Okay so the fact that Lana keeps posting throwbacks is not helping me any. I cannot with that woman. Anyway, this chapter is for LauratheChef who asked for a chapter with a good dream and Lovely1pyt who wanted to touch on Regina's rape. Because we all know that happened at some point. So, enjoy the fluff and not so fluffy moments.

When Emma walked into the mansion, she was immediately on edge. For all the fuss that Regina had made about Emma blocking her, she had taken to doing it when she was having a particularly dark day. And Emma knew that today was going to be a very bad day.

There were certain things that had happened in Regina's life that neither of them talked about. Emma knew that certain things had happened, not by Regina telling her, but by the way Regina reacted to certain situations. Being locked in a room led to a panic attack, and being touched without warning usually led to walls going higher up than Emma had ever seen them before.

But since their connection had started, Regina couldn't hide those days anymore. Or her nightmares of these events. Emma didn't mind, and Regina reluctantly admitted that it helped her heal.

That didn't stop her from blocking Emma anyway once she had learned how to.

Emma had blocked Regina by accident, a response to not wanting to worry her. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't do it again. Somehow, Regina had figured out how to. And she was a master at it.

What clued Emma in to the bad day ahead was when Snow had come into the station earlier that morning with red rimmed eyes. David was quick to ask her what was wrong, and Emma immediately felt worry when she heard Snow admit that today was the day that her father had died.

But the biggest red flag was when she reached out to Regina and couldn't feel anything.

Mentally cursing, Emma had poofed to the mansion immediately, knowing that Regina probably hadn't gone to work that day. She knew that Regina hadn't felt any remorse over manipulating Sydney into killing Leopold, but anything concerning Leopold always brought up bad memories that even Emma couldn't chase away.

And so that was how she had ended up at the mansion, immediately on edge about where Regina was hiding, and how much magic she had put into shutting herself away.

When it was particularly bad, she used blood magic to lock herself in their bedroom. It frustrated Emma to no end when she took that approach because there was nothing that she could do. The one time she was desperate enough to reach out to Zelena to come and get in, Regina had burnt off Zelena's eyebrows. Now she refused to even come close.

Chuckling at that particular memory, Emma went upstairs and was surprised to see their bedroom door wide open. Regina wasn't in there. She wasn't in her study either, or the kitchen. Emma stood in the living room, utterly confused. Where else would Regina hide? Then it hit her. Regina had a vault.

And that vault was full of very dangerous things.

Emma walked towards Regina's vault, shuttering as she felt the magic pulsing off of the place. Regina had created a barrier, and a very strong one at that. Luckily for Emma, she hadn't used blood magic this time.

Regina had admitted the morning after her latest Leopold nightmare that her magic sometimes protected her on its own. While she would do the physical act of shutting herself away somewhere, her magic fed off of her emotions and created a very strong barrier. And as much as she wanted to be alone, Regina knew that being alone only made the feelings worse. So she had taught Emma how to get through her barriers.

Emma gently pushed against the barrier, sighing in relief when it didn't push back. Those were the ones that took more energy to get through. She pushed on the barrier harder until it formed a hole for her to enter. Emma quickly walked through, celebrating the power of True Love. No one else would be able to get in.

She quickly pushed Henry's coffin to the side and shuddered as she walked past the hearts that still beat. No matter how many times she entered this place, the hearts still creeped her out.

Regina was in the room with all of her various artifacts, staring into space. Emma checked her over, sighing in relief when she didn't see any damage that Regina had done to herself. Yet.

"You haven't hidden here in a long time," Emma said, coming over and kneeling in front of Regina. "I almost forgot that this place existed."

"I'm assuming if you came to find me, you know what today is," Regina said softly.

Emma nodded. "Snow came in to the station. I overheard her talking to David." They were silent for awhile before Emma spoke again. "Why are you blocking me?"

"For your protection," Regina said, shrugging. "You really don't want to know what I'm feeling right now."

"And if I do?" Emma asked. "You've been so good about letting me help you. Why stop now?"

"Because the particular memory that I'm reliving in my head is not one that you want to see," Regina said. "Trust me."

Emma shook her head. "When it comes to these things, you have to trust me. I want to know, because bottling it up inside isn't doing you any favors. I know what you did to kill him, we've already been over that."

"This isn't about what I did," Regina said. "It's about what he did, and why I killed him."

"For locking you in your room?" Emma asked.

Regina shook her head. "That was unpleasant, yes. But that's not why I can't be locked in a room. It's what he did while I was locked in there."

Emma looked at Regina, stuck in what she should do. When she was like this, she didn't want to be touched. But at the same time, Emma knew that being touched grounded her. Finally, Emma just decided to go for it, and grabbed Regina's hands in her own. She gasped as she was thrown into Regina's memories.

Regina paced like a caged tiger, trying the doors every time that she passed them. He had locked her up. He treated her like she was property he could own, and locked her up for something he had read in her diary.

Of course, that had been part of her plan. After all of this, she would escape the stifling life that Leopold had created for her, and get rid of the man who was wrapped around her little finger. Killing two birds with one stone. Literally.

Just as she was about to try the doors again, they flew open to reveal Leopold. Regina jumped back, trying to look as innocent as possible. The sight of him immediately brought dread upon her. She could tell in an instant that he was drunk, and him being drunk never led to good things for her.

He sneered at seeing her so close to the door. Of course he knew what she was trying to do. "Trying to escape?" he taunted.

Regina quickly shook her head. "No Your Majesty. I was just-"

"Stop talking," Leopold snapped. He reached out and grabbed her arm, not at all gently, and pulled her further into her chamber. He threw her onto the bed before motioning for the servants to leave the room.

"Now then," Leopold said, leaning down and invading Regina personal space. He gripped her thighs tightly, prohibiting her from moving. "Time to show you who your real love is."

Emma gasped, letting go of Regina's hands. She looked at Regina's face, immediately registering the horror that was there. So that was what she hadn't wanted Emma to see.

Emma had guessed just by the way that Regina reacted to being touched by anyone other than Emma or Henry that something had happened to her. But she hadn't expected it to be this bad.

"I'm sorry," Regina whispered.

Emma looked at her in surprise. "What in the world are you sorry for?"

"You weren't supposed to see that," Regina said, tears starting to gather in her eyes. "I don't know why you did, but I didn't want you to see what had happened, why I'm so broken."

"Oh Gina," Emma said sadly. She moved up to sit next to Regina, pulling her close and hugging her tightly. "You are not broken. Clearly our connection wanted me to see that so I can help. How long have you been carrying that burden around on your own?"

"A long time," Regina whispered.

Emma didn't say anything, but inside she was fuming. How could Leopold do that to Regina? She had been forced to marry him against her will, and that was how he treated her?

"I can feel your anger," Regina said softly.

"It's not directed at you," Emma said quickly. She noticed that she could feel Regina again, and was happy that all she could feel was comfort and love. For the moment anyway.

"Why is it getting stronger?" Regina asked. "At first it was just emotions, now we're sharing experiences from our past simply by touching?"

Emma shrugged. "Maybe it's getting stronger because we're becoming more connected to each other. As our bond grows stronger, so does the connection."

"Then why don't I see anything from you?" Regina asked.

Emma focused for a minute, thinking of the happiest memory possible that she had. Unsurprisingly, it involved Regina. While Regina had unintentionally shared her Leopold experience, Emma focused on their connection and pushed them both into her memory.

Emma took a deep breath as she walked towards the front door of Regina's mansion. She was supposed to be on a date with Hook at the moment, but she couldn't bring herself to actually go. She was tired of pretending to love someone she didn't, and was ready to admit her feelings to the person she actually had them for. Now she just had to hope that Regina felt the same.

She knocked on the door, mindful of the fact that it was almost midnight and Henry would probably be sleeping. Then again, that was assuming that Regina was in a place in the house where she would hear the knocking.

Just as she was about to reach for the doorbell, the door opened to reveal Regina. A very surprised looking Regina.

"Aren't you supposed to be on a date?" Regina asked, not even bothering to greet her. They had known each other too long for that.

Emma shrugged. "I decided not to go."

Regina looked at her in surprise before stepping to the side to allow her entry into the house. "Then by all means, come inside."

Emma smiled at her before walking through the door. Here went nothing. "I'm going to break up with Hook."

Regina's eyes widened as she shut the front door. "You're what?"

"Going to break up with Hook," Emma said shrugging. "No use staying in a relationship with a person you don't really love, right?"

"You stopped loving him rather quickly," Regina said, leading the way to the living room.

"I realized something," Emma said, following her. She took a seat next to Regina on the couch instead of across from her like she usually would have done. And by the look on Regina's face, she had noticed.

"What's that?" Regina asked.

"I realized that I love someone else," Emma admitted. "And I couldn't keep pretending to be someone I'm not, and love someone I don't."

Regina looked at her in confusion. "Why are you telling me this? Shouldn't you be telling the person you have feelings for?"

Emma took a deep breath. No going back now. "I am."

Regina's eyes widened. "Me? You, the Savior, have feelings for the Evil Queen?" She laughed. "That seems slightly ironic."

"Former Evil Queen," Emma corrected. "And yes. I do. I don't know whether you feel the same way or not, and if you don't we can just forget that this ever happened, but if you do-"

Regina cut her off with a kiss. Emma immediately melted into it, marveling at how perfect it felt. Magic surrounded them, verifying that they were making the right choice.

They broke apart for air, and Emma smiled. "True Love's kiss. Guess you're getting that happy ending after all."

Regina smiled back at her. "And what a perfect way to get it."

"Our first kiss," Regina said.

Emma nodded. "I never thought that you would feel the same way. I was gearing myself up for rejection and then you kissed me."

"Please," Regina scoffed. "I felt that way towards you since the day you showed up. I just didn't realize it until you and your mother were sent back to the Enchanted Forest."

"So you didn't just save us for Henry," Emma teased. "I knew you were lying."

"Says the woman who sacrificed herself to the Darkness and wouldn't tell me why," Regina countered. "All of that happy ending bull you tried to tell me."

Emma laughed. "You're probably the only person I could never lie to."

Regina smiled before pulling out of Emma's arms and wiping off her cheeks. "Thank you. For the happy memory."

"I have plenty when it comes to you," Emma said.

"You know, we're quite a pair," Regina said. "We made this connection to help each other, and yet we try to find loopholes with it."

Emma laughed. "That pretty much sums us up." She reached over and grabbed Regina's hand, squeezing it gently to get Regina to look at her. "I need you to promise me something though."

Regina nodded, prompting Emma to continue. "No more blocking," Emma said. "From either of us. This connection is supposed to be so we can help each other, and we can't do that if we can't feel the emotions of the other person."

"Agreed," Regina. "No more blocking."

"Thank you," Emma said, leaning forward to kiss her. "I love you. No matter what memories you have."

"I love you too," Regina said. "Glad to know that I can't scare you off."

Emma just smiled. "Never."