mysterio-lady: Could you do one where Regina got hurt helping Emma do something. Then Regina got admitted in the hospital and Emma takes care of her after…

Regina, the Savior?

Why Emma still had Christmas lights on the roof of the Sheriff Department in the middle of January was a mystery to all of Storybrooke, but she did. Regina watched from inside of Granny's and rolled her eyes at the blonde as she climbed up to the top of an icy and clearly unsteady ladder to finally take the lights down.

Is there a particular reason why Miss Swan insists on being the black sheep of the town? Regina wondered to herself, propping her head into her hands and watching in amusement as Emma tried and failed to reach the lights. She wouldn't dare admit that she found it endearing. Everyone else had their lights down the day after Christmas… Emma attempted another reach but failed once more and Regina sighed, putting her head into her hands. Honestly, Miss Swan, how did you get them up there in the first place when you can't even reach? You quite obviously need help… She wouldn't dare admit that she really just didn't want Emma getting hurt.

Regina stood and grabbed her coat and gloves, thankful she wore a suit to work today as opposed to the skirt she had been debating putting on earlier. She was not going to give anyone in this god forsaken town the pleasure of seeing her climb a ladder in a skirt. She made her way out to Emma, finishing sliding on a black glove as she spoke up,

"Does the Savior need a hand?" Her tone was teasing.

It shocked both Regina and Emma that Regina was talking to her. It didn't happen often without some sort of forced purpose. Emma glanced down, anxiously, making sure her clumsy feet stayed in the right place so she didn't misstep in front of Regina and make a complete fool out of herself. Not that she'd never done that before, just that she was tired of doing so. Trying to impress the Mayor—the former Queen—was a much harder task to accomplish when all you ever did was mess up in front of her.

"Regina?" Emma stepped down from her ladder, just in case she did misplace her footing and fall. It was her job to save Regina, not the other way around. Regina wasn't the savior. "It's cold out here, what are you doing?"

"I'm quite aware of the temperature, Miss Swan." Regina actually smirked. "You look like you could use some assistance."

"Perhaps," Emma crossed her arms over her chest and leaned against the ladder, eyeing Regina suspiciously. "Although that's never stopped you before."

"I've come to spare you the embarrassment, dear. People were starting to stare."

"People were?" Emma had a hard time believing that "People" didn't just mean "Regina". Regina. Regina was staring at me. She tried hard not to blush. She almost succeeded and hoped she could blame her reddened cheeks on the harsh wind that was sweeping through the town.

"Is that not what I just said?" Regina grew impatient. She was already risking a lot being out here to help Emma. The last thing she wanted was for Swan to know her true feelings for her. "Now move to the side, dear. We may be the same height but those pathetic boots of yours will get you nowhere, besides perhaps eating the ground. I can reach the lights and then you can go back to not doing your paperwork." She smirked again at the look on Emma's face after she said so. That disgruntled, defensive look that Emma always got when Regina accused her of something.

"You know I actually DO the paperwork, you just don't get all of it at a time because there's SO MUCH of it," Emma defended, stepping to the side.

"Save it for your performance review, Miss Swan," Regina started up the ladder with the poise and delicacy of a queen. Emma found it hard not to stare at her. She worried about the woman falling just as Regina had worried about her.

Regina, however, could feel Emma's eyes on her. She glanced down, self-consciously. "Enjoying the view, dear?" She asked with a touch of bitterness in her tone.

If Emma hadn't been blushing before, it was prominent now. No insistence of the wind being to blame would get her out of it this time. "Just…just don't fall, okay?" Emma mumbled, thinking herself quite pathetic. She bit her lip in concern when Regina reached her arm out to grab the lights. The task was done successfully and Regina started stringing them with a smile on her face, thankful she'd been able to do it.

"Isn't it my lucky day that you're wearing boots instead of your infamous heels today?" Emma started to gain her courage back and spoke up.

Lucky. Regina rolled her eyes inwardly. She acts as if I don't keep a pair of boots by me at all times. She knows what sorts of things happen in this damned town.

"Lucky indeed," was all she decided to say out loud.

The two of them heard the yell a second too late: Archie's yell for Pongo to come back. Regina and Emma both turned their heads in the direction of the yelling at the same time, but knowing the source was not the same as preventing the dog from crashing into the ladder that Regina was standing on.

Panicked, Regina couldn't even scream. She grabbed for the room to hold on to but missed and flipped, tumbling down to the ground.

"REGINA!" Emma dove to catch her and did so, but it wasn't before Regina's head knocked against the spiraling ladder. She was out cold. "Oh my god, Regina," Emma stared at the woman who was in her arms, finding blood on the back of the Mayor's head. Her heart thumped wildly and Archie apologized over and over, scolding Pongo and running into Granny's to get help.

When no one was looking, Emma leaned down and placed a sweet kiss to Regina's forehead, moving brunette hair from out of her face. "It'll be okay, Regina. I'm here. I'm going to take care of you." She promised in the brunette's ear. "I'm so sorry…"

She couldn't believe the day she was having.

. . .

Regina looked so very peaceful when she wasn't awake and torturing people with her words. Emma sat vigil at her side by the hospital bed. The blonde hadn't moved since Regina was admitted, 7 hours earlier. Even if she was starving and had a desperate need to use the restroom. Regina was more important than all of that, and she wasn't going to move until the woman woke up.

Even though she didn't want Regina to know her feelings for her, she held Regina's hand while she slept. If Regina wasn't awake, she couldn't see, right?

This is my fault, Emma cursed herself. Danger follows me. I shouldn't have let her go up there. I'M the Savior. I'M the one who's supposed to be doing things and fixing things. She's busy enough as it is running the town…

The pain killers they gave to Regina must have been intense, because five hours later and Regina was still completely out. Snow had been in and out of the hospital room to bring Emma dinner, and to bring Regina a card signed by she and David saying to feel better soon. Henry came as soon as he found out and hadn't left Emma's side. He took his mother's hand in place of Emma when the blonde couldn't stand not using the restroom for another second. When she returned, she returned to her spot next to Regina. Eventually, she and Henry fell asleep next to the Mayor—Emma with Regina's hand in hers and her body laid across Regina's gently, and Henry leaning against Emma and using her as a pillow.

When Regina finally woke, she could feel someone against her. She flinched and her eyes fluttered open worriedly before she realized it was Emma. Wiggling her fingers, she discovered Emma's fingers laced with hers, tightly. It didn't take long for Regina to realize what had happened. She made a promise to talk to Archie about his being unable to control Pongo later on.

She sat here with me all this time? Regina realized, being unable to stop the smile from spreading across her lips. Oh, Emma…

She almost didn't want to wake the slumbering blonde—she also didn't want to wake her just-as-determined child who was snoozing against said slumbering blonde.

Look at this precious little family. Regina's heart smiled. This must be what love feels like.

"Emma," She whispered, wanting it to be the first word she said out loud after waking from this accident.

The blonde was obviously a light sleeper, for she woke immediately, eyes blinking crazily before she realized that Regina had said her name. Her REAL name, too. Not just "Miss Swan".

"Regina," Emma whispered back. "Are you okay?"

"Better now, I assume, since you stayed with me."

Regina double thought what she said a second too late. But it seemed to make Emma happy. The blonde smiled and awkwardly tried to unlace her fingers from Regina but the Mayor would have none of that. She squeezed Emma's hand tighter.

"Thank you," she said.

"I am so sorry." Emma said at the same time. "I shouldn't have let you go up there, I was perfectly capable of—"

"Of making a fool out of yourself, as per usual." Regina rolled her eyes and smiled at the adorable goofball in front of her. "I would have been perfectly capable myself, if that wretched dog hadn't gotten loose again."

"It isn't Archie's fault," Henry woke when he heard his mothers' voices. "When Pongo thinks something is out there, he just runs."

"Yes, well, I'll be sure not to punish Archie then. Pongo on the other hand needs to be trained a bit more sufficiently."

"Archie and I are working on it," Henry promised, nodding his head up and down quickly to show emphasis. Regina couldn't help but smile at her ever so persistent son.

"Well I suppose that's all I can ask for." Regina responded, calmly.

"You're in quite the forgiving mood," Emma couldn't help but show her surprise.

"Well you did save my life again, Miss Swan."

Saved her life. Again.

Emma was getting really tired of blushing like this.

"What? Nah….I was just….you know…being a Savior…Savior-ing…"

Rolling her eyes again, Regina leaned forward and placed a soft peck on Emma's cheek. "Thank you, Miss Swan."

Henry's eyes widened and so did Emma's but Regina didn't care. Life was too short. And she was tired of hiding.

. . .

Unfortunately for Emma, tired of hiding did not in fact mean that Regina was done being a royal pain in the ass.

"Just let me help you walk, damn it!" Emma insisted. The injury had left Regina with a few stitches to the back of the head, a cracked rib, and a sprained ankle. The rib and the ankle were what was giving her the most grief, but she'd never say so.

"I can walk just fine on my own, thank you," Regina gritted out of her teeth, trying desperately not to show her limp as she made her way over to her desk. "Don't you have paper work to do?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "You are incorrigible."

"That's a big word, Miss Swan, do you think you can spell it?" Regina taunted, her eyes glistening with fun.

Emma couldn't be mad at Regina. She knew she just couldn't do it. She could, however, tick Regina off for all intents and purposes. It was her favorite game, after all.

Hurriedly, before the Mayor could protest, Emma scooped Regina up into her arms and carried her over to her chair, setting her down and placing a kiss to the top of her head.

"I don't know what we are, Regina." Emma started. "I do know you're a pain in the ass and I'm lucky to have you. And I do know that I'm always going to be here for you. I promise to always take care of you, no matter what."

Regina's usually cold heart warmed at the sentiment. She considered herself the luckiest woman in the world, if Emma Swan promised to always be there for her. She hoped the Savior kept her promises.

Years later, Regina would come to realize that she did.