A/N: The end! Thank you all so much for reading :) I hope you like the conclusion to this story. I was torn between a couple of ways to go with this chapter, some of them more focused on the 'what next' and dealing with the consequences of decisions made in Neverland. I hope you like the way I've ended up taking it in the end. I've explored the others' reactions to SQ in a couple of other fics- probably most notably in WET- and I think it does usually come down to the same thing; you have two very strong-willed characters deciding they want to be together, and whether the others disapprove or find themselves confused, it won't stop them from making a go of it (at least, that's my take on it), so I wanted to end this story in the moment, and tying up some more short-term quips and comments made throughout, as I think the longevity of their relationship and its potential should- hopefully- be obvious from how they've progressed :) I hope this works, and I hope you like it. Thanks for sticking with me- I know it's been a long time in coming!

-Spook

"Henry, do you want more ice-cream?"

Regina calls out to the living room as she glances up at the clock in the kitchen and sees that it's almost quarter to eight. She frowns and stalks over to where the boy watches TV to ask him again with a little more urgency; never having known Emma to be early for anything, but not liking to cut things so fine.

"You're bribing me."

Henry accuses her around a heaped spoon of Ben & Jerry's, and the Mayor purses her lips but doesn't deny that this is the case. Her lack of argument causes the boy to grin, before he badgers her moodily

"I still don't get why I can't see Emma."

"Henry, you have every day of the foreseeable future to see Miss Swan, but tonight, I need to discuss a few things with her and I need you to stay upstairs and allow us to talk things through uninterrupted."

Regina insists, having already explained this fact several times. Still, she had expected more questions than she has thus far received, and she imagines Henry's lack of pestering her for answers comes down to hope. When she'd first told him she'd invited the blonde over, he'd seemed surprised but glad, and unlike previous occasions when she has told him she means to have a word with the younger woman, he hadn't given her a nervous look as though worried she might be planning something nefarious.

"Can I go over there for dinner tomorrow?"

He asks her now, and she senses just a hint of a challenge in his tone, to which she shrugs as she replies neutrally

"If you want. But if you want more ice-cream, you need to be quick or the offer's off the table."

"No, I'm full."

He shakes his head, and she's unsurprised as she had eventually relented to his request for takeout; ordering him a pizza and allowing him to eat in front of the TV while she'd kept busy in the kitchen. He'd popped in on her a couple of times; seeming thrown by her out of character agreeability to his mounting requests. He imagines she has given him special treatment in part because she's missed him, but he isn't blind to the fact that his mother likes to be left to her work without distraction when trying to get things done.

"Okay, well go wash up your things and put them away."

She shoos him out of his chair and into the kitchen, and he smirks as he catches her tapping her foot impatiently out of the corner of his eye while he rinses out his bowl before stacking it in the dishwasher.

"Alright, now come here. Quickly."

She beckons, and he grins as she gives him a tight squeeze- breathing in the familiar smell of her perfume and bath lotion- and accepts a kiss to his forehead despite his private adamancy that he's too old for such things.

"Sleep well, dear. I'll see you tomorrow."

She smiles as she follows him out into the hall and watches him make his way upstairs.

"Can we go and get breakfast tomorrow?"

"We'll see."

"We could ask the others if they wanted to come..."

He pushes; half joking, as he knows there's no way in hell Regina will want to spend any more time with Emma and the Charmings, having been forced to interact with them for over a week already.

"Maybe."

She shrugs primly, turning for the kitchen before he can say any more on the matter.

"Finally."

Regina rolls her eyes as she receives a light knock on the front door. It's only five after eight, but she still plans on appearing disgruntled. Stalking out into the hallway, she opens the door and raises a brow at the blonde who smiles at her with her hands shoved into the pockets of her leather jacket.

Well, I certainly didn't miss that thing.

"You're late."

"Oh... Sorry."

Emma pulls a face, studying the brunette with just a hint of uncertainty. She's doesn't quite know what to expect from tonight; unsure whether Regina means for them to discuss what happened in Neverland, or something as simple as arrangements concerning Henry. With the brunette, it could be either, and she has learnt it doesn't pay to try and guess.

"How are you doing?"

She asks politely, and Regina raises a brow at the formality of this question, before offering the blonde a smirk.

"A lot better than I was, no thanks to you."

"Why-"

"-I do believe coming to your aid in that pit was the final straw, dear. I remember little after that."

"... I'm trying not to remember what happened after that."

Emma states quietly, and Regina nods as she gestures for the younger woman to follow her through into the kitchen.

"That seems wise."

She muses, and the blonde nods as she studies the familiar confidence of the darker woman's walk and asks with audible relief

"Your leg's better?"

"More or less."

Regina agrees, glancing over her shoulder and adopting a small smile as she catches the blonde's attention flicker down to her backside.

"What about you, dear?"

She asks, leaving Emma stood against the counter by the window as she pours them each a glass of merlot.

"I'm alright."

The younger woman smiles dutifully, leaving out the fact that this is all the more true after spending a good amount of time in the shower after finally crawling out of bed; the water all but black with grime, and not the most savoury thing to bring up in civilised conversation.

"Let me see."

Regina demands, walking over and leaning in to inspect Emma's cheek where, until recently, she'd sported a deep gash certain to scar. All that remains now is some faint bruising where the injury will have started to heal, and the brunette nods approvingly as she hands over the younger woman's glass.

"Good. And your hands, they look fine?"

She asks, and Emma holds up her right palm for the Mayor to scrutinise intently while she sips gratefully at her wine with the left.

"Remarkable..."

Regina breathes, noting how soft previously ruined flesh appears, before raising her brow as she realises what strikes her as obscure.

"There are hardly any lines."

She frowns, reaching for the Sheriff's hand and holding her palm for closer inspection. Emma shrugs as she pulls her hand gently away and muses

"No, I guess those didn't come back where they were messed up. I was joking with Mary Margaret that my life lines are pretty much nonexistent now... She didn't really find it all too funny."

Emma admits sheepishly, and dark eyes glitter as they meet her own, and the brunette scolds quietly

"I agree with her. I don't find jokes about your mortality all that amusing either."

Her voice is low and the blonde swallows as she is intensely aware of just how close the Mayor remains, and she wishes she could figure out just where they stand with one another, as she doesn't want to overstep. Doesn't want to be wrong. Now that they're back on familiar ground, without the rush and adrenaline of danger, she doesn't want to presume.

"... You've changed."

She teases weakly, trying to dispel some of the tension, and Regina rolls her eyes as she steps away and allows her guest to breathe.

"Don't."

The Mayor warns, and Emma offers an apologetic grin as she lowers her eyes to her glass. Regina watches this curiously, before turning for the fridge.

"Your mother said Gold saw to your injuries."

"Yeah."

Silence, and the Sheriff frowns as she catches a definite hint of agitation in the way the brunette tosses her hair back and sighs through her nose.

"Why?"

She asks, and Regina turns to her with one hand on her hip and the other on the door to the fridge, replying as though speaking to an imbecile.

"Have you learned nothing about that man?"

"... Actually, I have."

"Yes?"

"Yeah... He told me he wouldn't do me any harm if he could help it."

"Well, that's reassuring!"

Regina scoffs, and Emma shrugs, replying patiently

"He offered me that assertion in context... He misses Neal, and I was his... Well, he doesn't have ill-will towards me, basically."

She finishes awkwardly, and the brunette turns from her inspection of the fridge- allowing the door to swing shut- and greets this statement with both hands now on her hips and an irritable expression.

"I see... And have you spoken to Hook?"

"I... What does that have to do with it?"

"Well, as you were mentioning one previous relationship, I'm curious about the others. It's not easy to keep up when there are several..."

Her words are spiteful, but the blonde catches a glimmer of unease behind familiar disdain, and she replies uncomfortably

"I have nothing to say to Hook. Not yet... Why? Do I need to figure out how I plan to deal with what happened right now? Would that make you feel better?"

"I-... No, I just-"

"-I told you... That particular relationship was one that existed more in your head than in mine... I'll deal with it when I figure out how."

"Alright... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to sound insensitive."

"Actually, I'm pretty sure that's exactly what you meant to do, at least for a moment there..."

Emma sighs, but she shakes her head as the Mayor's cheeks rouge prettily, and continues in what she hopes is a casual tone

"It's alright... I just figure if I'm going to be discussing relationships, I should stick to the ones that actually matter."

"... Oh?"

"Well, I mean... Don't you agree?"

The blonde murmurs uncomfortably, taking a deep sip of her wine before speaking down to the floor

"Regina... I don't know for sure why you asked me over this evening, but I thought maybe... I mean, I know this isn't Neverland, and maybe now that we're home you don't-"

"-Dinner."

The brunette interrupts, and when the younger woman frowns at her uncertainly, she repeats herself with a small smile.

"I asked you over for dinner... I said I would."

"... You did."

Emma nods, and she nips at her bottom lip as the Mayor turns once more for the fridge; leaving her questions unanswered, but electric in the air.

"Go through into the dining room. Bring the bottle of wine with you. I'll only be a moment."

"That's the first time I've had venison."

Emma states as she licks her knife clean; taking note of the way the darker woman glowers at her for doing so, and relishing the fact.

"I doubt you were able to tell the difference."

The brunette sniffs, and the younger woman rolls her eyes as she sits back in her chair with a sigh

"Oh, come on!"

"Am I wrong?"

"Well... I mean, there was a sauce, and cheese, and-"

"-and no. No, I'm not wrong."

Regina smirks, and the Sheriff huffs irritably before giving up on pretending to be disgruntled over something she doesn't really care about. What she does know is that the brunette's food is good. She supposes she isn't surprised, having interrupted enough meals in her time to argue some matter of grievance or other with the darker woman, but she has never before been invited to partake, and she can now completely understand why Henry had so often appeared homesick when she'd offered to make dinner for the two of them; breakfast and dessert her forte, but a well-balanced plate not really her style.

"...So I guess that just leaves the gateau?"

She smiles hopefully as she looks up from her empty plate, and Regina raises a brow.

"Hmmm?"

"Well, we had niçoise to start, lasagne for main... The last thing on your perfect menu was Black Forest gateau."

"Trust you to only remember what I say when it involves food."

The Mayor scoffs, and the blonde frowns as she argues uncertainly

"I remember plenty you say... I listen."

"Mm, so the fact you so often go against my expressed wishes really is just down to disobedience... And here I was offering you the occasional benefit of the doubt."

Dark eyes glitter as green eyes narrow, and Emma shakes her head as she points out amiably enough

"Regina, you have never once offered me benefit of the doubt... And yeah, okay, maybe sometimes I just didn't feel like listening to you... You know, back before."

She finishes with a slight inflection of shyness that still strikes the darker woman as odd. That said, she also finds the way Emma seems rather unsure of herself this evening intriguing, and she has allowed for things to remain unsaid in order to watch how they play out. She imagines if the tables were turned, she might not feel as relaxed as she currently does, but the simple- perhaps slightly cruel- fact of the matter is, Emma's clear unease leaves her in little doubt that the younger woman's feelings haven't dissipated in any way since arriving home. If it were simply a case of getting caught up in the mayhem of Neverland, she doesn't think the blonde would be behaving the way she has been tonight.

She doesn't think she'd catch the Sheriff studying her so intently only to look swiftly away.

"You say that like you imagine circumstances might change."

She muses coyly, and she drinks in the younger woman's frown with hidden amusement as the latter mumbles

"Well, I dunno..."

"Well, that hardly makes a change... Now pass me your plate and I'll fetch us dessert. As you're so clearly still starving."

"I have a lot to make up for!"

Emma retorts with no sign of embarrassment, and Regina merely nods as she knows this is true for both of them. Stacking their plates and disappearing into the kitchen, she returns after a short while with two glass bowls, foggy with cold.

"Sundae?"

The blonde looks up from the offering placed in front of her with open surprise, and Regina shrugs as she takes her seat and toys through whipped cream with her spoon.

"It's what you wanted, isn't it?... Personally, I find popcorn a rather strange- rather unnecessary- addition to what is already a rich dessert, but a quick browse of the internet and a consultation with Henry led me to believe this is how it's done?"

"Yeah... I just thought-... You said you would choose the gateau."

"I would, dear, but I too listen."

"I never said-"

"-And, if I may be so bold, I have no intention of letting you prepare the rest of your menu for me to sample, so this seemed the best way to compromise."

"Okay, that's fair."

Emma grins as she loads up a heaped spoonful of ice-cream and toffee sauce, before remarking thoughtfully

"We've been doing quite a bit of that, haven't we?"

"Of what?"

"Compromising. I mean, we've had to, but... We're okay, right?"

She asks tentatively, and the Mayor nods without looking up from her bowl as she allows just the curt affirmation

"I'd say so."

They finish off dessert in silence, and once she's scraped her bowl clean, Emma sits back and nurses her wine a little awkwardly; unsure whether the completion of dinner should be her cue to leave. She hopes not- she hopes they'll at least broach what happened in Neverland- but she isn't sure she wants to be the one to make the decision of whether they talk about things tonight. After all, she'd been the one to push for a discussion before, and while she understands Regina's reasoning for keeping her cards close to her chest and telling her that her deeper feelings were not reciprocated, she doesn't wish to bring the resultant mix of confusion and disappointment onto herself for a second time.

"Thank you for dinner."

Is all that she says, and Regina nods as she places down her spoon.

"You're welcome... I said I'd invite you over."

"Actually, you said that you might invite me over."

"Did I? I suppose that sounds more plausible... Although, I'm sure you could have figured out by now that I'd have meant to do so."

"I guess."

Emma agrees, sipping at her wine before admitting honestly

"There were a number of times before Neverland though, when I thought we were making progress or that you might mean to do one thing, and you did another. I wasn't going to make any firm assumptions."

"Well, I should say things have changed, Miss Swan. It would be my understanding that you and I are no longer in the same place as we were before our little trip..."

Regina looks up and considers her companion thoughtfully; finally laying her cards out on the table as she senses that this won't be a move made by the blonde. Meeting her dark gaze intently, the younger woman surprises her, as rather than reply in the affirmative or make a crude joke, she simply asks quietly

"...Are you okay with that?"

Considering this question, the brunette finally pushes herself up and takes her wine glass as she stalks for the door; inviting quietly

"Come. Let's discuss this in the drawing room."

Frowning, as this does little to answer her question, Emma picks up her glass and follows the darker woman through into the room in which they had first shared cider and lies the first night she'd arrived in Storybrooke. Taking up a seat opposite Regina, she holds her glass in both hands as she waits for the Mayor to address the topic they dance precariously around.

"Why do you think I asked you over, Emma?"

Regina asks after a long stretch of silence, and the blonde ruminates over a number of possible answers before opting to play it safe.

"Dinner."

"That's all?"

"... I don't know."

She replies, her response uncertain, but her body language open rather than tense and uncomfortable.

"Why? Why don't you know?"

Regina demands, and when she catches a shadow of a frown grace the blonde's brow, she places her wine glass down on the coffee table between them with a sigh.

"I fail to see why you find yourself so uncertain now that we're home. Surely it's a good thing that we're able to breathe without the threat of capture and punishment?"

"Of course it is-"

"-Well, then!"

"I guess... I guess it's just kind of scary not having the excuse of imminent death to explain why we're doing things..."

"That's scary? After everything we've been through, that's scar-"

"-It's different! Alright?!"

"Alright."

Regina agrees coolly, and she offers a small smirk when the blonde glances up at her before looking away.

"I mean... I hope that being home doesn't change what we were beginning to explore..."

Emma admits quietly without looking back up, and the Mayor smiles as she finally gets her vocal affirmation, and she studies the delicate blush the younger woman's admission lends her otherwise pale complexion.

"Oh... I don't know about that, dear."

She replies silkily, and she smirks as she receives a guarded look in response- the Sheriff's lips tightening into a thin line- before elaborating huskily

"After all, we suffered limitations back on the island... I'd hope being back home and in better health changes the way we're able to go about said explorations..."

She chuckles darkly as the blonde's mouth opens in surprise, before she receives a devilish smirk that causes her heart to beat a little faster. In all honesty, she does suffer just a hint of discomfort instigating what had seemed to come naturally between them while immersed in peril, but she knows that their hesitation this evening is to be expected. Had Emma come storming into her house and immediately demanding release from the tension they've instead suffered through silently during their pleasant meal and conversation, she would have found herself taken aback. True, there is something damningly enticing about the thought of the blonde pushing her up against the wall and forgoing the need for any further assurance, but she imagines there will be time for that yet. As it is, the last time they'd had a proper conversation, it had been Emma pleading with her to hide in a closet so that she might come to no further harm. She'd been scared for the blonde- then, and when approaching her wounded and waning in the pit- and knows that the younger woman's actions- just like her own- don't allow for anything that happens between them now to be meaningless.

"Shit, that's some pressure!"

Emma jokes hoarsely, her cheeks flushed and pupils blown.

"Serves you right for being so bold while lying helplessly on your back..."

Regina teases. Laughing coquettishly at the dangerous look her comment garners her, she continues in a sultry tone

"Do you wish to take it back, Sheriff? Do you-"

But she trails off as Emma pushes herself from her seat; placing her glass neatly on the table before making her way round- no limp, no hesitation- to lower herself down to straddle slender thighs. Nipping at painted lips in reprimand, the blonde kisses the darker woman hungrily, before pulling back and regarding her intently.

"It's pretty warm in here."

She muses, and Regina raises a brow as she agrees quietly

"...It is."

"Guess that's not why we're doing this, then."

Emma states with a small smile, before reclaiming soft lips and moving with wicked promise.

"Why are we doing this?"

The Mayor demands; hissing the words into the younger woman's ear as she slips her hand up under soft cotton to play over hot flesh.

"I already told you..."

The blonde admonishes breathlessly as she grazes her teeth against a delicate clavicle.

"So tell me again..."

Regina urges, tugging lightly at soft curls that no longer smell of salt. Of iron. She pulls a little harder when she's denied a response, opening her mouth to ask again, before her breath catches in her throat as the Sheriff undoes the clasp to her pants while slipping down to kneel suggestively between her legs. Swallowing as she watches Emma tug down expensive wool- a welcome change to the ruined linen she'd thrown out upon arriving home- she looks down into green eyes intently; experiencing an overwhelming wave of emotion, and she breathes softly

"I love you."

Emma nips at her lip in response- her weighted silence speaking volumes- before she smirks back up at the darker woman and replies in a voice ever so slightly salted with tears

"Yeah... You're about to."