Hey! Thank you all again! This has more Snow/Emma moments so I hope you like what you read :D

I do not own OUAT.

With trepidation, the four women climbed the beaten steps out of the dungeon hoping that the ascension would wash away the memories of their time spent down there. For each of them, the dungeon epitomised true terror and the feeling of captivity, that life as you knew it was over. Witnessing Cora's full potential of power and the extent to which she would go in order to reign victorious was an eye-opener, and Emma never felt more grateful to be alive. Though if she was honest, the way in which she escaped her clutches was a bit of a shock to the system. Never, under any circumstances, did she ever think that she was capable of controlling magic or of battling an evil sorceress; usually getting up in the morning and going to work was enough for her. The last thing she desired was for life to take drastic turn after drastic turn – she'd had so much of that growing up and was in no position to have this as a regular occurrence.

And yet she was far more rattled than she thought she would be. Her adrenaline levels were slipping and now all she could feel and think about was related to the moment where she released that blue mist and catapulted her adversary across the room. Emma raised her hands out in front of her, examining them as she flipped them back and forth. How could her plain, completely ordinary hands generate such a mass of power?

"Emma, are you okay?" Mary Margaret asked, leaning in close to her as they marched so that the other two couldn't hear them. Everyone was being especially quiet; most likely gathering their own thoughts and thanking the gods that they had been given another chance.

Was she okay? And what exactly did 'okay' stand for? Emma wasn't sure if she would ever cross the line into 'okay' ever again; not when she had just entered a foreign territory. She couldn't breathe. She couldn't think straight. Even putting one foot in front of the other was an accomplishment in itself.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me," the brunette assured, noting the blonde's reluctance to convey any kind of answer. "I know we're on the path to establishing a relationship as mother and daughter but we were best friends before any of this and I'd like to think that we could still talk and confide in one another as friends without all the baggage that follows us around." The smile that crept into her voice as she finished lifted a weight off Emma's shoulders that she didn't even know she was carrying around. She needed to hear that. At one point she feared that the bombshell that was her best friend being her mother would force them to lose that friendship that she cherished so much and twist it into something entirely different that neither one of them knew how to navigate. Yes, Mary Margaret was her mother and that truth bore so much joy and relief but she was her best friend first and Emma hoped that that relationship would never fade away.

"You really think we can do that?"

The question caught Mary Margaret off-guard and her face contorted in puzzlement. "Of course we can," she replied quickly, "why on earth would you think otherwise?" She cupped the blonde's elbow to attract her attention and force her to make eye-contact. Emma hated that move; it was such a motherly thing to do.

"Well there's the whole you giving birth to me thing," Emma stated without a hint of timidity. There was no point in shying away from the truth anymore – not after the past couple of days anyway. "I mean, that changes…everything."

"I don't think it has to. Obviously it will some time to get used to and there will be adjustments to a certain extent but doesn't mean that we can't be friends, too."

"But that's just it; it won't be the same. I'll never look at you the same and you'll never look at me the same and that's just the way it is. That's the way it's going to be from now on." She had no idea where this was coming from especially following, well, everything. Her line of conversation was so misplaced and yet, it was like the words were just flowing out of her. Must have been the shock talking.

Mary Margaret rolled her eyes at Emma's deduction, clearly not buying into her idea. She crossed her arms and shot her a smirk. "Are you going to tell me if you're okay or not or am I supposed to live with the unknown?"

Surprising herself, Emma laughed lightly, recognising that she may have taken the conversation slightly overboard. She looked at her mother and her kind demeanour and knew she couldn't run away from this because…Mary Margaret was faster than she was. "I'm…I'm not okay. I, eh, I'm…scared."

"Of Cora?"

"Of myself. What I'm capable of. Never in a million years did I think that I could do something like that." She crossed her arms, holding herself together. "Magic and enchantments and spells and all that stuff were things I didn't believe in not too long ago so to discover that I could make blue lightning bolt things fly out of my hands and cause so much damage is a really frightening thing. I mean, look at all this." She gestured around to the destruction caused by her little earthquake; it was amazing that the structure was still standing. Doors were flung all over the place, bricks and stones lined the corridors and delicate objects laid smashed into tiny pieces on the floor. "I did this. Me. With my own bare hands. Who knows what else I can do, what I might do? I could seriously hurt somebody; someone I love."

"Oh, Emma, that'll never happen," Mary Margaret shushed, running her hand through the blonde's hair soothingly. "I promise. I know you and I know that you could never hurt anyone you care about no matter how powerful you are."

Emma wanted to hug her as a gesture of thanks for having such calming words at a time where she felt completely out of control of her own body; it was like it was a separate entity entirely and there was little she could do once it was in full force.

"I think up here is our best shot," Mulan interrupted with casual sternness, her eyes shifting from side to side making sure that the coast was clear. No one knew for sure whether Cora was still with them or not and Emma was grateful that they had someone like Mulan with them to keep them all alert and on track.

"What makes you say that?" Mulan was the one who had relayed the mirror story to them and thus, their only source in finding it yet Emma was a sceptic and too used to doing things on her own to take heed to people's advice at first.

"This was the Queen's bed chamber; this would be the obvious place to put it."

"Just lying around in the bedroom? Shouldn't something like that be kept in, I don't know, a cellar or a secret passage?"

"I think you've read too many stories," Mulan said with just a tad bit of jest. "Where better to start?"

"Alright, then. Lead the way."


Snow could tell Emma was on edge; she tiptoed around as if believing that the slightest of movements would cause some kind of cataclysmic reaction and the whole world would turn in on itself. If it were not such a serious situation Snow may have even treated her wariness with a laugh and a joke, but she saw how frightened her daughter was. Her body was actually shaking and though she tried her best to calm her down, Emma didn't seem to be showing any signs of serenity.

And the castle was in pretty bad shape. Regina's room had been verily ruined with parts of the framework ripped away, exposing the structure's weaknesses. Finding the mirror was one thing, but finding it in one piece and useful was another. And then there was the little matter of locating the sparkly wardrobe ashes.

It was so frustrating; once they made a breakthrough and got a step closer to making it back home, they were thrown yet another obstacle that proved more difficult than anticipated, greatly hindering their progress. Snow longed for her husband's touch, to feel his strong arms around her melting away all of her problems. She wanted to see her grandson's toothy grin and just be a part of his life. They needed to get home.

She gazed over at Emma who was tentatively flipping over loose boards and checking underneath and behind them for any sign of a mirror.

Her daughter had saved her. In an unorthodox manner, no doubt about it, but Emma risked her life to save her. On one level, Snow felt a sense of guilt for that. Emma still harboured twinges of resentment and still kept her heart guarded – that was plain to see – but she gambled dearly when she went after her and even though it sounded a tad absurd, Snow didn't feel worthy of that kind of gesture. She loved Emma more than anyone could ever know and would always so, and there was nothing she cherished more than the thought that her daughter cared for her and loved her back, but Snow felt as though she could never forgive herself for letting Emma live twenty-eight years of her life alone despite the circumstances being out of her control. By saving her from the curse, she essentially placed her under a different one – the curse of loneliness, and her heart throbbed as she thought of the life her daughter had led up to this point. Snow would always feel the weight of that decision beating down on her.

"You're right," she said quietly, raising her head.

"Huh?" Emma dropped what looked to be a leg of a table onto the floor and moved closer to the brunette, marginally stumbling over a broken item but regaining balance quick enough.

"You're right," Snow reiterated. "I won't look at you the way I used to before the curse was broken. Now I look at you and my heart swells with joy and love and I can hardly believe that I have you back in my life. I see my daughter; someone I love so much. So you're right, it won't be like before."

Emma's expression was a mixture of emotions, each one unreadable. "I…"

"No, wait," Snow interrupted, "let me finish. No, we won't be the friends we were, but maybe now we can be even better ones. Even though I am your mother and that adds a whole new dimension to our relationship, the traits I loved most about you as a friend…I still see them. I see your kindness, your assertiveness, your love for Henry and your willingness to be the hero for him; your ability to make something out of your life shines through everything that you do, Emma. It's quite remarkable, actually. Your strength and courage are inspiring. I saw all of these things from the very beginning; they are what made me trust you and want to get to know you – those characteristics are what made me want to be friends with you and now, they are amplified. We will always be friends. We will always be family." She cupped the blonde's cheek, rubbing feathery circles with her thumb. "I love you, Emma; always have, always will."

Emma's expression softened somewhat and she cast her eyes downward. "I-"

"I don't think it is possible for the mirror to withstand the devastation the castle has undergone," Mulan offered, kicking shrapnel out of her way aggressively.

"No, wait," Aurora announced, pushing a load of rubble out of her way. "I think I see something."

Emma was quickly by the princess' side, assisting her in any way that she could: pushing, shoving, kicking – whatever.

Finding the mirror was their first priority but Snow couldn't help but feel a tiny bit cheated over the timing; Emma was about to respond to her declaration and whether her reply was what she wanted to hear or not, at least she would have known where they stood.


I love you, Emma.

It was a truth she was very aware of and yet, as the words stung the air, Emma found herself concaving and looking for an escape. Those were some serious words; words that held promise and came with consequences. Words that could alter all she knew, change her perspective, break down any protective walls that remained upright around her heart. Every broken wall indicated significant growth in her relationship with her parents and her son, but it also deepened her vulnerability, her insecurity and inevitably, her fear of being hurt. It would seem that the idea of dealing with emotional pain was always going to be a part of Emma's life, always going to be in the background simmering until things get too much and then exploding in spectacular fashion.

She wasn't ready to hear that sentiment aloud – not yet.

She was afraid. 'I love you' scared her because, from past experience, she knew that love faded; it didn't remain unchanged as time went on. It was prone to alteration.

So instead of returning an answer, she jumped right in and helped Aurora remove any obstructions that were in the way of the mirror. The princess was frantically picking up loose bricks and tossing them behind her, her upper body strength quite impressive. Emma's body still ached from the exertion earlier and so she was more sluggish than she would have liked, her arms not able to hold up a good deal of the load. The blonde was just happy that her companions were not as badly injured as she was, though they were sporting some rather nasty looking cuts and bruises.

The hairs on her neck stood up as she felt her mother's sorrowful, confused eyes boring holes into the back of her head however she couldn't build up enough bravery to turn around and meet her stare for fear of what she would find there. Why was she so afraid of confessing her true feelings to her mother? She had just risked her life to find her and save her from certain death because she couldn't bear the thought of never seeing her again or being a part of her family, of her life. She put everything on the line because…because she loved her. She loved her Mom. There it was – the honest answer.

So why couldn't she say it to Mary Margaret's face?

"Is that it?" Aurora said, yanking Emma back to reality.

She studied the object in front of her. The frame was battered and missing tiny fragments here and there, but amazingly, the mirror itself was intact.

"I would assume so," Mulan affirmed.

"Mary Margaret?" Emma had no idea if Mary Margaret would know what a magic portal mirror looked like or how it worked but she was the closest thing they had to this sort of stuff and so her opinion was greatly valued.

The woman took slow, deliberate steps toward it, fixating her gaze at her reflection. "I'm…I'm not really sure. I've never seen one before." She paused and tilted her head to the side. "But if every other mirror in this palace has been broken and this is the only one that is left and in one piece, then it has to be."

That was good enough for Emma. "Okay, so there's the first thing out the way."

"The first thing?" Mulan questioned.

"Yeah. There's still the matter of the wardrobe ashes to attend to-"

"That's what I don't understand," Mulan added before Emma could finish her sentence. "If Cora had the ashes and had time to search the palace for the mirror, why didn't she just go? Why wait? Why hold Snow captive?"

That was a good question and one Emma wanted to hear the answer to.

"Because she needed one of us," Mary Margaret said. "I'm no sorceress or spell caster, but I have been around my fair share of magic to have a hold on how it works." Everyone waited for her to continue; the anticipation palpable. "I think it's connected to feelings – not all of the time, but in particular situations. In order for the portal to send her to Storybrooke, Cora needed to be connected to the place, had to have some kind of bond and desire to go there. She couldn't just will herself to go through – the mirror wouldn't let her because her only association with our home is vengeance. Storybrooke isn't something she can picture and therefore, she was unable to pass through. She needed either me or Emma to bridge that gap and make the link."

That all sounded a bit too convoluted and confusing for Emma but there was nothing in Mary Margaret's explanation that she could doubt. Whatever she was saying must have been true. "Okay but that still doesn't help us much; we still have to find the ashes otherwise we can't go through."

Aurora's eyes twinkled and a slight smile danced on her lips. "There's no need to find them. I have the ashes right here." She reached into her shawl and pulled out the small bottle with the ashes sparkling like stars in the sky.

What did you all think? :) How did you all feel about the Snow and Emma conversation? I know it seems a little misplaced considering what they just went through but I figured that that issue was something they were going to have to deal with eventually and what better time than now after they've defeated the villain? Ha if you think it was weird or completely random or if you just didn't like it at all, please let me know! I realize the plot didn't move forward a lot in this chapter but I really just wanted to focus on Emma/Snow and lend a little insight into their thoughts and such. As always I hope you all enjoyed it and please, please review and let me know what you all thought! :)