"You look good," Regina complimented, running her hand up and down Emma's arm.

"That's why I enlisted. I look amazing in camo," teased the blonde.

Regina rolled her eyes and caught Emma's fingers, her thumb tracing a smooth path from the blonde's index along the curve where her thumb extended.

"Where do you want to go?" Emma asked quietly as they watched Henry gallop back and forth from the directory to the garbage bin.

Regina suppressed a yawn with her closed fist. "A little context, dear."

"When I get back," the blonde explained. "I want to take you on a date."

Regina glanced shyly up at Emma as red tinted her cheeks. "If my count is correct this will be date number two."

"Right, we already did the classic dinner and a movie thing, huh?" With a wry grin, Emma added, "too bad we didn't do the classic make out in the back seat of my car thing."

"I can see you have a one-track mind, soldier. If I didn't know any better, I'd say you wanted me only for my body."

Emma chuckled but squeezed Regina's hand sincerely as she shook her head. "I didn't have to see what you looked like to know how awesome you are."

For a long moment, the air was filled with yearning so strong the pull nearly stole the women's breath as promises and memories filled the space between them.

"For passengers travelling on Flight 436, make your way to the terminal now please."

The man's voice on the overhead sent Emma's heart sinking down into her chest, not even realizing that Regina was having the same feeling. She called to Henry and pressed a kiss to his head when he came galloping back then grabbed her rucksack and swung it onto her back in the process. Regina stood swiftly, gathering their own belongings before Henry took a hand from either woman, sensing their departure and followed them to where a few people were in queue to be allowed onto the plane.

They stopped several yards away, close enough for Emma to catch the last boarding call but far enough that allowed the trio their privacy. Wordlessly, Emma bent down and opened her arms up for Henry, the boy running into her arms the second they parted and squeezing her tightly around the neck. She held him for a long minute until his patience wore thin and he started to squirm. Still, when she released him, she held his shoulders in her grasp and spoke to him firmly. "You and Mommy watch out for each other, okay?"

"Okay," he promised.

"Don't forget to tell her that you love her everyday."

"I'll tell her."

Her voice softened as his wide, brown eyes stared up at her awaiting her next order. "I'm gonna miss you, kid."

She hugged him one last time before standing and facing Regina. The brunette had already discarded her coffee on the walk over and was clutching her middle almost protectively.

"Hi," Emma tried to smirk, but the coyness just couldn't reach her eyes.

"Hey," Regina answered habitually.

The blonde's hand came up to squeeze Regina's forearm affectionately as longing shone in both chocolate and jade eyes. "I'm gonna miss you too."

Regina gave a watery smile before stepping into Emma's space, the blonde understanding immediately and wrapping her arms around Regina who still kept herself wrapped up. "Be safe. Don't do anything stupid."

Emma had been given many orders over the years, some questionable, while others obvious, but that order, almost pleadingly so, coming from Regina was one she promised herself to follow blindly.

But in true Emma Swan fashion, instead of agreeing out loud her vow to follow through, she had a typical sarcastic comment to replace it with. "You know me. I live on the wind of caution"

Regina rolled her eyes and gently pushed out of Emma's embrace, though she stayed chest to chest with the younger woman. "We could make a list of all the reckless things you've done this month alone."

"I'd like to see that."

"That list is endless and your plane is leaving soon."

The blonde sent a playful glare before unwrapping Regina's arms from around her waist and threading them around her neck for another hug. "I'll write to you as soon as I land."

"And call," Regina reminded.

"And call," Emma promised.

They stayed wrapped up in each other's arms, knowing they should part before any onlookers might spot them, but neither woman really gave a damn in that moment. Both knew that every second counted and they would make it last. Emma memorized the way Regina smelled like her night cream and shampoo, lavender and spice all mixed into one. Regina focused on the way her heart thudded maddeningly in her ears whenever Emma touched her, the way it ached for time to simultaneously to slow down and speed up just so she could make the moment last or for Emma's quick return.

They separated briefly, their eyes shining with unbidden emotion as another warning call sounded for passengers to board.

"Do not even think about singing Leaving on a Jet Plane," Regina warned, shoving Emma on the shoulder lightly.

The blonde erupted in watery laughter and thoroughly debated doing just that if only to aggravate Regina one more time but thought better of it. She placed a lingering kiss on Regina's cheek as she had less than a week ago when they stood on the porch of the mansion on Mifflin.

"Stay awesome," Emma said gently before removing herself from Regina much too quickly for her likely but completely necessary because in all honesty, if she didn't let her go, quick like a band-aid, she wouldn't be getting on the plane. She ruffled Henry's hair one more time before turning and striding toward the terminal. She didn't look back, couldn't, when she handed the attendant her ticket and pushed past the glass doors and made her way to the runway.

With each hollow step as she strode through the hallway to the plane, perky attendants greeting her good morning and a safe flight, Emma felt like she was walking away from the best thing that ever happened to her. A sense of dread filled her as she entered the sporadically filled plane where some passengers were already trying to get some shut eye. She removed Rex from her sack and rifled through the bundle of pictures until she found the one she wanted, clutching it to her before hoisting the rucksack into the overhead compartment and sitting down in her seat by the window.

The picture already showed a little wear around the edges from being jostled in her bag and being bunched up with an elastic. The photograph looked up at her, and Emma smiled back as she and Regina stared happily at her from the photo, twin grins and not a care in the world.

Soon, she promised. She'd be home soon.

Chapter 10

Chapter Notes

Disclaimer in Chapter One.

AN: I'm terrible at answering my emails lately, but I'm getting to your reviews! Thank you guys so much for your support.

Emma dropped her duffel on top of her bed and sat down hard beside it. She swung her rucksack into her lap and contemplated her surroundings with just a little hint of disappointment. It wasn't a large double bed with a duvet that felt like it was stuffed with the fluff from cloud nine and housing stuffed animals with a tendency to stick their legs, fins, and tails in her face every time she lay in it, and it certainly wasn't Regina's queen with its goose down pillows and the brunette woman occupying it and her thoughts.

It was a simple single with a good pillow and a pretty warm blanket stationed in the corner Emma had claimed well before being shipped to Iraq. The manilla beige walls surrounding her were still naked as it had been when she left, but her lips twitched into a smile when she eagerly pulled the string of her rucksack and dug through her belongings to find the photos encased in her stolen sweater. Brushing off her cap and placing it on the small nightstand beside her, she unfolded the sweater to find her photos, grinning wildly at the mere thought that she had something to put up, people to show off. More importantly, she had some semblance of grounding that outside this base, when she took off the uniform and let down her hair, she was a part of something. She wasn't quite sure if this is what a family felt like - her and August had a pretty good rarely expressed sibling relationship going on - but she was certain that Storybrooke, Regina and Henry, they were who she wanted to come home to when all this was over.

The thought wasn't as frightening as it should have been. Rifling through the pictures, Emma was constantly reminded that she had someone waiting for her. That was pretty awesome.

Borrowing tape from her neighbour, Emma decorated her walls with almost half of the pictures she had brought along with her. Up went the first picture she, Regina, and Henry had taken all together at his birthday party, right next to that one was Henry seated in August's wheelchair, the duo forming a tentative relationship since Henry had deemed him a nice enough cyborg much to Regina's embarrassment, and directly below that was a corny tourist shot of Emma beneath the clock tower, her and Henry with their mouth comically open in feigned shock as they pointed up at the broken clock. She spent nearly fifteen minutes, carefully choosing which pictures to display and which would remain with the bulk.

She kept the rest hidden in the sweater for the time being but pulled out the last picture of her and Regina, nestled comfortably on the couch, their heads pressed and their eyes beaming with unbidden happiness. She took a moment to soak it in before slipping it into her pillow case for safekeeping. The final piece to her small corner was Rex, placed strategically atop the pillow to ward off bad dreams and to keep her safe as Henry had promised. The dinosaur sat unthreateningly on her bed, one arm noticeably thinner than the other since Regina couldn't salvage the stuffing from the accident, a grape juice stain spotting his yellow belly though his green scales looked to be as clean as if it were new. Henry Mills was inked onto his tag by his red spiked tail in Regina's signature penmanship, and another sudden pang in Emma's chest struck her hard.