Chapter 10

Emma took a deep breath as she entered the building. She was exhausted from working on a case until late the previous night, and the last thing she wanted to do was go to work. In her younger years, she would have just called in sick, or simply not shown up for work, opting to sleep late instead of making it in. But she didn't have that option anymore. She had her son to think about. To take care of. She needed this job to provide for her and her son. So she dragged her ass out of bed and got ready for work, adding an extra shot of espresso into her morning coffee when she stopped at her favorite coffee shop on the way to work.

"Swan, you look like hell!" she heard as soon as she flopped down behind her desk.

"I was working late last night," Emma said, tossing her sunglasses on her desk. "At least I have an excuse. You look like you were hit by a bus. You look like crap, Jones. Is there any whisky left in Manhattan, or did you single-handedly drink it all last night?"

"Damn close to it." Jones laughed, leaning back in his chair, holding his arm over his eyes, clearly nursing a wicked hangover. "Shit, before I forget, some chick came looking for you this morning."

"Okay. Who was she?" Emma asked, already pissed.

"No clue," Jones said, groaning slightly. "Didn't get her name. Figured she needed bail for someone."

"And it never occurred to you to ask her name?" Emma asked, growing more aggravated by the second.

"Nah. Figured if it was important she would try again later. She was really hot though. I'm a little jealous she came looking for you." Jones laughed, the extra pressure caused his head to pound.

"You're fucking useless," Emma said, her own head pounding from frustration.

Her day dragged on as she dove into the mountain of paperwork she had been neglecting for weeks, feeling like time was moving backward. All she wanted to do was go home and eat dinner with Henry, their typical Friday-night routine. Pizza at their favorite pizza place then home for video games. She looked forward to their Friday nights all week, and this day was going far too slow. By the time five o'clock arrived, Emma was exhausted. All she had to do was get through her commute back home, and she could officially start her weekend. If she was lucky, she would grab a seat and be able to close her eyes for a few minutes on her ride home.

It felt like she waited on the train platform for an hour until her train approached the station. She could see through the window as the train slowed down in front of her that the train was already crowded. Sure enough, as soon as she boarded, she quickly found that there were no seats available. Sighing, she settled in by leaning against one of the poles as the doors closed and the train began to move. She tried to close her eyes while she held on, but every time she started to doze off, she would lose her balance and risked falling on her face. I guess I'm not getting a nap tonight, she thought as she started scanning the train. Emma loved to people watch when on the subway. So many interesting people traveled each day, and she loved to watch them all.

As she scanned the sea of faces on the crowded subway, her eyes locked on one particular woman, sitting in the corner, reading a book. She was the most beautiful woman Emma had ever seen, and she couldn't take her eyes off her. After a few moments of intense gazing, the woman looked up and made eye contact with Emma, most likely because she could feel Emma's eyes stuck on her. The woman smiled so wide when she saw Emma, that her heart skipped a beat or two. Emma smiled back, as the woman's focus went back to her book. Emma watched her for the remainder of her ride, noticing that the woman never turned the page of her book, she just continued to stare down at it, a soft smile on her face.

Emma eventually reached her stop, stepping off the train into the busy subway station. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed that her mystery woman got off the train as well, joining the crowd making their way out of the station. As they reached the exit, she once again noticed that the mystery woman began walking the same direction as she did, staying a few paces behind her.

As Emma approached her building, she pulled out her phone and quickly dialed Henry's cell number. Her heart skipped a beat again as she saw the mystery woman approach her on the street. Their eyes met as the woman walked past her, and they shared another sweet smile before the woman turned the nearest corner, crossing the street quickly. Emma was so distracted that she didn't realize that Henry had answered until she heard him call her name a few times.

"Hey, sorry, I'm downstairs," Emma said, completely distracted.

"Great! I'll be right down. I'm starving," Henry said right before he hung up. Emma scanned the sidewalk across the street, searching for the mystery woman, but she had already walked away.

Henry came bursting out of the front door a few minutes later, ready and eager for dinner. This was the best part of her day!

Every day for the next week, Emma saw the same woman on the subway. Always sitting in the same seat, always reading the same book, never seeming to make any progress in the story. Every day, the woman got off at the same stop as Emma and walked a few paces behind her, always crossing the street at the same intersection just beyond Emma's apartment building. Emma's heart skipped a beat each time they made eye contact on the train or as the woman passed the building, and they always shared a warm smile with each other. Emma began to wonder if she should introduce herself to the mystery woman, since they keep running into each other.

Sunday morning rolled around and Henry came bursting into Emma's room at a god-awful early hour for a Sunday. Where that kid got his energy, she would never know. He eventually dragged her out of bed to start making breakfast, another one of their weekend rituals. Huge Sunday morning breakfast. Today's menu included pancakes, scrambled eggs, and enough bacon to kill a horse. Just as they were settling in for their feast, there was a tentative knock on the door.

"Stay. Start eating. I'll be right back," Emma said, making her way to the front door as Henry filled his plate with food, smothering everything in maple syrup.

Emma opened the door, suddenly remembering she was still in her flannel pajamas. Luckly, by the time she made it to the door, no one was there. She scanned the hallway, seeing no one and assumed they were there to sell something and had already moved on. She started to close the door when she spotted the envelope taped to the door.

"Who was it?" Henry asked, shoveling a forkful of pancakes into his mouth as Emma made her way back to the table.

"No one. Just an envelope taped to the door," Emma said, tossing the envelope on the table, scooping a spoon full of eggs onto her plate, grabbing the last of the bacon before Henry ate it all.

"Who's it from?" Henry asked, shoveling more food in his face.

"I don't know," she said, digging in.

"Can I open it?" Henry asked, suddenly eager to find out who left them a letter on a Sunday morning.

"Knock yourself out," Emma said, sliding it across the table, taking a bite of pancakes.

Henry practically jumped out of his chair as he reached for the mystery envelope, tearing it open quickly, no doubt leaving greasy fingerprints all over the front.

"It's a letter," he said, quickly scanning the handwritten words on the sheet, his face changing drastically as he read on.

"Well? What does it say?" Emma asked, suddenly becoming very concerned at her son's expression.

"My Dearest Emma and Henry," Henry started to read. "My heart continues to break every moment I am without you both. I know you no longer remember who I am; however, I hope a small portion of my memory remains deep within you. Please meet me at one o'clock today, at the Cherry Hill Fountain in Central Park." Henry's brows furrowed as he struggled with the rest of the letter. "I can't read the rest. It's in some weird language. It looks like Elvish." Henry laughed, showing the letter to Emma. "Can you read it?"

"No. I don't speak Elvish, smartass." Emma laughed.

"It seems important though. I'm going to look it up," Henry declared, rushing off to his room, returning a few moments later with his computer in his hand. A minute later, he was clicking away and Emma finished her breakfast, sipping her coffee as she watched her son work.

For some reason, Emma started to get a little nervous as she waited for Henry to finish his research. She was definitely going to need another cup of coffee before dealing with this.

"Okay, I think I figured it out," Henry said after a while. "It's not Elvish, it's actually Gaelic."

"Nerd." Emma laughed as Henry turned the computer for her to see.

"Okay, this part at the end says, 'Gràdh, mo chridhe' and it means, 'Love, my heart,'" Henry explained.

"I don't think that's even grammatically correct." Emma laughed.

"Now who's the nerd?" Henry laughed, gaining him a kick from under the table. "May I continue, or will you be assaulting your child again today?" Henry continued to laugh, kicking Emma back, as she motioned for him to continue. "This part here, says 'Eala, beidh grá agam duit go dtí deireadh go deo,' and it means, 'Swan, I will love you until the end of forever,'" Henry explained.

Something shifted inside of Emma.

"You okay?" Henry asked, noticing the sudden shift in his mother.

"Yeah. That last one was beautiful," Emma said, trying to hold back the sudden tears that threatened to fall.

"So, are we going?" Henry asked.

"Going where?"

"To meet whoever wrote this in Central Park?" he asked.

"I don't know. That doesn't seem very safe, meeting a complete stranger just because they left a note on our door," Emma said, staring at the note on the table.

"Whoever they are, they seem to know us though. They addressed us by name, and they used the word Swan," Henry reasoned.

"That would be impressive, except our name is on the buzzer downstairs."

"True, but not my name. How did they know that I live here too?" Henry argued. "Plus, we'll be in Central Park. It's totally public and Cherry Hill Fountain is one of the busiest places in the park.

"Okay. You might have a point there," Emma said, the gears already turning in her head. "Okay, I'll think about it. Still seems a little shady though."

"Fine, think about it. I'm going to go watch tv," Henry said, shutting his computer and rushing over to the TV.

Emma was so preoccupied thinking about this letter that she dropped the frying pan on the ground, nearly crushing her toes. No matter what she did, her eyes kept falling on the handwritten letter she had found taped to their door. There was something so strangely familiar about the handwriting, but she couldn't quite place it. Finally, just after eleven o'clock, Emma announced that Henry should start to get ready. They were going to meet this mystery person in Central Park.

It took a little longer than they anticipated to make their way to the park, and they admittedly got lost a few times trying to find the Cherry Hill Fountain, but they eventually made it to the meeting point, Emma's stomach in such knots that she thought she might throw up. No matter how hard she tried to figure it out, she would never understand why she was so nervous.

As soon as they arrived at the crowded fountain, they were immediately approached by a grungy-looking boy on a skateboard.

"Hey, are you, like, Emma and Henry?" he asked.

"Yeah…" Emma answered, looking even more confused than before.

"I was told to give you this," he said, handing Emma two blue vials filled with an unknown liquid.

"What is this?" Emma asked, holding one of the viles up to the sun, trying to identify the liquid inside.

"How should I know? Some lady paid me fifty bucks to give this to a woman with long blonde hair named Emma and her son Henry, and to tell you to drink it," the kid said, shrugging, skating away quickly. Henry grabbed one of the vials, reaching to pull the small cork out of the bottle.

"Wait! Henry! Don't drink that!" Emma scolded. "We don't know what it is! You can't just go around drinking strange things that unknown people give you."

"Okay, then what DO we do?" Henry asked. Emma frantically began to scan the area, looking for any clue of what to do, or who sent the mystery drink, but there were so many people it was hard to keep track of them.

Emma's heart stopped suddenly when she made eye contact with someone sitting on the bench a few feet away from them. It was the woman from the train, except this time instead of smiling, her eyes looked scared, and her face looked nervous.

"Drink it, Henry. Now. Drink it now!" Emma said, pulling the cork off her own bottle, drinking the strange liquid quickly. Henry followed quickly behind, drinking from his bottle as well.

The liquid was cold and tasted surprisingly sweet. The moment she swallowed the strange liquid, she felt like she was being punched in the face as memories became flooding back. Memories of a life lived so long ago on a small and quaint farm. Memories of a love lost too soon. Memories of a small town filled with fairy tale characters. She began to remember it all. Every memory from Eala, and every memory that was replaced when Storybrooke was erased. All of it came flooding back, including…

Her. She remembered her.

"MOM!" Henry screamed, pulling Emma out of her thoughts. Henry rushed over to the woman nervously sitting on the bench a few feet away. The woman from the train.

Regina.

"Henry!" Regina cried as she held her son in her arms for the first time in over a year, tears falling down her cheeks and into his shaggy hair. "I missed you so much."

Emma rushed over, standing off to the side, allowing Regina a few moments with Henry. As soon as Henry pulled away, Regina threw herself into Emma's arms, holding her impossibly tight. Their hearts pound inside their chests as they clutched each other, afraid that if they let go, the other will disappear again.

"Emma…you're here…I can't believe you're really here…" Regina cried into Emma's neck, refusing to let go just yet. "I know you didn't remember me, but I remembered you. I missed you so much, Emma." Regina continued to cry, her body shaking against Emma's. Regina's cries were silenced by Emma's lips pressed against her own, a feeling she had subconsciously missed every moment they were separated.

"I may not have remembered who you were…" Emma said, pressing her forehead against Regina's. "But in my heart, I will always know who you are. And I will always miss you."

"What made you drink the memory potion? I could see you hesitating. What changed your mind?" Regina asked, wiping the tears from her eyes.

"You." Emma smiled. "I saw you sitting here, and I knew it wasn't a coincidence. Something inside me told me to trust you and drink. So we did."

"I'm glad you did." Regina smiled, reaching to pull them both in for another tight hug.

"Hey, guys, people are starting to stare at us. Maybe we should go home or something," Henry said, nervously looking around at the stranger's eyes staring at them.

"Let them stare," Regina said, her eyes never leaving Emma's.

"You know, the kid might be onto something. Let's head home. I have a feeling we all have a lot of catching up to do." Emma smiled, grabbing Regina's hand for dear life.

"Lead the way," Regina said. They followed Henry out of the park, only making one wrong turn along the way.

As soon as they made it back to the apartment, Henry pulled Regina through their humble abode, showing Regina every nook and cranny of their apartment, before pulling Regina onto the couch to tell her every single thing that happened over the past year. Every class trip he took, every friend he made. He even told her about the math test he failed, even though he had studied for days and how Emma made him get a tutor afterward and now he's doing much better in math. He even told her how hard Emma works to make sure they always have a place to live and food to eat. Emma listened silently from the kitchen, giving mother and son their alone time to catch up.

"Hey, Mom…Emma…Ma?" Henry asked after an hour of non-stop talking. "Can we order pizza from Luigi's tonight? Mom NEEDS to try their pizza!"

"That sounds like a great idea. Pizza in Maine is gross compared to real New York pizza. And I'm pretty sure pizza is not a thing in the Enchanted Forest." Emma laughed.

"Cool!" Henry exclaimed, grabbing Emma's phone, placing an order online, including all of his favorite pizza toppings, without consulting his mothers.

Henry finally stopped talking an hour later as they all sat around the dining room table, eating.

"So, Mom, what happened during your year away?" Henry asked in between stuffing food in his face.

"Well…my year wasn't as fun and exciting as yours was…" Regina said, her face falling at the memory.

"That's okay, Mom. Even if it's sad, I still want to know," Henry said, reaching across the table to grab Regina's hand.

"You're right. I don't want to keep any secrets from you," Regina said, reaching for Emma's hand under the table. "It all started when you drove over the town line…"

Regina stood at the town line, staring deep into Emma's eyes, tears rushing down their faces as the purple smoke approached. The last thing she heard was Emma's voice screaming "I LOVE YOU" as the purple smoke completely consumed her. She blinked and suddenly she was standing back in the Enchanted Forest, her jeans and T-shirt replaced with the tight dress she had worn the night she cast the dark curse. For a moment, she looked around her, only to find two sets of confused eyes staring back at her. Without a word, she threw her arms into the air, disappearing in yet another cloud of purple smoke.

Regina appeared once again in front of a familiar cottage surrounded by overgrown farmland. A place she had once associated with love. With hope.

Eala's house.

As soon as her eyes adjusted to their new surroundings, she broke down completely, falling to the ground in front of the door, her tears mixing with the dirt underneath her, creating tiny puddles of mud. The sound of her cries echoed off the trees as she wept uncontrollably at all she had lost in the last few minutes. After what felt like an eternity, the pain became too much to bear, forcing her to reach her hand into her own chest, pulling out her heart. It took a few moments for her body to adjust to having her heart missing, the numb feeling coursing through her veins as she finally picked herself up off the ground and made her way into the small cottage, placing her heart carefully on top of the mantle.

Eala's cottage was covered in dust, and what little food that had once been there had long since rotted and turned to ash. She gazed at the bed in the corner and realized that she had been the last person to have ever laid there, when Eala was violently ripped from her arms, Eala's dress still laying on the floor when she had discarded it in the heat of passion over forty years ago. She picked it up and shook the dust out of the soft material, laying it carefully on the bed. Quickly removing her elegant dress, Regina pulled Eala's dress over her head, the same dress Eala had been wearing the day she was taken. Regina swore it still smelled like her, even though more than forty years had passed since the material had touched the blonde's skin. She crawled into Eala's bed, pulling her dust-covered blanket over her body, breaking down once more, eventually crying herself to sleep from exhaustion.

Two weeks later, Regina heard a familiar voice calling her name outside the cottage but simply pulled the blankets over her head. She didn't have the strength to deal with Snow White. Come to think of it, she never has the strength to deal with Snow White. But, in true Snow White fashion, the woman refused to relent, and eventually made her way, uninvited, into the house.

"Regina?" she asked as she pushed her way through the door. "I thought I might find you here."

"Go away, Snow," Regina said, her voice hoarse from crying non-stop for the last two weeks.

"Regina…" Snow said, approaching the woman laying in the bed. "Is that…?" Snow asked, pointing to the heart, still beating, on the mantelpiece.

"Yes, Snow. That is my heart. Now please, leave me alone."

"Why isn't it inside your body?"

"Because it hurts too much," Regina said, fresh tears running down her face.

"Regina, I'm worried about you. Are you alright?" Snow asked, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"I'm fine. Now please just leave me alone."

"I'm not going to do that, and you know it," Snow said, pulling the blanket off Regina's face, gasping slightly.

Regina's face was so pale, sickly pale. Her cheeks were sunken in and she had deep and dark circles under her glassy eyes. She looked sick. Very sick.

"Regina. Are you sick?" Snow asked, pulling the blanket farther off Regina's body, exposing her thin body. "Regina…"

"Leave me alone, Snow," Regina growled, attempting to pull the blankets back over her weak and frail frame.

"Regina…when was the last time you ate anything?" Snow asked.

"None of your business."

"Regina. Tell me. When was the last time you ate anything?" Snow repeated, refusing to back down.

"Leave it alone, Snow!" Regina screamed, her throat on fire.

"Regina! Stop being so stubborn! Answer my question. When was the last time you ate?"

"Fine. The last time I ate was right before the curse broke," Regina finally admitted.

"Back in Storybrooke? Regina, that was over two weeks ago!" Snow said, shocked at Regina's revelation. "You have to eat something."

"I don't have to do anything. Now please, leave me alone, and let me die in peace!" Regina screamed, as loud as her weakened body allowed.

"No, Regina! That's not going to happen. I'm not going to give up on you. Not then and not now."

"Please, Snow. Just leave me alone. I'll be dead soon, then everything will be as it should be," Regina cried, her tears falling onto the already stained pillow.

"What will Emma and Henry think when they find out you gave up on them? On finding a way to get back to them?" Snow asked, her voice harsh.

"There's no way to get back to them. And even if I did think of a way to get back to the Land Without Magic, they don't remember who I am. It hurts too much to live knowing they don't remember me," Regina cried.

"Regina Mills, do you hear yourself? You are the most powerful sorceress in this entire realm. If there is even the slightest chance of getting back to them, you're the one to find it. But you're never going to find them again if you give up."

"I can't, Snow. I lost them. I lost the only people who loved me. I lost Emma less than twenty-four hours after getting her back. I don't have the strength."

"You have to try. If not for you, then do it for Emma and Henry. You owe it to them to find a way back," Snow said, moving toward the cold hearth, carefully picking up Regina's heart, gently cupping it in her hands. "Take it. Use that pain as a motivation to get back to them." Snow offered Regina's heart to her once more.

The tears streamed down Regina's face as she took her heart from Snow's hands, plunging it deep into her chest quickly before she lost her nerve.

"That's what I thought. Now, first thing is first. We need to get some food and water back in your system. Once you're strong again, you'll start finding a way back to them," Snow said, offering a hand to help Regina out of bed.

"Thank you," she whispered, offering Snow a small half smile, similar to Emma's signature half smile look. "Even after everything I've done to you, you're still helping me. Why?"

"She's my daughter, Regina. I gave her up when she was born. I owe it to her to help her find her happy ending too." Snow smiled as she helped Regina out of the cottage and helped her onto her horse outside.

"It took me the better part of a year to find a way back to the Land Without Magic. Eventually, the only way I could think to make it back was to cast another curse. But this time, I made sure it affected only me. The curse restored Storybrooke to the way it was when we left, except this time it had a population of one," Regina explained.

"Did you get lonely, being in Storybrooke all alone?" Henry asked, helping himself to another slice of pizza.

"A little. But I knew it was only temporary. Because I knew once I found you two, I wouldn't be alone anymore," Regina answered, reaching for Emma's hand under the table. "As soon as I arrived back in Storybrooke, I immediately started searching for you, and eventually found that you were living in New York City. As soon as I found where you guys were, I made the necessary arrangements and packed what I could fit into my car and I drove straight here. I found out where you were working and even went to your office to find you, but you weren't there."

"You're the woman who came looking for me two weeks ago, weren't you?" Emma asked, a shocked look on her face.

"Yes. That was me," Regina said, a slight blush falling across her face.

"How did you know what subway train I took home?" Emma asked.

"I didn't. That was a coincidence. I figured you probably took the train home and stood on the platform and waited. Something told me to get on that train, and the next stop you got on. I knew it was fate," Regina explained. "When I saw you, I decided to follow you home. I even watched you from across the street that first day, until you walked off together."

"We were going to Luigi's!" Henry exclaimed.

"It took me two weeks before I could muster up the courage to approach you," Regina admitted.

"So what happens next? Do we go back to Storybrooke? Then, maybe we can all go to The Enchanted Forest," Henry asked, excited for the possibility of going to the land his mothers were from.

"We can't go back to Storybrooke. It doesn't exist anymore. It was destroyed again as soon as I crossed the town line. This was a one-way trip for me."

"What would have happened if we didn't drink the memory potion?" Emma asked, a little concerned.

"I don't know. But that was a risk I was willing to take." Regina smiled, squeezing Emma's hand under the table. "Now that I've found you both again, I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what we do, or where we go, I'm here for the long haul."

They spent the rest of the night together, crammed on one couch, Regina laying in Emma's arms, Henry perched on Regina's lap. None of them cared what they were watching, just that they were all finally together again. That was all that mattered.

"I can't believe you are actually here," Regina whispered that night as they laid in Emma's bed…their bed. "I spent so long dreaming of the day that we would be reunited. I still can't believe that day is finally here."

"Can this be the last time we are separated and reunited again please? I don't think I can take another death and rebirth. There's too many memories jammed in my head already." Emma laughed, pulling Regina closer to her.

"I promise," Regina whispered, closing the short gap between them by pressing her lips to Emma's.

Their kiss started out sweet and innocent but quickly became more passionate. A kiss full of longing and passion, of lust and need. Neither could remember when it happened, only realizing that Regina was on top of Emma once she broke their kiss, frantically trying to pull Emma's shirt off her body. They undressed quickly, their bodies aching to feel the other's pressed against it. Regina took the lead, forcing Emma back on the bed, planting hurried but sweet kisses along Emma's pale skin, leaving her flesh hot with longing. Stopping for a few moments to pull each of Emma's nipples into her mouth, Regina quickly made her way toward Emma's soaking wet core, eager to taste her Soulmate once more.

"Someone's a little eager tonight." Emma laughed as she spread her legs wider for Regina, allowing the brunette more access.

"I have been dreaming of every single part of you for over a year," Regina said, her voice serious. "I can't wait another moment."

Emma smiled with tears in her eyes. Although she had not remembered Regina until this afternoon, deep down, she always knew someone was missing in her life. This was what she was waiting for.

Emma's mind stopped racing suddenly as she felt Regina's tongue drag up through her folds, wrapping her lips around her clit the moment her tongue made contact with the sensitive nub. Nothing in the world compared to these moments, in the throes of passion with her Soulmate. Her one and only. She could hear Regina moan slightly from between her legs and quickly joined her, the sound of their collective moans filled the room as Regina slowly inserted her tongue inside Emma, the tip grazing Emma's G-spot ever so slightly. Emma tried in vain to keep from bucking her hips into Regina's face, but the feeling of Regina's mouth and tongue on and inside her was too great. Her mind clouded and all she could focus on was the feeling of Regina, her lips surrounding her clit as she slid two fingers inside, slowly thrusting in and out. Emma's hips began to move to meet Regina's rhythm, her skin beginning to sweat as her body heat increased. Suddenly, her orgasm crashed through her as she screamed Regina's name as loud as her lungs could muster. She was certain she woke Henry in the next room, but in that moment, she really didn't care. He would likely be pissed in the morning, but he would get over it.

"Regina…" she whispered, as her body twitched. "I…need…" she tried to say, her lungs still straining to catch her breath.

"What do you need, Mo Ghràidh?" Regina asked as she licked Emma's juices off her fingers and face.

"You…" Emma said, her eyes fluttering open. "I need you…"

"I'm right here, Mo Ghràidh. I'm right here, and I'm not going anywhere," Regina said, climbing back up to lay next to Emma, pulling the still-recovering blonde into her arms.

"I love you so much, Mo Chridhe," Emma said, her eyes finally focusing, immediately locking with Regina's.

"I love you too," Regina said, kissing Emma sweetly.

They made love all night, until they eventually succumbed to exhaustion, falling asleep instantly after their last shared orgasm, their fingers still buried deep inside the other.

Regina woke up the next morning, her body delightfully sore from their marathon love making the night before. She reached out next to her to find Emma, her intentions were to pull her closer and into her arms. But when she reached out, she found nothing but an empty bed next to her, the sheets already devoid of Emma's body heat. She shot up in bed, the sheet falling away, exposing her naked chest, her eyes frantically searching the room for signs of the blonde.

"Emma?" she called out, her voice laced with fear as she began to pull the covers around her body, preparing to go in search of the other woman.

"Hey, you're awake," Emma said as she appeared at the doorway, the door creaking open slowly as she urged it open with her hip

"Sorry. I…I woke up and you weren't here. I got a little worried that you were gone again," Regina said, sitting up fully in bed.

"I had to get Henry up and fed and off to school. He was a little pissed that he couldn't stay home with you today. I told him we talked and agreed that he still needed to go to school today," Emma said, handing Regina a cup of coffee before removing her robe and joining Regina in bed. "But the truth is, I just want to spend the day with you in bed, wearing nothing but the blankets." She smiled, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I can't think of a better way to spend my day." Regina smiled, leaning over to kiss Emma good morning.

"So what happen now?" Emma asked as they ended their kiss.

"Just like I told Henry yesterday. I'm here for the duration. I go wherever you two are. So I suppose the next step is to get a job and help with the family finances," Regina said, taking another sip of coffee.

"Yes, that's all fine," Emma said, her voice suddenly sounding very low. "I meant with us. What happens next with us?"

"Oh, well that's an easy one." Regina smiled, tears of happiness suddenly welling in her eyes. "Now, we live happily ever after."

"I like that idea." Emma smiled, pulling Regina in for another kiss.

A/N: Only one more chapter to go on this journey.