"You know, when I told that I'd help you find your happy ending all those years ago, I never thought that I'd be it for you." Emma stroked the brunette hair in her lap, smiling at Regina's sleepy grin.
"I always hoped."
"Yeah?" Emma's hand lowered to the strong jaw and lovingly caressed. Regina looked up at her wife and lifted a hand to bop that button nose she loved dearly. She loved everything about Emma.
"Yes. Ever since I had to let you and Henry go at the town line. I knew that my depression wasn't just about my son but also about the possibility of losing my chance with you. I thought I'd never see you two again. Then, when I did see you, I was… afraid, especially when I saw you with Hook. I thought I needed to move on. So I tried, even though trying made me just as miserable."
"I loved you back then too, you know," Emma chuckled self deprecatingly, "We wasted so much time."
"But we're here now. Maybe we were meant to fall into a relationship when we did."
"I thought you no longer believe in fate?"
"How could I not, Emma?" Regina sat up, placing her forehead against her wife's, "Fate moved time and space and realms for us to be together. It paused my aging so that you could catch up. It gave us a son. I always cursed at Fate for ruining my life. When I was searching for the author, I was trying to give Fate a giant middle finger. But maybe this was always a part of its plan? Maybe it pushed me to you? Maybe it brought us together and allowed us to fall in love, like it knew we would?"
"You saying Fate may not be a bitch?"
Regina chuckled cheekily, "No, she's a colossal bitch… but she fixed it."
"Fixed it?"
"She gave me Henry and gave me my shot with you. She gave me the chance to be happy. I took it. This, you and Henry, is what I've always wanted, even if I didn't know it when you first showed up on my front walkway or cut a branch off my apple tree. This is where Fate wanted me to be. I believe that."
Emma leaned forward and placed a chaste kiss on Regina's lips, "Then call me a believer too."