Always and Forever

I Got You

The drive home is quiet. Regina won't say anything and Emma just didn't know what to say. All she wanted to do was kill Hook for putting Regina through this. She did feel some guilt as well. She pushed so hard to say that Hook wouldn't be a threat, and then he did this. 

She parks up in front of the mansion and tells Regina to wait before she gets out of the car. She runs to unlock the front door then comes back to the car. She helps Regina out of the car and wraps her arms around her asking "do you feel well enough to walk?". Of course Regina says "yes", but Emma can clearly see she's struggling. She's probably weak from the blood loss. The blonde picks her up like a small child and takes her into the home. She sets her down on the couch and asked Regina if she's okay with her healing her head, and Regina nods. She closes her eyes focusing her magic over the wound on the back of Regina's head. It was deeper than she had thought. She felt herself becoming a little drained from the amount of magic it took to heal her up. Once she was done she hugged Regina and said "I'm sorry". Regina looked up at her confused. "I'm sorry because this is all my fault. I left him without an explanation. I saw the anger in his eyes and knew what he did to me in our last encounter and I still thought he was harmless. I should have listened to you, Regina and everyone else."

"It wasn't your fault, Emma. You and David saved me." Regina begins to cry. 

"I've got you, Regina. I will always be here to protect you. I'm glad that we got there in time, but you were still hurt. I will kill him."

"Please, let's not talk about him anymore."

"You're right. Let's get you upstairs, showered and then we can go to bed."

"Thank you."

Emma carries Regina up the stairs and to her bedroom. She takes David's jacket off of Regina slowly, to make sure she's okay and they walk to the bathroom. "Are you okay with me coming into the shower with you, or did you want to shower by yourself?". "Can you please come in with me, if you don't mind."

"Of course I don't mind". Emma sets the water temperature before they both go in. Regina gets under the water first, and she just stares blankly while the blood washes off from her hair. Emma didn't realize how much blood there was until she sees it washing down from the shower door. Emma runs her fingers through Regina's hair to help bring up all the dried blood so it can wash off. She looks at Regina's eyes to figure out if she's crying or not but it's hard to tell with the water in her face. She takes the moment to embrace her, and with that Regina tucks her face into the blonde's neck and begins to sob. Emma tells her "you're going to be okay, I promise. I got you, I will take care of you. Always and forever". Regina wraps her arms around Emma's waist tightly. They stand there like that for a few minutes, before Emma pulls away and kisses her lips softly, "I love you, Gina". "I love you, too."

Emma pours some shampoo into her hand and starts to massage Regina's scalp and washing out her hair. After the shampoo washing out, she uses some conditioner on the length of Regina's hair. She picks up Regina's loofa and pours some apple scented body wash onto it and begins to gently scrub down her skin. She was careful to pay attention to Regina's expression when washing over her intimate areas. She didn't want to trigger Regina in any way. So far, the brunette seemed to be okay. After she was done washing off Regina, she started washing herself while Regina stood up under the hot water. Once she was rinsed off they both stepped out of the shower and she began to dry them both off. Regina wouldn't say much. Once she was dry, Regina started her skin routine, putting on lotion, getting her night creams together, while Emma quickly lotions herself and put on her underwear and a tank top to sleep in. 

When they got into bed, Regina turned to face the blonde. "I'm sorry if I'm worrying you too much" she says softly and moves closer to the blonde. "This incident triggered some old memories for me, that we have yet to talk about. I will be okay, I just need to bury this again. It just feels fresh, like it all just happened. I know that he didn't get to rape me. I know that I was lucky this time. However, he just made me feel like the weak little girl I once was back in the Enchanted Forest when I was married to King Leopold. I know I'm not that same girl. I haven't been for a very long time. The chain of events and the terrible choices I made, did help me grow. I was Evil, yes, and what I did was bad. I know this. But those events and who I had become was a product of my environment. I had a choice back then, and I understand that it was the wrong path. But I chose the path I did, because I needed to not be scared. I needed to have control over my life for once and to not be controlled. I needed to feel like a person and not like someone else's property or toy. I am not proud of being the Evil Queen, but I'm proud of the strength I got from that part of me. I learned to stand up for myself and not back down. My magic helped me too. I thank the lucky stars every day that Henry and you supported me to be better. I want to continue to be better. I just don't want to feel helpless again, Emma. Hook took my magic and I had nothing to protect me. I couldn't fight him off. I became that scared little girl and I couldn't get up to hurt him. Tonight could have ended very bad. You found me, and I'm embarrassed because of this. I feel embarrassed to have David see me like that. Vulnerable. Hurt. Scared. I never wanted to be this again. I won't succumb to being evil though. I want you to know that. I want you to know that you don't need to worry about me. I just need to process this."

Emma pulls Regina close to her holding her tightly, "you never have to explain your choices to me, Regina. And if this is hard for you to talk about, you don't need to. I'll support you through any and everything. Just so you know, you've never been weak. You've always been the strongest person I know. Especially tonight. Crying, doesn't make you weak. Being in a vulnerable state doesn't make you weak. It makes you strong. You've endured so much, and you're still here, fighting to move forward. That is strength. If you need to feel weak and take a day to not push, you can. On those days, I'll be here to be strong for you. I am really sorry for everything that happened today. You can say it's not my fault or that I don't need to apologize, but I do. You warned me Regina. Everyone did. You all wanted me to press charges and I didn't. So today, this is on me. I should have known better. I just wanted to believe he was a better person. I'm sorry that you got caught in the middle. I promise you, he won't ever get so close again. No one, will ever be able to hurt you again."

"Sweetheart, you can't take responsibility for the actions of other's. This was Hook, not you. One of the things that I admire about you is your ability to see the good in everyone, and being able to bring that part of them to the surface. You did it for Hook and you did it for me. In your eyes he was better. Maybe losing you flipped something in his head. I don't know. But, I don't know if I will ever be able to look past this. It's not the first time he's hurt me. And it might not be the last. I need to be more alert. This enchanted cuff needs to be locked away from anyone to be able to use it. Tomorrow I'll take it to my vault and put a protection spell over it." Emma doesn't say anything, she just listens intently and staring deep into Regina's eyes trying to read her mind. "We do need to talk about my past, Emma. There are things you should know. I just can't tonight. However, maybe tomorrow we can spend the day at home and talk."

"You don't need to rush yourself to talk about it. You have me forever. I promise. You've had a hard day, let's try to get some sleep."

With that, Regina tucks her head into Emma's neck and pulls her arms to her chest. Emma wraps her left arm around Regina's waist holding her close and kisses her forehead. They drift off to sleep.