Authors note: warning talk about marital rape!

"I really think we need to talk about it Regina."

"Whatever do you mean, dear?" She lied, already feeling the knot form in her stomach.

"You know what I mean, Regina. Your nightmares. You hadn't had a proper night rest in 4 days."

"Look, Daniel, I really don't want to talk about this."

"Perhaps not now, but you really need to talk about this, Regina. Otherwise this demon is never going away."

She looked at him with pain in her eyes. It hurt him that he needed to force her to talk to someone, but it was the only way to help her.

Regina felt tears prick behind her eyelids and she closed them for a second. "Please, just let me think about this, I don't know if I'm ready to face this, Daniel. I'm scared."

"Then I'll wait until your ready, but in the meantime I will help you get through this, alright? I love you." He smiled an encouraging smile at her.

"I love you too."

...

"Look Regina, I really need to apologize about that conversation at lunch."

"Oh, no Emma, it's alright. You couldn't have known."

The two women were sitting in Regina's living room, drinking a cup of coffee. Emma had asked if she could stop by so that they could talk a little about Henry. Daniel had given them some privacy, taking Henry to the stables and Regina was grateful for that.

"Yes but I could've known better. I mean, I had history in school and since Fairytale Land is just like the medieval times. Well let's just say that I should have known better."

"Well, it's just something that I'd rather not remember."

"Of course but have you even talked to someone about it?"

"No." Came the short reply.

"What confuses me is, why didn't you tell Snow? I mean, it was the perfect way to hurt her."

Regina swallowed before she answered, not even knowing why she would even answer. She didn't know why she wanted to share such a vulnerable detail about her life with the blonde, but it just felt like the right thing to do, to finally talk to someone about it.

"I tried to fight the darkness back then, destroying the image of her father was just too cruel. I didn't want to let her know that her father was a monster to her step-mother."

Emma was silent as she let the words sink in, to be honest she hadn't expected Regina to answer at all. But she was glad that the brunette trusted her enough to open up to her like this. Her admission only made Emma respect her more.

"I really loved snow in the beginning, I tried to set aside my hate. But every time I looked at her all I could think about how that little girl had destroyed my life. So after a few years of living in a hell that I was expected to be grateful for, I just snapped. I decided that I couldn't take it anymore, and that it had to stop."

Regina felt tears fill her eyes but she quickly blinked them away.

Emma felt a genuine pain in Regina's voice, a very strange thing to hear from the former, stone cold mayor. "So you killed the King and went after Snow?"

"Oh no, dear, that didn't happene until 9 years later. This was the moment that I decided that I would have my revenge."

"For how long were you married?"

Regina's expression darkened. "13 years of pure hell."

Emma swallowed the bile in her throat. 13 years of living in a loveless marriage. "I'm so sorry, Regina."

Regina sighed, "again dear, it wasn't your fault."

"Yes I know, but I made you remember."

"You didn't make me remember, Emma. Those 13 years will never leave my mind."

There was something very dark about that statement. "Maybe talking about it will help?"

"Isn't that what were doing, dear?"

"Yes but we're not really talking about it. You're not talking about the details."

Regina swallowed. "I'm not sure I will ever be ready to relive those details."

"And that's okay. I know one day you will be. And when you are, don't hesitate to give me a call. I know you can use a friend, and I need a friend too, so maybe we can support each other. You can trust me Regina."

Regina smiled at her, a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "I would like that. Thank you, Emma."

"Always."

I hope you like the Emma-Regina friendship. Leave a review ;)