'Good morning everybody, it's so wonderful to be here!'

All Granny's Diner's guests turn around at the same time to see who had expressed this extravagant sounding greeting.

Zelena has opened her arms wide, like the superstar she's pretending to be, welcoming everyone. 'I knew you all missed me, so here I am!' She throws up both of her hands and loud gasps and frightened noises sound from all around the diner, everyone expecting to be cursed by one spell or another. 'Oh all you serious people. Is there no one with a good sense of humor around here?' she mocks when nothing happens. When she seems to have enough of her own put up show, she focuses her attention on the group in the corner of the diner and speaks to Regina directly. 'Sis… Did I miss out on all the official introductions? I did, didn't I? I can see it on everyone's faces that you told them everything. How bad-mannered of you. You could've waited for me. May I?' She doesn't wait for a reply and takes a seat next to her half-sister.

Emma would love to beat that awful contended smirk off the Wicked Witch's face if she could. 'Zelena, what the hell are you doing here?' Her voice is deep and low, hatred seeping through it.

'I'm here to see how my favorite people are doing of course. After all, some of you already are, and others will soon enough become…' she pauses and conjures up a wide smile, 'Oh dear, I can't believe that I would ever use this word in my life… family!

Emma's hands continue to shake uncontrollably and she holds them firmly underneath the table.

'Let this be very clear, Sis,' Regina retorts, 'we may be sisters by blood, but don't think you'll ever have the right to call yourself family. That's a right that needs to be earned around here.' Zelena puts on a fake pout, but Regina continues. 'Nor will you hurt any of these people. I won't allow you.'

'Auch Regina, that hurts.' Zelena mimics being stabbed by putting her hand up to her chest and lowers her lips into a sulky expression, which soon enough curls up into another big grin. 'But don't you worry. I've always thrived doing everything by myself as an only and abandoned child. I know perfectly well how to take care of myself.' She sighs. 'Ah, I'll leave you be. I'm sure you'll have lots to discuss. Enjoy your breakfast!' She gets up and walks towards the door where she seems to suddenly remember something. 'Oh, and Snow White?' She turns back to look at the addressee. 'I hope you're enjoying your decaf coffee this morning. It's one of my special recipes. Bye now.' Instead of exiting through the door, she disappears into green smoke.

Everyone inside the diner is quiet, eyes shift from the spot where Zelena disappeared from, to the family in the corner.

In reflex to Zelena's words, Snow pushes away the cup of coffee in front of her. The one she had been drinking only minutes before. 'What did she mean? What did she put in my coffee?' She looks at the cup with a disgusted expression on her face. The kicking she feels in her belly has never felt so comforting as it does now. It's a sign that there's still life inside of her. When she notices the extreme worry on her husband's face, she takes his hand and lays it atop of her belly, hoping to share the reassuring message their unborn son is sending them.

The tension on David's face softens ever so slightly when he feels the movement through the skin of Snow's abdomen.

Regina is the one who answers Snow's question. 'I don't know what it is, but it can't be good... Either way, there isn't much time. I can't help but feel that this is merely the tip of the iceberg. We need to come up with a plan to defeat her before she ruins all of our lives.'

'How do you suggest we'll do that?' Emma retorts. She had been listening with dread to what Zelena had said and can't agree more. Taking Snow's baby is only the first step. This lady is wicked and full of built-up resentment. She has had years to work on her plan of revenge and there's no doubt that she'll act on it. They'll need to stop her fast. The only problem being that Emma has no idea what they should do to win this battle. That, and the little unmentioned fact that she doesn't feel in control of her own mind and body anymore. Quietly she puts both of her hands between her knees, trying to stop the convulsions.

'I suggest that we work on a protection spell. We don't know what Zelena has poisoned the coffee with, but if we can make sure that she can't come near to Snow for the foreseeable future, we might be able to buy ourselves some time.' Regina pauses as if she's chewing on that.

Emma picks up on this moment and raises a brow. 'What is it?'

The other woman looks at her with an uncertain expression. 'This time, I'm afraid a regular protection spell won't work. It won't be strong enough to hold Zelena. Instead, the only protection spell I could think of that could succeed is one created by blood magic.'

While Emma's brain is hazed and paralyzed with fear, she realizes what this means. 'You're saying that I'm the one who needs to cast the spell? You can't do it?'

Regina nods. 'I can help you, talk you through it, but it needs to be you who casts it. The spell needs to be cast by someone whose blood family of the ones who you're trying to protect. There's no other way.'

All eyes are now on Emma and she feels the enormous pressure that's just being put on her. Lives are at stake. That of her mother and of her unborn baby brother for Christ's sake. It's just too much. She can't deal with this right now. Something is wrong with her. And as long as she doesn't know what it is, she's not ready. Her hands make a defensive move, but she quickly hides them again underneath the table. 'Look, I want to help, I really do. I want to get rid of this witch as much as everyone else does, but there's just no way I can do this. For one, I'm not versed enough in magic yet, and secondly, I don't know if you guys remember, but you had to collect me unconsciously from the forest yesterday.' She takes another deep breath. 'It's nice of you all to always label me as the Savior, but I'm none of that! I'm none of that, do you hear me? I'm just a girl who happens to be the product of True Love that has been given magic - which is a mouthful as it is - but there's no way I'm able to do everything that's been expected from me. You cannot ask that from me.' The anger and anxiety that both have been bottled up inside her for too long both come out in full force. The fight-or-flight response kicks in and decides in favor of the latter. Knocking over her chair in the process, she runs out the door, leaving everyone inside the diner in shock. Everyone, except for one person.

'Snow, wait, what are you doing?' David calls after her when his wife suddenly gets up and walks over to the door.

She turns back and crosses her arms defensively. 'What do you think? Going after her of course.'

'Snow...' Regina and David both say at the same time.

Regina nods into David's direction, giving him the floor.

He flashes Snow a warning look. 'It's too dangerous, you can't go after Emma by yourself. Not until we know what Zelena poisoned you with.'

His wife takes a deep breath. She knows that what she's about to say isn't going to sit well with him, but she feels like she has no choice. 'Right now David, all I care about is that our daughter is in pain and needs my help. I'll worry about the rest later.' Quickly enough to not let any room for discussion, she runs out the door, into the street.

It doesn't take her long to find Emma. After all, she had a pretty good idea where her daughter would run off to from the moment she had left the diner. 'Emma?' she asks quietly.

The woman sitting with her head in between her hands on a log on the beach looks small. With hanging shoulders and her long hair covering the side of her face, she reminds Snow of a lost, little girl. Her little girl. The one she abandoned a long time ago.

To give her her best chance, it sounds inside her head, like a mantra. One she had been practicing over and over again until the truth of it stuck. But it had never felt completely right. There had always been a voice inside of her telling her that they'd made a mistake by sending their child through the wardrobe, all for the greater good.

A memory suddenly comes up. Emma's words to be more precise, telling her that when they would have kept her with them during the curse, they at least would've stayed together.

She swallows back the lump that has formed in her throat and takes a seat next to her daughter, making sure not to sit too close to make her feel uncomfortable. 'Emma?' she tries again, after the first attempt hadn't brought out a reply from the blonde.

Emma lifts her head, her eyes deep-red and filled with tears when she looks her mother straight in the eyes. 'If you're here to tell me off for being so selfish, please go ahead. I know I deserve it.'

Emma's words sound raw, harsh even and they pierce right through Snow's soul. 'Oh Emma…' she sighs. 'Why would you say that?'

'Because it's true!' her daughter calls out. 'You and Dad gave everything up to save me, to save all of us, and all I can do is sit here and whine about how unfair it all is and how I was mistreated by everyone…' She takes a deep breath. 'You always put me first and I owe it to you and David to help you. To… to… save you.'

Snow can't help but choke up herself, but she swallows back the tears. While she realizes that this is an enormous breakthrough for her daughter, she feels that there's still more that she's not telling her. 'Emma, listen to me. Don't you ever dare to feel responsible for the consequences of our choices in the past. The plan we made was rushed and misguided due to the pressure we were under. The only thing we wanted is to keep the people of our Kingdom safe. And yes, we were betting on you finding us and reuniting us as a family. The pressure that, in combination with who you are, in turn puts on you, is unforgivable and wrong. You're completely right when you say it's unfair. You never asked for this. So, please. Please, Emma, don't ever apologize.'

The silence stretches between them while both of them let everything sink in.

'I wanted to give up magic entirely and move back to New York.' Emma closes her eyes and waits for the inevitable reaction of protest.

'I thought you might.'

That revelation surprises the blonde and her head tilts slightly to the right. 'You did? But, how?'

Snow shrugs. 'You were back with us, but you weren't entirely back if that makes sense?'

Emma nods avidly. 'It's exactly how it feels. That lost year when I lived with Henry in New York... I can deny that that has changed anything for how I feel as much as I want, but that would be a total lie. Looking back, it just seemed such an easier, more appealing life. No magic, no magic-related problems. Not having to worry about family members being threatened or getting killed all the time…' She makes it sound like a half-joke, but her expression is serious. 'Running away from it all sounds so much easier. We had a good life there Mom, Henry, and me. We really did. And I actually feel like I can protect him there. Here and with magic around, I'll always have to look over my shoulder. There are fairies around the school to protect him as we speak. What kind of life is that for a kid?'

'But taking him and yourself from the people who love you, what would that lead to? What life would you give him and yourself if you did?' Snow notices that her words hit the right mark as a jolt of electricity seems to run through Emma and the blonde sits up straight, her hands now lying flat on her knees. Snow seizes the opportunity to take them into her own and gets startled by the intense shaking.

Emma looks down at her hands, realizing that she has to come clean completely. 'I can't make it stop. I didn't want to worry you guys even more, but there is something wrong with me.'