Hey guys, sorry for the long delay. I'm actually on Vaca! Carrie Underwood concert. Anyways, enjoy!

I sat up quickly, finding myself all alone in a room. It wasn't a room I recognized, so I wasn't sure what to make of it. I was sitting on a neatly made bed. Everything was white. The walls were white. The bed was white. Even the carpet was white. It was almost as if I had been dropped into a world devoid of color. As I began to take note of my surroundings, things began to change. The carpet on the floor became worn down wood. The walls changed from plain white paint to discolored, worn bricks. Two of the walls were plain red brick. The other two were mostly white but in some places the red brick underneath the white color showed through. A small throw rug appeared next to the bed. On either side of the bed small white bedside tables appeared. On one table was a lamp and on the other was a small old school alarm clock. The bedspread suddenly changed, turning into some kind of floral print with matching pillows. Lastly, windows appeared. I now knew where I was. This was my room in Mary Margaret's house. Nothing about it was my style but I had no say in decorating it. Mary Margaret had let me stay with her for free and I dared not complain about the decorations.

I remained on the bed wondering where I was or what I should do. From where I was sitting I could see out the window, but all that could be seen was a swirling greyish white fog enveloping everything. I walked towards my bedroom door and opened it, revealing the same colored fog just outside the door. I decided not to walk out of the room. Whatever magic was at work here, I didn't know how to control it, and I certainly didn't want to tamper with it. I put my head in my hands as I struggled to figure out how I had gotten here. What was I doing in this room? Where had I last been? As far as I knew, I had been asleep. Was I dreaming all of this? It didn't feel like a dream. Was it real? I closed my eyes and took deep breaths. My hands felt real on the bed. My heart pounded nervously in my chest. All of it felt real, but at the same time it seemed that there was too much magic involved for it to be.

"Emma?" My head suddenly jerked up. Standing in front of me, real as could be, was Regina.

"Regina?" I stood up quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"I have no idea." She looked around with obvious disdain written all over her face. "Where is here?"

I looked around a little sheepishly, following her gaze from the tarnished wood floor, to the chipped bricks, and finally to the outdated floral bedspread. "This is my bedroom at Mary Margaret's." I admitted, embarrassed.

"Oh. It has a certain…charm." Even as Regina glanced around my room, some of the room began to change. The walls turned to a slate grey color and the room itself expanded. The wood floor stayed but the bed grew, turning itself into a king size bed with a tasteful grey comforter that matched the walls. As the bed expanded in size the bedside tables remained on either side and moved themselves out as the bed grew. The windows remained where they were but the window frames themselves turned black. It was as if my bedroom had updated itself to more of Regina's style, making it a combination of a little bit mine and a little bit hers.

I looked at her. "Is this your doing?"

"What can I say? My style has a way of taking over." She smirked. "It's a nice update, isn't it?"

"Where are we, exactly?"

Regina sat down on the bed before answering me, crossing her legs and putting her hands on her knee. "I don't know. It is almost as if my consciousness has somehow combined with yours and created a mutual place for us to meet. I'm really supposed to be asleep right now."

"I am too." I murmured. I decided right then and there that the small talk was over. "Regina, what's happening to me? What's happening to us?" I was still entertaining the idea that I was crazy and that all of this was in my head.

"Would you like the short version or the long version?" She asked.

"I just want the truth."

Regina stood up and unbuttoned her blazer. I looked down at myself and saw that I was wearing a full dress with a leather half jacket thrown over it. What the hell? I thought to myself. Regina was wearing a black skirt, a dark blue shirt and a grey blazer. She finished unbuttoning the blazer and pulled it off. "Do you see this?" She asked. It took me a full minute to see exactly what she was talking about. But then I saw it. On her right arm there was a mark that matched mine exactly.

"What is that?" I asked. "What is that from?"

"It's from you." She said quietly.

"Me? What do you mean, it's from me?" I asked, getting worked up.

"When you grabbed my arm we made Jefferson's hat work. This is where you grabbed my arm." She explained.

I took a step closer to Regina and placed my hand over the mark. She inhaled sharply. My hand fit the mark perfectly. "I don't understand. If that is from me, then who is this from?" I asked, taking off my jacket and showing her the mark on my left arm.

"I might just be guessing, but think this," She placed her hand on top of it, and it fit perfectly, "is from me."

I stared down at her hand on top of the mark, amazed. "How is this possible?"

"We've been Marked."

"Marked?" I looked away from Regina's hand where it still resided on my arm. "What the hell does that mean?"

Regina began to explain. "I went to see Rumplestiltskin today. I showed him this mark and he said the mark is an old form of magic. Not much is known about the type of magic except that it may be even more powerful than 'True Love'." She then ducked her head and mumbled the next sentence so that I couldn't hear her.

"What was that last thing you said?" I asked.

Regina picked her head back up and held herself stiffly and proudly. "Rumplestiltskin said that the mark can only occur between soul mates."

She then sat down heavily on the bed, finally letting go of my arm. My heart began to beat faster. "Soul mates? As in, you and I are supposed to be soul mates?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" Regina asked fiercely.

I didn't snap back at her. I knew her well enough by now to know that she always lashed out when she felt vulnerable. "No, it's not." I said softly. I then sat down next to her and took her hand in mine. "It sounds about right." I looked over at her and smiled.

"Emma, what are we going to do?" Regina asked. She looked distressed. "How will I get you back?"

"I'm right here." I said, immediately pulling her hand into my lap and holding it between both of mine. "Whatever this is, whatever this magic is, it will surely only help us. I explained. Tomorrow, Snow and I will begin our journey to the castle where I should have lived and been raised in -" I was suddenly overtaken by a surprising bout of sadness. My entire life wasn't what it should have been. I was finally in the land I was destined to be in and yet, I was dying to get back to the land I had really lived my life in.

"Emma, I am so sorry. I am sorry for everything. Regina explained sorrowfully. When I made the curse I didn't really consider anyone or anything else except my pain. My sorrow. My need for revenge. And now that you exist and are trapped in a world that you are unfamiliar with…" She fought back tears. "I am so sorry. Can you ever forgive me?"

I was torn. I really shouldn't forgive her, ever. She had made Henry feel crazy. She had torn my parents apart and forced them to live their lives away from each other. Regina had taken every fairytale character and had given them mundane magic-less lives. And yet, all I could think to say was, "Yes, I can. I do forgive you." Regina then gripped one of my hands tightly within her own. I suddenly pried my hand from hers and gently took her face between my hands. "I know you are sorry. I know you have many regrets. But right now we need to figure out how to open a portal and get back to Storybrooke. How is Henry? What happened today?" I was ranting and suddenly I remembered something important. "I met Cora."

I quickly jumped off the bed and stood facing Emma. "Do not trust her. I shouted. Everything I am, everything I've ever been, all of the 'bad' comes from her. She killed my first love. She literally ripped out his heart. I vowed that I would never become her but that was exactly what I did. I became her. Actually, I may have been worse than she was. I vowed to never let anyone be truly happy again..." I finally stopped and took a breath. "You must be extremely wary of her. Do not let her know anything of importance. Don't let her know of the connection we have. Get as far away from her as you possibly can." I took a deep breath and met Emma's eyes. "No matter how cruel I have been to you, she can be far worse. She will destroy everyone you love and she will feel absolutely no remorse."

"Regina, I will not underestimate your mother. Emma explained hesitantly. I already don't trust her."

"Yes, but this is more than just simple distrust. Regina explained carefully. You should feel tremendous fear simply by the site of her. Only after you really feel that fear will you truly begin to understand how to deal with her. Those that don't fear her end up underestimating her. And then, they die." Tears began to well up in my eyes. The loss of Daniel, which I had never even come close to accepting, was suddenly fresh in my mind.

"Regina." Emma stood up quickly, immediately pulling me close to her. "I will get back to you, somehow." I smoothly placed my arms around her neck and just for a moment I allowed myself to feel vulnerable. Then I immediately stepped out of her arms. I didn't need for Emma to believe I was weaker than I already felt. She looked at me as the hurt clouded her eyes.

"I am sorry." I said quietly. "I do not mean to act this way. It is very difficult for me to be so open." I placed a hand on Emma's cheek, momentarily allowing myself just to enjoy the contact. "Do you think it's true? I inquired. Do you really think we could be soul mates?" I had already come to the conclusion in my own mind that we were but I needed to hear it from her perspective.

"I know we are." Emma smiled shyly as she answered me. "There is no doubt in my mind that we belong together." She smiled a huge smile at me and my heart fluttered when as she leaned her forehead against mine. "Henry will be thrilled with this." Gently, she pushed a lock of hair that had fallen into my eyes behind my ear and just stared at me.

"The plan that you and Snow White have; how effective do you think it is? What exactly do you hope to find in the castle when you arrive?"

"The wardrobe." Emma replied. "We hope that the wardrobe I originally came through from Fairy Tale Land still exists."

Emma pulled back from me a little, taking my hands in hers as we discussed the plans. She acted as if her actions were the most normal ever, and for her, I suppose they were. "Is there any hope for the wardrobe to be there and be intact? I inquired. What is the plan if the wardrobe no longer exists?"

"We have no other plan." Emma stated as she stared down at my hands. "If it is not there and has been destroyed I don't really know what we will do. Actually, even if it is there we still don't know what we're going to do with it."

I wracked my brain, trying to focus on the problem at hand and not on the fact that I loved Emma holding my hands. "Uh…" I said, quite distractedly before shaking my head and trying to refocus. "I bet fairy dust could help reactivate the wardrobe, if the wardrobe still exists." I thought out loud.

"Fairy dust?" Emma laughed. "You're kidding me, right?"

"Sadly, I am not. Fairy dust has magical properties that most of us do not even understand. But I know one of those properties entails the ability to travel between worlds. If you can find a magical vessel, then fairy dust can guide you. There are other possibilities as well." I explained. "Magic beans, which guide you between worlds based upon the thoughts in your mind, fairy godmothers who grant wishes with wands…" I paused, contemplating for a moment. "I'm not sure whether or not fairy godmothers have the ability to control travel between realms but that is one possibility you can look into if the wardrobe is indeed gone."

Emma sat down on the bed wearily. "So you want me to look for fairies, magic beans, and fairy godmothers?" She asked with an adorable look of shock on her face.

I thought for a second about her question and backtracked. "Actually, maybe not fairy godmothers. They're usually assigned to you at birth. You may or may not have one."

She looked at me strangely. "Fairy godmothers? Like godmothers?"

"Yes. That is where the title originates from. Unless I'm mistaken, your godmother is actually Red."

"Red?"

"Yes, as in Red Riding Hood. The Red Riding Hood with the wolf. I explained. That story does not quite play out in the way it is retold in your world. The wolf and your mother were best friends."

"My godmother is Little Red Riding Hood…" She let that sentence just hang in the air. "There is just too much to take in."

"I know." I replied quietly, "But you have to understand as much about that world as possible in order to survive there. Sometimes things were very dangerous in that world. Rules and laws are quite different there. There are creatures that exist that will attack you. I did not take every living being from Fairy Tale Land and just bring them with me to Storybrooke. So please promise me, whatever you do, you will be extremely careful, I implored."

Emma looked up at me, trying to hide her laugh, but failing to. "Regina, my godmother is Little Red Riding Hood." She started to laugh louder. I realized she was becoming hysterical. I froze on the spot for a moment as her laughing continued. The laughing was becoming progressively louder with no signs of ceasing. So I did the only thing I could think of. I slapped her right across the face. The sharp sound of my hand on her cheek was immediately followed by a short period of silence. "Thank you." She breathed.

"Don't mention it." I replied. I sat down beside her on the bed. "It appears that we will be linked together like this every night. It could prove to be very useful."

I turned to look at Emma and noticed that she was giving me the strangest look. "That's it? You just think this is useful?" I sputtered a bit, unsure of the response I was supposed to provide and unsure of the one she was looking for. It seemed that she didn't really need a response though because she simply laughed, leaned in and kissed me. It was the kind of kiss that takes your breath away and clears your head. I could feel her smiling against my lips and I reached out to pull her closer to me. Just as my hands settled on her waist, she disappeared altogether, leaving me suddenly cold and alone. I immediately opened my eyes, though I needed no confirmation that she was really gone. I could simply tell by the emptiness of the room and the deafening sound of my own harsh breathing that she was indeed gone. I sighed angrily and laid there and waited until it was time for me to wake up as well.