The fire crackled peacefully, emitting a soft, relaxing glow throughout the room. A person sat on the sofa, legs cast across the cushions, shoes long discarded. That person, a woman, clutched a wine glass for dear life, the cup already partially empty, the bottle lying on the table, depleted. A sigh escaped from chapped, wine-stained lips as the woman drained her glass, setting it on the table.
"This was supposed to be my happy ending." She mused to herself. The fire's light flickered and dimmed before becoming brighter than before. It popped, sending an ember or two cascading across the bricks before they were snuffed by the air's coldness.
The woman was alone.
And always would be.
It seemed as though fate had destined Regina Mills to be alone and miserable, no one to love, no one to be loved by. It was a miracle that the woman had even survived to this day, given her lineage and countless enemies.
Her eyes lay unfocused, a consequence of staring too long, crying too many tears over the portrait of she and her son that now sat upon the table, glass cracked.
The son that she knew she would never see again.
Regina Mills had lost everything.
Her mind backtracked to the day's events and everything that led to her current apathy.
"REGINA!" A cascade of blonde curls seemed to appear out of nowhere, once again pushing the brunette out of harm's way, this time after her own mother shot a ball of swirling fire, a miniature inferno. The spell hit the blonde's side, causing a strangled cry of pain to escape from her lips.
"Emma...EMMA!" Regina quickly latched onto her former nemesis' daughter, rolling them across the pavement to put out the flames. She landed on top of the blonde, dazed, and scanned her surroundings.
Fallen comrades, bodies of those whom she had once proclaimed such hatred and loathing for, were strewn across the landscape.
The dwarves, those who she had eventually called friends, lie dead, a pool of their collective blood still linking the brothers as they enjoyed their now-painless silent slumber.
Henry was trapped behind Cora, his eyes shone with tears and terror. Regina could have sworn he shouted, "MOM!", but her ears were no longer working properly. She slid off of the blonde, attempting to stand, but a pale hand ceased her actions.
"Wait."
Regina looked down to see Emma had sat up, and she beckoned for the brunette to bend down to her level.
"I know this looks bad. God knows if any of us are going to get out of it alive. But...before you fight her. Before you do anything like that. There's something I need to tell you."
The brunette looked at Emma with a mixture of regret and resignation, then looked to her mother, who was currently engaged in fighting Snow White, then back at the blonde.
"Tell me."
"I love you." She said simply.
Regina's heart seemed to stop beating.
"You...what?"
"I said, I love you, Regina. This may be the only time I get to tell you. And I love you. I've loved you since the mine incident. When you stepped close to me, I just...I knew then and there that I loved you. And I know there's like a 99% chance you don't feel the same, and that's okay."
Emma looked at her honestly, a pained half-smile on her lips. Regina was frozen, her eyes wide and blank as she stared into the green abyss that was Emma's gaze.
Quietly, so very quietly that it could only be heard by Emma, she spoke,
"I love you too."
Emma's awkward smile-grimace transformed into a full grin, and she pulled Regina down, kissing her soundly, passionately, and with a sense of finality. Regina felt a strange, surging power enter her, as if she could feel everything Emma was feeling as she returned the kiss.
When Emma finally broke it, she seemed paler than before, and spoke weakly,
"I'll miss you. Do me a favor and tell my kid I love him." She slumped onto the ground, unconscious, or possibly even dead. Regina couldn't tell due to the tears now obscuring her vision.
Her magic, previously spent fighting her super-powered mother, came back in spades, glowing a bright purple around her.
"I promise I will, Emma."
She stood, her strength returning, and shouted,
"Mother! This ends now!"
Cora merely grinned at her daughter, a seemingly Cheshire smile adorning her features. She was preoccupied with spouting a retort that she missed the odd yellow streaks now present in Regina's magic.
Regina strode toward her mother, deflecting all manner of attacks without even flinching.
"You have caused so much pain, so much suffering, so much death." The brunette gathered her magic, calling upon the strength she had miraculously gained from the kiss. Her magic shone even brighter, a twisting combination of gold and lavender, as she struck the final blow against her mother.
Somewhere, deep within her mother's vault in Wonderland, a box began to glow a murky, dim red.
It grew brighter, filling the whole room with its eerie light.
Then, it stopped.
This was it.
Cora Mills, the Queen of Hearts, was dead.
Regina 's hands trembled without purchase as she continued to stare across the room.
She was so absorbed in memories that she didn't hear the front door click, nor the door to her study, which she presently occupied.
The former Evil Queen only looked up when a bright flash of red seemed to penetrate the fire's faint glow.
Brunette eyes met green.
"...Emma?" Her tone was disbelieving and awed, as if the woman before her were a mirage.
"Hey."
Regina was up on her feet in an instant, gripping her son's biological mother hard around the waist in a tight, desperate hug.
"I thought you were dead..."
A sarcastic snort was let out at the comment,
"Pff, you know it's harder to get rid of me. Even you couldn't do it." The blonde grinned, but quickly lost her playful demeanor at the sight of Regina's tears.
"Hey, I'm here. Henry's okay."
The tears only increased,
"We lost so many people today, Emma. So many people I could have called family."
"I know, Regina. They died valiantly. All we can do is remember them for what they did for us. They didn't die in vain."
Regina nodded and slowly, cautiously, placed a soft kiss against Emma's lips.
Emma kissed back gently and lovingly.
At the end of it all, after all of the trials they had overcome, after so much had happened across so many worlds, it was over. They had lost many friends and family members, but it was finally over.
They had won.