Author's Note: Hello everyone! :)

Thank you so much for your response to the story. The follows, favs, etc. We are really grateful and we also appreciate the fact that you took the time to write to us and encourage us to keep going with the story.

So… as a result of all that, here's the second chapter. Reviews are always welcomed!

Disclaimer: We do not own "Once Upon A Time" or any other recognizable character. This story is only for entertainment purpose.

Long way to happy

CHAPTER 2

Snow, Charming and Emma could not believe what had just happened. Tink had released them from her freezing spell, and yet they stayed rooted to their spots.

Emma had tears in her eyes.

"What did you do?" Her voice went out like a whisper, as if all the strength within her was gone– but suddenly, her bright green eyes turned to the fairy. "What in the seven hells did you just do?!" She yelled at Tink taking a menacing step towards her, but she was stopped by Prince Charming.

A strong hand gripped Emma's forearm. "Emma, stay calm." He breathed into his daughter's ear.

All those on the Jolly Roger were watching the exchange. Even Hook had left the helm and hurried over to where the others stood. "Bloody hell, people! Can't you keep the peace for more than five minutes? What's happened now?" he asked gruffly, breaking just a little bit the tension.

Snow was the one to answer.

"Regina fell through a portal." She said matter-of-factly.

"Regina was pushed off of this goddamned boat and fell through a fucking portal with my son." Emma hissed, correcting her mother.

"Ship, love. It's a ship and it's not damned– and may I remind you, the lad is Her Majesty's son as well." Hook answered, smiling at her.

"Whatever," Emma sighed and turned to Tink once more, "Now… you." She pointed to where the other blond haired woman was. "Could you explain to us what exactly you did and why?" Emma asked with a courtesy that made her mouth ache. She just wanted to shake a little common sense into the fairy.

Tink did not answer. She glanced at Gold who was leaving, to prepare himself for landing. "We are about to reach Storybrooke. Get ready and stop arguing or you will all die. This conversation is over for now." The entire group looked curiously at him but obliged. Yes, I need to be alive to kill that damn fairy, Emma thought.

Most of the townspeople were waiting for them when they arrived. Bright, happy faces greeted them as they descended from the Jolly Roger. The feeling of reunion, belonging, family and home filled the air.

Sadly, as soon as all the hugs and smiles were over the rescue party could see expressions of worry on the faces of the inhabitants of Storybrooke.

They were thinking of Henry, and The Queen, Regina.

"Where is the Queen?!" A dwarf asked and the others started repeating the same question, rumors spreading fast.

"She's kidnapped him."

"She's dead."

"She killed him."

"They didn't make it."

Those were the more gentler comments the rescue party could hear.

"SILENCE!" Snow White shouted. The crowd stopped talking and turned to look at their former leader. "First of all, let me tell you that Regina had nothing to do with Henry's disappearance. Both of them are lost. Second, you don't have to worry, we'll find him. We'll bring him back." She could see the looks in the Storybrooke residents' faces. They still hated her, they still hated Regina, and for a second she thought that that fact would never change. Then, she noticed the concerned look in Granny and Ruby's eyes. At least those two were expecting more from her. She smiled.

"We are going to get both of them back home." She said determinedly.

Charming hugged her and kissed her tenderly on the lips.

Snow looked to where an uncomfortable Emma stood. She reached out her hand to her. "We'll find them. We don't leave family behind, Emma."

Emma snorted. She was angry. She had just gotten her son back, and in the blink of an eye, she had lost him again.

"Pretty sure about that, huh?" She could see the pain in her mother's eyes, but did not care. They had left her behind. They fucking left me behind, she thought. "You send me through a magic wardrobe. You both leave me behind. How is that family to you?" She was crying, because she remembered Neverland.

She remembered the land that had helped realize who she truly was: an orphan. No hope, no savior–just an orphan. She had been left behind.

"Just…don't follow me", she breathed out.

Snow tried to, but David stopped her. "She's worried about Henry, Snow. Give her space."

Snow swallowed back tears. "Let's go home," she whispered.

When they arrived home, Emma was already there. She had taken a shower and was sitting on the couch. Red eyes stared at them as soon as Snow and David opened the door.

Then, Emma went back to staring off into the distance.

Snow nodded to David. He went upstairs.

"Emma, can I speak with you?" she asked timidly, taking a place next to her on the couch. "Regina will bring Henry back. You have to trust her." Snow took away the trembling cup of tea that Emma had in her hands. She put it on the floor.

"Listen to me, honey. She will."

"How can…." She stopped, for she could not speak. Tears stung in her throat. "How can you be so sure about that?!" She stood up and started pacing. "You told me that she couldn't change. How can I trust that she will bring my son back? HOW?" She yelled, but she was not angry. Snow could tell.

"You believed her about the Archie-thing. You were right. You only know her as the Mayor and Henry's possessive mother, Emma, and yet you believed in her. Neverland changed her. Maybe you cannot tell the difference, for you do not know her as The Evil Queen but I, I saw her grow. I would dare say that I saw glimpses of the Regina I once knew. Believe, Emma. She needs it now more than ever."

Emma sat beside her mother in silence.

"I'm scared." She admitted after a while, wiping away tears. "He jumped after her. He willingly jumped. I just… I don't want to be left behind," she admitted with a choking sob.

Her heart was breaking into little tiny pieces. She was not used to exposing herself. She did not like it how felt doing so.

"Honey…" Snow hugged her. "Regina is his mother too. Like it or not. He would have jumped for you as well. I would have, David too. Even Hook would have done it." She stopped, tracing circles softly on Emma's back. "Henry loves her, for she has been his mother for ten long years, baby. As hard he tried he could not ignore that. You can't go around ignoring True Love's call…"

"True-" Snow cut her off. "Emma, listen to me. If the bond between Henry and Regina gets stronger, do not panic. You are his mother, too. He went out looking out for you. He wants you in his life. Maybe this is just a chance to make things better, healthier. You need to take this chance, and believe." Emma slowly away from her mother's embrace.

"Maybe…" She said firmly. "But I would like to talk to Tinkerbell and Gold, to be sure. Would you… would you come with me?"

"Apparently the closed sign is useless. I was considering putting it down." Gold's voice sounded from the back of his shop when he heard the door being opened.

Snow and Emma went through directly, without asking for any kind of permission. Tink was there as well. Both Emma and Snow were a little surprised at that.

Great, Emma thought, I can kill two birds with one stone.

"I need to talk to you. Both of you," She emphasized. Tink looked uncomfortably to where Gold and Belle were standing. "Alone," Emma added.

Gold said something to Belle and she left the room. Snow and Emma sat on the bed. Tink and Gold remained standing, arms folded in front of them.

"Where are Henry and Regina? Where did you send them?" she asked to the fairy directly.

"The Enchanted Forest," Gold answered. Tink looked at him, puzzled. She thought he would not speak at all. After all, it had been her plan.

"Why?"

"Let's just say Her Majesty had a few unsolved matters there." Again, Tink had tried to speak but Gold prevented her from doing so by answering for her.

"What kinds of matters?"

"Things you do not have to worry about, Miss Swan."

"Like hell I have to worry! She is with my son!" she yelled, trying to stand up. Snow grabbed her arm and held her back.

"Henry is her son as well, if I may remind you," Gold said. "The bond torn by lies they need to mend, Miss Swan. Also something else must be discovered, something your mother is quite familiar with. But that, dearie, is not my story to tell. So now, if you would please leave…" Both Snow and Emma stood up, seeing that they were not going to get more answers.

"How can I talk to Henry?" Emma asked as Gold lead them outside the shop.

"The answer again lies in bonds, Miss Swan. The first and the second were born of vengeance. The third, however, was a product of a willing choice; it was born of True Love." Then, he slammed the door in their faces.

"Thanks for doing that," Tink said as she approached the front of the shop.

"Do not thank me, dearie. Not yet. I did nothing. For now I only scared away the vultures from the rotten meat."

"Regina's life is not rotten," She snapped at him angrily, "True Love will save her. Her son will save her."

"Oh, that is a certainty, dearie. But have you asked yourself– would The Queen let herself be saved?

– The Enchanted Forest –

She woke up to a constant pain running throughout her body. Deep brown eyes fluttered open, blinded by a powerful bright white light. The pain was intense, spreading through her blood. She fainted.

Regina could feel how slowly her senses brought her back to consciousness. Remembering the bright light, she did not open her eyes immediately. Cursing, and with a pounding pain in her head, she sat up on the warm grass. Eyes were still closed. She felt so dizzy. She slowly began to open her eyes, afraid of what she might find… Nothing.

"What….?" She breathed, seeing that nothing but darkness surrounded her. She searched for Tink's restraining magical bracelet, but it was gone. "Clever, fairy," she said to herself, smiling.

She tried to stand up, but she did not have enough energy to do so.

The sound of breaking branches caused her eyes to snap to where the sound had come from.

"Who's there?" she called out. "Show yourself!" A fireball appeared in her left hand, illuminating the place. She saw someone hiding behind a tree. Despite her headache, she stood up and went to where the stranger was hiding. He stepped out, making himself visible.

"Who… are you?" Regina asked, stopping in her tracks–fireball still in hand– just a few steps away from a four year-old little boy.

"Who are you?" the boy asked with a tiny, soft voice. "You not from here." Regina was amused. Was she dreaming?

"I'm Regina," she offered. The boy took a curious step towards her.

"Roland, m'lord," the young boy answered. Regina smiled at his mistake before collapsing against the ground, her magic momentarily gone. Darkness surrounded them once more.

The boy gasped and took the final steps so he could touch her. "Guegina," he put a small hand on her forehead. His father taught him that when someone had their forehead warm, it meant that they were sick.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, trying to stand up on her feet again. The boy helped her and guided her to the nearest tree so she could lean against it.

"I'm going to find Papa, Gueguina. Stay here." And then he left.

Henry, she thought, trying to get up again and search for her son–but the pain appeared again, making her fall into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Regina woke up feeling something warm grasped around her middle. She opened her eyes and saw Roland. His head was on her stomach, and his arms around her middle. She smiled. Gently she tucked a lock of brown hair behind the little boy's ear.

She hummed to him, thinking of ways to find her son.

She did not know how much time had passed until Roland moved, and when she looked down she saw shining brown eyes staring back at her.

"Hello, little fellow," She greeted.

"STAND UP, you evil witch!" a man shouted, coming out of the bushes, followed by at least four other men. As quickly as she could, a completely startled Regina stood up straight, hiding Roland behind her.

When had they found her? Why hadn't she heard anything? Gods... she was losing her touch.

Storybrooke was a relatively safe place, but not The Enchanted Forest. There, she would have to have four eyes and ears; there, Regina would have to be careful, on guard.

"Don't move or I'll shoot!" the man warned her. Regina conjured a fireball but before she could throw it, an arrow flew through the air and almost hit her right below her left breast; luckily she only felt a scratch. She could not move.

A woman was approaching her and took Roland by the hand. She fell, again. She was getting used to falling.

"Tie her up!" the woman commanded, walking away with the little boy.

The only woman, Regina noticed before beginnig to lose all her senses, prisoner to the blinding pain.

Regina could feel something thick spreading through her veins. Her blood was burning her inside out. Oh no, she though, but before she could finish her train of thought, a pained scream wracked the calm silence of the forest. She felt as though she was being cut in half. She curled herself into a ball, hugging herself as if she could make the pain go away. Another scream tore from her mouth.

Behind those waves of pain she could feel that she was being restrained, and then a hand pressing hard on her collarbone. She relaxed, thinking she had passed out–but she was still awake. The pain did not leave her, but as she seemed to be in some kind of zombie state she could not totally feel it. She could also hear the strong beat of a strong heart.

"Don't…" she whispered half- conscious. "My son…"

The man looked intensely at the brunette in his arms. Mulan walked near him with Roland next to her. "What is she saying?"

"Nothing that makes sense," Robin answered to Mulan. He glanced at Roland, who was silently crying. "I'm sorry, son. The lady will be okay." He felt sorry for not had listened to his son. Roland had told him that a beautiful woman was lost and hurt in the woods, and that she could do magic. Yet, he had not believed him–that was why his little boy had left in the middle of the night to stay with the mysterious woman. Now he could tell it was all real.

"What did you to her?!" Henry screamed, hurrying to where Robin had stopped with his mother in his arms. "She is in pain," he continued, seeing the facial expression of his mother. "She has magic!" He yelled at the adult.

Robin left Regina upon a soft animal skin near the now-extinguished fire.

"You could have killed her!" Henry punched Robin in the stomach causing him to stumble backwards.

Robin grabbed Henry's hand so he could not hit him anymore. "But she is alive, boy. A man of mine… a woman shot her with a poisoned arrow. We believed she was going to hurt Roland."

"She is not that anymore!" Henry argued, and without another word he went to Roland and his mother.

"Mom…" he called, but she did not answer. "Mom…" he tried shaking her. "MOM!"

"Okay, lad, that's enough," Robin said, taking Henry by his arms. He sat the older boy on a log, "Listen to me, Henry. I'm sorry. She will be fine, the poison will go away." The boy was crying. "What's her name, fellow?" Robin asked, smiling and ruffling Henry's hair.

"Regina," Henry answered, wiping away his tears.

"Regina will be fine. Now, go with Roland and find some watery-grapes so we can keep her hydrated."

Henry did not move.

"I'll watch her until you come back." Robin promised. He took a quick glance to where the woman, Regina, was lying. Roland had not lied–she was beautiful indeed; and at the same time, the most intriguing woman he had ever seen. Even asleep, even her clothes were strange.

"Fine," Henry agreed reluctantly. The boys disappeared into the woods.

Robin sat next to Regina. He took a wet rag and placed it on her forehead.

"Are we going to keep her?" Mulan asked, the rest of the merry men milling behind her. "She has magic, Robin. She's dangerous." The merry men voiced their agreement.

"She is sick now, and her son is scared as hell. We are not going to abandon them."

Robin did not even bother to look Mulan in the eye. He continued watching over Regina, replacingthe wet rag from time to time.

"We could take the boy," Mulan added.

"Go and hunt something for dinner, all of you!" Robin shouted, getting to his feet. He saw Regina had furrowed her eyebrows as if she was listening to what he was saying. "Now!"

Yes, he hated magic as well. He did not like having a witch in his camp, or the witch's son–but they had done nothing to them, so the debt was going to be paid. Then, he and his merry men would continue on their way. Witch and son behind him, or so he believed…

He did not know that fate had something greater in store for him.

- TO BE CONTINUED -

So? This one was a little bit larger, you can't complain right? We are already working on the 3rd chapter so if the odds are in our favour it won't be that long until next time.

Before I go, again I would like to say a big 'Thank you' to our dear beta, RichelleBrinkley :)

Have a great day/night everyone! XoXo

Dami and Juli :)