A/N: I couldn't leave it alone…

…

Regina roused from sleep, groggy and disoriented. It must be the greasy beef she had consumed at dinner with Emma that had upset her stomach and woken her in the middle of the night. Her throat felt bone dry so she swung herself out of bed and got a glass of water, hoping that it would soothe her and allow her to sleep uninterrupted.

Once she was up she felt wide awake in body and spirit. Her house was quiet and still as she ran the tap and sipped from her glass. Now that she was up she might as well head to her study and journal. She would never let Dr. Hopper know, but she did find it immensely helpful in sorting her thoughts and it kept her mindful.

She rolled her neck from side to side and wiped the remnants of sleep out of her eyes. She caught sight of her reflection in the hall mirror and briefly felt a tug of despair clawing at her heart. She breathed deeply and willed herself to shake off the feeling. She was happy, she was mindful. She curled up on her sofa, pulling a throw blanket around her pajama clad legs, she opened her journal. She had never thought of herself as the kind of woman to indulge in self help books, or watch 'Oprah' for peace and inspiration, but with wry realization she thought maybe some Deepak Chopra could have helped her.

She sorted through the conversation with Emma she'd had earlier in the day, recalling the way the blonde woman had looked at her. Regina realized that Emma made her feel 'seen' in a way no one else ever had. Certainly, not her mother, not ever. Regina had searched and searched for even a hint of that. Not even Robin had looked at her with that level of recognition and understanding. Sadly, she couldn't really remember how he had looked at her.

Touching on the aspect of the jealousy of the feeling she had when she learned that Emma and Elsa had talked about magic together. The anger she felt when Emma shared secret looks with her puppy dog pirate. She wrote and wrote until her hand cramped, and tears she didn't know she was holding in fell from her eyes and splattered the pages, smearing the ink.

Finally, after letting it all out of her heart and onto the page, she limbs grew heavy and her eyelids drooped, but she felt lighter and more enlivened. She carefully placed her journal onto her desk, took another sip of water and returned to her bed where sleep came easily.

In the morning, she woke to the sound of Henry's footsteps echoing down the stairs. He had grown so much in such a short time. Everything was changing, but that wasn't necessarily a bad thing. After her shower and breakfast she returned to her study and recalled her journaling session, but it seemed almost like it had been a dream.

She scanned through the pages that detailed her grief, and love in unequal measure and found the words she had written the night before. Her breath hitched as she read all of it and re-read it just to be sure. Archie had said that sometimes you have to sit with your feelings, even the bad ones and even though it's uncomfortable, because maybe if you let yourself feel instead of pushing it away you won't be afraid of those emotions anymore.

Those damned tricky feelings were like Pandora's Box. It wasn't anger, or jealousy, or fear…not any longer. The feeling that had popped out and was sitting on her chest was love. It was light and it was happy and bounced over her being: weightless and real.

She wasn't sure how long she just stood there and let it wash over her, but she was startled by a loud knock on her door. She willed her stiff legs to move and as she passed back down the hall she caught another glimpse of herself in the mirror. She passed by and then stopped and stepped backwards, there was not only no trace of her familiar friend despair, but now she seemed to shine. She touched her hair experimentally, and then guiltily retreated as another knock sounded. She smiled so brightly in utter disbelief. This was more than a breakthrough; Dr. Hopper would call this an epiphany.

"Hey," Emma said as Regina flung open the door, not surprised to see her at all even though she was technically unexpected. Snow was still falling, light and fluffy flakes that landed on and decorated Emma's stocking cap and beard. "Can I come in? It's freezing out here."

Regina had been staring and smiling like a drunken goof for a moment too long, but she stepped backwards pulling the door wider and Emma strutted in. "I stopped by because we had a date at the Sheriff's station to go over the older fairytale variations, and it's already passed nine. Are you okay?"

She couldn't stop staring or smiling, she nervously nodded, "Yes, I'm very okay…very..."

The smile was infectious and Emma caught it too, huffing in elated confusion, "Very? Okay…Did I miss something?'

"Let me take your coat, and I'll make you some coffee," Regina practically pulled her coat off and took her by the hand to lead her into the kitchen.

"So what's going on with you today?" Emma was almost bashful, unaccustomed to Regina acting so open and welcoming. She was touched and curious about the way the other woman was positively beaming.

Halfway through grinding the coffee beans, Regina got nervous, and her old fears of rejection tried to surge forth and smother the light. She looked at Emma and found that solidifying encouragement that steadied and emboldened her to be candid. "I'm glad you're here, I was thinking about some of the things we talked about yesterday…"

"Me too," Emma admitted as she accepted the cup of coffee and wrapped both hands around the warm mug.

"You were?" Regina sat down next to her with her own cup, and watched the steam curl up and dissipate into the air. She sounded shy and wanting when she looked Emma in the eye and asked, "What were you thinking about?"

Emma sipped her coffee clearly finding it difficult to organize her own thoughts into clear sentences, her mouth lifted into a smile around her cup and the apples of her cheeks grew rosy. She stole a glance at Regina, "I was thinking about you, and how I like helping you out with the happy ending thing. I really like it. It gives me this satisfied feeling; I don't know how to describe it. It's like I'm fulfilling some purpose that I didn't know I had."

Regina reached forward and plucked Emma's coffee mug from her hands, placing it on the table. She let their fingers brush together softly as her eyes turned earnest and pleading. She worried her lip between her teeth and leaned even closer to Emma. Green eyes bore a look of confusion, but there was no trace of fear or trepidation. Slowly, Regina angled in, and let her eyes flutter shut as her lips landed on Emma's in a sweet gentle kiss.

For once in her life, her fears dissipated and she had never been so sure of anything: Emma was right and true. Regina pulled back just a hairsbreadth and hummed in satisfaction. She murmured breathlessly into Emma's lips, "You are my happy ending."

With a force of clarity that Emma had only felt once before in her life (when she had understood that all stories in The Book were real and accepted her destiny as the savior,) she exhaled in wonder and leaned forward instinctively bringing their mouths together again for a longer kiss accompanied by the fulfilling promise of a real happily ever after.

"This is what this is like?" Emma burst out in joyful laughter unable to contain herself. She had never smoked crack, but she now understood what all the fuss was about: euphoria, elation, the need for another hit. Regina was her crack. "When you know, you know….you know?"

The brunette sniffled, her cheeks ached and her eyes squinted from smiling so hard. Tears ran in tracks down her face from the sheer overwhelming power of emotion that had to find release. "Yes…I can't believe I'd been so in the dark for so long."

Emma couldn't catch her breath, her mind was racing, "What do they call this feeling? It's not love at first sight…but it's like I was deaf and got a cochlear implant and just heard music for the first time…or or! Like I had looked everywhere for my keys and I finally found them in plain sight on the kitchen counter… or…."

Regina cupped her chin and kissed her again and again, and Emma wisely shut up and kissed her back. When they next broke apart, Regina mocked her playfully, "Or it's like when the windows look clean, but I wash them anyway and am amazed at how much clearer the glass is."

Emma wrapped her arms around her in a big hug, and stood up knocking her chair over and pulling Regina up with her. "Maybe I should have realized this a bit sooner, the signs were kind of pointing me toward you this whole time. I think Elsa saw it and that's why she was so insistent that I don't give up. You can't give up on happiness."

"I like Elsa, maybe we should pay her a visit," Regina pressed her face in Emma's neck and inhaled her scent. She smelled of blackberry and sage and it made her mouth water with desire.

"Maybe we should pay a visit to your bed?" Emma let her eyebrows waggle and she smirked suggestively as she swayed Regina back and forth lightly in her arms.

At Regina's look of incredulity, Emma innocently asked "What?"

"Ms. Swan…"

"Come on, I have never been able to deny my attraction to you…convincingly at least, and don't even pretend that you haven't thought about us. You know I can feel you through our magic: when you're near me, when you're in pain, when you're sad and especially when you're all pent up. You don't know what it does to me."

"I know. I can feel you too… your strength, your courage, and even the brokenness inside of you," she placed her hand over her heart feeling the pulsing and sensing the emotions within her. She found it funny that she could always make sense of other people's hearts, but it had taken her whole life to understand her own.