A/N This is my first fanfiction. I wrote it a little while ago, and I posted it on my tumblr a couple of days ago too. Hope you enjoy reading, and I'd love to know what you think :)

'Ok. I don't think you're going to like this.'

Emma and Regina were sitting on opposite beds in one of the cabins in the Jolly Roger. Regina had agreed to teach her magic; partly to take her mind off worrying about Henry, partly to stop Snow's nagging. It'd been three days since they'd set sail from the docks at Storybrooke, and the ache through her muscles from 'the incident' with Owen and Tamara had begun to die away. She didn't like being closed up on a ship with Hook, Rumplestiltskin, Snow White and Prince Charming. It was like a nightmare, but she'd endure it to make sure she got Henry back safely.

At first they'd thought it would be a short trip. They had sailed to the edge of the portal within minutes, and through to the world that lay beyond within five. But they'd come through in the middle of the ocean, with no land visible in any direction. Hook had chosen a direction to follow, she suspected he had picked it at random, but when anyone questioned him about why he had selected it he told them to trust in his pirate skills. And that was it.

Emma had been unbearable for the first few hours. She'd paced up and down the decks as Regina sat on an upturned barrel, watching her. Then she'd stop and star out at the sea. Then she'd started pacing again. Finally, Mr. Gold had held out his cane in front of her, to stop her. 'Stop that. It's annoying.' He'd growled.

'It's getting dark.' Hook had called from behind them. 'You.' He gestured at Charming. 'Take the tiller.'

They left Snow and Charming at the wheel, and went below deck in search of food. They found that Hook hadn't exactly prepared for a long trip, and had minimal food and drink on board.

'You can hardly blame me. I wasn't to know I'd be going on a long trip. With company.' He had argued, eyes flickering over their stony glares as he unveiled a large barrel of rum, and a container of sea biscuits and salted meat.

'Is that all you have?'

'Well, and this.' He held up a packet of Beef Jerky.

'Isn't that the same as salted meat?'

'No. This is marinated and spiced. Completely different.'

Charming had rationed the food they had, but without knowing how long they would be travelling for it was hard know how much or how little would suffice. The best news they'd had that day was that Emma had a full packet of chewing gum in her pocket. Regina had forgotten the unpleasantness of life without toothpaste, and beef jerky wasn't a pleasant smell to have on your breath.

Snow and Charming had shared a hammock. Regina thought she might've thrown up just a little bit when it was suggested. She didn't like wishy-washy couples, and if there was one way to describe Snow and Charming, it was wishy-washy. She'd shared a bunk with Emma, but she hadn't slept more than an hour or two. She didn't think Emma had either. They were both thinking of Henry. Mr. Gold took his own room, and Hook steered the ship.

Hook seemed to get through the night on rum alone. When they had ventured out onto the deck in the morning, he'd been stumbling around drunkenly, and stank of alcohol. 'Ahoy mates!' He slurred at them. 'And hello to you ladies.' He added, winking at Emma, Snow and Regina.

'Let's go starboard!' The ship had veered sharply to the right. 'Now port. I love port.' It swerved back to the left. He giggled manically, as his passengers scrambled to grab hold of something.

'Get away.' Mr. Gold had batted the pirate away from the wheel with his cane.

'I should rip your heart out right now.' Hook slurred.

Eventually they had convinced him to go and get some sleep. Then there was a whole day to fill. That's when Snow's nagging had begun.

'Regina?'

'Mmm?'

The three women were sitting on the stairs of the quarterdeck. David had climbed up the mast, to search again for any sign of land, and Gold continued to steer the ship while Hook slept.

'You could teach Emma to use magic couldn't you?'

'What?' Both women spoke in unison.

'Mary Margret, I already did magic. I don't need Regina to teach me.' Emma argued.

'You improvised.'

'It saved Storybrooke.'

'Hey! I helped. A lot.' Regina pointed out.

'That was all just luck. Luck and Regina.' Snow added hastily. 'You can't rely on either of those to save you next time.'

'Thanks a lot.' Regina muttered.

'Will you teach her?'

'I cannot teach someone who doesn't want to be taught.'

After that, Snow used every opportunity she had to try to convince her that teaching Emma was a good idea. She had had to convince Emma as well. Regina had seen the blonde grow more and more exasperated, conversations between mother and daughter growing more heated as the day went on.

At the end of the day, as the sun was beginning to set over the ocean, Emma had approached Regina.

'Will you teach me to use magic?' she asked flatly.

'Is that what you want? It won't work if you don't want it.' She had replied.

'For Henry. I'll do it to protect Henry.'

After 'dinner' Regina sought out Snow. 'Why didn't you ask Mr. Gold to teach Emma?' she asked her quietly, standing in the corner of the deck, watching Gold steer the ship.

'I don't trust him. Oh, I don't trust you either, but I think you're more…suited to teaching Emma right now. You two have more in common.'

That's how they ended up here. Snow and Charming had closed the door of their shared cabin behind them, leaving Emma and Regina alone.

'Ok. I don't think you're going to like this.'

'Why what is it?'

'I'm going to teach you how to use magic, right?'

Emma nodded.

'Then rip my heart out.'

Emma stared at her. 'Excuse me?'

'You heard me. Rip my heart out. This is how you learn.'

'Are you joking?'

'When I was taught to use magic, I had to rip out the heart of a unicorn, and crush it. You're not going to crush my heart, you just have to rip it out, then you can put it back.'

'Did you really rip out a unicorn's heart?' Emma asked, horrified.

Regina paused. 'No. I couldn't do it.'

'Then how am I going to do this?'

'This is easier.'

'Why?'

'Because I like unicorns.'

Emma stared at her. 'Regina I-'

'Stand up.'

Emma did as she was told.

'All you have to do is reach inside my chest, grab my heart and pull.'

'Ok. Ok. I-I' her hand hovered in the air. 'I can't do this.'

Regina rolled her eyes and grabbed Emma's hand, shoving it into her chest. The blonde's eyes widened in horror, but her hand closed around the Queen's heart. At least. A piece of it.

'Regina, what's happened?' Emma pulled a shard of the glowing red heart out of her chest.

'It's…broken?' she answered, dumbfounded.

Emma stared at the fragment of heart that sat in her hand. Then, she reached into the Queen's chest again, eventually fishing out all the pieces.

A tear rolled down Regina's cheek. 'So that's my heart.' She whispered. Emma moved to sit next to her on the bed.

As they sat together, staring at Regina's broken heart, the pieces began to twitch.

'What's it doing?' Emma asked. Regina shook her head, watching as the twitching grew until it became obvious the pieces were moving.

'Call Mr. Gold.' Regina instructed.

'Gold!' Emma yelled.

Rumplestiltskin arrived less than a minute later.

'What's happening in here?' he asked her, his gaze drifting from Emma to Regina, then lingering on the heart in her hands.

'Look.' She nodded toward her hands and the heart.

'Fascinating…' he murmured, crouching down in front of them to get a better view. 'It's reassembling itself.'

Before their eyes all the fragments came slowly together, wielding to each other seamlessly, until Emma held a perfect heart in her hands.

'What happened?' she asked him, astounded.

'Well there's only one thing strong enough to fix a broken heart like that.' He smirked. 'And that's true love.'

'W-what do you mean?'

'Well dearie, it seems your heart's chosen for you.'

'But we're not- I mean, I'm not-'

'Not yet you're not.'

He got to his feet, and made his way over to the doorway. 'Aren't you going to put that back where it came from?' he called over his shoulder as he left.

Emma looked around, confused, then realised she was still holding Regina's heart.

'Oh. How do I?'

'The same way you got it out.' She replied.

Emma nodded, and pushed the heart as gently as she could back into her chest.

An awkward silence fell between the two women.

'Well. This was an interesting turn of events.'