A/N: back with another chapter for you! There's not too many more episodes to go actually because I had to skip so many at the beginning. Hope you're all still enjoying these ficlets.

This chapter took a much darker turn than I expected. Hints/mentions of rape so please proceed with caution. It ends with SwanQueen fluff though! But of course, as these are all one shots, not reading it is also fine.

"Well I was going to tell you but I was kinda busy trying to stop you and your mother from killing me and my entire family," Emma replied, sarcastically. She really didn't want to have a conversation about Neal's reappearance, especially not with Regina.

Regina bristled a little at the comment. She pulled her clasped hands tighter into her lap as she looked at the blonde who was now gazing out over the harbour.

"How did that even happen?" Regina asked after a while.

"How did what happen?" Emma asked, looking back towards the brunette.

"You and Baelfire."

"You really want a birds and the bees lesson from me? I thought I'd be giving that to Henry, not you," Emma joked.

"I was referring more to the fact that you're gay, Miss Swan," Regina explained.

Emma shrugged. She had told Henry early on that she preferred women and knew he had spoken to Regina about it, despite the two mothers never having a direct conversation themselves.

"I was young, confused. Neal was nice, he was there for me. Until he wasn't. I suppose my experiences with him cemented the deal. He's the last guy I dated, at least," Emma said.

"I know how you feel," Regina said, her eyes glazing over slightly as old memories sprang forth in her mind.

Emma watched curiously as a myriad of emotions flickered across Regina's face. None of them were happy.

"Are you ok?" Emma asked after a moment.

"Sorry," Regina said, getting to her feet and starting to walk away.

Emma jumped up and ran after the woman. She never knew what made her do that, but she had a feeling Regina needed to talk to someone right now, and it wasn't as if the woman had many friends she could turn to.

"Regina," Emma said, as she caught the older woman's wrist and pulled her to a stop.

"What, Miss Swan?" Regina sighed as the blonde walked to stand in front of her.

"Back there, whatever you were thinking of, remembering, do you want to talk about it?"

"With you?" Regina asked, eyebrow raised.

"With me," Emma nodded.

Regina looked into the green eyes before her. They were wide open and earnest, as they so often were. Her face looked a little paler than usual and Regina thought she saw some worry lines on the blonde's forehead, although whether the worry was for the brunette or something else, Regina couldn't tell. Emma's thin lips were smiling slightly at her, a genuine, warm smile that Regina was receiving more and more these days. She liked it.

"Not here," Regina said. "I need a drink first."

Emma nodded her understanding and fell into step beside the other woman. They walked in companionable silence until they reached Regina's front door.

Once inside the cavernous entrance, Regina took Emma's thick black coat and shrugged her own off too. The two women walked, still without speaking, into Regina's study. Emma hadn't been in that room since the evening she arrived in Storybrooke, the day she was reunited with Henry, the day she met the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.

"Cider?" said that same woman as Emma sank onto the plush couch.

"Please," Emma nodded, looking around at the room. Very little had changed but she thought perhaps it was a little warmer, cosier, more family oriented. There were now several photos of Henry on the wall, some with Regina and some alone. Emma smiled as she saw her son grinning down at her from every age he had lived through so far.

Regina handed Emma her drink and sat down in a grand armchair opposite the blonde. Emma sipped her drink, sighing slightly as the warming liquid slipped deliciously down her throat. Regina might have her flaws but she made a damn good apple cider, she mused.

"So," Emma started, setting her already half empty glass down on the table. "What were you thinking about back there?"

Regina trailed a fingertip around the rim of her own glass, wondering where to start. She never spoke about her past life, not then and certainly not now. She had simply kept all her emotions and memories bottled up, stewing away steadily just waiting to burst forth and shatter the walls she had carefully built up.

"My marriage," she began, "was not one of love. Snow's father, your grandfather, was not a bad man but he never loved me and I never loved him. He searched to replace his first wife for years but really, I don't think he ever wanted to. I was just a painful reminder every day of what he and his daughter had lost. He hated me for it. And I hated him and my mother for arranging the marriage."

Regina took another sip of her drink and raised her eyes to Emma. The blonde was sitting with her legs curled under her, listening patiently.

Regina continued. "Everyone assumed I must have been so happy. I was the queen, I lived in a palace. I had everything a girl could want. Except none of it was what I wanted. I was a prisoner in my own marriage, my own palace. I could never leave the walled gardens without the king by my side: a curse of my mother's doing. And I wanted to spend as much time away from him as possible. They were the loneliest years of my life."

Emma understood. She had felt trapped and alone the entire time she had been in the foster system. Forced to be part of a family to whom she would never belong. She had never had a home, had never been loved unconditionally until she came to Storybrooke. Lost in her own memories, it took Emma a while to realise Regina had stopped speaking.

"I'm sorry," she offered. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."

Regina shrugged and finished her drink, standing to replenish both their glasses. "It's in the past," she said, brusquely.

"It's never in the past," Emma countered. "Not something like that. It changes people, it makes us who we are. Don't try and push it out Regina because it won't work. You have to accept it and move on."

"Some things are too painful," Regina said, darkly.

"Tell me," Emma said, leaning forward slightly to open her posture up, inviting Regina's confidence.

Regina took a deep shaking breath and a long drag of her drink. "Leopold, he, I don't think he meant to, but he did. Every night … I tried to stop him … I asked him, I cr-cried out. He was too st-strong. He was the k-king. There was nothing I could d-do."

Regina broke down as she spoke, tears flowing from her eyes and down her beautiful cheeks. Without thinking, Emma climbed off the couch and moved to kneel in front of the brunette. Not sure physical contact was what Regina wanted at that moment, Emma laid a gentle hand on one of Regina's shaking knees. When that hand was covered and clasped tight, Emma leaned forwards and wrapped her arms around the sobbing woman.

"I'm so sorry," Emma murmured, stroking the silky locks and rubbing soothing circles on the brunette's lower back.

They stayed like that for a long time. Regina leaning forwards in her chair, Emma perched on her knees with her arms enveloping the older woman. Eventually, Regina's tears stopped falling and she pulled gently away, wiping her eyes on the back of her hand and sniffing softly. Emma stayed where she was, looking up into the red and blotchy face of the usually composed Mayor.

"Sorry," Regina muttered, pulling at tissue from her pocket and dabbing her eyes.

"You don't need to apologise," Emma assured, squeezing one of Regina's hands in her own. "You never need to apologise for what that monster put you through."

"I don't talk about it," Regina shrugged, settling back in her chair. Emma moved to sit cross legged on the floor in front of the woman. "I can't talk about it without, well, crying. It's easier to pretend it never happened."

"But you can't," Emma prompted gently.

"No," Regina said, shaking her head. "Every time I've ever laid with a man since, the memories come back and, and I just can't do it. I keep thinking it's Leopold. I keep thinking I'm eighteen again and I have no control and I can't escape. I've never had a relationship since. I hate people touching me, knowing me, relying on me."

"Sorry," Emma said quickly, moving to get to her feet and returned to sit on the couch. She downed the rest of her drink, clasping the glass in her hands.

"What for?" Regina asked, confused at the blonde's sudden retreat.

"For hugging you just now," Emma explained. "I didn't realise."

"No, no, Emma," Regina assured. "That was fine. I needed it, I think."

"But you just said-,"

"It's never applied to you," Regina said softly. "I didn't realise until tonight but when you've touched me in the past, I never flinched. Usually I can't stand physical contact but with you, with you it's different. I feel safe. I know you'll never let anything happen to me."

"I won't," Emma said, her voice little more than a whisper.

There was a long pause, both women looking at each other, trying to summon up the courage to say what they really wanted to say.

"Could you …," Regina trailed off but Emma understood.

The blonde got up from the couch, placed her empty glass on the table and walked over to Regina. The brunette moved slightly to the side. The chair wasn't exactly large but Emma managed to squeeze herself in sideways. Her arms wrapped around Regina once more and the brunette rested her head on Emma's shoulder.

Regina let out a shuddering breath as she felt Emma's strong arm slip beneath her back. The warmth, comfort and complete feeling of reassurance and safety overwhelmed her as she settled herself against Emma's shoulder. She could feel Emma's heart beating steadily beneath her ribcage and the blonde's soft breathing causing her chest to rise and fall rhythmically.

"You're safe, Regina," Emma whispered into the sweet smelling hair now nestled beneath her chin. "Nothing and no one is going to hurt you again, not while I'm here."

She placed a gentle kiss to the crown of Regina's head, inhaling the apple scented shampoo as she did so. Regina moved impossibly closer at the words, her own arm snaking around Emma's slender waist and her fingers resting on Emma's lower back.

As they settled into the unfamiliar yet somehow perfectly natural position, Emma's hands moved up and down Regina's back, stroking over her silken shirt. Regina's own fingers rubbed slowly back and forward over Emma's knitted jumper until they brushed unbidden against bare flesh. Regina paused her movements but when Emma said nothing, she tentatively continued. Her fingertips stroked softly back and forwards over the flawless, pale skin of Emma's lower back. Her heart began to beat faster at the feeling of hot, supple skin beneath her fingers. It has been a long time since she had touched someone else.

Emma held her breath as she felt Regina's fingers stroking her back. It wasn't that the touch was unwelcome, far from it. But she knew Regina was in a fragile, emotional state. She didn't want to take advantage of that even if it might lead to what she had desired ever since she stepped foot in Storybrooke. Regina was finally opening up to her, trusting her, confiding in her. She didn't want to destroy that for the sake of a tipsy, fumbled one night thing. Regina meant too much to her for that to happen. So Emma stayed stock still, enjoying the feel of Regina's fingertips but not pushing, not reciprocating in any way.

After a while, Regina's fingers stilled and her palm laid flat against Emma's back, as if trying to pull the younger woman closer. Emma soon realised the brunette had fallen asleep, her breathing low and regular as she laid against her shoulder. Emma smiled down at the woman beside her. She had never seen the former Evil Queen like this. Her face, half hidden by her hair, looked serene and happy, the worry and pain from earlier had gone. Settling herself a little more comfortably in her chair, Emma closed her eyes too.

"No, no! Stop it! Get off me!"

Emma awoke to muttered cries. It took her a moment to realise where she was but as soon as she looked down, the events of earlier came flooding back.

Regina was still lying on her chest, eyes closed, but her face was now screwed up in anguish. As Emma watched, the brunette turned her head, twisting and writing as if to get away from something, or someone.

"Please don't!" Regina whimpered, her body contorting in her sleep.

"Regina, Regina!" Emma called softly, moving out from underneath the brunette and placing both hands on her shoulders. "Regina, wake up, it's just a dream."

She shook gently, not wanting to startle the woman awake. Regina's eyes flew open nonetheless.

"Get off me!" she cried, alarmed to find someone else's face so close to her own.

Emma scrambled backwards and fell off the chair onto the floor. She stayed there, unwilling to move as she watched Regina take in her surroundings and where she was.

The brunette's heart was pounding in her chest, her eyes wide with fear as she scanned the room. She was in Storybrooke, she wasn't in her palace, Leopold was nowhere to be seen. Emma. Emma was there. Why? Slowly, Regina remembered their conversations. She remembered Emma's understanding, her sympathy, her compassion. She remembered Emma's arms around her. She remembered Emma's skin beneath her fingertips.

"Emma?" Regina said hoarsely.

"Sorry," the blonde said sheepishly from the floor. "I didn't mean to scare you but you were having a nightmare. I figured you'd want to wake up."

"Thank you," Regina said with a small smile.

"Was it …?" Emma asked, not needing to complete the question.

"Yes," Regina said shortly, rubbing her hand over her face as she did so and getting to her feet.

Emma stood quickly too and then looked awkwardly at the older woman, unsure quite what her next move should be.

"It's late," Regina said, unnecessarily. The clock on the wall announced that it had just passed two in the morning.

"I should go," Emma said, heading towards the door.

Regina followed her and the two women walked in silence until they reached the entrance hall and the grand front door. Emma turned suddenly back to Regina who almost walked into her.

"Sorry," Emma said, apologetically. "I just wanted to say thank you."

"For what?" Regina frowned.

"For trusting me. For telling me everything. I know things haven't exactly been smooth sailing between us but I really like you Regina. I want us to be in each other's lives, in any way you'll have me. This evening, spending this time with you, I've had a great time."

"Even when I cried pathetically on your shoulder?" Regina asked.

"Even then," Emma said with a small smile.

"I had a nice time too," Regina said, "despite the subject matter."

"Maybe one time we can meet up and talk about something other than our pasts and our son," Emma suggested.

"I'd like that," Regina said, with a shy smile.

"Me too," Emma said.

They stood by the door, looking awkwardly at each other. Neither wanted the evening to end but neither knew quite how to extend it.

"I'd better go," Emma said after a while.

"Ok," Regina said, moving past the blonde to open the door.

Emma walked through it but turned around once more.

"Regina," she said, not quite knowing what to say next.

There was no need for words. Regina stepped forwards and hugged Emma once more, pulling her close with her strong arms as Emma embraced her back. The blonde buried her face in dark locks as Regina sighed with contentment at the feeling of having Emma pressed up against her.

Eventually, they pulled apart again. Emma reached up to brush a strand of hair away from Regina's eyes. Her thumb caressed the brunette's cheek as her hand dropped back down.

Without thinking, without knowing quite why she did it, Regina rocked up onto her tip toes and placed a gentle kiss to Emma's lips. The blonde gasped at the move but quickly kissed Regina back, pulling the brunette towards her and tangling her fingers in her hair. Regina's hands drifted to rest on Emma's waist, holding their bodies close together. Lips moved slowly, tentatively, barely opening as the soft flesh slid against one another.

After what felt like an eternity, they broke apart. Brown eyes, dark with lust, gazed almost apprehensively up into Emma's face. The blonde looked like her brain was trying to register what had just happened. Regina opened her mouth to speak but before she could say anything, Emma's mouth was back upon hers, her tongue gently swiping her lip as the blonde deepened the kiss. Regina moaned at the sensation and flicked the tip of Emma's tongue with her own, relishing in the taste of the other woman.

When they next broke apart, both women were panting heavily. Emma leaned her forehead against Regina's as her fingers teased strands of hair.

"I have to leave," Emma said, a little breathlessly.

Regina pulled back, hurt.

"No, no, not like that," Emma assured. "Believe me, I want to stay more than anything in the world. But after what you told me earlier, I want to take this slow. I want to make sure you are ready, that you trust me."

"I do trust you," Regina said, quickly.

Emma smiled. "And I trust you. But I'm still going to go. I want to do this right. I want to do this the way you deserve."

Regina nodded her understanding.

Emma smiled before she turned and walked back down the steps. As she reached the path, she turned and looked back. Regina was soon in the doorway, her slightly mussed hair framed by the warm light spilling out from the entrance hall. Emma raised her hand and blew the woman a kiss before she turned and walked away.

Just as Regina climbed into her bed fifteen minutes later, her phone chimed. Unlocking it, she smiled as she read the new message.

Regina, would you like to go on a date with me this Friday? I'll pick you up at 7pm. I can't wait. Emma x