Chapter Text
Chapter one
You thought we were friends?” Regina said more upset than she intended to, Regina had thought that they were more than friends.
Until that pirate came along.
Emma moved on and so should I ,the older woman figured.
I can’t spend another three decades stuck on lost love.
Emma didn’t stop talking.”but I’m not giving up on you , i’m not gonna stop trying”.
As she hears the blondes boots clacking across the stone floor she speaks up.
“Wait” maybe this is stupid , she thinks. Maybe it’s better if I don’t become friends with her. It’ll just hurt me.
But being the self destructive person Regina is she continues on with her sentence. “I don’t want to kill you” a small smile appears on Emma’s face , a smile enough to give Regina butterflies in her stomach. “see , That’s a start” Emma’s voice echoes through the room.
Regina opens up a little , finally asking a question that had been bugging her for a while now.
“Do you ever think we made the wrong decisions…we finally had some time to spend with Henry” she looks the younger woman in her eyes.
“and we chose to spend that time with stupid men instead of as Henry’s mom’s”.
“I don’t think Henry minds” Emma says that but still feels a pang of guilt , knowing that regina was right.
“I didn’t ask wether he was okay with it , I asked if you doubted yourself on that area”. “Does it matter?” Emma lifts her shoulders uncomfortably.
“You’re avoiding the question em-ma” finally Emma breaks. “Of course I doubt my decision!”
The older woman feels a little sorry for being so tough on her. “Of course I feel sorry , we are supposed to be there for him!”
Regina feels this isn’t the right moment, but she spits it out before thinking and that’s something that didn’t happen to her often. “I’m going to break up with Robin Hood” a long , deafening silence follows.
Emma shakes her head in confusion”I’m sorry what ?”
She genuinely thought Regina and Robin were happy. “Why?”
Regina sighed “I thought I loved him , that I was supposed to love him he is my true love after all”
Regina sighed once more “I think it’s platonic true love , and I’m pretty sure he feels the same way…he wouldn’t stop talking about his dead wife, in a way you might talk to a friend and now that she’s back…”
The blonde stops Regina there “again I’m so sorry for that…I really didn’t know”
Regina continues like Emma didn’t just rudely interrupt her , even though it was meant kindly. “Now that she’s back he’ll want to get back with her , no doubt”.
The older woman lets one of her hands glide over the spiked mirror “but it wasn’t entirely your fault , we had it coming”. Emma sighs , this time in relief.
“Great , will you come back to granny’s then?” The blonde thinks she know the answer , because she knows Regina, but she still tries. “please , Henry would be so happy to still see you there” and I would be too , but of course Emma didn’t say that out loud. Regina considers it for a brief moment before declining “no thank you dear”
she would have to see Emma and Killian kiss , guaranteed and she’d rather avoid that.
Every time she did see them kiss she had to fight the urge not to throw a fireball at the pirates face.
Emma’s expression became more stern. “Fine , see you tomorrow”.
Regina looks down , at her feet. Kind of embarrassed that she’s declining because she once again loves someone she can’t have. Seems to be her destiny, doesn’t it ?
“Goodbye Emma”
The older woman looks around one last time, but Emma is already half up the stone stairs that lead out of the mausoleum.
They didn’t cross paths again for a several days.
Regina was actively avoiding Emma.
Emma noticed , but didn’t mind.
Until she did.
And so she texted Regina.
SWAN: hey would you like to meet me and Henry for lunch at granny’s in twenty minutes? If you’re not too busy of course.
MAYOR MILLS: sorry dear , I have a busy schedule today. Another time.
Emma was disappointed, but also started wondering what Regina was up to these days. She wasn’t the mayor anymore , even though emma still had Regina in her contacts like that.
She decided that after lunch she would go by Regina’s home and vault to check up in her.
She tried to distract herself from the thought that maybe the ex-mayor was avoiding her because she felt the same way Emma felt about her.
How did she feel about Regina ?
Primarily confused. She was sure that if she could just ask for Regina’s advise and they would figure it out in less than a day. But she couldn’t do that.
Eventually Emma re gained focus , after Henry had called her name about three times. “You kept zoning out ,what were you thinking about?”
Emma did not want Henry to know how she felt about his other mom.
Luckily for the blonde her son didn’t inherit her talent for knowing when someone lies. “Nothing kiddo , just normal thinking”. How Henry responds makes Emma doubt if he after all could tell the truth from a lie. “Are you missing my mom ?” He pauses but goes on when Emma doesn’t respond. “I know that I do”.
She sighs “me too kid”
Regina left her home exactly two hours after Emma had messaged her.
She couldn’t sit there , and talk to Emma and their son.
In every version she tried in her head she either confessed her love to Emma, or did something horrible.
The two hours were perfectly calculated. They would surely be gone from granny’s right now…
Regina just needed to get in and out fast , and return back to her home with coffee.
Of course it didn’t go as smoothly as she had planned in her head.
Her car wouldn’t start up , so she called the car repair shop and left on foot.
She ran into way too many people for her liking.
Belle , ruby. the new menace to Storybooke named Elsa.
And on top of that , the second she walked into granny’s Henry waved at her.
She couldn’t deny it now.
Emma made movements with her hand ,signalling to get over to their booth.
Regina hesitantly walked over.
She sat down next to Henry , giving him a hug.
“You should stay for a while Regina” Emma smiled.
“No thank you , like I said. A busy schedule”. The older woman felt more than uncomfortable, lying to Emma was something she didn’t do. And Emma always uncovered the truth very quickly.
The second she heard the words come out of Regina’s mouth she knew she was lying.
“Just coffee , I insist”. It’s a tone with authority. Something Regina hasn’t heard from the blonde in a while.
“One coffee” Regina agrees
Emma nods “one coffee”
Henry’s just sitting there , smiling.
He’s happy, it’s just them. For now.
No new boyfriends, no curses. Just some peace.
And don’t get me wrong, Henry liked Killian . Henry liked Robin. It’s just different. It’s also different if you like someone as a person , or if you are okay with seeing them date your mom. It’s just complicated. Emma is denying that she’s dating the one-handed-wonder. How could she possibly even think that she could keep that a secret from Henry.
And he walked in on his other mom kissing Robin. They didn’t even try to keep their relationship private.
Henry didn’t know what was worse.
But he didn’t have to think about all that now.
It was just him , his moms and a grilled cheese.
Regina almost forgot why she even declined Emma’s offer to eat lunch with them. She had an amazing time. Even though it was just coffee for them and a grilled cheese for Henry. She had the most amazing afternoon. She caught herself forgetting about her issues, she caught herself carelessly laughing once. Sometimes Emma would lay a hand on Regina’s shoulder. Or their arms would brush against each other whilst they attempted to drink their coffee.
At that point Regina even thought that maybe…just maybe Emma felt the same.
Then that entire afternoon was ruined with one “ ‘ello love”. The older woman rolled her eyes.
Henry noticed , people often assumed he didn’t pay attention to details like that.but nothing could be less true. “Killian!” The blonde exclaimed in an exited tone. “What are you doing here” she added quickly after , slightly worried. She was afraid that he came baring bad news. “Can’t a pirate visit a diner for some…well dinner?” When hook leaned over to press a kiss on the blondes forehead Regina almost threw up. And surprisingly emma didn’t look like she had enjoyed the kiss. Hook seemed unbothered by it and shoved Henry aside slightly so he could fit around the table. Great ,Regina thought. Now I’m stuck here with two people I actually care about and some one handed pirate. Really great.
Everything went downhill for her from that point on. A few minutes after they had a conversation going the Charmings and their newborn entered the diner. She could stand them , finally after years of trying. But she still has to put on a somewhat political smile she used back when she was the mayor.
The Charmings look sleep deprived and overall exhausted.
“Whoa!” Henry said “grandma , grandpa are you okay ?” Henry doesn’t pay attention to either Emma or Regina’s angry ‘don’t be rude Henry looks’. “You look like you haven’t slept in a decade!”. Regina decides to jump into the conversation so that the boy doesn’t take it too far. “Henry , watch your mouth”. He apologises fast.
But luckily sleep deprivation doesn’t take away from Mary Margret or David’s cheeriness. David chuckles “we look like that ?” He and Mary Margret pull up two chairs to the table. “Because I feel like that”.
Emma’s fist clenched , it was a hard topic on her. Never being raised by her parents. And now her baby brother is like their fist child. Emma was already an adult when they met her. This is different. They’re actually raising him.
They’re raising him how they never raised her
Regina knew how Emma felt about it. How it hurt her. How difficult it was to be different from her family for Emma.
Regina didn’t even think about it. But she put her hand on Emma’s. The younger woman’s expression changed for a brief moment but not enough for anyone to notice.
The conversation went on , they had some food. They talked , Regina realised that whatever hook said she was annoyed. And that even when he made an excellent point ,which wasn’t often ,Regina found that she still couldn’t agree with him.
The evening looked like it was getting better. For both her and Emma. She kept her hand on Emma’s hand the entire time , and she didn’t attempt to remove it.
Until she let go to stand up. Robin and his little perfect family had just walked into granny’s. She knows she’ll feel better when she has told him she wants to break up. Him, Marian and Roland sat down at a table right across from theirs.
She walked towards them, she hadn’t talked to Robin since the night Marian came back. He was clearly happy to see her. “Hey Regina !” She avoided eye contact with him. “Hello Robin, and Roland” after a few seconds she nodded politely and added “Marian.” Robin noticed that she didn’t look him in his eyes. “What’s wrong?” “We need to talk.” She walked away to a room in the back , looking behind her a few times to check if he was following her.
They entered a narrow hallway, it was the one where they had one of their first kisses.
Regina hoped she wasn’t sending the wrong message. “What’s going on?” She made eye contact with him “look…I really like you but I don’t think this should go on” he looks a little confused and a little hurt so she decides to elaborate a bit.
“Robin , you have a code you have honour and your wife is back.” The man tries to interrupt her but she continues on , because she knows that if she doesn’t do it now she never will. “It’s not just that , we’re supposed to be true loves and I just don’t feel it like that.”
Robin bites the inside of his cheek.
“I thought we had something going on”
“We did,just not anymore”
“Can’t we try”
“No Robin , we can’t”
He put a hand on his head.
“Just because Marian is back doesn’t mean anything has to change.”
“Yes it does , and you know that and I told you it’s not just about her return”
He looked at her with puppy eyes , he was clearly upset and even though Regina didn’t love him she didn’t want to hurt him either.
“It’s for the best Robin , it Really is”
“I’m not sure I believe that”
She gave him an empathetic look.
“You should put your focus on your wife and kid ,they’re your happy ending mine is not there with you but once you get a happy ending you don’t let it go. You have yours it’s right there , within a hands reach so keep it close to you. Forget about me Robin”
“Please”
It doesn’t sit right with either of them. Even though their relationship was very brief it had meant a lot. And it feels like their breakup didn’t reflect how special it was.
In the diner they went their own ways.
She didn’t even look at Robin the rest of the evening.
Back at the table Mary Margret asked if there was something wrong. She had denied anything happening. And eventually everyone dropped it. At the end of the evening both hook and David insisted on paying. They ran trough the now less busy diner. It looked like hook would arrive at the checkout first because David was so tired. But when hook reached for his wallet all of the content spilled out over the floor.”bloody hell.” He picked up coins and paper money. But that turned around to be difficult with a hook for a hand. Regina looked around to see Emma laughing. Regina chuckled , Emma’s laugh was infectious. “I hope neither of these men will be driving you or Henry home tonight ?” Emma’s hand brushes against Regina’s shoulder “not on my watch!”
Since it doesn’t look like hook or David would ever get to paying, Regina asks ruby for the bill.
And so the evening comes to an end.
They walk out of granny’s and the groups splits up. Not evenly. Everyone else is headed to the little apartment. While Regina is headed to her mansion. Alone. She’d almost suggest that everyone comes over , she has plenty of guest rooms.
But she didn’t.
It would’ve been weird if she did do that.
At home Regina drops on the couch. She saw that she had gotten a couple of messages from Emma.
SWAN: did you break up with him ?
SWAN: I’m sorry for you , it was probably not easy.
Regina smiled upon seeing the messages. To any other person she would’ve said something along the lines of I don’t want your empathy!
But since it was Emma she texted back.
MAYOR MILLS: I did
MAYOR MILLS: thank you Emma , no it wasn’t easy at all.
SWAN: it’ll get better. Trust me.
MAYOR MILLS: okay.
If regina wasn’t tired she would’ve thought about how awkward that response was.
But she dozed off within a few minutes.
Causing her to miss Emma’s last text
SWAN: I’ll be at your house around nine , tomorrow.
SWAN: because you need someone to talk with and/or drink with.
SWAN:not drinking around nine of course!
But the older woman had already fallen into a deep , well deserved sleep.