Hello again everyone!

I present you the last chapter for this story.

Thank you all so much for sticking with it and all of your kind, kind words.

Maybe we'll see each other on another story ;)

Until then,

Mwah!

"Where is she?"

Regina immediately asked, after David had opened the door. She and Henry were breathing heavily, both looking a little disheveled, probably from sprinting up the stairs in record time.

"Couch in the living room" David said, but Regina was already past him and had spotted the mass of golden locks that hung over the armrest of the sofa.

"Emma." She breathed and fell to her knees in front of the Sherriff's lifeless looking form.

At that moment Snow came out of the adjoining room.

"Regina, thank god you're here. I called Gold and he is on his way over as we speak."

It took everything in Regina to tear her eyes away from her…lover?...girlfriend? What exactly was the exact term here? She wondered for a brief moment, before finally looking at Snow.

"You called Rumple?"

"Figured he was a better option than Blue." Her face grew red as she added:

"And he and you are the experts on this kind of curse."

Something in Regina bristled at those words but she refused to let that distract her from the important matter on hand: Emma.

"What exactly happened?"

"We were talking and then she took a sip from her cocoa and then she just blacked out."

"Cocoa?" Regina asked again and David handed her the take out cup wordlessly.

"Granny's?" Henry asked, his brooding expression reminded Regina so much of Emma in that moment it hurt.

She sniffed at the liquid that still remained in the cup before waving a softly purple glowing hand over it.

"Hm. Yes that does look like a sleeping curse."

"Bravo, your majesty."

Rumple mocked as he appeared in the apartment with a whiff of smoke and an impish grin on his face.

Regina just glared at him, in absolutely no mood for his games. Worry was gnawing at her, slowly morphing into fear. What if they didn't manage to wake Emma up? She couldn't do this without Emma. Raising Henry. Being a hero. Dealing with her demons. None of it.

"Do you have anything productive to contribute or did you just come here to enjoy the show?" she snarled.

"Actually, I have very important information for you."

"Name your price." David said, crossing his arms.

But Rumple didn't even spare him a glance, he had his eyes trained on Regina.

"Since I am a newly-wed and a reformed man, I'll give it to you for free."

"Tell us."

Snow demanded, more regal than Regina had ever seen her. She almost smiled at that. Almost.

"Yesterday I did an inventory of my possessions and found a sleeping potion was missing."

"Someone stole a potion from you and maybe god knows what else and you didn't tell us?!"

David yelled, but Gold didn't seem fazed in the slightest and continued:

"If I were you, I'd look for the people who had access to that cocoa over there"

Snow frowned.

"I brought that with me, and one for myself. I was chatting with Ruby, no one was there except – Killian."

Of course, Regina thought, it seemed just like that prick to meddle with a woman's beverage.

"But why?" David mused.

Regina sighed. They were still just as slow as before.

"Because he wants to prove that he is Emma's true love."

"What?!" Snow and Charming shouted in unison.

Gold smirked. "I bet he is only waiting for your call to help you rescue the princess."

"Well, the only thing he is getting is my fist in his face" Charming growled. Regina could emphasize.

"But how can we help my mom?" Henry chimed in.

Again, Gold looked at Regina.

"There is only one way to break a sleeping curse, Henry."

Suddenly the boy was excited. "Then I can wake her."

And before anyone could say anything Henry was softly kissing his blonde mother on the cheek.

They all waited with baited breath but nothing happened. Henry turned around, tears in his eyes.

"Why didn't it work? Doesn't she love me anymore?"

"Because sleeping curses are tricky. There are hundred different versions of it and the pirate took one that was quite specific."

Dread filled Regina's stomach. Why was there always a catch to everything?

"Spit it out, Gold" She barked, unable to control the hurricane of emotions raging inside her.

"It needs to be her romantic true love, otherwise it won't work."

Regina gulped. Oh no.

Snow let out a sob. "But we don't know who that is or if Emma even has that! She never said anything. Maybe she found a guy in New York or god knows where!"

Rumple shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, I suggest you start looking then."

And with a wave of his hand he dissolved into smoke again, but not before shooting Regina a knowing look.

David went over to his wife and pulled her into his arms.

"We'll figure it out." He whispered.

Regina looked at them. And then at Emma, with Henry still perched up on the couch next to her.

"Mom?" He asked softly.

Regina knew what he was asking.

Could it be? Could it really be that simple? And that complicated? She loved Emma and Emma loved her so why did the thought of trying to kiss the blonde awake scare her so much?

Her self-doubt had an answer for her:

What if she wasn't Emma's true love and it had been Hook after all? Or someone else entirely? Surely then Emma would want to be with them. And where would that leave her? Heartbroken and miserable, again.

What if no one could wake Emma? Then Henry would lose his mother so short after having lost his father too. And Regina would have lost another love, again.

And what if it did work? Would Emma feel trapped with her now that they were bound by fate? Emma didn't like being caged. What if she realized that Regina would be pulling her down with her?

The brunette felt sick to her stomach and she really wanted to talk to Emma right now. Emma knew how to make her feel better, how to make her braver.

She looked at the peacefully sleeping woman in question.

What if it all went wrong?

And a small voice in her head supplied 'what if it all went right?'

Unconsciously the brunette walked over to the sofa.

You can't live your life being scared, Regina she heard Emma's soft whisper in her mind.

Henry had managed to make Emma believe in magic. Then Emma began believing in Regina, just like she now did in Emma. And more importantly, Emma helped her believe in herself again.

Maybe now it was time for her to believe in them.

She gave Henry a quick assuring smile before bending down and brushing her lips gently against Emma's. For an excruciating long moment nothing happened, but then a familiar burst of rainbow colors pulsated through the room and the blonde opened her eyes, taking a deep breath. Regina was still only inches away from Emma's face and when brown eyes met sparkling green ones, Regina smiled.

"Hi." She whispered, her voice heavy with emotion.

"Hey." Emma replied, taking in the sight of the brunette in front of her.

Their moment was cut short when Henry burst out "Ma, you're awake!" And threw himself into both his mothers' arms.

"You did it. You woke her up." Snow whispered in awe.

Emma carefully untangled herself from her two favorite people in the world, but kept on holding Regina's hand, her thumb softly caressing it's back. She wasn't ready to let go of her just now. Right now, she needed to know she wasn't alone in this.

"You knew?" her mother asked her.

Emma nodded.

"I love her and I am so happy she loves me back."

She looked at their intertwined hands before looking back up to her parents.

"This is important to me. It's a part of who I am and I don't want to lock that away."

Snow carefully looked at her daughter and wondered why she hadn't seen it before. They fit so perfectly together. And it was so poetic as well. Emma, the Savior, saving the 'Evil' Queen, the one that needed saving the most. And Snow, who was (at least partly) responsible for taking away Regina's first chance at a happy ending, was now able to give her that chance back, in form of her daughter and grandson.

"Emma, that is wonderful." Snow said, taking Emma's other hand in hers.

The blonde looked shocked from Snow to Charming and back.

"So, you're okay with this?"

"Emma, you're our daughter and we love you and accept you no matter what." David said.

"And if Regina is the one that makes you happy, we're happy."

Green eyes welled up with tears as Emma looked back and forth between her parents. Finally Regina gave the blonde a little nudge and Emma stepped towards the pair and let them engulf her in a hug.

Henry came to stand in Emma's place, next to his brunette mother, who gently laid an arm on his shoulders.

Still sandwiched between her parents Emma looked back to the brunette.

Their gazes found each other in the midst of it and brown eyes glinted with mirth.

"Told you so" Regina mouthed.

With a sharp intake of breath Regina awoke in the middle of the night. She blinked, her eyes still adjusting to the darkness. Her heart was still hammering inside her ribcage. Even though, they have become fewer and farther in between Regina still had nightmares of that day almost a month ago now.

She looked to her right and saw Emma slumbering peacefully right next to her. Well, a lot had changed in that month. She was getting better, but she also knew it would take a lot of time to work through everything that had happened in the last years.

Regina quietly got up and made her way downstairs into the kitchen. She never could go to sleep again after one of her nightmares.

So she made herself a cup of hot cocoa with a dash of cinnamon she only drank to feel more grounded. Her family made her always feel that way.

She was just looking out the window into the dark, when she heard soft footsteps approaching.

"Hey. Couldn't sleep?" Emma mumbled and gave the older woman a small kiss on the back of her neck. Regina laid her head back so it was resting on Emma's cheek.

"Hm." She sighed and felt Emma nodding. She didn't need to elaborate why and Regina was thankful for that.

"Did I wake you?" she asked, still facing the window instead of the blonde.

"Not technically, you know I can always feel when you're not next to me." While talking, Emma's arms circled Regina's waist, pulling her closer.

The brunette chuckled. She had never thought that Emma craved physical closeness like this, but she had soon found out that her girlfriend was quite the cuddler.

"Why didn't you wake me?" the blonde almost pouted, "You know you don't have to be alone with this."

"I could never forget that. Sometimes I just want to be. Right here, right now. To feel that and not think about anything."

"Can I just be with you then?"

They both looked at each other through the reflection in the window.

Emma would've gone dark for Regina and Regina well she was trying to stay light for Emma.

It wasn't perfect, they weren't perfect, but they didn't have to be.

Black and white had clashed forcefully together, melding into gray and changing, evolving and shattering Emma's worldview of absolutes.

It was OK.

It was OK not to be a pristine white. It didn't matter that she had a few darker spots on her.

Emma now knew she didn't need to be perfect to be loved and accepted; she just needed to be herself: A mixture of a multitude of colors swirling together into a perfectly imperfect gray.

And Regina had learned that the darkness wasn't the end.

That even darkness fades if you let enough light in.

It didn't matter how long it took for her to get here.

She had been in the darkness for almost her whole life. Pushed in, poured down on her and stepped into it willingly. Now, finally stepping out of it again, the light almost blinded her. And it scared her. It made her want to crawl back into the comforting blackness, where nothing was at stake because she was already on the bottom. But she didn't.

She didn't because crawling back- hiding- wasn't who she was anymore.

She would fight it, she would fight for her happiness, for them and she would fight for herself. And she knew she wouldn't have to do it alone. Emma would be right there, standing next to her.

Regina chuckled low in her throat before answering:

"You're always with me."

-Fin