During the first moments upon waking, Regina felt nothing but peace as she lay quiescent in bed, relishing the comfortable lethargy weighing down her limbs. Little by little, though, a rhythmic beeping seeped into her growing consciousness and as she rolled over to shut off the incessant alarm, panic spiked through her uncooperative body. The slow beeping increased in tempo until it became a shrill whistle as she struggled to pry open her heavy eyelids and fight against the awkward pressure in her chest.

Harried voices quickly joined in the din, but Regina couldn't make sense of what they were saying over the riotous roaring of her own anxiety. A punishing force gripped her right hand while searing heat burned through the back of her left.

When a hazy calm settled once more over her agitated mind, Regina was finally able to decipher a familiar voice from amongst the chaos as it gently whispered soothing words into her ear.

"It's all right, Regina. Sleep now; I'll be here when you wake up."

Shifting uncomfortably in the hard plastic chair, the younger woman maintained her bedside vigil as she waited for the woman she loved to open her eyes. Days had passed since the last time Regina had almost come to and she had stubbornly refused to move from her spot despite the kind encouragement and downright demands of the nurses. The cot they'd wheeled in so long ago sat folded and unused in the corner, her pain a form of penance for her part in this tragedy.

Running long fingers through the greasy strands of her unwashed hair with a sigh, the younger woman fought bone-deep weariness as she stared vacantly at whitewashed walls, the never-ending seconds ticking on marked only by the reassuring cadence of Regina's heart monitor.

Green eyes snapped open as a low groan echoed softly in the quiet room, jerking the tired woman from her fitful dozing. Gently rubbing the smooth hand held within her own, she anxiously waited to see if Regina would stir again. When another moan sounded from the supine woman, she quickly scrambled up to the head of the bed.

"That's it, sweetheart," she whispered encouragingly as she lightly stroked the lanky, brown locks framing the other woman's face. "Nice and easy now. Just take your time."

Long lashes gradually fluttered open, revealing cloudy brown eyes tight with pain and confusion.

"Em-Emma?" Regina rasped out.

Emma nodded as tears cascaded down her cheeks, "Gods, I've missed you."

Lighting the tapered candles and triple checking that the silverware was set properly atop the white, linen tablecloth, Emma wiped her clammy palms across her black trousers before moving across the room to turn on the music she'd specially selected for this evening.

Dinner was finished and waiting in the warm oven. It smelled amazing, if she did say so herself, and the decadent dessert she had for later looked just as promising.

Now all that's missing is someone to share it with, she thought just as a knock sounded at the door.

Nervously running her hands over her outfit one last time, Emma went to welcome her guest only to lose any hope for coherent speech when she caught sight of the vision waiting for her on the other side.

Naturally tanned skin and sensuous curves were encased in a deep burgundy sheath with a wide, black belt that highlighted a trim waist while piercing eyes were accentuated with smoky eye shadow and heavy kohl. The result practically screamed 'exotic' and 'dangerous' and left Emma completely tongue-tied.

"I take it you like what you see, Ms. Swan," Regina purred with an arched eyebrow, finally shaking the blonde from her stupor.

"Yo-you look incredible, Regina," Emma stuttered, but was delighted to see a pleased smile flit across full, maroon lips as she led the older woman into her apartment.

"What's going on here, Sheriff?" the brunette asked upon seeing the beautifully decorated table, coming to an abrupt stop and pulling her hand from Emma's.

Accustomed to Regina's fear of all things truly intimate, Emma was undeterred by the use of her title and the cool voice it was spoken in. Wrapping her arm around the other woman's lithe waist, the blonde resumed their trek to the table, pulling out a chair for her date. When the brunette refused to sit, Emma tried to soothe her as best she could.

"I thought since Henry was staying with his grandparents tonight, we could enjoy spending a little time together over a nice meal and some fantastic wine before moving onto… other things."

This was going to be the night Emma finally told Regina that she was ready to move their relationship beyond the sorta-friends-mostly-fuck-buddy stage they'd been stuck in for the last six months.

Their sexual chemistry could not be denied – which is how she'd found herself pinned against her desk all those months ago while Regina's wicked tongue and teasing fingers had done amazing things to her writhing body. They hadn't stopped since and while the blonde physically craved Regina just as much now as she had then, she'd seen previously undisclosed parts of the brunette over their time together that had her yearning for a deeper connection.

She'd spent all week building up the courage for this difficult conversation – Regina was sure to fight her tooth and nail – and she was determined to go through with it tonight even if it killed her.

"No. There's more," Regina countered with narrowed eyes. "It's written all over your face."

Damn.

She never could hide her feelings very well once they this close to the surface.

"I have no idea what you think you're playing at, Ms. Swan, but I don't want any part of it," Regina seethed before spinning on her heels and storming towards the door.

Emma sprinted after the retreating figure, grabbing a slender wrist as it reached for the handle and spinning the brunette back around to face her.

"You have no idea who I even am," Regina bit out, but Emma could clearly hear the fear and uncertainty underlying the harsh words.

"No, I don't," the blonde agreed to the surprise of the other woman, "but I know exactly what you are capable of. I've seen the lengths you're willing to go to protect yourself and the ones you love. I know about Daniel. I've even had the pleasure of meeting and battling your mother, so I know exactly what you could have become, but you didn't! We all have a past, Regina; I'm simply trying to offer you a chance at a future where you could actually be happy."

Emma waited nervously as several emotions played across chocolate depths too fast to follow until they settled in familiar determination. Her heart dropped as Regina turned and left without another word, slamming the door behind her. She knew the brunette just needed a little time to freak out in private, before they could move forward.

She hoped anyways.

Wiping a lone tear from her cheek, Emma moved to clean up the reminder of their disastrous would-be date when the sound of screeching tires and a dull thump reverberated throughout the apartment.

Throwing open the door and dashing down the stairs, Emma rushed out of the building to check on the driver. Half way across the street, green eyes landed on a sprawled figure in a beautiful burgundy dress.

"REGINA!"

Regina slowly pulled her hand from Emma's grasp to brush shaky fingers through curly, blonde locks, unsure if she was alive, dead, awake, asleep, in Heaven, Hell, an alternate reality, or a messed up combination of all of the above.

Taking the wandering hand back into hers, Emma brought it to her lips for a quick kiss before placing the palm against her face. Regina let out a small gasp as silent tears fell from closed eyes, her thumb gently removing the ones within reach in a vain attempt to comfort the younger woman.

"Emma," she whispered hoarsely, contentment filling her as shimmering, green eyes locked onto her own darker ones.

"Henry?" Regina rasped after several long moments of silent staring.

She couldn't have cared less what reality she now inhabited, if Emma was sitting here before her then Henry was somewhere safe, but she wouldn't be able to relax fully until she knew for sure.

"He's fine," Emma reassured quickly. "Well, he's worried about you, but Snow and David have been watching him."

Regina couldn't help but roll her eyes at this bit of news. Of course it had to be the world where two of her least favorite people still existed and were currently looking after her son, most likely filling his head with fanciful ideas about life, true love, and such.

"I know, I know," Emma replied dismissively before Regina could say anything, "but they have taken really good care of Henry while we've been here."

Regina stiffened at the vague implication that they both had spent a fair amount of time in this hospital room.

"Water?" she asked in an effort to buy herself a moment's break from the blonde's scrutinizing gaze.

"Oh... uh, sure," Emma blinked at the abrupt subject change– surprised Regina hadn't thrown a fit over the placement of their son – as she poured the requested drink into an ugly pink cup from a pitcher on a nearby side table.

Placing a straw into it for convenience, she scooted closer to the head of the bed and held it with slightly shaking hands while Regina took a few, easy sips.

"Thank you," Regina said as Emma set the cup aside before, once again, grabbing hold of her free hand.

"Now, will you please tell me how long I've been here and how I ended up in such a state?"

"You don't remember," the blonde asked stricken.

"I remember a lot of things, but right now I cannot tell which are real and what were merely dreams. I assume I've been unconscious for a good deal of time?"

Emma nodded, the spooked look easing from her features as she began detailing their last encounter from just over two weeks ago. The events matched the images that had begun crowding Regina's aching head almost as soon as she'd awoken, giving her hope that she was finally truly awake.

"Gods, I was so scared," Emma's ragged voice hitches. "There was so much… you were so… broken. I bullied my way into the ambulance, but they wouldn't let me follow you into the surgical ward. You regained consciousness for just a second before they pushed you through the doors. The look on your face was so sad… defeated, like you'd simply given up and refused to fight. I wasn't sure you'd…"

"Anyways," Emma visibly shook away what she was about to say. "Once you were through surgery, the doctors said, barring any complications, you should heal just fine, physically. Your head injury was the biggest concern so you've been in a medically induced coma until a few days ago when they stopped the medication and had to remove the breathing tube when you started fighting it; we've just been waiting for you to wake up since then."

Regina nodded absentmindedly as the new images began to coalesce into a solid memory and some of the experiences she had with Cameron in Rosewood began to make sense. She would miss the young doctor – even if she had simply been a construct of her own imagination. The woman had helped her come to grips with so many painful aspects of her past as well as her fear of loving someone and all that it entailed.

As grateful as she was, she wouldn't trade this Emma and Henry for anything. I just wish I could thank her, she thought as the last hour finally caught up to her and she slipped towards a peaceful sleep.

"I am so sorry," Emma whispered to the slumbering woman, shame and fear having made them impossible to say earlier.

"You shouldn't apologize; I should," Regina replied, eyes fluttering back open.

"No," the brunette interrupted when Emma began to refute. "This wasn't your fault. What happened to me was an accident. I should never have yelled and stormed out when you were being so sweet. I was... afraid," she confessed, averting her eyes.

Gentle fingers tilted her chin up until she was caught in sympathetic green eyes. "What were you so afraid of?"

A few moments passed silently, "You... me... everything. I've loved before, but what I feel for you is so much more than that; I can't even begin to put it into words. What if, when you finally see the real me, you change your mind and leave? I don't think I'd survive."

This was the exact conversation she'd been trying to avoid that fateful day, but she refused to let Emma think that she had any fault in the accident that landed her here. It was her own damn fault for not looking before she sprinted across the street towards the safety of her car.

"I may not 'know you' as well as I should, but I do see you," Emma insisted, not understanding what Regina could be talking about.

Magic had returned more than a year ago so she was over that shock. No one in town was shy about sharing every grievance they had in regards to the Evil Queen, especially in the beginning, so Emma was more than aware of what Regina had done. She'd even pried Snow's role in it all from a reluctant Ruby and had confronted her tearful mother about it.

Hell, even Emma still had her own issues with some of the stunts Regina had pulled since her arrival, but she realized she was no saint either and knew that with a little time and a lot of work they'd be able to move forward.

The woman looking at her now with watery eyes laced with fear and cautious optimism was not the same person she had once been. Emma could feel it the same way she always knew when someone was lying to her. It was impossible to explain, she just knew that they could be great together if they only took the chance.

Regina shook her head, "You only know what I've told you, which honestly isn't much, and I'm sure you've heard stories from the townspeople that are probably true for the most part. If you were smart, you'd run as far away and as fast as you could."

The brunette's obvious dejection pulled at Emma's heart. "Do you want to know who I think the real Regina is?"

Brown eyes widened in apprehension, but Regina offered a hesitant nod nonetheless.

"I think she is someone who has been so deeply hurt in the past – by someone she should have been able to trust without reservation – that she was terrified of it happing again and so set out to make sure no one could ever get close at all. She projects this cold demeanor and these insurmountable walls all in the effort to protect her heart from the one thing she desires the most..."

"True love," Regina finished in slight awe. No one had ever gotten her so completely, especially with so little to go on.

"Exactly."

A moment passed as each woman reveled in the greater connection growing between them.

"You deserve to hear the whole story from me; there are things I must tell you, Emma. Things you should know before…"

"Shhh… 'Gina. Rest now. Everything else can wait until you're better."

Regina wanted so much to confess everything now while she had the nerve, but she knew Emma was right. One day they would sit down and she'd explain everything about her past – maybe she'd even tell her all about Cameron and the crazy world she'd inhabited when in a coma – but that wasn't today.

Unable to resist the much-needed sleep any longer, Regina slowly began to drift off.

"You'll be here when I wake up?" she asked with just a hint of uncertainty, squeezing the hand still holding her own.

"Always…"

Three years later…

"Good morning, dear," Regina hummed as gentle butterfly kisses were rained randomly across her face and neck.

"Happy anniversary, gorgeous," was whispered softly as a cold, unfamiliar weight settled on her hand.

Brown eyes snapped open, widening in surprise as they took in the large princess cut diamond set in a silver band that now rested warmly on her left, ring finger.

"Uh… wha…" was all she could come up with as she searched worried, green eyes for an answer.

"I love you, Regina. I have for years, probably from the moment I first saw you. Though, I was too thick at the time to realize it and, well, we did have a lot of issues to get past, but I think it was worth it and I'm pretty sure you think so too. As much as I love our life together I want to give you more and this seemed like the best way to start and to show you that I am in this for the long haul no matter what comes, so wi-will you marry me?"

Regina couldn't help but laugh at how adorable the love of her life was when rambling before throwing her arms around the still- nervous woman and pulling her into a searing kiss.

"Of course I'll marry you!"

A relieved exhale ghosted across her face before she was pulled into another passionate kiss.

"I love you so much, Regina Mills."

"And I love you, too, Allison Cameron."

... and one universe over.

The End

A/N: Ok so wow... I FINALLY finished it. I am SOOOO sorry it took me so long. But a huge THANK YOU to those who have stuck by me through to the end. Hopefully, it was worth it. And hey, at least this time it didn't take me five months for this chapter. LOL. Gotta give a big thanks to my friend snuglkty for reading over this last chapter and making sure it all made sense. So if you're still confused, blame her cause she said it was okay! Lol. No, don't really. I LOVE confusing you guys, as you may have guessed already, so it's all on me. If you have questions still, feel free to ask. I explained what happened to Regina, but not the how or why. I figured you all could come up with your own theories, most likely better than my own, but if you are really that curious, just pm me. I always reply and I do love hearing from you guys. Thanks again for reading. You all really are the best!