Double Trouble 71

A/N: *steps nervously back into the spotlight* A thousand apologies for how long it's been since this story was updated and for leaving it on a wicked cliffhanger. A year ago my gf broke up with me and I was pretty devo for a while so I wasn't really in the mood to be writing a happy ending. I've got a new job this year and things are looking up. I've got most of the last chapter done (72) and it's going to be quite long so it's nearly over. I hope you've enjoyed this story and I'm grateful to everyone who has left kind comments and reviews along the way. No matter what happened on the show, Swan Queen the story belongs to us.

Chapter 71 'Exactly'

It was the third morning since the curse had finally broken and for the third time the Saviour had woken up not knowing whether it had all been a dream or not.

Emma was lying in bed, eyes still closed, with the comfortable weight of a warm person draped over her back. She was loathe to move and not just because she didn't want to disturb her bedmate. She didn't even want to crack open an eyelid to check the time. It was that waking phase where it was hard to tell whether what you'd just dreamed had been real or whether it had actually happened.

Coming face to face with her teenage self and fighting a shrinking town that was losing its fairytale memories with a potion made from True Love's Kiss… had that all really happened? Maybe it had only been a dream. A weird one.

Her bedmate moaned. Unfortunately it sounded more like a moan of discomfort than one resulting from a sexy dream.

"You 'k?" slurred Emma. "R'gina?"

"Yes, dear," Regina sighed and rolled over. "My ankle is hurting. I have to get up."

"Mm no … stay."

"I have to go to work. As do you, Sheriff."

Before Emma could protest the door flew open and a small blur in dark blue Star Wars pyjamas ran into the bedroom. Their eleven year old son jumped on the bed between his mothers, thankfully missing Regina's injured foot which was strapped and propped up on a pillow.

"Hi Moms!" Henry greeted them happily. "Good morning."

Regina leaned over to kiss Henry good morning and ask him how he'd slept. She then slid out from beneath the bedcovers and gingerly rose to her feet. There was an ankle brace waiting patiently beside the bed but the Mayor bypassed it and headed for the closet to choose today's work outfit.

Emma looked up at Henry with bleary sleepiness. "What's goin' on, kid."

"Come on, Emma!" said Henry, exasperated. "Are you acting dopey again? We went through this yesterday and the day before. You did it!"

"Did what?"

"Broke the Curse once and for all with True Love's Kiss just before the sun set on the third day. It was almost too late but Mom says you took a stupid risk and threw the True Love Potion into the Wishing Well from afar. But it worked, time snapped back to where it should be and now everything's normal again in Storybrooke. Everyone remembers who they really are... except you apparently."

"Oh yeeeah!" Emma brightened up as reality returned to her waking self. "I did do all that didn't I. Sorry, I'm still half asleep. I forgot for a second how awesome I am and how I saved the entire town. Again."

"Can I stay home from school today?"

"No," said Emma at the same time as Regina's emphatic "No" came from the direction of the walk-in wardrobe.

"But I want to help get ready for the event-"

Emma furrowed a brow. "What event?"

Henry's face lit up and he was about to blurt it out. "It's for your-"

"Henry!" said Regina, cutting him off as she re-entered the room. "Go get dressed in your uniform, please. You are going to school and Emma is going to work. Nobody is having the day off."

"But why," her son whined.

"Because I say so. Off you go. I'll be down in a minute to make your lunch."

The boy jumped up and ran off again. Emma had no idea where he got all that energy from. The kid was definitely a morning person, unlike her.

Emma was still lazing around in bed when Regina's phone rang, which the Mayor answered in her professional politician's voice and began to talk shop. Emma tuned it out so that she could doze in the comfy bed for a few more minutes.

The next time Emma woke properly it was when Regina laid a kiss on her cheek and stroked her hair until she had her attention. She must've actually fallen back asleep because Regina was now impeccably dressed in a suit and wearing makeup. It was hard to decide whether she preferred this look that reminded her of when she'd first come to town or whether a bed-messy sleepy Regina was more attractive.

"Hi gorgeous." Emma smiled.

Regina smiled back and leaned over to kiss her again. "Hi yourself."

"You leaving for work now?"

"Yes. That was Kathryn Nolan on the phone. Now that her memories have been restored she's been helping me with my re-election campaign again. Apparently I'm fully booked for the rest of the week speaking engagements and I have a press conference today. She's recommended the vote be held on Saturday."

"Already? Why so soon. It's only October."

"Kathryn thinks it will be a good idea to hold the election now to capitalise on my contribution to breaking the Curse."

"Or it could backfire and remind people why you cast it in the first place, Your Majesty."

"Yes, there is that possibility," Regina said dryly. "In any case, I'd rather have this over and done with."

"So you can get back to doing me?" Emma waggled her eyebrows. Her innuendo never failed to bring a wry smirk out of her girlfriend.

"Later, if you're lucky. Now you'd better go shower or you'll be late to work. I don't pay you to sleep in, Sheriff. I'll drop Henry off at school. He's missed the bus. Again."

Emma called her back just as she passed through the doorway. "Hey, Regina, what did Henry mean before about some event? Are you planning something you're not telling me about? You're not masterminding any evil plans behind my back again are you. What are you up to?"

Instead of answering Regina waved casually and gave an enigmatic smile before she left. "Happy Birthday, dear. See you tonight."

Oh.

Sheriff Station

Emma walked into her office feeling as though it had been a hundred years since she'd last been at work, yet there was a certain comfort in returning to the place of the first job she'd ever had that was secure and where people appreciated her help. As a bailbondsperson she had mainly dealt with people who were trying to escape, swindle, or sometimes harm her in their efforts at evading justice.

It hardly bothered her to be at work on her birthday for once. In fact, knowing that she had family to come home to in the evening for the first time ever was enough to make her bursting with anticipation. She wasn't sure whether Regina had made any plans for tonight but was secretly hoping that she'd get to spend it with all of her family. Even if all they did was eat cake and sit around watching Netflix it would far outstrip the ways she'd spent her last 30 or so birthdays combined.

This year she had her True Love, she had her son, and she had her parents. Emma couldn't help being amazed that she'd finally won the orphan lottery and been gifted with a family of her own. The part inside of her that was her teenage self, Em, was jumping with excitement after so many years of feeling unwanted and alone. There was also a part of her, deep in her mind, that whispered "you don't deserve any of this" and "it won't last" but she gave that voice a mental punch in the face.

This was a very special birthday indeed. A 'banner year' with no trace of sarcasm to the term. She would have to make a real effort not to grin like a lunatic all day.

There was only one question nibbling at the edge of her happiness and it had been there since Ri had disappeared before the curse had broken for the final time. Regina had been evasive in explaining how she'd known her teenage self had gone back to the past. Emma, however, remembered both being wrenched back to the past from a jail cell and the restoration of Em's memories in her adult self's mind. She was both Em and Emma now.

The town was now under no threat so the question was back in her mind: did Regina remember being Ri?

The Sheriff wasn't sure what difference it would make if she did or didn't, but the only thing she knew was that she wanted to know one way or the other. Their relationship had always been reciprocal whether that was through love or resentment. Somehow it wouldn't make sense if only one of the girls came through it, if only one of them lived to know it was worth living through a damaging childhood in order to reach this horizon of future happiness.

She spied a box of donuts waiting on the desk next to which a colourful foil helium balloon floated in the air.

Emma heard footsteps on the linoleum and was captured in a giant bear hug. Even if she hadn't seen his charming smile or recognised the scent and presence of her father, when she felt the palm of a large hand cradling her head as if it were floppy like a newborn's she would've known who it was. Only her dad did that.

"Emma!" said David, happily wrapping her in his arms. "Happy Birthday, kiddo."

"Thanks… Dad," she chuckled. The word still felt new in her mouth.

"It's good to see you! Even better that I don't have to arrest you, like I almost had to when Em first turned up here. I miss the girls already but to be honest it was exhausting trying to keep both of you out of trouble."

Emma pretended to be offended. "Hey, I don't cause that much trouble anymore."

"I know, I think trouble happens to you." David drew back and recounted a memory from the day she was born. "Even when you were this big," he held out his palms about a foot apart like he was holding an invisible loaf of bread. "Trouble was unfolding all around you but I could tell how brave you were. I remember it like it was yesterday."

Lost in thought David's eyes glazed over as he remembered. "You were… amazing. So tiny and beautiful. I couldn't believe I had a little life in my arms and I was terrified. My daughter! I would've died to protect you… But I failed. On the first day of your life I failed you as a father."

"Hey, no!" Emma put a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eyes. "I lived, I'm here, and it's my special day. So I say you stop beating yourself up about the past and tell me what I'm getting for my birthday. Henry said something about an event - do you know anything about that? Tell me!"

"No way," David shook his head. "I'm sworn to secrecy. Regina would kill me ... and with her, any excuse would do so I'd better keep quiet. It's self preservation. Now, do you want a donut?"

"Of course." Emma rolled her eyes and turned to go to her desk to start the day of not-much-work. The first thing on her agenda was coffee and one or three bearclaws. Who knew, birthdays actually could be as good as people said they were.

"Oh, Emma?" said David, shrugging off his leather jacket and hanging it next to hers.

"Yeah?"

"Go visit your mother today. It would mean a lot to her."

Town Hall lawn

At the same time that Emma was settling into a nice easy workday Regina was giving a press conference over at Town Hall and having a decidedly less pleasant start to hers.

The Mayor stood facing an assortment of concerned Storybrooke residents who had come to hear what she had to say. To the side where Kathryn had banished them were a slew of reporters with cameras and microphones capturing every word, no doubt eager to twist and turn those words against her in the following day's print.

On the lectern in front of Regina lay a stack of reports, policies, and budgets containing her plans for Storybrooke's continued improvements - but they were as yet unopened. Before she had even had a chance to start outlining her political vision the questions regarding her past deeds started coming thick and fast.

The former queen understood it. They were angry and they'd had no outlet for it and had received no apology. Some thought she was still the villain she had been for so many years during her reign in the other land. Others were open to the idea that she had redeemed herself particularly in saving the town recently. Now they were all being asked to vote her back into power, which would make themselves vulnerable to her again.

To their credit most of the questions were not wholly stupid. To her credit Regina managed to answer them with due remorse and explain how she had changed and why.

The tide turned when they started grilling her in detail about her brutal past which led to an argument in the crowd over who among them had suffered the worst. Kathryn kept a watchful eye and was shooting the Mayor questioning looks, wondering why she let it continue and whether an intervention was needed. She had her smartphone on speed dial to the Sheriff's office just in case.

"If I may," said Regina, raising her voice over the din. "I'd like to return to my future plans for Storybrooke-"

"Your Majesty!" A man stepped forward out of the throng with his hand raised. "One more thing."

"I do not use that title any more. You may address me as Mayor Mills - or Ms Mills if you don't intend to vote for me."

"Fair enough, Mayor Mills. Thanks for coming out here today to clear things up." The man introduced himself as John Avery, formerly a farmer in the Enchanted Forest and now hardware shop owner of Storybrooke. He removed his baseball cap and ran a hand through his tousled blond hair.

"Do you have a question? If not, we really need to move on."

"Yeah, I have a question. You're responsible for everything: why we're here, why we lost our memories, and why we've recently got all our memories back?"

"Yes."

"I have a teenage daughter. You got a kid of your own?"

Regina smiled briefly. "Yes, I do. My son, Henry, is eleven."

"And you have influence with the Office of the Sheriff?"

"If you are concerned about corruption I assure you that I have no power over the Sheriff's decisions. I can't even get her to stop leaving her shoes all around the house."

Beside her, Kathryn smiled to herself when the crowd tittered at the self-effacing humour. It reminded them all of normalcy rather than regality. It showed the Mayor's human side.

"It's not that that concerns me," said Avery. "Back in the Enchanted Forest I used to live in a wee village that nobody much cared about who didn't live there. During the bad times, when your armies were going round searching for Snow White and anyone who was colluding with her, we heard rumours they were sacking our neighbours' farms and houses. One night it was our village's turn. We were too far out of the way to know anything but they burned us down anyway. That wasn't the worst of it."

Avery cleared his throat of emotion, the crowd now was dead silent listening to his story. "They took my daughter as a... 'reward' they called it. She was fourteen then, not much older than your boy. She's never forgotten it and neither have I."

Regina set her jaw, remembering the events all too clearly and her involvement in them which she could not deny even if she were inclined to. She could feel her chances at reelection disintegrating as he spoke of his daughter's assault. The worst part was that this was only one example out of thousands of terrible things she was responsible for.

"It were one of your soldiers that did it."

The former queen nodded solemnly. "I know."

Avery's face hardened into a frown of disbelief. "You know? How can you remember my daughter out of all the innocent people you caused harm to or worse?"

"Hardly anyone is innocent," said Regina, unable to restrain her dark tone for the first time since the questions started. Her heart began to pound. It was true that she couldn't remember all of the people she'd killed; the part inside her that was Ri would lose sleep over it tonight.

"You brought all of us here from the Enchanted Forest and no-one's had to pay for the crimes that were committed there - not even you. The slate's been wiped clean. Maybe you have changed but how can I trust the other people around me. Is he here too? How can I trust you as Mayor when it was your curse that brought my daughter's attacker here!"

"You can trust me-"

"That bastard is probably walking around Storybrooke right now as a free man."

"He is not."

"How can you be sure?"

"Because I killed him!" Regina said out of exasperation, her outburst sounded deafening even to her own ears. "I heard what happened and I cut both his hamstrings. He's not walking around anywhere."

Shocked murmurs broke out in the audience. Shutters clicked and flashes whirred as the cameras leapt into action to capture the moment of the Mayor losing her composure.

Regina felt rather than heard Kathryn step up to the microphone to announce a break, the crowd groaned before being assured that the Mayor would be back to continue the discussion in half an hour's time. Her re-election advisor then took her aside by the elbow and handed her a bottle of water. They were still in public view but mostly away from the crowd who were just visible through the gaps in the columnwork.

"Are you ok?" said Kathryn. "That was… less than ideal."

Regina sighed and covered her face with her palm. "It was to be expected."

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea allowing the public to attend. They completely railroaded you into talking about the past. Why did you engage with them?"

"What right do I have to stop people from obsessing over the grievances in the past when I've done it myself to disastrous effect."

"But Regina! What that man said... I'm sure it is true but it could be very damaging to your campaign. Not that I think we should lie or erase your past… But we want to focus on how you've turned it all around and what you plan to do in future. Did you really um…?"

"Did I really kill the soldier involved?"

Kathryn winced, confirming that was indeed her question.

"Of course I did. He disobeyed orders."

Regina checked her watch and sighed for the umpteenth time that day. There would only just be enough time to go use the washroom and freshen up before returning to face the accusations. She told Kathryn where she was going and added:

"Go find Avery and tell him to meet me in my office after the public are gone. I want to apologise personally, to his daughter too if possible, and refer them to the sexual assault counselors at KidSpace. Even if I am not re-elected as Mayor I can still try to help some of the people in this town."

As Kathryn watched the former Evil Queen walk away, her perfect posture unaffected by an ankle brace and skyhigh Prada heels, she thought to herself, "That's exactly why you're going to win this time..."

Storybrooke Elementary

It was the anniversary of the best and worst day of Mary Margaret's life. The day she'd given birth to her daughter, a much-loved and anticipated child, only to have her ripped out of her arms and sent off to an unknown realm. She'd sacrificed her daughter in the hopes that one day she would save everyone. She'd thought she was giving Emma her best chance. A better chance than certain death or enslavement to an Evil Queen who no longer existed.

If she'd known then that her child would face growing up in an indifferent and sometimes cruel environment she may not have been able to let her go in the first place.

Had she made the right decision?

The fact that it had turned out more-or-less okay in the end was her only consolation and as a precious fairytale-loving boy often said: "It'll be ok in the end and if it's not ok it's not the end"...

Miss Blanchard was at her desk in her classroom which was empty of children who were at recess playing outside. It wasn't her day for playground duty so instead of socialising in the teacher's lounge she'd decided to eat lunch alone while getting a bit of grading done. It wasn't much of a distraction from thinking about the past though. Until the beloved subject of her thoughts turned up.

"Hey Mary Margaret."

The schoolteacher snapped out of her daze to see her daughter standing there holding a Granny's takeaway bag. "Emma!"

Emma seemed a little awkward and fidgety. "Are you busy? If you are I can come back later-"

"No!" Mary said hastily. "Never too busy for you. Oh, I'm so happy to see you!"

Mary Margaret leapt to her feet and reached over to pull Emma into a hug. For a moment it felt like she was holding her for the first time. The constant ache she'd felt for 28 years to have her baby in her arms quietened.

When she drew back she could see some uncharacteristic shyness in the other woman's face. Of course, she realised, it must be difficult for Emma today being her first birthday with her family. There would be a lot of pressure on her and the last thing the former Snow White wanted to do was add to it.

"I'm so glad you're here. I'm so happy that I get to see you on your birthday for the first time ever. Oh, I'm all aflutter. Happy Birthday!"

"Thanks, Mary Margaret."

"I… there's so much I want to tell you." Mary Margaret laughed at herself, still feeling a bit giddy. "But I don't know what to say first."

The Sheriff's lips quirked. "Say you'll sit and have lunch with me?"

"Of course I will! Here, sit down."

Emma grabbed one of the student chairs and dragged it next to the teacher's desk so she could sit down while they ate. Then she dumped the contents of the Granny's takeaway bag n to the desk and out fell a couple of white paper parcels, one of which contained a cheeseburger by the smell of it. The blonde pushed one of the other bags towards Mary Margaret.

"Got you something for dessert," said Emma, poking one of the packages. "It's a Pistachio cookie."

Mary Margaret bit her lips, remembering the time when Em had performed the same gesture and gotten angry when she'd lied. She really didn't want to make the same mistake again.

"Oh um, that's very thoughtful of you, sweetheart. I don't like pistachios, but I'm sure it's a very nice cookie and- … um-"

Emma grinned. "I know. Relax. I'm joking."

Her mischievous daughter checked inside the bag and then switched it with one of hers. "This one is yours. White chocolate and macadamia. One hundred percent guaranteed no pistachios."

"Thank you." The schoolteacher was aware that her voice came out with a squeak. She was only just holding back tears. Tears of joy that she had her daughter, both the grownup and the teenage version. Her beautiful baby girl had turned out even more amazing than she could've hoped.

Mary couldn't keep the tears out of her voice. "I'm just so glad I didn't lose you - either of you. Em's in there somewhere isn't she?"

"Yeah." Emma smiled. "I'm here."

"I'm so proud to have you as my daughter. I loved you before you were born, I loved you when were a brat of a teenager, and I love you even more now each day that I get to know you better. I'm so sorry for everything, for not being there for you when you were little and seeing you grow up. But you've become such a wonderful person on your own. You had such a hard upbringing but all it did was make you good. You're a hero. You saved us all. I knew you would."

It was Emma saving her again when she covered Mary Margaret's hand with her own as a gesture of forgiveness.

"Mom. It's ok."

Mary Margaret thought her heart might have stopped in her chest at the word. "Really?"

Emma nodded. "Yeah, I'm … getting there." The two of them ate their lunches in companionable silence for a few minutes before she spoke again. "Actually, I was wondering… can I ask your advice about something?"

Mary Margaret brightened up like the sun. "Sure. Anything."

So much had happened recently and over the last few months while the teenage girls had been in Storybrooke. There was a lot they were all still trying to process. Emma took her time trying to explain how she felt about it - finding out about her past first hand and how she now remembered being Em and coming to Storybrooke as a teenager. She was coming to terms with it all but one thing was holding her back.

"I dunno what it is," said Emma. "Why I can't just let it go..."

"What are you really afraid of," said Mary Margaret.

The dam broke and Emma confessed her worries. "What if Regina doesn't remember being Ri. What if she doesn't remember and I tell her I do remember being Em and she's angry about it. Or hurt? I don't want to be the only one who survived. I need Ri too."

"Do you think she remembers?"

"Yeah! I do. That's why it's weird. But if she does, why wouldn't she tell me?"

"Well, you haven't told her either." The schoolteacher pointed out. "Maybe she thinks you don't remember."

"She's so frustrating sometimes!"

The Sheriff scrunched up the bag her lunch came in into a ball and tossed it towards the bin in the corner of the room. The ball of paper hit the rim and bounced off. She'd missed.

Mary Margaret stifled a giggle. "Luckily you didn't miss with the True Love Potion. Henry's told everyone what you did to save our happy endings - he says you took a 'stupid risk' throwing the potion into the well from such a great distance."

"No prizes for guessing where he got those exact words from. He's like a mini-Mayor Mills sometimes."

As Emma spoke, a few beeps and a buzz came from in her jeans pocket. She retrieved her phone to see a new text message, which she read and then looked back up at Mary Margaret, half confused, half hopeful.

"It's from Regina. She wants me to meet her tonight. In the place where we first met."

"Where's that?"

Exactly, thought Emma. She only had the rest of the afternoon to figure it out.

Later that evening, Emma scuffed her boot into the dirt as she waited in the forest on the outskirts of Storybrooke. She was a stone's throw away from the townline and could see the reverse of the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign in the fading light. She'd gotten there early, which in hindsight was a mistake because it only gave her more time to pace, agitating about what was going to happen.

So far she was alone and Regina was late, making Emma wonder whether she was in the right spot after all.

Regina's message hadn't specified which place she'd meant when she said 'where they'd first met'. If the Mayor remembered being Ri then she might've been referring to when they'd met in the woods as teenage girls… If she didn't remember, then it would be the doorstep of 108 Mifflin Street.

Emma had taken a gamble, hoping that Ri still existed in the memories of her older self though at the same time wondering why Regina had kept it a secret until now.

She was about to find out.

Emma checked her watch again, it was after 6pm already and it was becoming dark and cold. It was dead quiet this far out of town. Her breath clouded the air in front of her face. There was no sign of anyone else here yet. She was starting to entertain the idea that she was in the wrong place but not ready to give up hope yet.

The sound of crunching leaves underfoot as someone approached and she didn't need to guess who it would be. Emma's heart jumped and she grinned to herself.

"Careful," warned the Sheriff. "Don't sneak up on me. I'm all kinds of trouble."

"I know," said a very familiar voice. "You're more trouble than anyone I've ever known."

When she turned around she saw Regina, not bothering to hide a smirk as she stood behind her looking regal as ever, bundled up in gloves and scarves against the chilly night air. She'd made the right choice. They were both here in the woods so that meant... Surely it meant that Regina was Ri and she remembered everything?

"You're a 'karate in black belt' if I remember correctly." said Regina.

"You remember that?"

"Yes."

Emma nodded, remembering the first conversation she'd had with Ri when they'd met. It had been the most perfect moment of her life. There was no way Regina could've known that reference unless she'd been there herself.

Emma couldn't resist needling her girlfriend. "You said to meet you at six. That was ten minutes ago."

"Sorry I'm late."

"No, you're not."

"No, I'm not. A Queen is never late, everyone else is simply early."

Emma rolled her eyes, regretting showing her so many princess movies when they were teenagers. "Well, if you came here looking for Em she's not here."

"If you came here looking for Ri she's not here either."

"No," Emma smiled. "They're both long gone. It's just us now."

Regina smiled back. "It's always been us, Em."

Brimming with relief, Emma went to her and enveloped her childhood sweetheart in a hug. She pulled back slightly and was struck for the millionth time by her beauty. The young girl of noble-but-disgraced background, naive and kind yet loved by fewer than she deserved, had survived a painful forced marriage and then clawed her way back from the darkness years later to become the strong woman before her whom she loved with all her heart.

She swallowed against the lump of emotion in her throat and took the other woman's gloved hands so she could tuck them into the pockets of her own jacket. Needing more contact, she tightened the hug again.

"I'm so glad you're here, Ri," Emma murmured into silky dark hair. "I've missed you. Feels like I haven't seen you in a long time but also like you've been with me the whole time. I remember being Em. You remember everything too, don't you? Ri?"

"Yes."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"I don't know," Regina admitted, the blush in her cheeks only just visible in the fading daylight. "I was - ... my past -... I wasn't sure what you would think now..."

"Shh, don't worry about that anymore. The past is finally back where it belongs and all I care about now is our future together. Specifically, I'm very interested in whatever you have in store for me tonight."

"Classic Em Swan," Regina muttered. "How do you do that. Change tack so quickly?"

Emma couldn't hide her giddiness any longer, a side effect of her earlier nerves. "Because I am done with the past and I'm so ready for my happy ending if you know what I mean."

"That's all well and good but I'm not sure if we can entirely ignore the effect of the past. I had a reminder of that today at the press conference."

"Yeah, but we have a choice don't we? Our pasts were miserable but we can't keep letting it ruin things for us now. Screw it. Let's just be happy."

Regina nodded slowly. "I think I'm as happy as I'm capable of being."

Emma detected a hint of sadness still, and although that melancholy probably always would be a part of Regina she'd decided to do her damned best to help her move on. Something must've happened at the press conference today for Regina to be indulging in such maudlin self-deprecation. Luckily she knew something that might pull her out of it. "I got a call from Archie. He was at KidSpace this afternoon."

"Oh? What is the cricket chirping about now."

"He said you saved a young girl's life today. I have no idea what you did but obviously it was something good. Even if it didn't seem like much."

Dr Hopper hadn't said anything more than that on the phone. But clearly he'd wanted the Mayor to get the message. Someone had been helped and someone had noticed it.

Regina was shaking her head, looking both overwhelmed with emotion and like she was about to deny her part in it when Emma held up a hand.

"Don't argue," said the Sheriff. "Just let it sink in."

"Very well," said Regina. "But I reserve the right to argue with you about something else later."

Emma just laughed. "I'd expect nothing less. Come on. Let me take you home, princess."

"Princess?" Regina raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at Em's nickname for Ri. "That's your title, dearest. As a Queen, I outrank you."

"As if. You got dethroned and exiled a million years ago. This is the real world now."

"Fine. Here I'm the Mayor."

"Not ye-eeeet," Emma sang, sliding an arm around the curmudgeonly woman's waist. She leaned in so that she could talk softly just below Regina's hair, letting her voice tickle and disturb the brunette's locks. "The election's on Saturday and you've yet to win my vote. But I'm sure you'll think of something to convince me. It is my birthday after all."

"Your fantasies will have to wait a few hours. We're due at Granny's soon. Henry and your parents are waiting for us with a small gathering of friends. Please act surprised."

Emma cringed. "Oh god, they've planned a surprise party for me?"

At this point, Regina was nearly immune to the pout apparently. "I tried to dissuade them but you know what your mother is like."

"So that's what everyone's talking about behind my back- this event? It's my surprise party?"

"No, that's something else altogether. You'll find out on Saturday."

Emma groaned, exaggerating her annoyance. She really was going to have to get used to having parents and everything that entailed. "Fine! Let's go then."

In a rare instance of forbearance, Regina let the birthday girl have the last word and magically transported them to the not-so-surprise party in a cloud of purplish black smoke.