When the curse breaks Regina is preparing herself to die. Snow is standing over her with a sword pointed at Regina's heart.

"Regina! I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." Snow drops the sword next to her, looks at her hands as if they belong to a stranger. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," Regina mutters, needs to leave, cannot bear for Snow to be looking at her with kindness and worry after what's just transpired between them.

"You're bleeding. I did that to you."

"You hardly were unjustified in trying to stab me."

"We did both get out of hand just a bit, didn't we?" Snow's teasing Regina knows, trying to let Regina know that they're going to be fine, that nothing has changed. But Regina can see the old fears, the old anger in Snow's eyes, knows this won't be so easily forgotten.

"I'm sorry," Snow whispers again.

Regina looks up at the woman she helped raise and for the first time utters the words "I'm sorry Snow."

Snow's eyes tear up and she looks like she wants to hug Regina, is suppressing the urge. Regina rolls her eyes, but she pulls Snow to her and Regina can't deny the comfort in knowing that this relationship isn't completely ruined, that there's hope to rebuild.

Emma and Charming are running in then, a flurry of motion and noise, and Regina scrambles to her feet.

"Henry?" Regina asks desperately.

"He's fine," Emma reassures. "Robin and Roland too."

And then Regina is turning to leave, wants to get away from three pairs of scrutinizing eyes. As soon as Regina is out in the fresh night air, the streets filled with injured people staring at their loved ones in horror, she transports herself to her vault.

The place is trashed. Shards of glass and ceramic litter the floor. Regina scrambles over the glass to where she locked her phone away and texts Henry to tell him how much she loves him.

Regina catches her reflection in the mirror and sees her:

The Evil Queen.

That is who she had been today. Who she is. Who she will always be.

The mirror is shattering then. A candlestick leaving Regina's hand, a beaker, vials filled with potion after potion that lacked the power to wake Marian.

Regina hears herself screaming and glass is flying and at least she's contained in the vault and there's no one here for her to hurt. She needs to be out of this dress, feels herself suffocating in it. She pulls at the ties on her velvet, pulls layer and layer of fabric from her body. Screaming and sobbing until she's on the floor amidst the glass and pulling desperately at the strings of her corset.

"Regina!"

She must be imagining his voice, there's no reason for him to be here, no way he still wants her after he met the Evil Queen.

He's kneeling in front of her, strong hands on her arms, pulling her towards him. "You're hurt."

"I'm fine," Regina tells him, swipes at the dried blood covering her arms from where Snow had grazed her earlier. There's a gash in the fabric of her corset too, and Robin runs his hand over the material that has been stained red.

"Come here," Robin says, coaxes Regina towards his chest. She can't meet his eyes, cannot bear to see him look at her without unwavering love and trust.

"What are you doing here?"

"You didn't find me when the spell broke. Henry and I were so worried. The only message you sent was to tell Henry you loved him. It took a lot of convincing to keep him from coming with me. I didn't want him to see you if you were hurt terribly."

"Thank you. And I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking clearly. I didn't mean to make you both worry."

Robin's hand is on Regina's cheek coaxing her gently to look up.

Love.

That's all that she can see when she stares and stares and tries to find any change in the way he's looking at her. Regina chokes back a sob.

"I love you Regina. That hasn't changed. And it isn't going to."

Regina is smiling and crying, overcome for a minute with hope and possibility. But then she remembers everything that has happened, and she knows that if she lets herself believe it will only hurt more when it ends.

Regina stands, needs to move away from Robin, knows it is far too difficult to resist him when he's touching her. She needs to get to Henry anyway, must get herself under control so she can go to her son. She grabs her cell phone, texts Henry that she's ok, that she promises to find him very soon, and again that she loves him so, so much. "I need to clean myself up. Henry can't see me like this."

"Let me help." Robin is looking at her longingly, desperately.

"I tried to kill Marian."

"So did I," Robin whispers, and Regina sees in his eyes the same self-loathing she feels deep in her soul.

"That wasn't you." She reaches out to him, wants to take his pain away. Her hand cups his face, pads of her fingers running over his cheeks. "It wasn't your fault. You were cursed. You are a good man Robin."

Regina reminds herself that she shouldn't be touching him like this after today. It's for the best that he knows the truth. Because Robin is a good man, and he deserves a good woman.

Regina pulls her hand away, and it aches to stop touching him. But then he's grasping her wrist, settling his fingers over hers and holding her hand steady. "Today wasn't your fault either. The only reason Marian is alive is because you ensured that she was safe before the curse fell."

"But the woman you saw today, that's who I am."

"No it's not. Yes you tried to hurt people today, but so did I, so did Friar Tuck, and that man would never harm another living soul. This is what the curse does. What it doesn't do is show us who we truly are."

Regina shakes her head. "For most people that's true. But you met the Evil Queen today. That's who I was for decades."

"But it isn't who you are. I love you as much as I did yesterday."

"How? I tried to kill Marian…and Snow and Emma. You watched me try to kill your wife."

"I still love you."

"This isn't just some curse, I tried to kill them all long before today."

Robin's smile is so full of love and hope that Regina can't make herself look away from him. "I know who you were, and I know exactly who you are now. When I look at you, all I see is my true love."

He leans his forehead against hers, and Regina sobs with relief, cannot hold it back, not with Robin. He nuzzles his nose against her wet cheek, presses his lips so softly to hers. She wraps her arms around him, her right arm aching with the movement, but she needs Robin closer, needs to reassure herself that he is still hers.

But he's doing that regardless, with every touch, every kiss, she feels how much he loves her, how much he needs her. He pulls her into his body, presses her tight to him and just hold her.

But then Robin is gasping and looking at Regina with fear. His shirt that is covered in red, and he is staring at the wound on her abdomen, once again open and oozing blood.

"We need to get you to a healer!"

"I'm ok."

"You're bleeding." He moves towards her urgently, but then softens as he motions to her corset and asks, "May I?"

Regina nods, and Robin's fingers make easy work of untying the garment. Regina lets out a deep breath once she's free of the constraints of the fabric, slumps forward against Robin's shoulder.

"Am I hurting you?" Robin asks, his lips pressed to Regina's cheek. She shakes her head and feels Robin pull the sticky material from her stomach. Regina holds back a wince of pain, not wanting to upset him.

Robin pulls away so that he can see her injury properly. His fingers skim over her skin. "I think we need to go to the hospital."

Regina's eyes up tear at the word we.

Of course Robin notices, always notices, always sees her. "What is it?"

"You're here." It's barely a whisper, but the way Robin smiles at her, Regina can't help but smile back.

"Of course I am."

She's shaking her head, never truly believed that he would still be here when the curse broke.

"We're both here Regina, but we need to make certain that you remain here so please let me take you to the hospital."

"It's not necessary."

"Please just humor me."

"I can heal it."

"Then why haven't you? You are the most stubborn woman I have ever met. You do know that right?"

"We're well matched in that case," she teases back, her hand stilling his where it glides across her abdomen. She concentrates on mending her flesh back together and with a swipe of their joined hands her wound is closed and her skin cleaned of blood.

"Your arm."

"It isn't deep."

"But you're in pain."

"It doesn't matter."

"Of course it matters." Robin bends down and presses his lips to Regina's arm. His kisses become more firm once he reaches her shoulder above the injury. He kisses across her clavicle, up her neck, stops to feels her pulse beat beneath his lips.

"Robin." Regina's arms wrap around his back, her bare chest pressed against him. She rest her forehead against his and breathes him in, simply wondering whether this can be real. Robin's hands are making quick work of the pins holding Regina's hair in place. She feels lighter as it cascades down her back, feels a weight being lifted as his fingers work through the tangles and massage her scalp. She hums against his mouth as he continues to weave his fingers through her hair and along the curve of her neck.

Regina is reluctant to leave Robin's arms at all, but she thinks of Henry worrying, and takes a deep breath and pulls back slightly. "I need to put on clothes and wash up and then go to Henry."

"I can help," Robin says, his hands still clutching tightly to Regina's waist. She thinks that he too must be desperately afraid to be out of arms reach.

Regina leans forward and presses a soft kiss to Robin's lips, nuzzles her nose against his. "You can come," Regina says with a playful smile, though her heart still feels so terribly weighted down by what she had tried to do mere hours ago. "As long as you promise to help and not to keep me from getting dressed."

Robin chuckles, but Regina can still see the pain in his expression. She may not deserve love, but Robin does and she loves him so much. She wants to soothe him, wants to give him the comfort that he gives her. She leans in to press her lips to his, kisses him deeply, fingers caressing his neck, rubbing circles on his back, touching him softly, reverently; she hopes she can show him how much she loves him.

Robin smiles at her, curiosity in his eyes, wondering why Regina is suddenly kissing him like this when she had just insisted that she really needed to leave the vault. She needs him to know, can't let him wonder a moment longer. It's welling in her chest, and she can't hold it in any longer.

"I love you."

Robin's face lights up in the brightest smile Regina has ever seen on his face. Her heart is still pounding furiously, but Robin is looking at her like she just made him the happiest man in the world.

"I love you too Regina. More than anything."

It's too much, Regina thinks, too much hope and love and happiness. But she cannot pull her eyes from Robin, is utterly transfixed by the way he is looking at her.

"You're really here."

"I'm really here. And I'm staying here." Robin pulls Regina into his arms, and she can feel his smile grow wider as she nuzzles into the crook of his neck. "Let's get you cleaned up, and then we can go get our boys and if you'd like, perhaps we can spend an evening just the four of us."

"I'd like that very much."