A/N: Hello! The song I've used at the beginning of this chapter goes really well with the fic as a whole, so if you want, give it a listen while you read :) Thanks for following/favouriting/reviewing, keep it coming!

Enjoy chapter 6 :)

I could call you my lover, call you a beast

Call you the island where faith doesn't reach

Call you a lion, call you a man

You're the line that ties me to things

I don't understand

- Julia Stone, The Line That Ties Me

Emma woke early the next morning, and decided to go for a run before Regina woke up. She set off down Main Street, taking purposeful deep breaths of the cool morning air and attempted to clear her mind. Truthfully, she still wasn't sure why Regina had been so angry with her. She knew that she'd been involved in some of Regina's dreams, and god knows in what capacity, but the pure anger she expressed wasn't something she had seen from the woman in a long time. She turned around and began to run back to Regina's, stopping at Granny's to get a bear claw to cheer herself up.

"Hey, Ruby."

"Em! How's life with the Mayor?" Ruby greeted Emma brightly, and began to get her order ready automatically.

"Not.. Great. Bad day to ask, to be honest."

"She seems to be dealing with this all pretty well, from what I've seen. If I didn't know who I was, I'd probably be freaked out and screaming the whole time. Good for her, though, taking it in her stride."

"Even when she bites my head off?"

"Cut her a bit of slack, Em. She doesn't know who she is, even less who you are."

"She can still use magic though, and dark magic by the looks of it. She went a little… you know the feeling that you get when someone looks right through you? That was my night."

"Well yeah, her magic must be freaking out right now. Head injuries can do real messed up things to people. Do you want me to talk to her?"

"No, don't worry about it. I guess you're right. Thanks, Rubes."

Regina woke to an empty floor, and the phone by the side of the bed ringing. Hoping it was Emma, she picked up, pressing the buttons until one of them stopped the ringing.

"Hello? Emma?"

"Uh… no." the voice on the other end was unmistakably a teenage boy's. Regina's heart leapt into her mouth.

"Are you Henry?"

"Yeah, it's me. Um, how are you?"

"Getting better by the day." Regina tried to sound hopeful. "I'm sorry that I don't… remember."

"It's not your fault." Both were silent for a moment or two. "Anyway, can you tell Emma that I called? I have to get to school."

"Of course I can."

"Ok then, bye."

"Goodbye, Henry." Regina hesitated before hanging up.

As Emma arrived home, which is what she'd started to consider the house, in her short time there, she saw Regina stood on the porch, waiting for her.

"You shouldn't be downstairs." Emma offered by way of greeting.

"Forgive me, but I woke up and there wasn't a trace of you. I was worried you'd…" Regina trailed off, and moved out of the doorway to allow Emma entrance.

"You thought I'd leave? In the middle of the night? Are you shitting me, Regina?" Emma took a deep intake of breath, "I know you feel you don't know me, I know. But you've seen me every day for nearly a month now. You know every single thing there is worth knowing about me on this planet. I bore my soul to you, Regina. And it was pretty sucky of you to still doubt me. But I get it. And I'm sorry. And I'll leave." Emma finished awkwardly, and shifted from foot to foot before eventually leaving.

"No, wait. I'm sorry." Emma paused in the hallway. "This whole situation is unfair on you, and I can only imagine the pressure I'm putting on you, even without me insulting you at every turn. It's just, the dream I had last night felt so real, and I'm having trouble processing. Of all the things it could have been in it, the fact that it was you, after how you've been with me, was too much. You're the only person that's tying me to my life, as it is, and I couldn't handle the thought of you not being. I don't expect you to forgive me, and please leave, if you can't."

The two women continued to stand hesitantly, with Emma still faced away from Regina.

Emma sighed. "I understand, Regina, I really do. I was going to leave because I thought that's what you wanted, but if you don't…" Regina shook her head, though Emma was unable to see. "Hug it out?" Emma turned and joked, as Regina rolled her eyes.

"Emma, seriously, I'm sorry. And I'm going to go and see Dr Hopper." Regina said with a tone of resilience and a nod of her head, as if reassuring both Emma and herself that it was the right decision.

"You are?"

"Maybe he can offer me some help."

"Worth a shot." Emma smiles, noticing for the first time the tears threatening to spill from Regina's eyes. "I'll give him a call, tell him to expect you."

"No, let me. You're doing too much for me, Emma, go and get some sleep."

"But.."

"For me?" Regina smiled loosely, and poked Emma on the arm childishly.

"Alright, alright. Some breakfast in bed would be appreciated later," Emma noted sarcastically as Regina batted her up the stairs.

"Yes, I'm sure it would. Henry called."

Emma turned on the stairs. "How did that go?"

"I'm not entirely sure. I suppose it's a start, though."

"Definitely." Emma gave Regina a reassuring smile.

As Regina was still essentially house-bound, Archie had agreed to stop over at the house after he finished work for an informal chat with the woman, and after Emma let him in and continued to fuss for a couple of minutes, she eventually left the two in Regina's office, an awkward silence holding over them.

"It's good to see you up and moving around, Regina. Feeling better?" Archie eventually spoke.

"Starting to, thank you. I can just about manage the stairs now, I'm practically unstoppable." Regina snorted, a little too fakely, "I understand from Emma that we were… friends?"

"Of sorts. Well yes, I'd say friends. You, Emma and Henry have come to mean a great deal to me over time, so when I say I'm glad you're feeling better I really mean it." Archie offered, knowing that Regina was suffering from a crisis of trust, of sorts. "So this dream.."

"Right, yes." Regina was flustered by the affection from the stranger, and took a second to re-gather her thoughts. "It was different from the others. They'd all seemed real, but this was… it was as if I was actually there; experiencing it. This is the first one I've had that hasn't been set in a castle of some sort, either. It was at the hospital."

"Oh?"

"I was at the hospital. Henry had… there was something wrong with him. It was just flashes, but I think… I'd done something to him." Regina's heart stammered as she avoided Archie's gaze, "Emma wouldn't let me see him, I just wanted to see him. But she took me into this closet of some kind, and started fighting with me. I hadn't realised she was one for violence, but she threw me into shelves, boxes started flying everywhere and then she pinned me up against the wall. 'It's true', she kept saying, 'It's true, isn't it?' and it was. I'd caused something terrible, and we were talking about magic and Henry and…" Regina's speech was getting faster and faster, her breathing more laboured until Archie put her to a stop.

"Regina, keep calm. Take some deep breaths for me."

"There's no such thing as magic, is there? It's preposterous. Especially that I'd use, to harm my own son? I mean, I love Henry. I must do."

"Regina, I know it may feel like everything is working against you. Your experiences are telling you one thing, your subconscious another. Emma is honest, and truthful, and genuinely wants to help you. You can trust her. That's what you really want to hear, isn't it?"

"How can I be sure?" Regina, inexplicably, began to cry, and at a loss for what to do, Archie handed her a tissue.

"I guess it's true that you can never really be sure. The thing that separates humans from other animals is ultimately our ability to feel such strong emotions. Feelings change, sometimes overnight, and people can surprise you like that. But with Emma, I don't think that's a worry. She cares about you, genuinely, and that's not going to change any time soon." Archie gets up, leaving Regina sat alone on the sofa, still clutching onto the tissue.

Emma had been pacing outside the door during the exchange, and jumped as Archie abruptly opened the door.

"What have you done to her?" She exclaims, seeing Regina sobbing over his shoulder.

"It's what she's done to herself. Or rather, what these memories have done to her. Go to her, and reassure her. She'll be okay." Archie pats Emma on the shoulder and leaves, as Emma rushes up to Regina.

"Hey, hey, stop crying." Emma sits down next to Regina, who has by now pulled her legs up as a shield in front of her, and pulls her down onto her lap. "You know I'm not going anywhere, right?"

"I don't know what's wrong with me. I'm a mess." Regina laughs through her tears, which begin to make a wet patch on Emma's jeans.

"Yeah, you kind of are." Emma laughs, running a hand through the woman's hair. "It's okay though. You're allowed to cry, sometimes. You're so strong, Regina, and you don't need to be - not all the time. It's amazing how you're getting through this, honestly, I don't know how."

"I know how. You." Regina mumbled into Emma's leg.

"Me?"

"You can't fathom how much you've done for me, just by being with me these past few weeks. I don't think I would have made it this far without you."

Emma didn't say anything in return, instead relaxing back more into the sofa. She couldn't say she loved Regina, even if she did. The logic behind it was what she couldn't face. Regina was fire, and she was ice. Darkness and light. The saviour and the evil queen. Admitting is was more harm than it was worth; they were toxic. But this Regina… the Regina crying into her lap, this woman wasn't all that different from Emma. Regina was hurt, and confused, and she wanted comfort, and Emma wanted nothing more than to give it to her. But she knew that doing anything about it led the risk of bringing back Regina's memories, and as selfish as it was, she didn't want this Regina to leave.

She must be the same person. That's basic logic; losing your memories doesn't mean you become a completely different person. This Regina must have always been hiding somewhere, behind years of loathing and heartache and hatred. There's always a thousand reasons why something is a bad idea. That's why choices exist; if everything was always black and white, everything would be inevitable. Emma couldn't help but think, or just blindly hope, that maybe Regina could make her happy. Maybe. One day.

And I know I am naïve

But if anything

That's what's going to save me

That's what's going to save me

- First Aid Kit, New Year's Eve