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Regina clutched Henry’s hand in one of her own while pulling the blank storybook to her chest. She felt Emma’s shoulder brush against hers as the blonde let out a deep breath.
“So this is it…” Emma said with about as much enthusiasm as one would have before a dental appointment. Regina couldn’t help but notice she felt the same way. After all they’d been through, weeks on their own, fighting and battling their way here…and now…now it was all over. All Regina had to do was open up that door in front of them and confront The Author on the other side.
She tried to calm herself, inhaling deeply through her nose. She felt her eyes flutter closed for the briefest of moments.
“I…I think I should go in alone,” Regina stated. Emma glanced sideways at her, noticing the way her voice shook.
“Are you sure? It could be dangerous,” the blonde argued lightly.
“Everything we’ve learned points to a benevolent being behind this door and nothing more,” Regina countered, feeling her resolve build slightly. She turned to Henry, cupping his chin gently, “but …if something does happen, just know that I love you.”
Henry nodded knowingly, “It’ll be fine Mom, but I love you too.”
Regina smiled tightly before turning to Emma, opening her mouth to speak but nothing came out. What could she say? Thank you for giving up everything to help me find my happy ending? Thank you for being you? For being there for me in almost every way?
She watched as Emma swallowed thickly before rocking back on her heels and stuffing her hands in her back pockets. Emma coughed lightly, clearing her throat before finally speaking up, “Henry’s right. Everything’s going to be fine,” she smiled but it didn’t quite reach her eyes, “and hey, you’ll finally have your happy ending.”
“Thank you,” Regina said simply, hugging the storybook closer to her and in that moment she realized she’d never actually hugged Emma. They’d hugged Henry together and maybe it was true that Regina wasn’t much of a hugger but she couldn’t believe there had never been a situation in which a hug between her and the blonde would have been appropriate.
“You’d better get in there,” Emma broke through her thoughts, nodding her head towards the door and with a pang of disappointment Regina realized the moment had passed. She wondered idly how many ‘moments’ they’d missed.
Taking one more deep breath Regina walked the few steps to close the distance between herself and the door, reaching tentatively for the handle. She heard scuffling behind her and some low murmuring; it sounded like Henry and Emma were having a small argument of sorts. She paused, waiting for silence to fall again before she grasped the handle.
“Regina, wait!” Emma spoke up from behind her.
Letting out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding, Regina turned to regard the blonde curiously, arching one brow sharply.
“Maybe…” Emma continued, shrugging one shoulder up, “maybe you don’t have to do this.”
Regina’s face fell, “You don’t want me to have my happy ending?”
“No, no, no!” Emma held her hands out in a placating gesture, “That’s not what-”
“Is this what Rumple meant?” Regina barreled on feeling her heart clench painfully, “that I would get all this way, moments away from my happy ending, just to have it snatched away by you! The Savior! Product of True Love!”
“Mom!” Henry piped up, trying to stop Regina’s unexpected outburst to no avail.
“Well I’m sorry Miss Swan but this villain,” she spat the word out, “is getting her happy ending.” She grabbed the door handle again, pausing only momentarily to brace for whatever might be on the other side.
“Regina, no!” Ignoring her hurt at Regina’s words, Emma darted forward placing her hand over Regina’s and slamming the door back shut, the small crack Regina had managed to open at least. “No,” she repeated more calmly, “please, just listen to me for once.”
Regina opened her mouth to argue that she had listened to Emma Swan plenty of times and just look where it had gotten her.
“What I meant was…what if…” Emma waved one hand around in the air struggling for the right words, “…what if you don’t need your happy ending written by someone else in a stupid storybook?”
Regina gasped, slightly affronted, “Stupid storybook…”
“What if,” Emma pulled Regina’s hand away from the door handle and cradled it in both of hers, “you made your own happy ending without even knowing it?”
Regina stilled, her brow furrowed with skepticism.
Emma smiled, that kind of crooked half-smile that was 100% genuine if not a little fearful. She motioned to Henry with one hand, “You know…we’ve got a pretty good thing going for us. Me, you, Henry.”
Regina glanced towards their son who had, quite frankly, a shit-eating grin on his face and a tiny inkling of comprehension was beginning to tickle the back of her mind.
“Look, these past few weeks or however long, I don’t even know because I stopped keeping track,” Emma took a deep breath, “I have missed my parents like crazy,” Regina scoffed, her eyes rolling but Emma continued, “but I’ve also not missed them in a weird way because I have been almost completely content here with you and Henry. I’ve felt more relaxed but also more alive and…and happy than I think I have in my entire life.”
“Emma,” Regina breathed, “what are you saying?”
“What I’m saying is…” Emma paused squaring her shoulders like she was about to take on a dragon…or a not-so-evil queen, “maybe this could be your happy ending. You, Henry and…and me.”
“Do you mean…you want to be in a relationship? With me?” Regina could hardly believe her ears but that tiny inkling had turned into a churning, roiling cloud of possibility.
“Aren’t we already?” Emma countered with a grin, “Haven’t we been since I set foot in Storybrooke? You know what they say about love and hate.”
“There’s a fine line,” Regina murmured with a small smile.
“All I know is I like the idea of it,” Emma shrugged, “I like the idea of us,” she motioned between Regina and herself, “and I really like the idea…” she reached out and grabbed Henry, yanking him into a side-hug, “of us being a family.”
“You really want to do this,” it wasn’t a question that whispered past Regina’s lips, more of a personal confirmation but Emma answered all the same.
“I’m saying I want to try.”
Tears prickled at the corners of Regina’s eyes. She had to admit, she liked the idea of all of that, “Me too.”
“Finally!” Henry shrugged away from them, huffing in that teenager way as if this was the most obvious in the world…and maybe it was.
Regina glanced back once more before turning away from the door, “Let’s go home.” She handed the storybook off to Henry, “Maybe you can write this version of the story.”
Henry smiled, “I could probably do that.” He opened the book to flip through the empty pages. Emma ruffled his hair before tentatively letting her hand drift down towards Regina’s, gently weaving their fingers together as they walked.
Regina couldn’t help the few tears that fell as she smiled widely, squeezing Emma’s hand in her own.
“Uh Mom, Ma…you should really look at this.”
They turned to glance back at Henry, who’d fallen behind, his face buried in the book.
“What’s up, kid?” Emma asked as he jogged up to them, holding the book out for them to see.
As he flipped through the pages both Emma and Regina gasped. It was all there. Written and illustrated as if someone had spent years on it when in reality it had been blank mere moments before.
“It’s your happy ending Mom,” he said knowingly.
“It’s our happy ending,” Regina corrected him gently, gazing at Emma the way she always had; she had to admit to herself now that she had this, it really had been a long time coming.
“There’s still one blank page at the end,” Henry said suddenly, examining the offending page.
“I think I know how to fix that,” Emma said, a smirk briefly tugging the corner of her mouth before she pulled Regina to her. Their lips met in a kiss that was slow and deep and new but familiar at the same time. It felt like home. It felt…like a happy ending.