When Emma woke with a start that morning, she felt remarkably well rested.

But also remarkably empty.

Like she had no motivation, no reason for getting up and facing the day. Her heart just wasn't in it. She had had days like that before, but never so complete. And certainly not when she had so much to fight for—including the more recent addition of Regina. Even in her apathy, she knew she needed to hold the fallen queen again; it had been so ingrained into her mind.

And her dream. Emma remembered. Regina, beautiful above her, taking her heart—Emma would have scoffed at the literal symbolism if things hadn't felt so off. She needed to tell Regina about it—in a land with magic, Emma had learned to lend her dreams more weight, especially when this one seemed so real—there must have been some meaning behind it. She got out of bed, quickly pulling on her clothes to walk to the brunette's room, still conflicted by her hollow feeling. Knocking on the door, she opened it without waiting for an answer, only to find that her words wouldn't come out.

Emma focused as best she could. She wanted to tell Regina about her dream. She knew she did. But she wouldn't say anything.

Something was terribly wrong.

She felt her hand rise to her chest—over her heart—or where it should have been. Someone was sending her a sign. Someone was controlling her. Someone had her heart.

Cora.

The dream wasn't a dream. It had all been Cora. But how? Apparently True Love's magic didn't automatically mean your heart couldn't be removed, just when it was threatened, just when it was by someone you didn't lo…feel safe around.

Cora had her heart.

Panic built in her chest until it pushed against her skin, as Emma railed against herself for falling for the same fake Regina. She tried using her magic from afar, but it wasn't focused, she could only feel the control of her heart, be aware of it, not do anything about it. She was helpless, a weapon for Cora's control—a weapon for her to hurt Regina. Emma gathered all the rage and fear she could, all her mental exertion pulling on the connection that tied her heart to her soul.

From her distant watch, Cora felt the tug and her frustration bubbled. She could keep the Savior from revealing anything, but it was much more difficult than with an average heart. She wouldn't be able to manage a long game. Her plans to have the Savior get the Dark One's dagger for her fell away. She would have to focus on getting her daughter.

And she would have to get started right away.

Regina was sitting up in bed, jolted by Emma's entrance. She had cleaned up since her cry in the night but clearly had not slept. She watched the blonde in her doorway, unmistakably distressed.

"Emma? What's wrong?"

"We have to go to the stables."

The voice was hers but the words weren't. It was very disconcerting, having Cora in her head, and it was made all the more so by Regina's reaction.

"The stables?" She couldn't keep the tremor from her voice. Once the place she had found the most comfort, it had become the source of her greatest pain. To go back…could lead to nothing but misfortune. But Emma didn't know that. And she didn't want her to know. She tamped down her reaction as best she could as the words continued to fall from Emma's mouth.

"Cora's planning something and it's starting there. We have to be there."

Regina sat up further. She didn't want to believe her mother would start there, but it made so much sense that she would. Drastic measures. The real question was her involving Emma.

"How do you know? Did she come back last night?"

Despite the Mayor's best efforts to keep her emotions hidden from her, Emma could see Regina was struggling. She didn't entirely know what the stables meant to the brunette, but based on it being Cora's idea, it couldn't possibly bode well. She wanted so desperately to tell her the truth of what was happening, but it felt so distant, like she were yelling at herself through a dense forest, unable to make out the direction through the muffling branches. Besides, Cora had already discovered that using whatever bits of Emma's truth she could made things much easier.

"I had a dream—it was so real."

"It could have been her, setting a trap," Regina warned. "We can't just go in blindly, Emma."

Hearing her daughter, Cora smiled briefly. Apparently her emotional distress had not rendered her entirely useless as a strategist. Still, she would be easily convinced.

"We don't have any other plans to deal with her or leads to follow…We have to go, whether or not it's a trap."

Regina couldn't argue with that. When Emma had suggested they wait until morning to formulate a plan, Regina knew that they wouldn't have come up with anything, whether or not they were tired. She had lost sight of her mother's game, and outside of knowing that Cora wanted her back, she didn't know for what purpose. Especially now when any hope of her love had been dashed.

"I suppose you're right."

"We'll get her, Regina. I'll meet you downstairs when you're ready"

As Emma's body left the room, she tried once more to regain control, reach out to the woman suffering that she cared so much for, but Cora would not let her. What was worse was how much like herself she had been—she couldn't imagine how Regina would ever be able to see through it.

Emma was terrified. And powerless to do anything about it.

Regina almost wished Emma hadn't left, because despite the blonde's seeming determination, Regina couldn't find it in her to get out of bed. There was no way this wouldn't end in disaster. But there was also no way around it. She couldn't let Emma go alone.

She wouldn't let her mother win—even if it meant that she would have to lose.

She did her best to forget where they were going, reinforcing her walls as she got up and got dressed. She had faced many battles before. Wherever this was headed, she would face it just the same.

They arrived at the Storybrooke Stables on the edge of town not long after Emma had made her proclamation. They hadn't discussed much on the ride over, but Regina attributed her lingering uncomfortable feeling and Emma's unusual quietness to the moment they had shared not a few hours earlier on her bedroom floor—and to whatever would be waiting for them at their destination.

Stepping out of the car, Regina was hit instantly by memories, the smells and the morning stillness sweeping over her as the morning dew seeped into her boots. Emma however, had charged straight ahead for the barn. Shocked out of her contemplation by the idea of the blonde heading full-throttle into an ambush, she hurried to catch up to her.

"Emma!"

The Sheriff had already threw open the barn doors, inspiring a few huffs from the horses in their stalls, but nothing else.

The building was entirely empty, save the animals. There was no sign of Cora. Regina had begun to feel the faint pull of her magic—but she had no way of telling whether it was left behind or a sign of things to come.

Seeing no harm done but still on edge, she shot Emma a look—they needed to be quiet and cautious. Emma nodded in acknowledgement, and they split apart, checking the stalls on each side to see if they had missed some sort of clue.

Regina could barely walk as she approached where she had last seen Daniel, but she was determined to continue. Cora would pounce on any weakness, and then Emma would be paying for Regina's frailty. If she had resolved anything at all, it was that her mother would only cause her suffering. She would not allow Emma to be hurt, not anymore.

"Do these look like them?"

Emma's voice had called out softly from a few stalls away. She was looking them over, but not really paying attention, fiddling with the equipment hanging from the hooks on the walls.

Regina turned and faced the blonde, uneasy as she waited for her mother's move, especially as she felt her magic signature grow.

"Look like what?" She replied, hoping for some sort of a clue.

"Where your lover died."