A Little Love

Emma Swan has always been the savior for everyone but herself. Behind her tough exterior and biting wit hides a lifetime of unspoken trauma. Years spent in foster homes, abandoned and unseen, her childhood a battlefield of neglect and pain. Though she's long since built walls to keep the world out, those walls begin to crack.
Regina Mills-mayor, former Evil Queen, and mother fiercely devoted to her son-has spent years atoning for her sins, but nothing prepares her for the quiet, unfolding bond she begins to share with Emma. What starts as tentative co-parenting slowly transforms into something deeper when Regina discovers Emma's hidden vulnerability: her subconscious need to regress under emotional stress, slipping into a childlike state where the harshness of reality fades and long-denied comfort becomes a necessity.
As Emma wrestles with her growing need for care and the safety she finds only in Regina's presence, Regina herself must navigate the unfamiliar territory of becoming not only a caregiver but also a woman falling deeply, irrevocably in love. The lines blur between caretaker and lover, between nurturing and desire, as they explore what it means to fully accept one another-scars, vulnerability, and all.