Henry just barely makes it through the door behind Emma before it goes slamming shut, effectively blocking out the guard stationed outside.
His eyes widen as he realizes that Emma didn't touch the door, going to the crib to scoop up Harper instead. She used magic. She's practically vibrating with it – although that could just be her shaking from emotion – and her eyes are glowing white instead of their normal color.
He's pretty sure that she doesn't notice though, because once she's got Harper in her arms, she heads straight for the door to her chambers, not even blinking as it opens seemingly of its own accord. He hurries through it too, before it also slams shut with a bang that makes him jump.
"Ma?" He asks cautiously, his eyes darting from her to Harper. The baby seems fine in Emma's arms though, so he focuses back on Emma.
Her eyes have closed and he watches as she mutters to herself. "Think about what you're protecting. Think about what you're protecting."
She opens her eyes, staring hard at the door they just came through. "I'm protecting my family. I'm keeping them safe. No one can harm them. No one can come through those doors to take them."
Henry knows then, what she's doing. She's putting up a barrier to stop people from entering the room.
"Harper. Henry. Regina. Harper. Henry. Regina." She repeats the names over and over again until the white magic finally fades away. Then she slumps onto the bed, clutching Harper and still shaking.
"I'm your baby." Henry says when Emma has stopped shaking and settled Harper on the bed beside her.
Her eyes fly up to him and he instantly knows that she took his words the wrong way. "Oh, god, Henry, of course you are. Of course you are. And you have to know, you have to understand that I love you so much. So much. And Harper, she –"
"Ma." He squeezes her arm to stop her. "I know. I know that Harper's not…" he takes a breath before he speaks the words, cushioning them as best he can, "a replacement. I know you weren't trying to replace me or get a redo or whatever. She's an addition. She's the best addition."
Tears slide down Emma's cheeks at his words and her face crumples just a bit under the weight of emotions. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." He smiles. "That's not what I meant though. I meant… the prophecy. It said the baby of the Savior. I'm your baby too."
"No." Emma shakes her head quickly at the words. "No, Henry. Absolutely not."
"But Ma, if I go –"
"No. I will not send you god knows where alone. I won't do it. I don't care what happens here. I will not put you in danger. Not you and not Harper. It's not up for discussion."
He pulls out his trump card then, hoping to get a rise. "I'll ask Mom then."
Emma just laughs. "If you think Regina's going to let you go off portal jumping, then your memories must still be affected."
Henry sighs. "I can convince her. I'll make her see it's the only way."
"It's not. There's always another way. Another choice."
"But this might be our best chance. If I do this, if I find Glinda and get help then it'll stop. And we can go back to our lives, just like you wanted. You, me, Harper… and Mom."
"Henry, we both know it's not that simple. Not at all." She sounds so tired.
"Ma, it's my turn to be a hero." He says, his eyes locked on hers. "For all of us."
"Being a hero isn't all it's cracked up to be, Henry. Believe me, I know." Emma sighs and Henry's heart hurts at the sound. "That's why I won't let you do this."
Her words would be final to anyone else. But Henry's never been like anyone else. His mind is already turning, even as he gives her a resigned nod. He'll find a way to be a hero, no matter the cost.
"Do you love her? Do you love Mom?" Henry asks quietly later, after watching Emma stare out the window for a while. It's a question that's been swirling in his head ever since he realized that Mom was Harper's other parent. For their magic to have done that, to have created his little sister, it had to mean that Emma and Mom were true loves, didn't it?
Emma turns and offers him a small smile. "I don't know, Henry. I don't – I don't really know how to love very well."
"Mom said the same thing to me once." Henry reveals.
"Well, your Mom and I, we've been through a lot. We've been… hurt a lot. Sometimes purposefully, other times not, but it all adds up, you know? It makes it hard."
He thinks of Harper and how tiny she is and how Emma would never, ever leave her alone to fend for herself. And he thinks of himself and how Mom had always loved and protected him, even when he maybe didn't deserve it. And then he thinks of Emma and how she had been younger than Harper when she'd come through the tree, and of Mom and how no one, not even his grandfather, had really protected her and his heart twists in his chest. It had been so easy even just a year ago to only see their titles – Savior and Evil Queen – but now he can see beyond that. He can see the people who had been so hurt. And he can also see the people they are now.
"I don't think that's true." He says softly. "You and Mom, you both know how to love me. You know how to love Harper."
"Well," Emma says and her eyes look just a little glassy as she smiles at him. "That's easy. Loving you two, that's the most natural thing in the world. But loving someone else…"
"I think you're both learning. And I think you could learn the rest together."
Emma looks out the window almost wistfully before she glances back at him. "Maybe."
"You make a good team." He smiles and this time, she smiles too, a full, wide smile.
"Yeah. We do."
Regina waits for nearly three hours before she finally leaves her chambers and goes to check in on Harper and Emma.
She goes to the nursery first.
It is empty.
The crib where Harper usually rests is bare and Regina feels panic rise up within her like she hasn't since Henry was a toddler and wandered off from her at the park. It's the same fear now, the loss of her child and the panic that comes with it, although she doesn't register it as such. She only knows that she has to find Harper, has to make sure she's safe, because if she isn't, there will be hell to pay.
She turns on her heel and rushes across the room to the door to Emma's chambers.
The door creaks as she opens it, slipping inside and breathing a huge sigh of relief when she catches sight of Emma, sound asleep on the bed, Harper asleep on her chest. Emma's holding the little girl against her heart, protecting her, even in sleep.
"Mom?"
She jumps at the voice and turns to find Henry, sitting in a chair by the bed, watching over the two sleeping blondes.
"Henry." Regina breathes as her hand comes to rest against her chest where her heart is still beating rapidly. "She's here."
There's a look on Henry's face that she doesn't understand – a question flitting across his features – before he finally breaks out into a smile. "You're here."
"Harper wasn't in her nursery." She whispers in explanation. Henry's smile grows.
"You checked on her."
"Yes, well, I – after finding out about everything that happened today I thought I'd look in on her. When she wasn't in the nursery I –"
"Ma wouldn't leave her there alone. Not tonight. Not after –" A haunted look crosses Henry's face for a moment before he shakes it away. "She wouldn't let them take her."
"Of course not." Regina agrees, moving closer to Henry.
"I wouldn't either." He says, puffing his chest up then in a way that makes her heart ache. Her little prince is growing up and turning into a hero all his own.
"Oh, Henry." She pulls him into her arms, holding him tightly for a moment. "I wouldn't either." She murmurs, allowing the words to come out instead of keeping them locked inside.
Henry's grin splits his face. He pulls backs and looks at her for a long moment before he opens his mouth. "Mom, there's something –"
He's interrupted by a commotion at the door. Regina hears the sound of the doors banging a bit and then Snow's voice filters through, calling out for Emma. She frowns, her brow furrowing. Why is Snow making such a racket? Why isn't she just coming into Emma's chambers?
Henry looks to the bed, where Emma stirs just slightly and then back to Regina. The grin is still there and there's a sparkle in his eyes too. One that says 'I know something you don't know'.
Regina waves her hand toward the door and the chambers suddenly fall silent, a wall of magic blocking out the sound. "Why doesn't she just come in?"
"She can't." Henry replies with a shrug. "The door's sealed."
"No it isn't. I came through it not five minutes ago."
Henry just keeps grinning, looking at her with an expectant look. And suddenly, the penny drops.
"She protected it. She used her magic." She looks at Emma. Emma who used her magic to protect her daughter.
"Yep." Henry nods.
"But –" It let me in, Regina wants to argue. Surely Emma couldn't have wanted to allow her in? But if she didn't, then the magic would've kept the door closed, just like it did to Snow. Wouldn't it?
Her thoughts are interrupted by a tiny cry and she turns automatically at the sound to see Harper squirming in Emma's hold.
Henry moves to take her, but Regina is quicker, carefully sitting on the side of the bed and reaching out for the baby. Even in the haze of sleep, Emma reacts, clutching Harper tighter, which only makes her cry out in alarm even more.
"No. You can't take her." Emma mumbles, thrashing her head, even as her eyes stay closed.
"Shhh." Regina soothes, resting a hand over Emma's. "It's alright. I'm not going to take her from you."
Emma's eyes blink open then, cloudy with sleep and confusion, but when they meet Regina's gaze, she relaxes almost instantly. "R'gina." She mumbles, loosening her grip on Harper and allowing Regina to take Harper into her arms. "You're here."
They're the same words Henry said earlier and she feels like there's some kind of significance that she's missing. But she shakes it off and just rocks the baby in her arms, smiling down at Emma. "Yes. I'm here and so is Henry. We'll watch over Harper. You go back to sleep."
Emma's eyes begin to droop, but she forces them open for just a moment more. "No one else."
"No." Regina agrees. "No one else will come here tonight. You've made sure of it." She waves the hand not holding Harper and allows the sound of Snow and the guards to filter back through. They're still banging on the door and yelling. Emma flinches and frowns at the sound before smiling sleepily at her achievement.
"She hasn't been sleeping." Henry says later, when Harper has fallen asleep clutching Regina's night dress and Emma has begun shifting restlessly on the bed.
"That's a normal thing for new mothers, dear." Regina says with amusement in her voice as she carefully places Harper in the bassinet she's conjured next to Emma's bed. She's well aware of the hours Emma keeps with Harper, thanks to her mirror. "For the first five months of your life, I don't think I ever managed more than three hours of sleep at a time, if I was lucky."
"Well, yeah, but… it's not that. I mean, I know she gets up with Harper and stuff but…"
Regina tilts her head, taking in the worried expression on Henry's face. "What is it, Henry?"
When he looks up, he looks so young that her heart nearly skips a beat. "She's the savior." He whispers, but whereas before he always said those words with pride and awe, now he says them with dread and disappointment.
"I don't understand, sweetheart." She admits.
"I thought it was so cool, that she could bring back the happy endings you know? But I didn't realize that it wouldn't stop. She'll never stop being the Savior. People will always expect her to save them. They'll never let her rest. They never let her rest."
"Henry."
"She cries at night." He tells her and it's nothing that Regina doesn't already know, but it somehow hurts more to hear it from Henry. "They wanted to send Harper away and they expected her to do it because she's the Savior and that's what saviors do."
"Oh, Henry."
"All she wants is a simple life with her family. And she'll never have that. Not here."
"Because of me." Regina whispers.
"Because of Gold." Henry counters. "Because of the prophecy. Because of everything. It isn't fair."
"No." Regina smoothes back Emma's hair, watching as she slowly settles under her touch. "It isn't."
Henry watches them for a moment before he nods to himself. "That's why I have to go through the portal to find Glinda."
Regina's head whips up, her eyes piercing Henry. "What?"
Henry's amazed that she's managed to keep her voice so low while still being so harsh to his ears. He manages not flinch under her gaze though, meeting her eyes head on.
"The prophecy said the baby of the Savior. I'm the baby of the Savior too."
Regina is the one who flinches then and Henry feels bad because he knows she's thinking of all the times he denied her as his mother and touted Emma instead.
"I'm your son too, Mom. But if the prophecy is talking about the baby of the Savior bringing back Glinda, it could be talking about me, right? You're the one who told me that these prophecies can be twisted or interpreted wrong. Blue thinks the prophecy is talking about Harper, but what if it's talking about me?"
"I don't care who the prophecy is talking about. I will deal with this witch. Neither Harper nor you are going through any portal on a suicide mission to find a flighty blonde who is god knows where. I will not allow it. And if your birth mother has put these crazy ideas into your head –"
"She didn't." Henry is quick to defend, not wanting his mother to go back to her harsh attitude with Emma, not after she's softened so much since she's been in the room with them. "She told me no, too."
"Well, for once your mother and I agree on something."
Henry wants to point out that they actually agree on a lot of things – all of the important things about him and Harper – but he knows that will only make his mother more apt to closing herself off instead of actually listening to him.
"She won't send Harper. But you know, no matter what she says about taking the beans and leaving everyone here to fend for themselves that she won't do that either."
Regina's heart lurches at the thought of Emma taking a bean and leaving with her children. She does her best to convince herself it's just because of Henry, but there's a part of her that knows better – especially after her talk with Mulan. She cannot stand the thought of losing any of them, even if she cannot find the words to tell them that either.
"She's the Savior." Henry spits the word with venom, so similar to the way she had once said it. Only she'd thought she hated the person. Henry obviously hated the title alone. "She'll go. And then what will happen?"
"She is very capable. She's already proven that time and again."
"And if she isn't? If the prophecy is right and the price of her going against it is her life? Then what? What happens to Harper? What happens to all of us?"
"What happens to all of us if you die?" Regina snaps back. "What happens to me? You are everything, Henry. Everything."
"No." He shakes his head. "I'm not. You just refuse to see the rest."
"Henry."
"I'm the son of the Savior and the Ev – the Queen." He corrects himself. "I can do this. Let me do this, Mom. Let me be the hero this once." He reaches out and grabs her hand. "Let me do it for you and Ma and Harper."
"You don't even know who you're looking for or where she will be." Regina protests.
"Neither does Harper and they wanted to send her!"
"They're imbeciles!" Regina just barely manages to keep her voice down so as not to wake the two sleeping blondes.
Henry nods, as though conceding that point. He looks back over toward the bed. "Tell me I can go, Mom. Make Emma see it's alright."
"And if I don't?"
Henry smiles a sly smile then, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a magic bean. "I go anyway."
"This is her influence." Regina growls, but Henry notices that she's looking over at Emma with affection. He also notices that even though his mother could take that bean from him in the blink of an eye, she doesn't.
"I can do this." He affirms again, knowing that she knows it too. "And once it's over, once it stops, we can go back to New York and live normal lives."
Regina flinches. Henry grabs her hand again. "As a family, Mom."
Regina's eyes close. She wants that so much, she realizes in that moment, that she can see it playing out behind her eyelids when she closes her eyes. "Oh Henry. I don't think –"
"You need to talk to her." Henry insists. "Soon. I don't know why you're acting this way, why you're mad at her, but you've gotta talk to her mom."
"I'm not mad, Henry. I just –"
"You ignore her. You treat her like you did when she first came to Storybrooke. But I know that when you guys came to get me in Neverland you were friends. I know you care about her."
"It's complicated, Henry."
Henry thinks of all that Emma has said, of all the things he knows about his mother and he shakes his head. "No, it's not. You're just making it complicated."
"Henry."
"Talk to her." He insists again. "And let me go."
Regina closes her eyes tightly before she gives one tiny nod. It takes everything in her not to break down when she opens her eyes to see Henry smiling victoriously at her. He looks so much like Emma just then that she has to look away.
By the time Emma wakes up, Henry has already gotten the hat from Hook and is sitting on her bed, waiting to say goodbye.
Emma sits straight up in bed when she catches sight of what he's holding.
"No. Henry. No."
He offers her a smile. "It's okay, Ma."
"No. It is most certainly not okay. You cannot do this. I told you –"
"And I told you that I can. And that Mom would agree."
It seems that it's only then that Emma realizes Regina is in the room as well.
"Regina." She gasps, searching her face. "You told him –"
"He made a few very good points." Regina says, not looking at her. "And besides, he already had the bean and threatened to go with or without our approval." She does look over at Emma then and it's one of the first times that they've really looked at each other since Emma came back. "I blame you for that."
Emma lets out a small laugh before she pulls her gaze away from Regina and looks back at Henry. "Henry, you –"
"I can do this, Ma. I need to do this. For Harper. For our family."
Tears begin to slip down Emma's cheeks and Regina feels her own eyes growing wet.
"Henry." She murmurs, knowing exactly how Regina felt when she thought she was going to lose him all those times over the years. "I can't –"
"You won't." Henry grins at her as he leans over and hugs her tightly. "I love you, Ma."
She sobs against his shoulder, clutching tightly to him. "I love you, Henry. I love you. I love you."
He finally pulls away and smiles at her, the crooked smile that she loves so much, even if most of her memories of it aren't really real. "See you soon." He promises before moving over to hug Regina tightly.
Emma thinks they must've done most of their goodbyes before she woke up, because although Regina clutches him tightly just like she'd done, she lets him go with a kiss to the forehead and a nod.
Henry tosses the bean away from them, grinning madly when the portal opens. He holds tightly to the hat before he jumps in, the portal spinning and spinning until it finally closes.
The room goes silent then, except for Emma's sobs and even though she aches for Regina to come and comfort her, the queen merely looks at the place where the portal was with silent tears sliding down her own cheeks.