Present Day

Regina entered the room quietly, her eyes scanning everything surrounding the body of her love. It felt like a long walk to the bed but once there she sat in the chair right beside the blonde. Emma had wires all over her, it broke Regina's heart to see her like that. Emma's face was so pale and looked like there was no life in her. She had small cuts on her face; Regina passed her hand softly through her tangled hair causing the blonde to stir and mumble nonsense. Regina leaned in closer as Emma's eyes slowly fluttered open and green eyes met her brown eyes. Regina didn't know when but there were tears streaming down her face already.

She leaned in closer, passing her hand softly over her head, "Hello dear...Hi. How are you?"

Emma gave a weak smile, "Hey you." Her voice was low and raspy.

Regina did her best to keep herself composed for Emma, "You were late for our date."

Emma chuckled but it quickly turned into a hard dry cough, "Sorry about that."

Regina grabbed the cup of water on the drawer and held the straw towards her lips, "Shh, it's okay. Just drink a bit."

Emma leaned forward a bit taking small sips of water then laid back on the bed, "Thanks." She sighed as she tried to get comfortable, "Promise to give you a raincheck on that date."

Hearing her talk of the future broke Regina's heart even more. Regina went back to running her hand over her head, she was feeling so many emotions she didn't know which to listen to. Should she be angry, hurt, thankful that she gets this moment with Emma, what was she supposed to be feeling?

"Why did you go after him, Emma? You know he has been dangerous in the past and even more hostile towards you."

Emma sighed, "Come on..don't do that. This is my job, Regina. I have to serve and protect no matter what."

"At what cost! Your LIFE?! Your life is worth stopping Sidney?!" Regina didn't mean to yell at her but she couldn't hold back the anger she was feeling any longer.

Emma remained calm knowing she needed to be strong for Regina, she took her hand in hers, "I'm so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you, baby."

Regina didn't stop the tears, she couldn't stop them anymore, "What am I supposed to do..what am I going to do without you?"

Emma kissed Regina's hand, "You live. You do everything we said we were going to do. Travel the world, have kids...everything."

Regina shook her head and lowered her head onto the bed not meeting the eyes of the blonde as she continued to cry.

"Hey..I'll still be there. I'll always be with you. Every step of the way..Forever and always remember?"

Flashback - Move in Day

"Emma! Hurry up! I want to finish the room already." Regina huffed as she continued to fix the bed. Emma walked in with a beer and a sandwich in her hand. Regina stood up looking at what the blonde had and rolled her eyes.

"Seriously? Your emergency involves you making a sandwich?"

Emma shrugged, "What? I was hungry."

"Well, you need to finish putting your clothes away and get rid of those horrid posters."

Emma's eyes went wide, "Horrid?! What? No way! Those posters are legendary and will be hung up in this house."

Regina's hands went to her hips and Emma knew she was in trouble, "They will not be hung in this house, Emma. One of them has a half-naked whore on it!"

"Princess Leia is not a whore!"

Regina rolled her eyes and went back to fixing the bed, "You can hang them in the basement."

Emma pouted, "So what, my private area is in the basement now?"

"Yes."

"Fine, I control the basement. I'm doing whatever I want to do and you can't stop me." Emma took a bite of her sandwich and continued to pout.

Regina giggled as she glanced over at her grown-up child. She might be a grown woman but her mentality at times was of a 12-year-old. However, she knew she could never stop loving the woman behind her. They became official six months ago and one night at Granny's Regina asked Emma to move in with her. It was out of the blue and she didn't even know if she was ready for it. When Emma simply answered 'sure' Regina laughed and knew it wasn't going to be an issue. Emma spent most nights at her house anyway but lately she had been going back home and Regina didn't know why.

After a long talk with August and convincing him he wasn't breaking some foolish thing called Bro-Code she discovered what was wrong. They had been dating for six months and still hadn't had sex. Regina did tell Emma she wanted to wait mostly because she herself was nervous. However, according to August, Emma was having trouble keeping her thoughts pure and hands to herself which Regina at times noticed. Yesterday, they had started the move-in process and it went rather quickly since Emma didn't have much. They did repaint the master bedroom and today was only putting away the smaller things like clothes.

Once the bed was fixed she stood up straight and glanced over at Emma who had finished off her sandwich and was putting her clothes away. Emma was wearing a pair of Police Academy basketball shorts and a white tank top. Her hair was up in a ponytail and Regina couldn't help but bite her lip at the sight of Emma's back muscles flexing. To be honest Regina had been ready for a week or so to take that step with Emma but she didn't know how to bring it up.

Emma felt a set of eyes on her, she turned as she took a sip of her beer and froze. Her eyes went a bit wide as she took in her girlfriend's expression. Regina was biting her bottom lip, one hand was on her hip while the other was running through her hair. Her eyes were much darker, the way she was looking at her was like she was next on the menu.

"Babe..." Emma slowly moved the bottle away from her lips as Regina walked towards her.

"Hmm?"

"You-" Emma cleared her throat as Regina stood an inch away taking the bottle from her and placing it on the dresser, "You okay?"

"Oh yes. I'm feeling great. Why do you ask?" Regina's voice had such a sultry, seductive tone. Emma knew she was a little damp already.

"Just curious. You-um. You seem a little different right now."

"Believe me, Miss Swan. This is a good difference."

Emma took a deep breath when she heard 'Miss Swan' escape those plump red lips she loved so much. Regina slowly slid her hands up Emma's arms loving the feel of every dip and curve from her muscles. Emma was slowly backing up, she was hesitant. She knew she wanted this but didn't want Regina to feel pressured into anything. She knew about her conversation with August and didn't want Regina doing this because Regina felt like she needed to. Lost in her own thoughts she didn't realize she was now pinned against the wall by Regina.

"R-regina? Babe.."

"Yes dear."

Emma cleared her throat, "I-I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything.."

Regina locked eyes with Emma and smiled warmly. She could not only hear it in her voice but see it in the blonde eyes. There was only love in them, she truly cared for her and that made Regina's heart flutter even more.

"Love, believe me when I tell you I want this as well. I love you with all my heart and want to show you it as well. You've proven to me that you truly love me by coming back and I know you will never leave me"

Emma smiled at the gorgeous woman in front of her and rested her forehead against Regina's.

"I love you baby."

"And I love you Miss Swan."

Emma cupped the Mayor's cheek and leaned forward pressing her lips against hers. As soon as their lips touched it felt like magic ignited in them. Emma let all her love pour into that one kiss and Regina felt it all. Regina wrapped her arms around the blonde's neck deepening the kiss. Emma wrapped her arms around Regina's waist and lifted her up causing the brunette to giggle as Emma walked over to the bed and laid her down. She hovered over the brunette and smiled down at her.

"How did I get so lucky?"

Regina smiled and tugged on her tank top causing her to lay on top of her, "I don't know but you better not screw this up. I'm one of a kind dear."

Emma chuckled, "Oh I know. I won't ever mess this up. I'm in for the long haul babe."

"Forever?"

Emma nodded as she kissed her lips softly, "Forever and always." Their lips met once more and that night became one of Regina's favorite memories. They made love until the sun came up, never wanting to leave each other's embrace. Regina knew that night that Emma Swan was her forever and always, she had finally found her happy ending.