Chapter 6

The next day Emma was awakened by Ruby noisily barging into her room.

"Wakie Wakie Swan!" Ruby laughed and jumped onto the bed, then dragged the covers off of her tired sister.

Emma's body was full of faded scars from her childhood, and Ruby had just gotten used to seeing them without breaking down. As usual, at the sight of the marks Ruby had the overwhelming urge to reassure herself that Emma was safe now.. She covered the tired body with her own in a tight embrace. Emma was too tired to care and just groaned, then put a pillow over her head.

"Argh.. Too fucking early Rubes.." Emma growled, but Ruby had the biggest grin on her face as she got off of her sister.

"Well I'll give you 10 minutes, then it's time for breakfast and your morning run before we head out of town. You don't wanna make Regina wait on you, now do you?" Ruby smirked. Hearing Regina's name made Emma jump out of bed, grab her clothes and run into the bathroom to freshen up before her morning meeting with the brunette beauty. Ruby rolled her yes and shook her head, but smirked as an idea came to mind.

"Remember it's breakfast in 10, Swan! Belle's making her famous pancakes!" Ruby shouted over her shoulder and headed downstairs.

****

After an amazing breakfast Emma found herself frowning in confusion when Ruby started to put on her sneakers. Does Ruby want to run with me? She doesn't DO exercise….

"Ehm, what are you doing?" Emma asked.

"What does it seem like I'm doing? I thought I would join you. It's sister's day, so we're gonna spend the day together you idiot." Ruby shrugged and Emma rolled her eyes. She was just a little worried about Regina's reaction.

"Ehm okay, let's see what you got then sis. Let's race!" Emma said with a big grin and took off.

Regina was glad that she didn't have to deal with Daniel today. He was probably busy with the other horses' breakfast. She grinned while she got Rocinante ready for a ride. She had awoken with a smile, and looked forward to meeting Emma, just like she did nearly every morning. She mounted her horse and nudged his sides, then started to gallop towards the forest trail.

Emma laughed at Ruby. She wasn't as fast as her and she wasn't even close to her fitness level. When Emma saw Regina and her horse waiting for her at their usual spot she ran even faster. Regina had a beautiful smile on her face.

"Oh you got company today huh, Miss Swan?" Regina asked and dismounted her horse then handed Emma a water bottle. The blonde raised an eyebrow but gave Regina a big grateful smile in return.

"Oh, you remembered! Thank you!" Emma said with a chuckle and started to drink. When Ruby joined them all the water was gone. Ruby was so tired from trying to catch up with Emma.

"Good morning Miss Lucas" Regina said with a shy smile. She hadn't really talked with Ruby for years, but she tried to behave her best for Emma's sake. Ruby held her hand up and tried to catch her breath for a minute, before she finally could speak.

"Mornin Regina.. Long time no see." Ruby still panted.

"Indeed, Miss Lucas." Regina said. "So Emma beat you huh?" she teased the taller girl

"She's not human for God's sake!" Ruby teased. "She's a fucking machine!" Ruby finally felt recovered and dreaded taking off again.

"Nah, I'm just in good shape." Emma shrugged and locked eyes with Regina for a second before Ruby interrupted them. God she's annoying sometimes. Emma thought then bit her lip to hold in mild laughter.

"So Regina, I would like to speak to you for a second. In private." Ruby grinned and Emma felt her heartbeat in her throat. What the hell is she doing?

"Of course dear" Regina smiled and handed her horse's reins to Emma.

"What? Are you gonna leave me with that… gigant?!" Emma whispered and nearly lost her balance.

"Miss Swan, trust me. He's not gonna bite." Regina purred and laid his reins in Emma's hands then closed the blonde's palm gently. Emma shivered at Regina's touch and was almost sad when their hands separated. Emma was honestly surprised by that reaction. Yesterday she would have panicked over it, now she almost hungered for more.

Regina didn't know why, but she was nervous. She didn't understand what Ruby wanted to talk to her about, or why she couldn't talk to her in front of Emma, but she decided to not ask and followed.

"So.." Ruby said after a while. "First, I want to apologize to you.. Both me and Belle"

"What do you mean, dear?" Regina asked carefully.

"Well, because we just stopped talking to you because your mother didn't approve mine and Belle's relationship. I mean I know granny didn't really want me to hang with you at first because she hates your mom, but she really likes you now. Emma kinda talked some sense into me yesterday and I realized that you are not your mother so.. It's just not fair for you to be alone and not have friends because your mom is a... you know, bitch" Ruby said, looking down at her feet. Regina knew how hard this was for Ruby to say and she almost started to cry. She had truly missed having her and Belle in her life.

"Well thank you Miss Lucas I.." Ruby cut her off by putting her hand in the air.

"I'm not finished Regina" She grinned. "What I'm trying to say is, do you want to become friends with us again? Belle actually said she missed your endless book talks."

"I would love to have you two in my life again" Regina said with a gentle smile. "And I have missed Belle's and my discussions too."

"Awesome!" Ruby smiled and gave Regina a big hug. "Oh, the second thing I wanted to talk to you about was Emma..."

"Hmm?" Regina purred.

"I don't want to snoop or anything about you and Emma, and I'm actually glad you two enjoy each other's company. I just want you to be aware that she's not like us. She's broken in a way and sometimes she says or does some things she really doesn't mean. She hasn't had a easy life, you know, and I don't want her to get hurt." Ruby spoke with quiet conviction. Regina was moved by the emotion lacing Ruby's simple words. They weren't a warning, more of a plea for acceptance and understanding.

"I admire you Miss Lucas, for caring so much about Emma, and I promise you I will always be reasonable if she's upset. I'm not gonna hurt her. Never intentionally anyway." Regina smiled and cast a glance over her shoulder. "I think we should head back to Miss Swan, she doesn't really like horses." Regina smiled at the slightly freaked out look on the blonde's face. Regina couldn't tell if she was freaked out because of the horse or because she knew they were talking about her...

It was the horse. Emma stood almost frozen in her spot with the big horse next to her. He was busy eating grass, but Emma was still terrified of him. So when she saw Regina and Ruby walk towards her she smiled gratefully

"Come on guys! Before the horse eats me instead of the grass!" Emma urged and Regina just laughed then took Rocinante's reins then lovingly patted his neck.

"He's not gonna bite, Miss Swan. He's just a big sweetheart." Regina grinned and mounted him gracefully.

"Sorry for stealing your morning chat sis, but we gotta go now" Ruby said and Emma pouted.

"Don't pout dear, I have a solution. Why don't you guys come around to my house later, and bring Belle? I can cook something." Regina said with a gentle tone. "If I remember correctly, Belle always loved my cooking, right?"

"That sounds awesome!" Ruby smiled and looked at Emma.

"Yeah that would be fun." Emma said, now feeling a little shy. "I can text you when we are on our way home…."

"That sounds wonderful dear. Have a good day in town and I'll see you later?"

"Yeah. See you later" Emma said with a goofy smile. They headed in different directions.

"Well how about that.." Ruby grinned and met Emma's eyes. "I think your big sister just fixed you up on a double date tonight."

"Shut up." Emma growled and rolled her eyes. Ruby just laughed and knew Emma was happy about the situation. Emma was nervous as hell!

Belle had been head over heels when was informed about Regina, and their plans for the night. Ruby was proud of herself for making both her sister and girlfriend so happy. She kissed Belle goodbye and gave Granny a hug before she and Emma jumped into Granny's yellow bug.

The car was old, and even though it had its flaws, both Granny and Ruby loved it. Even the town's people were used to seeing the bug outside the diner as if it were a part of the building in some way. A permanent fixture.

"So are you ready?" Ruby grinned and turned the key to the car.

"Yeah. I haven't been out of Storybrooke since before I... Ehm you know, met you and Granny" Emma shrugged and Ruby felt how the atmosphere in the car changed.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Ruby asked carefully. Neither her nor Granny actually knew how Emma had turned up at Granny's diner. Emma took a big sigh, remembering how good she had felt when she had told Regina about the rape, even if it had been hard.

"Sure.." Emma shrugged "just try to be understanding?" she asked and Ruby nodded quietly as she continued to drive. She couldn't speak of she wanted to, so she just tried to focus on driving as a comfortable silence fell over the car. Emma composed her thoughts.

Emma had been thrown out of the house that afternoon and it was freezing outside. Usually she would go for a run, and if the door was still locked she went into the garage to warm herself until her foster dad invited her back in, but today he had locked the garage door. Emma was furious. She barely had any clothes on and her shoes were old and worn. She supposed she was lucky to have any shoes on at all.

"For fuck sake!" Emma growled and punched the door. "I'm gonna freeze to death if you leave me outside George! Come on, send me up to my room or something! Please!" Emma begged as she felt the tears sting in her eyes. This guy was an ass! The man tried to make her call him dad or father, and she flat out refused.

Emma had never called any of her foster parents dad or mom. She didn't really know why, other than the fact that she was never around them for that long, she just didn't. She supposed those were special titles that were to be earned.

"Shut up you stupid piece of shit!" George shouted and opened the door then punched Emma in her face. She recoiled backwards and tripped over a brick. Soon her body tumbled to the ground with her hands covering her face just in case he wasn't done with this punishment, or whatever he wanted to call it.

She closed her eyes and bit her lip when he kicked her in her stomach over and over again. He was furious and Emma became his personal punching bag, just like always. The original reason he had thrown her out of the house was because she hadn't done her chores quickly enough for him. He had thrown her duffle bag out when he kicked her out, but it was empty so she has assumed he would eventually let her back in.

"Come on! Please! I'm sorry!" Emma coughed, knowing the coppery taste of blood in her mouth all too well.

"Maybe this teaches you a lesson then, you stupid bitch! And if you don't shut up, you can sleep outside. I don't fucking care!" George snapped and closed the door behind him with a big bang. Emma cursed under her breath and finally stood up. She grabbed the empty duffle. Her whole body hurt. She knew she was fucked now.

Emma decided to take a walk, and didn't care if it was getting late. It didn't matter anyway because no-one cared. If she just stood still she would freeze even more. They lived out in the forest so it was a long walk to the nearest neighbor, but Emma didn't care. She just walked and walked. After a while she reached a big road and decided to hitch a ride. A truck stopped after a while, and Emma jumped in, not caring about what kind of creep there was behind the wheel.

"What is a sweet little girl like you, doing out in the middle of nowhere in this cold?" the random old man asked and Emma signed. "You lost? "She knew she couldn't tell the truth, because if she did he would probably drive her straight home. Everyone knew who George was around here. Thankfully not many knew who Emma was.

"Nah, I was just bored I guess." Emma shrugged. When she felt one of his hands slowly starting to caress her thigh she felt sick to her stomach. She didn't say anything though. She just let his hand stay where it was, and turned on the heat then just closed her eyes. She had been raped before and did really not care if it happened again. Not if it meant she could get out somewhere far away.

Thankfully the man was pleased by "just" touching her thigh. She thanked him and jumped out of the truck when they reached the nearest town. Emma groaned when she felt how fast her body got cold again. What the hell was she gonna do?

She walked around for hours, and suddenly she was in the middle of nowhere again. She felt how tired she was, and her stomach growled. She didn't have a clue when she last had been allowed to eat. Emma was about to lay down in the snow and just give up, but she decided to push on. Just a little bit longer. Suddenly she entered a little town and smiled when she saw the neon sign to a little diner named "Granny's" shine and she prayed to God it was open. She dropped her duffle near the door. She didn't need anyone accusing her of theft.

"I... Emma. Oh my god.. You've been raped?" Ruby stuttered and saw how Emma dried her eyes.

"Yepp" Emma sighed.

"When did you get raped..?" Ruby asked carefully, and hoped she didn't push too hard.

"I was 12" Emma shrugged and closed her eyes. The memory of it still stung and she didn't want to cry. This was supposed to be a fun day and here she was all sad and emotional. She shook her head and dried her eyes. "Sorry"

"You don't have anything to be sorry for Emma. It's not your fault that people who were supposed to care about you, have hurt you or mistreated you through the years. I would love to give those idiots the taste of their own medicine if I could, Swan, believe me. But you should know I'm proud of you. I'm impressed that you had the courage to tell me something like this" Ruby replied with a gentle and honest tone.

"What? You don't think I'm a freak or something?" Emma frowned. Why are these people so freaking nice all the time?

"Why would I think that? You're not a freak Swan! You're a survivor, a fucking warrior and don't forget the most important thing. You're my sister. I will always be here for you" Ruby said and Emma nodded with a tears freely falling down her cheeks. Ruby was right. Emma's past didn't make her a freak or a psycho. She knew that, she really did, but it was hard to believe when the demons in her head told her otherwise.

Belle decided to go over to Regina before Emma and Ruby came home. Granny even let her end the shift early because there were so few people there today. Belle took a deep breath before she knocked on the door to the mansion. She was nervous because she hadn't talked to Regina in a such long time, but when she opened the door it was like all the nervousness just leaked out of her.

"Well what a wonderful surprise to see you! Please come in!" Regina smiled excitedly and Belle joined her inside.

"Ehm Hi. I ended my shift early, and thought I could come over even though Ruby and Emma aren't back yet. I hope it's okay? If not I can just go home again, and come back with them." Belle stuttered. "But ehm... I brought some wine with me"

"Well come in then dear. I'll tell Rosita to make some sandwiches to go with the wine." Regina grinned. "Meanwhile, have you read 50 shades of grey?"

"Are you kidding me?" Belle blushed before she broke out in laughter. "Of course I have! Haven't you?"