Chapter 22

She sat by her bed and wondered how long it would take for Danni to wake. She had been given a draught of the tea, but she still hadn't woken. Normally, Will wouldn't be that worried about the fever, but it was Danni and her True Love, she couldn't help but worry. She stared down at the dark haired woman and tried to will her eyes to open. She didn't care what color they would be; she just wanted to see her looking back into her own eyes again.

Rachel and Quinn had been taken turns bringing her food and water and keeping her company. They didn't want Will being alone. Regina had even taken a turn or two with the younger women. They always kept their distance, but offered her silent companionship. To be honest, they were all worried about Danni.

After everything had settled with Santana, Will went back to the suite to sit with Danni. She felt like she needed to be there. Everyone else was dealing with Santana and she didn't want Danni to be alone. She could hear the castle moving around her and she knew that Quinn and Rachel had come back to the suite. She hadn't sought them out. She knew that Quinn needed to be alone. She needed to process what was going on in her head.

She looked back at Danni. She smiled softly, but she couldn't wait to see her light brown eyes open again. She couldn't wait to talk to her again. She couldn't wait to have her again. She knew that things were far from perfect between them. She knew that Danni was going to have to process a lot of things when she woke up, but Will decided that she wouldn't have to do alone. She wasn't going to leave her side again. Well, unless, Danni made sure to keep her away like she had the last time.

It hurt knowing that Danni had pushed her away while she jumped through the portal back to Storybrooke. It hurt knowing that she had gotten Belle to basically dose everyone so that no one would remember who she was, but in the end, she couldn't fault her for it. She understood Danni's pain. She understood her need to prove to herself that she could survive without her family, without magic, and without anyone knowing who she really was.

She may not have fully understood the concept of her being the Dark One, but she understood the immortality aspect of it. Danni wasn't searching for a way to end her immortality. She had been searching for a reason to continue living. She'd finished her mission and didn't have a course of action. There was no reason for her to still be there. Regina was pregnant and she's saved "herself" from having to grow up with the love of her parents. She'd kept the family intact. She done what Will had failed to do in her timeline.

Maybe, she was the catalyst. Maybe, Will was the reason that everyone was still alive. It didn't matter to Will though. She just wanted Danni back. She knew that Danni loved her. And, even underneath the trappings of being the Dark One and hiding her identity in the past, there was always something about Danni that drew Will into her. And, it was that connection…their True Love bond…that kept pulling them back together regardless of what they did to each other. It was a feeling that Wilhelmina couldn't deny.

Suddenly, a song came to mind. She knew that healing took many forms, but Belle had told her that the four women and Danni had formed some sort of Broadway musical company. They all sang. Music had become their shared magic in New York. It helped them all heal. Will began to wonder if that would help Danni get better along with the tea. She couldn't help but start humming the tune to the song that came to mind earlier. And, before she knew it, she was actually singing it outloud.

"It's that feeling that someone
Is standing behind me
And I turn around and there's no one there
And it's the sensation
That someone just whispered
Yeah and I still hear your voice but you're not really here
Your memory is like a ghost
And my heart is it's host

I can still feel you just as close as skin
Every now and then
All by myself, in a crowded room, or my empty bed
There's a place you've touched
With your love no one gets close to
I can still feel you, I can still feel you,
I can still feel you, I can still feel you…" she sang louder than she realized.

But she didn't stop. She didn't hear anything but the gentle breathing of Danni. She didn't notice that Quinn and Rachel had joined her in the room. She didn't care. She was too focused on Danni and hoping that the song would get to her. She wanted Danni to understand that she still loved her. It didn't matter what happened in the time they were apart. She'd never really stopped loving her. And the ache, that she couldn't explain after they'd returned to the Enchanted Forest, made more than perfect sense to her now.

"You said you'd love me forever
Then you said it's over
And left me without the missing link
I thought I'd forget you
But I guess I forgot to
And lately I've been too confused to think
When I reach for someone new
It's like I'm touching you…"

Regina had tried to help her through the funk, but it didn't work. Eventually, Regina had sent her on some hair-brained quest. She knew that it was a fool's errand, but it did the trick. When she'd gotten home, she felt more like herself. Well, she felt more like the person that she had been in Boston all those years ago. She didn't feel whole, but she didn't feel empty either.

"I can still feel you just as close as skin
Every now and then
All by myself, in a crowded room, or my empty bed
There's a place you've touched
With your love no one gets close to
I can still feel you, I can still feel you, I can still feel you, I can still feel you

In everything that moves
In everything I do

I can still feel you just as close as skin
Every now and then
All by myself, in a crowded room, or my empty bed
There's a place you've touched
With your love no one gets close to
I can still feel you, I can still feel you, I can still feel you, I can still feel you
Oh I can still feel you…."

She ended the song and turned to see Rachel and Quinn there with her. She thought that she had imagined backup singers, but the realized that she really hadn't. She figured that she shouldn't be too surprised. She'd heard them all singing, even if it was under their breaths, around the castle. Hell, even Santana and Quinn had given her a little show one night in front of the campfire. But, this was different. It was like they could all feel the pain that she was feeling.

"You gave her the potion?" Quinn asked.

"Yeah."

"How long ago?" she asked.

"About thirty minutes or so, I think," Will answered.

"Give it time. Medicine always takes a little while. It isn't always instantaneous," Rachel said.

"I know that. I just… I want her to wake up."

"We all do, Will," Rachel replied.

Will looked at the petite woman. Out of the four of them, she was the one mystery. She wasn't special. There was nothing about her that stuck out in Will's mind that could have drawn her so close Danni, but she couldn't deny their comradery. They were friends, close friends.

"She'll wake up soon," Quinn told her like it was gospel.

Will just nodded and went back to holding her hand. She didn't mean to shut them out now that they were back, but she couldn't help herself. She was so tethered to Danni, that she wasn't sure what she would do if she didn't wake. It was the first time in her many years that Will thought about letting go and allowing her life force to free itself. It really wasn't suicide and she had no plans of finding the blasted curse that Rumple had created that decimated her people. No, this would be a conscious choice to join them, a right of being Vulcannonian.

Quinn looked at Rachel. She'd seen that look before on Santana's face years ago when she was afraid to tell Brittney how she really felt. Rachel shared a look with Quinn before they decided to leave Will with Danni and check up on Santana.

"Well, I am going to see Santana. Rach is going to stay with you. If you need anything, send her to get me. We're all here for you both," Quinn told her as she put a hand on her shoulder.

Will reached up and grasped her hand. She didn't turn, but she understood that they would all do anything for her. She was the sixth member of their group even if she didn't know it. She was Danni's other half and as such, she was given the same amount of loyalty, respect and friendship that they shared. She would have smiled at this if she wasn't still worried about Danni.

"Will?" Rachel started to ask.

"Not now, Rachel."

"The song was beautiful," she said as she sat down beside her.

"It is just how I feel. I can still feel her around me. I can't talk to her, but she's still there. She never leaves my mind," Will said.

"I know what you mean."

"You do?" Will inquired giving her a side glance.

"Yes, it means that you're in love with her. I am sure that she was always thinking of you. I heard her say your name a few times, but she would never tell us more about you. I think that she was afraid that if she told us too much, it would hurt that much more. She hid that from us. I don't know if she was afraid of her love for you or she just hurt too much," Rachel told her.

Wilhelmina turned to face her then, but didn't let go of Danni's hand. She could see the truth in Rachel's eyes. It didn't make anything better, but she could understand more about the women that Danni surrounded herself with. These women were the ones that kept her sane, saved her and helped her find herself without having dark magic influence her. But, at the same time, these were the women that she helped save and gave them something bigger than themselves to strive for. She helped them build a business that made them royalty on Broadway.

"She really loves you."

"I know. I love her as well. I would do anything for her."

"I know. We all would. Just like she would do for us," Rachel replied.

"She has to get better, Rachel."

"She will."

"How can you be so sure?" Will questioned.

"Because I have to believe that she has more to do in this world. She has things to live for. She has people that care for her and want her to get better. I am sure that is somehow magical in this realm. I feel that if we keep thinking good thoughts and sending her our love, then she'll get better. Love after all is the greatest magic of all, right?" Rachel asked as gave Will a quick smile and took her Will's other hand and held it.

"Love is the greatest magic in any realm," Will replied squeezing her hand.

Quinn slowly entered the room. Brittney looked up at her and smiled. Quinn slowly returned the smile, as she got closer. She turned from holding Brittney's eyes and looked down at the slumbering Santana. She sighed and sat down beside the bed that they had moved Santana into.

"She's just sleeping," Brittney told her.

"But, she'll be fine. She'll be up soon and yelling at us for worrying so much. She'll probably even threaten to go all Lima Heights on us for giving her all this attention," Quinn said.

"I am sure she will. But, Quinn, you don't need to worry. She's fine. You brought her back and you helped heal her. There is nothing for you to be upset about it," Brittney explained.

"But it is my fault. If I hadn't taken her out there, then this wouldn't have happened. I promised you that I would bring her back to you. I almost didn't."

"Quinn, you couldn't have predicted that she was a Wolf. None of us knew. Will only realized it once you were near Ulfland. There was nothing that you could have done except be there for her. And, you were. As soon as you realized that there was something wrong, you brought her back to me. You gave her some of your blood to heal her. You did that, Quinn. No one else could have. You are special. You are a high elf and that seems to be something that is revered here. Regina seems to think very highly of you," Brittney stated.

"I don't know why," Quinn replied.

"Because you are an amazing young woman that has overcome many obstacles in your life and yet, you still look for the good in things. I envy that. I didn't fare so well when I was younger," Regina said as she entered the room to check on Santana.

Quinn just stared at the Queen. She didn't know what to say. Danni had never talked about her parents. She'd never said anything about to them about what she might have known or learned from them. But, to see this regal woman before her, to know that she was Danni's mom, to almost feel a kindred spirit in the Queen, it was almost too much for Quinn to bear.

"Will you walk with me, Quinn?" Regina asked her.

Brittney gave her a look that told her to go. Quinn gave her an almost imperceptible nod of agreement as she stood up. She turned to face Regina and followed her out of the room. Just before she got to the door, she turned to face Brittney.

"I know, Quinn. I'll see you later. Go. Talk with Regina. She can help you," Britt told her.

Quinn bobbed her head as she left the room. When she actually looked up from the stone floor, she saw that Regina had changed. She wasn't in her normal royal get up. She was dressed in leather pants and a loose linen shirt with a leather bodice over it. She held black leather gloves in her hands and stood their looking not so patient as she waited for Quinn to follow her.

"Can I ask you a question?" Quinn asked her.

"Sure, but that doesn't mean that I am going to answer it," Regina answered.

Quinn let out a breath, but smiled at the straightforward answer. She turned to regard the woman that Danni favored the most and wondered what colored her past so much that she was so…reserved, commanding…almost cold but fiercely loving. She stood before her dressed in jeans and t-shirt, because she was trying to regain some of her humanness, and looked at the woman who was standing in front of her and she realized something.

"You had a distant and very strict parent," Quinn stated.

"Was that a statement or a question, Little One?"

"Either," Quinn replied.

Regina nodded with a slight smirk and a breathless laugh. A deep honeyed brown looked into the troubled hazel. She didn't give her an answer. She just pulled Quinn through the castle and to the stables. There were already horses waiting on them.

"Ride with me," Regina said more like a command than a request.

Quinn mounted up and trotted out of the stables. Regina joined her on a deep black horse. She looked up at the blue sky and then back at Quinn and smiled. Before Quinn could ask where they were going, Regina was off at gallop towards the castle gates. Quinn wasn't as accomplished rider as the Queen but she somehow managed to keep up. When they finally came upon a stream just outside of the small village in the shadow of the castle, Regina pulled up.

"Let them drink," Regina told her as she dismounted and took her horse's reins, walking it to the stream and then letting it drink.

Quinn followed her actions. When Regina started following the stream, Quinn was a few steps behind her. Finally after about ten paces, Regina turned to face her again.

"When I was young, my mother was very strict. I believe you would call it abusive, but I didn't know any better at the time. I just wanted her to love me, so I did everything that I could to make her happy. But, of course, it was never enough. When my father finally showed what the love of a parent should be like, it didn't matter. He was so far under Mother's boot that he would never be able to help me. I tried to kill my mother several times before I was your age," Regina explained like it was a well-known fact.

"Did you ever succeed in destroying her?" Quinn inquired.

"No, in the end, the one person that I wanted to destroy more than anything did it for me."

Quinn gave her a quizzical look. She thought long and hard about Regina's history or what she knew of it versus what she was taught as fairy tales. Then, she looked back at her wide-eyed.

"Snow?"

"She cursed my mother's heart."

"Okay, so didn't see that coming," Quinn stated.

"None of us did, but I had already started the road back to redemption and had the love of Emma and Henry to keep me from killing her. The thoughts did cross my mind on more than one occasion, but the more I thought about it, I realized that letting her live was a worse fate. She would have to learn to live with the guilt of killing someone. That isn't an easy task."

"I would imagine not."

"You love Santana deeply. Everyone can see it. But, she isn't dead."

"I know that."

"Do you? Because you have been moping around and acting like your best friend died in those woods. There was no way for you to have known that someone would have been out there hunting Wolves. Ruby has already sent word with a lone trusted Wolf to inform them of the troops amassing. If anything, her injuries will save the Wolf nation."

Quinn shook her head. They shouldn't be there. That was the only thing that her head kept telling her. This was all some twisted dream and she kept trying to wake herself.

"Why won't it work?"

"Because you aren't asleep, Little One," Regina told her as she watched her pinching her arm.

Quinn was still upset about everything but she was slowly come to grips with it all. She started to realize that she would still be what she was with or without the magic in her veins, but she was still unsure of what being a high elf meant. And, she didn't know what it would mean for her future, either. The more she thought about that, the more she realized that was what was bothering her the most.

"You don't have to worry so much," Regina told her.

"And, why don't I?"

"Because we aren't going to let anything happen to any of you. Besides the fact that Danni wouldn't allow it, I've come to enjoy your presence in the castle. It makes it a little more like Storybrooke and you make Emma happy. There are finally others here that she can talk about things with without feeling like she is...well, completely out of her element," Regina stated.

"She's had a hard time adjusting?"

"No, not really. She adjusted just fine, because that is all she's ever done in her life. She's adjusted and that's part of her problem. She's taken to this world because she's still afraid that Coraline's future...Danni's true past...will come to fruition and she doesn't want that for our daughter."

"Why?" Quinn asked.

"She's a lost girl."

"Like for Pan?"

"In a sense, yes, but no. She was raised as an orphan. I know that Danni gave you the short version, but she didn't know who her parents were until she was twenty-eight. And, that wasn't the most welcoming of home comings. It turned her life upside down, much like yours is now. I mean imagine finding out that your parents are Snow White and Prince Charming and that the woman who has been raising the kid you gave up over a decade ago is the Evil Queen. To say she was shocked would be a gross understatement," Regina told her.

"Sounds familiar," Quinn replied.

"How so?"

"I have a daughter that is about twelve."

"Danni didn't mention her, nor did Belle," Regina responded.

"That's because I don't see her often."

"Why not?"

"Rachel's birth mother has her," Quinn replied.

"I am sure that is an interesting family dynamic."

"Kinda like you being married to your step-daughter's daughter and being your adopted son's step-grandmother and step-mother?" Quinn quipped.

"I suppose it could be," Regina replied with a smirk.

"She is legally Rachel's sister now and Rachel loves her as such. Shelby, Rachel's mother, lets us see her and spend time together, but we generally do it alone. It isn't that I don't want to share that with Santana and Brittney, I wouldn't care. But others are quick to judge. I was sixteen when I got pregnant with her and I kinda lost my mind after that. I also didn't think about what it would do to Rachel, who never knew who her mother was, when I gave her to Shelby in a closed adoption. At the time, I wasn't worried about Rachel. I was worried about Beth and I wanted to know that she would have a better life than I could have provided for her. I know and so does Rachel, but it made things very tense between us for a while. I can't say that I blame her though. I did give me daughter to the woman that gave up Rachel and then wanted nothing to do with her when Rachel found her as a teen. Their relationship is tenuous sometimes, but they are trying to make a go of it," Quinn told her.

"I can see where that would put a strain on your relationship," Regina replied.

"It did make things awkward. I mean, I am married to my daughter's older sister. Holidays are amusing though. But, Santana and Brittney know that Beth is mine. They get the fact that we need to have alone time together. As does, Rachel. She spends some sisterly time with her and then I get my own time. Now, with all of this and being here...I don't know what we are going to do," Quinn said.

"Bring her here. Show her this world. Let her know her lineage, Little One," Regina told her.

Quinn laughed. It wasn't jovial. It more like a sarcastic giggle. She looked at Regina to see if she really meant what she said. When she realized that Regina meant, her face fell.

"I don't even know what it really going on here and you want me to bring my offspring. Yeah, that's not going to happen. I am not even sure that I am going to tell her about this little adventure when we go home," Quinn explained. "Hell, I don't even know if we are going to go home. How am I supposed to explain that to Shelby? How am I supposed to tell her that we've decided to live in the Enchanted Forest in Fairy Tale Land. She'll try to have me committed."

"All the more reason that she should come here," Regina stated.

"I can see your point, but then again, I am can't. She'll never want to leave and I am not sure that I want to live here permanently. I could possibly handle Storybrooke, but not here. There is just too much...don't get me wrong, Majesty, but for me I like my literature on the page," Quinn replied.

"I understand that. We'll talk later, once Danni is awake. I want her to pick where she lives. Of course, I want her here because she is my daughter. But, I also understand Emma's thinking behind letting her go back to Storybrooke and live there. At least there is magic there so I could come see her and check on her. And, before you say it, I know that I could do that anyway."

"Well, yeah," Quinn quipped anyway.

"It was hard though to do that when I didn't know where she was. But, after talking with Coraline, I've found that she has been coming back to check on her younger alter-self. Even she is still worried that even though we defeated the darkness, that her fate is still sealed to grow up without us."

"How do you cope with that?" Quinn asked.

"I love her to the best of my ability and I tell her that everyday. It is the only thing that I can do. I know that my magic won't save us if the Darkness comes back. But, even Danni has tried to keep that from happening, because she is her mother's daughter," Regina told her.

"In that respect Emma's, I'm assuming?" Quinn asked.

"Oh, yes..."

Quinn laughed. She could see that after spending a few days with the two Queens. Danni definitely did have both of her mothers' temperaments.

"Do think they are wondering about us?"

"Me, no. You, possibly. Come on. We'll head back. We can talk more later."

"Why are you so worried about me, Regina?"

"Because I can see myself in you and I don't want you to have the hard life that I have had. You deserve to be happy, Quinn. Everyone does. It took Emma telling me that everyday for me to believe it. One day, you will too, but first you have to forgive yourself."

"For what?"

"Loving everyone too much," Regina said as she mounted her horse.