AN: So trigger warning of some child abuse, mentioned for just a small moment. Also thank you for the new followers and people who continue to read ^^ I hope you all like this next chapter . -R.M

Over the course of the next couple days, the two women had spent a remarkable time together. Regina had helped Emma with horseback riding while Emma had played her guitar for the queen. An equivalent exchange, yet an excuse to spend some time together after that fateful night of stolen kisses.

Emma looked up at the blue sky, her back pressed to a blanket while a mess of brown curls sprawled out across her chest.

"Why is it that you enrapture me in such ways that leave me vulnerable?"

Emma hummed to the question as her fingers slowly went down and gently combed through the beautiful curled mess.
"The same reason you let me do it. It's frightening but it feels right."

They sat in silence as Regina let herself remain calm to the comforting sound of a beating heart. A heart that she refused to take, which terrified her as most her subjects had their hearts taken just to ensure her own safety.
"If I may ask….how long have you enjoyed the company of women Regina?" Green eyes trailed along the back of the brunette, finding the riding clothing she wore to be quite enthralling.

"Hm.…" Pursed full lips pressed together in a hum as Regina slowly sat up and stretched a bit. "Perhaps I always enjoyed the fairer sex, but because I was a princess who had duties I tried to find a fancy with men. Daniel….he was a good man and he was a sweet and gentle man….I did love him but the intimacy was lacking in a way that I found was satiated by women…. So for a while I do suppose." She explained while tilting her head.

"You know I will not bed you till you are ready." Emma said in a soft yet firm voice, her hand going up to cup Regina's cheek as she pressed a tender kiss against the woman's full pink lips.

"I am though." Regina whispered in a voice filled with vulnerability, who knew she could be amounted to being so soft or vulnerable.

Emma wondered if that whole Evil Queen act was one that was just shown to the Storybook, because this woman was a whole hell of a lot different than the one that you would read about in the story. The way her eyes softened when children came to bare gifts in the palace, the way her face would soften to help tend to the maids, her gentle hands against her very own body. This wasn't an evil queen, but a lost girl who had been searching for a light within the darkness.

"No." Emma whispered as she pressed her forehead against the latters, their breaths mingling one with another as their lips hovered over each others. "I want to help defeat the demons at night…to find the darkest depths and comfort you in a non physical way. Regina…I want to know you and all of you." She whispered softly and for the first time in Emma's semi short life, she looked into Regina's eyes and had found a home. A broken, crumbled home sure. But, it was a place that she could help fix the cracks and fill the holes, where she could mend the pain and kiss the scars. She didn't know what had made her decide to change this history, but she knew she was getting too invested and she didn't know how to stop. She was spiraling out of control in this realm and the reason was the woman in front of her. The same woman who wanted her dead all those years ago in Storybrooke, but failed to realize they could move astral bodies together and do the impossible.

"Emma." Her voice whispered out as her shaking hand reached up and tenderly ran her fingers through her beautiful hair. "Why are you so good to me?" She asked out. "I am not going to fall again…I can't fall again….I always lose what I want and I can't even if you're a subject…you've become more and I can't lose you too." Tears welled up in brown orbs and Emma slowly pulled her into a tender embrace.

"You never truly lose someone Regina, when your hearts are bound by fate and if a story is not yet complete….you will find each other across time and realms so that those two hearts can meet once more. Life…is so much more than black and white and people like you and I fall between those two colors." Emma brought her hand up and gently wiped the womans tears that were starting to fall. Regina, even if they were to never be lovers; needed a friend. Regina had always needed someone to tell her that she was appreciated and that everything was going to be ok. Emma had always done that for her the day she came to Storybrooke and she didn't plan on stopping now. Emma knew that there was a reason that everything had happened the way it did. The queen was never born to be evil, nor was she destined she believed to be someone evil, but she was made into who she was so that perhaps they would meet and were destined to save eachother.

Emma knew that her parents thought that she was destined just to save them and the whole enchanted forest, but the truth of it all was, she needed saving as well. A saviour needed to be saved from herself because at the end of the day when her duty was done she was alone, whether emotionally or physically and that tore her apart because no one understood, no one but Regina.

The halls were empty and not a soul awake at twilight, maids had long finished their duties and all but the posts that stood up in shifts were left to wander the halls.
Emma was tossing in her bed as she was plagued with the dreams and memories that had often reminded her of who she was, an orphan.
Sweat gleamed across her forehead as she writhed in her bed and her breathing grew more and more labored by the moment.
"Please- no….please…." She whimpered.

-Flashback-

Her eyes shone with fear as she was running through the large house, her small bare feet padding helplessly against the wooden surface as she slipped and felt someone grab her ankle and pull her.
"Please, I didn't do it! I swear I didn't do anything!" Her voice cried out fearfully as she looked in the eyes of her foster father who grabbed for his belt.

"Do you not understand your place here?" He grunted as he slid the belt off and held the buckle in his hand before he walked over to the couch and laid the girl across his large knee. The small blonde wiggled and whimpered, crying out for anyone to hear, but the rest of the family had went to the movies and she was left alone with him since she apparently 'acted out'.
She had done nothing, her foster brother had doubled over after she refused to give him her portion of lunch and he screamed out that she hit him in the stomach and demanded him to give her his portion. So in turn, she was left alone and punished and this was one of the most fearful moments in her short lived life.

"Now, no one will help or believe you." He whispered menacingly in her ear as his hands slowly lifted up her small leg and gripped it while she tried to kick out of his hold and all of a sudden a loud snap of the belt was heard and her small pale flesh burned red from the leather belt whipping across it. "Count."

Another and she still bit her tongue as she refused to cry, she might have been only eight at the time, but she knew he was in the wrong and didn't deserve the satisfaction. Another hit after another and her legs burned in angry marks of red and the man was growing impatient.
"It looks like you have to be taught another way-" He growled and his fingers slowly slid higher, dancing across her burning flesh to the hem of her cotton shorts and she felt tears burn her eyes. She heard stories of men like this from other foster siblings but had no idea that it could happen to her. She cried out and felt his hands push past her shorts-

"Emma!" A voice called out into her subconscious and the room and man disappeared slowly.
"Emma wake up, emma wake up." The same feminine voice continually called out in such a soothing manner that it caused the frightened blondes green eyes to bulge open and a gasp to tortuously come from her pale quivering lips.

Her fearful eyes scanned the room and there was no foster father, no abusive foster siblings, no disgusting smell of alcohol or rough hands of a man who liked to scare little girls. No one, but a worried expression of a 'supposed evil queen'.

"Emma, you're ok…." Regina whispered and gently brushed strands of matted down blonde hair from the forehead of the saviour. "It's a dream." She continually reassured, much like what Maleficent would do for her on nights of perilous dreams.
It was funny how two completely broken people could console each other in such an understanding and gentle way despite never growing up with that affection being shown to them.
Emma's breathing slowly grew steady and the tears that were stubbornly held in were slowly cascading down her strong cheekbones. "I'm sorry for troubling you Regina….I- I sometimes have nightmares and…tonight was just one of those nights." She confessed as she ran her fingers in circular motions over her throbbing temples. Damn Enchanted forest with no sort of ibuprofen or Advil.

"It's ok...I suffer the same…I usually get migraines after them though. " Regina confessed as she released a soft sigh and continued to stroke the blondes hair. "I know…things like this are hard to talk about but- but if you ever want to, you can confide in me." She confessed while looking at the blonde earnestly.
She didn't know when exactly, but this blonde who had suddenly fallen in her life had slowly found her way into the gentlest part of the queens heart and it frightened her. She just felt comfortable, though there was something so familiar about her that frustrated her, but she saw the same look in her eyes that she often saw staring back at her in the mirror and knew they were two sides of the same coin. Emma slowly leaned into the side of the queen and let go of a sigh that was pent up deep within her.

"I will take you up on that sometime, maybe not now…but soon perhaps." She confessed while her eyes slowly turned upwards and gazed into the gentle brown eyes of a broken woman. She understood why Henry had often went to Regina when he was sick, she was naturally maternal and caring. Her eyes though tortured held enough warmth to bring anyone some sort of calm.

"Of course...how about…we have some tea and calm down? I had quite a fitful sleep myself." Regina offered as her hand left the woman's blonde tousled locks and rubbed circles into her back.
A hum left Emma's lips as she watched Regina stand up and fully took in the beautiful woman who adorned a powder blue night dress with lace trim along the neck and short sleeves; her hair was let down in beautiful long curls and a white shawl covered her unclothed arms. Even while sleeping, there was such poise about the queen that Emma found so beautiful about her. She took the offered hand that Regina extended to her and stood up, standing several inches taller than her and gazed down into brown eyes before giving the smaller hand a gentle squeeze of appreciation.

"So what kind of tea do you have in mind?" She asked as she slid into the slippers beside her bed and followed Regina out of her room and into the torch lit hallways.

"Well I am partial to my apple and cinnamon tea, does that sound ok?" She asked and watched as a slight spark of joy spread across Emma's tired face.

"Mmn, I love cinnamon so yes that does sound very good." Emma grinned widely.

The two walked quietly hand in hand down the quiet halls, not breaking the comforting silence as they made their way to the grand kitchen where Regina began to grab the tea pot and things needed to make the tea.
"So...if you don't mind me asking, you're incredibly good to your maids and the women who work here…I've never heard of such treatment before…is there a particular reason?" Emma asked as she leaned against the cool marble counter.
Regina's back was turned to her as she began to prepare the tea, humming softly as she shook her head. "No, but I do hate the stories I've heard from others about the awful treatment of women just for simply being a woman. So, in turn, I try to always make sure they are well taken care of here." Regina retorted as she put a kettle over a fire and came back to Emma and leaned against the counter as well.

"You're a very intriguing person Regina and I will never understand why people think of you how you say they do." Emma earnestly confessed.

Regina folded her arms over her chest as she tilted her head upwards in thought.
"Well I mean…they're beloved princess is Snow white, my step daughter…true heir to the throne and beloved daughter of Leopold and Ava…I- I am the young whore essentially that adorned Leopolds arm who could not even bare him a child and was not much older than his daughter. He died in his bed and the 'culprit' was never found and Snow White never ascended to the throne, though rightfully the throne is mine until I die since I am Leopolds queen and she is not a son." Regina sighed softly. "People forget how politics work and that indeed she is his daughter, but I was his wife and though he died she had not been wed nor has she ever been a good leader to make difficult decisions. So, she is definitely not ready. As for our feud, she is the cause for my torment here in this castle, the reason my first love died, and the reason I had fallen so far from grace." Regina confessed while scrunching her brows up. "But since I'm not from this land, I'm not even a first in line princess and my country is much smaller…I am essentially no one." Regina clenched her eyes tightly while her arms gripped herself tighter.

Emma looked at Regina with a saddened expression, it was honestly too much. Too raw, bare, and by damned it was making this strong woman tremble and crumble before her. Regina had never been the bad guy, but a troubled young woman who was pushed to be a pawn to those around her. A political tool, an asset, a step mother, a wife, a witch, and she had never had a chance to be too much more than what she had become.

"You know, I think you're a pretty great someone who just needs to be loved and you, Regina….you deserve nothing less of the purest love." Emma smiled a bit as she slowly wrapped her arms around the woman.

"You're simply a pure hearted person dear….I do not deserve anything." Regina looked down before feeling a soft finger press her chin upwards and she met the most caring green eyes she had ever seen before and had grown to find such comfort in such sparkling pure pools.

"You don't deserve just anything, but everything. I know you are capable of many things and if you just look past what's been done and what could be, you could accomplish so much." Emma whispered tenderly as she leaned in and as lips were about to meet a scream from the kettle upon the fire sounded that caused the two women to jump apart. Emma cleared her throat and brushed down her sleeves on her night dress while Regina fixed her hair rather anxiously.

"I-I should get that." Regina cleared her throat and walked towards the kettle, using a rod to pull the handle from the fire and set it down as the wonderful aroma of cinnamon and apple filled the room along with some sort of blossom like aroma.
"It's my mothers recipe, she did love apples and when I was young she helped me grow this tree from a sapling and using magic I had it grow a little quicker than most but, ever since then I would have to say it is one of my most favorite parts of my garden and the fruit it bares is like no other." Regina turned and looked over her shoulder as Emma had slowly made her way towards her.

"Mmn I've grown fond of the fruit more recently." Emma confessed in an all too cryptic way.
"Let's let it cool for a moment and I'll grab us some cups."
Regina walked towards the cupboards and pulled down to china cups and set them on a tray along with two small cookies that was wrapped in a cloth.

Emma watched attentively at each stride the woman made, a queen who did for herself without no servant to beckon to her requests; quite the scene indeed.

The two, tray in hand, had made their way back to Regina's quarters and sat at the table in front of the fire. Sitting side by side on the velvet like couch, they drank the tea in a quiet harmony.
Soft sups and crunches filled the room while the sounds of soft whistling from the wind outside beat against the windows.
"If you want -" Regina chewed on her bottom lip while taking another quick bite of her cookie. "You can sleep here if you feel like another nightmare might re appear in your slumber." She offered.

Emma rose a brow while swallowing the warm tea, the cinnamon complimenting the sweet apple blossom like flavor. "Are you sure that is alright, couldn't it be quite scandalous for you?" Emma retorted as her mind went to another blonde who was due to be back any day.

"I'm the queen." Regina flatly replied. Her eyes becoming stern as she looked ahead at slow burning fire like she was going to make the wood that perched on the holder to be completely incinerated.

"Point taken, well I wouldn't be apposed to that though…I do appreciate how welcoming you've been with me and I do wonder if you take others in like this." Emma whispered almost insecurely.
Regina's head whipped to lash out but instead softened as she saw the blonde's thumbs run along the rim of her cup and her eyes downcast into the contents of the white porcelain.

"No, I do not and quite frankly I'm unsure of myself right now as to why I have been so generous to you. Perhaps…you make me feel a way I haven't felt in years and I am glad to see that part of me still exists." She confessed honestly.
"To be honest, maybe too honest….It's been hard to sleep without Mal here and not that I'm trying to make you replace her, but….it is difficult to feel secure when…I'm alone in this chamber." Regina swallowed thickly as she felt herself being wrapped up by the insecurities that fell around her.

Emma's brow rose at the confession. She too, had wondered if that's all she was as the queen only beckoned her in the absence of that mentor of hers and to be quite frank it slightly hurt. Her fingers slightly clenched the cup as she tried to remind herself that she couldn't fully fall in love with the Regina of this time because it would put a ripple in the affects of what was to come and it would permanently affect her own timeline as Hook had previously stated.

"I just, this castle is not one that I care for, but was left with. It's a constant reminder of the darkness within and around me and to be alone at it's darkest hours is a feeling I don't care for. Emma, you are a light….truly and how you come from a land without magic when you are so full of light is beyond me. But, you never deserved what had happened in your dreams nor around you as a child and I can state that I hope whatever life you lead will be one with happiness." Regina whispered as she poured another cup of tea. Steam surrounding her fingers as she poured the hot liquid and the soft ripple of a golden honey filled the cup in a soft way as the aroma calmed one's nerves.

Emma swallowed the emotion that was beginning to rush through her while taking a small bite of her pastry. She nodded slowly while looking at the queen with a small smile. "I know that in whatever I do, I feel that our fates could be intertwined…because nothing hardly ever happens in accident."

Regina nodded in thought as she sipped her tea, her hair falling over her face slightly as she carefully brushed it behind her ear and gazed up shyly. A yawn slowly escaping her lips as she covered her mouth in a fashion that Emma could almost relate to a small child and to be honest it was endearing.

"I'm beginning to grow fatigued and I'm afraid morning is close." Her eyes wearily glanced to the light that peaked over the horizon.
Emma nodded as she finished her glass an stood, holding her hand to Regina in which she gratefully took and stood up.
"Then let's sleep and worry about the rest another time." Emma smiled as she walked with the queen to her vast bed that rivaled any California King bed she had ever seen and slowly climbed into the bed with her, laying on her back as she so comfortably would do and felt the small frame of the queen beside her, her face mere inches from her own as the woman's arm comfortably draped in a near possessive way around her waist.
"Goodnight my dear." Regina lightly smiled as her eyes fell heavy and sleep found her peacefully.

Emma brushed the hair that surrounded the woman behind her ear and smiled while burying her face in the soft curls of brunette hair. She breathed in the soft scent of whatever botanicals she uses to cleanse her hair and found a slight comfort in it.
They were two lost souls, two demons or people that were locked away and destined to be someone that found comfort in the company of each other.

The morning came and the two had departed as Regina had some meetings with councilmen and Emma had taken up an offer from one of the knights to learn archery and swordsmanship. She had remembered some moves her father and mother had taught her in Storybrooke, but since she went nearly a year without even picking up a sword or bow it really was strenuous on her muscles.

She walked outside and gasped a bit as she looked at the knight who didn't wear the armor he had before and instead was in sparring clothing.
"Well hello there milady, which would ye like to learn first?" The scruffy man grinned and Emma felt her heart ache at the boyish smile the man held.
Graham, the Sheriff who had helped her so much her first several months in Storybrooke and died untimely had been standing before her with such a carefree expression that it made her eyes water.
"Uhm, mi'lady…hello?" He swayed side to side with his hands on his knees as if he was trying to look down into her height and into her eyes.

"Oh-sorry I was lost in thought." She cleared her throat and smiled slightly before picking up a sword. "How about swords first."

"Ah, in for a brute one aren't ye." He chuckled and unsheathed his own sword before nodding. "Alright so let's get started."

A couple of hours had went by as Graham had showed her basic posture and stances, trying to adjust her motions to show her which way's would result in less muscle strain and to make each strike count. Emma remembered each instruction and felt nostalgic at the way he was teaching her as if it was them back in Storybrooke; he was always so passionate about doing what he did. His eyes held a glimmer and a boyish glint in it while his lips would occasionally purse into a pondering expression. He truly was a good man and Emma still can't wrap her head around the reason as to why Regina would have killed him, it is still one subject the two women had yet to fully delve into and new they would eventually.
As the sound of iron striking iron and grunts echoed the courtyard. Emma's brows furrowed as sweat trickled down her forehead and along her temple, she continued to block the mans attacks as he struck at her in way's he had taught her and she waited for an opening. As she was about to strike, she saw his knee come up and she instantly jumped backwards and swung her sword up and caused his to knock out of his hands and she held her sword out towards her throat.
"You're a natural" He panted while he held out his hand and she let her sword down and took his hand; shaking his hand firmly with a sense of comradeship. "Though you do leave yourself open quite a lot and you look too much in front of you and not around you. We will work on that." He stated and hummed a bit. "I will have to par with you more in order to get a full understanding of what we will need to work on, but so far you are doing quite well Emma." He chuckled and walked towards a bench nearby and picked up a pouch of water and took a long swig of it.
"How long have you been here?" She asked curiously while sitting down, the strain on her muscles began to make her body feel like gelatin as her arms fell weakly in front of her.

"Perhaps two years or so." He answered with a nod and sat beside her. "I don't mind it as much as I did at first, but I do wonder what she is working up for." He answered as he held the pouch of water between his hands and looked down at it. "But I'm not one to question her authority. " He chuckled slightly before another knight had jogged up to the two.
"Graham, there's been a sighting of a rebel army to the left of the castle that is about a day's ride away. The queen requests you to the war room now." He stood at attention immediately.

"It looks like we part way's now Emma, until next time." He smiled and nodded his head towards her, patting her shoulder slightly before hurrying off into the castle with the other knight.

Emma walked up after resting for a half hour and towards the throne room that she had heard the queen moved into. A loud booming voice came from the open doors and it slightly startled the blonde as she had grown accustomed to the queens more docile side.

"I do not care what you have to do, I'll be damned if rebel troops begin to invade! Take care of this immediately!" She heard the woman yell and some sort of object shatter against the wall while two men quickly scurried out of the room.
Emma bowed her head and entered the room, earning a request for her to enter shortly thereafter.

"What is it that you need?" Regina said in a slightly impatient manner.
"I came to offer some assistance." Emma smiled slightly.

"Not to demean you Emma, but this is a potential war that can happen and I have my tactical officers in charge here." Regina stated, her nails tapping rather loudly against her throne.

"It's not something I'm too educated in, but I do know something's from my land that may help since people of your land aren't too familiar with our war tactics." Emma offered as she bowed at the first step before the queens throne. Though she had been implored to do so in a more ladylike way, it was never Emma's style to be ladylike and instead she did so in a more knightly way.
A sigh filled her ears and she couldn't help but grin as she knew Regina would potentially give in.
"If you fill me in and show me coordinates I may be of some assistance." Emma once again requested and she heard the queen's heels click against the flooring before her until she could practically breathe the womans scent in and she looked up at the beautiful sight that was all Regina.
With a wave of her hand, a holographic three dimensional design of a map was shown where the castle was and where the rebel army was located.
"There's no magical beings reported, but simply people who are supporters of James and Snow." Regina started as she sneered at the thought of the two people she hated more than anything else. "They are about one day's ride from here and are moving closer with each passing second. Though there is not usually any problem with reaching them or taking care of them. The numbers this time are slightly larger and the possible casualties are higher." Regina educated the blonde as Emma squinted at the terrain.
"Well...you have more forest in that area that is on your side. You see…if you put archers at these exact locations…." Emma pointed. "You could have them even wield fire arrows and it would slow down the front lines. You have archers on the hills at these points and since they are shadowed by the foliage, you have an element of surprise and could knock out any other potential fighters which would then leave the better fighters that are left in the back and middle…so if you have men ready about here…" Emma pointed and bit her lip as she tried to remember some of the lessons she was taught by Maria about old wars and different battle plans.
"It would leave them quite vulnerable since a good number of their army would be taken out. But since the terrain is much more difficult for them, you have more of an advantage since it is your lands." Emma nodded and Regina looked over it as she nodded herself.

"I'll take what you said into consideration" She smiled and as Regina turned towards Emma the sound of a bow snapping had echoed and Regina turned and before she herself could use her magic, Emma's hand outstretched and a burst of light magic erupted from her palm and knocked the arrow out of their way and caused the culprit to fly back powerfully into the brick wall and make it crack loudly.
Maleficent strode into the room with a small smirk.
"Believe me now" She said and the look of surprise and horror flashed across Regina's face while Emma felt a deep churning fill her stomach while bile threatened to rise.

'Fuck' she thought as the sorceress in front of her grinned almost sadistically and triumphantly.