Finding You

3

Regina took a deep breath right before crossing the town line.

Leaving Storybrooke always made her nervous. She knew that her memory would remain, that's not what bothered her. What bothered her was the lack of magic. It made her feel so powerless. Sure, she had refrained from using magic for a long time as some sort of rehabilitation program- from her addiction to magic and the power it brought, but this, this was different. She had Henry.

She looked across the space between them and looked at his face, still staring out the window. He had gotten so much bigger, she almost didn't even notice, the time flying by, her little boy turning into a young man.

She felt her heart swell for the love she felt for Henry, her love, her life, her sole purpose for living, and she then felt a wave of anxiety settling over her shoulders when she remembered that in this world without magic, she was basically helpless to protect him.

Sure, she had the gun in the console that Emma had given her ages ago for protection in this world, but it still somehow didn't give her the same assurance that her magic did.

The sun disappeared and darkness settled in the car, Henry had still not said a single word. 

She looked at the GPS on the dash and saw that they were still 2 hours out from the hotel she had found on google. 

She didn't really understand the GPS thing, but it talked to her and Emma said that as long as she followed the little blue line she should be fine. 

She was driving to the Hotel in New York her and Emma and Henry had gone to for vacation last summer, she remembered the name and it was the only place she could think of that Emma might go- New York that is.

"I'm hungry" Henry says quietly from the passenger seat.

"Okay" Regina says, looking around for someplace easy to pull into.

She didn't understand how Henry could possibly think of eating at a time like this, and then she hears her stomach growl. She remembers that she hadn't eaten since yesterday around this time-she had never gotten around to the waffles this morning. Or the coffee. She really could've used the coffee.

Still, she wasn't hungry. She was too upset to eat, her stomach may be growling, but it's also churning at the thought of never seeing Emma again.

She sees a big "M" in the distance and decides to pull in there. They had stopped at another big "M" on their way back from their trip last summer. She remembered that Emma called it some ridiculous name-"Mickey-D's". She didn't think that was the actual name of the establishment, but still, the place had a playground inside of it, she wouldn't be surprised if that was it's actual name.

She pulls into the parking lot and parks near the building, within view of the windows. She reaches into the console and grabs the little envelope of money Emma had her always keep for situations like this-in case Regina needed to go into the real world and use their money.

She saw the gun and let her hand flutter over its barrel, contemplating if she needed it or not. She looked around the parking lot and didn't see anyone, there didn't seem to be any imminent threats, still, she grabbed the handle of the gun and put it in the inner pocket of her long black  trench coat.

She shut the top of the center console and pulled the keys out of the ignition. 

Henry looked at her for the go-ahead to get out of the car, and when he sees that he has it he opens the door, gets out, and slams it behind him. Regina jumps slightly when she hears the door slam, and she too gets out of the car. She looks at Henry, who's arms are crossed, he looks furious.