AFTER THE STORM

(Requested by Lisa Anderson. In the moment that we believe all hope is gone, something amazing happens.)

She was silently sitting in a red plastic chair that warm Sunday in June when the agile little girl bearing shoulder length blonde hair and a pair of distinct emerald eyes batted clumsily at the piñata.

The darn thing was too colourful for the brunette's tastes when she squinted under the yellow umbrella and wondered about the construction of such a hanging object. A simple thing made out of paper that unearthed such squeals from the younger generation. The noisy atmosphere was somewhat biting into her nerves but it was manageable, providing that the volume didn't rise to a higher pitch. In fact, Whale was hopping around the spot as if he was a child. Whilst Archie sat next to Ruby and Dorothy with a satisfied grin on his face.

The exact replica of Swan danced around with the plastic bat held up vertically. Her joyful screams filled the air and the other children jumped around in glee. Several attempts were made to hit the target and upon the fifteenth try, the belly of the beast cracked open. The rain of candy only made the older woman's lips curl up into a smile, admiring the favourable grin on Henry's face as he stood there triumphantly over his little sister.

"I used to have those back when I was a spoiled Princess," Snow leaned in closer to remind her very regal friend. The smell of lilac grew heavier around the older woman's nose and she wrinkled it. "Remember how my father used to hang them really low so that I could swing and never miss?"

Regina nodded, hugging herself as the cool breeze swept in from the north and settled upon the small party gathered in the Jones' backyard.

This had most definitely been a surprise; to receive an invitation bidding her into the boundaries of the very same place she hadn't frequented in years.

Get the hell away from here and stay away!

Those words had been threatening.

He never really seemed to entertain the idea of her becoming closer to his wife.

A bubbling fountain carved from white stone was positioned right in the middle of the lush green grass. Those low cut blades swayed from the wind caressing the town and ever so often, the generous wave would rush through the maple trees and present a kind of comforting feel to the surroundings.

The sculpture of a swan rearing its head up to the sky whilst water spurted from its beak was a sight to behold. In fact, she had guiltily found herself gazing at the model constructed by Killian's hands for some time after arriving that afternoon. His patient hand had reigned for some time after the marriage.

"How's Emma holding up?" David was seated on Regina's left, chewing on a slice of lemon cake. "She looks as if things are settling already."

"It's been almost a year," Snow said with her eyes resting on the child dressed in a yellow dress with pink lace trimmings. Her pink shoes had tiny yellow bows on them. "Mourning takes a while but good company makes the loss softer. Although she clearly doesn't want anyone to come around."

"He was a great guy," Charming held up what little of his cake was left and studied it. "Always was there for Emma and Elliana. Most times I just worry about his involvement with those old buddies of his."

"Led to his death, if that's what you mean," Snow sighed and gently leant onto Regina's right shoulder. The brutal honesty of Killian's demise from a single gunshot wound to the chest wasn't secret. "To be honest, and I'm not purposely speaking ill about the dead, I really didn't think that he fitted with Emma properly."

"But she loved him." It would seem that David would always stand up for his good old buddy, Regina thought.

"I know that she loved him," Snow chided in, their eyes connecting. "But I'm admitting that there were things that bothered me about the match. Like his lack of ambition for a start and the way he made Emma pay off for the entire house without lending a penny."

"It's her house now. No settlements to be made." David collected a fluke of passing champagne and handed another to Regina who waved it off.

Snow reached for the chance to quench her thirst as the air grew warmer. Alarmed at the sudden gesture, Regina turned to consider the shorter hair brunette as she gulped down the last drop within seconds.

"All I'm saying is that something was wrong underneath the lovey dovey show and the happy marriage." Even as she smacked her lips together, the urge to snatch another passing glass was growing stronger by the second. "Emma never seemed fully happy after he proposed. That day, I remembered she was in the dullest of spirits, choosing to spend time by herself instead of sharing a meal with us at the Diner. Regina was there. Ask her."

Brown eyes slowly blinked as her already bruised heart sliced with guilty pain from recollecting that day; five years ago when she felt as if the entire world came crashing down on every single formation of hope that had been built up. Around every corner there was a bold reminder of how nothing would ever be the same again. At times, the haunting memories would threaten to rise up from the dead, but she would quickly bury them under heaps of mud to prevent the flow of tears.

"Can't believe Ellie is five already," David purposely seemed to avoid lingering on the topic. "She's a ball of energy. When I look at her, all I see is what Emma would have been like if we were given the privilege to be part of her childhood."

The air between the three of them didn't grow colder. In fact, as per usual, Snow automatically swayed the emotions between them onto a funnier path.

"Thinking about it, if we did bring her up, with all those gowns and balls and stockings, Emma wouldn't be the woman she is today. So…manly."

David laughed. "Always fixing things before Hook. The pipes. Leaks. She's definitely not the typical kind of Princess."

"You're not saying anything today, Regina," Snow nudged her friend's shoulder and smiled. "What's going on inside your head?"

Brown eyes had been following the little blonde as she raced around the yard distributing candy to a few of the children and their parents. Her pink shoes twisted sideways upon the grass as the child stalled just for a moment near the other side of the yard and locked eyes with Regina. Something passed between them. Something special, and just like that, Ellie smiled. For a long time, the brunette found that her lips always curled up into a returning one as the afternoon progressed.

"I am just admiring her resemblance to her mother," she found herself confessing. "She inherits nothing from him." Down to the sparkle in those emerald eyes when one out of millions of ideas popped up all of a sudden. The tilt of her little head. The small replica of a red leather jacket that she often wore and the show of two perfect rows of teeth.

Snow snorted. "Tell me about it. Her favourite colour is yellow and having her cocoa with cinnamon is a must."

"I would like to say that Regina had some influence on her from the little sass she delivers," Charming glanced at the woman by his side with a smile, "but then again, you've always been out of the picture."

An instant memory of a door slamming in her face and Killian's cursed words as he vocally banished her from coming around that very same house threatened to bring forth tears to the brunette's eyes. She held them back and blinked fast, inhaling deeply whilst swallowing every emotion that was attached to the pain and suffering a man like himself had brought to their lives. A man who had torn Emma away from her and around every corner, he had changed for the worst instead of the better.

He had grown into the kind of monster who idolized the bottle of rum and ignorantly professed his views in public places. Often times the fights that were fuelled by his blinding rage seemed to never muffle the urge inside him to continue such pompous ways. Always, there was the need to prove himself worthy of his manhood. And when she latched her mind onto the first time Snow mentioned Emma hiding a blackened eye behind a pair of sunglasses, Regina's fingers curled into a fist.

"Easy there," Snow would always note the change in the other woman's countenance. Her own hand enveloped the older woman's fist. "What's brought this on?"

Quickly demolishing the construction of torment and anger within her mind, she immediately slipped into a relaxed form and continued to allow the running child's excitement to act as a distraction.

"I wanted to be in it," she said in a hoarser tone, now addressing David. "But I wasn't allowed."

"Oh, right," Snow would always know the truth. Because as much as she never wished to allow it, the shorter hair brunette was her closest friend. "He damned you from coming here."

"A mystery I still can't understand," David frowned at a woman who had been his most hated enemy in the past. "Care to let me in on what the two of you know that I don't?"

"It's best that you don't know," Snow held onto the older brunette's right arm and gently rested her head upon dark tendrils that gathered upon shoulders that never slouched. "And for Regina's sake, let's not discuss that."

"Okay," David held up his hands as if surrendering and rose up, "women's secrets. Excuse me whilst I confront Whale about last night's events at the bowling alley. You two can now gossip all you want."

"We don't…gossip," Snow's eyes lit up anyway as the pleasing thought of her husband leaving the two women to their privacy was acknowledged.

For a few seconds, the two of them silently gazed at the running forms of the children, revelling in the birthday celebrations and finding Archie taking control of the games to be quite entertaining. It was like any normal family gathering; the cluster of chairs and occasional laughter. Ruby was boisterously playing her part beside Dorothy who seemed to be captivated in her lover's face. And the few parents that remained chatted gaily in their respected corners.

It was Snow who broke the silence between them, and when she did, her words were spoken with the kind of heaviness that old painful feelings brought back.

"You have to talk to her," she addressed the older woman in a soft tone, "at least say something. Just one word. 'Hi' would do."

"As you have already noted," Regina's husky voice didn't appear to be affected by emotions, "when I'm in her presence, I am not the bolder woman I used to be."

"For good reason too," the other woman sighed. "I will always remember when you came to me that night, you know. That night before she got married. And you told me -"

"Snow…" the older woman's eyes fluttered close. Not this time. Not when she was surrounded by people. Not when little Ellie was somehow captivated in her mysterious aunt's and was constantly gazing in that direction.

"No, I want you to know that I'll always understand your feelings. And when you came to me and you told me that you couldn't attend her wedding, at first I didn't understand why. But then I just…" Snow inhaled deeply. "I knew. I think I had always known. It was never about Robin. It was always about Emma. Those road trips you used to tell me about. How you enjoyed them and how the two of you bonded. Those times when you trailed after her, hoping for the two of you to get along more. I saw how you were trying so hard and I knew that you weren't having just friendly feelings for her. But that you were falling for her."

Ellie ran past them and with her tongue tucked between those pink lips, she turned to wave at Regina. The older woman returned the gesture.

"How long do you think that you've been in love with her?" Snow also seemed amused at the kindness expressed.

Regina sighed and felt how the red turtle-neck attached to her knee long dress was growing rather itchy from the heat. "From the first time we met. I believe it was her refreshing appearance. Instantly my heart attached itself to…her."

"I would completely give my consent to that marriage," Snow smiled widely. "Knowing that I was against Hook. Neal was a very nice man."

"He was," the older woman couldn't help but remember when Cassidy had joked about her sexuality, boldly seeking out a response from the brunette about the kind of connection she held to Swan.

"And you. You two just fit together like yin and yang. Anyway," Snow folded her arms and settled back into the chair, "if one of you don't say something to each other, I'll make a conversation happen."

Emma suddenly came through the swinging back door, holding out a tray of yellow and pink cupcakes and from the moment she appeared before the sea of faces, brown orbs widened.

It wasn't just the appearance of the blonde that would captivate the older woman's interest suddenly, but the humbleness of her behaviour. The way she would appear silently without causing a scene and always, the simplicity of her clothing would present such a flutter upon Regina's heart, which she would find herself wishing for the impossible.

It was always like that and the acknowledgement of that had been disturbingly uncomfortable so for many years. Jolting up many nights after Hook had proudly proposed to Emma and realizing that she couldn't breathe. That she slowly held up shaky hands and stared at them whilst trying to swallow sobs.

Those were the moments when slipping into state of amnesia would have been most ideal. Her chest would heave uncontrollably as the wave of nausea would overcome that frame that grew frailer and frailer over the years. And when she stared at herself in the mirror, Regina didn't see any kind of beauty anymore, but a gaunt face that stared back with paler skin.

If that was how loving someone who never loved you back slowly poisoned another human being, then she had overestimated the harshness of a heartbreak that came from losing a lover. Because when she would guiltily latch those eyes onto the blonde cradling a little baby in her arms around Storybrooke, the older woman would always conceal her whereabouts and gaze at the scene. Wondering how the world would be so cruel and yet so beautiful to bring forth a baby in such a damaged marriage.

Killian's round of drinking had turned abusive and Emma fought back until she grew weaker, the little child seemed like a ray of hope in a world of chaos.

Now she was happily running around her mother's tall frame as the cupcakes were handed out one by one and her little voice jumped from one topic to the next every few seconds.

Was it a crime for two people who had grown so close to avoid each other and become strangers suddenly?

It had always been Hook's fault; creating a wall between the two of them when she tried effortlessly to break herself in. To slip past those boundaries and comfort a soul that was yearning to escape from the clutches of a deranged man. Shielding his broken wife away from the world as she hid inside the depths of this…prison and depression swept down.

Quickening heartbeats could not be prevented when the blonde slowly slipped closer with the protruding tray. Regina bit her red painted lips and suddenly studied those red painted nails upon her lap, hoping that something would change between them. Knowing that more than six months had passed since his death and not once had Emma even requested to see her. No words had passed between the two of them and it was painful. It was so painful that as the distance grew slimmer between the two women on that warm afternoon, Regina stopped breathing.

"Ellie's obsession with yellow and pink is just adorable," came Snow's voice as she collected a pink cupcake and smiled up at her daughter. "I was just telling Regina how she takes after you a whole lot more than even Henry."

"Yeah."

"Tell her about the similarities we've seen, Regina," Snow nudged the older woman's right shoulder and awaited a response.

When none was given, the air continued to sizzle with tension.

"Hi, Emma," Snow mimicked the older woman's husky voice whilst making a clownish face. "Oh hi, Regina," her tone changed to a softer note, "how have you been? Long time. You know, I've really, really missed you. You have no idea." Trying to imitate both of the women in her presence wasn't as stimulating as she had silently hoped for.

Nothing was said between the two of them. Nothing at all.

The tray drifted and came to a standstill just above Regina's lap and those brown eyes flicked to the cluster of fair fingers that gripped the edges. Those fingers that had grown wrinkled from five years of hardship. And she instantly realized how older both of them had become. One had moved into a marriage and through another pregnancy whilst the other lived her loveless life on the outskirts of town in an empty mansion.

She never would stare into the younger woman's face for too long. Never. Why? Because of the progressing ache that would envelope a broken heart. The slow climb of a headache and the dull reminder that had she been that important in the other woman's life, then efforts would have been made to rekindle what had developed between them.

The brunette was already aware of how stress had etched lines at the corners of those emerald orbs and how she didn't smile as often anymore.

Without offering even the slightest show of affection, Regina shook her head and waited.

"Come on," Snow nudged her shoulder playfully. "I know you want one. Just a yellow remaining."

"There are more inside," came Emma's voice that had become softer and duller over the years. The light inside her eyes had died away. "I'm going to bring out more."

"I'll pass," Regina felt as if she would die from the tension experienced on her end.

She could feel emerald eyes drinking in her disposition and wondered what kind of feelings were swirling around the standing woman's head. Like was the possibility of anything between them even promising at that point? Would they always avoid each other and never exchange words for as many years to come? Was it really possible to die from a broken heart when the woman you wanted more than anything else in the world refused to acknowledge your presence?

"Regina…" Snow urged, but to no avail.

As simple as that, Emma moved to the next cluster of parents and completely bruised the older woman's heart from the lack of conversation.

"She couldn't even say hi," Snow squeezed the older woman's arm by her side and sighed. "But good news to you is that she was looking at your face even whilst I was speaking to her about Ellie."

"I don't know what to do anymore," Regina's voice came out smaller than usual. "This is not what I imagined the future shared between us to be like."

"You wanted Ellie to be your child too," Snow said softly. The brunette turned to consider the close friend by her side and the display of utter disbelief only made the pixie cut brunette smile wider. "Of course I know what you want. Don't pretend as if I'm that naive. You want a family. You've always wanted a family of your own. And who am I to even stand in the way of that family including my own daughter? All I want is to see the two of you happy. And there were days when she used to talk about nothing else but about you."

Regina found that quite difficult to believe but hung onto every word regardless.

"Even when she got married to him and I'd come over, she always told me that she missed your company. How you'd always know the right things to say. And that day when I caught her with that blackened eye…" Snow shook her head and let out a long sigh. "My goodness I was in a rage that day. I asked her if she wanted Regina to give him a warning with a bit of magic. But she said declined and retreated to her room."

Momentarily, the older woman found herself drinking in the blonde's figure whilst she arranged plates of snacks upon the table nestled between two clusters of chairs. On one side David heartily laughed with Whale. And on the other end, Ruby's eyes met hers as a smile was distributed and Dorothy waved. The latter was quite a comforting soul to embrace. Regina could distinctly remember one of Lucas' wild parties at the Diner when Dorothy would step in and shut down the entire thing.

"Aunty Regina, do you want a cupcake?" Suddenly her vision was obscured by a head of blonde hair that caught the setting sun's rays and seemed to radiate even more than usual.

The brunette studied the red cupcake resting on the small fair palm and she quizzically wondered about its colour.

"I can't recall seeing that particular shade amongst the others," her voice had grown hoarser from lack of speech. "Where on earth did you get that?"

"Mommy made one just for you," came the little voice that belonged to a very cute replica of Emma. "She knows that your favourite colour is red so when we were making cupcakes, she specifically made one for you. Look at it. Isn't it pretty? See?" The child gestured to a red apple design on the top. "I did that all by myself."

"Did you now?" Her eyes glistened with tears as she smiled through the depth of such a kind gesture. "Thank you ever so much, Ellie." Her fingers plucked up the cupcake and with the other arm vacant, she swept it around the child's figure and drew her in closer in for a hug. The feel of such warmth, and the smell of vanilla instantly reminded her of the person she had fallen deeply in love with.

This could have been part of their family, Regina thought to herself as a kiss was pressed onto the little girl's head of blonde tendrils. All of this. Every birthday party. Every gathering. This small cottage that seemed to be entirely comfortable and welcoming apart from the monster that once resided there. Everything. And she could have been standing by the blonde's side near the table, both of them sharing smiles whilst preparing the snacks, had it not been for silence on both ends.

She wasn't aware of emerald eyes gazing at her as Ellie entertained the hug for a little longer. But Snow noticed. Snow considered the depth of that look in her companion's direction and she marvelled over the sparkle in her daughter's eyes. Something to behold was the way the grip on the pink plate slackened a bit as Emma studied Regina's affections for her child and just for a moment, Snow saw the truth come forth.

"You look so pretty today, sweetheart," came the older woman's husky voice as she cradled the child in loving arms upon her lap. "Are you having a marvelous time?"

"Yes," Ellie nodded, absorbing the generous affections as her head nestled onto Regina's chest. "I can't lie. The bestest part is collecting my gifts."

That unearthed a hoarse laughter from the brunette. "Is it now?"

Ellie nodded whilst her mother quietly leaned a hip onto the edge of the table and admired the scene with a softened look.

"I don't even have to guess what you got me. You always get me a book. I think I've read your books a hundred times." She swung her stockinged feet a little and playfully captured Regina's hand into hers. Then slowly pushing the cupcake towards the woman's mouth, Ellie giggled. "Eat it. It's so vanilla."

Taking a careful bite around the corner of the cake, the brunette chewed and savoured the taste. "Which one of my books is your favourite?"

"The Stable Girl." Ellie's fingers reached up to clip dark tendrils between them and emerald eyes widened. "It's mommy's favourite too. She's read it to me like a zillion times."

Just for a moment, her heart stopped beating. Lingering on those words. A simple confession that was capable of melting her in every possible way. Knowing that Emma considered her story to be a favourite and she had taken those words to the child's bed during story time.

"Zillion is not a word, honey," Snow smiled.

"Is too," the child reared her head to consider her grandmother. "Mommy says so. It's hundreds and hundreds of trillions and billions."

"And your mom's smarter than me?" Snow's amused expression was displayed.

"You didn't go to high school. Nor college. So mommy's smarter."

Regina's snort almost made her choke on the mouthful of cupcake. Thankfully, that wasn't the case and she deeply admired the child's boldness to a point where the connection between them grew considerably stronger.

"You're really a Queen, aren't you?" Ellie's eyes latched onto brown ones and she seemed captivated by the power the other woman held. "I can tell. You're so pretty. Mommy says that when she's sad, she thinks of you and you give her hope. You know like when she cries. She reads The Stable Girl with me and she stops crying. She's always crying. I think she's really, really sad. You know?"

Quickly, those brown eyes filled with tears and even as she tried to blink them away, the feeling of a drop trailing down her cheek wasn't surprising. Because of the child's innocence in all of this, the power of her words would never be understood by such a young heart. The visions that swirled up and formed together, creating a scene that took the brunette's breath away; instantly her heart felt as if nothing in the world would ever make it feel whole again. But the discovery of some way to cease the sadness enveloping the other woman.

Even when Ellie hopped off her lap to join the other children, Regina remained silent. Snow watched as her friend drowned in her own thoughts and even she wondered if there was any way to bring the two women together. After all, deep down inside her heart, it was understood that the older brunette would never believe how her absence had affected Emma. But if they could exchange words alone…Snow believed that something would finally happen.

For some time, she tried to dull the urge to seek out the washroom within the depths of the house. But when a point was reached where no further restraints was possible, Regina sought out Snow's directions and proceeded to the back door.

She had never frequented the house further than the front porch. A few years prior when Hook had slammed the door in her face, the brunette never returned. After all, the urge to murder him had grown stronger but not once did she inflict any pain on his sorry self. Not once did she wish for the inch of connection between herself and Emma to burst apart and be completely over with.

So when the echo of her stilettos filled the vacant house, those brown eyes roamed as much as possible during the journey to the washroom. From what was seen, the small kitchen was constructed in black and red tiled counter tops and a small stove with four burners. Just above the surfaces neatly dotted with pans, and an assortment of kitchen supplies resided a cluster of dark oak cupboards. From the kitchen, she entered the small living room briefly through a curtain of yellow beads and the smell of fresh apple greeted her from the moment the door to the toilet was pulled open.

Had she not focused on the pile of gifts upon the black leather chair whilst on her way out again, Regina would have immediately noted the other woman's presence by flight of stairs leading upwards. However, completely absorbed in her own thoughts arising from the choice of air freshener plugged into the wall just outside the washroom, she passed by silently.

It was until her dangerously high stilettos reached the threshold by the back door when the brunette realized that someone was behind her.

"Can you help me with the party bags inside?" came Emma's voice.

Instantly, her heart flopped around like a fish out of water and Regina spun around to confront the taller blonde with a bewildered expression

For the first time in over five years, they finally locked eyes with each other and it was almost as if she could definitely feel her heart crashing into a wall. Crashing and dying. Struggling to breathe but never allowed the sudden privilege that seemed to be the hardest task to achieve. She stared into emerald eyes and swallowed hard, wondering if it was possible that someone else had been addressed.

Without another word, Emma's head slightly tilted to one side as she turned around and disappeared into the kitchen.

What on earth had just transpired between them?

Regina stood there, on the first stone step leading down into the yard and she had to reach out for the door frame as the lack of oxygen created slight dizziness.

It wasn't possible, was it? To be wondering and hurting over the distance between them and suddenly…there were words. There were words that served as an invitation and she didn't know how to proceed.

With every beat of her heart, the tightness in her throat and those weakened knees, the brunette realized that no one else had stepped into the kitchen to accept the invitation, and it was she who had been addressed.

Slowly but surely, she entered the small space whilst the bustle outside in the yard continued. Light music drifted through the two small windows just above the black and red tiled counter lining the wall near the door. And when she sought out the blonde's whereabouts, the older woman eventually realized that she was seated flat upon the yellow carpet just in front of the television stand and right between the clusters of a three piece chair set.

Secluding herself like this was something quite hurtful in Regina's eyes. Knowing that for most of the afternoon, the blonde's appearance outside had been rare, so rare that seeing her next to the table only a few minutes earlier seemed to be refreshing. And now, it wasn't any different but coupled with the flutter of nervousness arising as she drifted closer, the brunette wondered if she could even conceal her feelings in front of the other woman.

Emma said not a word but gestured for the older woman to take a seat somewhere on the carpet nearby.

There were an assortment of candies laid out before her in heaps. Chocolates. Jelly drops. Wafers and even colourful packets of Skittles. As she gracefully settled herself onto the floor next to a pile of pink and yellow striped bags, Regina couldn't take her eyes away from the blonde. Not once did she even consider the nauseating abundance of sweets scattered around the carpet. And even as another bag of mini M&M packets were ripped open, the older woman found herself studying Emma's face instead of anything else.

She indeed had aged so much. Even her blonde hair remained tangled and longer. Those fingers that developed a pattern as the candy entered the first bag trembled a little. That much Regina noted until she was so captivated by the other woman's appearance that whilst handing an empty bag over, their fingers clipped together. And immediately, she shook from the momentary contact. The meeting of hands and the way her display of utter lack of composure expressed so much in such a short span of time.

Both of them stared at each other and for the first time since they had known each other, Emma's parted lips and widened eyes also revealed something more.

Quickly, the blonde returned to collecting various packets of candies and she deposited them into the bags with a shaky kind of disposition. Her countenance showed nothing but the urge to keep things together but failing at doing so and as hard as she tried to keep up the silence between them, Regina couldn't torture herself any longer.

"I can't believe she's five already," she croaked, realizing that her voice could never remain firm in such a moment. "Your daughter. Has five years honestly gone by so fast?"

Tilting her head, Emma seemed to relax a bit and with her legs remaining folded, she nodded. "Yeah. Felt like a long time to me though."

Regina said nothing immediately but chose to admire the light blue long sleeved shirt the other woman was wearing. The pink floral pattern spread across the fabric made her appear feminine and softer in appearance. Down to the faded blue jeans and the absence of jewelry of any kind. No makeup. Just the kind of simplicity she had always known and one of the many characteristics of Emma her heart had fallen in love with.

"This is the first time I'm actually inside of your house," the brunette confessed whilst opening the mouth of another bag. She handed it over. "It's a really comfortable space."

Emma shrugged. "It's gotten to be."

"What does that mean?" Regina frowned.

The blonde collected a packet of M&M and slid it into the bag, her eyes remaining lowered. "There was too much negativity around here."

"Oh," the older woman gazed at the other woman's face and her chest heaved. "But thankfully, now there isn't."

Emma nodded slowly. "He's gone and I'm supposed to miss him. Everyone thinks that I'm grieving. But truthfully, I'm not. I'm not…" the packet of Skittles slipped through her fingers and those emerald eyes were squeezed shut, "…mourning. I'm glad he's gone." Her voice took on a rustier quality. "And you're the first person I've told this to."

Regina wanted to say something comforting but her voice had run away. Instead, she sat there with tears forming in those eyes and wondered about how such a kind heart could have been twisted and tormented. Emma's heart. How could anyone even attempt to hurt such a beautiful woman who only deserved so much love and so much comfort? Even if he could have left without a word, Hook should have disappeared. Instead, he stuck around and tormented the blonde's life every single day.

"I don't know how to do this anymore," Emma said, resuming the packing of the bag. "I don't know how to…live with all these demons."

"Believe me, the moment you begin to realize that those demons aren't your enemies but they're there to build you up and make you stronger, then and only then will you begin to understand the importance of their existence."

Emma sighed. "I wouldn't have these demons inside of me if you were in my life for the past five years." Suddenly even without the expression on her face changing, those emerald eyes quickly filled with tears. The blonde reached up to bat the drops away.

"I wanted to be," Regina croaked, her vision becoming blurry from the presence of wetness in her brown eyes too.

"Then where the hell were you?" the blonde suddenly asked in a trembling tone. She stared at the other woman. "All this time, do you know how I died inside believing that you didn't give a shit about me anymore? That you forgot we were even close and you just turned around and walked away?"

"Forgive me for being so blunt but your husband demanded that I stay away from this house," Regina admitted in a hoarse voice, "and since you've been inside this house for most of those five years, I couldn't come around here -"

"Bullshit," Emma interrupted and her face contorted from restraining the urge to cry. "He nor anyone else could ever stop you from doing something you wanted to do. Not in this world and not in any other world. The choice you made to stay away from me wasn't because of what he demanded. It was because you wanted it to be that way."

"And you honestly believe that I wanted distance between us?" Regina's bewildered look didn't sway the blonde's determined attitude. "That all these years, I was purposely staying away?"

"You were the only person that I wanted to talk to," the blonde said through tears, "the only one I wanted to see and yet you deliberately avoided me. Do you honestly think that I didn't see you out there?" She gestured to the front door whilst their eyes remained connected. "Turning the other way when I saw you?"

"I really don't think that you are ever going to understand the magnitude of hurt and…pain…" the brunette shook her head, "…felt from whatever transpired." And suddenly, her only wish was to erase herself from the entire setting; rising up as feebly as ever and after unfolding herself, those brown eyes glistened with tears.

"So you're just going to leave me alone?" Emma croaked from her position on the ground. "Again."

"Since it has already been established that only tension will reside between us," Regina seemed irritated all of a sudden, her back remained facing the other woman, "let there be just…" there was a flurry of movement behind her; that much she could detect from the whisper of feet upon the carpet. "…distance. If you…"

"I can't do this anymore," Emma suddenly forced the other woman to spin around, already teetering on what little sanity was remaining. "Please," the blonde reached out to capture the brunette's shoulders within her grasp.

In that moment, as it was already on the brink of shattering everything she considered as close to composure, Regina allowed herself to be manoeuvred in whatever way desired by the younger woman. For such a developing climax hadn't even been thought of beforehand, when she had arisen from the floor to settle on walking through the door.

Now they stood inches apart and staring at each other as if the world was about to crash around them. As if their last breath was about to be drawn and their hearts would disappear. Beating hearts that veered dangerously down a pathway promising nothing but uncertainty. Nothing but everything that was presented with every second and every minute.

"You can't do what?" Regina's voice was barely audible, as she felt warm fingers burning into her arms and wondered if it was possible that magic could become unpredictable between them in a situation like that.

Emma's chest was heaving uncontrollably. "I can't live every day not knowing…" those emerald eyes fluttered slowly, were lowered to gaze at the older woman's parted lips. One step was taken to immediately close the distance between them. "This."

And planting herself so close to the brunette, that their fingers brushed and their chests heaved less than an inch apart and their lips trembled; Swan moved in, feeling as if her mind would explode into a million pieces.

But maybe, I need you.

Regina had never been prepared for such a bold move. She drank in every possible second that unfolded. Those brown eyes moved to rest on the blonde's unbuttoned shirt. And just when Emma brushed their lips together, the older woman weakly sank into the younger woman's embrace.

The kiss was deepened by their parted mouths slowly tasting and experiencing. But then being the one who most certainly understood what she had always wanted, had always listened to that pounding heart beg for silently, Emma crushed their lips together.

It was then when the brunette felt a moan unearthed, a throaty sound that signalled a deep need to unwind. It was like she had slipped into a warm and sensational bath after a long day. It was like coming home after the storm and finding that one lover awaiting you. Her body melted, as if reacting from heat brought on by passion. Those tender arms wrapped around her slack frame. And Regina realized that maybe it was possible to have exactly what she had yearned for.

I'm going to help you get your happy ending.

The kiss deepened after every slow second and even as the party unfolded outside, both of them steered themselves clumsily into a darkened corner just under the stairs. Just where the acute angle of the staircase contained a triangular hideaway where Ellie sometimes took her tea set to entertain the company of dolls. One of those dolls stared wide eyed at the couple that were entwined in each other's arms. That same couple that raked their fingers through disheveled hair and wounded arms around waists to savour the taste of a kiss.

"All this time," Emma exhaled into Regina's dark tendrils, capturing the other woman in a tight embrace, "you've been the only one I've ever needed."

"It took you a while to realize that." The brunette nuzzled her face into blonde hair that was so soft, that was so sweet smelling of vanilla.

Swan's chest heaved. "Not really. I knew since the day I married him that I was making the biggest mistake of my life. When he said his vows and I didn't feel as much as I wanted to. And I looked around and you weren't there. I knew." She protectively held the older woman against her, tightly as if the world was about to end and some unexplainable force would pull them apart.

"I knew that you weren't there because you didn't approve. You never approved because I was always too good for him as you've told me countless times. And for a long time I began to see that the only person who was ever good enough, who was ever strong enough to take care of me was you."

"Take care of you…" Regina's voice was a low throaty sound. She pulled her face away from slumped shoulders and their eyes connected; pools of emerald and a shade of brown that was warming when influenced by such an intense love. "You must know that in this lifetime and every other lifetime, I will always take care of you in any way I can."

"But you left me in the hands of someone who…" Emma's eyes glistened with tears, "…bruised me. Every day I kept searching for you. And you were never there."

"I was there," the brunette promised, reaching down to entwine their fingers. "Believe me. I was always there."

"He was the man I believed I could trust," Swan proceeded with slow words that were swayed by emotion. Leaning against the wall, her fingers curled just behind the other woman's ears, tucking dark hair behind them.

"And he was the man who verbally abused you."

"Where were you?" Emma somehow would always repeat that worrying question, as she had had it imprinted on her aching heart for many years.

Regina inched in, allowing their foreheads to rest together and it was then when she blinked through tears. It was a definite show of how troubling that question was. When she had been estranged by such fear and never knowing if anything felt was mutual. When she had concealed herself more like a coward than a hero.

"I was indisposed because I believe that you didn't feel the same about me and…" Her lips quivered when fair fingers brushed away tears from honey coloured cheeks, "that forced me to hide away in a corner. I am usually not meek when it comes to confronting anyone on any kind of matter. But when it comes to love, I am quite…reserved."

"I know," Emma sympathized.

"And when he was behaving like the big bad wolf, and he literally snarled with spitting rage at me from just outside this very house, I stayed away."

Emma lowered her tear stained face. "He behaved like that because he knew."

Regina's brows knitted. "He knew…what?"

"That I was in love with you," emerald eyes connected with brown ones. Swan displayed how saddened she was from prolonging the truth for so many years.

"So that explains the blinding rage…"

"And his drinking habits. We weren't…exactly comfy in bed either."

The brunette smirked. "And yet you conceived an angel in some way…"

"In more ways than one, I kept thinking that I needed to prove to him that he meant something. But even when Ellie was born, he didn't change. He'd get so angry when she kept referring to your books. At one time, he threatened to burn them. Especially when she would ask me questions about you. I saw her on your lap out there…" Emma tilted her head and smiled. "She was so excited to finally meet you."

"She is quite a little angel," Regina said softly, showing how her affections were genuine for the child. "The exact replica of you."

"And for some odd reason, she has your sass and slight sarcasm already."

"Does she now?" The older woman smiled.

Easy conversation came, as the night settled in and gradually Snow's suspicions on the disappearance of her daughter and bosom friend disintegrated. For she was quite aware of the circumstances, entangling both women. Taking control of the festivities wasn't a difficult thing for her to do. In fact, the games were taken control of and led on to the very end of the celebration as guests began to leave.

"But you must know, you must," Regina prolonged her heart's language, "that I came around. I kept an eye on you. And even when my only wish was to kill him, I didn't. But if he ever laid a hand on you, I swear that his demise would have been sooner."

"He only hit me once," Swan sounded wounded. "In his drunken rage. I think it was the night I told him I didn't love him as much as I loved someone else. I destroyed his belief in himself. And after then, he kind of went around believing that nothing he did or said would ever be enough."

"So you endured the abuse," it puzzled the brunette in another way too. "Why didn't you come looking for me? Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I thought you didn't want me in that way. And I'd scare you more if I told you exactly how I felt," lowered eyes suggested honest worry.

"Well now it took five years to clarify that. To bring us together…" Regina pressed her palms on either side of Emma's face and smiled. "How about we pronounce this as a new beginning for both of us?"

When the brunette finally presented herself, closely followed by a blushing blonde who shyly descended the back steps with lowered eyes, David stared for a while. Even Ruby who had chosen to remain behind whilst Dorothy departed with Whale stopped to smile. For she had known too. There were certain things, small gestures and the depth of glances that would reveal someone's truest feelings. And possibly everyone in Storybrooke had become aware of the strain between the brunette and blonde as they years had progressed.

Up to this point, even Charming's lips curled up into a small smile when he glanced at his wife and noted how pleased she appeared. Somehow things finally began to fall into place in his mind. As surprising as the situation appeared to be, not once did he ponder on any kind of objection to the match. In fact, just to see Emma's cheerful disposition more than satisfied him.

"More cake anyone?" Swan produced a tray of brownies and smiled around at the remaining faces. Regina stood by her side, their arms linked as those blushing honey coloured cheeks were examined by a beaming Snow.

"Yes please!" Ellie clapped her hands in glee and rushed forward. She skirted around her grandfather and danced up to her mother. "It's only fair that I get the first choice, since I'm a Princess."

Regina blinked, entirely surprised by the show of such courage. "And a soon to be Queen," she said, bending down a little to scoop the little girl into her arms.

"Hey, I'm the Queen here!" Snow lifted a hand and scowled. "Get in line. Everyone else!"

"You're the Queen," the older brunette whispered into Ellie's ear, hugging her close. "Never let anyone tell you any different."

The child smiled, and her chest heaved. "Can a Queen marry a Queen?"

The question had brown eyes widening. For as innocent as children are, at times their brilliance and observant little minds tended to stun anyone.

Regina glanced at Emma and the latter produced a small smile. Her fair complexion was coloured by a blush.

"Totally," she answered her daughter, reaching out to caress the child's cheek. "Even in fairytales."

"Even in fairytales," Regina repeated.

"Granny, do you hear that?" Ellie twirled herself around within the brunette's grasp and smiled widely. "Two Queens can get married! Just as you told me!"

Snow inhaled deeply. "I called it." She folded her arms and threw a glance at David who rolled his eyes.

"Totally," little Ellie mimicked her mother's choice of words. And when those little emerald eyes fixated on Emma heartily biting into a brownie, the child gasped. "Mommy, what the… Cavities aren't going to stay away from you just because you're the Saviour."

Regina snorted.

Emma almost dropped what was left of the brownie and stared at her daughter.

"Like mother, like daughter," Snow proudly announced. And when all eyes rested on her sitting in a very comfortable chair, she began to hum a famous 'Wedding March' song.

Happy Summer Everyone!