A/n: A big thanks to all of my reviewers: Poetic4u, MusicalLover17, StarPower2009, DoubleDee068, Maiqu, scifigirl10, and RavenclawRebel! Also, thanks to everyone who added this story to their alerts – I hope you enjoy it!

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.

Emma took in a breath slowly, a pit growing in the bottom of her stomach. She took slow, deep breaths in an attempt to push away the feelings of dread in her stomach, and the anxiety attack she could feel constricting her lungs. She hadn't been close to Aurora or Mulan, hadn't really considered them friends, but they were the only people she knew in this strange world, and they had been her only link to getting home. She had no notion of the dangers of this world, at least not beyond Ogres or blighted trees. She had no food or water, no currency. She had nothing. She fell to her knees and felt the weight of reality dragging her to the ground. "Mulan?" She called out, her voice cracking hoarsely. Her head pulsed from the beginnings of a headache, a steady pounding in her brain. Her breathing was labored, exhales coming in short uneven puffs. All of her life she had been running – her flight had always been dominant over her fight, if she had the option between the two – and now she couldn't. She wanted to return to Storybrooke, and she would do anything to get there, back to her family. Yet, as she sat on her heels in the middle of the field, she wasn't sure she could do anything. At least with Mulan, there had been hope. Now, all she could feel was despair.

She took one last shuddering breath before standing, forcing her body to stop trembling. Henry was what mattered, and she wasn't going to let adverse circumstances keep her apart from her son. Or her parents. She had been in worse situations, she was sure – certainly similar situations – and she had survived. She took several deep, steady breaths before once again observing her surroundings. She recognized where she was, and the way they had been traveling. She was grateful for the moonlight; traveling otherwise would have been impossible. With little else than a vague sense of direction and the path of the setting moon to guide her, Emma began to walk in the direction they had been heading. Mulan had said that they were about an hour away from camp. Logically, if Emma walked at the same pace for about an hour, she could at least come within the same vicinity as the camp. It was a long shot but it was all she had to go on.

Her eyes drifted close every once and awhile as she trudged through the woods; she was exhausted. She didn't dare close her eyes for long for fear of the trees coming to life again. For the time she walked, everything was quiet. The woods seemed to be of the normal sort, even despite the magic clinging to their leaves. She was still cold, perhaps even colder than before, but she walked on. It was only when she heard the screaming that she started to run. The faster she ran, the louder the screams, and the brighter the blaze; the trees were on fire, and they were screaming too. People ran past her as she ran forward, and she didn't dare attempt to stop them. "Mulan?" She shouted, searching. "Aurora?"

As she moved through the fleeing crowd, she couldn't help but wonder if it was comparable to swimming against the current. The village, a pretty sizeable one, it looked like, was being razed. Thatched roofs were burning as the homes and shops were being looted by thugs. Emma felt her lips press into a thin line, a lump in her throat. She wanted to help, she wanted to get justice for these people – whether that was because of Henry, or her Sheriff's badge, or parent's influence, she didn't know. She felt their pain acutely but quashed the desire to interfere; she had a kid to get back to, and getting herself killed wasn't the way to do that. Dealing with the Ogre had reminded her of that.

"Let go of me! Help! Mulan!"

Emma turned and saw Aurora being forced into the back of a wagon, her wrists bound by rope. She looked around at the mass chaos and sought out Mulan's features, her armor – anything. Seeing nothing, Emma knew she had no choice – she may not have counted her as a friend, but Emma felt confident that Aurora was going to help her get back to Storybrooke – she had no other hope, and she wasn't letting it go.

She strode towards the two thugs hauling Aurora in the wagon and felt the fingers on her right hand curl into a tight fist.

-onceuponatime-

Regina sat in her study, a glass of wine in her hands, as she stared into the flames licking out of her fireplace. She couldn't quite pinpoint the moment everything had gone to hell – couldn't decide if it was when Emma had come to Storybrooke, or when Henry got ahold of that accursed book. She looked at the wine in her hands and took another sip, resisting the urge to down it all in a single gulp as the crude populous often did. Her one consolation, after being marked for death and forcibly removed from her office – again – was that Henry had chosen to come home with her. He didn't hate her, that much was evident by his request that Emma protect her. She hadn't lost him.

"Yet," She murmured allowed, rubbing her temples. And she almost had. He was in his room now, doing homework. They hadn't spoken on their drive back home, and Regina was kind of glad for it. She wasn't sure she had words to explain to her son her motivations behind her actions – the memory of Daniel, of Snow's betrayal, was still painful enough in the back of her mind let alone the front of it. And she didn't want to subject Henry to more of her pain than was absolutely necessary. She had never meant for him to find out, about the curse or anything – at least not until he was much, much older. She had meant for him to have a happy childhood, untouched by the cold reality and harshness that she had experienced. She set the glass of wine down on the coffee table, her contemplative mood drawing her line of thought and vision to the bookshelf by her desk.

She stood and made her way to stand in front of it, her fingers tracing the old leather bindings. She swallowed when her fingers came to rest on one particular book, the cover faded to a deep black with a purplish hue. This book had belonged to her mother, her first magic book, the book that started it all. Regina swallowed and hesitantly pulled it from the shelf. The book of spells was ultimately harmless, the enchantments inside the most basic, the most harmless – the original intent of them to be used for self-defense. Her mother may not have been born evil, but it wasn't magic that corrupted her – it was greed, and jealousy, that corrupted her. Resolved, she held the book in her arms and left her study, taking the stairs slowly.

Pausing outside his door, she knocked twice. "Henry?" She asked, her voice uncertain.

"Yeah?" He asked, sounding defensive and uncertain himself.

She opened the door and gave him a half smile; he was sitting on his bed, his math homework in his lap. "I wanted to talk to you about something," She began, waiting for his acquiescence.

"Okay?" He replied questioningly, not seeing where this was going.

"I love you," She said, prefacing what she was about to say. "More than life itself, Henry, I love you – no matter what they say, or what it might seem like. I love you." She smiled at him, blinking back tears at his lack of response. "And it is because I love you, that I swear to you: I am going to do everything I can, use every resource in my power, to bring Emma back to you."

"Really?" The reluctant hope in his voice made her smile, felt his hope reach into her heart and make her feel it too.

"Yes, really. I was reluctant to acknowledge Emma having a place in your life because I love you, and I don't want to lose you. I've done a lot of… bad things, Henry. You know that. But the one good thing that I have ever done, the one good thing that I have in my life, is you. And I don't want to lose you."

Henry moved forward slightly as though to hug her, but sat back after a moment, frowning. "You… you made me feel like I was crazy." He admitted, his voice betraying how hurt he felt.

Regina's eyes drifted close for a moment, regret pinching her soul. "I know," She whispered, sighing. "And I'm sorry. I am so, so sorry, Henry. I was afraid… that if the curse was broken, they would come after me. I was afraid that something bad would happen to you, maybe even that you would be taken away from me."

She cleared her throat before setting the magic book on the bed. "I know that I've made a lot of mistakes, Henry, and I'm sorry. The only thing I can do now is try to make it up to you," She said, sliding the book across the bed. "This is an Elementary book of spells – very basic things, nothing dark or dangerous, but something to get you started if you want to learn."

"Learn magic?" He asked, sitting up a little straighter, intrigued by the proposal.

Regina smiled and nodded eagerly. "Now that you know everything, and now that I don't have to try and convince you that magic doesn't exist, you can learn. And honestly," She leaned a little closer. "I may need your help to get Emma back."

"My help?" Henry asked, paying rapt attention.

"Yes. You see, magic doesn't exactly work the same way in this world that it did in the Enchanted Forest. I can't quite get it to work properly. If we're going to get her back, we're going to need the magic to work. I think that part of my problem, is that I am too experienced. I'm too set in my ways, in my magical habits, to adapt well to this world's brand of magic."

"But I'm not," Henry finished, nodding. He eyed her with suspicion. "This is to get Emma back?"

"Yes," Regina replied truthfully. "To get Emma back, and make you happy."

Henry was silent on this, and glanced down at the book in front of him. His fingers grazed the cover of the book, the leather feeling tough and worn to the pads of his fingers. He felt a tingle shoot up his arm, a kind of pleasant-numbness; magic. He opened the cover and turned to the first page.

-onceuponatime-

"Look," Jefferson said, finishing his coffee. "As much as I want to help you get your family back, because I understand, I really do, but I need sleep, and so do you. It's been a long day, evening, whatever, for everyone. We can start fresh in the morning."

James nodded reluctantly, "He's right, Snow. We won't be able to get much done if we're dead on our feet."

Snow sighed and collected the dishes, the knot in her stomach tightening. She turned to look at Jefferson, observing his ragged appearance. "You were on your way to your daughter, weren't you? When the wraith made you crash your car?"

Jefferson gave a bitter chuckle. "Yes, I was."

"How can you stand it? She knows who you are now, knows who she is. She's probably waiting for you. How can you stand not going to her?"

A less intelligent man would have been offended by her questions, would have been defensive even, but Jefferson got the feeling that the questions had less to do with him than they did with her. "Well, in my case, my plan has kind of gone to pot," He replied with a chuckle. "It's almost midnight, and she has school tomorrow, and I look like I've gotten into a row with the pavement and lost – which I did," He said as an afterthought. "I want things to be right when I see her again. I want to look presentable and not completely insane. I want to actually have time to talk to her."

He pulled on his coat, wrapping his scarf around his neck and adjusting to hide the scar of his beheading. "In your case, I think you need recognize that you're not in a position to go to Emma right now. And I've been there, and it isn't easy, but driving yourself crazy isn't going to help. Believe me, I know," He gave her a half smile. "Get a goodnights sleep and start again in the morning, when you feel less overwhelmed by everything and have a better plan. Rumpelstiltskin doesn't give anything for free, and you may need to consider the price of what you're asking before you agree to pay it."

He opened the door and stepped into the hallway, glancing back. "And have a little more faith in Emma. She's a resourceful woman, and not exactly a damsel in distress. She'll be alright." He closed the door behind him.

Snow turned back to the dishes, her fingers clenching around the sponge. She felt him behind her and turned around, leaning against the sink. He chuckled and gently pried her fingers open, away from the sponge. She let it go after a moment, her fingers beginning to cramp up. He hugged her close and kissed her forehead. "She'll be okay,"

She pulled back and looked at him. "I know that, I do, but… our world is so different and so much more dangerous than this one. She doesn't know anything, James! She doesn't know what kind of monsters exist or how to use a sword or a bow, or how to dress, how to speak, what kind of currency there is!" The knot in her stomach clenched further, making her heart flutter in distress.

James sighed and released her, leaning back against the counter-island. "Yes, all of those things are true… But I think that Jefferson was right about having more faith. Emma grew up without us in this world, Snow. She survived the foster care system. She got pregnant, and realized that she wasn't ready to be a mother or care for her child, and she did the responsible thing. And then she survived. She made a career for herself, and she survived. Besides from already proving that she's capable of doing what it takes to survive, she's strong Snow. I see so much of you in her – how can she not be alright?"

Snow laughed, sniffling slightly. "I just… we just got her back, and now she is facing an entirely new world alone – again."

He frowned, looking at her more intensely. "Snow… we didn't abandon her. We didn't have a choice when she was a baby, and we sure as hell didn't have a choice now."

"Didn't we, though?" Snow asked, swallowing a bitter note. "We could have kept her with us, and even though she might have been under the curse too, that's not to say that she wouldn't have still broken the curse. And tonight, we could have just let the wraith have Regina."

"You don't mean that, Snow," James replied, shaking his head.

"Yes, I do," Snow choked out. "If we had let the wraith have Regina, Emma would still be here. And Regina, the woman who ruined our lives – everyone's lives – would be dead, and wouldn't be able to hurt anyone ever again. Emma would have Henry, and this town would be free, and we would be together again."

"Maybe," James acquiesced, crossing his arms. "But what would that decision have made us? What kind of example would we be setting for Emma, or Henry? Doing nothing would have been just as bad swinging the axe, and then we would be no better than her. It would have been easier, but that doesn't mean it would have been right."

Snow sighed and nodded. "I know… I know. I just want her back."

"Me too," James stepped forward and hugged her again, kissing the top of her head. Snow reveled in the comfort of her husband's arms, in the scent of his cologne, in the familiarity of it all. She tilted her head up, looking into his eyes. She could see his soul, just as good and pure as it had ever been, just as full of love for her as the first time that they met. Pure adoration, and true love. Standing on her tiptoes, she kissed him sweetly, recalling how long it had been since she had felt this certain about anything. Her affair with David had been full of uncertainty, her feelings of true love coupled with her feelings of guilt. None of that mattered right now, when she was standing with the man she loved. She slid his jacket off of his shoulders, the tips of fingers trailing over his broad shoulders and winding around the back of his neck.

"Is this the right time for this?" He asked against her lips, forehead leaning against hers. "Not that I'm complaining," He smiled.

She smiled in kind. "We have been apart for twenty-eight years, and our daughter is missing, and nothing else makes much sense right now. Now that we remember who we are, we're caught between worlds. I am Queen Snow White, and I am also school-teacher Mary Margaret, and both of my lives have been filled with uncertainty. The one constant thing in both of them, however, is how much I love you. Henry is staying with Regina, and Emma is, at least right now, not home, so we have the apartment to ourselves. I would say that now is perfect time." She replied kissing him again. He obliged and pulled her closer, one hand cradling the back of her neck, and the other wrapping around her waist.

"And Whale?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at her.

She paused only for a moment to grin and say "He's got nothing on you," With a chuckle on the heels of her sentence.

-onceuponatime-

Emma tapped the first thug on the shoulder, watching him turn, and delivered an uppercut to his chin. The thug staggered backwards, shock on his face. Emma delivered a kick to his abdomen and watched him fall backwards on his rear. The second thug, seeing his compatriot fall to the ground lunged at her with his arms outstretched. Emma stepped forward into his lunge, extending the heel of her hand towards his nose with surprising speed. She heard a satisfying crunch and shriek of pain, and kneed him in the balls for good measure. She disarmed him, removing his sword from the sheath at his hip, and cut Aurora's bonds.

"How did you do that?" Aurora blurted out, a look of pure consternation on her face.

"Years of practice," Emma replied, pleased that the moves had come back to her so quickly after being out of training for so long. "I took, and taught, women's self defense classes when I was younger." She pulled Aurora from the wagon, noting that there were other women already seated on the benches.

"Help me free them," Emma ordered stepping into the wagon, disarming the first thug and handing Aurora his blade. "Try not to hurt yourself," She added as an afterthought, and began cutting the women's bonds.

"Hey! You can't do that!" A rough, low voice snarled at them; the first thug had snapped out of his shock and stood, staggering towards them.

Emma brandished the sword and held it at his throat, gesturing for Aurora to continue releasing the women with her free hand. "Since I'm the one with the sword, I disagree," She stated, pressing it a little more firmly against his throat. The thug ground his teeth, backing off. He helped his friend up and Emma glared at them both, daring them to attack her. The two looked at the wagon one more time before looking back at each other and running off. She turned back to Aurora, who was still freeing the women. "This was supposed to be your safe haven?"

"It was supposed to be safe!" Aurora replied defensively, her lips pressed into a thin line. "I mean, it's in the middle of the forest, and according to Mulan no one knew it was here except the people that lived here! And there were supposed to be guards posted. This shouldn't have been possible."

"Where is Mulan anyway?" Emma asked, keeping her eyes peeled for trouble. "I drew the Ogre off and went back to the clearing and you two were gone!"

"Well," Aurora said, looking somewhat guilty. "What you did was brave, but it was also very stupid. We thought you were dead. We headed back here and the village was in mass chaos. Mulan took off, looking for someone. I tried to follow her but…" She trailed off, blushing. "I got captured."

"Okay ladies, out of the wagon! Hurry!" The woman jumped down, looking frightened and worse-for-the-wear. "Is there someplace you can go outside the village that would be safe?" The women shook their heads violently.

"Our village is the only safe place to stay!" One exclaimed.

"Well, clearly it isn't," Emma said bluntly. "We need to get you away from this wagon, in case those men come back. Come on," She ordered, steeling herself. "We need to go deeper into the forest – not too far, maybe just a few yards. But we need to get away from these thugs. Does anyone know a part of the forest outside the village that's even partially safe?"

"By the river bottoms, I guess," A young girl said, looking uncomfortable speaking up; she couldn't have been more than fifteen. "It's a few yards off, but it's pretty close to the village."

"Great!" Emma said, nodding encouragingly. "That's good. Lead them there. Can anyone wield a weapon of any kind, or does anyone know any martial arts?"

"My husband was a blacksmith," An older woman said nodding. "I know a thing or two about handling metal."

Emma nodded. "Okay, good." She took the sword from Aurora's hands and passed it to the woman. "You'll need to protect them as best you can."

"Where are you going?" Aurora asked, frowning. "It's not safe for you here either!"

"I need to find Mulan, and see if anyone else needs help. I'll send them to the river bottoms. Go!" The women took off in a sprint.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" Aurora asked, hesitating.

Emma smiled warmly at her. "I'll be fine," Aurora nodded and hesitated only a moment longer before joining the other women. As she left, Emma briefly wondered if she had made a friend. Shaking it off, Emma turned back the battlefield. It hadn't been terribly difficult to decipher who were the attackers, and who were the villagers – the villagers looked relatively clean. Emma took a deep breath and ran into the fray, pulling thugs off villagers and disarming them, passing the weapons into the hands of the villagers and telling them to head to the river bottoms.

She did this several times, eventually losing count of how many people she had helped to their feet, how many thugs she had punched. Her knuckles were bleeding, and her feet ached, but she felt an inner-satisfaction with what she had achieved. She wasn't nervous anymore, as she had been when she first went into battle. She was riding the adrenaline high, and it felt good. And, in an odd, partially disturbing way, holding the sword in her hand felt more right than when she had ever held a gun.

"Well, well, well… So you're the one causing all the trouble," A voice said from behind her, and just like that Emma felt her initial nerves return in full force. She turned around to face the man speaking and felt a curious sensation tingle up her spine. The man was attractive, that much she could admit. His dark hair, his blue eyes, his stubble, the bad boy demeanor – they were all much too much to her taste.

"I guess I am," Emma replied, taking note of his leather coat and the clothing he wore. The band of thugs standing behind him indicated that he was their ringleader, and that was enough to make Emma stand a little straighter, be a little more defensive. "And just a guess, but I take this," Emma gestured to the burning village. "Is all your doing?"

"Aye," He replied, with a smirk. "It's all my doing." He looked her over appraisingly, cocking his head to the side. "And you, are not from here are you? You're from the other world." There as something in his tone, a hint of excitement, that made her uneasy.

"No," She said, looking at him squarely, glaring at the men behind him. "I'm not."

"Well," He grinned cheerily, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. "You're a terrible liar. Since you're from the other world," He began, not seeming offended by her lie, and daring her to contradict him, "Then you don't know who I am. Allow me to introduce myself – My name is Killian Jones, though most men have taken to calling me by my more colorful moniker: Hook." He bowed mockingly, the hook on his left hand gleaming against the raging fires.

"As in, Captain Hook?" Emma asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, so you have heard of me," He grinned, seeming pleased.

"Yeah, I have. Not terribly impressed," She retorted with a snide smile of her own. "Look, why are you here? Aren't you supposed to be, I don't know, on a ship?"

"The world is a tough place to live in these days, and the merchant vessels that used to transport goods between kingdoms no longer exist, as the kingdoms themselves don't really exist anymore. With no ships to plunder, a pirate's got to make his living somehow. I've got a commission to fill from one of the few kingdoms that actually still exists,"

Emma frowned, thinking of the wagon full of women she had freed. "And your commission is, what, people? You're a slave trader?"

"Tough times," He replied, shrugging, his hand resting on his sword.

"Disgusting," Emma said, her lip curling in distaste.

"Boss!" The thug she had thrashed earlier came running from the trees. "The women in the wagon are gone!" He glowered at Emma, looking at her accusingly.

Hook followed his gaze and raised an eyebrow. "Well, where are they?"

Emma shrugged, smiling. "Couldn't tell you,"

"This isn't a game," Hook said, no longer smiling. "Our lives are forfeit if we don't return to the King of Hearts with his merchandise."

"Tough times," She replied, parroting his words back at him. "Guess you'll just have to come up with something else."

He inhaled sharply, sighing. "Sorry lads, looks like we'll have to hit another town on our way out. But we don't have to leave here completely empty handed," His smile returned, his lips curling into a smirk. "Take her."

The thugs moved forward slowly, all brandishing their weapons. Emma weighed her options, the likelihood of being able to fight them off, and the best way she could get out of this. Her lips twitching upwards into a smile, she said "You'll have to catch me first, and I think you're going to be a little too busy to do that. Good luck," She put her fingers to her lips and blew, hoping that this would work. A deep roar echoed back, and Emma met Hook's eyes one last time. She thought she could make out admiration. She took off in a run, fleeing before the thugs snapped out of their fear.

A/n: Whew! That was long. Anyway, I hope you liked it. Please leave a review for me – they are the best thing any author can receive, and they make me really, really happy. Please let me know your thoughts on things you like, and things you don't – structure, what you'd like to see more of, etc,. Also, was I the only one who thought that there should have been a little more lovin' between Charming and Snow? I mean, yes timing and all that, but they've been separated for 28 years and even as MM and David they were pretty low-key. Maybe it's just me. –shrugs-

P.S. Who else cannot fucking wait for 2x05? I keep watching the sneak peek over and over again. *SQUEE* HOOK.