A/N: FINALLY! Yes, I know, it's been actual months. Seasons have changed. Whole kingdoms have crumbled. It has been many moons. yada yada yada. I'm SORRY. But life sometimes kicks ya in the rear end.

Here's chapter four, I really hope you like it! There's a massive cliffhanger at the end.

I've put enough work into this fic that I think I'm able to start doing weekly updates every Sunday as I usually do - You'll definitely get an update next week!

In the mean time, enjoy the chapter!

"Sorry I'm late." Regina said as she walked into the diner. "My meeting ran into overtime."

"Was…that a sports reference?" David asked, side eyeing Emma who grinned up at her finacée as she rocked Amorie in her lap.

"I must be rubbing off on her." The blonde said as Regina leaned down and kissed her finacée's lips softly.

"Pfft, I bet you are." Ruby said as she passed by the table, putting a coffee cup in front of Regina and pouring her a helping of the freshly made brew.

"Oh god. Ruby!" Snow turned beet-red and covered her ears. "There are children present!"

"Yeah don't be gross Rubes." Henry grumbled from his seat beside his grandmother.

"Whatever, your usual Regina?" Ruby asked.

"Please and thank you, Ruby." Regina said with a smile as she settled into her seat beside Emma.

"Comin' right up." The waitress flashed the family a grin before she retreated. Amorie wiggled in Emma's arms, reaching over and grabbing at Regina's blazer sleeved gently, getting her mother's attention.

"Oh, I think she wants a turn with mommy." Emma said, Regina beaming as she reached over.

"Mommy!" Amorie said, wiggling further and nearly falling into Regina's lap, thankfully Emma had a good hold on her, and Regina caught her easily.

"Come here baby." The brunette woman took her into her lap, giving Emma a break and taking the opportunity to hold and cuddle her daughter - not always a luxury she had in the middle of a busy day. Thankfully, Snow had asked them to meet for lunch, telling them there was something they needed to discuss.

Emma thought it to be a little cryptic, given how they'd constantly been talking about wedding plans and had weekly meetings set up especially so they'd always touch base on organization details. And given the almost nervous way her mother was looking at the two of them now, the blonde was almost certain it was about something that had little to do with the wedding.

Regina had the same thought, and though she'd told Emma not to worry about it too much until they actually met up to discuss it, she had to admit that she was curious about what Snow had to tell them.

"So what's up mom?" Emma was the first to broach the subject. Snow sucked in a deep breath and Regina's eyebrow instantly raised itself in curiosity.

"Okay, so…I wanted to talk to you about…Amorie's naming ceremony." She said, looking at Regina and then Emma nervously.

"Naming ceremony?" Emma asked. "You mean the absolute drama that was Henry insisting on naming her himself."

"Hey!" Henry frowned at his mother.

"No offense, it's an awesome name." Emma shrugged.

"No." Regina sighed. "She's talking about the official naming ceremony. The ceremony that officially introduces Amorie to…well the kingdom that is now just the town. It's a tradition in the enchanted forest. A tradition that I can't believe I completely forgot about."

"Yes, I did think that was strange…" Snow began.

"Snow there was only ever one naming ceremony ever since we came to this town, and it was your son's."

"Where is he by the way?" Emma asked.

"Kindergarten." Snow said.

"Yesterday he finger painted an apple tree." David beamed.

"Ooh!" Regina grinned at him. "I have to see that."

"It's on the fridge." David said proudly.

"Wow, okay. Mommy and me club." Emma caught their attention. "Could we, maybe, get back to the point?"

"Sorry." Regina and David said in unison with matching blushes. Emma gave them both a fond smile and turned back to her mother.

"Mom, if you knew about the ceremony thing why didn't you just…remind us?" she asked.

"Well…that's where the little hiccup comes in." Snow grew increasingly nervous. "And the reason I didn't tell you is that I thought I'd talk to White about this and when I found out I thought Regina knew about the hiccup."

"I know of no hiccup and I don't like what your face is doing every time you say that word." Regina stated plainly. "Which leads me to believe that I'm not going to like the hiccup itself either."

"Okay, quit saying 'hiccup' and just spill it already." Emma sighed.

"Hiccup!" Amorie repeated with a grin.

"She learned that one fast." Regina smiled at her daughter and kissed her head.

"Mom?" Emma looked at Snow expectantly. The older woman squirmed a little in her seat and sighed.

"White can't officiate the naming ceremony…because you two aren't married yet." She dropped. "You can only do it after the wedding."

"What?!" Emma scoffed.

"I thought you knew." Snow looked at Regina for help.

"Well I didn't. But then again I never knew anyone who had a child out of wedlock in the Enchanted Forest." She sighed. "It does make sense."

"How does that make sense?" Emma asked, clearly outraged.

"I mean given the social norms of the Enchanted Forest, Emma." Regina said.

"Well whatever." The blonde slouched in her seat and crossed her arms petulantly. "The whole town already knows we have a kid."

"Two." Henry reminded her.

"We don't need to introduce her to anyone. And she's already named. She doesn't need one." Emma went on.

"Emma the naming ceremony isn't just about the name and introducing her to the world officially. The fairies will give her a blessing during the ceremony, to keep her safe as she grows and protect her from darkness." Snow explained. "And it's also where you officially announce who the godparents are. Part of the ceremony involves signing a legal document stating you're entrusting them with her care."

"Godparents?" Emma froze. Regina sighed regretfully and Emma dropped her head in her hands.

"You forgot?" Snow gawked at the two of them.

"Oh get off our back." Emma whined. "We didn't exactly plan out the whole thing, it's not like we'd been dreaming of who to give charge to our child in case something bad happens to us."

"Which…we should do." Regina said. Emma looked at her curiously and Regina shrugged, instinctively holding Amorie a little closer. "Emma we've faced a lot of enemies in the past and as much as I hate to say it, nothing says we won't face anymore."

"Are you seriously considering that we might die and leave our kids behind?" Emma asked.

"This conversation is upsetting." Henry pointed out.

"Yes, yes it is." Emma nodded.

"I agree, but Emma, even normal couples name godparents for their children because they're uncertain what the future may hold. With our track record? It's not only cocky, it's downright irresponsible." Regina said.

"Iwwiwobbible." Amorie tried to repeat. Emma looked at her daughter, who gazed up at her with piercing green eyes that Emma only ever saw in the mirror before Amorie was born. She sighed softly, gently reaching over and holding her hand out to her daughter, who reached over with her tiny hand and gripped two of her fingers tightly, as if she could tell her mother was itching to hold on to her tightly and never let go, and she was reciprocating the feeling.

"Okay." Emma sighed. "We'll do the ceremony."

Regina nodded, her hand gently covering Emma's. Henry got up from his seat and stood behind Regina, hugging her tightly from behind and taking Emma's other hand over her shoulder.

"We don't have to plan it until after the wedding. You guys have plenty of time to think about who you might want to name." Snow said. "I talked to White, she said to please feel free and go talk to her if you need any advice."

Emma nodded silently, leaning over into Regina's shoulder and taking a moment to bask in the warmth and love of her family.

"Hey." Ruby said as she walked into The Rabbit Hole only fifteen minutes later than she and Emma had originally planned. The blonde gave her a smile and slid over a cocktail glass filled with a red drink.

"Your favourite." She announced.

"Ooh, you do know how to treat a woman." The werewolf teased as she took a sip. "Mmm. Carl's working tonight isn't he?"

"Yeah, why?"

"He always puts an extra kick in my drinks, just for me." Ruby shrugged with a smile.

"A lot of good that does to a werewolf who's metabolism is so strong she can't get drunk." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Hey isn't this…" Ruby looked around and grinned. "Isn't this the table where you and Regina started making out?"

"God…no way." Emma scoffed. "I'm sure the table moved since then."

"Same spot anyway." Ruby shrugged. "So, what is it you needed to talk about?"

"I need to have something to talk about to wanna hang out with my best friend?" Emma asked.

"Uh, when you have a one-and-a-half year old and the hottest woman to ever walk this earth at home?" Ruby raised a brow. "On a school night?"

"Don't let Belle hear you say that about Regina." Emma teased. Ruby shrugged.

"She agrees, besides, they're both incredibly attractive just on different scales. You can't really compare the two." The waitress reasoned. "Now quit kidding around and tell me what's up."

"Okay fine." Emma sighed. "There's uhm, something I have to ask you."

"Geez Em if I didn't know any better I'd say you were gonna propose." Ruby teased. "Which, I would say no to, by the way. I heard about that crazy romantic proposal you did for Regina. No way you're getting away with proposing to me in a bar. I have class too you know?"

"Oh my god, Ruby. I'm not proposing to you." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Just kidding, what's up?" she said, planting her chin on the palm of her hand and looking at Emma expectantly. The blonde hesitated for a second before she decided she needed to just come out with it.

"Okay. Well…you know you're my best friend." She began.

"And you're lucky to have me in your life, carry on." Ruby grinned. Emma rolled her eyes at her again, this time with a smile.

"And, you know, I don't even know if you remember this. But…well…you were the person who had given me the courage to actually try and pursue Regina the first time around…I mean yeah that plan got screwed over entirely because of Hook and him trying to bring back Robin-"

"And you shoving your head even farther up your ass than anyone thought possible. Yes." Ruby nodded. "I do remember that conversation."

"Great well…You've also been like one of the biggest supporters in our relationship, you know along with my parents but obviously they already have their roles in the wedding so…" Emma trailed off, but Ruby's ears perked up at the mention of the wedding, and her eyes grew wider as she focused on Emma.

"Yeah?" she asked hesitantly

"So…I was wondering if…if you'd be my maid of honor?" the Sheriff finally dropped. Ruby's jaw went slack and she stared at Emma in silence for a second before her face broke out into a huge grin.

And suddenly Emma was being pounced on and hugged…tightly.

"Oh my god! Yes! Are you joking?"

"No?"

"I would love to!" Ruby squeezed her best friend again, pulling away a little and trying to discreetly wipe at her eyes.

"Ruby…are you…crying?" Emma asked.

"Shut up!" Ruby said with a chuckle. "I just…ugh…okay truth time."

And as always with truth time, Ruby gulped down her whole drink before slamming the glass down on the table and sighing.

"This…you asking me to be involved in your wedding like this…kinda means a lot more to me than you think." She began. "Thing is…you know how close your mom and I were in the Enchanted Forest…I mean we still are but…My friendship with Snow was…actually pretty similar to my friendship with you now. And…well…okay it's weird now because you're an adult and I didn't age for 28 years so now we're the same age give or take, but…well…when Snow found out she was pregnant…she asked me to be your godmother."

"What?" Emma's eyes went wide.

"Yeah." Ruby shrugged. "And I was really looking forward to it all…had the, you know, curse and all not happened."

"Uhh, yeah." Emma said, unable to ignore the awkward feeling she got suddenly. The only reason she needed Ruby to be her maid of honor in the first place is because she was marrying the person who cast the curse that stopped Ruby from being her godmother.

"Hey no, it's…I mean." Ruby waved her off. "It's water under the bridge. I mean…I know I'm a lot better about my wolf and all that now, but back then, when she originally cast the curse…all I wanted to do was forget. I may have cussed you out in my head once for breaking the curse."

"Pfft, gee thanks." Emma teased. But she knew what Ruby meant, the girl had opened up to her many times about how she had a hard time dealing with what she'd done to Peter in her werewolf state.

"So yeah…I'll be your maid of honor." Ruby grinned and hugged Emma again. "Thank you so much."

"Thank you because you basically just agreed to kick my ass if I get cold feet." The blonde chuckled.

"Yep, I will do that, and get you whatever you need before the ceremony. In fact I will start my maid of honor duties tonight by doing the most important one." Ruby said with a proud smile.

"Oh yeah, which one is that?" Emma asked.

"Getting you plowed. I'm getting shots." Ruby grinned and left the table before Emma could stop her.

"Oh god what have I done."

"Em-ma." Regina's soft, almost angelic voice whispered softly in her ear.

"Mmm, yeah baby?" she muttered softly in her sleeping state.

"Did you and Ruby have a long night baby?" Regina asked softly.

"Mmmhm."

"I thought you might have."

Whoosh

The curtains flew open loudly and the sun poured onto Emma's face.

"Wake up!" Regina said, at full volume and rather forcefully.

"Fuuuck." Emma whined.

"We don't have time, you idiot. You slept in and you're late for work." Regina threw a pillow at her. "Get up."

Emma groaned. "Whyyyy."

"Because you have a job." Regina poked her. "And I'm the mayor of this town and your boss and just because you're marrying me and bed me on a regular basis doesn't mean you get out of doing it."

"Well then boss I'm calling in sick." Emma tried to cover her head again. Regina snatched the sheets from her hand.

"Hell no. You promised your father you wouldn't skip work to make up for how much he has to work during our honeymoon." Regina said. "What were you thinking? Drinking so much on a weeknight."

"I asked Ruby to be my maid of honor and she decided to celebrate by trying to murder my liver." Emma groaned as she pushed herself up off the bed. Her body hurt. Why did her body hurt?

Oh right. She was a dancey drunk. Ugh.

"Regiiiinaaaa." She whined.

Whack. Something landed on her and made a rattling sound

"Ow…what was that?"

"Advil."

"And you had to throw the whole bottle at me?"

"I didn't know how many you'd like." Regina answered in her very Regina-like manner. "Get up."

Emma groaned as she heard the tell-tale clicking of Regina's heels retreating from the room. She sighed, swinging her legs off the mattress before she sat up, taking a moment to steady herself because she got up way too fast.

"Fuck." She blinked a couple of times and reached for the bottle of advil, throwing two into her mouth before she stood up, going to the bathroom and drinking a gulp of water straight from the tap. She jumped into the shower and let the steam and the water help her headache and re-orientate her mind. When she stepped back out into the bedroom, she picked up her phone and called Ruby.

"Good morning, best maid of honor in the world speaking, how can I help you?" Ruby answered cheerfully.

"Bite me." Emma replied promptly.

"Oh great, I'm working with bridezilla." Ruby rolled her eyes on the other end of the line. "What crawled up your ass and died?"

"My sobriety, and probably my liver. Why do you get people drunk when you can't get drunk yourself? It's just sadistic." The blonde said, balancing her phone between her ear and her shoulder so that she could start getting ready.

"Hey, you're the one who drank the shots." Ruby teased. "What's the hangover scale?"

"A solid 7 at least." Emma groaned. "And I got woken up by a mildly pissed off Regina and the pill bottle got thrown at me."

"Three bear claws and an extra large coffee, coming up." Ruby nodded.

"See, this is why you're my maid of honor." The blonde said.

"I'm well aware I'm a national treasure." Ruby grinned. "See you soon."

Emma had been thankful when she first came into work. The day seemed quiet, and ever since she and Regina had started dating she'd been on top of her paperwork. (Much to Regina's relief.) Which meant that there were times where she literally had nothing to do, which usually meant she was bored out of her mind, but today she took the golden opportunity to nap in the cot of one of the cells. Sure, it wasn't the most comfortable bed in the world, but it was a horizontal surface that wasn't entirely made out of hornets, and when Emma Swan was hungover, those were her only standards.

And she had been enjoying a wonderful nap too, when the phone started blaring.

She woke up, made a sound akin to what one would imagine a zombie would make, and got up to answer the phone.

"Sheriff." She answered.

"Sheriff Swan?"

"You know any other Sheriffs in this town?"

"Well no…but you sound…different."

Thanks. "Mrs. Walters, can I help you with something?"

"Well yes…are we still asked to report strange, possibly magic activity?"

"Pretty sure that's a permanent fixture yeah." Emma sighed away from the phone's receiver.

"Okay, well, I was walking my little Pukins in the woods, you know how he likes to run and sniff around, the little dear."

"I'm gonna have to ask you to get to the point ma'am." Emma said.

"Oh. Right. Well…I think I saw a portal open up." The woman dropped.

"A…portal?" Emma's eyes went a little wide. "Can you describe what it looked like?"

"It looked…well…like a portal."

Go figure.

"You wouldn't happen to be able to describe which area of the woods this was, would you?" Emma asked.

"Well I walked to the troll bridge and then took a left, there's a small clearing. And…sheriff?"

"Yes Ma'am?"

"I saw a woman fall out of it."

"Yeah…that would be a portal. I'm on my way to investigate but for now try not to tell anyone about it. Best not to cause unnecessary panic until we know for sure what it is." Emma instructed.

"Yes, Sheriff. Thank you. And…get well soon."

Slam. Emma hung up the phone, then picked it up again and pressed the speed dial button to the mayor's direct line.

"Mayor Mills." Regina answered when she picked up the phone.

"Sheriff Swan." She said with a small smirk on her face.

"You sound awful. Were you sleeping?" Regina asked.

"Thanks." She groaned. "I just got a call about a suspected portal in the woods, apparently some woman fell out of it. I'm on my way out to investigate."

"Call me if you need back up." Regina said. "And please be careful."

"I will. And I love you too." Emma smiled, picking up on the 'butterflies in your stomach' feeling that she'd just caused Regina to have. She loved the fact that even a year a half into their relationship, she still gave Regina that feeling.

"Quit gloating to yourself and go." Regina said. Emma chuckled a little before she hung up and picked up her jacket.

She drove as far into the woods as she could, just a few meters away from the troll bridge, before exiting and going on foot. She turned left, hoping the clearing was straight ahead and that she didn't have to trudge through the woods for hours before she found the starting point. She could feel a strong sense of magic in the air. Really strong. And, she suspected, really dangerous too.

She got nervous for a moment, wondering if she should maybe just call Regina for back up now. But then all of a sudden, she got a weird sense of…warmth

A strange sense of familiarity. But then, dark magic could be deceiving, and she didn't know what she was working with yet. She saw the clearing up ahead and marched on, stepping out into the sunlight that shone through the trees overhead.

The strength of the magic that had been used to open the portal was obvious, she could almost taste it's presence in the air. It was enough for her to find the exact location of where the portal opened…and, you know, the weird black scorch marks on the grass helped too.

She crouched down, trying to find anything that she could use to track whoever it was that fell out of the portal. She picked up a few tracks heading deeper into the woods. She followed them, but as soon as she got a couple of feet into it…

Crack.

Her hand shot to her holster and pulled out her gun before her brain could catch up with her. She whipped around, gun held in both hands and aimed at eye level.

"Whoever is out there, come out. Now." She ordered.

From behind a tree, she caught sight of a red cloak fluttering around, and at her eye-level, she caught sight of a head of black hair.

"Don't shoot." A voice said. She saw a leather-gloved hand, and then another, and the person standing behind the tree came out slowly. It was a woman, dressed in boots, black leather trousers, a cotton shirt and a leather waistcoat, with a red cloak draped over her shoulders. Her long black hair was down and flowing over her shoulders. She had pale skin, high cheekbones, and a heart-shaped face that ended in a sharp chin. There was something familiar about her but Emma was sure she'd never seen this girl anywhere before, at least not as far as she knew. She was very clearly from the Enchanted Forest or at least some kind of place similar to it. But something stuck out to Emma.

Don't shoot.

"You know what a gun is?" Emma asked.

"Yes." The woman nodded.

"But you're not from here…this realm, I mean." Emma said.

"Well…that's a little complicated to explain." The stranger said. "I am from this realm. But I'm not from this time."

"You…time travelled?" Emma asked. The woman nodded. "Past or future?"

"Future." She said.

"You have magic then." The sheriff questioned further.

"I do. And so do you."

"You…know me?" Emma asked, taken a little aback at the detail the woman gave her about herself. The stranger smirked, a soft chuckle escaping her.

"Oh yeah."

There it was, that strange familiarity. That warmth.

"Can I ask you a question now?" the woman chanced. Emma lowered the gun and holstered it slowly. The stranger lowered her hands just as slowly.

"You can. Whether or not I answer depends on the question, I guess."

"What year is it?" the woman asked.

"Twenty-eighteen." Emma answered. "Why?"

"In that case, you know me too." The woman said. "Though I'm probably a lot different right now."

"Who are you?"

"You probably won't believe me if I told you." The woman said. "But if you look carefully, I know you'll be able to figure it out."

"Look, lady, I don't have time for games." Emma said. "I could just cuff you and toss you in the station's cell until you tell me."

"And I could poof out of here before you even know what hit you and send you on a wild goose chase through the entire town, because I know you won't take any chances when it comes to strangers in this town." The woman raised a brow and Emma's eyes went wide.

That face, which Emma felt in her heart that she knew somewhere, that eyebrow raise. Even her voice had something in it that Emma just…knew. But she couldn't figure it out. It wouldn't come to her…until she looked into her eyes and almost gasped at what she saw.

Piercing green eyes that she'd only ever seen in the mirror before…

"Amorie?"

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