Chapter One
"I walked across an empty land,
I knew the pathway like the back of my hand."

Tired, green eyes slowly shifted back and forth, watching small, sparkling dust particles dance in the constant stream of sunlight. The fatigue was heavily weighing on Emma, as she noticed herself begin to fall asleep, her eyelids drooping further until her lashes rested gently upon her cheeks. But, once her body became vulnerable—all of her muscles weakening and relaxing—the blonde sat up quickly and rubbed her face. Although, Emma knew she would not be able to evade rest, and the frightening dreamscape her mind had created, for much longer, the blonde would continue to be persistent. Her retinas burned, and ached to close, her mind and body begging for sleep, but Emma simply refused as she slowly shifted to the edge of the bed.

It had been two days since the blonde had slept, and it had also been two days since she had awoken, screaming, from that awful dream she couldn't seem to remember. The only thing that Emma could remember was the pain, the utter heartbreak that had overcome her after waking. It wasn't in the variety of temporary emotion one generally feels after having a nightmare, no, it was entirely different in the fact that the blonde still, after 48 hours, harboured those feelings. She had woken her son, Henry, with her yells of a name that didn't register in her mind, and held him in her arms as he fell asleep in her bed, something he had refrained from for several years. But, that night, both of them seemed to fear something unknown, and Emma quickly agreed to the small body sleeping beside her, offering her comfort and warmth, as silent tears glittered in her confused green eyes. The pain from the dream completely encompassing her and seemingly eclipsing her heart.

Sighing, as the unwarranted ache in her chest inflated, Emma rested her head in her hands and rubbed her temples in small, rough circles. She was a grown woman, and yet a meagre dream was having such an intense affect over her. The blonde knew it was childish, and that her life certainly didn't need the extra stress of losing sleep, but the battle of emotion that waged inside of her was so real, so genuine, that it made Emma unable to do anything else but become a victim to it. She felt empty, and hollow, as if something grand and unknown was missing from her life, as if the dream itself had stolen something from her in the night, and then there was that name again: Regina, pounding around in her head. The name was foreign within her mind, but as she slowly whispered it to herself over and over again, she felt her heart grow more and more heavy with that unmistakable feeling of loss.

While the thoughts continued to devour her, the litany of a name she didn't know, falling from her lips, she heard the sound of her bedroom door opening. Turning her head around, Emma caught Henry's eyes, which were wide with a mixture of confusion and worry. Biting down on her bottom lip she gave her son a small smile and stood from her bed, and walked across the room to him. His brown hair was ruffled and messy from sleep, and he held a bowl of cereal in his hands as he leaned against the door, taking shovelling bites as his hazel eyes watched his mother closely.

"Morning, kid," Emma greeted awkwardly as she shifted from foot to foot before stealing a couple of fruit loops from his bowl, and popping them into her mouth.

"Kid?" Henry questioned, perplexed, as he used his spoon to shield his mother from the rest of his breakfast, "you've never called me that before."

"Never?" The blonde furrowed her brows, the term was familiar to her in regards to Henry, for some reason, but she shrugged it off as she slid past her son, and out the door, "guess it's just one of those days."

"You've been having a lot of those days lately" Henry emphasized, frowning as he followed after his mother down the hallway and into the kitchen, "are you okay?"

Turning as she reached the counter, Emma paused, opening her mouth, as if to say something, but said nothing and merely looked at the boy. Her fingers toyed with the handles of the drawers as she tried to fully gather herself. She, and Henry had always talked about everything together, they had a very close bond that most mother's can't say they have with their preteen sons, but the blonde's current issues would not be a discussion the two of them would have. Instead, she swallowed her problems, and smiled at Henry, ruffling his hair as she took the empty bowl from his hands.

"It's nothing, just haven't been getting much sleep." Although, Emma could hear the strain in her voice, and knew that her son would notice, she was pleased when he merely shrugged instead of rebutting.

After a couple of minutes of silence, Henry wandered into the living room and left the blonde alone to her own thoughts. Yawning noisily, Emma turned and began preparing hot cocoa for the both of them, it was something of a ritual for the two of them: every morning they would wake up, Henry would get ready for the day while the blonde cooked the both of them breakfast, always topping it off with a warm cup of cocoa piled with whipped cream and sprinkled with cinnamon. It may not have been the healthiest choice of ritual, but it was there's, and Emma hoped that the beverage would be a small token of apology for her odd behaviour the past couple of days.

Once the drinks were ready, the blonde made her way into the living room, watching for a moment as her son excitedly played one of his video games on the television. Chuckling to herself as Henry goaded the villainous characters in the game, Emma sat on the couch, setting both mugs of cocoa on the coffee table. The boy paused his game, mid-battle, and turned around, his gaze quickly finding the steaming mug, the hint of a smile tugging at his lips. Scooting across the floor, Henry dipped his finger into the whipped cream, and examined it closely while a mischievous expression crossed his features. Emma noticed immediately, her eyes widening as she could nearly hear her son's thoughts, but before she had enough time to run, the boy reached across the coffee table and smeared the whipped cream onto the blonde's nose.

"Hey!" Emma cried, in a fit of surprised laughter as she wiped her face clean. Sobering up, she grinned at Henry, and nodded in defeat, "I guess I deserved that, huh?"

"Yeah," the boy said in a serious tone before he was overtaken by laughter as well, "you did!"

As mother and son continued the morning on a light note, sipping hot cocoa, and swapping stories and jokes, the blonde allowed herself to ignore the gnawing feelings that only seemed to grow stronger. Without acknowledging it, she had allowed herself to loosen up for the first time in the past two days, and it was all thanks to her son. Her green eyes gleamed with delight at Henry's inane ability to always cheer her up, even given the strange circumstances that had brought a damper to her usual lighthearted nature. It was moments like those, when the two were in the throes of laughter, that Emma was reminded of how lucky she was to have Henry. That, in a life where she had not made the best of choices, she was somehow given the luxury of producing the epitome of perfection.

The laughter faded, as did the remnants of the cocoa, and Emma leaned back into the plush couch, as Henry began playing his game once more. The blonde's eyes slowly began to droop as she watched the battle on the television continue, her son's character running men through with his sword. The sound effects seemed to fade away into the distance as she allowed her eyes to flutter shut. Sleep was coming quickly, and the blonde was ready to face her dreams once more, even if it was mostly for Henry's benefit; what kind of mother could she be while running on little, to no sleep? As she snuggled deeper into the couch, getting her body comfortable, Emma let her thoughts drift away as she finally fell asleep.

Green eyes open slowly, and once again, the blonde found herself standing in the forest, facing a glittering lake, but that time the dream was vastly different. The trees were illuminated by golden streaks of blinding sunlight, the bark and leaves seemingly sparkled as the light caressed against them. The second difference that Emma instantly noticed were her memories: all of her memories of her parents, of Storybrooke—of Regina—were completely intact initially, without having to work for them as she had to every dream before, until then.

Furrowing her brow, Emma didn't bother to question her dreams progression, and instead began to wander through the trees, heading towards the clearing. Moving a few arrant branches away, the blonde stepped into the clearing and breathed in deeply. Tiny spotlights of sun rushed through the break in leaves, decorating the small space in breathtakingly vivid yellows and oranges that only seemed to exist in paintings. It was beautifully idyllic, and the sheer visceral rush nearly made the blonde lose her breath, her head spinning mindlessly. But, she stood firmly in place, held up by the wonderment of having a peaceful dream that would not later weigh on her mind, or her heart.

A shiver ran up the base of her spine then, as she closed her eyes, allowing the sunlight to play innocently against her cheeks. Squaring her shoulders, Emma blinked open, and gazed over her shoulder, the vision before her causing her to turn slowly until she was facing the woman. Regina sat on the ground, her back gently pressed against the bark of a tree. Long lashes flickered over her olive cheeks, her full lips pressed into a poised expression of thought. The blonde sighed quietly, and took a step closer to the woman, who was nearly glowing in the light the afternoon sky offered, but the vision was disrupted by her footfalls, and Regina stiffened as she opened her eyes.

"I've been waiting for you," the brunette started, her voice seemed strained and it caused Emma's steps to falter. "I've been waiting here for you, for two days."

"Regina, I..." but Emma's voice left her as she noticed Regina's dark eyes were blood shot, and red rimmed, as if she was upset, as if she had been crying. The very thought ate at the blonde, but she pushed it down forcefully. "I couldn't sleep."

"You couldn't sleep?" Regina huffed, rising from the ground, and dusted the dirt from her pants as she approached the blonde. Her face contorted into a look of utter frustration that caused Emma to fold her arms across her chest in defence. "Spare me your sob stories. Do you realize what I've had to do, what I've had to give up to make this interaction possible? All of the resources, all of the magic that I've had to utilize to find you here. And for what, you to have a pleasant fit of insomnia?"

"Hey!" Emma said, finally, her voice raised as she peered into the brunette's burning eyes, "if you haven't forgotten, once I wake up I can't remember any of this. Not you, not my parents, not Storybrooke, and not my dreams. Jesus, how was I suppose to know how important my sleep schedule was to you?"

Black eyes glared into defiant green ones, her anger creasing her dark brows, and causing her full lips to become a thin, pursed line of red. Sighing inwardly, the brunette struggled with her emotions as she squeezed her eyes shut and pinched the bridge of her nose; how was it that Regina had decided to go to extremes in the attempt to find the blonde? Emma was infuriating, and never ceased to annoy Regina to the very edge of her nerves. Yet, over the course of the blonde's time in Storybrooke, Regina had slowly become accustom to her distasteful habits, terrible manners, odd humour, and misplaced bravado. But, if the brunette were honest, she had also come to liking every part of Emma, even the parts that bothered her refined tastes. And, that was why she was there, trying to interact with Emma, not only to bring Henry back to her, but to bring her family back, because as much as Regina hated to admit it, she had slowly allowed the blonde into the dark regions of herself, and enjoyed how it felt. Perhaps the idea of love was far too strong for her feelings for Emma, but it certainly wasn't out of reach.

"You're right, Emma," Regina nearly whispered, her eyes fluttering open as she nodded, "it isn't your fault, not entirely."

"Thanks," the blonde scoffed, but gave a small smirk as she made eye contact with the other woman, watching as the dark eyes softened into dappled honey brown, "so, are you going to tell me what this is all about, or are you gonna make me guess?"

"Right," the brunette said, the tinge of a smile creasing the edges of her lips, "but, there is something important we must do first before I go into further detail."

"And what's that?"

"We need to find out how strong the magic in your world is," Regina reached into the pocket of her blazer and pulled out a small, black speckled stone, "we need to see if you can transport items from this world to yours."

A blonde eyebrow arched in confusion and amusement as Emma gazed onto the rock that was settled in the middle of the brunette's palm. It was just a plain, ordinary stone, perhaps the blonde was missing something, but she couldn't seem to piece together how a simple rock could gauge the amount of magic her world held. Shaking away her perplexed questions, Emma tilted her head and began examining the stone more closely. Taking a step closer, the blonde reached out her hand and ran her fingers over the smooth surface of the rock. As her fingertips brushed across it, the stone began to glow a soft blue within Regina's hand. Surprised, Emma flinched her hand away, her fingers grazing across the palm of the brunette's hand as she pulled away. Both of their gazes met with a crackle of magic, the stone beginning to shine brightly before Regina looked away, and watched as the rock dimmed, then stopped glowing completely.

"It's been enchanted," the brunette explained, her brown eyes unable to meet Emma's curious face, "it only reacts to your magic, to your touch. If there is any source of magic in the world, and you're holding this, it will glow."

"Okay, that makes sense, but..." Emma paused, an amused grin on her lips as she rolled her green eyes knowingly, "this is only a dream, you can't transport objects through dreams, Regina."

"No, Emma, this isn't just a dream...it's so much more than that."

"What?" the blonde breathed, her heart beating faster as she tried to catch her breath, "this isn't just a dream...this is real?"

"In a sense, yes, it is."

"Regina..." but Emma's voice was lost within her ears as she watched a shroud of darkness begin to encompass the forest. Green eyes hesitated for a moment before looking back to the brunette, as if begging the woman to allow her stay a few minutes longer.

"Emma, it's alright, you're safe," Regina said softly, as she acknowledged the panicked green eyes flickering between her and the coming darkness. Rushing forward, the brunette took Emma's hand in her's, her thumb absently tracing circles over the smooth skin beneath her fingers before dropping the stone into the blonde's palm. "Take this, and come back tonight. There is so much more we need to do."

Nodding, Emma licked her lips, chewing on it roughly as her gaze fell to the brunette's hand cupping her own. A shiver made its way up the blonde's spine as Regina's fingers tightened their hold on Emma's. The darkness was creeping closer, threatening to overwhelm the two women in its grasp, but neither woman did anything and merely, unconsciously, focused on their clasped hands, the stone illuminating the darkening forest with as its brilliant glow seeped between their interlocked fingers. The blonde's form began to dissolve into nothingness, but Regina refused to let go, until she felt the hand vanish from her own.

"Mom!" Henry called loudly, as he continued to shake his mother, "mom, wake up!"

The blonde's body jerked on the couch as she groaned, and mumbled incoherently, her hands balled into fists as she rolled over onto her side. Slowly, her eyes slid open, her son's face coming into focus as she blinked a few times. A tired smile curled the edged of her lips as she yawned quietly and pulled herself into a sitting position. The euphoria of the good dream overcame Emma in a torrent of peacefulness that she nearly didn't notice the look of worry poised on Henry's creased features. Reaching a hand out, she cupped his cheek and leaned forward.

"Henry, what's wrong?"

"You were doing it again," the boy started, shifting from his place on the floor and flopped down onto the couch. The confused expression on his mother's face forced a sigh from his lips and he turned toward her, "you were saying that woman's name again—Regina. It's weird."

Emma's lips parted and she took a deep breath, the sound of the name causing her body to stiffen and tingle as she reached into the place in her mind that kept her dreams, but, again, the blonde found herself without any recollection of the dream she had only moments before. Closing her mouth, Emma found herself floundering for an explanation for her son, but nothing would come. Groaning, the blonde opened her mouth to tell the boy that she couldn't remember who this dream woman was, but stopped as she was distracted by Henry's excitement.

"Wow, what's that!" The boy's eyes were locked onto one of his mother's hands, that was clasped into a fist, a soft blue light emanated from the spaces between her fingers.

Looking down, Emma gasped softly as she opened her fist and revealed a small stone that glowed gently within her palm. Green eyes widened as the light grew stronger, and washed the entire living room in a cool, blue light. With a racing mind, the blonde seemed to zone out all of her son's questions and curiosities as an unknown woman's face fluttered momentarily within her brain. The image caused Emma's breath to catch in her throat, her chest rising and falling with a tender warmth that seemed to spread over her entire body. But, before she could fully embed the face to memory, it had vanished away into the dark corners of her mind. And, just like the vision of the gorgeous woman, the light from the stone quickly flickered before fading away to the plain, black surface of the rock.

A/N: This first chapter took a lot longer then I had anticipated, but it was rather quick for me, haha. Anyway, I really hope you enjoy the direction that I'm taking this story (as this chapter turned out absolutely nowhere near close to the outline I had planned out). We all know the hiatus is going to be brutal, but writing Swan Queen fic certainly helps, so I hope reading this might make the hiatus for you a little bit more bearable. Thanks for reading, and if you have any comments feel free to let me know in a review!