We Can Love Again

Rise then Fall

The concept of school was slowly turning into a normal routine for her two boys. To everyone's astonishment, Roland was actually letting himself have fun at preschool. He came home practically talking Regina's ear off about all the things they did that day. Henry had adjusted to live as a sixth grader; she assumed he was enjoying himself, for he hadn't told her otherwise. He did come home with countless pages of homework to do though. Regina tried helping him as best she could, but the curriculum he was getting into was far beyond her knowledge. She would never tell anyone this of course, but Regina was technically never in school- her mother refused to send her to a public education setting. So she never actually learned any mathematics or science. Her father had taught her how to read, that was about it. When she came to Storybrooke, Regina had to teach herself basic addition, subtraction, and multiplication so she could file taxes and keep track with her budget. She supposed that deemed her a royal airhead.

"You think just because it's the weekend, you can sit around and do nothing?"

Regina asked Henry, who was placed directly in front of the television, glued to another one of his video games. The thing was, Will wasn't there with him.

"It's my first day off mom," he replied, tactically stuffing Cheetos in his mouth whenever possible, "give me a break!"

She responded by rolling her eyes. "Well I'm going to get a few things from the store, so keep an eye on Roland," she instructed, fetching her purse, "and if Will comes back while I'm gone, don't let him get into my peanut butter."

Henry noted how serious she sounded about the peanut butter.

"Emma won't respond to my texts about dinner either... I have no idea why, she's always glued to her phone." Regina muttered, mostly to herself as she unlocked the door and stepped outside. It was a nice day, though cold was already beginning to slip its way into the breeze and the lapping shores of the ocean. Regina hated the season of fall most of all; it was the time where everything slowly began to die.

The streets were still alive with people, though, smiling to one another as they went about their day. These people were no longer peasants, or villagers- they were colleagues, acquaintances, and friends.

The brunette had even started listening to the radio, after Ruby had left it running one too many times. She realized that she quite enjoyed living what one would call a normal life.

But then she would laugh to herself.

The man she loved was trapped in another realm, and she had no idea when his return would be. Regina gripped the steering wheel tighter, as if releasing some of her bitterness towards the subject.

The cycle looped on and on.

She was almost halfway towards the grocery store when she spotted Emma walking on the other side of the street. Regina debated talking to her then about the plans she had neglected, and soon came to the decision that it would be easier to just get it over with now. Honking her horn to get the blonde's attention, Regina was surprised to see her jump a little. It was very uncharacteristic, though subtle. She parked alongside the sidewalk and got out of her car.

"You never answered me about tomorrow's plans!" Regina told her, her usual accusation voice filled with a slight tease, all the harshness taken out of its tone.

Emma stuck her hands in her back pockets. That's when she noticed that her hair was curled like the way she used to do it, tight, bouncy ringlets- something she wasn't used to seeing.

"Sorry, got... Distracted." She replied flatly, scowling at her own thoughts.

"Well, I know this weekend is supposed to be yours for taking care of Henry, but I thought maybe we could switch-"