GOD ONLY KNOWS

...what I'd be without you.

I may not always love you

But long as there are stars above you

You never need to doubt it

I'll make you so sure about it...

God Only Knows, The Beach Boys

Shortly after Hook had made his ordered disappearance, Mulan left again. Probably to warn her friends that Emma's strange, questionable comrade was now off on his own. It was a smart move, Hook could be dangerous when he wanted to be.

If Emma had the competence to walk she would have taken off herself, but she knew that wasn't in the cards considering her ankle was throbbing while she was sitting still. So instead she retrieved the rather stiff river-washed cloths and bound her ankle. It was better than nothing although she really wished she could soak it, but she wasn't sure there was water anywhere nearby and it's not like she could get up and get it on her own. She could ask but she was already starting to feel far too indebted to her new companions.

It seemed only fair that considering they had helped her, she would give them something. Mulan had eyed her cuffs with some interest and she wasn't sure what else she had of value. Maybe she could offer up those, but the thought of losing them felt a little heartbreaking and it hurt to think of giving them away. As of right now they were really her only real connection to home.

They shouldn't have that much meaning but somehow, they did. The cuffs had been Graham's once and she'd been through a lot with them. She'd even worn them herself a couple of times, thanks to Regina, though knowing her history it wasn't terribly surprising. Mary Margaret had worn them too, though, which was pretty surprising. It stung, a little, to think of her roommate. Mother. Whatever. She hadn't even had time to process their relationship before she'd wound up here. Emma couldn't help but wonder if out there, somewhere, Mary was also trying to figure out how to get her home.

Hopefully Mary Margaret was having more luck at it then she was.

She knew she didn't have much time until the Three Musketeers returned, but she had to say she enjoyed the silence. Although, she had to admit the three had really helped her. They were supposed to be the good guys so she shouldn't be surprised. However, in the Enchanted Forest, she hadn't encountered many that were overly friendly. Hook was friendly to a point (though she would never know how much of it had been legitimate or if it had all just been an act), but she wasn't sure teaming up with him had been the smartest plan.

It had been sheer desperation, really. With more perspective and distance, she would feel less crappy about sending him on his way. She wasn't even sure why she felt so bad. Maybe because he had been the first non-avian face she had seen? He had helped her when she had needed it. Perhaps she felt she had owed him for that? But here was the thing, she really didn't owe him anything, right? They were just two people thrown together by circumstance. True they had gone through a lot together, and she was bound to feel some attachment to him. It wasn't like she was going to miss him, she'd only just met him, they weren't friends. It was just about her debt to him, and that was repaid. She had meant it when she told Mulan that getting rid of him was the smartest thing she'd done since she'd crash-landed here.

Even if he wasn't hallucinating anymore, he'd never really been the best of partners. Even if she could ignore his rather glaring flaws, she didn't trust him, and his hallucinations had shown her a lot of things she'd been trying to overlook. There was a part of him that was dark and very dangerous, and even if he kept it in check most of the time, she had no way of knowing what would set him off.

He had seemed genuinely upset at the idea he harmed her. That did mean something, but she's not sure that he wouldn't hurt her if she got in the way of him and his goal. It was fuzzy, but between the hallucinations and the crocodile conversation, she had a pretty clear idea of what he was capable of. He hated this Crocodile enough that he was willing to hurt innocents in the process. She had no doubt she could be on his list of unfortunate casualties if she made the mistake of getting in his way.

Hook was fighting for himself and for his own vengeance. There wasn't room for partners or alliances in that, turning on her was an inevitability. An inevitability she didn't want to face. And even if there was a slim chance that he remained loyal to her, she couldn't rightly stand by and help him when she knew how dark his motives were. Henry would be appalled if she helped a villain get closer to succeeding in their aims. Henry aside, Emma didn't want to be responsible for the bloodshed if Hook got to Storybrooke to exact his revenge, innocents would surely suffer...they always did.

No, it was best that they had split ways. He had helped her when she was injured, she'd repaid the favor. The biggest problem with splitting ways with Hook was it seemed she was back at square one. Even if she wanted to steal his plan, go to the beanstalk and take the compass, how was she going to find it? He'd been the one who knew where it was. So what was she supposed to do now? She was no closer to finding a way home than she had been the very first day.

Emma frowned, hugging her knees towards her chest, despite the twinge of pain in her ankle. She wondered how the hell she was going to make it out of here. She wasn't giving up, but man. It wasn't like her odds had never been good but the longer she spent here, the more hopeless her situation seemed to become.

Breaking her out of her thoughts at the sound of someone entering, she glanced towards the door to see Mulan returning with a large armful of wood. Aurora and Phillip were not far behind her, either. Emma automatically shifted her position to one that looked less vulnerable, stretching her legs straight out in front of her. She might have crossed them if her ankle wasn't sore.

"Where's your friend?" Aurora asked immediately, looking surprised. Emma didn't believe for a second that Mulan hadn't told Phillip and Aurora that she had sent Hook on his way. Maybe she was shocked that Emma hadn't gone limping after him as soon as the coast was clear. She was young, probably too attached to foolish ideas of romance to be sensible. There was no way she was going after that pirate any time soon.

"He woke up, the poison wore off, and he left." Emma was tempted to clarify that she had sent him away, purely for Aurora's benefit, before Phillip chimed in before she could.

"Is that wise?" He asked, mirroring what Mulan had said. Emma was slightly annoyed at this. Any way she sliced it, the question bothered her. Either he was worried that Hook might come after them, or he was worried that the pirate shouldn't be out there alone. Hook wouldn't be storming their camp, and Emma was confident of this. Phillip seemed to refuse to believe she was capable of making decisions for herself. And as for the pirate's safety, he was remarkably hard to kill. He had managed to keep himself alive for hundreds of years, apparently, so she was pretty sure he could manage on his own just fine.

"Yes. He's a big boy, I think he can handle himself," Emma huffed, hoping they could move on to a new subject, preferably one not revolving around Hook. He wasn't even here and he was managing to bother her. Phillip looked about to question further, but Aurora placed a delicate hand on his arm and he fell silent. Before anyone else could chime in on the unwanted subject, Emma purposefully changed gears. "So. Where are you three headed?"

Mulan answered, while she set up her kindling for a fire. "My friend Lancelot has a camp for refugees. We intend to head there. It is one of the few safe places that remain." Emma nodded at this, finding it an acceptable answer.

"And yourself?" Aurora asked, dropping down next to Emma. Phillip, who had apparently found not only a pail but some water to put in it, rummaged around the room to collect cups for all of them. Probably a good idea for them to drink it but right now all Emma wanted was to soak her ankle.

Aurora's question was a good one and one Emma found difficult to answer. "I don't know, really," She muttered, annoyed by her own lack of direction.

"You're trying to find your way home, aren't you? It's clear you're not from the forest." Aurora's bluntness was apparently surprising to Mulan and Phillip, who both gave her a long look. "What? Oh, please, it's obvious. Your clothes are very strange, those irons you used on that man were like nothing I've seen before. And that metal object that Phillip found... you're from another world, yes?"

Emma would have been surprised if Hook hadn't also noticed how out of place she was upon mere minutes of knowing her. It was a little weird, how commonplace portals seemed to be here. But the Forest was clearly much different than her world. It was still a little awkward talking about something so revealing but she had to own up to the fact that trying to hide her motives made it very difficult to get help. She needed a portal and if these three knew anything about them, had any knowledge to share, then she had to be upfront about the fact she wasn't from here. Besides, it was apparently very obvious.

"Metal object?" Emma clarified, eyebrows raised. Phillip rather sheepishly pulled something from behind his back. Oh, her gun. Lovely, though much less useless without the bullets. She wondered if Hook had sauntered off with them. He set it on the floor close to her but she was too sore to try and reach for it. "Yes, I am. And you're right, I'm trying to get back. I don't suppose any of you have a magic bean I could borrow." Each of them gave a different gesture but all of them carried the same message: Sorry, but no. Yeah, of course she wouldn't be that lucky.

"I haven't heard of anyone leaving here since the curse," Phillip said, sounding a little uncomfortable. He handed his lady love a glass of water first, which she accepted with the slightest glance of distaste (probably not up to princess standards but desperate times), then to Emma. He set one near Mulan but she was clearly preoccupied. The water had a sharp metallic taste. Emma thought about the crazy water stains it would leave. But that was neither here nor there. Not a whole lot of showers for her to worry about in the Enchanted Forest.

"Yeah, so I've been told," Emma replied sourly, frowning a bit. Aurora patted her leg in a way that was supposed to be comforting, she had to guess, but Emma found herself hard to comfort.

"I do not know much of portals," Mulan said, tone apologetic. Emma had to hand it to Mulan – in about five minutes the girl had thrown together a pleasant fire. She certainly seemed to be able to get stuff done.

"I am sorry to admit the same," Phillip responded, and he did look sorry. The kid looked like a kicked puppy.

"Well, I know plenty about portals," Aurora said. This earned her a surprised look from her companions, and Emma as well. That was kind of surprising, considering she was a fair princess. What did they know of magic and portals? "Well, I was raised by fairies," She reminded her party. Oh... yeah, Emma could vaguely remember that. She wondered if the dress color fight had really happened, that had always been her favorite part of that movie.

However, Emma wisely chose not to speak up about her knowledge of Aurora's story, that might not end well. She remained silent, which left opportunity for the auburn haired girl to continue. Turning to Emma, she began to recite clearly what must have been a lecture about portals.

"Now, there are many ways to conjure a portal but you are limited because I assume you are not magical." Emma had to agree with that. Besides Jefferson's insane mumblings, there was no reason to assume she was. "That leaves you with a magic bean, or an Enchanted Device used by portal jumpers." Which was exactly what Hook had told her. Great.

"So... any idea where I can get my hands on either of those?" Emma wondered, hopeful.

"Well..." Aurora looked apologetic herself. Okay, great, more bad news. "Except for the wardrobe... No, I'm sorry, but I'm afraid not."

"Wardrobe?" Emma repeated automatically, this option having not been listed when she had spoken to Hook. Maybe he didn't know about it.

"Oh, yes. My godmothers told me about it, before I... Well. Never mind that. But apparently, before the Evil Queen cursed this land, the King and Queen had a wardrobe fashioned from an enchanted tree. It sent the princess to a world without magic, so she could one day break the curse. Oh... right. That wardrobe. She couldn't really berate herself for not remembering something she'd seen as an infant. Just because she'd read a couple pages from Henry's book, didn't mean they registered as her actual past.

Emma stilled her inner monologue to look up and notice the hopeful expression on all of the faces around her. Okay, weird. Her eyebrows rose, and Mulan noticed her confusion before the other two.

"It's been twenty eight years," Mulan informed her gently. "It is said that when the princess is twenty eight, she will break the curse. Soon the curse will be broken, and everything will return to what it once was." Oh. Oh. Emma realized dully that all three of them were waiting for the day the curse would be broken and everything would be good again.

Except, she had broken the curse. And apparently the Enchanted Forest hadn't changed in the slightest.

A part of her wanted to tell them, that their hope was in vain. Some savior she was, considering she had apparently left an entire other world waiting for a salvation and hadn't spared them the slightest thought. The hopeless feeling returned again. Back in Storybrooke everyone had been confused when they hadn't returned to the Enchanted Forest. Things had been confusing enough back there, she hadn't even considered the world they had all left behind. She had foolishly assumed nobody had been exempt from the curse. This was just great. Not only had Regina kidnapped and mindtraped a town full of people, she had left a number of people in a mostly destroyed world to suffer for 28 years.

It was a bit of a lie by omission, but she didn't want to break their spirits. Hope was a powerful thing, and it might keep them alive long enough so that she actually could help them. Besides, even admitting she was a princess was still too weird. She struggled with that in Storybrooke, but surrounded by strangers who were all pinning their hopes on a princess and knowing that she wouldn't live up to expectation made admitting the truth feel almost impossible.

Emma made a promise to herself that she would try and find a way to save the people who were abandoned here as well. There was no way she could live with herself if she didn't. She wasn't sure exactly how they'd manage that yet, but she'd find a way. She had to. She hadn't wanted to be the savior but she was stuck with it, and Emma Swan did not halfass anything. She'd save them all if it killed her.

"Any other way?" She wondered hopelessly. If she had a fount of portal-related information at her side, it would be criminal not to get the full story. Aurora considered this for a moment, before answering.

"Well... maybe." Emma watched expectantly, and Aurora hesitated. "Well, there are rips in every world that leads to another. There used to be a lot in the Enchanted Forest, according to my godmothers. But..."

"But what?" Emma insisted. Why dangle information and withhold it?

"Well, I think you need to be magical to open them," Aurora said thoughtfully. Oh, well, great. Emma wasn't even sure why Aurora had offered a solution she couldn't even use. "And... well, I don't know how you'd find them. Those who might have known about them are probably gone." Well, great. So that information was useless.

"Good to know," Emma muttered, finishing her water so she didn't snap at the girl. She didn't mean any harm. Fire started, Mulan took a seat near the exit. Of the three of them, Emma found she liked Mulan the best. She didn't skirt around issues and she seemed to be really capable. Something Emma was envious of right about now. She missed being capable and savvy. It was hard being so far out of her element.

It was a little awkward asking about it, but considering a dangerous man had tried to abduct her and take her to a 'witch', she felt compelled to ask for her own safety.

"Do any of you know who 'the witch' is?" Aurora looked thoughtful but confused. Phillip was as blank as a sheet of paper, so no help there, either. And Mulan just looked cautious. Well, that was probably a no. "Great. So I don't suppose you know why she's after me, either?"

Mulan shifted slightly. "Why do you believe that a witch is after you?"

Okay, fair question. "Well, the guy who tied me up-" All three of them immediately looked concerned, and Emma had to recover quickly. "No, not the leather-y one." No, that one had just tried to steal her heart. No big deal. "The dead one. He said the witch wanted me, alive. He seemed to think that he'd get something for taking me to her. Wherever that is," Emma frowned, watching the movement in the fire, wishing it could tell her the answers she needed to know. "I don't even know how this witch knew who I was. I haven't even been here that long."

The silence that stretched between all of them was pretty strange. At least a couple of them looked thoughtful.

"Well, if she's magical, maybe she felt the power of the portal that brought you here?" Aurora suggested, in a tone that implied she was just guessing broadly. Sadly, Emma couldn't dispute her suggestion, so she had to stay silent.

"But how would she know who I was, to send people after me?" Emma wondered out loud, frowning. It hadn't occurred to her to offer the food she had to the group. She should have been hungry, but she wasn't.

"That's easy," Aurora said matter-of-factly. Emma blinked, before turning towards the girl expectantly. "Well, you don't exactly look like you're from around here, now do you?" Oh. Well, yeah. Maybe the girl had a point. She hadn't seen anyone else running around in jeans and boots and bright red leather.

"There are some clothes in one of the abandoned homes. There might be something you could change into," Phillip offered. Emma nodded numbly. That was probably a good idea.

"Where do you intend to go now?" Mulan wondered carefully, opening a bag of her own. Apparently the trio had some food of their own, and Mulan began distributing four small, considered portions. Feeling stupid for not thinking of it earlier, Emma reached for her own bag of food, even though at this point it was just a random smattering of bruised berries, before tossing it to Mulan. Mulan looked at it carefully, as if she wasn't sure she should accept, but in the end she took it. Perhaps because she didn't want to step on Emma's pride by spurning her offering.

"I'm not sure... The wardrobe, maybe." It wasn't much of a lead, but maybe it could work again? It was meant for her, after all. Didn't that count for something?

"Travel sounds unwise until your ankle heals," Phillip said, sounding concerned. "We would offer to assist, but we have to get Aurora back to camp."

"Phillip!" The sharp tone next to her surprised her. Aurora had stormed to her feet in a flash of flimsy silk. "What are you talking about? Of course we can help her, I will be fine."

Phillip looked dismayed to have upset his lady-love, but apparently not so dismayed that he'd retreat on his statement. "Aurora, it isn't safe here anymore. I have to see you to safety before I can consider-"

"I am not helpless, Phillip! I'm so tired of being coddled! And who said you got to make decisions for me?" In an angry huff, Aurora stomped past the warm fire and out into the open air. Phillip looked like he'd swallowed his tongue as he ran after her. Mulan watched them go with a silent somber expression. Wow, that was unexpected. But Emma had to say she felt Aurora's pain. She too had discounted the girl as weak, but perhaps that had been wrong of her. She knew how hard it was as a woman to be taken seriously, and she'd already discounted the girl just because she was in a fancy dress. After all, Aurora had taken charge and been the most informed of the group. It was unfair to disregard her just because of what she was wearing. She was probably stronger than any of them realized.

Mulan had collected two of the servings and brought it towards her. Emma muttered a word of thanks, feeling completely lacking in the hunger department, but she would try and force some food down anyway. She didn't comment on Phillip or Aurora, it really wasn't her place.

"I would offer my assistance in your quest but I have to see Phillip and Aurora to safety." Mulan said softly. She pointed at Emma's ankle. "May I?"

Emma nodded shortly, allowing the woman to inspect her ankle. Mulan's touch was gentle and concise but still made her wince.

"It's really fine. I'm used to being on my own," Emma shrugged, chewing on a strange looking raw vegetable that Mulan had provided. It wasn't bad, tasted like a mix of broccoli and spinach.

"You could come with us to the camp, you know. Maybe some of the other refugees would know more," Suggested the other woman, rifling through her sack again and pulling a small satchel. From inside it she procured a small plant, and then another, both of which she dropped in Emma's water and bruised with a small pestle. She offered it up , "It will help with the pain and the swelling."

Emma was a little wary. Even if it was something that would knock her out though, that probably wouldn't be the worst thing right about now. She accepted the drink and took a long chug, swallowing before she allowed herself to make a face. Ugh, and she thought modern medicine tasted bad. Mulan gave her a small smile, apparently not surprised by her reaction.

"No, I don't think I could stand to waste any more time." Emma said, though she did appreciate the offer. Mulan, Aurora and Phillip had been nothing but helpful, and she wished she had something to give them for their trouble."But really thank you. For... everything. You three have given me quite a lot."

Mulan nodded, abandoning Emma's ankle. There probably wasn't much more she could do for it. The younger woman began eating her rations slowly.

"It is getting harder and harder to do the right thing these days. We do what we can." Mulan said, and Emma nodded slowly. She had always found it a struggle to do the right thing, even back at home. It must be a lot harder here when your life was on the line if you tried to help the wrong person.

"Well... I appreciate it. If you three hadn't come along, who knows what might have happened." True, Hook hadn't actually pulled her heart out, had perhaps been in the process of a mental breakdown, but he very well might have decided to kill her some other way. There was no way to know now, and it probably wouldn't help freaking out about what might have been.

Mulan didn't answer, simply nodding. The silence that hung between them was appreciated and after a long stretch, Mulan rose. "I'm going to go check on them," She said. Emma nodded, unsure her voice would still carry any weight. She was so very exhausted her body was running on auxiliary. As Mulan moved out of the small room, Emma hypnotically stared at the fire letting the flames lull her into semi-unconsciousness before gathering what remaining strength she could muster to drag herself to a cot. In a brief flash she succumbed to the darkness.