Quick Author's Note to those of you who read this earlier: Somehow I'd lost the first half of this story during posting the first time. That's what I get posting at 5am, I guess. In any case, here it is restored.

Chapter 4: The Greatest Gift

The sister soon found themselves out side a charmingly weathered door to the loft Emma shared with Mary Margaret, from which, jovial humming emanated.

"I swear if she's baking an apple pie in there..." began Paige.

"Hush!" replied Phoebe.

Paige shrugged. "I'm just saying!"

Emma purposely opened the as nosily as she could, hoping to not startle Mary. The woman hadn't, after all, met stranger, who wasn't a family memeber, in 28 years, whether she was aware of it or not. Let alone coming uninvited to her home. Given how Mary had suddenly displayed hand-to-hand combat skills when she;d been under duress a few weeks ago, Emma didn't want to chance triggering some piece of Snow White buried in Mary's mind and end up with one of the sisters kicked into a wall or something.

"Hey Emma!" said Mary brightly as cut shapes out of vibrantly colored construction paper. "You're home early! Sorry, about the mess, I wasn't expecting you." She looked up and her eyes widened at the three women with her roommate. "Or... guests."

"Uh, yeah, sorry about this Mare, this was kind of an unexpected surprise," replied Emma.

"We're her friends. From out of town, obviously," said Piper.

"And we wanted to surprise our good friend Emma as we happened to be in the area," added Phoebe.

"Oh, are you from Boston?" asked Mary.

"Yes," replied Emma, as Piper simultaneously said, "No," and Phoebe blurted, "Baltimore, actually!"

Mary furrowed her brow. "So... is it Boston or Baltimore?"

The three sisters all looked at Emma expectantly. "Good question," began Emma. "I actually know them from Boston. But we met in Baltimore."

"Oh? I'll be there's a story there," replied Mary hospitably. She had so little information on Emma before she came to Storybrooke, and wanted to take any chance she had to pry a bit. The three women seemed familiar in an odd way as well. She extended her hand to the nearest woman. "Where are my manners? I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard. Emma's roommate, but I bet you already knew that!"

Piper took her hand, noting that it was ridiculously soft for a woman who, according to that storybook, seemed to live with a blade in her hand. "Piper Halliwell. And these are my sisters, Phoebe and Paige," she said, nodding at the other two women respectively.

"Nice to meet you!" replied Paige.

"It's nice to meet you," added Mary with a genuine smile.

"We've heard so much about you!" said Phoebe drawing looks from her sisters. "That is, uh, Emma can't stop raving about you. She says you're like family!"

Mary gave Phoebe a strange look, giving the witch the distinct feeling that she was under a microscope. "You look so familiar... have we met before, maybe?"

"Ever been to San Francisco?" replied Phoebe.

"Uh, nope. I can't even recall the last time I left Storybrooke," replied Mary with a chuckle. Suddenly her eyes widened and she clapped her hands together. "That's it! You're that columnist woman from California who caught that awful baseball player, with like, a webcam or something? There was that article in People magazine a couple years ago."

The five women collectively let out relieved breaths and Phoebe laughed self-consciously. "Heh, yeah, that's me!"

"You didn't tell me you were friends with someone famous, Emma!" remarked Mary.

Emma shrugged. "Well, you know, I can honestly say I don't even think of her that way."

Mary studied the other two women's faces and shook her head. The tallest of the three had a porcelain complexion much like her own, and the other, Piper, she really couldn't place as resembling anyone, yet she had the vague feeling that she should thank her for some reason. "It's the strangest thing, though. I mean, not all three of you are famous, right?" The three shook their heads. "It's probably just that you remind me of someone in my family..." she said to Paige. "I just wish I could put my finger on who..." She shrugged. "Oh, nevermind, I'm probably just having some kind of deja vu," she laughed. "You have to tell me how you met!" Mary made her way over to the kitchen and turned on the burner under a teapot. "Can I get you all anything to drink? I'm making hot chocolate for myself, but we have other things."

"No, thanks, really," replied Piper, her sisters simply shaking their heads.

"Suit yourself. So, how did you meet? I thought you said you met in Baltimore, Em?"

"We were... her foster sisters. Our mom fostered Emma, back, oh, you know, a long time ago!" answered Paige.

Mary frowned. "I thought you hated all your foster homes, Emma?"

Emma crossed her arms. "Uh, yeah, all but that one. They were great, the Halliwells. We four were very close..."

"Until our parents had to move away, for a job," added Phoebe.

"And the foster system doesn't operate across state lines, so..." said Piper.

"I had to go back in the system," finished Emma.

Mary frowned. "Oh, that's awful. But you kept in touch?" They all nodded in affirmation. "So... where does Boston come in?"

Phoebe waved her off. "Oh, college you know! Long story, really boring! Maybe later!"

Sensing the group wanted some privacy, Mary glanced back at her mess of construction paper. "Ok, well, I'll be done with this pretty soon, Emma. Sorry for the clutter," she added as an aside. "I'm a teacher, and just getting prepped for an activity tomorrow! Then I can get out of your hair."

Emma shook her head. "Take all the time you need, we'll just be in my room, getting caught up and all!"

Mary nodded and Emma made a beeline for her room, the Halliwells close on her heels. Just as Emma was about to shut the door behind her Mary popped her head into view. "Hey, if you want me to make dinner, just say so!"

Emma nodded. "Will do!" She swiftly shut the door and leaned against the interior side. "Whatever we do, we'd better do it fast. Or at least get our stories straight."

Paige nodded and suddenly declared, "Book!". The Book of Shadows, which had been safely stored in the trunk of Emma's VW bug, appeared in her hands.

"Anyone ever tell you that looks an awful lot like beaming some Star Trek transporter thingy?" asked Emma.

"Alright!" declared Piper, ignoring Emma's aside. "Do you have any pen or paper or something?"

Emma nodded at her desk. "There should be some pens in there, but I'm afraid the only paper I've got is a book of blank citations."

Piper shrugged. "It'll have to do. Phoebe, work on a spell that might, I dunno, unlock her memories, or return them or something. Paige and Emma and I will see if we can figure out a likely trigger from those last pages."

Phoebe nodded. "On it!"

Emma opened the top drawer of her dresser and pulled aside the clothes before lifting up a false bottom and pulling out the storybook pages that covered the beginning of her story.

The better part of a half hour later, Piper groaned. "Pheebs, I hope you're having better luck over there, cause we got nada over here."

"As a matter of fact, I think do!" replied Phoebe brightly. "Of course, we won't know until we try it. I'm hoping that our world's fairy magic will play a little better with storybook magic."

Piper and Paige leaned over Phoebe's shoulder to check over the spell. Piper shrugged. "Well, it'll have to do. We're running short on options."

"Not the most ringing endorsement I've ever heard," replied Emma.

Piper shrugged. "Would you have preferred a hearty 'that'll do, pig'?"

"Piper..." replied Paige.

"Hey, have we just met, sis? Cause last I know I wasn't the one known for brimming over with optimism."

Paige cocked her head. "Oh. Right. You're the surly one. Hey, maybe when we wake Snow White up she introduce you to Grumpy, hm?" shot back Paige with a sarcastic smile.

Phoebe rolled her eyes. "All, right, back to your corners Jib and Jab. We've got work to do."

"Uh, if this backfires, you won't like, turn us all into frogs or something, right?" asked Emma.

"See? Stop making the magical newbie nervous," Paige scolded Piper, to which Piper simply sighed and rolled her sardonically.

"Don't worry. The worst that happen is probably nothing," said Phoebe.

"Probably?" asked Emma.

"Most likely," added Paige. At Emma widened eyes Paige put a hand on the blonde's shoulder reassuringly. "Don't worry, 'it'll do' is actually high praise coming from Piper."

Phoebe was at the door, pressing her ear against the plank of wood. "I think she's still here..."

Emma nodded. "She wouldn't have left without mentioning it. She's a natural maternal type like that. So, do you light candles or chant or something here?"

Phoebe shook her head. "I'm afraid that usually kind of more a Hollywood thing than real." Piper and Paige joined joined her at the door and read the newly concocted spell aloud.

In this home and in this hour

We call upon the fairy's power

Return the pieces that have been suppressed

From the mind of this princess

"Did it work?" asked Emma.

"Only one way to find out," replied Phoebe. She opened the door slowly, which only succeeded in drawing out the creak in its hinges. The four women quietly took a couple of steps out, trying to get a look at Mary Margaret.

The raven-haired woman sat stock still in the same chair she'd been working at earlier, her mug poised milimeters from her lips, with a look sugesting she wasn't seeing the room around her at all. Whatever she was seeing in her mind's eye was causing her face to flit almost imperceptibly between sorrow, awe, anger, and joy. Emma leaned down, trying to catch Mary's eye. "Snow?" she whispered.

Suddenly Mary let out a high pitched yelp and jumped in her seat, sending her mug's chocolaty liquid into the air in every direction, and the other four women practically jumping out of their skins at the surprise. "Emma!" she clutched at her chest, over her heart. "Dear lord, you startled me! Don't do that!" She took a deep breath, setting her now nearly empty mug down. "I'm sorry. I was just daydreaming..."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Musta' been one hell of a dream."

Mary smiled, now mostly calmed down. "Oh, I don't know. It's the strangest thing. I've been having this recurring dream recently. It's so... real. But I can never hold on to it. Like the moment I wake up it's covered in this thick mental fog..."

"Maybe it's trying to tell you something?" suggested Phoebe.

Mary shrugged. "If it is, I haven't a clue what. It's strange. I never thought anything like a dream could feel so joyous and so crushingly sad at the same time... It's so intense but I can never remember why. Just that David and Regina are there... but they're not themselves. Not exactly. And... Emma. But she's the only one who is herself. Even I'm not me..." She shook her head and stood up.

"Thank you," replied Mary. She looked up as she began to blot herself. "Oh, uh, what was it you had started to say, Emma?"

Emma placed her hands on her hips. "Oh, uh, I just said... 'so'. I was going to say 'So, we were thinking of just getting some take out tonight'. Would you like to join us?"

Mary considered this for a moment. It was strange. One moment they seemed to want to be alone, the next she's invited to a girl's night in. "Sure, why not!" She cringed, suddenly, finally noticing the mess of warm liquid all down her blouse and on the table. "Oh, my! Look at the mess I've made of myself! I hope it doesn't stain. I just bought this top..."

Phoebe handed a couple of paper towels to Mary. "Here you go. A little club soda should take that right out if it looks like it's going to stain." As Mary took hold of the towels she gasped suddenly, her right hand flying to her temple. And just a moment later it passed. She relaxed her shoulders and shot her sisters a meaningful look,

"Are you okay?" asked Mary.

Phoebe shook her head and began to rub one of her temples again, giving Mary a thoroughly practiced smile of embarrassment. "Oh, yeah. I'll be fine. I just get these migraine attacks. They're really sudden onset."

"I think I have some Excedrin in my purse, is you'd like some," offered Mary.

Phoebe shook her head. "Oh, don't worry, I should be fine."

Mary Margaret began to dig in her purse anyway, but quickly frowned. "Oh, but I gave the last of it to Ruby on Sunday... I can make a quick run down to the store and pick some up if you like."

Paige waved the offer off. "Don't worry about Pheebs, she-"

"If it wouldn't be too much trouble?" interrupted Phoebe, elbowing Paige in the ribs as discreetly as possible.

"None at all! I need to get some more anyway. And I think a walk to clear my head might do me some good... Besides. I can pick up a pizza for everyone while I'm out..."

"Oh, you're a princess! Just like Emma described you!" exclaimed Phoebe, her smile a little too big.

Mary pulled on one of her signature light sweaters and gave Phoebe a smile. "I don't think it's usually princesses running errands for people, but the other way around," she remarked with a laugh. "But you're welcome, just the same. I'll be back in a jif!"

"My hero, then!" added Phoebe as Mary closed the door behind her.

"What was that about?" asked Emma when she could no longer hear footsteps. "And why did you send her out?"

"Yeah, Pheebs," said Paige, rubbing her ribs. "And when did your elbows get so pointy?"

"Look, the spell clearly didn't work. But, I get visions – psychic flashes of the future, or the past," replied Phoebe to Emma.

"So what did you see?" asked Piper.

"That dream she was talking about, I think. I don't think it was a dream."

"Well, it couldn't be a memory if I was talking to her in it," said Emma.

"Don't be so sure. I saw her, sitting on the ground in some kind of…. I dunno. A nursery maybe? There was a big wooden closet that looked for like a tree…"

"The wardrobe," said Paige.

Phoebe nodded. "I think so. Anyway, she was cradling a blonde man covered in blood in her arms. And you were there, Emma. You and Piper. And… you collected something. With a little glass vial."

"Collected what? And how is that possible?" exclaimed Emma.

Phoebe shook her head. "I could quite tell. But it's something Mary, or Snow White I guess, gives you. Maybe the key to unlocking her memories?"

"But that scene is in the book. And there's no mention of any visit from us!" said Emma.

"Right. There wouldn't be, would there? It hasn't happened yet, on our end," replied Paige.

"But how is Mary dreaming about it?" asked Emma.

"Because it's already the past for her."

Emma pinched the bridge of her nose and closed her eyes in frustration. "I think I'll be needing that Excedrin after all!" groaned Emma.

"It's better if you just go with and not make any logical sense out of it," advised Piper. "You'll save yourself a lot of headaches."

"Ok, so… how do we get there?" asked Emma with a sigh.

"That's why I sent Mary out," replied Phoebe. "We can do it right now, and you can be back right after you've left."

"How is that? Never mind. Just going with it," rambled Emma.

"I know just the spell," added Paige.

"This one will actually work, right?" asked Emma, clearly skeptical after the failure to bring back Mary's memories.

Paige nodded. "No reason it shouldn't. We won't be trying to break the curse."

"So what do you have in mind?" asked Piper.

"Well, you got to the Keeper of fairy tales using your old storybook as a portal, right?" asked Paige. Piper nodded. "Same idea. We just use Henry's storybook, and those pages." She stepped back into the bedroom to retrieve the page detailing the moments just before the curse went into effect. A beautiful illustration of Snow White cradling her prince was the centerpiece to the text. "Lucky for us, I once subbed a class in basic portal creation! We simply add a little family magic here…" She took a pen and sketched a triquetra over the drawing. "And voila!"

"You defaced my son's book, and that's a' voila'?" said Emma.

"Hey, the kid already ripped the pages, out!" remarked Paige. "Somehow I doubt drawing some mystical symbols over it is really gonna bum him out."

"But only fairy tale characters should be able to access that as a portal, Paige," said Piper.

"And just do you think Emma is?" replied Paige.

"Can we not call me a 'character'?" replied Emma.

"But she hasn't activated it before," said Piper. "Unless you've been sucked into that book and not told us already." Emma shook her head in the negative.

"Right," replied Paige. "But she didn't believe before!" She pointed a finger in the air in a decidedly 'eureka-esque' manner. "And if I'm correct, you probably have to know what to do. And Piper has used one of these portal before, so she should be able to tap into Emma's connection to the world – and take her where she needs to go."

"But it took me to the Keepers, not the fairy tale realm."

"Because that's where Red's cape last was, right? Well, this portal should naturally take you to the last time and place that Emma was!"

"Right… I'm getting the place jist of all this, but you're telling me it's gonna take back in time, too?" asked Emma. "How do we know it's not gonna take us back to, like before she was even pregnant with me?"

"That what the triquetra is for. We've seen it used as a portal before. And it's our family symbol. Take the two and what do you have?"

"The facts of life?" replied Piper flippantly.

"Very funny," replied Paige, hands on her hips. "You have a functional portal, that you can reopen from the other side to return as well! Look, we'd better get this dog and pony show on the road if you're gonna beat Mary back from the market."

"Alright, alright!" grumbled Piper. She turned to Emma. "Ready?"

"As I'll ever be. Which isn't saying much," said Emma with a shrug.

Paige opened the Book of Shadows and spun it around, placing the illustrated page from Henry's storybook on to it. "We'll need your blanket as well. It will be Piper's ticket into the portal." Emma quickly retrieved her baby blanket and handed it to Piper.

"Ok, so how does this work?" asked Emma.

"You two join hands, and read this spell aloud," said Paige, pointing to an entry in the book entitled 'To Find Your Way'. "Then, touch the storybook picture, seeing that destination in your mind's eye. It's the best way to ensure you land where you're intended to. If you feel yourself being pulled from Piper, it means you're not going to the same destination. In that case, clear your mind and hold on; go with her, because I don't know how you're getting back if we lose you."

"Fabulous," said Emma.

"You'll be fine," reassured Phoebe.

"Alright. Let's hit it," said Piper. She wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, clasping it closed with one hand, and taking Emma's firmly in the other. The pair exchanged a look and nodded.

Hear these words,

Hear the rhyme,

Heed the hope within my mind,

Send me back to where I'll find,

What I wish in space and time.

With that, the triquetra began to glow. Emma took a deep breath and put her free hand on the page. Just as she thought nothing would happen she and Piper were sucked into the page. If she'd had to describe it, Emma would have said it reminded her of riding one of those Gravitron machines you find a county fairs, but in reverse. She felt pulled, dizzy, and everywhere and nowhere all at once, and tried to focus on where she wanted to go. She was vaguely aware of the other women with her, providing a reference point in the nothing-everythingness Emma found herself floating in. And then just as abruptly as it began, it stopped. The ground was solid under her feet and she realized her eyes were squeezed shut. She pried them open. "How do you get used to that?" exclaimed Emma to Piper.

Piper smirked. "I don't know. You just do…. And don't. If that makes any sense?"

"About as much as anything I've seen today."

"Ha! That's the spirit!" replied Piper. "Not exactly what I pictured Snow White's castle to be like...

Well, which way?"

It was then that Emma really noticed their surroundings. It looked like, as unbelievable as it still was to her, inside a stone hallway, very much like the room in the illustration. The sound of clanking swords and running boots echoed off the walls, and the acrid smell of smoke filled her nostrils. A raging fire outside gave the hall a hellish, unearthly glow. Emma shrugged. "Beats me."

Suddenly they could hear a woman's voice crying out, somewhere further down the hall. The pair exchanged a glance and a shrug before making their way toward the desperate voice. The slowed down as they reached the end of the corridor, and peeked around the corner into the room. There, to Emma's shock, was Mary Margaret, with long locks of raven hair cascading around face as much as it stuck to her sweaty brow, as she huddled over David, whose billowy white linen shirt was soaked a brilliant red; a sure sign of a fresh wound. She held his face in her hands, searching for signs of life. "Please, come back to me!" she pleaded. She kissed him desperately, but he didn't awaken.

Piper blinked back tears, suddenly struck by an intense feeling of déjà-vu. Before her was every moment she'd lost or almost lost a loved one to evil. Weeping over Prue's fresh corpse as it dangled limply in her arms – merely an empty husk that had been the most vibrant person shed ever known just minutes before. Her sister Phoebe, the same, when the house had been blown to bits in an epic battle. Telling Leo she loved him for the first time, and that love healing him. But Snow's prince wasn't waking up.

Emma swallowed. It was real. All of it. Not just magic. Not just fairy tales. And these weren't the fanciful stories of dragons and princesses she'd grown up hearing. This was too terribly brutally real. It was a world she believed could exist. The sound of heeled shoes entering from another entryway suddenly appeared and Emma found herself snapped out of her reverie by the icily dulcet voice of a woman she realized she despised like she had no other in her life.

"Oh, don't worry dear. In a few moments you won't remember you knew him… let alone loved him." A vampiric version of Regina strode into view, a sinister smile on her lips.

James' head lolled back in the crook of Snow's arm as she look up, a fire in her eye unlike anything Emma had seen in Mary Margaret. "Why did you do this?"

Regina shot her face down and forward, her dramatically hooded outfit and movement giving her the impression of a striking snake. "Because this is my happy ending!" she spat. She rose back to her full height as two black knights approached. "The child?" she asked.

"Gone," replied the first. "It was in the wardrobe, and then it was gone. It's nowhere to be found."

Regina whipped her head back to Snow, seething. "Where is she?"

Emma couldn't stand by any longer and darted forward. Piper's reflexes, were luckily, quicker than Emma's feet and she instantly froze the room. "Back off, bitch!" spat Emma, only to immediately be confused by Regina remaining completely motionless. "What happened?"

"I froze her. It's one of my little special abilities," replied Piper, joining Emma in the room proper.

"Who the hell are you people?" Snow White exclaimed. She was in a defensive posture, as much as one could be on the ground, James' dagger in her hand.

Piper threw up her hands in supplication. "Relax… we're on your side."

"You can trust us," added Emma.

Snow narrowed her eyes. "And why should I believe that?"

Piper put her arms akimbo and raised an eyebrow. "It 's a sad day when a mother can't trust her own daughter," she replied and nodded her head at Emma.

Snow's eyes widened at this, but she didn't lower the dagger. A strange mix of suspicion and hope danced in her eyes. "And how am I to know this isn't trick?"

Emma met the woman's eyes. "You're the only person to ever believe in me. You've done it before, when you had reason to whatsoever, and gave me a home. You just did it, trusting that infant you just sent through that wardrobe would find you one day. Trust what your heart tells you."

She lowered the dagger slightly, but shook her head."But I've never heard of such magic. Such a thing just isn't possible!" cried Snow. "Not even by Rumpelstiltskin!"

"Well, now we know where you get your skepticism from," remarked Piper.

Emma took the blanket draped over in the crook of Piper's elbow and tossed it to Snow. She eyed it for a moment before looking back at the two strange women. "Keep your hands up and out," she demanded. "No fairy business!" The two nodded and she lowered her weapon and picked up the blanket to examine it.

"Where else could I have gotten that?" said Emma.

Snow turned the blanket over in her hands. It was an exact copy for the blanket she'd knitted Emma, except that it showed all the signs of being much older than the one she had finished mere days ago. The white was dingy, and the other color faded. The fabric had begun to pill in some places. But it was plain as day, it was the same. She looked back up at the blonde woman. "Emma?"

Emma nodded slowly, not sure what to say. "My baby girl Emma?"

Emma swallowed the lump in her throat. This was the last way she ever expected to meet her birth mother, but it somehow was easier still to believe this woman was her mother than Mary Margaret, even with the closeness in age. "In the flesh," she replied finally, and couldn't hold off the quiver of her chin.

The exact quiver that Mary had seen on the face of her infant daughter in the few minutes she'd had with her. On the chin that so resembled her own. Suddenly, she could see James in her face, an almost perfect blend of both their faces, really. She gently pulled herself out from under James' weight, laying him softly on the floor before leaping to her feet. She quickly crossed the distance between them, her nightgown billowing around her, and wrapped her arms around this woman, her daughter. "And I was right to have faith in you!" She stepped back, but kept her hands on Emma's arms. "My little miracle, who's already taller than I am! I guess they're right when they say they grow up too fast!" she added with a chuckle, wiping tears from her eyes. "You are so your father's daughter…"

"I suppose so," replied Emma, quietly stealing a glance at James' dying form.

"But how?" exclaimed Snow.

"That would be me," replied Piper. "Just think of me as a powerful witch from the world that you're about to be exiled into."

Snow nodded. "It makes me happy to know you have such powerful friends there, to help you. Are you here to defeat the Queen? We could end this all now, before the curse is even cast!"

"I'm afraid not," replied Emma. "I wish I could, really I do."

"Then why don't you?" she asked. "At least save your father!"

Emma shook her head. "I can't. Not without destroying my future."

"A future filled with 28 years away from your family!" pleaded Snow.

Emma sighed. "If I do that, then I'll erase my son."

"I'm… I'm a grandmother?" cried Snow.

Emma nodded. "And he loves you very much."

Snow stared at the prone form of her true love, then back at the woman born of that love. "I understand. But why are you here then?"

"The cursed has trapped everyone in your realm in a prison built of fake memories. No one knows who they truly are. To break the curse, I'm going to have to wake them up."

"And I don't know who you are…" Snow concluded quietly.

"Right. But were trying to fix that," replied Emma. "We need something to jog your memory. Something directly tied to our bond."

"I take it the blanket didn't work," said Snow. Emma shook her head. "I don't know… I only had a precious few moments with you before your father sacrificed his life to get you safely away… I'm so sorry, honey. I've failed you twice…"

Emma took Snow's hands firmly in hers and locked eyes with her. "Listen to me. You didn't fail me. You saved me. We'll figure this out. And don't worry, Dav-er, James will be just fine." Again, her chin quivered and puckered with emotion.

Suddenly, the lightness returned to Snow's face. "That's it!"

"Huh?"

"I know what the trigger is. What it must be! True love is the greatest magic of all. More powerful than any other," explained Snow.

Emma raised an eyebrow. "So, you want me to bottle pure love. How am I supposed to do that?"

"Not all love is romantic, or even feels good," said Snow. "And though I love you with all my heart, the love we shared was one of heartbreak. You need to cry, Emma!"

"To bottle the tears?" asked Piper.

Snow nodded and darted to a shelf. She pushed knick knacks aside until she found what she was looking for; a small glass vials, shaped like a swan. She popped off the cork stopper and wicked away a single tear with a fingernail, carefully pouring it into the vial. "This holds blessed water said to be able to return something lost to you. It should have gone through the wardrobe with you… but take it with you when you leave. With my tear it is almost complete. You must cry and add your own."

Emma shook her head. "I can't. I haven't in years."

Snow smirked knowingly. "I just saw you bawling your eyes out not 20 minutes ago. I assure you, you can. It's all I know of my little baby girl. Tears are our bond."

"Need I remind you I was an infant? I've been through too much. I can get mad, I can get sad, but I can't cry."

Snow lightly rubbed her hand up Emma's arm. "Someone once told me that 'happy is the heart that still feels pain'. Please don't tell me Regina has taken away my daughter's very happiness…"

Emma looked down and away. She wished she could cry, to get that catharsis. But she doesn't know how any more and the guilt that her hardened heart may have damned them all tore her apart inside. She felt Snow's hand and her chin and let her gently lift her head back up to look her in the eye. Snow wiped her thumb across Emma's cheek and smiled warmly at her. "I knew you could do it," she stated before awkwardly moving her thumb over the vial. A single clear drop trickled off her thumbnail and into the vial. It was only then that Emma realized her eyelashes were wet with tears. "I'm so sorry you've had to endure such pain, Emma. But I'm so proud of you."

She smiled and help up the vial, pushing the cork back in. "This is an elixir made from the bond we shared the moment you came into the world. Make me drink it and we'll take down the Queen as a family. As we always were destined to."

Emma nodded. "I will. I promise."

"One more thing, Emma," said Snow.

"Yeah?"

"Do they have hot chocolate in this other realm?"

Emma chuckled. "They do. Why?"

"Give it to me in that," she suggested with a smile.

"I promise."

"I hate to interrupt, but I don't know how much longer my freeze is going to last," said Piper. "You should get back to where you were when I froze her."

Snow nodded and gave Emma one last hug and a peck on the cheek. "Don't ever lose hope."

"I won't," replied Emma. "Never again."

Snow settled James back onto her lap as she sat down and Emma heart stung. Here was a man whom she didn't wholly trust, but he nearly given his life for her. It was hard to reconcile David and James, but perhaps when he regained his memories his true character would shine through. She certainly hoped so. "I'm so sorry I can't end this here and now."

"Don't be silly. You've already given me a greater gift than I could have ever dreamed possible," replied Snow.

"I haven't given you anything…" said Emma in confusion.

"Of course you have. I can go into the curse knowing James will be fine. My baby girl will not only be safe, but become an amazing woman who will find us. And whatever false memories I end up carrying around, I'll know all that in my heart of hearts. 28 years will be nothing with that in my heart. Now take this," she said and tossed the baby blacnket, and then James' dagger expertly to Emma.

"What's this for?" asked Emma.

"To wake James. Now fly, before you get caught! I'll know its significance." Emma nodded."I love you, Emma."

"I love you too," replied Emma, amazed at how true it was for this woman she'd know just a few months, or minutes, depending on how you thought about it. "Good luck!" She and Piper retreated into the hallway. Soon they were back where they'd arrived.

"You okay?" asked Piper, gently.

Emma nodded. "Let's get out of here…"

Piper nodded and took Emma's hand. Same spell as before. The pair recited the same spell they'd used to get here, this time reopening the portal they'd arrive through.

The moment the portal closed, Regina and the guards came back to life. "Where is she?" snarled Regina.

Snow could help but smile, nearly laughing in sudden joyful awe at the gift she'd just been given. "She got away!" 'And she thrived,' Snow thought to herself. The whole incident already seemed like a dream, but she knew it wasn't so. There was something wrong about this sudden reversal of demeanor, Regina realized, but couldn't imagine what it possible could be. She was just so damned certain. "You're going to lose!" continued Snow. "I know that now. Good will always win," she added, gazing at James as if she could see her baby in his face.

Regina shrugged it off as desperate naiveté, though if she'd been honest with herself, she knew Snow hadn't been that naïve little girl for quite some time. "We'll see about that!" It didn't matter, though. The curse was already on its way here. She began to laugh.

As the roof of Emma's nursery cracked and shattered, and the wind picked up, Snow couldn't help but be frightened, nonetheless. "Where are we going?"

The wind whipped harder and harder, and the Queen simply gloated. "Someplace horrible… Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine."

'I'll see you in 28 years Emma,' thought Snow White and she closed her eyes tight and braced herself against the gale force winds. 'And we'll fix this together.'