A/N: I didn't want to go into too much detail about Emma's appearance. I think I gave enough description in the previous chapter.

xxx

Regina woke up with Emma wrapping her arms around her neck. She remained where she was as not to disturb Emma.

For once, she was finally able to have a good night sleep. It was probably because Emma was next to her.

Emma opened her eyes and she shoved Regina off the bed.

Regina remained calm.

"Emma?"

"I'm so sorry. I thought you were her."

Regina stood back up tried to smooth her clothes, "You need to get cleaned up."

"I don't want to."

"Emma, you're safe and sound right now. Will you please take a bath?"

The younger woman bit her lip.

"Okay."

Emma's voice wasn't the strong one that Regina was used to. Instead, it was very timid.

Regina held her hand out and Emma slowly gripped onto it. She fell into Regina's arms and held tightly onto her. Emma was resting her head on Regina's shoulder.

"Don't leave me."

"I won't."

"Don't say it if you don't mean it."

"Tell me if I'm lying."

Emma knew that she wasn't, but part of her still felt doubt clouding her mind.

xxx

The Evil Queen had landed gracefully on her feet in the middle of Storybrooke. She was amazed at this place that Emma referred to as "Storybrooke" despite not being familiar with anything there. She looked up at the giant clock tower and watched as it froze in place. She want to test out her magic and used a fireball to destroy the strange thing that was made of metal. She suspected that it was used for transportation.

She expected it to have a dull outcome, but once the fireball hit it, the vehicle exploded and shards of the metal fell all around her. Lucky for her, nothing had caught her on fire, but it had obviously brought the attention of the town.

A purple smoke cloud was all that was left of the Evil Queen as Ruby ran outside to see the damage.

"Granny's gonna kill me…"

"Why am I going to do that?" Granny asked as she came out of the diner.

"The car you loaned me exploded."

Granny had a scowl on her face and had her crossbow in her hands, "This is why I can't give you nice things."

"Granny, I wasn't even out here when this happened!"

Ruby and Granny both sniffed the air and both them were utterly confused about the scent.

It had belonged to Regina Mills, the Mayor of Storybrooke, but something was off about it.

The young werewolf took out of phone and dialed Regina's cell phone.

"Hey Regina, you weren't by chance in the middle of town and blew up my car...were you?"

"I hope that you're joking right now, Miss Lucas. That is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard of."

Regina paused on the other line and said, "Emma arrived back in Storybrooke not too long ago and I'm taking care of her. The only ones who know are the Charmings, Henry, and now you. I assume that you won't give out this information."

"Of course not. It's just when Granny and I ran out, we smelled you, but not you."

"You're not making any sense."

"It smells the way you did before we arrived in Storybrooke."

Ruby waited a few seconds before saying, "Hello?"

"I'm here. Just let me think."

Ruby heard Emma's soft voice in the background, "Regina, she's here! I told you she would come for me. I don't want to go back, I can't."

"Shh, Emma, she's not going to take you away from me again."

Ruby cringed when she heard just how vulnerable her best friend's daughter was.

Regina held onto her cell phone tightly, "You need to find a way to deal with this situation. Don't call me unless it's an emergency."

Ruby was greeted by the dial tone.

"Granny, I hope you're ready to kick some ass."

"I was waiting for an excuse to take this crossbow out of storage."

xxx

Regina was trying to quiet Emma down, "Nothing will happen to you, do you understand? Everything will be taken care of, with or without me present."

Emma nodded and allowed Regina to lead her to the bathroom.

It was as large as half of the Charmings' apartment and the bath was almost the size of the hideous death trap that Emma called a car.

Regina saw how Emma was admiring it, "When I came here, I made sure that I had the best things available to me. One can never take a large bath for granted."

The blonde just stood by the tub as Regina was making sure that the water filling the bath was warm. Regina sat on the edge and poured a small bottle of bubble bath in it. It was no surprise that it smelled like apples and a hint of cinnamon.

"Emma?"

"Sorry."

"Why are you apologizing? You haven't done anything wrong."

The younger woman's gaze dropped to the floor and she didn't say anything further.

Regina turned off the faucet and carefully approached Emma, but didn't make any move to touch her.

She waited a few seconds before asking, "Do I have your consent to help you take off your clothes and get into the bath or would you like to do that yourself?"

"Can you turn around?"

"Of course." Regina faced away from Emma.

It was so hauntingly silent as Emma disrobed.

"You can turn around now."

As Regina did, she had to keep herself from covering her mouth. She had never hated herself more than she did now. Even if she herself wasn't responsible for the horrors that Emma had gone through, she still felt it weighing her down. The metal collar that Emma wore on her neck probably was a constant reminder that she hadn't truly escaped the Evil Queen.

It was like Emma barely looked like a human being anymore. Regina saw that there were scars on her the side of her ribs and on her thighs that weren't there before, not that she had ever seen Emma naked before.

Every step that the blonde took toward the water, Regina kept her focus on Emma's eyes. She wanted to see the passion behind them that she saw when Emma had first arrived. She wanted her Emma back, the one that would fight over her for Henry, the one that saved her from the fire all those years ago, and the one that drank with her when she was having a pity drink.

A sigh escaped Emma's lips as she sank down into the water.

Regina tried to focus her gaze on something else since Emma had sat down in the tub.

"Can you help me?" Emma asked, almost whispering.

Regina kneeled down next to Emma and grabbed a washcloth to clean her back.

She was able to see small bruises around the lower part of Emma's neck. She was extremely careful with Emma and gave her the washcloth so Emma could clean the more sensitive areas.

Regina took a small plastic mug that was red and had an image of Mickey Mouse and Pluto on it. It used to be Henry's cup and she kept it with her despite him growing up and saying that it was for "babies".

She dipped it into the water, took it out, and had Emma lean her head slightly back so that she could pour the water on her hair. Next, she used the shampoo on Emma's hair and took her time to make sure that she cleaned it thoroughly.

"I knew you were a good choice for Henry."

"You didn't even know that I had adopted him."

"I saw it for myself all those years ago, Regina."

The water that was poured on Emma's hair must have been therapeutic for her because Regina saw how her body relaxed. The blonde closed her eyes and felt exhaustion take over her.

"If you stay in there, you'll age like me."

Emma opened one of her eyes, "You're not old."

"Tell that to Henry."

The blonde's laughter was the most beautiful sound that the brunette had ever heard in her life. Regina couldn't imagine how long it must have been since Emma had laughed, so she didn't think about it. All she wanted to think about was that they were together.

Regina grabbed a towel, "Ready?"

"Yeah."

Regina took no time at all to wrap Emma in the big fluffy towel and helped her step out of the tub.

"I was about to use magic, but I thought perhaps you didn't want me to."

"Thank you for being so considerate. It's not like you."

"I do have manners, Miss Swan."

Emma cracked a smile, "I know, Madame Mayor."

That moment that they just shared seemed to stop time for them. They were never transported to The Enchanted Forest, Emma never left, and Regina didn't cry for Emma every night.

"I didn't know what you wanted to wear when you got back so I brought you entire wardrobe here."

"All of them?"

"Yes and don't look at me like that. I had to be prepared!"

"I don't know if they'll fit me though."

Regina waved her hand and the water disappeared in the tub. She guided Emma out to the bedroom and let her slip into slippers that had never been worn.

"I didn't take you for the cutesy type, Regina."

Emma was "showing off" Regina's slippers that were white with a shiny unicorn horn in the center. The unicorn had bright blue eyes and had its pink tongue hanging off to the side.

Regina rolled her eyes, "Your mother must've purchased it and I got it by accident."

Emma lifted her foot and saw that Regina's name was on the bottom. One slipper said, "Regina" in purple cursive and the other said, "Mills".

The blonde giggled like a little girl, "Yeah, I can tell that mom totally bought this."

xxx

Emma was sitting on the bed while Regina showed all the clothes.

"Uh Regina, these still have the tags on them."

"I kept your old clothes, but they're in there." Regina pointed to a large chest.

"I thought you had burned them or something."

"I was tempted to, especially that horrible red leather jacket of yours…"

"I never got it back."

Regina bent down to open the chest and pulled out Emma's leather jacket.

"I knew that you couldn't live without it, so I was able to bring it back."

"How?"

"Magic."

xxx

Emma was lying next to Regina on the bed in her pajamas. They fit her perfectly after Regina used her magic to make any clothing that Emma put on mold to her body, regardless of the size.

"I can't believe you bought me this. It looks like something my mom would buy me, not you."

"I wouldn't have you wearing pink either, but Henry suggested it. He wanted you to have something "Princess" material."

The top was light pink and it said in sparkly glittery cursive, "This is what a Princess looks like". The pajama pants were the same light pink with cartoon looking crowns on them.

"At least my mom didn't pick it out. Can you imagine what she would buy me?"

"I don't have to imagine. She had been browsing the online stores and had been doing it in the diner. I happened to look at it, by accident."

"An "accident", yeah right."

Regina was enjoying this, whatever was happening with Emma.

"Emma, I hate to ruin this moment we're having, but we need to talk."

"About the Evil Queen?"

"No."

"Then about what?"

"Us."

"Us? I didn't know where was an 'us'."

"I don't just cry about anybody for goodness sake."

"You...you cried over me?"

"It wasn't like I planned it."

Emma had turned towards Regina and the brunette turned to face her.

They were nose-to-nose and Emma's breath tickled Regina's face.

"So what about...us?"

Regina bit her bottom lip, she did this when she was nervous, but Emma was the only person who had ever seen her do this.

"Don't do that, you'll hurt yourself." Emma said as she used her hand to cup Regina's cheek.

It had distracted Regina enough that she stopped.

"Since the two of us are Henry's mother, I thought it would be appropriate to get to know each other...better."

Emma chuckled, "You just saw me naked, Regina."

"I wasn't looking!"

"If I looked like normal, I know you would've been checking me out."

"Emma, you're beautiful."

"You're only saying that because I got back."

"No, you have always been beautiful to me. Even when you pressed me against the wall and had your arm against my throat."

Emma winced, "I'm really sorry about that. You just rile me up."

"I hope that's in a good way."

Emma shrugged.

"Please don't think that I will allow you to continue looking at me like that, Miss Swan."

"I never knew that you were the type to be so bossy."

"Well, someone has to keep their Sherriff in line."

"I'm yours now, huh?"

Regina hesitated on answering because she felt guilty after Emma phrased it that way.

"Emma, I didn't mean…"

"Shh, I know you didn't mean it like that. The Evil Queen might be a part of you, but she isn't you. When I was there…"

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"No, I want you to hear this."

Emma took a deep breath in order to prepare herself and dropped her hand from Regina's cheek.

"She was cruel, but she did have some moments when she wasn't. There was this one time where we were taking a walk in her garden and we sat under the apple tree. The one you have here doesn't do it justice. The apples shined like rubies."

Regina nodded, "I didn't value many things, but my apple tree was always one of them. My father and I planted it together."

"She actually let me sleep and it was peaceful, while it lasted, anyways."

"What were the other things she did that you would consider to not be as…"

"Humiliating? Filthy? Disgusting?"

Regina knew that Emma wasn't talking about her, but she might as well have been. She even felt a tear fall down her cheek, but she didn't understand why.

Was she crying for herself?

Was she crying because she couldn't save Emma?

Regina felt Emma wipe her tear away, "Hey, no crying, got it? I'm serious, Regina, I know that you didn't do those things to me. When she was asleep, I would stay awake, and just watch her. Somehow, she found peace, even if she was so unhappy. She looked the same way you do when you sleep."

"I would hope so, we have the same face."

Emma rolled her eyes, "I meant that she didn't look tormented by her demons."

"I had been unhappy for such a long time. I thought that the realm we had landed in was before I had enacted the curse, but I couldn't be sure. There are alternate universes and anything was possible. Even so, that Evil Queen seemed to be much colder than the way I was. I wasn't an angel by any means, but she acted as though she had lost much more than I had.

Yes, we both had lost Daniel, but that was all we had in common. She never brought up my father, so I could only assume that she had killed him, that he was safe, or he was met with a worse fate than death."

"What can be worse than death besides what I was put through?"

"Have you heard of Prometheus?"

"The name sounds familiar, but I have no idea."

"According to Greek mythology, Prometheus was a Titan that was a trickster and had given humans the gift of fire as well as the ability to work with metal. Zeus was furious with him and as punishment, Prometheus was chained to a rock. Every day, an eagle would come and eat his liver. It would grow back and it would repeat itself."

"There goes my appetite…"

"I just meant that the Evil Queen could've done something similar by forcing my father to repeat something over and over again. Perhaps it wouldn't have been as violent."

"He was safe, Regina. The Evil Queen said that he had been very sick and she had sent for the best doctors around. She did everything she could, but he died. Your mom, Cora, was the one that had caused his death. She didn't necessarily do the deed, but she had broken your dad's heart. I think the one that sealed the deal with the Evil Queen. Did you know that you can actually die of a broken heart?"

"Yes, it's known as takotsubo cardiomyopathy. It's usually reversible within a few days or weeks."

"I think when he lost his little girl, Regina, and saw what Cora had made her, it was the last straw for him. The Evil Queen sometimes had nightmares and would call for him though. She would wake up startled and somehow found a way to calm down when she saw me there."

"You were the only one that hadn't left her. I know that you didn't have a choice in the matter, but she might've found some comfort in that."

"I just thought about what I would do for you if you were in her position. I'm not excusing her for her actions or what she had done to me. I just was finally able to see her as a person and not as the Evil Queen. I was able to understand how everyone in Storybrooke saw you."

Regina was feeling uncomfortable at the moment. She didn't want anything to do with the Evil Queen and had spent years separating herself from her past.

"Some still think of me that way, Emma."

"I did what I could to set them straight."

Regina had a small smile grace her lips, "Yes, I noticed that they were more respectful towards me. I thought that might've been your parents, not you."

"My parents might be Snow White and Prince Charming, but it doesn't mean that they can take all the credit for my work."

"What else did you learn from her?"

"She likes beheadings a lot."

"It was what we referred to as 'entertainment' back then."

"It was worse than any R-rated movie I had ever seen."

"I don't understand how you're able to joke about this…"

"It's because you're here with me and I feel like I'm capable of anything. I wouldn't wish what I went through even on my worst enemy."

Emma paused, "It gave me the chance to understand the two of you better. You might be the same in appearance and she might have some weird quirks of yours, but that's it. She is what you would've been had you not found Henry."

"Henry did save me."

"Yeah, he saved me to. I mean, I wasn't going anywhere in life. So what if I had a nice apartment and clothes? I had nobody to share it with until I met Henry."

"I still can't believe that he stole my credit card. He obviously got that from you."

"I wasn't the one that raised him for the first ten years of his life. You should've seen the way he tried to pull a stunt where he would tell the cops that I kidnapped him!"

"He did what?!"

"Yeah, he's totally your kid."

"No, he's our kid."

"Do you really mean that, Regina?"

"Yes, Emma, I do."

Regina leaned in to kiss Emma's cheek.