It was after dawn and everybody had already gone to bed, when Regina found herself seated against a tree, alone, staring into the darkness.
This whole day had been wrong, the search for Tinker Bell had left her at unease and she was glad she had this moment to herself.
She had never forgotten the fairy, which had given her so much, but had also taken it away quite as easily.
She wasn't ready for this yet. She couldn't face Tinker bell again, not after everything that had happened, not ever.
She was deep in thought when suddenly she heard a noise coming from behind her, and before she could even react she found Emma Swan standing in front of her.
Her expression was guarded, and Regina wondered why the blonde had come over, they had become closer on their journey to Neverland, but it wasn't like they usually just spent the evenings together. So she just raised an eyebrow at her, posing the silent question.
Emma didn't answer, and just slowly slid down the tree to sit down next to her.
Regina didn't know how to react, she didn't know why Emma was here and what she wanted from her. But when Emma didn't say anything and just kept sitting next to her, keeping her company in the dark, Regina found that she was actually glad for the blonde's presence and not having to be alone tonight.
No words were spoken for a very long time, until Emma said in a very quiet whisper.
"You said you had a complicated history."
It wasn't a question, only a fact and the way she said it didn't imply that she expected any reaction, it was just her way of telling Regina that she was here to listen in case she wanted to talk, but that she would also just be sitting with her through the night in silence if that was what she wanted.
Regina was left with no words. Not many people had left her with a choice. They either asked and expected her to answer, or they yelled at her and didn't listen to what she had to say.
So this situation was new and quite surprising for her and she found that maybe she wanted to tell Emma Swan a part of her story.
Her voice was calm and very silent when she started talking, but she knew that Emma would be able to understand every word.
"I met her at the beginning of my marriage. I was lost, confused and so very angry and she found me and took me with her. She took me to one of those nice and small villages and we started talking. I told her about Daniel and Snow White and everything."
Regina had to take a pause to gather herself again.
She never told this story to anybody and she wasn't sure how Emma was going to react so she stole a quick glance at Emma's face.
The blonde was looking at her, her eyes focused on her only, and Regina knew that Emma was listening to her completely.
Not because she wanted to find any weaknesses or because she felt like she needed to, but because she truly cared about her story and that was again, something Regina hadn't experienced a lot of times.
She smiled at Emma only slightly, but Emma's lips curved upwards into an encouraging smile and then she suddenly found her hand being enclosed by Emma's small palm.
The hand felt comforting, anchoring her to the moment and she squeezed it in a silent thank you before she went on speaking,
"Tinker Bell then told me she could find me a new soul mate. That it was possible for me to find love again, that I needed love. And I believed her. I trusted that she and her pixie magic could do as she was promising, that I would find my Happy ending after all. But it was all just one huge set up. When she sent out that fairy dust it was supposed to lead me to my soul mate, but it only lead me back to the Castle, back to Snow White to be precise. I knew then that she had tricked me. I still don't understand why though, and when we met again, years later, she even denied it."
Regina's talk had grown more and more raged towards the end and when she had finished her breaths were coming out ragged.
She looked up to find Emma's eyes again, and she couldn't interpret the emotions she saw there, but it looked like care, true genuine care about her, and that left a warm comforting feeling in her stomach, that she hadn't felt in a very long time.
"What did you do to her?"
The question was posed quietly. Regina knew that she didn't have to answer but she felt that Emma deserved to know the whole story.
"I banned her to this island."
The answer was short and spoken without emotion. Emma didn't say anything to that and Regina started to feel scared that maybe she shouldn't have said anything, it was hard to see the blonde for real in the dark but when their eyes met again, she knew that Emma wasn't judging her. Maybe she didn't understand all of her decisions, maybe she didn't think that she had done the right thing, but seeing as the blonde was still sitting next to her in the dark, their hands intertwined and her eyes showing nothing but a great amount of care for her, she knew that Emma Swan wasn't judging her, and that she probably never would.
And that was more than Regina could have ever asked for.
5 Years later…
"And that's how she found her soul mate right? The pixie dust did it?" Her daughter asked her excitedly.
Regina smiled at her openly, she had just told her the story of Peter Pan and Tinker Bell and she had grown so excited about it.
She loved stories and fairytales and Regina never grew tired of telling her every single one of them.
Okay, maybe not Snow White's.
"Yes honey, that's how she found her soul mate and they lived happily ever after. Now, it's getting late, so time for sleep now. Sweet dreams my angel."
With that she gently kissed her daughter on the forehead and moved to leave the room.
"I love you mom." She called after her and Regina looked back at the bed and smiled.
"I love you too, love" she answered, waiting for a bit before she left the room for good.
When she came down to the living room she found Emma seated across the sofa watching some weird movie. Henry was at a sleepover so the two of them had the evening to themselves now.
She sat down across from Emma and snuggled under the blanket the blonde had draped over herself.
Emma put the TV on mute, as she saw that Regina had something on her mind that she wanted to talk about.
"I told her the story of Tinker Bell tonight, the fairy tale version, not the real one. And I came to think. What if the Pixie magic did work?"
Emma looked at her with a confused look on her face. She didn't know where this was going. Snow White most definitely wasn't Regina's soul mate.
Regina laughed quietly at Emma's obvious confusion.
"I mean, it led me to Snow White, and Snow White gave me you. You weren't born when the spell was cast so it led me to the next best thing, the person that would give me my soul mate eventually. And I was just too stupid to see it."
Emma gently reached over to Regina and tilted her chin up so she could look at her.
"I love you" She said. The simplicity of it was perfect and all Regina had needed for an answer. Then Emma started kissing her. A kiss, so tender and filled with love, they soon forgot all about their talk.
All that mattered now was that they had found each other. Pixie dust or not, Regina had found the love she had needed for so long, and Emma had finally found the home she had been looking for.
And that was all that mattered.
AN: So this is my first Swan Queen fanfiction ever. I hope I did it right and that you liked it a little. It would be great if you could let me know in reviews.
This one is dedicated to Ema, cause she made me write it in the first place, and because she is the most wonderful person ever.