Emma took a deep breath and breathed out slowly, through nearly pursed lips. She had only just escaped the palace with her life last time, and now she was going back. It seemed like complete madness but she had to uphold her end of their deal. It was a simple enough task, but the real implications of it, she had no idea. She felt Rumplestiltskin's snare all around her. The only advantage she had was that she expected it. She knew she was a pawn once again, but she had made her deal, warned Regina and danced with her one last time. The imp had told her exactly where to go, but how to get there had required insider knowledge from Lucy. She breathed slowly out again.

"I can't believe I'm doing this" she whispered to herself while visualising her route into and through one last time before she took it.

"Me either" Pip replied

"I can, you absolute nutter" Lucy chimed in

"Shut up" Emma hissed back at them. They smiled at each other behind her. "Do you have a better idea?" She asked, rhetorically.

"Aye" Lucy replied "Forget the imp. Nick Regina's horse and believe me, she'll come after you. She'll kill you once she finds you, but at least ye'll be together, right?"

Emma sighed "Alright I'm going. Please try not to die without me"

Pip nodded. She slid out of their hiding place near a wood store, strode up to the closest external door to the dungeon, knocked and waited. There had to be a guard on the other side, right? She turned to look at Pip and Lucy. She shrugged and they stared back, unsure of what to do. Suddenly the door creaked open and her head spun to meet it.

"What do you want?" A guard asked in a gravelly voice.

"I think you're looking for me" Emma said "your queen wanted me"

He looked her up and down lasciviously. It made her skin crawl. That wasn't what she had meant and he knew it. She could read his body language like a book and could see in the twitch of his fingers he was about to reach out for her.

"Alright darling" he went to grab her but she leapt backwards. "Oi" the sickening softness fled from his expression.

"I'm serious, your queen has people looking for me" she said again

"Then they would have caught you, street rat" He turned to close the door.

"I'm asking to be locked up, don't be an idiot" she said

He paused and turned to her "What did you just call me?"

"She'll have you for dinner if she finds out you had me here and let me go" Emma tried

"I'll have you for dinner in a minute" he went to grab her wrist again and almost got it. He fell forwards slightly.

She hooked her fingers around the edge of his breastplate and used his own weight to throw him to the ground. Pip was on him in a second. Knee on his chest, he pulled the helmet off his head and smacked him out cold with it. "Go!" He hissed at Emma "I've got this" he began taking the guard's armour.

Lucy squeezed his shoulder, hopped over the guard's legs and was through the door. She grabbed Emma's hand as she went.

"Keep up, dancer, I thought you was supposed to be quick" she said, running down the empty corridor that, gods willing, would stay that way. Emma followed her behind a tapestry and through a heavy wooden door with well oiled hinges. The passage behind was dark and winding. Emma imagined the horrible traps that might have been put in place to catch out unwelcome guests. Lucy knew her way well and was quick.

"There's a few sets of stairs" she said, starting on the first. The stone was worn down in the middle, making slipping easy. "Careful, there's a trip step coming up"

Emma barely had time to wonder what a trip step was before her foot hit it and she toppled into the stairs in front of her. Strips of pain tore into her shins, knees, hips and chest.

"Fuck" she said, getting to her feet again. She was slightly winded but didn't have time to catch her breath.

Lucy took her hand and pulled her back to her feet. "Come on, Miss" she said setting off again. Emma followed up the stone spiral. She glanced out of arrow slit windows she passed and saw nothing but night, forest and guards. Her calves burned as they ran upwards for what seemed like miles.

"Another trip step, miss" Lucy panted

Emma was ready for it this time. She saw it, twice as tall as the others, perfectly designed to slow down intruders. She hopped over it, with less grace than she usually would have. She wanted to ask how much further, but thought better of it in case she didn't like the answer. Lucy hopped off the spiral staircase into what looked like a dark window that was shuttered closed. Her hands splayed, feeling around in the darkness. She found a rough, circular knot and pushed it. To Emma's surprise it popped out quite easily. Lucy stuck her finger through the hole and pulled the panel towards her.

"Woah" Emma said as the shutter folded into two panels and slid to the side. They both peered along a narrow corridor. Emma went first, letting Lucy close the door behind them and put the knot back in. "Shit, this is tight" Emma said, feeling the closeness of the walls around her. There was just enough space either side of her shoulders to walk facing forwards. Anyone bigger or in armour would struggle.

"I know" Lucy said "keep going"

"Seriously, what is this passage for?" Emma asked as she ducked seconds before she would have hit her head on the sloping ceiling.

"My guess? An escape route for bairns if the castle was under attack" Lucy replied "Emma you need to go quicker"

"Hey, you said my name" she smiled and picked up the pace. "What's bairns?" The stone seemed to get warmer beneath her fingers.

"Babies, children, wee royals. We're nearly there" Lucy said as Emma hit a wall.

"Yep, I'd say so" Emma replied. Her eyes had acclimatised somewhat to the darkness, but she still could barely make anything out. She heard Lucy rustling around and waited for her to find the next route or secret passage.

"Come on" Lucy said to herself

"What are you looking for?" Emma asked

"There's a brick that's actually a handle, it's made of wood so it should be warmer than the others"

"They all feel warm though" Emma said, crouching by her

"Yeah" Lucy said "that's my problem"

It was another tense minute before Emma spoke again. "Could we have gone the wrong way?" Emma asked

"No" Lucy said shortly "it's possible the door has been blocked but not many people know about it"

She fumbled for another minute. Emma wiped her face and realised how hot she was. She felt the warmth of the passage pressing in on her. It stuck to her like the darkness around them. She was on the verge of suggesting they go back when they heard a click.

"Thank the gods" Lucy breathed. She pushed and and a sliver of light sliced into the passageway. She peeked through and Emma crouched behind her to se. The room was not lit, but it was brighter than where they stood. She pushed the rest of the door open. The so called 'door' was tiny.

"Seriously?" Emma asked as she watched Lucy push her arms through. The gap was inches wide and maybe two feet tall. Lucy pulled herself through, scraping her cheek on the side, but that made her more careful. She managed to scramble through the gap.

Emma crouched. "I think your theory of a kid's escape route remains intact"

She unfastened the bag at her hip and placed it gently through the gap. She pulled herself through, gracelessly but she got through.

"Fuck" she got up awkwardly from the floor and tied the bag back to her waist.

"You ok?" Lucy whispered

"Yeah" Emma rubbed the knee that had come down hard on the marble hearth. They had just climbed through a panel next to a large open fire.

"Ok through, here" Lucy pointed at the door just viable in the next room "the queen's chambers are across the landing. There's two guards at the door so..." Lucy stopped talking and gulped.

"Ok, thanks Luce" she pulled her into a hug. Her arms wrapped all the way around her and rested on her ribs. She buried her face in the red curls that tumbled past her shoulders. "Thank you, Lucy" she said again. She felt her arms tighten around her waist. Emma pulled away and kissed her cheek. "For everything, I mean you never had to do any of this"

"Emma" she said, drawing a smile from her "not everyone has the chance to change their fate. Now go, before I decide I'm coming with you." Emma smiled at her one last time and was off.

There was no noise from the door she opened and closed behind her. She kept to the shadows along the walls of the landing and her feet in soft shoes made hardly any noise on the flags. She stopped at a suit of armour and peered around at the guards. They were inactive. She hoped they were sleepy. The only things on her side were speed and surprise. If she took a heavy sword she would lose both. The door of her chambers was ajar. She had to run for it.

She took one deep breath, in which she thought of Regina looking up at the falling tree, and ran. She tried to keep to the shadows and stay quiet. As she drew close she hit her top running speed. One of the guards jolted and shouted something unintelligible, which shocked the other into wakefulness. She was almost upon them when they realised what was happening. Both drew their spears in a cross in front of the doors and braced as she refused to slow. At the last possible moment she dropped to the floor and skidded beneath them on her knees. Her legs smacked into the doors, opening them further. She spun on her backside and kicked the doors closed. One hit a guard in the face and bounded back but another kick closed it and the force knocked the brace lock from it's bracket into place. She sat back on her hands and listened to the guard pound on the door for a moment before breathing out.

"That was entertaining." A cold voice said from behind her. A chill ran through her. She climbed arduously to her feet and turned to face Cora. "I do hope your visit is worth the trouble, Miss Swan" Emma bowed, hoping it would buy her a second to think. "Perhaps you thought these were my daughter's chambers, some sort of botched rescue mission?"

"So you agree she needs to be rescued?" Emma couldn't help but point out

Cora's laugh was sharp "I tried to rescue you both from yourselves but honestly" she held her hands up in exasperation "it's true what they say, a fool measures the depth of water with both feet and you are both foolish beyond measure" Emma's heart ached at the idea of Regina jumping into anything with her. "I have been more than patient with you Miss Swan, I really did hope you would take my advice. It's such a shame to lose a talented, tenacious young woman like yourself. The odds are stacked against us, which is why Regina's new position as queen of the White Kingdom is so necessary."

Cora's hand flew out at her and she flinched. "No, stop!" She said, her own hands shielding her from a blast that never came. She peeked over her arms to see Cora's expression, fierce and confused. She glanced at her hands then back at Emma. She lifted them to attack again. "Don't, please don't kill me!" Cora's eyes widened. Emma's heart beat loudly in her ears.

"What are you?" Cora asked, lowering her hands again

"Um, I don't understand the qu-"

"Who are you? You have magic" she crept up to Emma who stumbled back into the door.

"I don't know" Emma said

"Who are you?" The Queen bellowed

"She really doesn't know, dearie" said a voice in the dark

Cora spun around and hurled magic at it. It came back at her with equal force and a repulsive giddy laugh. There was a stumble and the cavalcade of magic broke. Emma had never seen anything like it. Her breath stuck in her throat and she silently suffocated watching them. Light cracked through the air and collided with darkness. Smoke and flashes and shining blackness was everywhere until it stopped.

"What do you mean she doesn't know?" Cora asked, glancing back at Emma who she had decided was the smaller of the two threats.

Rumplestiltskin stepped from the shadows. "She doesn't remember, and even if she did, she would never have heard of herself" he said. Cora's eyes narrowed to slits. "Because technically, she doesn't exist yet." No one spoke "Do I have to spell it out for you, dearie?"

"The lost princess?" Cora asked

Emma would have laughed if she hadn't been scared for her life and trying not to draw attention to herself. It was just another of Rumplestiltskin's traps. She was no princess.

"The lost princess, the survivor, the saviour, the name matters not. She will fulfill the prophecy."

Cora snorted in laughter "The downfall of a dark queen? I doubt it. Look at her" she gestured at her and glanced up and down. Emma's skin goosebumped under her clothes. "This scheme reeks of you, Rumple. I don't believe this street urchin is anything of the sort. For one, I found her for Regina, and well, Regina's affection for her is a separate issue entirely. How could you have orchestrated that? Her feelings are a genuine as they are misguided. No. This is a trap"

Regina's affection? Feelings? She could still feel her lips on her own. Emma's heart throbbed again.

"Yes, it is dearie, and you don't know that you're already caught." he laughed and flourished his hands "The prophecy was meant for Regina, but with a little...tweaking, I've managed to speed things up a bit"

Cora shook her head "Impossible, you can't have brought her from the future. Time travel can't be done"

"Well not time travel, no. But when you can see the future, it's easier to find a work around. Time moves differently across the realms. Forwards, backwards, sideways. With some careful realm-hopping, we've managed quite the feat, Miss Swan and I"

That sounded ridiculous, and yet completely possible. Emma was staring at the stone flags and something almost came back to her. A memory snagged on what he had said. The White Kingdom, Cora had said. Why did it sound so familiar? Had she been there? Had she taught there? When? Where even was it? Cora and Rumplestiltskin argued back and forth but her mind was shutting them out. The White Kingdom and crossing realms. There was an ache in her chest. Something bad was going to happen. To Regina? To her? To someone she cared about?

"Well well, dearie"

That was Emma's cue. She looked up at him, still smiling at Cora. He had told her what to do, but did she trust him? He was trying to trick the queen, what good could come of that? Surely it was just one evil trumping another. She quietly drew the string of the bag and put her hand inside. What she felt horrified her. Warm and almost viscid. She grasped it and pulled it out slowly. She felt it's beat in her palm. It was a heart, glowing, pounding with life and swirling with darkness inside.

She heard Cora gasp and Rumplestiltskin laugh sharply. She approached Cora quietly but hesitated at the last moment. She turned to her on instinct and was momentarily stunned to inaction at the vision before her. Rumple grabbed her wrists and pulled them tight back into her shoulders, she couldn't move.

"Do it!" Rumple shouted. The queen looked genuinely terrified and Emma panicked.

"Do it and Regina will only end up getting hurt" Cora pleaded.

"Do it or I'll kill her! I'll make her wish she was never born!" Rumple spat

She had no doubt his threat was real. Emma thrust her hand and the heart into Cora's chest and she gasped again. The coldness fled her eyes and was replaced with something else. She suddenly looked human and in desperate pain. She clutched Emma's arm as she fell slowly to the floor. Emma caught her and knelt with her as her chest heaved in dry sobs. Emma's eyes and mouth were wide as she felt the anguish and fear rolling off the other woman in swaithes. She tore her eyes away to see Rumple hovering, his expression torn between satisfaction and disgust.

"You said it wouldn't hurt her!" Emma shouted

"Not physically. One could even argue that it's beneficial to have all of your body parts in one place. Really, I did her a favour" he replied

Tears streamed down Cora's face. She grasped Emma's hand. "Regina is gone" she said

"No" Emma replied, searching her eyes for the lie she needed to find there.

"She left yesterday" she sobbed "my poor girl"

Emma watched in horror a moment longer before looking up to Rumplestiltskin "You said I would be able to help Regina!"

"And you can, you're just a little late. Good luck finding her before she gets to Leopold" he giggled

Emma stood, turned to the door and threw it open. A herd of palace guard stormed in.

"Stop!" Cora shouted from the floor. "Let her pass" They stood aside in an instant though they scowled at her. "Get him!" She pointed to Rumple.

Emma didn't wait to see what happened. She ran down the corridor in a direction she thought was probably towards the kitchen. She passed some confused looking guards and one caught up with her.

"Hey" he said, pulling off his helmet "where's the princess?"

"Oh fuck, Pip you scared me! She's already gone, we need to get out, we have to go after her"

He grabbed her elbow. "This way" as they turned down a corridor they ran straight into James. He jumped thinking he had just hit a palace guard, then smiled seeing it was her and Pip.

"Alright you two?" he asked

"Quickest way to the stables, James?" Pip asked

"You're really close. Go out that door, down the steps and you're practically there. You err..alright?"

"We're great, thanks James, see you" Pip smiled at him and they were gone.

Lucy looked up hearing Pip's armour clanking and her mouth fell open at the sight of them. "What the bloody hell-"

"Regina's gone" Emma said as they reached her. She bent double to catch her breath

"What?"

"Regina, she went yesterday" Emma gasped for air and Lucy gaped looking between her and Pip.

"It's only a day and a half's ride to Leopold's kingdom" Lucy said to Ruby who frowned back at her, refusing to acknowledge Emma's existence.

For a moment no one spoke. Emma and Pip caught their breath. Ruby watched them all through narrowed eyes. Emma stood, took a deep breath and brushed the hair away from her face. Now she was out of mortal danger, her knees throbbed where they had hit the stone floor. The White Kingdom was still nagging at her. Whatever it meant, she knew Regina couldn't get there, for all of their sakes.

"Rocinante" Lucy said eventually, staring at Emma

"What?" Emma asked

"Luce, you can't be serious" Ruby said

"He's the only way we'll catch up to them"

"But they're a day ahead of us" Pip said

"They have a carriage and full guard, we'll cut through the forest. We can catch them" Lucy replied, turning to Ruby and wiping her mouth as if she couldn't quite believe she was saying it either.

"And what if you do catch them up? What are you going to do?" Ruby asked

"We're going to save the princess" Pip said "how quickly can we go?"

"The Queen'll have you dead by sun up" Ruby said. There was a hint of warmth and sadness in her voice. She might hate Emma, but it seemed she agreed Regina needed saving and she wasn't above giving credit where it was due.

"The Queen told me to go" Emma said

Ruby frowned at her, then looked at Lucy. Lucy nodded and her eyebrows rose slowly in realisation. Emma's other girl, the one she loved, was Regina.

"Gods be good" Ruby said, walking over to them with a look in her eye that seemed not far off respect. "Do you want me to scout ahead?"

Lucy broke into a smile "Thank you Ruby, can't hurt can it?"

She saddled up Rocinante first. He stamped as she lead him from his stable. "I know you don't know her darlin', but she's going to save Regina" he stamped again and Emma jumped. The vibrations echoed through the stable. He was solid muscle, chestnut brown, beautiful, enormous and terrifying.

"Lucy I'd really be fine with one of the others" she said nervously

"Emma, I know these horses like I know my own brothers. You have Rocinante, Pip you've got Major" Emma nodded nervously. Lucy turned back to the horse and rubbed his nose. "See, she's alright, and she's going to take you to Regina"

Once Lucy had them mounted and ready she climbed atop an enormous Clydesdale and lead them from the stable. Rocinante reared at the sight of Cora and Emma pulled the reins tight to stay on top of him. He grunted and stamped and she rubbed his mane instinctively.

"I can't go with you, but you will need this for the guards to believe I sent you" As she waved her hand a scroll appeared in a puff of smoke. She threw it to Emma who caught it "Good luck" she said with tears in her eyes. Emma could hardly believe what she was seeing, but Cora was completely genuine.

They took off at a frightening pace. Lucy's horse seemed to know where he was going already. He was surefooted and trusted her completely. Rocinante kept up with them easily, though he was less sure with Emma on his back. She spoke to him reassuringly. "We're gonna do this, we'll find her, you can do this" and sometimes less reassuringly "I really don't want to die. Please don't let me die before we find her"

Pip and Major brought up the rear, looking out for anyone following them and keeping up with the others.

"Pull up!" Lucy shouted, bringing them to a halt in a clearing lit by a bright full moon.

"What is it?" Emma asked, out of breath

"Ruby" Lucy said as she jogged into sight. She was panting, heaving air into her lungs like she had run the whole way on foot. Emma had no idea how she had gotten there before them.

"The path is clear all the way to the gorge" she sucked in another breath "but they're getting ready to bring the bridge up for the night. Go now or you'll miss it and you'll not get across until morning"

"Thank you Ruby!" Lucy shouted as she kicked her horse into action again. Rocinante and Major followed regardless of what Emma and Pip were about to tell them.

After the brightness of the clearing the forest seemed dark, too dark to ride so quickly in. It was dangerous and Emma was genuinely scared for the first time. She almost closed her eyes and just held on until they pulled onto a road.

"Lower the bridge!" Lucy shouted to two men in the distance. They held torches and turned a crank that lifted the bridge completely away from one side. She shouted again but they ignored her. "Bloody idiots" she shouted.

Without slowing for a second she produced a bow, nocked an arrow and let it fly. It sheared one of the ropes in half and the bridge creaked ominously. They were almost upon it. Rather than lower the bridge the men ran to get out of the way.

"Emma go!" Lucy shouted as she loosed another arrow.

Rocinante took the lead from behind, raced up the sharp angle of the raised bridge and leapt. Emma looked down as they went and saw nothing but rock faces sliding into darkness as the sound of distant rushing water filled her ears. This time she did close her eyes until they hit the other side. After a moment she heard a loud crash and hoof beats behind them. Pip and Lucy had made it too.

"Oh my god, you're amazing" she said to the horse "I can see why she loves you. I love her too, let's go get her!"