Back to Storybrooke;

An Emma Swan and Regina Mills fanfic;

By emilyjasmine;

Disclaimer – I own nothing, but the plot;

So here is the story I mentioned in Innocent Beginnings. It takes place before the finale of Season 7; the curse has been broken but they didn't have to fight Wish Realm Rumple, so Rumple is still alive and there is no young Henry.

As always, let me know what you think by reviewing and don't forget to favourite and follow!

Hope you enjoy!

Emss x

It was mid-afternoon, and Emma was sat on the sofa at home watching Hope sleep. The baby had been pretty restless most of the night as well as the morning and Emma was grateful that her baby had finally stopped crying. It had taken two feedings, a change of clothes and two stories to get her to rest. She was four-months old and Emma felt like she hadn't slept during the entire time, so she was exhausted. She had barely sat down when her mother walked through the front door, without knocking of course, this is Snow White after all, and made her way to the living room where Emma was sitting.

"I have news," Snow stated before even greeting her daughter. She then walked over to where Emma was sitting with Hope and sat down on the sofa next to her. She automatically reached out to pick up Hope before Emma stopped her.

"Please don't," she said quietly, "I've only just got her to go to sleep. She's been crying all morning."

"Sorry," Snow muttered before leaning back and looking at her daughter, but she remained silent.

"So, what's the news?" Emma asked bringing her mother back to the reason she was there. Snow didn't look upset or worried, in fact she looked a little excited. "If you tell me you're pregnant again I swear…"

Snow laughed and shook her head. "No, you and Neal are all I need." She then paused again and looked around. "How about some tea before I tell you?" She went to stand up but with a simple wave of her hand, Emma produced a tray with a teapot and mugs. With another wave, the tea was poured. They both took a small sip before Emma turned to look at her mother.

"Mom tell me, please."

"It's Henry and Regina," she said finally, and Emma's breath hitched at the name of her son and his other mother. "They're coming back."

"When?" Emma practically yelled, leaning forward to grab her mother's hand. "Reg– Henry's really coming home?" She hoped Snow didn't catch what she went to say, it seemed she didn't.

"I'm not sure when, I got the message this morning," Snow admitted, "I came here straight away to tell you. The message said Regina had something to sort out first before she came. The last piece of the puzzle is here."

Emma sat back and thought, the piece of what puzzle? However, before she could think of anything else, Hope started to whimper for her mother's attention.

oOoOo

It was the next morning when Emma decided to take Hope out for a walk. It was a mild day, so she left her coat behind and set off. She wandered slowly up the road, taking her normal path that happened to go past the mayoral mansion though it had been empty for a long time. Pausing, she cast her mind back to the first time she was there. The night that Henry brought her to Storybrooke and the first time she ever set eyes on Regina Mills. She shut her eyes for a second just to remember. The memory was so vivid, it was as if she could hear Regina's voice calling her name.

She was so lost in the moment that she didn't hear the distinct sound of heels behind her until she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Emma!" A voice said. She finally opened her eyes and gasped.

"Regina!" Or at least it looked like Regina. Her normally straight hair was wavy and was she actually wearing jeans? But Emma didn't really care about that. Forgetting everything in front of her, which included her baby and her dignity, she threw her arms around the brunette and hugged her tightly, a hug that Regina returned just as fiercely.

"You have no idea how much I've missed you!" Emma all but yelled and after that, she broke down into tears. After everything that had happened, she thought she'd never see Regina again. "Where's Henry?" She asked as she realised he hadn't followed Regina from the house.

Regina reached out to wipe Emma's tears away with her thumbs. "He had some things to sort out in Seattle before coming here." There was a quiet whimper from the pram and Emma regretfully left Regina's embrace to see what the matter was, but Regina got there first. She lent over the pram and carefully picked the baby up and cuddled her close. "What's the matter little one?" She whispered, and Emma thought her heart was going to melt at the sight of the former Evil Queen holding her daughter close.

"Her name's Hope," Emma said quietly. "She's the only hope I've had recently." She said the latter so quietly, Regina barely registered it.

"Let's go inside and talk, shall we?" Regina suggested before turning away and walking towards the house with Emma following with the pram.

It took a few moments for Emma to calm herself down. After everything that had happened, she just didn't know what to expect now. Her best friend was back, but where was her son? What had happened during all the time they'd been apart. It actual fact, for everyone in Storybrooke, it had barely been two years since Regina had gone but it was enough.

Regina led them to the study and sat down, still with Hope in her arms. Emma, not knowing where to sit, stood awkwardly for a few moments before biting the bullet and sitting next to Regina, just so she could be close to Hope, she thought to herself. She rarely let anyone hold her, the main two being her and Snow.

"How long has it been for you?" Emma asked.

"Since I left?" Emma nodded. "Around 10 years I think, just over." Emma gasped, not realising it had been that long. You wouldn't think so by just looking at Regina, it was as if no time had past at all. The only thing that was different was the outfit. "A lot has happened."

"Tell me about it, please? What has Henry got to sort out?"

Regina paused for a few moments, with a wave of her hand, she produced a bassinet and placed Hope in it before turning to Emma. "The first thing you need to know, is that Henry is completely okay," she assured her. "The second is, despite you having a four-month-old baby, you are in fact a grandmother."

"I'm a what?!" Emma almost cried before letting out a small laugh. She finally knew how her mother felt, having a child the same age as her and a grandchild despite being in her thirties. She had to laugh at the fact that her mother, who was the same age as her, was now a great-grandmother!

"I reacted the same way when Henry told me Ella was expecting," Regina replied and smiled at Emma's reaction. She always knew the blonde was going to react like that. "She's called Lucy and she's almost ten. She's the most wonderful granddaughter and she helped me break the curse."

"Curse?" Emma repeated, "What curse?"

Sighing quietly, Regina waved her hand and produced a tray not unlike Emma's the day before with a teapot and mugs. "I believe it's time to tell a story."

For the next hour, Regina told Emma about everything that had happened from Henry falling for a different Cinderella and teaching Drizella magic, to what happened in Hyperion Heights and how the curse was finally broken. It was a lot to take in.

"Then once the curse was fully broken, I realised what needed to be done and then came here as soon as I could."

When Regina finally finished her story, Emma didn't really know what to say. She sipped her tea before saying the first thing that came to mind. "You started dating a witch doctor? Isn't Dr Facillier meant to be the bad guy?"

Out of all the things Regina expected her to comment on, like the fact her son's heart was poisoned and that he'd managed to lose his belief, Emma asking about Facillier was nowhere near the top of the list and she didn't quite know how to answer it. "Umm yeah, I guess," she said finally.

"Oh." Emma didn't quite know how to respond, and she also didn't know why she felt angry all of a sudden. There was an unfamiliar feeling in her gut that she didn't like. "But Henry is okay, yeah?" She asked finally.

"100% yes. Now, tell me about what happened while I was gone."

Now it was Emma's turn to talk but she didn't know where to start. Instinctively, she picked up Hope, cuddling her close. She felt more comfortable with her baby's weight in her arms, it was something to keep her grounded.

"It was shortly after you left that everything, well, went tits up really," Emma finally said. She then realised that she should probably start to filter her language, heaven forbid Hope's first word was a curse word.

Just like Emma had, Regina stayed quiet as the blonde told her what had happened. For the most of the time, it was fine. There were no monsters, if anything everything was too quiet danger wise. Snow had taken up being the mayor part time with none other than Maleficent sharing the role! Neal was 12 now and was great, he was the prince everyone fawned over. He was mischievous and smart and loved winding Emma up whenever she went over to her parents' house and he was a great uncle to Hope and enjoyed cuddling and reading to her, like Henry had to him.

David had taken over as Sheriff while Emma was on maternity leave, but he called her most days asking her advice on the odd case here and there even though he still spent most of his time chasing Pongo and locking up a drunken Grumpy.

"Mom and Dad were there when I went into labour," Emma said, grimacing at the memory of the pain of it but also smiling as this time round, she had her family with her when she gave birth. "They'd come over for breakfast. It was shorter than with Henry and she was smaller, which I was grateful of. She's a rather fussy baby, she cries a lot, but then again, Henry was like that, wasn't he?" Emma glanced at Regina who nodded. Despite them not being real, Emma still had the memories of raising Henry that Regina had given her years ago. "Mom helped me pick the name. I didn't know what to name her for a while, I was feeling a little down and Mom just said, "don't lose hope, you'll find a name that suits her," and I had it. Hope Swan. Hope Mary Regina Swan."

At the mention of her name, Regina gasped. "You named her after me?"

Emma nodded, "I named her after my two favourite women. Dad kept trying to get me to name her Davida or Davetta."

The two chuckled before Regina sobered. There was a question on the tip of her tongue, she'd wanted to ask it all morning. "There's one person you haven't mentioned at all." Emma tensed, she knew what Regina was going to ask. "Emma, where's Hook?"

Unconsciously shifting Hope closer to her, Emma looked down, tears already forming at the corner of her eyes. "He's gone," she whispered. "He said he couldn't be a father, he didn't want to be like his father before him. I was seven months pregnant, but he got on the Jolly Roger and left. I was so upset that I almost lost her. Whale said I was cutting it close. As soon as I was told that, I had to calm down and start eating properly again. I put everything I had into that relationship and it failed, just like the rest of them."

Regina shuffled forward and wrapped her arms around the blonde, while not squishing the baby in her arms. "I'm so sorry," she muttered and without realising what she was doing, she kissed Emma on her forehead.

Neither knew how long they stayed like that, Regina's arms wrapped tightly around Emma and Emma crying softly into her shoulder. It could have been seconds, or hours, all that mattered was that Emma felt better than she had since Killian had left. The only thing Emma was missing now was her son.

Then the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Regina muttered. She slowly got and walked over to the door. Emma couldn't make out what was being said, nor did she recognise the voices that joined Regina's.

Moments later, Regina reappeared but she wasn't alone.

"Ma!"

Emma looked up and saw her favourite person in all the realms. "Kid!" She yelled which unfortunately caused Hope to stir and for the first time, Emma was torn between her children. There was Henry who she hadn't seen for years, apart from those few short moments before Regina left, and Hope who needed her.

However, what happened next Emma never expected. Henry crossed the room and picked Hope out of Emma's arms and hugged her close and muttered quietly to her and she soon stopped crying.

"How did you do that?" Emma asked, half shocked, half impressed.

"I just did what Mom taught me to do with Lucy," Henry replied and shrugged before closing the gap, and being careful of Hope, hugged his mother close. "I've missed you so much," he whispered.

"I've missed you too, Kid." She clutched tightly on him before she felt another weight on her. Looking round, she saw a small girl who came up to her elbow. "You must be Lucy!"

"Hi Grandma!"

Despite the heavy moment Emma had had before her son and his family had arrived, hearing that made her chuckle. "I never thought I'd be a grandma yet but it's so amazing to meet you!" She hugged Lucy tightly before turning around and saw Ella for the first time, she was standing back, not sure what to do. "You must be Ella," Emma said and walked over to her, holding out her hand. "I'm Emma, Henry's other mom, I can't wait to get to know you."

"You too, Emma," Ella replied and smiled, shaking her outstretched hand.

"I've got an idea," Henry said, "I'll call Grandma and Grandpa and we'll all go to Granny's and have a catch up. Ma," he turned to Emma, "do you wanna fetch Hook and we'll meet you there?" At the mention of his name, Emma grimaced again, and Henry realised he'd said something wrong. "Ma?"

"I've got it," Regina muttered. Understanding he'd been dismissed, Henry placed Hope down in the bassinet and took Lucy's hand before joining Ella at the door and the three left the mansion to go see Snow, Charming and Neal.

"I don't know how to tell him," Emma muttered as she turned around to face Regina. "He's older now, I don't want him to go after Killian or do anything stupid."

"He won't," she reassured her. She then crossed the room and picked Hope up and placed her in the pram. "Shall we get going?"

Emma didn't answer but asked instead, "My mom said you were looking for the last piece of a puzzle here in Storybrooke, what is it?"

"Why don't you drop this precious girl off at her grandparents' tonight and come over and I'll tell you?" Regina suggested.

"Sure," she replied.

The two of them then slowly made their way to Granny's. They had beaten Henry and the rest, but the diner was, as usual, rather full. Emma glanced around the room and saw two blonde women who she didn't recognise sitting at a booth accompanied by someone Emma thought she knew very well.

"Killian?"