Finally back...

Warning for Neal and Rumple, if there's a need.

Enjoy.

"You cannot win against Pan without me," Rumple said.

"Watch me. I don't need you."

"You can't get close enough to Pan without him killing you right there."

"I don't need to get close. I just need one clean shot to get Henry back," Neal snapped back.

"At least let me do that for you. Leave it up to me."

"Fine."

Neal shook his head at the memory. He opened his eyes to a smug Pan and narrowed his eyes at him from where he sat. He wasn't sure what was worse: being trapped here or being trapped here and in a cage? At least he wasn't in the cage but he was still stranded here.

"I'm getting out of here," Neal said lowly.

"Oh really?" Pan smirked. "How do you figure you're going to do that?"

"Emma will come and get me and then we're getting Henry back."

"You put too much faith in those heroes. You'll all be a broken mess before you can even think of saving your boy."

"You wrong, Pan. Emma can do this. She's the savior."

"A savior who's moved on from you."

"What are you talking about?" Neal frowned standing up. Pan chuckled.

"Your savior has a new love now. The Evil Queen. I doubt she's here to save you, Neal."

"What? No…" Neal stepped menacingly to the edge and stared at Pan directly in the eyes, "I know your head games. Emma is coming."

"We'll see about that. Enjoy your stay, Neal," Pan said turning to follow the lost boys out of the cave. "Welcome back to Neverland…Baelfire."

"Pan!" Neal shouted.

"Focus." Regina said. Emma sighed and took a deep breath zoning in on the barren campfire. They'd been at this for hours and nothing had yet to come of it. Regina stopped trying to look for the spark ages ago considering how untrained and unused the blonde's magic was.

"Concentrate!" the brunette said more firmly standing up to the younger woman.

"That's hard to do with you talking in my ear, Regina."

"Or when the wind blows. Or it's raining…or someone's shooting arrows at you." Regina paused. "Or from what I've seen, when I even move in the slightest. Can you really not focus?"

"I'm trying!" Emma said in frustration.

"Find your anger and use it to focus." She gesturing to the unlit campfire.

"There has to be a way without going dark."

"I…" Regina started but then sighed, digging the heels of her hands into her eyes from tiredness. She looked at the frustrated blonde and gave her a sympathetic look as she calmly said, "Then find something else."

"What?"

"I'm not trying to corrupt the savior but I'm also not trying to sit here for months waiting for you to light a fire. Find something to fuel your magic."

"How?" Emma frowned.

"Magic is emotion."

"Any emotion?" the blonde asked immediately coming up with an idea.

"If you feel it strong enough but it also has to be an emotion you're going to be able to feel even during battle," Regina sighed.

Silence followed as Emma started to think more on her theory. Truthfully, she had plenty of anger to go around for as long as she was on this cursed island but that wasn't an option. And for more reasons than the obvious one. Anger just wasn't working. She'd focused on any anger she had but none of it had even given her a spark. Being happy all the time was her mother's thing and no way was she going to be able to even maintain a happy thought in the middle of a fight with Pan. Although there was one thing she could feel in the heat of battle as she looked at Regina.

The brunette frowned at her staring, "What?"

"I found something…" Emma mumbled to herself as she stared intensely at the former queen. Regina frowned even more but couldn't so much as voice a syllable as Emma stepped up to her placing her hands on either side of her face and forcing a very heated kiss onto the brunette. They stumbled back into a tree but Emma didn't let up.

Snow's eyes widened and she was about to protest whatever was happening but David put a hand on her arm and shook his head. She looked shocked, "David. Now is really not the time for them to be passionately making out. What about Henry? What about us?"

"What about us?" David asked puzzled.

"She's our daughter. We're not supposed to be-"

She was quickly interrupted by the campfire finally sparking to life in a near explosion. Snow grabbed David in a panic and practically jumped into his lap at the raging fire. They both stared with wide eyes between the fire and the two women refusing to come up for air.

"David," Snow said in a hushed tone, still clamped down on his arm.

"I see it too." He cleared his throat loud enough in attempt to get their attention.

Regina pulled away and glanced behind her and got a glimpse of the six feet of flames before it died down to a normal size. She gaped at it and then looked back to Emma in bewilderment. It was distracting to see the blonde still standing there with her hands still out exactly how they were when the brunette's face was held in them and her lipstick somewhat smeared across her lips.

"What was that?" Regina questioned the blonde, pulling her hands down in the process.

"I…uh…I think I really, really love you. Like a lot," Emma replied. Regina spared her a short smile before glancing back to the fire. She waved her hand over it making it disappear and the blonde's shoulders slumped.

"Do it again," Regina said and the blonde reached out to cup her face again but this time Regina grabbed her wrist and pushed them down. Emma looked confused. "…without doing that again." The blonde pouted slightly and she moved to clarify, "Emma, we can't be kissing in the middle of a battle."

"Okay…" She stared deeply at the twigs over Regina's shoulder and shortly the fire lit again. Her parents smiled and Regina was pleasantly stunned.

"Well, it would've been nice had you thought of that hours ago."

"I've been thinking about kissing you the whole time actually." Regina rolled her eyes but still grinned at the smirking blonde.

"Mills," Hook called coming from the forest.

"What is it, Killian?" Regina asked not looking away from the beaming woman in front of her. Although at the sound of his name her smile faltered a bit and Regina couldn't help but find the jealousy adorable.

"A word?"

"Alright fine." Regina turned and Emma pulled her back placing a chaste kiss to her lips before letting her go.

The brunette followed him out of earshot of Emma and the Charmings. He didn't say anything for several moments and threw occasional glances at Emma. Regina watched him with a raised eyebrow following his eyes to Emma. She narrowed her eyes at him and shoved him against the nearest tree and he didn't even bother to resist.

"I thought you were giving up on that, pirate," Regina said with a grimace.

"It's not me you should be worried about, love," He said finally looking at her instead of the blonde.

Her brow creased in confusion, "What does that mean?"

"Pan paid me a visit."

"What? Did he tell you where Henry is?" Regina asked eagerly.

"No," he said eying the woman closely. The brunette noticed the downturn in his expression as well as the conflict she saw there. "He told me that Neal was alive and that he is on this very island."

"That's impossible. He's dead," she said sounding completely unconvinced. "Emma watched him fall through a portal after being shot. He's dead."

"No he's not. He took him from this camp."

"Even if I thought that were true, why would he tell you anyway?"

"He wants to know who you really are, Mills." Regina glanced over to Emma talking to her parents as they stood over the fire that they created. "It's Pan, Regina. I have no reason to lie to you and I have a good feeling Pan isn't lying."

"Neal's alive," Regina said to herself brushing her fingertips against her lip, the feeling of Emma's kiss lingering. She immediately tensed up at the realization as she locked eyes with Emma and the blonde's concerned look only provided an ache in her chest.

"What do you want to do, love?" Hook asked from behind her.

"She'll never forgive me if I didn't tell her. She still loves him."

"You can't see the future here," Pan informed lightly still causing Rumple to jump from where he sat. The older man glared at him. "It's impossible to see the future in a place where time stands still."

"I may not see the future here but I can make one happen," he replied and for the shortest moment Pan seemed surprised by the optimism.

Then he laughed, "Was that a threat? And here I made your favorite breakfast…eggs in a basket." Rumple gave the food a suspicious look before looking back to him. "Thought you could use it. You look all down in the dumps."

"I'm fine."

"Sure you are Rumple. You've lost your son again and Henry is unobtainable because well…you'd have to go through me. We both know you can't do that." Pan walked over to the food and grabbed one and stepped towards Rumple who took several steps away, "You still like the yolk runny don't you?"

"What do you want?" he asked behind gritted teeth.

"Well, if you won't eat then I will," Pan grinned taking a small taunting bite of it and sitting it back down, "I'm just trying to point out the silver lining in your cloudy life."

"That by killing you all our troubles end? That has to be it."

"We both know that's not going to happen," he chuckled before giving Rumple a dirty look. "Because the only way for you to do that is for you to die too."

"Still not seeing the silver linings."

"You can go. Leave the island."

"And abandon my son? And Henry? I don't think so."

"Even if you did save them, which you won't, what would be the point? They'll never forgive you for the horrible things you've done."

"You don't know that."

Pan stepped closer but Rumple didn't move an inch, "Have you forgiven your father?" He was satisfied with the contemplative silence. "You see my point. Back to that silver lining then…You have a new girl waiting for you back in Storybrooke. Belle is it?"

"Don't you dare!"

"Stop this foolishness Rumple. Go back to her, make a new start…maybe a new child. You know that's the only future for you." He looked at Rumple from head to toe. "Assuming you want to live."

"Pan…" Rumple said lowly watching him walk away.

"Enjoy the eggs."

"What's this?" Neal said watching Pan raise a hand to the exit.

"I thought it'd be best to leave you here for your precious Emma to find but some things have led me to believe that just letting you find her would be even better to watch."

"What the hell are you talking about?" he questioned, frowning intensely at him. When he refused to move from his spot two very strong Lost Boys dragged him out of the cave and Pan followed behind them.

"See, the way things have played out, I figured why use the echo cave when just setting you free would cause all the more trouble. Just in advance, I truly am sorry. I know she meant a lot to you."

Neal paled, knowing exactly who he was referring to. He started to shake his head in disbelief and though it may have been less obvious to some more than others, they were definitely speaking about different things. Though Pan didn't bother to explain further and just smirked in satisfaction as Neal ran off into the brush.

"I don't get it," Felix piped up after watching the man flee. "How does letting him go benefit us?"

"Because Felix, the best way to destroy a group of strong, willed heroes full of hope is to do it from the inside out. There's one too many love triangles plaguing the heroes camp, what better way to start a divide."

"And while they're fighting each other-"

"By the time they stop, they'll be way too late to save their Henry because by then, he'll be mine. One with the island." Pan grinned. "A true lost boy."

Regina eyed the Charmings as they left the camp for firewood. At least that was their excuse after seeing one too many looks exchanged between the brunette and their daughter. As soon as they were out of sight Regina stood up from where she sat and walked over to Emma staring deeply into the fire she had lit with her magic. Their magic really.

"I still can't believe I did this," the blonde said absently. Regina looked at her in amusement before sitting down next to her.

"Please fight your compulsion to touch it dear. A lesson in healing burns is going to take a lot more than a few kisses I'm afraid."

"Don't I know it," Emma chuckled. Regina tilted her head wondering if now was the time reveal the information Hook for informed her of. Before she could decide, however, Emma spoke again, "You haven't told me what happened back in the cave. With Tinkerbell."

"Maybe now isn't the time, Emma," Regina said nervously, wringing her hands together in her lap. The blonde gently grabbed one of her hands.

"Whatever it is, I'll understand. Your past isn't going to scare me away. I know you're different, I've seen it," Emma said in encouragingly.

"Tinkerbell saved me from falling over the railing. For a short moment we were…friends." The word felt unfamiliar on her tongue and Emma only tightened her grip. "She stole fairy dust from the Blue Fairy and tried to…help me…"

"Help you what? Get away from Cora?"

"No, this was during my time married to the king and I was well on my way to going down my path to becoming the Evil Queen."

"So…?"

"She told me she was going to find my soulmate so that I could be happy."

"And?"

"The dust showed me a lion tattoo on a man's wrist. He was in a tavern having a drink and I didn't go meet him. And according to Tinkerbell, I ruined his life and my own by not going in that tavern. After that the Blue Fairy clipped her wings."

"Brutal but life sucks, she'll get over it."

"Emma-"

"Regina you didn't ruin your life by not going in there, now you have me," Emma grinned, shrugging her shoulders. The brunette couldn't help but think it was adorable. "Besides, were either of you sure the dust found the wrong lion?"

"What?" Regina frowned. Emma turned over her left arm revealing a tattoo on her wrist and Regina gasped, "But she said lion, not lyon, Emma."

"Well, technically during that time the dust could've gotten confused because your True Love wasn't born yet," Emma said smartly.

"I'm too tired right now to question that, dear. Let's just say you're right for now," Regina said taking Emma's tattooed wrist and holding it in her hand, brushing her thumb against the ink. The blonde looked up expectantly at her and smiled sweetly. Regina leaned forward and pressed their lips together.

The younger woman deepened the kiss eagerly.

"Emma," Regina paused putting a hand against her chest.

"Something wrong?"

"Why are you so perfect?" she questioned lightly, caressing the blonde's cheek. Emma opened and closed her mouth a few times but chose not to say anything since her blushing was telling it all. She grinned faintly and pushing falling hair into her face behind her ear.

"Regina…" she mumbled.

"No. You are." The brunette pulled Emma's left hand flat against her chest. At first Emma figured it was just to feel her heartbeat until she felt her hand move passed her chest and right into it. She froze looking between Regina and her hand too deep into the woman's chest cavity.

"Regina what are you doing?" she asked panicking. "I don't want to crush your heart."

"No, I'm not asking you to do that. I want you to take it and hold it," Regina said calmly, coaxing Emma to obey as she felt the blonde's soft fingers brush the organ slightly. At the younger woman's uncertainty, she said, "Go on. You won't hurt me."

"Are you sure? Because when your mom did that…it wasn't pretty."

"I'm not the product of True Love. My heart isn't protected by magic like yours is."

"I…well…okay," Emma hesitated before slowly wrapping her fingers around the pulsing organ and gently pulling her hand out. Her face flushed at the sight of the enchanted heart beating in her hand. Immediately she tried to push it back to the older woman but Regina stopped her.

"It's alright," the brunette said holding Emma's hands steady, alarmed that the blonde might drop it in her nervousness. "Look at it."

Emma glanced up to meet brown eyes and then down to the darkened heart in her hands, "What am I supposed to be seeing?"

"Light in the darkness," Regina said simply and Emma frowned until her eyes fell to the bright red shining right in the middle.

"What's happening to it?"

"The darkness is fading. It'll take time but it's leaving my heart."

"And that's good right?" Emma asked. Regina nodded placing a hand on her forearm.

"See what you've done to me, Emma Swan…to my blackened heart."

Emma chuckled lightly, "I love you, too, Regina," launching herself forward, forcing the older woman into another kiss that slowly began to turn into several more kisses. Regina's heart lay between them clutched safely in Emma's hand until she gently pushed the organ back into Regina's chest. The brunette gasped into Emma's mouth at the sensation. The savior grinned resting her forehead against hers.

"I bet I can kiss the light the rest of the way into your heart," Emma teased.

"Oh really?"

"Mmhm," she nodded, stealing another peck. And another. "I'm a really good kisser."

"I can tell, Miss Swan," Regina smiled and kissed her back.

"Emma!" Neal shouted running through the brush. He stopped abruptly, facing falling into shock.

"Neal," Emma whispered with her eyes widening. She pulled her head away from Regina's and turned around to see her, not so dead, ex. She stood up without missing a beat and Regina felt her heart sink in disappointment. She had promised herself she would get to that but the sheriff was so distracting and adorable during their conversation it suddenly became the last thing she wanted to think about.

"You're alive?" Emma questioned shakily.

"Yeah and you're okay." His eyes narrowed at Regina, "And with her…"

"Nice to see you, too, Mr. Cassidy," Regina sneered.

Emma turned to her with a frown, "You knew?"

"I had only just found out from Killian less than two hours ago." She quickly sensed Emma's anger flaring up and continued, "That's what I originally was going to talk to you about but obviously it couldn't have been easy for me, seeing as…" she trailed off and looked to Neal who only continued to frown at her.

"She loves me and not you," he was quick to say and Emma's frustration with the older woman ebbed away at his comment.

"Neal, don't you say that to her," she warned lowly. Regina instantly felt a swell in her chest at the blonde's protectiveness.

"Emma, you know who she is."

"I'm very aware."

"She's the Evil Queen for fuck's sake," he said raising his voice.

"Regina didn't leave me, you did, Neal. So don't put anything on her. She's been there even when we were enemies and I don't see the evil in her anymore. Hell, I never really have, she's always been just Regina."

"What has she done to you?" He questioned harshly.

"What's going on?" Hook questioned appearing at the camp grounds with Snow and David right behind him. Neal scoffed at the sight of him and normally Regina would agree but her eyes were too busy watching Emma's hand unconsciously raise to her stomach.

"Neal?" Snow questioned in disbelief. The man glanced over to them before snapping back over to Emma.

"First him," he said waving dismissively in Hook's direction and then pointed to Regina, "And now her?"

"Neal, I-" Emma choked quietly and Regina was at her side promptly with a gentle hand on the middle of her back. The blonde looked gratefully at the woman before turning back to him. "I still love you Neal but not that way. Not anymore."

"We had something, Emma."

"Had."

Instead of giving a reply, he turned on his heel and walked back into the jungle, shoulders tensed and jaw clenched. Emma moved out of Regina's touch to go after him but stopped shortly clutching her stomach in pain as she bent over.

"You need to rest," Regina insisted pulling the blonde up and wrapping an arm around her waist. Emma nodded slowly but said, "Alright but we're talking about this later, Regina."

The brunette agreed silently guiding the younger woman to where she could lay down and check her stubborn wounds and in the process Regina exchanged a look with Hook. He didn't say anything and didn't look to be judging her for anything, the pirate just inclined his head watching them go. Regina really, really hated to admit it but now she had come to realize, Guyliner was the closest thing she's had to a friend, or at the very least a companion, in ages.

"Could you stop squirming?" Regina asked quietly pulling the savior's shirt up to her chest.

"Sorry," Emma mumbled turning her head away with her hands clasped together behind her head. Regina rolled her eyes as she removed the bandaging over the younger woman's stomach.

"They're healing nicely," the former queen said aloud more for her benefit than Emma's. "I don't understand why you're in so much pain."

"I'm poisoned," Emma answered flatly.

"You're upset with me," Regina sighed deciding to change bandages just so she had something to do with her hands.

"It's a possibility."

"What have I done?" The brunette asked almost in a pout. Emma grinned and laughed, wincing at the pain shooting through her stomach. Regina frowned, "What?"

"Regina, I'm not mad at you. Well, maybe I was for a second but you had just found out. I can't hold that against you and I'm guessing it was messing with your head when you found out, right?"

"It was a little concerning. Your first love coming back, I thought…"

"That I would choose him?" Emma finished. Regina nodded finishing up and pulling her shirt back down to her waist. She took a seat next to the reclining blonde who reached out and put a comforting hand on her thigh. "You sounded so confident before when you were giving me a pep talk about first loves and all that."

"You do know who you're talking to Miss Swan? I'm well versed in faking many things."

"Including faking smiles, which I have yet to see recently. I'd like to keep it that way," Emma grinned. Regina let a smile tug at the corner of her lips before leaning down over the blonde for a short peck. Emma grabbed her hand and began brushing her thumb over the older woman's knuckles, "Regina, I know I said I still loved Neal but honestly he could never have anything over you. He gave me Henry and that's all. I'm with you until you tell me to go. I promise."

"I doubt I could tell you to go and you'd actually really listen to me," Regina chuckled.

"Well, it's a good thing I didn't listen when you told me to leave or else we wouldn't be a thing," she said gesturing between them.

Regina raised an eyebrow, "And what is this thing that we are?"

"Partners," Emma shrugged, "Girlfriends?"

"Even though we're true loves, I still believe we should take this like any other relationship."

"Which would be how exactly? In case you haven't noticed, neither one of us has had a stable relationship. What classifies as 'any other relationship' for us?"

"I-I'll let you know when I figure that out but for now maybe you would let me take you out on a date?" Regina questioned. The blonde beamed at her and nodded, having been impatient about the brunette eventually asking her that question after she overheard the woman talking back on the boat. And Regina had been too anxious to even think about it ever since she had said it while thinking Emma was asleep.

They smiled at each other.

"Finally found him," Hook announced walking back into the camp with Neal following, purposely dragging his feet about it. Snow and David looked up from their laps in relief. David was about to speak until Hook raised his hand flippantly and walked away leaving the three of them there.

"Where's Emma?" Neal asked breaking the silence. Snow nervously glanced over to where her daughter laid with her head resting in her former step mother's lap. Neal followed her stare and immediately frowned, clenching his fist. He shot his eyes back over to the Charmings, "The Evil Queen. That's a new one."

"Trust me, I don't think anyone saw that coming," David commented.

"Obviously, Emma is just confused or something. It could be the island making her stir crazy. She wouldn't voluntarily be with that woman."

"Confused?" Snow questioned with a frown. "Emma looks absolutely certain about her sexuality."

"Not that," Neal huffed dismissively continuing to shoot daggers at the brunette. "I've known about Emma being bisexual a long time ago. It's that she thinks Regina Mills, the evil queen is the love of her life."

"Who else would it be?"

"You're okay with this?" he asked in disbelief. "Surely you would prefer me, or even Killian, over her."

"Well…" David started and Neal's eyes widened.

"Maybe at first we would have like her to fall in love with anyone else but there was something between them long before we even knew she was our daughter," Snow explained glancing over to them. "We could fight her about this decision all we wanted but the fact is that they're true loves and our opposition won't ever change that. Ultimately, we should be able to mend the broken ties between Regina and ourselves because the fact of the matter is Regina makes Emma happy. In the end, that's all we want for Emma. To be happy."

"Regina Mills," Neal said exasperatedly.

"If that's who she wants to be with, it isn't our right to say otherwise," David nodded only feeling slightly sorry for the man. Maybe a week ago he would have preferred him over Regina but now he knew more about their relationship.

Neal had a choice just as they had made a choice. They chose what they thought would be best for Emma and she had ended up alone. He and Snow accepted that and would always regret it but Neal wasn't so easily forgiven by Emma. It wasn't much but they both had a reason Neal unfortunately was given the option based off a story August gave to him. He hadn't been certain about anything but he still made the choice.

"You're kidding…this is a joke."

"No. We want Emma to be happy and if Regina makes her happy then we accept that. Not easily, but we accept it."

Neal looked over to Emma and Regina together and leveled the brunette with another glare. The last thing he wanted to admit was that it did seem as though she was actually happy. Whatever Regina was saying was making her laugh and it was pissing him off. The Evil Queen being so easily forgiven.

He let the less than nice thoughts fester in his mind for a while not noticing the brunette catching him staring and frowning at him. He also missed when Regina got up from her spot and was now stalking over to him with Emma asking her not to and reaching out to grab the woman.

Regina flicked her wrist and Emma couldn't get up from her lounging position. She growled under her breath and struggled under her spell. She closed her eyes tightly trying to use her own magic to cancel it out. Regina smirked to herself at the blonde's attempts before she turned back to Neal scowling at her once again.

"Is there something I can help you with Mr. Cassidy?" Regina asked smugly.

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing but I don't like it," Neal sneered.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've done something to Emma."

"I haven't done a thing to her…except be there for her," Regina said calmly, taunting the man.

Neal took a dangerously aggressive step towards the woman, shooting his hand out. He was stopped, fingers just a hair away from the brunette's neck. He turned to see Hook tightly grasping his hand, stopping him from laying a finger on the older woman.

"You're getting dangerously close to doing something you'll regret," Hook warned throwing his hand away from Regina's throat.

"You're defending her? This has got to be the greatest thing ever," Neal said in frustration.

"I've made quite the acquaintance in Regina. I like pestering her so I'd appreciate it if you kept your hands to yourself."

"Oh, you're with her too?" He questioned with sarcasm lacing his voice. Regina scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Thank you for the assistance but I could've handle him," Regina said to Hook, crossing her arms.

"Bae don't become the villain here," Hook said in a harsh whisper that only Neal and Regina could hear. "This isn't about you versus Regina to win Emma's heart, which you won't win might I add…this is about rescuing the boy. Your son."

"I know about Henry, that's what I'm here for but this?" He said gesturing to Regina, "I didn't sign up for this."

"Mr. Cassidy, I would suggest you keep your focus on finding Henry because Emma is no longer your concern. You gave up that chance," Regina said. He bucked forwards at her and Hook stopped him again.

"Go cool off," Hook said sternly. Neal angrily stared at the woman before ripping his arm away from him and walking off.

Hook sighed and turned to Regina, "Mills-"

"I know. Don't provoke but it's fun."

"It's one thing to get you to stop being…you, around Emma. It's another thing for you to be civil with other people."

"Did you really expect otherwise?" she smirked.

"Go tend to Swan."

"And where are you going?" Regina asked.

"We still have to go save the lad. We'll get started in the morning."

Battle with Pan up next...