Regina wrote to Maleficent the next day to invite her for dinner. Emma was extremely tempted to intercept the letter and set it alight so that the dragon would never receive it, but she dreaded to think of the consequences should Regina find out that she did, so she didn't. She couldn't figure out why she was so against meeting Maleficent properly or simply having a conversation with her. She thought it was perhaps because of the gift she had bestowed upon Alexandra. The blonde had been so convinced that Maleficent was going to storm in and curse the baby which set Emma on edge. Then she did the complete opposite and Emma was struggling to see why she would unless she had an ulterior motive. The motive mostly likely being Regina herself.

Emma kept asking Regina small questions about her time with Maleficent over the next few days in an attempt to figure out why the dragon had been so kind to the baby; surely something was up with that? But Regina hadn't really been able to clear anything up. She'd simply state that they parted amicably and had each other's backs and would do each other favours. Just like when Maleficent captured Prince Charming all those months ago to prevent him from saving Snow when Regina had her locked up in the dungeons. Emma soon gave up asking.

A couple of days after Regina had sent her request to the dragon, she received her reply. Fortunately for Emma, Maleficent was busy for the next week according to the letter Regina but she would be delighted to join a week from today.

The two were sitting at the dining room table over breakfast. They had finished their meal and Janey had brought in the post and took Alexandra to her play room while Regina and Emma finished their food.

"So, she's definitely coming?" Emma asked after Regina had finished reading the letter to her.

The Queen sighed. "Yes, darling," she replied, rather condescendingly which ruffled Emma's feathers even further on the matter. "I said I was inviting her. Why are you so against this?"

Emma was silent for a few moments, trying to figure it out but she just couldn't put her finger on it. "I honestly don't know," she said eventually. When she saw Regina was about to ask something else on the matter, Emma quickly changed the subject. "We still need to figure out when Hook can meet Ally, he really wants to see her."

That was true. Emma had gone to see him a couple of weeks ago, just before the announcement ball. He naturally wasn't invited and as Regina wouldn't let him into the castle, Emma had gone to see him. He was fine but was going a little stir crazy with having to hide on the Jolly Roger. Although he was starting to get a little worried as he knew his younger self was going to be setting sail any day and he didn't want to still be on the ship when that happened as he knew he wouldn't be back until just before the curse was cast.

Regina rolled her eyes. "You would change the subject to him," she sighed.

So far, the Queen had rebuffed every single one of Emma's requests for Hook's visit as she didn't want that man anywhere near her daughter, no matter what Emma said about the fact that he'd changed. The idea of having someone so selfish and down right disgusting, in her words, near her daughter made her shiver in discomfort.

"Because you won't give me an answer," Emma snapped, losing her temper a little bit. They never argued, not really, but whenever Maleficent or Hook were mentioned, both seemed to go on their defence. "He got dragged into this mess because of me, I owe him. Besides, he's my friend," she emphasised the word to prove her point, "and I want him to meet our daughter."

"He wants more than friendship," Regina hissed. "You said so yourself a few months ago."

Emma sighed exasperatedly and pinched the top of her nose to try and stem her anger. "He doesn't anymore! He accepts that I am with you," she reached out and took hold of Regina's hands in hers, "that I am completely head over heels in love with you, but if you don't believe me, maybe I should just get out of here while I can."

With that, she let go of Regina's hands and pushed her chair back. She stood up and turned on her heel and, without looking back at the Queen, she swiftly left the room, emphasising her point. She felt horrible with doing it, but she needed to get her point across to the Queen. She needed her to start believing in her and trusting her no matter what else was going on. First it was the chess match and her intellect, and now this with Hook. It was driving her up the wall.

As per usual, she walked straight out to the castle and sat in front of Regina's apple tree as it seemed to be her calming place. It was there that she silently fumed at what had just happened. She laid down on her back on the stone bench. She placed her hands on her face before rubbing her temples.

"She's going to be the death of me," she groaned quietly to herself.

She had no idea how long she sat there for, trying to just calm herself down but there were so many thoughts going around her head. It wasn't just the fact that Regina wouldn't let Hook see Alexandra, or the fact that she wanted Maleficent to come to dinner, but there was always the quiet niggle at the back of her head that told her that she still had to figure out how to get home. The guards had reported that Snow and Charming were planning to make a move against King George and Emma knew that once they succeeded with that, they would be getting married and she would be born. It was imperative that Regina threaten to cast her curse at their wedding. Right now, she was no where near the Evil Queen that needed to cast that curse. Time was running out and Emma wasn't getting anywhere close to figuring out what the trigger was.

She sighed frustratedly again and sat up.

"You know, when I'm angry, I throw things," said a voice beside her.

"Jesus!" She cried in shock, unaware that she had company.

Looking round, she saw Henry sitting next to her. He had his fingers linked together and he was looking up at the tree as if it held all the answers in the world.

"My grandfather planted this tree back where I used to live, and Regina had it brought here when she married the King. She rarely ever comes out here now, you know?" Henry commented as if he hadn't given Emma a huge shock. "The tree brings too many sad memories for her about her first love. It's odd that something that means so much to her also means so much to you." He looked round at Emma. "I wonder why that is?"

"I'm not sure," Emma said quietly. "I guess for me, it was the first thing I saw that I was familiar with," Emma revealed. "She brought the tree with her when she cast the curse. I ripped a branch off with a chainsaw when I was angry with her, that one." She pointed to the branch in question. "We were arguing over Henry, which is what we always did at the beginning, and I knew the tree meant a lot to her, so I attacked it. I believe I said I was apple picking when she asked me what I was doing." She laughed humourlessly at the memory.

"You and Regina really didn't get on when you first met, did you?" Henry realised, his eyebrows raised in shock.

"Not in the slightest," Emma sighed. "That's why I'm still surprised all this is happening. Surely if she remembered anything at all, she wouldn't hate me when she saw me again after so many years. Something big is going to happen, Henry, and the thought of it terrifies me."

"So instead of spending all the time you have together, you're fighting and keeping your distance from each other?" Henry said, his eyebrow arched knowingly.

Emma knew what he was doing. Henry was lovely, but he could also be manipulative. Not necessarily in a bad way, but just so you would feel bad and do the right thing.

"She won't let Hook meet Alexandra," Emma said eventually. "He's my friend and I want to share my child with him, but she's not okay with that."

"Just like you're not okay with Regina wanting Maleficent to meet Alexandra and you properly, they're just friends?" Henry reasoned.

"It's different!" Emma snapped again. She stood up and took a few steps away from Henry, wanting a little air despite being outside. She crossed her arms over her chest before lifting her left arm to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "They were together. They loved each other. What if Maleficent wants her back and that's why she's being so kind to Regina?" she turned around to face Henry again. "As if trying to prove that she can be sweet to Alexandra and Regina will just leave me and fall for her again? On the odd occasion that Regina spoke about Maleficent in the future, she always had a softness in her voice, a hint of regret. What if it's because she wanted to be with her? True Love doesn't have to be endgame, Henry."

"Emma," Henry said softly. "You know that's not the case." He opened his arm out. "Come here."

Slowly, Emma walked back over to the bench and sat beside Henry. He wrapped his arm around her and she leant into his embraced. This was probably the first time they had done this and it was a new feeling for Emma. She'd had the odd fatherly hug from David, but this felt different. There was something about Henry that just made her feel safe.

"Regina loves you more than anything," Henry reassured her. He looked up at the tree. "More than Daniel which I thought would never happen. The fact that the two of you have Alexandra proves that your love is true. Yes, Regina used to be with Maleficent, but there's a reason they broke up. If Maleficent wants to get back together with Regina, so be it. It doesn't mean that Regina wants Maleficent." He took a deep breath. "It's exactly like you and Hook. Just because he wanted to be with you, didn't mean you wanted to be with him. You're both cautious about the same thing and at the end of the day, you both just want each other."

Emma looked at her hands, weaving her fingers together. "I guess," she said quietly before looking up at Regina. "Have you had the same conversation with Regina?"

Henry smiled. "I may have, but then she was called into a meeting and I came out to find you. I wasn't sure where you would go but at least now I'll be able to find you sooner if this happens again."

"This is the first place I come to," Emma revealed. "In fact, this is where I was the night you got ill." She sighed. "How long is Regina's meeting?"

"I'm not sure, why?" Henry asked.

Emma shrugged. "Just thinking if I should probably go and talk to her, but if she's not free, I'll go find Ally and allow Janey to get on with her other jobs."

The two stood up and slowly headed into the castle together. Just as Henry was about to turn off to his chambers, Emma called out to him. "Thank you," she said softly when he turned. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you here."

Henry smiled softly. "I'll always be here for you, Emma."

If only you were, Emma said in her head. She knew that whenever she went back to the future, she would never see him again. She smiled sadly before heading back up to the castle.

oOoOo

Regina ended up being in her meeting for the rest of the afternoon. It lasted well into the evening, leaving Emma to hang out with Ally for the day which she adored. She loved seeing Ally grow. She still couldn't smile or laugh but Emma could tell she was having fun. Well, she couldn't know for sure, but she hoped!

By the time Regina came out of her meeting, she was completely drained. Emma had just put Alexandra down for a nap and was about to see to some dinner. She looked up when Regina entered the room.

"Hey," she said quietly.

Regina froze, half expecting Emma to be at dinner already, not to be stood in their bedroom. "Hi," she said softly.

Emma frowned as she realised the Queen was keeping her distance. They both hesitated before speaking.

"I'm sorry–"

"I need to apologise–"

Emma couldn't help the smile that broke out as they both spoke at the same time. They both stepped forward until they met in the middle of their bedroom. Emma reached forward and cupped Regina's face softly in her hands.

"I'm so sorry," Regina muttered. "I do trust you, I promise. It's him I don't trust."

"I'm the same with Maleficent, I don't trust her," Emma said, "but I do trust you. My god, I trust you more than anything. If she's your friend, I'll honour that."

"If you want the new Hook to meet Alexandra, I shouldn't stand in your way, but I do have some conditions." Regina said.

"Of course, you do," Emma teased.

"I love you," Regina whispered, ignoring Emma's tease.

"I love you too." Emma leant in and kissed Regina softly, allowing her tongue to brush playfully against Regina's.

The Queen hummed in content, matching Emma's passion. She was about to break off the kiss to trail kisses down Emma's neck when the blonde's stomach rumbled. She pulled back chuckling. "And that's the cue to get you some food."

Emma blushed. "I missed lunch as I lost track of time with Ally," she admitted.

Regina stepped back and took Emma's hand. "Then let's get dinner."

oOoOo

The next day, Emma was on her way to meet Hook. They couldn't just call each other with the lack of phones, but they did have a code. When it hit dusk, Emma would shoot a flash of red into the sky which called out to Hook that she would meet him the next day. If she followed the red up with a shot of green, he would have to come to the castle, if was followed by blue, she would meet him in the nearby village. The previous night, she had sent blue sparks to indicate that she would meet him. Regina hadn't wanted Hook to come straight to the castle without Emma giving him the "rules", it was one of the conditions required to allow Hook to see Ally.

As Emma was the significant other of the Queen, she couldn't be seen walking through the village alone looking like herself. Therefore, she cast the disillusion charm on herself before she left. Should anyone see her, it would just look like the trick of the light.

The walk didn't take her very long and before long, she found what she was looking for. Hook was leaning against a tree, staring out into the distance. He saw the glimmer of light and smiled, realising it was Emma. Emma pulled on his hook and led him into the forest. A couple of spells later, and Emma had conjured up two comfortable arm chairs and she was visible to the pirate. She had also cast another disillusion spell over the area so no one would see a pirate speaking to the Princess.

Once that was all done, she stepped towards Hook. "Hello," she greeted with a smile before giving him a quick hug. Now he'd stopped trying to grope her inappropriately, she didn't mind.

"Hello, love," he greeted before taking a seat. "How's motherhood treating you the second time round?"

Emma couldn't help the smile at the mention of her daughter. "It's wonderful but also weird. Like, I never expected to feel so attached to her when I didn't carry her. I adore her though, she's amazing."

"How was the announcement ball?" He asked. He knew all about Emma's trepidation regarding the event.

"Ugh, it was, well, interesting to say the least," Emma revealed as she flopped down on the other chair. "It ended with an argument between me and Regina's uncle which is all sorted now but there was drama from the beginning of the night."

"What aren't you telling me, Swan?" He enquired as he took in Emma's frown. He reached out and squeezed her knee reassuringly.

"Maleficent," she sighed.

The captain's brows furrowed in confusion. "What about her?"

"She turned up out of the blue," Emma began before telling Hook about everything, from the ball to Regina and her past relationship with the dragon, along with her worries about everything.

"Swan, you're being stupid," Hook said with a laugh. "You know that Regina adores you, well this one anyway." Emma raised her eyebrow at the comment making the pirate laugh more. "You don't have anything to worry about regarding Regina anyway. I'd probably worry about the fact we're still stuck here." He sighed, no longer finding the situation funny. "I overheard yesterday that they're setting sail next week. I'm going to have nowhere to stay."

"You'll stay at the castle," Emma said certainly. Yes, she'd not mentioned it to Regina yet, but she wasn't going to leave him stranded. "We might have to make you look a little different and give you a fake hand or something, but I need you close by should we have a chance to get back."

"Have you figured that out yet?" He asked. "It's been almost a year since we fell through the portal, you have you magic back and the baby has been born."

Emma shuffled in her seat in guilt. She hadn't told him about the trigger yet, she'd not found the right time.

"Swan?"

"I don't know everything," she said quickly, "but I do know something." Hook looked curiously at her. "There is nothing we can do to get back but wait for a trigger, but don't ask me what it is because I don't know. That's all I've found out. You'll have to bear with me until we figure out what it is." She sighed and paused, allowing Hook to take in what she said. "Besides, that's not what I'm here to talk about. Regina's rules about Alexandra." She rolled her eyes and Hook laughed.

"What rules?" Hook asked. "Don't hurt her and don't let her near my hook, what else could there be?"

Emma raised her eyebrow. "It's Regina, of course there's more." She chuckled before continuing Regina's rules.

Along with not hurting the baby or allowing her near the hook, the pirate was also not allowed to hold her for more than a few minutes. He definitely wasn't allowed to turn up drunk or even smell of rum or anything other alcohol. He had to be clean and couldn't swear. Most importantly, he couldn't make any jokes out of the situation, though Emma didn't really know what joke he could make about it all.

"Anything else madam wishes?" Hook asked with a sarcastic roll of his eyes.

Emma laughed. "I think that's about it. So, you're expected to arrive tomorrow after lunch. I'll come fetch you from Henry's chambers like last time."

"Gotcha," Hook nodded, showing her understood.

The two then stood up as Emma needed to get back to the castle. Regina didn't want her staying out long and she could catch up with the captain more tomorrow.

Emma removed the spell on the two of them and headed back to the castle, completely forgetting to recast the disillusion spell on herself.

On she walked, not particularly paying any attention to her surroundings. She simply wanted to get back to the castle as quickly as she could as the weather was starting to turn. As she walked, she saw a sheet of fabric on the floor. On a closer inspection, she realised it wasn't just fabric but a cloak. A red cloak. A very familiar red cloak that should never be on its own. Panic shot through her body. If this was lying here on its own, where was its owner?

Suddenly, there was a growl and a low hiss. Looking up, Emma saw the familiar markings and the flash of eyes before the wolf rushed forward and pounced on her, knocking her to the ground.

She couldn't help the scream. "Ruby!"

A/N: I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone who as favourited, followed and reviewed this story so far. I cannot say how much it means to me. I also want to give a shout out to the wonderful MSAllySomereva as I wouldn't be able to have written any of this story without her, so thank you so much, Als!

As always, please let me know what you think of this chapter and what you think will happen next. I can't wait to read your ideas! Love, Emss x