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: You guys have been amazing, so I decided to post this a day earlier this time. The website didn't seem to be sending out the e-mails to let the subscribers know that the story was updated, I really hope it's fixed by now. Either way, a lot of you read and enjoyed the last chapter, so thank you so much for taking your time to leave a review. I do realize the build up is really slow on this fic, but hey, at least they'll have a solid foundation once something happens. In this chapter, things start to progress a little more, plot wise. So I hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 11 - The Light

"Are you sure about this?" Emma asked as the cell was unlocked and she got ready to leave.

Earlier that day, Snow had returned, asking her daughter, who was now much calmer, if she would consider at least having lunch upstairs with them so they could talk better. Regina was the one who convinced her she should go.

"I am," the brunette nodded with what she hoped was an encouraging smile, "You're ready for this." Although she was sad to see Emma go, and a small part of her was even apprehensive that the blonde would see the world up there was not as scary as she'd made herself believe the past days and decide to stay there, she also knew it was an important step for Emma.

The blonde, on her part, got closer to Regina and reached for her hands as if on instinct. "Will you be ok here?" she asked, and seemed genuinely concerned.

Regina couldn't help the smirk that formed on her lips, "I think you should've asked that question before you moved in, not when I'm about to get rid of you."

Emma really wanted to roll her eyes at the predictable teasing, but she could only smile fondly at the woman. "I'll miss you too," she squeezed her hands before letting go and making her way outside, unknowingly leaving the woman thinking way too much about her words.

Time seemed to pass much slower then, much like it did the weeks before Emma became a constant presence in her life. She tried to distract herself with a few books, but couldn't really concentrate for too long. Finally, she found herself lying in bed, looking up at nothing in particular, and smiling at the memory of Emma in that exact same position on the floor, talking about the so-called patterns she could see up in the dungeon's walls.

"Guess what?" she wasn't sure how much time had passed when Emma jumped in front of her cell, happily showing her the keys she had on her hands and not wasting any time in using them. When the door was opened and there was nothing in between them, though, Regina did not move. "Come on, it's time for you to get out of this place."

"I don't understand…"

The younger woman took a few steps inside the cell and took Regina's hand, softly tugging it, urging her to move. "It's time for us to do some magic up there," she winked.

Although still a little bit hesitant and confused as to what had happened during that lunch, Regina could not resist the smile that crept on her lips, and walked out of the only place she had been allowed to stay in for the past months. "Where are we going?"

"Just out for a walk," she smiled, never letting go of Regina's hand as they exited the place.

When they walked out of the dungeons and into the kitchen, the brunette could feel more than a few curious pairs of eyes turning to them. Emma's pace quickened when she realized how uncomfortable Regina was with the attention.

They made their way outside, and, when the first beams of light touched her face, Regina had to admit it felt incredibly good. They walked quietly, and the brunette immediately realized where they were going: the gardens.

It looked different, of course. It had been too long, and the place had been abandoned for almost three decades, but it was clear that a lot of effort was going into making it as beautiful as it once had been. Despite herself, she reached her hand and touched the flowers lightly as they passed by them, and a smile graced Emma's lips as she noticed the woman next to her visibly relaxing.

The blonde herself was doing her best to control her own magic. It was a constant effort, and she knew very well how the smallest thing could set it off sometimes, but, slowly, she was starting to feel more like herself.

"You don't seem scared about being out here," Regina spoke quietly. There was no one too close to them, and the silence was pleasant, taking away the need to speak louder than that in order to be heard.

"It's not easy," she admitted, "But whenever I feel it threatening to take over, I close my eyes and I see you," she shrugged, "I mean," she quickly continued with a faint blush when she realized how that sounded, "I remember all the things you told me, and everything I know now about magic, and I just know I can control it if I don't allow myself to panic."

"I'm glad to see you were actually paying attention," Regina could not resist saying, her tone light and carefree.

"I have always listened to you, Regina," Emma replied, stopping to look right at the woman, and whispered next to her ear, "You were the one not paying attention." She smiled and skipped away, Regina swallowing hard at the feeling that followed.

She watched the blonde's retreating form, not able to move for a moment, and then shook her head as if to dismiss the thoughts which were threatening to invade her mind, and quickened her pace to catch up with Emma.

It all happened too fast, before she could reach the younger woman, who was now by the end of the garden, where a small road led outside the ground. She heard the horse, obviously scared of something, coming closer and closer, fast. Too fast for Emma to react. The big, dark animal ran on her direction and then kept running away.

Being as familiar as she was with horses, Regina knew the animal had to have been provoked by someone to just go off running that way. She could recognize the signs, which meant it had been done on purpose. But she could barely spare a thought to consider that when she saw Emma lying on the side of the road.

"EMMA!" she yelled, not wasting one second before running the short distance separating them and immediately kneeling by her side. When she heard the groan and saw the blonde moving to try and sit up, she sighed. Regina could not remember feeling so relieved in a long time. Still, she needed to make sure. "Emma, are you hurt?" she asked urgently as she took one hand to the woman's back, helping her to sit up, and the other one to move blonde locks from her face.

"I don't know, I…" she looked from one side to the other, and then stopped when she met Regina's frightened eyes. "What happened?"

"One of the horses got scared, and be thankful it didn't run you over," she answered in the simplest way she could. "We'll discuss this later, but right now we need to make sure you're ok," she inspected Emma's head and did not see any signs of cuts or bruising.

"Regina, hey, I'm fine," she tried to smile as she reached out to the woman's trembling hand, but then she felt the powerful sting coming from her arm and she bit her lips trying not to scream.

They both saw it at the same time, a big cut on Emma's upper arm, no doubt from when she fell and hit a big rock on the way. It was not bleeding too much, but there was blood, and it did look deep enough to be quite painful.

"Can you get up? Are your legs hurt?" Regina whispered in a shaky voice.

The blonde started moving her legs and managed, with Regina's help, to get herself up and walk to the nearest bench, where she immediately sat. The brunette, however, stood in front of her, both of her hands reaching for the woman's. When Emma squeezed them lightly and motioned for her to get up and sit next to her, Regina started to relax. She finally sat, cupping Emma's face, her thumbs brushing slightly through her cheeks, managing to take the little bit of dirt that had settled there.

"Are you sure you are alright?" she looked right into green eyes, and noticed Emma's hands going up until they covered hers.

"Just a cut," she promised, and Regina nodded softly, lowering her head and taking deep breaths, her hands lowering to her lap. Emma did not let go of her hands, so Regina's movement caused the blonde to lean in closer. She did, until their foreheads touched. "Hey," she whispered, once again squeezing the hands that she now held, just lightly enough to get her attention, "I'm ok, I promise."

When Regina moved her head and looked back up, the blonde did not expect to see the unshed tears in the woman's eyes. Despite them, the brunette smiled. "Good," she whispered, and Emma had to wonder if she'd ever seen the woman in front of her showing that much concern before, "Try not to scare me like that again, ok?" the blonde was too shocked to react, so she just nodded. "Can I take a look at your arm?"

Emma turned slightly so that Regina could examine the cut. The woman's hands were so gentle and careful that the blonde almost forgot that she was actually in pain. Regina then ripped a piece of her already old and rather worn dress and looked around, soon finding what she was looking for. She was glad to notice no one seemed to have seen what happened. With her reputation, they would've thrown her back in her cell for hurting the princess, without giving her a chance to even check that Emma was ok. Promising she would be back in a minute, she made her way to a fountain not very far from them, and dipped the cloth in the water, hurrying back to clean the wound.

The moment the cloth touched her bloodied arm, she winced and looked to the side, biting her lip.

"I'm sorry," Regina said, "I just want to take the dirt out now, so it doesn't get infected. I'll try not to press too much."

"No, it's fine. It was hurting before, it's not you," Emma assured her, still looking away.

She almost didn't feel the fabric touching her arm, just Regina's hand on hers, supporting and comforting. And then the movement on her cut stopped.

"Finished?" she asked quietly and turned to see something she definitely did not expect.

There was light blue energy coming from Regina's hand, the cloth now forgotten on the bench, the woman looking startled. "I… I'm not sure what's happening."

But Emma had a thought. The energy was close enough for her to feel it, almost touching her. And it did not feel threatening at all. "It's ok," she said it as if she knew any of this better than the woman in front of her, "Go with your instincts."

Regina knew what her first instinct was, but she was also afraid, so afraid that she would be wrong and it would end up hurting Emma even more.

"I trust you," Emma spoke again, looking into her eyes and nodding while she let go of Regina's other hand only to lace their fingers together.

It gave the former Queen the courage to lower her energy powered hand closer and closer to Emma's injured arm, until the blonde could feel the warmth radiating from it. When it was a mere inch away, Regina stopped, just closed her eyes and focused, and before she knew it, Emma's pain was gone.

"You did it," Emma laughed, moving her arm back and forth as if to prove it, and then her beaming eyes stared right at the other woman's, "Regina, you healed me!"

Regina tried to say something, but found she couldn't. Instead she took Emma's arm again and examined once more, not finding even a scratch on her skin. "I did, didn't I?" she then looked up with the most beautiful and hopeful smile the blonde had ever seen.

"I told you, I knew you were able to," she almost jumped up and down on the bench from excitement. "Who would know I would be the one to bring it out on you?" she grinned.

Any smart remarks Regina might have had died in her lips as she looked at Emma, and the way she was smiling so truthfully, so earnestly. No one had looked at her that way in such a long time. Like they actually believed in her, and they were able to look past all the horrible things she had ever done, and see the Regina she had once been. Young, hopeful, innocent.

She opened her mouth, trying to voice at least some of the thoughts going through her mind, when she heard someone calling Emma's name, and looked behind them to see Snow White running on their direction.

"Emma, are you ok?" she approached the women, breathing heavily from the effort of the quick run, "Someone thought they saw you falling or something," she took a moment to look at her daughter and noticed the dirt on her clothes and some of it still on her face, "What happened?" she asked softly, both her hands cupping her face before letting go, the gesture still not entirely natural for them. She looked between Regina and Emma, waiting for either woman to reply.

"She was walking by the road, and one of the horses came running on her direction," Regina explained, looking pointedly at Snow, hoping she would understand the implications without having to say out loud. Emma did not need one more reason to worry, especially with her magic still unstable as it was. But it had happened. Someone did this on purpose.

The younger brunette nodded quickly, indicating she'd gotten the message. "Were you hurt?" she turned her attention back at Emma.

"Just my arm, but Regina already fixed it," she turned to look at the woman with a smile, and missed the look on her mother's face when she looked at the blonde's arm and didn't see anything there.

"You healed her!"

Regina had to fight the urge to snap at the woman for the simple fact that this was what they did. They fought. Always and about everything. Because she hated Snow White and always would.

But when she really looked at her expression, she saw something so similar to what she'd seen on Emma's, almost as if Snow was not only thankful, but also proud of her. She shook her head to erase that thought. It was not possible. And even if it was, it didn't matter because the woman infuriated her, and she could be as nice as she wanted, it would not change anything.

She turned back to Emma. "Considering your family's history with runaway horses, dear, I would try to stay as far away from them as possible from now on."

"Guess I'm lucky you're always around to save the day, then," she gently touched her shoulders to the woman's, who shook her head in amusement despite herself.

Almost by accident, her gaze locked with Snow's. For the tiniest second, they were both transported to the moment they met. Before all the mess was made, back when Regina was just a young woman who had jumped on a horse and rushed to save a little girl's life. When she was the one who had taught young Snow about the power of true love.

Snow wanted nothing more than to find that woman again. Actually, she knew it was Regina who needed to find herself, and she knew it wasn't an easy task, after being lost for so long. But she truly believed that this day and this moment, it was a start of a real change. So her eyes kept locked with the woman's when she whispered a soft 'thank you', and she sighed in relief when the former Evil Queen smiled and nodded.

They were too distracted to notice someone else approaching them. And as soon as his bright brown eyes saw the scene, he smiled and ran towards the women. "Mom!"

Three pairs of eyes immediately turned to see Henry hastily making his way towards them. Regina looked both happy to see the boy again, but terrified of what his reaction to her could be. Emma seemed to sense it and squeezed her hand softly, letting go just by the time the boy stopped in front of them.

He then looked from one to the other before focusing on Regina and opening up the biggest smile she had even seen directed at her, throwing himself at her and hugging her tightly. Emma smiled too, winking at her son.

She couldn't do much more than wrapping her arms around his small figure and letting out a quiet sob, relieved by his warm welcome. He pulled slightly away to watch her face intently, confusion etching his expression. "How come you're up here?" then he smiled brightly again, turning to face his grandmother, "Does that mean she's free now?"

The look of complete panic on Snow's face should have made Regina laugh out loud, but she was fully aware that her son, the reason she was trying to be better in the first place, was standing right in front of her, smiling and accepting her for what it felt like the first time in years. "It's complicated, Henry," she smiled, and hesitantly brought her hand to brush at his hair.

"Let's say it's a trial, kid," Emma winked at him and eyed Regina with soft green eyes, ignoring the look on Snow's face.

"Like probation?" he looked between his mothers, earning a chuckle from them. It was Emma who nodded, and locked her gaze with Regina, whose eyes still glistened with unshed tears.

"You could say that, yeah," the blonde purposefully avoided looking at Snow, seeing as they hadn't even discussed anything like that yet, but she was secretly proud of Henry for bringing it up in a way that gave her little choice but to go along with it.

Seemingly happy with the explanation, he sat next to Regina, looking at her expectantly, "Mom, you have to see me riding a horse! And sword fighting! Grandpa says I'm a natural," he smiled, proud of himself, right before they heard David's voice calling him back, "Can you come and watch?"

Snow opened her mouth to say something, but Emma beat her to it, "Sure she can," she grinned, "You show her the way and I'll be right behind you guys."

Henry did not think twice before taking his mother's hand and almost dragging her closer to the knights. Regina glanced at Emma, confusion and amusement evident in her eyes, and the woman just nodded at her, signalling she would be there with them in a second.

Seeing her son's retreating form, babbling nonstop to Regina, Emma couldn't help the smile on her face. And then she heard Snow clearing her throat, and gulped loudly, slowly turning her head to the woman.

"We need to talk."