*Has big grin on face because feels*

Enjoy! X

She couldn't tell if any time had passed at all. When she tried to open her eyelids for the first time it was hard to ignore the blaring light peeping through them, slamming them shut, she tried to push herself up, but the sleeping effects of Swan and her stupid dream walking clung to her and she could still feel the cold hard concrete stable beneath her, holding her there. She took in a shuddered breath from the cold air, feeling a constricting weight on her chest, it wasn't her terror or fear from what this dreamwalking could do. Opening her eyes more slowly this time, carefully responding to the daylight seeping in she took in her surroundings, finally able to tell her body to move, she sat up feeling a slow throbbing ache to her right temple, and a sharp pain to her side, she checked herself over and save for a few scrapes and maybe a bruise from falling, she was fine. When she sat up the heavy weight to her chest slid away. Literally, some of the books she had been carrying collapsed on top of her, others were splayed around her, some fallen half open and she moved quickly to slam them shut, some of them revealing dream interpretations of things she didn't want to think about.

Finally remembering where she was and what had happened recently, she looked around, to find Henry standing his lips slightly apart, as though he was shocked by what had happened but couldn't care enough to help her. No matter, the insufferable idiot 'charming' turned away from the store window he was currently looking into while she had stood and gathered all her books. She had to get away before they thought she was planning something. Henry was turning back to Charming as he took his arm around his shoulder, and that was when idiot number two finally seemed to notice someone was on the other side of the street.

"Regina." he nodded an acceptance of her existence, clutching her son closer to him. Her son! He had no right. Keeping her composure she sneered at him, showing her disapproval, though with Henry here what could she do?

"David." The words spat out from her mouth and she knew it was the only courtesy she was willing to give him, hoping he could acknowledge that too, and leave her be. She needed to go back to the mansion and yell at Emma for her incompetence. Despite the knowledge that this 'Tana' was dead and clearly meant something to her, she clearly had significance to their situation.

And the intolerable first Charming pushed Henry behind him as he frightfully pointed to the spellbooks in her arms. Rightfully so, the bastard should be afraid. Henry shouldn't but she could live knowing she might aid the prince in the defecation of his trousers and sheer embarrassment.

"What are you doing with those?" She couldn't bite back the evil grin that spread across her face, trust the charming's to jump to conclusions.

"Relax." She waved a hand to dismiss him, noticing the small falter of his stance. Wow, really?

"These aren't spell books, they're only informative, and I'm using them to help your hopeless daughter. You should be grateful." She said it as though it were a decree, and it may have been, had she not faltered her queen stance for her son piping up behind him.

"You're - You're helping mom?" Regina turned to him and the Evil queen snare she had perfected both as mayor and as Queen dropped. He was smiling. At her. The Evil Queen.

"Henry." His name fell softly from her lips and he stood forward almost.. Frowning. He noticed the grim look on her face yet he edged closer, she knelt down so as to see him, shifting the heavy pile of books to one side.

"Is there something wrong with Emma?" She could almost cry, he was allowing her to be close to him, but she had to reassure him.

"Of course not, Henry, she's fine." Well that was almost the truth. She could promise that Emma would be better. "There's just.. Some.." She shifted her eyes to charming who was scrutinizing her, sniffing out the small lie she mad earlier. What was she supposed to say? The truth. Henry hates lies. "Look, she's doing okay now, but her magic is, acting up for a bit and so we are working ways out to keep everyone safe." There. That fit the situation. Earning a huff and folded arms from the prince she sensed that as a begrudged agreement of the truth. Had Emma told her ignorant parents anything? Had she even told them why she went there in the first place?

No matter. Henry was smiling again and seemed to deem her words good enough.

"Thanks, I guess!" She nodded and stood back up straight, shifting the books back into both arms, and god they were aching already, how long until she could disappear back to her home and give Miss Swan what for.

Charming was nodding off to the left and looked like he was having a stroke. That's one way to get attention. When he pulled her round the corner to talk she had to crane her neck around the corner to get a look at a happy Henry, when she was quickly and forcefully - how rude - pulled back to meet a prince who was not happy that she was the only one who had seen Emma in a few days.

"What have you done with her?" Well, if you're going to pull someone a little while away for a private conversation yelling the words of such isn't a good idea. She rolled her eyes, of course the shepherd would do that.

"Well, David I haven't done anything. Now unhand me." He stood back and let go of her arm unceremoniously, still glaring at her with a fire in his eyes. " I suspect when you're daughter wants to talk to you, she will, it's not my problem, nor is it my fault that she is isolating herself. Once we deal with our endeavours, I'm sure you and Snow can take her back and sing with the birds and have your family out with the woodland animals but I am not staying for this. I have more pressing matters to attend to." And with that she shrugged him off, stealing one last glance at an oblivious Henry who was talking animatedly with the bug and his dog, and she straightened herself, irritated she couldn't wave her hand sin a flourish for the books while David was the only one to watch her disappear in her signature brand of billowing velveted purple smoke.

"Miss Swan?!" She thumped the books down on the main dining table where she noticed the bag from Granny's diner was still there from last night, sighing she picked it up and all the other remnants of their quick dinner last night and threw them in the bin, turning to leave back upstairs where she could feel the strong pull of Emma's magic guiding her to the next level of her home.

"Miss Swan." She repeated, though a lot softer, the cool light of Emma's magic calmed her down, to a relaxed point where her anger was drifting away, and it terrified her.

"Emma." She spoke while she knocked twice on the guest room door. When she pushed it open she noticed Emma wasn't there. Of course. Miss Swan would make herself at home in the room she visited and stayed in for two more-welcome-than-they-should-be nights already.

"Emma." she sighed, noting the blonde tufts of hair peeking out from under the covers of the bed, and the small sniffles that had stopped on her entry.

She sat down on the bed next to Emma, though she couldn't hear her crying, she could feel the sobs wracking her body.

"Want to tell me what happened?" Blonde curls shuffled around. Take that as a no then.

"Come on Swan, what did you do?" Emma sat fully up and glared at Regina through swollen red eyes that had tears overflowing and left unchecked on her face.

Ignoring her glare, she reached up and sept the tears that had hurt her from her face, leaving her hand to rest on her cheek.

"You can tell me, and then I'll tell you about what I found." This tactic was often something she used to do with Henry when he was little, He would tell her of his nightmares in exchange for a fairytale to help him to sleep again.

Emma sniffed again, leaning in to her touch, she raised a hand up to the one that cupped her face and pulled it away slowly, taking both of Regina's steady hands in her own, cold and shaking ones.

"Tana died because of me. It's my fault." The sorrow etched onto the blondes face was ebbing into the brunette mayor through the magic connection that was spreading between them.

"It isn't your fault Emma. What happened?" Emma shook her head no, but still opened her mouth to speak, willing her brain to form the strangled words through silent tears that would not stop flowing.

"She loved me. She died to save me. And there wasn't even a point to it- I got shit for it anyways."

Regina was the one to shake her head and pulled herself fully onto the bed leaning in close to Emma, now grasping her hands strongly, as though to ground her to this spot and not allow her to float away.

"No." Emma's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, even as Emma's head was down though Regina hadn't missed it.

"You don't even know how she died and you think you can tell me it was worth something?" the words she spat out were meant for hate but through the magic Regina could feel the ache that was consuming the other woman.

"If she died to save you, it was worth everything." Emma nodded non-committally.

"For Henry right?" And that's when the magic between them both fell. They could both feel it, a grief and sorrow and want because though Regina had lost Henry in some ways she had finally come to realise that this might not involve him as much as she wanted to hide behind him for it.

"Maybe in the past, but now.." She let her sentence drift off and couldn't help the happy smile that reached her eyes when Emma looked up and nodded more fiercely than the last time, and the smile never faded when Emma pressed her lips to hers impulsively, soft gentle and kind, she didn't mind the salt that reached her lips from Emma's tears, neither of them seemed to care, because when Emma opened her eyes from pulling herself back, the shit-eating grin she had mismatched the glistening trace of tears on her cheeks, Regina again lifted her hand to wipe the traces of them from her skin.

"Sorry." Emma whispered, though Regina's smile grew wider because Emma Swan didn't mean that at all and she didn't want her to.

"Don't be." And the words were so soft in comparison to her lips colliding with Emma's as her hands cradled her neck, one reaching up to her golden hair.

"Don't ever be." She whispered when they pulled away, and she saw the grin still plastered onto Emma's face she kissed her cheek and leaned into her, lying back against the headboard. And she could feel the pain in both of the invisible magic bonds surrounding them slowly ebbing away, and the warmth she brought to Emma with her touch, loving how Emma's feet had a mind of their own and wandered off to intertwine with hers.

"What did you find out about this dream-walking thing?"

She sighed. The words aloud would make them a little more real.

"Apparently we subconsciously need to communicate through them, that's the most important of what the books told me, I brought some back for further study of them, but there's that and the few things the imp told me through his teachings, though he deemed it an unnecessary skill because of the high cost for failure. He was hardly going to let the caster of his curse become almost cursed when her true love was dead."

"What?" Oh, right, she didn't know.

"Emma I meant it when I said Dream walking is dangerous, if we break the connection without waking up, we are left to a point where the only rousing from our sleep is by being put under a sleeping curse and being woken, no-one else has found another way."

"Not more sleeping curses." Regina chuckled in spite of the situation. Of course.

"I don't think it would come to that, dear. However I do think we need to see someone who knows how to sever the connection before we endanger both of ourselves, not just for our sakes but for Henry's. Unless you have found a true love recently?" Emma shook her head chuckling inwardly. Was regina seriously about to play this game with her?

"Who would we go to for that." At that -simply reflective of her parent's induced by regina titles- idiot comment, Regina rolled her eyes that brought her to face Emma, her head still on her shoulder, curious eyes staring intently at her.

"The man who stayed me from it in the first place. Rumplestiltskin." Emma thumped her head against the board staring back up at the ceiling. Great. That asshole.

"He did help bring you back." As though she was filling in her thoughts for her.

"Emma I think we should go soon, before it's time to go to sleep, I can't risk anything happening to either of us." Emma smiled, seeing Regina's bright hazel eyes shining up at her, she brushed her knuckles softly against her cheek.

"What?" Those bright eyes were imploring up into her own and she suddenly didn't want to move.

"You're determined." She whispered, her eyes fluttering closed as she bent down and stole a soft kiss that lasted about a second, she wanted to further it but the moment was too beautiful to push against it.

"And it's beautiful." Regina blushed and leaned her head back against Emma's shoulder, interlacing the fingers of their hands that had been together since Emma took them in her own, her other arm reaching around to take the other of Emma's on her far side, reaching it out and brushing her lips against Emma's knuckles and interlocking their fingers again like their other hand, and Emma bent down to place a soft kiss on the top of her head.

"Do we have to move soon?" Regina chuckled and Emma felt it ebb through her. She swore she would hear that again.

"Yes dear, I'm afraid we have to." Emma shook her head and lifted Regina's chin so she could meet her eyes.

"Five more minutes?" Regina shook her head as Emma tried to capture her lips again, only receiving a finger pressed to her lips.

"No, come on, we'll have to go now." And Regina pulled herself up off the bed, surprised at her own willingness to lift herself away from the enticing woman who was grumbling while pulling herself up to meet her with their connected hands.

"Ready?" she she cupped Emma's palm in hers and waved her magic to make them appear inside of Gold's, seemingly startling Emma.

"You okay?" Emma nodded and gave Regina a quizzical look.

"Uh, yeah I just thought the whole poofing thing would make me.. I dunno. Queasy?" regina let out a low laugh at that.

"No dear, don't believe everything J. makes up." Emma nodded smiling, and feeling bashful, and when Gold came in through the curtain that Regina wanted to abstain from, because it would remind her of the harsh reality of her mother's death, he didn't even look shocked, poised and composed as ever, barely even paying attention to them.

"We need some information Gold." Gold smiled a wicked grin.

"And what would that be dearie?" Ugh. She prefered the dulled-out curse version whom she thought was oblivious.

"Dream walking. You never told me much about it back in the Enchanted forest. How does one break the connection."

Rumple took great joy in that.

"Assuming that the only reason you are here with Miss Swan is you're thinking that's what this is?"

"Isn't it?" Emma finally stepped forward, and Regina took pride in that Emma was studying him with scrutinising eyes. Good, as she should be

"Well well, I'd have thought you more capable dear" Gold turned to face Regina grinning even more impishly than before.

"What is it Gold, What's your price?" He shook his head.

"The connection between you two is unbreakable dear, but it isn't what you think it is so instead of collapsing under the weight of your books like you did this morning, maybe you should realise you don't get pulled into a dreamwalk. That's all you'll get for free, now if you don't mind, I'll be closing up shop now." And with that he fiddled about with one or two books, and left back through the curtain he came in. Great, Like that was much help.

"What the hell is he on about Regina?" Regina just sighed and shook her head, taking Emma's hand back in hers she let the velvet signature smoke envelop them and transport them home.

But Gold -ever watchful and devious-had noticed, and he knew you needn't hold hands to transport with magic, or at least the Evil Queen of all people was powerful enough not to, so that meant that his previously implied theory was right. And he would have to start studying up on this connection because even though those two obvious and yet oblivious idiots couldn't know it yet, they would need him soon. And he knew his price for the information. They were just clueless about what they had already paid for.