Sorry for the delay in updating! Life is crazy sometimes right? Anyways I'm glad you were excited about Emma and Regina's progress so far. They are getting oh so close to getting things back to normal! :)

Enjoy!

A Second Chance

Emma woke unfortunately to an empty bed early the next morning. She offered to take the couch the night before and insisted on Regina taking the bed, but the brunette wouldn't allow it. A clap of thunder now echoed outside, and she could hear a heavy rain pelting her bedroom window. She heard the shower running from the bathroom down the hall, and she guessed Regina had remembered where the shower was since the last time she was there.

Throwing her bead spread off she laid there for a few minutes, trying to decipher what had happened in the last few hours. Regina was at her apartment. Regina had stayed the night. Regina was in her shower. What? Where in the directions does it explain how to act when this happened?

As she laid there she dozed off a little and didn't realize the shower had turned off and she sure didn't notice Regina standing in her doorway in nothing but Emma's robe. She needed more practice, her senses were off.

"Emma? Are you awake?" Regina whispered.

Emma pulled her head up from her pillow looking at the beautiful brunette standing in her doorway. Her hair was wet and plastered around her face. She had never seen someone so beautiful in her life, even if most of her was covered in that evil robe.

"I see you found my robe." Emma smiled childishly.

"I'm sorry, I seem to have been more tired than I thought last night and ran off without a fresh change of clothes at home, and the ones I was wearing last night aren't really suitable for today's activities." Regina admitted shyly, pulling the robe tighter around her waist.

"It looks better on you anyway." Emma heaved herself out of her bed and went over to her closet. Regina blushed at the comment.

"I have some stuff that might fit you." Emma shifted through her hordes of clothes trying to find something that wasn't wrinkled.

Regina made her way to the closet and watched closely as Emma filtered through her clothes. After a few minutes, Emma had tossed about half her closet out on her bed and Regina laughed at how worked up she was getting about picking out an outfit.

"Emma, it's fine. Why don't you let me look?" Regina placed a hand on Emma's shoulder to calm her down.

Emma had no clue why she was so worked up all of the sudden. She just wanted everything to be perfect and for some reason she felt like if she messed anything up, that would be the end of it. This was her second chance, and even in her world those didn't come around as often as she liked.

"Sorry, I'll uh, go see about breakfast while you get ready." Emma smiled embarrassingly and headed out of the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

As she headed into the kitchen, Emma couldn't help but imagine the woman in her room. She almost missed the cups while she was pouring coffee for the both of them. She watched the rain out of the dining room window feeling it wash away the recent past. Maybe this wasn't going to be so bad. It seemed like when she was with Regina, her life really did feel more comfortable. All of the formalities and nervousness and anger that was the last month seemed to spur from not being able to be around her. When she was with her, everything was different. They were civil.

"Coffee smells good." Regina came out of Emma's room in a pair of tight jeans and a loose dark button down satin shirt.

"Hey! Yeah, here you go!" Emma handed her a cup made just the way Regina liked it.

"You remembered how I take my coffee." Regina smiled, sipping the warm liquid and savoring the sweet hazelnut soothing her throat.

Emma felt the chills down her spine. "Of course. I'm sorry I don't have much to eat. Henry has been like a machine, and I haven't gotten the chance to go to the grocery store. I can make you some toast if you'd like?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm not really in the mood to eat this morning. I need to head to the police station anyway and see about fixing all of this mess that has become my life." She took another sip of her coffee.

"It could be worse I guess." Emma tried to lighten the mood.

"I don't know. I messed this one up pretty bad." The brunette sat down at the dining room table. Emma leaned up against the doorway to the kitchen, watching the brunette draw circles with her fingers on the table.

"You know, people get divorced all the time. It's not like it's a terrible thing. People grow apart, people change."

"I wish that made me feel better." Regina pouted.

Emma made her way over to the table and sat down next to Regina. She laid a hand on Regina's feeling the warm soft skin in hers. "Hey. This is a chance to start fresh. You are giving Daniel a chance to start fresh too, don't forget. You deserve someone who can protect you."

Regina looked up at Emma, her hazel eyes lit up by the dim light coming through the window, the reflection of the water drops playing on her cheeks. She hadn't really looked into them in so long and she never noticed how they sort of pulled her back to life. The color in her cheeks blushed and she had to look away, pulling her hand out from under Emma's at the same time. She felt embarrassed, like she didn't deserve what Emma wanted to give her. She had been such a terrible person since Daniel came back, and she didn't feel like she earned any of Emma's love.

Emma cleared her throat, quickly pulling her now empty hand back to her coffee cup. She opened her mouth to speak but Regina interrupted her by dismissing herself from the table.

"I really should be heading down to the police station." She put her cup in the sink and headed toward the door.

"Wait, um… I should drive you." Emma jumped up from the table awkwardly, almost spilling her coffee.

"Oh, no it's fine. It's not far, I can walk." She pulled her coat off the couch, where she had left it the night before, and slid it on.

"Regina, it's raining outside. I'm driving you." Emma protested. "Just let me go put some decent pants on." She smiled, playfully posing in her pajama shorts. "By the way, I like that apparently all of my clothes look better on you." She said hoping off into her room.

Regina blushed and leaned back on the door. She smiled at the cheesy comment, remembering the first one about her robe. Oh how she missed Emma's cheesy compliments.

She leaned her head back on the wooden door and closed her eyes. She was not looking forward to confronting Daniel this morning. Hopefully he had sobered up and calmed down. She didn't feel like arguing with him anymore. This needed to end today. She would explain everything to him and they would sign the papers and things would be fine. She could go back to the way things were. What a weekend this was turning out to be.

"Okay, you ready?" Emma jogged out of her room, pulling her hair up into a messy ponytail behind her head.

"Ready as I'll ever be."

Sheriff Graham met the two women in the hallway of the precinct. "Mrs. Mills. Ms. Swan. Lovely to see you two in the office this morning."

"Good Morning, Sheriff." Regina shook Graham's hand and Emma smiled and waved awkwardly behind her.

Graham shifted his eyes between the two women as they stood in front of him, but before he could ask the burning question, he got a stern look from Emma who pointed him toward Regina.

"I'm guessing you would like to see your husband." Graham rubbed his hands together. "Right this way." He motioned for them to follow him into the holding area.

When they entered, Regina saw Daniel lying down on a cot in one of the cells. Her heart sank at the site of him. He had already been through hell and back from the war, and now he is locked up in the local jail because of her. There was no doubt she felt solely responsible for this situation.

"Hey, Daniel." Graham knocked on the bars to the cell. "Wake up, you have visitors."

"Can you let him out?" Regina asked genuinely as she watched the man push himself out of bed sleepily, slowly raising his eyes to the three persons that stood outside his cell.

"I'm sorry, I can't…" Graham started but was interrupted by an obnoxious cough by Emma. The blonde gave him a second stern look and shook her head. Graham looked back at Regina whose attention was totally taken by the man in the cell. Without another word, he pulled out his keys and unlocked the door.

Before Daniel could make his way out, Regina was already inside. She hesitated like she wanted to hug him, but then second guessed it.

Emma leaned back on one of the desks in the room and crossed her arms in front of her hoping to stay in the background of this encounter.

"How… How are you feeling?" Regina stepped back from the man.

"I could use a cup of coffee, but other than that, I'm okay." He came out of the cell and quickly glanced up at Emma who had a smug look on her face. She could feel the nerves tingling through her body. It was taking everything she had not to tackle him and beat him to a pulp.

"I'll get you some coffee." Graham interrupted. "Anyone else need any?" He asked. Emma raised her hand in acceptance and Regina shook her head.

"No thanks, Graham." Regina waved him away. She nervously stared at her hands and waited for him to leave.

The room was quiet for a while. Emma was beginning to get anxious for this meeting to move along. She tapped her now short nails on the desk she was leaning on and cleared her throat. She suddenly felt multiple sets of eyes in her direction. She looked over to see Regina and Daniel staring at her. Regina motioned slightly dropping the hint that they needed some privacy. Emma took the hint, even though she didn't like it.

"Oh, um let me go see if Graham needs help with the coffee." She smiled at Regina and then suspiciously eyed Daniel. She hustled out of the room and found a bench in the hallway. She huffed down into it and leaned her head back on the wall. She could hear the muffled voices of Daniel and Regina, but unfortunately she was too far to understand anything.

"Got kicked out, huh?" Graham appeared in front of her with two cups of coffee in his hand.

"No…" Emma protested. "I didn't feel like sticking around for any mushy stuff."

Graham laughed a little and took a seat next to Emma on the bench.

"Coffee?" He offered one of the cups up to her

"Thanks. Is there alcohol in this?" Emma joked, gladly taking it. She never got to finish her cup at home before they left so this one was a godsend. Graham took a sip of his and tapped his foot on the ground.

"Unfortunately, our budget for spirits has been dwindling over the past few months." Graham admitted jokingly.

"That's a shame. I'll remember to put in a complaint about that." Emma sighed. "Are you not going to go in there and mediate?" Emma asked casually, stirring up the warm liquid in her cup.

"Nah, they'll be fine." Graham waved the thought away.

"What about Daniel, isn't he dangerous?" Emma asked, a little worried.

"Him? No. He's just a man with a broken heart." Graham admitted looking down at his boots.

"Wow that was deep." Emma sighed and realized Graham was probably right. She wasn't exactly herself either after her and Regina broke up. Maybe she should give him a chance.

The voices in the other room began to raise to shouts and Emma got up quickly and started to make her way into the room.

"Hey, hey. Where are you going?" Graham grabbed her arm.

"They are yelling, I just want to make sure she is okay." Emma tried to pull away from him. If Daniel touched a hair on Regina's head, she would kill him right here in the station.

"Just let them be. Their marriage is falling apart. They are going to fight. It's part of the process of getting all those emotions out." He pulled her back to the bench but she couldn't sit down. She paced in front of him, nervously taping her coffee cup.

"I should be in there, just in case." Emma hesitated in the direction of the room.

"Emma, if you don't sit down I'm going to have to handcuff you to this bench." Graham stood up and stood in her view of the room. Emma sighed and her body fell limp as she heavily sat down on the bench.

"I just… I haven't been there for her in months and it kills me that I'm not in there by her side. I've wasted too much time already." Emma buried her head in her hands.

"You will have plenty of time to be by her side. She needs to do this on her own. She is a grown woman." Graham laid a warm hand on her shoulder.

"When did you turn so sentimental, Graham? I figured you would be the last person to be giving me relationship advice." She looked up at him. "No offense." She apologized.

"None taken. I know what you mean. The Sheriff is not usually the first person you see about relationships. But I've known Regina for a long time, and the fact that she let you come here with her today shows a lot."

"Really?" She gave him a puzzled look.

"Sure. Regina is a one woman show, she always has been. Even after she was married, she was always off doing things on her own. While Daniel was busy at the base, she took care of things at home. I remember when you came to town though with Henry. Something changed. She didn't have to take care of herself anymore. She had someone who she could take care of and who would take care of her. That's what makes this different. Just give her some time." Graham's smile was so genuine it almost brought tears to her eyes. Or it may have been because of what he actually said. She had never known she had made such a difference in Regina. A difference big enough for the town to notice. Her heart tingled a little realizing that she was important to someone. But Regina was important to her too.

The two of them sat for a while in silence. The other room had grown quiet as well, and Emma began getting impatient. She kept her mind on Henry to help calm her nerves. His bus was supposed to be back around eight tonight and she needed to go pick him up. She couldn't wait to see him. He had been such a rock for her while all this was going on, even if he didn't know it. Who knew the weekend he was gone, everything was changing. She was sure he would be as excited as she was to have Regina back.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as they heard the door to the office squeak open. Both Emma and Graham stood up awkwardly eyeing the open door, waiting for the two to emerge, but only one did. Daniel.

Graham looked back at Emma before approaching the man slowly. Daniel looked up at him and then over to Emma who had taken a small step back, feeling uncomfortable seeing as she may have been part or all of the reason his life was falling apart.

Graham stepped past him and quickly looked into the office to make sure Regina was okay and saw her sitting in one of the office chairs, her head buried in her hands.

"Everything okay?" He turned back to Daniel and laid a hand on his shoulder.

Emma waited, her eyes never leaving Daniel's. They stood there a moment sizing each other up. The hallway felt like it was shrinking in on the two of them, forcibly squeezing them together. She was the first to falter, flicking her eyes over to Graham long enough for him to get the message that she was uncomfortable.

"Alright mate, why don't we head over to Granny's and talk over some coffee." Graham pushed the soldier slightly from behind to help him get started. When Daniel took a step toward the blonde she immediately stepped to the side. Graham made sure he was between the two of them as they passed her and gave Emma a reassuring glance, motioning his head toward the office where Regina still had not emerged. Thankfully, Daniel had averted his eyes down to the floor as they passed her and Emma moved close along the wall hoping to create as much space as possible between the two of them.

When the two men rounded the corner she headed into the office. She saw the brunette leaned forward with her head on one of the desks, and approached her slowly. When Emma reached the desk, she hesitated to say anything at first, not knowing if Regina wanted to even talk to her at the moment. She decided talking was less uncomfortable than the silence.

"Hey." She said softly.

Regina lifted her head from the table and looked up at the blonde. Her eyes were blood shot from crying and arguing, but she managed a small smile that vaguely graced her lips.

"Hey." She was relieved to see a familiar face with her. She kept her chin down on her arms crossed on top of the desk. A stray tear fell down her cheek and she had no energy to wipe it from her face. Luckily, Emma did.

Emma squatted down so that she was eye level with the woman. She brought her hand to the brunette's cheek and gently wiped the wetness from her smooth skin with her thumb. Regina let out a small moan at the gesture and took in the warmth of Emma's hand.

"I'm so sorry." Emma looked into Regina's eyes, holding back her own tears. She couldn't help but feel responsible for all of this, and there wasn't anything she hated more than seeing Regina upset. "This is my fault."

Regina lifted her head from the table and took Emma's hand in her own, squeezing it tightly, like she never wanted to let go. With one hand she pushed a blonde curl that had fallen from Emma's pony tail behind her ear and then lifted her head from under her chin so that they were looking at each other.

"This is most certainly not your fault, dear." Regina looked dead into her hazel eyes. "Unfortunately, this was going to happen despite everything else." Regina reassured her. She could still see the hurt behind the blonde's eyes. "The only thing that you have done is reassure me that I have something better. I have something worth fighting for. You, and Henry of course, are all that I have ever needed. You are all that is important to me. I love you."

Emma could no longer hold back her tears as they flowed like a river from a broken dam. For so long she had waited for the moment when Regina could say those words to her. Those three little words. And maybe it didn't all play out exactly the way she thought it would have, but at the end of the day, she got the girl. And that was truly all she ever wanted. She knew the transition was going to be difficult, and things were going to be rough for a while as they got used to being around each other again. However, there was no doubt in her mind that Regina was perfect.

"I love you too."

Regina slipped out of her chair and let Emma fall into her arms on the floor. They cried together, letting out the stress of life since Daniel's return. Every little thing that had happened melted away into the cold air. Their bodies warmed each other and neither of them wanted to move for fear of losing the other again. Nothing else mattered. Nothing else was more important than that moment. This was it. This was their second chance.