Regina and Ruby tumbled out of the other side of the portal. When their eyes adjusted to the brightness of the sun the two women saw they were standing in an open field of grass surrounded by tall trees.

"Hey, I recognize this place" Ruby said.

"It does seem familiar" Regina agreed.

"Isn't that the tree were Lena used to live with Elliot?" Ruby asked pointing at the tallest of the trees.

"Let's go check it out" Regina suggested. They walked for about ten minutes until they reached the big tree. It looked just like the time when they first met Lena in the Enchanted Forest, with some extra components, like huts and benches.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone here" Regina stated.

"It does seem that way" Ruby agreed. She put her nose in the air and sniffed: "But there are definitely people around."

"Lena?" Regina asked hopeful.

"No…But…" Before Ruby could finish her sentence people jumped out of the bushes with swords, knifes and arrows pointed at them.

"Stop!" a warrior commanded the others. It was definitively the leader. "Ruby?" the warrior asked while lifting their helm of their head.

"Mulan! Oh my…it's so good to see you." The two woman hugged.

"It's good to see you too…But what are you doing here? Is Dorothy okay?"

"Yes, she's fine. We're looking for Lena. She came to the Enchanted Forest two years ago but we need her to come back to Storybrooke. We need her help. This was her home when she lived in the Enchanted Forest. Have you seen her?"

"Yeah, I have been working with her since she arrived her two years ago."

"What?" Regina asked confused.

"We set up a sort of protection program for dragons. These are our warriors" Mulan explained and gestured to the people around them.

"Where is she?" Regina asked.

"She's probably training the dragons over by the cliffs" one of the female warriors said.

"Can you take us to her?" Ruby asked Mulan.

Mulan nodded. Then she turned to her soldiers: "Split in your two groups. Astrid and Adal you two are in charge. Adal take your group to collect fire wood and go find something for lunch. Astrid, your group protects camp." The two appointed leaders nodded and off they went. Mulan turned back to Ruby and Regina: "Let's go."

But just when they turned away to start their journey to the cliffs a big creature threw a shadow over them. When they looked up they saw an emerald green dragon descending. It circled around a couple times before placing its paws on the ground. On the dragons back stood a beautiful young warrior.

"Aero was right" the young warrior spoke: "You are here…Hi mom, hi Ruby."

"Lena?" Regina asked amazed, for a moment forgetting to breath. She slowly stepped forward with tears filling her eyes. Lena jumped down from Aero and ran to her mother to give her a long and needed hug.

"It's so good to see you" she whispered.

When they released, Regina took her daughters hands in hers to look at her properly. "You've grown up so much" Regina said in tears. Lena just smiled.

Ruby stepped forward: "You really have." And she pulled her friend in a tight hug.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm really happy to see you both" Lena began after the hug: "But why are you here?"

"We need your help. We kinda have a dragon problem in Storybrooke" Ruby said.

"A dragon? In Storybrooke?" Mulan asked confused.

"Do you know how he got there?" Lena asked.

Both Ruby and Regina shook their head. "Yesterday evening Emma got a phone call from Leroy that he had seen a dragon flying over town" Regina explained.

"Are you sure he didn't just hallucinate it or something" Lena said, thinking about the dwarfs drinking problem.

"That's what we thought at first but this morning Snow called us to the toll bridge and there we found a very big blue dragon" Regina continued.

"I think it's at least as big as Aero…or maybe even bigger" Ruby said, looking at Aero.

"Has anyone in town recently opened a portal?" Lena asked.

"No, only just us but that was after the dragon was already in Storybrooke" Regina answered.

"Then the dragon has probably created the portal itself" Lena concluded.

"Wait, Aero isn't the only species that can create portals?" Ruby asked shocked.

"We haven't encountered any other dragon species that can do it but it seems like the only logical explanation, isn't it?" Mulan replied.

"So, do you think you can help us out?" Regina asked her daughter hopeful.

"Sure" Lena smiled.

That afternoon Lena was ready to leave for Storybrooke. She took two of the warriors, Astrid and Eva with her for assistance and of course Aero was coming with her too. This time the dragon created the portal for them to travel through. The emerald green light engulfed them when they walked through and soon they stood in the middle of the street near the clock tower in Storybrooke.

Emma pushed the break on her sheriff's car down hard. A group of people had appeared on the middle of the street out of nothing but green light. Her heart was beating fast. When she recovered a from the scare she noticed some people she knew very well. She jumped out of the car and ran to her wife, daughter and friend.

"Regina, Lena, Rubes" Emma called out and pulled the three women in a tight hug all at the same time. Lena received a kiss on her forehead too.

"Hi mom" Lena smiled.

"You've grown up so much" Emma said, tears rolling down her cheeks.

"So it seems" Lena chuckled.

Emma got nudged in the back by something hard. When she turned around she was facing a tall emerald green dragon. "Yes, Aero. It's good to see you too" Emma smiled: "I can see that you have been taking very good care of our daughter."

Aero bowed its head as a 'you're welcome'.

"Now can someone take us to this blue dragon?" Lena asked.

"Sure, but first…Who are they?" Emma asked curious, nodding to the two girls in the background.

"Right…Sorry…Mom, these are Astrid and Eva. Two of our best warriors" Lena introduced her blond mother to the two girls behind her.

"Warriors?" Emma asked even more curious: "What have you been doing in the Enchanted forest?"

"You should have seen it. It was amazing" Ruby said excited: "She and Mulan have set up a dragon protection program together."

"You're working with Mulan?...Well, I'm happy you weren't alone all that time" Emma smiled grateful.

Lena smiled and then focused back on the task ahead: "So…the dragon?"

"Right…Well it's still at the toll bridge. Your grandparents and Dorothy are still there" Emma said, nodding in the general direction of the bridge: "Regina, what do you say about transporting everyone over to the toll bridge together."

Regina nodded. She placed her left hand in her wife's right one and started concentrating. In just a couple seconds they were all surrounded by a mixture of white and purple smoke. Another second later they stood on the road to the toll bridge.

"Wow" Eva said, taking in the appearance of the blue dragon: "It's magnificent."

Lena took her time to calculate the situation. She knew the area around the toll bridge pretty well since she had lived there for a while. She noticed that the dragon had its eyes following her every move. Lena stepped forward with an slow but steady pace. She wanted to see how the dragon would react and how quickly it would feel threatened. Twenty yards still separated Lena and the dragon but she noticed the dragon feeling on edge. She decided it was far enough and walked back to the group without turning around, careful not to turn her back on the dragon.

"So, what's the plan?" Astrid asked when Lena stood next to her.

"I want to try to connect with it with Aero's help first" Lena explained without taken her eyes of the dragon: "But I want you and Eva ready to step in if the dragon gets hostile. I want you to protect my family and friends."

"Sweetie we can take care of ourselves, you know" Ruby said with a smirk.

"Yes we can indeed" Regina agreed: "A couple of witches, a werewolf and some swordfighters can definitively protect themselves from a dragon."

"Mom, I know you can protect yourselves" Lena smiled: "But Eva and Astrid are trained in protecting bystanders while protecting the dragon too. I know that, when it comes to it, you will fight the dragon to help me and I can't let you do that."

Regina sighed. This was another reminder of how much her daughter had grown up in the past years. "Okay" she finally said: "Promise you'll be careful."

"I promise" Lena smiled and turned to Aero. The emerald green dragon stepped forward and followed Lena back to the toll bridge. The blue dragon was still watching them. This time it seemed more curious. At twenty yards Lena stopped.

"Hi, I'm Lena. This is my friend Aero" Lena said, motioning to the green dragon beside her: "he can help you talk to me."

"Hello, what's your name?"

…

The curiosity in the blue dragon's eyes had disappeared and was replaced by distrust. He probably had never encountered a dragon that could use telepathy before, Lena thought. She had a feeling that Aero couldn't help her with this one. She placed a soft hand on Aero's nearest shoulder.

"Go back to Astrid" Lena said.

"Are you sure?"

Lena nodded. Aero listened and slowly walked back to the group.

"Wait, why is Aero coming back without Lena?" Emma asked worried.

"There can be lots of reason. Maybe the blue dragon doesn't trust other dragons" Astrid explained. When Aero was close enough Astrid asked the dragon: "What's going on?"

"He didn't seemed to trust me. He was startled when I spoke to him with telepathy."

"Does she need assistance?" Eva asked.

"I don't think so."

Meanwhile Lena had taken of her knife from her belt and dropped it behind her on the ground. She started walking forward. Fifteen yards. Lena took another couple steps closer to the blue dragon, showing only calmness. She kept eye contact the whole time. Ten yards. The dragon started dabbing the ground nervously and grumbled softly. Five yards. This was getting to close for the blue dragon. He spread his wings wide and puffed up his chest. He breathed in deep and was about ready to release its breath of fire. This was the moment Lena had waited for. This was the moment she needed to act on. She turned her head away, closing her eyes and stretched her arm out to the blue dragon with an open hand.

"What the hell is she doing?" Regina asked very worried when seeing her daughter was standing so close to the dragon, defenseless. She was about to run to Lena to help her but one of the warriors, Astrid, held her back.

"Don't" she said with an hand on Regina's upper arm: "This is how she connects with them."

"By giving her hand as an appetizer?" Emma asked almost outraged.

"Please, stay calm. The dragon could pick up your emotions and that can bring Lena in danger" Eva said.

Both mothers took a deep breath. They searched for each other's hand to hold because the suspense was killing them. The dragon seemed to swallow its fire in surprise. It stared at the girl in front of him. Then the blue dragon slowly lowered its head. Lena could hear the gasps from the bystanders from all the way back when the dragon touched his snout against Lena's hand.

Lena turned her head back towards the blue dragon. She locked eyes and smiled: "It's nice to meet you."

Next chapter will be the last one of this story.