"Did you two have a good time?" Emma asked as soon as the three of them had sat down at a table in the diner.

Ruby had just been by to take their orders and to Emma's surprise Regina had let the boy order something entirely unhealthy without complaining about it. When Emma ordered the same thing Regina had looked at her with a look that said 'stop setting such a bad example for him!' Emma had merely shrugged and let Regina order her salad.

"Yeah," Henry said, far more excited than Emma had ever thought he would be after spending a night with the mother he seemed to hate so much. "Mom told me all about the other world!"

His excitement made Regina's heart swell. It gave her hope. And despite knowing how hoping for a happy ending wasn't something she should indulge herself in she did anyway. If Henry could just love her again… if she could get him back… it would make life so much more worthwhile.

"And she also bought me ice cream last night," he continued, telling Emma all about his night with his mother. Emma enjoyed this far more than she probably should. The feeling of having a family, a real family, was something she had never quite had. And here she was, with her son and his mother, her… girlfriend? Her parents were at home, doing whatever parents did and Emma could call them, talk to them, whenever she wanted to. Never would she have thought this was what her life would turn out to be like.

"That sounds lovely," she said, when Henry finished going over ever insignificant detail of the previous night.

"You know…" he said, looking pointedly at Emma, "I think you should ask my mom to teach you how to cook."

Emma just stuck out her tongue at the little boy.

The whole thing made Regina smile. She just sat back in her chair and enjoyed the banter going on between mother and son.

When they had first entered the diner together they had received quite a few stares and a lot of whispering had been going on. But that all stopped after the three of them had selected a table and called Ruby over. Emma wanted to just yell at everyone when they acted like that. As if it was impossible for anyone to want to spend time with Regina. As if Emma was a bad mother for letting Henry spend time with her. But when Emma had made an attempt to get up and give the townspeople a piece of her mind Regina had just put a hand on her arm and shook her head.

"Henry, I'm leaving you with Snow and David tonight," Emma said, right after he had taken the first bite of his grilled cheese. "I have somewhere to be."

"Can't I come?" he asked, looking up at her with big puppy eyes. Emma hated that look. She'd never been very successful at ignoring it. But tonight was her date with Regina and she wanted to spend it as thus.

"Nope, sorry kid." Emma just smiled at him and he dug back into his sandwich.

Regina looked at Emma with a look of adoration. Emma, unknowingly, returned the look which surprised Regina more than anything. She hadn't received that particular look since Daniel and to get it from Emma made her day.

"Can we go to the stables this afternoon?" Henry asked, wiping his greasy hands on his jeans which earned him a disapproving look from Regina. "James has been teaching how to ride a little but I thought maybe you could teach me more?" He looked at Emma, willing her to say yes.

"Kid, I've never even been on a horse before," Emma said, laughing. She had never been particularly fond of horses. She didn't trust them one bit. They were too damn big, too damn strong and too damn stubborn. Or perhaps she was confusing them with mules now, but who cared really?

"Have you ever ridden a horse?" he directed his question at Regina now, who looked taken aback at his implication.

"Y-yes, yes I have, many times," she answered. He grinned at Emma, "perhaps mom can teach you how to ride a horse, too!"

"Looks like your mom's got a whole lot of teaching to do," Emma grinned right back at him and then smiled at Regina.

"I think she should start by teaching you how to handle a horse properly," she said, giving both of them a chance to say yes and spend an afternoon riding horses.

"Would you?" Henry looked up at his mother, gleeful anticipation visible on his face.

"Of course, dear."

"Good, I kinda have something I want to talk to Snow about anyway, so how about you drop him off at dinner time?" Emma asked Regina, winking at her to suggest that was also when Emma would be joining her and take her to dinner.

Regina agreed and paid the bill. Henry had already made his way to Regina's sleek Mercedes, which she had insisted on driving since she still refused to even touch Emma's bug, and Regina quickly kissed Emma on the lips as a way of saying 'see ya'.

Emma kissed the other woman on the cheek and then jogged off in the direction of her apartment. She'd pick up her bug later.

After some inquiries Emma found out that the only proper restaurant the town had to offer was still in business and placed a reservation there. She hoped Regina liked Italian. Not like the woman had much of a choice, unless she preferred Granny's cheeseburgers and fries which Emma knew wasn't the case.

She had asked her parents to look after Henry for the night which they were eager to say yes to and had already taken a shower. She was going to make tonight count. Emma had long since given up on trying to understand her feeling for Regina and decided to just go with it.

She stood by what she had told Henry a few night before, if they would just show Regina enough love and care perhaps she could be rescued. From herself and the wrath of everyone in town. More than anything Emma wanted to be part of that rescue.

Henry was doing his part. He was doing more than his part, really. Emma knew he didn't really hate his adoptive mother, even though he claimed to. She understood that Henry wanted to be a hero, too, like he thought Emma to be.

He was a child with childish notions of the world around him. His concept or right and wrong was so much more black and white than Emma's was. She got it. And she was happy that he got to spend some time with Regina now. Without the stress of Operation Cobra and his worries over Regina thinking he was crazy he finally got the chance to get to know her. To build the bond a mother and son were supposed to have.

But tonight was Emma's turn. It was her turn to show Regina she mattered and that she was capable of being a good person. Capable of being loved.

Emma wasn't stupid. She could easily see through the mask Regina wore. She knew the woman was afraid of love, or being vulnerable. She knew Regina felt that she didn't deserve to be loved. But Emma also knew that Regina longed for it. More than anything she wanted to feel what she hadn't allowed herself to feel since her fiancé passed.

And so, come dinner time, Emma told Henry to be a good boy and behave and took off with Regina, leaving a confused son and parents behind.

"So Storybrooke doesn't allow for a whole lot of creativity when it comes to dinner places," Emma said as she parked the Mercedes in the parking lot of the restaurant.

"Italian is perfect, Emma," Regina said, smiling up at the blonde as she opened the door and held out her hand for Regina to take.

"How was your afternoon with Henry?" Emma asked after handing the menus back to their waiter.

"It was good… fun." Regina smiled as she thought back to the afternoon. Getting to teach Henry something that had once been so important to her had made her feel truly happy, for the first time in a long time.

"So… do you want me to teach you how to ride?" Regina asked, thinking back to Henry teasing Emma about it earlier.

"Eh…" Emma cringed at the thought… horses really weren't her cup of tea. "Do I have to learn?"

"You do if we ever return to the other land," Regina smiled at the thought of it. Emma would be the oddest princess of them all. There was really nothing ladylike about her at all.

Emma stared at the table and mumbled something Regina couldn't hear. "What's that?"

"I said…" she started, "I don't think I want to return there." Emma felt a blush come up.

She felt weird, admitting it. It was where she was born, it was supposed to be her home.

She knew her parents would want to return. She'd seen it in Snow's eyes the entire time they spent there; she felt at ease, she knew how to survive there. It was her home. But not Emma's. And Emma didn't want to go back there. She knew she could adapt to the situation if she tried, she'd adapted to many situations in her lifetime, but she didn't know if she wanted to. Despite its many flaws, she loved this world. She loved indoor plumbing. She loved the internet. She loved her car. Hell, she lovedburgers. Why would she want to go to some land where she'd instantly turn into some tea-sipping princess? This world was fine. She had no desire to leave it.

"I don't think I want to, either," Regina admitted.

Emma wasn't surprised, what was there for Regina to go back to, really? She wasn't even mayor anymore, no way would she ever be Queen again.

This world was a lot more forgiving than the other one. Once her chivalrous father had figured out a way around the memory loss thing when leaving Storybrooke Regina could just leave and make a life for herself elsewhere. Nobody was going to judge her for being an Evil Queen who had cursed everyone into oblivion. Hell, Regina could probably the new President if she wanted to.

"You don't have to go there, Emma, nobody can force you."

"I finally got my parents back," Emma gave as an argument. And that was really the only thing she worried about. If she hadn't found her parents again she wouldn't even be considering going there permanently.

"Emma, they'll understand."

Emma looked up from the table and into Regina's eyes, they were completely clear from any lie or deceitful notion. Instead they offered comfort and understanding.

"I really don't think they will." She sighed and then smiled at the waiter as he brought them their steamy plates of pasta.

"We could just leave," Emma said. It was a lame move. It was what she always did, running away from the situation.

"We can't. You know that."

"We can. And we'll take Henry with us. Move to New York or something, Henry's never really been to a big city before. Neither have you. You'll like it there," Emma rambled. It seemed like the perfect scenario. They'd move away and live the rest of their lives as a happy family. Henry would find it in his heart to forgive Regina for everything and they could be happy.

"I'd like that," Regina admitted, smiling sweetly at Emma's self-conscious form. "You need to talk to your parents about this. I think they'd rather live in this world, which really isn't all that bad, than lose their daughter again."

The lack of malice in Regina's voice when talking about her parents, the people she hated so much, astounded Emma. Who would've thought…

"I'll talk to them about it."

They ate in a comfortable silence. Here and there one would ask a silly question, about their past, their preferences, their likes and dislikes. They spent the night getting to know each other, like Emma had intended it to go.

After dinner Emma had driven Regina home, walking her to the door where she was generously rewarded for the 'lovely evening'.

When the women let go of each other Regina decided to just ask what she'd been thinking all evening. "Do you really want to be with me?"

Emma looked up, startled. How could Regina still not understand that Emma wanted her? All of her. "Yes, Regina, I want to be with you for a very long time."

Their respective insecurities caused them to laugh simultaneously. Regina wanted to believe Emma, and vowed she would try very hard to. Emma just hoped she wouldn't let the brunette down.

"I'm not an easy person to live with," Regina warned her playfully.

"Oh I know," Emma said, catching on, "but neither am I, we'll be in balance."

They brought their lips together once more and when Regina felt the tip of Emma's tongue against her lips she drew back. "Would you like to come in?"

Emma nodded and quickly followed Regina inside, up the stairs and to their happy ending.

The End.