Disclaimers on part 1.

Author's Note: A huge THANK YOU to everyone still sticking around. I can't believe OUAT resumes in just 3 days! All the promos and sneak peeks have me so excited! I know it has been a terribly long time since my last update, but things in life are keeping me so busy. Hopefully though, with this update, "Your Move" is turning the corner toward its climax and resolution.

Your Move 12

"You never loved me. You made me think I was crazy to believe in the curse - that you cast! I hate you! Good will win! You are the Evil Queen!"

Regina awoke with a gasp, Henry's voice ringing in her ears. Clutching her chest she tried to slow her heart's hammering against her ribs so painfully. Tears wet her cheeks and clogged her throat. "Henry? No, no," she murmured, "Please." She called out to the fading image of her son.

A strong arm slipped across Regina's waist, the weight drawing Regina's gaze downward. The reality of where she was sunk in as she traced the limb, with its light dusting of blond hair, up to a bare shoulder, a bare collarbone and, finally, over the small cleft in a strong chin and full lips to blinking and hazy green eyes. "Regina," Emma said dazedly as their gazes met. "What's up?"

Regina debated what to say. Emma's hand shifted from her hip to her stomach, and her muscles clenched at the contact, remembering their lovemaking.

Lovemaking. Regina marveled at the memories of something that had gone truly deeper than sex. She couldn't remember ever laughing in bed; she couldn't recall laughing much in her life at all. Not since... She felt her mouth turning down.

"Hey?" Emma's hand cupped Regina's down-turned chin. "I heard you call for Henry," she said. Regina tilted her head up again and her eyes tracked to Emma's. "We will find him," Emma said, her voice filled with a rare gravitas.

Regina's throat blocked and tears spilled fresh onto her cheeks. Emma was upright in an instant, enfolding Regina against her chest and pressing Regina's head against Emma's shoulder. At first Regina fisted her hands against Emma's belly, unwilling and unused to seeking comfort. But the warmth of another body, the sound of another's heartbeat in her ear, and the memory of her dream made the tears come harder. She gasped and her hands openly clutched at Emma, fingers digging into the taut muscles of the woman's back, trying to keep at bay the drowning sensation that came with being emotionally exposed.

She breathed in the lush scent of Emma, but also caught a singed smell, like a candle had been burned and snuffed. Recognizing it as the aftereffect of the woman's magic, she brushed her lips against Emma's collarbone. She imagined she could taste the magic, too. She definitely could feel it. There was an undercurrent to the movements of Emma's muscles, that made Regina's fingers tingle.

Emma's hands moved onto Regina's arms as the blonde sought to separate them and look into her face. The pads of Emma's fingers skimmed over her biceps and the sensation reminded her that the woman had healed her wounds. But it had gone deeper than that, too. As she met green eyes and took in Emma's bashful smile, and felt her own genuine smile tugging at her face in response, Regina realized she didn't feel empty anymore. The void wasn't just a little bit filled, the way she'd felt bringing Henry into her home and heart as a baby. She actually felt no tension within her body at all. There had been so little of herself left after Daniel's loss and casting the dark curse that she'd always felt the need to hold herself and her emotions tightly in check just to keep herself from falling apart. It had given her the imperiousness that others called detachment if they were kind, but which most simply called the nature of evil.

"It's been so long," Regina murmured, closing her eyes and feeling suddenly dizzy and exhausted. She leaned heavily into Emma.

"We will find out what happened. There have to be clues somewhere," Emma said. "I thought we'd start by going through the mess at city hall."

"Clues?"

"To finding Henry and the rest."

"Oh."

"That wasn't what you were talking about? What's been so long then?"

"It doesn't matter." Regina shrugged it off.

Emma's brow furrowed and she shook her head, blond hair sweeping into her face. She pushed it aside. "Eventually I'm going to find out," she muttered. "But how about we take a shower so I can wake up enough to wrestle it out of you."

Regina found herself laughing again; it came so easily, it was frightening. Her voice dropped into a throaty register as she dipped her chin and looked up through her lashes into hazel-green eyes regarding her. "I might enjoy another round of wrestling with you, Miss Swan."

"Oh, fuck. Regina." Emma grabbed Regina roughly around the waist and covered her mouth in hungry kisses before she spoke again. "Humor and your natural sensuality... Killer combination."

Their lips melded together once more. As Emma's emotions became more and more evident, Regina felt the woman's magic sparking over both their skin. It was such a heady feeling, but she didn't pull away. She knew now it was meant for her. Somehow against all odds, she had found another... honest love. She didn't dare wish to name it more.

"Emma." Regina breathed into the blonde's open mouth. She palmed Emma's breast, catching the nipple between her fingers and smiled when she heard Emma's gasp. She felt the magic lifting the hair on her head and arms, as though she had come in contact with a Van de Graaf generator.

But the sensation startled Emma. "OK. OK. Hold on." Emma pulled away. "I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"No," Regina replied. "It's my turn." She nudged Emma onto her back, trapping the muscular legs with her own lean ones. Stroking her fingers through Emma's golden locks, she untangled golden strands with a light touch.

She studied the face of the woman who had saved her, who had been saving her for months, despite all of Regina's efforts to drive her away.

"Thank you," she said. She tracked Emma's green gaze before closing her eyes and dipping her head to capture soft lips. Emma's hands slid up her back and cradled her head, keeping Regina in place as the kisses continued with nips, nibbles, and soft feather-light brushes just tasting one another's warm breath. "Thank you. Emma."

She shifted more fully atop the other woman's body, reveling in the way their soft curves slipped together. Emma's thighs parted and Regina's leg slipped between them. Emma bent her knee, flexing the muscle against Regina's center. Regina bit her lip to contain her moan. She pressed her own knee, watching as Emma threw her head back, baring her throat, gasping out a moan from the stimulation. Regina smiled, something of a devilish expression, and moved her leg again, dabbling kisses down Emma's throat to her collarbone before latching onto a nipple with barely concealed teeth.

Emma's body bucked and she moaned again. Regina plied the bit of flesh between her teeth and tongue, rolling it, and held on the lush body as the stimulation drove Emma toward her peak and the woman's panting filled Regina's ears. She stroked Emma's rolling hip before bringing a hand to join her knee, teasing at Emma's swollen and soaked flesh. Circling the woman's center with two fingers, she spread the wetness as she went and reveled in Emma's responsiveness. The woman buried her face in Regina's shoulder, kissing her sweaty skin while Regina maintained the depth and rhythm of her strokes.

The sensation was beyond anything Regina had ever felt. She had never thought two people could feel part of the same body during sex. She had always felt so distanced from other lovers. She understood now it had been a lack of true feeling. Feeling Emma's swollen and hot flesh squeezing her fingers now made her own center throb and quiver.

Then Emma came with short, sharp shout. Regina buried her face against Emma's shoulder and cried, happiness having bloomed bright white and hot behind her eyes as she watched Emma's gaze grow increasingly unfocused. Gasping whispers of her name tumbled from Emma's lips. She'd done that, Regina thought. She'd made someone else as happy as they had made her. Her own happiness was no longer the only thing that mattered anymore.


Emma's stomach rumbling under Regina's ear brought both women downstairs to the kitchen where Regina donned an apron – though Emma's arms tangling around her middle as she "helped" brought about more giggling than progress in tying the strings. Laughter, deep and throaty, and kisses were liberally added to the meal preparation.

"This is fabulous," Emma said after swallowing a bite of what Regina had offhandedly called chicken salad. It looked more like a 5-star restaurant's interpretation, presented as a perfect scoop on a single romaine lettuce leaf with a sprinkling of cayenne gracing the top. The woman had even used an ice-cream scoop to serve.

"This is what I was planning to make the day you came for your visit."

"Were you planning to ask me to stay?" Emma asked.

"Being alone is... wearying," Regina explained. "Even during the curse, when I was the only one with any memory, at least I could be among people when I wanted."

"Before she became Henry's teacher, did you see Snow White around Storybrooke a lot?"

Regina shook her head, wrapping an arm around her chest and clutching at her own shoulder, a sort of one-armed self-hug. "That was too much pain. I kept Henry and myself moving in other circles in town."

"King George," Emma mentioned the district attorney. Regina nodded. Emma hesitated before taking her next bite. "I don't think I really understood why you never just killed Snow. All these years..."

"Torture is more damaging," Regina said, her tone dark and blunt.

Emma looked up from her food and studied Regina's face before she responded; Regina felt her low back tense in nervous anticipation. Finally, Emma spoke. "Of all the reasons you could have, I think I understand that the most."

"Maybe I was meant to come here after all." Regina exhaled.

"Without the curse there'd be no Henry," Emma confirmed.

Regina nodded. "There'd also be no you." Emma marveled at the shy smile back on the woman's face.

"I would have still been the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming." Emma set down her fork when her plate was empty. "I'll do the dishes. Where do you think we ought to start looking for everyone?"

Regina frowned at the change in topic. "I don't know. The other world doesn't exist. The curse utterly destroyed it. So I'm not sure, if they safely left here, how, or even where, they might go."

"Magic almost certainly was involved. Ten thousand people don't just vanish."

"A portal of some kind."

"Like through that guy Jefferson's hat?"

"He really was the Mad Hatter of Wonderland, dear."

"He was just plain crazy, Regina."

"Still now you don't really believe, do you? You have magic. You have the most powerful magic there ever was, and you don't believe."

"I had 28 years of pretty stark reality," Emma replied and her voice held no malice. "So did you."

Shoulder to shoulder at the sink, Regina looked at Emma, who placidly looked back at her. Regina thought about their earlier lovemaking, and she had an epiphany. It could be both a way forward in their search for the others and a way to bring Emma the childhood wonder Regina's actions had caused her not to experience.

"Let's start in Gold's shop," she said. A few things in the imp's collection might work with Emma's magic like divining rods to home in on the missing. "Besides, I owe him for threatening Henry."

"Threatening Henry?" This was news to Emma.

"There was a white pawn on Henry's bed upstairs." Regina reached into her pocket where she'd tucked the marble chess piece.

Emma gingerly took it. "What makes you think that he put it there?"

Regina's eyes narrowed. "Rumple arranged Henry's adoption. I am sure he knew somehow that Henry was the son of the Savior. And we both know he used Henry as a pawn to get the curse broken and magic brought into this world."

Emma's eyes flashed a darker green, obviously recalling when both of them found out Henry had died in the hospital, and both of them had believed the true love potion which had been their only hope. Emma had been furious. She'd left Regina in the lock up at the sheriff's office to go confront Gold. Regina had faced him herself, taunted by the fact that he remained free while she'd become "a black-hearted bird in a cage."

"That man has a lot to answer for," Emma growled. "Do you think he's behind what happened with this?"

"In some way, I think so. But the apple tree coming back to life... That tree is solely tied to me."

"Well let's get started on finding out what happened and finding everyone. When we find him, we'll... deal with him."

Regina looked down to see Emma had taken her hand. It was soapy and wet, but it was the most wonderful feeling in the world. She squeezed it lightly back. "Let's go."


The town streets were so quiet Emma was reminded of the night she and Regina had gone to the boarded up Storybrooke Library and she had first faced the reality that there was a dragon living under the town. But their destination this time as the twilight darkened around them was Gold's Pawn Shop. Regina lifted her skeleton keys from her pocket, intent on the lock.

Emma noticed a glow as the key neared the lock and grabbed Regina's hand, forestalling the motion when she realized the brunette didn't see it. "Let me," she said.

"What?"

"There's something funny about that lock." Regina swallowed and passed Emma the key ring. Emma fumbled with the lock for a moment, and she felt an energy tingle across her hands as she turned and opened the door, but her caution seemed to serve them well. Nothing jumped out at them, and she didn't sense any immediate dangers when she stepped across the threshold. "Stick close," she warned Regina, and she felt the woman's hand slide against her back.

They were in the middle of the store's floor space when Emma heard something – a high-pitched buzz. She grabbed Regina and threw them both bodily to the floor, covering the brunette with her own bigger frame. The buzzing passed directly overhead followed by a thunk in the far wall. Emma chanced a look in that direction and saw an arrow shaft quivering, its head impaled in the drywall.

"All right," Emma rolled onto her back, letting Regina roll over as well beside her. She looked through the darkness toward the dark pools of the woman's eyes. "So what are we looking for?"

"He's always been a collector," Regina started. "There are things here that belong to most of the others, from their fairytale world lives. We might be able to use one or two to find them."

"Magical compasses."

"There's a spell for it," Regina confirmed. "Like the magic that enchanted your mother's ring so Charming could always find her."

Emma had heard the story from her father himself. "Gold would certainly like knowing where all his marks were."

"Exactly," Regina said. "Let's see what we can find."

"Do you know what stuff belongs to each person?"

"Not everyone. I wasn't involved in all their stories. But enough. My theory is where we find a few, we will find all of them."

"Good a theory as any. All right." Emma drove her elbow into the top of the glass case and started fishing around among the objects. "Hmm, something's tingling."

"That's your magic identifying other magic. What is it?" Regina leaned over Emma's shoulder and looked at the items, mostly rings, though there were a few necklaces. Emma withdrew a necklace that appeared to be a black onyx gemstone secured in a thick gold chain. "Ursula's vox stone!" Regina exclaimed. "How the hell did he get this?"

"Ursula?" Emma's voice registered her unfamiliarity with the name.

"A sea witch. The sea witch who took Ariel's voice so she could have legs to meet her prince." Regina reached for the necklace gingerly taking its chain between her fingers. "Well, now I know what he was doing in my house."

"Finding this? What would he want with this?"

"There are some enchanted gates that only open to certain voices. Capture the voice and you can project it to gain entrance."

"Magical voice print security." Emma laughed. "Since you had it, I take it there had been someplace you wanted to get into once upon a time?"

That made Regina laugh. "There was a chamber my mother kept closed all the time. I wanted inside."

"Could've been Christmas presents," Emma suggested.

"It wasn't." The tone of Regina's voice dried the laughter instantly.

"I'm sorry." Emma pursed her lips. "Did you ever find out what it was?"

Regina shook her head. "I never managed to get my mother's voice."

"So..." Emma turned her gaze back to the necklace. "Can we find Ursula with this?"

"With your magic, the spell, and a little luck."

Emma took back the necklace. "All right. I'll get the book out of the car."

Regina looked into the broken case, then into the one next to it. "We might want to get a few other things." She turned in place taking in the whole of the shadowed space. "Are those cloaks and coats?"

Emma followed Regina's gaze to what indeed looked to be a clothing rack. "Didn't know Gold ran the costume shop at Halloween," she mused.

"Those are fairytale clothing," Regina reminded, crossing to the rack. "See if you can sense anything." She pulled a fur-lined cloak from the rack. "This was your mother's when she was on the run from me."

Emma took the cloak in both hands. "There's something here," she said, her tone awed. "All right. Let's give this magical compass spell a whirl."