Emma held the envelope on her lap while she sat on the couch. The letter in her hand shook because her hands trembled with nerves.

She hadn't really known what to expect, and she still didn't know as she glanced down at the paper in her hand. It was still neatly folded, the words unread.

Was she brave enough to read the words of a woman who thought she would die? She sighed, and then unfolded the piece of paper.

She had to know.

Dear Emma,

The moment you set foot in town, I wanted you gone and I have done my share of horrible things to make sure that you left.

But you never did.

You were the only other constant in my life, besides Henry. And, of course my father, before the curse.

I know it must be a surprise, and it must feel like it comes out of nowhere, but because of that I started to appreciate you more than I should. I started seeing you for who you really are.

A good and honest person.

And I loved you for it.

Under normal circumstances I probably wouldn't even have bothered to say something, but seeing as I probably won't ever see you again, I felt brave enough to write it down.

I care for you, more than I should care for a friend.

Can you imagine how much lighter it feels to have written that down? I feel like I can breathe again if only for a little while.

The letter to Henry includes his papers, and my signature on the papers saying he's yours if something happens to me.

Please take care of him.

Yours, Regina.

"Where's Mom?"

Emma blinked furiously against the tears as she looked up just in time to see Henry and Mary Margaret walk through the door.

"She's upstairs."

Henry lit up. "Can I go to her?"

"Just give her some time, kid. She needs her sleep." Emma stood to her feet and made her way over to the kitchen, her mind still mostly on the letter.

She didn't know what to think about it.

"Have you spoken to her?" Mary Margaret asked softly.

"Not really. It's not like we were friends before she was taken."

Even though there had been something there, that even Emma had felt. Something more than friendship. They just hadn't had any time to explore—or at least Emma hadn't.

"You were closer to her than any of us were."

Emma glanced at the woman who was supposed to be her mother. She was still trying to figure out how she felt about the people she'd only recently learnt were her parents. Every time something happened, it was being pushed to the back of her mind, which was probably why she still hadn't found that place for it.

She sighed. "So have you heard from David? I can't get a hold of him."

Mary Margaret moved around the kitchen while Henry took off his coat and set down his bag. Emma watched him carefully, making sure he didn't just run up the stairs.

"He called and said he'd go to the bunker to see if there's anything he can find that will help."

Henry glanced at Emma before he made his way to the stairs, as she had expected. She moved to stand in his way. "I need you to listen to me for once. I'd like to check on her before you barge in. Okay?"

"But—"

"No, Henry. No buts, you listen to me and you wait until she's ready."

He was about to protest again, so she just raised an eyebrow. He exhaled in frustration. "Okay. But I want to see that she's okay."

Emma smiled gently. "Of course you do kid, and you will." To Mary Margaret she said, "What about hot chocolate with whipped cream and cinnamon?"

"I'm on it."

Mary Margaret busied herself with the hot cocoa while Emma gestured for Henry to follow her to the couch. He sat down next to her with a worried expression on his face and she took his hand in hers.

"I won't tell you what happened, because that's not my place. What I can tell you is that your Mom needs some time to give this all a place—"

"But I just want to see her."

"Listen, I'm not saying you can't see her or spend time with her. What I'm saying, is that you should let her come to you. Don't force her to do anything before she's ready."

"What does that even mean?"

Before Emma could reply, Mary Margaret joined them with a tray with three mugs of hot chocolate.

"What it means, Henry, is that while she might tell you she's fine, she is probably not."

"And that means that you need to give her space and time to come to you, okay?" Emma added as she patted Henry's knee. "Now, let me go check on her and make sure she's awake and feeling okay, okay?"

She stood before he could reply, and made her way up the stairs.

Regina would need a moment to wake up and pull herself together, and Emma was sure that she wanted to take a shower.

The letter was folded up in her pocket, and her mind drifted to the words in it. She hadn't had time before all of this happened to figure out what it was that she was feeling for Regina. And she was almost sure that now, after everything that happened, there was probably no need to even think about it.

Regina had been more open since the curse broke, at least as far as Emma could see. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind of everything except finding out how Regina was doing at the moment.

She slowly walked into her room, careful not to wake Regina. But Regina was awake and had heard her walking up the stairs.

Emma glanced up just in time to see Regina relax and she frowned when Regina moved. "You're up."


Regina had woken up the moment that Henry had walked into the loft. She had startled awake at the sound of his voice, but had been relaxed until Emma had stomped up the stairs.

She watched as Emma frowned, and curled her hands up beside her. There was something different in Emma's eyes that Regina wasn't sure how to take.

She cleared her throat. "I want to see Henry."

"I know, he wants to see you too."

"I just—I feel dirty." She wetted her lips when her throat tightened, tears burning in her eyes again. "I need to take a shower."

She'd cried enough. She didn't want to cry anymore, not about the pain she'd gone through. She had gone through worse.

Emma inclined her head. "There's a shower behind that door, and there's a bag of your stuff in there too."

Regina frowned. "How did you get into the mansion?"

"Henry's keys. It's how we got in before—well, anyway, I got you a set of comfortable clothes and some of your shower stuff."

Regina shook her head in confusion. She hadn't even noticed that Emma had left her alone. The loft felt more like a home, safer than her own home.

"I—thank you."

"You're welcome. I didn't know what to take, but you have quite the collection."

Regina could feel a small smile play on her lips as she looked at Emma. "Well, Miss Swan. I need to look perfect as mayor, don't I?"

"I thought you looked this beautiful effortlessly." Regina inhaled slowly, not sure how to take that comment. Emma cleared her throat, a flush creeping on her face. "Anyway, I promised Henry I'd check on you, maybe we should get you ready?"

"Yes."

Regina stood, her knees weak but strong enough to carry her. She looked up at Emma, who was slowly closing up and she sighed. She could dwell on it, but it wouldn't do her any good.

Her head was pounding as she stood for a moment, not moving. Emma stepped closer when she swayed, but Regina held up her hand and pushed through the pain. She straightened her spine and took a breath.

"I am very grateful he didn't beat me, between the electro shocks. It means no bruises to hide."

Emma's eyes flickered up to her temples. "Uh—"

"I do?" Regina touched a finger to her temple and felt the raised skin. "A burn? Oh."

"Henry knows you've been through—"

Regina's knees buckled and Emma stepped forward, her hands raised to help her.

"You didn't tell him, did you? Emma—" her voice broke on a sob, her heart skipping a beat and her face suddenly get cold.

"No!" Emma gasped out. "God, Regina. Who do you take me for? We're talking about a boy barely twelve."

"I'm sorry."

"And another thing—it's not my story to tell."

Regina pursed her lips as the relief washed over her. Emma hadn't told Henry. She didn't know why she still believed the worst in people – maybe that was because everyone had always taken the liberty to talk bad about her.

But Emma was different.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I didn't mean—I shouldn't have believed the worst in you." She reached out and touched Emma's hand, noting the gasp. She smiled softly, and then stepped around Emma and moved to the bathroom.

She closed the door behind her just as a sob passed her lips. She gritted her teeth and angrily swiped at her face as a tear rolled down her cheek.

She stared at herself in the mirror, her eyes red and puffy, her face pale. "I don't have time for this."

The angry burns on her temples distracted her for a moment. How had she not felt them before now? Now, they were throbbing painfully.

It would take her a while to actually heal, if that was even possible. Owen had managed to not only add new wounds to her old ones, but he had also managed to open old ones.

Regina knew that she had Emma in her corner this time, and it was enough to give her new resolve.

After she had turned on the shower, she gritted her teeth against the pain as she undressed. There were more burns like the ones on her temples, all over her body. Her arms, legs and even her stomach carried angry red welts.

There were dark bruises on her breasts that made her shiver. She was forever grateful that he hadn't done more than use his hands to hurt her.

She wasn't ready to admit that he had actually did hurt her in a way she thought no one ever would again. She had been strong, hadn't she?

"Give it a place."

She talked to herself, and it amused her for a brief moment. But then she stepped into the shower, and the burns on her body ached and throbbed. Tears sprang in her eyes and she clenched her jaw again, closing her eyes as she let the water was over her.

She imagined it washing away the images that had burnt in her mind, the feel of his hands all over her body. She knew it wouldn't be that easy though.

She scrubbed her skin, and then rinsed and repeated. Her skin felt raw by the time she felt even a fraction cleaner and her breathing stuttered.

She pushed away the silly notion that things would be better with revenge or even time. That's how she cursed a whole land, and had found out that things weren't better.

Different. Not better.

Her pain had stayed, had festered until she'd demanded Gold to procure her Henry. She'd done her best to let go of the past.

As the hot water beat down on her body, she shivered and sighed.

Nothing had gotten better for her, until Emma had broken the curse and still stood beside her. Until Emma had proven time and time again that she was there for Regina, even after all that she'd done.

"Regina?"

Emma's voice startled her out of her thoughts and she quickly opened her eyes, and turned her back to the door. It was only then that she realized she hadn't even locked the door and her stomach cramped up.

"I'm almost done."

She wanted to stay in the shower longer, but after quickly washing her hair she stepped out of it, and turned off the tap.

She also wanted to see Henry.

She grabbed the towel and quickly dried off her body, hissing when the coarse fabric rubbed over her burns.

The bag with her clothes stood beside her and she quickly got dressed. Emma had brought her the most casual clothes that she owned – a pair of loose fitting pants and a t-shirt.

She'd even brought lotions, a face cream and a bottle of her best perfume. It made refina feel so much better, after she'd slowly rubbed the lotion into her dry skin, and dabbed some of the perfume in her neck.

When she had finally gotten dressed, she took a deep breath and opened the door. Emma sat on the bed, a piece of paper on her lap and her eyes turned toward Regina.

Regina smiled, a soft smile and not even that big, until she saw the unreadable expression on Emma's face and she looked back down at the piece of paper.

"I read your letter."