Emma decided the next day that this whole thing was ridiculous.

She and Regina were True Loves, so what the hell were they doing? Playing games, trying to make each other jealous, and not doing the one normal thing and actually being together.

Well, Emma had had enough. She loved Regina and wanted them to be together. Once the two of them had kissed and Regina had got her memories back, they could finally do just that... as long as Regina loved her too. But if the brunette did? That would mean their lunch dates in the mayor's office really would be dates; she, Regina and Henry would be a real little family; and when they had dinner together at the mansion, Emma would get to spend the night, and not just in the guest room. How perfect would that be?

Emma would be able to walk hand in hand with the sexiest, smartest, wittiest woman in Storybrooke and proudly call her her girlfriend. Hell, she'd be able to proudly call her her True Love. It didn't get much better than that.

It was with these thoughts in mind that Emma drove her bug to the town hall and marched to Regina's secretary's desk.

"Sheriff Swan, it's good to see you. I wasn't expecting-"

"I need to see Regina. Now," Emma demanded, not wanting to lose her confidence.

The secretary seemed taken aback at Emma's bluntness, but quickly recovered and dialled for Regina's office, leaving the phone on speaker.

"Yes?" Regina's voice came through, muffled through the bad-quality phone, but distinctly Regina.

"Mayor Mills, Sheriff Swan is here to see you."

There was a sigh and then, "I don't have time for this. Tell her I'm in a meeting or-"

Emma didn't stay to hear the rest of the excuse. She stormed past the secretary's desk to the door of Regina's office, purposefully opening it and striding into the room. Regina's finger was still on the button for the intercom, but she immediately lifted it when she saw Emma burst in.

"Miss Swan! I said I was in a meeting."

"And I knew it was bullshit," Emma said, indicating to the office that was clearly empty apart from herself and Regina.

"That's beside the point. I-"

"Can we cut the crap?" Emma said, leaning on Regina's desk so that she was towering over the brunette. "I'm so sick of these games that we're playing. We're True Loves, Regina. Surely that means we should just be together."

"I don't think-"

"Just hear me out. The universe has decided that we'll be good together, so, who are we to argue with the universe? We can't beat fate. Also, we would be good together. I know what you're thinking: 'the Evil Queen and the Saviour? Ridiculous.' But the Evil Queen and the Saviour were best friends before you took the forgetting potion - we were best friends before you took the forgetting potion - so I know that we would be good together. You and I just click Regina. You've tried to hate me once before when I first came to Storybrooke, but it didn't last and now I know why. It's because we're True Loves. We couldn't stay away from each other even if we tried."

Regina shook her head and pushed her jaw forward unhappily. "I'd like to start off by informing you that I resent your implication that life is so deterministic. I like to think I make my own decisions autonomously, thank you very much."

"Maybe if you had your memories back you would autonomously make the decision to be with me," Emma mumbled.

"I don't know how you suggest that I get my memories back."

"True Loves Kiss-"

"Wouldn't work," Regina interrupted with a shake of her head. "We have to be in love for True Loves Kiss to work. And that's just the thing, Miss Swan. I don't love you."

Emma stood up straight and folded her arms across her chest, trying to keep her face neutral to hide how much unrequited love hurt her. She didn't know what to say, but then a thought came to her that made her frown. "Wait... does that mean you'd have had to have been in love with me for the forgetting potion to make you forget me?"

Regina looked down, confirming what Emma was thinking.

"You were in love with me," Emma said, a little breathlessly. "But you never said anything."

"I presume I didn't say anything because you were with the pirate," Regina speculated quietly. "Though I obviously can't know for sure because I don't remember."

"But you were in love with me?"

"The potion worked, so that seems to be the case, yes."

Emma couldn't believe what she was hearing. She had spent a long time denying her feelings for Regina, even to herself, and the thought that Regina might have been doing the same thing...

Or maybe Regina hadn't been denying it to herself. Maybe she had known how she felt - known that she had loved Emma - and just not wanted to say anything because Emma was with Killian.

"That makes sense," Emma said, thinking out loud. "You said that you took the forgetting potion because you were hurt emotionally, and when you forgot me, it didn't hurt anymore. Well, maybe you were hurting because you loved me, yet you had to watch me be with someone else. When you forgot me, you forgot how you felt about me, and you didn't have to deal with unrequited love anymore."

Regina watched Emma closely but didn't actually say anything. Her jaw was clenched and her expression stolid, not giving Emma anything to go on in terms of what she was thinking.

"You don't have to worry about Killian anymore," Emma said, stepping towards the desk. "It's always been you, Regina. I didn't know it back then, but I know it now, and you're the only person that I want to be with."

"Let me make myself clear, Miss Swan." Regina leant forwards and looked Emma in the eye while she said, "I. Don't. Want. To. Be. With. You."

Emma frowned. "But if you just got your memories back then you would see-"

"I'm not going to get my memories back," Regina stated. "I don't love you. There'll be no True Loves Kiss."

"It won't hurt to try."

"You are so frustrating!" Regina lost her composure for a second, but quickly recovered it. She stood up, calmly smoothed the front of her dress and sighed. "Why is it so hard for you to understand that I don't want to remember you? I don't want to kiss you and I don't want to be with you. I think it's best if you go now."

"But-"

"Leave. Now."

Emma frowned at Regina and didn't move for a second. But she could feel her heat breaking in her chest and she didn't want the brunette to see her getting upset, so she turned and left the office, closing the door behind her.

Regina decided to treat herself to lunch from Granny's after Emma's impromptu visit to her office. The blonde had stressed her out, and she needed something to make herself feel better.

See, Regina would insist until her dying breath that she didn't have feelings for Emma. She would insist that she found the blonde stubborn and arrogant and insufferable. She would insist that Storybrooke was a better place before Emma had arrived in it. And who did Emma think she was, barging into Regina's office like that? It was rude. Plus, Emma didn't know how to take 'no' for an answer.

But then Regina's traitorous brain would argue that Emma was terribly attractive. She fought for what she wanted (in this case, Regina), which wasn't a bad quality to have. Yes, she was stubborn, but so was Regina. Emma was also persistent which, while it could be incredibly annoying, it could also be flattering because the thing that she was persistently fighting for was having Regina in her life. She lacked manners and was impulsive, but if she pushed things too far then she'd turn adorably sheepish so that, even if Regina tried to stay mad, it wouldn't last.

And Regina had thought about the blonde with something akin to fondness when seeing her spending time with her Neal; and she liked the thought of someone like Emma being her True Love and caring about her enough to always put her first; and seeing Emma jealous had been the highlight of her week...

So, Regina was conflicted. Torn between love and hate... well, not love. It was much too soon to call it - whatever it was - love. But her feelings towards Emma were mixed and not as black and white as she would like them to be, and that infuriated Regina.

Feeling worn out and confused and in desperate need of a pick-me-up, Regina went to Granny's to get a chicken salad sandwich and a cup of coffee for her lunch to make herself feel better. Seeing as it was just before rush hour, the diner was quiet and had very few customers. In fact, as Regina stood at the counter and waited for Ruby to come from the kitchen to serve her, she could hear the conversation of the people sat in the corner of the room. She didn't intend to eavesdrop, but when she realised that the voice she was listening to belonged to her son, she couldn't ignore it even if she wanted to.

"The plan should have worked! How could you let it fail?" he was saying accusingly to... Regina glanced over her shoulder and saw Zelena? What were those two up to? What plan were they talking about?

"It wasn't my fault!" Zelena insisted with a huff. "Your mum ditched me at the Rabbit Hole. I spent half an hour looking for her before realising she wasn't even bloody there anymore. I thought that was a good thing at first. I suspected your mothers had gotten together and gone home to... you know, be intimate."

Henry wrinkled his nose in disgust. "Those are my moms, Aunt Zelena. I don't want to think about them... being intimate."

"Anyway," Zelena shook her head. "Then I saw Emma with her mother, so I knew that that hadn't happened. Besides, I spoke to Regina on the phone this morning and she was in a dreadful mood. Certainly not post-coital bliss."

"Just stop talking," Henry held up his hand to stop his aunt, then sighed and covered his face with his hands. "What are we gonna do now? We need another plan."

Regina narrowed her eyes at the pair in suspicion. She intended to find out exactly what was going on, so she left the counter and strode over to the corner booth, where her sister and son were talking about her love-life. "A plan for what?" she asked as she reached the table, putting her hands on her hips.

The teen and the redhead looked at each other with deer-caught-in-headlights expressions, then slowly turned to look at Regina like they were schoolchildren who had just been caught misbehaving by their teacher. Regina lifted an eyebrow, her way of saying, 'well?', which made Zelena clear her throat.

"Our plan to make you happy," she said calmly. "You haven't been yourself lately, so we wanted to cheer you up."

Regina looked incredulous. "Really? Because it sounded like you were talking about my relationship with Emma and planning a way to get us together."

"What?" Zelena scoffed. "No. I mean, yes, we mentioned you and Emma, but we're not planning to get you together. It was purely coincidental that she was at the Rabbit Hole last night."

"Really?" Regina asked sceptically.

"Of course."

"I'm having a hard time believing that."

Zelena rolled her eyes. "Henry and I aren't cupid, Regina. It's not our job to make people fall in love. Besides, why on earth would we try to set the two of you up when you've made it perfectly clear that you can't stand her?"

"You tell me." Regina folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow. The pair remained silent though, so she continued. "I know that Henry wants us to be together."

"I want you to stop fighting," Henry corrected. "And I want the two of you to be happy. You were always happy when you were together before you took the forgetting potion."

"Exactly," Zelena agreed. "I only mentioned that I thought you had gone home with Emma last night because, if you had, surely that would make you happy, which is our primary focus here. Isn't that right, Henry?"

"Totally." The teen nodded vigorously, but he was a terrible liar. His voice adopted a tone that was too high and squeaky, and he was nodding a little too enthusiastically.

"So, you have a plan to make me happy?" Regina asked, not bothering to hide her doubts. "May I ask what this plan entails then?"

"Well," Zelena glanced at Henry. "We want to remind you that you have a family who loves you, which is why..."

"Your birthday!" Henry exclaimed, earning the attention of both women. His shoulders sagged as he tried to act casual again, though it had been clear that he had just had an idea. "Your birthday is next Saturday, right?" he asked Regina.

"Yes..."

"Well, we're planning a party for you."

"Yes, we are," Zelena agreed with a smile. Their lie had unfolded perfectly, Regina thought bitterly. "It was supposed to be a surprise but, damn you, Regina, you managed to wheedle it out of us. We're planning a simple soiree at the mansion so that you can be surrounded by your closest friends and family. Snow and I can cook dinner for everyone, there will be conversation and drinks... the perfect night to celebrate your special day. Simple and quiet, because we know you won't want to make a big hoo-ha."

"Sounds lovely," Regina said, and it wasn't untrue. It did sound like a nice evening. She motioned for Zelena to move over so that she could join her sister and son in the booth. "So, who's on the guest list?"

"Us three, obviously," Zelena said. "And who else would you like to invite?"

"Just family," Regina stated, not wanting her birthday to be a fuss. "Us three, Robyn, David, Snow and Neal."

"Are my ears burning?" A voice came from behind Regina, and she turned to see that David was walking towards their booth with Snow and Neal close behind.

"Don't worry, we were just talking about Regina's birthday next Saturday," Zelena informed the new arrivals. "We're going to have a little shin-dig at the mansion and you three are on the guest list."

"Sounds lovely," Mary Margaret said with a smile. Celebrations of any kind were right up her alley. "Who else is coming?"

"Just family," Regina said again. "So, you three," she pointed to Snow, David and Neal. "Us three," she indicated to herself, Zelena and Henry.

"What about Emma?" Henry asked.

Regina turned to him with a sigh. Of course he would want his other mother there, but Regina really didn't want the blonde to attend. The lovely, quiet evening wouldn't be so lovely or quiet if Emma Swan was in attendance. It would be messy and confusing and Regina would have to deal with the million things that the sheriff made her feel, even on her birthday which should be a joyful occasion.

No, Emma's presence would make things too hard for her, so Regina tried to find a way that she could tell Henry and let him down gently.

But before she could settle on anything, a familiar voice came from behind her. "Don't worry about it, kid," Emma said, hands stuffed into the pockets of her coat as she joined her parents at the side of the table. "Your mom and I are giving each other some space at the moment, and I have a shift at the station that day, anyway." She put her hand on Henry's shoulder and gave it a squeeze.

Henry seemed disappointed and looked down at the table, but he didn't argue.

"That settles it then," Regina said. "Miss Swan will be unable to attend. Though the rest of you will be able to make it?"

There were nods around the table, but Regina was looking at Emma, who was staring down at the floor with an unhappy expression. Did she even have a shift at the sheriff's station? Or was she just saying that because she knew Regina wouldn't want her there? Regina hoped that it wasn't the latter because Emma looked so sad and Regina's damn confusing feelings were making her feel guilty about that.

Sick of feeling things, Regina looked down and rose from her seat. "I need to get back to the office, so I think I'll take my lunch to-go," she stated, just wanting to get away from the group for now. How had they all been in Granny's at the same time anyway? Storybrooke needed more diners.

Regina slid from the booth and went over to the counter, hearing her family start talking jovially behind her. When Regina glanced to the side, though, she saw Emma making a quiet getaway.

Zelena was humming in the kitchen while she made a Sunday roast for Regina's birthday 'soiree'. She had spent all day ignoring Henry's argument that it was Saturday, not Sunday, so how could they have a Sunday roast? But it was the only thing that Zelena could make well, so she was making it regardless of what day it was. However, she had enlisted Henry's help and was forcing him to do anything that would result in her getting her hands messy. That happened to be most of the tasks.

Mary Margaret was supposed to be bringing dessert, though she, David and Neal hadn't arrived yet.

That left Regina to wander around the house, making sure the dining room table was set out perfectly, making sure the music was neither too loud nor too quiet and making sure the living room was tidy and there was enough room for everyone to sit.

Once she was sure everything was in order, she walked into her study and perched on the couch. She wasn't sure what had drawn her to that particular room, probably a subconscious desire to not disturb the living room or dining room which were currently pristine and ready for the guests, but she felt the need to escape and spend a minute by herself.

It was her birthday. She should be happy. She already had her sister and son with her, she was about to have more of her family with her; she was loved and valued and that was all she had ever wanted.

But something was missing. She didn't know what, but she knew that there was something. At first, she had though that it was Robin, but the more she thought about it, the more she knew that that wasn't right. Then, her brain had thought that it might be Emma. She was her True Love, after all.

Regina dismissed it, finding the notion absurd, but... she looked to the side, where the blonde's red leather jacket was sitting on the couch. She'd never even seen Emma wearing it - at least, she didn't remember seeing Emma wearing it - but it had come to be a symbol of her in Regina's mind. She could picture Emma in it so clearly, with her blue skinny jeans and a white tank top, that it was almost like a memory. Again, that was absurd.

Regina picked up the jacket and put it on her lap. God knows what had possessed Emma to buy it in the first place, but Regina could tell that the jacket was well-worn. It was either old, or Emma wore it a lot. Regina didn't know which was true, but she found both to be believable.

She lifted the material to her nose and inhaled deeply. It smelt of a person (Emma, presumably) and Regina found the scent to be intoxicating. It was pleasant and warm and made Regina relax. She leaned back on the couch and continued to smell the jacket whilst thinking, could this be what's missing? Emma Swan?

A knock on the front door prevented Regina from following that thought thread and startled her enough that she pulled the jacket away from her nose lest she be caught smelling it like some sort of crazy person. She forced all thoughts of the blonde out of her head as she stood and walked through the hall to the front door, which she opened to greet her guests.

"Happy Birthday!" Snow and David shouted as soon as the door was open.

Neal, who was perched on Mary Margaret's hip, squirmed and hid his face in his mother's neck at the loud noise, so Regina reached out to tickle his side to calm him and make him smile again. "Thank you," she said to the couple while she did this. "You can both come in."

She stepped to the side of the door so that the trio could enter. Mary Margaret entered first, but stood behind Regina while David entered. He was carrying a bottle of red wine and a wrapped present. He held the wine out to Regina, so she told him to put it in the kitchen and thanked him for bringing it, then said he could put the gift in the living room with the ones that Zelena and Henry had gotten her.

While David followed his instructions, Regina turned to Mary Margaret, who was frowning at her hand. "Is that Emma's jacket?" she asked.

Regina felt her cheeks develop a pink glow as she realised she was still holding the red leather jacket in her hand. "Yes, I just found it," Regina lied for the sake of her dignity. "Emma must have left it here at some point."

"Oh," Mary Margaret nodded. Regina half expected the other woman to offer to take it to her daughter when she left, but she instead turned and headed for the kitchen, saying something about putting the dessert that she'd brought into the fridge.

Alone in the hall, Regina turned to the coat closet, opened the door and hung the red leather jacket up.

Out of sight, out of mind, Regina thought.

"Dinner should be ready in about half an hour," Zelena announced, joining Regina, Henry, Snow, David, Neal and Robyn in the living room.

Henry was sitting on the floor, playing with Neal. Robyn was asleep in her cot. Regina, David and Snow were chatting, all with drinks in their hands, though Regina was sticking to non-alcoholic until they had eaten dinner. But with Zelena's announcement, Mary Margaret sat forward excitedly.

"Just enough time for presents!" she squealed, standing up so that she could bring them over for Regina to open.

Regina rolled her eyes, but accepted the first one that was passed to her. Zelena sat next to her so that she could watch, and Regina became aware that all eyes were on her. Even Henry and Neal had stopped playing so that they could watch her. God, she hated birthdays.

"Who's this from?" she asked, shaking the box to try and guess what it was.

"Oh, that's mine," Henry said with a smile.

Regina lifted an eyebrow at him and began tearing the paper. She should have guessed that it was Henry's with how clumsily it was wrapped. No matter how many times she tried to show him the correct way to wrap presents, he still managed to make it look messy, with too much paper and too much tape. It was because of all the tape that Regina had a hard time finding a way in, but she eventually found a bit of paper that she could pull.

She pulled the paper off and tossed it onto the floor to be cleaned up later, then turned the gift over so she could see what it was. It turned out to be a picture frame, with a picture of Regina and Henry on Christmas day in it. They were sat next to each other at the dinner table, and that's where they are in the picture, leaning close together for the picture and smiling widely with genuine happiness. The bottom of the frame had the word 'family' on it in beautiful cursive.

"I thought you could put it on your desk at work," Henry explained. "Since the most recent picture you have of me on there is from when I was, like, nine years old."

Regina smiled down at the picture and said, "I love it, honey. It's beautiful. I'll take it with me on Monday."

Her attention was mostly focused on her smiling son in the picture, simply because he looked so happy that it filled her with motherly pride. Yet she still briefly looked at herself; briefly because something else caught her eye. On the far left of the picture, next to Regina, was part of a head of blonde hair. Even though the person was only partly in the frame, Regina knew undoubtedly who it was straight away.

Emma Swan.

Regina closed her eyes for a second and put the frame onto the coffee table. She couldn't escape the other woman, no matter what she was doing, even when she was trying to keep the blonde out of her thoughts.

Maybe the universe did have more control of her life than she would like to think, and it loved to mess with her.

"Shall I open my next present?" Regina said, pushing Emma out of her mind yet again.

Mary Margaret stood and handed her another gift, a smaller one this time, somewhere between the size of a ring box and a necklace box. Regina shook it again, but other than a slight rattling, it didn't make a noise that could help her figure out what it was. She noticed that it was as clumsily wrapped as Henry's had been, though there was less tape so she was able to get into it pretty easily.

"Who is this from?" Regina asked as she began to open it.

Silence greeted her. She pulled the paper away completely and tossed it to the floor, looking at the box, which looked like it contained an item of jewellery or something. But she didn't open it. She looked up to find out who had given it to her, only to find Zelena, Mary Margaret and David looking at one another in confusion. Only Henry didn't seem confused, but he was staring at the floor and fiddling with one of Neal's toys.

"Henry?" Regina lifted an eyebrow at him.

He sighed. "Emma asked me to give it to you."

"Em- Emma?" Regina said in disbelief, because seriously this woman was inescapable. "Why would she do that? She knows that I don't want anything to do with her."

"She'd already gotten the present though, before the whole forgetting potion happened. Emma had no use for it, so she wanted you to have it, even if you hate her."

Regina held the box towards Henry, urging him to take it from her. "Tell her that I don't-"

"Just open it," Henry interrupted tiredly.

Regina would normally protest, but her son sounded so drained that she felt guilty about what she was putting him through. He was having to put up with his parents fighting and not speaking, and that must have been difficult for him. So, Regina sighed and did as he asked. She could give him this, at least.

Regina leaned back and pulled open the jewellery box, revealing the broach that Emma had bought her. It was a beautiful gold broach, with cream roses on it, and Regina recognised it immediately. She had seen this broach in a store window when they had all gone to New York in pursuit of Henry and Violet. She had stopped briefly to stare at it, because it was stunning and she would have loved to own it, but it was ridiculously expensive and Regina had been too busy with magical mishaps to dwell on it for too long.

But here it was, in her hands, and Emma Swan had been the one to buy it for her.

"How did she know?" Regina asked in shock.

"She was there with you when you first saw it," Henry explained, because obviously Regina didn't remember Emma being there. "She knew how much you loved it, and she wanted you to have it. So, she went to New York a few weeks ago to buy it."

Regina looked at her son open-mouthed. New York was a long way to go for a broach, and it must have cost Emma a fortune. "Why would she do that?"

"Because she knew it would make you happy. That's all Emma's wanted for years now. It's why she became the Dark One."

This was new information to Regina, so she frowned in confusion. "I'm sorry, she did what?"

"She became the Dark One for you. The darkness was going to take you again, but Emma said that you'd worked too hard for your happiness for it to be destroyed. She became the Dark One so that you could get your Happy Ever After.

Regina looked back down at the broach, feeling her heart rate accelerating to a dangerous rate. She was distantly aware of Zelena looking at the broach from next to her, and of her saying, "Wow. It's gorgeous," and she was distantly aware of the fact that everyone was staring at her.

But all she could think about was that Emma wanted her to be happy. That's all she wanted. And she'd done so much for her to try and make it happen, even giving Regina the broach when the brunette hadn't been all that kind to her as of late. She could have sold it, got her money back because Regina knew that this broach wasn't cheap. But Emma had given it to her regardless, because Regina's happiness meant that much to her.

If that wasn't love, then Regina didn't know what was.

She stood up without thinking and wandered away from the couch, towards the doorway. "Where are you going?" Henry asked from behind, and Regina didn't know.

At least, she didn't know until she was asked. Her subconscious knew all along, and it seeped into her consciousness so that she answered. "To find Emma."

"What about dinner?" Zelena protested. "I've been slaving away in that kitchen for-"

"Zelena!" Mary Margaret hissed, seeming to know that Regina may change her mind at any moment and should be left to do her thing.

But Regina didn't stop. She opened the door to the mansion and walked down the path with a newfound determination, still carrying the box with the broach in it. When she was halfway down the path, she stopped, hesitated, and walked back, but only to grab the damn red leather jacket from the coat closet, and then she headed for her car to go to the sheriff's station.

Emma looked at the clock on the wall, expecting at least twenty minutes to have passed since the last time she checked the time.

No, it had only been five.

She sighed and began to rock her chair back and forth, her feet propped up on her desk. Time was moving at an excruciatingly slow pace, and she knew that it was because it was Regina's birthday. Her parents and her son were at Regina's mansion, spending her special day with her. Meanwhile, Emma was in the sheriff's station on the night shift, because she hadn't been invited.

Before all of this, she was Regina's best friend. She knew that she would have been invited to Regina's birthday celebrations in the blink of an eye - the brunette would never even have considered not inviting her.

But now everything had changed. Emma was no longer welcome in Regina's life and it broke her heart. She missed her best friend, she missed spending time with her, seeing her smile and hearing her laugh. She missed bickering with her like an old married couple and worrying about how quickly Henry was growing up with her. She just missed Regina, even though the brunette hadn't physically gone anywhere. But she had emotionally checked out of any relationship that she and Emma had had, which was killing Emma inside.

But, at the end of the day, all she wanted was for Regina to be happy. That was why she was giving her some space, and that was why she had given Henry the broach and asked him to give it to his other mother. Regina had fallen in love with that broach as soon as she saw it in New York, but she hadn't been able to buy it because they were much too busy. So, Emma had gone back to the Big Apple a few weeks later and bought it for the brunette, and imagined how Regina's face would light up when she was given it every day since then.

She wanted Regina to have it, even if Emma couldn't be the one to give it to her personally, though the blonde had been worrying all day about how Regina would react to it. Would she remember it and love it just as much as she had the first time she saw it? Or would she hate it simply because Emma had been the one to buy it for her? There was no way Emma could know, at least until she spoke to Henry, which would probably be the next day.

Emma looked at the clock again, but the minute hand didn't seem to have moved. Had Regina opened the gift yet? What was she doing now? Was she enjoying her birthday?

Emma was in desperate need of something to distract her from thoughts of the mayor.

As if the universe could hear her thoughts and decided to do her a solid, the phone on her desk rang.

"Storybrooke Sheriff's Station," She answered formally.

She grabbed a notebook and scribbled down an address. There was a missing child, apparently, and the frantic parents were begging Emma to help find him.

A missing kid made it a lot easier to forget about Regina.

As Regina pulled her Mercedes onto Main Street, she swore she saw the sheriff's patrol vehicle turning the corner at the other end, leaving the station.

It was only a brief glimpse, so she wasn't sure, but when she got to the car park for the station, she noticed the absence of the cruiser and knew that she had seen correctly. Still, that didn't mean Emma had been the one to leave. It could have been one of the deputies.

Regina parked and exited her car, walking the familiar path through the doors to the station, up the stairs, through the outer office where one of the deputies was working (though he barely even looked up at the mayor's arrival, seeing as she was a regular visitor), and into the sheriff's office.

It was empty. Great. That meant Emma had been the one to leave.

Regina sighed in annoyance and turned around, but she didn't particularly want to leave. She could just stay and wait. Crimes in Storybrooke were usually minor, anyway, and didn't take too long to deal with. What were the chances that Emma would be gone long?

Regina walked over to the desk and sat down. It was definitely Emma's desk if the picture of Henry was anything to go by, which sat next to a dirty coffee cup and some kind of handheld gaming console. Why on earth had she assigned the role of sheriff to a child?

As Regina thought this, she started to shiver. She hadn't put a coat on as she left the house, and winters in Maine made the sheriff's station a little chilly. Regina wrapped her arms around herself for warmth, noticing as she did this the broach box in her right hand and the red leather jacket in her left.

Well, Regina was nothing if not resourceful.

She stood up, but the broach box on the desk, then put on the red leather jacket. It was a little too big for her, so the sleeves came halfway down her hands, but it was cosy and surprisingly comfortable and it surrounded her in the warm, vanilla Emma-scent.

She sat back down, pulled the jacket tightly around herself, and waited.

Missing child my ass, Emma thought as she pulled back up at the sheriff's station.

She didn't want to be bitter, but it was hard not to be when she had just wasted her time.

She had arrived at the address of the missing boy; spoken to his parents, who were hysterical with worry; felt nauseous at the thought of losing Henry; made notes about the fact that the boy - 10-year-old Jason - had been in his room an hour earlier but had since disappeared and wasn't answering his phone; and started investigating and finding clues about where he could have gone and whether he was kidnapped. Forty minutes later, the door had opened and Jason himself had strolled in. He had only gone to his friend's house, and had apparently told his parents, though admitted that they probably hadn't heard him because they were busy yelling at each other. The mother had blushed, turned to Emma and said, 'financial troubles.'

So, Emma had left and headed back to the station.

By the time she got out of the patrol car, she was shaking from the cold night air. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself - freaking denim jacket because her read leather one was still missing - and rushed into the station. She had gone to one of the clothes shops in Storybrooke that morning to buy a new red leather jacket, having lost hope of finding her original, but they hadn't had any. They had had denim jackets, though, and Emma decided to try one of those.

She had worn it to Granny's for lunch that same day, which earned a snort from Ruby and a judgemental, 'denim on denim, Em. Really?' Emma had looked down at her denim jacket and denim skinny jeans with a blush and vowed never to wear the damn jacket again after that day. But Emma was somewhat grateful for it now, knowing she would be freezing to death in just her t-shirt.

She jogged up the stairs, walked past her deputy and gave him a nod and a smile, then opened the door to her office...

To see Regina sitting on her chair?

"Regina?"

The brunette's eyes flickered from the desk to her, then back again. "Sheriff."

"Isn't today your birthday?"

"It is."

"Oh. Happy birthday," Emma said awkwardly. What on earth was she doing here? And why was she acting as though it were completely normal?

"Thank you."

"Shouldn't you be at your birthday meal thing?"

"You mean my 'soiree'?" Regina asked ironically, eyes finding Emma again. "That's what Zelena's been calling it. And yes, I should."

"Then why aren't you?" Emma asked, finding Regina's presence odd. But then she noticed something even odder which took precedence over Regina being in her office. "Wait... is that my red leather jacket? I've been looking everywhere for that! Why do you have it? And why are you wearing it?"

"Which question do you want me to answer first?" Regina said, amused.

"The jacket," Emma decided without having to think about it.

"I found it at my house, so you must have left it there. Henry said that it belonged to you. Goodness knows why you bought this unsightly thing, but it has been keeping me warm while I wait for you."

Which brought Emma to her next question: "And why have you been waiting for me?"

Regina didn't answer with words. She looked back at the desk again, so Emma followed her gaze, which is when her eyes landed on the familiar little box that she knew held the broach she had gotten Regina for her birthday.

Oh man.

"It's the broach that you saw when we were New York," Emma found herself explaining, simply to fill the silence. "You spent, like, five minutes staring at in through the shop window, so I thought you'd like it."

"I don't," Regina said bluntly, causing Emma's heart to stop. "I love it."

And Emma could breathe again.

"It must have been expensive," Regina commented.

Emma shrugged nonchalantly, as though it was no big deal, even though she had thought that the $212 it had cost her had been rather excessive. It didn't matter to her, though. Regina's happiness was priceless. "It was nothing."

"I doubt that," Regina said quietly, then stood up and faced Emma. "I've been anything but nice to you ever since I took the forgetting potion. I don't deserve this, yet you gave it to me anyway."

"Because I knew it would make you happy, and-"

"Haven't you done enough?" Regina asked. "Henry told me that you became the Dark One so that I could be happy. That's more than enough, Emma, you don't need to do any more."

"But I do," Emma insisted. "You won't remember this, but I made a vow a while back. I said that I wouldn't stop until everyone in Storybrooke had got their happy endings, and that includes you."

"And you thought that this broach would be my happy ending?"

Emma scratched the back of her neck uncomfortably. "Well, no, but-"

"You want me to be happy because you love me." It was a statement, not a question, and it made Emma swallow.

"Yeah, exactly."

Regina nodded and folded her arms across her chest. "I don't want another True Love, Emma," She said, which made Emma's heart sink a little. She was going to be let down again. "I had Daniel, and I lost him. Then I had Robin, and I lost him too. I don't want to lose anyone else."

"I've been through a lot," Emma said, her voice wobbling a little. "I've broken curses, I've fought dragons, I've been to Neverland, I've been the Dark One, I've been to Hell and back, I've won the final battle, and trust me, that's not even the half of it. I'm not that easy to get rid of. I would never leave you."

"You don't know that," Regina said tiredly. Emma looked down. "But you've done so much for me," Regina continued. "I can tell that you care about my happiness, and I can tell that you care about me. Isn't that what everyone wants? To be loved so strongly by someone that you're their top priority. And you can give that to me, Emma."

Emma nodded rigorously. If she could just convince Regina...

"But more than that," Regina said. "No matter how much I've been trying to hate you, I just can't do it. Maybe you're right and it's the universe telling us that we're True Loves, but maybe it's not. Maybe it's because, deep down, I don't want to hate you. Don't get me wrong, you're annoying and stubborn and your dress sense is questionable," She looked down at the red leather jacket as if to prove her point. "But you're also sweet and persistent and so beautiful." Emma felt herself blush a little as she smiled. "So, I'm torn," Regina finished.

Emma stepped towards the brunette. "I know you're scared about being hurt, but trust me, I would never hurt you. I will love you every single day of your life, doing everything in my power to make you the happiest woman on earth, and you would be making me happier than you can imagine just by letting me do that. And if you're still in doubt, then don't do it for you or me; do it for Mary Margaret."

At that, Regina frowned. "Mary Margaret?"

"She's been feeling guilty for years about what happened to Daniel. She took away the person that you loved, but then she created me," Emma smiled. "It's like she took away one True Love, so gave you another one."

Regina let out a little laugh. "That's true. Us being together would probably alleviate some of Snow's guilt. And I suppose the Evil Queen and the Saviour make a pretty great love story."

"They do," Emma agreed wholeheartedly.

"And Henry would be happy. He would have parents who are together."

"Exactly."

"And the mayor and the sheriff would make a formidable couple."

"Totally."

Regina smiled and looked down, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear and then stepping towards Emma so that they were only centimetres apart. "OK. I want this. But I swear to God, Miss Swan, if you hurt me or die on me then I will kill you. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Never call me that again," Regina said as she lifted her arms up and draped them around Emma's neck. Emma's heart was beating wildly, but a lazy smile took over her lips.

"Yes, dear."

"We sound like a married couple already, don't we?"

"We always have," Emma admitted, letting her hands rest gently on Regina's hips.

Regina licked her lips, letting her eyes drop to Emma's. She took a deep shaky breath, as though she was nervous. Honestly, Emma was just as nervous. Not only was she about to have her first kiss with Regina, but also, what if it didn't work? What if there was no burst of magic and what if Regina didn't get her memories back? Emma would be devastated.

She hadn't prepared herself yet, but Regina leaned in anyway, only hesitating for a second before pressing her lips firmly against Emma's.

And it worked.

Magic flowed between them, spreading across the surroundings in a way that Emma had experienced with Henry twice but had never shared with anyone in a romantic way. It made her feel dazed and she pulled back dreamily.

When she looked at Regina, she noticed a different look in the brunette's eyes than there had been a minute ago. She knew straight away, without knowing how, that it was because she had her memories back. And in confirmation, Regina said, "I remember."

"You do?" Emma said hopefully.

"Yes," Regina smiled dazzlingly wide. "And I love you too."

She pulled Emma towards her for another kiss, then another, then another, then another, until both women were laughing and had to stop before one of them lost a tooth.

"I can't believe you had my jacket this whole time," Emma said, being reminded of it when she felt the leathery material under her fingers.

"That's what you're thinking about right now?" Regina said in disbelief, so Emma laughed. "By the way, you might need to get a new one of these," Regina indicated to the jacket.

"Why?"

"Because I'd quite like to keep this one."

Emma frowned. "Why? I thought you hated my jacket?"

"I hate what it looks like. But it smells of you, which makes me feel safe. So, can I keep it?"

Emma smiled down at the woman in front of her, then woman she loved, who was so cute and sentimental that she wanted to keep Emma's jacket.

But then she grabbed at her beloved jacket protectively and said, "No," which earned her a punch in the arm.

"Happy New Year!"

Granny's Diner erupted into cheers and hoots as soon as the countdown reached zero. Party poppers were pulled, drinks were clinked together, fireworks could be seen through the window. It was a happy time, the beginning of a new year, who wouldn't be thrilled?

Well, Regina, for one.

She felt sick with nerves, even as Emma Swan, her girlfriend of 11 months, wished her a happy new year and placed a soft kiss on her lips. Regina swallowed and tried to calm her heart as she rested her forehead against Emma's.

"I'm keeping my eye on you tonight," Emma said jokingly. "I don't want you running away, taking a forgetting potion and forgetting me again." Regina smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes, which is when Emma realised that something was wrong. She pulled back to look down at Regina with concern. "Everything OK?"

"Yes, I just," Regina hesitated, looked to the side and caught Henry's eye. As soon as she did, the teenage boy nudged his grandfather, who nudged Mary Margaret, who grinned and excitedly slapped Zelena's arm hard enough that the redhead shot daggers at her. In the end, though, Regina and Emma had an audience, and Emma knew it just as well as she did.

"What's going on?"

"Emma," Regina swallowed and wiped her hands on her skirt. She had prepared a speech, but her mind had gone blank with nerves. If the Evil Queen could see her now, she would have been ashamed. Well, Regina would just have to improvise. "We've been dating for a while now. You practically live at my house, we raise Henry together, we're family. I love you. I've spent my whole life searching for my happy ending, and you vowed a couple of years ago that you would help me find it. We didn't know back then that it was under our noses the whole time. It's you, Emma. You're my happy ending. There's just one thing left to do."

She reached into her blazer pocket, nudging the broach that Emma had got her last year as she did. It gave her a boost of confidence as she pulled out the ring box.

She heard Emma gasp, knew that the whole room was watching her, but still got down on her knees (her skirt was too restrictive for her to get on just one knee) and opened the box. "Emma Swan, my True Love, my Saviour... will you marry me?"

Emma's eyes filled with tears as she said, "Yes!"

Emma helped Regina up, held her face and kissed her so hard that Regina thought she might pass out. The room erupted into cheers again but Regina could only look at Emma Swan, her fiancee.

"I love you," Emma said softly, clinging to Regina as though she were a lifeline. "Regina Swan-Mills."

"I love you too, Emma Swan-Mills."

A/N: And there we have it! I can't thank you enough for reading and sticking with this story. You're all amazing. This didn't turn out at all as I had intended, so if you stuck with it, I love you.

I intended to update all three of my fics today because I'm going on holiday tomorrow, but I only managed to update two as I've been busy packing, plus it was my birthday a couple of day ago. On the bright side, this is one of the lucky ones!

Before you all go, I have a request. Since I'll have more time on my hands with it being summer, I'd like to start another multi-chapter SQ fic, but I have three ideas and can't decide which to pursue. That's where you come in! I've created a poll which should be on my profile (if I managed to do it right). Please could you go and read the summaries I have written and vote for which you would like to read most.

Thank you so much in advance.

And goodbye!