We Can Love Again

Cozy

The room they had been ushered into was extremely tiny for eight exhausted people who had just survived Neverland.

"Are sure this is the only room available?" David asked the employee for the third time, eyeing around the area with concern. There were only two beds, both of them small, a couple lamps resting on wooden tables, and a single window on the adjacent wall.

"We've been busy all this weekend. The trolls finished their migration to this part of the Enchanted Forest."

Snow shrugged. "I suppose we could all squeeze in..."

Her husband pulled out some bills from his back pocket and handed it to the man. The employee stared confused at the money, but gave a curt nod and walked away, leaving the group alone to stare at the shoebox of a room.

"Alright, how are we gonna decide who gets the beds?" Emma asked, already knowing the dispute wouldn't end well.

"Well I think I should get a bed," Henry stated, "after all I was taken hostage for a week and a half."

Regina sighed, looking towards the fairy. "I think Tinkerbell should take one. She was out there for a whole lot longer than we were."
Everyone looked towards the former queen in surprise. Regina being selfless?

"Sounds good to me," Emma shrugged, "but Henry, you're small... Maybe you could choose one of us to share the bed with you?" Even Henry knew by that she wanted to be that person. He looked uncertainty over towards Regina, suddenly feeling like he was caught in the middle.

"Sure Emma, you can sleep next to me," he finally said, "but you can switch off with Regina tomorrow."

Emma rolled her eyes. "I can live with that."

They then settled into the small room, everyone settling on the floor as quickly as possible so they could sleep. Before she did though, Regina went over to her son and gave him a hug.

"I'm so glad you're back," she smiled, "you have no idea how much I missed you."

Henry returned her hug. "I missed you too." He looked up at her skeptically. "So what's with that little kid mom? I saw the way you were looking at him."

Regina let out a quiet laugh. "Jealous, are we?"

"No," he retorted defensively, "I just... Don't want you to replace him with me, that's all."

She held him tighter when she heard his comment- she didn't even think about him saying those words.

"I don't know if I could ever love anyone else the way I love you Henry. Roland is a sweet boy but he could never be like you." Regina paused, hoping she got her wording correct. "I've only known Roland for a little while but... he makes me happy."

She knew this would eventually turn into a conversation about his father, so she decided to cut it off there. "Have a good sleep; I'll be right over there if you need me."

"Night mom." He said with a yawn stretching over his mouth, laying down next to Emma on the bed.

Regina walked over to a free spot on the wooden floor and took off her jacket, balling it into a makeshift pillow before laying down. She, like everyone else, was downright tired.

But even after she closed her eyes, the image of the man with the lion tattoo remained.

--

The next morning, the group set out for the town villages. Everyone was more than happy to get out of the dingy hotel room. Snow and David seemed to enjoy the hustle and bustle the most; they walked around like excited tourists on their honeymoon, pointing and calling attention to every little thing. Henry was the same way, though he was asking questions about little things every few seconds. Regina thought it was fun seeing it all again, but she couldn't help but recall all the moments she had spent as the evil queen down at the villages. Tinkerbell, Hook, and Neal were somewhat the same way- they had all seen it before. Emma seemed interested in it all, but she didn't seem to show much appeal to everything around then. Neal and Hook were already trailing behind her like puppies in need of attention. Regina smirked when she saw how pathetic they looked, already wrestling for the woman's time of day.