Long Lost

By AndromedaETonks

Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.

Spoilers till the end of season 2

Thank you MissBreePhoenix for beta-reading this.

Chapter 1

Regina sat with Henry at the dining table eating her famous lasagna. It was the first time in months Henry was over for dinner. Both of them were enjoying their time alone together, especially Regina.

"How is the lasagna, Henry?" Regina asked.

"Good. I kinda missed it when I was away."

"I missed you being here to enjoy it." Henry gave his mom a smile, and went back to eating.

Regina was grateful for this time alone with her son after thinking for some time that she would lose him for good. She almost did lose him when Greg and Tamara first activated the trigger, and then tried to kidnap Henry. Thankfully, Hook came back to help and stopped them from taking Henry but unfortunately Greg and Tamara escaped Storybrooke before they could stop them. Regina wanted very much to get her hands on them for first torturing her, then attempting to take her son and would do just that if they ever came back. For now, Storybrooke seemed safe from Greg and Tamara since Mr. Gold set up a cloaking spell to keep them and whomever they work for from finding Storybrooke again.

Since she and Emma stopped the trigger from destroying the town and everyone in it, Regina has been focusing on working to be the person Henry wants her to be; having failed the first time, she was more determined not to, though it was very difficult. It seemed to be worth it though as her relationship with Henry was improving greatly, he was starting to spend more time with her. She had no doubt that Henry did love her and that he knows how much she loves him. Her relationship with the rest of Henry's family was civil in their limited interactions since saving the town mainly because of Henry and as much as Regina hated to admit it, David was right: they were family. It was also true they did not let her die twice in the past week when they could have and she was thankful to them for that.

After dinner, the two of them went for a nice walk for a while before heading back to the house for desert. Not too long after they had finished the yellow bug pulled up out front and Emma came to the door.

"Hello, Miss. Swan," Regina said after she answered the door.

"Hi. Is Henry ready?" Emma asked, walking into the foyer.

"Yes, he's just getting his backpack from upstairs. He'll be down in a minute."

"Okay. I'm glad you two got to spend time together."

"Me, too. Thank you for letting him come over."

"I know Henry really wanted to."

"Any news on Greg and Tamara?" Regina asked, breaking the minute of silence.

"Nothing yet." They both sank back into an awkward silence and were relieved when they heard movement upstairs followed by Henry coming down the steps with his backpack in hand.

"Hey, kid," Emma greeted.

"Hey, Emma."

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah," Henry said, fully putting his backpack on both shoulders. Henry looked over to Regina and gave her a hug, wanting her to know he enjoyed their time together. "See you tomorrow for breakfast, Mom. 'Night."

"Goodnight, Henry," Regina said, hanging on to Henry for a minute before letting him go. Emma put her arm around Henry as they walked out to the car.

"'Night, Regina," Emma said as they left the house.

"Bye, Ms. Swan." Regina watched from the door as Henry got into the car.

He turned around after he was in and waved at her. Regina smiled and waved back; she stood at the door until the car drove away—leaving her alone yet again.

Regina went to the kitchen and finished washing the dishes before going upstairs to get ready for bed. Once she settled into bed, Regina looked over at the picture of her and Henry that she kept on the nightstand. She smiled at the picture; missing Henry though he only left a while ago and had been with her since the school day ended. Regina wished he could stay overnight sometime though she doubted Emma would let that happen any time soon because of her hesitation with letting him come over today and stay for dinner. Considering everything that had happened recently, Regina could hardly blame Emma for not letting Henry stay overnight. Regina sincerely meant what she had told Emma in the mines that most of everything that had happened recently was her fault and still did. Though it was proving to be hard for Regina to accept responsibility for her actions but she knew if she wanted to change for Henry, she had to. More than anything, she wanted her son back in her life and prove to him that she can change as well as to be seen as Regina and not the Evil Queen.

Regina shook off her thoughts when she started to feel tired and about to drift off into sleep. Though she knew she probably would have another restless night's sleep since Greg used electroshock on her. Every night for the past week, sleep for Regina would bring about the same strange dream.

In the dream Regina was doing her hair at the mirror in her bedroom in her parents' house. Then suddenly she would hear what sounded like a baby's cries through the walls of the house. Something inside Regina told her to go look for the source of the crying. She would leave her room and hear the crying grow louder and louder as she searched in every room of the house but never finding anything. When she made it back to her room, thinking the crying was coming from there she would look around, panicked, when the echo of the crying became more distorted and softer…

Tonight was no different. Regina woke up, alarmed, as she had since the dreams began, siting up in bed and having to take a minute to catch her breathe from the intensity of the emotions she felt from the dream. Normally, Regina was not one to dwell on dreams but something about this one left her very unsettled and the worst part of all was how real the dream felt. Like this had happened before.

The next day Henry sat in a booth at Granny's Diner, waiting for Regina to meet him there and his breakfast to be ready. After a couple minutes, one of the waitresses brought over his plate of pancakes.

"Thanks," Henry smiled, happy to have his breakfast, as he was very hungry. He began scarfing down the pancakes when he saw his mom walk in the diner and make her way over to him, sitting across from him.

"Good morning, Henry."

"'Morning," Henry smiled, though the bit of pancake was still in his mouth.

"How are your pancakes?"

"Delicious."

"Good," Regina said with a small chuckle.

Granny went over to take Regina's order and bring her coffee. Regina was sipping her coffee, hoping it would help with the tiredness when she noticed Henry looking at her with some concern.

"Mom, are you okay?" he asked. "You look a little tired."

"I'm okay, I'm just little tired today that's all," Regina said, and Henry gave her an expectant look, clearly wanting more information as to why she was tired. "I haven't really been sleeping well."

"Bad dreams or just trouble falling asleep?" Henry questioned.

"I guess you could call it a bad dream. It's fine, Henry. Nothing to worry about."

"Then why do you look so concerned?"

"The dream has caused me some restless nights, but it's okay. It will go away soon," Regina said, trying to assure her son.

"Wait, you've been having this dream more than once?" Henry looked more concerned by what Regina was telling him. "Like when I was in the room with fire?"

"No, Henry, it's not like that."

"You don't know that. Come on, we should tell Emma and my grandparents, maybe they can help."

"Henry." Regina took her son's hand, stopping him "I don't need Emma and your grandparents' help with this. It's only a dream."

"But dreams don't normally keep recurring—especially if they are bad dreams," Henry said. "Mom, trust me. They can help you."

"Henry…" Regina started.

"Mom, please, we can help you."