Dabbling in magic always seemed to end in explosions, Emma thought to herself as her parents dragged her to her feet. The hard floor of the mine had definitely left bruises on her back. Not being dead was certainly worth some black and blue marks. She hugged her parents tight, so incredibly glad that they were all alive, all safe, not all in the curse-less oblivion.

"Regina?" Snow asked over Emma's shoulder.

Regina was also on her feet, holding the black diamond trigger that lay dead in her hand. She swayed a little, as if her feet were unfamiliar to her. Emma took a step towards her, reaching out to steady her if she needed it.

"I'm all right," Regina said, not unkindly, almost as if she were pleasantly surprised Emma cared.

Emma just finished saying Henry was right, when he was gone. They all ran then, rushing through the mine, past his abandoned backpack out onto the dock just in time to watch Henry disappear with Tamara and Greg through a portal.

Everything else happened while Emma's blood pounded in her ears. They boarded the iJolly Roger/i, Gold showed them the way, Hook threw the bean and then they were inside of the sea. She'd been through portals between worlds twice before, but this was the only time she'd come up wet.

Everyone was wet. Regina clung to the rope on the gunnel, her parents clung to each other, Hook had the wheel and Gold was the first one to let go of his death grip. Plastered to his face with seawater, his hair clung to his skin. Emma's was worse. She brushed it out of her face and shook the water from her coat. Emma's parents looked after each other, David rescuing Snow's hat and laughing the way one laughed when they weren't dead and mildly concerned that they might have been.

Emma turned, peeling off her thick black sea-soaked coat. The Neverland sun was hot overhead, which was good because every part of her was drenched. Regina sat on the deck, hands on her knees, her hair dripping onto her sodden black coat. Emma hung her coat on one of the pegs along the deck rail and offered Regina a hand up.

"That was pretty wild, wasn't it?"

Regina came to her feet quickly, nearly losing her balance when she did.

Emma steadied her. "You okay? Didn't hit your head on the ship or anything?"

"I'm fine."

"Here, let me help," Emma said. Before Regina could protest, Emma had the buckles and zipper of Regina's coat undone and hung it alongside her own on the sunlight rail. Regina's red blouse clung to her skin, nearly revealing her black bra beneath. She crossed her arms over her chest, as if she was cold even in the bright sun.

"Thank you, but I-" Regina started to protest, then grabbed Emma's arm for balance. Blue sparks, the colour Emma was starting to think of as her own magical blue, flashed out of Emma's hands and sank into Regina's body when Emma grabbed her hips to steady her.

"Mother Superior said you needed to rest, not go running around town un-triggering curse triggers," Snow scolded in her mom voice.

More blue crackled at the ends of Emma's fingertips, as if her magic needed to go into Regina, like it was filling a void.

"I had to stop it," Regina said, trying to pull away, Her eyes flashed white as they rolled into her head and she slumped against Emma's chest. David and Snow helped ease her limp body down and Emma sat on the deck, Regina in her lap.

She stroked Regina's face, trying to bring her back to consciousness and more magic flew out of her, faster this time. Regina's skin was cold, as if she'd been in the water for days instead of moments.

"What's happening?" Emma said, looking across her parents to Gold, who limped to her side.

He rested his hand on Regina's chest, just over her heart. "She's nearly drained her magic. Must have been running on adrenaline to get this far."

"Will she be okay? What do we do?"

Gold's expression was too soft and Emma's throat went tight.

"Regina's magic is deeply integrated into her, without it, she may not survive."

"No," Emma said, surprised by her own urgency. She had been ready to let Regina be heroic, but this was wrong. "Henry needs her." More blue poured from her hands, sinking into Regina's cold skin and bringing just a hint of colour back. "Why am I doing that?"

"You're the saviour. You're trying to save her."

"Can I?"

Gold tapped his cane on the deck. "Lie Regina on the deck, put your hands on her chest, Miss Swan, we'll try a transfusion."

David and Snow helped lay Regina back, her head in Snow's lap. If she was more cognisant, Emma assumed she'd hate what was going on, but she was too out of it to even complain about how she was being treated. Emma knelt beside her, putting her hands on the wet silk that clung to Regina's ribs. Beneath them her heart was barely beating.

"Now what?" She demanded, her throat dry and full of the metallic taste of fear.

"Magic is emotional, remember? Think of life, people you love, growing things, healing, wrap all that up and let it flow into Regina, like you're filling her up," Gold said. "It should help her stabilise."

"Can't you do anything?" David asked.

Gold shook his head. "I'm the Dark One, saving lives really isn't part of my repertoire. If this is going to work, it's much more of a saviour, product of true love sort of magic."

At first magic trickled from Emma's hands, as if she'd left some kind of faucet running inside of her. She concentrated on Henry's smiling face, on how much she loved her parents, the smell of rain, forgiveness, hope, everything positive she could muster. Still the blue lagged, barely glowing beneath her palms. She had to do better, Regina's pulse was thready in her chest. Emma reached inwards and remembered the purest love she'd ever felt, when Henry grew within her, before she had to let him go. She dredged up every memory of him moving inside her and how much she'd adored him. She sent that down into Regina's still body, all the love she carried for their son, running through her as if Emma was a lightning rod and Regina the earth. Henry needed his mother, so she'd save her. That was the only option.

Emma's heart raced, like she was running. Regina's heart began to race with hers, her breath returning in gasps as if they were both running for their lives. Regina's back arched against the deck, pushing up against Emma's hands and something cracked between them, so sharp and sudden that Emma thought the deck had splintered before she fell, panting, her head on Regina's chest. Regina's hands found her, holding her tight for just a moment, as if they were lovers. Emma's body tingled all the way to her teeth and she was more exhausted than she thought possible. She rolled off so Regina could breathe and lay beside her on the deck, sweat mixed with salt water drying on her skin.

David's concerned face loomed over her, blocking the sun. "Are you all right?"

Emma nodded, grinning at him and trying not to blush. Whatever happened felt damn intimate and she'd just done it in front of her parents. She almost laughed in embarassment, then rolled her head over to look at Regina.

Regina's hands lay on the deck, one between her and Emma and she reached for it because she had to reach for it. More blue seeped through Emma's palm, slower now, more like an IV drip. Regina didn't let go. Her eyes opened, fluttering against the sun until Snow shaded her face.

"Feeling better?"

"I feel dizzy," Regina said, shutting her eyes again. "My head's spinning."

"You're full of someone else's magic. It's bound to take some getting used too, dearie," Gold said. He removed his coat and hung it on the rail of the ship next to the others. He stretched, lifting his eyes up towards the sky before he turned to Hook at the wheel. "Is there any food on your ship? We'll need to see both of them fed and bedded so they can recover."

"It's not much," Hook said, pointing below with his hand. "You're welcome to what you can find in the galley and if they need to remain connected, they may have my cabin."

Regina pulled her hand away, as if his comment had made her realise where it was and who she was touching. She tried to sit up and moaned, nearly losing consciousness again. Emma sat up, put both hands on Regina's face and left them there as more magic seeped from her into Regina. The tightness in Regina's face eased, as if her pain was fading.

"Is that better?" Emma asked, knowing the answer.

"Yes," Regina said, opening her eyes again, frustration and confusion sharp in her voice. "I don't know what you're doing but as long as you're touching me, my head doesn't hurt."

Emma let go with one hand, pulling her hair back so it could dry in a mess on her back instead of in her face. She took Regina's hand and rested then rested their clasped hands on Regina's stomach. Emma's magic kept flowing until Regina's headache was gone and she could sit up without fading. Snow brought them both cold water, then some kind of porridge.

"Can you let go or should I feed you?"

"Please, don't even," Regina said with a disgusted look that suggested she was feeling better. When they released each other, the blue flow had stopped. They ate on the deck, side by side in the setting sun. Most of Emma's clothes were dry, but her shoes and jeans were still soggy. She took those off, dumping the water from her shoes onto the deck and left them there. The sun sank red into the dark sea and they sat in silence, listening to the lap of the sea on the hull.

Emma's parents looked for any spare clothes Hook's crew had left behind so they could change. When they returned, old, salt-faded shirts and baggy trousers with ropes to tie them on seemed to be the option for everyone. Emma took hers below, looking for a place to change. She had her shirt off, her bra over one of the many pegs in Hook's wall when Regina came through the wooden door a moment later, holding her clothes to her chest.

"Gold thinks I should stay with you, in case I have some kind of relapse." Regina said, her eyes pointedly on Emma's face, not her bare breasts.

"Sorry," Emma said, pulling the pirate shirt over her head. It smelt clean at least. It went all the way to her knees, which made wriggling out of her wet jeans easier. She wasn't certain if she was apologising for being half-dressed or for being Regina's lifeline.

Regina watched Emma finish tying her trousers around her waist and then, almost shyly, turned around so her back was to Emma. Hook's cabin was tiny and his bed took up most of it.

"I'll shut my eyes," Emma said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Thank you," Regina said, softly, almost as if it had occurred to her to be grateful for more than just privacy. "And thank you for saving me. You didn't have to do that."

"Of course I did!" Emma said, forgetting herself and opening her eyes. Regina stood before her, naked down to her elegant black panties, edged in lace that stood out in perfect contrast with her pale skin.

Emma's face stung and she threw her hand in front of her eyes. She didn't even want to let herself think about Regina's impeccable breasts.

Fabric rustled.

Regina's tone had the imperious quality again. "You may open your eyes, Miss Swan." Regina had a loose pirate shirt on nearly identical to Emma's except for a red patch on the side. The loose neckline nearly fell from Regina's shoulders, exposing her smooth collarbones. She pulled it higher and sat on the corner of the bed like a nervous cat, about to flee from the room. Her hair was drying wild around her face. Regina looked so innocent before her expression hardened. "If you're done-"

Emma cleared her throat. "I didn't mean to stare."

"You did it very well for an accidental voyeur."

"I haven't seen you without makeup," Emma said, realising how pathetic her excuse sounded after it was out of her mouth.

"Unless Hook decides to share his eyeliner, you'll have to get used to it, Miss Swan."

"Please," Emma said, giving up propriety and crawling into the bed, "if we're going to sleep together, call me Emma."

"We are not-" Regina sighed. She didn't have the strength to argue. "I hope you're not enjoying this too much."

Emma pulled the sheet and woollen blanket up over her legs and sat against the head of the bed. She wasn't sure she was going to confess until it was out. "It felt good when I was touching you, like I was meant to do it."

Regina climbed in next to her, rolling to her side and facing the hull of the ship with her back to Emma. Emma shifted the blankets so that Regina had all the slack. She wasn't cold, but the night might become cooler and she didn't want Regina to be chilled.

Regina was silent for so long that Emma thought she'd gone to sleep.

"I could feel you inside of me," Regina said to the ship instead of Emma.

"What?" Emma rolled over, too close, nearly spooning Regina who didn't roll away. She didn't have anywhere to go, really, but Emma was trying to be optimistic.

"I felt sick when Henry was gone, then on the deck everything hurt, then started to go numb and then I felt you, like you were inside of me, burning all the numbness away." Regina turned, almost into Emma's arms. "Why would you do that?"

"Henry needs his mother," Emma said, reaching up and stroking a piece of Regina's unruly hair out of her face. In the steadily darkening cabin, Emma's hand was haloed in blue for an instant before it faded.

Regina shut her eyes tight and said no more.

Emma started to shift back to her side of the bed, but Regina's hand found hers and held on, so she stayed. That night, her dreams were all about Henry, laughing and playing in the surf. They built a sandcastle that looked just like Snow and Charming's in fairy-tale-land and all three of them were happy, Emma, Henry and Regina, who was so beautiful when she laughed.

Regina woke up in the entirely awkward position of being wrapped in Emma's arms. She had her head on the saviour's shoulder, her hand on her chest and their legs were all tangled. She lay there, trying to decide what her dreams had meant. Henry on the beach with Emma, building castles from another world wasn't one of her dreams. It was too happy, too uncomplicated. Before she woke up, she held hands with the dream of Emma Swan, snuggled close to her as Henry ran into the waves, then leaned in closer still, needing, wanting; knowing she'd be kissed.

The dream ended in Regina's panic. Emma's hand ran through her hair and she realised that Emma was awake. Emma knew Regina was clinging to her like a needy child but she didn't want to pull away. She felt safe, soothed by Emma's touch, just as she had on the deck. Was her magic still drained? What was wrong with her?

Regina sat up, pulling herself free from Emma. She brought her knees to her chest and held them tight. Emma sat up, that apology that wasn't really an apology on her face.

"Sorry."

"It felt right again, did it?"

Emma looked down, then met Regina's eyes. She was braver than anyone else who dared stare at Regina. The challenge was there in Emma's gaze, daring Regina to fight back.

"You were talking in your sleep. You were happy, then you seemed upset. I wanted to-"

"Thank you, Miss-" she stopped, she was being too cold. Emma had saved her life, twice really. "Emma," Regina said finally. "I hope I didn't disturb you."

"No, I-" Emma broke off and looked away, now she was shy. "I was having this really nice, kind of strange dream with you and Henry and then you seemed afraid and I woke up."

Regina stared at her, her own mouth partly open. She wanted to ask about sandcastles, if they had been about to kiss before she'd pulled away. Had Emma wanted the kiss to continue? She couldn't ask. Her curiosity burned in her chest to get outbut she didn't dare ask. Emma would think she was ridiculous. It wasn't possible to share the same dream.

"I appreciate your concern," Regina said, reaching for the depths of her control. Part of her, maybe the part that had sucked up Emma's magic so hungrily, wanted to fall into Emma's arms and let Emma stroke her hair and whisper comfort. That wasn't going to happen.

She did allow Emma to give her a hand off the bed, and barefoot, like Hook's bedraggled crew, they headed to the galley and the smell of food.

Time seemed to have fallen back into the curse. The island grew no closer on the horizon (though Hook and Gold promised it was indeed nearing), each day dawned bright and sunlit and the sun reflected off of the sea with far too much cheerfulness. Snow and David did their best with the food, Regina knew little about dried meat, fish, beans and fruit, her knowledge of cooking worked best with real ingredients, most of what they ate tasted like different kinds of porridge and stew, scraped up with hard biscuits Hook seemed all together too fond of.

Her stomach was tender, so the bland food went well with the herbal tea Snow kept handing to her. Regina toyed with the idea of dumping it over the side, just to frustrate the princess, but she had a weariness behind her eyes that the tea helped, so she drank it. Emma was on the same regimen of constant mugs of tea, and though Emma joked tastelessly about it going right through into the dreadful bucket they used as a chamberpot, she also drank it.

They tried sleeping apart in the hammocks Hook's crew used, but Emma had woken up standing next to Regina's hammock, both of her hands in Regina's, with more of her magic streaming between them with no idea how she'd gotten there, just that she'd needed to be. Regina had gone to bed with her head pounding and woken, hands in Emma's, feeling herself again. It seemed they were unavoidably bound, as if their magics understood what to do even if they didn't. So they took the first mate's room, allowing the lovebirds Hook's quarters. The bed was a little smaller and Regina wanted to hate Emma for feeding her, or whatever was going on between them, but she slept better with Emma beside her.

She was physically nearly herself again but her magic was sporadic and unreliable. They didn't know what was waiting for them on the island and they would need magic but Regina's wouldn't listen. Sometimes her hands sparked blue, a deeper, more violet blue than Emma's, sometimes it was pale lavender and slipped from her fingertips like water, snaking out towards Emma in the dark. Gold had no idea what was happening, the transfusion had been a long shot at best and he was just as surprised as Emma that it worked.

Emma was much to calm about the whole thing too, which just made it all more intolerable. Emma lay next to her at night, magic streaming between them in the dark, illuminating strange patterns on the ceiling through the holes in the blankets, and none of it bothered her. Sometimes, when Regina was so frustrated with her own inability to channel her own emotions into magic, Emma would touch her shoulder and everything would fall into place. Then she could conjure barrels from below, move the ropes, lift the rusty swords David was working so methodically to sharpen.

Needing Emma was almost worse than death, but only almost. She lay awake, waiting for her dreams to merge with Emma's again, and tried not to admit to herself that she enjoyed it when they did. Emma mercifully didn't talk about it either.

After thirteen days that passed in a dream of their own, Regina's magic was normal again, if still much lighter than it had ever been before. The island truly had moved closer and Gold shared his plan for infiltrating the island of the Lost Boys.

It was a terrible plan but of course, only she saw how foolish it was and everyone else jumped to go along with it.

On the deck, Emma took off her trousers, leaving the hand-me-down pirate clothes on the deck. She'd almost become fond of them, they were comfy, like really old sweatpants. She stood, rather idiotically in her shirt before Gold waved his hand and she had to take that off too. She still had her bra and panties and Gold wasn't looking (Hook was, before her father hit him, hard). Unlike Regina's, which were an elegant matching black set, Emma had striped red panties and a pink bra. Snow's didn't match either, but they were a bit less vivid in their clashing.

"Hurry up, would you?" Emma said, hoping Gold's spell wouldn't ruin her panties because they were the only pair she had and going commando the rest of the trip didn't really appeal.

Gold mumbled something, waved his hands and dark purple smoke stole her away. Emma shrank, or more accurately, melted into the deck. Her legs joined together, as if they were wax instead of flesh, becoming one limb as her feet turned to fins. She held herself up with her arms, staring at her tail. iHer tail/i. Beside her, with a tail just the greener side of teal than Emma's, Snow reached out to touch her own fins, shaking her head in wonder.

Regina's was shaded purple, of course and she was the least shaken. She'd transformed before, Emma guessed, though probably not into a mermaid. Emma's hair had lengthened thanks to the spell and it fell in waves down her back all the way to her scaly ass. Regina's and Snow's hair was equally long. Snow's was full of soft, princess-like waves and Regina's was nearly straight, somewhere between Morticia Addams and the sexiest little mermaid Emma had ever seen.

The sun above them was hot, too dry and Emma was suddenly aware of how ridiculous she felt on the deck. Without realising what she was doing, she flipped her tail (her incredibly strong, magical mermaid tail) and thrust herself into the air, then dove into the sea.

The sea was her playground. Emma could swim in her own body, even swim pretty well, but it was nothing compared to this. She cut through the water like a missile, turned a dime and she never needed to come up for air. The water was home, the way nothing else had ever been home in her life. It was full of the most vivid colours of coral and fish and Emma knew them all as if they were old friends.

"Come up to the surface," her mother said, waving her back to the silvery world above. "We need to go over the plan again."

By the time Emma dragged herself back up to the stupid world above her glorious sea, Gold had already done his work. An innocent-looking blonde boy grinned at them from the deck, another boy barely older than Henry was swimming in his leather coat and a third boy laughed wickedly.

"That'll do it." Gold, the boy with the wicked laugh, smiled down over the side. "Are you liking the water?"

"It's incredible," Snow answered for all of them. Even Regina was smiling in pure joy.

"Mermaids are guileless creatures, try not to let it go to your heads too much now ladies." Gold's voice was comically pre-pubescent and Emma's father's stupid grin at the Snow-mermaid was halfway between creepy and completely adorable.

"We'll meet you at the rendezvous point," Snow said, blowing a kiss at the boy who was her husband. Emma tried not to stare too hard at the fairly cute boy who was going to grow up to lose a hand. Hook's rakish grin was a lot less dashing and much more playful with a twelve-year old mouth.

Emma sank back beneath the water and nearly sang with joy. She belonged here, here in the brilliant sea where the fish played in her hair as if it were kelp fronds and the octopus that her human eyes wouldn't even have seen came to let her stroke it, like an eight-armed dog.

Regina and her mom must have felt it too because the three of them raced to the bay, jumping through the waves, diving down deep until the water was cool and dark. They were far too early and danced circles around each other beneath the water until the sun set and they could creep up onto the rocks around the shore, tails carefully still in the water so the spell would hold.

While they waited, Snow braided Emma's hair, tucking pieces of kelp around the braid and humming to herself. Emma knew that Gold, David, Henry, even Hook were all in terrible danger, that the Lost Boys were something to be feared, that Greg and Tamara were working for something horrible, but she almost couldn't bring herself to worry.

Regina organised shells on her rock until she had a perfect apple, white with a pink leaf on its stem. Emma let tiny darter fish swim between her fingers until they heard the crashing through the underbrush of many pairs of legs.

The David-boy broke the trees first, Henry's hand clasped tight in his own. Hook followed, his back to the sea as he kept his hook and his sword pointed at the dark trees. Gold's deep purple magic swarmed around them all, then there was a bang and their pursuers stopped in the trees. David and Henry leapt from the cliff above them and dove into the sea. Snow flipped off her rock and grabbed David, while Regina went straight for Henry. Emma waited for Gold to follow, then dove after him a moment after she saw the terrible shadow with glowing eyes staring at her.

She grabbed Gold, holding his little boy form to her chest. Hook had gone the other way, tracing the coast back to his ship. They were all supposed to meet by the reef. Emma let herself believe Gold wasn't Gold, but rather a little boy she was saving from drowning and kissed him, bestowing the mermaid's gift of water-breathing. She held him close and flew through the starlit sea, following David, Snow, Regina and Henry all the way back to the ship.

The boys climbed aboard, becoming men as they clambered up the ropes onto the deck. Regina went next, scooped up in a net. Her tail began legs again and she ran on her newly returned feet to hug Henry tight up above. Emma wanted to be up there too, holding him close, but Snow was next in the net. She dove under the iJolly Roger/i, taking her last moments of freedom before she was doomed back to dry land.

She was deep in the welcoming sea when she heard the cry for help. It was desperate, plaintive and very much not the evil shadow. Emma went deeper, waiting for her eyes to adjust. It was so dark, even with her mermaid vision. A rope hit her tail and she turned, almost angry at being interrupted. She remembered the ship and followed the rope all the way to the surface.

"Someone's in trouble," she called, avoiding the net. "There's someone down there."

"It's probably a trick," Gold said, drying his hair with a rag.

"Mom?" Henry called down. "The shadow can play tricks on you."

"It's not something I see. Someone's calling for help."

In one voice, her parents and Regina all tried to convince her to get into the net so they could get going but Henry's suggestion cut through.

"The shadow doesn't make noise, Mom. If someone's calling for help, it's not him."

Emma stared up at the faces over the railing. "How much longer do I have?"

"Until you leave the water completely, you'll remain a mermaid," Gold said. Snow and David shot him a look together that definitely said 'don't tell her that'.

"I need to go kid," Emma said to Henry. "Regina's got you. Mom, Dad, someone's in trouble and I need to save her."

She heard her mother tell her to be careful and Henry wish her luck, but all Emma saw was Regina's face, watching her slip beneath the sea almost as if she didn't want her to go.