A/N: TRIGGER WARNING FOR ABUSE IN THIS CHAPTER

Regina sat on her bed clutching the letter tightly in her hands, the parchment was completely flat she had read it so many times. She never thought that she'd make any real connections at school but she had and it was a wonderful feeling. She no longer suffered through the time at her house although it was still rough, she had something to look forward to. School, friends, magic, and Emma. A blush crept up her cheeks as she thought about Emma Swan. If she had for one second thought that the rude girl on the train would quickly become one of her best friends she would have laughed it off and thought herself crazy.

Hi Regina,

I hope your summer's going well and your mom isn't driving you too crazy. Life over here is the same as it always is, but I'm anxious to get back to school. I never thought I'd hear myself say those words let alone write them down somewhere! You must be rubbing off on me or something. Anyways, let's meet at the station and we can get a compartment together with Kathryn and Ruby, even though I'm convinced Kathryn still doesn't like me much. It would still be nice to ride up with you. Let me know?

Best,

Emma

She smiled as she read through the letter for the hundredth time. She had sent her response as soon as she'd received it, telling Emma that she would be there and couldn't wait to see her. She had received letters from Ruby and Kathryn too but they didn't make her feel the way Emma's letter did. She tried not to think about it too much but more often than not she found herself touching the letter in some way throughout the day, even if she didn't read it.

"Regina!"

She jumped as she was pulled from reverie, her palms grew clammy and her heart started to race. She edged to the door and pulled it open a crack before poking her head out of the door and calling back, "Yes mother?"

"Come down here dear, I need to speak to you."

Regina took a deep breath and edged out of her bedroom door. Her mind quickly raced through all of the things she had done today and not a single one stood out as bad. She had kept mostly to herself in her bedroom, reading through letters and Hogwarts: A History again just to stay out of her mother's way.

She steadied herself as she approached her mother's study where she knew she'd be. When she entered the room Regina found herself staring at her mother with large doe eyes. "You called me mother?" she asked quietly.

"Have a seat dear," Cora said indicating the chair opposite her.

Regina winced as she sat but it was nothing she hadn't endured before. She took a deep breath before locking eyes with Cora and asking timidly, "Did I do something wrong?"

"Why ever would you think that dear?" Cora said sweetly, flashing a wolfish grin. "Did you do something wrong?"

"N-no mother," she stammered.

Cora eyed her daughter up and down, letting the tension build between the two. She wanted to test a theory and in order for that to happen she needed her daughter strung tight, ready to snap at a moment's notice. "I've been thinking Regina darling…"

Regina continued to stare at the floor as her mother spoke, she was too afraid to look up at the moment.

"I'm going to join you and your father at the train station this year," Cora said lightly, delivering the final blow.

Regina felt something red hot flare up in her belly and before she knew what was happening the overhead light shattered sending a shower of glass down upon both her and her mother. Cora looked at her daughter and her cowered figure then up at the light, her suspicions were confirmed. There were too many odd occurrences happening around the house for them to be coincidences and the only other option Cora could think of was her daughter and her freak magic.

Regina felt the anger ebb away and it was instantly replaced with something far greater, something she was used to feeling in the presence of her mother, fear. Her stomach recoiled and bile rose up her throat but she swallowed it down. The last thing she needed was to cause another mess.

"I-I'm sorry mother, I don't know how that happened," she said quietly.

"Don't lie!" her mother yelled. She reached across and grabbed Regina's wrist, twisting it until she could see the tears spring up in her daughter's eyes. "You caused that with your magic," she hissed. "Don't think I haven't been paying attention you insipid little girl. Every time you get upset with me, something of mine ends up broken." Regina had started to shake her head but Cora tugged harder on her wrist causing Regina to cry out in pain. "Don't! I wouldn't dream of going to the train station with you but I needed to test my theory and it turns out I was right." She threw down Regina's hand and walked away, but before leaving the room she turned and said with a cold fury, "If this mess isn't completely cleaned up you will pay. Worse than you did last time dear."


Three days later Regina and her father stood on the train station waiting for her friends to arrive. The bruising on her wrist was still a deep purple so she had chosen to wear a sweater even though the weather didn't call for it, they were having an unseasonably warm September. She kept her head on a swivel looking for her friends, she had Emma's letter in her pocket and she kept one hand in her pocket on the letter, trying to draw some strength from it.

Soon she heard her name being called and a small weight lifted from her chest. Blonde curls obscured her vision as Emma wrapped her in a giant hug.

"Hello Mr. Mills," Emma beamed up at him.

"Hello Emma! How was your summer dear?"

"It was good, but I'm excited to get back up to school," she said sharing a small smile with Regina.

The smile didn't go unnoticed by Henry but he didn't say anything about it, instead he chose to comment that Regina had been looking forward to going back almost since the day she returned home. Kathryn and Ruby joined them a short time later and before they knew it, it was time to board the train. As always, Henry Mills bent down and gave his daughter a kiss on the cheek. "Maybe next summer you can go spend some time with one of your friends instead of hiding out in your room all the time. I'm sorry your mother is how she is, but never forget this Regina. I love you more than I could ever express."

She wrapped her arms around her father and whispered in his ear, "I love you too daddy."


She found her friends easily enough once she was on the train and took her usual seat next to Kathryn. Emma eyed the sweater and lifted her brow curiously but Regina simply shook her head. She didn't want to explain and she was grateful when Emma didn't push further and continued sharing stories about her summer.

She spent the majority of the train ride half listening to what the girls were saying and half thinking about what her father had said. She knew she should be angry at him, have more than love for him in her heart. He never stood up for her when it came to her mother but maybe that was because he was afraid of her too? But her father was the bravest man she knew, he couldn't possibly be afraid of her. Maybe he had simply resigned his fate to be forever stuck with Cora Mills because if he wasn't then someone else would have to put up with her. She only wished he could put a stop to the way she treated her. The constant abuse was a struggle to say the least and she wanted someone at home that would stand up for her since she couldn't do it herself. A single tear slid out of the corner of her eye and down her cheek.

Emma saw the tear escape and all she wanted in that moment was to jump out of her seat and wrap her arms around Regina. She wouldn't though, just like she wasn't going to ask why Regina was wearing long sleeves on a reasonably warm day. There were some things Emma knew that you didn't ask in front of other people. She only wished that she could help her somehow, take away whatever it was that was causing Regina pain. She had an idea of what it was but that too would have to wait until Regina was ready to talk about it.


Emma woke up thirsty, she had been flying in the desert in the dream she was having but it had felt so real her mouth was dry so she reached over for a glass of water off her nightstand table. She had just wrapped her hands around the glass when she heard it, a tiny whimper coming from Regina's side of the room. She lay still for a moment waiting to see if she would hear it again but this time it wasn't just a whimper, a sob broke the silence. Emma vaulted out of bed and was in Regina's before she had even thought about what she was doing.

Regina lay curled on her side, holding her pillow to her face crying. She had woken up from a dream about her mother again and the emotions were all too real to hold back. She had done her best to cry quietly but a giant sob ripped from her throat before she could stop it. And the next thing she knew, arms had wrapped around her from behind and Emma whispered in her ear, "It's ok, just let it all out. I'm here Regina, I promise I'm here."

Regina turned around in Emma's arms and buried her face in Emma's chest as she openly sobbed to someone for the first time ever. Emma rubbed small circles on Regina's back as the tears kept coming. She could feel her heart breaking for Regina but she just needed her to know that she would always be there for her. So she just kept whispering in Regina's ear, "I'm here," as Regina continued to cry.

"I-I-I'm sorry," Regina stammered out.

Emma pulled back a bit so she could look into Regina's eyes. She still had her arms around her and was still rubbing circles on her back but she needed Regina to see her as she said, "You never have a reason to be sorry for feeling things. You're allowed to feel, we all are. And you should never apologize for someone else's actions." She bit her lip as soon as she was done talking, she knew she had said too much but seeing Regina like this she couldn't help but speak her mind.

Regina nodded her head slightly and took a deep breath. She didn't move out of Emma's arms but instead curled in tighter, trying to get as close as possible to Emma before she said, "It's my mother." She spoke directly into Emma's chest, not wanting her to see how weak she was right now.

"I figured," Emma replied softly.

"How?"

"She's never with you at the station and you never talk about her. Plus you're muggle born and some parents don't always react well when they find out their kid has magic."

Regina let the silence stretch a bit as she thought about what to say. She wanted so badly to open up to someone, but was Emma the right person? Would she judge her if she told her the whole truth about how her mother abused her weekly, if not multiple times a week. About how when she first came to school her back was so bruised and cut that it was hard for her to sleep on her back. Or about how most recently Regina was sure her mother had snapped her wrist in two when in fact it was a really bad sprain. She took a few deep breaths and then started her story. She decided she would trust Emma Swan because out of all the friends she had made in school, Emma was the only one who was here to hold her at night and reassure her that although everything seemed doomed, there was a light somewhere ahead.