A/N: I own nothing. Still new to this game, so I welcome reviews and suggestions! This is probably finished for now, but I like writing in this universe, so perhaps I'll do a series of flashbacks which detail the SQ relationship...only if there's interest!

Slowly but surely, Regina became aware of several things. Her body ached, her head was throbbing, and she thought she could hear the low hum of voices around her through the doldrums of darkness. Was she dead? Was this the afterlife? She didn't expect to be in such pain after her death.

Thoughts moved around her foggy mind at a snail's pace. Pain meant life. Dare she hope? Could it be? Did she survive that final battle? Moments later, the voices became clearer. They were whispers. Nothing more. She also became an aware of the fact that she was lying on a bed.

A cool compress was mopped against her forehead. A smaller body was tucked into her side. Henry. If Regina concentrated carefully, she could feel the rise and fall of her son's chest against her right arm. Alive. An overwhelming sense of joy filled her broken body. Henry was here, and he was alive. The voices around her became louder still.

"Will she wake up?" Emma, no doubt. There was no mistaking the tremble in her voice. The utter worry she was just too tired to mask. Regina relished the fingers that were threading carefully through her sweat soaked hair, cautiously circumventing the large bump on her temple.

"I can't be sure dearie…I have no idea what Pan did to her. She offered him her soul. There might not be anything left." Was that Rumple sounding…remorseful? There was no love lost between them, but fighting for once as a unified front for the one boy they both cared about clearly changed things.

"Nothing left? I refuse to believe it. That's not the Regina I know." Ah, well that answered the question of who was at her other side, applying the sweet cool sea water liberally to her fevered forehead. After all this time, it seems that Snow White would always love her, and believe in her.

Footsteps echoed in the hallway. A creak signaled the door opening.

"Hook maneuvered us away from that pack of mermaids. He's sailing to the seam now, but he's asking for your help, Gold." David's voice was subdued, for he did not want to risk waking his slumbering grandson.

The telltale thump of the cane against the Jolly Roger's wooden floor signaled the Dark One's departure.

"The best we can do is lower her temperature and make sure she gets fluids. I'm afraid there is no magic I possess that could help her now."

With that insidious parting comment, Gold thumped away, heading above deck to magically guide them home.

"Emma, honey, you need to get some rest." This time, David's voice was much closer. Regina imagined that he must be standing behind his daughter, a caring hand at her shoulder offering comfort and support.

"What am I going to tell Henry?" A despondent comment escaped the Sheriff's lips, and Regina was sure she felt a small drop of moisture hit her cheek.

"Nothing, because she'll be fine. But if you don't get some rest, he'll have two mothers out of commission." Snow's voice was quiet but insistent.

"Go to sleep Emma, I'll stay with her."

The bed shifted ever so slightly, a testament to Emma heeding her mother's wishes. But just as suddenly, Regina felt the cool cloth being removed from her forehead, and a familiar body curling into her left side.

"It's ok Mom, I'm staying."

For a few beats, the room was completely silent. All that could be heard were Henry's infinitesimal snores, her own ragged breaths, and two nearly identical sighs.

"Ok. We'll be down in a bit with some food and water. If you need us, we're just a room away."

At that, Snow and Charming tiptoed out of the room, leaving Regina, who was so very close to opening her eyes, with her son and his other mother.

After their departure, she felt Emma's nimble fingers resume their gentle massage through her hair.

"Please wake up Regina. I don't know how to be a mother. Henry needs you."

Another pause. A whispered rejoinder.

"I need you too."

She felt the Sheriff bury her nose into the crook of her neck, seeking comfort in her overly warm body. Regina felt the need to say something, anything. Just to prove to herself that this wasn't a dream, a twisted figment of her imagination, playing tricks on her vulnerable state.

Moving was out of the question, with both her arms now pinned down by her family. She tested her jaw, opening it ever so slightly. The pain was intense. Still she pushed on. Taking a somewhat deeper breath, she grunted a single word. "Emma."

The response she received would have been comical if she were not in so much pain.

"Shit. Regina?"

She felt Emma shoot up, and then lean cautiously across her chest. Two cold hands rested upon her cheeks.

"Regina?" came the haunted whisper.

Ever so slowly, the Queen forced her eyes to flutter. Emma's hands tightened ever so slightly on her face.

When Regina finally managed to ease her eyes open, she was nose to nose with a bedraggled Savior. Emma certainly looked like how she felt. Dark circles under her eyes, skin so pale it was nearly translucent, and it appeared that her cheekbones were slightly more prominent.

Chocolate met emerald, and a whispered "thank God" fell from Emma's lips.

Though it was excruciating, Regina quirked her signature smirk, as she snarked, "miss me much Miss Swan?"

It would have had a better effect if she hadn't hissed out in pain. Emma's cool hands moved to caress her head and neck.

"Hang on, I'm gonna try to heal you."

Regina's eyes fluttered open again, as she pensively watched Emma screw up her face. A soft blue glow appeared at her fingertips, and the former Mayor let out a sweet sigh of relief as the pain in her head abated.

She lifted a hand to the Savior's, pulling it away from her head, and threading their fingers together.

"That's enough dear. You need rest too."

Emma looked about ready to collapse, but she couldn't help but blurt out, sounding just a bit like Henry when he was younger, "But you'll wake up again right?"

Regina tugged gently at their clasped hands, and once Emma was settled against her side, she twisted her head and pressed a slightly less fevered kiss to the Sheriff's temple.

"Yes dear, I will. You saved me."

Emma closed her eyes, and tightened her hold of the Queen's hand.

"No Regina," she whispered, "You saved us."

Hours later, Snow entered the room to find her grandson sitting up at his mother's side, an inquisitive look upon his boyish face. He turned to face Snow, and she sighed in relief at his grin. The boy may need some therapy to deal with all he endured at the hands of Pan, but he would be fine.

"Look Grandma, my mom woke up."

As Snow edged closer, she saw what had her grandson grinning. Regina's fingers were tightly curled against her daughter's, and her face was turned and buried in Emma's hair. Clearly, her fever had broken, and she was breathing easier.

"Come Henry, let's go eat. We'll let them get a little more sleep. Then you can wake them up for dinner."

Henry hopped off the bed, and spared one last look at his mothers, finally united on the same team, free for now of the constant battle for life. He scampered past Snow and down the hallway towards the galley.

Snow White took one more look at the intertwined fingers and peaceful visages. Her family. She smiled a soft smile, turned, and gently shut the door. Life certainly wasn't easy, but it was sure to never be dull again.