A/N: Thanks for your continued support :) this is where a new phase in the story begins... The first phase wasn't too eventful, but this one would be ;)

Chapter 7

He sat broken on the floor, staring at the point where the portal disappeared, even though Emma was long gone. Henry was on his lap, looking at his father curiously.

Killian finally looked up when he felt Henry's small hand touch his face.

"Ma…ma…" The child babbled, "Mama…" he repeated it again, as if in question.

Killian sighed. "Mama's gone now." He said dejectedly, looking down again. He turned to face Henry after a moment, as if expecting his face to mirror the dismay in Killian's, as if expecting him to understand.

They were broken out of their reverie by a tutting from behind them. Killian immediately got up, Henry held protectively in his arms.

Cora looked at them with amusement. "Captain Hook playing Daddy. Now, isn't this endearing?" she said sarcastically. "I would have expected the child to go with your girl. Whatever gave you the stupid motivation to keep him?"

"Leave him be, Cora!" Killian said warningly, disregarding her question.

"Or what?" Cora asked, eyebrow raised in challenge.

"You'd rather not find out." Killian's expression at that moment was a testament to that, but Cora wasn't fazed.

She just rolled her eyes. "Relax, I'm not interested in terrorizing the kid. And though it is a disappointment that you decided to back out from our plans, it's one I can handle. It isn't as if you would have been that much of a help."

"Glad you think so, majesty." Killian drawled sarcastically.

Cora smirked. "Well, I just came to check if you followed through with it. I wish you all the best for your new… ah, domestic life."

She disappeared in a puff of smoke, leaving them in silence yet again.

Killian set Henry down on the bed, from where he again looked around. "Mama…" he said again, turning to Killian.

Killian pulled him into his arms, rocking him and trying to sing him to sleep. As he laid him down on the bed, he was struck by a sudden resolve. "We will find her, lad… no matter what."

He got up and called to the empty room. "Cora."

When she didn't appear, he remembered the artifact he had: the queen of hearts card.

Cora appeared a moment later, looking at him questioningly.

"I've changed my mind. We will accompany you to the land without magic." For that's where she will be.

Meanwhile, in another realm, a young woman was found unconscious in the forest surrounding the mysterious town of Storybrooke, invisible to those outside its boundaries.

-Nearly Nine Years Later-

Emma Swan somehow managed to drag herself home in the sky high heels she had to wear to catch the latest perp assigned to her. She unlocked the door and got in, immediately discarding the shoes. She'll never get used to torturing her legs like that.

She switched the light on, and wasn't in the least surprised by the little cupcake sitting on the table, topped with a small star-shaped candle.

"Happy Birthday Mommy!" shouted her almost eight-year-old daughter, giving a wide grin that missed a couple of teeth.

"Aww thank you Lennie, my darling..." Emma said, hugging her little daughter. She never really came to know how it really happened, given that one day she woke up and learnt it had been a year since her son was born. A year of which she couldn't remember a thing, and a year in which she had managed to land herself in the same position in which she had been. Alone, penniless and pregnant. Except that she wasn't in jail this time and had some time to get things together before the little one arrived. More than anything, this time she wasn't completely alone. The old couple who had luckily found her on the side of the road were kind and caring, to the extent that they not only waited for her to recover, but offered her a place to live and food to eat, until she could manage on her own. And this time, giving up her child wasn't something she could bear again.

Deciding to keep her little Eleanor was a decision Emma could never regret. She was the light of her life, her happiness even in the bleakest of moments. The only thing she did regret was not knowing anything about her first child, her son who she gave up at birth ten years ago now.

She didn't exactly regret that decision, she had been in no condition to raise a child at that point of time, but there were these doubts – what if he had not found a good home, what if he ended up stuck in the foster system like her, if he was fine or not – that made her question it. She had tried to find out who adopted him, but the only thing she got was a name – Regina Mills. Where this Regina Mills lived and what did she do, however, she could not find.

"Make a wish, mommy!" Lennie cheered, and Emma chuckled at her excitement, brushing a hand through her tangled mane of blonde hair. She had certainly got the hair from her. But her brilliant blue eyes, the source of those she didn't know. There was that sense of having seen them before on a different face, probably her lost memories trying to break through, but no luck so far.

She leant over the table and blew the candle, unintentionally making the only wish she had: to discover the rest of her family. Her son. Lennie's father. Her parents. She wanted to see them, meet them; even if just to know them and not become a part of their lives.

It seemed a part of her wish came true the next morning.

Emma picked up the letter addressed to her, not from some organization, but from a person: none other than the elusive Regina Mills.