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It’s a warm spring day–and the first day of the year where a jacket isn’t required.
After spending too long debating, Regina and Mal finally decide to go up to the beach house. Henry is with Emma for the weekend, so it’ll be just the two of them and they pack as if they’re going for more than a couple of days to a destination that’s more than twenty minutes from home. But Regina’s car is packed up by ten, and they’re both all smiles and laughs as they go around the making sure lights are turned off and appliances are unplugged–and just before getting into the car, Regina decides to check the mail.
Mal fiddles with her seat belt as she watches Regina flip through a stack of advertisements and envelopes–and then, suddenly, her demeanor changes completely. Mal watches as Regina’s brow creases and her breath catches as she watches everything but one opened envelope fall from Regina’s hand–and before she can unbuckle herself, Regina turns away and heads back into the house.
“Regina,” Mal calls as she steps inside the house. “What… just happened?” Regina doesn’t say anything, instead she just stares down at the paper–and she looks heartbroken. “Regina?”
“I… I have a challenger,” she says, still staring down at the paper at her fingers. “I don’t believe this.”
“A challenger?”
Regina nods, and this time, she looks up. Mal feels her chest tighten as her eyes meeting Regina’s–she already looks so defeated. “Someone is… is running against me in the next election.”
“Who would…”
“George.”
Mal’s immediate reaction is to scoff and for a moment, she just can’t take the news seriously. “You mean, George the… the imbecile who could barely manage his kingdom, the man who had to take out loan after loan from…”
“Yes,” Regina supplies in a distant voice. “Yes, that George.”
“Regina, that’s ridiculous. No one’s going to take him…”
Regina’s eyes fall back to the paper as her voice cuts in. “He could win.” She blinks, “He’s Leopold’s cousin and he’s running because… he claims I was never a legitimate ruler and because of that I… I don’t have a right to be the Mayor of Storybrooke.”
“That doesn’t make sense,” Mal says as Regina’s voice trails off. “That was all… a lifetime ago. No one is…”
“There was a petition,” Regina interjects, the hurt evident in her voice. “A petition that went around Storybrooke…” Again, Mal’s chest tightens as Regina looks up at her with teary eyes. “I’ve never won an election. I’ve never even had a campaign. A curse is what made me mayor…” Her voice trails off and she shakes her head. “George could win.”
Mal starts to reply, but before she can find the right words in time. She wants to tell her that the idea of anyone else being the Mayor of Storybrooke is ludicrous, that the curse may have put her into the position, but it was her hard work that shaped the town, that the curse hadn’t done that, she had. But before she can, the paper drops from Regina’s fingertips, and Mal can’t help but watch it waft to the floor as Regina does up stairs, and the bedroom door slams behind her.
For the rest of the day, she tries to console her–she brings her tea and she tries to make her laugh, she tries to snuggle with her beneath the blankets and she tries reset their weekend getaway to the beachouse. But each attempt fails and by the time lunchtime rolls around, Regina tells her that she just wants to be alone for awhile. With a sigh, she nods and presses a quick kiss to her cheek, and promises to check in shortly–and she can’t help but feel helpless, hating that there doesn’t seem to be anything she can do to lift her spirits. For as long as she’s known Regina, she’s never been one to quite, never one to give up when something posted a challenge or a threat–in fact, she only ever seemed to fight harder when the odds were against her. If anything, that had been her achilles heel.
And then, it occurs to her–a smile pulls onto Mal’s lips as she remembers the afternoon Regina had stumbled into her lair. Her brown eyes were wide and filled with hope, full of expectation and resolve–and she managed to reignite the fire that Mal believed had died out long ago, how all it had taken was a little bit of stubbornness and a show of support. Looking back toward the stairs, Mal takes a breath and a smile tugs onto her lips–and she can’t help but think that this situation isn’t very different aside from that the tables have turned–and finally, she has a change to repay the favor that saved her.
When Mal finds Snow White, she’s at Granny’s with David and Neal–and she hesitates for only a moment before sliding into the booth beside David and across from Snow. Their eyebrows arch as they look at her, and she reminds herself that she doesn’t have to like them and they don’t have to like her, that they’re important to Regina, and she needs their help. This is for Regina. Taking a breath, she tells them what happened–she tells them about George and the petition, she tells them about the letter Regina received that morning and how devastated she is at the possibility of losing the election. She doesn’t have to tell them how much Storybrooke means to Regina, but she does–and she feels herself choking up as she tells them how this is Regina’s chance to prove herself–not to the town, but to herself. And when she’s said all that she came to say, she feels a wave of relief wash over her as Snow asks what they can do to help.
Three hours later, Mal pushes into their bedroom and finds Regina just where she left her. Her heart breaks at the tear tracks that stain her cheeks, but it also flutters with excited anticipation.
“Hey,” she murmurs as she sits down on the edge of the bed, smiling warmly as she tucks Regina’s hair behind her ear. “How are you doing?”
“I… think I’m done crying about it.”
“Well, that’s something,” Mal says as her fingers brush down over Regina’s cheek. “Are you hungry?”
“No.”
“Regina, you had that… blended thing you insist on drinking every morning, and nothing else.”
“It’s a smoothie and it’s healthy.”
“Whatever it is, it’s not enough for an entire day.”
Regina’s eyes roll. “I’m just not very hungry.”
Taking a breath, Mal’s shoulders straighten. “Let’s get out of here, maybe get some fresh air? We could walk to Granny’s.”
“Maybe tomorrow…”
“Today,” Mal insists as her fingers continue to stroke against Regina’s cheek. “I know better than most that wallowing will get you nowhere.”
“Can’t I be upset about this for… for just today?”
Mal sighs, “Of course you can, but… you just… you seem like you’re giving up, and that’s not like you.” For a moment, Regina doesn’t say anything–and for a moment, her expression is blank. “Come on. Let’s go and grab something to eat and…” A smile edges onto her face as Regina’s lips tighten with annoyance–and suddenly, she looks so much more like herself, so much like the fighter that she is. “Come on…”
“Mal, I don’t want…”
“Don’t make me use magic on you.”
Pulling herself up into her elbows, Regina blinks. “Fine,” she sighs as she rolls off the bed. “But I… I need to change. I wouldn’t be caught dead in leggings…” Mal laughs as Regina gets up–and she watches as she slips into a skirt and scrunches her hair. And then a few minutes later, fingers are laced through hers and they were walking toward Main Street.
Mal turns to look at Regina as they near the dinner–and she watches the way her lips purse and her head tips to the side. Her brow creases and she slowly turns to look at her, and when she does, she can’t help but smile at her obvious confusion. “It’s… awfully crowded.”
“Yes,” Mal nods. “It is.”
“I’m not really… feeling up to a crowd.”
“I think you’ll be up for this crowd,” Mal says, tugging her closer to the dinner–and when they reach the door, she hears Regina’s breath catch. “Well?”
Regina swallows as she stares at the campaign sign that hangs on the diner’s door–a campaign sign that bears her name. Mal watches as Regina’s eyes shift into the diner. There’s a banner hanging above the counter, again bearing her name and inside is Henry and Emma, Killian and the Charmings, Belle and Ruby, Granny and Archie about about forty other familiar faces, all wearing “Re-elect Regina Mills” buttons.
“What’s going on?” Regina asks as she slowly as she turns to Mal. “What’s… all of this?”
“It’s your campaign launch party,” Mal says simply as her lip catches between her teeth. “You have endorsements from most of the businesses in town and… most of the leaders of the community and… all of those people can’t wait to re-elect you.” She watches as Regina lets out a shaky breath as she struggles to figure out what to say–and again, she feels a smile pulling onto her lips. She laughs softly, about to make a comment about all the love and support the town has for her, but before she can Regina leans up onto the tips of her toes, her hands sliding up her cheeks as she draws her into a deep and passionate kiss.