When the door opened, Pongo jumped on them to meet them and Regina's heart settled with relief as he saw him very much alive and healthy. They carried Emma to the bed, followed closely by Snow and Henry, who was still greeting the dog gleefully.
Emma dropped on the bed with a puff, trying to hide a wince when she felt the air leaving her lungs. Henry sat down next to her and Regina was about to join him when Snow spoke, "I'll make you some tea, honey. Regina can you help me please?"
She didn't wait for an answer before disappearing and Regina eyed Emma, who smiled apologetically. She raised her chin and followed suit, leaving Emma with Henry, Ruby and the dog, and straightened her clothes as she stepped into the kitchen.
Snow was preparing the tea and her back was to her as Regina took a seat on one of the stools, but she could still feel the tension floating in the air. "I'm glad to see Pongo is fine," she commented.
"Hmm," Snow nodded, still not turning and working on the kettle. "We have kept him here to hide him. He misses Archie though"
"I can only imagine," she said flatly; her heart was racing, expecting to see what would happen when Snow turned to face her. She had expected her to be angry, to be surprised, to be outraged or perhaps shocked. But she was not prepared at all when Snow finally rolled on her heels.
"True love's kiss, huh?" she smiled behind the cup, sipping from it.
Regina felt a blush creping on her face and averted her eyes, focusing on the wooden counter in front of her. "It appears so."
"I knew it."
Regina looked up as her eyebrows shot up as well, "You did?"
Snow left the cup in front of her. "You spend a lot of time together and you're visibly happier like that. It makes Henry happy too, and I see it has made you good. You just beat Maleficent a few minutes ago, sacrificing your magic us. For Emma and Henry."
"They are the most important thing in my life." Regina held her breath as the words escaped her mouth, eyeing carefully Snow's reaction, and she felt relived when Snow smiled at her.
"I know."
Regina's finger drew a path between the soft cracks of the wooden and almost felt stupid when she asked, "So you're okay with it?"
Snow reached for her hand, covering with her own and Regina flinched, but didn't move it. "Of course," she affirmed ignoring Regina's straight posture.
They felt silent while Regina debated in her head. She still had feelings of hurt towards Snow, but there was a part of her that was tired of fighting and was just in peace with her. She hadn't the time to dwell on it when David opened the door and appeared in the apartment.
"How's Emma?" he asked as soon as he was inside. They heard laughter coming from the sheriff's room that answered his question but still Snow nodded.
"She's getting better for moments."
Regina cleared her throat and felt David's eyes on her, the question floating in the air and to save herself from another scene with him as well, she stood and grabbed the cup of tea, "I'll give it to her."
She hurried and disappeared into Emma's room. Everyone looked up at her from the bed and Ruby rose. "Let's go Henry." He was ready to pout but then he looked at Emma's eyes and saw they should leave them alone, so he reluctantly stood up, taking the dog with him.
Ruby smiled smigly at Regina as she walked by her side and exited the room. When they were alone, Regina took a seat on the bed, next to Emma. She handed her the cup of tea and the Sheriff accepted it.
"Hey," Regina said with a small smile.
"Hey," Emma answered from behind the mug. She felt the warm liquid down her throat and it relaxed her. "How are you feeling?"
Regina laughed, "You're the one on bed after returning from the dead. How are you?"
Emma left the mug on the night stand and readjusted her position, making her ribs hurt slightly. She hid the grimace behind a smile, "It's fine. True love's kiss works pretty fast." She saw the blush bearing in Regina's cheeks and took her hand. "How was the talk?"
Regina sighed and rolled her eyes, "I never thought I would be doing that, and with Snow no less!"
Emma laughed, "Was she shocked?"
"Actually she kind of knew?" Emma raised an eyebrow at her and Regina nodded. "I know, how could she? Anyways, everyone knows now…"
Regina looked down at their hands and Emma lifted her chin, "Are you okay?"
"You need to stop asking me that," Regina smiled weakly, but still nodded. "Yes, I guess. It's not how I expected to…come out. I just hope everyone is okay with it. Especially for you."
"I doubt they try to convince me about your evil ways now Regina. You saved me. You saved the town."
"I'm not a hero, Emma."
"I know you're not." Regina looked up when the Sheriff relented. "You made questionable things in the past, but so did I and so have everyone. Okay, not everyone has murdered an entire village but I don't know, people make mistakes. You're not a hero but you're not a villain either. You're just human. We all are. You are not stories from a book anymore Regina. You're here, you're real. You learn from the mistakes and you're trying to amend the bad you made. You saved us."
"I still did it for selfish reasons. I did it for Henry and for you." Regina could feel her shoulders heavy. She had been listening that for so long she had started to believe it.
"Does it matter? Ruby and Henry told me what you did out there. You literally put all you had to beat Maleficent and you may think it's for us but deep down, you did it for the town."
"Are you implying I care for that people?" Regina said straightening her posture regally, but Emma laughed.
"You've gone soft," she sang.
"I have not."
"You sooo have," she smiled poking at Regina's ribs. The Mayor laughed and tried to scoot away from her. When Emma stopped, Regina stared at her, brushing a strand of blonde hair off her face and ticking it on her ear.
"I'm so glad you're okay. I don't know what I would've done without you," she whispered.
"You would have kept fighting, and you would still be the strongest woman I know," Emma said honestly.
Regina smiled and felt the tears on her eyes, so she blinked them away and leaned in to kiss Emma tenderly, cupping her face. When she separated, their foreheads touched. "Get some rest."
"But what about Maleficent? Ruby told me David locked her up. We should talk to her," Emma protested, already trying to stand.
Regina smiled at the stubbornness of her girlfriend, "True love's magic may work fast but you still need to rest."
She kissed her one more time and rose to her feet, leaving Emma room to lay comfortably. She was about to leave when she turned back to Emma, but she found the Sheriff was already asleep and she smiled. "I love you," she said anyways.
Regina closed the door slowly to prevent making too much noise and then turned to find the apartment was empty except for Henry. "Where's everyone?" she asked him. He was petting Pongo on the sofa, and she joined him.
"They went out to check everything was okay I think," he shrugged. She reached tentatively towards the dog, fearing he would run away. She wouldn't blame him.
Instead, he leaned into her touch and put his head on Regina's lap for her to continue petting him. "Even Pongo sees you've changed," Henry smiled.
Regina looked at him and returned the smile, holding back the want of hugging him. The fact that her son believed in her again was still new to her and she felt so thankful every time.
They felt silent, and Regina didn't know why she felt nervous about asking Henry, since he had been the one to encourage her to kiss Emma, but still she felt her heart in her throat as she asked, "Since…when do you know?"
She didn't need to say what she was talking about, because he got it. Henry took his turn to pet Pongo and shrugged, "I don't know. Christmas maybe?" Regina's eyebrows shot up in surprise; he had known before they were even a thing.
"And you're okay with…that?"
"With you being together?" he asked, and she just nodded in response. He didn't hesitate, "Of course. I mean you're my moms and you're happy. I'm happy with that."
Regina felt the relief in her chest and she was able to breathe again. Henry's opinion was the one she cared the most, and he was okay. She smiled at him and nudged his ribs, "You just like it because you've gotten to eat more sweets since we spend time together."
He laughed and tried to push away her hands, just like she had done with Emma moments ago. Suddenly the door opened and both David and Snow entered the apartment. Pongo rushed to meet them and David petted his head.
"Hey good boy. Henry, why don't you take him to Archie? I'm sure he will be happy to see him again," he said standing up. Henry nodded and, after putting Pongo his leash, he left the apartment.
Regina stood and brushed the wrinkles away from her dress, although it was a mess from the battle. Snow went to the kitchen and David rolled his eyes at her, "You can relax Regina."
She raised her chin and snorted, "I don't know what you're talking about."
Snow looked at her, smiling at how stubborn Regina was and the looked at her husband, "What are we going to do with Maleficent?"
Regina took a step forward and spoke before he could, "I think I would like to talk to her before we decide anything."
"Talk to her about what?" Snow asked crossing her arms and David looked at her waiting for an answer.
Suddenly Regina felt like a teenager waiting for her girlfriend to come down the stairs with her parents. She mentally shook her head; she was a grown up woman for god's sake. "I want to give her a chance to explain herself."
"She tried to kill you after technically killing Emma. What is there to explain?" David wondered.
Regina hugged her arms and took another step towards them, "I know, but I just…want her to give her a chance to talk, to see what she has to say."
Snow narrowed her eyes at her, "Is this because of your story with her?" Regina rolled her eyes but before she could talk, Snow pointed at her. "You're dating my daughter now so I'm not letting you near that woman on your own."
David opened his eyes, "Your story with Maleficent? You have a story with Maleficent?"
Regina covered her eyes, both to stop them from rolling so much it would hurt and to hide the blush on her face, "Oh my God, one embarrassing talk in one day is enough. I don't need another. I just want to give her a chance okay? Just like…I wanted to have."
Snow and David fell silent, feeling slightly guilty about it. They were always preaching about hope and seeing the good in people and back in their time they had given Regina their backs. Snow nodded, "Okay. We'll let her explain, but just one chance."
Regina nodded in return, "Thanks."
"It won't be possible just yet though," David remembered. "She's still unconscious in the cell."
For the first time since the battle, Regina felt the weight of the fatigue in her body. All the adrenaline gone, both from the fight and facing the fact that she and Emma were now out, made her realise how tired she felt. The idea of a bed suddenly felt like the best idea ever, and she remembered she must've looked awful.
"Okay then I'll just…I'll just go and return later."
She started to walk to the door but Snow stopped, "You can stay here if you want. Get some rest and then we can go talk to Maleficent."
Regina hesitated but she swallowed and turned. She saw Snow's eyes and for the first time in ages, she saw caring in them. She smiled softly, "That would be great. Thanks."
"Yeah, but you're not staying with Emma," David said crossing his arms on his chest.
"David!" Snow exclaimed, hitting his shoulder as Regina's blush grew. "They're grown up women."
"She's still my daughter!" he argued and earned a look from Snow. Then she looked over at Regina and smiled, "It's okay, you can stay with her. We'll be upstairs if you need us."
Regina watched them going up the stairs while Snow whispered to David that Emma wasn't a little girl anymore and then disappeared. She took a breath before entering the Sheriff's room, and when she did, she found her sleeping profoundly.
She laid by her side and touched her forehead to check her temperature was normal. Then, she accommodated herself in a side of the mattress and yawned before closing her eyes. As soon as her eyelids touched, she felt her body relax, feeling Emma's breathing next to her. Her hand found Emma's and squeezed even though the other woman was too passed out to feel it and finally let herself get some rest.
A/N: sorry for the delay! I hope you liked this chapter, if you did let me know. Thank you for still keeping up with this story:)