A/N: Happy Sunday everybody! Before you guys read on to the chapter, I have something I'd like to share with all of you.

As Fanfiction authors, we don't get any money or royalties out of what we do. We write because our heart demands it. But as a result we get something that's worth more than all the money in the world. We form friendships that can last eternity with our betas, and with those of our readers who we're lucky enough to meet over social media. Across oceans and over mountaintops we build a love between us that can never be erased.

I had the beautiful opportunity to form such a friendship with a wonderful woman and author named Jamie, who is a big fan of When Magic Collides and as well as all my other fics. She's been one of my biggest supporters since I started writing and I'm glad to have been able to meet her over facebook.

On Thursday 10th January, in the early hours of the morning, Jamie honoured me in such an incredible way that I can't help but want to share it with all of you.

So everyone, please join me in congratulating Jamie and her husband, and welcoming to the world a beautiful baby girl, little Regina-Amorie!

I wish you all the happiness in the world baby girl. You'll make us proud xx

"You're looking for a what?" Belle asked, an incredulous look on her face as she looked up at Emma.

"A dreamcatcher!" Emma said again, her voice slightly muffled because her head was in a box. She pulled out of it and looked down from the ladder she'd climbed up in the back room of the pawn shop.

"Aww, is mama having twouble sleepin'?" Ruby asked, cooing at baby Amorie in her arms who giggled and grabbed at Ruby's hair.

"Puppy!" Amorie said.

"Kid, you need a new word." Ruby sighed, switching arms and rocking her a little. "I thought you said she takes a nap after lunch."

"I said she takes one I didn't say she goes down without a fight." Emma said.

"Backtracking." Belle rolled her eyes. "Why do you need a dreamcatcher?"

"Oh no, Amorie isn't having nightmares is she?" Ruby asked in concern, holding the baby close to her protectively. "She gets to skip nap time if-"

"She's not having nightmares." Emma sighed as she pulled at another box on the shelf to look there. "You let her skip nap time and Regina will become your living nightmare."

"Noted." Ruby said, rocking Amorie gently again.

"The answer to my question?" Belle asked. Emma sighed and pulled her head out of the second box.

"Dreamcatchers, when combined with magic, let you see the memories of whoever you hold it over." she explained. "I used it once to see Pongo's memories."

"Did that son of a bitch tell you where he hid that bone?!" Ruby blurted out.

"What? No." Emma gave her a weird look. "And don't swear around my baby!"

"Emma, the only word she's said in the past three hours is 'puppy' I highly doubt she's suddenly going to learn how to say-"

"Bish." Amorie said, clapping her hands in Ruby's face.

"Uh oh." Ruby muttered, getting a pointed look from Emma.

"You know Regina's gonna roast you alive now, yes?"

"Yes." Ruby sighed.

"I'll plead for your life on behalf of our amazing sex life." Belle said.

"Gross." Emma rolled her eyes and shoved her head back in another box.

"Gee, thanks." Ruby gave Belle an eye roll.

"Whatever happened to you two taking it slow anyway?" Emma said from inside the box.

"She said 'faster baby, please'." Ruby chuckled.

"If you weren't holding a baby right now I'd throw a book at you." Belle said.

"Ahh, true love." Emma faux-swooned. "God dammit!"

She pulled her head out of the box too fast and hit her head on the shelf above her. "Ow! Son of a-"

"Bish!" Amorie cried again gleefully.

"Yeah, that." Emma groaned again as she rubbed the back of her head.

"What were you screaming about before you concussed yourself?" Ruby asked.

"Ugh. I'm just frustrated." Emma sighed.

"I'm sure a head injury isn't going to help." Belle said.

"I'm fine. I'm just like 99% sure Gold had a dreamcatcher in here." Emma sighed.

"Well in the shop. Yes." Belle nodded. "But I'm not about to keep unpredictable magical artifacts in a bloody cardboard box, Emma."

"Wait what?!" Emma gave her a wide-eyed look. "Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Because you barged in here like you owned the place and didn't say 'please.'" Belle crossed her arms. Emma closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying very hard to keep it together.

"Belle, would you please tell me where you keep all the magical artifacts?" she asked.

"Well since you asked nicely…" Belle smirked and turned around, going out of the back room and into the main shop.

"If I do have a concussion I may kill your girlfriend." Emma said.

"Eh, your bark's worse than your bite." Ruby waved her off. "And your bark's more of a whine to begin with."

"It is not!" Emma whined.

"You just proved my point for me."

"Is this what you're looking for?" Belle walked back in with a dreamcatcher in one hand, the other resting on her hip.

"Well If it looks like a duck and walks like a duck…" Emma shrugged.

"And quacks like a duck." Ruby said, poking Amorie in her belly gently "quack quack!"

"Bish!" Amorie repeated again, pushing Ruby's face away a little bit by the nose.

"Does she not like ducks?" Ruby asked.

"You better hope to God she forgets that word or Regina will make a fur coat out of you." Emma said.

"What is she, best friends with Cruella De Vil?" Ruby laughed.

"Yes."

"Oh…"

Emma rolled her eyes, taking the dreamcatcher from Belle's hand as it was handed to her. "Thanks Belle."

"You're welcome." Belle said as Emma moved to take her baby daughter from Ruby.

"Awww, no more aunt Ruby time?" the werewolf pouted.

"Why, so she can learn a few more words?" Emma teased. "Besides, I don't think you're ready to experience feeding time just yet if we can help it."

"Hmph." Ruby scoffed and crossed her arms petulantly. "You just want her all to yourself!"

"Well, you know, she is my daughter." Emma rolled her eyes.

"But you have two of them now!" Ruby said. "And the older version doesn't poop her pants."

"And this version doesn't sass me worse than her mother." Emma chuckled.

"Bish!" Amorie said as she pulled on Emma's ear.

"Ow!" the blonde groaned. "Well at least she didn't until you came along."

"Sass is an art and one must have more than one mentor in her life." Ruby said. Emma rolled her eyes.

"I'm taking my daughter home before you corrupt her further." she said.

"Wait!" Ruby said, reaching out her arms. "Lemme say bye bye!"

"Dear god." Emma sighed, handing Amorie back to Ruby, who hugged her gently.

"Bye bye my sweet angel." she said. The brunette child wrapped her arms around Ruby's neck, grabbing her hair gently again.

"Bye puppy." Amorie said, getting a squeak from Ruby in response as the werewolf, with some difficulty and hesitation, let Emma take her daughter back.

"I'll see you guys later." Emma said.

"Bye Emma, bye Amorie!" Belle waved at the two as Emma left the room, Amorie waving at Belle from over her shoulder. "She's so sweet."

"Uh huh." Ruby squeaked. When Belle looked at her, she saw her watery eyes, and sat down on the couch next to her.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"I...uhm…" Ruby sniffled.

"Ruby?" Belle asked gently, wrapping an arm around the werewolf, who immediately buried her face in the crook of Belle's neck.

"I want a baby!" she said as she broke down into sobs.

"Oh no."

"Did you find it?" Regina asked before Emma was even halfway through the door.

"Yes and I also -" Emma stopped and sniffed the air. "Goddamn dude."

"Thank you, it's pasta with a parmesan cream sauce." Regina shrugged. "Dreamcatcher?"

"I'd hold it up victoriously if I weren't carrying a sleeping baby." Emma said.

"Oh, right." Regina nodded and stepped forward, gently taking a napping Amorie in her arms.

"Thank you." Emma said, holding the dreamcatcher up victoriously. "Huzzah!"

"Shhh" Regina shushed, covering Amorie's ears. "Are you insane."

"Sorry." Emma sighed, lowering her arm. "Now we just have to ask Marco to let us give it a try on tiny August."

"And if not we can-"

"We are not burning his workshop down out of spite." Emma said.

"Kill joy." Regina rolled her eyes and started rocking baby Amorie, who had woken up quietly at her mother's burst of excitement, Regina smiled at her, rocking her gently. "Mama never lets us have any fun, does she baby?"

"Bish!" Amorie giggled. Regina's eyes went wide and Emma blanched.

"Emma…"

"Ruby did it!" Emma jumped in.

"I'm going to make a fur coat out of her and roast her hairless body alive." Regina said.

"Wow. I mean I thought either one or the other but you truly never cease to amaze me." Emma shrugged.

"She does neither of those." the older Amorie came into the room, giving her brunette mother a pointed look.

"I told you to watch over lunch." Regina said.

"It's finished." Amorie shrugged. "You taught me everything I know about cooking, I can make that dish with my eyes closed."

"Something which I hope you never actually attempted." Regina said. "Let's eat, and then we can regroup and form a plan."

"I thought we had a plan." Emma said. "We're gonna go ask Gepetto to let us have one more try with August."

"Yeah." Henry's head popped out of the kitchen door, a spot of cream on his lip. "I already called him and asked. He said august would be a lot more compliant after lunch so he took him to Granny's and we can meet him at his workshop in a couple of hours."

His mothers, baby sister, and the adult version of said sister, all looked at him in silence.

"Have you been snacking on the pasta?!" Regina demanded.

"I just told you I progressed the plan by like, two steps!" Henry whined.

"Young man I better not find half my dish eaten or so help me God." Regina threatened as she walked into the kitchen.

"It was just one piece of pasta, Jesus!" He groaned.

"Don't you smart mouth me."

"Bish!" Amorie giggled.

"That goes for you too, young lady!" Regina called from the kitchen.

"I do not as yet have any concept of 'smart mouthing' mom!" the adult version of Amorie said.

"What did I just say." Regina glared at her from the kitchen door. Her eyes skipped over to Emma, who was biting her lip and doing her best not to laugh. "And what, pray tell, is so funny, Miss Swan?"

"This whole family is some kind of sitcom in the making, I swear to God." Emma chuckled.

"Oh shut up and come set the table."

"Yes dear."

"And you are a-sure this is a-safe?" Marco asked in his thick Italian accent.

"Yes we're a-sur-" Emma groaned and shook her head. "Yes, we're sure. If you're still nervous you can ask Archie, I did it on Pongo once."

"And what-a is the point of-a this?" Marco asked.

"Well we know that August can't remember being the adult version of himself. But his memories shouldn't have been completely erased." Regina explained.

"Kind of like having amnesia, I guess." Henry said.

"I see." Marco nodded.

"The dreamcatcher will show us his memories without him having to put any effort into it." Emma explained. "We'll just hold it over him and the memories will come up on the dreamcatcher like a movie."

"He won't feel anything." Regina assured the clearly concerned father.

"But he will be able to see everything?" Marco asked. "He might remember who he was before. I'm not a-sure I can explain all that."

"I'll talk to him afterwards if he needs it." Emma assured him. "I know it's a lot to ask...but he's the only one with any information about the author. And this isn't about finding Regina's happy ending anymore…"

"I assure you, that's all settled." Regina smirked and nudged Emma gently, getting a small smile out of her.

"The future is in danger. Our kids future...for all we know it could be his future too." Emma said.

Marco looked down and nodded, looking over his shoulder to the young boy who was sitting at the kitchen table in Marco's house, drawing something.

"I do not-a know much about the man he became when he came to this world with you." he said to Emma. "But if he's anything like his papa…"

"He'll do whatever it takes to help those he loves." Emma nodded, a bittersweet understanding in her heart. "If there's one thing I learned about him in the short time I knew him before the curse broke - it's that he's exactly like his father."

Marco gave her a small smile and a nod. "Well then let's a-save the future!"

"Yeah!" Henry cheered.

"What's going on papa?" little August asked, appearing suddenly behind his father and making him jump.

"Ahh! Mio Dio! Hai spaventato per dieci anni fuori da me, ragazzo!" Marco said, a hand clutching his chest as the other one went gently on his son's shoulder.

"What?" all four people around him asked.

"Nevermind." He sighed. "August, do you remember Emma, Regina and Henry?"

"Yeah." he smiled up at them. "You here to play swords Henry?"

"Uhh, I can't right now August, we actually need to ask you a favour." he said. "It's a pretty big one but, you'll be helping us do something really important."

"Cool! What is it?" he said, excited at the idea of helping his friends.

"Well, August…" Regina began, crouching down in front of the boy to be eye level with him. "Do you remember when I told you that you used to be a grown up, but you couldn't remember?"

"Yeah." he nodded and then frowned at her. "You yelled at me."

Regina sighed and nodded. "Yes, I did, and I'm very sorry about that."

"It's okay." He shrugged.

"It is?"

"Well...I didn't like when you yelled at me. But my papa says that when someone apologises for doing something wrong, and they really mean it, then you should forgive them, cause it takes a lot for someone to admit they did something wrong." he smiled at her, stepping forward and wrapping his small arms around her neck to hug her. She couldn't help but smile and hug him back.

"You're a very good boy, August." she said.

"So how can I help?" he asked, frowning again in disappointment. "I still don't remember being a grown up."

"That's okay." Regina nodded.

"Yeah August, we found a way to see what grown-up you did without you having to try and remember." Emma said, showing him the dreamcatcher. "I'm just gonna hold this over your head and it'll show us what we're looking for, okay?"

August looked at the sheriff with curious eyes which then easily looked down towards the dream catcher in her hands, trying to understand the process of what was going to happen to him.

"It won't hurt?" he asked.

"Not a bit, you can close your eyes if you want, you won't even hear anything, but we'll see it all, and we'll be able to find something really important that will help us on a mission." Emma said gently. The boy looked from her to Regina warily.

"What if it doesn't work?" He asked.

"Then we'll figure something else out." Regina answered. "I promise, this time, no yelling."

The boy extended his arm towards her, his hand balled up into a fist save for his pinky finger, which pointed out towards her.

"Pinky promise?" he asked.

"Oh boy…" Emma muttered under her breath, Henry beside her trying not to chuckle at the idea of his adoptive mother, usually so serious and mature, swearing over the joining of pinky fingers.

"Yes." Regina nodded, ignoring her fiancée and her son and extending her arm to mirror the boy's, sticking her pinky out and letting him wrap his small one around hers. "pinky promise."

The boy made a motion with his hand akin to shaking someone else's, which Regina reciprocated when she noticed what he was doing it.

"Okay." He nodded when their pinkies disconnected. "I'll do it."

He stood up straight, his arms held down tightly along his sides as if they would try to fly away if he let up by even an inch, and shut his eyes, his chin held high and ready to do whatever was necessary to aid in their mission.

Regina looked at Emma and gave her a nod. The sheriff stepped forward and held the dream catcher up over the boy's head.

Over the netting of the dream catcher, a sort of fog appeared, and then seemingly cleared to show images of August's past. But the images they were seeing now were of more recent memories – August as a boy playing with some toys his father had made him.

"It'll take us forever to back track through every memory." Emma sighed.

"Let me try something…" Regina said, hovering her hand over the images that the dreamcatcher was showing. She touched it with one finger and swiped across from left to right and suddenly the images began…rewinding.

"How did you…" Emma trailed off, looking at her fiancée curiously. Regina shrugged.

"Lucky guess? If you can do it with a smart phone you can do it with magic I guess." She said.

"Two years ago you would have bitten my head off for trying to wing it." Emma said with a fond smile.

"Two years ago I didn't know I was stuck with you for the rest of my life." Regina teased and shrugged again. "If you can't beat them, join them."

"Guys." Henry gestured to the dreamcatcher which had now stopped rewinding and was playing out a new memory, an older one. It was August walking through some dark alleyway. All the buildings around him had writing in a different language and he seemed to know exactly where he was going.

"Hey, Mister dragon?" a voice said.

"That's him." Emma said. "Grown up August."

"I'm talking to a dragon?!" August gasped.

"It's…more like a nickname for someone sweetheart." Regina explained.

"Aww." August sighed in disappointment.

The memory played out from August's point of view, showing them where he looked, what he saw.

After a few seconds of looking around, the memory showed them a body of a man lying on the floor.

August seemed to hesitate for a moment before he ran over to him and his hands appeared in his line of sight, checking his pulse. The urgency stopped there.

"Is he…" Emma trailed off.

"That…doesn't make sense." Regina said. "Zelena spoke to the dragon only a few months ago. This was years ago. He can't be dead."

"Maybe he's sleepin'" little August shrugged, his eyes still closed and not seeing the memory that's being played out.

"Uhhh…maybe?" Emma said, giving Regina an uncertain shrug, leaning over and muttering under her breath. "Stranger shit has happened."

"Shh." Regina waved her off as she watched the rest of the memory play out. August had looked around, looking around the Dragon's residence. There were a few things she recognized, which piqued her curiosity.

"I have these…" she said, getting a questioning look from Emma.

"What do you m-" she was about to ask when Regina shushed her again, her hand hovering suddenly over the dreamcatcher.

"Stop." She said, pausing the play-out of the memory.

"That's still trippy." Emma said. "Why'd you stop it?"

"Look." Regina pointed to the dreamcatcher. August was looking through the Dragon's things when he found a page with a picture of a door on it.

"That looks like one out of the storybook." Henry said.

"Yes but…I've never seen this page." Regina said.

"Me neither." Henry shrugged.

"Keep going." Regina said, getting the dreamcatcher to continue.

"Okay, you know what, you need to teach me how to do that for when I can't find the remote." Emma said.

"Hush." Regina chided, focusing again on August's memory. She watched as he folded the page up and slipped it into his bag, where the rest of the things Regina knew she currently had were.

"Wait…you said you had that stuff, right?" Emma asked.

"Yes." Regina nodded.

"Do you still have that bag?" Henry asked.

"I…I think so…" Regina said.

"You do." Marco nodded. "I gave you all his things in the bag, I didn't know what it was and I didn't trust the magic that could be in them."

"Could that be the way to the author?" Emma asked.

"I've had the answer this whole time." Regina said before she rolled her eyes. "The hours that I wasted. I could have gotten so much done."

"All's well that ends well?" Emma bumped her shoulder.

"Shut it, Shakespeare." Regina said. "Come on, we have to find that page."

"Hopefully it's not in the attic. That place is a mess." Emma chuckled, getting a glare from Regina.

"And who did I ask fifty times to clean it up?" she said.

"Oh like I don't have a job." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Guys!" Henry snapped at them, getting both of their attention on him. "Can we focus? Amorie, the future? Kinda needs saving?"

"Sorry." Both Regina and Emma muttered under their breaths.

A/N: I hope you enjoyed! please review and tell me what you think!