A/N: Hey, it's me again! Plaiiiiiin to see again (sorry i'll stop). The penultimate chapter, gosh! And there's still new people following this each day, so a big hello to all of you! Grazie to everyone as usual for doing all the things that make me happy. 2 songs for this chapter, because I don't play by the rules.

Dream sequence in italics!

Warning: Brief reference/allusion to suicide. It's only a very small snippet of conversation, but if that's going to be triggering for you, it's possible to skip this chapter but still read the ending and understand it.

It's a heavy load upon our backs

Of things we carry from the past

My guilt-filled mind, it tried to run

But it traced us back to where we begun

-First Aid Kit, I Found A Way

You've always loved the strange birds

Now I want to fly into your world

I want to be heard

My wounded wings still beating

You've always loved the stranger inside me

-Birdy, Strange Birds

"Daniel." Regina's mother pulled the man away by the arm, her quiet tones seeming almost comforting in the dark, harsh setting of the stable. "If you want to have a life together, a family, then there's one important lesson I can impart on you. It's what it means to be a parent. You always have to do what's best for your children."

"Thank you. I understand. Because that's what you're doing now." Daniel smiled sincerely at the woman, and Regina couldn't hide her happiness at the fact that perhaps, for once, her mother would allow her the happiness she had always craved.

"Yes, it is." Regina remained oblivious as her mother's expression changed from caring to sadistic, and for a moment she couldn't find the breath to speak as Cora's hand went plunging sharply into Daniel's chest.

"Mother!" she eventually called out, shaken, and as Daniel gasped for air, his tall frame shrinking, collapsing to the ground, Regina screamed out. "Mother, why have you done this?" Regina was half in shock, half in disbelief as her mother so coldly squeezed all the love out of Regina's life.

"Because this is your happy ending. You have to trust me, Regina. I know best." Cora sounded almost regretful at the situation in passing as her daughter pressed desperate kisses onto Daniel's lips, willing herself to be strong enough to bring him back. "Love is weakness, Regina. It feels real now; at the start it always does, but it's an illusion. It fades, and then you're left with nothing." Cora's voice turned wistful as she went for the big finish. "But power.. True power endures. And then you don't have to rely on anyone to get what you want. I've saved you, my love."

Regina had hoped she was done with these dreams after Emma returned. Alas, it seemed that only one solitary night of respite was allowed for her, and as she panted and gasped for air in the light of the mid afternoon, she wondered if she would ever truly be free of them. Of the memories.

It had never before occurred to Regina that her mother had been the one who was instrumental in creating the Evil Queen. Of course, she knew she had some cards to play with Regina's transformation, but the blame in Regina's mind had always fell almost solely on Rumplestiltskin, for all the magic and manipulation he was worth.

She could see now that she was mistaken. Her mother had been playing her from the moment she was born. Evil is what you make of it, and Cora Mills had certainly known what she wanted to make of it in her daughter. Everything she was, everything she ever had been was what her mother had planned for her, and now, all the doubts in her mind about her relationship with Emma were being transferred directly from her mother's lips.

It was 5pm the next time Emma allowed herself to take a cursory glance at the clock, and she had spent up until then almost physically willing herself to stay out of Regina's bedroom. But the room had been silent for hours now, and she needed to check for her own peace of mind that Regina was ok.

She promised herself that she would simply poke her head round the door, and then leave. But, as she opened it, cursing under her breath as the door let out a low creak, she found the bed made pristinely and devoid of the woman she expected to be in it. She opened the door wider, afraid of what she might find, but all she saw was the room serene, with not an item out of place, save for the single piece of paper placed on the middle of the bed.

Emma approached it warily, as if the paper might come to life and bite her. It simply said "I love you." in painstakingly neat cursive, and before she knew what she was doing, she bolted out of the house.

She didn't stop to tell Henry where she was planning to go, or even that she was leaving, because she didn't know. She hadn't thought to put any shoes on, and running the streets in bare feet was surely going to cause her serious problems the next day, but she didn't care. She just ran, and ran, and ran, scanning every stretch of road with squinting eyes as she did so.

Emma had got to Henry's castle before she found what she was looking for. Regina was sat perched carefully on the side of the fence, just as Emma had been weeks before. She almost dropped straight to the ground with the relief flowing through her, and took a few seconds to compose herself before stumbling across the grass to where Regina was sat, looking down at her with a bemused look on her face.

"Where on earth are your shoes?" was the first thing said, bemused, after a lengthy silence.

"I was kind of in a rush. I thought you'd…"

"What?" recognition washed over Regina's face, "Oh, you thought I'd ended it all."

"You wrote that you loved me."

"And I do."

"I just thought… never mind." Emma took a few seconds to calm herself down, before climbing up the castle, and sitting on the fence next to Regina. "So, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

"Yes. If you'll listen. There's some things I need to say. To ask."

"Of course I'll listen." Emma frowned at Regina having to ask.

"Good. I just need a moment or two to collate my thoughts. I'm not entirely sure how to go about this."

"Alright." Emma swung her legs, the backs hitting the edge of the fence. Looking out over the scenery, and how still it was, Emma envied it. Always still, always pristine. There was change in nature, you could see that plainly from one day to the next, but as much as it changed you could predict it. You always knew what would come next.

"It's funny, that you came here." Emma eventually broke the silence.

"And why is that?"

"This is where I came after you… this is where I came." Emma decided against spelling it out.

"You can say it. After I almost tried to take your heart." Regina frowned. "This is what I don't understand, Emma. How can you see all of this, see me do that, and still…

"Still what?"

"How can you love a monster?"

Emma didn't say anything for a while. "I don't. I love you, Regina. You aren't a monster. You have guilt, and you've shown remorse. You've repented."

"But I have the potential to be. It's still inside me. Why aren't you afraid that I'll revert back to type, like I always do?"

"Because I trust you. I trust that you know the right path."

"I killed him."

Emma didn't need to ask who she was referring to, instead staying silent.

"I tried for the longest time to convince myself it was something other than what it was. That it was a necessary evil, but it wasn't. It was a cowardly thing to do."

"What do you want me to say, Regina? What are you looking for? Do you want me to say that I hated you, when I first found out? Because I did. I wanted to hunt you down in the night, and make you admit it like you just did. I wanted to hear the words, and see the look on your face as you said them. But you aren't that person anymore. That person would never have been able to sit next to me and admit that she'd done something bad that could have been avoided."

Regina didn't respond, not knowing what to say. So instead, she said what she knew. What she had always secretly knew. "I had a dream. Well, a memory. Daniel. My mother was… a part of me used to believe me and her were alike. But we weren't, not at all. I was what she made me. For the first time, I properly saw the look on her face as she did it." Regina sniffed, "I've never seen a look so emotionless. I wasn't like that when I killed Graham. I was desperate, and angry, and I was almost trying to will myself to stop it, to find some other way."

She continued. "When I met Daniel, I was lonely more than anything. I was completely oblivious to my mother's actions, or that what she was doing to me was in any way wrong. I believe that I just wanted somebody truthful, and innocent, like I was for that time. And then Daniel arrived, and I thought he was it. I thought he was what I was looking for, purely because he was what I secretly desired to recognise in myself. But he wouldn't have been right for me, had my mother spared him. He would not have liked the person that I've become. But then, without Daniel, I had nobody to aspire to be. Other than my mother, that is. I'd always looked up to her, in a disturbed way. The way she commanded such power, such control, with even the quietest, most unassuming of voices. Demanding to be heard. So I tried it; I let the evil inside me for the first time, and it was almost a relief. It was a comfort, and a safety blanket that I could always fall back on when I was scared. I never had the chance, or the courage, to escape it until Henry and you."

Regina looked Emma in the eye for the first time since the conversation started. "The two of you have given me the courage that I have always lacked to change my path. To forge my own destiny, good or bad. But I worry I've left it too late."

"Why would you think that?"

"I've done too much. Graham was the last in a very long line of people who I wronged. The magic I performed while I was without memories, it was dark. What if I can't go back to light again?"

"It was dark because you didn't have memories. You didn't have your motivation to be good, but now you do. And about your dreams… I think they started because of me, you know, the saviour and everything. But I do think they've gone for good now. You only had one earlier because all this stuff was in the front of your mind, whether you were acknowledging it or not."

"You can't know that."

"No, I can't. But I can hope."

"Is hope truly all we have? Is that all that we've got to reassure us that this is going to be ok?"

"That isn't a bad thing. My mom's always talking about how powerful hope can be, and so's Henry. As long as we have hope, we'll be ok."

"Don't steal lines from your mother if you wish for me to agree with you." Regina smiled towards Emma.

"Hey, it was you that asked." The two women laughed to themselves, and Regina once again looked into Emma's eyes.

"I do love you Emma Swan. Truly. Even if I can't be sure of anything else."

"Good." Emma touched Regina's cheek. "Let's go home."

A/N: Final chapter coming very soon!