Chapter 21

Emma followed Regina across the crowded diner. As she walked past the booth her parents were sitting in, Mary Margaret frowned in concern and exchanged a look with David, who made a move like he was going to get up.

Emma shook her head slightly. "I've got this. Can you guys just watch Henry and Mia?"

Without waiting for an answer, Emma walked past them to where Regina was waiting for her impatiently in the back hallway.

"Look," Emma started in a resigned tone, "I know…she should have told me Zelena mentioned Henry. And I will have that conversation with her. But Mia wasn't lying…she doesn't believe it was a threat. She really would have told us if she did."

Emma could tell the girl wasn't lying when she said that she would have told them if it had been a real threat, but Mia should have just told her everything.

Regina stared at her in disbelief. "Yes, well, she didn't believe Zelena was a threat to her either, did she? I'm sorry, but I don't really care what she believes. She's twelve, and she's new here. She has no idea what my twisted sister is capable of. If she did, she wouldn't have run off half-cocked to have a tea party with the wicked witch!"

"She was wrong. She knows that now."

"Does she?" Regina questioned. "Zelena sure seemed to think it would be easy to turn her against you. I don't know whose side your daughter is on, but what I do know is that Zelena wants to destroy me, and the best way to do that would be through my son."

"Our son," Emma said softly. "It wouldn't just destroy you if anything happened to him. It would destroy me, too. You know that."

"And my sister would just see that as an added bonus!"

"I'm not going to let anything happen to him," Emma assured Regina.

"Good. Then you agree – we need to know everything Zelena said so we can decide how worried we should be instead of letting a twelve year old decide," Regina said smoothly.

Emma sighed. "I'll talk to Mia."

"You already tried that. She lied to you."

"She didn't lie exactly…she just didn't tell me everything."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Fine, she omitted then. I don't know about you, Miss Swan, but in my book, a lie by omission is still a lie. Who knows what else she isn't telling us?"

Emma eyed the other woman wearily. "She's a kid, and she's scared. What do you want me to do? Beat it out of her?"

Regina shot her a look, looking insulted. "That's not what I was suggesting. I want to see her memory firsthand."

At first Emma didn't understand. That wasn't possible, not unless – no. No. "No," she said resolutely. "I just told her I wouldn't use magic on her."

"You don't have to. I will," Regina told her…like that just solved everything.

"No. You won't," Emma said in a low, warning tone. "She's my kid, and it's my decision."

"Extracting the memory won't hurt Mia, but Zelena could hurt Henry," Regina said with frustration in her voice. "We still don't know what she's up to…just that she wants to destroy me. Not kill me. Destroy me. And what better way to do that than-"

"Henry."

"Yes, Henry. Our son. This is his safety we're talking about here. And as for Mia's safety – extracting the memory won't hurt her. If anything, it may even help you with her if there's anything else she's not telling you that you need to be worried about. We already know Zelena has plans for her."

"Yeah, to turn her against me. If I use magic on her, I'll make it really easy for Zelena. I'll lose all trust…I'll lose Mia."

Regina stared. "She's lying to you and sneaking around. How much trust do you think you have?"

"Let's find out," Emma said after a moment's consideration.

"How? By talking to her?" Regina said in a slightly mocking tone, but without any real cruelty.

"Yes." Emma turned to go back to the booth. As far as she was concerned, the conversation was over. She was not going to use magic on her daughter to see her memory.

"Wait, Swan!" Regina called somewhat desperately. "You think you can tell when anyone is lying. Tell me this - was Zelena lying when she said she was succeeding in turning Mia against you?"

Emma hesitated slightly. Zelena had been telling the truth – or at least what she believed to be the truth. Apparently the moment's hesitation was answer enough.

Regina's eyes narrowed. "So she wasn't lying."

Zelena wasn't lying, but she was wrong. The lost little girl that they found in the woods didn't want revenge…she just wanted Emma. "Just because someone believes something doesn't make it true. Mia's angry with me – that's true. She has every right to be. And she hasn't forgiven me for giving her up, but Zelena's wrong about one thing…Mia doesn't want revenge…she just wants a mother."

"Well, she needs to get over her anger and mistrust or Zelena will use it," Regina warned her. "My mother was a master manipulator, and apparently so is my sister. And an angry child is easily manipulated. Right now your daughter is a pawn in whatever game Zelena is playing. I, for one, want to know what the score is."

Emma looked over at Mia, who was sipping cocoa from her mug and nodding to whatever Henry had said to her. She was glad neither kid looked angry or upset, at least not at the moment. "Yeah, well, Zelena can't manipulate Mia if she can't get anywhere near her."

"We can use a protection spell to keep Henry and Mia safe just as long as they stay within the boundaries of the spell, but if either of them leave, all bets are off," Regina told her.

Emma looked at Regina with a knowing expression. "And they both have a history of running off. I'm going to keep a really close eye on them."

"She can't get her hands on Henry…" Regina's voice broke off. "Emma, I…can't win in a fight against her."

Emma studied Regina for a moment. The other woman had never given up, not when it came to Henry. She always fought for him. Emma knew Regina would still fight for him, but how could she win if she didn't believe in herself?

"This isn't like you. Why are you so sure you'll lose?"

Regina wordlessly offered Emma the letter that she found in her vault earlier and had apparently been carrying around ever since. It took Emma a few seconds to take the letter from Regina. She was curious what the hell was in the letter that had upset Regina so much, but it didn't seem like Regina wanted anyone to know…and now suddenly Regina was just giving it to her.

Emma glanced at Regina, almost for permission before carefully unfolding the letter. She half-expected Regina to change her mind and snatch it back, but she didn't.

The letter was from Gold to Cora, and it was about Cora's firstborn…Zelena.

Emma gasped and looked at Regina with raised eyebrows. "The most powerful sorceress he's ever encountered...more powerful than Cora?"

Regina nodded mutely.

"I don't understand," Emma said in a confused tone. "If you knew you couldn't win, why did you come with me when I thought Mia was with Zelena?"

Regina scoffed. "Like I was going to let you go alone. It's my fight. She's my sister. I'm the one she wants to destroy…not you."

Emma shook her head. "It's not just your fight, Regina. She cursed everyone. Neal is dead because of her. And she wants my parents' baby."

"That's not the child we need to be worried about. Mary Margaret will stay within the boundaries of the protection spell. It's Henry and Mia who might not." Regina looked over at Henry and sighed. "I don't want to let him out of my sight."

Emma followed Regina's gaze to where Henry and Mia were deep in conversation. "Neither do I. You're right…we do need to be worried about them. What do you want to do here?"

"I want to see that memory, but since you're so dead-set against it, I guess I'm just going to have to settle for whatever your daughter feels like sharing with you. And until we know exactly what Zelena is up to, I want Henry with me any time he's not with you."

"He can't be with either of us when you and Zelena throw down tomorrow because I'll be with you in case you need a little extra firepower. So you're going to have to trust someone else," Emma told her.

"And who do you suggest? The one-handed wonder pirate?"

"I trust him," Emma said simply.

"Even after he lost your daughter today? I hope he's more careful with my son than he was with your daughter. If anything happens to Henry…"

Regina didn't need to finish the threat. Emma offered her a rueful smile. "Then you won't be the only pissed off mom Hook has to deal with."

"So she can always tell when you're lying?" Mia asked her twin after Emma and Regina were out of earshot. "Really?"

Emma had told her that she could always tell when anyone was lying, and so far the woman had seemed to know when Mia was lying, but Mia thought there had to be a way around it.

"Pretty much," Henry told her.

"But- that's just not…" Mia's voice trailed off. She didn't know what to say - it wasn't what…fair? "I mean, how? How does she always know?" If she knew how Emma knew, maybe she could…she didn't even know – keep her face blank…maintain eye contact…just lie better somehow?

"You don't believe it's her superpower?" Henry said in a teasing tone.

Mia scoffed. "No."

Henry raised his eyebrows. "Even after everything you've seen today? You don't believe she could have a superpower?"

"I don't know," Mia said honestly, laughing uncomfortably.

"Why don't you just tell her the truth?" Henry questioned innocently. Was he really that innocent?

"I am telling the truth now. But you can't tell me you always tell your mother the truth about everything?"

"Our mother. And I don't tell her everything." Okay, maybe he wasn't as innocent as Mia thought…

Mia could appreciate that, but not telling wasn't really an option for her in this case, not when Emma and the mayor would come back to the booth at any minute and would probably have more questions for her. If Mia lied, Emma would know. If Mia refused to answer, they would know she was hiding something and push her for answers.

Mia had told Emma almost everything, but she did not particularly want Emma to know why she wanted to talk to Zelena in the first place. Emma seemed to think it was just because she had told her not to talk to the other woman, and that was definitely a part of it, but Mia had also wanted to know what Emma wasn't telling her, and, at the time at least, she thought she had a better chance of getting the truth from Zelena than Emma. Mia knew that would just hurt Emma and she was trying not to do that anymore.

"Easy for you to say." Mia tried to keep the resentment out of her voice. "She actually trusts you. She always thinks I'm up to something."

Henry glanced at her in amusement. "Maybe because you are always up to something."

"I am not," Mia said indignantly.

Henry gave her an incredulous look.

"I mean, not always," Mia said quietly.

Henry rolled his eyes. "If you want our mom to trust you, maybe you should stop lying to her."

Mia shot him an annoyed look. "Funny, I don't remember you having a problem with lying when you wanted to go talk to Walsh behind Emma's back."

"I didn't lie. I just didn't tell her what we were doing. That's why we got away with it," Henry told her.

Mia raised her eyebrows. "We? Whose idea was it again?"

"Fine, that's why I got away with it."

"What about when you don't get away with stuff? What does Emma usually do?" Mia asked awkwardly.

"I don't usually get caught," Henry said with a cocky grin. He realized quickly that she was really worried and wanted a real answer. It occurred to him why his twin would be worried and he sobered up quickly. "She's different from your foster parents. Whatever they did to you, our mom would never do that. Don't worry, she'll probably just talk to you about why you can't sneak off to see the Wicked Witch of the West."

"Oh, she already did. And I think it's off to see the wizard, not the Wicked Witch of the West." Mia tried to lighten the mood a little bit, earning a chuckle from Henry. "She said I have to be with her or someone she trusts until she can trust me. What does that mean?"

"Exactly what I said." Mia heard Emma's voice from behind her and swiveled around to look at the woman. "You'll be spending a lot of time with me and my parents."

Henry groaned softly. "All Mary Margaret does is talk about babies."

"You'll be with me when you're not with Emma," the mayor told him as she sat back down next to him.

Mia waited anxiously for the mayor to resume her interrogation, but she didn't. Emma did.

As Emma and Regina approached the booth where they left Henry and Mia, they heard the tail end of what Mia was saying.

"She said I have to be with her or someone she trusts until she can trust me. What does that mean?" Mia asked in a confused tone.

Emma thought she'd explained that not leaving Mia alone wasn't intended to be a punishment…it was just to keep her safe, but she could tell her daughter still felt like she was being punished. There weren't a lot of foster parents out there, if any, who would handle Mia not listening to them the way Emma was handling it. The poor kid would probably be less confused if Emma had kicked her out.

"Exactly what I said." Emma tried to assure the poor kid that she meant what she said and Mia didn't need to read between the lines for a deeper meaning. "You'll be spending a lot of time with me and my parents."

Henry groaned. "All Mary Margaret does is talk about babies."

Emma knew Mary Margaret had bored the kids with baby talk when she watched them, but she trusted the woman to take care of her kids when she couldn't have them with her. She had seen firsthand how protective her mother was of her in the Enchanted Forest and knew the woman would protect Henry and Mia. She'd take her kids bored and unhappy over dead any day, even if they didn't love how she was keeping them safe.

Henry brightened when Regina told him that he would be with her when he wasn't with Emma.

Mia looked sullen, but didn't complain…at least not to her. Emma wondered what else the girl had said to Henry…probably more than she had said to her.

Emma knew Mia hadn't told her everything. She was worried about what else the girl wasn't telling her…she had to be. But if she wanted answers – and she did – she knew she had to stay calm. She took a deep breath and sat down beside her daughter. "Look at me, Mia." She waited for the girl to meet her gaze hesitantly. "When I asked you what happened between you and Zelena, I wanted to know everything that happened. But you didn't tell me she mentioned Henry. If there's anything else you're not telling me, it's time to talk, kid."

"Even if you don't think it's important, it could mean something to me," Regina added.

Mia glanced at Regina with a knowing expression. "Because she's your sister."

"Yes. Well, half-sister," Regina qualified. "We share a mother."

"Not really though," Mia mumbled under her breath. Emma couldn't tell if the girl had wanted anyone to hear her, but they had.

Regina's eyes narrowed slightly. "Excuse me?"

Mia shrugged. "You didn't share her. You had her. Zelena didn't."

Regina stared incredulously. "She's jealous? That's what this is about?"

"Well, yeah," Mia said like it should have been obvious. Emma knew Mia was jealous of Henry and wondered if Zelena had actually said that she was jealous or if Mia just thought she was.

"She actually said that?" Emma questioned.

"She said she had nothing, and her sister had everything." Mia nodded toward Regina, but her eyes darted toward Henry - a dead giveaway that the girl thought what she was saying applied to her and Henry, too. "She said her mother kept her sister and gave her everything she should've had."

"And you? Are you jealous of Henry?" Regina asked with false calm.

Emma interjected before her daughter could say anything that would make Regina any more defensive...that would not be helpful. "There's a difference between wanting a mother and wanting to destroy your sibling. This is not normal sibling rivalry here. It's…crazy."

"She's one twisted witch," Regina agreed.

Mia looked uncomfortable...maybe because this whole conversation hit a little too close to home for her. The girl was jealous of Henry. Emma didn't like it, but she could kind of understand. She was a little jealous of her unborn baby brother.

"Um…Emma said Henry had this book of fairy tales when he brought her here, you know, before?" Mia tried to change the subject. She looked around the booth, but was careful not to meet anyone's gaze. "Only…it's not just fairy tales. The stories in the book actually happened…like it had Emma in it as a baby. Well…I'm not sure it's the same book, but Zelena has a book like that."

Emma couldn't tell if Mia had been planning to share that with them or if she was just so desperate to change the subject from jealous siblings that she would tell them just about anything in that moment. Either way she was glad Mia told them, though she wondered why Mia hadn't said anything earlier when Emma mentioned the book. They'd been looking for the book, and that witch had it.

Emma caught Regina's eye. "Henry's book."

"She has it," Regina said in a low, dangerous tone. "And I'm going to get it back."

"I'm going with you," Emma told her.

"Wait!" Henry cried. "I don't want you – either of you – to get hurt over some book."

"It's not just some book, Henry," Regina said with a patience she only ever had with Henry. "We think it might be the key to you remembering everything."