Disclaimer: I have nothing to do with OUAT. None of this content is meant to offend anyone, and I certainly hope that it doesn't.

Tracing Her Scars

Emma slowly opened her eyes against the morning sunlight streaming in through the windows. It took her a moment to realize where she was; her brain still foggy with sleep. Home. She was home. I place that she had missed for almost two years. I place that she had longed for every night. A wide smiled spread across her face when her eyes focused on the woman next to her. The woman that her heart had longed for every moment of every day. She couldn't believe that she was home.

She lay still for a moment; studying the face before her. Emma had thought that she had memorized her face long ago but there were new features to it now. New tiny little wrinkles on the sides of her eyes, new creases in her forehead. She would never mention it to her, that she noticed their existence, but she loved every bit of it just the same.

She looked so peaceful. Yes, this was the first time that she had seen her sleep in almost two years, but there was something softer about her now. Their time together had been limited to phone calls, emails, video calls and sometimes even old fashion mail while Emma had been in the field. Though the blonde knew that she had tried her hardest to hide her distress she could still see it, but now it all seemed to have faded away.

As her eyes foamed the beautiful face in front of her, they came to land on the scar on her upper lip. It seemed silly to say that she loved a scar, but it happened to be one of her favorite things about her lover. It added to her beauty, her uniqueness, her charm. She loved to kiss it, to run her tongue down the slight crevice. Over their time apart, she often found herself running her fingers over the scar in photographs or videos that she received.

It was almost as though she didn't have control of her own hand as she reached up and softly caressed the mark on the woman's lip. She smiled when her feather like touch caused the brunette's nose to twitch.

"Tickles," the brunette woman mumbled with a tired laugh. Her reaction caused Emma to giggle.

Brown eyes met green and grew wide when they came into focus. "You're really here," Regina said with a voice filled with amazement. "I thought it was a dream."

"It's not a dream. I am really here." She cupped Regina's cheek and once again ran her thumb down her scar. The other woman pressed a kiss to the pad of it before leaning forward and kissing her lips.

She sighed when she pulled back, as if the kiss was the final element to allow her to realize that she really was in front of her, "You're really here."

Yesterday Evening

Regina crouched down and began to pull her clean clothes out of the dryer. The colors were done, the whites were next, and her delicates were already drying on the drying rack behind her. Things would soon be pressed and hung up or folded neatly and put away. Another Wednesday night for the books. Typically, laundry was a weekend activity. Weekday nights were spent helping Henry with his homework and feeding him healthy dinners. Weekend afternoons were spent doing laundry while he did a variety of different activities and then they spent the evenings together. Now, with Henry away at summer camp, that routine had been broken. She did whatever she could to fill the time alone. She did everything she could not to bring her work home with her so that she could dedicate her time at home to her son, but these days she found herself bringing more and more files home. As one of New York's most in demand lawyers, there was never a lull in case work that needed her attention on so she didn't have a hard time finding work to fill the time after hours.

If she didn't keep herself busy then she would focus on how much she missed her son, but mostly, how much she missed Emma. Her son's other mother had been overseas with the military for almost two years. She tried so hard every day to convince herself that the phone calls, emails, and videos were enough but deep down she missed Emma so much that it hurt. Not having Henry around as a distraction made it worse.

With the last load of laundry moved from the washer to the dryer, Regina set the machine to 'More Dry' and pressed the start button. She picked up the full laundry basket and was on her way to the bedroom with it when there was a knock at the front door. She was surprised. She hadn't been expecting anyone. If this was someone selling Girl Scout cookies, she was going to buy every box of Thin Mints they had with them. As she looked through the peep hole in the front door she didn't believe what she was seeing. The person on the other side of the door was certainly in uniform but one of much more official status.

"Emma." The woman's name barely made it out of her mouth as her breath got caught in her throat.

The blonde woman stood tall before her in her tan fatigues, regulation boots with a rucksack at her feet, "Hi."

For another moment, Regina was frozen in place but it only lasted a moment before she launched herself into the other woman's arms. Emma stumbled backwards at the impact; not fully expecting it. She caught them both before they tumbled to the ground. Regina realized as she was righting them that there was a limp in Emma's movement.

"Oh, God!" Regina exclaimed, "Are you hurt? I'm sorry! I.."

Emma cut off Regina's babbling with her lips. Their kisses went from soft and sweet to hot and heavy in the matter moments. They managed to get the door shut and Regina quickly found herself pressed against it. Her arms wrapped around Emma's strong shoulders and made away with her hat while the blonde's nimble fingers found their way under Regina's t-shift. Calloused finger tips stroked the warm skin of her back and hips as lips and tongues became reacquainted. There was no sense of time when they finally pulled apart. Panting, Regina cupped her lover's face between her hands as their foreheads rested together.

She had no idea when she had started crying, but tears of joy and relief streamed down her face as she said, "You're home. You're really here."

"I am." Emma sniffled. She was doing her best to hold back tears of her own.

"How are you home?" Regina finally asked. "Why did you tell me you were coming? How long have you known?"

"Why don't we go sit down and I will explain." The blonde suggested.

Regina nodded in agreement. With another deep kiss, Emma stepped back to allow the brunette to move towards the couch. She kept a firm grip on the pale hand and looked back in confusion when she met resistance. She turned to see that Emma was not following her and her confusion was compounded when the blonde turned back to the door. Confusion turned to laughter when she watched Emma open the front door to retrieve the rucksack that had been abandoned in the hallway. Dropping it back on the floor, inside the apartment this time, Emma took her lover's hand and led her to couch in the center of the living room.

Once again, the change in Emma's gait did not go unnoticed by the brunette. They sat down together, hands linked and thighs touching. "You're hurt." Regina said softly.

"I'm fine." Emma said. She tried to convey her truth in her tone. "Just give me a minute to look at you. God, I have missed you."

"I have missed you too." Regina told her but those words didn't seem like enough.

She was tempted to look away. Emma gaze was intense as her green eyes flickered over her. She was thankful for many reasons, when the blonde leaned in and captured her lips again. As their kissed intensified, Regina slowly slid into Emma's lap; straddling her thighs she ran her hands through her hair as best she could as it was tied up in a bun. Emma's hands roamed freely over every bit of Regina's body she could touch. They both giggled when they came up for air.

It was been less than 20 minutes and Regina had already managed to put Emma's hair majorly out of place as well as significantly rumple her uniform. She could only imagine what she looked like at the moment. It was almost as if Emma could read her mind when she said, "You are the sexiest thing that I have ever seen."

The brunette only laughed before lowering her lips back to the other pair in front of her. The kisses were soft, playful, and only lasted a moment as Regina's curiosity got the better of her. "How long are you home?"

She held her breath as she waited for the answer. She surely would have fallen over if she hadn't already been sitting on Emma's lap when she heard, "Forever."

"Forever?" She asked in disbelief.

"Honorary discharge." She said simply, "Think you can deal with having me around all the time?"

Regina could only nod as she hugged her tightly and buried her face in the crook of her shoulder. Her tears were coming full force now. Once she collected herself, she slid back on the couch beside her to ask, "How did all this come about? What happened?"

Emma paused for a moment. She took a deep breath and finally said, "I am not sure where to start, but I guess I should just show you."

The brunette remained quiet and attentive as Emma reach down and pulled at her left pant leg. The woman and been expecting to see some scaring from a severe burn or other injury, but was more shocked to see a metal rod where her lover's leg should have been. She brought her hand to her mouth though her gasp was not audible. Once again, she felt tears sting her eyes; eyes that were undoubtedly filled with questions when she looked back up at the other woman's face.

"We were ambushed." Emma began speaking with Regina having to ask. "I was in a vehicle that was hit with a grenade. The whole thing flipped and my leg was crushed in the debris."

"When?" Regina's voice was soft as she processed all of the new information in front of her.

"Eight months ago."

The lawyer's brain was moving at warp speed. "Eight? You having been hiding this from me for eight months?"

Emma knew that the other woman would be mad. She had hoped that she would truly just be relieved that she was home but she knew that that was too much to ask for. "I didn't want you to worry."

"Worry?" Regina's voice was raised now, "You don't think that I worry about you every day no matter what?"

"I'm sorry. I know that you do."

The brunette slid down the couch; breaking their contact which almost broke the blonde's heart. She wanted to be so mad at the other woman but that emotion was overpowered by the relief that she was alive and in front of her, "You could have come home to us eight months ago?" The question was slightly rhetorical. She didn't truly want clear answer but she realized, "Your special training."

It had been about eight months ago that Regina had received an emailing telling her that communication would be sparse throughout the following weeks. That Emma would be going into a special training that would limit her time and access. She never imagined that this 'special training' would include Emma learning to walk again.

"I didn't want to burden you." Emma sniffled. Regina finally turned back to look at her to see that tears were finally spilling out of green eyes. "I wanted to come back to you, you and Henry, in one piece. Well, as much as one piece as I could anyway."

"None of that would have mattered." Regina took the pale, shaking hands into her own. "We just need you."

"You wouldn't have gotten me." Emma tried to explain, "I wasn't myself. I was angry, I was sad, I was frustrated. I would be sobbing one minute and throwing things and yelling the next. I couldn't put you through that."

The brunette reach up and cupped her cheek, "We would have loved you, and supported you, and been there for you – no matter what."

"You did." Emma stated. She moved Regina's hand from her cheek to her heart, "Every letter, every voicemail, video, email, photo that you sent of you and of Henry. It's what got me through. I kept a photo of you in my gym bag and my physical therapist kept a photo of you and Henry in my file. He used to tape it up on my exercise equipment to keep me motivated on the hard days when I wanted to quit. He said that he has never seen someone improve as quickly as I did. I just wanted to come home to you, but I wanted to have everything under control when I did. I wanted to be able to walk and run and dance with you."

"You couldn't dance before." Regina said with a giggle.

"Hey!" Emma feigned offense but then laughed with her. "Maybe I will be better at it now. Can someone still have two left feet when they technically don't have a left foot at all?!"

Regina's jaw hit the floor with Emma's question, "Oh my god, Emma!"

"What?" Emma asked innocently, "It's my leg! I am allowed to make jokes if I want to! I might have lost my leg but I didn't lose my sense of humor. I would have lost my mind if I lost that too."

"Stop!" Regina chuckled she played punched her arm.

"Do you think that I could get half off the next time we go to get pedicures?"

"You have a whole slew of these jokes, don't you?"

"Enough for the rest of my life. You, Henry, and my sense of humor. That's all I need to get through whatever lies ahead." She leaned in and pressed her forehead to Regina's, "If for some reason I lose my sense of humor, as long as I have you and Henry – I am set."

"Well, you will never lose us so you don't have to worry about that."

"Yeah?" Emma said with a wide smile.

Regina murmured, "Yeah," Before closing the distance between their lips.

They spent the rest of the night exploring each other. Re-learning each other's bodies, no skin was left untouched. Emma was completely overwhelmed by how gentle Regina was with her at one point. Her fingers slowed caressed each new mark across her body – losing her leg was certainly not the only injury she endured overseas though it certainly was the most severe. Her fingers were followed by her lips as she left ghostly light kisses across her hot flesh. Green eyes instantly filled with tears when Regina's pressed her lips to her left knee.

The brunette slid up her body as soon as she heard the other woman sniffle. She propped herself up with one hand, so that she was looking over her lover, and the other came to rest on her abdomen. "Are you ok?" She asked quietly.

"More than ok." Emma answered through her tears, "I wasn't sure that I would ever be here again; that I would ever get to come home to you." She paused for a moment, "God! When did I turn into that girl that cries during sex?"

Regina laughed at her comment and the tension in the room was broken. Leave it to Emma to always make the joke in that type of situation. "You could cry every time we have sex for the rest of our lives and I wouldn't care. You're here. That's all I need."

"I love you." Emma said as she reached up and tucked a loose strand of hair behind Regina's ear.

"I love you too." Those were the last words that were spoken between them for the rest of the night as they found other ways to occupy their lips before falling asleep in each other's arms.

Present

"It wasn't a dream." Emma assured her again. "Though I guess I wish that part of it really was," she said quietly.

Regina knew that it would take more time for Emma to become truly comfortable with the new state of her body. She was thankful that there hadn't been any awkwardness between them during their time in bed last night. She let Emma set the pace when it came to touching the lower half of her body and would continue to do so in the future. "You came back to us in one piece. That's all I need."

Emma was about to open her mouth to question Regina's choice of words, but the brunette pressed a manicured finger to still slightly swollen lips. "You did come home to us in one piece." Her hand moved from her lips to her chest; over her heart. "You're in one piece here, and that is all that Henry and I need."

The blonde didn't know what to say, so instead, she kissed her. Regina wasted no time in deepening the kiss and tugging the other woman to lay on top of her. The feeling of Emma's body pressing her into the mattress made everything all the more real. Their actions did not escalate beyond the kiss. When it did end, Emma slid to Regina's side and buried her face in the crook of her shoulder. She inhaled the scent which she had been missing for months.

"When does Henry come home?" She eventually asked.

"Summer camp ends in two weeks."

Emma sighed, "I don't know if I can wait that long."

Regina lifted her hand to run it through long, blonde locks of hair, "We can drive upstate right now and pick him up."

"What if we at least let him finish out the week?" Emma asked, "Drive up and pick him up late tomorrow afternoon? It's not that I am not dying to see him right now, but I would love a little more time with just the two of us."

Regina smiled and pressed a kiss to Emma's forehead. She wrapped her arms tightly around her, "I think that that is the perfect plan."

"I hope that he is not freaked out by it." Regina could hear the nervousness and hesitation in her voice.

"He will just be so happy and relieved that you are home. That you're alive."

"I can't even imagine how much he has grown now." Emma said with a sad sigh.

"He is taller than me now."

The blonde mother groaned, "Oh my God. I noticed that in one of the last pictures that you sent me but I hoped that it wasn't true. I told myself that he was standing on something that made him taller than you."

"Nope," Regina chuckled, "He really is. Our little boy is growing up."

"I couldn't believe that his voice has changed so much. We talked just before he went to camp and I almost didn't recognize his voice when he answered the phone."

"I think he might have a girlfriend." Regina said after a pause.

"No!" Emma whined and buried herself further into Regina's side, "Say it isn't so!"

"I don't have any concrete evidence but he keeps mentioning this girl at the camp. They seem to be spending a lot of time together."

"I hate her already!" Emma exclaimed.

Regina burst with laughter, "I don't even know if it is true! Maybe they are just friends."

"That's all it better be!"

"Even if she is; he will have a girlfriend eventually." The brunette didn't want to truly admit how much their son was growing up any more than Emma did, but she had to be realistic about it.

"And I will threaten every single one of them! I will throw my leg at them or something!"

"That is quite the mental image." Regina laughed, "Quite the story to tell the grandkids."

"Grandkids, huh?" Emma pondered, "I kind of like the sound of that."

"Well, our little boy will have to grow up before that can happen." Regina pointed out.

Emma was quick to respond, "Yes! A lot! A whole helluva lot! He better not be getting any ideas with that girl at camp!"

Regina squeezed her tightly and kissed her forehead again. "I am sure that it is nowhere near that point, and that it won't be for a long time. We raised a strong boy with a good head on his shoulders."

"Yeah, we did." Emma smiled at the thought. "Thank you for taking on so much while I was gone. I feel like I have missed so much. I don't know how I will make it up to the two of you."

"There is nothing to be made up for." Regina rolled over and positioned their bodies that they were looking into each other's eyes. "We are so proud of you for the choices that you have made. For the service that you have provided. Henry absolutely glows when he talks about you and everything that you do. He loves you so much.

"Maybe we should drive up tomorrow morning to pick him up rather than in the afternoon…" Emma suggested.

It was clear that the blonde was more and more anxious to see their son. "You say the word and we will get in the car. Even if it is two in the morning; we can go and get him whenever you want to. Regina smiled. "How about we have lasagna for dinner when he comes home?"

"Now that is probably one of the most fabulous ideas you have ever had!"

"I might have to make Henry his own so that he doesn't have to share with us. People are not kidding when they talk about how much teenage boys can eat!"

"Well in that case," Emma chuckled, "You might just have to make one for each of us. I haven't had your lasagna in almost two years. I am sure that I could eat an entire one myself too!"

"I certainly can't eat a whole one myself!"

The blonde shrugged, "He and I can share what is left of yours!"

Regina was about to respond when a loud rumble came from Emma's stomach. The brunette laughed, "I guess all this talk of food has made you hungry."

"Yes, our activities last night and the fact that I haven't eaten since yesterday morning are probably contributing as well."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Regina said, concerned. "We could've had dinner last night."

"I was too nervous to eat lunch yesterday, and by the time that I got here the only thing that I wanted to eat was you!" Emma grinned as she nuzzled her nose against her lover's.

"Am I on the menu this morning as well?" She smiled.

"You are something that I will order any time, any place."

"Will you at least let me put the coffee on before you ravage me against the counter top?"

"That seems like a fair trade." The blonde said with a grin.

Regina returned her smile, "I am going to run to the bathroom. I will be right back." She kissed her deeply once more before climbing out of bed and crossing to the master bath.

Emma sat up turned her body towards the edge of the bed. She paused for a moment as she looked around their bedroom. Regina had kept things just as they were before she had left. She wiped away tears of relief, of happiness. She was so caught up on her thoughts as she was securing her prosthetic in place that she didn't feel the bed shift as Regina climbed back on to it. The brunette positioned herself behind her lover; leg on either side of her body with her chest pressed against her back. Her lips traced a scar along her shoulder blade; her fingers of one hand caressed the soft, pale skin just below her navel while the other squeezed her breast.

"I love you." She murmured against her flesh.

The other woman reached behind her and tangled her fingers through dark locks. She reveled in the feeling of Regina's lips and hands on her body for a moment longer before she twisted her torso in order to press their lips together. Tongues met is a slow caress. It took everything inside of her to not pin her to the bed and begin their actions of last night all over again. Both women were panting when their lips parted.

Regina's hands clung to Emma's back while Emma's cupped her face. "What do you say," Emma spoke with labored breath, "That we start the coffee, I ravage you in the kitchen, and then we pick up breakfast on the way to pick up Henry?"

The brunette grinned as Emma ran her thumb up and down the scar on her upper lip, "I think that's the perfect plan."

Again, the content and the humor is certainly not meant to offend anyone. I hope that it didn't. Most importantly, thank you to everyone out there who has given their time, energy, and lives to protecting our country – the soldiers AND their families. You do a job that I could not and I am forever grateful.