Disclaimer: I don't own OUAT... or Disney...
A/N: Hello Swen!
It's been a while... but finally I'm back. You guys might wonder what kept by away for so long.
Ok, it all started when my boss hired a new guy and I had to train him in his job. Long story short he sexually harassed me at work, so I obviously reported him. And guess what my boss did? Well he fired me! Son of a bich fired ME instead of the new guy! So I sue his ugly ass and during this time I had to deal with lawyers, court, trying to find another job to pay my college. I also got a new roommate and I had a mayor writer's block that got even worse when my heart was totally crushed when they (SPOILER) killed Lexa in the 100.
Yeah they weren't happy months for me, but I'm back and hopefully I will update chapters just like before every 15 days.
Once again sorry for the delay, thanks for all the followers still waiting patiently for this story and for the new ones that started reading it during my hiatus.
Without further ado! Enjoy!
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Bonds
A new sun was up, and once again, they were wandering thought the forest, but this time they had a guide and transportation to sooth their tired feet. They were heading towards the coast. According to Mulan, the Great Dragon Temple was in a close by island. Kovu and Rajah, as Emma has named the fiery magical tigers, kept a steady pace in their journey, while the three women with them fought against the tiredness of being awake for more than 24 hours without sleep.
"You can guess what we. Have missed the most. Since we went off to war! What do we want? A girl worth fighting for..." Regina rolled her eyes in both annoyance and amusement when recognizing the song, her blonde travelling partner has started singing. "Did they send me daughters when I asked for sons?" from the movie Mulan.
"Is she always like this?" Mulan asked from her spot sitting behind Regina.
"She is happier than usual..." Regina said frowning at her own words. It was true, Emma seemed happier for some reason.
"My girl will think I have no faults. That I'm a major find. Come on Mulan your turn!" Emma exclaimed happily, pointing at the armored woman with an expectant finger; however, Mulan simply looked at Emma with a slightly worried gaze and turned her head away.
"Emma, she is not going to know the lyrics!"
"... then we'll do it! Sing with me Regina! A whole new world!"
"Emma shut up!" Regina admonished, but couldn't help but blush lightly since Emma wanted to sing a love song with her. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing, I feel great!" Emma said with a huge grin. Regina studied the blonde with a curious look for a couple of seconds before gasping in surprise.
"Emma! Are you drunk?" The Savior cringed giving Regina her answer by lifting an almost empty bottle of Lost Boy's Moonshine. "Emma! I thought you said it tasted awful."
"It did... and then it didn't."
"Honestly Emma, we need to find Henry and there are threats at every corner, that's really irresponsible!"
"I thought that a drink would help me to stay awake... I didn't expect to get drunk, this stuff is really strong!" Emma apologized with a pout. Even when angry Regina couldn't help but find the pout adorable, which made her anger die down slowly.
"Ok, we are resting until you are sober again. No more Moonshine, Miss Swan." Emma's pout grew stronger and her eyes watered a little.
"Gina's mad, she 'Miss Swan' me."
"Shut it, and don't call me Gina." Regina said getting down of Rajah with a huff. "God, I'm in love with an idiot." She said at loud knowing that Emma wouldn't be able to hear her, but somehow at some point she forgot Mulan was right beside her. "Oh... I..."
"It's ok." Mulan said with a reassuring smile. "I actually saw that coming. I apologize if I'm speaking out of place, but isn't Emma Snow White's-"
"Daughter? Yes she is indeed." Regina said looking at the blonde getting down of Kovu clumsily with endearment.
"That can't be good." Mulan said looking at Regina with compassion.
"I don't care about what Snow thinks. Emma is her own person... I do admit that confessing my feelings won't be easy though."
"Your love one is the daughter of the woman you wanted to kill who happens to be your step-daughter... and yet you are still luckier than me..." Mulan said with a sigh. Regina now curious turned to her and raised an eyebrow in question.
"How so, dear?"
"My love one has another love... a true love as a matter of fact." Mulan said thinking about Princess Aurora with a downcast expression.
"I once had a true love, dear." Regina said smiling inwardly thinking about Daniel. 'Love again' he had said. She loved Emma just as strong as she had loved Daniel or even stronger. "I hope I have found another one in Emma. Do not give up on love, Mulan. Hearts can change. I know that better than anybody."
"You are right. I shall not relent yet. At least until I hear from her, if she does not care for me as I care for her."
"Her?"
"Yes." Regina smiled and remembered her first thought when she saw Mulan the movie years ago with Henry in the living room of their house.
"I knew it."
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Henry sat on the floor of one of the huts, drawing down a piece of paper. He was not sure how long he had been in Neverland, but it sure felt like weeks have pass by. He made a last scribble on the paper and pull back to analyze the finished work. He had managed to make a map of the whole camping. The place was huge really, even when most of it was empty. Empty was an understatement. The place was deserted. What was worse was that Pan was never around either. He stayed in the camping zone, but he never spoke to Henry, and even if Henry tried to bait him and make him to lash out or something, Peter was determined to ignore him.
With a sigh, Henry stood and walked to the magic fountain where he had managed to talk with his mothers the first time. He leaned down over the pound of water and like last time he managed to call her mother through her mirror. Seconds later, the face of Regina and Emma reflected in the dim water of the pond.
"Henry!" Regina was the first to speak.
"Hi mom! Emma!" Henry said happily. He missed his mothers, especially Regina. He had been so cruel to her. He wanted to have his mother back so he could hug her and apologize for all the awful things he said.
"Kid! What happened? Are you alright?" Until that moment Henry noticed that both his moms sounded worried about him.
"Umm..."
"Henry, dear, are you alright?"
"Yeah mom, I'm ok..."
"Henry...?"
"I'm bored!" Henry exclaimed throwing his arms to the air. To his surprise Emma's reaction was to snort loudly and then laugh quietly, while Regina just stood there with her mouth agape in surprise.
"You are bored kid?" Emma asked with incredulity in her voice. "We are fighting through this jungle trying to rescue you and you are bored?"
"I am! In the movies, they never show what do the prisoners do while waiting to be rescued. The truth is that I'm so bored I don't know what to do anymore." Henry said with a pout. Henry heard his older mother gasp and saw Emma turn towards her with a questioning look.
"What?"
"Nothing... I think I just realize that you are indeed his biological mother, dear."
"Hey!" Emma countered offended.
"Mom..." Henry pouted once again.
"I'm sorry dear, but you'll have to wait a bit longer for us to come and get you." Regina said smiling at him with her motherly smile.
"But... I'm so lonely..." Henry said with teary eyes. Emma felt her heart clench at the sight. It was the first time since she first met Henry that his behavior truly reflected his age. He was just a kid. Kids were supposed to have fun, learn, and play. Instead, Henry was forced to grow up because of all the things that happened after she arrived in Storybrooke. Emma frowned in anger because she found herself out of words. She wanted to reassure Henry, to tell him they were coming, but the truth was that they were way too lost in the damn island to find him, and even worse she was too weak to fight Pan and win.
"Henry, dear, I'm so sorry you feel lonely." Regina said with understanding. "I wish I could reassure you and tell you we won't take long, but I don't want to lie to you, so I won't. The truth is that we might need more time, so we'll need you to be more patient."
"I'm trying to be."
"That's all I'm asking for Henry. There's no reason to feel lonely. You know that your whole family is here in this island because they love you and want to take you back home." Regina noticed that Henry was holding in his hand the map he just drew and smiled at him with endearment. "I see you have paper."
"I draw a map."
"That's good, we could use it later. Maybe to help you distract yourself you could write something. You loved to write stories."
"Maybe..." Henry said still with his spirit down.
"Oh, I know! You know, there is a story that still needs a proper ending..." Regina said with a smirk. Emma smiled happily when she understood where Regina was going.
"Regina is right! Henry maybe you could write everything that happened after your story book ended." With the suggestion Henry light up.
"I could write about me and mom, and about when I went to find Emma!"
"There you go dear, that should keep you distracted, and maybe writing about your family and remembering how much we love you can help you feel less lonely."
"Thank you mom!" Henry looked down and blushed when saying "I love you," to Regina. Henry saw the brown eyes of his mother moisten and he felt like crying when she returned the sentiment. "You too Emma." He said looking at his other mother who was looking at Regina with a bright smile.
"Love you too kid. Now take care, and remember to call us only when you really have to."
"And if it is because you feel sad or lonely, you can do it, if only for a while."
"Ok, thanks, bye moms. Take care."
"You too Henry." With that Regina broke the spell. Almost immediately she collapsed winded by the large amount of magic used to sustain the conversation for so long.
"You ok?" Emma said holding Regina arm.
"What's wrong?" Mulan asked approaching Regina with worry.
"I can't use much magic here. Don't worry dear, I'm ok."
"I might be sober by now, but you need to rest. The coast can wait." Emma said looking at Regina with stern eyes. She wasn't going to let the old woman to be stubborn in this one. She wouldn't risk the witch to put herself in harm's way again for using too much magic.
"I agree. You too should sleep. I'll make watch." Mulan said standing up and walking away to sit against a near tree.
"The book idea was really good." Emma said helping Regina to lie down in the floor since her knees kept shaking weakly.
"We have to get him back Emma." The witch voice was tired and sleepy and Emma smiled while dropping right next to the former queen finding comfort in sleeping so close to her.
"We will."
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"Did you travel all this far on foot?" Emma asked Mulan with amazement. They had been ridding for hours now, and they hadn't reached the coast yet. In all honesty, she was getting tired. She had never ride a horse, but she knew that ridding one for extended hours was painful and taxing for the body, apparently ridding a mystical tiger was no different than that. Her posterior was killing her, and by that she meant her ass. Even more frustrating was that Regina and Mulan were riding without problem while she couldn't stand the pain in her legs either.
She huffed in discomfort and wiggled in her seat over the beast trying to alleviate the burden on her extremities.
"Yes, I did, but in all honesty this trek seems to be far longer than when I walked it the first time." Mulan said frowning in confusion. When she arrived with Aurora and the others to the coast, she had gone to explore the territory and ultimately she had cross paths with Emma and Regina. However, when she went scouting she had tried to stay relatively close to the coast, and yet they had been ridding nonstop for hours still without any sign of their friends.
"Magic perhaps." Regina analyzed. The whole island was flooded with magic; maybe magic was making their journey longer in order to make it more taxing and strenuous. "How are you holding up Sheriff? I enjoy seen you squirm, but this time it seems more painful than uncomfortable."
"Ok, maybe I'm not used to ride animals, and my ass is paying the price."
"Classy as ever dear." Regina teased with a smirk on her face that earned a playful glare from the blonde. It was so refreshing and still weird for Regina to realize that Emma and herself could banter and tease each other like they used to, but without the bite and venom behind it. Emma felt similarly since every time they teased each other like that she had to admit she had fun. "Let's rest for now."
"Oh thank God!" Emma said making Kovu stop and practically jumping off the beast in her hurry.
"Wait!" Mulan said calling their attention.
"What is it?" Emma asked looking around with her guard up.
"Do you hear that?" The three purposely remained quiet. Above the noises of the forest a whooshing sound could hear up ahead.
"What's that?" Emma asked, but suddenly above the whooshing sound they could hear a high pitch scream as well.
"Aurora!" Mulan exclaimed by instinct. It was impossible for her to recognize the voice, but something within her told her it was indeed Aurora who was screaming.
"Emma!" Regina called, and Emma quickly mounted Kovu once again and with a soft kick to the side of the beasts they charged forward. With every step forward the whooshing sound grew louder and louder, but they also noticed that the air suddenly turned humid and soon they were running against a heavy wave of rain. The floor became sand and in seconds they had reached the coast, but their eyes bulked in surprise to what they found. A whirlpool soaring on the water, too close to the coast where a group of people gathered shooting and looking at the massive hole of water too fearful to get closer.
"Aurora!" Mulan jump of Rajah and run to the group of people spotting her brunette friend in the group.
"Mulan!" Aurora hugged her friend when she reached her and then turned to the twister and pointed at it in fear. "Philip is in the water!" By then Emma and Regina had reached the group that consisted in Rumplestiltskin, Aurora and Neal.
"Neal?" Emma gasped seeing her ex-boyfriend well and alive in front of her.
"Emma!" Neal smile grew in a second, but before anything else could be said Rumple reached Regina, grabbing her by her arms.
"Regina! Belle is in the water, please help her." The older man begged looking at her with pleading eyes. Regina's eyes flew immediately to the water finally noticing that there seemed to be several bodies trying to fight against the whirlpool. Rumple hadn't recovered his magic yet, there was no way he could go and save Belle without drowning himself in the process.
"Are you sure?" Rumple simply stared at her with misty eyes.
"Please." Regina didn't need to hear anything else; with a grunt she started running towards the water.
"Regina, wait!" Emma ran behind her.
"Emma, you can't swim. Stay close to me!" And with that Regina started running over an invisible barrier over the water followed closely by the Savior.
"Don't use too much magic!" Emma reminded her, when suddenly she heard a cry for help and she quickly recognized the voice. "Ruby?" Emma followed the voice and spotted her friend in the water holding someone with red hair as if life depended on it.
"Ariel!" Regina immediately recognized the red mane and her fear kick started her magic into action. She raised her hands in the air pointing at the twister with the intention of making it collapse, but she was surprised when noticed that the twister was not a natural event, it was actually being spurred by magic. She looked down to the fiery waters under her spell and squinted her eyes, trying to see what was creating the water whirlpool. A dark mass passed under her and she gasp in surprise. "Sirens!" She cursed inwardly knowing that she should have killed the water rats when she had the chance. She had expected the mermaids to take care of the plague, but obviously she had been wrong.
"Emma," Regina draw her attention and stared down at her with fierce eyes "Stay over the barrier." Emma's eyes immediately flew down to her feet where she stood now upon a transparent purple magical barrier. She was about to ask Regina what she planned to do, when she heard the splash of the water.
Regina dived swimming expertly to where she had last saw the red headed mermaid's head peak above the water. The water was pure chaos. Regina could feel the pull of the whirlpool even though she was using magic to calm the waters around her. She opened her eyes and managed to distinguish a shadow just beneath her. She kicked her legs and soon she grabbed hold of the sinking body. It wasn't until she broke to the surface that she identified who she had pulled from under the water. It was Ruby, but then, where was Ariel?
"Regina?" The werewolf asked while trying to regain her breath. The witch didn't even bother to answer. She waved one arm to one side that gave her a magical burst to reach the magical barrier where Emma awaited. Regina immediately noticed Mulan jumping to the water and Gold approaching Emma and now Ruby as well. She was about to dive again when a red main of hair emerged from her side.
"Regina!" Ariel exclaimed in a mix of happiness and trepidation for their current situation.
"You go find Belle and I'll deal with those rats. As soon as you get her climb into the barrier. I don't want anybody on the water!" Regina commanded before diving again, but this time aiming for the eye of the whirlpool.
"Ruby, what are you guys doing here?" Emma asked while helping Mulan pull Phillip on top of the barrier.
"Ariel had to give something to Regina, so I came with her, but as soon as we cross the portal we were attacked by those things."
"Why did you bring Belle with you? This island is dangerous!" Rumple barked angrily just when Ariel popped out of the water with Belle gasping for air by her side. "Belle!"
"Here!" Emma reached for Belle while Mulan and Ruby helped Ariel climb as well. "Regina we are all safe on the barrier." Emma thought trying to use the magic bond between them to speak to the black-haired woman telepathically.
"About time." Emma heard the response in her head and then she saw a huge blue lightening rise from under the water destroying the water twister in one second. She felt Regina's magic fluctuate under her feat, and knew that it was time to move out of the magic barrier. After practically dragging the reunited hugging couples back to the coast, Emma saw the barrier disappear and sighed in relief.
"Emma." Before she could react, Emma found herself trapped in the firm hold of her ex boyfriend. Her heart skipped in a flare on happiness, but it didn't last long. Soon she felt her walls climb up again and her mind scream at her to run. Neal was alive. That was good. Henry didn't lose his father. Nevertheless, Emma felt the impending moment when Neal would ask about her feelings once again over her. She had said she loved him, but did she?
Emma pushed Neal away feeling uncomfortable and agitated in his embrace. She gave him an awkward smile and she felt bad for seeing Neal looking dejectedly at her after. She hated that no matter how badly Neal screwed everything up between them; somehow she was the one feeling guilty at the end. The blonde heard movement behind her, and turned to see a very wet Mayor Mills walking angrily out of the water.
"You ok?" Emma asked with a smile tugging at her lips. Regina rolled her eyes and shook her head in exasperation.
"Being a hero is exhausting." The witch said with a huff while squishing her hair to get rid of the excess of water on it.
"Well, for someone with your reputation. You're kind of good at it."
"Regina!" The older woman was suddenly engulfed by a powerful hug when the small red head woman threw herself at her. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You saved us Regina!" Emma couldn't help but laugh at Regina's growl of discomfort contrasted by a small blush on her skin.
"Ok, get off. You're all sticky." Regina complained with a grimace. "I hate salty water."
"Ups sorry." The red head apologized even though Regina was sticky as well, but then jumped when she remembered the main reason why she was there. "Here Regina!" Ariel said pulling out the tube containing the magic beans within it. "Just as you asked!" Regina took it and opened it to confirm that the growing spouts were within the tube. With a complete change of demeanor she smiled, leaned over and placed a kiss on Ariel's forehead with a thank you included.
"Magic beans! That's great!" Emma said moving closer.
"Regina." The former Queen turned to see Rumple, Neal and Belle. She felt a surge of sickness hit her stomach when her eyes landed on Neal. Neal, Henry's dad and Emma's past lover. If her feelings for the blonde were complicated before they had become ten times worse with him around. "Thank you." Rumple said alluding at her heroic deed from moments before. It was strange to receive thanks from him, but she nodded and accepted them either way.
"Emma where's Snow and Charming?" Ruby asked looking around to the large group of people.
"Uh, we parted ways a couple of days ago. Ruby why are you here?" Emma asked with curiosity.
"She insisted to come here and escort me. I think it was really sweet." Ariel answered provoking a blush in the were woman.
"Ohhh, I see." Emma said with a smirk and a lift of her eyebrows.
"Excuse me, I'm sorry for interrupting." Mulan said standing next to Regina and lifting a hand to point to the ocean. "But we are here." Emma and Regina lifted there gazes to were the warrior was pointing. A small island not far from them was their next destination. "The Temple is in that island."
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Oh Neal is in the mix now... how will Emma deal with him? The group is huge now, but will it stay that way? Do you want me to stop making stupid obvious questions? OK!
No, but seriously. Would you like to have Emma put Neal on his place or to drag the issue as always? The conversation should be emotionally sad, or angry? Let me know what you think how it should go, and what you thought about this chapter!
Reviews will make a poor young woman in a Latin American country really happy! (that's me! LOL)