A/N: one of my head cannons of how this whole thing should have gone down. From "The Miller's Daughter." One-shot. Enjoy and please review!

Disclaimer: I unfortunately own nothing.

"Conjuring magic is not an intellectual endeavor. It's emotion. You must ask yourself why am I doing this? Who am I protecting?"

Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Concentrating hard, she thought of the one person in this world she truly loved. Henry. Ever since that little boy had come into her life last year, she felt happiness she couldn't remember ever feeling before.

The familiar feeling started in her fingers, working its way up her arms before flickering out like a candle. Emma opened her eyes and looked down, confused. Maybe I just need someone different to protect, someone who's here with me right now, someone in immediate danger. So she thought of her parents. She was learning to love them, and that had to count for something, right?

She tried again, focusing on the front of Gold's shop, but frowned once again when the same reaction occurred. "Hmm..."

"Sometime soon would be nice, Ms. Swan" came the clearly annoyed tone behind her. Rumplestiltskin sat on the bed, a grimace on his face, the bloody rag still pressed to his chest in an attempt to slow the bleeding. Not like it'll do me any good, he thought bitterly, not with the poison rushing to my heart.

Emma whirled on him, a frustrated look on her face. "Don't you think I'm trying, Gold?" she snapped. "I don't want Regina and Cora getting in here any more than you do!"

Turning back around to face the back room exit, Emma took another deep breath and closed her eyes once again. Come on Swan, concentrate. You can do this.

Her mind began to wander, and she thought back to the first time she had used magic.

"It's not working!" Regina yelled frustratedly as she continued to spin the hat.

"Quickly, it's coming back." Emma watched, terrified, as the doors flew open to reveal the raith. Stooping down beside Regina, she placed her hand on the woman's arm in the hopes of comforting her, forcing her to calm down and concentrate on the task at hand.

Suddenly purple filled the air, and the hat began to spin. They watched as the raith was sucked forward into the vortex, grabbing for Regina as it went. "No!" Emma yelled as it grabbed hold of the other woman's blouse. Emma responded, pushing the creature off before falling into the hole with it, her mother following close behind. Masked by the sound of the wind, only she could hear herself call out. "Regina!" she screamed before the darkness closed around her.

She had felt something that night, something she hadn't felt since her time with Neal eleven years ago. At the time, she had either been too preoccupied with getting home or not getting killed to think about it, but she couldn't deny it any longer. I felt...love.

Suddenly she felt a surge of energy through her body and all around her, and white shimmering barriers formed around the outside of the building. "You did it, Ms. Swan." Gold said causally, looking pleased.

"I can use magic" she said proudly, smiling wide at the thought. Then her heart skipped a beat in realization. Oh...

Regina stood beside her mother outside the shop, preparing to break the barrier that had just gone up. "This must be the wretched blonde's doing" her mother mused beside her. "This magic is too fragile, to weak to be Rumplestiltskin's doing."

"So then it should be easy to break through" Regina said cooly, not allowing any emotion to pass across her features at the name her mother had used for the blonde. She brushed the reaction off quickly, though, as her mother began tearing town the barrier.

They stepped inside, taking in the scene before them. Emma stood ready beside Neal and her parents, swords drawn. They watched as the barrier slowly crumbled to bits. Well, at least it lasted for a few minutes, Emma thought bitterly.

The door burst open, and the two women stepped though, brandishing balls of fire in their hands. "Regina," the blonde said quickly, "think about what you're doing here-"

"Don't talk to me" Regina snapped. Only Emma could see the pain in her eyes as she said it.

Stepping forward, Cora aimed and threw the fireball straight at Emma, but David stepped forward to protect his little girl, blocking the attack easily. He and Cora stepped to the side, followed by Snow and Neal, to fight three-on-one, leaving Emma and Regina alone in the corner of the room.

Regina reached out, throwing Emma against the wall and holding her there, allowing her to slowly choke. Before she could deliver the final crushing blow, she saw something in Emma's eyes, something she recognized from her own childhood, the look she had seen in the mirror after spending the day with Daniel. Love.

Oh, so the savior is in love with someone? She let Emma go, the distraction stopping her focus for a split second. Emma fell against the counter next to them, and seeing her opportunity, picked up the knife lying there. Grabbing Regina by the hair, the blonde woman pressed the knife against the other woman's neck menacingly. "Mother" Regina gasped.

The four fighting on the other side of the room looked up. Snow was on the ground, holding her head with David standing over her, attempting to help his wife. Neal and Cora were posed, ready to lunge for the dagger, which currently lay on the floor between them.

David saw his opportunity and butted Cora in the side with the hilt of his sword. The older woman fell, giving Neal the time he needed to dive for the dagger. Standing up, he glared down at the woman hatefully. "We win, you bitch. It's over."

Emma's breathing quickened as her grip on the woman tightened. "Regina," she said, "I don't want to hurt you. I don't want to fight you. I just..." Setting down the knife, she turned the brunette around to face her. "I can't hurt you, Regina" she whispered, looking into the other woman's eyes.

Regina gasped in shock. The look in the sheriff's eyes looked more longing as emerald green bore into brown. Wait, she's in love with...

"Me?" Regina asked quietly, not wanting to draw the other's attention. Emma nodded, wringing her hands nervously. "Remember when we used magic to open the portal? Something happened that night. Something between us. I guess I spent most of my time away denying it, but now that we're back it's hard to ignore the signs."

Regina nodded understandingly. "And just a few minutes ago, when I put up that barrier around Gold's shop, I had to think of someone to do it for. Someone to protect. I tried Henry, and my parents, but I don't think family love is the kind of thing needed to conjure magic. I think it's something more."

Regina gasped, completely taken aback by this. I figured that the sheriff felt something towards me, but she loves me? And true love...she thinks I am her true love.

"Emma..." Regina said cautiously, not wanting to hurt the blonde. "I don't think that-"

"No, Regina, it's true. I feel it. I felt it that night at the police station, I felt it when I made the barrier around Gold's shop, and I feel it now. Being this close to you, it feels stronger. It feels right. Regina please, look at me."

The brunette's eyes had wandered to the floor, the discomfort evident on her face. "Emma, I don't think this can work" she said slowly. "I mean, I'm the Evil Queen, and you're the Savior."

"What does that have to do with anything?" Emma asked. "Whether you are considered good or evil does not decide who you can find love with."

Emma leaned forward and placed a soft kiss on the brunette's lips. "Emma?" came the betrayed whimper behind Regina's back. Snow was watching, her hand over her heart, a shocked look on her face. "What are you doing?"

Regina and Emma stood next to each other confidently, never faltering under the gazes of the four people standing in front of them. "Emma...you know what they plan to do, don't you?" David asked, looking at his daughter with pleading eyes.

"Yes, but guys, this has gone too far. We need to stop before someone gets hurt."

"Emma..." came the patronizing response.

"Look, she's right, we can't do this anymore." Regina stepped up beside Emma, taking her hand and squeezing it hard.

Cora had been standing silently, shocked at the sight of her daughter kissing the Saivor. "Darling, what are you doing? We have the dagger, you need nothing more. We will have power."

"No, mother." Regina shook her head. "I don't want power. I want something better. Love. True love. And right now I believe I can find that with Emma."

The four stood with their mouths agape. The Evil Queen...and the Savior?

"We can't go on like this. Our families can't go on fighting forever. I don't want to fight. No more pain. No more death. No more time lost over something that happened years ago. I'm tired of fighting for all the wrong reasons."

David stepped forward, the bewildered look still plastered to his face. "Emma, do you feel the same way?" he asked calmly. Emma nodded, squeezing Regina back. "Yes, I do. I love her, dad."

The silence became awkward as the six people stared each other down, mixing looks of concern with those of pure hatred. "Alright, sweetheart" Cora said, and all eyes turned as she dropped the dagger to the ground. "I was doing this for you, but if it isn't want you want, then I'll stop."

"Thank you, mother," Regina said, slightly taken aback by her mother's reaction. Cora nodded casually before exiting in a cloud of purple smoke.

Snow and David moved towards their daughter, pulling her from Regina's grasp and walking away quickly. Regina walked towards Neal, who stood with his brow furrowed. "I guess this means she'll never love me" he said sadly.

Regina laughed. "No, she won't." Her voice was cold. "Listen to me you bastard. You stay away from her. You go back go Manhattan and you never come back. I'll discuss visiting rights with Emma and contact you, but until then you are not permitted access to our son or Emma. She just wants you to leave her alone, she has it hard enough as it is without you fucking everything up."

Neal nodded, not used to being ordered around, but still afraid of Regina thanks to the stories he heard when he was little. Laying his sword on the table, he went to the back room to say a tearful goodbye to his father. Neal Cassidy is leaving for good, Regina thought with a smirk.

"Emma, are you sure about this? She's the Evil Queen, are you sure she didn't put you under something?"

"Dad, I'm serious, this is all me. I want this."

"But she's-" her mother began.

"No, mom, stop. I love her. You of all people should know that you can't choose who you fall in love with. It just happens!"

Her parents fell silent, knowing they couldn't deny the truth of their daughter's words.

"I don't condone this, Emma. I'll never be accepting of it. You should know that now." David stood uncomfortably, afraid he would lose his daughter for his incompliance to the idea. "Ok" Emma nodded. "Ok, but that's not going to stop me."

"We know, sweetheart, go on. We just need some time to get used to the idea." Snow wrapped her arm around David's waist, giving him a squeeze when he moved to interject.

Emma nodded and walked back to Regina, taking her hand and pulling her close. "Hi beautiful." Emma said sheepishly. Regina laughed, eyebrows raised slightly.

"Ms. Swan, we are not to that point in our relationship yet. And we won't be until you take me on a proper date."

Emma smiled wide, all her teeth showing like a little kid. "But you admit we have a relationship." she said gleefully.

"Yes- yes I suppose we do."

"Well then, Mayor Mills, shall we go?"

Smiling, the two women exited the shop, hands clasped tight together, and made their way down the street towards Granny's diner. Looking into each other's eyes, they knew then and there it was over. No more pain. No more suffering. They left behind all the terrible memories of their lives and just jumped in feet first, knowing they could lean on each other for support. They were together, they were free, and a new chapter was about to begin.