Regina actually managed to find the control to break their connection, climbing off the blonde's lap in order to lead her upstairs to the bedroom, tugging impatiently at her hand. She moved as quickly as she could, determined to keep as much distance between them as possible so she wouldn't feel the brush of the blonde's body against her own and just turn and pin Emma to the nearest wall with another passionate kiss.

God, she just wanted to lose herself in that kiss.

But she wanted to do this right. She needed to. And as they approached her room, she couldn't help but change, her self-assurance waning as the white door loomed.

Was she actually going to do this? Could she?

Pulling open the door with grim determination, she couldn't make it more than a few steps before stopping them in the middle of the floor. Not to pounce, not to strip, not even to move. Regina stood there, not able to let go of Emma's hand, but not able to take the next step.

Emma was puzzled. The usually sexually confident Queen was a whole other woman in the dim light of the room. She seemed small, afraid. This was not the bold woman who had her tingling from the sensuous pull of her body. She was the girl from the castle, the one Emma had been unlucky enough to see.

Still gripping Emma's hand tightly, Regina found she couldn't hide her nervousness as the blonde's confusion turned to concern. Nor should she. If she was going with honesty in this relationship, whatever it was, with Emma, she would have to go with full honesty, especially because Emma already had gotten so much of it from just one moment with her heart.

Emma was already armed to the teeth with her secrets and weaknesses. One more couldn't hurt.

"I've never…made love."

Her statement may have been intended to be mayoral, but it was laced with all sorts of trepidation, the desire to turn "making love" into something worth scoffing at actually revealing how desperately she had longed for it.

Emma's heart broke just a little more for the Queen who had been so hoping to convey disdain, who was so unwilling to let someone in that she wouldn't allow herself the truth—who was so close to Emma in so many ways when the blonde herself had refused to use the term after Neal had revealed it to be true and then shattered its happiness.

So as much as her lips had been looking forward to other activities, Emma figured a little more talking wouldn't hurt.

She tenderly led Regina to sit on the edge of the bed. She would be there for Regina to tell her anything. Even the things she already knew, because this, this was her consciously deciding to let Emma in, and that meant the world.

"You're not just talking about with a woman," Emma prompted with a sincere smile.

Regina took in the blonde sitting beside her, so patient and troubled, the lines drawn clearly across her forehead, so unlike the aggravating child she could so often be.

For once, she just wanted to tell someone everything. She wanted to tell Emma everything.

"Daniel and I, we kissed. Stolen moments on the hill near my home, in the barn." Her words tumbled gently into the moonlit air. Maybe it was all she had been through or what Emma was offering her now, but she managed to speak of her first love with simple fondness, melancholy only tingeing what had been stolen from them. It deepened, however, with remembering what had been stolen from her.

"The King was my first," Regina breathed, trying to stem the rising bile in her gut. Had she looked up, she would have lost her reserve at the sight of Emma's anger, her revulsion, her overriding desire to hold the woman she loved in her arms in the hopes that simply her presence could offer some sort of balm to the wounds she had suffered. But Emma used every last ounce of her control to remain silent, waiting for the rest of her Queen's confession. And Regina did continue.

"He was my only for a long time. Even after his death. I considered it from time to time, but only ever just to fill a need. There were plenty of knights looking to bed the Queen, but, always, before anything truly happened, I…" Regina considered couching her reaction in something that would seem less pathetic, but that wouldn't have been the truth, as fully as she had managed to hide it from her suitors…and some less genteel callers. "I would panic. It was too much. So I just didn't. For a long time.

"And then there was Graham."

Regina choked. She should have stopped long ago—a beautiful woman who loved her and wanted to take her to bed was sitting right by her side, and she was willingly bringing up one of their most wrought conflicts. One of her least proud moments. But she couldn't stop. The dam broken, everything was bound to spill out at one point or another. Might as well be now so Emma could leave before she gave herself fully, without as much regret.

"He was interested…and he was different. Taking his heart—it was how I could guarantee that he wouldn't be able to hurt me. Or at least how I thought I could."

In absorbing what was in Regina's heart, Emma now knew not only the truth of what Regina had done, but why. Instantly recalling every circumstance of Graham's death, her feelings now colored by Regina's perception, the world she lived in, the reality of taking hearts, yet another thing she had thought belonged to her taken by Emma the intruder, watching her control slip when all she needed was control because it meant that no one could have it over her, not her mother, not Gold… Emma was thrown by her new understanding, wanting to be disturbed by Regina's crimes but unable to be entirely, not when destiny played such a large role in their lives, as if they lived out a written script and the most innocent girl was given the most horrific role.

They would have to work through it all. Of course they would. And there would be arguments and flaws and knots to untangle, but not now. Now they needed to revel in love. In the thing they both had been denied for so long.

Emma wanted to stop her. To tell her it was all okay because she already knew, and it was hard to tell, and Regina shouldn't have to; and it was also hard to accept that her True Love had done some horrible things, even harder when terrible things had been done to her, and she was going to have trouble dealing with all of it, but that didn't mean they had to this very second, but as Emma pondered how she could translate it all into words, Regina took a deep, shuddering breath in, preparing to continue. So Emma let her. Because Regina had to. It was part of their healing. Part of their new beginning.

"It wasn't exactly healthy, as the bug would probably say. It wasn't…right. I used him, a means to an end. He was a well-treated object, but an object nevertheless. God, just like I was. That I disposed of…" Regina looked away shamefully, filled with remorse over the stupid Huntsman, feelings she had never much considered before. But suddenly, she felt Emma squeeze her hand, telegraphing her understanding. She couldn't help but gasp. She didn't know why, and she certainly didn't deserve it, but if Emma could meet her honesty like this, then maybe it wouldn't be so bad sharing her heart.

"And that was it. That is it."

Emma hesitated. She didn't dare destroy what they had managed so far with her sometimes careless words. She laced her fingers with the Queen's, following her arm up to the eyes that were declaring her pain—over Graham, over the mess of her life—broken only by the surprise of Emma coming closer instead of running away.

"I know we have a lot to talk about," she began, not daring to look away from the woman she desperately loved, reading every shift as it moved through her features. "A lot more than I can even think about right now. And I now have a lot of truths embedded in my subconscious or whatever that I'm gonna have to deal with and you're gonna have to deal with, but right now, I know how sorry you are, even if you never say it, and I know why. I may not always agree with why, but I know it."

Emma couldn't even begin to think about everything that Regina knew about her now, all of the shit she had done and been through, how her Queen wasn't even giving it a second thought. Regina was so vulnerable she couldn't imagine that Emma felt the same way. As if she could never be worthy of the blonde's love, when the truth was, Emma could never feel worthy. She was a wondering orphan ex-con failure of a foster kid who had been stupid and crass and abandoned, and the ruler of an entire kingdom—a true queen with the wardrobe and the snootiness and the proper manners and elaborate education, not to mention extensive magical powers—loved her. Loved her and thought she was unworthy of her love in return. When that couldn't be further from the truth.

"But Regina, I can't wait to show you what it—what making love is like. Because you deserve that. And so much more." She paused as the emotional impact of her words rolled over the both of them like their True Love magic had over the town. Neither had felt so undeserving. Neither had felt so grateful. But the tears that prickled in their eyes reminded Emma of their circumstances.

"But maybe we should wait. Just until we work things through," she qualified. "I don't want you to think that it means anything other than I love you."

Regina knew it wasn't a rejection. She knew Emma was being mature and responsible and respectful of everything they had gone through. But she couldn't help it. She panicked a little.

"I need this," she entreated, anxiously searching green eyes for the words she wanted. "I need you. Every time we get close, I feel my heart getting lighter. It's getting easier. I have a lot to…deal with, as you said. We both do. Having to wait…I'm afraid I wouldn't—we wouldn't get through it."

It wasn't about forgetting what had happened, reveling in some carnal instinct until dawn came to crash them back to reality—she needed to share Emma again. She needed to connect. Only connect.

Emma caught on to her fear, her emphasis of the we, and as much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't ever imagine a reality in which there was no longer a "we," an "us," an "our son." She couldn't conceive of their being apart, even knowing that she had fallen for a woman whose darkness often threatened to overwhelm her. She couldn't ever leave Regina, not anymore.

"Regina. I absolutely never say this, but I'm here. For good. We've gotten though worse. No matter what happens, no matter what we decide tonight or any other night, I'll be here. Just…just don't leave, okay?"

Regina's heart splintered at Emma's words, so artificially strong, when the blonde in front of her was looking more like a broken little girl, someone who had been abandoned as often as Regina had been destroyed. A girl who had been so strong for her when this thing, this love, was just as dangerous and threatening for her. What a pair they made.

She grabbed Emma's other hand, turning to face her fully. She would be the comforter now. She would share her truth. Her eyes burned with her seriousness.

"Emma Swan. You have my heart. And there is absolutely no changing that. I will always fight for you."

A smile cracked over Emma's mouth. How Regina managed to convince her…she always knew when Regina was telling the truth.

"So you're stuck with me then?"

Her coy smile was soon matched on the brunette's face.

"And you me, Miss Swan."

"Perfect. Can't say I mind having an Evil Queen on my side."

"Careful, dear, all your do-right savior influence and she won't be Evil much longer."

She tried to joke, but she couldn't hide the truth in her words. Her softening scared her more than she could say, but it was inevitable. Emma Swan was turning her into sentimental mush. And the blonde seemed quite pleased with herself at that.

She leant over to kiss Regina on the cheek.

"I'm okay with that, too."

She slowly pulled away from the satin skin she longed to explore only to be stopped by the intensity radiating from her Queen. Gratitude and love, but perhaps most importantly sitting together on her bed, desire.

Maybe it wasn't a good idea to wait. Everything had stilled in the cover of night, but tomorrow would be filled with light and reality and families and whatever else they would have to deal with. Maybe it would help Regina. Maybe this is what they both needed to start again, to give themselves fully to each other, no magic involved.

At the very least, with their new bond so fresh and seemingly fragile, they would need to be near each other the whole night, and Emma was finding that would be much too difficult to keep platonic. She didn't know whether she'd be able to last the night without wandering hands, and she certainly didn't think she'd last in another room when all she wanted was to hold the one she loved, so she remained frozen, only inches away, debating whether to go for it when Regina made the choice for her.

She practically lunged forward, hoping for a kiss, a deep, passionate kiss. Regina was accustomed to taking what she wanted, and god, did she want Emma. But then, right before her deliverance, she pulled back just enough to match green eyes to hers.

She couldn't just take from Emma. That wasn't what this was about.

"Please?"

If Emma had thought nothing could possibly be hotter than Regina in her mayoral command, she had been entirely wrong. She had no resistance to gentle Regina, and "please"?

She was done for.

She grabbed Regina's waist, pulling the brunette over to her, settling her on her lap as they had been before, and claimed her lips once again, memorizing their curve, threading her hands through incredibly silky hair.

This was real, this was happening, but they would take it as slowly and as thoughtfully as they had to.

Regina would be treasured.

Reluctantly breaking their kiss, Emma moved her hands down Regina's front, stopping at each button on her blouse to reverently pluck it open, holding her breath at the growing strip of newly revealed skin. Regina couldn't help but shiver. She never expected the blonde to be capable of such delicacy, such patience.

Finally her blouse fell open, exposing black lace that somehow Emma had been expecting even with the terror of their day. Of course Regina would wear nothing but the best.

She trailed kisses down her neck to her collarbone, brushing the cloth from her shoulders and letting it slip to the floor. Regina almost felt exposed, the attention Emma was paying to every inch of her revealed in the moonlight, but the blonde stopped her reverence to remove her own shirt, allowing Regina's fingertips to trail along the musculature she had often admired. They continued unhurried, kissing and touching and admiring, each item of clothing removed from one matching the other. Emma wordlessly checked in at every stage, still wary of where they had begun, but Regina was much too intrigued by the unusual progression to consider anything different. As they carried on, Emma found proceeding as she had planned to be much harder than expected as Regina's bare skin came into contact with her own, their kisses becoming more frantic, their bodies responding intensely.

At last left with only bottoms, Emma hoisted Regina to sit where she had been on the edge of the bed, and stood, placing herself between Regina's legs, taking the Queen's hands to lead them to the button of her jeans. She was acting much braver than she felt as she looked down into bourbon-colored eyes filled with wonder that had her buzzing more than the alcohol itself would, her skin tingling as Regina carefully removed the denim and the cotton underneath until the blonde was bare before her.

She could have sat and admired Emma's ease and beauty, but Emma had other plans, standing her up and pulling her in close as she repeated the process with Regina's trousers and lace, until she could soak in the full beauty of her Queen. She stared, etching Regina's image into her memory when she noticed arms rising to cover perfect breasts and she met Regina's eyes, shimmering.

She was uncomfortable in Emma's scrutiny.

Hitting herself for her mistake, Emma pulled Regina to her tightly and laid a gentle kiss on her lips, waiting until arms moved to shoulders holding her in.

"I'm sorry," Emma whispered, punctuating her apology with another kiss, "I've only ever seen masterpieces at the Met. I can't believe someone so beautiful could possibly be in love with me."

She watched as the apprehension in Regina's eyes faded into astonishment before she rolled her own.

"I also can't believe how cheesy you make me. I guess when you get your fairy tale ending you have to start talking like you're in one?"

"Emma." Regina was dissolving at the blonde's shy admission, and was determined to repay the favor, ignoring her own walls of humor and brushing back golden hair. "You're gorgeous. Always know that."

The way Regina hummed her name and the truth in her expression…all of Emma's lingering doubts of being unfit for her Queen vanished, and she regained some of her boldness.

"Can I…?" She considered how to phrase her request. "There's something I've been wanting to do."

"Oh, really?" Regina cocked an eyebrow, thinking of the sexual fantasies the blonde must have entertained, but Emma's eyes were so sincere, and even standing naked together, Regina couldn't help but think there was more to this wish than that. And that was frightening. But she was piecing together her ability to trust, and Emma was the first one she was going to let have a go with it, so she managed to nod her head, hoping beyond hope Emma knew what she was doing.

Emma took Regina's permission with joy, lowering them both back to the bed without ever breaking eye contact. She watched dark hair splay across the comforter as Regina settled on her back, noting how she was somehow even more stunning than just seconds before, and decided to take a detour from her intended course to once again map those delicious lips, that warm mouth, that skilled tongue. But she somehow tore herself away, even with Regina's disappointed hum, because she had something she needed to do.

Pulling herself up over her Queen, she stared once more into whiskey depths before leaning to the side to kiss smooth olive arms, just the way she had wanted to on that moonlit road in the Enchanted Forest, even though the bruises were no longer visible, the faded yellowing hidden in the dark, but she moved to each of the new ones, the bruises from their battle, working her way across Regina's body until she had kissed away every scratch and ache she could find before ending up at the hip bones curving to where she had certainly not forgotten this night was headed. She placed two last gentle kisses on each before drawing her head back up to look at the brunette.

Regina was breathless.

She was overwhelmed by Emma, feeling more loved than she ever had and more aroused than she ever had, and with the blonde looking up at her with such awe, asking for permission with those forest eyes, once again Regina could only nod—she wanted this, god, did she want it, but her stomach still fluttered—it had never happened before. It was much too intimate with Graham; Leopold would never have even considered. But her dark thoughts were forced from her mind when those incredible pink lips that had written Emma's love across her skin her made their way from her pelvis to her inner thigh with just as much care as they had the for the rest of her body.

Every nerve ending shimmered with an energy she thought could only come from magic as Emma began to worship her with her tongue.

Her incredible joy was tempered only by the thought that she had spent so much of her long life without this, but she couldn't even hold on to that, any negativity slipping through the cracks, because if that was what she had to suffer to have the Savior in her bed, loving her the way she was being loved—maybe it wasn't repayment, but it was a damn good start.

Regina was over the edge, falling in absolute bliss more quickly and intensely than she ever had before, but Emma didn't stop, despite the powerful orgasm that wracked through the brunette's body or her own incredible arousal from experiencing it, watching and hearing Regina come apart—she wanted it to last forever. But suddenly, Regina regained control of her arms long enough to tug at her face, bringing her eyes to meet molten chocolate ones.

"Kiss me," she pleaded, "please."

That please.

Emma did exactly as she was commanded, but she was not about to leave what she started unfinished. Crawling up her Queen's body to kiss her with the same will to channel her emotions as she had when they shared their magic, she substituted her hand for where her lips had been before. And as Regina kissed back with everything she had, her hands grasping at her Savior, Emma slid into her.

Everything melded together as a periwinkle haze surrounding them grew with each movement, each moan, until Emma could feel herself falling with Regina this second time, her love's pleasure just as vivid as if she had been the one to experience it.

Their tremors dissipating with the mist around them, they collapsed, Emma fitting herself into Regina's side, so in love, so warm, so in awe of their magic.

She matched her breathing to Regina's as they both fought for air, regaining control of their thoughts and bodies. She let her fingertips brush over the soft skin they rested on, feeling the rise and fall Regina's chest. She drew herself even closer to the brunette, swearing she could feel the rush of blood in the veins beneath the surface, the rush of magic. She had never been much of a cuddler, but Emma sensed that a lot of things were going to be changing for the both of them.

"You're incredible," she mused, still drawn to the warmth that emanated from the woman beside her. "That was incredible."

"It really was," Regina murmured in response, claiming Emma's hand and lacing their fingers. She sat up slightly, drawing Emma up with her, just as unwilling to break their connection. "Thank you."

Emma's smile stretched to its limit. She didn't think she'd ever get enough of this. Hoisting herself up on an arm, she took in all of Regina's timid gratitude.

"I mean this sincerely when I say absolutely any time Regina. Any fucking time."

Her bravado was rewarded by a matching grin, teeth shining from still-red lips, a predatory gleam in still-dark eyes before Regina turned restrained once again.

"Did you…?" She asked, desperate to know if what she thought had happened had been true.

"It felt like it was my own. Like I was you. God." Emma still felt the energy pulsing through her system, her senses kicking in with the memory. "It was insane. Amazingly, mind-blowingly insane. I'm that good, huh?"

Regina smirked. She certainly wouldn't deny the blonde's talents. Or the enthusiasm she had for their moment together.

"You do have a certain skill, she conceded, flexing their still intertwined fingers. "But your magic…I felt it too." She was in awe. They hadn't actually performed any magic, outside of the energy they naturally emitted. They weren't drawing on each other, they hadn't needed it, but it still came to the surface, weaving together just as true as their bodies. She had never heard of anything like that happening before. "Two perfectly melded magical beings…" she marveled aloud.

"True Love is the most powerful orgasm of them all!"

Regina laughed. A full, ringing laugh, whether she was still high from Emma's touch or she was just now so used to the blonde's childishness tempering her, she laughed and Emma reveled in every moment with it. Of all the ways she had gotten to see Regina, she liked this way best.

"I don't think that's how the expression goes, dear," Regina teased.

"You know, you're probably right. I really don't want to be thinking about all those other True Love couples." Emma cringed as she remembered that as the literal product of True Love, she'd be including her parents in her previous statement.

"That's probably for the best." Regina cupped Emma's cheek as her good humor transformed into something much deeper. All the gifts Emma had given her, from this laughter to Henry. This woman meant everything. Her thumb traced pale freckles and high cheekbones.

"But I'd be happy to prove to you that in our case it is true," Regina crooned, her flirtation tempering the promise in her words.

Emma's heart raced at the suggestion of Regina's touch, her reflex kicking in with useless words.

"I'm pretty sure you already did."

"No," Regina corrected, bringing herself up to her knees in front of the blonde. "You may have benefitted from mine, but you didn't get your turn."

Emma was melting from the inside out at the seduction dripping from Regina's mouth, but she couldn't succumb. It wasn't about turns or tit for tat—everything she did, she did because she wanted—needed to. She didn't want Regina to feel like she owed anything. That wasn't how this was supposed to work. And she truly didn't want her to do anything she was uncomfortable with, but just as she opened her mouth to voice her concerns, a gentle finger landed over her lips.

"No protesting. Emma, I want to love you."

It was true. She wanted nothing more than to love the blonde. Love her with no selfishness at all. She needed Emma to see how real it was for her too, and how glad she was that in all of her horror she never managed to scare the woman who was known for running, away. How proud of her she was.

"I can never thank you fully for everything you have given me, for everything you will give me, but I can give you my best. I love you, Emma. Will you let me try this way of showing you?"

This time Emma was reduced to nodding as Regina climbed over her, her nerves practically sparking in anticipation as bare skin met bare skin once again.

"I am so glad you dug in your heels, Sheriff Swan," she whispered, leaning to Emma's ear, her hair tickling her face as she switched to the other ear with a kiss. "I am so glad you stayed every time I tried to push you away."

"And you may have been right about my never having been with a woman," Regina purred, staring at her prey, her hands already masterfully travelling over Emma's torso as she flashed a truly evil smile.

"But I've been known to be a rather quick learner."

A/N: I didn't change the rating because I believe I stayed within R-movie territory. If you think I should, please let me know.

I believe I'll be leaving our heroines with this happy ending. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing and following and favoriting-I truly appreciate the time you've given me!