Emma could almost feel the nervousness flowing off of Regina as they drove over to Granny's. Regina had taken her time getting ready that morning, delaying leaving until the last moment. She could tell Regina was trying – and failing – not to appear to be scared. Emma felt almost bad enough to turn the car around and go back home. Almost.

She knew this had to be done though. A part of her hoped that bringing Regina outside of the house would help spur on her memories. A bigger part of her had given up on that idea.

That morning Regina had asked her what she normally would have worn in going out like that. Since she had been back the clothing she wore was pretty casual, prompting Emma to buy some additional jeans, sweats and even T-shirts. Seeing Regina dressed in a pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt was something Emma never thought she would see in her lifetime.

Emma had told Regina that it didn't matter what she wore, but Regina wouldn't let it go. When Emma asked her why it was important for her to know how she used to dress, Regina replied that she didn't want people staring at her. So, Regina was dressed as much in her mayor's persona as Emma could get her to be. It was weird because Regina wasn't quite pulling off the look. Part of it was the hair – she really needed to convince Regina to let her take her to get her hair trimmed. Part of it was also because Regina didn't carry herself the same way she used to – that confidence and that unexplained aura that made her seem powerful even when she wasn't was no longer there.

She parked down from the entrance to Granny's and shut off the car. Regina had peered out the window at the diner but she made no move to get out.

"Are you ready?" Emma asked.

Regina shook her head no.

"Come on, it's going to be fine."

"I don't want to do this," Regina said turning to look at her. "I just want to go home."

For a moment Emma thought of how scared Regina had been when she first returned. This was a different kind of terror though.

"I'm going to be right there with you the entire time," Emma said. "I promise."

"What if …"

"What if what?"

"Nothing."

Regina still continued to sit there staring out at the diner. "Take me home," she said finally.

Emma sighed, but started the car back up. "Can we at least go see Mr. Gold? There won't be anyone there but him and his wife Belle."

This time Regina nodded yes.

Emma hoped that she wouldn't change her mind once they got there.

"You had a life here, you know," Emma said as she drove. "People here, they know you are back and they wonder about you so yeah, they are going to stare at you when you go out in public. They are going to wonder about where you have been and how you are doing. That doesn't mean they are going to stare forever. The more they see you the less they will stare."

Silence. They drove the rest of the way over that way. But when Emma parked the car this time, Regina unhooked her seatbelt which Emma took as an encouraging sign. Still she made no move to get out of the car.

"You think I don't understand," Regina said. She was sitting up straight with her eyes remained forward. "I do understand that I was here before, that I lived here before. But I'm not the same person as before and I don't know how to be her."

"No one is asking you to be her."

"All those people who would stare at me, they wouldn't really be looking at me, they would be looking at her – the woman I used to be," Regina said. "I just want to be me, if that makes any sense."

Emma thought back to fail safe device and how Regina was prepared to die and all she wanted was for Henry to know she died as Regina.

"It makes sense," Emma said.

She got out of the car first and Regina joined her after a short pause. Leading the way Emma prayed not for the first time that she wasn't making a mistake in bringing Regina here. She didn't trust Gold and his offer to help she was sure had an ulterior motive. But she didn't know enough about magic to even know where to start so Gold was her best option. She planned on watching him closely however and the first moment she got the feeling something was off she was going to pull Regina out of there.

They entered the shop, the ding of the bell startling Regina who turned to look up at it.

"Good morning sheriff," Gold said as he came out of the back. Belle was right behind him and when she came to stand beside him behind the counter her eyes went directly to Regina. "I see you managed to get our esteemed former mayor out of the house."

Emma glanced back at Regina whose eyes were going everywhere in the shop, almost oblivious to Gold and Belle as she took in all of the various knick-knacks.

"We're here, so let's do this."

"Bring her back here," Gold said without further comment as he went into the back of the shop. Belle waited for them and Emma ended up taking ahold of Regina's arm to guide her back since she was still looking at things. When they got close to Belle, Regina stopped and appeared to be studying her.

"I'm Belle," she said to Regina.

"Regina," she replied. "But I assume you know that."

"I do," Belle said, giving her a sympathetic smile. "Can I get you some water to drink?"

"No," Regina said. "Thank you."

Belle nodded and directed them into the back. Regina looked around back there as well before letting her eyes come to rest on Gold.

"Please have a seat," Gold said, pulling out a simple wooden chair for Regina to sit on in the middle of the room. Regina glanced at Emma as if to ask if she should and Emma motioned for her to do so.

Once she was seated Gold walked around her a couple of times. On what would be his third trip around, Emma spoke up.

"What are you doing?"

He ignored her and continued to walk around Regina, but Regina apparently had had enough already and stood up. Gold put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into the seat. "Remain seated."

"Hey," Emma said stepping forward. "Keep your hands off of her."

"Then tell your pet to keep still until I am done."

"Gold," Emma said in a warning tone. "She and I can leave just as easily as we came in here."

"You leave and you won't get any answers. Although I seriously doubt either of you know the right questions to ask."

"Has my magic gone dormant again?" Regina asked quickly.

The question caught Gold and Emma off guard, but Gold recovered quicker, coming to stand in front of her.

"What do you know of your magic?"

Regina shrugged. "I don't know anything. That is why we are here."

"Your question would suggest otherwise. Tell me, when your magic went dormant before – because you did say again in your question – were you aware of it? The magic, I mean, could you feel it?"

Regina shook her head no.

"Can you feel it now?"

Regina paused and again looked at Emma. "Can you feel your magic?" Emma asked.

"No."

Emma's lie detector didn't go off but the way Regina averted her eyes made her think she lying. She considered it a little longer while Gold had moved away and was rustling through something in the corner. Emma approached her and put her hand on Regina's shoulder. "You say you can't feel your magic, but can you feel some other magic – magic that isn't yours?"

Regina's eyes had moved from her to the floor in front of her.

"Answer the question," Gold said, as he approached them holding some sort of liquid in a vial.

"I want to go now," Regina said to her.

"Can you give us a moment?" Emma asked Gold.

"Fine, a moment."

He disappeared back into the front of the store. Once he was gone Emma knelt down in front of Regina, keeping a hand on her knee. "You don't want to be here, I get it," she said. "But I'm asking you to give it chance. I can't help with any of this magic stuff. I don't know enough. You want to get back to Prydain, you want to stop this Silas guy and the cauldron, well it's going to take magic to do these things and unless you remember a lot more than you are telling me, then Gold as big as a pain in the ass that he is, is our best bet to get some of this magic stuff figured out. Now he said he could sense magic in you, but you say you can't feel your own magic, so help me out here – do you feel some other magic that isn't yours?"

"I don't know," Regina said. "I don't remember enough to really know what I should feel like. I remember being in that swamp and trying to call forth my magic and it failing every time. I remember feeling helpless because I couldn't make the magic work. I kept it a secret as long as I could from Taren. I didn't want to admit the truth. I didn't want to disappoint him."

She paused. "I don't want to disappoint you."

Emma wasn't sure how to react. She wasn't sure why Regina would care if she disappointed her or not. She wondered if this was some leftover feeling from Regina thinking she was her master.

Her thoughts drifted back to the car when Regina had expressed that she didn't want people looking at her because they would be looking for the old Regina and Emma realized she had been doing the same thing. This entire time – despite how different this Regina was from the one she knew – Emma had been expecting her to be her former self.

"I don't want to disappoint you either," Emma said.

"I don't like him," Regina said peering around her and Emma turned to make sure Gold wasn't lurking behind her, and thankfully he wasn't.

"Yeah, he's probably not one of your favorite people in the world to be honest, but like I said, he's the only one here who can possibly help us with this magic stuff. I'm asking you to try and let him do what he thinks he can so we can figure this out, ok?"

"Ok."

Emma stood and called Gold back in and he eyed Emma before going up to Regina with the vial he had been holding earlier. He held it out to her. "Drink."

"What is it?" Emma asked even as Regina took it from him.

"It will hopefully give me a better handle on what kind of magic she has in her," he said. Regina was studying the liquid so he again said. "Drink."

This time she did so and almost immediately dropped the vial and began to cough.

"What the hell did you give her?" Emma asked as she put a hand on Regina's back.

"Wait," Gold cautioned.

Not five seconds after he said it Regina raised her head up to the ceiling and with one more cough what looked like smoke came out of her mouth. Emma pulled Regina from the chair, keeping a hold of her hand as she placed herself between her and Gold. But he wasn't paying any attention to either of them as she watched the grey smoke swirl and then disappear.

"What did you do?" Emma insisted.

"I confirmed that Regina here does have magic in her," Gold said. "She wouldn't have reacted like that if she did not. I assure you, she is no worse for wear for having drank that. It was merely a means to an end."

"A little warning would have been nice," Emma said.

Gold said nothing but he was studying Regina who stood behind Emma but off to the side a bit. Emma still held her hand.

"So she has magic, did it tell you anything else?"

"As I surmised before, it's not her magic. There is no trace of her own magic in her."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

"Ok, well how do we get this other magic out of her?"

"Why would we do that?" Gold asked.

"Well …" Emma said looking at Gold. "You said it yourself, you don't know what this other magic could be doing to her. It seems to me the safest course of action would be to remove it."

Gold considered her statement for a moment, his head cocked to the side, his eyes on Regina. "Tell me Regina, do you want this magic removed?"

Regina shook her head no, causing Emma to let go of her hand.

"There you have it," Gold said. "It stays in her. At least until I can figure out the nature of the magic that is. There is nothing I'm sensing that is familiar to me. Luckily, there are other tests I can perform to help pinpoint what it is. It will however take some time so why don't you leave us here and go be sheriff for a few hours while I see what I can do."

"I'm not going anywhere," Emma said.

"If you are concerned for her safety, I give you my word she will not be harmed. I do not however need a rank amateur in magic bothering me while I work. It would appear since her majesty doesn't even remember who she is that I'm already dealing with one child, I don't need two under foot."

"Still not leaving," Emma said crossing her arms in front of her.

"Do you really think he can help?" Regina asked and Emma turned to look at her. "If you think he can, then you can go and I will stay."

Emma wasn't sure how to answer that. Could Gold help? It was possible which is why they had come there in the first place. But she also didn't trust the man and didn't feel comfortable leaving her alone with him. The fact Regina was willing to stay after being too afraid to even go to Granny's meant that she was willing to put aside any uneasiness she may have in order to get answers.

Emma didn't know if she could in good conscience leave Regina there.

"I will watch over her," Belle said as she entered the room fully. She had been watching from the doorway and saw Emma's hesitation in making any decision. "She will be okay, I promise."

Emma took Regina's hand. "Are you sure about this?"

"No," Regina said. "But we need answers."

Taking a deep breath Emma addressed Gold. "Two hours. That is all you get. And if anything happens to her …"

"Save your threats sheriff," he said. "As Belle has said, she will be fine. Now if you will excuse us we have work to do."

Emma pulled Regina aside. "Listen to me, if you feel uncomfortable with anything and I mean anything he does, you tell him to stop and if he doesn't listen, you tell Belle to make him. He will listen to her. And if you need me, you tell Belle to call me and I will be right back. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Emma let her go and went over to Belle essentially reiterating some of the things she had told Regina before reluctantly leaving. She stopped at the doorway and looked back as Regina again took the seat in the chair. She hoped she was doing the right thing.

….

Emma had gone into the station after leaving Regina at Gold's. She filled her father in on what was happening, but when it came to working she couldn't concentrate. She kept checking her phone, making sure it was on and the ringer was up. She didn't want to miss it if Regina or Belle called. She felt uneasy about the whole thing and given Regina's past with Gold, she didn't trust Gold. She also felt like she had no choice.

If this magic that was inside Regina was what was causing her to be the way she was now then they needed to know what it was. She couldn't understand why Regina had been so quick to say she didn't want it removed. Was this another case of her knowing more than she was saying?

She was at a loss as to how to get the other woman to trust her completely. For every step forward it was another two and sometimes three steps back or so it seemed to her.

She was still frustrated that Regina wouldn't go into Granny's with her that morning. Yes, she understood why Regina was nervous, scared even, but the fact Regina wouldn't do it made Emma feel like she was the one who was failing, or at least that Regina didn't trust her enough to go with her despite her assurances that it would be fine.

It was also why she wondered why Regina was agreeable to staying behind with Gold. Was her desire to get back to Prydain that strong that she was willing to put herself in the hands of someone who to her at least right now was a stranger in the hopes of getting some answers?

Then there was the matter of actually getting to Prydain and what they would do once there.

After two and half hours of not hearing anything, Emma left the station and headed back to Gold's. The sign on the door said closed and when Emma tried the door it was locked.

"Shit," she swore. She began to pound on the door and only released a breath when Belle came rushing out to unlock it.

"Sorry," Belle said. "We felt it was best to close down while she was here."

"How is she?"

"She's fine," Belle said. "This is the first time I have even left her side. You should know that she is asleep however."

"Asleep?"

"Yes. She took a sleeping draught so that Rumple could try something to perhaps jolt her memory. He isn't certain it will work, but from what she said, she doesn't know how she ended up with this other magic in her and so far he hasn't been able to determine the nature of it."

"I want to see her."

"Of course," Belle said, leading the way into the back of the shop. There Regina lay, asleep, but presumably ok.

"How long has she been asleep?"

"About 45 minutes."

Emma wondered if Regina was dreaming. She knew from experience that having a completely restful sleep wasn't typical for Regina. The nightmares were still happening although not as frequently as before. Still, they shared a bed just in case they should return.

It was one of those things that they didn't talk about and one which Emma wasn't ready to completely think through.

"If this works, will she remember everything? I mean her life here and what happened back there?" Emma asked.

"I do not know," Gold said. "It vexes me to say so, but whatever this magic is, whatever it may or may not be doing to her, it is beyond my knowledge right now. And she is less than helpful."

"Does she really not remember much from being there?" Belle asked.

"She remembers some stuff, yes, but I don't think she remembers everything."

"Your mother said you have been able to see into some of these memories, and that you believe your magic has enabled this to happen," Gold said. "If this doesn't work, would you be willing to try your magic again under my supervision."

The last thing Emma wanted to do was have Gold supervising her magic. She saw how that worked out for Regina. "I don't even know how I did it," Emma responded.

"I didn't figure you did know, hence my supervision."

"Let's wait and see if this works first," Emma said, not wanting to commit to anything. "How much longer until she wakes up?"

"The sleeping draught I gave her should last another few hours at least and then it will be up to her to wake up naturally."

"A few hours? We didn't agree to this."

"No, we didn't. She did however," Gold said, nodding in Regina's direction.

Emma looked to Belle. "He did explain it to her that she would be unconscious for several hours. I even explained it to her and she agreed."

"She isn't really in the position to make such a decision," Emma argued. She should have known Gold would try something like this.

"Whether you like it or not, Regina is an adult and capable of making her own decisions," Gold said. "Just because you want to treat her like she is some sort of child doesn't mean the rest of should. Perhaps that is part of her problem, you are coddling her too much."

"You know what, I knew bringing her here was a mistake," Emma said. "You really don't give a damn about anyone do you? You certainly don't give a damn about her. Wake her up."

"I can't."

"Bullshit."

"Fine. I won't."

"Well, she isn't staying here," Emma said. Ignoring Gold, she pulled out her phone to call her dad, thinking he could carry Regina to the car and then into the house.

"Emma," Belle said, stopping her by putting a hand on her forearm. "I know you have reasons to mistrust what he is doing but I swear to you, he means her no harm. He wants to find out what this magic is and she wants to know as well. This means something to her – what it is, I don't know, but I'm telling you, I looked in her eyes before she agreed to this and she was resolute. She wants her memories back."

Emma was torn between letting this play out and her desire to protect Regina, even if it meant protecting her from herself. She put the phone away.

"Have you managed to discover anything in the time she's been here?"

"Only that whatever the magic is, she doesn't know how to manifest it. She obviously doesn't remember any of her magical lessons, but even instinctually she doesn't appear to know how to get the magic to do anything. I tried a few simple lessons with her – don't worry, I didn't push her – but nothing happened. Yet, clearly the magic is there inside of her, it's just a matter of unlocking it."

Emma didn't like the idea of this unknown magic manifesting itself at all, but she supposed if it did it might give them a clue as to what it is.

"Unless you wish to watch her sleep for the next few hours, I suggest you get back to work sheriff. Belle will call you the moment she awakens. Perhaps then we might have something to work with," Gold said.

"The minute she wakes," she said pointing at him. He only nodded in return and she turned and left, feeling anger still. Despite not wanting the responsibility of caring for Regina, she found she now felt like she was being kicked out of the process of actually helping her. She knew she should feel happy if this worked but a part of her wished it didn't involve Gold.

Going back to the office Emma felt a little selfish about the whole encounter as she thought about it. Gold was right, Regina was an adult and maybe she was being too hands on with her. But Emma feared that if she wasn't, not only would Regina never leave the house ever, but she would also disappear one day without so much as a goodbye – off to Prydain on her own to destroy some stupid cauldron.

Although they had agreed to do this together, there was still a bit of that built up distrust of Regina and her motives. It was why she now had a GPS tracker installed on Regina's phone so that she could track her and why she had city workers go out to the well and make the barriers more secure. It wouldn't stop Regina from getting to the well if she tried, but maybe it would slow her down a bit more.

She got back to the office and her father asked her why she was back so soon and she explained what happened.

"You know Belle won't let anything happen to her," he assured her. He had said something similar to her the first time. "This could be a good thing."

"How often does the word good and Gold go together?" she shot back. Yes, she was still feeling some residual anger.

"Not often," Charming conceded. "But if we are going to travel to another land we need all the information and help we can get."

She knew he was right, but she didn't feel like acknowledging it. Instead she began to concentrate on work – it went about as well as it had earlier and as the hours passed she became more restless. She ended up calling Belle for an update even though the only update was that Regina remained asleep.

At this point Emma thought, Regina would be up all night.

When her phone rang about 45 minutes later she nearly jumped out of her chair as she answered it.

"She's awake," Belle said.

"Did it work? Does she remember?" Emma asked even as she was putting on her jacket to rush out.