A/N: I feel like this is all I ever say in my author's notes, but I really am sorry for the long wait. This semester was a little rough on me, but fortunately it's all over. I'm going to stop promising to have things posted in a timely manner (because it's pretty apparent I'm incapable of that), but I do promise to finish this even if it takes me years. Finally, I just want to say thank you to everyone who has stuck with this story; you really are the best!


Regina sat on a bench under the apple tree in the castle gardens. She had always come out here to think, and today was a day when she had a particularly long list of things on her mind. It was true that there had been very little love lost between herself and her mother, but it was still strange to face the reality of a world without her. She wanted to feel sadness — and she supposed that she did, somewhat — but the pervading feeling was one of relief. Finally, she was free. She could do what she wanted, be who she wanted. Her mother's iron grip and idea of what she should be were no longer holding her back. It would be so simple to return to the castle, to tell Zelena that she could have the crown. After all, running away wasn't anything new; she had tried many times before. Only this time there was no one to stop her.

But as much as she wanted to leave, she could barely stand the thought of her sister being the one to rule Misthaven. She and Zelena had been quite close when they were younger, but as they had grown, Zelena had become convinced that Cora favored Regina over her. That jealousy had festered until Zelena had become — at least in Regina's opinion — just as power hungry as Cora. Regina had rarely concerned herself with the affairs of the kingdom. As far as she was concerned, they had done very little to earn her time or attention. But even she couldn't help but feel a little twinge of guilt at the thought of leaving the kingdom at Zelena's mercy.

"You can't let her win."

The voice behind her — although an echo of her own thoughts — startled her. After taking a deep, composing breath, she turned around to see Johanna, one of the palace servants, standing behind her.

"You can't let her become queen," Johanna reiterated, even more vehemently than before. In most situations, Regina would have appeared to be the more intimidating of the two. Her whole ensemble — dark hair pinned back into a tight updo, severe and unforgiving makeup, and a black form fitting dress — contrasted greatly with Johanna's graying red hair and loose servant's uniform. However, the conviction in Johanna's voice and countenance — hands on her hips, with her jaw set and eyes wide — made Regina stay her eye-roll and bite back the retort on her tongue. Instead, what left her lips was an honest query.

"What makes you think I'll be better than her?" she asked turning around and facing forward.

She heard an exasperated sigh and a few moments later felt the servant sit next to her. Normally, she would have reacted with rage at such impertinence, but she was in a particularly exhausted mood.

"You wouldn't be my first choice. You know that Snow is the rightful ruler of this land."

Regina opened her mouth to argue but abruptly shut it. As much as it irked her, she knew that it was true. And Johanna did too. There was no sense in arguing it now.

"I'm not here to argue with you about should'ves and might-have-beens. I'm here because that sister of yours insane and I can't bear the thought of her ruling this land. You might have allowed your mother to influence your life all of these years, but I think that at your core, you're better than that. She's not here anymore. You don't have to act cold and cruel to get her approval."

Regina was just about to answer when she heard a clapping noise behind them. She turned around to see Zelena striding toward them across the lawn, mockingly applauding them. This time, Regina didn't bother to suppress her eye-roll. It would seem that her refuge was not quite as out of the way as she had thought.

"Riveting, riveting speech, Johanna," Zelena said as she approached, a jaunt in her step. "And here I thought that we could all be friends."

"What do you want, Zelena?" Regina asked as Zelena walked around the bench to face them.

"Merely to give you a peace offering to show that I intend to play by the rules," she said, flourishing her hand and causing an apple to appear both her and Johanna's hands in a puff of green smoke. "I know we haven't always seen eye to eye, but that's no reason we can't start getting along now, is it? Look, I've given you your favorite treat and even brought an extra for this servant to share."

Regina raised her eyebrow, eyeing the apple suspiciously, to which Zelena responded with an eye-roll of her own and a scoff.

"Oh, come on!" she said. "If I was going poison you don't you think I'd have a more clever way of going about it?"

As much as Regina hated to admit it, it was highly unlikely that Zelena would take such a straightforward approach. With an indignant sigh, she raised the apple to her mouth and took a bite. She chewed and swallowed. She heard Johanna take a bite. She waited. Nothing happened. That was when she heard Johanna gasp.

Whipping her head to her left, she saw Johanna slump over on her side onto the bench, and the bitten apple falling from her limp fingers and rolling away.

"Oh, great!" Zelena said before Regina had even had time to react. "You've gone and killed her!"

"What do you mean I've killed her?" Regina asked, surprised at the small amount of concern that laced her tone.

"That poisoned apple was supposed to be for you! I didn't expect you to be so naive, Regina, but I figured it was worth a shot. And now your carelessness has gotten her killed."

"Is she dead?" Regina asked, fighting to keep her voice neutral.

"As good as. Now, if you don't mind, I'll be off to find Mother's stone," Zelena said, beginning to walk back towards the castle. "Oh, and Regina?" she said, looking back over her shoulder. "Do try to not be so sloppy next time. It could get you killed," she said, a wicked smirk appearing on her face just before she disappeared in a puff of green smoke.

~/~

"I'm not walking another step until we stop to eat."

Emma groaned. She had landed in the crater at about three in the morning and it was now nearing four in the afternoon. And during that time her companion had refused to shut the hell up.

It had started almost immediately. He didn't say anything when she told him where she was from, and she took his silence as his agreement to cooperate. "We'll leave in the morning," she declared, shrugging out of her jacket, intending to use it as a makeshift pillow.

"Shouldn't we be setting out now, love? I thought you wouldn't want one extra minute to stand between you and your true love," he said, his tone mocking.

She rolled her eyes, as she sat on the ground, arranging her jacket and laying her head upon it. "Sleep now, true love later," she said, closing her eyes, thinking that if she pretended to be indifferent he would leave her alone.

"But it's the middle of the night! That's when stars are awake!" he said as he plopped onto the ground next to her. "There's no way I could possibly sleep now. However will I keep myself entertained?"

"I'm sure you'll think of something," she said, already feeling herself start to drift off.

"Is that you volunteering, love?" he asked, to which she cracked an eye open.

"In your dreams," she said, scoffing at the innuendo. "Now shut up and let me go to sleep."

"Can't I at least know the name of my captor?"

She supposed that was reasonable. "Swan," she yawned. "Emma Swan."

He laughed. "How could someone who stumbled into me with such a lack of finesse be named after so graceful a creature? The irony of it all is hilarious!" he said as he continued to chuckle.

"Make fun of my name all you want. I'm sure yours isn't much better."

"Killian Jones, at your service, love," he said with a wink and a smirk. "A dashing name for a dashing fellow, if I do say so myself."

"Whatever, Killian. I don't really care. I want to sleep and you should rest too."

He hadn't. He'd sung to himself, paced about, and done just about everything else he could think of to keep her from falling asleep. Eventually, it had become apparent that he was running out of steam, and Emma had finally been able to drift off. However, she had been woken only a few hours later by the harsh light of the sun.

Even as they'd walked, he hadn't left her alone. Every other minute there had been something new for him to complain about. His feet hurt. He was hungry. She was pulling the chain too hard.

To be honest, she had actually felt bad about that last one. His hand was very clearly sprained, or at least very badly bruised. But the sooner they got to Storybrooke, the sooner she could take him to Dr. Whale to have it looked at. Or maybe he'd just want to wait until he got home. If stars even had doctors.

The only time he'd been completely quiet was when they were eating the bread and cheese that they had purchased from a peddler on the road. (They'd managed to convince the farsighted man that the quarters in Emma's pocket were, in fact, the currency of the land. She'd felt a little guilty about it, but they did have to eat). But right after they had finished, it was right back to his incessant complaining that had continued right up to this very moment.

"We talked about this," she said turning around to face him. "We'll stop to eat when we get to the town near the Brooke."

"But you don't even know how close it is! It could be a three days' journey away from here for all you know. How are you even sure we're going in the right direction?"

"Look, I just do. Maybe it's because my mother was from here or maybe it's my love for Neal guiding me, I don't know."

"Your love for Neal? Yes, very reassuring."

"Look, if I let you rest and come back with some food, will you shut up? We haven't run into a town yet, so even you have to admit we're probably getting close."

He looked at her with a grimace on his face and for a minute she thought he was going to continue to argue. But his expression softened out, making it clear that exhaustion had — for the moment — won the battle over spite.

"Fine."

"Alright, come here," Emma said gesturing toward a tree.

He sat down and at the base of the tree, and she knelt down and unfastened the chain from his wrist. He sat obediently as she used the chain to tie him loosely to the tree. When she was done, she stood up and looked down to admire her handiwork.

"Is this really necessary?" Killian asked, looking up at her and shifting slightly. "Other than goading you, I haven't tried to escape or given you any other reason not to trust me."

She had to admit that what he said was true. But if there was anything she had learned in the last day, it was that you could never really trust anyone fully, even if they were just trying to protect you. If she was questioning whether she could trust Ruby — or even her own father — anymore, why should she trust this stranger who she hadn't even known for twenty-four hours?

"I can't take a chance that I'm wrong about you," Emma said coldly. "I'll be back in a few hours," she said as she turned around and began to walk away.

"Emma, please, I promise I won't leave," he called after her. "Swan!" he yelled, anger invading his tone as she got further away.

For a moment, one solitary moment, she considered going back. He had been a general pain all day, but he really hadn't done anything too harmful. But she shook her head, willing herself to keep going. He would be fine. She would be back with food in no time and they could continue on their way.