Emma stared out towards the waterfall, her back against one of the nearby rocks. The space had done nothing to clear her head, but it had managed to at least calm her down. Her anger towards Mary Margaret had faded. Everyone made mistakes, she knew that better than anyone. And Mary Margaret had only done what she thought was best. She had tried to give Emma her best chance. She wasn't to know how things would turn out.
Clumsily wiping at her eyes once again, Emma sniffled. Ever since moving to Storybrooke with Mary Margaret the woman had done nothing but treat her with kindness and had shown her more trust than she deserved. She had offered her a second chance, surely she could do the same in return.
After all, if things hadn't happened the way they did, she would never have met Regina...
Regina, who had never left her mind for a moment. Had the girl really known about Mary Margaret?
Emma turned at the grumble of a familiar engine, trying to force a smile as Ruby's pick up came to a halt and the lanky brunette stepped out of the cab, followed by her girlfriend.
"Hey Ems, what you doing here?" asked the taller girl.
"What's wrong?" asked Belle, leaving her girlfriend's side to kneel next to Emma.
The blonde let out a bark of laughter. "Where do I start?"
"Emma, there's no way Regina wouldn't have told you about this," said Ruby, shaking her head.
"Did she tell you about me being in foster care?" asked the blonde.
The taller girl shook her head. "Not until you told us. As far as we knew you were M&M's niece, same as you told anyone else. When you finally told us about it, we asked her if she knew before, since she didn't seem too surprised." She paused on seeing Emma's face. "Look, I know what you're thinking," she sighed. "Regina's been friends with us for years and she didn't tell us about that, but she would have told you about this. She didn't tell us because you asked her not to. She's do anything if you asked it, Ems."
Emma sighed, her head in her hands. "It's not just that." She paused, shaking her head. "She read my file. Her mom had it in her office. She admitted she had seen it the very first time I came here with you guys. If she seen it..."
Ruby opened her mouth to speak before falling silent.
Belle reached out and placed a gentle hand on her arm. "I may not know Regina as well as you guys, but she wouldn't keep something like that from you, not something this important. If she knew, she'd tell you, and she'd be right there to help you through it."
Ruby turned to smile at her girlfriend. "She's right, Ems. Regina thinks the world of you, and wants to do everything she can to make you happy, but she wouldn't lie to you to do that. She wouldn't keep something this huge from you. Ruby's right, she'd tell you. Even if it meant your world would come crashing down, because she'd be right there to help pick up the pieces and put it back together."
Emma nodded. "You're right." She pushed herself to her feet, pacing along the riverbank. "I need to see her and fix this. But that means we need to find her first."