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EPISODE 12: SLEEP

Hook and Mr. Gold stood in the middle of a dirt road in the woods as the portal popped shut behind them.

"We're back," Hook groaned, looking around him. He was glad to feel the refreshing air of the woods on his face.

Gold was glad to be home as well, to have the dirt beneath his feet instead of the ever-shifting sand. Unlike Hook, he hadn't taken a liking to the desert at all.

"Indeed," said Gold, wiping some sand off of his shoulder. He took off walking towards Zelena's house.

"Woah woah woah," said Hook. He looked up at the sky and tried to read the stars. "It's got to be like four, maybe five in the morning. We should at least wait until dawn." He moved to stand in front of Gold. He wished he had some sort of excuse to take back the staff. The man was powerful enough with the power of every single Dark One; he didn't need a way to magnify that strength, other than waking Belle.

Gold stopped and glared at the pirate. He was in no mood for negotiation. He was going to wake his wife immediately.

Hook sighed. "C'mon, Mate, I want to wake up Emma just as much as you want to wake Belle, but that doesn't give us the right to barge in in the middle of the night." He held up his hand and hook as a symbol of truce.

Again, Gold glared. "Listen, Pirate, I don't care how much you think you love Emma or if you think it compares to how I feel about Belle, you aren't getting in my way. I'll just teleport there if I must."

Hook stepped back. He was outraged. So many words tangled with his tongue in their desperate rush to escape. How dare the Crocodile act like his love for Belle was so special. At least he was willing to change for his love—to be a good guy. The bloody Crocodile was too attached to his power to sacrifice it for Belle, no matter how much she pleaded.

But he stayed quiet, silently seething. "Fine," he conceded through grit teeth. At least this way it seemed like they would be knocking on the front door as opposed to just popping in.

They traversed the rest of the distance through the woods without a word to one another, but Hook's mind was racing. He was anxious to wake up Emma, but he was also incredibly nervous. They had come so far in their relationship, and he didn't know what to expect from it now that his kiss had failed to wake her up.

It wasn't the first time, either. But they had stayed together this long and made it work. Maybe they still could. There was no denying his feelings for the woman. True love or not, it was true, and it was love. And maybe, just maybe, they weren't not true loves. Maybe something else was going on. Maybe the curse was a little different, or maybe it was because Emma still hadn't fully let down her defenses. Maybe there was still hope.

He let out an anxious puff of breath as they reached the house and made their way up the stairs. Gold knocked on the door and waited with what Hook assumed was feigned patience. When no one answered, he knocked again, more loudly.

Finally they heard movement from within the house, and in a few moments Zelena opened the door up wearing a robe and looking quite irritated. Hook made sure to stand a bit behind Gold, just in case.

"Do you imbeciles have an idea what time it is?" she snapped, wrapping her green robe around her a little tighter.

Hook stood in the back looking at the ground, leaving it up to Gold to soothe the angry woman.

"Now, now, dearie," he said. "Surely you can understand why we didn't want to wait." Before even giving her a chance to respond, he continued, "I assume you have upheld your part of the deal?"

She narrowed her bright emerald eyes at the man and considered lying and telling him that they hadn't been able to rescue Belle.

But instead, she nodded her head and stuck her hand in her robe pocket. "I have her right here," she said.

Gold narrowed his eyes as well. If he hadn't been more preoccupied with his need to wake his wife, he would have made a comment about how she of all people shouldn't have been the one looking after Belle.

Zelena held up Pandora's box and Gold snatched it from her grasp. "Well, I'll be off then," he said with a wave.

But Hook grabbed hold of his arm as he began to magic away, causing the black smoke that had begun to appear to vanish as quickly as it came. "I don't think so," he said, giving the man a stern look. "You'll stay right here so we can wake up Emma, too." There was no way he trusted Gold to bring back the staff after, not when Emma was the one person most likely to be able to stand up to the man.

Gold's patience was running terribly thin and he had to fight the urge to decimate them all on the spot. But assuredly, Belle would not want to wake to that carnage. "Fine," he acquiesced. "I'll need a place to lay her."

Zelena led the way into her home and directed them to a cozy living room.

Once Belle was out of the box and on the couch, Gold began to feel nervous. Of course, he would never show that to anyone else. Instead, he set to work waking her up. He began slowly, not wanting to tire himself out too quickly. He was already tired from opening the portal to return from Agrabah.

He channeled his power into the staff and let it build. For painfully long minutes he let it grow, storing it there until he had enough to break the curse without true love's kiss. He knew, in the back of his mind, with all of his knowledge, that this was a long shot, but he had to try.

He saved up his power until he was on the verge of passing out, ever aware of the two pairs of anxious eyes watching him closely. Then he held the staff over Belle and willed Belle to awake from her curse. He willed it with every ounce of magic he had, he willed it with his power as the Dark One, he willed it with every beat of his dark heart.

But she would not wake.

He fought back the tears that threatened to give away his sentimentality. He was the Dark One, and wife or not, that simply wouldn't do.

He tried again, pushing himself until his eyes were rolling back into his head and he fell to his knees.

"Rumple," Zelena gave a soft shout. She knelt beside him. "You have to stop. It isn't working."

He turned his sorrow into rage and gritted his teeth. "I'll kill him," he snarled, standing up on wobbly legs. "I'll rip out his heart," he threatened, and with that, he vanished into a puff of smoke, leaving both Belle and the staff behind.

Zelena stood as well, unsure of how to proceed.

"Poor Lass," said Hook, gazing down at the sleeping beauty on the couch. Truth was, he felt bad for the Crocodile, too, but he wasn't comfortable with that, so he channeled that sympathy towards Belle instead.

Zelena said nothing. She was tired and irritated, and was new to feeling empathetic towards the good guys. But she felt her share of sadness at the situation. Despite their past, she did care for Rumple, and as she stared down at the sleeping woman, she could not help but feel for her as well.

Hook shifted nervously from foot to foot, and ran a finger over his hook.

"What is it?" Zelena asked, annoyed by his hesitation to voice whatever it was he clearly wanted to say.

"We still need to try to wake Emma," he said. "But I don't have powers like you lot." He was asking for her help, but having a hard time putting it into words.

"Fine," she said. "Just, let me make myself some coffee first." She turned and made her way into the kitchen, flicking on a light as she went. "I'll let you be the one to wake Regina. I can't imagine she'll be too thrilled after the day we had."

Hook set his jaw tight and nodded. Waking Regina up was the last thing he ever wanted to do. The woman terrified him. Not to mention, he got the impression that the woman didn't much care for him, or at least, that she didn't think he was good enough for Emma. He bristled at the thought. Having to ask for her help to wake Emma up since his kiss didn't work—it was a big hit to his pride.

Nevertheless, he made his way down the hall to Emma's room and gently knocked on the door. When no response came, he knocked harder. "Regina," he called out softly. No answer.

It struck him as strange that she could sleep through his knocking, but Zelena did say they had had quite the day. He swallowed hard and slowly opened the door. The loud creak it gave sent a shiver up his spine.

"Regina?" he called out again. Still there was no response.

He first cast his gaze towards the couch, where Regina should have been, but was surprised to find it empty. At first he assumed Regina must not be in the room, but then he noticed a figure slumped over in the chair next to Emma. This took him a bit by surprise.

He crept quietly into the room, cursing silently when the floor beneath him creaked. He tiptoed to the foot of the bed and took in the scene before him: Regina Mills curled up, half in the chair and half on the bed, with his girlfriend's hand held tightly in her own.

What was even stranger was the contented look on the mayor's face—a look of peace. It was unnerving to see the powerful woman looking so calm, so vulnerable. He was certain he was apt to lose his other hand if she knew he was seeing this image.

He was about to turn to get Zelena, to admit that this task was too much for him, when he noticed Emma's expression. It was as tranquil as it had been since she had fallen asleep, but she now also wore a small smile. With a frown, Hook looked at their linked hands more closely—it sure seemed like the very unconscious Savior was actively holding Regina's hand in return.

Too many confusing thoughts exploded in his head and he tried to control them, to make sense of them. They are friends, he reasoned. Just friends. He had seen how close they had become over the years, so why did this seem so out of the ordinary?

A small memory nagged at the back of his mind, one of a very giggly Emma confessing to a very amorous pirate that she had a few trysts of her own with some ladies back in the day.

But still, no. Regina had just lost her soul mate. She was heartbroken. Even if…if there was something, could be something, this certainly wouldn't be the time.

But then again, tragedy has a tendency to rush things along, things like, oh I dunno, a sleeping curse…

No, no no. This was the Savior, a product of true love, and Regina, well, no matter how reformed she was, she was still the Evil Queen.

But Emma has always stood up for Regina, always reminded people that she wasn't the Evil Queen, and now—now that was truer than ever.

All the while he waged this war with himself he stood still, like a statue, with his mouth slightly agape.

His previous fear was replaced by an overwhelming feeling of anxiety and inadequacy, and in there was a bit of anger, and that gave him courage.

"Regina," he called out a bit louder, stepping closer.


Back in the darkness of Emma's nightmare, Regina had drifted off into a sort of half-sleep, still awake, but not thinking about anything in particular. She had stopped watching the images that flashed by and had taken to resting her head on Emma's as she held the other woman, occasionally rubbing her back to keep her soothed.

It was the least she could do. After all, this entire mess was her fault. If she could relieve Emma of her nightmares for the night, she would, even if it meant being tired again the next day, since it seemed her visits to Emma's dreams provided her with a very insufficient sleep in the real world.

She didn't think about how nice it was to feel needed like this. She didn't think about how nice it was to have Emma in her arms. She certainly didn't think about Emma's lips moving against her neck when the blonde whimpered in her sleep. Those thoughts simply weren't appropriate.

Was someone calling her name? She opened her eyes and listened. She couldn't be sure, but it did sound like her name was echoing dully through the darkness.

Emma's eyes fluttered open, tickling Regina's skin. "Gina?" she questioned softly, the quiet, childish tone breaking any resolve Regina still had.

Before Regina could respond, however, Emma realized where she was sitting. "Woah," she exclaimed, throwing herself off of her friend. "Sorry," she blurted out.

How had she gotten there in the first place?

Regina immediately missed Emma's warmth in her lap, but she steeled her face. "For?" she questioned, a confused lilt in the word. The sudden change in the Savior's demeanor caught her off guard. She wasn't sure what to make of it. Perhaps the night of rest had snapped her back to her usual self.

Emma was blushing and diverting her gaze, something that Regina found both worrisome and adorable. No, that's not right. Just worrisome. Maybe even annoying.

"For-for…you know," she gestured towards Regina and made an awkward scramble to her feet.

Regina stood as well, mostly to buy her some time before she had to respond. She dusted herself off, though she was pretty sure the absolute darkness on which they stood probably hadn't left any residue.

"It's fine, Miss Swan." She swore she heard her name again. Was she losing her mind?

Emma frowned, and Regina knew why—she had used her old distancing title for the blonde. Regina tried to get the Emma to meet her gaze, so she could ascertain the woman's feelings, but Emma refused.

Instead, she turned around and let her gaze fall to the flashes in the sky.

Immediately, her face fell, shifting from confused sadness to complete pain. All at once she remembered everything she had seen, all the nightmares she had been subjected to. She nearly fell to her knees.

"Regina," she whimpered, her independence and humiliation tossed to the side. She wrapped her arms around herself and tried to shake off the terror that began to shiver across her skin.

Regina wasted no time in responding, closing the distance between them, and wrapping her arms around the sheriff, turning her around to face her instead of the sky. "Don't look at it Emma," she whispered, rubbing her hand up and down Emma's back.

"I can't help it," Emma replied, her voice shaking. "It pulls me in." She hesitantly wrapped her arms around Regina in return, relaxing into the embrace.

Regina bit her lip in shame. How could she have let this happen? And she couldn't stay here forever. She couldn't keep Emma from living through the nightmares of the curse. That name was calling to her. She realized what it was, someone trying to pull her from her slumber.

Emma pulled back and looked into Regina's dark eyes, finding herself drawn to them even more than the nightmares flashing behind her. She had her arms around Regina's neck and Regina had hers around Emma's waist. Emma was too close, she knew—they were practically nose-to-nose, but she felt safe here, and Regina wasn't pushing her away.

"You're really here, aren't you?"

Regina nodded, and returned Emma's gaze, losing herself in the green hues. She was thinking about all the times they had squared off against each other, standing almost this close, willing the other woman to stand down. But none of those times involved them having their arms wrapped around one another. It was strange how she could feel both so content and uneasy at the same time.

"And you were here before, too?"

Regina nodded again. Now she was sure someone was shaking her shoulder—someone outside of this dream-realm. She fought against it, willing herself to stay here with Emma.

Emma glanced over Regina's expression with a slight blush, hoping Regina couldn't see the heat in her cheeks in the darkness.

"Did you hold me like that all night?" she questioned, averting her gaze. It was too hard to maintain the eye contact while asking such a question.

"Yes," Regina whispered. The answer was too simple, too open. "It's the least I could do for my friend," she amended. "It's my fault you're cursed."

Emma was happy to hear Regina refer to her as a friend—it wasn't often to hear their relationship confirmed out loud—and yet, at the same time, it felt inadequate. She felt herself wanting something more, but that felt ridiculous. What did she want, for Regina to go around proclaiming them to be besties?

"This isn't your fault," Emma replied, pushing past all logical thought to bury her head back against Regina's neck. For the moment, logic didn't matter. She felt safe.

Regina sighed. "Maybe not," she assented. "Either way, I will wake you, Emma. I promise." Whoever was trying to wake Regina up was getting more desperate. She could feel her grasp on this realm slipping.

Emma, against all rationality, imagined Regina waking her with the only way she knew to wake someone from a sleeping curse—with a true love's kiss. She blushed fiercely, nuzzling even closer to Regina as if to escape her embarrassment. Regina said nothing, but raised a brow.

"Regina!" Someone shouted so loudly that Regina jumped slightly.

"Gina," Emma pulled back, her brow furrowed in worry, "what's wrong?" She couldn't hear the voice that called out for Regina.

"Someone's trying to wake me up," Regina snarled, fighting off her impending awakening. "Emma listen," she said, grabbing onto Emma's hands, too rushed to keep up her regal and distanced façade, "I'll come back. I'll come back every night. Just…stay strong until then, okay?"

Emma nodded, her heart fluttering at this sudden show of compassion from her friend, her gut twisting in panic at the thought of being left alone. But even when Regina let go of her hands and began to fade away, Emma could still feel her. Even after she had gone, Emma could still feel her, and she was warm, she realized again, as if Regina had never let her go.


Regina's eyes snapped open to see both the pirate and her sister hovering over her.

"What?!" she barked, sitting up so quickly that the others nearly fell backwards.

Hook positively paled at her outburst, cowering back. Regina savored the sight. Her sister, however, quickly replaced her look of shock with a slight glare.

"You had us worried, Regina," she explained in her own haughty tone.

Regina rubbed her eyes in irritation. "Well, I'm awake now," she said, noting the darkness outside the window, "what do you want?" Her voice retained its usual venom, but it was directed more at the pirate than her sister.

Neither the pirate nor the witch commented about Regina being where she was, or how she was holding Emma's hand, nor did they ask why she had been so hard to wake up. Zelena knew better, and the pirate simply wasn't that bold.

She wanted to be back in the dream with Emma, and that realization made her very uncomfortable and out of her element. Emma's absence made her feel a very real sense of loneliness. She found herself missing Robin, the love her heart found familiar, and Emma, the friend for whom her heart seemed to yearn, but she couldn't give in to these feelings, not in front of others.

"Well…" the pirate began, and he kept talking, but Regina's thoughts slipped away.

Regina's sleepy mind grappled to fully make sense of all the senses of her body, to make sense of what was real and what wasn't. What was real? The dream, that had felt real, and the people outside trying to wake her up had felt unreal.

But she could still feel Emma, and that wasn't real, was it? It was just because she had Emma's heart in her chest. But wait, she actually could still feel Emma.

With a slight blush Regina realized she was still holding Emma's hand. She tried to casually drop it, not wanting to make a scene, to make it seem like a bigger deal than it was.

The pirate finished speaking, watching the woman with a wary gaze.

"I'm sorry," Regina announced, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I missed that."

Hook sighed. He was too anxious to deal with this, but he tried to give the woman some credit since they had clearly pulled her from a very deep sleep.

Zelena took over, explaining that they had the staff, and that it didn't work with Belle. It was only then that Regina realized that Hook was back, only then that she remembered he had been gone in the first place, and why he had been gone.

She really was quite out of it.

Regina's stomach sunk upon hearing about the failure with Belle, but she tried to remain hopeful for Emma. She didn't want the Savior to suffer any longer, even if it meant being able to hold her to comfort her.

Wait, no. She didn't mean that. She was just out of it still—still half asleep.

"All right," she said, standing up. "Together?" She didn't want to just expect her sister's help, knowing the woman was likely just as tired as she was, and she looked it, with bags under her dazzling eyes and her red hair a wavy mess.

Zelena nodded, and together they did as Gold had done, storing up their magic in the staff. They were tired, but they were also powerful, and doubly so together. Soon the staff had a slight glow, a swirl of emerald and purple racing along its length.

Once they had stored all they could, they stood on opposite sides of the bed, holding the staff between them in and their free hands over the Savior. The magic sparked at their fingertips and swept over Emma in waves of their respective colors.

Regina watched Emma's eyes just as closely as Hook did, waiting for any sign of movement, longing for her to open her eyes and smile up at them.

But no matter how hard they pushed, no matter how hard they wished, it simply didn't work.

Gold had been lied to, that was the simple truth. The master manipulator had been manipulated.

Zelena dropped her arms and wiped away the thin layer of sweat from her forehead. Regina dropped her arms shortly after, fighting back the tears in her eyes. Hook paced the room with a deep frown.

"No," Regina moaned under her breath, "I promised…"

The other two glanced at the mayor but said nothing. They didn't know what exactly she meant. They didn't know she visited Emma in her dreams. The room fell to an awkward, heavy silence.

The emerald witch broke the silence first. "What do they need the staff for then?" she asked.

Regina shook her head. Zelena was right; they all knew it. Clearly, the staff was needed for something—but what?

"I don't know, Love," Hook answered. Despite his attempts to control it, his voice was shaking.

Zelena shifted her gaze from Regina, to Hook, and back to Regina. "Well, we have someone we can interrogate," she noted, referring to the man locked away in her basement, "but let's get a few more hours of sleep and handle this tomorrow. You both look like you are about to keel over."

"You don't look so good yourself, dear," Regina retorted, but she gave a weak smile.

Zelena headed for the door. "I assume you know the way out, Pirate?" Her voice lacked its usual sarcastic bite.

It was a moment before he responded. "Actually, Love," he began, "would you mind terribly if I found a piece of carpet somewhere and called it a bed for the night?" He looked over at her, his tired eyes giving his inquiry the hint of begging that he refused to add to his words.

Zelena sighed. Her home was becoming an inn. But really, underneath it all, she didn't mind so much. She was glad to help, and glad they trusted her enough to. "That's fine," she answered, and then she left the room, eager to return to her own bed.

Regina narrowed her eyes at the pirate. "That certainly doesn't extend to this room, Hook" she said. She didn't care if his girlfriend was asleep in this room; it was also the room in which she planned to sleep. Besides—she watched the man exit the room with one last wistful look at Emma—right now, she was the one Emma needed.

She considered returning to the chair—to Emma, but her mind was so fatigued she imagined it must have been mush by that point. She was also quite certain people would begin to question things more than they already were. Yes, she and Emma were friends, but neither woman was a very touchy person, not even so much with their significant others. And besides, she was beginning to feel lost—confused. Reality was becoming muddled, as were her emotions. She needed some real sleep, and some time to clear her head.

So instead of returning to the chair, she made herself somewhat comfortable on the couch and forced herself to fall asleep there, watching Emma from across the room. Sleep came easier this time, because when she closed her eyes, she could feel the Savior there with her, her heart beating within her.