I own non of these characters nor the concept of Once Upon a Time. Everything is written for entertainment purposes only.

As soon as the curse had been broken and they had all found themselves in the fairytale land of make believe Emma had thrown all tradition out of the window. She understood that this was the environment that Mary Margaret and David belonged to and they easily took it up again but this was not something that she was used to, so she outright refused to wear the flowing gowns and stagnate in a castle like a damsel in distress, much to her parent's annoyance. She dressed like a hunter in boots, shirts and leather and insisted on learning how to ride and handle a sword so that she would not have to rely on anyone to save her.

Her mother had understood the defiance regarding the gowns but was baffled to why she did not at least dress in the finery that befit her status as a princess, her father at least let her get on with it secretly relieved that she would always be safe both from the dangers of the wild that she insisted on riding through but also from the silliness and falseness of court.

It was on one of these rides that Emma had stumbled upon Regina's part of the woods. Ever since they had returned to the fairytales Regina had been banished, something that she actually welcomed as she had believed that they would have killed her, it was both Emma and Henry that had prevented that fate. Emma had stepped in front of the dazed 'Evil Queen' and demanded that anyone who wanted to rid the world of Regina then they go through her first, nobody took the first step forward.

Henry had been in tears at the thought of his mother being killed, yes he had wanted to vanquish the Evil Queen, but his little 10 year old head had not really thought through what that really meant. In an effort to appease the former inhabitants of Storybrooke the new King James had banished the Queen to a simple and quiet life with the promise that nobody would stop him from protecting his family if she ever tried anything that threatened them again.

After this, life started to settle but Emma was restless, the young Prince Henry was having the time of his life with all the magical and fantastical things going on to keep him entertained and Snow kept up her role as teacher, insisting that his status was not an excuse to not learn. Emma had exhausted the weapons and horse master and now she was bored.

Dressing in her riding leathers and attaching her thick cloak around her shoulders she saddled her horse and set out for however long. She had informed all the relevant people regarding her exploration of the lands and with Henry's 'have fun' and Snow's 'be careful' in her ear she set off to get away from everything and be alone with her thoughts.

She rode as far as normal and further still, night started to draw in and that was the only time that Emma thought that she should try and find some sort of shelter when she happened upon a clearing where a small cottage stood with smoke coming out of the chimney. Dismounting her horse, Emma walked to the door and knocked gently, opening it slowly there stood Regina, both women just stood in shock.

Regina recovered quicker than Emma and softly dipped her head, 'Your Majesty.' She murmured.

'What?' Emma stammered.

'Majesty.' Regina repeated, still with her head slightly downcast.

'Regina?' Emma questioned, 'is that you?'

'Forgotten me already, Miss Swan?' Regina answered fully straight with a small smile on her face.

'Never, you just surprised me.'

'Hmm, to what do I owe this pleasure? Regretting your discussion to save me?' glancing behind Emma, Regina was satisfied that she was alone.

'No,' Emma almost yelled. 'I've been out for, god I don't know how long, I saw the smoke and came to ask if I could stay. I didn't know it was you.'

Regina almost looked sad but pulled open the door and beckoned Emma in. 'So you didn't seek me out.' She mumbled. 'Well I can't go about denying my saviour and Royalty at that; you'd better come in then.'

Emma walked in and was surprised at what she found. The cottage may have looked small and meek from the outside, but it was anything but on the inside. It was spacious and was richly furnished with silks, mahogany and tapestries.

'This is wonderful.' Emma gasped.

'What did you expect, your highness,' Regina chuckled. 'Banished I may be but I'm still a Queen in every right.'

'Please don't call me that.' Emma pleaded.

Regina came closer and started to unbuckle the clasp of Emma's cloak. 'What?' she asked.

'Your highness, your majesty, all of that stuff. Not from you, please just Emma or Christ sake I'd even prefer Miss Swan.' Emma huffed.

Leading Emma to a large armchair Regina sat her down and knelt near her. 'Not enjoying the palace life much?'

'It's fine, it's just not me. I didn't grow up here, I'm not adapting, not like Henry.'

A sharp intake of breath across from her caused Emma to look up at the woman who had been helping her, obvious pain was written all over the brunettes face at the mention of her son. It did not matter what had happened Henry always will be her son. Lifting her hand to make Regina look at her Emma softly smiled. 'He misses you, you know.' She said. 'He's having the time of his life at the moment, but he misses you, he often talks about the little things that you did when he was younger. I don't think he fully understood what'd happen if all of this,' and with that she waved around herself, 'was true. He didn't realise that he'd lose his mother.'

'He'll never lose me.' Regina stated firmly.

'I know that.'

Standing up properly Regina walked to a cabinet and poured two large glasses of Apple cider. 'Here you go Miss Swan,' she smirked, 'drink up.'

The evening was spent with the two women talking, there was no animosity between the pair as Regina had both given up the fight and also knew that Emma really was her reason for living as nobody would have listened to Henry's sobs had the blonde not acted as her personal shield.

Emma explained how she was restless with the castle life and that even though nobody would force her to do anything they were all waiting until they believed enough time had passed before they started to bring out the eligible suitors. Regina took in the blonde's appearance of trousers and leather and laughed at the idea of some foppish prince trying to tame her.

'Oh no, we can't have that.' She laughed. 'You're much too handsome as this daring hunter to be trussed up in dresses and corsets.'

'You think I'm handsome?' Emma almost sulked.

'Dear, I think the term definitely fits the appearance. Although I must admit, this wild look is most becoming Miss Swan, I approve.'

'At least someone does.'

'Oh my dear, any man worth anything would know that you are beautiful regardless of your sense of dress. Like you said, you weren't brought up here; it's not what you're comfortable in.'

Emma let the fact that Regina had called her beautiful slide, 'I don't want a man.' She groaned.

'Well we're actually quite liberal here, despite what they tell you. I don't think anyone would mind if you wanted a Princess.' Regina stated matter-of-factly. It was true, as a realm they actually believed in true love over anything and that included gender.

'That's not exactly what I meant.'

'Oh and what exactly did you mean?' pressed the brunette.

'Genders not an issue with me, I'll be with who I'm with. I just don't see why I have to be married off so quickly.'

'I see.' Regina regarded this handsome brute sitting in her cottage, a lifetime ago they would have argued and fought over everything and anything. Right now she just got to admire her, Emma had resilience, determination and from past actions Regina knew first hand that she would put herself in danger to protect and do what she thought was right. She was fiercely loyal and had showered that on Regina who in her own mind believed herself to be undeserving. 'I never really thanked you.'

'What for?' Emma questioned.

'You saved me. I can only imagine what would have happened if you hadn't been there.'

'You've pissed off a lot of people but you didn't deserve to be slaughtered. I can't understand how quickly they resorted to acting like animals.'

'It's what is owed me.'

'Not really.' Emma sighed and sat on the edge of her seat, unbeknownst to her Regina did the same so that they were so much closer than before. 'Time stood for them, yes they didn't have their happy endings until the curse broke but they didn't waste anything, it was just different experiences.'

'Oh.' Regina started but was cut off by the blonde sat so close.

'I on the other hand, lived hell on earth when I was growing up.' Regina at this point looked so guilty that it hurt but never looked away from the piercing eyes that were staring directly into her. 'I was in so much pain, both mentally and physically; I was lost, unwanted and unloved. I had no purpose and no one noticed and cared. If anyone had the right to want you dead, it'd be me.'

This was it Regina thought, Emma may not have been looking for her earlier today but now that she was here and had time to think about things she was finally going to exact her revenge. There was nobody Regina thought who was more worthy and after Emma's little speech, she truly had a compelling argument.

'I want you to know something Miss Swan.' At the sound of her name Emma broke the stare, blinking a few times and cocking her head slightly to one side to indicate that she was listening. 'I am genuinely sorry for what I did to you. I'm ready for you now and I'm glad it's you.' A look of confusion briefly flashed across Emma's face followed by realisation.

'Oh god no!' She exclaimed. 'No, I'd never do that. God, Regina, is that what you think of me? I just wanted you to know that...' She gave an exasperated sigh and put her head in her hands. 'I wanted you to know that you didn't deserve anything like what they had planned for you. The only person who has any justification is me and you know why I don't do anything?' Emma raised her head out of her hands as Regina shook her head in reply. 'Nobody noticed me and I didn't matter. Until you, I mattered all the time to you. You took an interest in me, in your own way and the little world that you created became my home, with people who actually liked me and wanted me there.' Emma trailed off with a mumble, 'you kind of saved me.'

Regina did not know if it was because she had 'mellowed' during her time in Storybrooke and after the curse had broken or if it was just that Emma looked so pitiful after her little confession but she was soon knelt in front of the blonde, taking her face in her hands and brushing soft locks out of sad eyes. 'Now I don't know what to do or where I belong, if I belong. Everything is back to normal for everyone but I have no normal. What do I do? Tell me please, where do I belong?'

'Oh my dear, my brave and beautiful white knight. What did I do to you?'

'My Queen.' Emma mumbled, hanging her head in shame. 'I'm lost without you.'

Wrapping her arms around the lost hero, Regina just held her unsure of what to do; here was the saviour of her world miserable and alone. Wiping the tears that had started to fall and gently holding that beautiful face with the broken eyes Regina slowly brought her lips to Emma's forehead. 'I'm here my Princess.' Emma huffed at this name. 'My knight,' a kiss landed gently on the woman's nose. 'My hero,' she softly nuzzled Emma's check at this. Regina pulled back slightly to study Emma, the shinning eyes were just looking at her intently but there was no look of repulsion or shock. 'My saviour,' closing her eyes Regina brought her lips to Emma's and gently pressed them together for a moment before softly engaging in the kiss. Emma was still for a second then, with a sigh, responded with as much tenderness as if they were old lovers.

After some time the gentleness of the kiss turned into a vigour and passion that neither woman knew they possessed for each other. Pulling apart panting and with bruised lips both just gazed at each other.

'That was unexpected.' Emma stated.

'Was it?' Regina answered, noticing that Emma was moving from the chair to the floor where she had been kneeling. 'Seemed obvious to me.'

Smiling at this Emma stretched out on the thick rug in front of the fire and offered her hand, beckoning Regina closer. 'My Queen.'

Taking the hand and lying down beside her Regina gave Emma a questioning look. 'How come you can call me that but I can't mention that you're a Princess?'

Wrapping her arms around the brunette Emma pulled her so that she was slightly on top of her. 'You always have and always will be a Queen.'

Regina smiled at this 'And you will always be my knight in shining armour,' she breathed as she gave into the pull of Emma's lips.