Emma and Regina were once again hiding out of sight from an approaching carriage, but once it got closer Regina recognized the woman driving. She had seen the woman in Smee's shop talking to Hook.

"I met that woman. She's friends with the Captain. He said she trades at the market near Wall. We could hitch a lift." Regina suggested.

"Really? She's a friend of Hook's?" Emma asked still nervous about trusting anyone with Regina's safety. "You sure?"

"Yes, yes." Regina rolled her eyes not liking to repeat herself.

Giving one last hesitant glance to the brunette Emma ran onto the road into the path of the carriage starting the driver's horse.

"Wait! Sorry! My name is Emma Swan. This -"

"That's my flower." Maleficent cut her off with a shriek. "Eighteen years I've been looking for that. Give it to me now!"

Maleficent angrily got down from her carriage and marched toward Emma.

"How dare you?" Regina cut in. "That was a gift from her mother!

At Regina's words the blue bird on the carriage began to flit about. Maleficent had now reached the two women and attempted to take the flower by force. Emma pulled out the sword she'd received from Hook and stood protectively by Regina's side not sure what this woman was about to do. Upon being threatened however Maleficent took a step back.

"Oh." The witch held up her hands. "Perhaps I was mistaken."

"It's all right. It's obviously very valuable to you, so you can have it in exchange for what I need." Emma put her sword away and lifted the flower from her pocket. "A Babylon candle?"

"-And safe passage to the wall." Regina added.

"A Babylon candle?" Maleficent shook her head and her voice filled with false innocence. "Oh, no, no, no. I don't deal in black magic."

"Really?" Emma sighed dejectedly. "Well, can you give us a lift then? To the wall?"

"Well, why didn't you say so in the first place?" Maleficent smilled. "For that flower, I can offer you passage, food and lodging on the way."

"-Safe passage." Emma clarified.

"I swear," Maleficent placed her hand over her heart, "that you will arrive at the wall in the exact same condition that you're in now."

Emma handed the flower over to the woman but got nervous as Maleficent laughed.

"Do you have any idea what manner of thing it was that you had?"

"Some kind of lucky charm?" Emma shrugged but her eyes were narrowed in distrust and her grip tightened on her sword.

"A very lucky charm indeed. Protection. In fact, the exact same thing that would've prevented me from doing this." Maleficent waved her hand and before Emma could react she was transformed into a mouse.

"Oh, my God! What did you do?" Regina gasped.

"Much better." Maleficent lifted the mouse by the tail.

Furious, Regina tried to attack Maleficent but the spell Cora had placed on the other witch prevented the two from coming into contact with the each other. So while the witch carried the transformed Emma to the carriage Regina beat frantically at the invisible barrier.

"Though I'll keep me word. You shall not be harmed. There." She placed the MouseEmma into a small cage with a piece of cheese. "Food and lodging just as I promised."

"Would I be correct in thinking that you can neither see nor hear me?" Regina leaned in the opening at the back of the wagon but Maleficent did not respond. "Then I'd like to tell you that you smell of pee and look like the wrong end of a dog. And I swear, if I don't get my Emma back as she was, I'll be your personal poltergeist!"

Regina knocked over a box sitting on a shelf. Maleficent noticed but dismissed it before climbing out and getting the horse moving again toward Wall. Regina nervously paced around the small space in the back of the caravan before sitting down next to the cage MouseEmma had been placed in.

"Emma? If you can understand me, look at me now." Regina looked at mouse but there was no recognition. "You know when I said I knew little about love? Well, that wasn't true. I know a lot about love. I've seen it. I've seen centuries and centuries of it. And it was the only thing that made watching your world bearable. All those wars. Pain and lies. Hate. Made me want to turn away and never look down again. But to see the way that mankind loves…"

Regina stood and walked over where Emma was looking at some cheese. The star continued to talk as she placed the cheese in the cage.

"I mean, you could search the furthest reaches of the universe and never find anything more beautiful. So, yes, I know that love is unconditional. But I also know it can be unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and, well, strangely easy to mistake for loathing."

At this point the mouse stopped nibbling on the cheese and seemed to be looking very intently at Regina.

"And what I'm trying to say, Emma, is I think I love you. My heart, it feels like my chest can barely contain it. Like it doesn't belong to me anymore. It belongs to you. And if you wanted it, I'd wish for nothing in exchange. No gifts, no goods, no demonstrations of devotion. Nothing but knowing you love me, too. Just your heart in exchange for mine."

Regina sat in silence the rest of the way. She had said all she had to say and now could only hope that Emma would be returned to her and perhaps realize she feel the same way. When they arrived at the market near the wall night had already fallen.

"The wall is one mile that way." Maleficent placed the mouse on the ground. "There. Though the walk might take you a little longer than normal. Transformation tends to leave the brain a bit scrambled for a while."

"You..." Emma growled and tried to pull her sword but stumbled. "Oh!"

"I warned you. Save your strength." Maleficent snickered and walked off.

Emma tried to come at the witch again but couldn't maintain her balance and fell. Regina was there to catch her though.

"I've been so worried about you."

"Neal." Emma mumbled still disorientated.

"I think I preferred "Mother."" Regina sneered at the mention of his name. The brunette looked around and noticed a building called Granny's Bed & Breakfast. "Come on. There's an inn over there. Neal's birthday is't till tomorrow. I think you need a bath and a good night's sleep before you present me to him."

Emma tried to stand but was still woozy and leaned on Regina for support.

"Come on, Emma. It's not that far." The star assured her as they walked down the street.

Regina spoke to the older woman at the front desk and secured them a room. Once they were inside Regina unceremoniously dropped Emma to the bed, still slightly annoyed at begin called Neal. She didn't know the man but she knew she did not and would not like him despite or because of how much Emma had talked about him during their first few days together.

"Excuse me?" Upon waking up Emma peeked past the privacy curtain to find Regina. "I think you're in my bath."

Regina turned so that her back was facing the other woman. "Well, close your eyes!"

"I'm not... Honestly, I'm not looking." Emma chuckled at Regina's modesty. "Here, I'll turn away."

Regina got out of the bath and wrapped herself in a towel. "All right, you can look now.

The two stood quietly for a moment trading coy smiles before Emma broke the silence.

"Did you really mean what you said in the caravan?

"What I...?" Regina's eyes went wide. "But... But you were a mouse! You were a mouse! You wanted cheese! You didn't..."

Emma couldn't help but laugh and Regina smacked the blonde's arm. "I asked you to give me a sign."

"And risk you being too embarrassed to keep saying such lovely things?" Emma smiled and reached for Regina's hand and pulled her closer so their foreheads touched. "You want to know what the Captain really whispered to me that day?"

Regina stepped back to look Emma in the eyes and nodded.

"He told me that my true love was right in front of my eyes. And he was right."

Emma brought her hand up to Regina's neck and leaned in to kiss her.

OUAT STARDUST OUAT

"You're very close." Ursula told Cora. "She's in the market town. One mile from the gap in the wall."

"You speak as if this is good news." Cora sighed angrily. "Do I need to remind you that Wall is not part of our universe? If she crosses the threshold into the human realm, our star becomes nothing more than a pitted lump of metallic rock."

"Then I suggest you hurry up!" Zira snapped.

OUAT STARDUST OUAT

Emma awoke the next morning next to Regina and could see the star's glow. Taking out a knife she cut a bit of Regina's hair and placed it in a handkerchief. The blonde got dressed quickly and hurried out of the room down the stairs to the front desk. Not seeing anyone around Emma rang the service bell.

"What?" Granny came around the corner her glasses slightly askew clearly having just woken up. "Oh, what I do for you?"

"Sorry." Emma apologized. "Can I have a piece of paper and a pen?"

"Ask me again at a more reasonable hour." The older woman began to walk back to her room.

"Wait, I can't. I have to go." Emma informed her. "Look, if my friend wakes up before I get back, please, can you give her a message?"

"Go on." Granny sighed.

OUAT STARDUST OUAT

"You know, that's the first time I've ever slept at night. I can't believe it." Regina rolled over in bed expecting to see Emma there but the blonde was gone. "Emma?"

Hoping Emma had just gone down to breakfast Regina got dressed and headed down stairs but didn't see anyone. Hearing the noise from the kitchen Regina went inside and noticed the Innkeeper washing dishes.

"Have you seen my friend?" Regina asked.

"She left absurdly early."

"She left?" Regina couldn't believe it.

"She told me to tell you she's gone to see Neal because she's sorry, but she's knows who her true love really is." Granny reiterated the message. "That now she knows who she wants to spend the rest of her life with."

"What?" Regina asked the glow that had radiated from her skin fading quickly. "Are you sure?"

"I'm positive." Granny nodded and continued her work in the kitchen.

In a fog Regina left the Inn and began walking down the road past the shopkeepers in the markets setting up their booths.

"Hey! Hey, wait! Wait!" Maleficent's slave girl called out to Regina but the star was lost in her thoughts and continued walking.

OUAT STARDUST OUAT

Emma walked down the road in the town of Wall. It seemed impossible that she'd only been gone a week everything seemed so different or perhaps, she thought, nothing had changed in the town and perhaps the change had been in her. That thought cemented itself in her head as she decided not to toss a stone at Neal's window to get his attention and instead just knocked on the door.

"Happy birthday." She greeted him when he came to the door.

"Emma." Neal gasped, "What happened to you?"

"I found the star." She replied.

"I can't believe you did it" Neal stood in awe. "Where's my star? Can I see it?"

Emma took out the handkerchief with the lock of Regina's hair.

"Well, it's awfully small." Neal looked confused.

"Well, that's just a little piece. A token for your birthday."

"Well... Well, then forget about the star. It's not the star that I want." He spoke in a suggestive tone. "You know what I want."

"Yeah. I do." Neal leaned in for a kiss but Emma put up her hand to stop him. "You want to grow up and get over yourself."

The sound of a package dropping took Emma's attention away from Neal. "Tamara."

"Swan." Tamara sneered then noticed that Emma was carrying a sword and back up.

"Tamara." Emma laughed. "Tamara, it's all right. He's all yours."

Neither Tamara nor Neal understood what was happening but Emma didn't care about either of them anymore. "You really are a perfect couple. The best of luck to you both."

"Well, why would I want this?" Neal had finally looked in the handkerchief. "It's just a measly handful of stardust!"

Emma watched as the dust was taken away by the wind.

"Regina." Emma gasped. "She can't cross the wall."


A/N: So this was the part that had the scene that made me feel the need to rewrite the story with a Swan Queen twist. Love being 'unpredictable, unexpected, uncontrollable, unbearable and, well, strangely easy to mistake for loathing.' How is that not Swan Queen?! Anywho thanks again for you reviewers I love to hear that people are enjoying the story. I think I can get the last part in to one chapter which I hope to have posted soon.