A/N: Oh my dear readers! Please accept my sincere apologies for the long break between updates. I am so sorry. I could make a number of excuses, but I won't. Just know that I have every intention of completing this story. Even if there are long breaks, I will not abandon it. I actually hope that there won't be any more gaps in updating, so no worries.
Thank you to everyone who has messaged, commented and contacted me on twitter and tumblr about this story. Especially to those who have checked in with me to encourage me to go on. That really means a lot to me. I love this story like it was my child. It is hard to share it and all the emotion behind it so knowing it means something you too is wonderful.
Thanks to Jenn for being there. For listening. For offering ideas. You are such a great friend to me and I cannot tell you enough how much I appreciate you cheering in my corner for every little thing I write. Whenever I feel insecure with my words, you always make me plow ahead. Thank you.
So, here we go. The long awaited update. I hope you like it. Please leave me a comment and let me know you are there. And if you are interested, I listen to music when I write and the song "In My Veins" by Andrew Belle was a fave today. ;)
Regina lay on her side in the large bed in her room… alone. She was clutching a pillow to her and noting how it smelled like the blonde woman who wouldn't leave her thoughts. After breakfast, Henry had dressed himself and slipped off to school. Since his mother was home, Emma thought he needed to get back to class. Alone with Emma again, Regina had wondered if they would return to the moment before Henry had interrupted them. She'd been ready to kiss a complete stranger and she hadn't cared.
Inhaling the scent in the pillow clutched to her, Regina frowned. Why had she almost kissed this woman? So many new things rattling around in her mind, confusing her, settling her, exciting her… frightening her. Emma had only smiled and begun loading the dishwasher, telling Regina it might be a good idea for them both to get some sleep while Henry was at school. She had sent Regina up to her room, promising that when they had rested, she would answer more of Regina's questions.
Regina had laid there, wondering if Emma would come into the room or want to sleep in this large bed with her. But she hadn't. Regina had listened to the sound of her coming up the stairs and down the hall. For a moment, her footsteps had stopped in front of the door but then she had gone across the hall and shut the guest room door.
Sleep hadn't been hard to find then. Despite her racing mind and confused feelings, sleep claimed Regina quickly. But now she was awake again. The light seeping through the curtains seemed to place the time of day in the afternoon. She felt rested and refreshed but she still had questions that needed answers and soon.
How did she have magic? Why had someone wanted to hurt her? Were her memories lost in a magical way or indeed from a head trauma? What about Emma's parents? Why were they so young? And did they have magic? Did everyone in this town know about magic or was it just their family? And what about what they'd been discussing before Emma poofed—no, transported—away? What had brought them together finally after such a complicated history?
Regina stretched and flopped over onto her back. She wondered seriously if perhaps she was indeed in an asylum somewhere and all this was a grand delusion. But how could it be? It was so real. She had held the comb in her hand… the one from her dream. The magic was real. This house was real. It was all real. But how could it be?
The only person who could answer her questions, she knew, was Emma. So she slipped from the warmth of the bed and padded in her bare feet to the bedroom door. Opening it slightly, she listened. There was only quiet. She slipped into the hall and across to the room she knew Emma was in. She knocked very gently and listened again.
Still, there was no sound or movement. The brunette rubbed the sleep from her eyes and knocked again. "Miss Swan? Emma?" Her voice was soft. She wanted to talk to Emma but she didn't really want to wake her.
"Good morning… or afternoon." Emma's voice spoke from behind her making Regina jump. "Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. I just heard you call me. I was in the bathroom." Emma pointed to the door nearest her room and across from Henry's.
"Oh. I… I just woke up and… I wanted… Well, I honestly don't know what I wanted but I…" Regina huffed and took Emma in with a glance. The blonde had clearly washed the traces of sleep from her face and brushed her hair and teeth. Regina grimaced. She must look a fright having just rolled out of bed from a restless sleep.
"I got ya. No need to explain. I was hoping you'd wake up before the kid got home so we could talk in private if you wanted." Emma smiled that disarming smile and Regina felt the warmth return to her chest.
"Why do you call him that?" Regina tilted her head curiously.
"What? Kid? I dunno. When I first met him I think I didn't want to get emotionally involved and it was a way to stay distanced from him, I guess. I didn't call him by his name so it was less personal. Sorta like you always calling me Miss Swan when you are irritated with me to keep me at a distance." Emma winked at her then. "But, over time it became a nickname I guess and wound up being more personal and emotional than his name. I only call him Henry usually when he's in trouble."
Regina shook her head. It made sense. It felt strange to hear about her own subconscious actions from another person but it did sound like something she would do, calling Emma "Miss Swan" to keep her at arm's length. "I see."
They two stood there in the hall, Regina in her gray pajamas, her hair mussed from sleep and curling around her face and Emma in red plaid flannel pants and a tank. The image was everyday life for them if someone were to snap a picture. Regina ran a hand through her hair as if realizing how she must look.
Emma smiled. "Maybe you want to get yourself fully awake and I'll go get us two cups of coffee. We can sit in there," Emma motioned toward Regina's bedroom, "and talk a bit. Then you can have a shower and I'll start on dinner when the kid gets home."
Regina glanced to the bedroom. There was a dressing table with a chair and the chaise. Plenty of seating options. No need to even consider they might sit on the bed… or lay on it… under the covers… curled into each other… Regina cleared her throat. "Yes, alright, sure. That will be fine. I take my coffee—"
"Black, Regina. I know." Emma's eyes sparkled in a way that made Regina's heart clench. She needed to talk to the blonde but she was increasingly aware that she needed to get some space from her too. This was all too much too fast. But they could do coffee… right?
"Right. Of course you know. I'm sorry. This is just so…" She shook off the feeling and headed to her room. "So, I'll just go brush my teeth and try to tame this." Regina pointed at the mass of black hair on her head.
A few minutes later Emma knocked on the open door with her elbow and stepped into the room. Regina was seated on the chair at the vanity, her hair brushed and her body wrapped tightly in her robe. The bed was made and the curtains open.
Regina accepted her coffee cup with a smile. The scent, the warmth, everything about the coffee made her relax. The first sip told her that whoever she was with her memories, she loved her coffee. It was rich and complex. This wasn't a can of Folger's sitting in the pantry. This was coffee for someone who loved coffee. She moaned as she took another sip.
"Yeah. It's like that. I usually have a cocoa but you've gotten me into coffee more in the past year or so. But I still like a cocoa… with cinnamon." Emma smiled.
"Cinnamon? That sounds unusual and somehow I think I'd like it." Regina forgot for a moment that she was living the most stressful moments of her six weeks of memory. So she had a kid, and a lesbian lover. So she was a mayor and a powerful sorceress. She laid that aside for a moment to think about coffee and cocoa. Peace in the midst of a storm.
"Actually, you refuse to try it. The kid loves it too so you always make it for us. And you do an amazing job. You are a genius in the kitchen. But you won't taste it on principle." Emma sat on the chaise. She assumed (rightly) that Regina wanted some space and that is why she was sitting in the less than comfortable wooden chair.
"On principle? God, I must be such a hard ass. So many rules. Eat your vegetables. Keep your feet off the furniture. No cinnamon on principle." Regina frowned thinking of how she'd felt comfort in her anger over the last six weeks. She really was a bitch, wasn't she?
"I don't think you are a hard ass. You just… have standards. Nothing wrong with that. And you have changed over the years. You let go of many hard and fast rules for yourself and for Henry. Mostly the ones you adhere to now are for our own good. We do need our vegetables. We should keep our feet off the furniture. But the cinnamon is different." Emma sipped her coffee and reveled in the ease of a normal conversation.
Regina seemed lost in thought for a moment. "Different how?"
"Well, it goes back to when I first came to town I guess. Every member of my family loves cocoa this way and until a few years ago you have… well, you haven't always gotten along with my family." Emma realized perhaps too late that even this easy conversation would lead to a difficult one.
"I don't like them? But last night you said we didn't meet until Henry was ten. And you had no family before then. You said your parents…" A lightbulb went off in Regina's mind. "Are the Nolan's… are they really your parents?"
Emma let out a long sigh. So much for easy. "It's complicated but the short answer is yes. David and Mary Margaret Nolan are indeed my parents. And after I was born they were in a sort of… I don't know… magical stasis? It was like time didn't move here so they didn't age. But since I lived out there somewhere, I grew up like normal." The blonde tried to gauge how Regina was taking all this new information.
"So time stood still here for what? Thirty years?"
"Um, twenty-eight actually. And once I got here, everything started to change again."
"Hmmm. So that means I'm like… sixty or something?" Regina wrinkled her face up at that.
Emma shrugged. "Well, the truth is you don't tell how old you are—in real years or Storybrooke years. And we don't dwell on it because it doesn't matter. Age is just a number. And believe me there are people living here far older than sixty. Waaay older than sixty."
Regina watched a bright smile move across Emma's face. She supposed the age difference between her and Emma wasn't relevant. People married younger people. Right? Not that she was thinking of marriage. They weren't married… were they?
"We aren't married, are we?" Regina said before she thought it through.
Emma raised surprised eyebrows at the other woman. "Um, no. I mean, not yet. But I assumed that is where we were heading… things were good, you know?"
"I'm sorry. I don't know why I asked that. I just have so much to take in and… I don't know what I should and shouldn't ask. I don't want to be rude but…" Regina felt bad for the sadness she had caused in emerald eyes.
"Hey. It's all good, Regina. You ask me anything you want to know and I will try to answer it. Somethings I may say let's talk about later but I promise I won't lie to you. And I will do my best to give it to you straight."
"Well, as straight as you can, dear." Regina purred the words out before she could self-censor.
Emma barked out a laugh. "Yeah, as straight as I can."
And just like that, the weirdness seemed to melt away again.
"So… we aren't married—"
"Yet." Emma jumped in.
"Right. We aren't married yet but I recall you telling me you were engaged to the man you say took me. Will you finish telling me about that now?" Regina stood from the vanity chair and came to sit on the chaise beside Emma. She suddenly needed to be close to the woman.
Emma only stared for a long moment at the other woman. She didn't really want to talk about Killian right now. But she would.
"OK, sure. So last night I think I told you that I was engaged to this guy, Killian—"
"The pirate with a hook hand," Regina supplied.
"Yeah. Pirate with a hook hand. But let's not get into that right now." Emma waited for Regina to nod her agreement to hold off on that. "So I was engaged to Killian and you were my very best friend. You were always a little hostile toward him but I figured it was because of things in the past. You never called him by his name, always some slam. You are the best at snark. Seriously. It's a thing of beauty." Emma laughed then and Regina felt drawn to her with intensity.
The blonde smiled and went on. "So anyway, I was an idiot. A damn idiot. You were treating him like that because you were jealous. You didn't like him because he was with me. So when we got engaged and I came to tell you… well, it was not good. You got really depressed and listened to sad music and lost all this weight because you lived off wine and coffee, I think. Henry was so worried about you. But then one day you just… I don't know what happened really. You flipped a switch and decided you were Regina-fucking-Mills and nobody was just going to run away with what you wanted without a fight."
Regina didn't know much about herself beyond six weeks ago but she knew for sure this sounded like her. This resonated in her very bones. No way in hell she would've sat idly by and let Emma get married without telling her how she felt… even if she didn't know at this point exactly how she had felt about the blonde. "So, what? Did I turn on the charm and try to woo you?"
Emma laughed again. "Woo me? I wouldn't have used that word but… yeah. Yeah, you did. You played to your strengths—which are many—and showed me that I had options. You were sexy and bold. You were tender and thoughtful. You brought me homemade pastry for goodness sake."
"Ah… I played dirty. Getting to the heart through the stomach. Mary Margaret informed me last night that you have quite a sweet tooth." Regina's eyes drank in the affection directed at her from the blonde.
"Oh yeah. You played dirty. I recall offering you a taste of an hors d'oeuvre at my wedding shower and you literally sucked my finger. I nearly passed out on the spot because… well… it was very…" Emma's voice trailed off and a light tinge of embarrassment colored her cheeks. Maybe that wasn't the best story to tell right now.
"Very what, Miss Swan." Chocolate eyes bore into her, unflinching but not unaffected by Emma's admission.
"Sensual. Sexy. Hot. I couldn't take my eyes off of you. I had always found you to be beautiful and I can admit I was attracted to you from the beginning, but our relationship was complicated and I hadn't considered even for a moment that you'd ever want to be with someone like me. You were… are… everything and I'm just… me." Emma shrugged.
Regina wanted to correct her, to tell her she was everything too but how could she? She barely knew this woman… and yet, somehow she was sure it was true.
Emma went on. "So there I was, with my finger in your mouth and realizing that all these little sweet things you'd been doing were more meaningful than I had been able to admit. It sorta short-circuited my brain." Emma blushed. "I've never told you this before, so this is like brand new information for you with or without memories, but that night I was laying in my bed thinking about how it felt when you sucked the end of my finger and I wanted you so badly… I—" Emma looked away from Regina. The air was heavy and her voice was rough but she couldn't turn back now. "I tried to suck on it myself to imagine you, to feel you again."
Emma looked up when Regina's breath hitched. The two women stared like no time had passed, no memories had been lost, with the stare that belonged to them—deep, probing and full of love and want. Regina looked away under the weight of it all. Emma frowned. She felt bad now for telling her and was about to apologize when Regina spoke.
"And did you? Did you feel me when you did it?" Regina's raspy voice washed over Emma and made her go on.
"No. It wasn't the same. So I called you and we talked in the middle of the night. If you had asked me right that moment to come to you, I would have. Even though I was engaged and had just opened toasters and gravy boats and linens for my new home… I wouldn't have thought twice about it." Emma carefully reached out and pushed a lock of Regina's dark hair behind her ear. The woman's eyes fell closed at the touch.
Emma wondered if she would turn her away if she tried to kiss her now? It would be so easy to just hold on to this feeling in the air that seemed to rise up between them every time they talked alone since they had found each other in the coffee shop. But would that be fair to this Regina with no memories? This scared and overwhelmed woman in her pajamas but feeling like they belonged to someone else? No. That wouldn't be fair to either of them.
Emma withdrew her hand and Regina looked at her in question. "But you didn't ask me to come to you. You actually taught me something about what real love looks like."
"Oh? And what's that, Emma?" Regina was confused by the seeming sudden change in the blonde's demeanor.
"You kept on letting me know you wanted to be with me, but you never took advantage of the situation. Even after I called off the wedding and we admitted that we were in love with each other… you waited patiently before we ever made love. You wanted me to have something you had always felt robbed of… You wanted me to have a choice, to have agency. You wanted me to know what I was doing and to choose to do it. It wasn't about emotions and hormones and lowered inhibitions. When we made love that first time, we did it with our eyes open because we decided it was what we both wanted because we loved each other and that meant everything."
Regina's heart flipped in her chest. This woman before her… she could understand why she had fallen in love with her. She was strong and she was beautiful but she was also… good. That word filled Regina's mind. Emma was good and it made her want to be good too.
Emma waited to see if what she was saying was sinking in before she went on. "I love you, Regina. More now, this moment, than I ever have. It would be easy for us to fall into each other right now—especially since we have been through so much and it has been stressful and overwhelming—we could kiss and make love and it would be wonderful. Don't bother protesting that you wouldn't dare or that we barely know each other right now. I know you, babe. I can see it on your face. Whether you admit it or not, you want me too. But I think we owe it to each other, to our future together, to try and figure some of this out before we even think about that. Although I'd really like to kiss you right now."
"I'd really like you to kiss me, Emma… although I don't understand it."
"See, that's what I mean. You are home now. You are here. And we are going to take care of the assholes who hurt you. And we are going to get your memories back. But until we do, I want anything that might happen between us to be your choice because you want to with full understanding of who I am and what it means. We have time. And I know you have a lot of questions. And I respect you… I love you… too much to take advantage of you, no matter how incredibly sexy you look sitting there with bed head in that silk robe." Emma grinned then and Regina shyly grinned back.
"Ok. And I'm beginning to understand why I fell in love with you… if that's any consolation." Regina reached out a confident hand and slipped it into Emma's.
The other woman only smiled and squeezed the small hand in hers. "Now, what do you say we get dressed and go start on something for dinner before our son come's barreling through the door?"
"I think that sounds wonderful… Emma."
~ (SQ) ~
Snow watched her husband from the sofa. He was leaning against the island in the kitchen, his brows drawn down in thought as he listened to their daughter on the phone. She had called about twenty minutes ago wanting to talk to her father about official police business.
Snow sighed and ran her hand through Neal's blonde hair. The boy's head was in her lap where he had fallen asleep as she read him a story. His hair was damp from sweat and stuck to his cherubic face. He always got hot in his sleep and every morning his hair was a mess. She loved him more than she thought imaginable, even when he was difficult and stubborn. She wondered fleetingly if Emma had looked like this as a sleeping babe.
The brunette shook her head. No need thinking about things like that now. It would only hurt. And maybe it would bring up old and long ago let go of feelings of anger toward Regina.
Regina.
The once powerful and terrifying woman, a force of nature in black leather or sensible suits, had been so frightened when last she'd seen her. Snow had worried and wondered all day about how things were going since she had left 108 Mifflin with her family in the middle of the night. She hadn't called because she didn't want to bother them in what must have been a difficult day. But maybe this call from Emma would give her some answers.
Looking down at Neal again, Snow couldn't help but smile. He loved Regina so much. It was almost unnatural and she wasn't too proud to admit to herself she was mildly jealous. Regina already had Emma's heart… wasn't that enough without stealing Neal's too? She chuckled lightly. Of course, Regina had always had a part of her own heart if she was honest.
No matter how many fights, wars and attempts on each other's lives… something kept them together. Maybe it was fate. But no. Fate was something Regina and Emma seemed to defy. They shook their fists in the face of destiny and created their own. But still, Snow couldn't help but wonder at it. How often she'd thought of the perfect poetry of it all. And it all started with a feud between Cora and Eva. Surely fate had played a role somehow.
But was fate responsible for the traumatic turn of events over the last few weeks? No. Definitely not fate. Living, breathing people had done this. Hook. And maybe even Blue. But how could that be? Blue was their friend. Why would she choose now of all times to lash out against Regina? Now when Regina was doing the best she ever had, when things were peaceful and people were happy here? Why now when they were finally getting everything they had ever wanted?
Snow shook her head again. It couldn't be true. Maybe Regina was confused. Despite her denial of this possible truth though, Snow felt the weight of reality in her heart. She knew it was true. Somehow, someway, for reasons unknown… she was sure Blue was as guilty as Hook. But why?
"Alright. We will meet in the morning. Emma? I love you. And your mother and I are here if you need… anything at all. Good night." David hung up the phone and turned toward his wife.
"Well?" Snow said quietly as she shimmied from under her son's head and covered him with a throw from the back of the couch.
The True Love power couple walked into their bedroom before David answered her. "Well, the long story short is she and Regina talked all night and Regina tried some magic. She believes us now."
"Oh, thank goodness." The relief on Snow's face was evident. Regina's acceptance of magic was essential to keeping everyone safe, including Regina. "What else did she say?"
"Just that she wants to meet with me and Sean in the morning about arresting Hook. And she wants to know who has the magic blocking cuff. She figures if we are going to arrest Blue we will need it. Do you know where it is?" David sat on their bed and began unlacing his heavy boots.
"Hmmm, no. I thought Regina had it? Since it technically belonged to her mother. We may never find it if she's hidden it some place though." Snow sat down beside him and squeezed her small fingers along his tense shoulders. Nudging him to turn, she began massaging the tension out in earnest.
"That's nice. I'm so stressed with all this. Thank you." David sat while his wife worked through the knots in his neck and shoulders, neither of them talking for several long moments.
"So, do you think she did it, David?" Snow smoothed her hands along his back now and he turned his face to the side to see her behind him.
"I don't know, Snow. I don't want to think she would do this, but…" David shrugged.
"But she did, didn't she? I can't shake the feeling. One of our most trusted friends helped Hook take Regina. Probably even took her memories. Drugged Henry." Snow let out an exasperated huff before remembering Neal asleep a few feet away. She whispered as she went on. "It's just so overwhelming. If it is true, I don't know how I will ever trust… anyone ever again."
David turned and pulled his wife into his arms. "I know. I don't want it to be true and maybe it isn't. But if it is, that will change how we look at everything in our past with her. That is overwhelming. And upsetting."
The brunette pressed her forehead to his chest and breathed in the scent of him. He was always so strong and it made her feel safe. If something ever happened to him… Was that how Emma had felt these weeks? Like she would feel if something took David away? Her poor girl. But David was here, their family was safe. Regina had been found and it would all be ok. Right?
"I know this is when I am supposed to give a hope speech, but I don't think I feel like it tonight. I am glad Regina is home and I want to believe this will all work out but I think for tonight I just want to think about something else and I will hope tomorrow. Is that bad?" Snow turned green eyes, wet with tears, up to her husband's blue orbs and searched for an answer.
"No. That isn't bad. I think we need to get some sleep and tomorrow we will face this together. With Emma and with Regina. I don't know what is going to happen. But you don't have to hope tonight. I understand. And I love you, Snow. That is one thing you can always trust." David kissed her gently and pulled her back into his arms.
Tomorrow. They'd face all this tomorrow with hope and confidence. But tonight, it was ok to cry.
~ (SQ) ~
"So, are we clear on this?" Emma sat on the edge of the desk her father used in the sheriff's station in front of one of the cells. David and Sean shared a look and nodded.
"I think so. Are you sure we don't want to bring any temporary deputies in on this, Emma?" David rubbed his neck and wished for another of Snow's gentle massages.
"No. The fewer people who know about this the better. When we move in on Blue we may recruit a couple, but for now I need this to look like business as usual. We can't afford to lose the element of surprise." Emma stood then and assumed her official Sheriff stance with hands on her hips, feet slightly apart. "Let's go over it one more time just to ease my worries, ok?"
Sean piped up first. "So tonight, someone is going to vandalize the Jolly Roger while Hook is at the Rabbit Hole. I don't know and I don't need to know who because I am on duty and will be the responder."
"Right. Good." Emma nodded to her father to continue.
"Depending on who reports the vandalism and when, I will get Hook to come here in the morning to file a complaint and make a full report. I will be sure to mention it to Ruby when I go for coffee so everyone will know someone trashed the ship and that is why he is coming in to talk to us." David leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees, his hands out in front.
"Right. And then, I will poof here so no one sees me. I need everyone to believe I am still on temporary leave to be with Regina. I know the whole town knows she is here by now, but they don't have to know I am back to work yet. And dad, try telling Ruby as casually as you can that Regina remembers exactly nothing about life here." David nodded and she went on. "When I get here, we will question him about Regina. But no matter what, we have to keep this close so Blue doesn't get wise."
Emma smiled a tired smile at the men looking to her for leadership. "Don't worry, guys. This is going to work. If I can get him to implicate Blue even slightly, we will get her. I have to find the cuff first though but I think I know where it might be. I'm going there now to look for it. Once I have it, I will give you both the go ahead that we are in motion with this, ok?"
"Yeah, sure. I'm ready." Sean seemed confident. Though he was new to all this, the past few weeks had seen him thrust into more responsibility in Emma's absence. He had grown and she knew he was ready.
"Where do you think the cuff is?" David asked as Emma raised her hands to transport herself home, free of prying eyes.
"I think it is at Regina's vault. Let's hope it isn't magically hidden or we are screwed." With that, she disappeared.
~ (SQ) ~
Emma stood in the above ground portion of Regina's vault. The coffin for Henry Sr. lay before her with a wilted bunch of flowers on it. No one had been to visit since Regina had gone missing so the weekly flowers the brunette left hadn't been changed out in weeks. She had tried to come here alone, but Regina wasn't willing to hang back while she did. Henry had also protested being left alone at home. He wanted to help. So now the three of them stood quietly in the tiny space.
"Ok. Now don't freak out, but we need to move this." Emma motioned to the casket.
Regina arched a brow at her. "Are you suggesting we move my father's resting place?" Though she didn't remember the man in the coffin, Regina wasn't sure she liked the thought of disturbing him.
"Uh, yeah. Mom, we do this a lot more than you would think. You keep all your… magic stuff down here. It's ok. Trust me." Henry smiled at her.
Regina nodded her consent and Emma and Henry pushed against the box revealing stairs beneath it leading to the vault under the crypt. Both looked to Regina to gauge her reaction.
"Well, I suppose that is one way to keep a secret." The woman sassed. Henry and Emma shared a smile and lead the way down into Regina's personal sanctuary.
"You know, you brought me here once to teach me magic. You told me not to touch anything—"
"And why do I get the impression you didn't listen?"
"Because I didn't. You were not happy about that. But you were a good teacher. You really helped me embrace my magic." Emma's green eyes filled with a nostalgic glint.
"Well, I hope you will return the favor, dear. If I am to live here with magic I do need to learn to use it properly." Regina looked around curiously at everything around her. "Although, I find it hard to comprehend that I own all this and know what it is for. What are these?"
Regina stepped past a curtain and touched a wall full of boxes. Many of these once contained hearts but during her time of reformation, the former Evil Queen had returned them to their owners. Still, many of the boxes contained hearts of people Regina had killed or who had died long ago without a heart. Her fingers moved across one and it opened from the wall to reveal the boxes top.
"Uh, at the risk of sounding like you… let's not touch anything, ok?" Emma stepped forward and pushed the box back into the wall. "We will talk about all the stuff in here one day, but for now we need to find the cuff. Any suggestions?"
Regina stepped away from the boxes and into the room that housed all her magical items. She looked around, her hands clasped behind her back to keep her from giving in to curiosity. She stepped in front of the large and elaborate mirror on the wall and fluffed her hair before turning back to Emma and Henry. "Honestly, I have no idea about any of this except this mirror which I really like. I clearly am not known for my austere sense of style."
She smiled and fluffed her hair once more, watching Emma in the reflection. "I don't suppose that is much help though."
"No. Not really." Henry said matter-of-factly.
"Henry!" Emma cried, swatting him on the arm. "Give her a break."
"Well, she said it. I just agreed with her." The boy shrugged and gave his blonde mother a sheepish grin.
Regina's laughter filled the enclosed space and the pair turned back to her. "Is this our normal? Because I think I quite like it if it is."
Emma's heart leapt in her chest. This wasn't really her Regina but somehow it didn't matter. She still found herself feeling a fondness grow for the Regina she was now.
"Yes, this is normal." Henry laughed and began looking through a chest on the floor.
For the next several hours, the trio carefully searched through boxes, crates, steamer trunks and hidden alcoves in the walls. More than once they laughed at each other for little yelps of surprise at things they discovered. More than once they ran up the stairs to the crypt in fear of other things they had uncovered. But, despite all this, they still had not found the cuff.
"Well, looks like this is a bust. Maybe you didn't hide it here after all. I just assumed you would since it has the ability to be dangerous to magic wielders like us. And this is where you keep dangerous things." Emma scuffed her boot against the arched entryway.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I wish I could be more help. This is important, isn't it?" Regina placed a hand on Emma's arm and squeezed gently.
"Yeah. It kinda is. But that's ok. It isn't your fault. I will just have to rethink this, I guess."
"So, if we aren't gonna find it, can we go home? I'm starving." Henry slipped past his mother's and up the steps.
"You're always starving, kid." Emma called after him.
"So are you. It's genetic. I'm not responsible." His voice drifted back down to them.
"Brat." Emma said good-naturedly, shaking her head at their son. "To be honest, I'm pretty hungry too."
"Not you? I don't believe it." Regina teased. In the very short time she had known Emma, she had already learned that food was second in importance only to her family.
"Ha. Ha. Laugh it up, woman. I need to eat to keep up my strength so I can go on being awesome. It's hard work." Emma poked Regina playfully in the side, suddenly aware of their closeness.
"It isn't hard work for me, dear. Perhaps you aren't doing it right." The brunette arched a brow and, taking a step closer, leveled a smirk at Emma that made her knees weak.
"Well, that's something you've never accused me of before." Emma sent back an equally knee weakening grin and turned more fully toward the brunette.
For just a moment, their agreement to work on the important issues and leave their mutual attraction for later seemed to be forgotten and the two women stood in challenge, close and determined, unwilling to flinch and look away. Perhaps this connection between them was one of the important issues.
"Now that… I believe." Regina breathed, the words falling across Emma's lips as she spoke them due to their invasion of each other's space.
"Moms! Are we going or what?" Henry yelled from above them. The two women didn't separate but they both offered the other a shy smile and looked around the room.
"I think that is our cue to go, Emma."
"I guess so," Emma said, finally stepping back. "I just wish I knew where to find that cuff."
"Wish? Perhaps you need a genie and not a sorceress to help you search." Regina grinned but the smile faltered at the look on Emma's face.
"A genie?" Emma looked past Regina into the room. "Maybe I do."
"What?" Regina watched as Emma walked toward the mirror she had earlier shown an interest in.
"Just… just give me a minute. Maybe it's nothing." Emma began inspecting the mirror, gingerly touching it and looking behind it. Her fingers slid across the glass and she smiled.
"Do you trust me?" Emma turned to the darker woman in the doorway.
"I'm trying," she answered honestly.
"I think this is where you hid it." Emma motioned to the looking glass. "But if you did, no one will be able to get it but you."
Seeming to understand, Regina stepped up beside the blonde. "So, what do I need to do? How do I get it?"
Emma stepped behind her and positioned Regina directly in front of the mirror. She took each of Regina's hands in her own and made a sweeping motion before the glass. "I think," she whispered into Regina's ear, "I think the cuff is in the mirror. And if you will concentrate on your magic like I taught you, maybe we can reach in and get it."
"Emma, I don't—"
"It's ok. You can do this. I'll be right here helping you. We make magic together all the time. We can do this… together." Emma waved their joined hands along the surface of the mirror again.
Regina's heart was pounding as she felt the magic in her begin to rise… or maybe it was pounding because of the feeling of Emma pressed against her. Her mind came alive with the image of Emma standing behind her, holding her as they looked out a window at a dark cityscape and a harbor full of boats. Was that a memory?
"Just concentrate on the magic and will the mirror to let us in." Emma's voice was soft against her skin and her eyes fell closed of their own will.
"Ok. I'll try." The brunette focused all her energy on the magic, not the feeling of Emma. Just the magic, Mills. Focus on the magic.
In a moment, Regina felt a release of something in her and opened her eyes. As Emma swept their hands in front of the mirror again, it shimmered and moved like water. The blonde carefully reached their fingers through the surface and in a moment they pulled out the cuff together.
"We did it!" Regina cried, excited to have used her magic successfully. Before she realized it, she had turned to Emma and pulled her into an embrace. "How wonderful! We did it!"
"You did it." Emma chuckled, returning the hug. "I knew you could."
As if suddenly aware she was hugging the other woman, Regina pulled away and offered a shy smile. "No, we did it. I couldn't have done that without your help. I don't even know what I'm doing."
Emma couldn't help the sadness in her eyes at the loss of contact with the older woman but she tried to hide it before Regina could see. "Alright then… we did it. And now, we can get on with catching the people who took you and maybe… no, not maybe. Then we will get your memories back."
Regina watched Emma turn and call out to Henry that they had found it. She knew it was exciting that she would soon be getting her memories back but why did it make her feel that tiny wisp of disappointment? It had been there in the car when they left Boston. And now it was back.
"Regina? You coming?" Emma's voice cut through her thoughts.
"Yes. I'm coming. Let's go home and feed the two bottomless pits." She'd think about disappointment later.