A/N: Hey everyone! I've been working on this fic for a while now so i finally thought it was time to start posting. This isn't my first fic, but it is my first OUAT fic so bear with me for anything i haven't done so well. This story is essentially my version of what 4B should have been like. It originated from a prompt on tumblr and has now turned into a beast to write! I have 2/3 of the story written already so i guess i will post a chapter a week for the time-being and see how things start off. Its looking like its going to end up pretty huge, 70k, maybe more, so this is gonna be one long ride.

There are a few things i should say:
Firstly, i have taken some liberties with regards to how things work in Storybrooke, how magic works, how Zelena cast the curse and how the curse is broken, both to make life easier for myself and to do things with the story that otherwise wouldn't be first it will jump around a bit in time, between the missing year and present day, but don't worry, SwanQueen are soon reunited.
Secondly, I have neglected a few of the characters in favour of giving our lovely ladies more time to spend together. Robin is involved but he is my pawn to do with what i will. Hook is, as usual, a douchey douchebag and i refuse to write him as anything else. And as for Neal, he will pop in here and there but i won't be giving him too much attention, although i also won't be killing him.
Thirdly, its going to start out a bit slowly and this will most definitely be a slow-burn for Regina and Emma, they're silly, they don't realise things. The story pretty much departs from canon after New York City Serenade/Witch Hunt but there are some scenes in later chapters which mirror things that happened in canon.
There will be no smut for a while but the rating is still high for language, and later on in the story there may be some darker scenes.

I do not own Once Upon A Time or any of its characters, though i wish i did. No copyright intended.

Enjoy!
Rosie

New York City – 2014

Emma woke up that morning just like most other mornings. Her alarm blared obnoxiously out through the stillness of her sleep and she rolled over, silencing it quickly with the palm of her hand before flopping her arm back down on her pillow dramatically. She reached down and pulled the covers over her head trying to drown out the sound of the busy New York street below her window but she had no such luck and in response groaned loudly and inwardly sighed at the thought of having to leave her bed. She steeled herself, preparing her limbs for movement and then pushed her self up, staring around the room groggily as she waited for her eyes to focus on reality.
The dreams she'd been having recently left her waking up more drained than when she went to sleep and so exhausted that even coffee couldn't fix her in the mornings. They were filled with strange things; flashes of people that Emma had never met, the same faces every night. There was magic and strange monsters and a road. Emma would stand on this road for what felt like hours, her Yellow bug parked next to her but not a single person ever came. Just as she began to wonder for the hundredth time what these dreams meant, she was stopped in her thoughts by a knock on her bedroom door. She glanced up in the general direction of the noise and simultaneously shuffled her legs to the edge of the bed.

"Come in kid," she shouted while she hauled herself out of bed and into a standing position. She wiggled her toes and stretched upwards as her son opened the door with a sleepy smile on his face.

"Morning Ma," Henry greeted whilst yawning, leaning against the doorframe with one hand.

"Morning kiddo. Sorry I'm late waking up, you know what I'm like. Sleep well?" Emma replied as she smiled at Henry and leaned towards the bedside table to grab her phone.

"Yeah I did thanks, but I'm still tired. I kinda-might-have stayed up a little bit later reading Lord of the Rings. I think it's my new favourite." Henry confessed, worried that his mother would scold him for staying up well past his bedtime, but she didn't.

Emma gaped up at her son with a look of mock astonishment as she finished checking her phone for any important messages, "You mean it beats Harry Potter? I thought Harry Potter was your all-time favourite ever? Or so you told me like 5 days ago," she chuckled at him, looking across to her son to witness his trademark eyebrow raise and smirk. She was sure he didn't get that look from her.

"Very funny Mom," he replied, dragging out the last word with a bored tone, which was accompanied by yet another raise of his eyebrows. Nope, Emma thought, definitely not from me. Henry continued, looking up at his mother, "Fine it might not be my favourite. I think I'll finish it first and then judge after that."

Emma laughed, "Alright kid, whatever you say. What do you want for breakfast?"

"Ummmmm…Pancakes?" Henry asked with a huge grin on his face.

"Pancakes it is. Go get ready for school and I'll meet you in the kitchen in…" Emma looked down at the time on her phone, "…twenty minutes?"

"Okay!"

Henry disappeared down the hallway, his slippers making a soft pitter patter on the wooden floor. After listening to his bedroom door close Emma wandered across to the bathroom get ready for work.

Fifteen minutes later Emma emerged from her room wearing a black turtleneck and plaid trousers, her blonde hair cascading down her shoulders and settling at the top of her chest. She slid around the island to the coffee pot, her morning cup calling to her already, drawing her into its warm, tasty goodness. After switching it on she set to work on her and Henry's breakfast. As much as she would love to learn to cook, she was awful anywhere near a kitchen, and so she removed a bottle of pancake mix from the fridge. She had just begun pouring the mixture on the quickly heating pan when she heard Henry's bedroom door shut, and small feet walking towards the kitchen. He walked in and she immediately noticed the copy of his new favourite book held open in his hand. He swiftly climbed up on a stool and placed the book down, grabbing the carton of orange juice and pouring himself a glass before he once again submerged himself in the world of Middle Earth.

Emma couldn't help but laugh at Henry; he'd always been like this with books. He went into his own little world when he read. There was one occasion when Henry had been reading in the car on the way home; Emma pulled up outside their apartment building and he was so submerged in whatever was going on in his fictional land that she left him to it, leaving the keys on the drivers seat when she went inside. It had been almost a full hour before he reemerged, his little face grinning proudly as he walked in the door and dropped the book down on the coffee table. 'Done' he had said, before walking to his room triumphantly, presumably to choose his next book.

"You really can't put that down can you kid?" Emma asked teasingly whilst serving their pancakes onto two plates and drizzling syrup over both. Henry only replied when his mother set his plate down in front of him and he put the book down to rest on the counter.

"Nope," he finally responded. He picked up a forkful of pancake and stuffed it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully, "I'm on this really good bit where the Ents are attacking Isengard and killing all the Orcs and Merry and Pipp-"

Henry's tale was interrupted by a knock at the door; something which neither Emma nor her son expected at this time in the morning.

"Hold that thought Hen…" Emma said, looking at the door with confusion covering her face. She got up started walking toward the door as she continued, brushing her hand on the counter as she slid around the corner, "not that I have any idea what you're talking about".

The brunette boy couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he filled his mouth with more pancake, listening to his mother mutter "Ents" and "Orcs" as she wandered toward the cause of their interrupted breakfast.

If Emma had been confused before she opened the door, she definitely didn't know what she was now. There was a man, dressed in something that seemed to resemble Jack Sparrow's attire in Pirates of the Caribbean, standing in her doorway. A man who was looking at her with such surprise and awe on his face that she felt like she was in some kind of romantic comedy, except with a touch of the creepies. She looked him up and down once again, taking in his boots and the sword fastened around his waist and…was that? A hook. Great, Emma thought, first there's a strange man at my door and now he has a hook, fan-fuckin-tastic. She had to stop herself rolling her eyes back into her head as she looked up at this weird man. Then something even weirder happened.

"Swan," he said matter-of-factly, nodding his head. Immediately he swooped his head towards her. Before she could even register what was happening his lips were on hers, crashing into her as his beard scratched unpleasantly at her face. Great, she thought again, this just gets better and better. She pushed him off roughly with a kind of strength that was entirely necessary in her line of work, held him at arms length and frowned at the smile that was plastered across his face.

"Who the fuck are you," Emma growled, shoving the pirate-man into the hallway with another muscled push. "And why the hell did you just kiss me?"

"As polite as ever I see. Swan, its me, Killian. I thought that plan had potential; at least I hoped it did, but clearly our emotions are on somewhat different levels. It looks like I'm going to have to do this the hard way."

"I have absolutely no idea who you are Killian but if you're not out of here in five seconds then I'm calling the police. So get the hell off my doorstep."

"Swan, just let me expla-," Killian started, but before he got a chance to finish his sentence the door slammed shut in his face.

As Emma turned around and headed down the hallway back towards her now cold breakfast, she heard her son yell, "Who was that Mom?"

Bewildered, the blonde craned her neck round to look at the closed door once more before she replied, "I have no idea Henry."

Enchanted Forest – 2013

The day was grey and overcast as Regina and the recently returned Fairytale characters continued their long trek from Prince Phillip and Aurora's realm to what had once, long ago, been their own. It felt different somehow. But it wasn't because The Enchanted Forest had change much, if at all, it was because they had changed so much. In the decade and a half that they had been away from their homes, all the residents had become different people. Regina was sure that given questioning, all of her companions would say the same thing; it felt strange to be back.

For the former Evil Queen however, it was more bittersweet than anything else. She had lost her son, again, and there was nothing to be done to bring him back. She knew that she had to try and do something, but what. She wracked her brain but couldn't come up with anything. At that point, she groaned audibly, trying to suppress the feelings that were brewing up inside of her. She couldn't let her emotions run rampant in front of her present company because, much to her constant dismay, she needed to maintain the Mayor Mills exterior. If she broke down and showed them all how she was truly feeling then she would have nothing left. Remember, Regina thought to herself, calm as still water. Don't show them anything.

She thought back to her conversation with Snow and Charming earlier; one of the many that had ended in held-in tears and sobs from the fairest in the land. They had been talking about ways to get back to Emma and Henry but Regina had been too buried in her own mind to listen much to what they were saying, sure that any idea they had would be useless anyway. Snow had been blubbering on about Ariel, a friend from many years ago, a mermaid, who was able to travel across worlds whenever she pleased. The more Regina had thought about it, the quicker a plan developed in her head. But I can't do this myself, she thought. As much as she dreaded the thought of even conversing with the lowlife, she was going to need the pirate's help. But first she needed to retrieve something from her castle.

After she watched Zelena's broomstick disappear into the clouds Regina stormed her way through the airy room to her vanity, heels clacking on the stone floor, echoing off the walls with a fervent anger that she had missed these past 30 something years. As much as she wished to sit and enjoy being back in her home after all this time she had more pressing matters to deal with.

The first thing that came to her mind as she sat in front of her mirror was Zelena. Her sister. This revelation had so many implications, and brought up so many things which she continually avoided thinking about…and for good reason. To start off with, she could add another item to the already infinite list of things that her mother had lied to her about throughout her life, and she was wondering if this recently appeared sibling was something that Rumplestiltskin had known about all along; if so, she had half the mind to bring him back from the dead then kill him again herself. Secondly, as much as she hated herself for it, she couldn't help but think about what it might have been like to have a sister when she was growing up and how different her life might have been. Her mother would have been an entirely different person, and as a matter of fact so would Regina. She didn't even want to consider what her life would have been like without having to bear the weight of her mother's pressure solely on her shoulders. However she concluded that it wasn't something she should even be considering; because every step she had made towards becoming the Evil Queen had been one stop closer to Henry. And now I've lost him again, Regina thought to herself.

More than anything else she was beyond infuriated that there was another life-threatening dilemma that she would have to solve before she could attempt to make it back to her son. Henry, and to her dismay, Emma, had been all she could think about since they arrived back in the Enchanted Forest. She wished like she had never wished before that her plan had worked. That they were happy and together and enjoying life without the burden of knowing what they were missing, unlike she was at this very moment. All she could see in her mind's eye was their faces, staring at her forlornly before getting in the bug and driving away from her forever.

"No", she said out loud to herself. "No, no, no, no, no!" She screamed this time, picking up a small bottle off of the surface and clutched it tightly as hard as she could before throwing it to the ground with a smash. She span around then, her face tight with rage as she marched regally to the balcony and stared out across her beloved land. Closing her eyes, she attempted to calm herself down as Emma's face flashed across her vision. She imagined Emma and Henry sitting around the table at breakfast, eating pancakes and talking about the silliest of things. It made her happy. She saw that the sun was fairly low in the sky and realised that she should be leaving soon if she was to make it back to the not-so-charmings in time for them to get into the castle before nightfall.

I will find them, thought Regina, I have paid the price before, and I will pay it again for them, a thousand times over.

As she moved towards the large set of doors she detoured to her ornate glass potions cabinet. She opened it up and quickly selected the two small blue vials she needed, finding them effortlessly as if she had been here just yesterday. She wrapped them up and stored them safely on her person, and with a swish of her skirts, Regina spun around and surged through the doorway, her plan instilling her with a new hope that one day soon she would see her son again.

The great stone archway loomed above as Regina rushed towards the field in front of her, making her way out of the castle. On exiting her chamber she had navigated the long series of corridors and turrets of steps like it had not been almost thirty years ago since she had last walked the halls. However, as much as she appreciated being home, it wasn't truly home anymore. Her home was with Henry; their mansion in Storybrooke was home now and she had changed so much, and come so far that being in her castle didn't feel quite right anymore. It suited a woman who no longer existed, a woman who Regina wished to leave firmly in the past.

Stepping onto the plush grass beneath the steps Regina suddenly felt like she was being watched, her perception heightened due to the residual magic in her castle. She pushed onwards, wary that she needed to get back to Snow and Charming before they sent out some kind of a search party for her, most likely consisting of Ruby and Granny and their impeccable senses of smell. Her foot had just crossed into the line of trees when she heard a rustling in the bushes to her right hand side.

"Show yourself you green freak!" she said loudly and aggressively to the shrubs, waiting for Zelena to emerge again and continue to wreak havoc on her already hideous day.

Before she even had a chance to turn her head she heard the unmistakable sound of a bow letting loose and an arrow whistling through the air. It made a slight whirring sound, something that her ears had become acutely attuned to in the days when her life was being constantly threatened by a particularly skilled bow-woman by the name of Snow White. Instantly, and without thinking, she raised her hand and simultaneously stepped out of the way, catching the arrow dead in the middle of the shaft.

Regina raised her hand and produced spontaneous flames as a man stepped out from behind a large holly bush, bow and hand held in the air in surrender.

"My apologies M'ady…I thought you were the Wicked Witch", he said regretfully, his face becoming clearer as he walked slowly closer towards her.

Regina looked the man up and down. He was dressed in what she could only call peasants clothing; dark green britches, a woollen shirt and boots, with a rough brown cape fastened around his neck.

"And I thought you were the Wicked Witch."

As the man moved closer to her something changed in his eyes, his facial expression clouding over.

He looked down at his feet as he spoke again, "My apologies…again…Your Majesty. I regret I couldn't see your face from my hiding spot and it has been a long time since you have been seen in these parts. I assumed it was Zelena leaving your castl…"

"Enough talking. It's quite alright. My reputation precedes me, no doubt. You should count yourself lucky that I have such quick reactions Mr…?" Regina asked, raising her eyebrows and awaiting his answer, glancing him up and down once again for good measure; something she was prone to do when exerting her dominating presence over unsuspecting individuals.

"Robin…" he said confidently, moving a step closer to Regina, "Robin of Locksley, at your service."

The former Evil Queen looked him square in the face before replying, the corners of her mouth lifting somewhat menacingly.

"Ah, the thief. It seems your reputation precedes you also," she smirked. She had heard of this man before, he had made quite the name for himself at one time, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor of all things. He should consider it a blessing that he never attempted to steal from me, thought Regina.

Bravely Robin replied, quirking his head at her in amusement at what he was about to say, "It seems so, however aren't you also better known as the Evil Queen? I think if either of us have a reputation here yours blows mine out of the water."

"Careful what you say bandit. I go by Regina now, thank you", she said in a curt tone, her face sneering at this man's cocky attitude while she placed her hands gracefully behind her back and strengthened her stance.

"Well, Regina, I suppose you have somewhere to be, queenly duties I assume. I should be letting you get on your way."

"Yes, of course." At this Robin turned around, rolling his sleeves up and slinging his bow over his shoulder in a casual fashion. "I presume you would also like your arrow back?" she questioned, tossing it in her hand and making him turn around again. He extended his left arm, plucking the arrow from her fingers and sliding it into his quiver before then extending his right hand.

"It was a pleasure to meet you Regina, I hope we shall meet again."

Regina had been staring at her castle while he replied, her mind drifting to what it would have been like to raise Henry there, to be the Prince he was born to be. When she looked back at Robin's outstretched hand she immediately noticed the marking on his forearm and her heart stopped for what felt like an eternity. She flashed back to the night with Tinkerbell where they followed the fairy dust and were lead to a tavern, to a man with a lion tattoo, the very same tattoo that was glaring at her from the arm of the thief she had coincidentally just crossed paths with. Coming out of her reverie Regina looked up at Robin, her face immediately growing dark and confused.

Concerned, Robin took another step closer to her.

"Is everything alright Your Majesty?"

Regina opened her mouth, staring at the man's arm and taking a sharp breath before she turned around and breezed away, quickly disappearing into the forest and leaving Robin perplexed as to what had just happened.

As Regina walked briskly back to the make shift camp her mind was whirring a hundred miles a minute. She had never expected to see that tattoo again in her life, and to be honest she hadn't even thought about it in over 30 years. But she immediately recognised it as identical to the one she had seen that night all those years ago, when she had been too frightened to even stay long enough to see the man's face. As she recalled, the man's hair had been shorter and lighter back then, but the tattoo was unmistakably the same. However, Regina paused her internal stressing at this new revelation. There were more important things to be thinking about at this moment than her supposed "true love". Her son and Emma were more important than that.

Regina glanced up and looked at the woodland surrounding her. The trees were starting to thin out and the path that had been almost invisible within the woods was starting to become more foot-worn. From this she determined that she was close to the camp. Just minutes later she walked into the clearing filled with people, some sitting around small fires and conversing, children playing games. She made her way towards Snow and Charming and informed them quickly that the castle was clear and they should make preparations to leave. She looked around her and immediately laid eyes on Hook, who was sitting on a rock sharpening his sword.

"Pirate!" She yelled, striding towards him at an intimidating pace. He looked up from his sword and swiftly stood to his feet, sheathing his sword as he took two long steps to meet her.

"And to what pleasure do I owe your summons, Your Majesty?" He said, his swaggering attitude as prevalent as ever despite the ordeal they had just been through.

Keeping her voice low, Regina answered, "I may have established a plan for finding Emma and Henry. It seems highly unlikely that it will work, but it's worth a shot."

"Ah," he said smugly, "bloody hell. The Evil Queen needs my assistance. I told you I can come in useful", he winked.

"That's quite enough of that attitude thank you very much. I just thought that you would be interested in seeing Miss Swan again at some point in your meaningless life. You've been wandering like a lost puppy ever since we arrived and its rather distracting," she retorted.

He was quite clearly infatuated with her son's other mother and to be quite honest, Regina wasn't keen on the fact simply because it meant that he had been spending an increasing amount of time with her son. It also annoyed her for another reason, one that she would never admit given the chance. After Neverland Regina felt like she and Emma had made progress in their relationship, and she thought that the blonde realised it too. She definitely didn't hate her anymore, and even though it caused her immense pain to know that her son was with Emma right now instead of with her, she might even go as far as to say that she liked the woman. Standing in front of Emma's bug saying good-bye to Henry and Emma had been the hardest thing Regina had ever done, and she felt like she and the blonde had connected on another level. Regina remembered looking into Emma's eyes communicating in a way they had never done before, their mutual love for Henry uniting them in that moment when Emma silently promised to protect Henry and look after him until Regina could be back in his life again. She actually missed her. However, it came to Regina's attention that none of this seemed to matter now, as they were there and she was here. Her dislike for Hook would have to be put on hold for the time being. She needed him.

In the time that Regina had been lost in her thoughts it appeared that Hook had been too, as she now found him staring pensively across to the horizon. Regina moved her hand then, clicking her fingers in front of the man's face to bring his attentions back to her. He jumped as if he had been worlds away and waited on Regina to speak.

"I need your help," she said, sneering slightly at the words she wished never had to expel from her mouth.

A pleased smirk returned to Hook's face at her words, but it didn't reach his eyes and she could tell that he had been thinking about Emma. Just like she had.

"I'm all ears."