A/N I'm back! So a plot bunny came to me last night and I just HAD to write it. This is a completely canon fanfic, as in all the moments mentioned etc. did ACTUALLY happen. It is set during S5- they have come back from Camelot and Regina is trying to figure out what the heck Emma is up to. If you haven't watched S5, all you need to know is that Emma is the Dark One and Regina has taken over the role as the Saviour (kind of). Enjoy guys! It feels so great to be writing again… (Too much Swan Queen in S5 to not!)

The house is like a hollow shell without its occupant. Emma Swan doesn't care much for homeliness. There is no trace of anyone amongst its echoing rooms, let alone the life that Henry's mother so brightly embodies. One would have thought that Emma's first home would have been a little more sentimental; then again, what does the Dark One have to be sentimental about?

Regina breathes in the emptiness like a fragrance, skimming her fingers along the surfaces and finding not even a ghost of dust on her nails. She imagines Emma's fragile form perched on the table top, legs swinging just like Emma's used too when she was bored or hungry or, and Regina smirks at this, listening to her parents' dumb positivity lectures. Her hands find a wardrobe and the brunette reaches inside, half hoping to feel the cheap leather of a red jacket; instead a dull void that mirrors emotion itself.

She explores some more: books, empty photo frames, one tea stained mug, a dreamcatcher and then… a key. Regina turns it over in her palm, intrigued at its intricacy. It is a small key, chipped at the edges as if used often- the golden shine dulled over the years. The former Queen curls her fingers around its body and begins to sweep over the shelves once again. Her search takes her upstairs in to a sparse bedroom, Emma's. Aside from a large bed in the centre and two dream catchers dangling in front of the window, the room is empty. Regina inhales and steps further in to the room, gravitating towards the slightly rumpled bed sheets. How very…Emma. Trailing her hand over the covers, she wanders curiously underneath the bed. Her fingers meet a book sized solid object, strapped to the underside of the bed frame. Regina begins to wiggle it out of its' cage in the wires.

It is a rather pretty box. The kind one would keep memorabilia from family then secrete away in an attic. There is no mistaking that the key corresponds with the object and Regina only hesitates for a second before inserting and twisting. Unlike the key, the box is stiff and evidently hasn't been used for a while. Strange. There is a creak as it opens under the brunette's pressure and a gasp that erupts from the woman herself.

Inside is a handful of envelopes; all with Regina's name printed on them in Emma's scrawl. She sighs as she sifts through them, puzzled yet curiously excited at the same time. Her fingers pause at the oldest looking one, yellowed by age and dirty fingerprints. Scratched on the front in biro reads:

To The Mother Of My Son

And she opens it.

Madame Mayor,

I have no idea why I am writing you this letter- if you can even call it that. I doubt you'll ever see this let alone read it, let alone care. Anyway, I am, so here it goes.

I love my son, Madame Mayor. I really do. And we can't keep fighting over this-his custody- when he's the one getting hurt. I can tell you know, contrary to what you might think, I can tell when my son is upset. His eyes just aren't his anymore. We keep on and on, lashing out at one another, forgetting the most important part of all of this: Henry.

He's special; a good kid with a heart open to all kinds of wild fantasies. I love him for that… and you should love him too. I have no doubt that somewhere in your heart that you do, but it's hidden by something. And Regina I want you to find the cause of your pain and let our little boy's smile fill the hole because, trust me, I did and I have never looked back.

Goodbye,

Sheriff Swan

P.S. Emma

Regina doesn't move for a very long time- stupefied by the Sheriff and her stupid stupid letter. She chokes on tears, squeezing the crusty paper so tight that a tiny tear cuts across the page, marring Emma's script. A letter she was never meant to see. But she did. And it hurts because she was a monster; a monster that both Henry and Emma had to try and redeem. She tells herself that she shouldn't read anymore. Yet when she walks out of Emma's house, eyes now rimmed raw with denied pain, her pocket is bursting with envelopes.

Dear (I don't even know what to call you anymore),

Here I am again, writing you a letter that will never be read. So it's true. All of it. My son was telling the truth and I am shaking right now because I'm so… so angry. My parents, my family, my home- and you tried to take it all away from me. You're sitting in a jail cell now and the town wants your head. Funny, huh? That I basically have taken everything away from you.

He wasn't crazy. Henry. He wasn't crazy and now I'm going to spend the rest of every living moment making it up to him because that is what he deserves. You're pretty messed up Regina Mills, or should I say Evil Queen. You destroyed my family yet now they're going to destroy you, except in a Snow White and Prince Charming way because they are good people. You were merciless and homicidal and terrifying. You turned away a chance at happiness because you were so strangled by revenge. And you couldn't even breathe anymore.

But… I can't seem to hate you for it. There must be so much darkness in your life, Regina. So, so, so much. Yet I don't believe for one second that you can't find happiness again. That you can't be redeemed and find something to smile at once more. I could've let Whale kill you but I didn't because I can't hate you. It's stupid because I should. After everything you've done to my family I should hate you with every ounce of my being but I don't.

Let me help you,

The Saviour

To be continued….

A/N Please let me know what you think and as to whether I should carry on with the story. Also, if you have any favourite Swan Queen moments could you please leave them in a review? I want to try and include them in a 'letter'. See you soon : )

wavesketcher