Regina staggered as she arrived suddenly in the middle of the woods. It was much darker here than it had been on the ship due to the absence of lanterns, as well as the fact that the trees were blocking out some of the moon and starlight. She looked around in shock as the purple smoke surrounding her dispersed into the air. She was holding onto her sleeping son a little too tightly as she tried to figure out what had happened. The last thing she'd heard was Gold saying he could change Henry back to his normal age, and then before she knew it, here she was in the middle of the island.

"What–?" She turned around looking for some sign as to how she'd ended up here.

There was no one else around, and apart from the soft rustling of the tree leaves in the breeze, the area was completely silent.

A tear that had formed back on the ship fell from her lashes, and her breathing was coming heavily.

She had done this. She had brought Henry and herself alone onto some unknown part of the island, well after nightfall, and with no clue of what to do next. She hadn't even been aware of performing the spell but that wouldn't matter. The others were sure to believe she had run away to prevent them from returning Henry to his proper age. And when they found her they might not be so forgiving.

"Oh no," she whispered.

Henry murmured from in her arms, and his head rubbed against the collar of her jacket as he began to wake up. Regina's hand came to rest on the back of his head. She placed a soft kiss to his temple before looking around again, completely at a loss for what to do.

The little boy opened his eyes and took in their surroundings. "Mommy? What're we doing here?"

"I'm not really certain Henry."

"Where's everyone else?"

"They're still on the ship."

"Oh... Why'd we leave?"

"I don't know." Her voice cracked a little.

The obvious choice would be to return to the ship immediately and explain the mistake, which would hopefully eliminate the blame from herself. But if she brought little Henry back there it would mean saying goodbye to him, and that was something she wasn't sure she was ready for just yet.

"Henry..."

"Yes mommy?"

"I don't know what to do."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

"No way," Emma said. Her wide eyes met the equally stunned faces of her parents. The last of the purple smoke vanished from where Regina had been standing only moments before.

"Are you serious?! I can't believe she actually just did that!" Emma continued.

"I can." Snow said.

"Tell me I'm not the only one who's not the least bit surprised?" Hook said. "Her majesty... she's a sly one I'll give her that."

David ran a hand through his hair, at a loss for what to say.

Tinkerbell covered her mouth with her hand, trying not to let the others see her amused smile.

Gold was shaking his head slightly, a small smile on his face as well.

Snow looked at Gold. "Maybe you shouldn't have made that crack about Regina not being Henry's real mother. She's already heartbroken enough about having to give him up, you might have just pushed her over the edge."

"Perhaps I was a little harsh." Gold agreed tersely.

"Yeah... and she did just help save you." Neal pointed out.

Gold just sighed. "You needn't worry yourselves, we can follow her."

"How?" Emma asked. "We don't even know where she went."

"True, but I have a feeling she hasn't gone far."

"Should we get the boat ready to go ashore then?" David asked.

"No no, that won't be necessary." Gold said. With a wave of his hand, everyone on the deck of the Jolly Roger disappeared and a few moments later they arrived amidst the trees in an area of the jungle.

"Would it have killed you to give us a little warning?" Hook complained.

"My apologies," Gold replied. "I just thought it best to waste as little time as possible."

Tink held up the lantern she'd been holding, "guess we're lucky we've still got this."

David reached for Snow's hand. "Do you have any ideas of where Regina might have taken Henry?"

"REGINA!" Emma yelled suddenly.

David felt Snow grip his arm out of reflex.

"Emma!" She scolded, placing a hand on her chest, her heart beating rapidly.

"What? She basically kidnapped our son."

The light from the lamp lit up Emma's face as Tink moved closer to the Charmings. "She's probably not ready to say goodbye to him just yet and got scared," the fairy said.

"She doesn't have to say goodbye to him he's still the same person."

"Well not quite," Snow said sympathetically, wrapping an arm around her daughter.

Emma sighed. "I know... And I can't imagine what she's going through right now. But we've still gotta find her."

"Emma's right." David said. "Regina may be his mother but she can't keep him from the rest of his family. Besides it's not safe out here at night."

Emma turned to Gold. "Can you use your magic to find her?"

"It's unlikely."

"What about your sight?" Neal asked.

"It doesn't work in Neverland Bae."

"Oh, yeah, I knew that."

"Well." Hook said, "Guess we'd better start searching if we want to find her before daybreak."

"REGINA!" Emma began again, moving off into the woods.

David shared a look with Snow.

"What other choice do we have?" She said.

"As long as we all stick together. I don't want to lose anyone else now that we've finally got everyone back. Well, we did have everyone back. For about sixty seconds."

Snow gave a small laugh."Sounds good to me." The two shared a quick kiss.

The others began to call for Regina as well as they followed Emma and began their trek through the woods.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

Regina's head raised as she heard her name being called in the distance. Her heartbeat quickened anxiously. How had they followed her so quickly?

"Gold..." She muttered.

"Hmm?" Henry asked.

"Nothing sweetheart."

She looked around for somewhere to go. It was so dark that she could barely see further than a few meters away.

"Mommy I can hear Emma."

"I know, so can I."

"Should you call back so they know we're here?"

"Umm," she swallowed nervously. "No I don't think so."

"Why?"

"I don't want to see them right now."

"Why?"

"Because I don't."

Henry fell silent.

Regina guiltily rubbed his back as she began to move deeper into the forest, away from the voices. She had to be extremely careful since she had Henry in her arms, and she couldn't always see if there was something like a root or a branch that could trip her.

"Were you able to find Rumpstles?" Henry asked after a few minutes.

"Yes."

"Can he take us home?"

"I don't know. He didn't say."

"Oh."

"I left before he said very much actually." She went on, just to keep her mind off of worrying what would happen when either she went back, or the others found her. "I don't know if he has any ideas for getting us home. I shouldn't have left, but I guess I brought you here because I wanted to protect you."

"From what?"

Regina gave a heavyhearted sigh as she stopped walking. "Nothing," she said honestly.

"From him?"

"Rumplestilksin?" She asked to clarify.

Henry nodded.

Regina paused, thinking her response over. "Yes I want to protect you from him."

"I thought you said he wouldn't hurt anyone?"

"He doesn't want to hurt you Henry. What I said before was true, you don't need to be afraid of him."

"Then I don't understand."

"I know. I'm sorry, it's very complicated. But I promise nothing bad will happen to you."

She resumed her careful walking through the forest.

"Mommy?"

"Mhmm?"

"Why'd Emma sound so mad?"

"Well, she's angry with me for running away and taking you with me. But she doesn't know that I never intended to. However I don't think she'll believe me if I tell her it was an accident."

"Why's she mad that you took me?"

"Because she cares about you too."

"Really?"

Regina stopped again. "We should go back shouldn't we?"

"I dunno."

The brunette jumped slightly as she heard her name being called again, the voices seemed closer than before.

"Just tell them it was an acsinent." Henry said, clearly sensing her anxiousness.

"Accident." Regina corrected him softly. "And I'm not so certain they'll be willing to listen to me. Not after all that's happened lately."

"Like what?"

Regina didn't respond immediately. She turned away once again from the voices of the Charmings, Hook, Rumplestiltskin, Tinkerbell, Neal, and even Wendy.

"I want some time for just the two of us for a while before we go back to Storybrooke. These past few days with you have been very special to me Henry."

"But it'll be just the two of us when we go home." He said. "Like always."

"Yes. Like always." Regina gave a sad smile.

She gave a heavy sigh and then placed Henry down on the forest floor in front of her. He stood staring at her curiously as she lowered closer to his eye level. She took one of his tiny hands in her own.

"Henry I'm going to give you something that will protect you. I promise it won't hurt, it might tickle a little bit but that's all."

He tilted his head to the side. "What is it?"

Her hand raised in front of her and Henry stared in awe at the purple sparks that emanated from her fingertips.

"What's that?!" He asked, eyes glowing in excitement.

"It's magic. And I'm going to make it so that no one else can cast any spells on you."

"Spells? Why would they do that?"

She didn't respond. She reached forward, her fingertips hovering just inches from his chest.

Regina hesitated as her eyes met his. Even during what must have been a very unusual moment for him, he was looking at her with such trust. She thought of how much Henry hated when she used magic. True, three-year-old Henry didn't remember any of this, but that didn't change the facts. When eleven-year-old Henry came back, he would hate her for keeping him from the rest of his family once he found out what she'd done. Maybe the protection spell wasn't the best idea. After all, she needed to let Henry come back at some point and if she cast this spell she would only lose the trust of everyone completely.

"Actually you know what Henry..."

"Mommy look there's–"

"I FOUND HER!"

The queen nearly fell as she was startled by Wendy's shrill voice.

"SHE'S OVER HERE!"

Regina turned to see Neal and Emma rush into view, closely followed by the rest of the search party.

The brunette grabbed for Henry and stood up, backing away.

"Regina," Emma said. "What do you think you're doing? Why did you leave?"

"Please, you have to let me explain–"

"Henry belongs with all of us," David said.

Snow nodded. "He may be your son Regina and I know how much you love him but you can't just take off and pretend like you're the only one who cares about him."

Regina shook her head. "It's not what you think I–"

"How can we trust you after this?" Emma demanded.

"It was an accident! I didn't mean to leave the ship. Before I knew what was happening I was in the forest. It must be my magic acting up again."

"I'm sure it must be." Emma said sarcastically.

"I didn't do this on purpose!"

"Then why didn't you just come back to the ship when you realised what had happened?"

"I... I was afraid of another spell going wrong that's all."

"She was about to use magic on him." Wendy said in a worried voice. "I saw it."

Regina eyed the young girl with a look that resembled betrayal.

"No I wasn't going to–" Regina stopped when she saw the horrified expressions of the Charmings and Neal. "You have to believe me," her voice dropped pleadingly. "I left the ship by accident. I wasn't trying to keep him from you. And I was not going to cast any spells on Henry I swear."

"Wendy saw you Regina." David said, crossing his arms.

"Well she's lying."

"I'm not." Wendy insisted desperately.

"Wendy wouldn't lie about something like this Regina," Neal said. "Don't try to deny it."

Regina hesitated, knowing she was trapped. "It was just a protection spell." She implored. "It's completely safe, I would never cast anything that would hurt him."

"What if something had gone wrong?" Emma asked, horrified.

"Regina why would you do something like that?" Snow asked. "When so many of your spells have been backfiring lately?"

"I told you I wasn't going to–"

"Stealing him from us is one thing, but this?!" Emma's eyes were wide.

"How could you Regina?" Snow looked disappointed.

"I'm sorry." Regina choked back a sob. "But it really was an accident."

Emma stepped towards her, holding out her arms. "Give him to me."

"What?" Regina's voice trembled.

"Henry. You want us to trust you? Give him to me."

The brunette scanned the faces of the surrounding people, as if hoping one of them would come to her aid. When none of them did, she drew a shaky breath and looked down at Henry. He was staring up at her with round eyes, he didn't understand what was going on between the adults.

"But he's scared." Regina whispered.

Emma's eyes softened, but she didn't back down.

Defeated, Regina shed a few tears as she moved towards Emma. She reluctantly let go of Henry as the blonde lifted him into her own arms.

"Thank you." Emma said softly.

Regina looked guiltily at Henry who was staring up at her as if she had just abandoned him.

She had to look away before she fell apart completely.

"Emma." Snow said quietly.

"What?"

Snow nodded at Henry who had his eyes fixated on the back of his mother. He didn't understand why everyone was so angry at her. He didn't know what was wrong, but he could see that his mother was extremely distressed. His cheeks were damp with tears as he held onto Emma's shoulders for comfort.

"Oh..." Emma said guiltily. "Hey Henry everything's going to be alright okay?"

"Mommy?"

Regina was hugging herself tightly, she looked up towards the sky, trying to stay calm.

"Mommy?" Henry asked again. He didn't understand why she wouldn't look at him, or why she couldn't hold him anymore.

"Mommy are you mad at me?"

She couldn't ignore him this time, she turned to look at him and was stuck by the sight of his tears.

"Oh Henry no. It's okay don't be upset."

She hurried towards him again to comfort him, but as she reached out to take him she was suddenly struck by a spell and thrown a few meters away.

"Regina!" Snow ran to where her stepmother had fallen.

Emma lowered her arm, her eyes wide in horror as she realised what she'd just done.

"No!" Henry shouted.

"Oh my god," Emma said in a quiet, astounded voice.

The three-year-old was struggling against her so she set him on his feet. He ran towards his mother and knelt beside her, next to Tinkerbell. Across from them were Snow and David.

"She's unconscious," David observed, "but she's breathing."

"Is she okay?" Henry whimpered.

"Don't worry honey she'll be fine." Snow assured him.

Emma moved somewhat dazedly over to the group huddled around Regina's motionless form. "I'm sorry."

Snow looked up at her, "it's okay Emma it's not your fault. It was an accident." Although she eyed her daughter worriedly as she pulled Regina onto her lap, trying to figure out how to resuscitate her.

"Gold?" Emma addressed him as he walked slowly over to Regina. "What was that?"

"I would say your skills are improving Miss Swan. And quite significantly if I might add."

"But I didn't even mean to do it! I wasn't even thinking about attacking her. I just saw her coming and I was worried about Henry and... How could this happen?"

"Maybe now you won't be so quick to accuse our dear queen. I'm sure you're well aware that she being honest just now."

"Okay... maybe I did know." Emma said carefully.

"What?" Snow asked.

"Regina was telling the truth, she didn't leave the ship on purpose."

"Emma why didn't you say anything?! She was practically begging us to believe her." Snow sounded crestfallen.

"I know, I'm sorry. I just wanted to know what spell she was gonna use on Henry that's all. Because she might not have taken him but she definitely was about to use magic on him."

Emma felt Neal's hand on her back. "Don't feel bad. You were just looking out for Henry."

"Yeah..." She said, still a little disoriented. She looked up and saw Hook's watchful eye on the pair of them. However, the captain made no comment.

Henry was hugging Regina's arm as if his life depended on it. He looked incredibly distraught. David rubbed his back gently in an attempt to comfort the poor boy.

Snow looked up at Gold who was now standing in front of her, staring thoughtfully down at the unconscious queen.

"Can you wake her up?" Snow asked.

Gold knelt beside them.

"Don't hurt her." Henry's voice trembled, recognising the man from his dream.

Gold sighed regretfully. "You needn't worry yourself. I'm not going to harm your mother."

Henry wiped his eyes on his sleeve as he watched.

Gold's hand hovered over Regina's forehead for a few moments as he evaluated the extent of her injury.

He shook his head. "It would be risky to bring her out of a magically induced coma prematurely. She'll wake up on her own once it wears off."

"How long will that be?" Tink asked.

"It's hard to say. Maybe an hour... maybe four... It depends on how powerful our saviour's abilities are." Gold looked pointedly at Emma.

"It was an accident." Emma affirmed.

"Don't worry Emma, we're not blaming you." David assured her.

Emma bit her lip. "So she's really gonna be okay?" She asked Gold.

"Yes she will be."

"Well are we just going to sit and wait here until her majesty wakes up?" Hook said. "It's getting late after all. Why should she be the only one able to rest while we linger around the dark, wretched jungle?"

"We should get back to the ship." David agreed.

"You can magic us back there right?" Emma asked Gold.

Gold was frowning as he stared down at his former student.

"Gold?" Emma repeated.

"Yes of course I can. Hold on to her," he said to Snow. "We wouldn't want to risk losing her now would we?"

Snow nodded her assent.

Emma walked towards the three-year-old. "Henry come hold my hand."

"But I want to stay with mommy."

"We won't leave her, I promise." Emma said kindly.

"Okay..." Henry stood up and took the hand offered to him. He stared sadly down at his mother.

David was kneeling beside Snow, helping her hold her stepmother up. Regina's head was now resting against the younger woman's shoulder.

"Ready?" Gold asked.

Snow nodded. Gold looked to Hook since the pirate had complained the first time Gold had transported them. The captain gave his agreement, and within a few moments the group found themselves on the main deck of the Jolly Roger once more.

A/N:

Hey everyone, thanks for reading and I hope you liked the new chapter! I realise there is a part that is very similar to last week's episode but I promise it was a complete coincidence! I wrote the first draft last week so I had no idea I swear. :P I considered changing the chapter but decided to just leave it the way it was because they are different circumstances. Thanks again for reading! I'd love to hear your thoughts :)