell and Regina answered.

"Hi," Emma said.

"I'm glad you are here," Regina said grabbing her hand and pulling her in. She brought her into the main room where Henry was sitting on the floor by the coffee table. There was a game of Monopoly on it. "Your son has beat me at every board game he owns. You need to beat him at something. I don't care what it is at this point."

Emma couldn't help but smile. "Hey kid, why aren't you taking it easy on your mom?"

"What would she learn from that?"

Emma turned back to Regina, "definitely your son, but no fear, I am an expert at board games."

Emma sat down and they reset the board game, Emma pulling Regina down on the floor as well. "You aren't getting out of this."

They played several board games throughout the evening Emma winning a few, but mostly breaking even with Henry. There was plenty of laughter and good-natured fun. Every once in a while she would look over at Regina, who was smiling, and she wondered why she never noticed what an amazing smile she had before. Then realized she never saw Regina smile much and when she did it wasn't with the innocence it seemed to have now.

After Henry went to bed, Emma stayed and talked to Regina.

"That's like your third glass of water since I got here. Are you ok?" Emma asked concerned.
"Yes I am fine. I had a quick check up today since I changed pain medicine. Everything is as normal as it can be. I might even get this sling off next week. Dr. Whale said my collarbone should be healed enough be then."

"That's good."

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"Tonight was fun," Emma said finally.

"Yes, it was. Although it occurs to me that I never asked you what you were doing here in the first place when I dragged you in here."

"Oh, well, I hadn't really stopped by in a couple of days so I thought I would check in and make sure everything was alright, and it is, so you know good," she said hearing herself sound like an idiot.

"I was actually thinking that when I get full use of my arm back and can cook a decent meal that maybe you would like to come over for dinner, just the three of us like tonight. Henry was upset before but he isn't now, and I thought we could maybe put the past in the past."

"Yeah, that would be really great."

"Then it's settled."

They talked a little more but as it was getting late Emma got up to leave. Regina walked her to the door. Emma stood there just outside. "Tonight really was great. I really enjoyed spending time together like … like that. And um thanks for the dinner invite. I am looking forward to it."

"So am I," Regina said. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Emma walked back to her car feeling a little cowardish for not asking Regina out, but since Regina sort of asked her out first she figured it was a start. When she said that last part about enjoying spending time together, she had stopped herself from saying what she really meant, which was that it felt like a family.

She couldn't even manage to ask the woman who was supposedly her true love out on a date, fast-forwarding to a family was certainly out of the question. As she got in her car though she felt lighter, like those few hours had lifted a weight off of her. She would gladly take that feeling anytime.

…

Regina was smiling as she locked up the house and went up to bed – stopping first to get a bottle of water. She hadn't enjoyed an evening like that in, well she couldn't remember when did last.

When she had answered the door to find Emma standing there it felt as natural as it could be to invite her in. As they played the games, she would look over at the sheriff every once and while and she was struck by how beautiful she was. She had spent so much time at odds with the other woman she wasn't sure she ever really appreciated how perfect she looked.

And her laugh. It was infectious.

Seeing her interact with Henry, laughing and joking around it almost felt like … like a family, she realized.

She was sure Emma didn't see it that way, but to her at least that is what it felt like.

She got ready for bed and ended up drinking half the bottle of water before turning off the lights. She had been thirsty lately, she thought. She had told Dr. Whale about it but he didn't seem concerned, said it could be a reaction to the new medication.

It was nothing like it was before she got sick. At that point she was drinking water almost continuously.

She still had so many questions about what had happened to her – both here and in the past. She had gone back down to the crypt (with Tink who was acting odd even for her) and looked through more of her mother's stuff. This time she went through her mother's spellbooks. She had, of course, been through them before, but she also knew her mother had written many notes in them, notes which unless Regina had some context for them she didn't know what they were. She had been able to decipher many of them in the past, but many still remained unknown.

Tink had carried the books back for her. She had them locked away in a cabinet downstairs, but she had begun that afternoon to go through them. She spent nearly an hour looking at a couple of pages in one of them. There were notes written along the edges of pages of a binding spell. The spell itself wasn't anything too major, it simply bound light magic – kept the user from casting any light magic for a limited amount of time. Her mother preferred direct approaches so she was somewhat surprised to see the spell in there. If someone was going after her mother using light magic, she wouldn't have bothered binding the person she would have taken them on directly and killed them or arranged for a covert way to kill them. This was exactly the kind of spell Cora would have told her not to bother learning.

Yet her mom had written along the pages with what looked to be a part of another spell. She could only make out some of the words though as the rest of it was written in a maybe some sort of short hand. What little she could make out didn't make sense to her, yet there was something about it that seemed familiar to her.

There was only one person in town she could consult with and he was not someone she wanted to see.

The fact he would have done something to her with her mother's help was not surprising to her. But it wasn't like she was just remembering the event, it was like she had relived it and that feeling of fear when he approached her still made her shiver.

She had been his pawn, used to cast his spell but would it have occurred to her that he had a hand in her life that early on.

But if she truly wanted answers, she may not have a choice but to go see him.

…

It was not like his mom not to be up, so Henry went and knocked on her door the next morning. "Mom?" he said a moment before opening the door.

Regina sat up in bed. "Henry? What time is it?"

"It's after 10."

"You're late for school."

"It's Saturday," he said concerned. He walked closer to the bed. "Are you ok?"

"Yes," she said still trying to get the cobwebs out of her head. "I must have been extra tired, but I am fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Come here," she said, and he came close so she could give him a hug. "I am fine. I promise."

"How late did Emma stay last night?"

"Not long," she said. "But she did accept the dinner invite for as soon as I am capable of it."

"Are you two like friends now?"

Regina thought about it a moment. "I don't know. I am not opposed to that if she wants to be friends. Would you like us to be friends?"

"I like that you two are getting along."

"I sense a little hesitation there."

He shrugged. "I just hope if you become friends that you know it doesn't go badly."

"You mean you hope I don't mess it up."

"No, I didn't mean that."

"It's ok Henry. Do you remember once when I told you that I didn't know how to love very well?"

"Yes."

"You know enough now about what my life was like before. I am not saying that excuses the things I have done, it doesn't. But I don't want my life to go in that direction ever again either. I don't know how to explain it, but for the first time in my life that I can remember I feel like whatever I decide to do next will be my choice, not someone else's and I want to make the best choices for you and for me. And that may mean being friends with Sheriff Swan."

"You should really call her Emma."

"Fine. Emma."