Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time, Storybrooke and any recognizable characters are property of ABC Studios and the Walt Disney Co. No copyright infringement intended.

A/N: So I had one review asking if they don't feed Regina even though she's in prison, and I wanted to reply here rather than privately because I have been under the assumption that Regina is being fed and, well, bathes every once in a while, and the fact that Emma brings her coffee or anything else is just to do something nice - surely the guards would not worry about the prisoner having freshly ground coffee every morning; ;) So I hope that makes sense! Secondly, I originally planned this story as a series of little scenes showing the interaction between the two, and, through those interactions, showing the changes in their relationship. It changes a little bit later on, but for now I hope it conveys what it is supposed to. Thank you to everyone who has been reading this, and a special thanks to my beta, who has a great grasp of the characters and keeps me inspired even at the hardest moments. =)

Chapter 2 - The Princess

Emma was not a morning person – another trait she didn't seem to share with anyone on that place. The fairytales always showed the bright mornings and the birds singing, and – God, was that her mother reaching her hand for a bird to land on? – well, it just wasn't her. Sure, the grounds were amazing, and even the animals, and the way they seemed to almost be able to communicate with people, were beautiful, but she still needed her sleep.

However, after she was interrupted by one of the servants with her breakfast, and got a visit from Snow closely followed by another one from Henry, she realized she would not be able to close her eyes again.

It left her restless, the simple fact that she was there. That she did not have a job, that she didn't seem to fit there, or understand these people she used to be so familiar with. The fact that she had already used two out of the twenty batteries she had brought for her camera, and then that would be it. The fact that even Henry was learning how to sword fight, and she was too afraid to even get close to the horses and the knights. That Snow could use the bow like she was freaking Robin Hood, and David was… well… Prince Charming. That she wasn't going to have internet ever again, or drive a car, or eat a bear claw, for crying out loud!

She got out of her room, hoping she wouldn't run into anyone she knew on the way. Soon enough, she had managed to take some food from the kitchen, making sure to grab an apple before going to the place that was starting to become too familiar by now.

"Morning," she said, simply, as if it was a normal thing between them already.

If Regina was startled, she didn't show it. As soon as both women locked eyes, Emma motioned for her to get closer, and offered some of the food. As expected, the bright red fruit was the only thing to catch Regina's attention. "Good morning, Ms Swan," she spoke as she took a bite of the apple. "I assume you found your calling in this world as a prison warden."

Predictably, the last sentence was received with a roll of eyes from the blonde, which only served to make Regina's smirk wider.

"I was bored," Emma shrugged.

"And do I look like the court jester to you?" Regina's tone was just as annoyed as the expression on her face.

Emma's face, though, immediately lit up. "Do we get to have one here? I always thought they were kinda creepy, but I suppose it could be entertaining," with a glint of playfulness and a smirk of her own, she added, "Hey, maybe I should convince the queen and king to make you the jester! I'm sure you would appreciate the fresh air, and seeing someone else other than me."

Regina's glare was so fierce that Emma had to check herself just to make sure she wasn't burning, or freezing, or deteriorating, or whatever else the former Queen was capable of doing with her magic. "Just seeing you is enough, I assure you."

It was meant as an insult, and she was pretty sure she planned on saying 'seeing you is punishment enough', but for some weird reason, the word did not come out when she spoke, and her tone was not half as cold or angry as she wanted it to be. They were silent for a moment, and the brunette could swear she'd seen a hint of a smile on the other woman's face. She quickly dismissed it. It was probably the same damn infuriating smirk from before.

"What are you even doing here? I don't suppose your mother would be too thrilled to have her precious princess walking around the dungeons."

Regina saw Emma grimacing at the words. The blonde was more transparent than she thought. Or maybe Regina was more perceptive. Either way, it made it easy for the former Queen to know which words would get to her the most.

"Snow," Emma made sure to emphasize the word, "heard from the guards that I came here last time. She wasn't all that happy, but she gets it."

"So she was just… ok… with her daughter speaking to the Evil Queen from time to time?" she raised her eyebrow, not fully believing it. "Somehow I find that hard to believe."

Emma sighed. "They may be my parents, but that doesn't make me a child. It's not like they can ground me for coming here. Plus, I'm not of much use for anyone up there."

It did not sound pitiful or dramatic. She was simply stating a fact, a truth. Her truth, anyway.

"You were a Sheriff, Ms Swan. Being a knight is pretty much running around and fighting, too. Without the paperwork," she said with a hint of a smile, and then added, as an afterthought, "which you never did anyway, so I doubt you'll miss it."

Emma smiled to herself. "You know what? I would gladly do all the paperwork I left stacked on my desk if it meant going back to Storybrooke," she spoke in a quiet voice, almost as if she wasn't sure she should be saying that. She then looked up to gaze at Regina, "I wouldn't even mind you storming into my office and complaining about the lack of an organizational system," the last words were uttered in a poor imitation of the former Mayor's tone.

"I do not sound as…"

"Bitchy?" Emma grinned.

"Annoying," Regina corrected her, and, to both their surprises, they smiled at each other now, both letting themselves be carried briefly by the memories of the town they still considered home. "Anyway," the brunette's voice brought them back to reality, "It's doubtful that I would still be the Mayor by now, so you would be free to keep on doing as much mess as you wanted without having to hear me complaining."

"Come on, and what would I do with myself, just sitting there all day with no one to piss me off?" her smile reached her eyes, right before she frowned once more, "I just wanted things to be like before, you know? Why did I have to break that stupid curse? Things were just fine as they were."

"Finally something we can both agree on." Regina said, "Although I have to warn you not to go around saying things like that. Most people here would not agree that things were just fine before."

"Well…" Emma considered it carefully, "as far as evil curses go, things could have been much worse for them. They did have a nice town, no memories, so it's not like they were suffering. I think, for them, the worst punishment was to remember, you know? Once they knew they were cursed, that was when they felt it all," she shook the thought from her mind, wishing she could take it back. Had she actually defended Regina's curse just now? It was just way too hard for her to try and understand what it was like for them, when she hadn't lived it herself. "Hey… did you…" she hesitated for a second, "You remembered everything, didn't you?" From the expression on her face, it was obvious this was the first time she was even considering this.

"What would be the point in creating the curse and not being able to remember I was getting my revenge?" Despite her words, her tone was not satisfied, nor did she sound proud or happy about it.

The blonde stopped, careful not to set the other woman off, "It just seems to me like, out of everyone, you were the one who could have used a fresh start the most. So why not give yourself that? The chance to forget everything that hurt you that bad and just… start again?"

"You don't have a clue about everything that's happened to me," her voice started to rise, but soon deflated, when she realized Emma's tone did not hold one bit of judgement to it. "You just don't know. Let's say that my side of the story is not something Disney would be interested in."

"Well…" Emma bit her lower lip, daring to take one step closer to the cell, "Disney may not be interested, but some people might be, you know?" When Regina squinted her eyes, trying to gather what exactly the blonde meant by that, Emma quickly added, "Like Henry."

Regina's expression was unreadable. If Emma didn't know any better, she would say it seemed disappointed at the last addition. Or maybe it was the mention of the boy's name that made the brunette sad and hopeful at the same time.

"You didn't bring any coffee today," her voice was a bit stronger now, almost authoritary as she quickly turned the conversation to a much safer subject.

The blonde pointed to the general direction of the door, looking between the woman and the way out. With a quick nod, she started making her way to the kitchen, but not before turning to the cell one last time. "I'll be right back."

She was already on her back, so Regina missed the huge grin on her face when the brunette replied, "You better be."

"I brought you something," Emma got a bit closer to the cell, in what had become some sort of a routine between the two women now. She handed Regina her usual cup of coffee and used the now free hand to reach into her pocket and take a small camera.

Regina took it and, with a confused glance at Emma, brought her focus back to the small device, turning it on before looking back at the blonde. "You want a picture with me?" she smirked, "Because I think all the bars would get in the way, and the light is hardly flattering down here."

"Just… take a look at the pictures, Regina," Emma replied, only half annoyed.

When the brunette pressed the button and took a closer look at the pictures stored there, she couldn't help the tightness in her chest. The first one showed Henry with his sword, learning to fight on the inner courtyard of the palace. The second was one Emma had taken without the boy noticing, while he simply sat and observed as Gepetto and Pinocchio rebuilt their home, with the help of the dwarves. The third was actually earned a chuckle from Regina. It showed Henry dressed in an armour which was clearly too big for him, and trying, with the help of one of the palace guards, to get on one of the horses. The following photo showed him proudly on the beautiful white horse, looking directly to the camera and waving.

"I thought… you would like to see how he's doing, you know, since he can't come down here," Emma said it quietly, still deciding if she should reveal that last bit of information. Finally, she couldn't find a reason not to. "He does ask about you, you know? All the time, now that he knows I come here," she couldn't help smiling as she saw the look of hope on the other woman's face, "He cares about you, too. He's just trying to… to process everything. To blend the notion of the Evil Queen with everything else he knows of you, and trying to make sense out of it all," finally, she looked straight into Regina's eyes and spoke, "And he's not the only one."

"Emma, you know I…" she did start saying something, but couldn't find the words to finish.

"No, I don't," with a frustrated laugh, she got up and started pacing in front of the cell, "I don't know anything. I come here and we talk, and I know you are not that person anymore, but do you even regret it?" once again, she stopped and looked at the woman, wanting more than anything to hang on to every word she said, and believe her. "Would you take it back if you had a chance?"

After a long pause, Regina took a deep breath, the words barely able to escape her mouth. "I… I can't," she started, and then found that she needed to elaborate, "I can't bring myself to regret it, because it gave me Henry. I never would have been his mother if I had never enacted that curse."

Emma's eyes went from angry to startled to understanding in such a short period of time that the blonde herself could barely keep up with all the emotions. So that was it. Regina wouldn't change things even if she could. It should be her answer. It should be enough to make her believe the woman was truly evil. And then the explanation came and it showed exactly the opposite. It wasn't that she hated Snow and her family that much. It was that she loved Henry that much.

"I feel like I should hate you right now. If it wasn't for that curse, I would have grown up with a family. I know I said before that it could have been worse for them, but as for me… things would have been so different." Emma's mouth formed a thin line as she struggled with everything she was trying to make sense of. To her surprise, she saw something she rarely saw across Regina's face. Fear. It became even more palpable as what usually would have entailed a snide remark by the brunette gave way to nothing but silence.

Regina simply looked the other way and, with her face now out of Emma's sight, closed her eyes tightly. "Go ahead, dear," she spoke, no hint of sarcasm or malice in her voice now, "You will finally have something in common with everyone else in this place."

That is the thing, Emma thought, and decided on voicing the thought that followed, "Maybe I don't want that," her shoulders dropped as she leaned against the prison bars and allowed her body to slide down so that her back was turned to Regina. She just couldn't face the woman now. "Or maybe I'm just not able to."

Regina still wasn't sure if Emma was talking about hating her or fitting in. Truth be told, she was fairly certain not even the blonde was entirely sure which one she meant. So she remained silent and painfully still. But when she heard a faint sob and looked to see Emma's back shaking slightly, her lips let out a deep breath.

Emma heard movement behind her. She expected Regina would just lie down and ignore her for the rest of the time. What she didn't expect was to feel Regina's back as the woman sat by her side of the cell, mirroring the blonde's position. It was strangely comforting.

After a while, when Emma's hands went to her sides, supporting her on the ground, she didn't expect one of Regina's hands to be so close. There it stayed, beyond the bars, while the other hand remained out of her sight, so Emma knew for sure it wasn't accidental. She softly reached a bit further and touched it with one finger, and, finding no resistance, placed her entire hand on top of the woman's, giving it a gentle, thankful squeeze. She couldn't help but wonder how long ago Regina had reached out to her, without her realizing it.