Summary: Set after the curse is broken, Emma has been living in New York with no memory of Storybrooke. This story begins from when Hook catches up with Emma to give her the memory potion. This will be Emma/Regina pairing.

NOTE: This is something I wrote when I couldn't sleep. No idea if this will ever be continued. Depends on if it gets any interest form people I suppose.

Chapter One

"This curse can be broken by the only true love in my life...And the only reason I would want to wake." ~ Regina Mills

Present Day - New York

The memories came flooding back to her - Henry helpless on the hospital bed, purple smoke, monsters and...Regina. It was like a punch to the gut. Regina. How could she have forgotten? As the jumble of memories assembled themselves and settled into her mind, she felt a weight settle within her chest.

"Hook," she said finally.

The pirate gave her one of his best roguish smiles, "Did you miss me?"

Emma was lost for a reply. She knew she should feel glad to see him, but she had just been torn out of blissful ignorance and back into a messy life full of fairy tale characters and...some very complicated relationships. Regina's face, that day they first met, still burned bright in her mind. During her time in Storybrooke she hadn't really been fully aware of the ache of conflicting emotions that had always accompanied her thoughts of Regina. But after living a life free of those memories and feelings, their return was enough to leave her head spinning. Guilt, frustration, fear, hope, longing and more frustration.

There were a millions things she knew she should say to the man in front of her. Questions that needed to be answered. But in that moment all she could manage was a weak smile and an invitation to her apartment, and more specifically the place where the alcohol was.

One Year Ago - Enchanted Forest

"I'm sorry, Henry. Maybe one day you'll find me and wake me up. Until then..." Regina barely had time to feel the sting of the needle piercing her finger before the sleeping curse took her down into a oblivion.

It was a few days later when the Charmings finally entered the castle and found Regina unconscious and cold as death. They had her moved to the former Evil Queen's bedchambers until a solution could be found. A solution which was proving problematic.

The large meeting hall was situated on one of the highest levels of what was now The Charming's castle. The main feature of the circular stone room was the huge heavy oak wood table surround by chairs adorned with ornate carvings and cushioned with plush red velvet. At the furthest end of the room was a fireplace currently devoid of any heat but somehow no less majestic. Everything about the room, from the dark red drapes that adorned the walls, to the expensive wine bottles grouped on a nearby mantle-piece, made it clear that royalty resided here.

At this time of the day, when the sun was dipping low in the sky, the entire room was drenched in a blood red hue.

Snow paced restlessly, her heels clacking across the stone floor and echoing all around, "It's been weeks!"

Charming watched his wife worrying and remembered the last time she had been this agitated. Back then it was Regina's threat of a Dark Curse that Snow had been losing her mind over. And while the situation was much different now, it seemed Regina had yet again managed to cause her former step-daughter no end of anguish. He leveled Snow with his calmest gaze and placed his hands on the large wooden table that separated him from his anxious wife. "I'm sure he'll be back soon," he tried. "Robin Hood seems like an honorable man and he owes a debt to Regina for saving his son. If anyone can find a cure, he can."

Snow shook her head and continued her pacing, twisting her hands together as she did so. "And what if he doesn't?" she asked. "I mean if the fairies couldn't do anything then I don't see how-"

The heavy oak door swung open cutting Snow short. With the kind of timing only reserved for Fairy Tale characters, Robin Hood strode into the room. He was breathing heavily and it was clear he had run up the numerous flights of stair to get here. "I may have found an answer!"

The Charmings turned as one and Snow looked up with desperate optimism. "You did?!"

The archer produced a large vial from one of his many pockets and set it down on the table before collapsing into the nearest chair.

The vial glinted in the light of the sunset still flooding the room. A dark, viscous looking liquid rested within. Snow crossed the room and scooped it up.

David came to stand beside his wife as they both scrutinized the potion. Snow looked from the evil looking substance and back to the exhausted bandit and frowned slightly, "Not that I'm not grateful," She hesitated, "but this looks more like a poison than a cure."

Robin straighted slightly in his chair and shook his head. He took a breath, "This isn't for Regina." Snow opened her mouth to question, but Robin held up a hand, "I travelled from one end of this land to the other. I spoke with every magic-user, soothsayer and fairy I could find and the only fact that they could all agree on is that only an act of True Love can break the curse."

Snow sunk into a chair opposite the theif and felt her husband sit down next to her. She glanced at him gratefully as he took her hand in his and said, "Then how will this potion help us?"

"It's a memory potion." Robin explained, "If this 'Henry' drinks it, he will remember everything. Then it's just a simple matter of having him wake up his mother, just as the sleeping curse intended."

Snow looked at him as if he'd just grown two heads, "But Henry is back in the other world! How are we supposed to 'simply' get him to Regina's side?"

Robin smiled apologetically, "I know its not a perfect solution. But, I was hoping you might have a way or locating that pirate who was with you when you first came back."

David perked up immediately, "Thats it!" he turned to Snow, "We find Hook and ask him to sail back to the other world. He'll jump at the chance to see Emma again!"

Snow frowned and stood again trying to get her head around all this. Emma had been gifted with a brand new life. One that, according to Regina, was happy and peaceful. Even if Hook agreed to take the potion to Emma and Henry, and even if he was able secure a portal to take him there, was it the right thing to do? They had already ruined Emma's life once by banishing her as a baby. What right did they have to make yet another life-changing decision for her? A decision that would only benefit themselves.

She turned uncertainly to gaze out of one of the enormous castle windows. "I don't know..."

"Snow," she felt Charming come up behind her. She turned to be caught in this steady gaze. "What choice do we have?" he asked gently.

Snow lowered her eyes and felt her husband's hands move to her arms. She hesitated for a moment before allowing him to pull her into an embrace. "So we take away her happy ending in order to get ours?" she mumbled into his shoulder.

An uncomfortable cough broke the moment and the Charmings pulled away as they remembered Robin Hood was still with them. "If I may," the thief offered as he moved around the table and leaned against it. "This is bigger than one person's happy ending."

Snow frowned, but he continued before she could stop him, "I've seen the damage those infernal flying monkeys are doing to these realms. The Wicked Witch has been gaining strength steadily and her minions are becoming more deadly along with her. Children have been carried off, entire villages have been set ablaze and the fear and paranoia gets worse every day. People know the Witch can transform into anyone. This has set friend against friend, they don't know who to trust." Robin stood and fixed them with a serious look, "And the only person that stands a chance at defeating her is currently sleeping soundly in the other room."

Snow knew he was right. They may have been able to claim the castle back, but the Witch had not simply given up. Their armies had been unable to locate her hideout and the flying monkeys were growing in number with every passing day. They had tried to go to Gold for help, but the Dark One was mysteriously absent. No one could find him. After many discussions and some outright arguments, it had finally been decided that Regina was likely the only one who could destroy this threat. They needed that sleeping curse to be broken.

Snow took a deep breath and silently prayed that her daughter would forgive this betrayal. "All right", she said, "Then lets find Hook."

Present Day - The Jolly Roger

Emma leaned on the wooden rails of the boat, or as Hook was constantly correcting her, the Ship, and took in the view. It had been a long journey, but finally she could see land coming quickly into focus, and far in the distance she could just make out the shape of a castle.

It was hard to believe that just a short while ago she had been an ordinary mother in New York, just living her life. And now she was on a ship bound for the Enchanted Forest with her son who was expected to rescue the Evil Queen from a self-imposed sleeping curse, so that war could be waged on the Wicked Witch straight out of Oz. She wondered, not for the first time, if perhaps she had just lost her mind. Maybe none of this was real. But as the seagulls screamed above her and she felt the wind whipping through her hair, she had to accept that this was very real.

She breathed in the air and tried to imagine what it be like when she finally reached the castle. No doubt that her parents would be delighted to see her again. She could already picture Mary Margaret, Snow - she corrected herself, beaming at her and saying things like 'welcome home!' and 'we missed you'. The thought made her inwardly cringe. Her parents weren't bad people, but their lives and ways of thinking were just so different from her own. It had been hard work at times trying to navigate their new-found relationship back in Storybrooke. There had been times when she had found genuine comfort in their unyielding love and optimism, but there had been other times when she just wanted to yell at them. Tell them all the things she had been through out in the real world while they had been living their sleepy small town lives.

"Hey mom," Henry's voice carried across on the sea air.

Emma broke from her reverie and draped an arm over her son as he came to stand with her. "Are we almost there?" he asked.

Emma smiled slightly. Ever since Henry had taken his share of the memory potion, he had been beside himself with excitement. He was finally getting the chance to see the Enchanted Forest first hand. And he was going to save his other mother. The woman who had been constantly on the edge of his thoughts, like a ghost seen though a lens that just refused to come into focus.

"Won't be long now, kid," she confirmed.

"Do you think she'll be happy to see us?" Henry asked.

Emma didn't need to ask who he was talking about. But she wasn't really sure how to answer. As soon as Hook had told her about Regina's fate, what she had done to herself, she'd swung between feelings of insane guilt and frustrated anger.

In the time that she had known Regina, she may not have always gone out of her way to help the other woman (she'd had her own problems to worry about), but she had also tried not to make things any worse. She remembered the numerous occasions she had watched Regina walk away, another defeat, another drama that was somehow Emma's fault. On this voyage she had found herself wondering what she could have done differently. Was there a point in their story where they could have become friends, if one of them had just stopped being so stubborn and made the first move?

"Mom?"

"Sorry, I was just thinking..."

"Me too," Henry said. "I've been going through the book again."

"Just how many times could that boy read one book?" Emma wondered. "Find anything?" She asked aloud.

Henry shrugged, "Seeing the stories again now that I'm older has given me some-" he paused, "new theories..."

Emma directed a sideways glance at her son. She knew that tone. And she knew that look. "So are you gonna fill me in?"

"On what?" he asked innocently.

Emma nudged him playfully, "On the name of your new mission".

"Okay!" it was clear Henry had been dying to share it. "I'm calling it Operation Mongoose and the mission objective is to find Mom her Happy Ending. I have some really good leads and-"

"Awesome. Count me in." Emma interrupted with a smile. Her son's enthusiasm was infectious and the thought of Regina actually being happy somehow lifted her spirits in a way she didn't fully understand. All she knew for certain is that she wanted to help in any way she could. If Saviors were good for anything, it should be to find people their Happy Endings after all.

"I knew you'd be on board!" Henry beamed.

The Castle

Emma and Henry stood by the bed looking down at the former mayor of Storybrooke in dumb silence. Their arrival at the castle just moments ago had been a blur of hurried, heartfelt (and in Snow's case, tearful) hugs and greetings. Then Henry, his patience finally depleted, had gone racing off in search of Regina. Emma had been hot on heels and now here they were. Both of them were disheveled, wind-swept and probably smelling non-too good after so long on the ship, but Regina wasn't in a position to object. She lay on the luxurious king size bed, pale as death except for those full, blood red lips.

"Well, this is it Kid," Emma murmured. She wasn't sure exactly why she was speaking in such a hushed voice. It was almost as if she expected the sleeping beauty to sit up suddenly and give her a proper dressing down for waking her up. She smiled just a little at that thought. She would practically hear the exclamation of "Miss Swan!". God how she had missed that.

"Right," Henry said, still not moving.

Emma stared down at Regina and realized this was probably the first and only time she would ever get to freely gaze upon the other woman up close and personal. She drank in every detail. This wasn't the Regina she knew from Storybrooke, she was dressed in one of the theatrical (yet in no way unflattering) 'Evil Queen' dresses. Her makeup, instead of simply enhancing her natural beauty, was donned as a mask. Her complexion was impossibly pale against the black of her outfit. Emma's eyes came to rest on the perfect red lips. The only familiar feature. She remembered her Regina - Storybrooke Regina, she meant - also had a fondness for bright lipstick

One of her newly gained memories flashed across her mind - Mayor Mills stalking down the corridor towards her, hips swaying confidently, lips twisted into a smirk, dark eyes full of - of what? She remembered losing herself for a moment in that face. The heated gaze, the unspoken challenge, honestly not knowing in that moment if she wanted to throw a punch or...

"You okay?"

Emma started and turned to see Henry studying her curiously.

"Fine," she assured him, "Its just weird seeing her like this."

Henry nodded, "I know what you mean. I keep waiting for her to wake up and tell you off for letting me ride to the Enchanted Forest on a Pirate Ship."

"Hey! I did that to save her."

Henry rolled his eyes in a way that reminded Emma of his other mother, "You know what she's like." He smiled sweetly, "So if she is mad, then it was all your fault."

"Jeez, Kid. That's some real loyalty." She looked down at Regina again, "So, are you ready...?"