A flash of bobbed, dark hair had just about flown past her before suddenly skidding to a stop. Without a chance to hesitate, a small, almost translucently pale girl in glasses hopped into the carriage of the teenage daughter of the duke and duchess of Varleyan. Regina leapt up to her feet when she met the face of the other girl, who was catching her breath. Almost as if she were afraid of what she would see when she looked up, the girl pulled the hood of her cloak further down over her face. Regina eyed her strangely but said nothing. Strange and potentially dangerous as it was, she welcomed it. The heiress smiled, and had waved at the girl to sit down across from her. The girl had hesitated, staring down at her ringed fingers. Regina took the rest of her in. She was surprisingly well dressed, and seemed to at least not be a peasant. She let out a sigh of relief. The girl almost certainly had no intention of trying to rob her or the family. She was still standing, all but pressing herself against the now closed carriage door. She had seemed almost too frightened to say anything or do anything more. Regina merely looked at her in interest, waiting for her to speak. For a moment, she wasn't sure the girl would say anything.

"Sorry," The girl had finally squeaked out. "Hello."

"Are you…" Regina had hesitated, and then gently pulled the girl to sit down. "Are you being chased?"

The girl had grimaced. "Uh…just another afternoon."

Regina had taken another look at the girl, suddenly realising she was, while petite, not sickly.

"Where are your parents?"

"Travelling," She had said. "I got in a bit of a fight back in our town, had to get away for a couple hours. They're pretty important - not titled or anything, but wealthy and important - and -"

Regina had suddenly embraced her, causing the girl to squeak again but effectively trailing off her ramblings.

"What's your name?" She had pressed, letting the girl go. "I'm Regina."

"Fenella," The girl had replied, smiling a little. "So….where are we going?"

Regina had laughed. "Bold of you to assume I won't leave you behind. And, as it happens, correct."

The girl had eyed her curiously.

"I'll tell you where we're going if you tell me why you wear all of those rings," Regina had continued. "Since you wear them on all but the wedding finger."

The girl had grinned. "If you have to fight people, having your fingers covered in rings is a good way to catch them off guard."

"Alright," Regina had said. "I suppose I ought to hold up my end of the agreement: we're travelling to the south shore. Is that near where you live?"

"I wouldn't have gotten in the carriage if you weren't going in a good direction," The girl had shrugged. "But I appreciate knowing where we're headed."

Regina had considered that.

"I suppose that's fair. What exactly possessed you to get in a fight?"

The girl had tilted her head a bit in surprise.

"Haven't you gotten into fights before?"

Regina had shaken her head. "No."

"Well, part of why I use the rings is because I don't just want to use magic," She had replied. "Since using magic can give up a lot about what you are able to do."

Regina had flinched.

"Are you okay?" The girl had watched her closely. "Do you use magic too?"

"I'm not allowed to," Regina had lowered her voice. "Because my mother insists on being the only one who can use magic in our family. She has always used it to control people. Including me."

"That's not what magic is for," The girl had frowned. "What made her think that?"

"I don't know," She had said, glancing away for a few seconds. "I …"

The line clicked.

Regina Mills was drawn away from her wandering memories and thoughts.

This was also the call she had been waiting to be answered.

"Yeah?"

Regina paused for a few seconds, smiling and waving her daughter into her office.

"Miss Swan," Regina said, drawing herself back. "I would be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but, having given it more thought, I'm guessing your resolve to stay is only growing."

Emma had snorted. "You have no idea.

"Well, then, I think it's time we made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office," Regina had laughed shortly upon hearing a car door slam. "Or walk. Whatever suits you."

Regina slammed down the landline.

"Momma?" Lynn pressed, coming over to her mother at her desk. "What did you do? Why's Emma walking to your office? Isn't she staying on the other side of town?"

Regina glanced at her daughter, affectionately squeezed her hand, and then smiled.

"I put a boot on her car," Regina replied, and Lynn laughed a little. "Why is that funny?"

Lynn shrugged. "Because the idea of you doing something like that is so…strange. Do you even know how to change tires?"

"No," Regina admitted. "But I managed this all the same."

Lynn hugged her mother.

"You're so good at everything, momma. Henry is going to see how much you care about us soon, I'm sure of it."

Regina held tightly onto her daughter, her mind spinning again. A flicker of hesitation rose in the back of her mind. She closed her eyes, briefly terrified to let go of her daughter.

"Again," Regina had snapped."What fairy tale thing?"

"Oh, you know, his book. How he thinks everyone's a cartoon character from it," Emma had went on. "Like, he thinks his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

Regina had raised an eyebrow.

"I'm sorry, I…really have no idea what you're talking about."

"You know, what, it's none of my business," Emma had shrugged, turning around in surprise when she heard footsteps coming towards the sitting room. "He's your kid. And I really should be heading bac -"

"Of -" Regina had fallen silent, seeing her daughter slip awkwardly behind one of the walls into the sitting room. "Of course, I -"

"Lynnetta?" Emma had suddenly exclaimed. "Hi, are -"

"How do you know my name?" Lynn had almost yelped in fear.

Emma had uncomfortably looked between her and Regina.

"I'm the bounty hunter the Watsons had contacted. The…ones they wanted to, well…I'm not going to make you all relieve that. But I'm the bounty hunter who submitted anonymous testimony on behalf of the prosecution. I suppose it's not rational to keep it anonymous to you guys now, all things considered, since you were able to…get at least some justice.."

Lynn had run into the room the best she could with her limp and heavy brace to hug Emma, very much startling her.

"Thank you," Lynn had whispered, trying her best not to cry. "It was really important that was in there, the DA said so."

"Lynn," Regina finally said, letting go of her daughter. "Could you head home and make sure Henry is getting ready to come by before his therapy session?"

Lynn nodded, and hugged her mother again before leaving the room.

"Sure," Lynn hesitated when she reached the doorway. "Momma?" Her voice went quiet. "Is Henry going to be okay? Not because I think he won't get back to normal with you but because of how he may or may not be affected by magic coming back to town?"

"He will be," Regina promised her. "But, Lynn?"

Her daughter glanced back. "Yeah?"

"If magic could fix your…what happened to you," She said softly, brushing aside a few rogue tears. "I would find a way to do it, more than anything else."

Lynn blinked back tears herself. "I know you would, momma. But I think we're just going to have to accept that I'm never going to get my life or my leg fully back."

Before her mother could say anything else, Lynn left her mother's office. Regina stared at the blank space left by her daughter's absence. She then looked at the time. It would not be much longer before Emma arrived, would it? Unless she had done something to Henry… She pushed the thought out of her mind the best she could. Emma. She could not do anything to Henry. She would not do anything to Henry. Losing him would mean losing almost everything, again. Lynn: little girl lost. Henry: boy with head in the clouds. Nearly losing one child once had been enough to destroy any chance of her sleeping well again. Nearly losing that same child two, three more times had almost destroyed her life, and Henry's. Losing Henry would mean everything falling apart. If Emma did anything, if she somehow found a way to destroy the curse, that would be the end. Henry would be gone. Lynn what remember every terrible thing her mother had done and see it the way Snow and everyone else wanted her to see it. Regina stood up suddenly, shutting her laptop. Her fingers began to bounce against her desk in horrid anxiety. She took a few seconds to breathe, and then managed to calm down. Footsteps. They were drawing closer, and, then, they were in the doorway.

There she was.

Regina came out from around her desk, and motioned for Emma to sit down.

She did.

The two women stared at each other.

Her point having been made, Regina sat down herself, smiling briefly to herself when her mobile buzzed to let her know Lynn was home and had sent Henry off.

"So," Regina waited for Emma to meet her gaze. "I'd like to start by apologising, Miss Swan."

Emma jolted in disbelief. "What?"

"I just have to accept reality," Regina explained. "The reality that you want to be here."

Emma frowned. "That's right," She agreed. "I do."

"And," Regina coldly went on. "That you're here to take my son from me."

"Okay, let's be clear," Emma put her hands up in mock surrender. "I have no intention of taking him from anyone."

Regina raised an eyebrow.

"Well, then what are you doing here?"

Emma hesitated, jamming her fingers in her red leather jacket.

"I know I'm not a mother - I think that's pretty self evident - but I did have him," Emma uncomfortably began. "And I can't help it. He got in my head, and I want to make sure he's okay. The more you try to push me out, the more I want to be here, especially after seeing how…troubled he is."

Regina narrowed her eyes. "You think he's troubled?"

"Well, he's in therapy," Emma shrugged. "And I only got through a couple pages of his shrink's notes before you had me arrested. But, putting all that aside, he thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character."

Regina lightly tapped her foot against the floor, hearing Henry's drawing nearer.

"And you don't?"

"How can I?" Emma exclaimed, stunned. "The poor kid can't even tell the difference between fantasy and reality, and it's only getting worse. It's -"

Regina's eyes fluttered up towards the doorway where Henry was walking through.

"- Crazy."

Silence.

Henry let out an upset cry.

"You think I'm crazy?"

Emma stood up, whipping around to see him just before he ran off.

"Henry -"

Then, he was gone.

She turned back to Regina, her fingers curling in anger.

"How long was he there?"

Regina looked merely bored.

"Long enough."

Emma began to shake.

"You knew he would be here."

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every thursday at precisely five in the evening so I can take him for dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did. I'm his mother," Regina met Emma's vitriol with her own. "Your move."

"You have no soul," Emma impulsively bit off. "How in the hell did you get like this?"

She regretted those words seconds after they were spoken.

Replies To Reviews:

barrattajennifer: Henry absolutely needs to hear more about what happened to his sister from her, just as Emma and Regina both need to hear more about what they've both been through from each other

jasouatfan: Regina and Emma share many things, but one of them is a major flaw: impulsivity towards things said and done in emotion…

Sammii16: thanks so much, love, i'm happy people find my works to be creative takes on the sources i love/d. hopefully this chapter was worth the wait, i'm so sorry about how long it took to get this one done for all of you