As soon as Robin left, she felt her knees go weak causing her to collapse in a clump onto the floor. Head in her hands, she lost all control of the restraint she had shown in front of Robin just moments before. Her world was spinning, she needed to force her thoughts of Robin to the darkest parts of her heart, so to never feel those feelings again. She found herself having trouble letting go, letting go of that sliver of happiness she had felt.
Snow said a quick goodbye to Charming before slipping back into the room. What Snow saw when she entered the room broke her heart, instead of seeing the strong, powerful, and fearless Evil Queen she had dealt with for so many years, she saw the remnants of a broken woman. A woman that seemingly had no will to go on. She bent down beside her and gently laid a hand upon her shoulder, to let Regina know that she was there for her. Regina jumped slightly for she had not heard Snow come in.
Regina then felt a tug on her shoulder, Snow was trying to get her to turn around. Regina refused, she already had to deal with Robin seeing her this way, she didn't need the rest of the castle knowing about how fragile she was. Especially now, with this new intruder investigating her, or whatever they had in mind by looking at her picture. She had to be strong, back to her invincible self, the cold and heartless villain that she once was.
Regina knew that resisting Snow would do nothing because for some reason Snow always came back, gave her another chance, saw some sort of glimmer of hope in her at all times, it continued to amaze her. So she quickly slipped from Snow's grip and turned to face her, revealing her saddened face and puffy eyes. Snow's heart fell a few more feet when it dawned on her that she had truly never seen Regina vulnerable, never thought that Regina was capable of hurt like this. She knew that Regina had been having a hard time with the loss of Henry, but she would've never imagined her showing this much emotion. This was the same woman she had stopped from burying her heart to get away from the pain. A woman that would do anything to escape showing emotions to others, so what had been different now? Snow thought hard and came up with only one answer, Robin. Something about him was affecting Regina, she had no clue what it was, but it had to be him.
Snow quickly wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tighter and tighter, her pure of heart comfort flowing from her and through Regina.
Regina had no idea how to react to Snow and her hug. In the old days she would have used this opportunity to exact her revenge on her for her part in Daniel's death. But, her new self would… what? She had never been put in this situation before. She was at a loss. But one this for sure, she did not want to disappoint Henry. So she lifted her arms slightly and laid them upon Snow's back, still feeling like she was doing it wrong.
Snow breathed a sigh of relief, Regina was changing, right before her eyes, beneath her grip.
After the few moments they spent like that Regina pulled back, using her sleeve to wipe her eyes, to wipe away any remnants of the tears that had once fallen down her cheeks. Her breathing had begun to steady and it was all because of Snow and her silent comfort. Regina looked back at Snow, into her wide, caring eyes with wonder. She was actually… thankful, thankful to have Snow there to console her as… a friend, she thought with a smile escaping her lips. Noticing this smile, Snow looked back at her, sure of what it meant and smiled too.
Snow was first to speak, "You wanna talk about it?" she said slowly, somewhat afraid still of how she would react in such a delicate state.
Regina thought for a moment and then nodded her head yes which surprised herself as well as Snow who had been almost one hundred percent sure that she would have said no.
With that, they both took a seat upon the bed and Regina poured out her heart, the pain that she felt longing for her long gone son, the recent events with Robin and Roland, everything. Snow's heart felt for her story when she spoke of Henry, it reminded her of Emma and her loss as well. When all the storytelling had come to an end, both women had tear stained cheeks and a new bond, a friendship that neither of them would deny. They both had an understanding now that they could count on each other, lean on one another, when it was needed.
They both walked out of the room feeling more relieved than they had been in a while, both feeling as though some weight had been lifted from their similarly, burdened shoulders.