Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

When I’m gone, do you think about me?
When you dream, do I make the screen?
We were talking in the dark 

I adore you cause you don’t care where I came from
Just kiss me in the dark while my lips are numb
And I’ll love every inch of you and then some
And then some and then some 

- And Then Some, Arkells

Watching Emma descend from the floating platform she'd made from the mangled remains of the suspension bridge, Regina’s heart hammered uncomfortably hard in her chest. Well, not her heart exactly, because her heart was currently hidden away, protected by Robin Hood - but whatever was magically pumping blood through her system in its absence was doing so at an almost painfully fast rate.

Regina covered her reaction with pursed lips and annoyance at Emma's unrealized potential, as if she hadn't been absolutely terrified just moments ago. Regardless if even a few years ago when she’d hated Emma and everything she represented, she'd never really wanted Emma dead - gone, yes, dead, no. And it followed naturally that now that she tolerated Emma, or maybe even liked her, or maybe something more than just liked - something more she refused to think too long or too hard about - the thought of Emma injured or worse was upsetting.

Emma wasn't either of those things though. In fact, she stood cockily in front of Regina, rolling her eyes at Regina’s chastisement. It was a familiar rhythm for them and it made the uncomfortable feeling in Regina’s chest begin to ease.

She waved her hand to repair the damaged bridge and was about to suggest they try something else when Zelena appeared in a puff of green smoke.

“Brava,” Zelena clapped her hands together and cackled maniacally. “For a second there I thought you were going to take care of my Saviour problem for me.”

Out of the corner of her eye, Regina saw Emma stiffen, her hands curling into fists, her teeth gritting together. Emma was defensive and ready to attack all at once, and, despite today’s magic lesson, which must surely still be fresh in her mind, she looked more prepared to throw a punch than anything. “What do you want today, Zelena?” Regina sighed, as if she was merely exasperated with Zelena and not alarmed by her sudden appearance.

Zelena grinned. “Don't you listen? Keep up. I already said why I'm here. I've got a Saviour problem that I need to take care of. Can't let her get in the way of my plans. Not when she now fancies herself a magic student.” She pulled something out of her pocket, a vial, filled with an odd swirling gas, which she twirled between her fingers. “You should have stayed in New York dear.” The left side of her face tugged upwards, creating a menacing smirk as she turned her gaze towards Emma.

Emma ignored Zelena’s New York comment, biting out instead, “What's that?” Though she took a few steps back, her stance was undeniably still aggressive and on alert to attack.

Zelena grinned again, slowly, like she was delighted by the question and could not wait to give an answer. She practically bounced in place. “This is a curse far better than that silly sleeping curse my dear sister here favours.”

Regina’s lips pursed, she could feel her blood practically boiling under her skin. Everything about Zelena grated on her nerves and today's display was no exception. Under that anger and irritation there was something else though, a flicker of fear that she couldn’t suppress no matter how hard she tried. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably. What exactly was her sister up to? Why was she here right now?

Zelena was still talking, still grinning that same horrible grin, her eyes focused on Regina. “This right here will send our dear Saviour straight into her worst nightmare. That's better than a curse that does nothing but makes a person take what amounts to a long nap, don't you think?” She directed that last question at Emma.

Regina tensed, a new wave of fear making her non-heart beat faster. She looked over at Emma but Emma’s focus was completely on Zelena, her eyes narrowed as she glowered.

“Where or where do you think this will take you Em-ma ?” Zelena taunted, twirling the vial between her fingers. “What kind of awful nightmares does the Saviour have? Hmm? Care to guess?”

Regina watched as Emma, who was not afraid to fight a dragon armed only with a sword, who was usually much too reckless to be anything but fearless, was oddly stricken by Zelena’s words, a flicker of panic, something very close to terror, crossing her face. It remained for only a moment before it was wiped away, replaced by angry eyes, by teeth gritting tighter together, by shoulders so tense that they were nearly touching her ears, and by fists now clenched so tightly that her knuckles were white. But it was there long enough for Regina to see it. Long enough for Regina to wonder what about this threat had Emma afraid - the same Emma who flung herself from boats without so much as a second thought in an attempt to save them all, who had never once before shown fear for her own safety.

If Regina were to justify her next action (and she did, later, to herself), there would be a long list to explain why .

Their son could not be without the only mother he currently remembered;

The town needed Emma, their Saviour, to break the curse;

If Zelena was trying to curse Emma it must mean that she was important for Zelena’s defeat and, therefore, had to be protected; and

Emma had protected Regina more than once, so it was only fair that Regina return the favour.

And those were all good reasons. But those so-called reasons weren’t really the truth.

The truth was that there was no time for logic when Zelena uncapped the vial and tossed its contents in Emma’s direction. There was no time for anything but a reaction and, with Emma’s panicked green eyes fresh in her mind, Regina did not hesitate. She placed herself between Emma and Zelena and the strange mist from the vial was suddenly swirling around her, expanding and descending like fog, enveloping her.

Regina had just long enough to wonder what her worst nightmare would entail. To wonder if this curse would take her back to the age of 5, with mother’s magic wrapping around her, holding her captive as she struggled futilely, to stop her from doing something as unladylike as playing in the mud - the moment she’d first realized what her mother was truly capable of. Or maybe to the moment where she’d stood and watched mother crush Daniel’s heart. Or maybe, perhaps more likely, to that moment in the Storybrooke General Hospital, that second before Emma had kissed Henry and saved him when they’d thought they were too late and Regina’s entire world had felt like it was collapsing in on itself. Or perhaps equally likely to the town line where she'd had to say goodbye to Henry and Emma for what she'd thought would be forever.

But when the Storybrooke forest disappeared from around her, and she blinked her eyes slowly to adjust to her new surroundings, she was surprised to find that she wasn't in any of the places she'd considered. In actuality, she was somewhere she didn't recognize at all.

She was standing in a living room. The walls were paneled wood. The floor under her feet was green shag carpet. The furniture - a couch and an over-sized armchair - was plaid. The TV was one of those large old ones, surrounded by wood, with round knobs to turn it on and change the channel, and an antenna on top. The air smelled vaguely of stale cigarettes. A calendar on the wall suggested it was May 1990, although Regina had no way of knowing whether or not that was accurate.

This decor was definitely a nightmare, Regina thought, but one thing was certain - this was not her worst nightmare.

xxxxxx

Emma didn't really understand what had happened.

One second she was flinching, mentally preparing herself for the place she was pretty sure the curse was going to take her, and the next Regina was in front of her, surrounded by swirling mist, and then crumpling to the forest floor.

Zelena seemed just as baffled as Emma, and for a moment, they just stared at each, Regina’s body motionless between them. And then Emma's hands were shaking, magic pouring out of her and towards Zelena, fueled as if it had a mind of its own by the ball of emotions currently twisting knots in her gut - anger and confusion and worry and gratitude and panic and more anger.

Mostly anger.

Zelena was gone in a puff of green smoke before Emma's white magic could touch her and, as if it knew that the threat was gone, the magic radiating from Emma's hands immediately simpered out.

With Zelena gone, Emma dropped to the ground beside Regina’s prone form, shaking her, as if that might wake her up. But this was a curse. Of course a shoulder shake wasn't going to cut it. It was an idiotic move - Regina would have said as much if she were awake.

Emma swallowed hard, the gulp audible in the suddenly much too quiet forest. Fumbling for Regina’s wrist, she felt for a pulse, the sound of her own heart beating uncomfortably loud in her ears as she held her breath, exhaling only when she was certain she could feel steady pulsing under her fingertips, could see the rise and fall of Regina’s chest.

“Okay, okay, okay,” she mumbled to herself. Regina was alive. This was good. Well, not good , but so much better than the alternative.

What was she supposed to do now? Try and carry Regina out of the forest? No. That was probably a bad idea. She could try and poof them? Not that she'd ever poofed anywhere before. She probably didn't want this to be her first try. What if she somehow only transported, like, half of them? Was that possible? That would be bad. Very, very bad .

She shook her head, trying to shake away her racing thoughts and calm her mind. She sighed, her eyes settling on Regina’s face. Regina looked oddly peaceful. She couldn't help but reach forward and brush at dark hair gently with the tips of her fingers. “Why’d you do it?” she asked quietly. She couldn't understand what had possessed Regina to step in front of her; couldn’t understand why Regina would accept a curse meant for her. It made absolutely no sense.

Emma shook her head, sighing again as she pulled her phone out of her pocket and called for help.

xxxxxx

Regina stood uncertainly in the middle of a living room plucked out of a nightmare that didn't belong to her and tried to sort out what exactly this nightmare was .

She knew that it was a safe assumption that this nightmare belonged to Emma. A quick mental calculation told Regina that, if it was indeed May 1990, that that would make Emma six and a half years old. That knowledge made Regina’s insides twist uncomfortably, dread settling like a stone in the pit of her stomach. What had happened in this oddly silent house? What made this Emma’s worst nightmare and not Neal’s betrayal, or giving Henry up, or that moment in the hospital when they'd thought Henry was dead?

A phone rang, loud and shrill from an end table in the living room, startling Regina.

The phone rang once, twice, and a woman was rushing into the living room from somewhere down a long hall. She had the most unnaturally coloured red hair that Regina had ever seen: it was poofed up on top of her head, excessively so, even by early nineties standards. And, alright, maybe Regina shouldn't judge other people's hairstyles, not considering some of the ‘do’s she’d sported in the Enchanted Forest.

Regina expected the woman to spot her and be alarmed - a stranger in her living room would certainly be cause for concern - but the woman didn't even spare her a second glance, just picked up the phone and settled herself on the couch to speak with whomever was on the other end.

She must be invisible, Regina decided. A spectator, not an active participant.

“Hi Nancy,” the redhead said into the phone, twirling the phone cord between her fingers, bobbing her head and, “Mm’hm-ing,” as she listened to whatever the speaker, Nancy presumably, was saying. When she finally seemed to find a break in the conversation she spoke, leaning forward on the couch, “I’ve got better gossip. You're not going to believe who Sharon got caught in bed with…” she paused, waiting a beat before finishing with a slightly conniving grin, “Maureen’s husband.” She laughed at something that was said on the other end and added, “What a floozy.”

Regina rolled her eyes at the woman on the couch. This was Emma's worst nightmare? Bad early nineties housewife gossip? Regina didn't understand at all. Maybe Zelena had been bluffing about this curse sending Emma to her worst nightmare. Perhaps she'd actually meant that it would send Emma to her most boring memory. Although, if this was a memory, that begged the question of where exactly Emma was.

Regina didn't have long to contemplate it though because the front door opened and a man in a police uniform walked into the house. He had a thick mustache and dark hair and he was tall, over six feet, with wide shoulders.

“I've got to go, Nancy, Jerry just got home,” the redhead on the couch said, hanging up the phone.

Jerry, apparently, clomped his way into the living room. Regina noted that the name stitched on the pocket of his police shirt said Henderson.

“Hi hun,” the redhead greeted, pushing herself up and off the couch and moving over to kiss the man. “How was your day?”

“Long,” Jerry answered, squeezing the redhead’s ass. “Get me a beer would you, Lorraine? I'm going to change.”

The redhead, Lorraine, nodded, and the pair parted ways, leaving Regina alone in the living room. Before Regina could decide what to do, Lorraine was back, cold beer in one hand.

It didn't take long for Jerry to return either, now dressed in blue jeans and a white t-shirt. He took the beer from Lorraine and plopped himself down on the couch, taking a long swallow from the bottle.

Lorraine settled herself down beside him, pulling open a drawer on the end table and removing a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. She lit one of the cigarettes, taking a long drag and puffing a ring of smoke out into the room before she sighed, “Dinner is going to be late. I had to pick the brat up at school. It threw my entire day off.”

Jerry stiffened, the hand holding his beer freezing in mid-air as he looked over at Lorraine. “What did she do now .”

His voice was low and threatening and something about it made Regina shiver.

Lorraine seemed unbothered by his tone and she shrugged. “She punched a twelve year old in the face. The principal said the kid tripped a younger boy and Emma didn't like that. I said we’d deal with it.”

If Regina wasn't waiting on bated breath for Jerry’s reaction, she might have smiled thinking of Emma standing up to a child twice her age. Child-Emma, it seemed, had adult Emma’s knack for protecting others without much regard for her own safety.

Jerry didn’t seem to find this news quite as admirable as Regina did though. Or, at least, that’s what she assumed as Jerry’s teeth gritted together and he set his beer on the coffee table. “Oh I'll deal with it,” he said, sounding even more menacing than before. He pushed himself up off the couch and looked back at his wife. “Where is she?”

Lorraine shrugged again. “Her room, I think.”

Jerry clomped his way to the hallway and to the first door on the left, just a few feet from the living room, disappearing inside.

Regina started to follow but she only made it halfway before he was stomping back out of the room. “She isn't in here!” he shouted, looking angrier than before. “Emma! Get your little ass out here this instant! Or so help me…”

Regina stared aghast at the furious man sputtering threats. She could feel anger beginning to bubble hot in her chest and she wasn’t sure how she heard the tiny whimper over the sound of her non-heart thumping loudly in her ears but she did. Her head immediately whipped around to locate the source. The sound seemed to have come from behind the over-sized plaid armchair in the corner of the room. Regina moved closer, peering over the edge. Her non-heart hammered even harder and her breath caught in her throat.

Behind the over-sized armchair in the small space between it and the wall created by its corner placement, child-Emma sat with her knees drawn tightly to her chest, her chin resting atop her knees, trembling. Her blonde hair was a mess, as if no one had brushed it in days, and her face was pale, gaunt. The thing that had caught Regina’s breath though were her eyes. Wide and green and nothing at all like the eyes of the adult Emma Regina knew. Adult Emma's eyes were never quite this vulnerable and most certainly never this terrified. The only time Regina had ever seen adult Emma's eyes look even close to this level of terror was that brief moment not all that long ago when Zelena had boasted about her plan.

“Emma!” Jerry shouted louder and both Emma and Regina flinched. “If you're not out here by the count of three, you're really going to regret it.”

Emma trembled harder, another tiny whimper escaping her lips as Regina just watched the scene unfold with horror.

“One,” Jerry started, his voice threatening and low.

Lorraine continued to sit unaffected on the couch, puffing on her cigarette.

“Two,” Jerry said.

Emma gulped and slowly uncurled her arms from her legs.

“Th-” Jerry only got half the word out, stopping as Emma crawled out from behind the chair. “Get over here,” he growled but he didn't wait for her to approach, moving over to her and hoisting her from the ground into a standing position by one arm.

Emma’s face paled further and she whimpered.

“What's this I hear about you hitting another kid?” Jerry said dangerously low, his hand clasped on Emma's shoulder now.

Emma's eyes were trained on the ground and she mumbled something unintelligible.

Jerry’s hand squeezed Emma's shoulder. “Speak up. And look at me.”

Emma looked up from the ground and somehow she looked even more terrified than before, even though Regina hadn't thought that possible. “I'm sorry,” she whispered.

“You're sorry ?” Jerry let out a humourless laugh, scoffing at her, “Oh you're going to be sorry, girl.”

Emma trembled, her eyes dropping back to the floor, wincing as Jerry’s fingers squeezed her shoulder once more.

“Your room now, ” Jerry practically growled, shoving Emma in the direction of the hallway.

Emma stumbled forward, eyes still on the floor as she headed where she was directed.

It took a moment before Regina came out of her horrified stupor and started to follow. She was too late. Before she could follow the grown man into Emma's room, Jerry was slamming the door shut.

Regina reached for the door handle, trying to turn the knob, but nothing happened. She could feel the cool metal under her fingers but the knob refused to budge no matter how hard she turned her wrist. She slammed her hand against the wooden door with a growl of frustration but, even though the action hurt her palm, it made no sound. It seemed she was actually a ghost here. Except far more useless than a ghost; at least a ghost could pass through walls.

She stood with her palm resting against the door a moment, the muffled sounds of whimpered crying, of pleaded apology, of flesh being struck, making her feel physically ill. How long was this going to last?

Eventually she withdrew her hand, turning around so that she was standing with her back to the wall, her eyes staring back out into the living room, where Lorraine was still seated on the couch, now flipping through a magazine.

Regina’s eyes narrowed, glowering in the direction of the woman who could not see her. Anger pulsed through her veins and she wished desperately that she was not more useless than a ghost, wished desperately that she had her magic here. Because she wanted nothing more than to eviscerate these people - the man who made child-Emma cry behind a closed door and the woman who sat unflinching on a couch, flipping a magazine as if she did not care in the least.

xxxxxx

With the help of her father and Hook, Emma managed to get Regina out of the forest and into the backseat of the police cruiser David had brought to the edge of the forest.

Emma climbed into the backseat, settling Regina’s head into her lap and instructing David to drive to the hospital. She wasn't exactly sure that Regina needed to be at the hospital but it seemed like the best place to take her.

At the hospital, Hook jumped out of the passenger seat and pulled the door to the back seat open.

“Be careful,” Emma snapped tensely as Hook reached for Regina’s legs a little too haphazardly for her liking.

Hook’s eyed widened and then narrowed, looking surprised and displeased at the reprimand.

Emma couldn't help but think of Regina, just hours ago, in the vault mocking Hook’s doe eyes. These definitely weren't doe eyes but they annoyed her just the same. As if she wasn’t allowed to be displeased with him. As if she owed him nothing but understanding, and agreement, and kindness. As if she owed him anything .

She didn’t really understand why Hook had even shown up with David when he was meant to be watching Henry. He’d said he'd left Henry with Snow when Emma had asked but that didn't really appease her. She didn't like that he'd up and left Henry. Her and David would have been perfectly capable of getting Regina out of the forest just the two of them. Hook hadn't been needed.

Sensing the tension, David played peacemaker, suggesting to Hook, “Why don't I take her legs? You get the door?”

Hook scowled but he moved aside and let David reach into the car to carefully grab Regina’s legs.

Emma relaxed, letting David help her get Regina out of the backseat and then helping him carry her into the emergency room, where Hook had alerted Dr. Whale and a gurney was waiting.

Emma stood with her back against the wall, biting her lip, as Dr. Whale checked Regina over.

Hook started moving towards Emma but David put his hand on Hook’s shoulder, stopping his approach. He said something that Emma didn’t quite catch and Hook nodded once and veered away, going to mope on the other side of the room instead. Emma wondered if maybe she should feel bad about his obvious displeasure but she couldn’t help but feel anything but relieved that she wouldn’t have to talk to him right now. She wished he would get the hint that she wasn't at all interested in him. Tolerating his advances had become increasingly frustrating.

David moved to stand beside Emma. “You okay?” he asked carefully.

Emma sighed, leaning almost subconsciously towards her father, just enough that their shoulders were touching. “She’s going to be okay, right?”

“Of course she is,” David offered with the kind of certainty that Emma wasn't sure she would ever be capable of mustering about anything, let alone this situation they’d found themselves in.

xxxxxx

“What happened!” Mary Margaret came rushing into Regina’s private hospital room some time later.

Emma jumped, her fingers slipping out from where they’d been clasped with Regina’s, her head spinning to look over at her frantic mother, though she couldn’t muster any words in response.

Mary Margaret moved over to the foot of the bed, a hand reaching out and settling on a foot covered by a thin hospital blanket, the other hand resting on the swell of her pregnant abdomen. She studied Regina, her eyes turning to watch the steady beeping on the heart monitor they'd hooked up a moment, before she finally looked over at Emma. “David said it was a curse?” It was much more a question than a statement.

Emma nodded. “I think so. If we can believe Zelena...which I'm not really sure about.”

Mary Margaret’s head tilted as she considered that. “A sleeping curse?”

“No,” Emma shook her head. “Something else. Zelena said it would trap someone in their worst nightmare.” She swallowed, still uncomfortable thinking about the possible place the curse would have taken her.

Mary Margaret frowned a moment, her gaze drifting back to Regina’s still form. “Do you think Zelena will leave Regina alone now? Was this what she wanted? Regina incapacitated?”

“I don't…” Emma hesitated. “I don't think this was about Regina.”

Mary Margaret’s eyes were back on Emma then, studying her curiously, as if she might be able to read Emma's mind if she tried hard enough. “Why do you say that?”

“Because…” Emma swallowed. “Because the curse was meant for me.”

“It was?” There was concern and confusion in equal mixtures showing on Mary Margaret’s face.

“Yes.” Emma swallowed again and then continued, quieter, admitting, “Regina sort of just…stepped in front of me.” Emma still couldn’t sort out why Regina had done it and she watched her mother carefully now for her reaction. Maybe her mother, who had known Regina longer than anyone, would understand Regina’s motives.

If anything though, Mary Margaret just looked surprised.

Emma waited but when a sufficient length of time had passed without Mary Margaret saying anything, she broke the silence herself, stumbling over her words, “So...yeah...I just...I really need to figure out how to get her out of there. I owe her.” Emma wasn't sure why she added the justification. It wasn't as if it mattered that Regina had stepped in front of her - Emma would have been determined to rescue her regardless.

“Of course,” Mary Margaret nodded, her expression still showing surprise and something else, something oddly knowing, that Emma couldn't quite comprehend.

xxxxxx

Leaving her mother with Regina, Emma decided that she needed to talk to the fairies. The fairies wouldn’t generally be high on her list of people to consult regarding magical matters - Blue’s phony smile had always rubbed her the wrong way - but, with Regina under a curse and Gold still being held captive by Zelena, Emma had no other options.

She sighed, rocking on the balls of her feet, her hands shoved in her pockets as she finished explaining the situation to the group of fairies clustered around her - all but Tinkerbell dressed in their habits. Emma didn't really understand why they chose to remain nuns now that they remembered that they weren't.

Blue eyed her with a look that Emma couldn't help but think was condescending. “I’m afraid we won’t be much help. You already know how curses get broken, Emma.”

“True Love’s Kiss,” Emma filled in the answer with a sigh. “Isn't there another way?”

“I'm afraid not,” Blue shook her head.

Emma sighed again, rubbing the back of her neck with her hand. “Henry could do it, right? True Love’s Kiss Regina?” She perked up. Maybe this wasn’t going to be so difficult after all. She'd go get him right now and bring him to the hospital. She wasn't sure how she'd explain why he needed to kiss the woman he thought was just the mayor but she'd figure something out.

Blue shook her head again, “That isn't likely to work.”

“Why not?” Emma protested. “Parental true love worked with Henry and I. And Regina’s his mom too. She was his mother first. And they love each other. Why wouldn't it work?”

Blue’s lips pursed, her head tilting as she studied Emma seriously.

Emma glared, prepared to defend Regina fiercely if Blue even so much as suggested that Regina didn't love Henry.

Maybe because of Emma's expression, or maybe for another reason altogether, when Blue spoke all she said was, “Henry doesn't remember Regina. Or believe in magic. I think you’ll find that both are required for True Love’s Kiss to succeed.”

Emma sighed. “Well...what are we supposed to do, then?”  

“Perhaps it would be prudent to worry more about the curse placed on all of us, rather than this one placed on the Evil Queen,” Blue suggested condescendingly.

“Don't call her that,” Emma snapped, her eyes narrowing. “And I’m pretty freaking sure we need Regina to defeat Zelena, so waking her up is worrying about the other curse.”

Blue’s lips pursed but she didn’t disagree. Holding her hand up in a sort of insincere apology she finally said, “Then I suppose I must wish you good luck in locating Regina’s True Love.”

Emma wanted to snap something angry, wanted to demand that Blue act like she actually cared, wanted to insist that she try harder to be helpful. Didn’t this entire town owe Regina that much after she’d saved their asses? Instead, she just sighed a quick thank you, barely resisting the urge to add for nothing.

Blue nodded and then spun to leave, the other fairies following after her.

Emma sighed once more and turned the other way, heading for the door.

“Emma, wait!”

Emma stopped and turned back around, watching Tinkerbell hurry towards her.

“I might know something,” Tinkerbell told Emma once she was stopped in front of her.

Emma tilted her head curiously and waited for Tinkerbell to continue.

“Regina has a soulmate,” Tinkerbell said.

Emma's brow scrunched together. Regina had a soulmate? Since when?

“He wasn't here before. He came over with the last curse,” Tinkerbell explained. “His name is Robin Hood.”

Emma's brow didn't un-crinkle; if anything it furrowed further. “How do you know?”

Tinkerbell eyed Emma oddly a moment but the expression was wiped away quickly as she explained, “Back in the Enchanted Forest, when Regina was…” Tinkerbell hesitated. “...still married to the king, I used fairy dust to find Regina’s soulmate. It led us to a tavern and a man with a lion tattoo on his arm. Regina didn't go in back then. But now... now Robin Hood is here in town and he's got the tattoo. It's their second chance.”

Emma was still frowning. Her heart sinking at the thought of Regina and Robin Hood being soulmates - a reaction she told herself didn't mean anything. She was just concerned for the mother of her son because this whole thing sounded a little too hokey. “You're basing this on a tattoo? Did you ever even see his face?” she asked incredulously.

Tinkerbell shot her the same odd look again. “It's a rather specific tattoo,” she replied defensively.

“I'm sure he's not the only dude with a lion tattoo on his arm,” Emma grumbled. “What, am I supposed to line up every guy in town with a lion tattoo and bring them to the hospital to kiss Regina?”

Tinkerbell was still eyeing her with the strangest expression, although she seemed almost amused now. “No. Not every guy. But I would suggest bringing Robin Hood. What do you have to lose? Without True Love’s Kiss, Regina will be cursed forever.”

Emma sighed. How was she supposed to argue with that?

“Fine,” she conceded unhappily.

She would go find Forest Boy.

xxxxxx

After a period of time that might have been minutes but quite easily could have been hours - it certainly felt like the latter - the door to child-Emma's room was wrenched open forcefully.

Regina jumped from where she was still leaning against the wall.

Jerry stopped, hesitating between the bedroom and the hallway, his hand still on the door knob to the room. “Now you're gonna stay in here and think about what you've done. I don't want to hear another peep from you, do you hear me?”

Regina’s teeth gritted tightly together at the menacing tone and she glared daggers as she shuffled past him into the room. The hatred burning in her veins was only mounting every second she spent in this nightmare.

She made it by the lumbering man into the bedroom just in time because Jerry punctuated his threat by slamming the bedroom door shut. The echo of the door connecting violently with the door frame was followed by the clicking of a lock into place from the other side, which made Regina feel physically ill.

Were they seriously locking Emma in here? What if there was a fire?

She swallowed hard, her eyes sweeping the room, appraising drab walls and the utter lack of a single item that might suggest that this was a child’s room other than the twin-sized bed in the corner. It reminded Regina of her own prison cell, more than anything. It was an observation that twisted her stomach in knots. The knots only compounded, twisting so tightly that she thought she might actually be sick, when her gaze settled on the blonde haired child curled up in a ball in the corner of the room opposite the bed.

The index finger of Emma’s right hand was resting against her lower lip, pressed firmly against her teeth, the thumb of that same hand curled under her chin. It was what Regina could only assume was something Emma found comforting. Not that it seemed to be helping all that much. The child’s eyes were red, shimmering with tears that spilled over, and over, and over, leaving trails down her cheeks. Emma was crying without making a sound and Regina’s heart broke.

Regina didn't know what to do. Mostly because she couldn't do anything. And, so, she stood rigidly, unmoving, and just watched, her eyes never leaving the huddled form in the corner. Playing sentry to the child because it was the only thing she could do here in this place where she was completely useless.

She knew that this wasn't real. That this was a nightmare. And maybe it wasn't even a recreation of real events. Maybe this home hadn't existed twenty some odd years ago when Emma was actually six and a half years old. Even though her brain told her that that was just wishful thinking. That this nightmare was too detailed, too specific, to be anything but a recreation of the past.

Regardless, as Regina stood guard over the child, she did know one thing - she was glad that she'd stepped in front of Emma. She was glad that Emma did not have to re-live this horror again.

xxxxxx

Emma kicked at a rock on the ground as she headed towards the Merry Men’s campground. She couldn't believe that Robin Hood was Regina’s soulmate. The whole thing seemed ridiculous. And why hadn't Regina mentioned it to her? Weren't they sort of kind of friends? Or whatever two people were when they shared a son - even if that son only remembered one of them at the moment - and when they regularly performed magic, like moving moons, together.

She rounded a corner and the camp came into view. It seemed mostly deserted: only a few people were ambling about, and she wondered where everyone else was. Out hunting maybe? It didn't really matter though. The person she needed to talk to was standing by the fire. With one last hard kick to the rock, she called out, “Hey,” as she approached Robin.

Robin offered her a half wave and he ambled over towards her, meeting her halfway. “Emma,” he greeted. “To what do we owe this visit?”

Emma felt irrationally irritated at his friendly tone and she rubbed the back of her neck, willing the irritation away. “It's about Regina.”

“Regina?” Robin tilted his head.

“Yeah. She...ummm…” Emma hesitated, not sure how to describe what had happened. “It was Zelena. A curse.”

“A curse?” Robin frowned. “What kind of curse?”

“Kind of like a sleeping curse, I guess.” Emma shrugged, shoving her hands in her back pockets. “She’s unconscious. At the hospital.”

Robin still looked confused. He leaned in a little closer, dropping his voice so that no one would overhear. “Are you here about her heart?”

It was Emma’s turn to frown in confusion. “Her heart?”

Robin’s eyes widened, his expression conveying that he’d probably just messed something up. “Sorry...I thought…” he trailed off.

“ What about Regina’s heart?” Emma narrowed her eyes at him.

“I probably shouldn’t…” Robin trailed off again, looking uncomfortable.

“Tell me,” Emma insisted, forcefully.

Robin sighed but he nodded once, conceding, “The Queen asked me to look after her heart. To protect it.”

Emma’s eyes widened in surprise. Regina had given her heart to this guy? Seriously? She could feel her irritation mounting again and she rocked on the balls of her feet, trying to shove the feeling away. “Is it safe?” she couldn’t help but ask, her eyes darting around the camp as if she might be able to spot where it was stored.

“Yes,” Robin confirmed.  

Emma wanted to demand that Robin hand over Regina’s heart. She could do a much better job looking after it, she was sure of it. She was the one with magic after all - even if, sure, she didn’t have great control over it yet. Why wouldn’t Regina have asked for her help?

Looking uncomfortable with the prolonged silence, Robin asked, “If this isn’t about Regina’s heart, then may I ask why you are here?”

“Right,” Emma nodded to herself, reminded that she was here for a reason. She swallowed thickly. “I...ummm...see, one of the fairies thought you might be able to wake Regina up.”

“ Me ?” Robin looked truly puzzled by that.

“Yes,” Emma confirmed.

“Why?” Robin still looked puzzled.

Emma shrugged, shoving her hands further into her back pockets. “Tinkerbell thinks….you’re soulmates?” It came out more like a question than a statement. A statement that Emma hoped Robin would deny.

Robin looked surprised but the surprise was quickly replaced by something that looked an awful lot like delight and Emma could feel her irritation mounting yet again.

“What do you need me to do?” Robin asked.

Emma barely resisted the urge to sigh. “You should come to the hospital.”

xxxxxx

Emma was relieved that Snow was no longer at the hospital. She had no desire to explain this whole thing to her mother. She wasn't sure she could handle what was sure to be her mother’s delight at the news that Regina had a soulmate.

She hovered in the doorway while Robin approached Regina. He hesitated at the edge of the bed, looking back at Emma. “So...I just have to kiss her?”

Emma opened her mouth to speak but she couldn’t seem to get a word out past the lump in her throat, so she just nodded her confirmation.

Robin nodded back at Emma and then turned his attention to Regina lying still in the hospital bed. Slowly he bent down and pressed his lips to hers.

Emma hadn’t said he needed to kiss Regina on the lips and she could feel that same irritation simmering inside her again. She didn’t know what exactly it was about Forest Boy that bothered her so much but, if her continued irritation was any indication, it was definitely something .

Robin held the kiss for what felt like forever but absolutely nothing happened. Eventually he straightened, looking back at Emma in the doorway. “It didn’t work?” he seemed almost confused.

“I guess not.” Emma shrugged, barely containing a smile. She probably shouldn’t be so happy that Regina was still cursed. But she couldn’t help it. Of course she wanted the curse placed on Regina to be broken but right now all she felt was immense relief that this forest dweller wasn’t Regina’s True Love.

Her relief didn’t mean anything, though. Of course it didn’t. She just thought that Regina deserved better than some guy who stole for a living and lived in a sketchy camp in the forest.   

xxxxxx

Child-Emma did not move from where she was curled up on the floor in the fetal position for a very long time.

When she finally did uncurl herself, pushing herself into a seated position, it was with a pained whimper that twisted new knots in Regina’s stomach.

The knots only twisted tighter when Emma stood stiffly and moved over to her bed, pulling out a nightgown from under her pillow and carefully removing her shirt and pants with more whimpering sounds.

For what felt like the hundredth time since she was cursed, nausea overcame Regina. Emma's bare torso was covered in bruises in a range of colours, yellow and purple and blue and black. It was clear that they were not all from today’s beating. If that wasn't bad enough, with her nightgown removed, it was even more obvious how painfully thin the child was. Regina sucked in a breath as she realized she could count every one of her ribs.

Helpless anger pulsed through her veins, making it impossible to see straight. She wanted to destroy these people. She wanted to burn this house down. Hell, she wanted to burn the whole world to the ground, at the sight of this little girl who deserved none of this. Where was Emma's social worker? Why was no one making sure she wasn't being kept in such a horrible place?

Why? Why? Why?

Confused, Regina watched as Emma winced in pain as she crawled under the bed. Was she hiding? No, that wasn’t it because the child was crawling back out from under the bed within seconds of disappearing under it.

Emma had a white knit blanket in her hands as she climbed up onto the bed and curled into a ball. A white knit blanket with purple ribbon and her name stitched on the side that she tucked under her chin, snuggling it tight against her chest as she curled into a ball on the bed, sad green eyes trained on the door as if she expected it to fling open.

Regina’s heart ached at the sight and she moved over, perching on the edge of the bed. Fingers reached out and brushed gently against a corner of the white knit blanket. Regina recognized this blanket, understood its importance. It was a blanket that had once upon a time been made with love for a child who was meant to be cherished and who had instead ended up here. Because of a destiny out of her control. Because of a wardrobe. Because of a curse. Because of Regina’s curse.

In the quiet of the room, the only sound the occasional whimper or sniffle, the weight of that, of her responsibility in what was happening here, of what had happened to Emma, settled heavy on Regina’s chest.   

Regina’s fingers moved slowly from the white knit blanket, settling tentatively on the top of Emma’s head. They rested there, unmoving, for several minutes, and then slowly she began to stroke blonde hair over and over and over again. She knew that the child wouldn't be able to feel the gesture but Regina didn't stop, not even when Emma's eyes finally slid shut and she drifted into a restless sleep.

xxxxxx

Robin left after the failed True Love’s Kiss, which Emma thought was another sign that he wasn’t actually Regina’s soulmate. Wouldn't her soulmate stick by her side? Wouldn't her soulmate not want her to be alone in a hospital?

Emma moved over to the side of Regina’s hospital bed and reached for her hand, lacing their fingers together and squeezing gently.

She watched Regina for several long moments. Regina looked peaceful enough but Emma wondered where exactly it was that she was trapped. She hoped she wasn’t scared wherever it was that the curse had taken her.

“I knew that dude wasn’t going to be your True Love. I don’t even know why you would like him. He smells like a pine air freshener left out in the sun too long,” Emma joked quietly, her lips twitching into a sort of smirk as she thought of Robin but the smile quickly faded as her gaze returned to Regina’s still form.

She sighed softly, squeezing Regina’s hand gently again, her voice getting even quieter and so much more serious, “I’m going to figure this out, I promise. I’m going to wake you up. Just hold on a little longer, okay?”

xxxxxx

Emma stayed at the hospital for another half hour before she headed to Mary Margaret and David’s apartment to pick Henry up. She felt tired, weary, as she walked through the door of the apartment.

“Mom!” Henry bounced up from the couch where he was curled up playing with his Game Boy.

“Hey kid,” Emma gave Henry a genuine smile, ruffling his hair as he grumbled and pulled away. “Ready to go?”

“Yeah,” Henry agreed.

Emma looked over towards her parents who were standing in the kitchen. “Thanks for looking after Henry today.”

Mary Margaret and David were eyeing her curiously, clearly wondering about Regina, but Emma gave them a single head shake in the negative, hoping that they’d understand. She didn’t really want to talk about this right now. She just wanted to take Henry back to Granny’s and spend some time with her son.

“You don’t want to stay for dinner?” Mary Margaret asked gently.

“Not tonight,” Emma almost sighed, begging her mother with her eyes not to push.

“Okay,” Mary Margaret nodded. “Another night.”

“Sure.” Emma gave Mary Margaret a grateful smile. She reached over and settled a hand on Henry’s back, urging, “What do you say, Henry?”

Henry grinned, “Thanks. I had a good day.” He gave the couple that he didn’t know were his grandparents a half wave as they headed out of the apartment.

xxxxxx

“So are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Henry asked as they walked towards Granny’s.

“What do you mean?” Emma asked carefully.

“Come on, Mom,” Henry rolled his eyes at her in a way that was much too teenager-like for Emma’s liking. “I went through not one, not two, but three babysitters today. Killian. Mary Margaret. David,” he ticked them off one by one on his fingers. “ Obviously something is up.”

Emma sighed. This lying to Henry thing would be so much easier if her son wasn’t so observant. Well, really, it would be easier if she didn’t have to do it at all. She hated lying to him. She decided, in this case, there was no reason not to tell him the truth, or most of it anyway. “Yes. You’re right. It’s Regina…”

“The mayor?” Henry tilted his head curiously, looking over at his mother.

“Yes,” Emma nodded. “There was...an accident.”

Henry’s brow scrunched up. “Is she okay?”

Emma paused and Henry stopped too. They stared at each other a long moment and then Emma shook her head, offering somberly, “No, she isn’t. She’s...in a coma.”

Henry’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

They started walking again. After a few minutes of silence, Henry asked, “What kind of accident was it?”

Emma froze, unsure what to say.

Henry stopped his eyes narrowing as he looked up at his mother. “It wasn’t an accident, was it?”

“No.” Emma swallowed.

Henry eyed her seriously. “Did the person who killed my dad hurt her?”

“Yes,” Emma nodded slowly, reaching over and placing her hand on Henry’s shoulder squeezing gently. “But you don’t have to worry. They aren’t going to hurt anyone else. I won’t let them.”

Perhaps it was a promise that she had no business making, but Henry had a familiar look on his face: one that radiated faith and belief in her. One that, even now, she wasn't sure she'd entirely earned, but its familiarity gave her confidence and certainty, and she felt herself calm.

She was going to stop Zelena. And she was going to wake Regina up. There were no other options.

xxxxxx

Sometime after the sun had set and the house had gotten really really quiet, Regina realized that she wasn’t going to sleep. Not that she didn’t want to try but that she physically could not.

Locked in Emma’s room with no way of getting out, she had nothing to do but think.

The night felt endless but by the time sun was finally filtering in through the blinds, she had a plan.

If this nightmare world was meant to truly represent the year 1990, it was possible it extended beyond this house. If it extended far enough, Storybrooke might exist here. And if Storybrooke existed, then her vault existed. And if she could just get to her vault, she might be able to find some way to break the curse, or, at the very least, make herself less useless.

Perhaps it wasn't the greatest of plans but it was better than just sitting around waiting to be rescued from this nightmare.

Now she just needed to get out of this house. Well, actually, first, she needed to get out of this room.

xxxxxx

Emma woke with a start from a fitful sleep.

The memory of angry dark eyes and a looming figure with large hands hovering over her made her shiver. She hadn’t had that nightmare in a long time, although given what had happened yesterday, she supposed she should have expected it.

She’d done a pretty good job of burying her nightmarish stay with the Hendersons deep down somewhere where she could pretend that it hadn’t ever even happened. And she actually was pretty good at forgetting about it - well, except for when she wasn’t . Reminders, like Zelena’s threat yesterday, had a frustrating tendency to bring that dark time clawing it’s way to the forefront of her brain. It was a tendency that she absolutely hated . She hated that after all of these years, reminders of that foster home could still make her blood run cold. It made her feel...unsettled. And weak. It made her feel weak: like the broken child she’d once been. And she hated it.

Soft, even breathing from the bed beside hers told her that Henry was still sound asleep. She glanced over at the alarm clock. 6:15AM. Early, but not too early to get out of bed. It wasn’t as if she would be able to fall back asleep now anyway. And she needed to do something. Needed to get away from the thoughts currently taking up the space in her head.

She pulled on jeans and a long sleeve shirt in the dark and then carried her boots out into the hallway, locking the door behind her and then pulling the shoes on. She brushed a hand through her hair, untangling it as best she could, and then headed downstairs to the diner to get a cup of coffee.

xxxxxx

Emma was on her third cup of coffee, the diner slowly coming to life, when the doorbell chimed and she looked up just in time to see Tinkerbell walk in.

Spotting her, Tinkerbell smiled and approached the booth she was sitting in. “Emma, hi.”

Emma smiled back. “Hey.”

“Can I sit?” Tinkerbell asked.

Emma shrugged, nodding yes and motioning to the seat across from her.

Taking the seat, Emma noticed that Tinkerbell was practically vibrating with energy. She smiled at Emma again and asked hopefully. “So?”

Emma tilted her head uncertainly. “ So ?”

“Did it work?” Tinkerbell clarified. “True Love’s Kiss? With Robin? Is Regina awake?”

“Oh,” Emma said in understanding, it occurring to her that this might actually be why Tinkerbell was at the diner so early. After a beat of silence where Tinkerbell eyed her expectantly, she shook her head. “No. It didn’t.”

“Hmm…” Tinkerbell’s lips pursed. “Curious.”

Emma shrugged. “Maybe you were wrong about them being soulmates?” The question came out sounding a little too hopeful for her liking, and she scowled. She shouldn't care so much about Regina’s supposed soulmate but she just couldn't seem to help it.

“ Perhaps ,” Tinkerbell agreed slowly, something about her expression suddenly seeming amused, as if Emma’s question was funny to her.

The way Tinkerbell’s eyes were twinkling was suddenly making Emma uncomfortable and she squirmed, drumming her hands against the table, trying to push the uncomfortable feeling away. “So, what do we do now?” she asked, wanting to push the conversation away from Regina’s soulmate.

“About what?” Tinkerbell asked curiously.

“Waking Regina up,” Emma supplied as if that should have been obvious - because she was pretty sure it should have been.

Tinkerbell shrugged one shoulder, eyes still twinkling. “Like Blue said yesterday, there’s only one way to break a curse. So, I guess you’ll just have to find Regina’s True Love.”

Tinkerbell looked far too amused for Emma’s liking. What exactly was so amusing about Regina being stuck in a nightmare where her only hope of being woken was Emma finding her True Love? That was the exact opposite of amusing. Emma scowled but didn’t say anything, choosing to finish her coffee instead, gulping it quickly, and then excusing herself under the pretense of having to check on Henry.    

xxxxxx

Henry was awake. He was still in his pajamas but he'd made his bed and was sitting cross-legged on top of the comforter flipping through a comic book.

“Hey kid,” Emma greeted, smiling at him.

“Hey Mom.” Henry looked up from his comic, returning her smile but slowly his expression darkened. “So who are you pawning me off on today?”

“What?” she frowned, wondering where this attitude was coming from.

“You're already up and dressed,” Henry provided as way of response. “Plus you've abandoned me basically every day since we got here. So it's not a stretch.”

Emma flinched at the word abandoned. Henry wasn't trying to deliberately hurt her - he didn't know that she'd actually given him up as a baby - but the word stung nonetheless. More so now with a second set of memories providing an answer to the what if question that had plagued her since Henry had shown up on her doorstep. She didn’t want to snap at him, so she took a deep breath before answering, “You know I'm working on a case, Henry.”

“That you barely tell me anything about,” Henry grumbled.

Emma sighed. “I can't, Henry. Not yet.”

“Fine, whatever,” Henry feigned indifference, looking back down at his comic and flipping the page just a little too harshly.

Emma sighed again, moving over to the bed and sitting down on the edge of it. She reached out and settled a hand on Henry’s shoulder, relieved when he didn't pull away. She rubbed his shoulder gently. “I'm sorry, kid. I know this sudden upheaval hasn't been easy for you.”

“I miss New York,” Henry said quietly, his eyes still trained on the comic book in front of him.

“I know,” Emma hummed softly, her hand still rubbing his shoulder.

Henry looked up from the comic, staring at Emma a long moment before he said, “Why can't I go stay with Walsh until you're done here?”

Emma swallowed thickly. “That's not an option, Henry.”

“Why not?” Henry protested.

Emma bit her lip. How was she supposed to explain this to Henry? Henry who was so clearly growing tired of her lies. She settled on a half truth. “Because he ended up not being the person I thought he was.”

Henry frowned, looking suddenly very worried and his tone was as serious as Emma had ever heard it when he asked, “Did he hurt you?”

Emma shook her head once. It wasn't exactly a lie. He hadn’t hurt her physically . And, emotionally, well, she was still trying to sort that out. She'd thought that she'd loved Walsh, that he’d loved her, and knowing that it had all been fake did hurt, of course. But not the same way it would have hurt without her memories. With her memories it was clear to her that Walsh had been a way to fill the hole in her heart that had existed without her understanding why.

Henry looked like maybe he didn't believe her but he didn't push, just continued to watch her carefully. “So I can't go back to New York?” he finally said, his tone light and his eyebrow quirked in what was clearly an attempt to dispel the tension.

Emma squeezed his shoulder, smiling at him. “Sorry, kid but you're stuck here with me until I get this thing solved.”

He nodded once and finally squirmed out from under her touch. “So who am I getting pawned off on today?” It was the same question as before but without any of the animosity. “Killian? Leroy? David and Mary Margaret?”

Emma thought about it a minute. “How about me?”

“Don't you have like case stuff you need to do?” Henry looked confused.

“Not today. I really just need to check on Regina at the hospital.” Emma said. And maybe need was a stretch. Sure she was sort of worried about Zelena doing something while Regina was in such a vulnerable state. But still, she didn't exactly need to check on Regina, not when she'd already made sure the hospital would call her if there was even the slightest change. No, it wasn't a need but it was most definitely a want. She wanted to see for herself that Regina was still okay - or, well, maybe not okay but still alive at the very least.

Besides, she also couldn’t help but wonder if maybe the fairies were wrong and somehow bringing Henry to the hospital today would break the curse. And then she wouldn't have to solve this True Love conundrum.

“You could come with me to the hospital and then we could do something fun,”  she added. “What do you say? Feel like spending the day with your old mom?”

Henry laughed, rolling his eyes at her, but then he grinned. “Yeah, sure.”

xxxxxx

Emma looked across Regina’s hospital bed at Henry. He was curled up in a hard plastic chair playing on his Game Boy. They’d been here almost an hour and, while he hadn’t complained, she knew that they should probably get going. Hospitals were no place for kids.

She looked down at Regina’s still form, squeezing the hand she had clasped in her own, before she sighed softly and looked back over at Henry. “Ready to get going?”

Henry looked up from his Game Boy, shrugging his shoulder. “Yeah, sure.”

Emma nodded, reluctantly letting go of Regina’s hand and pushing herself out of her chair.

Henry turned off his Game Boy, slipping it into his pocket, and standing too. “Can we get ice cream?” he asked hopefully.

“Sure kid,” Emma agreed easily. She slid her hands into her pockets as she glanced between Henry and Regina. She’d sort of hoped that Henry’s presence in the room would be enough to wake Regina. Of course she knew that that was a bit of a ridiculous hope. True Love’s Kiss sort of implied that an actual kiss, not just proximity, was required. But she didn’t really know how to ask her son to kiss a stranger. And, besides, the fairies had said that that wouldn’t work anyway. Yet, Emma still couldn’t help but wonder...what if they were wrong?

“Mom?” Henry called out.

Emma blinked slowly, realizing that she’d been lost in thought and she tore her gaze away from Regina to stare at her son. “Henry,” she said slowly, “If I asked you to do something kind of weird, would you?”

“Weird how?” Henry titled his head.

Emma hesitated, still unsure, but eventually the question slipped out because she just couldn’t not try. Not when Regina had taken this curse for her. Not when Regina was Henry’s mother even if he didn’t remember that. “Do you think you could kiss Regina goodbye?”

Henry’s forehead scrunched up in confusion. “ Why ?”

Emma shrugged. “I dunno...I just…” It occurred to her then that maybe she should have spent the last hour coming up with a good reason for the request. As it was, she just stumbled through the only explanation she could come up with on the spot, “It just might help her...you know...uh...realize she isn’t alone.”

Henry’s forehead wrinkled further. “Don’t you think you holding her hand for like an hour would have already done that?”

“Uhh...no, not really,” Emma shook her head. She sounded ridiculous, she knew it.

Henry was still eyeing her like he thought she was a little crazy. “Then why don’t you just kiss her goodbye?”

Emma’s eyes widened and she shook her head even harder than before. “No, no, no...that would be weird.”

“Weirder than me doing it?” Henry quirked an eyebrow at her.

Emma swallowed hard. She was pretty sure she was beet red now. “Never mind. Forget I asked.”

Henry eyed her for a long moment, confusion flittering across his face, and then with a shrug he moved back over to the hospital bed, leaned down and pressed a quick kiss to Regina’s cheek. He straightened, looking back at Emma expectantly. “There, okay ?”

Emma held her breath, waiting for Regina to wake up, her heart thumping loudly in her chest in anticipation, but nothing happened.

“Are you okay, Mom?” Henry frowned as he moved back over towards her.

Emma ran her hand through her hair, snapping out of her stupor. “I’m fine.”

“You kind of look like you were expecting something to happen just then,” Henry said, still eyeing her curiously.

Sometimes Emma wished Henry wasn’t quite so perceptive. “No,” she shook her head. “Of course I wasn’t.” She reached over and wrapped an arm around Henry’s shoulders. “Now, what do you say about that ice cream?”

Henry side-eyed her like he wanted to say something else but instead he just shrugged. “I always say yes to ice cream. You know that, Mom.”     

xxxxxx  

Child-Emma was awake and dressed for the day, sitting nervously on the edge of the bed when there was the sound of metal sliding and the door to her room finally swung open.

It was Lorraine, not Jerry, on the other side of the door. “Hurry up, brat, or you're going to miss the bus.”

Emma said nothing. Instead, she scampered out of the room and down the hall to the washroom.

Regina seethed as she moved past the woman and down the hall in the opposite direction that Emma had headed. How could anyone speak to a child like that? How could anyone treat a child like this? Not for the first time she envisioned destroying these people. She just had to get to Storybrooke and then maybe that would be possible.

In a stroke of luck, Regina’s timing was impeccable. Jerry was opening the front door just as Regina entered the living room and she hurried forward, slipping outside before he could close the door once more.

She wasn't exactly sure how she was going to get to Storybrooke. To be honest, she wasn't even sure what State she was in. But at least she'd made it out of the house. She could figure the rest out.

She moved with purpose down the driveway, looking right and then looking left, before deciding to go left. The second she stepped off the property though, she was surrounded by familiar swirling mist, and moments later she was back in the hideous living room, green shag carpet under her feet.

Emma was screaming, loud and filled with pain, as her arm was twisted at an unnatural angle and for a moment Regina was frozen in shock. What kind of horror had she just caused by trying to leave?

Her non-heart raced as adrenaline and anger coursed through her veins and she surged forward, hands trying desperately to pry this monster away from Emma. It was pointless though. She was still more useless than a ghost. She screamed in frustration, trying once more, fruitlessly, to yank Jerry away. “You son of a bitch. Let her go. Let her go. Let her go.”

He didn’t let go. Not until there was a sickening sound that surely meant that he’d just broken Emma’s arm. Regina stumbled backwards, doubling over and dry-heaving the non-existent contents of her stomach.

Watching child-Emma sob, all Regina could think was that this was her fault. And not just because she should never have tried to leave. Yes, these monsters disguised as foster parents were to blame, but this man would have never been anywhere near Emma if it wasn’t for her curse. The same guilt from the previous evening returned full force, settling in her chest - it was nearly crippling.

xxxxxx

“So,” Emma said to Henry the next day at breakfast. “How do you feel about spending the day with Mary Margaret and David?”

“Why? What are you going to do?” Henry asked but he didn’t give Emma an opportunity to answer, guessing, “You’re going to visit the mayor at the hospital again, aren't you?”

Was she that transparent? Emma shrugged. “I need to follow up on some leads, thank you very much.”

“ Sure ,” Henry quirked an eyebrow at her, the expression so Regina that it made Emma’s heart ache. “Is one of those leads at the hospital?”

“ Maybe ,” Emma drew the word out slowly, narrowing her eyes across the table at him. “You should be nicer to me, you know. I’m your mother.”

Henry just grinned at her and then after a beat said, “You should bring her flowers.”

That surprised Emma. “Why?”

“That's what you're supposed to do when someone's in the hospital. Duh ,” he rolled his eyes. “Especially when you like them.”

Emma was suddenly flustered, unable to keep the blush from creeping up her neck, as she rambled out a response, “I don't like Regina. I mean, I do. Of course I do. But just not the way I think you mean.”

Henry rolled his eyes again. “Okay Mom, sure, whatever you say.”

“I don’t ,” Emma insisted but the expression on Henry’s face told her that he really didn’t believe her.

xxxxxx

Not too long later, Emma was walking through the door of Regina’s hospital room, carrying a vase of assorted flowers that she’d picked up at Game of Thorns. She shuffled almost awkwardly over to the side of Regina’s bed, setting the flowers down on the little table beside the bed, spinning them once, twice, a third time.

As she fiddled with the vase, she rambled, “So I brought you some flowers. I don't really know what kind of flowers you like...but these seemed...nice. This isn't weird, right? Me bringing flowers?” Giving up on turning the vase, she looked over at Regina’s still form. “It was Henry’s idea. And I just thought you would like that. You know, that he wanted you to have flowers. They’re cheery, I guess. Maybe...maybe somehow you’ll know they’re here and whatever nightmare you’re in will be just a little less nightmare-y?”

It was stupid, she knew. Bringing flowers was not a solution. Visiting in general wasn't a solution. She really just needed to focus on finding Regina’s True Love. The problem was that she had no clue where to even start. Should she hold auditions? Like a sort of Bachelorette kind of thing - only with the bachelorette being unconscious? Okay, so that seemed like a not great idea.

“I’m sorry I suck at this.” Emma sighed, her hand reaching towards the bed, her fingers brushing gently against the back of Regina’s hand.

If Regina were awake she’d know what to do. Emma was sure of it.

xxxxxx

Leaving the house of horrors was apparently possible, Regina realized. She just had to do it with Emma.

They were currently in the emergency room.

The horrible excuse for a human being that was Emma’s foster father had chosen to put on his police uniform before they went to hospital - Regina presumed to win himself some kind of favour with the hospital staff. There had also been a string of threats, delivered menacingly the entire drive to the hospital, about what would happen if Emma were to tell the truth about how her arm had been broken. Emma had just clutched her arm to her chest and whimpered her agreement.

Now, Regina watched, completely horrified, as the emergency room doctor took one look at the police uniform and bought the ill-conceived story about how Emma had fallen out of a tree. Could this man really be so naive? Or did he just not care about the safety of this child?

She wanted to scream, she wanted to throw things, she wanted to pick Emma up and carry her out of here. Take her far, far away. But she was still more useless than a ghost. She could do nothing more than bear witness to this horror. Well, that and she could make a list of all of the people she was going to track down and eviscerate when - if - she got out of this nightmare world. Inept emergency room doctor was definitely going on her list. She wondered how high up on that list she was going to have to put her own name.

xxxxxx

Since the fairies had been a bust, Emma decided that Belle might be able to help her wake Regina. There had to be a way to track down someone’s True Love. Maybe something similar to the soulmate tracking that Tinkerbell had mentioned?

The bell chimed as she walked into the pawn shop. “Hello?” she called, as she looked around the empty shop.

“One minute,” a muffled call came from the back of the shop and then Belle emerged, smiling as she spotted Emma. “Emma, hi. What can I do for you today?”

“Hey, Belle.” Emma returned the smile, moving over to the counter and leaning against it. She drummed one of her hands against the glass. “So...umm...I kinda need your help...do you have anything in this shop that will find a person’s True Love?”

Belle’s brow furrowed. “You want to find your True Love?” She sounded surprised.

“No, no,” Emma shook her head. “Not my True Love.”

Belle still looked confused. “Then whose?”

Emma rubbed the back of her neck. “You...uh...heard about Regina? Being cursed?”

Belle’s eyes widened. “You’re trying to help, Regina?”

“Yes,” Emma confirmed.

“Emma,” Belle said carefully. “I’m sorry but I can’t really say I’m eager to help Regina. Not after everything she’s done to me.”

Emma sighed. She supposed she couldn’t blame Belle but she wasn’t ready to give up either. “But you wouldn’t be helping Regina, you’d be helping me .”

Belle titled her head in a way that Emma suspected meant that she thought that that was just semantics.

“Please,” Emma said, not even as bothered as she probably should be by how ridiculously desperate she sounded. “She took that curse for me. I can’t...I can’t just leave her there.”

Belle looked surprised again, her eyes wide. “Regina took the curse for you?”

Emma swallowed thickly, nodding her head slowly in the affirmative.

Belle sighed softly. “I’m sorry,” she said and this time she really did sound apologetic, “But I really don’t know of a way to locate a person’s True Love.”

“Nothing?” Emma’s shoulders sagged.

Belled eyed her sympathetically a long moment. “I could do some research,” she finally said. “There may be something I don’t know about.”

“You’d do that?” Emma asked hopefully.

“Yes,” Belle confirmed. “For you.”

xxxxxx

Emma left the pawn shop, trying not to feel too disappointed. At least now Belle was going to look for an answer. An answer she might not find, mind you - but it was better than the nothing that was being done before.

She sighed, checking the time on her phone. It was still early in the afternoon. She definitely had time to go check on Regina again before she went to pick Henry up.

Sliding her phone back into her pocket, she headed in the direction of the hospital. She was just walking past Granny’s when she spotted Hook coming out of the building. She barely resisted the urge to groan. She gave him a half wave and then shoved her hands in her pockets and kept walking, picking up her pace a bit. 

“Emma, wait!” He called after her.

She didn’t slow down but he caught up with her, regardless.

“Didn’t you hear me?” He asked, falling into step beside her.

“Sorry,” Emma shrugged, not really answering his question.

“I was just looking for you,” Hook said. “I thought you might want to get a late lunch? Or a coffee?”

“I’m going to the hospital,” Emma said tersely.

“Is Regina awake?” Hook questioned.

“No,” Emma’s teeth gritted together at the question.

“Then checking on her can wait, can’t it?” Hook said, as if it was just a friendly suggestion. “We haven’t seen each other in a few days,” he added.

Emma’s head snapped over in his direction, her eyes narrowing into an angry glare. “Regina is cursed. I’ve been a little occupied,” she gritted out.

Hook held up his hand, as if in apology. “Sorry, sorry.”

The apology did nothing to calm Emma’s ire. He didn’t even sound that sorry: he just sounded like he didn’t understand why she was angry.

“I just thought you would miss me,” Hook said.

She stopped walking abruptly. She couldn’t do this anymore. She couldn’t pretend to tolerate his obvious advances for the sake of his ego, or of keeping the peace, or for whatever reason she hadn’t told him to get lost before - right now she couldn’t remember what that reason might have been.

“Look,” she said. “I’m done doing this with you. I’m not interested in you. I’m not ever going to be. And, to be honest here, if there ever was any hope for you, you trying to talk me out of visiting Regina while she is in the hospital under a curse that was meant for me, a curse that she took for me, would have destroyed that hope anyway.” She was practically yelling by the end of her speech, and maybe she should feel badly about crushing his idiotic hopes, but she didn’t feel anything but relief at having an outlet for her frustration. It wasn’t as if she hadn’t tried to let him down gently in the past. He never should have suggested she not visit Regina.

“But-” Hook started.

“I don’t have time for this,” Emma interrupted him. “I need to go to the hospital.”

She didn’t wait for him to respond, she just resumed walking, her pace rapid. She breathed a sigh of relief when she realized he wasn’t following.         

xxxxxx

It was lunchtime two days later when Robin Hood came bursting through the door of the diner looking panicked.

Spotting Emma sitting with Henry, he rushed over. “Emma,” he rasped out, a little breathless, as if he'd been running, “I need to talk to you.” He glanced between Emma and Henry and then added, “ alone .”

Emma swallowed her bite of grilled cheese, told Henry that she'd be right back, and then followed Robin Hood to the hallway where Henry wouldn't overhear their conversation.

“It's Zelena,” Robin rushed out as soon as they were far enough away. “She…” he swallowed, hesitating almost nervously a moment before finishing, “She's got Regina’s heart.”

Emma's eyes widened in surprise and she snapped out too loudly, “What?! How ?!” She knew that Regina never should have left her heart with Forest Boy.

“She used the Dark One,” Robin explained. “He threatened Roland. I...I couldn't…” he looked genuinely distressed.

Emma's heart dropped to her stomach. If Zelena had Regina’s heart that meant Regina might already be…. dead . Panic mounted within Emma at that thought and she didn't bother saying anything to Robin. She just spun and rushed back into the diner.

“Henry, I have to go, stay here,” she told her son.

Henry looked perplexed at the rushed instruction but Emma didn't have time to say anything else, not when it might already be too late. “ Please ,” she added before he could protest and then, without waiting for a response, she darted out of the diner.

Her eyes drifted to the Bug parked not too far away but her keys were back in the room and the hospital wasn't that far away, so she just took off running.

She didn't slow down as she raced in through the front entrance of the hospital, just ran right past the elevator, which she couldn’t wait for, and up the two flights of stairs to the floor Regina’s room was on. Her lungs were protesting angrily by the time she was barrelling into Regina’s room, and she doubled over, her hands resting on her knees as she gasped for air, pretty sure she was going to vomit as she registered the steady beeping on the heart monitor.

Regina is alive . Regina is alive. Regina is alive. She repeated over and over again in her head with every panting breath she took.

Eventually her breathing returned to normal and her heart calmed. She straightened, moving over to the edge of the hospital bed. She swallowed thickly and reached out, taking Regina’s hand and lacing their fingers together, her eyes settling on Regina’s face. “You're alive,” she whispered, her voice thick with emotion.

She wasn't sure how long she stood there in an almost trance but she was eventually disrupted by the sound of a throat clearing behind her. She dropped Regina’s hand and turned around to see who was there. She was not exactly surprised to see Robin.

Robin looked hesitant, uncertain. “She's okay?”

Emma just stared at him for a minute but then she sighed softly. “For now.”

“I'm really sorry,” he said, looking truly remorseful.

Emma sighed again. “Regina wouldn't have wanted a child to get hurt.” And she knew that was true. Knew that this wasn't really Robin’s fault.

She also knew that waking Regina from the curse was even more important now. She needed to wake Regina before Zelena did whatever it was she was planning with her heart.

xxxxxx

Even hours later, Emma still felt unsettled. Knowing that Zelena had Regina’s heart, knowing that Zelena could choose to crush it at any moment and that Emma would be suddenly in a world without Regina was terrifying. And there was nothing she could do about it. She wanted to storm the farmhouse, demand that Zelena hand over the heart. The only thing stopping her, really, was that she was sure that would end terribly.

“Are you sure the mayor is okay?” Henry frowned at her from across the table.

Emma looked up from where she’d been pushing pasta around her plate. “Yes. I told you it was a false alarm.”

Henry’s frown deepened. “Then why are you acting so…” he trailed off, not finishing the thought.

Emma sighed, her mood was clearly affecting Henry and she owed him some kind of explanation. She couldn’t tell him the truth, of course, but she could tell him something . “I’m sorry that I’m….” she hesitated on what to call her current mood, settling for, “Distracted.”

She watched Henry carefully across the table. When he didn’t immediately respond, she added seriously, “I guess...I just thought that Regina would be awake by now. And it’s difficult knowing that she isn’t.”

“Oh,” Henry nodded, seeming to consider that as his attention went back to his dinner. After several minutes of the scraping of fork against plate, he looked back up and across the table. “Can I ask you something, Mom?”

“Of course,” Emma nodded.

“Is the mayor the reason we came to Storybrooke?” Henry asked, looking genuinely curious to know the answer.

Emma’s brow crinkled, confused by the question and where he might be going with it. “No? Why?”

“I just…” Henry seemed to hesitate, as if he didn’t know if he should say anything else or not. “I thought maybe...you said no to Walsh’s proposal...and I just...I know you said he wasn’t who you thought he was...but I also kind of thought that maybe Regina was the reason why.”

Emma was even more confused now. Why on earth would Henry think that?

“Regina wasn’t….what happened with Walsh had nothing to do with Regina. What gave you that idea?”

Henry shrugged his shoulders. “That day I spent with the mayor. She seemed surprised about Walsh. And kind of…jealous. I thought maybe you two were…exes or something.”

Emma’s eyebrows creeped towards her hairline in surprise. Regina was jealous of Walsh? Henry thought they were exes? She didn’t even know where to start with an answer. “I...we...Regina and I aren’t exes, Henry. Not even close.”

“Oh.” Henry’s brow crinkled a minute in thought. “But you do love her, right?”

“ What ?” If Emma had taken a sip of water at that exact moment she probably would have spit it out. Seriously? Where was Henry getting these ideas?

“The mayor. Regina. You love her, right?” Henry repeated the question.

“No, no, no,” Emma shook her head rapidly at him.

“So earlier when you freaked out when you thought something was wrong with her...that didn't mean anything?” Henry asked, although the question sounded more rhetorical than anything. As if he thought her worry about Regina proved his point.

“Regina is my friend . That was why I was worried,” Emma insisted.

Henry quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at her. “You literally ran out of the diner to the hospital when you thought something had happened to her.” He stated it like the fact that it was, again as if it proved his point.

Emma swallowed. “ So ?”

“You visit her every day. Usually more than once,” Henry added, his voice still matter-of-fact, as if he was making some kind of list of reasons why Emma loved Regina. “And you hold her hand at the hospital.”

“I already said… she's my friend , Henry,” Emma insisted.

“Sure Mom,” Henry shrugged at her, almost indifferently, as if he didn’t believe her but he wasn’t all that interested in arguing.

“ Henry ,” Emma said warningly. Why wouldn’t he just believe what she was saying?  

Henry folded his hands on the table, eyeing her seriously, “All I'm saying is that it's okay if you love her. I would be totally okay with that.”

“I’m not in love with Regina,” Emma denied just a little too forcefully. She was sure if she looked in the mirror right then, her cheeks would be tinged red.

“Okay,” Henry shrugged. His words said he believed her but his face told a completely different story.

Emma barely resisted the urge to groan.

xxxxxx

Emma barely slept and the next morning, as if pulled there by a force that she had no control over, Emma found herself back at the hospital sitting in the uncomfortable chair beside Regina’s hospital bed for what felt like the hundredth time in the last few days. Her knee bounced up and down as she watched the steady rise and fall of Regina’s chest.

She wasn't sure why she kept coming here. She doubted that Regina had any idea she was here and any concern she might have had over Zelena coming after Regina while she was incapacitated were pretty much moot now that the witch had Regina’s heart. If Zelena wanted to hurt Regina now all she would have to do was crush her heart.

The thought made Emma shudder and she shook her head, shaking it away, letting her thoughts land elsewhere - on the conversation she'd had with Henry the previous evening. Henry had an overactive imagination. He always had - even if technically that time he'd believed in fairytales it had turned out to be true.

“You're not going to believe what Henry thinks,” Emma scoffed lightly, her eyes shifting from the steady rise and fall of Regina’s chest up to her ever peaceful face. “He thinks I’m in love with you...which is completely crazy, right? I mean...I care about you. Obviously . You're the mother of my son. And...sort of... my friend, I guess?”

She wasn't sure friend was the right word. But she didn't know what else to call Regina. Didn't know what kind of moniker would be most appropriate to assign to the person who had stood at the town line and had given her new and good memories of years with Henry, the what-if-she-hadn’t-given-him-up story that was now real to her, perhaps even more so than what had actually happened . It was the nicest thing that anyone had ever done for her, even if it was all kinds of confusing to separate her real and her fake memories now.

Emma sighed, raking a hand through her long hair, mumbling mostly to herself, “It's definitely crazy…”

Seemingly of their own volition, her eyes were drawn to Regina’s lips. She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought about kissing those lips before. The thought had definitely crossed her mind before the original curse had broken, when Regina had seemed to be constantly invading her personal space. It had been so easy then to imagine closing the tiny gap and just pressing their lips together, turning the fury into something else. After the curse had broken Regina hadn't been apt to stand nearly so close - but there had still been plenty of times Emma had imagined kissing her. At least a dozen times in Neverland and then again at the town line when my gift to you is good memories ...

But that wasn't weird, right? Thinking about kissing someone was a natural response in situations so rife with emotion, right ?

Emma sighed again. “... It's crazy.” This time the statement was much less certain. This time it sounded like she was trying to convince herself of its craziness, rather than having any certainty in it.

It was crazy. Probably. But what if….

She sat up straighter, scooting forward until she was balanced on the edge of the chair.

It was crazy. But it didn't hurt to try, did it?

She reached forward and placed a hand on Regina’s forearm, stroking warm skin gently with the pad of her thumb. Her heart thumped loudly in her chest and then before she could talk herself out of it, she rose from the chair so that she was hovering over Regina. Hand still resting lightly against Regina’s forearm, she bowed her head slowly, pressing her lips gently to Regina’s forehead. She held the kiss for several long seconds and then, trying not to be disappointed, she started to pull back.

She'd known it was crazy. What had she been thinking?

She was still pulling back when there was a sudden flash of light and then Regina’s eyes began to flutter under still-closed lids.

Emma’s eyes widened, disappointment rapidly being replaced with hope, and she held her breath, still hovering over Regina.

And then brown eyes blinked open, staring up at her in confusion.