A long week had passed without Emma working the investigation. Regina had filled her in on what Cora had revealed to her, but she could tell the brunette was holding back details, and didn't say much of anything else. Emma passed everything onto Charming, letting him lead the investigation for the week while she sat around the station, calling up Regina every ten minutes to check up on her. Slowly, more slowly than Emma or her son would have liked, the two moved their possessions to Regina's house. Emma still hadn't confronted either of her parents about the move, uneager to get into a fight with them, especially with the tension of the sudden election.

Snow had instantly taken to campaigning around town after her fight with the former mayor. When Emma had brought this to Regina's attention over another quiet dinner, one night, she simply shrugged it off. It worried, as well as infuriated, Emma to watch Regina crumble away into a near non-existence as she never left the house, let alone bothered to fight Snow on the campaign for mayor. Following her break down in front of Emma and Henry, Regina had been distant, never making anything but polite conversation and avoiding any mention of the investigation, especially Cora. After Regina put Henry to bed she would come downstairs where Emma waited patiently every night. The blonde would then try to speak to Regina who all but ignored her attempts, and suggested Emma leave. Some nights, she would insist on staying, so Regina would show the blonde to her room-to-be and then leave.

Tonight, Henry and Emma would officially move in with Regina. With their apartment barren, the sheriff dropped off the keys with Mr. Gold and drove her son and their remaining boxes over to the mayor's mansion. The evening expired as it usually did—the three eating dinner in silence, but Emma had noticed something even more wrong with Regina that night when the brunette quietly excused herself to bed without a second-glance at her son.

"Guess you'll have to put up with me tonight," Emma said, playfully bumping shoulders with Henry on the couch. The boy tried a smile, but she could clearly see his worry. "Come on, let's get you to bed."

Once she had Henry tucked into bed, she turned to leave, but he caught her hand, drawing her attention back.

"What's wrong with her?" he asked quietly, eyes in his lap.

Emma took a deep breath before moving to sit down on the edge of the bed, hand still clinging to her son's. "I'm not completely sure, Henry," Emma replied. "I'm guessing that it has something to do with Cora."

"But you guys defeated her. She's locked her away. The good guys won," Henry posed with frustration.

"I know, but it doesn't always work like that. Cora is…" Emma paused in contemplation, unsure how to phrase it. "Cora frightens Regina."

"But she can't hurt her anymore," Henry said.

"Just because someone who scares us is gone doesn't mean they can't hurt us anymore," Emma said with a sad smile. Henry looked at a loss for words, and Emma gently stroked the hair out of his face. She leaned forward to kiss his forehead. "Get some sleep, alright?" Henry nodded as he slipped back on to his pillow, turning onto his side.

Wide-awake, Emma lay in bed, staring at the ceiling, when suddenly a cry tore through the air. It shook Emma to the core, and she bolted upright. Her first instinct was Henry, and she scrambled out of bed, hurrying to his room prepared for a fight, but found the boy sleeping soundly, his room as empty and quiet as when she'd left it. She slowly backed out, and silently shut his door, then glanced down the hall in confusion. 'Maybe I'm losing my mind.' she thought as she began to walk back towards her room. As she reached her door, she heard it again, and this time she knew where it was coming from.

"Regina?" she said as she opened the brunette's door to find the woman tossing and turning. Hurrying to her bedside, she could see tearstains on Regina's cheeks as she whimpered and stirred in the sheets. Emma reached out to grab her thrashing arms as she said, "Regina! Regina, wake up!"

But the brunette only fought harder and screamed louder, her fists pummeling rough blows on Emma as she cried something incoherently. Emma, not sure what else to do, let Regina's wrists go and reached to grab her face. Drawing her close, Emma crashed her lips into Regina's. Immediately, the brunette's eyes snapped open and Emma pulled back quickly so as not to overwhelm her.

"W-what…where am I?" Regina gasped, taking in her surroundings and Emma's hands holding onto her.

"You're in your bed. It's okay," Emma attempted to reassure her, but the brunette shook, eyes flying around her.

"I—I but Cora, she was—"

"Cora's not here, Regina," Emma reassured, trying to hold the woman steady.

Tears were beginning to form in Regina's eyes and they fell to Emma's chest where she slowly reached out.

"Regina, what is it?"

Regina bit her lip, trying to stop the tears as she her fingers brushed over where Emma's heart beat. "She took…oh, god, Emma…I took…"

"What are you talking about? It was just a dream," Emma said, the woman beginning to frighten her.

"But…" Finally, Regina's face crumpled and she attempted to pull away from Emma's arms as she put her wet face into her hands.

"Regina, Cora isn't here. She's locked away, she can't hurt you, Henry, or me," Emma assured, reaching to pull the brunette towards her again, but Regina fought her off.

She turned to face the blonde, her face aflame with terror and self-loathing. "But she didn't hurt you Emma, I did. She told me to take your heart…and…" Tears cascaded down her cheeks and Emma reached to brush them away. "Emma, you can't trust me. I'm evil…"

"No you aren't," Emma retorted firmly. "We've had this conversation a million times, Regina. I believe in you. Your mother doesn't control you anymore."

Regina shook her head defiantly. "It doesn't matter. Cora's made me a monster, and I can't ever go back to who I was when I was good."

"You're right," Emma replied. "You can't go back, but you can move forward." The brunette stopped trembling to look up at the blonde, and Emma took the opportunity to draw her attention in. "You'll never be who you were before you became Queen, but that's life. We change. We grow." Emma paused before awkwardly finishing, "You're just not done…growing yet." She watched as Regina's breathing slowed, and the woman nodded gradually. Emma smiled, and squeezed her hand before sliding off the bed to leave, but Regina caught her arm.

The blonde looked back at her as Regina asked, "No, please stay with me."

Emma smiled at her, nodding as the brunette moved over and allowed the blonde to slip under the sheets with her. Looking over at Regina, Emma slipped her hand into hers, causing the brunette to look over as well. They shared a silent moment before they both drifted off.

A distant ringing woke a foggy Henry from his sleep. It grew louder as he opened his eyes and he realized as he looked around that Emma had left her cell phone in his room. He reached over, and seeing David's name on the caller id he quickly answered it, sitting up. "Hello?"

"Henry? Is Emma there? I need you to put her on right away," a breathless David said.

"Yeah, give me a second," Henry replied, scrambling out of bed and hurrying to Emma's room. "Emma, David's—" but Henry stopped at the sight of an empty bed. 'Where could she have gone?' he wondered, before moving to his mother's room, maybe she could speak to David for the time being. As he pushed the cracked door open, and entered the room, Henry again stopped dead in his tracks, only this time it was because of the sight of a full bed.

Emma was splayed on her back while Regina was curled up close to her, head resting in nook of Emma's neck. Henry couldn't stop the smile that lit up on his face as he said, "Emma?"

The blonde shifted, and mumbled sleepily, "Mmm…go back to bed Henry…too early…"

"David's on the phone, and it sounds urgent," Henry replied and Emma huffed, opening her eyes. It was then that she seemed to realize where she was and what was going on because she suddenly looked embarrassed. She hurriedly nudged the sleeping brunette who grumbled something before opening her eyes as well. Their eyes met, then moved to Henry, then back to each other before Regina quickly squirmed away, hand self-consciously ruffling her sleep-ridden hair.

"Henry…we just…it isn't—" Emma spluttered, but Henry just smirked as he handed her the cell phone to which she held to her ear. "Yeah, David, what's—" He must have interrupted her as she fell silent in the middle of her sentence. "Who?" More silence. "Are you sure?" With panic filling her eyes, she hurriedly climbed out of bed. "Yeah, I'll be there right away."

As she hung up, Regina asked with concern, "What is it? What's wrong?"

Emma paused before turning to Henry and saying, "Can you please wait outside for a second?"

"But—"

"Now," she emphasized more forcefully and her son quickly retreated, glancing back at his mother with worry.

Emma closed the door behind them and slowly turned to Regina.

"You're scaring me Emma, what happened?"

"It's Mr. Fowl, Henry's teacher," Emma replied. "He's dead."

a/n: Annnnnd so 'Legend of Sleepy Hollow' comes back to play. Hee hee! Sorry to cliffhanger you guys again, but how else am I suppose to keep you reading? Plus I wanted to end with something exciting seeing as not much happens in this chapter. But hey, anytime you get Swan Queen in bed it's a good thing right? PLEASE REVIEW! I LOVE YOU GUYS SO MUCH!