Snow White took a deep breath to steel herself as she descended into the darkened chamber. Every day since Fairytale Land had reemerged, she had subjected herself to this torture. It was necessary. It made her feel less guilty.

The despondent blonde's eyes listlessly took in the queen as Snow approached the bars that separated them. Even sedated, Emma stood up quickly and began raving. Snow sucked in a breath.

This place had never appeared so harsh and cruel when it had been Rumplestiltskin's fate in question. Snow listened to her daughter's threats, sadly. Regina had taken her daughter's childhood away from Snow. And now she had taken her very sanity. Snow allowed the rage to rush in, Emma's taunts and cruelties relegated to the background.

Henry hadn't been the same since leaving Regina's room. James wanted to ask him about it, but he also respected his privacy. If Henry wished to share what he had experienced with his mom, he would do so when he felt it was appropriate.

James had guided Henry back to his room where the boy immediately fell back to sleep. Assuming he had even slept in the first place. Henry had looked absolutely exhausted.

Taking in the sleeping boy's appearance, considering all he had gone through in the past couple of weeks, James decided that if Henry failed to confide in him within the next few days, he would go to Regina directly. Snow wouldn't be happy about that, but wasn't it more important that the king look out for his grandson's well-being?

He shook his head. He didn't remember this world being so complicated.

Regina laid on her bed, eyes closed. To anyone else, it would appear that she was sleeping. She was wide awake, in fact fairly certain that she would never be able to sleep again. Not until all of this was resolved, anyway. The ex-queen was simply determined to shut out the mocking room, as well as the horror of the situation.

Emma was going to die.

Unless they could figure out some way for good to win out over evil. Or evil to win out over good, but that obviously wasn't ideal. Well, not for Snow and James anyway. Regina smirked momentarily.

But what could be done?

Regina cursed that damn book for about the millionth time since she had learned of its existence. Like one of those bloated politicians from the former world, it had pointed out all of the flaws in their situation without offering up one decent solution.

Henry awoke around noon. It took him a moment to remember where he was, and a moment more to convince himself it wasn't all just some terrible nightmare.

He remembered the look on his mother's face that morning… one of utter helplessness. It was clear she had no idea what to do—how to purge Emma of the good or the evil.

Henry pulled his book from under his bed. He supposed he didn't really need to hide it anymore, but it still felt wrong to leave the sacred text out in the open for anyone's prying eyes. Thumbing through the pages, Henry again encountered the end of the story. He had truly thought—had thoroughly hoped, anyway—that the pages might have updated again with a solution. But just as in Storybrooke where the book had spoken of Emma, it pointed to a vague solution without any further explanation regarding how to get there.

Henry sighed. No one in this world knew more about magic and curses than Rumplestiltskin and the Evil Queen. Well, Rumplestiltskin was dead, and, as unhelpful as she was, Henry began to wonder if the Evil Queen wasn't dead as well.

It was the first time he could recall wishing that the Evil Queen's dark side reemerge.

Emma felt as though her insides were being ripped apart. She raged against the bars that encased her, but no one was around to hear. She collapsed to her knees weeping bitterly.

Snow stood outside, almost disbelieving the incredible beauty of this world. It still took her breath away.

A small hand fit tentatively into hers. She looked down to see her grandson looking up at her, a troubled look in his eyes.

"Henry," she said affectionately. The queen would have said more… but she had no clue what to say to the boy.

"What are you doing?"

"Just admiring our world. Do you like it?"

"Umm, well. It is pretty." Henry's nose wrinkled. "There are things I really don't like about it though."

Snow squeezed his hand lovingly. "It's not usually this complicated, you know."

"But it is now." He looked down. Henry had come outside with the thought of confiding in Snow, but he could see it in her eyes. It would drive her over the edge to learn of her daughter's imminent death.

"We aren't going to give up on Emma, Henry. There has to be a way to fix her…"

"And what about my mom?" He asked, even though he knew the truth.

"She's beyond help, Henry." She knelt down to his level. "You know that. You tried to tell us that in Storybrooke, remember?"

"Snow!" James said sharply as he approached, catching only the end of their conversation, but still concerned about how her words would affect Henry.

Snow threw a glance to James, and then looked back at Henry.

"So what will happen to her?" The little boy asked.

Snow shrugged. "She'll be tried for her crimes. Henry, she did curse the entire land. Regina's…" she shuddered, "evil."

"That's enough!" James exclaimed. He swept Henry up, carrying him inside. Placing the boy just inside the door, he looked into Henry's eyes and said, "Run up to your room for a while, Henry. I'll be up to see you soon." He shut the door and turned back to talk to Snow.

"Why the hell are you making this so hard for him?" James was furious.

Snow shrunk back. She couldn't recall ever being on the receiving end of the king's wrath. Certainly not to this degree. "He's lost sight of who Regina is."

"No, I think you have. Or, at least, you have lost sight of who his motherhas become." He stepped forward and grabbed Snow's hands in his own. "Don't sacrifice your relationship with your grandson, too."

"I'm not!" Snow jerked out of his grasp.

"You are, even if you don't mean to. He loves his mother. Don't think for a minute you'll convince him otherwise." James turned on his heel, leaving a stunned Snow White behind him.

James entered Henry's room to find him curled up on his bed, tears leaking from the corners of his eyes. The king sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing Henry's back soothingly.

"It's okay, shhh, I know, I know." James said soothingly. He wasn't sure when he had taken up the mantle of "mother," but he knew Henry needed one right now.

Henry whirled to face him, clearly very upset. "No! No, you don't know. She's going to die!"

"Henry, Snow was exaggerating. Regina might be confined, or sent into isolation for the duration of her life, but we will never separate the two of you permanently—and certainly not through death."

Even though James had misunderstood, Henry felt slightly relieved. "Not my mother. Emma. She's going to die." He looked down, sadly. "And there's nothing I can do about it."

"Why—why would she die?!" James looked incredulous.

Henry got out his book and explained the situation to his grandfather as he had to his mother.

In the end, James stared at Henry, wide-eyed and bewildered. He pulled Henry into a comforting hug, then backed away.

James sighed. "It's too bad we don't know Emma's true love. I'm sure his kiss could break this curse."

Henry gasped. How had he overlooked something so simple? "Except… I do know…"

It was midnight. Snow had long ago gone to sleep, exhausted from the emotional turmoil of the day. James snuck out of the room to meet Henry outside of Regina's room, as planned. He let the boy in, and then snuck back to bed.

Emma's breathing was becoming labored. She clutched her chest and blackness licked the edges of her vision.

Regina heard the click of the door and opened her eyes. "Henry!" This time she got up, and swept him off his feet into a hug. She carried him over to her bed and dropped him unceremoniously.

Henry laughed. "Hey!" he yelled, but grinned.

"You're in a much better mood than last time," Regina observed.

"Yeah, well. Let's just say I figured out how to save Emma."

Regina's eyebrow arched, even as she smiled at her son with pride. Of course he had figured it out. She sat on the bed next to him conspiratorially. "What must we do?"

"True love's kiss." Henry said simply.

Regina facepalmed. Damn the 28 years in Storybrooke for making her forget even the simplest of antidotes. "Wait." She thought for a second. "Who?" Regina looked at Henry quizzically.

Henry rolled his eyes. "You, duh."

"Oh, Henry. I'm not Emma's true love. What would make you say that?"

Henry sighed. He had just spent several hours earlier today convincing James that Regina was the solution; did no one else see this but him? "Can we just say that you saved her and she saved you without having to go into all of the details? Because I'm kind of tired…"

Regina rolled her eyes. "No, Henry, I need to understand this."

Henry groaned. "You took a bullet for her. She became the Dark One for you. You became good for her. She became evil for you. God, is it reallythat difficult?"

"Henry, I think you should go to bed."

"Just… consider it? Please?"

"I will, Henry. I promise."

The next morning, Regina awoke on the floor of her room. She had walked Henry to the door the night before, and after he left, she had simply collapsed against the wall, sliding to the floor.

Regina replayed the last time she had seen Emma over and over in her head. The caring looks, the words, the simple actions—gentle caresses and lingering touches. But could it all really add up to true love?

Regina shook her head. She certainly had deep, caring feelings for the blonde. But she had never allowed herself to consider much beyond that.

Perhaps that was all that mattered, really. She did care about Emma. And because of that, she would try Henry's plan even though she didn't think it would work.

To rescue Emma.

James had contemplated the repercussions of what he was about to do all day. He wasn't going directly against Snow White. That would be foolish. But he sure as hell wasn't about to sit by as his daughter died, either.

He could have just explained it all to her, he supposed. Except she would never believe it. Oh, she might believe the part about Emma dying if something major didn't occur soon. But Emma's true love being Regina? That detail would certainly kill her. So James had remained covert.

Even now, as he slipped into Regina's room.

Regina looked up from her spot on the floor. "James? What are youdoing here?"

James glanced back at the door, nervously. "Listen, I don't have a lot of time."

"Has Henry told you?"

"Yes. It's hard for me to believe. But I can't just stand by as my daughter dies."

Regina looked up at the king with new respect. He was willing to put aside old rivalries for Emma's sake. Well, if he could do it, then she certainly could. "And Snow?"

"She has no idea. It—it would kill her. Are you really Emma's true love?"

Regina sighed. "Hell if I know. But Henry's been right about everything else, so…"

James smirked at this, and Regina actually smiled. "Very well." He looked down. "You know I can't let you go, though, right?"

Regina's face contorted with rage before she could attempt to control it. "Why ARE you here then?"

James placed his hand on the ex-queen's shoulder and looked her squarely in the eyes. He then handed her something folded up in a blanket. "I can't let a prisoner go. But this should help."

He turned around and walked through the door, shutting it firmly behind him.

Regina opened the blanket. She gasped when she saw what lay inside. How had James come into possession of her prized hand mirror?

She lifted it, and it gleamed. With this, her magic would work in this room. At least for a little while.

"Take me to Emma."

With those words, she was swept through the mirror, emerging from a puddle in Rumplestiltskin's cell.

James entered Henry's room. It was late, but Henry was awake, as the king had anticipated. He sat next to the boy in bed as he explained what he had done. Henry wanted to rush down to see Emma right away, but James refused. If Emma was better, he would see her in the morning. Free.

James left the room, and Henry settled back happily. Maybe he could actually sleep tonight.

Regina rushed over to Emma when she caught sight of the blonde hunched over in a corner. She had just touched her shoulder when Emma seemed to find a renewed strength. The blonde threw Regina off of her, snarling. She got up, and stalked her way over the where Regina had landed.

Clearly Emma had deteriorated further than Regina could have ever anticipated.

Emma's eyes were alight with fury, and it was apparent she was intent on killing the brunette when she reached her.

But Regina had her magic. Using it, she levitated Emma before pinning her against the wall. Regina walked over to her. She bit out, "Now, dear, is that really any way to treat someone who's just trying to help you?"

Emma looked confused for a minute, finally taking in Regina with something akin to recognition. But it was gone as quickly as it had come, and she struggled against the brunette, who now had her pinned against the wall with just her body.

Regina grabbed Emma's chin, forcing her to meet her eyes. She could see Emma's struggle in them—the good versus evil that Henry had spoken of. "I'm sorry." Regina whispered as she leaned forward and pressed her lips to Emma's own.

Emma struggled for a few seconds before she went limp.

Regina backed away, not certain what to expect when her eyes sought Emma's own.

Emma's eyes rolled back into her head before snapping back to meet Regina's.

The brunette gasped. Emma had clearly been consumed by the Dark One.