A/N: So I am back with a second chapter of this story! There will also be a third chapter and who knows, maybe more if inspiration hits/anyone has any ideas for the story. I would like to give a shout out to Charming-MillsFam for giving me an idea for continuing this story. Thank you very much! :) And thanks to all of you supporting this story. I really appreciate it! :)

This is an alternative season five ending, so it doesn't really follow what happened in last night's episode (or what may possibly happen) later on. There are Regina/Robin and Emma/Hook moments in this chapter, but this story is all for SwanQueen and you will see why I incorporated the scenes I did. Happy reading!

Chapter Two: Moving On

It had been two weeks since they had successfully defeated Hades and made it out of the Underworld.

Things had finally settled down.

Regina was glad to be back in the real Storybrooke and that for once, no evil was threatening to break apart the town.

But what brought her the greatest happiness was knowing that Emma loved her. She always had.

She was walking along the beach with Emma, her right hand holding on to the blonde's left hand. It was midafternoon, and they had just finished eating lunch together at Granny's.

Emma had come up with the idea the night before, calling her to let her know to wear "appropriate" attire for their Saturday together.

"You have to wear something different. Like casual clothes."

"I wear casual clothes."

"I'm sorry, Regina, but dress pants and a blouse does not count as casual clothes. Honestly, I don't think I've ever seen you wear anything that wasn't businesslike."

"I wear sweats around the house sometimes."

"Sometimes?"

"Yes."

"Do you even own a pair of jeans?"

"I imagine that I do."

"You imagine, huh? That proves my point. You never wear casual clothes."

"Oh, stop. I own jeans, Emma."

"Then wear them tomorrow."

So as Emma had requested, she succumbed to wearing jeans, a gray t-shirt, and flats. Although the idea had bothered her a little at first, it was actually nice to wear something more comfortable. She received some surprised glances from a few of the customers in the diner at her outfit, but she quickly dismissed it. She had been more interested in what Emma had planned for her after lunch.

Emma suddenly pulled her toward the ocean, and she let go of her hand so she could roll up the bottom of her jeans. They had already kicked off their shoes shortly after arriving at the beach. Regina followed suit and joined her with walking through the water. It was almost summer, and the water was warm to the touch. Regina longed for more days like this, when she could spend time with the blonde outdoors.

Splash!

"Emma!"

She turned around to see the blonde gazing out at the sky with her hands behind her back, pretending to be clueless about the whole situation. Regina put her hands on her hips, waiting for Emma to acknowledge the fact that she had just splashed water in her direction.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"I think you know what."

Emma grinned.

Regina leaned down and cupped the water in her hands, tossing it at the blonde.

"Hey!"

"You did it first."

Emma just stared at her for a few seconds before she kicked more water towards her.

"Emma Swan!"

She flashed her another wide-tooth grin before taking off running, yelling over her shoulder, "Catch me if you can!"

"Miss Swan, you are so childish sometimes!" Yet she chased after her, both of them engaging in a brief water war before Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde's waist and pulled her close. "Caught you, dear." She leaned over Emma's shoulder slightly to meet her for a kiss. The blonde smiled as they parted.

"I love you, Regina."

"I love you, too, Emma."

Emma turned around to face her, and they shared a few passionate kisses. The blonde then reached for her hand again, and they continued to trek across the sand, talking and laughing about whatever came to each other's minds.

Regina could tell Emma had become livelier ever since admitting her feelings to her, and she had come into her own again. Between being the Dark One and going to the Underworld to save Hook, she let herself drown into doing what she thought was right, and that was being with Hook. She lost her sense of self because of him. Of course, Regina realized she had let her own self slip away as well as she tried to convince herself that Robin was her true love. Around the blonde, she could be herself and more easily now that their feelings for each other were mutual. She knew Emma felt the same.

It still hadn't made it easy to say goodbye to Hook for Emma, or for her to separate from Robin.

~Three Weeks Prior~

Regina walked into the forest clearing, finding Robin standing near a tree as he tended to his bow. They weren't far from Zelena's house, and she called him to let him know where to meet. Baby Hood was being watched by the Charmings, and after some encouragement from Emma, she had finally mustered the courage to tell Robin the truth about her feelings for the blonde. It had been a few days after they had confessed their love for one another, and neither of them had said anything about it to Robin or Hook. Charming, Snow, and Henry insisted on keeping her and Emma's relationship a secret, allowing them to be the ones to admit to the truth.

(Snow had kept her secret this time.)

"Robin?"

He turned around and looked up at her. "Regina." He leaned in to kiss her, but she backed away. "Regina? Is everything…?"

The dreaded sentence that signaled inevitable trouble in a relationship dropped from her mouth. Robin searched her eyes, trying to decipher the message she was about to deliver to him.

"We need to talk."

"Oh. Um, what about?"

Regina shifted uncomfortably. "It's about… About us, Robin."

"Have I done something to upset you?"

She shook her head. "No, no. It's nothing you've done. I've just… Well, I guess I've just realized some things while being down here."

He took her hands in his. "What's that, Regina?"

She looked away.

"You can tell me anything."

"I, um…" She took a deep breath and allowed herself to look back at him. "I love Emma."

"What?"

"I love her. It's always been her."

Robin let go of her hands. "Really?"

"Yes. I'm sorry, dear. I… I never thought she loved me back, so I just ignored my feelings. Look, I understand if you're mad at me…"

He didn't give her a chance to finish. "But she does love you back?"

"Yes."

He put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Then I'm happy for you."

"You… You are?"

Robin nodded. "If you are truly in love with her, then why am I to stop you? I want you to be happy, and if that's with someone else, I don't want to hold you back from that happiness."

"Thank you." She pulled him into a hug. "Thank you, Robin. For being so understanding."

"Of course, Regina."

"Please know that you made me very happy too. And I did love you. Just not as much as I've loved Emma." She stepped away from him, took hold of his hand, and lightly patted it with her other hand. "You are such a compassionate and wonderful and caring person, Robin. And I have enjoyed the time I have spent with you. I do hope that one day you will fall in love with someone who feels as deeply for you as you have felt for me."

He smiled.

Regina let his hand go and took a few steps backward.

"Regina?"

"Yes?"

"Do know that I am still here for you. As a friend."

She smiled. "As am I."

Hook had not taken it as well as Robin.

Emma ended up telling him the same day Regina told Robin.

"You mean that all of this time, you've felt absolutely nothing for me?"

"No! That's not true, Killian. I did feel something for you, but it just wasn't the same way I felt for Regina."

"I can't believe you, Emma Swan. You've lied to me. All of this time."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think she felt the same way."

"So I've been your bloody second this whole time?"

Her voice faltered at his harsh tone. "I'm sorry…"

He stood up from the table then and slammed the door on his way out of the loft. Unbeknownst to Hook, Regina had been in the upstairs bedroom, listening to the conversation. She came to the loft some time before Hook arrived, letting her know how it went with Robin. Emma heard her walk down the stairs.

"Emma. I am so sorry."

"I… I thought…"

She couldn't finish the sentence. The tears won instead, and as soon as Regina pulled up a chair next to her, she rested her head on her chest and cried.

"After everything I've done for him… He couldn't be at least a little understanding?"

"I know, dear. That wasn't very fair of him." She rubbed comforting circles on her back. "See why I think you are too good for him?"

"Yeah…" She felt herself crying harder. "I'm sorry…"

"There's nothing you need apologize for, Emma. Take the time that you need."

Her parents soon returned to the loft with Baby Hood and Henry. When Snow saw the scene, she took a seat next to Emma, whispering gentle words in her ear. Charming put a hand on Emma's shoulder and rubbed it briefly before heading upstairs with Baby Hood. Henry joined them, standing next to Regina. Out of the corner of her eye, Emma saw Regina take Snow's hand. And that was enough to calm her down.

In that moment, it was hard for her to imagine that a feud ever occurred between the two women.

Robin tried to talk to Hook the next day, but he reported back to her that it hadn't been successful.

"I don't understand," he said to Emma. "I mean, of course it hurt finding out that Regina's heart belonged to someone else while I was with her, but it's not like you were cheating on Hook the entire time you two were together. You hadn't even known Regina felt the same way."

"So much for being the changed, decent man he wanted to be," Emma said sadly.

"Maybe he'll come around?" Robin said hopefully.

Regina sighed. "I don't know, Robin. He seemed pretty bent out of shape when I saw him today. Thank you for trying to talk to him, though."

"I could try again."

Emma shook her head. "No. If he's so pissed with me, he needs to come talk to me. So if either of you see him, you tell him to come find me. I'm not chasing his sorry ass to apologize to him. He owes me an apology."

Regina smiled at her. "There's that fiery spirit I remember. That's the Emma who cut down a branch from my apple tree."

Robin looked at Emma in surprise. "You did what now?"

"Well, let's just say Regina wasn't very heartwarming when I first came to Storybrooke. She tried to frame me for stealing Henry's file from his shrink and had me arrested. As soon as my mom bailed me out, I headed straight for that apple tree outside Town Hall. Chainsaw and everything."

"Wow. I suppose I can say if I cross you, I'd better watch my back."

Regina walked over to Emma and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I have to say. My girlfriend's pretty badass."

That sent the three of them into a fit of laughter.

Two days later, Hook approached her. She was walking down the hellish version of Main Street when she heard him say her name.

"Emma."

She kept walking. "So you want to talk to me now?"

"Yes, Emma. I've done some thinking, and…"

She stopped abruptly and faced him. "And what? You realized how much of an asshole you were to me that day? After all of the sacrifices I've made for you, you couldn't even do one simple thing for me and hear me out, let me explain myself… You snapped back into your old hateful self instead and just ran off. And that's crap, Killian."

"I know, love. I'm…"

"Don't call me that."

"Emma. Please allow me to explain myself now."

She folded her arms across her chest and waited.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have treated you that way. I just… I love you so much and to know that you didn't feel the same… It really hit me."

"I did love you. But I loved Regina more… I just never thought she'd feel the same."

"So it has always been her?"

Emma nodded. "I was too afraid to let her know how I felt."

Hook smirked. "Well, the Evil Queen does inspire quite a bit of fear."

"Yeah…"

His tone became serious again. "She makes you happy?"

She smiled. "Very much."

"Then I'm happy for you." He took her hand. "You've worked so hard to give everyone their happy endings, always putting yourself last for the sake of protecting your loved ones… It's time you got your happy ending, Emma. And if that's with Regina, then no one should deny you that."

"Thank you, Killian."

They embraced for a moment.

"There's one more thing, Emma."

She looked at him in surprise. "What's that?"

"My unfinished business. It was you."

"You… You're not coming back with us."

"I will help you defeat Hades, but this is the end of the road for me."

"Are you sure, Killian? Is this really what you want?"

"I've lived plenty a long life, Emma, and I think that this is what is best for me. And after seeing my brother move on… Well, maybe we can meet up again. That's if I move on to a better place."

"You will move on to a better place. That man you wanted to be? You've shown me that you are him."

Hook smiled.

Emma came back to the loft with Hook, and he told them—minus Gold, Belle, and Zelena—of his decision. So nearly a week later at the eve of Hades' defeat, the six of them accompanied him to the very place Regina had watched both her father and her mother move on. Hook had helped out where he could, but they all agreed it was best for him to do this before facing Hades.

The two were no longer in an intimate relationship, but their past together still made it hard for Emma to let him go. Regina would have found it difficult too had it been Robin.

The blonde was fighting back tears as she began to walk with him down the path. They all were. Regardless of his villainous past, he had come a long way and really had formed a friendship with each of them. The seven of them had become somewhat of a unit after Neverland, and after all of the battles they had faced together, losing someone from that structure wasn't easy.

And that was what caused her to step forward.

"You don't have to do this, Killian."

Hook turned to look at her.

"You can come back with us. We will find a way. We always do."

"Regina's right," Emma said, glancing from her to Hook. "You can still choose otherwise. We won't leave you behind."

"I know. But this is what I want."

Regina gave a small nod. He was sincerely ready to leave this life. "You're ready to move on."

"Aye."

The blonde smiled sadly at him.

Hook glanced towards the end of the cave, but instead of walking in that direction, he turned her way and approached her. "I know you love Emma very much. As much as Emma loves you. I've seen your affection for each other in the last week, and I couldn't be happier for the both of you. And I wish you two the best… All of you… As you embark in whatever life throws your way. Hopefully no more evil will threaten Storybrooke. So all of you can settle down and enjoy one another's company."

"I hope so, too," she said.

"Promise me one thing, Regina."

"What's that?"

"Please take care of Emma."

"You know I will."

Emma chimed in. "We save each other. It's kind of something we've always done. Whether or not at the time we appreciated it."

Regina laughed at the distant memories of her tense relationship with the blonde during her first few months in Storybrooke. "Yeah…" She shook her head. "I can't believe I'm going to do this Guyliner, but…"

His brow furrowed at the statement, but the confusion didn't last long, as she pulled him into a hug seconds after she had stopped talking.

"Thank you for accepting our relationship, Killian."

"You're welcome, Regina. Both of you have fought long and hard for your happy endings. And that's each other."

Regina stepped back from him, wiping away the tears from her eyes. Despite all of the frustration the pirate had caused her, she couldn't help but be moved by the selflessness he was displaying now.

The others jumped in, each giving him a hug before he came back to Emma. The blonde looked down at her hands and then held out the chain with his ring to him.

"Emma…"

"No. You should have it back. Let it be a memory of me. Of the good man you became."

Hook nodded and took the chain with his hand, placing it around his neck. "Thank you, Emma. For everything you've done for me."

She gave him a hug. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Emma."

They parted, and with one last glance at everyone, he took a few steps down the path. Regina came to Emma's side, pulling her close as they watched him continue. He soon made it to the end of the path, and the familiar scene took place. The sound of the ground shifting, the brief instance of fire encircling him. Regina held her breath, hoping for the best.

Please let him move on to a better place. Please.

And then… They saw the sea and a boat in the distance coming for him. Emma shook her shoulder, smiling up at her. She let out her breath.

"This is what he saw with Liam moving on. He's going to a better place."

"That's great, Emma."

The boat wasn't empty either.

"It's… It's Liam! He's going to be reunited with him. Just like he'd hoped for."

Regina smiled at the blonde's excitement.

Hook glanced back at them. When the boat stopped in front of him, he turned away, taking hold of his brother's hand.

"Didn't think I would let you go alone, did you, Brother?"

Hook smiled.

"There's a ship waiting for you. Kind of like…"

"The Jolly Roger?"

"Exactly. Ready, Captain?"

He stepped on to the boat, and they were on their way.

And even in the cave, they could heard the faint noise of the clock hand moving its place. Another soul saved from the Underworld.

~Present~

They were now sitting in the sand, gazing at the ocean and enjoying the peace that nature offered them. Neither of them had spoken for some time, but it didn't bother Regina. Just sitting next to Emma, her hand intertwined with hers, was all she needed.

As much as she didn't want to disrupt this relaxing moment with the blonde, she did need to get something off her chest. She still hadn't talked to Snow and Charming. She had run through many versions in her head of what she would say to them, but she was never fully satisfied with the apology. There was so much she had to apologize for, and she just didn't think all of the words she could say would ever make up for the terrible things she had done to them.

"Emma?"

The blonde turned her head and smiled at her. "Yes, Regina?"

"You know I want to talk to your parents."

They had discussed the topic briefly since their return to Storybrooke.

"I'm a bit nervous to do it."

"How come? They'll forgive you, Regina. I mean, they kind of already have since they're okay with us being together."

"I know. I guess I feel that no matter what the apology, no matter how many times I say sorry, it will never make up for what I've done. I wish I could give to them… To you… What all of you never had for twenty eight years. For them, that was spending time with their daughter and watching you grow up into the wonderful person you are now. And for you, that was having a loving and caring family during those twenty eight years instead of a life of complete loneliness."

"You may not be able to give us those years back, but you have made up for what you've done. You might not think so, but you have. You have come such a long way since I first met you. Despite what you might think… That you don't know how to love well? You've shown me how wrong you were to ever think that. When you love, Regina, you love deeper than any other person I know."

Regina smiled.

"My parents know that you are truly sorry for what you did in the past. And they have forgiven you. But apologizing for it now, after all of these years? That's a big step, Regina. They will appreciate that. So…" Emma stood up and helped her to her feet. They both brushed the sand off their jeans, and then the blonde nodded ahead of her. "Go on. You know what you need to do."

Regina nodded slightly and turned around, taking a few steps forward when another thought came to her.

Graham.

She had never told anyone how he had died. That she crushed his heart and killed him. On the same day she had gone to look for Daniel's tombstone, she had searched for Graham's as well. If she had found either of the two still roaming the Underworld, she would have helped both of them with their unfinished business if they had been ready to move on.

She turned back to the blonde. "Emma?"

Emma raised an eyebrow at her.

"There's something else."

"What's that?"

"Graham."

"Oh. Um, what about him?"

Regina brought her hands together. "I went to look for his tombstone in the Underworld."

"You wanted to see if he moved on?"

Regina nodded.

"And?"

She smiled at the memory. "The tombstone had fallen over. He moved on to a better place."

"That's great to hear."

"Yeah…" She shifted uncomfortably. "He didn't die of natural causes, Emma. I… I killed him."

Emma nodded slowly.

"I was jealous… And desperate. I didn't want him to be with you. Back then, you may have thought that was because I had feelings for him. But it was really because I had feelings for you."

The blonde smiled briefly.

"And the curse obviously played a role. You restoring his memories after you two shared a kiss posed a threat to me. But I really hated the idea of you two being together. So, I did what the Evil Queen did best. Act selfish and get rid of the problem in the easiest way possible. And that was to crush his heart."

"He was searching for his heart that night. I guess he was looking in the right place after all."

"Yeah… His death really did bother me in the Underworld. I never told anyone the truth. Maybe you put two and two together and figured it was me, based on my past. I am really, really sorry about his death. I should not have done that to him. He did not deserve to die."

"I forgive you. Remember, Regina." Emma put her hands on her shoulders and gave them a gentle shake. "You are not that person anymore."

Regina nodded.

Emma backed away from her. "Now go. It's my parents' turn to hear from you. I'll catch up with you later."

She laughed. "Alright. I'll let you know how it went."

Nearly half an hour later, Regina was standing outside the door to the loft. She took a deep breath and knocked on the door. Emma told her that her parents had already forgiven her for her past crimes, but knowing that still didn't make it any easier to have this conversation. No matter what, it was reopening old wounds, bringing to life the previous feuds that hung heavy on all on their hearts.

Please let this go well.

The door opened to reveal Snow. She smiled at her presence and said cheerfully, "Regina. Please, come in." She took a few steps inside and waited for Snow to join her at her side. "What's up?"

She glanced around the kitchen. "Is Charming around?"

"He's actually just about to get home. Is there something you wanted to discuss with him?"

"Yes, but I wanted to talk with you as well. I need to apologize for… Well, quite a few things."

Snow reached out to take her hands and gave them a comforting squeeze. "We'll wait for him then."

The third chapter will go into Regina's conversation with Snow and Charming, a resolution scene with Regina and Zelena, and some Charming-Mills family fun. Review and let me know if you would like to see something in the next chapter, or if you have any other ideas in general for the story. I love to hear what you think!