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The first thing that she noticed upon awakening was that something warm, soft, and heavy was laying on top of her. That part was actually quite pleasant, and if she wasn’t so confused about her situation she might’ve simply waited and enjoyed the sensation for longer. Unfortunately, the second thing that she realized was that she didn’t know who she was. Or anything else for that matter.
The source of the warmth moaned and shifted before sitting up, and she was finally able to see the person on top of her. The woman was quite beautiful, with long blonde hair and a very fit body. The woman was wearing tight pants and a sweater with a leather jacket over it. She then took a moment to look down and realized that she was wearing a black coat and long clothing besides. Since the room was warm she wasn’t sure why we were both wearing such heavy clothing, except to speculate that it must’ve been much cooler outdoors.
While she had been considering the logistics of the situation the blonde woman had been looking around and finally spoke. “Who are you?”
She frowned. “I had hoped you would be able to tell me. I don’t seem to remember... anything.”
The blonde looked shocked. “I... I don’t remember anything either.”
“Well, something has obviously happened to us both,” she said briskly, standing up and examining the room. It was very nicely appointed, all in black and white with splashes of red, and she found the style to be very attractive, if perhaps a touch austere. Something about it felt very comforting to her, however.
The blonde had found her wallet, and pulled out her drivers license with a triumphant crowing. “Hey, I’m Emma Swan!”
She gave Emma a smile while searching her own person before finally coming up with a wallet as well. “Hello, Emma. I seem to be Regina Mills.”
Emma smiled at Regina and it stole her breath for a moment. She had noticed that Emma was quite attractive from the moment she laid eyes on her, but when she smiled she was truly beautiful. Regina made sure to school her reaction as best I could, however. Not knowing anything about herself made me feel vulnerable, and she didn’t want to show weakness to a stranger, even one who was in the same situation.
“Hey, Regina,” Emma said. “So if we’re both amnesiacs now something must’ve happened to us. Does this place seem familiar at all?”
“Not familiar as such,” Regina said as she looked around. “I quite like the decor, though.”
“Really?” Emma asked. “It’s a bit... stark.”
The two women began to explore the room, and after a moment Emma spoke up. “Um, sorry about the complaining thing. I think this is your house.”
Regina hurried over and saw at what she was looking at, which turned out to be several framed photographs sitting on the table of Regina and a little boy. The boy grew older across the various pictures, and it was obvious that she had been raising him since birth. “Is he... my son?”
“Looks like it,” Emma said smiling. “So you’ve got a son and a nice home here. Not a bad way to wake up without knowing anything.”
“If I have a son, where is he?” Regina asked, her heart suddenly pounding in fear.
“I’m sure he’s safe,” Emma said. “He probably doesn’t know anything’s wrong. And hey, that means there’s someone who can explain who you are.”
Regina relaxed slightly, and something about the woebegone expression on the face of the woman who had bothered to reassure her made Regina feel helpful herself. “I’m sure you will find someone who knows you, dear. We seem to know each other as we were in a somewhat compromising position when we awoke. Perhaps we can find something that will help in my home?”
“Maybe,” Emma said, brightening up.
A thorough search of the house revealed it to be a veritable mansion, but little else that helped them. There was a child’s bedroom that looked like it hadn’t been lived in in some time, a master bedroom full of her clothing, and more pictures of Regina with the little boy. The only thing of use they found was old schoolwork that indicated that his name was Henry Mills.
“What do we do now?” Emma asked as they returned to the foyer.
“Perhaps we should head into town?” Regina suggested. “We need to find my son... and find out whoever you are.”
“Right,” Emma said.
They went outside and found two cars sitting on the driveway. One was a black Mercedes, the other a beaten up yellow bug. Regina sniffed disdainfully. “I believe we’ve found your vehicle, Emma.”
Emma smirked. “I like it. It’s got character.”
“It has something,” Regina said. “Most likely piles of soiled fast food wrappers.”
Despite her words Regina followed Emma to her car. Opening the door revealed that, while not as clean as Regina kept her home, it wasn’t as filthy as she had feared. They were taken quite by surprise by what they found in the trunk, however.
“Why do you have a complete set of luggage with you?” Regina asked as Emma went through the items.
“Well, at least I’ve got clothes,” Emma said. “Not all of this is mine though.”
“Whose is it?” Regina asked.
Emma held up a small shirt. “This is a boy’s t-shirt.”
Some more digging soon raised even more questions. Carefully tucked away in the pouch of one of the suitcases was a small album. It was full of pictures of Emma and Henry seeing the sights in New York City.
“What were you doing with my son?” Regina demanded.
“Looks like we were close,” Emma said defensively. “He looks like he’s enjoying himself.”
“These were all taken in a fairly brief window of time,” Regina mused. “A few weeks perhaps. Maybe some months.”
“They look more recent than the pictures around your house,” Emma said.
“You’re right,” Regina said. “Perhaps... perhaps they are vacation pictures. Did you take Henry on a trip to New York?”
“If he’s your son, why would I take him?” Emma asked.
“Perhaps I couldn’t leave?” Regina suggested. “Look at my home. I may have an important job if I’m able to afford a mansion like this. Perhaps I trusted you enough to take him for a trip. Given the amount of clothing here it must have been for some weeks. Although that still doesn’t explain why I trust you so much, however.”
“We must’ve been close,” Emma said. “When we woke up I was on top of you on the couch...”
“We don’t look much alike,” Regina said. “And our names are different. I doubt that we are related.”
Emma bit her lip and looked down for a moment, before suddenly stepping into Regina’s personal space. Before she could say anything their lips were pressed together. Regina wrapped her arms around Emma and leaned into the embrace, moaning as the kiss became heated. She had no memories of kisses to compare it to, but somehow she was certain that it was one of the best of her life.
“Maybe we were together,” Emma whispered.
Regina gave her a slow smile. “I find myself hoping that you are correct. We should see if we can find some answers first, however.”
After a brief argument about the suitability of Emma’s car, the two women climbed into Regina’s and drove slowly to the heart town. It wasn’t long before they found a large, distressed crowd gathered, and so they parked and got out.
“Have you seen him,” a short haired brunette asked. She was carrying a newborn baby in one arm and a framed photograph of her with a blonde man in the other.
“No,” Regina said. “I haven't’ seen anyone. What is going on here?”
“We all can’t remember anything,” the woman said, looking near tears. “Whatever happened, it seems to have happened to the entire town.”
“So much for answers,” Emma muttered. The two women slowly walked through the crowd, looking around for Henry or anything else useful, before finally Regina huffed with annoyance.
“Everyone!” she shouted, waving her arms and stepping on top of a crate sitting on the sidewalk. “Everyone!”
The crowd quieted, and eventually a bald man with a beard shouted for order. Once things quieted down he turned to her. “What do you want, sister?”
“My name is Regina Mills,” she said. “Obviously we are all suffering from some form of epidemic of amnesia. Until we can find a solution we need to all calm down and work together. I need volunteers to take down names and help post pictures of people you are looking for. If anyone cannot find their homes we will need to find shelters for them to stay in until they do.”
“Who put you in charge?” a man wearing surgical scrubs asked with a scowl.
“She just did,” Emma said. “Now, who wants to volunteer?”
Before long the town fell into line, with many people volunteering to help. Regina assigned small groups to canvas the town looking for people, and by the end of the afternoon nearly everyone had found people who they had been looking for, and most their homes and jobs not long after that. Most importantly as far as Regina was concerned, they had found Henry.
“Henry!” Regina shouted, rushing to the boy.
He looked at her with confusion that transformed into excitement. “You know me?”
“Yes,” Regina said, wrapping her arms around him. He was stiff for just a moment before relaxing into her arms. For the first time since waking up Regina felt complete. “You’re my son, Henry Mills. My name is Regina.”
He gave her a shy smile. “Hi, mom.”
A blonde man that Regina hadn’t noticed spoke up then. “Hello again, Henry. It’s nice to meet you now that I know your name.”
“Who are you?” Regina asked as she reluctantly loosened her embrace on Henry.
“I’m David Nolan,” he said with a grin. “We were in the park together when we woke up. I had my wallet, but we had no idea who he was.”
“Thank you for taking care of him, Mr. Nolan,” Regina said with a stiff nod.
“It’s no trouble at all,” he said. “By the way, do you recognize this woman?”
Regina looked at the picture before nodding. “Yes, I thought you were familiar. She had a framed photograph of you with her, as well as a baby. With your wedding rings I would suspect congratulations are in order.”
“I’m a father?” he asked, stunned, before breaking into a grin. “A father. Where was she?”
Regina looked around before pointing out the woman in question, who despite her baby had volunteered to help run an answer station for missing people. The man smiled brightly before saying goodbye to her and Henry and walking over to the woman. His excited cry of ‘I found you!’ sent a strange shiver down Regina’s spine, like someone walked over her grave, although she wasn’t sure why.
That night Henry and Emma accompanied Regina to her home, and after unloading Emma’s car they settled in to stay. The girlfriend theory seemed further supported by Regina’s closet having enough space for all of Emma’s clothing, and while it was awkward sharing a bed with a stranger, the two decided to avoid messing up one of the guest rooms after their long day and simply collapsed next to each other.
In the morning Regina awoke in Emma’s arms, feeling warm and comfortable and more happy than she could remember. A strange thought flickered in her head as she pressed a gentle kiss to Emma’s brow, that it was in fact the happiest that she had been in countless years. She brushed that aside to begin her day by cooking breakfast for her family.
Days turned into weeks, and slowly the town of amnesiacs fell into a comfortable rhythm. A search of governmental offices soon led Regina to the conclusion that she had been mayor, and while it was difficult to do the job during such a crisis and with no memory to guide her, everyone soon became used to her taking charge and were generally pleased with her efforts. Emma soon became ensconced in the sheriff’s office after Regina found paperwork filled out by her girlfriend in the past. Recent forms had been filled out by David Nolan, and so it was decided he was probably her deputy, having taken over the job while Emma was out of town with their son.
Henry had truly become their son over those weeks, settling into a comfortable and happy life with his two mothers. Emma was the laid back one, being his buddy and sneaking him snacks and encouraging him to have fun, while Regina fell into the role of disciplinarian, making sure he ate healthy meals and got his homework done on time. It was sometimes a difficult balance, but one that they all enjoyed.
During that time, Regina found herself having frightening, vivid dreams. They felt more like memories than any normal nightmare, but the idea of her being some kind of sorceress-queen was simply ridiculous. The amount of violence and blood, often perpetrated by herself, left her waking in a cold sweat, but Emma was always there, a warm presence holding her in sleep and allowing her to doze back off.
Regina and Emma’s relationship became physical after almost two months of living together, and for some time nothing seemed like it could ruin their happiness. Her dreams never stopped, however, and sometimes, after waking up from a dream about an injury, she would check for the scar and find her heart in the throat every time she found it. Only the fact that it was completely impossible kept her from believing it. Fortunately, she knew that magic didn’t exist, so it was all some kind of crazy story invented by her mind to fill in the gaps of her memory.
Five months after waking up on the couch together her dreams began to change. Instead of living in the Enchanted Forest as a queen, she began to dream about being the mayor of the town. Those dreams were only marginally better than those that came before, however. While no longer so violent, they were still terrible, with Regina suffering under a crushing weight of loneliness and isolation, at least until she gained her son.
Emma began to pull away from Regina, shadows in her eyes, but she could never get the blonde to tell her what was wrong. Finally, when Regina had dreams about meeting the blonde leading all the way up to the defeat of the Wicked Witch of the West, she couldn’t take it any longer. When Emma started to rise for the day without looking at her, Regina cleared her throat.
“Emma? I think we need to talk.”
Emma froze, swallowing hard, before turning around, her eyes full of fear. “Talk? About what?”
Regina gave her a long look before reaching out a hand. A picture frame nearby slowly rose into the air and came to her hand. “I’ve been having dreams from some time now. But they weren’t just dreams. They were memories.”
“Oh,” Emma said, sitting down with a sigh.
“You’ve been having dreams too,” Regina said.
“Yes,” Emma confirmed, looking down at her hands.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Regina asked.
“Why didn’t you?” Emma challenged.
“Dreams of being an Evil Queen seemed silly,” Regina said. “At least until she used magic to come to this world. Magic which I figured out I could do.”
“Yeah, that would’ve sounded a bit nuts,” Emma agreed. “How much... how much do you remember?”
“Enough,” Regina said. “I know why you were here. You came to apologize to me about Marian.”
“So you know we weren’t together,” Emma said in a tiny voice, her shoulders hunching.
“We weren’t,” Regina confirmed. “How long have you known that we weren’t together before?”
“Months now,” Emma said.
“Why didn’t you say anything?” Regina demanded.
“I didn’t want this to end!” Emma shouted, blinking away tears. “It might not have been real, but being with you and Henry, having a family... this has been the best year of my life. I just... I didn’t want this to end.”
Regina’s face softened and she took Emma’s hand. “Why would it end?”
“Because this isn’t real,” Emma said. “We’re only together because you didn’t know who I was.”
“Maybe that was so six months ago,” Regina said. “But this time has been the best time of my life as well.”
“But what about Robin?” Emma asked.
“I loved him,” Regina said. “I still love him. But I’m not in love with him. Not anymore.”
Emma leaned forward and they kissed, slowly and sweet, and suddenly a wave of light came from their bodies, radiating through the town. Emma pulled back in shock. “What- Regina! I remember everything.”
“Of course, dear,” Regina said. “We broke the curse.”
“Why now?” Emma asked. “We’ve kissed and, um, other stuff a lot. And how did this all happen in the first place?”
“That was the remnants of my sister’s curse,” Regina said. “When she died her magic started recurring. First the time spell she was casting at her defeat, then no doubt other magics we missed, and eventually the forgetting spell on the town. It was out of control, however, and so we all forgot everything. It took True Love’s kiss to break it.”
Emma paled and turned red, looking so lost for a moment before deciding to ignore that part. “But... why now? Why not before?”
Regina gave her a gentle smile. “Because for True Love’s kiss to work we had to truly love each other. How could we before when we didn’t even know who we were?”
With that Regina leaned in and gave Emma another long slow kiss. It was hard to imagine six months ago she was enraged at Emma for destroying her happiness. Now, she and Henry were the source of it. If her sister were still alive she would thank her for the second chance.