Overcome with emotion, Emma went to step forward and greet her friend when the power of the spell truly hit her. She blacked out and started falling to the floor. Luckily, Zelena was prepared and caught her before she hit the ground.

"We need to get her home," Zelena instructed to the others.

Belle and Mal nodded, rushing forward to help the Witch with Emma's weight. Once equally supported, Zelena flicked her wrist and transported them back to the house, straight into Emma's room. With another flick of her wrist, Zelena ensured that Emma was lying in bed comfortably before looking at the new blonde.

"Introductions need to be made," she realised. "I'm Zelena and this is Belle."

"Maleficent," the dragon replied without looking away from Emma. "Why did she pass out? Did she try the spell alone?"

Zelena shook her head. "I helped, but Emma's in a different state to me." When the dragon still didn't look up, Zelena revealed what she hoped Maleficent would already know. "You know, because of the baby."

The dragon's head snapped to the side, finally looking at Zelena. "You know?" She asked.

She knew how private Emma was about it. In actual fact, Emma had never officially told her about the pregnancy. The dragon had had an inkling with her behaviour, but she'd never gotten a straight answer out of her. It was only after she left that Regina revealed that Emma was pregnant after reading it in the letter. As happy as she was for them, she was a little bit hurt that Emma hadn't told her. Then again, there was a lot running through her mind at that point. However, as Mal thought about it, another through shot through her head as she looked at the redhead before her.

"Wait, the Zelena?" She clarified. "The one who cursed Emma of her magic and tried to kill Regina? That Zelena?"

Sensing the tension, Belle stepped between the two. "Zelena is redeeming herself," the librarian said quickly. "She's helped Emma get you back and she's letting her stay here. She's a friend, not a foe now."

Maleficent still looked like she didn't fully trust her but accepted it. She glanced back at Emma, reaching out to brush away a loose strand of hair away from her face.

"How long will she be out?" She asked quietly.

"A couple of hours Blue said," Belle replied, glad that the dragon had calmed down a little. She hadn't known what to expect from her. Rumple hadn't had much to say on her as they hadn't really dealt with each other in the past.

Mal nodded. "Where's Alexandra?" She missed the little blonde almost as much as she missed Emma after they'd disappeared. She and Henry had spoken about the two after they'd left, but it definitely wasn't the same.

"She's with Killian," Zelena said before glancing at Belle. "Actually, we should let everyone know that we succeeded."

Belle nodded and got her phone out to text Ruby, Henry and Hook who had recently been gifted a phone by Emma. Though he didn't really have a clue how to work it.

"We had a team of people working on getting you back," Zelena explained when the dragon looked confused. "Emma needed you, apparently, to help get Regina's memory back."

"She still doesn't remember?" Mal asked. She'd been angry when Regina had cast the memory curse but was grateful that Emma had given her something to help her remember. She'd been so confused when Emma had charged into the cave under the library many years later and started fighting her. As she realised that Emma had no idea who she was yet, she had no choice than to try and fight back. She was just relieved to be back in a time when Emma would remember her.

Zelena shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"Right, let's get some drinks. You need to tell me everything," Mal instructed and for once, Zelena did as she was told, leading the way into the kitchen.

The three sat around the kitchen table and Zelena and Belle brought Maleficent up to scratch with what had happened in the last few years and especially in the last couple of weeks. She wasn't surprised to hear that Regina was struggling with the overload of new information, anyone would be.

"She's not stupid though," Mal murmured over her tea. "She's got a strong gut instinct, it should be kicking in by now. There should be warning bells ringing in her head. I reckon it's this Robin guy, he's interfering with it."

"How though?" Belle asked. "He's ordinary."

"Regina loves him by the sounds of it, currently anyway," Mal replied. "She gets a bit lost when she's in love, not True Love. She doesn't think straight. When she was with Emma, she was her best self. She was still a hundred percent Regina with the strength of Emma's love on top. It was a force to be reckoned with." She smiled wistfully as she remembered watching it all unravel.

There was a knock on the door and Zelena excused herself to answer it. A few seconds later, she was followed back into the kitchen by Hook who was carrying Ally.

As soon as the toddler saw her favourite dragon, she screamed with delight. "Mally!"

"Ally!" Mal called back. She shot out of her chair and pulled the tot out of Hook's arms and embraced her tightly. "I have missed you so much!" She pressed a kiss to her head.

Ally cocked her head to the side. "I seed you two weeks ago?"

Mal chuckled. "Saw," she corrected out of habit. "It's a bit complicated but I've not seen you in thirty years!"

"Like Mommy?" Ally asked surprising the others in the room.

"Emma tried to explain why Regina couldn't remember her," Hook explained whenever everyone was shocked to hear what the little girl had said. Emma had told him of her attempt to explain everything the tot. It seemed she understood some of what was going on.

"Something like that," Mal replied. She went to reply when they heard a soft groaning noise coming from Emma's room, indicating that the blonde was starting to stir. "Take Ally for me," Mal asked Hook, placing the tot into his arms. She whined at being given back but Mal bopped her nose to make her laugh. "I'll be back soon, promise."

"Mmkay!" Ally said as she leant into Hook's neck.

Mal then left the room and headed back into Emma's bedroom where the blonde was still groaning as she came to. The dragon perched on the side of the bed and waited for her to wake up fully before she said anything. She didn't want to frighten her and cause her body any more stress than the spell had caused.

After a few more moments, Emma's eyes slowly fluttered opened, taking in the person in front of her.

"Hi stranger," Mal greeted with a smile.

However, Emma's reaction was not what she expected.

"Oh my god, I must be dead," she croaked in exhaustion.

Mal chuckled quietly. "You're not dead, Em. I'm definitely here."

Emma blinked slowly, allowing the dragon to come into focus properly. "It worked?" She asked, her voice still a little croaky.

The dragon flicked her wrist and conjured a small glass of water. Emma sat up in bed and accepted the water before taking a few sips.

"It worked," Mal confirmed. "I'm definitely back." She then reached out and poked Emma's arm causing her to wince in pain.

"What was that for?" She whined.

"For turning me to ash," Mal replied with a chuckle. "Never stab a dragon in the chest when they're getting ready to breathe fire. Haven't you read any dragon books?"

Emma blushed in embarrassment. "I didn't know who you were then and I was doing what I thought was going to save my son, but no, it was to help Rumple." She rolled her eyes. "But that doesn't matter. Tell me everything that happened after I left." Despite reading the book and Henry's letter, Emma wanted to hear it from Mal's point of view.

"Tomorrow," Mal said. "Tonight is for resting. You shouldn't have been emitting so much power while pregnant. You could have done some damage!"

"Blue said it would be fine," Emma replied defensively, holding her arms up in surrender before she realised what the dragon had actually said. "Wait, how do you know about the baby?" She brought her arms down and rested them lightly over her belly.

"Regina told me," Mal revealed, "seeing as you didn't."

Emma blushed again. "I wanted to, but I didn't want Regina to overhear and if the guards heard, they'd have blabbed. She'd never have let us get married if she knew." She sighed. "And now I'm twelve weeks pregnant and my wife has no idea and I can't tell her."

"We'll figure it all out," Mal assured her. She squeezed the blonde's hand. "Besides, even after the curse, she still wore your engagement ring around her neck. I asked her about it and she said that her father gave it to her, that there was something special about it and she should always wear it. She said she felt a connection to it, as if there was something else to do with it than it just being from her father. I didn't push her on it though because I didn't want her to get suspicious. So there is something there, you've just got to persevere. Now I'm back, I'll talk to her. I'll be your inside man. I'll team up with Henry." She grinned. "I'm looking forward to meeting him."

Emma smiled back. "He's looking forward to meeting you, but he's on Regina watch tonight so that she didn't accidentally interrupt." Slowly, Emma started to get out of bed and allowed Mal to help her. "For now, I want some cuddles with my daughter and to watch a film with some popcorn."

Despite not understanding half of what Emma said, Mal followed her back to the kitchen where Emma introduced the dragon to the wonderful world of popcorn and television. Belle had headed back home to tell Rumple it was successful and Hook and Mal hugged in greeting now the two had their arms free of the toddler who was happily cuddling her mother.

The dysfunctional family then settled in front of the TV to watch a film with the toddler fast asleep across Emma and Mal's lap as she refused to go to bed and they didn't have the heart to move her.

As Mal didn't have anywhere to stay for now, she shared with Emma until she could find somewhere to live. The two were close enough to accept it.

The next morning, Emma introduced Mal to the modern world of bathrooms, kitchens and jeans. She let the dragon borrow a pair of jeans as they were a similar size and a t-shirt, advising that she would fit in better wearing that. Mal also ditched her horns and let her hair hang loose around her shoulders to frame her face. With a light touch of makeup, she was good to go.

Emma dressed similarly and let Ally pick her outfit. She asked for jeans too with a light pink t-shirt with daisies on. She looked adorable.

Once dressed, the three headed to the kitchen and Emma made them all a late breakfast of toast with raspberry jam, Ally's favourite, with tea for the adults and some apple juice for Alexandra. Zelena also joined but enjoyed a bowl of porridge with fresh green apples instead.

"What's the plan for today?" Emma asked after a bite of her toast.

"Oh this and that," Zelena replied cryptically. Emma wasn't actually sure what she did now that she wasn't terrorising Regina at every moment of the day or holding Rumple hostage. Though the blonde hadn't gotten the nerve to ask yet. "What you about you?"

"We're going to show Mal around Storybrooke, aren't we honey?" Emma said to Ally who looked up from her breakfast where she'd already managed to get jam all over her face in the thirty seconds that she'd had her food.

"Yep!" She agreed before going back to her toast.

"What if you run into," Zelena trailed off and she glanced at Ally who was engrossed in her toast, "you know who?"

"We shouldn't," Emma said simply. "It's Wednesday morning. She'll be working. We'll make sure not to be in the centre around lunch time. It'll be fine."

Zelena didn't look too convinced. "Well if anything happens and she turns up, just poof Ally to me and I'll look after her."

Emma smiled at her friend gratefully. "Thanks."

With that settled, the trio went quiet to eat their breakfasts.

oOoOo

"So this is the docks, obviously," Emma said as she pointed to the ships. She had decided to poof the three of them to the far edge of the town to start the tour. She also wanted the quiet space so no one over heard what they would be discussing.

"It's umm, quaint?" Mal replied as she struggled to find the word.

Emma chuckled. "You get used to it." The three walked along for a few steps before Emma turned to Mal. "So what happened?"

The dragon didn't need any more information. She sighed as she looked out to the horizon before the two started walking aimlessly with Ally running along ahead.

"It was unimaginable really," Mal began. "Regina locked herself in her room for days. She wouldn't let any one in, not even her father. I tried to magically enter but she blocked me. She was hysterical. After a few days, she came round and allowed us in but she just cried.

"Rumple came to see her about two weeks after you left and told her about the curse. She told him she didn't want to cast it but then he started telling her about the memory curse. I get it, it sounded ideal. She would forget about you and no longer hurt and when you broke it, she would get all her memories back." Mal sighed as she turned to look at the other blonde. "I just don't think she anticipated that it would be more difficult for you to break the curse with her not knowing about what had happened. I thought about using a dream catcher, but it won't work. She doesn't remember so I can't make her remember. I doubt she'd let you try at the moment."

Emma shook her head. "She doesn't particularly like me here," she muttered and bit her lip, willing herself not to cry. "It just hurts seeing that spark missing from her eyes when she looks at me or Ally. I miss her so much. I mean, she's right there but she's…oh my god, she's right there."

With the deep conversation, Emma hadn't noticed that their aimless walking had led them to the centre of town until they were standing opposite the Town Hall. Emma's favourite pair of chocolate brown eyes were starting at them from across the road, Regina's mouth wide open as she took in the newly resurrected dragon.

Remembering Zelena's words from that morning, Emma quickly crouched in front of her daughter. "Honey, listed to me, I need to send you to Auntie Zelena, okay?" She warned.

"Why?" Ally asked. "I wanna stay with you and Mally."

Emma leant forward and pressed a soft kiss to Ally's head, fortunate that her daughter hadn't seen Regina yet. "I'll explain later. I promise."

Ally still looked disbelieving but slowly nodded. "Okay."

With a breath of relief, Emma waved her hand over her daughter and Ally disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Seconds later, Emma felt her phone buzz in her pocket, a message from Zelena confirming that she had Ally.

When Emma looked up, she saw Regina making her way over to them, her facial expression unreadable. Finally, when she was in touching distance, she threw her arms around Maleficent and hugged her tightly.

"I have missed you so much!" She gasped. "I am so sorry for what happened."

Mal pulled back and simply smiled. "I get why you did it, I don't blame you," she replied kindly. "I'm back now anyway, so it's forgotten."

"But how?" Regina asked.

Emma took a step back, not wanting to get between the two. "I should leave, let you two catch up."

"Em," Mal said softly.

"How do you two know each other?" Regina asked, her eyes flicking between the two. "I don't understand?"

"Sure, you do," Emma replied quietly, not wanting to frighten or confuse the woman before her. "We met when I was in the past, but I won't bombard you with fact you don't remember. I don't want to anger you." She glanced at Mal. "I'll head off and check on Ally. Let me know if you're coming back later and I'll cook dinner." She looked back at her wife who still looked very confused. "Regina." She nodded curtly, though she wanted nothing more than to pull her into her arms and hold her, but she couldn't. Instead, she took a step back and flicked her wrist.

Regina and Mal watched her go, neither really knowing what to do. Mal wanted to help her and thought the best way was to get a conversation going between the two of them but she didn't know how to get it started. Regina just had an inkling inside her that was upset that Emma was sad again and she didn't like it.

Shaking it off, Regina looked at her friend. "Would you like to come up to my office for a drink? We can catch up."

Mal nodded. "I'd love to."

The two made their way up to Regina's office and Mal glanced around. "It's a lot brighter than your castle," she commented.

Regina chuckled. "Barely."

"A lot of white though," the dragon teased making Regina roll her eyes.

The Mayor led her friend to the sofa in front of the fire place. She waved her hand and a decanter of her famous cider appeared along with two glasses.

"Gina, it's barely noon," Mal laughed. "It's good to see you're still the same."

Regina smiled and held up a glass for Mal to take. "To old friends," she toasted.

"And burying the hatchet," Mal added. They clinked their glasses together before taking a sip.

There was a slight dip in the conversation until Regina asked the inevitable. "So how are you back? Not that I'm complaining. I've been needing a familiar friendly face for the past week or so."

"Emma knew that if there was one way of helping you remember, it would be with my help," Mal replied after taking another sip. Emma and Zelena had filled the dragon while watching the film the night before. "Apparently with a few drops of Zelena and Emma's blood in the moonlight of a full moon and some enchantment or another, you can resurrect a dragon from a pile of ash."

"Why their blood?" Regina asked, her glass raised halfway to her lips.

Mal raised her eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to know?" She countered.

Regina sighed. "Just tell me."

The dragon placed her glass down on the table and looked at Regina.

"The spell ideally needed you," she revealed. "You were the person who trapped me down there, no don't apologise again, it's fine," Mal said hurriedly when it looked like Regina was about to interrupt. "But Emma didn't want to get you involved so they had to find a way around it. Zelena was used as your sister, yes I know," she added when again, Regina went to interrupt. "But as Cora's blood runs through both of you, she was perfect. Then as for Emma…" she trailed off as she tried to word it correctly. "The spell required two forms of blood. Familial and love." She paused, expecting Regina to interrupt again, however this time, she remained silent. "The type of love to be exact is True Love," she was practically whispering now as she was apprehensive of Regina's reply. "The two together can be used to replicate the presence of the caster. Zelena as your sister and Emma as your True Love."

"But it can't be," Regina whispered, not wanting to say the words properly and admit it all out loud. "Robin is my soulmate, surely that means he's my True Love?"

Mal shook her head. "Not always," she replied. "There's a connection between you and Emma, I know you feel it. I'm not stupid. I was around the two of you long enough to know and even the two minutes of being with you then, I could feel it." She sighed. "Emma isn't lying about you being together in the past. I would show you my memories in a dream catcher, but I know you wouldn't accept them, I know you too well. But trust me, Gina, I'd never lie to you, especially not about something as important as this. Look, even if I didn't want you to be with Emma, this Robin is definitely not the right person for you either from what I've heard."

Regina bit her lip and she took in Mal's words. She knew her best friend would never lie to her, she'd never had a reason to. She'd always thrived on the fact that the two of them could always be one hundred percent honest with each other. Perhaps it was time that Regina was honest with herself at the same time.

"You're right," she whispered. "I do have feelings for Emma. I'm just so scared that everything you've both said is correct and the life I've built here will come tumbling down." She bit her lip nervously. "I have Robin, Roland and Henry to think about and because of them," she swallowed and shut her eyes, as if thinking if she couldn't see Mal's reaction, she wouldn't react, "I can't allow myself to fall in love with Emma Swan."

A/N: I know it comes across as Regina is being slow, but bear with me, please! Also, if you hate me for this cliff hanger, just wait until the next chapter *wink. Love, Emss x