For the past three nights, Emma had been having nightmares — she'd dreamed that she'd found a way to use her magic to take the names off of the tombstones, leaving everyone free to leave the Underworld unscathed. But in each recurrence of the dream, as soon as she began to wield her magic, a storm would roll in, a beast would attack, and both Hook and her mother would be killed.
Each night, Emma would wake in a cold sweat, frantically trying to remember the magic, and forget the aftermath.
With time ticking away, there was little else to do but press onward — to search for anything at all that could at the very least get Regina's name removed.
It was decided — by Regina — that she would do her part, and talk with her sister to see if she could sniff out any weakness in Hades, hoping to find leverage to use against him so that they could all go home.
Inviting her to tea at Granny's, Regina tried not to take any comfort in Zelena's obvious upset. The red-haired woman stared blankly out of the window, hardly noticing when Regina set a mug of tea down before her.
Sliding into the booth quite ungracefully beneath the weight of her middle, Regina grunted softly as she adjusted herself, shifting and wriggling in place until she found a somewhat comfortable position.
"How's… how are you," Zelena asked softly, her eyes lifting to meet Regina's. "How's my daughter."
"Safe," Regina promised, offering a tender smile. "Hades won't ever get to her."
"He'll suss it out eventually," Zelena replied sadly. "When he wants something, he never gives up."
"…And you know this, how?"
"I don't want to talk about it," Zelena admitted, clearing her throat, shifting in her own seat now.
"Zelena…for once in our lives, maybe we can just…try…acting like sisters," Regina hummed, seeing sadness in Zelena — sadness that fueled darkness — something she had plenty of experience with.
"What happened between you and Hades," she asked, pressing just a bit more.
There was a long pause as Zelena seemed to shrink in her place. Her eyes darted nervously to the side before drawing in a long breath and letting it out in a reluctant sigh. "He fell in love with me."
"…Oh.." Regina hummed, trying to hide the surprise in her face. She was failing miserably. This was not what she had expected.
"I know. Totally ridiculous," Zelena admitted. "The idea that…anyone could love me," she laughed, but her laugh was low and sad.
Regina watched as emotions played over her sister's features, blue eyes filling with tears. She leaned in and resisted the urge to take Zelena's hand tenderly. "Do you love him?" When no answer came, Regina let out a sigh and leaned back, shaking her head. Her approach was all wrong — this was her sister, in fact, and she was clearly in distress.
"I can imagine how hard this is for you…but you know Hades. He's the one who's keeping us all down here. So I need to know what his weakness is," Regina said softly, and she hated herself for having to ask this now. Because her feelings for her sister were beginning to change.
Zelena laughed, shaking her head. "So this little visit wasn't just sisterly concern. It was about Hades."
"No, it was both," Regina insisted.
"Well, I'm sorry I don't have more to offer," Zelena said quietly, lifting the mug of tea to her lips and sipping slowly. "But…as far as I know, I'm his only weakness…"
Making her way down to her vault, Regina was careful on each step, admitting to herself that this was infinitely easier with Robin's help. Slowly, she descended, finding the last step with a sigh, only to be greeted by a knife to her belly. She gasped loudly and jolted back, catching herself against the stone wall — then, grunting in aggravation when she saw who it was.
"Sorry, love," Hook said softly, slowly lowering the blade.
"I'm glad your reflexes are better than your sense of style," she quipped, stepping down and onto the solid ground of the vault. Narrowing her eyes, she was surprised to see Emma and Snow there as well.
"This has turned into quite a day…" she breathed out. "Why are you all in my vault?"
"Short version," Snow offered with a shrug. "Thing with fangs trying to kill us."
"And you're…hiding instead of fighting?" she asked, knowing this was entirely out of character — at least for Emma and Snow.
"I saw the same monster in my dream," Emma explained. "And in the end..it…."
"It killed me," Snow answered for her daughter.
"I thought it was a message or some…vision of the future.." Emma tried to explain.
"Well you dreamt it. It's not like it will happen," Regina offered with furrowed brow. "Maybe this dream isn't just about the monster. It's about you…working out some issues," she suggested carefully.
Emma stood back and puffed out her chest, leaning casually against a chest of drawers. "I don't have any issues," she challenged in reply.
Then silence.
"Much…as it pains me, I have to agree with Regina. What's going on?" Hook asked, crossing the space to be at her side.
Confronted by her lover, Emma stammered, feeling her words rising to the surface, admissions ready to flow. "Maybe I….feel like I failed everyone," she said softly.
"Failed?" Hook asked. "You saved me."
"We are still trapped in the Underworld," Emma corrected him, her tone changing to anger — anger with herself.
"The hell was I thinking bringing everyone down here? Bringing Henry down here — and Regina," she added, gesturing to the pregnant woman.
"This is a terrible plan. I should have done this alone. And now I'm always frightened — I'm frightened someone will die. And it will be my fault. And I'll never forgive myself," she explained, forcing her eyes forward, unable to bear looking in Regina's direction.
"Emma. You did not force any of us down here. We all wanted to come with you. We knew it would be hard, these things always are — but some things are worth it. Love is worth it," Snow insisted.
"Now, if you want to get home, let's do what works. Let's face this monster together."
Zelena sat in the diner alone, biding her time, thinking of the hundreds of possibilities each of her choices could result in. But just as she was about to stand to go, her mind as made up as she could possibly hope for, a waitress walked by, placing and covered silver platter down in front of her.
"I didn't order anything," Zelena snapped, but the waitress paid little attention, and was already moving on to her next task.
With a sigh, Zelena removed the cover to reveal a single flower — brown edges and wilting petals, tied with a ribbon, her name written in familiar hand. She smiled, and looked out the window, a new perspective in her heart. Hades did love her, it seemed.
In the woods, Snow led the small group, her arrow drawn. Following the tracks left behind by the beast, she turned over her shoulder with a smile, noticing a tell-tale sign.
"It's close," she said happily.
"There!" Regina pointed out, already opening her palm to throw her magic, Emma stepping quickly in front of her, letting her own magic join Regina's.
"Nice shot," Hook said with a grin as they watched the beast tumble down behind a fallen tree.
"Wait! Everyone stay back — It could still be alive," Emma shouted, racing ahead to put herself between her family and the beast.
"Emma stop, don't kill it—" Snow called after her, running up behind.
But as they all filed in closer, they realized they were familiar with this particular beast.
"I think your dream was a vision," Snow hummed. "But it wasn't about saving me…" she said with a smile, reaching down to grab the red cloak from the ground, lifting it and covering the large animal. And the moment the cloak touched over the creature, it was no longer a creature at all — but Red.
"The Underworld?" Red asked, sitting up slowly as she woke surrounded by friends in an apartment that was only slightly off from the version she knew in Storybrooke. "I don't understand. I used a tracking spell so the cyclone would bring me to Zelena," she explained.
"Ruby — she's down here, too," Emma replied.
"Wait, love, you came down here, looking for Zelena?" Hook asked.
"Why am I not surprised. What did my sister do now," Regina asked with the roll of her eyes.
The number of people hunting for the fiery haired witch was growing every day.
"It's my friend, Dorothy. Zelena wanted her magic slippers so that she could get back to her baby," Red shook her head, having never really understood fully the scenario around her — only that it resulted in a missing friend.
"Time to talk to Zelena," Emma groaned, moving away from the bed.
"I'm coming," Regina insisted, knowing that her presence would at the very least be enticing enough to keep her sister from running off without explanation.
At the farmhouse, Zelena stood out front, the stolen slippers on her feet. "I'll come back for you when the time's right," Zelena hummed to herself, her words meant for the unborn child she loved. "But for now, you're with the people who can give you what you need."
She lifted herself on her toes and clicked her heels together — once, twice. But then something stopped her.
She turned over her shoulder to find her sister, followed closely by Emma, Snow and Red.
"You're not going anywhere, sis," Regina called to her.
"How do you expect me to become mother material if you won't leave me be," Zelena snapped.
"Well, we were planning on it until someone you screwed over literally dropped out of the sky," Regina explained.
And this was all getting incredibly tiresome.
"What did you do to Dorothy," Red asked, her lip quivering in fear.
But she said nothing.
"Zelena…tell us what you did. Fight your instincts and help us," Regina pleaded gently. "It's the only way you'll ever see your little girl again. Trust me"
But Zelena only shook her head.
"No. I'm afraid I can't fix this. Even I can't help Dorothy now," she admitted.
"Why not," Emma asked trepidatiously.
Letting out a sigh, Zelena conjured a mirror in her hand, and held it forward — showing the girl lying still, lifeless.
"You killed her?" Red asked in a whisper, her heart already breaking.
Zelena shrugged and tried — and failed — to hide the smile from her face. "Not quite. I took a page out of your book, Regina."
"Sleeping curse," Regina sighed defeatedly.
"You need to wake her up," Red demanded, practically growling at the witch.
"That's what I'm trying to tell you — I can't," Zelena replied with annoyance. "Dorothy may have the love of the people of OZ, but, there's only one thing that can help her now."
"True Love's Kiss," Regina agreed — and she would know. She had cast one of the first sleeping curses, guided by Maleficent.
"Simple trade, really. The slippers for my daughter," Zelena demanded, holding court inside the farmhouse now.
"Really," Regina chided. "You really think you're in a position to bargain for your own child? You trapped Dorothy in an unbreakable curse."
"I'm sorry if I'm good at what I do," Zelena said with a smile, quite unapologetically.
"STOP hiding behind all that bluster," Regina gritted, growing angrier by the second. "You're not proud, you're caught."
Taking a breath, Regina moved to sit in the chair opposite her sister, the slippers on the table between them.
"Look. I get it. You did a terrible thing. But just because you made one bad move — or thirty — doesn't mean you can't make a good one now," Regina encouraged.
"Zelena," Regina whispered when her sister still had nothing to say for herself. "You can come back from this. Trust me. I know."
Zelena laughed sadly, rolling her eyes to the side — but this time, not in anger. "Think so?" she asked somewhat disbelieving.
"There's only one way to find out," Regina cooed. "If you try."
Zelena hesitated a moment, but reached forward to take the slippers, moving them in front of Regina. "Here," she sighed. "You can keep your pep talks. I have no delusion that anything will change," she sang, crossing the room to pour herself a drink. "Not you. Not me."
" I hope they wake her," she said insincerely, lifting her glass to cheers herself. "And if you need me, I'll be right here," she breathed out, leaning back into her chair.
Regina took the offered shoes and left, rejoining her friends on the porch of the farmhouse.
"These will get you back to OZ," Regina said happily, handing the shoes over to Red.
"How did you get her to hand those over to you," Snow asked with genuine surprise.
"You're not going to believe me, but all I did was ask," Regina laughed.