Warning: talk about child abuse in this chapter.

Cora groaned as she regained consciousness. She started to get up from the floor, only to realize she was chained to the ground. She tried to magically free herself, only to find that she couldn't.

"Hello Mother." Cora looked up as she saw her daughter point to the chains around her wrists. "Those cuffs bind magic, which means you're pretty much trapped."

"Cleaver girl," she responded in anger. "This must be something to see. I'm sure you've always wanted to see me like this."

"There are a lot of things I wanted from you mother," Regina said. There had been so many things she had wished she could have said to her mother, both when she was alive and after she had died. And now that the woman was literally forced to listen, she wasn't going to waste this opportunity. "I want to tell you that you were right with what you said before. Despite all the cruel things you did to me, you helped me become stronger than I thought I could be. And it was that strength then helped me beat impossible obstacles, like getting my son back from Neverland and defeating Zelena. Oh yes, I know all about my long lost sister," she said as Cora looked at her in shock. "I couldn't have done those things if I had remained that wide eyed simple girl. So for that, I thank you."

Regina sighed deeply as she readied herself to continue. "But because of you I also became hard and cold. Because of how you treated me I put up walls around me, afraid to let anyone into my heart. And that fear and anger made me do things I can never fully atone for."

"You want to atone for being a queen, for being better than those beneath you," Cora sneered. "Haven't you learned by now that being powerful is nothing to apologize for? And for how you feel about being hard and tough, it's what one needs to be to be a proper queen. How I treated you growing up might have seemed harsh, but it was always for your benefit."

"My benefit?" Regina stated as she squatted down and pointed to the scar on her upper lip. "Do you remember how I got this? Was that for my benefit?"

Cora looked away from Regina's face, hating to be reminded of that incident. "So this is your revenge against what I did to you. You won't save me because you hate me?"

"I don't hate you mother," Regina said, desperately trying to keep herself steady through this. "But I won't allow others to die to bring you back."

"Not others, just one person," Cora reasoned. "Someone who's taken so much from you. Snow White killed me."

"Yes, Snow killed you," Regina said. "And I will never forget what she did, nor ever fully forgive her for that. But I also know that before that I arranged to have her father assassinated to get out of a loveless marriage that you arranged. And before that you killed Snow's mother, both to make me queen and as revenge for her betraying and humiliating you when you both were young. How much longer does this war go on for?" she asked her mother in exasperation. "What happens next? I kill Snow to bring you back, which has David and Emma declare war on us. And then our feud spills over so Henry is a part of it. I will not allow my son to become a victim in your feud. Him or Emma. Especially after all the ways I've already betrayed them."

"Don't kid yourself my dear," Cora said, her tone indicating Regina was a simpleton. "Those two won't remain by your side. Emma is just like the rest of the people in this town. Do you really expect her to love and accept you? It's only a matter of time before you do something to scare her off and then she'll turn on you. And as for Henry, why would he want to be with you when he had his mother and the Charmings? It's not like he's your real son."

Regina's eyes widened as rage flooded her system over Cora's words. It didn't matter if she was her mother; Regina wanted nothing more than to rip her heart out (even if she didn't even know if her mother had her heart in this form) for what she just said. But instead Regina focused on Henry and Emma, and managed to fight back against every impulse she had to physically destroy her mother.

"Henry is my son." she angrily responded once she was sure she wasn't going to physically harm her mother. "It doesn't matter if I gave birth to him or not. I'm as much his mother as Emma is. And Emma has stuck by me more than anyone has ever done, even when everyone was ready to turn on me. They both love and believe in me, which is more then you've ever done."

With that Regina stood up, turning her back on her mother as she walked to the door. But as she prepared to walk out she stopped, knowing there was one more thing she wanted to say, since this literally was her last chance to say it. "Before you died, after I put your heart back in you, you said to me, 'You would have been enough'." She kept her back turned as she continued, so Cora couldn't see how much it pained her to say this. "Why couldn't you have realized that when you had the chance? Why couldn't you have been the mother I needed?"

She waited for her mother's response, but only heard the sound of heavy breathing. Just as she thought she wouldn't get a response Cora softly replied, "I should have tried harder. I could have pushed you less or been gentler to you. I know I've made mistakes with you. But there's still time for me to be the mother you always wanted. We still have a few hours until sunrise, it's not too late."

Despite everything, Regina truly thought her mother wanted to use this time to make amends. She even thought about freeing her from her shackles and having them leave the basement so they could go someplace nice to spend their time together. But then she heard Cora say, "It's just one life. You just have to take one single life, and I can be by your side."

Regina trembled as tears formed in her eyes, hating herself for her stupidity. Even now at the very end, her mother didn't get it. And apparently, she never would. "Goodbye mother." With that she walked out of the room, ignoring Cora's protests as she allowed the door to slam itself shut. Regina quickly waved her hand to magically block out the sound of her mother's pleas before sliding to the floor. She drew her knees up and wrapped her arms around them as she buried her face, her voice muffled as she allowed herself to cry.

After an indeterminate amount of time she looked up as she heard someone walking down the stairs. She quickly wiped her eyes as Emma came into view. "I figured you'd be down here. Is Cora still here?"

"She's still in the other room," Regina hastily responded.

Emma frowned at Regina's appearance as she walked over. "Mary Margaret is going to be fine. I also called Henry and told him what happened. He's worried, but I told him everyone's alright. He said he's good to watch Neal for the night." She waited for Regina to say something regarding Henry, but all the woman did was indicate that she heard her. "You're not okay, are you?" she said as she took in how red Regina's eyes were.

"I'm fine Miss. Swan," she snapped. She groaned as Emma sat down next to her. "I am not in the mood for an inspiring talk right now."

"I wasn't going to inspire you," Emma said. "I'm guessing you're staying here until morning, so I'm going to stay up with you."

"I don't need a babysitter."

"Call it whatever you want, but I'm staying, Regina."

Regina opened her mouth to protest, but instead simply sighed, not having the energy to argue. Emma took off the jacket from her costume and lightly drummed her fingers against the floor as Regina stared into space. The two of them sat there, not saying a word to one another.

"You have no idea how lucky you are," Regina finally said.

"What?" Emma asked.

"That Snow White is your mother. She might be a naïve idiot, but at least she truly cares about you."

Emma thought about what she just heard, and reflected on what Regina had to have gone through growing up with a mother like Cora, and how they had a lot in common growing up. "Yeah, I know I'm lucky. But it wasn't like that for me when I was a kid. Most of the families that fostered me…" She shuttered as memories of her childhood came back to her. "Henry's the real lucky one. When I think about what could have happened to him after I gave him up…he's luckier then he realizes that he ended up with you."

Regina looked over at Emma as the younger woman hugged her knees, similar to what she herself was doing. It was then that Regina saw something she had never noticed before; a long thin scar on Emma's back. It started just under her shoulder and extended past her tank top. "What…?"

Emma looked over and saw Regina looking at her back, guessing that she had noticed her scar. At first she considered lying about how she obtained it, like she had done any time someone had seen it. But she was hoping Regina could be someone she could truly be open with, and this would be a good chance to try doing that. "If you're wondering about the scar on my back, I got it when I was thirteen. I was staying with a couple who only fostered kids to collect stipend money. One night a girl snuck out to see her boyfriend, and when she came back Mr. Paterson took off his belt to punish her for going out at night. I tried to stop him and he used it on me instead."

Regina looked at Emma, seeing the same faraway look of pain in the woman's eyes that she had whenever she remembered something terrible from her own childhood. "I'm sorry."

"Yeah well…" Emma shrugged in response. "I didn't stay with them much longer after that. And at least I never had any broken bones with them."

Regina sighed, deeply saddened at what Emma had to have gone through growing up. Especially since it really did seem like they had similar childhoods (though she at least grew up with a father that cared for her, even if he did cowardly stand by while her mother abused her.) With that Regina briefly touched her upper lip, before steading herself for what she was going to say. "You've never asked me about my scar."

"What?" Emma asked.

"The scar under my nose. You've never asked me how I got it."

"I figured you'd say something when you wanted to," she said with a shrug.

Regina took in what Emma said before she began to talk. "When I was seven I snuck into my mother's bedchamber, even though I knew I shouldn't be in there. I picked up a hand mirror on her bureau and accidently dropped it, creating a small crack. When my mother found out what I had done she smashed it across my face." She ignored Emma's look of shock as she forced herself to finish. "She used magic to heal the cuts, but I kept squirming and she wasn't able to heal the one above my lip properly. She forced me to tell people a cat scratched me if they asked, though every time I look in the mirror I remember what really happened."

She was so lost in memory that it took her a moment to realize that Emma had wrapped her arms around her. While her natural instinct was to pull away, Regina instead leaned into Emma, feeling safe in her arms, and tentatively hoping it was a feeling that would last.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through that," Emma said. True she had gone through a lot of abuse in the foster system, and even after she found her parents she was aware things were far from perfect (especially after learning about what they did to her and Lily), but it was still worse for Regina, who had suffered horrible abuse from her actual mother.

"The worst part of all of this is I still want her affection. Despite everything that woman has done to me, I still want her to love and appreciate me." Regina shuttered as she readied to reveal to Emma what had happened tonight. "My mother wanted me to kill Snow so she could return to life."

"I know."

"You do?" Regina asked questionably.

"Hook told me."

"Hook?" she asked in shock.

"He was working with your mother. He tried to keep David and me away while Cora kidnapped Mary Margaret. But I found out and 'persuaded' him to tell me what was going on. So I know Cora wanted you to kill Mary Margaret so she wouldn't have to die again."

Regina sighed before shuddering, leaning into Emma as she shook. "I wish I could say it was an easy choice. But I came really close to listening to her and crushing Snow's heart."

"But you didn't. You pulled yourself back and did the right thing."

"My choices were to allow my mother to die again or to kill your mother and lose myself. There was no right choice," Regina answered honestly. "I just knew that the price for killing Snow was too high for me to make. I would have lost Henry and myself. And you." She paused before making herself plow through, deciding to finally tell Emma what she had worked herself up to say. "There's something I have to tell you. I care about you Emma. And not just as a friend, but in a way that's much deeper. What I'm trying to say is…"

"You love me," Emma said, before mentally kicking herself for interrupting Regina. "Sorry."

"It's alright Ms. Swan," Regina replied, far more warmly then when she'd previously called her by her surname. "But yes, I was going to say that I love you, just as your mother informed me that you love me too."

"Figures she'd tell you before I could," Emma said as she held Regina. "So…now that we've finally said it, what do we do now?"

Regina grew pensive as she mulled over the question. "Well, first I'm staying here until morning to make sure my mother doesn't escape, and from the look of things I'm guessing you're staying with me. Then we have a renegade pirate to deal with. But after that…I guess a proper date would be a good place to start. Though I'd suggest someplace nicer then Grannies."

"But they have the best onion rings," Emma countered.

"We're going on a first date, not grabbing a quick bite after work."

"Fine," Emma said with false exaggeration.

They stayed there all night, with Regina briefing lifting the silencing spell every hour to confirm that Cora was still in the other room. At first Emma and Regina chatted to pass the time. But as it grew closer to dawn Regina became quiet, knowing it wouldn't be long before her mother was gone. She leaned into Emma for support, while Emma held onto Regina to offer her strength.

Finally Emma's phone went off, indicating that dawn had arrived. Tentatively Regina lifted the spell, expecting to hear cries of agony from her mother. But all they were met with was silence. Regina opened the door and they both looked inside, seeing that no one was in there. The chains from Cora's cuffs were on the floor and fine mist hung in the air, but otherwise it looked like Cora had never even been there.

As Regina looked on she felt Emma's fingers lace through her own. The two woman stood there as Regina silently mourned her mother for the second time; both for the woman lost, and for the life Regina was never to have with her mother.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Snow groaned as she felt herself awaken. She looked around, seeing she was in a hospital bed. And that David was sitting in a nearby chair, his head down in sleep. "David."

He immediately woke up at hearing his wife speak. "Snow." He got up and went over to her. "How are you feeling?"

"Like someone stabbed me in the gut."

He chuckled/sobbed at her response, glad to see she was up for making jokes. "Let me get someone." He waited until Snow had been examined by Whale before going back over to her. "Do you want me to call Emma?"

"Where is she now?"

"She came here with me after you were brought here, then left to check on Henry and then find Regina."

"Maybe we should call her in a little while. After she and Regina talk," she said with a bit of a cryptic smile.

David frowned as he pulled his chair over to her bed and sat back down. "Okay, I know we should be focused on the fact that you were just stabbed by a woman who's technically deceased. But it really seems like you're trying to get the two of them together."

"David, I'm not trying to get them together. They already want that. I'm trying to get the two of them to admit to one another how they feel. You have to see that they have feelings for one another."

David thought about it, recalling all the little things he now noticed whenever he had recently seen Emma and Regina together. "So that's why she ended things with Killian," he said as he ran his hands over his eyes. "And you're fine with Emma being with Regina, considering everything you know about her?"

"Yeah. I think they'll be good for one another. And Regina isn't the same person she was when we were in the enchanted forest. Tonight proved that more than anything. Which by the way, there's a lot that happened that I have to tell you."

"I already know the basics, but I'd like to hear the full version from you," he said. "And as for Regina dating Emma, yes I'll admit she wouldn't exactly be my first choice. But you're right; she definitely isn't the same person she once was. And I'd much rather Emma date her than Hook."

"Speaking of Hook, he was working with Cora during all this," Mary Margaret told David. "He distracted you and Emma so you two couldn't stop Cora's plan."

"Oh, I know all about his involvement," David informed Snow. "Which is why he's currently in the sheriff station holding cell."

"I really hope he gets what's coming to him," Snow stated.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

"Come on now, be reasonable you two," Killian reasoned.

"Stop talking and get on the ship," Regina ordered as the two of them and Emma stood in front of the Jolly Roger. After Regina mourned her mother's loss she and Emma discussed what to do with Hook. Since killing him wasn't an option and Storybrooke didn't have a prison (disregarding the holding cell in the sheriff station), they decided forcing him to leave town was the best option available.

"Come on, you know if I leave I can't ever come back," he stated.

"That's the point," Emma sternly stated.

"Where am I supposed to go?"

"Where ever you want. Travel this world or find a portal to go to another. But you've no longer welcome in Storybrooke," Emma told him.

"You should actually be thanking her," Regina told Killian. "I wanted to do this at the town line, but she talked me into letting you leave with your ship."

"Knew you still cared about me," he said to Emma with a smirk.

"Don't flatter yourself. I'm letting you take your ship because I don't want to see it anymore, that's all."

He took a step towards her before jumping back as Regina sent a fireball at him. "What the hell!"

"The next one takes out your ship. And the one after that…" Regina finished with a nasty smile.

"You're reformed. You wouldn't-"

"Try me," she challenged.

Realizing she was deadly serious Killian turned his attention towards Emma. "Emma, please. Remember all we had. You don't want to do this."

"Because of you both my mother and the woman I love almost died. There is nothing left between us, friendship or otherwise. Now get going, right now."

He looked at the two women before sighing deeply and getting on his ship. They watched as he pulled the Jolly Roger out of port and sailed it towards the horizon. Smaller and smaller the ship got until it disappeared completely, as if it had traveled through an invisible barrier.

"I was hoping he'd changed," Emma sadly said. "Even after I ended things, I hoped he really had reformed.

"It's not easy to change once you've been taken in by darkness," Regina said.

"You did."

"Well, I'm not like most people," she said with a grin. "Alright. I'm going to go home to check on Henry and get some much needed sleep. I would suggest you go do the same."

"Wait," Emma said. "There's one thing I have to do first." With that she placed her hands over Regina's face and leaned in to kiss her. She closed her eyes as Regina pulled her closer and kissed her back. Whether it was actual magic or simply attraction, both women felt electrified from this new and exciting act.

After several satisfying moments they pulled back, both of them light headed. "Wow," Regina softly replied.

"You can say that again," Emma said with a smile. "So about our first date…"

The End