"Yeah, she's going to," August explained with a chuckle. "Come here, kid."

Henry went, and the camera shifted before the screen was filled with August and Henry's heads pressed together. "Say I miss you."

"I miss you!"

"Say I love you."

"I love you!" Emma bit her lip, trying to contain her grin but allowed it show without much of a fight.

"Say Mommy loves you."

"Mommy loves you!" Emma rolled her eyes, especially when August's eyebrows rose just a little bit to show how pleased he was with himself.

"Say Uncle August loves you."

"Un-ca August loves you!"

"Say I'm the best."

"I'm the best."

"No, I'm the best," August clarified.

"I'm the best," Henry giggled, insistent. He squirmed out of August's arms and ran to Regina who had stood and glanced shyly at the camera, the sun shining right behind her making her glow. Emma smiled. The Mayor could hold press conferences in front of grumpy, old, men and make them feel two inches tall with just a glare, and she could use her words to talk circles around lawyers, but in that moment, Regina simply looked like a mother, camera shy and pleased as Henry swung her arms around. "Right, Mommy?"

"You're the best," Regina confirmed.

"You got something to say to Emma?" August enticed, but to Emma it sounded like goading.

Regina glared at him for a moment before bending down to swing Henry onto her hip. She stared at the camera begrudgingly for half a second, the conflict clear to Emma before it lifted and brown eyes softened. Regina squeezed Henry to her and smiled softly at the camera. "Hi, soldier," she said quietly to the camera as August zoomed in so it was just Henry and Regina's face filling the screen. "We wish you were here. Stay safe and visit again soon."

The slow, controlled words Regina spoke had Emma knowing she was making great effort not to say too much or sound more than a friend than she actually was. It was painful in the worst way. She was there, Emma could see Regina, but it wasn't completely her, and god, it sucked. It seemed Regina felt the same for she looked down for the briefest of moments before smiling softly again, nudging Henry with her cheek. "Say goodbye to Emma, dear."

He waved happily to the camera. "Bye, Emma!"

"We'll see you soon, Emma," Regina promised.

The camera shifted back to August, and the man winked. "Be good, kid."

The screen cut out for good this time, and Emma was left sitting in the viewing room, her eyes shut and a flurry of emotion rushing through her. How could she be so ridiculously happy and so, so sad at the same time? Her head dropped to her hands, smiling at how Henry had jumped eagerly into his songs, how August had gone to such an effort to send Emma a tape, and how Regina looked so goddamn pretty it was insane.

Christ, she didn't ever think she'd be homesick this much. It was like all the years Emma moved from foster home to foster home made up for the fact that the overwhelming feeling of absolutely needing to go back home struck her so hard she couldn't even think straight.

But god, Henry was cute singing those songs. She'd have to have a word with both Regina and August though. When did they become so chummy-chummy? Emma had to admit, she kind of liked the idea that he approved of Regina and that he'd taken up his role as Uncle August eagerly. She bet he had Henry calling him that all day.

Wow, Emma thought as she leaned back in her chair. They were her family.

She exhaled and leaned her elbows on her knees in dumbstruck realization. Wow. Her family was pretty damn awesome.


September 22, 2004 - Fort Benning, Georgia

Emma nodded as she dropped in her latest letter to Regina into the outgoing box and turned sharply to exit out of the mail room. She had about an hour to kill before dinner, and that hot cocoa was calling her name. As she exited the mail room and turned toward the servery, Emma nearly collided right into Neal.

"Woah." Emma narrowly avoided him and sidestepped, but he grabbed her forearm more tightly than she was ready for. She paused and instinctively ripped her arm back, putting distance between herself and Neal as the man towered over her. "What?"

"Can we talk?" He whispered as he approached, though Emma took a step back.

"About what?"

A crowd of people walked between them, and Emma thought for a second that she could get lost in them, but she wasn't a coward, and she was more than a little curious to see what he wanted.

Neal motioned his head back to their empty barracks where the rest of their team were either in the common rooms, showers, or at their MOS. It was rare for their room ever to be empty, and clearly Neal was taking advantage of that.

He shut the door behind them, and all this mystery had Emma's stomach in knots. She took a defensive pose in the middle of the room, hands on her hips and raised eyebrow as she looked questioningly at the man. "So?"

He dug into his pocket and produced his cell phone. Emma didn't react. Made no movement that she had any idea what he was thinking about. But she knew he knew, and she had no idea how this was going to end up.

"You know, you may have record for some petty thefts, Swan, but you're pretty terrible at clearing your tracks. You didn't think me or Tamara would see the bill or anything?"

"What are you talking about, Cassidy?" The blonde evaded.

He scoffed and stuffed his phone back in his pocket. "Come off it, Ems. I know you called Maine."

"I didn't call anyone."

He advanced toward her slowly. "Really," he deadpanned. "A forty-two second call to Maine at 1:36 in the morning wasn't from you?"

"Pocket dial?" Emma guessed.

"Bullshit." In all the years she'd known the man, Neal had never taken that tone with her. He ran a hand over his head and huffed. "I'm trying to help you here, Swan. I can't do that if you keep lying to me."

She rolled her eyes and pushed past him. "I don't know what you think I need help with, but I can take care of myself."

Her hand was on the door when Neal spoke. "You're getting sloppy. Tip toeing at one in the morning to steal my phone? The tape from August was a nice touch, but I could read between the lines as soon as she came on screen and so can half the guys here. You're lucky I closed the door and stood guard."

Emma turned slowly as Neal slammed her with a pleading puppy dog look to listen.

"I'm not–" Emma tried to deny one more time, but Neal interrupted. "You're saying her name in your sleep sometimes."

Her veins chilled like ice water had been injected into them. A lump formed in her throat, and she crossed her arms over her chest in protection.

"I don't think anyone heard. That's why I've been chucking socks at you in your sleep," he explained bashfully.

"Seriously?" She squinted. "I thought you were being a jackass."

"I was being nice," he defended haughtily then smirked. "The first time."

Emma shook her head and walked further into the room, crossing the length to reach her bunk and slump down hard.

"Hey," he said following her to the opposed cot. "It's okay."

But it wasn't. She'd get dishonourably discharged, and a note like that would make her a pariah for the rest of her life. What awful thing did Corporal Swan do to get kicked out of the army? Love a woman. Oh. She swallowed hard.

"Emma," Neal said gently and ducked his head to meet Emma's gaze. "When I said you can trust me three years ago, I meant it. I'm not going to tell anyone. Just letting you know so that you can be more careful. Not everyone is as great as I am."

She wanted to roll her eyes, but she knew it was true. She knew personally of a few homophobic officers on base and even in her division. Sometimes they wouldn't discharge you; sometimes they'd let you fend for yourself as an outed soldier.

"When did you know?" Emma asked quietly, refusing to make eye contact.

He shrugged. "Just took a wild guess."

"What?" She asked incredulously.

"I had a feeling."

"One day, your feeling's gonna get you killed."

He shrugged again. "You just look crazy happy every time you get a letter or make a call," he explained. "In case you're wondering, you have enough pictures of dudes on your wall to cover it up."

She bit her lip in worry. On one hand, it felt nice to have an ally, someone she knew she could count on to talk to about anything. On the other hand, she was paranoid everyone knew. She never took Neal to be extremely perceptive, so if he knew who else did?

"Hey," he called again, this time nudging her with his boot. "If you ever need to call again, you're welcome to use my phone."

Her lips parted in shock at the sudden generosity of the man. "Neal, that's– I can't."

"I'm in a good mood, Swan, so take the offer before it leaves the table," he said with a smug grin.

She scoffed lightly and shook her head incredulously then nodded. "Okay," she conceded. "Okay. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He leaned back on the bed, his hands behind his head as he continued to grin. "Now that that's out of the way, aren't you gonna ask me why I'm in such a good mood?"

Leave it to Neal to downplay her coming out secret and overshadow it with news of his own. Still, she appreciated the man even more after these past ten minutes she almost wished she had been a bit more accommodating in the friendship department sooner. "Why are you in such a good mood?" She finally asked.