A/N: As always, thank you to every one of my gaming/SQ followers that read and enjoyed Part 1 to this continuation, and are here reading Part 2. :) As I said before- after careful consideration and brain storming, A LOT of things will be changed to fit my different adaptation of this story. You'll be happy to know that unlike Joel, Emma will NOT suffer the same fate. Roles for Emma and Regina will be reversed at some point in this story. Happy reading, and keep spoilers at a minimum.

As you can already tell, flashbacks will be written as current events in this story.

"Emma, tell me." Regina had her arms wrapped around Emma's waist as they rode along a forest until they reached a certain point.

"Whoa," Emma pulled on the reins of her horse, looking over her shoulder once it came to a complete stop. "Alright, jump off." She told Regina.

"Emma," Regina scoffed, wanting to know what the big mystery was all about.

"Jump off the horse and you'll see your surprise soon." Regina slid off the horse with ease and plenty of practice before Emma as she tied the reins near a tree. "Come on, it's this way." She beckoned the brunette.

"You know for a moment there, I thought you were going to sing for me again." Regina smirked, following Emma through the forest, still hoping for a next time moment on hearing Emma sing again.

Emma chuckles, "Trust me. This is better."

"What could be better than you singing to me?" Asked Regina, adjusting the strap of her backpack more onto her shoulder.

Before coming out here, Emma had made sure along with Graham that it had been clear of all infected. Still, that didn't mean they would walk out of the community doors without their weapons strapped to their hips or along their backpacks.

"Can't I just have a hint?" Regina followed Emma along, hearing the dirt crunch underneath each step.

"You will see soon enough. Watch your head here." Emma duck, passing underneath a giant fallen tree trunk.

"Alright, if you aren't going to tell me, then I'm going to try to guess what it is."

"You want to spoil your surprise?" Emma glanced over her shoulder, and Regina could see a lifted brow from her.

"You leave me no other choice," Regina shrugs, walking along beside her. "Is it a dinosaur?"

"Stop trying to guess. I'm not telling you." Said Emma.

Regina sighs in frustration. "Alright. Is it… An elephant?" She hears a sigh come from Emma, and she was sure it had been accompanied by the roll of her eyes.

Emma was no longer a closed safe with her heart. In fact, she was more open than open book around Regina and everyone she knew, and trusted. Regina always teased her about how soft she had allowed herself to become sometimes. But, when it came to surprising her- there was no way you could get anything out of her.

"Is it… A convertible?" Regina asked, trying for her luck again. She wouldn't mind having one of those right now. She often dreamed of getting to drive one, both her and Emma enjoying the breeze and sun on their faces as they went as fast as the wind.

The sound of a stream could be heard as they continued to walk.

"You're not going to guess." Replied Emma, keeping the surprise close to her chest.

"Is it… A puppy?" Regina's eyes lit up. "No! A kitten!" She groaned as the blonde continued to ignore her. "Emma!"

"Come on," Emma nodded toward the edge of a rock, along the stream as she held up a branch. "Mind your step."

"I got this." Slowly, Regina began making her way across the small edge of rock along the water, her body brushing past Emma's.

"Oops." Emma used her elbow to shove Regina in a playful manner. She grinned upon hearing her scream in surprise and watched her body fall into the water with a splash.

She was surprised how fast Regina had learned to swim when they made time for lessons along this very river just a few months ago. The last thing she wanted to do was push Regina too much, so she went at her own pace with the lessons.

Regina swam up the water, hearing Emma's laughter grow louder. "What is wrong with you? Are you crazy?"

"You should see your face right now." Emma said through laughter.

"What if I drowned?" Regina barked.

"You're not going to drown. You have to work on that confidence, Gina." Emma laughed.

"Yeah, ha-ha, keep laughing, Swan. You'll see what happens." Regina snarled.

"Come on, this way." Emma beckoned Regina to swim along as she walked along the edge of the rock up above.

"I hate you." Of course she didn't hate Emma, but Emma could have warned her that their day out and about would lead to another unexpected swimming lesson. Regina swam along, just as Emma had taught her, committing the blonde's words to memory, her feet pedaling along the water while her arms flailed.

Emma was impressed. "Your swimming's getting better. Remember though, don't just flail about, you gotta-"

"Push the water with your whole arm. Blah, blah, blah." Regina rolled her eyes as she swam to shore and continued to follow a smirking Emma.

"Glad to know I'm getting through." Said Emma, halting along an edge as she beckoned Regina once again, her voice a whisper. "Gina, look," she points straight ahead.

"What?" Regina follows Emma's long finger straight ahead.

"Look. You see that deer over there?"

"Where?" She squints her eyes.

"Right over there. You see?"

"Oh, yeah. Looks like…" Regina leans in, far enough to push Emma off the edge with a smirk to her.

"Hey!" Emma exclaimed, splashing feet first into the water. She came up to the surface with an equal gasp as Regina had.

"How does that feel, Swan?" Regina places her hands on her hips, a smug look to her face.

"Refreshing."

"Not fun being pushed in, is it?"

"Well," Emma runs a hand through her face, wiping off some of the drops that had settled against her skin and around her eyes. "Actually, we need to swim through this part anyway."

"Admit it, Emma, I got you back. You're angry and upset."

"I am very angry and upset," Emma rolls her eyes. "Happy?"

"Very." Regina smirks again.

"Now, come on."

Regina dives head first into the water, and it doesn't go without saying that just like Emma, she is amazed at how far she's come when it comes to swimming. She could still recall being terrified of the thought of drowning or had to rely on Emma to swim alongside her. She could recall how many times Mal would always promise to teach her how to swim, and never did.

"Just watch your head." Said Emma as soon as Regina swam close to her.

"Don't worry." Regina dived back into the water after Emma, limbs and arms cooperating smoothly.

Emma pulled herself onto shore, holding out an outstretched hand for Regina to take as she pulled her up.

"How much longer, Emma?"

"This way." Emma smirks, nodding her head toward the direction she walked. Her ears picked up Regina's footsteps right behind her.

"So…" Regina caught up to be at Emma's side as she followed. "My surprise. Is it… My fifth grade teacher who was a prejudiced asshole?"

Emma chuckles, looking over at Regina. "What?"

"When I was little, I never went to a regular school like you or Graham. I was home schooled and by the time I reached the fifth grade, I had this teacher- Mr. Andrews. He would always give me an extra hard time. He never liked that I knew more than his other private students. He used to always mark a bad grade on my work even if I got it right."

Asshole. Emma scoffs, "Well, I'll tell you what, after you are done enjoying your surprise, you and I will take a trip. If you remember where he lives, you can kick his ass now, that's if the infected hasn't gotten to him first."

Regina chuckles, her fingers slide in between Emma's as she holds onto her hand.

"Alright, we have another dive over here." Emma dives in head first, hearing Regina's splash right behind her as they go underwater.

"Where on earth are you taking me, Emma?" Regina asked once she could come up to the surface again. Her hands grabbed onto Emma's hips, pushing her up as she pulled herself onto a much taller edge of dirt.

"Come on, I got you." Emma bent down, holding out her hand for Regina to take as she pulled her right up. Regina would never tell Emma out loud, but she always loved how strong she actually was.

"Alright, that's it. I'm officially done guessing." Regina jumped over a fallen trunk as Emma did.

"Well, good."

"Ooh!" Regina gasps and races back to be at Emma's side, her eyes wide with excitement. "Is it new shoes?"

"How many of those do you have?" Emma's nose wrinkles.

"Not enough," Regina murmurs, grabbing a hold of Emma's hand. "Is it… A massive book collection or… Is it a DVD player?"

"Yes."

"Which one, Emma?"

"Just… Yes."

"How about laser discs? Is it laser discs? I heard that's a thing."

"What?" Emma's brow lifts. "Who'd you hear that from?"

"Mulan," Regina shrugs, noticing the frown that is quick to possess Emma's lips. "What?"

"Nothing." Said Emma, avoiding Regina's gaze.

"Oh, Emma-"

"We're here." Emma releases the brunette's hand to lift up a few branches, tall enough to give Regina passage. The corner of her lip tilts into a private smirk. "Go on." She nods.

Regina walks through, stopping at an edge to admire a whole museum, a life-size Tyrannosaurus Rex staring her in the face, surrounded by a deep water bank. Her eyes wide, her smile so big it reached her eyes. "Oh, my God, it is a dinosaur!"

"That it is." Emma chuckles, enjoying the trail of excitement on Regina's face. She had been bringing up to her, during a few of their many pillow-talks at night, how she would love to visit a museum again. Emma had learned about Regina's first and only visit to a museum with her father when she was a child, and she saw the way her eyes lit up as she let her in on her confession. Very much like they were right now.

"Emma!" Regina pulled her girlfriend into the tightest hug ever, hearing her grunt in response.

"Surprise." Emma grins, feeling Regina's lips deliver a few peppered kisses onto hers in a way Emma could describe as eternal gratitude.

"How did you-?" Regina's wide eyes turn back to the worn out looking museum, still being the most beautiful sight she had ever seen. "How did you find this?" She turns back to Emma.

"Graham spotted it during one of our runs. It had a few infected roaming about, here and there, nothing we couldn't clear out. He made sure I would tell you exactly that."

Even if the museum looked run down, with the letters of the sign out front missing an E, a few outgrown vines stretched along the outside walls, it was still a hell of a sight to take in. Never in a million years did Regina imagine she would be given a museum of her own to enjoy and wonder about without having to worry of any danger. It felt normal for once. The morning sun agreed with them.

Regina chuckled, "I'll be sure to thank him."

"Well," Emma held the branches up once more, nodding her head in the direction of the museum. "Go on, have a look."

Talk about that 'kid in a candy store' feeling. That's what was churning inside of Regina's stomach as she splashed along the pool of water. She stopped until it was up to her waist to get a good look at the dinosaur. "Wow," her head tilted up. "Big boy, huh?" She grins over her shoulder at Emma, who smiles right back.

"About forty feet in length, twelve feet in height." Said Emma.

Regina's brow raised, "How do you know that?"

"Well, I do read, Regina."

Regina followed Emma into the museum, the glass door scraping hard against the floor as Emma pulled it open. Inside, had dirt against the floors and walls, the marbled lobby no longer surrounded in all its glory. Vines were spread around the walls and part of the floors. Posters were still up, a few hanging off one corner, a couple of souvenirs were on display by a wall to their right, which Regina headed for.

"Look at this." Regina reached for a brown, old looking hat, placing it on her head.

"Cute." Said Emma.

"Wanna try it on?"

"I'll pass. It looks cuter on you." Emma chuckles, watching Regina as she walks freely among the museum.

Regina stops in front of a display of dinosaur bones. "Wow, look at those limbs!" She says with fascination in her voice.

"That is a Velociraptor." Said Emma, earning another raised brow from Regina.

"Alright, how do you know this?"

"It was in a movie I saw once, a long time ago." Emma shrugs.

Regina then wondered if this had been a film she had seen with Lily, her first girlfriend, before the world turned to shit, but decided to not ask as she moved onto the next dino exhibit. "Hm," she read the long word displayed along the wall in fine letters. "Comp… sog… na… thus. That's a big word for a little bitty dinosaur."

"Yeah. And believe me, they'd swarm you." Emma chuckles.

"Let me guess," Regina crosses her arms over her chest. "You saw that in a movie, too?"

"A different one." Emma rubs the back of her neck. "You see, there was this sequel. It wasn't as good."

They continued to walk along until they stopped in front of another display. "I read about these. Did you know that this dinosaur had a brain the size of a walnut?" She turns to Emma.

"Something you have in common with it, then." Emma laughs as she earns a shove from Regina.

Emma follows Regina around the museum until they are standing in front of Triceratops. "The Triceratops. Finally one I do know about."

Regina purses her lips as she reads the sign displayed at the bottom of the bones. "Triceratops means 'three horned face."

"I would not want to be on the business end of that horn."

Regina moves along, slightly bending over to and squinting her eyes to read the old looking sign. "The Brachiasaurus ate six hundred pounds of plants each day." She hears Emma whistle. "Imagine, that's a lot of poop."

Emma chuckled. "Ian, one of the characters in the movie, there was this scene where he said, 'now that's a big pile of shit.'"

Regina laughs. "Okay. What is this movie and when can we see it?"

"I'll tell you what, when we go back home to Jackson, movie night."

Regina never cared about television much, but having a movie night with Emma on her birthday sounded perfect. Who didn't want to watch a film about dinosaurs? "Hey, Emma," she removed her hat to place it on Emma's head.

"Gina-"

"Don't you dare to take it off." Regina warned her, lifting up a single digit.

Emma groans and her shoulders slump in defeat.

"My birthday, my rules." Regina grins, walking into another section of the museum where she had to turn on her flashlight, due to it being dark. "Wow," she stands in front of the skull of a dinosaur. "Look at how thick this one's skull was."

Emma hums, tilting her head. "You know… That kind of looks like Graham."

Regina laughs, shoving the blonde playfully.

"I'm serious." Emma smirks. "If you catch it in the right light- boom- Graham."

"I'm telling him you said that."

"Please, don't." Emma walks along until they reach a set of stairs.

"Did you go to museums a lot before?" Regina asked.

"Yeah, when I was with Lily." Emma chuckles, shaking her head. "I swear to you, I think Lily dragged me to every museum in Texas."

"Do you ever miss it? How things used to be?"

Emma grabs onto the steel railing at the top of the second floor, leaning her body casually. "You mean if I ever miss Lily?" Emma nods. "Sometimes I think about her, and Ruby." She sighs. "But would I trade the life I have now with you?" Her head shakes. "Never."

Regina smiles. "And to think you couldn't stand me before when we first met." She sees a smile erupt from Emma's own lips.

"Well, that was just because I liked you right off. I didn't want to put myself out there again with anyone I grew to care for so much. And as I recall, you weren't my biggest fan either."

Regina rolls her eyes, hearing a chuckle come from Emma. "You can't blame me for not trusting you. Even when Mal assured me you were trustworthy, that was still something I had to see for myself."

"Good point."

Regina's smile disappears, turning into a frown. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Anything."

"Do you know if she made it out alive?"

Emma frowned. "I don't know."

"I think about what you told me sometimes, about how she fought like hell to get me out of there. About how you said there was no cure."

Emma's eyes remain on Regina's and she tries her best to read them in silence.

"To be honest, I don't think she made it. Because if she had, she would have already looked for me."

"Would you want her to look for you?" Asked Emma, feeling a ping of jealousy in the pit of her stomach.

"Maybe," Regina shrugs. "At least so she could explain how there couldn't be a cure. I guess I always thought my life could matter." She chuckles, shaking her head. Regina never told Emma this, but she couldn't place why Emma's story regarding Mal always seemed a little off to her.

"It does matter, Regina." Regina's life mattered more to Emma than her own.

Regina shakes her head.

"Hey," She meets Emma's eyes again. "It does matter."

"I'm sorry," Regina reaches out to grab Emma's hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm sorry, it's not the best time for this, is it?"

There was never a best time to bring up a sour topic such as Mal for Emma. But, she knew, someday she would have to cross the cracks of that bridge. Someday, she would need to tell Regina the truth.

"Come on," Regina nods over to a dark tunnel, tugging on Emma's hand. "Let's go in here."

Emma follows her through the tunnel as Regina turns on her flashlight to see where they are going. She allows her eyes to explore the blue walls covered in stars. Regina gasps, her eyes wide with excitement as she enters an entire room filled with astronaut helmets, and suits and planets hanging from the ceiling. The walls were painted blue just like the tunnel.

"Oh, my God, Emma!" She releases Emma's hand to run further inside, coming to a halt in front of a lever. "Did you know this was here?"

"I take it you don't hate it, then?" Emma asked.

"Hate it? Are you kidding me!" Regina's head tilts up to glance at the planets hanging above her. She loved that Emma remembered everything she ever told her. Especially her dream about wanting to be an astronaut someday. "Hey, Emma, can you name all the planets?" Regina turns the lever, watching the planets spin.

"Uh," Emma clears her throat. "My very educated mother just served us nice pizzas."

"Uh…" Regina chuckles. "Did you just have a stroke?"

"My: Mercury, Very: Venus, Mother: Mars-"

"I get it. That's very clever." Regina moves along to a stand where replicas of space shuttles. "Do you know what the first animal to go to space was?"

"I don't have to guess, that was a monkey."

"Nope. It was fruit flies."

"Fruit flies?" Emma's brow raised.

"In 1946. It was to see radiation exposure at high altitudes. They lived through it."

Emma chuckles. "You are a smart one, Gina. Tell me another fun fact."

"Mm… Astronauts say the moon smells like gunpowder."

"That is a fun fact."

Regina walks away from the display of space shuttles. "Do you know how many times we've been to the moon?"

"Um… Two?"

"Six times."

"Six times? Are you sure?"

"Definitely! And you wait and see, I'm going to make it seven." Regina's gaze falls on a spaceship, rusted and covered in growing vines and leaves. "Oh, wow, look at that!" She rushes over to the spaceship, excitedly pulling onto the door handle.

Emma reaches for the part door, helping Regina pull it open all the way. "Hold on a minute," she holds onto Regina's arm before allowing her to enter it. "If you're going to go into space, you're going to need a helmet." She grins.

"Oh, right!" Regina raced right for the spacesuit display, her hands hovering over three different helmets. She settled for a white helmet with blue and red stripes against the temples.

"How's it smell in there?" Asked Emma.

"Like space. And dust." Regina moved over to the spaceship. "What do you think?"

"I think you would have made a damn fine astronaut."

"Thank you." Regina smiles.

"After you." Emma motioned toward the door, watching Regina excitedly mount into the spaceship, lying on her back against a seat. Emma jumped in after. "Wow, would you look at all of these buttons." She said.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Regina held onto the joystick before her. "God, can you imagine just… Getting to travel to space? How amazing would that be?" Her head turns to Emma, seeing a cassette tape in between her index and middle fingers.

"Happy birthday, Gina."

"What's this?" Regina takes the tape.

"That is something that took me mighty time to find." She smiles. "Have a listen."

Regina reaches for her backpack, digging inside of it until she pulled out a Walkman, placing the tape inside, and the earbuds in her ears, placing her helmet back on after.

Emma's hand landed on top of Regina's before she could press the play button. "Close your eyes. It'll be worth it."

"Alright." With a smile stretched out on her lips, Regina does as she's told before her finger sinks the play button on her Walkman.

"Thirty seconds and counting."

Regina's eyes are filled with surprise as she looks over at Emma, who's smile grows larger. "How did you-?" She huffs out a surprised scoff through her own smile before her eyes are closing on her again.

"Astronauts report it feels good, T-minus twenty-five seconds. Twenty seconds and counting. T-minus fifteen seconds, guidance is internal. Twelve, Eleven, Ten, Nine… Ignition sequence starts. Six, Five, Four, Three, Two, One, Zero. All engine running."

Regina's smile grows larger until it's reaching her eyes. She could swear almost feeling the spaceship moving and shaking, as far as her imagination allowed her to see it in her mind. She felt like a kid again, only this time, she was living her dream. And what made it even better was to have Emma at her side.

"Liftoff! We have liftoff! Thirty-two minutes past the hour, liftoff on Apollo 11."

Emma took in Regina's beautiful features, seeing how everything played clear in her mind, how happy it made her to experience something so magical. "I do okay?" She asked once Regina's eyes were on her again.

"Are you kidding me, right now? This definitely puts you in the best girlfriend category." She sees Emma chuckle. "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Gina. What do you say we get out of here?"

"I say okay." Regina allows Emma to exit the spacecraft first as she puts away her Walkman inside the safety of her backpack.

"Here," Emma places a souvenir pin of a shuttle with the Earth placed behind it inside of the brunette's palm. "Welcome to Earth."

They push their way through double doors that lead them outside. Regina stands near a broken railing. "Look, over there," she points to a historical building across the way. "There's more museum stuff over there."

"Yeah, I never actually explored that part of it." Said Emma.

"Well, let's go see it!" Regina grins.

"And just how exactly are you planning on getting over there?"

Regina leans in, seeing the bank of water below them. "You only live once." Taking off in a sprint, Regina leaps off the second floor balcony, diving head first into the water.

"Regina!" Emma's eyes look at the splashing water in horror, seeing the brunette come up to the surface with a gasp.

"Come on in, the water is great!" Regina grins.

"How about you warn me next time you jump off a second floor?"

"Jump in!"

"No!"

"Hey, who's birthday is it?"

"How much longer are you going to keep using that against me?" Emma's hands rest on her hips.

"I want to see a splash! Now, come on." Regina demanded.

"Geronimo!" After a much needed eye roll, Emma caved, diving head first into the water. "How was that?" She asked Regina, once swam up to the surface.

"That was quite a splash." Regina chuckled, swimming along the water until they reached the other double doors. She looked up an open window after the doors were too difficult to budge. "Hey, boost me up there."

"Don't know, Gina," Emma rubs the back of her neck.

"Come on. I can open it for you from the other side."

Emma got into position, slightly hunching against the wall with her hands placed in front of her. "Alright," once Regina placed her foot in the palm of her hands, she boosted her up until she reached the window.

Regina jumped over with a grunt. "Um… We have a problem. The doors are blocked from the inside."

"Well, just try to find another way through, I'll try to find a way in around the other side." Said Emma.

"Be safe." Said Regina, walking along the museum.

"You be safe."

"Alright," Regina walked along the dark museum, illuminating her way with her flashlight. The ground crunched underneath her step. "Someone needed a hug." She murmured to herself, upon reading a spray-painted message along a wall. She ventured on, coming to another spray-painted message, followed by another.

Every entrance had been blocked from what Regina could see. The only way through the next display room of stuffed animal corpses was through a hole in the wall that Regina hunched down to go through. A gasp escaped her as her eyes landed on a stuffed wolf, its eyes staring down at her, with a glow in its eyes that was produced by her flashlight.

Regina's hand fell on her handgun as soon as she heard a crashing sound come from the distance. Gun at the ready, she carefully walked along the dark room. "Come on out." She whispered, knowing well the noise hadn't been provided by Emma.

Finding another hole through the following wall, Regina squeezed through only to be surprised by a high-pitched squeal belonging to a boar that crashed right into her, knocking her onto the floor, as it carelessly roamed in through an open door. The impact had been so rough that her flashlight flew across the room, just a few feet away from where she landed.

"Shit." she huffed out a breath, laying against the ground for a second before she crawled to reach for her flashlight. Her eyes fell on the wall in front of her as she stood, seeing the Firefly symbol spray-painted in black paint, followed by the word 'Liars' at the bottom.

"Regina!" Emma grunted after busting through steel double doors. "Are you alright? What the hell was that?" She asked, still able to hear the squealing in the distance.

"Just an animal. I'm fine." Her eyes turn back to the sign, forcing Emma to glance up at it.

"Well, let's get a move on, I want to light a fire before it gets too dark." Said Emma, reaching for the brunette's arm. "Come on."

After giving the all too familiar Firefly logo one last glance, Regina walked away, taking Emma's hand in her own.