It's almost lunch time when they leave the tea shop. Kathryn agrees to take care of the office while Regina takes a few days off. Dr. Hopper had also recommended taking a small vacation with Emma just to see where they stand. But what Kathryn suggested was the complete opposite of it. She and Jim had bought a small beach house from Gold a few miles away from Storybrooke.

It wasn't big and, from what Kathryn had described, the floor was old and could hear every step, the furniture had seen better days, but all you had to do to transform the place was to start a fire and Kathryn insisted that it was the best place for Regina to go and clear her head from everything.

"I'll think about it," Regina says and finds that a weekend away from Emma doesn't sound like a bad idea. "Are you sure it's not a bother? I'd hate to keep you and Jim from your love nest."

"Friday is the game with the Crows."

"I'm sorry," Regina offers a small smile and Kathryn makes a grimace before looking away.

The Crows are Ellsworth's basketball team and Storybrooke's Sardines arch nemesis. Henry didn't like basketball as much as he loved baseball, but they always went to Sardine's games to support the team. The Sardines had lost the last five games with the sixth being a close one.

"No love nest for me for a week or two." Kathryn half whines half jokes.

"I'm sorry," Regina doesn't know what else to say and they part ways with a promise that she'll drive Kathryn to Ellsworth and back for moral support before heading to the beach house for the weekend.

Regina is putting her seat belt on when Kathryn knocks softly the window. "You better buy some food." Another grimace. "The Sardines lost a lot of games this season."

Despite herself Regina laughs.

She doesn't go back to her office. Kathryn will inform her secretary about the small leave she's taking. Other than the meeting today, they had no other issues that needed her attention and even if they had, Regina trusted Kathryn to be an even better Mayor than she is. In fact, she had asked from the blonde to run for Mayor, but Kathryn refused politely. She was more than happy to be Regina's second in command, but she loved the simple life she had here with Jim.

Regina didn't push again and Kathryn doesn't seem to regret her decision.

Instead she drives around Storybrooke, checking everything that needs to be done before next winter. The nights are getting warmer. Not enough to be able to enjoy a drink to the back patio, but seasons change fast even in Maine. That reminds her; Emma is going to have a summer baby.

She doesn't know why people care so much about such silly thing. Ruby was ecstatic with the news, Henry too, and even Granny made a comment about all needing a little sunshine in their lives, looking Regina straight in the eyes. The pup might forgive her, but the old wolf hasn't. Emma swears that's Granny's way, but Regina slept with a hunter for far too many years to be fooled.

She knows that for a lot of people she'll never be anything more than the Evil Queen and she's fine with it. Kingdoms are ruled with fear not with kisses and hugs and they might not like her, but no one can claim she doesn't do her best to keep this town up and running. She did it for twenty eight years and she is not going to stop just because some peasants don't like her.

She's about to turn into Granny's when her phone vibrates. Emma or Henry. Probably Emma. She parks the car, thinking of ignoring whoever send her the message and have a early, light lunch at Granny's, when she spots Snow and Charming inside. The last thing she wants to do is have to endure an hour with them. Snow is giving her the puppy eyes while David looks at her as if he wants to hug and yell at her at the same time.

IM MAKING LUNCH

Regina smiles picturing Emma in the kitchen, bowls and plates around her. She's not a good cook, she's not, but she's trying.

IM BAKING BREAD

Well, that's impressive. She's ready to call home and tell Emma that she has a little something to pick for Henry when her phone vibrates for a third time.

I BURNED THE BREAD

"Of course you did," she murmurs, thankful that no one is close enough to see her talking to herself.

I'M ON MY WAY.

She sends and steps out of the car.

"I'm pretty sure that Henry doesn't need his mom to buy comics for him anymore." The man, tall, with a round face and a receding hairline, smiles at her behind the counter.

"As a parent, I need to make sure that what he reads is suitable for his age."

They say they same lines three years now and Regina finds comfort in their weekly routine. He's teasing her about the comics, she's somewhat harsh when she answers back, but both are smiling as if they were old friends. The man, Alan, was her husband's best blacksmith and he and his wife had lost a child from fever a long before she was Queen.

Back in their land, despite his loss, he always was seen with a smile in his face. She not once heard him complain and always finished any job she had for him on time. He was one of the few that didn't judge her. Regina had heard stories about a different man, one that liked to drink and spend many nights at the town's brothel, stories that she brushed away as rumors because her blacksmith was nothing like that man.

Perhaps she wasn't the only one changed after a tragedy. Back then she was too self-obsessed to realize that, but when she cast the curse she made sure some people were in a better position than others. And while for some being a school teacher didn't seem like a punishment for Snow it was. Alan was never separated from his wife, had an easy job, and, like Ruby, he didn't seem to think of Storybrooke as a curse rather like a second chance.

"Of course," he says back and his brown eyes are warm when he gives her this week's comic books.

The pile is getting heavier every time and Regina will have to talk to Henry about maybe dropping some titles, but she knows she will not. That's one of the few things she shares with her son and while she knows he's taking advantage of her, she can't bring herself to stop.

At least his obsession with comic books and girls keeps him out of trouble. With the curse broke, teens were starting to act like normal teens. Emma had caught a few kids from Henry's class smoking pot and while Storybrooke wouldn't turn to be the next drug Mecca anytime soon, the worry was real.

"How much do I owe you this time?"

He smiles and gives her the receipt.

"Next time Henry comes and orders new books," she says as she fishes two twenty dollar bills from her bag, "Give me a call."

"That I will," he nods.

He won't, Henry is good at making people do what he wants, and Regina takes pride that this behavior of his is more her than Emma's.

"I thought you were joking, but you really burned the bread," Regina steps into the house and heads straight to the kitchen, waving a hand in front of her face in an attempt to get rid of the smell of burned that's in the air. "Emma, how did you managed to burn the bread? We have a machine for that-Oh!"

She has her answer.

Emma, knowing that Regina loves flatbread, tried to make them for her and, Regina can't see, but she's sure of it, burned every single one of them. It should be comical, a story kept for boring winter nights, certain to make people (Henry) laugh until they have tears in their eyes, but it is not.

Emma is sitting quietly, facing away from the door and Regina, and even though she seems calm and put together, Regina knows the blonde well enough to know when she's having a bad day and needs comfort and when she's needs some tough love.

"Do you know how hard it is to burn twelve of these little fuckers?" Emma suddenly says and looks at her. "I've burned them, Regina, every single one. One after another and didn't stop until they were all dark and crispy."

Regina, sensing that this is more than a few burned flatbreads, simple says, "Okay."

"What is wrong with me?" Emma closes her eyes and leaves a cold laugh and they might have problems in their relationship, but that doesn't mean she wants to see Emma hurt. She thinks of hurting the blonde with all kind of ways, but it's just the thoughts of a broken heart and far from what she wishes to see.

"You're a terrible cook."

Emma laughs then. She looks at Regina before throwing her head back and laughing.

"I'm a terrible person." She says once she's stops laughing.

"The worst kind," Regina agrees.

"The kind that hurts the people she loves."

Regina doesn't correct her.

She prefers the winter, she always had.

Maybe that's why the curse brought them all to Maine and not somewhere else, somewhere warmer like Florida or California. Maine, in a lot of ways, reminds her of their land. The towns don't smell like piss, sweat and desperation like they did in her world, but the forest keep towns isolated from one another, making the state feel much larger than it really is.

But nothing stays hidden forever and as the weather will get warmer their little sleepy town will start to change, slowly wake from its slumber until it's fall again and another year will have passed. Few more years and Henry will have to leave for collage leaving his moms behind. It didn't seem such a tough thing to accept; kids grow, leave their nests and start their own, and Regina had accepted that it was the natural way of life.

Emma and she often joked that they were going to turn Henry's room into a library or a home gym, both knowing that they couldn't stand to change a single thing in his room. But now, everything has changed and the future doesn't seem so bright anymore. No, the future seemed to be gloomy at best.

But she was used to long winters.

"Get up," she orders Emma and the blonde looks at her puzzled. "We are going to make flatbreads and I'm going to show you how to cook them so you're not going to burn them next time."

"You are good at this."

"Told you, cooking is like magic."

Regina, feeling comfortable that Emma will see the bubbles on the bread and take it out of the pan, is sitting on the table, watching Emma in case she needs help and stealing bites of chicken from the salad. Emma needs to spend hours in the kitchen if she wants to call herself a cook, but even Regina can't ignore that the blonde is rather good at making salads. She wasn't before and thought that Granny's Caesar's was heaven on earth, but she has downloaded over one hundred recipes for salads.

And as much as Regina wants to believe that you can't burn a salad, Emma has, in fact, burned a chicken fillet or two in the months she's been cooking, but not this one. This one is cooked in perfection; crispy on the outside and juicy inside. The croutons, Regina knows, come from a box Emma keeps stored behind the sugar and rice and whatnot. She thinks Regina doesn't know, but Henry found out her secret stash and sworn his mother to secrecy.

"I think I get it now," Emma nods and turns, fast, two breads that are starting to get dark on the edges. "You follow instructions, but it doesn't mean you have to follow it by the letter."

Regina picks a Kalamata olive; Henry's favorites. He likes the acidic aftertaste they leave in the mouth and Regina always keeps a jar for him. Emma chose well. The chicken with that dressing and this olive make an amazing combination. If she wanted to add something it would be another pinch of salt and maybe a tiny pinch of white pepper to add flavor.

"With common spells, yes, but the more complex a spell is the more you need to follow the instructions. You can always add salt after the food is done, but forget to add an ingredient or add too much of one, and you have a whole different spell."

"Yeah, well, it's not as if we don't know how to get rid of a body," Emma turns the stove off and serves the rest of the breads in a plate before brushing each bread with some olive oil, a pinch of sea salt and some oregano.

"Or break a curse," Regina offers.

"That too," Emma smiles at her, a soft, shy smile that doesn't live long. Regina can only imagine what's going inside the sheriff head, but she doesn't feel sorry for her. Emma did this herself and while she appreciates the effort, it will take more than a fancy chicken salad to fix things between them.

And if Regina wants to be honest, sometimes she thinks that nothing will fix her relationship with Emma.