The Past is in the Past (AU)

3

Emma's interactions with Regina were running through her mind. She had long forgotten about the brunette from her past. They had so many memories together, that made her stomach do all sorts of twists and turns, and not in a good way. Ok, some of them were good, but that was besides the point. She moved to Colorado to separate herself from her past, and Regina Mills was a HUGE part of her past. Figaro joined Emma in her bed, sensing her distress after her nap. Her circled her and purred as she reached out her hand and let it float across the fur on his back.

"Thanks Fig, I know we didn't see eye to eye when M&M first brought you home but you do make for good emotional support."

Figaro meowed in acknowledgement as he decided to lay down on her chest.

"Sorry, I don't have your litter. Think you could stick it out another night?"

He meowed once again as he started to lick his paws. For a few moments everything was like it used to be. She was in a safe place only caring about her life in Denver, nothing from her past. Those brief moments of serenity were interrupted with a knock at the door.

"Hmm, she wasn't suppose to be back until later tonight." Emma said as she got up to open the door, "You know, you have a ke-"

Emma choked on her words as she fully opened the door and the brunette waiting on the other side wasn't her roommate.

Regina waved hesitantly, "You- uh- forgot these at the store. And your wallet fell out of your pocket," she said as she reached in her back pocket for the wallet and handed Emma the bag.

She took the items cautiously and swallowed the fear lodged in her throat, "How did you find out where I live?"

Regina rubbed her neck nervously, "Your wallet. It had your-"

"My drivers license... Which has my address. Of course," she replied with a simple face palm.

"Yeah... So Em, I was thinking. Maybe we could talk."

Emma's face contorted into sea of mass confusion, "Em? Do you really think after all these years you get to call me that? After what you did to me?!"

"I know, I'm sorry. That's why I want to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about. I went to juvie because of you. You're the reason I couldn't land a single foster home or even a group home before I aged out. They shoved me into halfway house after halfway house until I aged out. Have you ever been to a halfway house? I was 17 forced to share rooms with middle aged women I had a parole officer because of what you did! It took me MONTHS to successfully get everything expunged. You promised you weren't going to leave," she said as tears threaten to pool.

"I know, I know. I'm sorry. I didn't know they were gonna pin everything on you and get you moved after it all went down. I wanted to see you and explain everything. I'm sorry Em."

"Stop calling me that! We're not kids anymore Regina. It's time to take responsibility for our actions. I made peace with everything that happened between us a long time ago. It don't know why you're here but you can go now," she said as she pushed back her tears, not allowing Regina to see the affect she still had on her.

With a sigh of defeat Regina pulled out notepad and a pen. She quickly scribbled something on it and handed it to Emma, "Here's my number. I know you're feeling too much right now, but please give me a call when you're ready to hear my side of things."

"Is that my favorite blonde I hear," Ruby said as she walked up the stairs, "Oh, you have company. We can postpone tonight if you want."

Emma shook her head violently, "No! She was uh just leaving."