Note: There is some Dragon Queen in this chapter, though they do not consummate the encounter.
Destroy Me
Regina ripped the card into pieces, tossed it in the trash bin in her bathroom and came back to her bedroom. She lifted her pillow and from underneath retrieved a small dreamcatcher, the one responsible for giving her these "memories" or quite elaborate movie that played during her sleep to make her feel as though she were guilty of Emma's turning completely dark, back in Camelot. That her breaking Emma's heart had extinguished the last light of hope she held within her.
Regina couldn't let this Emma get to her. She wouldn't let her get under her skin… or under her sheets.
No. Not gonna think about THAT. She shook her head.
The one real memory from last night with Emma in her vault had been so vivid, she had to use cold water in the end of her shower to cool down. Perfect hair, eye shadow done and nude lipstick on, she slipped inside her sexy royal blue dress and threw on a black coat before heading out. She was more than ready for some office work to help clear her mind a little, to distract her from replaying the image of her heated encounter with Emma, and neither did she want to think too much about that faux dream. And when Regina got to the Town Hall that morning, the first thing she noticed as she walked to her desk was a single black rose that had been left for her.
"Emma," Regina muttered the name.
She felt an odd but familiar flutter in her stomach she hadn't experienced since Daniel, but steeled her jaw, took the rose in her right hand and with her magic set it ablaze, turning it into charcoal and then pulverized it with the pressure of her hand, squeezing the rose as though she was crushing a heart.
"Not the flower type? Pity." Regina was startled by the throaty voice — Emma's. "And here I am trying to woo you," her words pour with sarcasm.
She'd been sitting on the Queen's throne with her back to her, hidden behind the tall leather chair, gazing out the window behind Regina's mayoral desk, looking at the apple tree in the garden, the one she clearly remember butchering some years ago to get back at her.
As the tall chair swiveled to face front, it revealed the presence of the regal Dark Swan, amused, quite enjoying herself in Regina's office.
"What do you want, Swan?" Regina was sharp. Using that haughty tone of hers Emma so much loathed, specially nowadays.
"Swan?" The Dark Swan scowled. "We're back to that, even after my thoughtful present last night," she steeled her jaw.
"Thoughtful present?" Regina laughed at that. "You mean the fake memories, or the funerary flowers? Either way it was quite un-charming of you, Swan."
"Our memories, Regina," Emma said angrily, her brow furrowing deeper.
She uncrossed her legs, made a flourish with her hand and summoned the dreamcatcher she had left under Regina's pillow, which the mayor had been carrying inside her purse to later go check its magic in her mausoleum.
"These," she said as she held the enchanted object in her hand.
Regina rolled her eyes at the magical display.
"How exactly do you expect me to believe in memories that were given to me unwillingly? For all I know they could be fake," Regina said sharply. "As are you, Dark Swan."
Offended, Emma got up from Regina's chair, slowly rounded the desk and came to stand before Regina with her imposing new presence and calm but fierce demeanor. And like a choreographed dance, Regina turned around as her eyes followed Emma's predatory movement around her, feeling she was bait for the big shark in the tank. Carefully she took a step back as the white-haired woman came to face her more closely, invading her personal space until she made her take the last step back, making her backside meet the end of the desk. Regina made a short intake of air in surprise. Emma leaned slightly then, bringing her hands to rest over the glass top on either side of Regina's hips - Regina trapped between them - as green eyes looked into brown with calculated coldness.
"They are real. Trust me," Emma said surely.
Regina felt like her heart might burst out of her chest any moment. They were so close she could feel Emma's warm breath mingling with her own and she could almost taste it, like she'd done the night previous in her mausoleum. She wanted to give in, but it made no sense. Last night had been very confusing — the heat of the moment if you will — but she was in love with Robin. Whatever she felt for Emma was probably just the lust Darkness evoked in them; lust for power, and the adrenaline danger released in their bodies. It couldn't be love but simple and raw desire, nothing more. But she had to stand her ground... just a little longer.
"You're asking me to trust you, a Dark One?" Regina raised a mocking eyebrow. "You forget, Miss Swan, I have experience with your kind."
In a blink of an eye, Emma suddenly had her body pressed against hers, and she brought her lips to barely brush against Regina's ear as she whispered;
"Don't Miss Swan, we've been through too much."
Regina swallowed at the sensation of Emma's warm breath on her ear and the surprisingly good smell of her fragrance. She had never noticed Emma Swan wore perfume, maybe she didn't before? But now this mild-sweet, decadent aroma was penetrating not only her nostrils but also her subconscious and she found herself inhaling a little deeper, a little longer, trying to memorize it. In fact, it was oddly familiar, but she couldn't quite remember how.
"Or what?" Regina was nervous but she was unmoving, stubborn as they both are. "You'll unleash your wrath upon me again?" Regina swallowed again. That had come out more like a plea rather than a snarky remark. Had she been too evident in her desire?
Emma smirked. She let the dreamcatcher drop from her hand to the floor as she brought that hand now to touch Regina's knee.
"My wrath?" Emma was still speaking in her ear.
The hand slowly moved upwards Regina's thigh and she tried not to bite on her lower lip with lust, but it was too much, too hard — trying to contain her desire for Emma, Regina couldn't continue fighting it, so she tugged on the lapels of Emma's black lather jacket and pulled her so their faces were just a few inches away.
Regina's eyes darted to Emma's bright red lips as she licked her own, anticipating the hungry kiss she was craving, but which she didn't dare be the one to initiate, for if she did, there would be no way she could blame this mistake on the Dark One; it would be all her fault if she chose to be the one to kiss Emma Swan first. And how could she? She couldn't give up the stability she had with Robin, her fated soulmate. For a Dark One? It made no sense. She and Robin were predestined and had to endure everything together, where as with Emma she'd always been destined to fight back. But maybe not all battles had to be fatal, must they?
"Em-ma..." Regina nearly moaned the name.
Emma removed her hand from Regina's knee and brought it up to cup her chin, leaning lightly, bringing her lips to almost touch Regina's, but she stopped before granting her that kiss she was dying for.
"Oh, Regina. My Regina... Why would I do that, if that's exactly what you want?" She said to her and vanished into thin air. Again.
Regina's jaw dropped. This wasn't happening again, except it was, and she was fucking furious.
"Swaaaan!" She growed. "I really, really hate it when you leave me like this," she yelled to the remaining black smoke but nothing happened.
Before, it had always been Regina puffing away from Emma and Emma hated it. This was payback.
Regina had to concentrate on paperwork to keep her mind off Emma. Not an easy task, even considering she really loved her job as Mayor, but Emma was all she could think of, all she could yearn for; it was wearing her out. She was frustrated and she was quite horny, to be honest, but the last person in her mind for that was Robin. What she needed was the feeling of smooth skin, curves pressed against curves, and the sweet perfume that accompanied a female lover: that was what she was hungry for. So she called Maleficent. And later Mary Margaret. She told Emma's mother she would be working late, doing research to see if she could finally succeed at making a memory potion for them, but it was a lie, only to have Henry sleep over at his grandparents'. She hated herself for this but she couldn't just summon Maleficent in her home and risk her son finding out about their special relationship. Henry did not need that much information.
It was just an itch that needed to be scratched, simple as that, she kept telling herself. She would still love Robin Hood the next day, this wasn't anything against him: this was about her. About certain physical needs she couldn't have fulfilled by him. In fact, she did wonder for the first time what her sister asked her.
"What do you even see in him?" Just like Zelena, Maleficent asked Regina.
They were lying on the couch, spooned under a fur throw as they faced the hearth in her living room, back home.
"He's bland. There's nothing interesting about your thief, Regina dear. No novelty, no thrill, no challenge - no passion. And I know you, my Queen; you need that fire to glow. So how come you're adamant about a man who can't ever make you reach the sky? Maybe not even a tiny hill..." Blunt. Maleficent was not one to shy away from clearly expressing her opinions.
"You're harsh. I didn't say he didn't make me— " Regina was saying but Maleficent stared at her, gave her a look of 'you can fool yourself but you can't fool me,' and she rephrased. "There's something missing," Regina tried to justify about her sexual frustration that was not just because of Emma's tantalizing.
"Someone," Maleficent corrected her. "He's not the one, or you wouldn't be here in my arms right now. Have you considered the ex-Savior, perhaps?" Maleficent sing-sang with amusement in her voice.
"I'm starting to question why I even bothered to call you," Regina grumbled.
"Because it's different with me," Maleficent said simply. "What we have is a… well rounded friendship between you and I. And, Regina dear, like I told you when you were in Camelot: you care about Emma more than you want to admit. I noticed it the night we were reliving old times together."
Regina's eyes opened wider at the last part. "We talked while I was in Camelot?"
She stirred in her embrace so she could face her former mentor. She remembered that peculiar event from the dream — from the memories Emma gave her in her sleep.
"Yes. Don't you remember?" Maleficent's brow furrowed.
She wasn't well updated on what the heroes were up to these days, as she was mostly secluded in her own little bubble of peace with Lily in a cabin in the forest, the one that used to belong to Rumple. Lily used to go out and about more, but Maleficent preferred to avoid humans whenever possible. That was unless of course if the human seeking her company was Regina; she always had time for her old friend.
"Emma took our memories before bringing us back here, but she let me see some of hers in a dream, which I was certain were fake… now not so much."
"Interesting, isn't it? That your Dark One didn't wipe off my memories even though she knew we kept in touch."
Maleficent looked into Regina's eyes like she knew the reason behind it, but Regina was still unsure. It made no sense, or did it?
"She knew I would come to you," realization dawned on Regina.
Maleficent smiled as she tucked a raven curl behind Regina's ear. "Are you sure you still want to do this?" She was referring to their intimacy.
Regina's tears pooled in her eyes as she had Maleficent's soft gaze on her. It was that same warm and kind look she used to have available for her whenever Regina needed to wash off the sensation of Leopold's hands on her body during their first times together, and realized she had sought Maleficent not because she wanted her to finish what Emma started, but because she wanted to be free of Robin; replace him with a softer lover, someone who wanted to share, not just take.
She was afraid of facing him - her true feelings - like she'd been afraid with the King, though Robin had not forced her into anything: Tinkerbell with her Pixie Dust did, just like Cora with her dark magic forced Leopold upon her. In neither relationship was Regina ever put first. The difference with Robin was this time it was Regina who was hurting herself, because she thought there was no one else out there that could ever love her flawed self, and admitting her feelings for Emma was terrifying. How could she feel more strongly for her nemesis, the Savior meant to destroy her, than for her own soulmate? It was outrageous.
"Mal," Regina let out a strangled sob as she nestled her face on Maleficent's chest.
"It's alright, Regina, cry as you need. It's okay to just be my little one again."
Maleficent stroked Regina's hair with the loving care she did in the beginning of their relationship, when they were just mentor and apprentice, protector and protégée, little before they let it evolve into an affair that allowed both of them an escape from the harsh reality that was their loneliness.
Maleficent had been so many things to her: a teacher, a friend, a mother, a lover — a haven — and even also an enemy when she let darkness and hunger for revenge get the best of her. Now it felt soothing to have her back like this again, back to being her best friend, back to caring for her like Cora never did, and back to being able to share her deepest secrets with her in a way she knew she would never be able to do with her sister. Unlike the others, Maleficent would always support her in her pursuit of True Love, without expecting anything from her in return. The Dragon was far less complicated than her human friends.
Hours passed and Regina could finally weep the last tear as she accepted fate had played her another joke, this time in the form of a "soulmate." King or outlaw, she had been robbed of her free will again and she had let it happen without questioning it. How could she not see the parallel? Just because a fairy had used it, it didn't make Pixie Dust light magic or any better.
What if she had found True Love already but had been too blind to see it, or too scared to obtain it because then she might lose it again?
She'd been transfixed by the idea of a predestined soulmate she'd forgotten that real love was supposed to move you, shake you, take you out of your comfort zone and make you assume risks. And loving Emma Swan was surely the biggest risk she'd be taking, but now she was ready, she was sure of her feelings and it made no difference Emma had become a Dark One. They could overcome this together, like they always defeated their demons. But even if they didn't, it made no difference. She was just as much in love with the Dark Swan as she was with the Savior. To Regina she would always be Emma. Her Emma.
"Are you sure you will be well?" Maleficent asked as she stood in Regina's porch before leaving.
"Yes. I'm sorry for having burdened you, Maleficent," Regina nodded, still sniffing a little.
"Now don't be a stranger, dear. As long as you don't curse me again, we can still have this," Maleficent teased her, trying to lighten the mood, referring to their more sisterly bond.
Regina's lip quivered from the emotion. It was really powerful to know she could have a friend- a real best friend -like this.
After a deep breath, she stepped closer and softly kissed Maleficent's lips as stubborn tears streamed down her face. There was nothing sexual in their kiss, it was affectionate. A way to say "thank you" without having to speak because then it would make both of them cry again and Regina was very tired. Everything had been so intense since Emma had the audacity to sacrifice her soul for her — that idiot.
Unfortunately, that wasn't what Emma was seeing.
She couldn't sleep—being a Dark One prevented you from it—and she'd found her steps bringing her to 108 on Mifflin Street, they would always bring her here. If not for Henry, hoping Regina might look out the window one night, wishing to see her, and call her name in the dark, summon her to her presence. And she would come, despite Darkness not wanting her to, because seeking Regina was looking for her own destruction and that was her internal battle. She was battling the forces that wanted her to become completely dark, but also the light that wanted her to shine, to be saved, if only by the woman she longed to kiss. The woman she wanted to share True Love with.
"Are you sure you're ready to let your heart be truly free?" Merlin's voice echoed in her head.
Emma brought a hand to her chest, hurting as she saw Regina kiss Maleficent after hearing the Dragon tell her "We can still have this."
This wasn't going according to her plan. Where did she fail? Regina's heart had to be free, too, able to choose. But it had chosen someone else. There couldn't be True Love for her. Regina would never choose her, the Voice was right.
After Maleficent left, Regina distinguished the familiar silhouette in the distance, but it vanished in a cloud of black smoke.
"Emma!" Regina ran to the front but Emma was gone.
"Emma Swan. Emma Swan. Emma Swan," Regina tried to summon her like Henry had.
Nothing.
Regina got in her car and drove to Emma's house, but she wasn't there. "Where can I find you?"
Where could Emma go? What would she do? All Emma Swan ever did was... run away."No," Regina gasped.
Regina puffed herself to the limit of Storybrooke and there she saw Emma's car, parked in the other side, and there was a second apple tree beside it - probably from whatever pawn she forced into driving her bug outside the town.
And then there was Emma, walking firmly toward the town line.
"Emma!"
Regina yelled behind her but Emma ignored her, so she had to poof herself to appear right before Emma, less than four steps or so from the edge. Not a very safe place where to be standing with a Dark One, but this was Emma. She wanted to trust in the woman wrapped under the darkness, the one she loved.
"Stop!"
"What do you want, Regina?" Emma was cold.
"Isn't it obvious?" Regina responded.
"Humor me." Emma passed her, bumping their shoulders as she continued her path.
"I want you!" Regina's voice was quavering.
Emma chuckled at that, sarcastically. "Please."
"Emma, what you saw with Maleficent is not what you think."
Emma stopped dead on her track, turned around to face her, eyes alight and full of anger.
"It's not Maleficent, or Robin, or Hook: it's YOU!" Emma confronted her.
"You came into my chambers, took me and left in the middle of the night. When I woke up you were gone. I asked what happened, you said a mistake. And, you know what, I am done! This hold you have on me, I want it gone. The dagger is a harmless toy in comparison to how much damage you can cause!" Emma cried out. "You've made me broken beyond repair."
"I wish I could remember that. I'm sorry. But, Emma, it's different now. I know now it's you. It's always been you. I was afraid!"
"The problem Regina is I don't believe you. You used me and I— I hate you!"
"You don't mean that," Regina's tears started falling. Her heart was breaking and only Emma could pick up the pieces, but she didn't seem like she cared anymore.
"The truth hurts, Regina, get used to it."
"You want to talk about truth? Here's some for you: you're punishing me for something I have no memory of; you seduce me, only to leave me longing and come back to crush my hope — that enough humor for you? Is that what you wanted, to destroy me? Well, congratulations, Miss Swan, you've done it!"
Miss Swan- it was the last thing Emma wanted Regina to call her right now.
"Not done yet," Emma told her. She turned her back to her and walked closer to the town's limit, coming just a step from crossing the red line on the asphalt.
"So now you're leaving. How typical of you," Regina reproached.
"Who said I was leaving?" Emma smirked at her from over the shoulder.
It was too quick, everything was spinning and suddenly Emma was holding her firmly by the shoulders. When Regina looked behind her, she noticed she was only inches from being pushed to the other side of the town line, just moments away from getting turned into an apple tree- the irony could be humorous if it weren't her life the one being on the edge quite literally.
"Emma?" Regina was in shock.
Was she really going to do it? Had she lured her here with that purpose? Had Emma meant anything about them or had all of this been part of her evil scheme to get rid of her in the most painful of ways? The idea of Emma never loving her was the most painful feeling she'd felt to this day, only comparable to losing her son.
"Go ahead, dearie, push her!" Rumplestiltkin's ghost gestured her.
"I can't be free as long as you're here!" Emma yelled with despair. But did she mean Regina or did she mean the voice of darkness?
Regina could feel Emma's fingers dig into her flesh like claws, preventing her from using any strength or magic to escape, and so she accepted her fate. There was nothing she could do to defeat the power of the Dark One. No one ever could, not even Belle with all her love for Rumplestiltskin. You couldn't save someone who didn't want saving.
"You may not believe in me, but I still believe in you. All I want is for you to be free. So… Do it, Emma. Destroy me," Regina looked into her eyes with nothing but love, and didn't try to fight her; relaxed her body and welcomed her punishment.
"I love you," Regina said it in a whisper.
"Aaahh!" Emma growled in frustration.
A black smoke engulfed them and when it disappeared Regina saw they were inside a room she had never seen before. Emma's.
"I hate you so much it suffocates me!" Emma yelled at her and violently pulled on Regina's coat until she removed it.
Regina just stood there, flabbergasted, letting Emma release her anger in any form she found suited, and looked at her with empathy.
"I hate your beautiful brown eyes and how they make me drown in their darkness!" She was now frantically pulling down the zipper of Regina's dress, nearly ripping apart.
"Emma…" was all Regina could utter. Her voice soft and mellow, though her breathing was becoming more labored and her heat was rising. She was as much scared as she was aroused by Emma ridding her off her clothes with such despair. Wickedly as it was, she'd never felt more wanted, more needed, than she felt this moment.
"Quiet!" Emma brought her hands to cover her ears. "I hate the sound of my name in your lips and how it makes me want it to be your voice the one I wake up to every morning. The only one ever able to command me." Emma's chest was heaving as she tried to catch her breath, tears pooling in her eyes.
Regina didn't say a word, though her mouth hang open in awe at all what she was hearing. It was the most fuckedup love confession, but it was also the most earnest and the most romantic she could have ever expected in a world this twisted.
"And what I hate most about you," Emma was more calm now, tired- defeated, "is the fact I can't bring myself to hate you at all."
Emma started crying.
"You hurt me," Emma made a long pause, "and yet I still love you."
Her voice broke and she threw herself in Regina's arms then, burying her face in the curve where shoulder meets neck, crying without reserve as she held her tightly.
"I was afraid, Emma." Regina's arms wrapped her securely. "Of losing you. It was safer to have you as a friend than not have you at all, so I didn't take the risk. I didn't take that leap of faith, and settled for much less. I'm sorry. I never wanted to hurt you... All I ever wanted was to be close to you." Regina cried with her.
Emma inhaled deeply and calmed down after some minutes of mutual grieving. She slowly retrieved her face from Regina's neck and looked into brown eyes with sadness.
"I can't fight this darkness alone," Emma's voice was raspy. "I need you."
"I need you too," Regina cupped Emma's face in her hands and brought her closer. "More than anything."
Their mouths parted slightly and slowly their lips brushed against each other, kissing tentatively at first until they could let go off their fears and give fully into that kiss of freedom- the kiss of True Love. There was nothing holding them back anymore to express their honest feelings. With or without her memories for Regina it was clear whom her heart belonged to- whom it had always.
After a wave of light traveled the land, Emma's hair started to recover its sunny color, and soon warmth made it back to her body. When they pulled gently away to gaze into each other's eyes Regina noticed the physical change, but Emma couldn't care any less. All she wanted was to be with Regina, and so she claimed her lips again.
"Emma," Regina tried to speak in between kisses, "You-"
"Hush," Emma responded, letting her fingertips caress the smoothness of Regina's exposed skin on her back, continuing kissing her deeply. "Just kiss me."
Regina felt her body burn with desire and now it was her who was desperately pulling at Emma's leather jacket, trying to rid her of it the sooner the better. And she did. The leather jacket dropped to the floor, followed by her own blue dress, then Regina felt her feet be swept from the floor, literally, and her back landed on the cushion of Emma's huge bed with Emma falling on top of her. Regina oomphed and then chuckled, Emma chuckled, too, as their mouths came together once more in a sloppy kiss. Emma's right hand began to wander Regina's torso, coming slowly up to cup her breast, sneaking under her lacey black bra so she could tweak her nipple in between thumb and index fingers, eliciting a delicious moan from the woman underneath her.
Regina ran her fingers through silky blonde hair, undoing Emma's tight bun to release golden curls she missed deeply.
"My Emma," Regina said in her most sultry voice and it reverberated in Emma's core, making her much more wet and her appetite grow bigger.
Emma kissed down Regina's jaw, trailing her tongue down her throat and moving in direction of her breast. She circled the light tan areola before sucking her nipple into her mouth to quench her thirst, meanwhile her left hand worked the other breast.
Regina's groan vibrated in her throat and chest. "Fuck me," she begged Emma and Emma had to obey her command. "As you wish, my Queen."
Emma sat on the heels of her feet, brought her hands to the sides of Regina's hips and curled her fingers on the waistband of her thong, slowly dragging it down toned legs until she pulled it out. She stood still for some seconds, admiring Regina's nude beauty, wanting to engrave this memory in her brain so no curse could ever erase it, until the brunette felt a little too exposed.
"What?" Regina asked coyly, bringing her knees together.
"You're the fairest of them all," Emma responded with an enamoured smile, "that's all."
"Idiot," Regina smiled brightly and beckoned with her finger for Emma to come. "Join me."
Emma removed her own bra, Regina's eyes drank in the image, watching carefully as the blonde now clumsily tried shimming out of her tight pants until she just said "fuck it, I got magic" and got rid of them and her panties altogether.
"Much better," Regina chuckled.
Her eyes locked in Emma's as she crawled on bed to come lie in between her legs. They kissed again, this time more slowly, and just as slowly Emma peppered kisses all over her body; kissed her stomach, then moved to her hipbone, and continued moving lower down, taking her time before she got to the most juicy part. She reached to Regina's inner thigh and kissed from the knee up to the apex, leaving goosebumps in the wake of her kisses as she reached to where Regina was aching for her the most.
Regina's chest was heaving, her arousal obvious, and a hiss followed when Emma's lips brushed ever so lightly over lower ones. She bit her lip in anticipation when long tresses of golden hair brushed against her sex as Emma's head came to position, eyes closing on their own when she felt the first swipe of a warm tongue in between velvety folds.
"Emma…" Regina moaned the name and Emma adored it. She turned to look up at Regina's flushed face and smiled at her.
"I love you," Emma assured her before continuing.
She parted delicate, pink lips with her fingers before letting her tongue tease the little but powerful bundle of nerves aching for her touch, licking feather touches at first, and as Regina's moans encouraged her she covered it fully with her mouth to suckle at the precious pearl gingerly, making Regina arch her back and bring her hands to hold on the blonde head, body tensing and muscles contracting as Emma got her closer to climax.
Regina was so wet, two slender fingers glided into her effortlessly and Emma began pumping slowly as Regina groaned an eager "Yes!" with her body writhing. Emma had her panting on bed, legs clamping the blonde inside their strong grip, but Emma didn't shy away and continued stimulating her until her toes curled down and Regina screamed in pleasure, filling the room with the echo of her orgasm and the scent of their lovemaking.
After she could recover from her climax, Regina beckoned Emma to come into her arms. They kissed with more passion than they'd ever shared with any lover before them and she could savor herself in Emma's lips and it was delightful. Being together was delightful, and the only thing that made sense. They were in love and it was the most powerful magic of all.
Emma started to feel her eyelids get heavier. She hadn't slept since absorbing the darkness and all her tiredness was coming back at once. Regina would have preferred to reciprocate and make love to her, but instead she had Emma turn to the opposite side, brought the front of her naked body to rest flush against Emma's back and spooned under the cozy blankets.
Regina placed a soft kiss to Emma's nape and lovingly massaged her scalp to sleep.
"Promise you will still be here in the morning?" Emma asked her with so much innocence and sadness, Regina couldn't help letting some tears fall again. She now remembered everything that had happened.
"This and for the rest of our days, Emma. I promise."
Emma smiled. She caught Regina's hand and brought it to her lips to kiss it, then closed her eyes to sleep. She knew she could trust her. Always.