Almost there.

Brian's shoulders dropped as he sighed heavily in relief when he saw his wife walk through the door. He could already tell she was in a much better place than she had been when she left. She was laughing at something the girls were babbling happily about. She looked up after she shut the door behind her and caught his eye, answering his silent question with a small smile and nod; they were going to be okay.

Brian greeted both his daughters with hug and looked up at his father when he walked in from the other room.

"Claire, Sophie, how would you girls like to join me in the living room?"

The girls looked up at their father for direction, and he smiled at them. "Yes girls, why don't you go with your grandfather? Your mom and I will be in in a minute." As they bounced off to the living room, Brian nodded his thanks to his father and Gold tilted his head slightly in acknowledgement. He knew the couple needed a few minutes alone to talk.

"I'm sorry." Brian and Brenna both chuckled as they apologized at the same time. Brian motioned that she could speak first, so she continued.

"It's overwhelming, and I'm not saying that I overreacted, because let's be fair; how else could a person react to finding something like this out? But I didn't mean what I said. I love you, and that much hasn't changed. It never will. So, I'm sorry, but I'm back now, and I'm not leaving again."

Brian smiled. "And I'm sorry that I didn't tell you. I wanted to so badly, but I didn't know how without losing you. I'm glad you're back." He tilted his head. "I'm actually surprised that you're back so soon. You were so angry when you left that I thought you might be gone for a few days, or at least overnight."

"I might have been," Brenna told him honestly. "But I had a little bit of help."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. I was in the park with the girls, and I met someone. She explained things in a way that made sense to an overemotional person like me." She smiled slightly and so did he. "She seemed to know what she was talking about, and she definitely knew what to say. I actually hope I run into her again. I enjoyed talking to her."

"Who did you run into?" Brian asked curiously.

"Regina."

Brian leaned his head forward, his eyes narrowing. "Brenna, I don't think you realize who—"

"The Evil Queen, yes, I know," Brenna interrupted him, and he was surprised. "She told me exactly who she was, but she doesn't seem like she could be that evil anymore. Did you know she has children now? One of them is a little boy Sophie's age. Tootles, the littlest lost boy. He's adorable, and he calls her mommy. She saved him from Neverland."

Brian looked at her in disbelief. "The Evil Queen has children?"

Brenna nodded. "She does. And Brian, you can tell that she loves them and that she'd never do anything to harm them. That's why I believed her when she said that things were going to get better, and that I should trust you and come home."

"She said all of that?"

Brenna nodded.

"Well, I'm glad." He stepped forward and kissed her before wrapping her in his arms. "Because I need you."

"I need you, too." She pulled back and smiled at him. "Let's go be with our family."


Regina was standing just inside the doorway to Daniel's world, suddenly glued to the spot. "I shouldn't have come with you," she said for about the tenth time since they'd started their journey. "I know outsiders aren't supposed to come to this world. We're not even supposed to know where it is."

Daniel smiled at her softly. "No, but you're not an outsider Regina. You're here with me, and I don't care what anyone thinks." He looked around, distracted by the once familiar sight of his homeland. "I can't believe I'm back here," he said quietly. "It's been so long. After everything that happened, I thought I'd never see it again." He inhaled deeply, breathing in the fresh air and slightly sweet scent from the flowers on the hill not far off. Then turning back to Regina, he smiled. "I'm glad you can see this, too. It's the one part of myself that I could never share with you, and now I can." He reached out a hand to her. "Let's go talk to the council."

She smiled when she placed her hand in his. "Alright."

They both turned to Jefferson, almost having forgotten he was there, but he simply waved his hand in slight amusement. "Go on. I'll be waiting here for you when you get back."

Regina nodded her head in acknowledgement and allowed Daniel to lead the way.

Even with the ability to magically transport from place to place, Regina wasn't prepared for the tingling sensation she felt as she instantly moved from the ground to the glass building she recognized from Annie's memories. There was no period of adjustment as the smoke cleared, and rather than the magical residue tingling from head to toe, she felt an entirely different sensation; more like stepping from a humid environment into a clear, air-conditioned room. The feeling only lasted a fraction of a second, but it had her smiling.

She only wished she could be experiencing this wonderful world under better circumstances.

A small crowd had gathered when they'd appeared in the great hall, and they were all whispering to one another as they stared at Daniel and Regina. Regina looked back nervously at all of them, still feeling like a trespasser. Daniel, however, ignored all of them. His attention was at the top of the staircase laid out before them.

Brushing a hand across her back, he spurred her forward. "Regina," he said softly, when she seemed to be frozen in place. Her gaze snapped back to him and she nodded.

"After you."

This time, instead of reaching for her hand, he put an arm around her waist, pulling her into his side. She leaned into it, and they stayed that way until they reached the bottom of the stairs .He offered his arm and she put hers through it, allowing him to escort her to the top. It took several minutes for them to finally step onto the flat surface of the council chambers, and it looked almost exactly as it had in Annie's memories. Regina was again in awe of how beautiful it was.

The difference was the long table in the center of the room. Rather than being empty as it had been before, there was a person seated in each chair, all growing quiet when the couple stepped into their midst.

The feeling of being studied wasn't new to Regina at all. Being the Evil Queen back in the Enchanted Forest had subjected her to the scrutinizing glares of all those not too afraid to show their faces to the Queen; or those who thought she didn't feel their stares on her back when she turned. But today was different. The stares made her feel nervous and self-conscious, not a feeling she was at all accustomed to, and she had to say she was not enjoying it at all. Part of it was due to the fact that she was no longer the woman she'd been all those years ago. She was growing more and more to love her life now that she'd let the cruel woman begin to slip away, but there were certain traits that she found she wanted to carry over into her life as Regina; the self-assured, confident, strong part of her that she'd discovered in the years after Daniel's believed death. Trying to summon some of that confidence, she straightened her posture. These were Daniel's people, and what they thought of her was important. This where he'd come from; both he and Annie. They'd guided the siblings long before they'd ever entered Regina's life, and now, they were in a position to save Annie on her quest to put the universe back together.

"Daniel?" An older man toward the far end of the table stood, leaning into his chair as he studied the newcomers.

All of the council was looking at Daniel in disbelief, wondering if this really could be the boy they'd known all grown up and returned home after all of these years.

Daniel stepped closer to the man, studying his face, recognizing the features even if they were older than when he'd last seen him. "Dax?"

Dax laughed joyously, hurrying to round the table and embrace Daniel. Regina stepped back awkwardly as the two men patted each other on the back in a large hug. She noticed tears in Dax's eyes as he pulled back to look at Daniel.

"How are you still alive after all of these years?" Daniel asked in amazement. "You were the same age as my parents."

"You mean because of the curse that was cast in the other land?" Dax asked. "Is that where you ended up; why you're still the same age you would have been all those years ago?"

Daniel nodded. "Something like that. But the curse didn't affect this world."

Dax looked behind him at the rest of the council. "We heard about the curse before it was cast, and we knew that the balance we were meant to keep had shifted uncontrollably. We'd failed at our jobs, but our numbers were so depleted after the war that we couldn't risk the few people we had left to set it right – had we even known what to do to fix it. We also knew that we would need to live long enough to ensure everything was eventually put back into place, but how with a curse that froze time for those who had so much to do with why our universe had shifted? So we called upon friends of a far-off world, and they supplied us with an herb from their land that enables us to live as long as we need to see this through." He looked at Brian and smiled gently. "I can't believe you are here. Everyone thought you'd been killed along with Porter and Adelle. The war came and we'd all given you up for dead when you didn't return home. Annie?"

"She's alive as well," Daniel smiled, but it faded quickly. "But she is the reason we are here now. She needs your help." He gestured at Regina and waved her forward when he realized she'd moved so far back. Reaching for her hand, he realized it was shaking as he took it into his own, so he gave it a reassuring squeeze. "This is Regina; the woman who cast the curse in the other land, and the woman I love." The council looked shocked and some of them began to stand, but Daniel waved at them to remain seated. "There is much to tell you all, but you will understand everything once we have. We've come to finally restore the balance."


The winding path up to the top of the cliff was steep and narrow - much more terrifying than even jumping off of it had been. Some of that had most likely come from the fact that she hadn't had time to think about it when she jumped. She'd been focused only on finding Regina. This time, she had the whole hike up to think about what she was doing, where she was going, and how she was getting there.

Annie cried out as she stepped on a loose section of rock and lost her balance. She reached desperately to grip the wall to keep from falling, but she needn't have worried; a split second after she'd slipped, a strong arm steadied her.

"Careful, love. Wouldn't want to have to start from the bottom again."

Annie smiled at him gratefully and nodded. "Thank you," she said, recovering from the sudden panic that had gripped her.

They'd been on this path for what felt like hours now, but they were nearly to the top. Hook had told the crew to stay behind on the ship, saying there was no reason for any of them to come along. Really, Annie was the only one who needed to make the journey, but Hook could tell she wouldn't mind company to keep her distracted. Not that it was working. He knew that there wasn't much to do to distract her from the challenge she would soon be facing, but he got the feeling she appreciated the company all the same.

As if she was reading his thoughts, Annie broke the silence only moments later with, "Thank you for coming with me. I know you didn't have to. In fact, it would have been much safer for you if you hadn't."

"I'm not worried," he told her confidently. "I've no doubt that you'll be able to handle whatever is waiting for us at the top. We'll be back in Storybrooke before you know it."

"I wish I was as confident as you are," Annie said, focusing on the path before her; she didn't want to slip again. She chanced a quick look up to the top of the cliff. "I'm not even sure what it is that's waiting for us. I don't think Scheherazade knew, either."

"How do you figure?"

"I just imagine that she would have told me more if she'd known it."

"Maybe she thinks that you'll do better without any further knowledge of what's to come."

"How can going into this situation without information be better?"

"The future is a slippery concept. It comes in tiny little pieces that you have to put together, and you never get the full picture. Sometimes, knowing what's to come holds you back from doing what's necessary. You spend too much time analyzing the choices leading to the result, and in the end, you might wind up changing the outcome. Scheherazade is a wise woman. You should trust that she's doing what she thinks is best. She's gotten you this far, hasn't she? And just think - this moment has been hundreds of years in the making."

Annie laughed nervously. "I thought you were supposed to be making me feel better."

She couldn't see it, but she knew by the sound of Hook's voice that he was smiling. "It sounds like a lot, but it should make you feel better. She's known what was to come for much longer than you've been alive. If she doubted for a second that you'd be able to bring this balance, she wouldn't have sent you. She had centuries to find ways to fix what her sister had done, but this was the path she chose. She chose you because she knows you can do what no one else can. In her eyes, this was something you were born to do."

They walked again in silence until Hook nearly ran into Annie when she stopped abruptly. Looking up from her, he saw that they'd reached the top. A few more steps and they'd be visible to anyone standing above.

She turned to him. "You don't have to come any further," she told him quietly, suddenly finding it hard to breathe.

"Nonsense. I didn't walk all this way just to stand back and watch. I'm coming with you."

Annie gave him a tight smile. She took a deep breath before walking the short distance. She felt her stomach drop in fearful anticipation, but when the top came into view, she found something she hadn't been expecting; the land was flat, seemed to stretch on forever, and most noticeably, was empty. There wasn't a soul in sight.