Chapter Ten: Breaking the Loop

Emma pushed back the branches, swearing as thorns caught her in the sides of her hands and tore at the bare skin on her shoulders. She looked behind her as she rubbed a deep scratch above her elbow, and could see the path barely, a small dark dot atop a dusty path. She stepped a few steps forward and could see the dusty path before her, a small dark dot. She looked behind her and saw that she trapped between two identical paths. She moved forward, hissing at another scratch and reached the path before her and looked back again, seeing just forests. She had went every possible direction and no matter which way she took, she always ended back here, on the dusty path with a branch fallen across it.

She swallowed the urge to scream her frustration and to throw a punch at the nearest tree, instead opting to sit down, using the fallen tree as a backrest. She watched the horse nicker slightly before continuing to graze. She looked up to see that the sun hadn't moved and realised not only were they trapped but so was time. She turned to see the sleeping brunette curled up against the branch, the red leather jacket acting as a pillow. The older woman had sobbed herself into exhaustion in Emma's arms, and so the younger woman had laid her down so gently and let the woman sleep a broken sleep. Emma lifted her knees and rested her elbows upon them, her face in her hands and watched as the former queen whimpered and flinched as she slept.

She had fought the internal battle of either wanting to kill the older woman out of blame or ask to be held by her out of blame. In Storybrooke, this sleeping woman would be in a jail cell, protected from the angry mobs with Emma as her guard, but in this land, she is still imprisoned, protected from her mother with Emma still as her guard. Emma laughed quietly when she realised this, and saw the older woman whimper yet again from whatever demons plagued her nightmare. She took out her dagger and twirled it on the ground, remembering the last time she used it, tearing the tip of the arrow out of the other woman's chest, before seeing it glow and stop the blood flowing and willing the heart to beat again. She saved the woman's life without thinking about it. She had ripped open the shirt, cried at the blood, and tried to pull out the arrow head with slippery fingers before pulling out the blade and using it as a prier, and through it all she didn't think she just acted. It wasn't until after she finished wrapping the bandages around the wound that she took a breath and whispered to herself that she had saved the evil queen's life as she had promised her son she would.

Regina yelped in her sleep, and Emma dropped the knife to crawl to her side, running her fingers through dark locks, smoothing them as she whispered into Regina's ear to wake up and that she was having a nightmare.

Brown eyes opened and met with the wood of the fallen tree, she turned quickly before remembering where she was and saw Emma sitting next to her. She closed her eyes against the sun as she pulled herself up into sitting position and leaned against the tree. She saw bloody scratches on pale arms and arched an eyebrow.

Her voice was husky from sleep, "What have you been wrestling Miss Swan?"

Emma frowned before looking at her arms and smiled, "Just never-ending trees. I tried to find a way out but kept coming back here."

Regina leaned forward, hovered her hand over the many scratches and healed each one with a soft, warm glow and watched as Emma moved over, sitting next to her. Neither mentioned the screams, the storm of magic or the kiss as they leaned back against the tree, watching the horse graze trying to figure out a plan of escape yet finding none.

The brunette spotted the blade still on the ground and reached for it, picking it up and blowing the dust from the hilt while her companion drank slowly from the canteen.

"I found no food or water so don't drink it all," she said as passed the water to Regina who took it and drank carefully.

"Thank you," the brunette murmured. "Time is trapped?"

Emma nodded, "Do you know how to break the loop without, you know, going evil again?"

Regina looked around as she searched her mind for spells and curses, "I casted this curse on someone… They-eh-I never cared to break it for them. As far as I understand, only the person who casts it can break it."

"So we just sit around, waiting for your mother to decide when she wants to have another special chat with her daughter?"

Regina flinched at the bitter comment which Emma chose to ignore as she continued, "She is asking you to choose between her and me, you know that?"

Regina nodded, "She is asking me to choose between her and Henry, not you Miss Swan. If I came back without you, my son will hate me even more than he does right now. You know that."

Emma nodded, "They tried to execute you?"

Regina smirked, "Your father did. Your mother saved me. Foolish woman still loved me…"

"And you loved her."

Regina laughed mirthlessly, "Sheriff Swan, I know you've had your head knocked around many times but trust me, I do not love your mother."

Emma grinned, "Sure you do. You would have just killed her if you didn't."

Regina was stunned at the comment but chose to ignore it, "I tried to have her killed once. Graham. I sent him to kill her but he couldn't do it."

"Did you try again?"

Regina shook her head, "I figured destroying her happiness as she had done mine would be more satisfactory."

"She was just a child."

"I know that!" Regina yelled. "I know that, Miss Swan."

Both women sat in silence, the older scraping at the road dust with the dagger, the younger leaning her head back onto the tree, contemplating the clearest sky she had ever seen.

"She grew up and still didn't see it," Regina's voice cracked as she spoke. "She didn't see it. No one did."

"See what?"

Regina rolled her eyes and stood up, stretching her spine, "I see that self-absorbed oblivious nature runs in the family."

Emma sighed and kicked the heel of her boot into the dust, "I am not self-absorbed!"

"Of course you are," Regina laughed, looking down at the woman. "You came to Storybrooke and ignored the fact that you were… you know what, we need to find a way out of here."

Emma watched as Regina did what she had done earlier, pushing through woods to find a way out of there trap. She pulled herself up and leaned against the tree, tucking the dagger back in her waistband before she crossed her arms at her chest. She turned left seeing the brunette push against branches, her grey tunic covered in dust and dirt before looking right to see her reappear, her fingers pushing her dark hair behind her ears, frustration adorning her face. She smirked as the brunette turned around seeing just forests again and retraced her steps before reappearing on the opposite side of the path.

Regina exhaled loudly as she returned to the path before looking at the blonde who wore a smirk.

"There must be a seam of some kind," seeing confusion on Emma's face, she rolled her eyes and continued. "A bubble, a ward… a spell like this is essentially a human version of a goldfish bowl. In order for the goldfish to be free, you need to break the glass. We need to find the glass to break it."

"You know that the goldfish dies when it's not in the bowl," Emma warned.

"If you want to stay in the bowl, I have no plan to stop you," Regina stated as she moved to go back in the forest.

"What am I looking for?" Emma skipped up behind her.

"Magic."

"Oh yeah, and how does one find magic?"

Regina looked back at the taller woman, "One feels it… so maybe you should just wait…"

Emma pulls out her dagger, "This baby will find us magic."

The brunette rolled her eyes before continuing to venture through the woods. She chanced a look at the blonde who was walking with the blade held out before her, her brow furrowed.

"Miss Swan…"

"Emma."

Regina nodded and smiled, "Emma, that dagger is not magical."

"Sure it is," Emma argued, glee dancing in her eyes. "It found you for me and it healed you. This dagger is magical."

Regina smirked, "Henry is very like you."

"Yeah?"

"His child-like wonder, yes. Though he is allowed because he is ten. What's your excuse?"

"Ha-ha. He is like you too."

Regina stopped, hissing as a thorn cut the fabric on the sleeve of her tunic, tearing her skin. She ignored the scratch as she met green eyes, "He is?"

"His stubborn nature."

"That's you, not me."

"His determination. That is definitely you. Gets his teeth into something, he needs to see it through. Operation Cobra-"

"Operation Cobra?"

Emma chuckled, "The code-name for the mission to break the curse. He never gave up. That he gets from you."

"I don't understand," Regina stuttered, and Emma stepped closer, lifting her hand up to push back some stray brown hair behind the older woman's ear.

"Once you decided that I was not welcome in Storybrooke you did everything you could to get rid of me. You never gave up. You're one determined lady," Emma smiled and her voice softened, "I run away. Neal ran away. You don't. Henry doesn't. He gets that from you."

"You told Henry his father was dead," Regina said after a long silence and watched the blonde nod. "But that's a lie. He ran away."

Emma nodded again but said nothing. She lifted the blade again pushing branches aside, seeing the path before them and behind them. Regina stopped her from stepping forward.

"We're at the seam."

"So now what?"

"We find the catch," Regina stated. "Where's your sword?"

Emma pointed to the rock by the path and growled when Regina arched an expectant eyebrow. "I'll get it, shall I?"

Regina watched the blonde run through the branches to grab the sword before disappearing from view. She frowned when she saw nothing but path and trees but relief came to her when she saw the horse moving down the path, Emma next to her whispering into her ear.

"You should give her a name," Regina announced when the blonde approach.

Emma grinned and looked back at the animal who was watching them from the path, almost guarding them. "I did. Horsey."

Regina shook her head, a smirk playing upon her lips and took the sword, "We may need to cut down a tree."

"These are oaks, giant friggin' oaks and you're going to cut them down with a sword?"

Regina grinned before spinning in a half-circle swinging the sword in a swift motion cutting a tall tree down with one single swipe. She stepped back, pushing Emma sideways as the tree hit the ground with a loud crash, rocking the earth beneath them for a moment. Emma covered her ears at the deafening crash, one hand clutching the dagger, the other holding her ear tightly as her eyes widened in awe.

"Whoa! How did you do that?"

Regina grinned widely, "Magic, my dear."

Emma chuckled as she followed Regina cut branches free, realising that the older woman was walking a very specific line.

"When he was very little, he asked me about his father. This was before he found out he was adopted," Regina said as she sliced another branch free from their path. "I told him that he had died."

Emma glanced over at the brunette, seeing sadness in dark eyes, flattened dark hair with tiny leaves embedded in it, tears on a stained grey shirt, the glimpse of dirty bandages. Emma reached forward, grabbing her companion's arm, turning her around, "I told him that his father was a fireman, who died rescuing a family because I couldn't tell him that his father doesn't even know he exists, or that he framed me and had me sent to jail."

"I thought you were a thief," Regina interrupted, looking up at her as Emma bowed her head.

Emma laughed bitterly and nodded, "I was, but it was him that had me sent to prison, and there I found out I was pregnant and… and I just couldn't tell him that. So I gave him a fireman, a hero because he likes heroes."

Regina smiled and spoke softly, "He does."

Emma nodded, "Did you know who he was when you adopted him? That he was mine and I was me?"

Regina shook her head, "No." She waited a beat before asking her question, "Why did you give him up?"

Emma laughed a single laugh, "I was 18. I was in jail. I had no money. I had no home. I had no family. I was alone. Pick a reason."

Emma saw doubt in brown eyes and shook her head, "You don't believe me?"

Regina smiled and shook her head, "No Miss Swan, I do not."

Regina turned back to their route slicing a large boulder in half without a sound from the metal weapon. "Do you regret giving him up?"

Emma nodded, "Yes."

Regina looked up at the sky, refusing to face the taller woman. She pushed the halves of boulders from their path with the tip of the sword.

"How did you get him? I mean, bad things happen to people who try to leave Storybrooke."

Regina smirked at the imitation of their son's warning before speaking, "I didn't get him. He was given to me by Rumple-"

She gasped before turning back to Emma, crashing into her, causing her to fall backwards, "He knew!"

"Knew what?" Emma grumbled as she studied her elbow that hit a stone in the fall.

"When the curse was breaking I asked him to hell me stop it but he refused to help because he wanted it to break… he knew that giving me Henry would lead you to us."

Emma shook her head in disbelief, "How is that even possible?"

"That little imp has a plan for everything," Regina barked. "He found Henry for me."

"Regina, I've seen a lot of crazy shit but this is ridiculous," Emma said, pulling herself off the ground. "You can't truly believe that he planned this-"

"Miss Swan, you do not know the power that is Rumplestiltskin," Regina sneered.

"He did not get me pregnant," Emma said with a grimace, before visibly shuddering at the image. He did not force me to sign the- oh fuck!"

Emma leaned back onto a tree, running her fingers through her hair as she struggled with the memory, her jaw slack, her eyes wide, her skin pale as realisation dawned upon her. "Oh fuck! The papers… His name was on the papers."

"Gold's name?"

"Yeah…" Emma furrowed her brow, desperately trying to understand her memory. "I remember seeing your name. You sign with a big round R and then there was a tiny squiggle. But underneath it was the lawyer's name-"

"Gold," Regina finished and saw Emma nod. "Emma, were you told to give him up?"

Emma swallowed a sob and shook her head, "I couldn't let him be put in care."

Regina stabbed the sword into the ground, leaning on it, itching to step closer to the blonde but was frozen.

"They said he would be placed in care straight away because I would still have four months left on my sentence. I begged them to let me have him," A sob slipped between her pink lips as she wiped away tears with dusty fists. "I couldn't let him have my life… be tossed from home to home; waiting for someone to love him… I couldn't do to him what my mother did to me."

"You didn't send him to another world," Regina husked. "And your mother wouldn't have done it if I hadn't-"

"She shouldn't have done it anyway!" Emma yelled. "She used me to save the world. I wasn't even born and she had already decided I was to go to another world!"

"You were born before she could-"

"Why are you, of all people, making excuses for her?"

Regina couldn't answer and didn't try to. The younger woman slid down, the tree scratching up her back as she wept, "They all played me."

Regina moved quickly, kneeling before her, "I love him. I loved him from the moment I laid eyes on it and his tiny hand gripped my finger."

Emma nodded, "He had a really strong grip."

Regina laughed, "He did. Still does."

Emma looked into the dark eyes, "I'm glad he went to you."

Regina took the younger woman's face in her hands pulling her in for a deep kiss. She pushed her fingers through the long, untidy golden locks, entangling them as ran her tongue over pink lips, begging to taste. Emma moaned, opening her mouth, feeling teeth clash against her own as their tongues fought for dominance. She pulled the smaller woman into her lap, running her fingers under the grey tunics, clawing her nails over the smooth skin of the lower back. Regina groaned loudly as she felt hands run over the bandages, ripping her mouth away from the kiss for air. Emma grabbed the older woman's neck with a hard hand, pulling her back to her lips, desperately searching every part of this woman's mouth with her tongue. She moaned as Regina pushed her back into the tree, expertly caressing her tongue with her own, pulling her shirt from her pants. Regina's lips went from mouth to jaw to neck to throat back to lips, desperately tasting skin as her hand delved into leather pants, pushing her fingers into wetness.

Emma hissed at the contact as she was pushed against the tree hard, the bark cutting through her vest. She pulled the older woman's shirt up, her hand hitting the bandage again. Regina's free hand caught it, desperately clawing at the material as she pushed her fingers deep into the blonde. The younger woman screamed loudly causing Regina to invade her mouth once more, catching her next scream as she thrust her fingers hard. Emma grabbed the bandages, ripping them free, not caring that each one of her tugs caused the woman to thrust harder. The bandages unravelled and pale hands took breasts capture, squeezing them hard before taking hard nipples, rolling them, tweaking them before running one hand down into Regina's pants.

The brunette slammed the blonde into the tree at the contact, pushing herself down onto the hand. Emma pulled her lips free from the assault, her head hitting the tree as lips attacked her neck, fingers thrusting into her, her pushing back into them. She saw black desire in Regina's eyes as she pushed forward, lying the woman down onto the ground hard, her fingers taking her roughly as she rocks into the hand which was consuming her.

Regina yelled as stones cut her back, fingers deep inside her, a hand on her breast. She looked up into green eyes, seeing wanton lust. She lifted her head, grabbing the other woman by her hair, pulling her into a kiss, matching her thrust with Emma's. She swallowed the blonde's moan as she felt her fingers become engulfed, her palm feeling a tremble, a body shake above her. She slowed her thrusting fingers as she slid her free hand from hair to neck to breast to waist, sliding under the black shirt, touching the smooth skin of stomach to chest to heart. She could feel the hammering of the younger woman's heart beneath the palm of her hand. She slowed the kiss, caressing the lips tenderly before gasping as Emma pushed deep inside her, her thumb caressing her intimately. Emma looked down, her own touches mirroring the gentleness of the other woman's as she moved her hand from breast to heart, feeling the ugly wound and then the pounding of the heart. Both women rode each other, taking each other to a high with a gentle thrust, their bodies trembled against each other, their moans swallowed in the other's mouth as their hearts matched each other's beat, felt beneath soft, tender hands.

Emma moved off the older woman, readjusting her shirt, wincing at the sores on her back while Regina lifted herself on an elbow, pulling the bandage free from beneath her shirt. She sat up, feeling a small hole in the tunic at the back of her shoulder, blood from the small cut caused by a stone. Both women caught each other's gaze before Emma leaned forward, brushing the leaves from the brunette's untidy hair.

"That was…"

"Yes," Regina smirked. "It was."

Regina stood up, straightening her clothes out and picked up the sword, turning back to clear the path.

Emma frowned, wincing as she stood up, confused at the action as she followed the former queen, silence once again blanketing them.

"Are you really?"

"Really?" Emma asked, almost missing the whispered question due to the rolling boulder.

"Glad that Henry came to me?"

Emma smiled and nodded, "Yeah, I am."

Regina stopped and turned around, studying the younger woman's face.

"Regina, you fight so hard for him. There and here. No one has ever done that for me. Hell, no one has ever done that for you. And the fight is going to be even harder when we get home but you're going to do it. You're going to fight for his forgiveness and his trust. So yes I am glad he went to the woman who fights for him."

Regina looked beyond Emma seeing the destruction she had caused with simple swipes of sword, her thoughts on her son before she frowned, cursing under her breath before looking back at the sheriff.

"If Rumplestiltskin had a plan for you and if he did set up the adoption, it can be assumed that he has a plan for Henry," Regina cautioned.

"What kind of plan?" Emma's voice trembled with ire.

"I honestly don't know but he manipulated me into casting his curse. He made it so you broke it. He had Henry come to me so you would follow. He sent the wraith after me…"

"Because you kidnapped the woman her loved."

"Yes," Regina concurred, the slightest tint of regret in her voice. "But I would not be surprised had he known you would follow…"

"If I had been one minute faster, neither of us would be here," Emma mumbled only for Regina to caress her cheek slightly.

"I am evil. I've done terrible things, but once I was pure like you and like Henry… I-I-I tried to," Regina sighed as she let go of the younger woman's face. "Rumple taught me magic. I was young and in mourning and he taught me everything I know… He twisted my grief and heartbreak to make me who I am today… He will do that to Henry."

Emma shook her head, "No… Henry is good."

"So was I!" Regina yelled.

"Henry is good," Emma's words trembled. "He is…"

"Alone. He is alone. Sure, he has your oh-so-good parents but he is alone. He has just learned that he was right about me, he had just come round from poisoning… his other mother, his hero is gone because of me… he is alone, frightened, confused, suffering from nightmares, and angry."

Regina slammed the sword down, its tip sinking into a branch as she threw her other hand in the air, magic in its tips from irritation, "He has no one that understands his pain and Rumple will… He has a plan for our son."

Emma frowned, "Regina? What are you saying?"

"He had a plan for me. He had a plan for you. He has a plan for Henry," Regina whispered, her words hard and enunciated perfectly, her eyes not leaving green eyes of concern.

"Fuck!" Emma asked. "Can you get us out of here already?"

"I'm trying…"

"Not hard enough," Emma snarled as she flung the dagger in her hand at the nearest tree, causing a bright light to emerge, blinding both women temporarily before causing darkness to fall upon them.

Emma blinked rapidly before looking up to see they were still in the forest but the night was gracing the skies. She looked over at Regina who sighed with relief.

"You did it," she stated as she turned to go back to the path. "You broke the loop."

Emma grinned as she took a deep breath, before walking to the tree pulling the dagger free from the bark, "Told you that it was a magic dagger."