Part VII
"You're driving me crazy—when are you coming home?"

The sky was stained black with a handful of speckling stars when Emma had found herself back at the mayor's mansion. She couldn't remember how long she had been sitting on the stoop outside the front door fighting with herself—should she confront Regina with the iron words that coiled in her stomach, or should she merely give up and go home? Shaking her head briskly, the blonde huffed in exasperation as she pushed herself into a standing position and began walking back down the pathway to her car. A strange tingling sensation ran up the base of her spine as she edged away and Emma couldn't stop herself as she turned to look at the large, looming house. Damn the emotions that were rolling off of her in vicious waves—the brunette had an unspeakable hold on her, and the blonde couldn't shrug away the invisible hands that clenched her heart. Sighing, Emma realized that no matter how much she wanted to leave she could not bring herself to with such severed ties. With a new determination, Emma stalked back towards the front door and thrust the door open hard.

"Regina!" Emma yelled over the sound of the door slamming behind her. "We need to talk."

Peering into the shadows of the darkened foyer, green eyes noticed movement in the blackness and inched forward hesitantly. Flicking on a light, the blonde almost gasped as she saw the mayor huddled against the stairs, her bare legs pressed up into her chest as her head leaned on her knees—dark hair covering her face. Without preamble, Emma stumbled the last few steps and dropped onto the floor beside Regina, her hands instantly running over cold arms and shoulders. But, as soon as her fingers made contact with the woman's body, the blonde jerked back as fists flew at her viciously trying to get her away. The brunette was mumbling almost incoherently as her chest heaved with fearful sobs and Emma looked on with wide eyes as her heart stopped beating within her breast—what the hell had happened to the mayor? It was as if she had become consumed by horrific memories and couldn't crawl back into reality—back into the present.

"Regina…Regina!" The blonde yelled over Regina's babbling. "It's me—its Emma…please—please just look at me."

Behind the tainted images and blood-soaked memories the brunette could faintly hear the anguished pleading of her savior, begging her to reemerge. When Emma had left that morning all hope had fled her—any inkling of strength or power was stripped away from her as her mind became clouded by the past. She had tried her hardest to fight against the crackling voices, the disturbing faces, but she didn't seem to have the will and she had tumbled unwillingly into the abyss of a waking nightmare. But as the blonde's voice slithered within the veil between past and present Regina felt herself plummeting out of her head and back into the now. Gulping in a breath greedily it was as if she hadn't breathed in an eternity and she sucked the oxygen into her lungs hurriedly. As her heart rate decreased to its normal pace, the mayor blinked open her eyes and watched in awe as the haze disappeared and was replaced with the comforting sight of Emma's worried face.

"Ms. Swan…" the brunette tried to clip evenly, but she was shaken to the core and her voice wavered dramatically, "…you shouldn't be here."

"Don't, Ms. Swan me, Regina—" the blonde whispered viciously, her bearings only just coming back to her, "—what the hell was that? It was like you weren't even here—like you were lost in your head."

"I must have fallen asleep," the mayor offered firmly as she pulled herself up into a standing position, grimacing when she realized it was evening and she had been stuck within her thoughts for hours, "but it's no concern of yours as…oh right, we aren't to be involved with each other's personal affairs ever again."

"That's not fair," Emma gritted between barred teeth; how could the brunette be a puddle of raw emotion on the floor one minute and then a fully composed, blazing bitch the next? "It's not like you wanted anything of value from me."

"How would you know?" Regina yelled, turning her cold, black glare on the blonde quickly, "it's not as if you asked what I wanted—you were selfish and I—"

Fell in love with you the brunette wanted to say, but there was a strong force careening against her skull that whispered in a deadly hush not to—her mother's voice. Shivering, the mayor clenched her eyes shut as she pinched the bridge of her nose tightly. Everything inside of her was crumbling and collapsing around her and the mayor was unable to stop the hurricane of horror that swirled inside of her. There was nothing she could do now except accept total defeat and revert back into her memories until all that was left of Regina was a whimpering, writhing lunatic. Biting back a sob, the brunette let the hand fall away from her face and eyed Emma wearily—she was her only hope and she had crushed it to dust as she had with millions of hearts.

"You what?" The blonde asked in frustration, entering the mayor's personal space as she looked into the tremulous black eyes cryptically.

"Nothing," Regina sighed, giving up completely, "it was nothing…"

"Tell me!" Emma said harshly, her voice rising as she lunged forward and grabbed the brunette's shoulders in her hands, her fingers digging into the soft, bare skin as she shook her.

"I can't." The brunette seethed, pulling away from the other woman's grasp as she spun around to leave the foyer and the blonde's presence before she would say something she couldn't take back.

"Goddamn it, Regina!" Emma cried as she reached out a hand and pulled the mayor's retreating form back towards her; jerking her roughly until their chests collided against one another. "Tell me!"

"I can't!" Regina screamed in agony; the force of her protest causing tears to prickle behind her eyes.

The blonde stumbled back a step at the anguish that poured from the brunette's lips as she fought the torrent of her true feelings. But, Emma only faltered for a moment before her body reacted and closed the space between them, encompassing the mayor's in a tight, comforting embrace. Unable to fight the delicious warmth that the blonde's closeness offered her, Regina fell against her willingly as the tears rolled down her cheeks. They stood like that for several minutes, Emma running her fingers through tangled, dark strands of hair while the brunette gripped onto her with a hunger for comfort that she had never known she had. Eventually, the blonde pulled back and looked into the mayor's watery black gaze as her thumb swiped away the hot tears that pooled beneath her lashes. Smiling glumly, Emma pressed her forehead against Regina's and tried with all of her might to absorb all of the brunette's burdens and sadness so that she wouldn't have to deal with them alone.

"Please, Regina…" the blonde whispered, her lips ghosting across the full red mouth aligned with her own, "…tell me what you were going to say. I need to hear you say it."

"Love is weakness," the brunette sobbed quietly, her breath ragged and uneven, "and it's driving me crazy—you're driving me crazy but I—I can't help but love you—want to love you."

"Love isn't weakness, its strength," Emma smiled softly, as her hands ran down along the stiffened back beneath her fingers, "it's so powerful—it's like—"

"—magic." The mayor finished almost whimsically, and the beautiful fluttering in her heart made her lips twitch into an uneasy smile as courage wound around her veins. "Emma, I was so stupid—so stubborn…but I want you to know that I do love you."

"I love you, too." The blonde breathed as a luminous grin lit up her face; she had been waiting for that moment ever since she had accidently let her true feelings show during one of their more heated encounters.

Emma pressed herself forward the last inch that separated them and her mind swam with a new wave of emotions that she had never felt before—they were nearly indefinable in their intensity. Regina gasped into the kiss as she sucked in the blonde's taste, reveling at the familiar and comforting flavor that tingled over her tongue. After a brief moment, Emma pulled back, but the brunette didn't want the blonde anywhere but against her—inside of her. The truth had changed their dynamic and all the mayor wanted was for Emma's lips to be on her body as their hearts beat in tandem to the flush of their growing want for one another. This time it wouldn't be merely sex, no, it would be the joining of two people in an unshakable love—two lost, wandering souls finally allowing themselves to touch and fuse together eternally. Regina had finally found what she had been fighting for throughout her entire life: a love that was untouchable and sacred; a love that would protect and cradle her for the rest of her life. And as the realization struck her, the brunette let out the stale breath that she had been holding since she was a child—the persistent, berating voice of her mother had finally vanished.

Unable to contain the emotion and sensation that wafted through her, the mayor gripped the collar of Emma's red leather jacket within her fingers and pulled her close. Their lips crashed together in a kiss that was so powerful it nearly sent the two women clashing to the ground. Regina pressed her tongue inside the blonde's awaiting mouth firmly, pleading for Emma to understand how intense her feelings for her were. The blonde seemed to comprehend quite clearly, and she groaned into the mayor as she grasped narrow hips beneath her palms. Without preamble, the two women clung to each other as they clumsily climbed the stairs. Breaking apart in a fit of giggles, Regina laced her fingers through Emma's and pulled her upstairs and into her bedroom. Closing the door absently, the brunette wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck and speckled phantom kisses across her throat as she walked them to her bed. As the back of Emma's knees brushed against the edge of the messy mattress, the mayor pushed her onto it coyly as she sunk to the floor. Gaping, the blonde let her body burst fully to life as Regina's hands ran along her leather covered ribs and peeled the jacket away from her burning flesh; the amorous fingers already ghosting across the hem of her white tank top—but began to shake as nerves got the better of her. This was a matter that the dark woman had never contemplated and worry knotted in her stomach.

Hooded green eyes looked down through a heavy glaze of lust as they watched the brunette slowly lift the thin tank top over the blonde's head. Emma sat on the large bed in the mayor's bedroom, whilst Regina kneeled on the floor between her thighs. The blonde's thin mouth quirked into a gentle smirk as the material fluttered over her face and was quickly deposited on the floor. Reaching out a hand, Emma smoothed her fingers over the brunette's knitted brow trying to get the dark woman to relax but the mayor's black eyes remained downcast—staring absently at her shaking hands. Biting her lip, the blonde could swear that Regina's tightly wound nerves were causing her to become nervous as well. It was the first time that they were being intimate after everything had changed between them; after every single thought and feeling that crackled within their minds for the other had suddenly risen to the surface. And although things were different now—everything quickly becoming so delicate and sacred—Emma wouldn't have changed a single thing. The blonde had finally found love; the deep, pressing type of love that pounded within her heart and made her breathless; the type that she had read about in Henry's storybook. Beautifully magical was the only way that she could describe it and the blonde let herself relax as her cool fingers inched their way down the brunette's flushed cheek and stroked the heated skin tenderly.

"What are you thinking about?" Emma whispered, peering down at the brunette.

"I'm thinking about how—" the mayor's voice cracked and she shook her head as a way of gaining a better grasp of her emotions, "—about how I'm feeling."

It was then, in the safety of near darkness, that the blonde finally became aware of how vulnerable and scared Regina was beneath her cold, calculating mask. Moving her hand down slightly, Emma tucked her fingers against the bottom of the brunette's chin and tilted her face upward so that their eyes met. The air in the blonde's lungs evaporated as she noticed, for the first time, the child-like lightness that hung across her lover's features. The mayor's face was cleanly absent of makeup; her cheeks were colored with her emotions, and her olive skin seemed to illuminate against the pale moonlight. Everything about Regina in that moment was the epitome of softness, but all of that was nothing compared to the bright, flashing spark of hope and love that had miraculously found itself back into her dark eyes; the fledgling light of her soul that had disappeared many, many years ago.

"And what does that feeling…feel like?" The blonde breathed; her breath washed across the brunette's face and her eyelashes flickered as she licked her lips.

"It's a…curious…wanting feeling…" taking a deep breath, the mayor continued; her eyes shining through the darkness, "…a strange…loving thing…"

White teeth flashed in the withering light as Regina nibbled on her bottom lip in contemplation—the frantic worrying of chattering teeth against a full mouth made Emma swallow shallowly; whatever it was that the brunette was trying to say was not going to be easy—most likely for either of them. With cautious fingers, the blonde cupped the mayor's tear streaked cheeks in her palms and massaged them reassuringly. Wordlessly saying that whatever dark, shattering thought was invading Regina, Emma—with her raw and unadulterated love—would follow blindly behind her lover into the blackness and destruction. They were in this together from now on, regardless of how hard, and warring certain situations and confessions could be.

"It's alright, Regina…" the blonde murmured softly as she tried to pull the plagued woman from her thoughts, "…you can trust me—you're safe with me."

"I've never…" a pause, a silent sob tumbling through the brunette's bones as images of a man waded behind her eyes; his firm hands gripping her tightly as he ripped his pleasure from her, "…I've never—never made love before." The beautiful term sounded broken and cynical in the mayor's quaking voice as her shaking fingers dug into Emma's thighs for support. "The act of sex—yes, but no one has ever truly wanted me the way that you do—so fully…so completely—and it…it frightens me."

"We don't have to—" the blonde started, but was quickly cut off by smooth fingertips pressing silence to her lips.

"I want to." Regina confessed, her tone taking on a far more confident edge; her dark eyes spun with warmth as she looked deeply into her lover's green orbs, "I want you to be the one I give myself to...if you'll have me?"

"Do you even have to ask?"

The brunette flushed silently, and slowly began to relax as she realized that Emma was in this with her for the long haul and that she wasn't going anywhere. Sighing in contentment, the mayor leaned up and captured her partner's lips with her own in a searing kiss of promise. It started off slowly and gently but as the seconds merged together in a fog of love fueled lust it bloomed into something altogether bolder. They parted momentarily as the last pieces of their clothing were shed and their naked bodies touched hungrily, as if for the first time. Intoxicated by the feeling that whirled in her head; the blonde pulled Regina onto the unmade bed and straddled her hips in a graceful flourish of limbs.

As their mouths met again in a feverish kiss of tender want, Emma let her fingertips trace every curve and swell of the brunette's body; the mayor shivered in long awaited anticipation and arched her back off of the mattress as the blonde cupped a breast within her warm palm. Licking the full lips softly, Emma knelt her head and captured a hardened nipple within her mouth, swirling her tongue around the sensitive pucker of flesh. Hissing in sheer pleasure, Regina shifted her body among the blankets until her hand had appropriate space to slither down the blonde's slick body. Gasping as cool fingers trailed along her wet folds tenderly, Emma moved her fiery mouth up to the column of the brunette's throat and sucked along the salty flesh eagerly; the responsive body beneath her's writhing and moaning in delight.

While the room was filled with the heavenly sound of ragged breaths and whispered confessions of love, the pink fingers of morning streaked across the sky. The two naked forms that grinded desperately against one another were illuminated by the newly exposed tinges of sunlight. Their bodies were shinning with perspiration as their movements became more frantic; their lips clung together as fingers were buried within one another—savoring the delicious waves of pleasure as they touched frantically. Slowly, as the sun slithered from its slumber and began its trek into the coral sky both women were rendered with shocking shudders as an orgasm thundered through one body and pounded through the other simultaneously. Cries of ecstasy shattered through the bedroom as the women collapsed against one another, their bodies spent—their tangled limps glowing with newly vocalized love.

"What happens now?" Regina whispered, as she laid her head on the blonde's quivering chest, content to listen to the beating of her heart—the heart that now belonged to the brunette.

"Now," Emma smiled, fingering the damp strands of dark hair, "now we spend the rest of our lives together."

"Oh, do we?" The brunette questioned coyly as she kissed the warm skin beneath her grinning lips.

"It'll get hard," the blonde nodded, realizing that not everything was simply going to materialize into perfection, "I'm still going to be a stubborn ass and you're still going to be a domineering bitch…" Trailing off for a moment, Emma chuckled deep in her throat as she felt a devious smirk caress the mouth pressed against her flesh. "But, we're going to love each other anyway."

"How do you know—how can you be so sure?"

"Because, this is it—this is home," the blonde breathed as her green eyes fluttered closed with fatigue, "…this is our happy ending."

Feeling the chest beneath her cheek rise and fall more slowly, the mayor cocked her head up so that she could see Emma's face. Her green eyes were pressed shut, and her skin was smooth with sleep. Smiling softly, Regina leaned up and placed a tender kiss on the sleeping woman's lips. Pulling away with a sigh of utter exhilaration, the brunette brushed a stray strand of golden hair from the blonde's face and laid her head back down upon Emma's breast. As a yawn silently tumbled from her mouth, the mayor nuzzled more firmly against the blonde. In one day the woman had fought away all of her demons; with one gentle touch she had created a wave of happiness that the dark woman had never experienced before. While the peaceful notions swirled around in Regina's now quiet mind, she felt herself being pulled into the realm of sleep alongside her lover. But, not until Emma's words fell from her smiling lips.

"Our happy ending."

A/N: Holy, I never would have expected for this last part to end up being so long, and so hard to write (I had a FEELS overload!) Surprisingly, overall this probably has to be my favorite part, and the part that I'm most pleased with stylistically. The words kind of just…flew out of me and then I realized how long I had made it. This story took a toll on my little fangirl heart but I'm so glad that I decided to give them the happy ending they both truly deserve. Anyway, this writing experience was wonderful and I adore all of you who have read and reviewed this, you're all lovely, beautiful people! As always, let me know how you feel about the completion of the story by reviewing!