Chapter 6

Emma watched as the grief covered Regina's face. She didn't know what to do. They had done everything that Regina could think of to help Ruby (Red) but she wasn't getting any better. Regina had sent ravens to everyone that she could think of in their realm. She got responses, but they were all knowledge and spells that Regina already had or had tried. They were at a loss and Emma wasn't sure how Regina would take it if Ruby didn't make it.

It had been a week since Belle offered to go find Coraline. She didn't know what good it would do, but she knew that Belle felt the need to do something to help. She watched her pacing in Ruby's room for days before she went to Regina's library. It was scant days after that when she gave Regina her proposal. At first, Emma thought that Regina wouldn't go along with it. It was just such a long shot and it would be difficult to make it happen. She didn't think that Regina would agree, but she did. It had taken them mere hours to get ready. Emma had been quite surprised.

After thinking about it, she shouldn't have been surprised at all. She knew that Regina was looking for a way to track Coraline. They missed their daughter and if Regina could find her, they would go get her. She knew that Belle and she had been holed up in the library going over every book and every journal from Coraline's past to figure it out. She just hoped that they were right. Belle was gone and they weren't any closer to a solution.

Emma had been tasked with watching the mirror for a response from Belle. So far there hadn't been anything, but she hadn't given up hope. She knew that once Belle found Coraline she would make a "call" home to let them know what was going on. She just hoped that it would be soon. She didn't know how much longer Regina could last before she had any news.

Emma left the room. She needed a break. She walked down the corridor and towards the kitchen.

Granny and Snow were at the Stoves making dinner for the family. She was still amazed that even though Snow and David had their own castle in the Summerlands that they stayed with Regina and Emma in the Winterlands for the most part. She liked having her family near. It made dealing with everything a little easier to deal with. She was glad for her mother's support and love.

"How is she?" Snow asked as she entered the kitchen.

"The same," Emma told them as she sat down on a stool at the work table behind the stove.

"Any word from Belle?"

"No," Emma replied.

"Has Regina said anything?" Granny asked.

"No."

"Hungry?"

"Not really," Emma told them.

"You need to eat, child" Granny told her.

"I don't doubt that. I just don't have the stomach for it. My wife is hurting. My daughter doesn't know what's going on. My elder daughter is still missing. My best friend could be dying and there is nothing that we can do right for her now. I feel useless and my magic is suffering. All in all, I am just lost."

"Well, we're here for you, Emma." Snow told her.

Emma nodded at her mother. She didn't know what else to say. She'd needed the break from the room where Red was being kept. She stood up from the stool and made her way out of the kitchen. Maybe she just needed to walk around, look in on things, then she wouldn't feel so…useless and afraid. She needed the distraction.

She made her way into a formal hall of some sort. She knew it had a name but for the life of her, she couldn't remember. That was why she let Regina handle all the politics. But, she saw her father, younger brother and her children in there playing with toy swords.

Henry and David were teaching Remy and Neal how to fight. It was all very comical. Henry would advance on David showing them a move and then Remy would just hit Neal with her sword, smiling proudly at her brother and grandfather. They'd just shake their heads and try again. Neal for only being five years older than Remy was still very patient with her and took each and every one of her hits without getting angry.

"Must be the Charming genes," Blue told her as she entered the room.

"I guess so," Emma mused.

"Still no word from Belle?"

"No."

"It's only been a few days. I am sure she'll find Coraline. She had Regina's mother's globe and a magical map on New York. She had everything that she needed to get to her. She'll find her, if she hasn't already."

"It isn't Belle I'm worried about," Emma stated.

"You're still worried for Coraline?"

"Wouldn't you be? It's been almost three years, Blue. I still blame myself for not being here when she came back with George's head. To be honest, we've been here for a while and I still don't know what I'm doing. I'm the fucking Queen of the Winterlands and honestly being the heir apparent to my parents' throne isn't helping matters."

"That is why they've named Henry as their successor, Emma. You know this. The people wanted an heir and he is your heir. It doesn't matter that he uses Mills as his surname. He is your blood and the next in line. Should something befall him, then Neal, then Remy. We've been over this. I know that it doesn't make sense because of everything that you went through as a child, but they will be okay."

"How can we guarantee that? Hmm? Coraline came from the past to save us all, remember?"

"I haven't forgotten about your daughter, Emma. We all remember who she is now and I understand that her methods may not have been the most helpful, but she did what she thought she had to do in order to make sure that everyone survived. And, they did. Remy is a testament to that. You cannot belittle what Coraline did or would have your young daughter suffer?"

"Never."

"There is also the fact that Regina has released Wilhelmina from her obligation to the family. She has given her knighthood amongst the kingdoms. Even, Ruby named her a Loban among the Ulf. She is not going to let your family falter," Blue explained.

"She is still pining over Coraline," Emma added.

"And, she will for quite some time. They are soul mates and are bonded. The fact that Will hasn't left your family tells me that she believes that Coraline will come back. We don't know what happened between them on the road to finding George, dealing with George or coming back. And, as far as Regina has told Tink or myself, Will hasn't said much about what happened in Coraline's rooms before she jumped through the portal. Maybe she knows more than she is letting on, but I doubt it. If she did, she would have jumped at the chance to go with Belle."

"She asked to go," Emma said.

"And? Then why didn't she? Who told her not to go?"

"Belle…"

"Would Coraline run?" Blue asked her.

"She's done it before. It's in her nature because she is my daughter. If she saw Will…maybe, but Belle, no, she wouldn't run. As much as it is pains me to say it, she has always been closer to Belle. I am glad that she had someone like Belle in her life, but it sickens me to know why. I can't blame Belle for something that she hasn't done, but she was the one that Regina sent with our daughter to raise her, to make Coraline her own, and to give her the life that we couldn't. How can I compete with that? How could I take that away from Coraline? I can't. I won't. I don't care how much it hurts me that she loves Belle and Red like they are her true mothers. She is still my daughter and I will love her anyway. I will do what I can to repair our fragile relationship. I don't care if she never calls me 'Ma,' again. I just want my daughter in my life."

"You sound an awful lot like your mother, Emma," Blue told her.

"I know where she is coming from now."

"And, you didn't before?" Blue asked.

"I didn't want to before."

"What changed?"

"Red being my friend."

"She is a good friend to have."

"She also helped raise my daughter. She was my mother's best friend and she protected her when others wouldn't. She was became one my best friends, before and after the curse broke. She helped me deal with a lot when it came to Mom, but even more so with Regina and Coraline. I know that it was hard for her being Regina's little half-sister and having to hide it. She can relate to Coraline better than I can. Even though we both know what it is like to be the outcast, I never grew up in a wartime situation. I didn't grow up in the Enchanted Forest. I don't know all the rules and I break them all the time because some things here just don't make sense to me. But, Red also knows what it is like for the people you love to be afraid of you."

"And, you don't?"

"I did, but I didn't. I think I was more afraid of myself than they were of me. Henry and then Regina proved that to me. Regina wasn't going to let me go off and do something stupid. I guess I should have realized then that she loved me, but we were both dealing with our own issues," Emma stated.

"But, who came for you when you tried to get rid of your powers?"

"Besides Elsa and Anna?"

"Yes," Blue replied.

"Mom and Regina, followed by Henry and Dad."

"So, your family has never given up on you?"

"Never, no matter what I've done," Emma said.

"Then, don't start by giving up on Coraline."

"I haven't. I won't. I don't care what it takes to get her back. I am not going to let her suffer being the Dark One alone. I can't. Not when that fate was meant for me," Emma stated.

"You don't know that," Blue calmly told her.

"Don't I?" Emma questioned, raising her voice more than she meant to.

She realized this when Henry, David, and Remy turned to look at her. Emma was not known for yelling so when she did, everyone seemed to take notice. Neal gave her a smile and wave before trying to get Remy to engage him again. David gave her a look, but she just shook her head at him. Henry wasn't going to be dissuaded that easily and she knew it. He gave her a cocked eyebrow, so much like Regina's, that Emma had to laugh. It was her laugh that told Henry that it could wait. Emma knew that he would seek her out later to see what the outburst was about.

"He's too smart for his own good," Emma muttered turning to leave the hall.

"He is mother's son," Blue stated.

"Yeah, but which one does he take after?" Emma asked her.

"I am so not answering that question," Blue told her as she shrank herself back down to tiny fairy size and fluttered away, leaving an amused Emma to think about what they had talked about.

Emma sighed. Things were bleak but she couldn't give up. She couldn't let her family down. She had to find something that could help.

She walked through the castle. She found herself in the room with Regina's mirrors. She had one dedicated to different realms so that she could in touch with some of her other worldly allies. Emma still couldn't walk by the mirror to Oz without shuddering. She knew that Zelena and Regina had come to a tentative alliance. They agreed to stay in their own realms and help only if asked. It was the only way they talked. Emma couldn't help but wonder if Zelena had anything that could help them with Ruby. She dismissed it as soon as she thought about it. She knew that Regina had already asked.

The mirror to Storybrooke was still dark. It was like a strange omen that Emma couldn't read. Why was it still dark? Why hadn't Belle activated the mirrors in Regina's vault or house? She wanted to scream at the mirror. She wanted to reach through glass and pull her home. Patience was becoming a problem for her.

She sat in the lone chair in the room and stared at the glass. She was trying to will the connection open. She didn't know if she had that kind of power. She doubted that she did, but she felt like she needed to be doing something.

"It doesn't work that way," Will told her, joining her in the room.

"I know that."

"Then, why do you try it every couple of hours?"

"Because I want news," Emma told her.

"We all do."

"Are you still angry with her?" Emma asked, changing the subject.

"Belle or Coraline?"

"Either of them," Emma replied.

"Not really. I know why Belle went. She was right. She was best candidate to go get Coraline. If any on the rest of us went back, she would have run. Hell, she might run from Belle."

"I know that."

"And, that's why you're scared," Will stated.

"Yes. What if she can't find her? What if she does, but she refuses to come back? Do you think that Coraline will let Red die?" Emma asked.

"No, she wouldn't. She loves her as much as she loves you and Regina. She'll come back and fight for her. Will she stay afterwards? That is the question we don't have the answers to. And, that is why everyone in the family is on edge. Even Remy knows that something is coming."

"I know. She asked me about it last night as I was putting her to bed. She can sense things. She knows that we are worried about Red, but there is something more that we can't explain. I think that worries her. We've never withheld anything really from her, except for Coraline's true identity. I don't know if that was because Coraline asked us to or for our own sanity."

"They are the same person, but then again, they aren't."

"They are both my daughter, true. But, they are vastly different. Remy is still innocent. Coraline…Coraline has decided how close she is going to let us be. She fought for her family and then pushed us all away once she…" Emma started.

"She took the Darkness, Emma. You still can't say that? She did what she felt she had to do in order to protect us all," Will stated.

"You aren't angry with her anymore, are you?"

"Oh, I'm angry, furious even, but I've had time to digest why she did it. I understand it even if I don't condone it. I love her too much to hate her. Does it hurt that she isn't here? Immensely. Does it hurt that she ran away from me? From us? From all of this and those that could have tried to help her deal with it all? Absolutely, but she is just as headstrong as her mothers. I can't fault her from trying to put the family first. She did everything so that Remy would never know the Hells that she's lived through. Am I saying that it was the best answer to her problem? No, I am not. I get it, though. She's had a hard life and it was only going to get harder because of the temptations from the Darkness. You have to understand that much. The temptation might have been too great for her to stay here. She might have needed the world without magic in order to find a peace within herself that she was willing to live with. Why else do you think that she chose to go back there?" Will asked her.

"Because it was the only other realm she knew?"

"That may be true, but she forged some happy memories there. She found her family there. She saved you there. I am not saying that it is perfect, but maybe she felt more comfortable there with the Darkness lurking inside of her than she did here when it was readily available for her to use," Wilhelmina explained.

"Why are you so infuriatingly helpful sometimes?" Emma asked her.

"It is part of being Vulcannonian, I guess."

"If she goes back, will you go with her?"

"Now, that is a question that I can't answer."

"Why not?"

"Because I haven't seen her yet."

"Meaning?" Emma questioned.

"I don't even know if she is the same woman that I fell in love with. It doesn't matter that we are each other's True Love anymore. The Darkness has corrupted her heart and twisted her sense of love. I don't know that I can love her, but I do know that I am not going to let her go so easily this time. We will have to talk. She is the one I am meant to be with, but I can't do that if she doesn't want me. I will not fight her. If she wants me, she'll let me know."

"How can you be so sure?" Emma inquired.

"I am not."

Emma could then see it. She could see the uncertainty in Will's eyes. It had taken weeks before she came out of her rooms and a mild threat from Regina to get her to come back to court. She knew that she was free. She could leave whenever she wanted, but Will never did. She stayed on as a knight of the realm. She still did all the duties that were proscribed to her as the Vulcannonian attached to Regina, but now she did freely and without a contract.

"Do you think that we'll be able to save Red?" Emma asked her.

"I don't know. I hope that we can. I know that Coraline will have the knowledge for the most part due to the memories and knowledge of the past Dark Ones. She is the only one I can think of that could find a way to save her since no one else has been able to help."

"I hope that Belle comes through for us then."

"EMMA!" a voice called through one of the mirrors.

Will and Emma both turned. In the mirror for Storybrooke stood a flustered brunette. Her piercing blue eyes were watching them both warily. She smiled softly when she finally saw the recognition in Emma's eyes.

"Belle!?"

"Yes, Emma, I'm back and I found her."

"Is she coming back?" Emma asked.

"She is willing, but there is a catch, it seems," Belle told them.

"What sort of catch?" Will questioned wondering what Coraline was planning.

"She will come, but she's bringing…"

"Bringing?" Emma inquired.

"Friends."

"Friends?"

"Yes, she is bringing four friends with her."

"Why do I feel that you aren't happy about this?" Emma asked her.

"They seem to good friends of hers, but I am not sure how well they will fit in there. They don't know anything about magic, but they seem determined not to leave Coraline's side. She's asked them to go back to New York, but they refuse. She's tried to make them understand what they may be facing there, and they don't really seem to care."

"But, that's not all, is it?" Will questioned.

"No, it isn't."

"What?" Emma probed.

"She took out her heart," Belle told them.

Emma looked at Will in shock. They both knew what that meant and they didn't know how Regina would act when she found out about it. Cora had done the same thing and gone completely sadistic. They both knew that Coraline was predisposed to having some sadistic qualities in her nature, but they were hoping that the Charming genes would override that. From where they stood, it did. She gave her heart to Neal to save him. But having his half of a heart and removing it, what would that have done to her?

"What?"

"She took it out because she didn't want to feel. It seems that she believes that she failed all of you by killing George. She couldn't take our reactions. She left to try to fight through the hate and the only option that she came up with was hiding her heart," Belle told them.

"Where? Where did she put it? Does she have it with her?" Will asked.

"Yes, she has it. She hid it in a magically created safe behind Regina's horse statue at the house. I don't know how long it was there, but it was. She pulled it out to show the four with her in hopes that it would make them think twice about coming there."

"I am guessing it didn't work."

"No, it didn't. It only made their resolve that much stronger. I think that she has found people that will support her and keep her grounded. As much as she doesn't want to admit it, they help her. Quinn and Santana especially. They are an acquired tasted, but the past few days, I'll have to admit that they have started to grow on me. They remind me of us all. They are all broken in their own ways, but they have each other's backs."

"Quinn and Santana?"

"They are two of the friends that are coming. You might want to prepare Regina for them. They both remind me of her, but sides of her, and they are a force to be reckoned with. They are good for her. I am surprised. They are brash and crude, but they are loving and close."

"I like them already," Will replied.

"Figures," Belle stated.

"Is there anything else that we should know?" Emma asked.

"HEY BELLE! Whoa? Who's that?" Santana asked coming into view.

"Emma, Will, meet Santana," Belle replied.

"Hello," Santana told the mirror and then turned to Belle, "Danni wants to know when she should go get her stash and all. She's packing some interesting hardware and she something about needing to go to her mausoleum at the town cemetery. I mean I know our girl's got issues, but for reals, Belle, I hope she doesn't think I am going in there with her."

"Santana…I'd like you to meet Emma and Will."

"I already said hello, that wasn't enough. Do I like need to curtsey or something? Cause I don't know the protocol on that shit, so what's up? Dude…you're talking to them in the mirror. Is this more of that magic shit that Danni's been talking about, cause this is kinda cool. It's like Skyping on a whole new level," Santana stated.

"It really is," Emma told her moving closer to the mirror.

"Santana, can you give us a few minutes? Tell her that I'll be along shortly. I have idea what she's looking for and I'll go with her. Thank you," Belle said and watched as the fiery Latina nodded before leaving her alone with the mirror again.

"That's Santana?" Emma asked.

"Yes."

"Oh, Regina is going to love this," Will stated sarcastically.

"Belle?"

"Yes, Emma?"

"Who is Danni?"

"Danni is Coraline. She has taken a new name and it what they call her. It is short for Danielle. It seems to fit her here. She still responds to Coraline, but I can see it on her face that she wishes that I wouldn't call her that or that I would do it when we are in private. I am not sure how that is going to work once we are back, but I am sure that we will all sit down and discuss it."

"Does she even want to see us?"

"I am still working on that. She is still hurting and I haven't gotten the bottom of it yet. I think she fears that we are all afraid of her because we know what immense power she actually has. The four of them, her friends, they have no real idea. Except for maybe Quinn, but that is a whole different subject."

"And her stash?" Emma asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It seems that she likes to garden."

"Garden?" Will inquired.

"And, in her gardening, she planted some crops on the edge of the town line, in the forest near the well, in a place that none of us would look," Belle told them.

"A crop of what?" Emma asked.

"Beans…magic beans…"