A/N: Here it is. The end. It turned out a lot longer than I originally thought it would be so I kind of split chapters 3 and 4 at a weird point in time. Hopefully it still reads okay. Trigger warning: some abuse near the end of the chapter.


While Emma, Regina, and Henry ate, the three of them managed to indulge in a little conversation. It was impressive just how friendly Henry and Emma were considering that day was the first time they'd ever said more than hellos and goodbyes to each other.

"So, Emma. What do you like to do," Henry asked as they neared the end of their meal.

"Sword fighting," she easily replied.

Henry's eyebrows shot toward his receding hairline.

"Oh? You mean like knights and guards?"

"Yes," Emma chuckled.

"She spars with them sometimes, actually," Regina interjected.

"Isn't that something," Henry rhetorically asked. "Do you ever win?"

"Plenty of times," Emma boasted with a broad smile.

Henry laughed and said, "Good for you! I bet that means you're more than capable of defending yourself."

"Definitely," Emma answered.

"Good, good," Henry nodded. "I'm sure you know my daughter loves horses."

"Loves them very much," Emma confirmed. "She's an amazing rider."

"Oh, the best," Henry gladly agreed. "But I do remember when she first started to learn. It wasn't easy for her. Sure, most of it came naturally once she was on the horse, but it took her a long time to get on and stay on."

Emma laughed and asked, "Really?"

"Daddy," Regina warningly said as she looked between Emma and her father, her eyes almost comically wide as she tried to change the topic of conversation.

"You should have seen her. She wasn't afraid of the horses and the horses took to her in a hurry, but she would get her legs over the saddle and then the horse would move because she accidentally moved the reins to help herself the rest of the way onto the horse. She would slip, but I was always there to catch her."

Emma laughed again.

"Aw. That's so sweet."

Regina glared at her father for sharing that piece of information with the girl she liked. It was embarrassing and she wanted Emma to think she'd always been good at the one thing Regina absolutely loved to do.

"Well, my first few weeks with a sword weren't the greatest," Emma truthfully confessed.

Before Emma said anything else about the experience, Regina already felt grateful that Emma's first instinct was to even the playing field of embarrassing story time. It was as sweet a gesture as any of the previous ones Emma had made throughout the last week and Regina felt herself fall a little more for the blonde because of it.

"I dropped the sword more times than my father could count and that was before I even gave it a full swing. There was also a time when I nearly took out my father's eye. I accidentally swung the way he instructed and I flicked my wrist a little too suddenly while he was standing too close and I sliced open his cheek. He moved out of the way in just enough time before I could do any more damage. That was when he gave me the wooden practice sword our family friend Geppetto made for me when I was younger and wanted to play-swordfight with my father."

"How old were you," Henry asked.

"When I went back to the wooden sword? Fifteen. I'd been practicing with a real sword for almost a year. I used the practice sword from the age of thirteen until I showed enough skill to handle a real sword. But he kept changing the swords he gave me. Some were heavier than others due to the design for a man who weighed more than me. He wanted me to learn how to handle the different weights and lengths."

"Any good knight or guard would be well versed in all types," Henry nodded.

"Yes, that's exactly what my father explained to me when I asked why he kept changing them. Clearly I wasn't ready for the change he made that day."

"Clearly," Henry agreed with a little laugh. "When I get better, I want you to show me what you know. I wouldn't mind a wonderful opponent."

"Daddy, you don't even know how to carry a sword."

"You didn't let me finish," Henry started to say. "I wouldn't mind a wonderful opponent and instructor. And instructor, mija."

Emma laughed and Regina rolled her eyes with a smile. All three of them knew he had finished his sentence the first time. He'd never meant to add the word instructor, but he wanted to give himself a little more dignity than that of an old man who lay beaten down and otherwise ill saying he wanted to spar with a girl who'd been training with several swords for the last four years.

Once they finished all but a few scraps of the food Emma brought them, Regina offered to clear it.

"I'll just take this downstairs," Regina said. "I'll leave it in the kitchen and someone can come by and take care of it later."

Henry nodded and Emma smiled as she watched Regina take the platter with her on her way to the door.

Emma and Henry were alone within a few seconds and Emma shifted in place on the bed and flashed him a nervous smile, not sure of what to do with herself or what to say to him when Regina wasn't there to act as a buffer. Thankfully, Henry stepped up and for once Emma didn't have to be the one to start a conversation with a Mills.

"You have been so very good to her," Henry said. "And she looks happier with you than she's looked in years aside from when she gets up on a horse."

"Oh, well," Emma nervously blushed and smiled before she ducked her head a bit. "I'm sure that doesn't have much, if anything, to do with me."

"But it does. It has everything to do with you, querida."

"What does that word mean?"

Henry chuckled.

"Would you like to learn a little Spanish?"

Emma nodded.

"Querida means 'darling' or 'dear'. Is there a specific word you want to learn how to say in Spanish?"

Emma's mouth opened and closed a few times as she tried to think of something. Then she thought about how she'd signed her most recent note to Regina and figured out what she might want or need to say later in Spanish to Regina.

"I'll always be here for you," Emma said.

Henry knowingly smiled up at her.

"Siempre estaré aquí para ti," Henry gave her the translation.

Emma frowned and furrowed her brow. Henry's smile widened.

"One word at a time then," he suggested. "Repeat after me. Siempre."

"Siempre," Emma started to repeat.

"Estaré."

"Estaré."

"Aquí."

"Aquí."

"Para. Ti."

"Para ti."

"Good," Henry praised. "Rolling your 'R''s needs a little work, but that was good. Regina's first language was English upon her mother's insistence so when I first taught her it took some time as well."

Emma smiled.

"Do you think you can say it altogether now," Henry asked.

"I can try."

Henry gave an encouraging nod and Emma took a deep breath before she made an effort to say it on her own.

"Siempre… estaré aquí…para ti," Emma slowly managed to say with a better roll on the "r" than her first try.

"Very good. Muy buena," Henry complimented.

"Muy Buena? That's 'very good' in Spanish."

"Mhmm," Henry nodded.

Emma breathed out a small and quick sigh of relief as her smile stretched a little further across her face.

Henry carefully and very slowly started to sit up. When Emma saw his struggle, she did what she could to help and pulled up his pillow and fluffed it while he lifted himself into a sitting position. He then eased himself back against the pillow with a long groan and sigh.

"Are you okay," Emma asked as he settled back against the pillow.

"Yes," he smiled at her to ease any tension she felt for him. "I'm fine. For now, at least. Listen, no matter what happens, from today forward, I need you to make me a promise."

"A promise? Why would I need to make you a promise?"

"Escúchame," Henry said then sighed as he realized she wouldn't understand that. "Listen to me, it doesn't matter why I'm asking you to do this. Just make me a promise, okay?"

Emma took a deep breath as she nodded her consent to do as asked. "Okay."

"I trust that you'll always be there for Regina, which is why I'm trusting you with her life and her heart."

Emma shook her head, confused, and opened her mouth as if to say something, but Henry continued to talk.

"No matter what happens, Emma, promise me that you will take care of my daughter."

"I…"

"Things might get a little complicated in the coming days and it might seem like you shouldn't look after her, but Regina's going to need someone like you. She's always needed someone like you. You wanted to know how to say you'll always be in there in Spanish and I can only assume that it will one day be for Regina's benefit. So I'm giving you the opportunity to do that and telling you, warning you, that there will most likely be times when it's not so easy to want to stand by her or our family."

"Why?"

"It will be clear soon enough, I'm sure, but you cannot let it keep you from helping her. It cannot keep you from taking care of her. She's a strong young lady, but sometimes she cannot do things on her own. It will hurt her too much to feel, or to be, so alone. I have a feeling the only reason she's here now is because you agreed to come with her."

"There's a lot you aren't telling me," Emma stated.

"Yes, but I can promise you that when you figure it out, it may be tough to move past. But know that Regina cares for you and doesn't want any trouble."

Emma furrowed her brow.

"And don't stand by her just because I'm telling to do it. Do it because you know you want to stand by her regardless of what happens."

Emma stared at him for a moment as silence filled the room. After a few seconds passed, she nodded and agreed.

"I promise to take care of her, to stand by her no matter what, and to do as I say I will and always be there for her."

Henry smiled again and the action was warm and infectious. Emma almost smiled back, but she was a little too concerned to smile in that moment.

"I know it seemed forced," Henry started to speak again, "but I also know you might not care how it is you two met and had the opportunity to spend time together. I give you my blessing. If you choose to go through with all of this, the wedding, a relationship that extends beyond only friendship with my daughter, I know you will do right by her."

Emma's cheeks turned pink for the second time that day.

"Thank you," she said.

"I hope you two weren't talking about me," Regina said a second later as she rejoined them in Henry's room.

Henry chuckled and Emma looked over her shoulder and smiled at Regina.

"Only good things," Emma teased, though it was in fact the truth.

"Remind me to never leave you two alone ever again," Regina replied and sat back down on the bed, next to Emma that time since it was closer to the door and her father had seemed to move himself further over toward the other edge of the bed.

There was nowhere else on the bed for Regina to sit and she easily accepted that as she made herself comfortable beside Emma. She sat close enough to the blonde for their arms to brush any time they moved.

"You are two beautiful young ladies," Henry told them.

"Thank you, Daddy."

"Yes. Thank you, Henry."

"It looks like an equally beautiful day outside, too," Henry said as he looked at his only partially drawn curtains and saw the sun peek through the window. "You should enjoy it while it lasts. Go somewhere nice and enjoy nature. Don't stay cooped up with me in this stuffy palace."

Regina adamantly shook her head.

"I'm not leaving you. Not until we absolutely have to go back to Emma's palace."

Henry looked from Regina to Emma. With his eyes, he silently asked for Emma's help on the matter and even though the time spent that day together was only their second time meeting, Emma understood.

"We can stay here," Emma said to Regina, "but maybe we should let your father rest. We can either find another room or we can walk the grounds. Maybe stay somewhere outside but very close by? We'll come back and check on him in a little while."

Regina looked between her father and Emma. She narrowed her eyes with suspicion.

"Yes, I've officially decided. I'm never leaving the two of you alone again."

Emma smiled and removed herself from the bed. She held out a hand for the other princess and Regina took it after a few seconds. She pulled Regina off the bed and onto her feet and they said their goodbyes for the time being.

"We'll see you soon," Emma said to Henry.

"Very soon. Blink and we'll be back," Regina added.

Henry laughed.

"Go enjoy this beautiful day," Henry replied. "Don't worry about me. I'll be here, right here, when you get back. I'll be fine."

With a reassuring smile from him, Regina allowed Emma to usher her out of the room and the two of them left Henry to his bed, his thoughts, and his rest, because Henry did look like it wouldn't hurt him to get a little sleep.

"While we're here," Emma started to say. "Why don't you show me your room?"

"That seems incredibly forward," Regina quickly said with a slightly offended tone.

"I meant nothing by it, at least not in that way. I want to see your room because I want to see where you grew up."

"Oh," Regina said, surprised to hear that. "Well, I suppose I could show you."

Regina took the lead and Emma followed her down the hall until they stopped in front of a closed door. It looked the same as her father's bedchamber door, but that was expected. But that also made Emma wonder what she would find when they opened the door. Would she see a lot of color or pictures or figurines of horses? Or would she see something bland and undecorated just as her father's chamber appeared.

Then, Regina pushed opened the door and Emma's eyes widened at what she saw. The room wasn't empty or painted in uninteresting colors, but it wasn't terribly bright and warm either, only simple in its lack of boldness. She had a four-poster canopy bed with white, slightly transparent curtains draped over and pinned up on every side of the bed. The walls were an off-white color with lavender accents and it made the room feel soft like a cream or fluffy like a well whipped dessert.

"Wow," Emma breathed out as she took it all in.

"Is that a good wow?"

"Yes," Emma smiled and looked around for another moment before she looked at Regina again. "This room is… It's you."

"I should hope so. I would hate to have grown up in a room that felt utterly foreign."

Emma smiled and walked over to the bed. She ran her fingers over the canopy portion of the bed and after a minute she sat down on the edge of the bed on one side beneath the dip of the curtain she'd previously touched.

Regina slowly crossed the room and sat on the edge of the foot of her bed. Her shoulders were hunched forward, she kept her back to Emma, and she frowned as she stared down at the floor.

"Hey," Emma called over to her. "He's going to be fine, Regina. He's tough, like you."

Regina humorlessly laughed and shook her head.

"He's fine today. I don't know how long I can keep this up. With my mother and…everything, I can't protect myself and him at the cost of someo—something else."

"Whatever's going on, I'm sure everything will work out."

Emma scooted closer to the foot of the bed and reached out. She put a hand on Regina's shoulder and Regina closed her eyes and sighed as soon as the contact was made.

"You can't know that," Regina argued.

"But I know you and you can get through plenty, so you'll get through this."

"You don't even know what I'm going through. You don't know how any of this will turn out."

"Maybe not, but it should count that I'm confident in you."

"It would count more if you knew more about me and my past and what's actually happening."

"Well, I would know all of that if you would actually talk to me. I keep telling you not to shut me out and that's all you do."

"It's complicated, Emma."

The blonde pushed herself further onto the bed and crawled closer to Regina before she rested both hands on either of the brunette's shoulders from her new position behind the other princess.

"I don't want to further complicate things," Regina tried to reason with her.

Emma sighed.

"Okay, so don't. Don't complicate things and don't tell me everything you're holding back, but will you let me be here in whatever way you need me?"

"I thought I already was," Regina quietly said as she slowly turned her head and looked at Emma from over her shoulder.

For a moment, neither had anything more to say and they just remained completely still on the bed with their gazes locked and penetrating. There was an intensity to the moment and both of them could tell the other one felt it just as they did. It seemed almost unexpected and out of nowhere, but Regina needed a friend and Emma was there to be needed.

"What do you need," Emma asked.

"You. I just need you," Regina confessed and slid back on the bed, which forced Emma to let go of her shoulders.

Emma moved with her until the two of them were at the head of the bed. Once they were near the pillows, Emma laid back while Regina settled against Emma. The blonde wrapped an arm around Regina in a sort of half-hug embrace and rested her chin against the brunette's for a moment.

"Would you…" Regina nervously started to ask after a moment and lifted her head to look at Emma as she spoke. "Would you stay in here with me? I don't feel like leaving the palace and I want to check on my father, but he won't want to see me so soon. I need him to think I'm actually outside like he wants."

"Yes, of course," Emma easily said with an expression that said, Why do you think you still need to ask?

Regina rolled off of Emma and fell aside, onto her back with her head on a pillow.

Emma rolled over and faced Regina on her side. She draped an arm over Regina's waist like it was the most natural thing in the world then rethought her actions.

"Is this okay," she asked Regina with eyes wide out of concern that she had overstepped.

"Yes," Regina assured her and placed a hand on Emma's forearm. She smiled at the blonde then turned her head again to look back up at the ceiling.

After several moments of silence, Regina absentmindedly started to stroke her fingers up and down Emma's arm. Emma's eyes fluttered closed and she wiggled against Regina's side until she was more comfortably draped half on top of the brunette. Regina chuckled to herself and took comfort in Emma's presence and the press of her body against her while they just lay there and rested.

Thoughts of Cora and the fact that she couldn't avoid her mother any longer ruptured the peace of the moment she shared with Emma. The seventh day would mark a full week's time of a trial run for the marriage and it would mark the day that Cora started to breathe down her neck about results. It was not a day she looked forward to, but that day wasn't today. It came with the rising sun the next morning, but Regina had all of this time with Emma and with her father and she was going to enjoy everything she could about it before anything like Cora and her plan could taint the simplicity and the warmth of the day and her true chance at happiness.

Regina lazily began to draw patterns on Emma's arm and when she looked to her right to check on the blonde, she thought Emma might have fallen asleep. A second later, however, when her fingers had unwittingly stopped all movement, green eyes popped open and instantly met her gaze. Regina resumed sliding her fingers up and down Emma's arm with a feather-light touch and soon Emma closed her eyes again. For some reason that made Regina smile.


Emma and Regina left Henry as physically ill as he had been when they first arrived, but he was in better spirits after he'd seen his daughter. It was sad to leave, but they'd spent long enough away from the Summer Palace and needed to return. When they arrived there, it was as unpleasant as Regina assumed it would be.

Emma's parents weren't thrilled about them running off the way they had, but Cora seemed wickedly pleased. The blonde argued with her parents for several minutes while Cora dragged Regina off to discuss all too familiar matters. Apparently Cora breathing down her neck came before the next rising sun. Regina frowned and looked back at Emma with wide, slightly frightened eyes while Cora pulled her toward the stairs. Emma met her gaze and looked concerned. It was the last Regina saw of her before Cora monopolized her time with talk of marriage, death, and a fatal timeline.

"I suppose sneaking off is one way to go about the plan. You seem to have an affinity for secret rendezvouses. Tell me, dear, are you truly a whore as I suspect?"

"We didn't do anything," Regina insisted. "We only talked."

Cora cackled.

"Oh, I very much doubt that's all you did. You really are your mother's daughter, doing what needs to be done to get what you want."

"This isn't what I want," Regina argued. "You want this. You want me to get close to this family, to Emma, for you. Not for me. Not for happiness, but as an effort to gain better station and more power."

"Don't be foolish," Cora practically growled. "This is all for you. Without power or proper station you will get nowhere in this life. They will treat you like you are nothing, but you're not nothing. Are you? You have to fight to get where you belong and you have to be ruthless to get what you deserve."

Regina shook her head, her expression shocked and full of disbelief.

"How can you think that way," Regina asked.

"It's the truth, Regina. The sooner you realize that, the better off you'll be."

"No, I won't, because it's not the truth. Yes, you have to fight, but you have to fight for your happiness and the love—"

"Love?" Cora scoffed. "Oh, dear girl, tell me you haven't fallen for the princess."

Regina remained silent.

"No," Cora shook her head with a mirthless smile. "You are indeed foolish. Love is weakness, Regina."

"If it's weakness, how is it I only feel strength whenever I allow myself to love?"

Cora scowled. With a flick of her wrist, she sent Regina flying across the room and into one of the walls.

Regina slammed against it hard with a thud and a yelp.

"One day you'll understand," Cora said with wild eyes and gritted teeth. "And as soon as you kill Emma the way you refused to let me take care of that stable boy, you will then know true and necessary sacrifice."

Regina steeled herself and took on a tough, defiant appearance both in her eyes and her body language.

"What would you know about sacrifice? All you've ever done is take what you want and step over people and hurt everyone around you."

Cora swooped in and slapped Regina hard across her cheek.

Regina squeaked in surprise on contact and accidentally bit her bottom lip hard enough to draw blood when her neck was forced from one direction to the other.

"Do not speak of things you don't understand," Cora lectured.

Regina's breath quickened and she wondered if the wall and the slap were only the start of her punishment that day. She'd only recently healed from her last run in with Cora and hated the thought of dealing with new wounds while they took just as long or longer to heal as the last ones.

After a moment, Cora took a step back. Her eyes were still hard with anger, but she made no move to further Regina's punishment so the brunette thought it might be the end of her pain for the day.

"There is no way out of this, Regina. You will do as you're told. I don't need a timeline to end one of their lives so if you're not careful, your darling princess will lose either her mother or father before the big day. It's up to you how soon she loses one of them."

Regina's jaw dropped and she shook her head. "Are you suggesting you'll kill one of them soon?"

"If you don't give me a wedding date by sundown tomorrow that is exactly what I will do."

Cora left her with that and sauntered out of the chamber. Regina held back her tears that time, but it did nothing to abate the tightness in her chest or the sinking feeling in her gut. She had to tell someone. There was no way to protect Emma or her family with distance anymore. It was too late for that. They needed to know what they were up against. They needed to find another magical being or a way to strip Cora of her magic and fight the woman or they would lose something precious, they would lose a family member in a day's time.

She started to pace the chamber and wring her hands in front of herself. She stared down at the floor with wide eyes as she tried to decide who to tell first. It probably had to be Emma. It should be Emma. If Regina wanted any kind of future with the blonde she had to be upfront about everything. It would be difficult to admit it all to the other princess, but hopefully Emma meant it when she said she wasn't giving up and that she was there for her.

As if she were a mind reader, there was a knock on her chamber door and a second later Emma peeked in.

"Am I intruding," Emma asked as she slowly started to enter the chamber.

"No," Regina stopped pacing and shook her head. "You aren't intruding."

Emma smiled then took in Regina's worried state and frowned. "Is everything alright?"

Regina gulped and glanced back and forth between Emma and the floor, unable to maintain eye contact with the blonde for more than a few seconds at a time. When Emma started to walk over to her, the door firmly shut behind her before she moved any further into the chamber, Regina shook her head in response to the younger princess' question.

"What is it," Emma asked and closed most of the space between them. Once they stood close enough for Emma to get a good look at her and notice her unshed tears as they welled up in her eyes, the blonde gasped. "What happened to your lip?"

It was time to tell her. She had the perfect opportunity to tell Emma why she preferred to spend time with her father and not her mother. From there she would easily be able to slip into the part of the conversation when she would warn Emma of how dangerous Cora Mills was and the threat she posed to her bloodline.

Emma tucked a finger under her chin and lifted it. Regina wasn't sure if it was to look into her eyes or to better assess the damage done to her lip, but Regina flicked her eyes up from the floor and they instantly locked gazes. Emma's eyes were full of concern and questions. She deserved all the answers and the slight peace of mind that came with knowing what she'd been kept in the dark about for so long, but lost all words as she stared into those beautiful green eyes. Well, she lost all the right words anyway.

"I bit it by accident," Regina told her.

Emma shook her head. "There's more you aren't telling me. Ever since we came back, and the fact that you didn't want to come back yesterday, something in you has changed. Where was the girl I spent all day eating and talking with today when we visited your father? Why are you suddenly hurt and frightened?"

"I'm not frightened," she lied.

"I saw the way you looked when your mother brought you up here."

"You don't know what you saw."

Emma scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Regina."

Regina exhaled and looked down as she tightly closed her eyes, a few tears squeezed out in the process. She shook her head as she lifted it again and then opened her eyes to look at Emma.

"It's her. It's my mother," Regina finally said.

"She did this to you," Emma asked and brought her hand up to the side of Regina's face but didn't fully reach out to touch it.

"I didn't lie before. I bit it, but…only because she slapped me."

"Oh gods," Emma exclaimed. "Does she hurt you often?"

Regina nodded.

"Is this the first time she's hurt you since you came to the palace?"

Regina shook her head and sniffled.

"Regina, why didn't you tell me," Emma asked before she pulled the brunette into a hug. "I'm so sorry. I will have my parents remove her from the palace at once."

"No, you can't," Regina said and pulled away from Emma. "Even if she left, she would just go back to my palace and she'll…she'll know I told and she'll hurt my father. She'll kill him."

Emma's eyes widened. "Is she the reason he's ill?"

"Yes," Regina answered through her tears.

Emma sighed and closed her eyes, her expression sympathetic.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Regina quietly said and Emma opened her eyes.

"You're telling me now. That's all that counts."

Emma rubbed Regina's arms and it warmed the chill Regina only then realized she'd felt ever since Cora had pulled her upstairs to talk.

"How are your parents after our escapades today," Regina changed the subject.

Emma chuckled. "They weren't happy at first, but they're glad you've warmed up to me."

"They are or you are," Regina teasingly asked.

Emma smiled and replied, "A little of both, actually."

For a moment there was only silence as they looked at each other just as it had happened back at Regina's palace, but Emma's eyes wandered from Regina's eyes down to her lip. The blonde reached out again and ran the pad of her thumb over the cut.

Regina's breath hitched and their eyes immediately met in response to the sound.

"Does it hurt," Emma softly asked, the space between them almost nonexistent.

"No," Regina replied just as softly while her lip brushed against Emma's thumb.

Emma leaned in and then Regina eliminated the rest of the space between them as their lips met in a sweet and tender kiss.

Suddenly, anything else Regina had to say faded into the recesses of her mind and she melted into the kiss. She fell into Emma's arms and everything else ceased to exist beyond them and what was happening inside Regina's temporary bedchamber.

Emma placed a hand on Regina's hip and one on the brunette's upper back and pulled her closer until the distance between the rest of their bodies disappeared and they were melded together. Their lips brushed against each other with hardly any effort or pressure behind it, but the longer they remained in each other's arms the more heated their kisses became.

Regina tangled her fingers in blonde tresses and kissed Emma more fiercely, less innocently and with a previously unexplored passion. She gasped between kisses and rested a hand on Emma's shoulder while her other hand remained in Emma's hair. She kissed and kissed and kissed the other woman and then swiped her tongue over pink lips in an attempt to receive an invitation to the rest of Emma's mouth. It took only a couple of swipes before her silent request was granted and when their tongues first met, Regina moaned.

Regina blushed at the moan she'd let out, embarrassed by the sound, but she wasn't embarrassed enough to pull away quite yet.

Emma whimpered in response to Regina's moan and she started to claw at Regina's clothes where her hands rested to keep herself grounded and steady. She hummed after a few more flicks of their tongues then slowly parted from the kiss. A second later, she leaned forward again and pressed her forehead to Regina's. Her breath puffed against Regina's mouth and nose and Regina's breath occasionally hit her chin.

"Will anyone notice if you don't go back to your own chamber," Regina asked a moment later.

Emma's eyes popped open but she didn't move away from the brunette. "Eventually, yes, but we have time. If you want me to stay—"

"Yes," Regina didn't hesitate to confess. "I sleep much better with you by my side. Would you mind staying the night?"

"The entire night?"

"Yes." Regina frowned. "Will that be a problem?"

"No," Emma smiled. "I wanted to make sure I understood."

Regina smiled back and pulled Emma along with her toward the bed.

"This will be the second time we have slept together before the wedding," Emma joked.

Regina chuckled then said, "Third if you count your little nap in my chamber at my family's palace."

"I'd hardly call that a nap. My eyes were closed for a few minutes. That's it."

Regina laughed and shook her head.

"It was longer than a few minutes and you did fall asleep. I had to shake you awake before I checked on my father again."

Emma rolled her eyes and said, "If that's how you want to remember it."

Regina continued to smile and let it go. She knew she was right and so did Emma. The blonde was either too stubborn to admit it or just wanted to win an argument. It really didn't matter. It happened and Emma was so very calm when she slept against Regina's side earlier that day just as Regina had slept so peacefully against Emma's the day before at the cabin.

The bed in the chamber Regina had been provided with during her stay at the White's palace wasn't as big as Emma's or as Regina's own back home, but it still managed to fit two people. There was wiggle room to both the left and the right and it would take a significant effort to roll off one side or the other, but it wasn't as though there were miles of bed space between or beside them when both laid out on it.

Emma sat back against one of the pillows while Regina settled in on the other side of the bed and they fit a little snuggly in the space, but they weren't on top of each other. They were close but not uncomfortably close. Of course, it wasn't until they were both on the bed that they realized they hadn't changed into proper sleepwear. They were in a nice bed in clothes that smelled like the forest and the trusty steed they'd acquired for the day's journey. Neither of them had even taken off their riding boots yet.

"I think we missed a step," Emma laughed when she realized their mistake.

Regina looked them both over, first Emma and then herself. She closed her eyes and smiled before she also let out a laugh.

"I suppose we could either rectify that or remain as we are," Regina suggested.

"I'm already comfortable and if I leave this chamber to go to my own for more appropriate sleep attire then I risk being noticed and being unable to return."

"I believe I have a few options in the wardrobe," Regina pointed to the wardrobe that was all the way across the room.

Emma groaned and reluctantly rolled off the bed. She walked over to it and looked through their options.

"There is exactly one full outfit for sleep here," Emma noted and grabbed it. She closed the wardrobe and came back to the bed with it then held it out to Regina.

"So I automatically get to wear it," Regina asked. "It's not even mine."

"It doesn't matter whose it is, you should wear it. I'll stay in my riding clothes. It wouldn't be the first time I slept in them or a dress or anything other than the proper outfit."

Regina accepted the clothes and Emma sat back down on the bed.

"Thank you."

Emma smiled at her and said, "What are friends for?"

Regina lowered the outfit into her lap for a moment and leaned over. She kissed Emma who reclined on her elbow so she remained stuck between laying down and sitting. When Regina ended the kiss and pulled back, she set aside the outfit Emma forfeited to her and scooted toward the foot of the bed on her knees. She sat back on the heels of her feet when she was close enough to touch Emma's boots then started to unlace them.

"What are you doing," Emma asked as she furrowed her brow and watched Regina work her nimble fingers through her laces.

"You gave me the nightgown for tonight so I'm removing your boots for you."

"You don't have to do that. Just because I do something for you doesn't mean you have to do something for me. I'm not looking for repayment."

"But you shall have it," Regina insisted as she continued to unlace Emma's boots. "Lay back and enjoy, Princess. You have done so much for me. It's time I do something for you."

Emma hesitated, almost protested again, but decided to listen to Regina and slid off her elbows as she lowered herself onto her back on the bed. She laid out and waited for Regina to handle her boots, which she unlaced in no time at all.

Once the laces were undone, Regina pulled one boot off at a time and discarded them on the floor beside the bed.

"Be careful not to trip on those in the morning," Regina warned her as she moved back up the bed then threw her legs over the side, grabbed the nightgown, and stood up. She looked over her shoulder at Emma whose eyes hadn't left her the entire time she'd removed Emma's boots and gotten out of bed. "Mind looking elsewhere and giving a lady her privacy?"

"Oh, right. Sorry," Emma blushed then rolled onto her side and put her back to Regina.

Regina inwardly chuckled at the blonde's reaction then faced forward and started to strip down. She rid herself of her boots, her jacket, and her pants before she pulled away her shirt and left herself standing in nothing but her underwear.

"Are you decent yet," Emma asked without a hint of annoyance or desire for Regina to rush herself.

"Almost," Regina answered and threw the nightgown on over her head. She pulled the gown down past her thighs and it fell the rest of the way to the floor and covered her legs. "Decent now."

Regina knelt onto her side of the bed with one knee then slid in and laid down while Emma rolled back over to face her.

"I think there are a lot of people in this world who would have looked when I said almost," Regina said. "But not you."

"I respect you. If you wanted me to see you would have told me. Ask me to turn around and I will. Ask me to close my eyes and I will. Ask me to wait and I will."

"Chivalrous, committed, and loyal. I have never met a suitor quite like you."

"Mysterious, intense, and loves deeply. Nor have I ever met a suitor quite like you."

"One day I think I'd like to marry you," Regina dreamily confessed with a bright smile as they lay together, face to face, in the same bed.

Emma bit her lip even as she smiled just as brightly in return then whispered like it was a secret, "I think I'd already like to marry you."

Regina's smile started to fade, hit with the reminder that her mother's plan was for Regina to figure out a wedding date so they had a timeline to work with. That timeline would determine who would die when and Regina really didn't want her chance at happiness to be tainted with that. It was then or never.

"I… Emma, we can't—"

Emma frowned.

"We can't get married," Regina said. "I want to…I want to think that there will be a day when we can, but as long as my mother…"

Regina closed her eyes and sighed. She didn't know how to say what she had to and she wanted Emma to stay. Why couldn't Emma stay? Why couldn't she just be happy? Why she always have to say goodbye to what she loved?

"Whatever it is you can tell me," Emma assured her.

Regina took a deep breath and opened her eyes. She looked at Emma, mapped out her features and momentarily lost herself in green eyes, and wished more than anything that she could keep Emma like she hadn't been able to keep Daniel.

"My mother's only interest in your family is to put me in position of power," Regina finally blurted out. "She'll use our marriage to make me Queen and then she'll make all of your deaths look like tragic accidents or previously undetected health problems so I will be the sole ruler of this kingdom and no one will be the wiser that you died by her hand."

Emma stiffened and her eyes nearly popped out of her skull.

"She'll use me as her voice when dealing with the people, but she will ultimately be the one ruling. She has me under her thumb and I don't… Emma, I don't want to do this. I don't want to hurt anyone and I've tried my hardest to keep myself closed off when it came to you. I thought it would save you, but now she's given me until sundown to tell her when our ceremony will be or she'll do something unforgivable."

"So…this whole time you were here to ensure I would marry you just so you could deliver us to your mother like lambs to a slaughter?"

"That's why my mother wanted this arrangement to work. Before my mother and I came back here, I'd refused to leave with her. I'd told my mother that I wouldn't do what she asked and when she wouldn't listen to me, when she hit me for defying her orders, my father insisted I shouldn't have to do what she wanted. That's when she turned her anger on him and left him the way we saw him today."

Emma had thankfully at least stayed to hear the full story. She hadn't moved from the bed, but she wasn't as close to Regina as she had before the brunette had started to explain everything.

"I didn't want to like you," Regina continued when Emma didn't say anything. She had to make sure Emma understood. "I hoped that if I kept yelling at you or refused to talk to you that you would tell your parents to find you another suitor. I wanted you to call off the arrangement because by then I knew if I tried my mother would either hurt me or my father. She'd threatened me enough times about it on the carriage ride here."

Regina ran a hand through her hair then hugged her knees to her chest. She sat with Emma facing her side while she tried to calm her breathing. The more she talked about Cora's plan the more erratic it was. She feared she'd say one too many things and go into a panic attack from lack of oxygen in her lungs.

"You didn't call it off, though. You still wanted to be my friend no matter what I did and I…I really liked that despite my best efforts to push you away. That was…no one's ever done that for me before. It took my father years to finally stand up for me against my mother. You were willing to fight for our friendship before we'd really even known each other."

"You didn't want to like me so that maybe I had a chance of avoiding the fate your mother has mapped out for my family and I," Emma started to slowly restate what Regina had told her. She wanted to be very clear about all she'd heard. "And then when I insisted we be friends no matter if we married or not, you started to like me. But you never told me about your mother, you never told my parents about your mother, and just hoped it would all go away?"

Regina wanted to cry.

"It was foolish of me not to say anything sooner," she agreed with the blonde.

"Of course it was! I kept asking you what was wrong. I asked you to let me in and tell me anything. You told me bits and pieces, but you never told me we were in danger."

"I was afraid!"

"Of your mother or of what I would think of you?"

"Both," Regina sadly admitted then took a moment before she spoke again. "But I'm not afraid anymore."

Emma watched Regina go from the verge of more tears to appearing determined and adamant.

"You may hate me for being so dishonest and you may call all of this off, force me back to my own palace and never speak to me again, but I've told you now. You know that my mother wants you and your parents dead and I don't know what else I can do to help make sure that doesn't happen, but if you have any suggestions I will do everything I can. That is, if you even want my help."

Emma sat up with a sigh. She looked over at her boots on the floor and trailed her eyes over the nightgown she'd given Regina before she looked into chocolate brown eyes.

"When I kissed you it wasn't to further my mother's plan," Regina said last. "When I told you I sleep better with you by my side, I wasn't lying. I may have kept vital information from you, but the rest of what I said was all true. Maybe they were half-truths since most of it stemmed around what my mother wants me to do, but you still know me. I really do love horses, I love my father, I love riding, I do wish my life could just once be about me, and I…I just need you to know that."

She should have waited until morning to tell Emma. She should have been selfish just once in her life and should have enjoyed the last night of happiness she would probably ever know. Because once Emma knew everything she would leave. She would tell her parents after running from Regina's chamber and she would cast the brunette out in every way imaginable. At least she would always have the cabin and the day they spent with her father, the image of Emma on a horse and waiting for her solely because she knew what they had in mind for their day might cheer Regina up. At least she would have the memories of what real love looked like, because once Emma told her parents and the marriage was off it would probably be Regina's last day of light if not her last day alive.

"Okay," Emma calmly said.

Regina's eyebrows jumped toward her hairline. "Oh-Okay?"

Emma nodded.

"Wait, you're not…you're not mad," Regina asked.

"You should have told me sooner. I'm still a little mad about that," Emma admitted, "but like I said before, you told me. That's what counts. Now what exactly is your mother's plan and what can she do to hurt us?"

Regina blinked out a few more tears as she stared at Emma with a look of incredulousness and amazement. Seconds passed and she tried to accept the fact that Emma was still there. Emma hadn't run from her, hadn't rushed to tell her parents, she had stayed. Emma was still in bed with her and she wanted to talk it out. She still wanted to know everything no matter what it was. Just as Regina mostly hadn't lied to Emma, Emma hadn't lied to her. She really could tell Emma anything, it seemed.

So she did. She told Emma about Cora's magic and her need to work out a timeline so she could base the murders on when they would marry and what would look the least suspicious. She told Emma everything and when she was finished, it was well into the night. She'd had to whisper the part about how Cora wanted to kill them off one by one starting before and ending at least a year or two after the wedding.

"I think we have a full day ahead of us tomorrow," Emma said after Regina had shared all the information she had to offer. She shifted on the bed and pulled the sheets over herself. She squirmed around for a short time until she was comfortable and when she was settled on her back, she looked over at Regina. "We should probably get all the rest we can. We'll have to wake up early and talk to my parents about this. They'll have to call the Blue Fairy in and discuss all the magical solutions and then we'll have to find a way to keep Cora clueless until we're ready to strike."

Regina was baffled and speechless. Not only had Emma stayed to listen, but she still had every intention to stay through the night as she had previous agreed to do.

"Thank you," Regina whispered then laid down beside Emma. She wanted to kiss her and drape an arm over her, hold her close, but she wasn't sure if Emma thought to stay because she was too tired to leave or if she was nice enough to uphold her agreement to stay but would throw Regina out of the palace as soon as she could the next day.

Regina kept her hands to herself, but she felt more relaxed than she would have been if Emma had stormed out. She had Emma by her side and no matter the reason behind her decision, Emma still chose to stay.


The sun had barely started to show itself, but Emma was up and soon after so was Regina. For a while Regina had resisted, but Emma poked, smacked, and nudged her too many times to ignore. When she'd finally opened her eyes, Emma thought it would help things along if she childishly blew in her ear and jumped on the bed to jar her so far and aggressively from sleep she would have to accept the new day was upon them.

Regina grudgingly did accept that, but she was also slow to sit up. She wanted to stay in bed a little longer. She wanted to come up with a plan to stop her mother, but she really just wanted to bask in the glow of the morning before she had to deal with something so dark and ugly. She grumbled and heard a laugh from the right of her in response. Emma apparently found her grumpy mood funny.

"I think I should be calling you Princess. You certainly act like one."

"I am one. I'm just not heir to my family's throne." Suddenly, a realization dawned on her like the new day. "I don't understand. My family can offer a fine dowry, but politically your family gains nothing from me as your wife."

"That's not entirely true."

Regina frowned, further confused.

"You are still of royal birth therefore our marriage would bind two royal bloodlines. More importantly, I refused to marry any of the men my parents brought around after I met you."

Regina's eyebrows shot up.

"It wasn't just because I liked you," Emma continued. "It also had to do with the fact that all those suitors offered me nothing I wanted. You were the only one I saw promise with so I forced my parents' hand. I convinced them to reach out to your mother. Your mother—which now I truly understand her desperation to make this match—was more than happy to comply with the request to return here."

"You asked for me?"

"Is it so hard to believe that someone other than your father actually likes your company?"

"Well…yes."

Emma frowned. "What about Daniel?"

"He was the only other one," Regina answered. "But I told him to run and he ran. My mother was going to kill him and I thought if one of us should be harmed in any way because of her it should be me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Regina shook her head. "It happened. Nothing I could ever do can change that. I just hope he's happy wherever he is now. He's safe from her. That's all that matters to me."

"But you truly liked him?"

"It was becoming more than like, the way I felt abouthim. …But," Regina switched back to the previous topic. "I understand that you wanted me back here. Why did your parents agree?"

Emma smiled and after moment said, "Because as much as they want to make all the right moves for the kingdom, they also want me to have the kind of happiness and love they have in each other. The more I talked to them about you, the more receptive they became to dealing with your mother. They thought if it would make me happy that it might be wise to set up this entire week for us to bond. They figured if you could prove yourself worthy of both me and the kingdom, it didn't matter what political ties we made. It just mattered that you have a good head on your shoulders and that you could make me happy in at least some respect."

"I suppose I ruined that chance," Regina sadly muttered.

Emma reached out and grabbed Regina's hands. She pulled the brunette out of bed and onto her feet with hardly any space between them.

"They won't like that you kept this from them, but you can be forgiven," Emma assured her. She rubbed her thumbs over Regina's wrists and stared into brown eyes with confidence and determination. She believed the words she spoke and she also had a second message within them. Not only could Emma's parents forgive Regina, but Emma could forgive her, too.

Regina definitely should have told Emma sooner. All of the anguish and nausea she felt while keeping that secret and then revealing it only to worry that Emma would leave her could have been avoided or lessened. If only she'd told her sooner.

"Get dressed," Emma's voice brought Regina back to the present. "We'll need to speak to my parents at once. And my handmaid will stop by my chamber soon. If she realizes I'm not in it, there will be talk when someone catches us coming out of your chamber before speaking to my parents."

Regina nodded and went over to the wardrobe. She picked out one of two remaining outfits for the week.

"Will you need one or are you rushing off to your chamber for clothes as well as an alibi," Regina asked over her shoulder.

"I'll get dressed in my chamber. If I break routine it may look questionable."

"Mm. So is this how you always managed to leave your letters before I awoke? You were up at least an entire hour before me?"

Emma smiled almost from ear to ear.

"I sometimes like to walk around the palace garden while the sun rises. I run my fingers through the dew-covered blades of grass and smell the fresh morning air. I find it to be the best way to start the day."

"You're giving that up today," Regina noted with a frown. "It's my fault."

"Not every day has to start the same for it to be a good day."

"But this day surely won't end well. My mother is a monster."

"Maybe, but if we prevail I think it will end just well enough to count as good day. Worry not, Regina. Things aren't spectacular at the moment, but we still have a chance to change things."

Hope. Emma had it and Regina usually didn't, but ever since she came back for the opportunity to connect with the blonde princess she had found a reason to have it. She had found the ability in herself to hope for the best even when things seemed darkest.

Emma went off to her chamber and Regina changed into her outfit for the day. After several minutes, Emma knocked on her door. There wasn't a note in her hand like there was the previous day, but she honestly didn't need one. Emma had told Regina everything the brunette needed to know and Emma's mere presence through all of what was happening was enough of a friendly, not-quite-love letter filled with beautiful and awe-inspiring sentiments for Regina.

"Ready," Emma asked and held out a bowed arm to her.

Regina looked from Emma to her proffered arm. She stepped forward and hooked her arm in Emma's. "As I'll ever be."

Emma guided Regina through the halls to her parents' chamber with their arms linked and Regina took several deep breaths to calm herself. She looked around the palace as they made their way toward the chamber, on the lookout for Cora, and when they reached the door without incident Regina finally exhaled with the smallest bit of relief.

The doors opened a short time after Emma knocked and her parents weren't quite ready for the day, but they were dressed. Their hair was a little askew, bedhead for both of them, and the Queen didn't have her makeup on, but both of her parents smiled when they saw who had interrupted their morning routine. The handmaid who had opened the door for them stepped aside and allowed them to enter upon the Queen's insistence and closed the door behind them once they were inside.

"Don't you two look lovely together," the King smiled at them as he straightened out his shirt then ran a hand through his wayward hair. "Have you come to tell us something?"

Regina ducked her head, but Emma stood by her and kept her chin up and their arms linked.

"We have some disheartening news," Emma told them. "Maybe we speak privately?"

The handmaid and her father's assistant looked to their King and Queen for approval of Emma's request. Both royals nodded and the handmaid and assistant were dismissed.

"What is this about," Charming asked once the four of them were alone.

"Regina tells me her mother is planning an attack on our family."

Snow stood and left her place at her vanity to stand beside her husband as they both looked between Emma and Regina with wide eyes.

"Regina? Is this true," Snow asked.

Regina slowly looked up again with a nervous look in her eyes then nodded confirmation.

"She has magic," Emma continued to inform them of the danger they faced. "She may use it against us. She hasn't hesitated to use it against her own daughter so there's no telling what she'll do to us."

Snow's expression went from disbelief to sorrow and sympathy as she regarded Regina.

"She uses magic on you," Snow carefully asked in a soft tone.

Regina only nodded again as an answer.

"Oh, poor dear," Snow said, and Charming wrapped an arm around his wife in response. "Well, does she know for certain that Cora plans an attack?"

"She wants to kill you," Regina hoarsely spoke up, finally. "It's been her plan all along. I did what I thought was best to prolong her plan, but I'm afraid it's no longer working. She wants to ensure this marriage happens and then she will end all of your lives so I can control the throne. She wants me to be the sole ruler because she herself wants to be Queen, but she's fifth in line for the title in our family."

"You've known since we invited you into our home that she wants us dead," Charming asked, a flash of anger in his eyes.

"Yes, but I tried to get Emma to break the arrangement. I thought if you or she thought I was horrible that you would send my mother and I back to my palace and then you would be safe. Emma was stubborn, though. I didn't know what else to do. I wanted to tell you, all of you, but my mother frightens me. She's an awful person."

Charming huffed out a sigh through his nose.

"We don't need to concern ourselves with why Regina didn't come to us sooner," Emma stepped in. "We need to concern ourselves with how we're going to stop Cora."

Treason. Regina knew deep down that what Cora had planned wasn't only terrible and wrong, but also a crime. Anyone guilty of treason or attempt of treason was executed. If Emma's parents found a way to trap Cora, that day would be the day she lost her mother for good. She didn't want to feel bad about it, didn't want it to eat away at her like some nasty disease because her mother deserved it, but for everything Cora had done to her and her father and the threat she was to anyone in power as long as she had Regina to use as a pawn in her chess game, Cora Mills was still her mother. As heartless as Cora seemed to be, especially when it came to her own daughter, she was still her mother, and Regina never wanted any of it. She didn't want to be used by her mother, abused by her mother, didn't want to have to witness her mother be accused of treason and sentenced to death, didn't want to watch her mother stand before a firing squad. She'd only ever wanted to be free, to be happy.

And now the day had come. Her mother was already a bit of a lost cause. Eighteen years and Regina never once felt the woman's love, but that day unfortunately marked the end of Cora Mills' existence. With her final breath, Cora would also take away any chance, no matter how big or how small, that maybe Regina would know what it was like to truly be loved by her mother without pain, without suffering, without evil schemes, without fear of consequences when Regina didn't do exactly every wrong thing that Cora wanted her to do.

"Are you okay," Emma asked and gently jostled Regina's arm to get her attention.

Regina gulped and nodded, but a tear slid down her cheek without any preamble. She hadn't experienced any of the usual feelings inside herself before she cried and yet there was a tear.

Emma wiped it away with the pad of her thumb and unlinked their arms to supportively, reassuringly, grip Regina's bicep.

"I don't want her to die," Regina confessed, her voice nothing more than a raspy whisper. She looked right at Emma as she repeated for at least the third time in a single week, "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Anyone. Most of the time Regina had only meant that she didn't want to hurt Emma and her parents, but in that moment "anyone' extended to her own mother.

"She will need to be punished," Snow said.

"I know, but…I don't want her to die. She's my mother." Regina looked up with wet and pleading eyes.

"Show Cora mercy," Emma begged and moved her hand from Regina's bicep to wrap her arm around the brunette. "Strip her magic or bind it, whatever it is the Blue Fairy can do, and then lock her up or banish her somewhere. Just spare her life. For Regina."

Snow and Charming looked at their daughter before their eyes slid to Regina and then back to Emma.

"We will consider our options," Snow told them. "We need to confer with Blue. You two should head downstairs for breakfast. We will be there as soon as we decide the best solution."

Regina nodded and choked back a sob before it could escape then felt Emma carefully usher her out of the chamber.

Cora was malicious and Cora failed to make Regina feel safe and truly loved, but she claimed that what she had planned was all for Regina. It might have been a twisted sense of loving her, but she seemed to love and care enough about Regina's well-being that she took excessive measures to ensure her daughter was well off. Sure, Cora also benefitted from that, but maybe her mother really was trying to give her only the best, give her everything Cora herself hadn't achieved. Again, Regina had convinced herself that no matter what Cora had done and still wanted to do, she was still her mother. One day her mother would pass away and so would her father, but not by execution. Not by beatings, either magical or not like her father almost was. They could die natural deaths when it was their time. Regina didn't want to be an orphan any time soon, especially if she was exiled from the White's palace with no one to go home to.

As Emma and Regina left the King and Queen's chamber, Regina burrowed her head into the crook of Emma's neck and tried to fight back her tears. Cora would know something was wrong if she witnessed such an emotional display from her daughter.

Emma tightened her grip on Regina and whispered into her ear, "Shhh. It's going to be okay. It's going to be okay."


Emma left her for one moment. She went to tell the cook to prepare an early breakfast and perhaps retrieve drinks for them while they waited for her parents to come to a decision.

That one moment was a moment too long. Regina was completely alone when Cora emerged in the dining room entryway. The woman didn't look upset or suspicious, but as soon as Regina heard her mother's voice she immediately went tense.

"Good morning, dear."

Chills shot down her spine and Regina closed her eyes as if not seeing her would make Cora disappear like a silent wish fulfilled.

"How's your princess? Have you discussed a date yet?"

Regina didn't know what to say. She wanted to keep quiet, but that would only make her mother angry. She couldn't lie to her mother, either. Cora read her so well. She would instantly know it was a lie and then all Hell would most likely break loose.

"No," Regina said and started to tremble.

Cora balked then slithered into the dining room with a scowl directed at Regina. The younger woman felt her mother's rage behind brown eyes like her own, though Regina's were filled trepidation.

"I thought I made this all perfectly clear to you last night," Cora growled.

"And I thought I made it clear that I don't want to do this," Regina warily argued.

"You are only a child. You don't know what you want. You don't know what you should want."

"Please don't do this," Regina quietly begged.

"Don't do what, dear? This," Cora said before she flicked her wrist and forced Regina's chair to fall back.

Regina landed hard on her back on top of the wooden dining room chair. With another flick of Cora's wrist, she slid on her back across the floor toward one of the walls in the dining room wall and only managed to bang her shoulder against the entryway to the hall that led to the kitchen because she tucked her head to her chest as soon as possible.

"Or don't kill your precious Emma," Cora asked as she walked up to Regina until she successfully towered over her daughter.

Regina scrambled into a sitting position, but Cora forced her to stand with a third flick of her wrist. But Regina soared a little higher than the floor. Her feet dangled in the air as Cora magically levitated Regina in the entryway.

"Mother, please stop this," Regina tearfully pleaded.

Cora flicked her free wrist, her other hand held up in front of her to maintain Regina's position by magical means, and the sliding doors to the dining room closed with a slight bang.

"I have waited long enough for this day and you will not ruin it. I have given you every opportunity to gain that which I couldn't and yet you don't want it? Love can't save you. Love can't protect you. Power can. By trying to give you that, I was protecting you, but you have pushed me away at every turn, defied me whenever you saw fit. You don't want my protection? Fine, but I will not suffer because you don't want the same guarantees in life as I do."

Cora summoned a knife from the dining room table and floated it toward Regina. She pressed it to Regina's throat with her magic, but didn't move it left or right. She just held it there and applied just enough pressure to Regina's throat to get her point across.

"You will marry her no matter how either of you feel for each other and you will gain all that she and her family have to offer. You will take everything from her and I will be at your side as you then take the throne. Snow White's mother never should have been crowned. If she hadn't then I wouldn't need you to ensure you and I have the best life this world has to offer."

"But what about Daddy?"

Cora scoffed and said, "Your father is only a means to an end. I produced his heir, the good that did anyone since he's the youngest in his family. I could never love him. Even if I still had my heart, I could never love that man."

Regina gasped.

"You don't… How could you not have your heart?"

Cora smirked.

"As I've told you, love is weakness. I didn't want to any weakness so I removed my heart, kept it somewhere safe, and did what needed to be done so that I could have what I deserve."

"Then…without your heart…you could never love me."

"Oh, Regina, stop being so dramatic. Does it matter whether or not my heart is in my chest? Honestly, you still don't take away what's most important about all of this."

Regina sniffled and tried to hold back tears while her expression hardened with determination and fury.

"I won't let you hurt them," Regina stated and balled her fists at her sides while she remained in Cora's magical grip.

"What makes you think you have a choice in this," Cora darkly chuckled. "They will all die even if you tried to stop me. But we both know you are as spineless and weak as your pathetic father. You can't stop me, just as he couldn't and never will."

Cora pulled the knife away from Regina's throat and brought it down to Regina's hip. With a deft movement of her index and middle fingers, the knife slashed across Regina's side and stomach and cut open the fabric of her borrowed dress.

Regina cried out.

"Don't you see? You could have everything so many would die to have. You would be set for life," Cora tried to reason with her.

"Not at the expense of innocent lives," Regina argued and shook her head.

"They aren't innocent!"

"Emma is," Regina stated with the most certainty she'd ever had in all her life. "The King and Queen have done nothing to make me think they're bad people. So who exactly isn't innocent in this?"

Cora grinded her teeth for a moment then she snarled, "You are my biggest regret." She readied her hand to send the knife into another attack, but a second later she was on the ground.

Emma barreled into Cora with all her weight centered against Cora's torso. She knocked the older woman to the ground and had her on her back in no time after she flew out of the hallway between the kitchen and the dining room undetected. She had to duck and pass beneath Regina's feet in order to make it into the dining room at all, which explained how she was able to tackle Cora at such an angle. She didn't realize that by throwing Cora to the ground, however, that Regina also fell with her. She didn't take the time to consider that when she bared her teeth in a feral expression as she regarded the elder Mills either.

"Leave her alone," Emma shouted.

Cora shoved Emma away and magic shot out from the older woman's hands. It threw Emma back the way she came and she crashed onto the floor then rolled until she was almost on top of Regina.

Before either princess could gather themselves, there were fists and open-palms booming against the closed dining room doors.

"Emma! Emma, are you alright," her mother yelled through the door.

"Looks like our previously unestablished timeline has just moved up," Cora said and looked right at Regina as she did. "The King and Queen shall die today and the princess shall marry you sooner rather than later. If she doesn't, you both will pay dearly."

Cora headed for the sliding doors.

Regina hurried to her feet just as Cora raised her hands and the dining room doors flew open. Snow and Charming stumbled in from the unexpected permission into the dining room. Her mother attempted another burst of magic, but Regina jumped onto her back and wrapped her arms around Cora's neck and shoulders. She grabbed Cora's wrists and fought to keep the woman's hands pointed at each other so she couldn't cause any more trouble with her magic.

"No," Regina screamed. "This ends now!"

Cora bucked and growled. She elbowed Regina where she had cut her daughter with the knife and Regina yelped in pain but strongly held on. She jabbed Regina with her elbow a few more times in the same spot and after a particularly harsh blow, Regina cried out, released her mother, and slumped down onto the floor.

Regina fell onto her back and curled into herself as she held a hand against her wound. Blood started to seep through the dress and the slit created by the knife's blade.

Cora turned her attention to Regina once again, her eyes full of fire and rage and murderous intent.

Then, suddenly, there was a blue glow and twinkling blue particles that surrounded Cora like an aura. Regina's eyes widened and so did Cora's. Her mother let out a strangled groan and she visibly tensed as though she'd just been struck. A few moments later, Regina realized she had been stuck. By magic.

Cora cursed and spun around to face Snow and Charming and beside them there was a small fairy in a blue dress with a faint blue glow around her. She floated beside Snow's head with her hands coiled around a wand and a grim look on her face.

"Why you little gnat," Cora spat out.

"Cora Mills," Snow announced with a loud, strong, queenly voice. "You are found guilty of treason."

"You should be executed," Charming said with fierce determination.

"No," Regina weakly protested as Emma helped her sit up. She shook her head and looked at the scene as it played out before her.

Charming, Snow, and the Blue Fairy all glanced over at Regina then focused once again on Cora.

"But due to extenuating circumstances," Snow continued, "we hereby, and just did, bind your magic. We banish you from the kingdom and furthermore, banish you from this realm. If you find your way back and hurt either our family…or your own, we will not hesitate to put you to death."

"No. No, this can't be happening," Cora said more to herself than to anyone else in the room. A moment later she turned back to her daughter who remained on the floor. Emma was on her knees behind the brunette with an arm wrapped around her upper body and ran her hand through Regina's hair. "You did this."

Cora's eyes never left Regina's and while Regina looked small as she sat on the floor and leaned back against Emma, her daughter no longer looked afraid. She appeared miserable about things, but she also seemed to already accept Cora's punishment.

"Guards," Charming called out, and two guards marched into the dining room. "Take Cora to the dungeons while we retrieve a realm jumper and decide which she will be banished to."

Cora shuffled back a few steps in one last futile attempt to maintain her freedom, but the guards roughly grabbed her by the arms and removed her from the room.

"Are you okay," Snow asked while Charming approached the girls and extended a hand to Regina.

Regina looked Charming over for a moment before she gave in and placed her hand in his. He helped Regina stand up while she continued to hold her side where Cora injured her.

"Yes, I'm fine," Regina slowly answered while she grit her teeth through the pain standing up caused her. "Thank you."

Regina looked up at Charming then past him to acknowledge Snow. She looked like a lost puppy trying to find a home. She wasn't sure what Emma's parents would do with her. Cora was rendered harmless and they had nothing more to worry about except for one loose end: Regina.

"You may take some time here to heal," Snow said and nodded to Regina's wound. "After that we will allow you safe passage in one of our carriages back to your palace."

"What? No," Emma protested and stepped up to be right beside Regina.

Charming and Snow stared at Emma with confused expressions and questioning gazes.

"She saved you," Emma defended her. "She didn't tell us about Cora's plan, but she was honest about everything else."

"Emma, we can't allow you to marry her," Charming carefully informed her. "She may not have wanted the same thing her mother did, but her presence here was just as much of a threat considering she was raised by that woman. There's no telling what she'll do in the future."

"She won't hurt us," Emma insisted. "That much I know. Of that much I am certain. Our story might be far different from yours, but I believe she and I have a chance at happiness together. I don't want to sit through anymore conversations or negotiations with any other suitors. I want Regina. My forever friend."

Emma turned to Regina when she said that last part and Regina gasped.

"You…you really still want to marry me? After all that's happened," Regina asked.

"I do," Emma smiled.

"Why?" Regina was still in shock and she couldn't understand how anyone would want to stay with someone like her. All Regina did was bring pain and suffering, all because of her mother. Even with Cora out of the way, it didn't change the fact that Regina had still put Emma and her parents at risk, especially because she had waited so long to tell them. Why would anyone want to stay with her after that?

Emma took both of Regina's hands in hers and replied, "Siempre estaré aquí para ti."

Regina was speechless.

"Was that…Spanish," Charming asked and looked to his wife who appeared just as lost as him.

"I've said that from the beginning," Emma continued, "and I meant it. I still mean it and I will always mean it."

Regina sniffled as she tried to inhale, tears of joy ready to fall at any moment.

"Marry me," Regina breathed out with a smile.

Emma smiled back and chuckled.

"I thought I was the one proposing," Emma teasingly asked.

Regina laughed and bit her lip as a few tears streamed down her face.

Snow slowly walked over to stand by her husband and the two of them watched as Emma pulled Regina into a kiss. Charming wrapped an arm around her waist and both were astonished by the way both girls smiled between sweet, loving kisses.

Emma and Regina tasted salt as they kissed away each other's tears, though it had never been their focus when they pressed their lips together. After a few long, emotion-filled kisses, Emma rested her forehead against Regina's and smiled yet again at the brunette.

"Are you ready now," Emma asked.

"For what?"

"To be by my side, as my friend, ruling together. …Are you ready to spend forever with me?"

Regina took a deep breath and contentedly sighed. She smiled and said, "Nothing would make me happier…Princess."

Emma laughed and a second later looked over at her parents. There was a flicker of doubt and sadness when she looked at them, worried they wouldn't approve and would send Regina away regardless of what she wanted.

"Well, it looks like we have a wedding to plan," Charming said as looked from Emma and Regina to Snow, and

Just like that, Emma's smile returned brighter than before. And finally, Regina felt free.


Note: Epilogue to follow at some point and it won't be as long as this chapter, but I'm not sure how soon that will be. Thanks for reading, following, and adding this story to your favorites!