Henry said his goodbye to Emma, equally as lovingly, and David led them out, even managing to keep Snow from saying any number of the things she had wanted to say, which was turning out to be quite a useful talent. Shutting the door, Emma sighed. Dealing with them in the morning wouldn't be all that great, even with David's newfound support. Especially with Henry wanting to move back. But hey, families were supposed to be complicated. It wouldn't be a real one without a few difficulties.

But she and Regina had to begin with their own, as they were left alone in the hall, finally just the two of them with no looming disaster on the horizon. At least no looming disaster outside of two extraordinarily complex women having to talk about their emotions.

Regina observed the blonde leaning against her doorway. Emma really had managed to make herself comfortable in her home, but more importantly, with her. Maybe this wouldn't have to be so painful. Regina had faced far worse than a measly figurative heart-to-heart, including a literal one not but a few hours ago, but for some reason, she was having a much harder time being brave than usual.

"I believe we finally have time for that talk you've been wanting," she spoke softly, broaching the heaviness that had settled over them.

"Right," Emma replied, pausing as she considered just what that entailed. "Do we have to?" She asked hopefully, knowing full well the answer was yes.

She wanted to talk to Regina, she really did, but everything was going so smoothly, and well, talks between the two of them usually didn't.

"I mean, we could just…I don't know, hang out first?"

One look from Regina had her back on track.

"Okay. You're right." She took a deep breath. Ogres, check. Time travel, check. Opening herself to someone again…

"Can I at least have that whiskey now?"

Regina smirked. "If you don't, I will."

The brunette leading the way, they went to sit in Regina's den, just the way they had two years ago. Where it all began. How much had changed.

Or maybe things weren't so different after all, because Emma still found herself following in awkwardly, Regina a little stiff, emotionally compromised, both seeming like strangers again, but this time only because all that had been revealed meant that the women were truly seeing each other for the first time.

Determined to be casual, subconsciously studying Regina as she grabbed two tumblers, Emma jumped right in once she had downed the whiskey that had only just made it to her hand.

"So where do you want to start? Our magic? The Enchanted Forest? Today?"

The reality of it all hit her as she listed their options. How would they ever get through this tangle of their lives? So, fiddling with the rim of her glass, she stopped to ask the one thing she really wanted to.

"Are you okay?"

She knew the question was too little, too stupid, of course Regina wasn't okay, nothing about this was okay, but all Emma cared about was helping her through it. Anything she could do.

"You love me?"

Oddly enough, Emma wasn't as thrown by the quiet question coming from across the couch as she was by the utter vulnerability that lay just under Regina's attempt at being factual. And she wouldn't let her suffer just because it was a big deal for her too.

Honesty would have to do.

"I do."

The way wide brown eyes glowed gold for a flash was more than enough to tell her she had made the right decision.

"When?" Regina inquired with genuine curiosity.

Emma sat back and considered. It had snuck up on her.

"A while. I don't know. I've always had a thing for bad girls."

Once again, Emma saved her from her emotions with her distractingly terrible humor. But what was once a guaranteed irritant now made Regina's heart swell.

"Emma," she chided.

Emma's teasing smile faded as she considered what she wanted to ask.

"When did you?" She questioned Regina sincerely, searching her face for any hint of an answer.

"What?"

"You love me." It wasn't a question. She knew. She just needed confirmation.

It was one thing to admit it to herself, but to Emma…even with all of the assurances in the world, she could still lose her. But her Savior deserved the truth.

"Yes."

They both exhaled, the pressure in the room dissipating. Emma couldn't help but lean in, searching for the connection she had felt with her hand literally inside of Regina's chest.

"I could feel it," she marveled, as she flexed her fingers, remembering the whispers of magic. "I bet you could feel mine too. With my heart. Couldn't you tell when?"

Regina considered the minute she had spent fully absorbing Emma, everything that had been in her heart, but even from a distance it was more than overwhelming. She unconsciously brought her hand to her chest, still expecting to feel the second heartbeat.

"There was just…so much," she murmured. "I couldn't. It felt as old as time. But new."

Emma smiled. So fairy tales did get some things right. Where was Angela Lansbury to sing her and Regina their love song?

"I guess True Love is always like that, huh? You know, it kinda would have been nice to grow up knowing that actually existed," Emma pondered, leaning back to consider how things might have been different, not noticing Regina growing stony.

"It didn't change much for me," she muttered into her glass. "At least not for the better."

Emma mentally smacked herself. Of course knowing True Love was real had made everything exponentially worse for Regina: believing it was taken from her, having her love murdered, forced into a marriage without it...

"I'm sorry." Emma glanced down at her hands, not able to stomach the pain she had brought to the surface, the pain that she had absorbed underneath all of the love and brave self-sacrifice. "I know it means shit, but I'm so sorry you had to go through everything you had to go through from birth onwards."

Instead of the dismissal or the anger she had been expecting, Emma was jolted when Regina's eyes instantly widened in disbelief.

"No! Emma, I—" This time Regina couldn't maintain contact, her eyes dropping as she sorted through all of the thoughts and feelings Emma's heart had shared. Trying to compose herself as best she could, she continued, "I can't believe the pain…it was all my fault. I'm sorry."

Emma had forgotten that her love hadn't been the only thing shared in their bond—if she had had glimpses of Regina's life, Regina must have seen all of hers. But what was once a terrifying thought was now soothing. She had no more secrets. She didn't have to go through the pain of revealing them, reliving them all just to let someone who could hurt her in. And Regina was still here, still loving, and not using a single thing against her.

"No, Regina," she insisted, taking one of the brunette's hands in her own. "We can both be sorry our lives sucked, but it wasn't your fault. And now we have Henry." Emma couldn't miss the sparkle in Regina's eye at the mention of their son.

"Let's just try to keep our lives from sucking from now on? Okay, my One True Love?"

Emma couldn't resist the cheesy add on; around Regina, her teasing always reached its limit—something about the hope that one day it'd provoke a genuine smile.

Today was truly that day.

Emma was stunned as Regina's laugh burst through her lips, kept shut in a futile attempt to stop whatever amusement she had found in the blonde's proclamation, the trigger to the relief and joy and fatigue that had been all bundled up inside which only grew with Emma's beaming smile of achievement. There was nothing in the world like watching Regina light up with happiness.

"I love you."

It tumbled out in her admiration. Not that it was anything new to either of them at this point, but for some reason, it felt more real to Regina said aloud than it even had sharing Emma's heart. Quieting, she searched those emerald eyes for answers that would never be there but found she could just be grateful.

"I love you, too, Emma Swan."

Of all the ways Emma expected this shit storm to end, this was not even close to being one of them. With this gorgeous woman staring at her with a kind of love and admiration she had never truly had before, she couldn't help but thank whatever twisted stars were up there that she had been made Savior. She had a family. The kind she had only ever dreamed of.

There was only one thing left she had to do.

Emma leaned in to gently kiss the lips that had always drawn her focus, before she had even considered an attraction, wondering about the scar or how Regina managed to keep them so perfectly red, what it might take to smudge them…

She found out when Regina responded in kind.

Their first kiss was more figuratively magical than any of the actual magic they had done, so unlike either of the women involved, soft and tender and delicate and questioning.

But so perfect.

Emma had intended to pull back just to savor the taste of Regina's lips, the feel of her skin, the warmth of her essence, to appreciate her like a fine wine that was much too expensive and enchanting to gulp; she had intended to pull back and sort through the emotions that bubbled, the implausibility of it all, the reality of it all, the conflicting stories that needed to be sorted; she had intended to pull back and temper the buzz that was humming through her body with a throwaway joke about how they didn't seem to be ready for talking after all or how they didn't seem to be much good at it.

But pulling back mere centimeters just to see the truth in Regina's eyes, all she found was heat.

Their passion ignited. Hands moved from hands to face and waist, Emma pulling Regina in as close as they could be on the couch, their embrace still tender, but now powerful, magnetic, unbreakable. Being so close was dizzying, the sensations so strong, but everything in their souls drove them to be even closer. Emma's hands teasing at her hips, grasping at her back, Regina straddled Emma's lap as they continued to push into one another, trying to force their very atoms to connect as they explored each other's mouths and bodies.

Regina hadn't remembered what it was like. 40 years of nothing. Nothing like this.

She was desperate.

Only pausing to gulp in breath, the warm air shared between them, Emma searched the dark brown eyes above her, desire-darkened enough to reflect her own. She didn't think she had ever wanted anything this badly, the strain deep down in the very marrow of her bones.

"Can we…?" She asked, trying not to plead, trying to be sensitive to the fact this was them, this was crazy, true love be damned. But before she could even find it in herself to slow down, Regina responded breathlessly.

"Yes"

The way the single word vibrated through her system was exquisite torture. This couldn't possibly be real. It shouldn't be real. Not after what they had gone through.

Cursing herself for trying to be rational, Emma couldn't help but spit out, "Is this a good idea? After everything?"

The fire in Regina's eyes never even flickered.

"God, yes."

A/N: I'm sorry once again for my seeming inability to write longer chapters, and for my slight delay (I got caught up in reading the excellent work in the SQ Big Bang). There will be more talking in the next chapter...but it also might veer into some M territory. We'll see how tasteful I can be. : )