Disclaimer: I don't own any character from Once Upon a Time.

Spoilers: Season 3

Summary: Regina at the end of 3.02. A possible ending to her night.

Her defense had always been that life dealt her a bad hand. She became what she did because she was forced into finding a way to survive. Her choices, and she did take ownership of each and every one, did not come from an optimistic heart full of sunshine and rainbows. Her choices came from open wounds that had been salted and left without care.

Handsome princes and loyal friends didn't suddenly appear in front of her to help her take the honorable path instead of the vengeful one. In the place of loyal friends and White Knights, she had demons whispering their promises that could ultimately never be filled. Yet, knowing what a false promise sounded like, she chose to listen anyway because listening was easier than the promise of living with her pain alone.

Did she make excuses and blame everyone around her for who she became? Yes. Unequivocally, yes. Aloud, she blamed her misfortune on the world, but it was her silent recriminations that drove her to fall off the edges of sanity. They were the things that had her asking for mercy and for an infinite number of second chances. They were what made her allow her enemies to be allies.

She could no longer say if she changed or was in the process of it, but she did know that she was thinking more about consequences than action. She was listening instead of yelling at the top of her lungs trying to be heard over the sounds of her own pain.

Ridiculously, she was in the middle of a jungle on a quest in which she was not playing the part of a villain. She was simply one amongst a band of misfits. It sounded almost like the beginnings of a joke- a pirate, a savior, a true love pair, an Imp and an Evil Queen walk onto a boat...

So far, she has no punch line, but she suspected that it might involve her untimely, although not un-heroic death. She'd die redeemed, but she'd still die.

"Regina," her reverie was interrupted, proving to her that she should have just continued to pretend to sleep. When heroes go missing they are apparently missed.

"I suppose it wouldn't do any good to pretend I don't hear you?" She didn't turn to look at the White Knight standing next to her. She continued to look into the dark jungle that surrounded them, knowing that the punch line was growing ever closer.

"When's the last time you slept?" The question sounded almost sincere. It brought her companion just to the edge of genuine concern.

"I think I managed a few hours of rest the last time you ordered us to make camp." She didn't want nor did she desire concern, genuine or otherwise. Especially since Emma Swan's concern often felt too much like pity.

When she did meet the eyes of the Savior, she could see Emma struggling between the desire to walk away and the misguided duty to lift a soldier's spirits. It was unfortunate that she neither felt like a soldier nor was she in the mood for her spirits to be lifted. Her cynicism and insomnia were currently her only loyal companions.

"Just try to get some rest. We'll need your strength," Emma said, head bowed and obviously all too eager to retreat.

"It occurs to me," Regina called out before the Savior could disappear, "that I am not the only one currently awake."

Emma stopped walking, but didn't turn around. "It's been a long day."

"Yes, I suppose it has." Regina turned to look back to the forest. "It isn't often we're tasked with facing buried truths."

"I'm not talking about this with you," Emma immediately replied having assumed Regina's words were an attack.

"Nor would I even want to talk about it," Regina hurriedly pointed out since she had no intention of revealing her own silent struggles to unveil her hidden truths.

Emma turned then, wearing the mask of a picked on child ready to be the butt of another cruel joke. "Then why did you bring it up?"

"I suppose," Regina sighed, "it is because I love my son."

Anger flashed across Emma's features. Her chest puffed up and her lips just barely formed the sharp edges of biting words, but Regina interrupted before any defense could be vocalized. "I lost my son," she confessed.

"We've both lost him," Emma was quick to point out.

"No," Regina shook her head, "unsurprisingly, you misunderstand." She reached up and flicked her hair away from her face. It was an action to keep her physical mind occupied away from the words she chose to speak. "I lost my son," she said again. "I did. Me. I lost my son because I was swayed by fear and demons."

Emma wisely kept her silence. She was becoming better at learning when to push forward and when to retreat. That she owed Regina thanks in teaching her the lesson would most likely never be voiced.

"I would think you stubborn enough to not let the same happen to you." Regina turned away then. She considered the conversation over. She had given her advice and said her piece. She preferred to be left with her insomnia and cynicism until another day dawned and their band of misfits sought out another day's adventure.

"You know what Pan said?" Emma stepped closer to the former Queen. "You were spying on me?"

Regina shook her head, somewhat disappointed that her leader was so damn naive. "I am a villain, Emma," she coldly declared. "If I were Pan, you would be the first I'd target since you are the only one we are all willing to follow."

Emma bowed her head and kicked at the dirt with her boot. She listened to what Regina said. She considered the input in the way she always considered Regina's input. She never readily dismissed the Evil Queen's words because when Regina wanted to talk instead of threaten, her words held value. She was powerful not because she was evil, but because she was ruthlessly intelligent.

"Divide and conquer?" Emma wondered aloud but spoke again before Regina could call her foolish. "I feel weaker here."

"I think the better suited word is 'exposed'," Regina callously pointed out.

Emma nodded. She couldn't deny a truth so apparent. "Do you mind if we stand together for a moment."

Regina raised her brow and quickly evaluated her options. She didn't want the company. She wanted to stand as far away from Emma as possible especially since there was still so much between them buried and hidden away.

"If you wish," she agreed. "But I'll not be held responsible for you not being able to function in the morning."

Emma hesitated a breath of a moment before she stepped up next to Regina. Finally, she felt as if they were on equal ground instead of at war. "Ditto," she muttered.

Regina tracked her eyes across the woman standing next to her. Perhaps, she thought, this moment was her punch line. Perhaps, this was where the Evil Queen died. She reached out and took hold of Emma's hand. "When you foolishly jumped into the sea, we did not let you drown, Emma. So it would be foolish for you to believe that you are alone now."

Emma looked down at their clasped hands. She looked as if she wanted to question this out of character moment. She looked as if she wanted to find reasons to deny and mock whatever it was that drove Regina to begin talking in the first place. But she fought instinct and kept her silence. She squeezed the hand that held onto hers and then turned her attention to the jungle.

A pirate, a True Love's pair, a White Knight and her Queen walk into a jungle...

"We'll get him back, Regina."

…And the Queen was reborn.