Chapter Nine

'You're looking much better, Emma,' Sidney said, watching as the sheriff walked into the office the following Monday morning.

'Thanks,' she replied, not looking up. She still didn't feel quite right – her head was throbbing and she wasn't sure that she'd had more than two hours sleep over the entirety of the weekend, but even so: being back at work for the past week had helped her more than she was willing to admit. She felt just as scared as before, but more able to ignore it. It was the tiniest of victories, but a victory nonetheless.

She didn't notice that Sidney had started scribbling down notes in the pad on his desk.

'I thought you were meant to be back in the newspaper office today?' she asked after a moment, watching as he jumped in his chair.

'I am,' he replied, forcing a smile. 'But I thought I'd just come by here first, to check how you are.'

'That's… considerate,' Emma said slowly. 'But I'm okay. I've been back for a week now. I think I've got it.'

'Are you sure?' Sidney said, frowning. 'Because I can stick around.'

'You're meant to be back here with me tomorrow, aren't you?' Emma asked, referring to the new arrangement that she and the editor had decided on at the end of the previous week: just to help her ease back into things, he would spend the next two weeks working between both of the offices. After the next fortnight was over, she'd be back on her own once more.

'Yes...'

'Then it's okay. You can go back to your newspaper, and I'll see you tomorrow, won't I?'

'Yes, of course. But if you need me to stay, I—'

'I'm sure that Sheriff Swan would tell you if she felt that the station was about to crumble in your absence, Sidney.'

The voice came from the doorway. Both Emma and Sidney turned to look, even though the sound of the mayor's voice was far too distinctive to possibly be mistaken for anyone else's.

Sidney immediately flushed bright red. Emma struggled to suppress a laugh.

'Madame Mayor,' he stammered, looking back towards Emma for a moment. 'I was just telling—'

'I heard,' she interrupted, stepping into the room. 'Sidney, I cleared your new arrangement with Miss Swan because I agreed that it would be beneficial for the both of you: I didn't clear it because I wanted to pay you for working at the newspaper while you're actually hovering about the sheriff making it impossible for her to do her job.'

Sidney's mouth snapped shut at once. Regina stood coolly watching him, not meeting Emma's eye, waiting for him to gather up his things and leave.

She immediately noticed the old legal pad that he shoved into his bag, along with the scribbled notes across it. Emma, it would appear, did not.

'Right,' he said, turning his gaze back to the blonde woman. 'I guess I'll see you tomorrow morning then, Emma?'

'Yeah,' she replied, leaning against the glass frame of her office. 'See you tomorrow, Sidney.'

The man left, shuffling down the corridor with his head down. Regina didn't turn to watch him go.

'It's funny how many people feel the need to check up on me nowadays,' Emma said after a moment of silence, walking across to Sidney's desk in the centre of the room. Regina watched her gathering up the papers that he had left strewn across it, most of them undoubtedly filled in wrong.

'That's because people are concerned about you, Miss Swan.'

'I know,' Emma replied, standing upright with a sigh. She held the papers loosely in the crook of one elbow. 'Is that why you're here as well?'

Regina took another step into the room, trying not to look as nervous as she felt.

'Partially.' She offered the sheriff a small smile. 'You have to accept that people are going to be worried for a while. Especially when you still look like you haven't slept after nearly five weeks.'

Emma winced. Regina noticed that her hands were still trembling.

'I'm fine.'

Regina looked at her pointedly, but chose not to acknowledge this comment.

'Very well,' she said, walking further into the room until she was on the other side of the desk to Emma. 'And how was your first week back?'

'It was… okay,' Emma replied, looking down at the papers in her arm. 'I mean, it was good. Sort of. Luckily no one got hit by a car or tried to rob the supermarket or anything, because I'm not sure I would've been able to handle that just yet. But it was good to be back. It took my mind off of things.'

Regina couldn't help but smile with relief, her heartbeat finally slowing down a touch.

'I'm glad,' she said, sitting herself on the very edge of Sidney's desk. Emma awkwardly stood just to her left, trying to ignore the long stretch of leg that was now visible from underneath the mayor's skirt. 'Really. Part of me was worried that perhaps getting you to come back here might have only made things worse.'

'You were doubting yourself, Madame Mayor?' Emma asked without thinking. 'Jesus. Between that and you actually worrying about me, I'm starting to think that maybe you aren't the Evil Queen after all?'

Regina felt her jaw tighten for just a moment, even though she knew that Emma was joking. She forced herself to smile.

'Don't get too used to it,' she said slowly. 'I'm not planning on making a regular habit out of it.'

Emma laughed, putting the papers back down on the desk and pushing her hands into the pockets of her jeans.

'Well,' she said, shrugging. 'You can stop worrying now, I guess – the office isn't on fire and I'm clearly doing okay.'

'Clearly,' Regina said, taking in the sharp jut of Emma's collarbone from beneath her thin shirt. Emma rolled her eyes.

'Did you say there was another reason why you came here, Regina?'

At this, Regina's heart started fluttering once more. This was something that she knew she needed to do, something that she knew was the right thing – but she hadn't even told Henry that she was about to do it. Just in case Emma said no.

She took a deep breath. 'Yes. There was. I was… I was wondering if you…'

She was stammering. As she paused to collect her thoughts, Emma frowned. She had never seen the mayor like this before – she looked nervous. And uncomfortable. It didn't suit her.

'Regina?'

'I was wondering,' Regina said, forcing herself to sit upright, 'if you had any plans for dinner tonight?'

Emma blinked. Regina watched the confusion that flickered across her face, her green eyes narrowing. She inhaled through her teeth before she responded.

'Um,' she said slowly. 'No. Not exactly…'

'Good,' Regina said, plastering on her comfortably familiar mayoral smile. 'Because I'd like to invite you to have dinner with me and Henry.'

Something that was either relief or panic dropped like a stone in Emma's stomach. 'What?'

'He doesn't know yet,' Regina quickly added as she watched the colour draining from Emma's face. 'So if you feel like you can't, then you won't be letting him down. But… I really think you should consider it, Miss Swan. It's been over a month and he's miserable with missing you. You can't understand how hard it is to see him like that every day.'

Emma wetted her lips, frowning. 'Just to clarify – you're inviting me round your house? For dinner? With you?'

Internally begging to be granted some extra patience, Regina nodded. 'Yes, Miss Swan. That is what I am asking.'

Emma didn't respond for a few moments. Instead she took a step away from the mayor, walking around to the other side of the desk with her hands tugging through her hair. She reached the bars of the jail cell at the back of the room and leaned against them for a second, her eyes closed and her chest swelling. Regina rose to her feet and turned to watch her, unable to drag her eyes away from the deep scar that now ran down the blonde's temple.

'You're doing much better, Emma,' she said quietly. Almost pleadingly. 'He'll be relieved to see it. And… you can probably hug him again now, can't you?'

'Yeah,' Emma muttered, turning around to face her. She leant her back against those heavy bars, swallowing. 'Regina, look – I really want to see him. I do. I miss him every single day.'

'Then why—?'

'Because what if he hates me?' she choked out, shaking her head. 'Come on, Regina, I suck as a mother. I abandoned him once and now I've essentially abandoned him again. What if I show up at your doorstep and… and he asks me to leave again?'

A part of Regina's heart broke as she watched Emma trying so hard to force back tears. 'That's not going to happen.'

'How can you be sure?'

'Because I know him,' Regina said simply. 'He loves you. He misses you. And, for some reason, he's got it into his head that I miss you too.'

Emma blinked in surprise, and Regina rolled her eyes.

'He thinks that we should be friends,' the mayor clarified. 'So I can only imagine how happy it will make him if he opens the front door to find that I've actually taken him seriously in that suggestion.'

'You…' Emma faltered, swallowing. 'You want us to be friends?'

'Not especially,' Regina said, but without any bite to her voice. 'But even I have to admit that not having to resent and begrudge and hate you every day of my life can only be a good thing. It can get a little repetitive.'

A short laugh escaped from Emma's lips. 'Way to sell it to me, Madame Mayor.'

Regina raised one eyebrow. 'You know what I mean.'

'Yeah, I know,' Emma sighed, leaning her head back against the bars once more. 'Hating you can be really exhausting.'

There was a silence as the two women simply looked at one another, neither of them quite knowing what to say next. Eventually, Regina pushed her hands back into the pockets of her coat and cleared her throat.

'So,' she said, looking down at the floor. 'Dinner? Seven o'clock?'

A tiny smile, almost indiscernible, spread across Emma's face. 'Yeah. Okay.'

Regina heard the scream of delight that came from the hallway only two seconds after she asked Henry to go and see who was at the door. She smiled to herself, stirring the sauce that was simmering on the stove, before moving over to the nearest mirror to check that her hair was okay.

'Mom!' Henry hollered from the kitchen door, dragging a startled-looking Emma behind him. 'You invited Emma?!'

'Yes, I did,' Regina said, hardly having time to turn around before Henry catapulted himself across the room towards her. He wrapped his arms tightly around his mother's waist in a way that he hadn't done for months, and Regina froze, swallowing. Then Emma watched as she laced her own arms around his back, pulling him even closer towards her.

'Thank you,' he muttered into her stomach. She smiled down at him.

'You're welcome,' she said. When he let go of her, she looked up to where Emma was still stood uncomfortably in the doorway. 'Miss Swan.'

'Hi,' the sheriff said. For a moment Regina could only stare at the blonde curls that had been freshly washed, the black button-down shirt and tight blue jeans that had actually been ironed, and the black boots that for once weren't coated in dirt and grime. But then her attention was drawn to Emma's face: she looked exhausted, and dark circles still pooled beneath her pink-tinged eyes. But more distracting than that was the side of her face. Layer upon layer of make up had been caked across her ugly scar, and now Regina could hardly see it at all. Her face almost looked familiar, and it startled her.

'Thank you for coming,' Regina said after a moment, returning to the stove as Henry laced his fingers through the sheriff's. 'I hope pasta's okay?'

'Pasta's great,' Emma said. Neither one of them chose to acknowledge the fact that she probably wouldn't be eating any of it anyway.

'Come on, Emma,' Henry said excitedly, pulling the blonde further into the kitchen. 'We can help Mom with the food and then—'

'It's okay, Henry,' Regina interrupted, switching the stove off. 'Go and take Miss Swan into the dining room. I'll bring the food through in a moment.'

'Really?'

'Regina, please, let me help,' Emma said, taking a step forwards.

'No. You're our guest,' Regina said firmly, gesturing to the door. 'Off you go. I'll be in shortly.'

Henry immediately grabbed Emma's hand and tugged, pulling her through the door and into the next room. Emma threw an apologetic smile over her shoulder as she went, one that Regina was unable to return before she had disappeared into the hallway.

She turned back to the stove and swallowed, combing her fingers through her hair. Right, she thought, taking a deep breath. Here we go.

Henry's eyes flickered back and forth across the table for the majority of the meal, watching his two mothers as they talked to one another. Part of him was waiting for the screaming and shouting to begin. The rest of him, however, could have cried with relief over the fact that it didn't actually seem like it was ever going to.

As he watched the way that Regina was leaning her elbow on the table, her wine glass held loosely in one hand as she listened to Emma telling a story about her life back in Boston, Henry realised something: August had been right. They did like each other, in some weird, screwed-up kind of way. His mother's dark eyes were shining as they watched the way that Emma's hands animatedly moved as she spoke, and it dawned on him that he hadn't seen her look that happy in a while. The same could be said for Emma – every now and then, just for a few seconds, flashes of the old sheriff would come blazing through the tall, barbed walls that she had built around herself over the last few weeks. In that moment, her green eyes wouldn't look quite so dull anymore.

The boy sat back in his chair, considering this. Considering what it would be like to have two mothers that didn't constantly bicker or try to outdo one another – but who actually liked one other. Who could actually call themselves friends.

'You've gone awfully quiet, Henry.' Regina's voice suddenly crept through his thoughtful haze, making him jump. He looked up to find both of the women looking at him. 'Is everything okay?'

He smiled. A real, genuine smile that made Regina's chest hurt. 'Yeah. Everything's great.'

Emma reached out for a moment, squeezing his hand beneath her own. 'It's been really good to see you again, kid.'

'You too,' he said, grinning. 'I'm glad that you're finally better.'

'Well. Maybe not quite better yet,' she said, swallowing. 'But I'm definitely getting there. And… coming round here, and seeing you, has definitely helped.'

She glanced across at Regina, only barely catching the tiny smile of relief that flickered across the mayor's face.

'I told you, Mom,' Henry said to Regina, not bothering to suppress his smug smile. 'I told you it was a good idea.'

Emma watched Regina curiously as a faint tinge of pink spread through her cheeks.

She looked down at the glass in her hand, nodding. 'I know, Henry,' she said. 'Sometimes I forget how smart you are.'

Emma took a sip of her own wine, not taking her eyes off of the mayor.

It was half past nine by the time that the table had been cleared and Regina had tidied up the kitchen. She walked back into the living room, leaning against the door frame. Henry and Emma were sat on the sofa, close together, talking in low voices. Regina caught the word 'queen'. She caught the word 'friend'.

'Henry,' Emma muttered to him. She was sitting cross-legged, facing her son. 'I've told you. I'm not fighting any battles here.'

'But it's not a battle,' Henry insisted, leaning forwards. 'Not anymore. Don't you see? That's why it's so perfect. Because you like each other.'

Emma sighed. 'Look. Henry—'

'Henry,' Regina said from the doorway, making them both jump. Her face was carefully expressionless. 'It's past your bed time.'

Henry blinked, shuffling away from Emma. The blonde's gaze remained pinned to the expanse of sofa that he left behind, her cheeks flushing.

Her son stood up and, moving to her side, wrapped his arms tightly around her. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes against his chest. They stayed like that for a while.

'It was really good to see you again, Emma,' he said. She finally released him, smiling up at him. He didn't notice that her green eyes had gone glassy.

'You too, kid,' she said softly. 'I'll see you again soon.'

'Can I come and see you at the station?'

'When?'

'Tomorrow?'

Emma swallowed, then glanced over at Regina. The mayor nodded.

'Sure,' Emma replied, squeezing his hand. 'I'll see you then.'

She watched as the boy crossed the room, stopping to wrap his arms so fiercely around Regina's narrow waist that she almost collapsed back against the door frame. Her hands gingerly found the back of his head, pulling him closer to her.

'Thanks,' he mumbled. She smiled down at him.

'You're welcome.'

As he charged up the stairs, Henry couldn't suppress the excited grin that had stitched its way across his lips. Grabbing the phone from its table in the hallway, he slipped into his bedroom and shut the door behind him, dialling August's number as he went.

The moment that he was out of the door Emma sighed, flopping backwards against the couch. Regina watched her from the doorway, her eyes on the groove running down her temple that was just starting to show through the make up that had been caked over the top of it.

When Emma looked up, the mayor was smiling at her.

'What?'

'You look like you could do with a drink,' Regina said. Sudden relief hit Emma in the stomach like a train.

'God. Yes please.'

'Come on,' Regina said, pushing herself away from the doorframe and gesturing across the hallway. Emma stood up, walking across to the mayor and diligently following her through the house. Regina opened the next door, standing aside to let Emma pass through into the small office that she'd been led into on her very first night in Storybrooke.

A/N: I hope you're still enjoying, guys! Please do leave me reviews with any feedback you might have - I'll still be doing one shots for every 50th reviewer as well, so if you have any prompts that you want writing then try to get in there as the 200th :)

I'm starsthatburn over on tumblr if anyone wants to drop by and say hello! x