It Has Been You All Along

NOTE: This one completely un-betaed. Please excuse my mistakes. I just wanted to push this out before I wait too long. I apologize for the lack of update with my other story (Remember Who You Are). I haven't given up on it yet. But after watching the spoilers for 3x13, this came into my head and refused to leave. I've been refraining from watching the episode so I don't sway away from my original vision. This is my version of what happened after the City Hall gathering. This might turn into a 2 or 3 shot. Haven't made up my mind yet. Thanks for reading and the continual support! Mwah!

~~~ Chapter 1 ~~~

Emma burst through the back door of the City Hall, immediately cursing at the sight of Regina's retreating form already halfway down the back lane.

"Regina!" She called out in a hush tone. The brunette never slowed or showed any indication of acknowledging her. "Damn it! Regina!" She called again and broke into a run.

Catching up to the woman easily, Emma wrapped her hand around Regina's arm. "For god's sake, Regina! Would you stop?" Whatever her next words were died on her tongue when Regina spun around to face her.

"What?" Regina growled. And to anyone else, the Mayor was obviously in a rage and showing all warning signs to be left alone. But Emma wasn't anyone. There was something else other than anger swirling in those dark eyes.

Hurt. Disappointment. And defeat.

Emma sighed. "Let me take you home," she said gently, tugging on the arm she was still holding. Regina stared blankly at her. But Emma wasn't fazed by the show of defiance. Never had, really. And especially not after all they've been though.

The standoff lasted a few more moments before Regina's expression softened and allowed Emma to lead her towards the yellow bug. Sitting in the passenger seat as Emma drove them back to the mansion, Regina looked out the window as the town flew by, lost in her own thoughts.

When Emma came to her last night with this crazy plan to find the people responsible for this new curse, she was apprehensive. The plan was poorly and hastily thought out. Add to the fact the breaking of this curse meant she would lose Robin and Roland.

It had been almost 2 weeks ago when she woke up back in her bed in Storybrooke. Shock would have been an understatement. But waking up with a strange man in bed next to her was even more of a shock. In an instant, Regina knew they have been cursed again. She was about to throw her uninvited bedmate out her bed when a little boy barreled into the room and leaped onto the bed, yelling "Mom! Dad! Wake up!"

She watched with utter bewilderment as the man and the boy wrestled playfully. When they finally turned towards her with big doe-like eyes, Regina realized this time around the curse did not leave her all alone without anybody. This time, she was given a family.

So it seemed totally trivial whether she should help Emma or not. What reasons could she positively have to justify risking the life she had always wished for? To lose all of that for a son that doesn't even remember her? For a woman, the Savior, who was supposedly born for the sole purpose of destroying her?

Nonetheless, she sighed, here she sat in Emma's rickety scrap metal of a car, going along with the plan. When the blonde explained it, it went something like needing to create a sort of spectacle in front of the people to shake things up. The intent was to see what everyone's reactions were, to see if anyone was acting out of the ordinary and hopefully ferret out a suspect or two. While she wasn't surprised how people would react, the way they so quickly jump to blaming her didn't hurt any less.

"You okay?" Emma's voice interrupted Regina's thoughts. She had taken quick glances at the brunette and the increasingly troubled expression the beautiful face was not lost to her.

The silence dragged on to a point that Emma didn't think Regina was going to answer. They were only a few blocks away from the mansion when a soft, barely audible 'No' reached her ears. Without a second thought, she pulled the car to a stop at the side of the road.

"Regina..."

"I could go against my own desires and do what the others consider as the right thing time and time again," Regina said, unusually browbeaten and weary. "But clearly, no amount of good I do would ever matter."

Emma's heart clenched at the sight of the weary woman, weighed down by the notion that whatever she do or sacrifice, it would never be enough.

That she was never enough.

"What you do, what you have done, matter to the people that matters," Emma asserted, reaching over and grasped Regina's hand. There was nothing else Emma wanted more than to take away the sadness that engulfed the brunette. "You matter. To Henry, and to me. I haven't forgotten what you did for us a year ago. So thank you, and screw everyone else."

At that, Regina's lips pulled into a reluctant smile and Emma offered her goofy grin in response. Internally, the blonde was beating herself up. What the hell was I thinking putting her through this? The plan was a stupid, stupid plan! This is how you repay the woman whom literally gave you and Henry the memories of a perfect life? Sparing you the torments of guilt and regrets?

Thinking of which, and with the way Regina was looking back at her at the moment, eyes all soft and twinkling with moisture collected there, Emma suddenly wanted to express a lot more than just gratitude to the woman.

She gave the hand she still was holding another squeeze. The words of her deepest feelings were ready to spill out on the tip of her tongue when the shrill of the phone ringing jolted them out of the enthralled spell they were locked into.

Recognizing the particular ringtone, Regina pulled her hand out of Emma's gasp and fished her phone out of her pocket. "Sorry, I must take this," she apologized as she put the phone up to her ear. "Hello? Yes, sweetie. I'll be home very soon. Don't give your dad a hard time now. Let him help you with your bath and I'd be back in no time to make you dinner... Yes, honey, it's lasagna. Your favourite."

Emma fought from reacting the conversation Regina was having with her new family. It was like getting a knife twisted into her heart. Needing some form of distraction before she ended up acting out in ways she would regret later, she started the car up again and resume the trip to the Mayoral mansion.

The remaining distance was short and driven in silence. And before Emma was able to fully calm the turbulent of pain storming inside of her, the bug rolled to a stop in front of Regina's home.

Regina knew it was her phone call with little Roland that caused the sudden unease between them. Without lingering and prolonging the awkwardness, she released her seat beat and gave the blonde an apologetic nodded before exiting the car.

"Thank you, Emma," she said sincerely, truly grateful for Emma's show of faith in her. With one last glance, she closed the passenger side door.

Emma chewed the inside of her cheeks while watching Regina walk away from her. She hated the way she was feeling. Like she was so close to Regina, yet still remained unreachable. The brunette was halfway up the walk when Emma scrambled out of the car.

"Regina!" She called and caught up to the woman a second time today. This time Regina simply looked curiously back at her. "Do you... Um, do you love him?"

The memory of a similar scene that played out when Emma first arrived in Storybrooke gave her a pause. The stark difference this time was the absence of hostility and opposition. Instead she was actually hesitant to answer because of how Emma might perceive her reply.

"Yes," Regina said with regret. She didn't think she should even bother lying to the blonde. "Roland is simply adorable. It's impossible to not love him. But this doesn't mean I don't love Henry anymore."

"No," Emma shook her head. "What I meant was... Do you love Robin?"

Regine frowned at the unexpected question. Now that she thought about it, she never did questioned it herself and neither did anyone else for that matter. He was the man with the lion tattoo, and Regina just accepted the role he was fated to play in her life. So she replied with the only appropriate answer she could give Emma.

"He's my soulmate."

The statement was a punch in the gut for Emma. It was remarkable how she was still standing and not doubled over in pain. "Right, of course," she conceded. Because what other choice did she have? "I'm sorry. I really don't have any business asking you that."

"No, Emma. It's fine," Regina quickly reassured. The notion of not being Emma's concern unsettled her. They've come so far, the both of them. Gone are the days when Regina wanted to have nothing to with Emma. Now she couldn't fathom keeping Emma from any aspects of her life.

"Yeah, okay," Emma forced on a smile. "Anyhow, I should go. G'night."

"Good night," Regina echoed. She stood watching until Emma and the bug puttered out of sight before resuming her trek up to the mansion's front door.

A few blocks away from the mansion, the yellow beetle sat idling at the curb. Its driver hunched over in her seat. Emma had the steering wheel in a death grip with one hand, while the other hand was pressed against her chest. Even thought she never had her heart physically ripped out of her chest before (Cora tried but wasn't successful), Emma wouldn't be surprised if that would hurt less than what she was experiencing at the moment.

TBC