A/N: The action and drama begins to really build here (I hope), coming close to a major collision of power and magic. I thank you, as always, for the many kind words provided. For those who have been patient with the slow build, I ask you to continue being so. This will have payoff, I promise, and it will be about the relationships between the 4, especially Regina and Emma.

Again, thanks, and please enjoy.

The rain comes within minutes of Cora's abduction of Regina. Apparently, per a less than amused Snow, rain here in the Enchanted Forest is always of the freezing cold kind. This reality hits Emma hard once the icy water starts penetrating through the thin layer of clothing she has on. Her leather jacket provides only the most cursory of protection against the weather. It's fairly useless compared to this little elemental temper tantrum.

"If I didn't know better," Emma quips, rain running down her face, "I'd almost think Regina had made it rain on purpose. Just to piss us all off."

Snow smiles slightly at that, but doesn't respond. Maybe she'd been thinking the same thing or maybe she's thinking about where Regina is right now. A place none of them can really even begin to guess at right about now.

"We need to find shelter," Mulan states suddenly, her wits and senses apparently still about her despite the blow to the head. The bruising has spread down her face, and if they were back in Emma's world, the blonde might even comment about the impressively growing (and colored) shiner she sees there, but she holds her tongue now (somewhat amazingly, it seems that she can learn, she muses) simply because she has no idea how people here perceive wounds.

Are they red badges of courage or a marks of shame? A little of both? None of either? So much to learn, and hardly the time to stop and take a breath to do so.

Especially right now.

"I agree," Snow nods. She looks to both her husband and daughter, sees the doubt laced expressions both are wearing, and lowers her voice to a much more calming and soothing one. "I know you're both worried, but we will find her."

It's so strange to her to be making vows to find the woman who has hurt her – and her family – so deeply and so terribly. A very large part of her wants to say to hell with Regina. That part wants to let her and her mother do their worst to each other. Regina would certainly, after all the horrible things she's done to so very many people, deserve a taste of her own medicine.

And perhaps, if she were a different person, Snow might just let that happen.

She's not, though. She's a person who even with anger and hurt in her heart, knows that what's happening to her former stepmother most be stopped. It's more than that, if she's honest with herself, however.

It's about her past with Regina. A blackened and ugly past that had been troubled and complicated. She'd been a small child, certainly, but that doesn't alter the fact that if she had held her tongue on that day so very many years ago, a lot of things would have turned out very differently. And it doesn't change the fact that deep down, Snow still harbors feelings for her Regina that are more loving and familial. Deep down, she still misses the smile of the woman who had taught her what true love really was, and what it could do.

It's about Charming, too, and whatever bond he'd formed with Regina after the portal had closed. Clearly, they'd made a connection of sorts. She supposes she should worry about this, be concerned about whether Regina had manipulated her husband. Tried to seduce him as she's tried to seduce so many others.

Funny thing is, though, she's not worried. Not even a little bit.

Maybe it's Charming's hand curled into her own, his warm touch firm and strong against her palm. Maybe it's the look she sees in his eyes, the one that tells her that there's no force in any world that could have kept him from her forever.

It's clear to her, then, that Regina hadn't gone after him. Hadn't tried to bring him over and manipulate him. Perhaps then, for the first time in a long time, she'd told him the truth of things. Perhaps he'd seen something in her worth saving.

Saving Regina is about Henry, too. He doesn't understand the true ways of adult human emotion and the bonds created, but he will. There will come a day when he is able to see his mother as a person and not just a character. She'll never be perfect or even ideal, but eventually, he'll understand the depth of he love for him, and when he does, Snow realizes that she wants Regina there for it.

Finally, this quest is about Emma, and perhaps that's the most perplexing and nonsensical connection of all.

Snow would like to say that she knows her daughter, and as Mary Margaret, maybe she does a little, but as Snow White, she's still a bit lost as to how to respond to her headstrong and wildly impulsive twenty-eight (!) year old child.

She knows that Emma has been through hell in her life (and honestly, this realization is what slows her willingness to forgive Regina), but she can only begin to imagine the flavors of it. She hopes that as time goes on, Emma will open up to her, and let her in, but she knows that she needs to tread gently. She needs to do what she so often struggles to do, and that is not push.

She needs to, curiously enough, not be Regina's step-daughter right now.

Or maybe she needs to do quite the opposite. Maybe, considering the deepening frown she sees on Emma's face as her willful daughter considers stopping their rather frantic search for the former queen for the night, maybe what she needs to do is embrace the lessons that she'd learned from Regina. Maybe what she needs to do is put her foot down and let both Emma and Charming know how things have to be, no matter their disagreement.

No one is freezing to death on this night.

There's simply no point in it.

"Her mother could do serious damage to her," Emma says, and the frown deepens. Snow wonders if Emma is fighting the same internal battle she is, trying to figure out why it is that she cares about what happens to this woman.

If she is fighting this battle, though, she sure isn't showing it on her face.

Snow lowers her voice again. "There's nothing we can do about that now."

She'd love to be able to lie to Emma and Charming right about now, would love to be able to tell them with a straight face that Regina is in no immediate danger. It'd be nice to be able to say that Cora is simply having tea with her long-lost daughter, but she knows damn well that she could never make these grotesque untruths come from her lips. The real truth is, she imagines that after so very many years apart, Cora is looking to make up for lost time.

In a way that would make anyone with a soul shudder.

"We promised Henry," Charming reminds his wife. She looks over at him, meets his eyes and for a moment, gets lost within him. He sees into her soul, sees how troubled and confused she is, and offers her a small smile of understanding.

Finally, after what seems like an eternity, she nods her head, and says in a voice that's just barely audible, "I know. We promised him we won't let Regina die, and we won't. And I promise you, as hard as this is to hear and understand, whatever Cora plans to do to Regina, death is not at the top of her list."

"That's supposed to make us feel better?" Emma counters.

"No, of course not. It doesn't make me feel better. But it means we have time. Right now, we have no idea where Cora and Regina are."

"What about Regina's old castle?"

"Possible. Has that one been taken over by the Dark Lords as well?" Snow asks, turning to look at Mulan.

"I believe so."

"Then it's doubtful Cora would go there. At least not yet."

"Not yet?" Emma queries, her expression going dark. She doesn't really understand the way this world works, but she has a good idea that she doesn't like what she's hearing, doesn't care for what she's about to hear.

"There could be a time where Cora uses Regina as a negotiation chip. I imagine that there are many of the Lords who would give up just about anything to claim ownership over the Evil Queen who enacted the Dark Curse."

"But not yet," Emma reiterates. "We still have time?"

"We do," Snow confirms.

"All right, then," Charming nods. "We find shelter for the night. Once the storm passes, we continue our search for her." He looks at Emma. "Acceptable?"

"Not really a choice."

"We will find her," he assures his daughter.

" Yes, we will. I'm not going home to Henry without her," Emma tells him. "He may not realize it yet, but he does love her."

"And she loves him," Charming nods. "We wouldn't be here otherwise."

"Sounds like you have a story to tell," Snow says, eyebrow lifted.

"I do." He turns to Mulan. "I expect you know these woods better than anyone, certainly better than we do."

"The Enchanted Forest has changed since you passed worlds," Mulan agrees with a sharp understanding nod. "But yes, I know of a place to rest for the night."

The cavern that Mulan brings the group to is, not all that surprisingly, quite dark and cold. Snow quickly builds a fire, then passes Emma a blanket from the back of the wagon. Thankfully, they'd been smart enough to bring a few days worth of food and supplies with them, anticipating that there just be issues getting back to the safe haven quickly. Emma is hardly warm, but she's not freezing, either.

"You okay?" Snow asks, sitting next to her.

"Yeah."

Snow smiles slightly, seeing if not hearing the lie in her daughters' voice. "Yeah meaning no?"

Emma chuckles at that, her eyes tracking up to where Charming is standing with Mulan, no doubt discussing who will stand guard on the front of the cavern.

"You're worried," Snow states. "About her."

"I am, and I know it's ridiculous. We'd all be better off if we just left her here."

"But Henry," Snow nods.

"It's more than that. More than that for you, too."

"Mm," Snow admits. "I suppose it is."

"But you don't want to talk about it."

"I'm not sure what to say," Snow admits. "I spent so many years before the curse despising her and hating her. I spent so many years during the curse being afraid of her, and wishing she'd just disappear off the face of the earth. And now…"

"And now we could just let it happen," Emma notes with a sigh. Her tone makes it clear that this really isn't an option for her so much as a discussion that needs to be had before a plan of action is hatched.

"Yes, we could, but that's not what we're going to do. This awful cycle of hurt has got to end," Snow says. "One of us has to do right by the other."

"One of you did," Charming puts in as he comes over. He drapes another thick woolen blanket over Emma's shoulder (earning him a dramatic, but oddly humoring roll of her eyes) and then drops down and puts an arm around Snow.

"She helped you open the portal," Emma guesses.

"She did."

"So Regina has her magic back?" Snow asks.

"Not exactly. When you touched her, Emma, you jumpstarted her, but it was more like a car battery sputtering. She could make candles light, but nothing more after whatever you gave her dissipated. In order to open the portal, she had to pull in magic from everyone in town who had some of their own."

"Mr. Gold?" Emma queries with a frown. She's not sure how she feels about receiving assistance from the slippery shopkeeper. Rumplestilskin. Seems like everything he touches (or manipulates, as is his way) comes with an ugly hidden edge that was created just to make you bleed.

"No, not him. They've been steering well clear of each other since he sent the wraith after her. He wouldn't even help me when I tried to go to him to get a book of magic for her. We got help from people like Red and Grumpy. And me. Those who have been touched by magic."

"She pulled their magic in?" Snow asks.

"It was…I've never seen anything like it. She took in so much, I thought she was going to explode. I think she even liked it for a few minutes." He shakes his head at the memory. "And then she didn't. There was a light and then we were here."

"And the way she was shaking?"

"Overdose," Emma says to her mother. "Storybrooke may have been timeless for all of you, but time did pass. She went twenty-eight years without magic, and then suddenly she gets hit by the heroin of the Merlin world."

"First, yes, there is actually a Merlin," Snow admonishes, though with an amused smile. "Or at least there used to be. And second, heroin?"

"You don't know what heroin is?"

"Not really," Snow admits. "The one thing I'll say about Regina is that aside from the rampant alcohol abuse in Storybrooke, the town was decidedly drug free. But I do know of it. I mean I guess I do. I guess it makes sense?"

"If you've ever seen someone overdose, then it does completely."

"You have?" Charming asks his daughter.

"Unfortunately. And what I saw happening with her, the way she was shaking and burning up, that's exactly what that was." She frowns then, her mind slipping back a few years, back to friends lost. "Without the foaming at the mouth and the just about dead parts," she adds without humor.

"I'm sorry," Charming tells her, and he wishes that he could say so much more to her. These are things – experiences – that she was never meant to have gone through. The fact that she has, and there's nothing he can do about it, breaks his heart more than he say. More than he can ever let her know.

"So am I," she answers, then reaches out and touches his arm. It's a bit strange that she's the one offering him comfort, and yet he receives the contact gratefully, allowing for a small smile to pass between father and daughter.

"Regina is strong," Snow reassures Emma. "She's not going out like this."

"I'm not sure that's the case," Charming admits. "Before she opened the portal, I think she'd all but given up surviving. Honestly, I think she expected to die."

"Why?" Emma demands, her eyes flickering towards the entrance of the cave. She can see Mulan standing there, watching the hard rain pound the ground.

"She thought it was the only way Henry would love her."

"She couldn't just not be evil?" Emma asks, incredulous. "Damn woman. She just had to do this the hard way, didn't she?"

Snow laughs at that, laughs at the innocence in Emma's tone. For a woman who has seen the pain that Emma has, and had walked the hard road that she has, at times, the blonde is almost shockingly naïve about people and things.

"Ever since I've known Regina. Loved her, hated her, whatever, she's always done things the hard way," Snow tells her.

"Yeah, I'm getting that," Emma sighs. "So what's protection detail tonight?"

"Mulan and I will take it."

"The hell you will."

"I wasn't asking," Charming quietly shoots back.

"And I don't need my dad to cuddle me up into a blanket and keep me safe."

"That's exactly what you need. You also need rest after what Cora did to you."

"He's right, Emma. You lost consciousness." And suddenly, Snow's hands on her, in her space, checking her over for breaks.

"I'm fine," Emma grunts, moving away from the touch. She tries to ignore the slightly sad look Snow tosses her away, tries to bite down on the guilt.

Thing is, she can't completely because she wonders what it'd be like to be able to receive such love and affection so easily. So freely.

Not her, she decides, pushing such thoughts away. That option is no longer present, she will never be the little sweet girl that Snow and Charming had wanted. She can't go back. She can only be who she is now.

"Maybe so," Charming nods, "But I'd be happier if you'd sleep. There will be time for you to take shifts watching over everyone going forward. I promise."

"I'm not going to win this battle, am I?"

"Not a chance."

"Fine, but this is bullshit."

"You're sulking," Snow grins.

Emma groans at that.

This having parents thing – especially the whole bit about them teaming up against her – is going to take some getting used to.

A whole lot of getting used to.

For now, though, she decides to stop fighting.

She is tired, and sore, and a few hours of sleep sounds like a great idea once the drama and pride of the here and now is stripped away.

"Fine," she grudgingly allows. "But if anything happens…"

"We'll wake you up," Charming promises. "Now sleep."

And so she does. The bright fire flickering nearby, a few blankets wrapped around her frame, she drops her head down, affords one last glance over at Charming and Snow (who are cuddled tightly together, whispering to each other) and then she closes her eyes and allows sleep to slide over her.

Unfortunately, once it does, she rather unwillingly finds herself riding shotgun in someone else's real-life nightmare.

Regina's.

The first images that Emma sees when she opens her eyes (or her dream-eyes, really, considering that she's actually sleeping) are hazy and unclear.

They look to her like they're occurring from within a windowless old cabin, the ground covered in dust, the walls and floors made of thick wood.

She finds herself standing above what seems to be a bed, but it's really more like a mound of blankets atop a surface that once might have been a mattress. And on this makeshift bed, she sees Regina sleeping fitfully.

Tossing and turning.

Whimpering and crying out in a way that frankly, Emma had never considered possible. This is a woman that she's never thought could be weak.

Or broken.

Turns out anyone can break.

Emma hears her call out for Henry, then a man named Daniel, and then she hears Regina scream Snow's name.

She hears a voice say, "Shh. It's time to wake up now. No more dreams."

"Shh. It's time to wake up now. No more dreams," Cora says, waving her hand around. Magic spills from her fingers and splashes across the room, colliding with her daughters' trembling form. It pulls Regina from her fitful nightmares, forces her back into the conscious world.

Forces her towards her reckoning.

Unconsciousness gives way once more to the insanity of the living world for Regina Mills. As she opens her eyes, she finds herself actually sorry to realize that she still draws breath. But then, life has never been easy for her, why should exiting it be so simple? Apparently, even a heroic sacrifice won't do.

She sighs and lifts her head up, blinking furiously against the pain in her body.

Her mind has been spoiled – one might even say polluted – by almost three decades of living in a world with technology and chemistry. This becomes quite clear to her as the voices in her head begin to tell her – in the mayors' strict and authoritative tone no less – that she should be in a hospital bed right about now.

Problem is, there are no hospitals in Fairytale Land. Sure, there are healers (of many kinds, some faith and some magical, but most just vaguely learned of the mysteries of the human body – mysteries that the other world has mostly solved), but none of them can give her what her aching body craves right now.

Painkillers.

About 800 milligrams of aspirin preferably. If not a hell of a lot more.

Here in this world, the most effective painkiller aside from magic is either spreading some type of manure on the wound or eating leaves that smell like they themselves were rolled in said cow shit. Sure, in the pain and discomfort that she's currently in, Regina is hardly picky, but she also has no real desire to smell like an animal from David Nolan's shelter.

David Nolan. Charming.

She tries not to think about him. Tries not to wonder if he'd been successful in their mission, if he'd managed to do what they'd opened the portal to do.

Bring his family home.

How weird it is, she thinks, to hope that he'd done exactly that. Grabbed Emma and Snow and pulled them back into Storybrooke. Away from this. Sure, it means she'll likely never see any of them ever again – never see Henry again – but maybe, just maybe, they'll all be happy. Maybe Henry will be.

And why that doesn't bother the hell out her, she just doesn't know.

"Hello, darling," her mother says bringing her attention back to her immediate surroundings and situation. The focus required to look around her is enormous, and she immediately feels a sharp searing pain race through her skull. It takes everything she has – absolutely everything – not to cry out.

"Mother," she whispers, any louder a voice simply impossible right now.

"It's been too long," Cora tells her, a smile sliding across her cold features. The macabre expression doesn't compliment her. In fact, on her, it looks downright malicious and sinister. It's been many years, but Regina remembers far too well just how badly her mother being happy tended to work out for her.

"Where am I?" Regina asks, looking around. They're in what appears to be a cottage without windows. It's small, old, and there's a faint musty smell in the air.

"Safe."

"I've never been safe with you," Regina retorts as she tries to fully sit up. Her muscles resist, and she finds herself unable to move more than a few inches.

"You wound me," Cora says, her voice sounding almost sad, almost hurt. "All I ever did, all I ever wanted to do was to take care of you. Provide for you and set you up to be happy and successful. To have power."

"I got power, Mother," Regina answers dryly. "But it never made me happy."

"That's because you never embraced it."

Regina laughs bitterly at this. "Oh, I embraced it. I took our entire world over to a place called Maine."

"A land without magic."

"A better land than this."

"And yet here you are. Back in this land."

"I had no choice."

"My dear daughter, there is always a choice. You just always picked the one that left you with the least opportunity to be powerful and strong."

"I have no desire to argue with you, Mother." Regina finally forces herself up in the bed, the sharp pain in each part of her body intensifying the closer she gets to the full-on sitting position. "I'm not that silly naïve teenage girl that you knew anymore," she hisses out. "And I'm no longer afraid of you."

Cora laughs at this, the sound sharp and cold. "Lie to yourself if you must, but we both know the truth."

"I suppose we do," Regina admits, not caring to elaborate. "What do you want with me, Mother? What game is this?"

Cora smiles again. "There's no game, Regina, my dear. I simply want to remind you of my love for you."

"That would require you to have ever loved me at all, but like you always told me, love is nothing but a weakness."

"And it still is, but you're my daughter…"

"And you want to make me pay for sending you through the mirror," Regina says dully, her patience whittled down to nothing.

"Indeed, I do."

The words are simple and cold, brutal and to the point. No more lies, no more pretenses or illusions. Just the honesty of hatred and vengeance.

A moment later, Regina actually feels this honesty when she finds herself torn from the bed, and hanging up in the air, several feet above the ground. Her mother is below her, a hand up to hold her daughter struggling in place.

"Mother," Regina gasps out.

"Shush now, darling. We have so very many things to discuss."

She clenches her hand, and suddenly all of the oxygen in the room – as stale and unappetizing as it'd been - feels like it's gone. Regina kicks in the air, gagging and coughing as she desperately tried to suck in breath.

Below her, Cora smiles grimly, watching as her wounded daughter flails around, looking about as strong as the simpering worthless child she is. To Cora's eyes, the girl looks old. Her hair is cut short and her clothes are plain and manly. There's nothing powerful about what her daughter has become.

There's just weakness.

Weakness that she will pay for.

"Mother," Regina says again, her hands flexing like she's trying to summon her own magic. She feels heat in her fingers, but nothing stronger will come to her.

"You hurt me, Regina," Cora states. "You need to know how that feels."

She clenches her hand again. A moment later, there's a loud crack as the pressure builds intensely enough to cause one of Regina's ribs to break. Unable to stop herself, the former queen screams out, tears on her cheeks.

Regina hits the ground a few moments later, the pressure finally released. Her face slams against the dusty floor, and she feels dirt enter through her nostrils, clogging up her already labored breathing. She gasps for air, fighting desperately against the swirling blackness that is suddenly sliding towards her again.

"I would have given you the world," Cora tells her. "But you wanted silly things like stable boys and love under the stars. I tried to make you strong and powerful, you did everything you could to destroy me, to remove me from your life. Now, perhaps you understand the absurdity of your attempt. Now, perhaps you understand, my dear girl that I will always find you. Always."

She's heard these words before, knows that they come from the mouths of those with true love in their heart. Apparently, they can also be bastardizes to come from those with hearts filled with hatred.

She turns her head away from her mother, and that's when she sees the green eyes watching her. The eyes that belong to someone who shouldn't be in this cabin with them. Shouldn't be anywhere close to them.

"Emma," she whispers, a small smile crossing her lips.

And then there's darkness again.

Emma wakes with a loud shout, jerking forward and into the sitting position. She places a hand over her hammering heart, willing it t slow and calm.

"Emma?" Snow asks, arm around her. Charming is there a second later, and nearby, she can see Mulan standing, sword out and at the ready.

"Nightmare?" her dad asks, worry contorting his handsome face.

"No," the blonde replies with a shake of her head.

"You screamed," Snow points out. "That's usually not the sign of a good dream."

"I mean it wasn't a dream. Not exactly anyway." She pushes herself to her feet, makes her way over to where Mulan is, and addresses the warrior directly. "Do you know of a windowless cabin anywhere around here?"

After a moment of thought, and a tightening of muscles, Mulan nods slowly in response. "I do. There's a cabin a few miles away from here. It's old, and supposedly haunted by dark magic."

"I'm sure it is," Emma answers. She turns back to her parents. "That's where Cora has Regina. That's where we have to go. Now."

"What are you talking about?" Snow demands. "How could you know that?"

"Because I was just there with her," Emma answers, looking around for her jacket. "I don't know how or why, but I know it was real. I saw her with Cora in that cabin. And I know that if we didn't get to her immediately, the only thing we'll be bringing home to Henry is her body." She meets Snow's eyes, then Charming's and then Snow's eyes again. "Trust me," she says. "Please."

"We do," Snow answers. "Mulan, I know you have no desire to save this woman after all the things she's done, but we need your help to find this cabin."

"It will be difficult in this storm."

"But?" Emma prompts, hope shining in her eyes.

"But doable. I will take you."

"Thank you," Snow says softly, touching the warriors' arm.

"No thank you is needed. I just hope that you are right about the queen being worthy of this rescue."

"So do I," Emma admits. She pulls on her jacket, lifts up a sword and then turns to her parents. Smiling a bit, she asks, "Is there a war cry for the first time you go into battle with your mom and dad?"

"Not really," Charming chuckles.

"Just live," Snow corrects.

Emma nods at this. "I plan to. I plan for everyone to."

Once again caught within a feverish dream state, Regina Mills – the Evil Queen of myth and legend - feels no pain. Oddly, though, she finds herself watching what is occurring several miles away from her, within the cold dark cavern beneath the tall trees of the Enchanted Forest. She hears their words, hears Emma insisting to the others that they must find the former mayor, and she wonders what the hell they're all thinking.

They should be on their way back to Henry. Instead, they're coming for her.

She feels a flutter in her heart, and she wonders what it means.

She'd intended to sacrifice herself to ensure that the others would make it home. Now, though, with Emma's voice ringing in her ears, and the Calvary supposedly on its way, she realizes that she actually wants to live.

She wants to see Henry again.

She wants to be alive to work for his forgiveness, and to hopefully, receive it.

Which means enduring her mother for as long as it takes.

It's the only way to survive this.

And survive, she decides with a small smile, she will.

It's what she's always done.

TBC…