Wow guys. It's been a while! I hope you're all ready for a long overdue update to our story! I admit, it's been hard. I had an inkling to rewatch the series and get a feel for our favourite pair before returning back! If you're still following, I appreciate it. Truly.I'm hoping to be more frequent with my updates, hence a rather small addition to this fic. Nevertheless I hope you all enjoy it and if you have any prompts or tips please drop a review and I'll get to them!

- Ivy

Emma awoke to the sound of groaning beside her. Confusion consuming her momentarily as she jolted into a sitting position, her mind slowly piecing together the events that led them to the loft.

The day had dragged on, leaving them behind in their state of exhaustion as the sun set around them, bathing the room in warm hues of orange.

Regina groaned again as her eyes fluttered open, her hands immediately coming to her head as it started to pound.

"You're awake."

Emma exclaimed. The brunette jumping as her surroundings sunk in and a jolt of pain coursed through her body.

"You saved me?"

Regina asked in confusion, Her vision foggy as a wave of fatigue washed over her.

"We did."

Snow white told her, entering the room with a warm smile as she placed a mug of hot cocoa on the nightstand beside the brunette .

"Where are Greg and Tamara?" Regina asked the pair sternly.

"Dead. I killed them." Emma told her flatly, the familiar cold washing over her as the numbness set in.

"Pity. I was looking forward to ripping their hearts out."

The queen huffed. Irritation rising within her as she tried to push herself into a sitting position.

"You certainly seem like yourself." Snow quipped.

"I'll let you two talk." She carried her own Mug of cocoa carefully as she climbed the stairs to the second bedroom.

"I'm sorry it took us so long to get to you." Emma sighed. She felt defeated. She knew her superpower was never wrong yet still she'd doubted herself and that doubt could've meant Regina's demise.

"I'm sorry I never got a chance to end those two."

Greg was an oversight that had nearly cost her life and Regina was infuriated that she'd let herself end up in such a situation.

The brunette grabbed the cup from the nightstand carefully, bringing it to her lips as she sipped gently.

They sat in a rather deafening silence. One that seemed to ring in Emma's ears as she shuffled in her chair uncomfortably.

"How much did you see?" Regina asked her abruptly, setting her mug down as she turned to face the blonde.

"I - uh."

The blonde stuttered as the Queen rolled her eyes in frustration, as much as it pained her to do so.

"Well? You used my tears didn't you."

Regina pushed, not requiring an answer as the sting of the blonde's Invasion lay at the back of her mind.

"Yes."

"How much did you see?"

Regina asked more forcefully this time while Emma squirmed beneath her gaze.

"Enough to know you're not as Evil as everybody says you are."

Emma told her, avoiding her gaze.

"You're right I'm not."

"I'm worse."

Something in the queen's tone sent a chill down Emma's spine.

"I don't believe that." she replied sternly.

"Oh because you flicked through my darkest memories like pages of a book and now you think you know me?" Regina spat.

Her insides turned at the thought of anybody seeing her like that. Weak.

"No. But I think I understand you."

"And what could you possibly understand?" Regina asked, cocking her eyebrow. Her body ached terribly, but her mind hurt the most. It was excruciating to hold two people within her, especially when she'd felt the very life draining from her body.

"That pain makes you do terrible things." Emma started, staring off into space as she recounted her own darkest moments.

The moments in which she felt the person she was slip away as a curtain of cold seemed to consume her insides. She felt vacant and empty, desperately trying to grasp onto the last pieces of her that seemed to slip through her fingers every time.

"And the power you gain from those things becomes seductive, because you finally have control."

her tone was daunting and slow as she came to meet the queen's gaze.

"Or perhaps I just like hurting people." Regina offered with a scowl, she didn't like this Emma. The one whose gaze lingered a little longer, Staring into her eyes as if it were the doors to her soul. It made her feel uneasy.

"You forget, Emma, I spent years doing terrible things, unspeakable things and I liked it."

The queen's eyes seemed to darken the longer she spoke yet Emma didn't quite believe the facade. The woman she'd seen inside her was nothing like anybody had described.

"Nobody's perfect. I'm certainly not and as much as my parents wish it they aren't either. We all have flaws." Emma told her simply.

Sometimes she thought Henry's black and white thinking rubbed off on her. The thought that the world was split into good and bad. Dark and light.

Yet here she was, the product of true love that had just taken a life while her heart had barely twitched.

"You saw my life. The darkest parts of it and you still stand by your statement." Regina exclaimed.

"I do. Because the woman I saw was not evil."

"She was hurt." Emma told her simply, with a raised eyebrow and a cocky smile.

"She was weak."

The brunette admitted with a sigh. She tossed the sheets aside as she pushed herself up onto her feet.

"She had no idea how cruel life could be."

"What you saw barely scratched the surface and I won't have you make a victim out of me Miss Swan."

Regina growled, running her hands through her hair as her vision began to grow dizzy once more.

"We're back to Miss Swan now?"

Emma asked with an eye roll, jumping to her feet as she came to the Queen's aid.

"Your nosiness gets you demoted."

"This isn't a job Regina?!" Emma exclaimed as she tried to dodge the queen's swats.

"It might as well be it sure feels like a lot of work." Regina huffed, giving in as she fell back onto the bed; a look of defeat shining in her eyes.

"Well the feelings mutual." Emma quipped, plopping back down into her chair. A few moments went by in which neither knew what to say until Emma felt a wave of guilt within her.

"I'm sorry I invaded your privacy. Even if it was to save your life."

'I'm sorry too.'

The older woman whispered.

She was sorry she'd let Greg and Tamara hold power over her. She was sorry she'd nearly died on a metal table in a goddamn fish factory, but more than anything, she was sorry the blonde had gotten so close to the monsters within her. It filled her with shame and anger.

"Mom?"

The pair where tugged from their turmoil by a small voice, accompanied with a mop of unruly brown hair peeking out from the hallway.

"Henry!"

Regina gasped, as though it had been years since their last meeting and then she remembered.

She remembered what she had planned to do, how she was willing to warp his mind with magic in the hopes they could flee from the complications of Storybrooke and sadness filled her heart once more.

'Are you okay?'

The boy asked shakily, taking small steps towards the bed in which his Mother lay, exhausted and almost broken.

"Are you okay?"

The queen redirected, noticing his swollen cheeks and stray tears he tried so hard to hide.

"I thought you were dead."

His voice was shaky and filled with fear, something that made Regina's heart clench painfully as she ushered him forward.

He came to sit beside her, his eyes inspecting every cut, every bruise, even the parts of her that seemed okay. He inspected, looking for everything and perhaps nothing, for the thing that ailed her most could not be seen on the outside.

"I imagine my death would be a little more dramatic than that."

Regina chuckled, in an attempt to lighten the mood yet the teen only sprung forward, clinging to his Mother as if the mere thought of letting her go would cause her to crumble in his hands.

Emma watched on silently as a stray tear escaped from her eye and she mentally cursed herself.

She watched the woman she had hated hold Henry, comfort him as he cried for her. She watched as the Queen pushed down her own exhaustion and pain in order to comfort their son's and she wondered how anybody, ever, could look at the woman who lay before her now and see her as evil?

"I would never leave you."

The queen whispered, placing a gentle kiss on her son's forehead as they settled comfortably.

She offered Emma something rare, something the blonde was sure she'd never truly seen, a small, genuine smile.

With that, the saviour took her leave. Her stomach growling mercilessly for a late night grilled cheese from Granny's and as much as the Queen would deny it, she too, could demolish a hamburger after the ordeal they had suffered.

After placing a gently blanket over the pair Emma wandered out, closing the door to her Parent's loft silently behind her.

As she skulked the dimly lit streets of Storybrooke she wondered, if perhaps, this was a turning point for them.

They didn't have to be enemies. In fact, Emma found, the Queen was more like her than she dared admit.

Maybe. Just maybe, they could friends.