Author's Note: A thank you to those of you who have apparently read my story, the new followers and the one person who reviewed the last chapter (you know who you are). The muse apparently has returned at the moment, so enjoy the new chapter.

Chapter 9

Slowly the Charming family had made their way over to King George's camp. Henry had come up with a risky idea to save his adoptive mother, but it was all they could try at the moment. Snow and Charming saw their daughter and grandson walk into King George's camp with a nonchalance they knew neither felt.

Henry looked around, making it appear he was looking for something. One of the guards stopped him and asked him what he was looking for, offering his help. It was then that King George appeared as well.

"Prince Henry, it's good to see you made it to our land okay."

Emma's eyes narrowed. She had never particularly liked Albert Spencer back in Storybrooke and she had her walls up immediately he came walking out of the tent. She saw Henry straighten his back in an attempt to appear more confident than he actually felt.

"Thank you, mr. Spencer."

"It's King George now, Prince Henry."

"I'm sorry, sir."

"It's quite alright, boy. So, what can we help you with?"

'This is it,' Henry thought. 'I need to play it cool now and hope he doesn't suspect anything.' He took a deep breath and answered the question: "I'm looking for my mom, have you, by any chance, seen her?"

Snow and Charming had stayed behind and they saw the fleeting look King George sent towards the tent he had just left. It made them realize Regina was probably in the tent. One look at each other was all it took and they quickly and quietly left their hiding spot and tried to make their way over to the back of the tent. Emma and Henry had also noticed the fleeting look, but knew they couldn't do anything about it and they had to rely on Snow and Charming for this.

"But my boy, she's standing right behind you." King George answered and Emma grimaced. Omitting the question wasn't what they'd hoped for.

Henry took a look back at Emma, then turned his attention back to King George. "I know. I meant my other mom."

"I'm sorry, Henry, I have no idea where she is."

And that was the answer they'd hope they'd get. A more blatant lie couldn't have been said. First of all, they knew Regina was in his camp. Secondly, Emma's inner lie detector went off like crazy. 'Good to know, it still works.' She thought.

"Are you sure, you haven't seen her?" Henry prodded and King George nodded.

It was then that Emma spoke and called him out on his lie. "I think you know perfectly well where Regina is."

The look on King George's face forebode nothing good. "I think you and the young prince have overstepped my hospitality, princess. I advice you to leave."

"Oh, you do? Well, then, we better get going then. Henry, come on. Even though we know the 'good' King is lying to us, we mustn't keep him from his duties any longer."

"But Ma…"

"No buts, Henry, come along now."

With one angry look back at King George, Henry followed Emma. But instead of going back the way they came from, Emma walked right into King George's camp. Henry couldn't help but smirk at his mother's tactic when he heard King George's exasperated sigh and footsteps following them.

"Miss Swan, I think I asked you to leave my camp."

"And we are, but we're going the other way we came from. I'd appreciate it if you'd accompanied us, just to make sure we're really leaving."

Regina had heard the whole conversation that went on outside the tent she'd been put in. She felt relieved to know that Henry cared that much about her to come and look for her. She tried to get rid of the gag that been put in her mouth, but that was quite the challenge with her hands bound behind her. She could hear King George tell Henry he hadn't seen her, and with all her might she tried to make some sort of noise to let her boy know, not to believe what he was being told. When she finally heard Emma tell Henry to come along, a sob escaped her. They were going to leave her here.

She had been so focused on letting Henry and Emma know she was right there, she hadn't noticed Snow entering the tent from the back. The feeling of hands untying her own made her look back instantly and she looked right into the face of Snow White. The younger woman brought her finger to her lips, the indication as to why was clear to Regina and she nodded. Snow removed the gag, then returned to untying the rope around her stepmothers hands. When her hands were free, Regina rubbed her wrists softly, noticing the marks the rope had left. Snow quickly untied the rope around Regina's ankles, which were not as vastly tied as the rope around her wrists had been. Once Regina was completely freed, Snow softly grabbed one of her stepmothers hands and softly pulled her along to the back of the tent. Outside stood Charming, on guard. No words were spoken, a look was enough and they quickly and quietly left King George's camp.

They walked for about ten minutes when Snow put her hand on Charming's arm, making him stop as well. Snow looking back, made Charming look back too. They noticed Regina had a hard time keeping up and when she got closer they noticed her limping.

"Regina, you're hurt!, why didn't you tell us?" Snow rushed to her side to offer assistance.

A sarcastic retort and turning down the help came quickly, but Regina pushed the urge to lash out away, accepting Snow's help. "I just wanted to get out of there."

While Snow helped Regina over to a fallen tree, Henry and Emma met up with them. Noticing his mother limping and needing help from his grandmother, Henry rushed over to her. "Did he hurt you?" spilt from his lips when he came near.

Regina opened her arms and in an instant Henry was hugging his adoptive mother. "I think I sprained it when we arrived here. I must have landed badly, I can't remember. He didn't hurt me."

Emma noticed the marks on Regina's wrists when she was hugging Henry, but kept silent. The slight grimace on her face when Henry slightly moved against them, told Emma more than enough.

"Regina, do you think you can walk some more? I don't like the fact, we're still relatively close to Spencer's camp site.

Henry looked up at his adoptive mother with hope in his eyes. "Can you, mom?"

"I think I can manage that. Let's go."

The first thing Peter noticed was the softness he was lying on. It brought back memories of a life he lived a long time ago. The second thing he noticed was the insistent fluttering around his head, together with the soft tinkling the creature made. He slapped the small creature away and turned around, sinking back into the softness.

The creature was sent flying towards one of the walls with an immense speed. Just as it was about to hit the wall, it stopped and kept hovering for a minute, shaking it's head to clear it's vision. Then it flew back to where it had been before it got slapped away and started the insistent fluttering and tinkling again.

Peter grabbed the pillow and pulled it over his head. "Tink, stop it!" The moment he'd said the words, he shot up. "Tink? Tinkerbell?"

The creature that had been fluttering and tinkling around Peter before, was now hovering in front of his face, clearly angry and giving the man a hard time.

"Tink, I'm sorry, alright?!"

"It's of no use, she'll stay angry with you for a while."

Peter turned around to where the voice came from, and he saw a teenage boy standing in the door opening. "Rufio?"

The boy came closer. "You still remember, Peter."

"Only recently."

Rufio raised an eyebrow and eyed Peter. "You've changed."

Peter nodded, "I've grown up."

"It suits you," Rufio said.

"It suits you," a high-pitched voice mimicked.

Peter looked up and saw Tinkerbell rolling her eyes. The moment she noticed him looked at her, she turned around with a huff. Peter couldn't help but smile at the familiarity of it all.

"You're up to telling us about all that has happened in the time you've been away from Neverland?" Rufio asked Peter. "I know the other boys are rather curious how the world outside is and what you've been up to."

Peter nodded, "sure, let's start. I'm rather curious myself what you boys have been doing in my absence."