Hey, lovely readers, it's been a while, I apologise. This is a rather long one, and kind of scribbly at the end, but meh Things kind of change a bit in this one, I guarantee it will end well though. Do enjoy, all mistakes are mine. Tell me what you think, if you like and I hope you all like it :) Also, I really didn't check over this at all, I just wanted to post it, so forgive any continuity errors or any other errors. Enjoy.

Regina tore down the street not caring that the heavy rain shower was messing up her perfect hair as she tore out of her house and rushed over to library. She and Emma had heard Ruby's howl and knew something was wrong. Then Ruby had turned up on Snow's doorstep, who promptly phoned Emma. Regina decided to see Belle while the others concerned themselves with Ruby. She disappeared in a puff of smoke from her mansion and reappeared slightly down the road. She didn't want to appear in the middle of some sort of carnage – not that she expected carnage, but if Ruby had done something, Regina would need time to assess the situation. Diving in blindly was just stupid. As she climbed the steps and barrelled inside, she looked around to see Belle ripping books off of the shelves and hurling them in all directions, painful sobs filling the air. Mulan was trying to calm her down, but Belle wasn't listening. Mulan ducked as Belle fired a magical bolt at the book she had just thrown. It burst into flames and sailed over Mulan's head. The warrior chased after it and stamped on it, putting out the flames.

"What happened?" asked Regina to Mulan, hurrying over to her, watching as an oblivious Belle continued wrecking her precious library, her hair ruffled and messy.

"She's been like this for a while, there's nothing I can do!" shouted Mulan in reply, running a hand through her long black locks. Regina looked at the carnage in awe, before something caught her attention.

"Belle!" yelled Regina as she felt a tell-tale breeze. Belle seemed to favour air as a magical element, and Regina was worried. Belle froze, her eyes glinting with a mix of purple and gold as she turned towards Regina, who clenched her fists, ready to defend herself. There was a tense moment when neither woman moved. But then the rage faded and Belle collapsed to her knees. Regina and Mulan rushed to her side as Belle's head rolled onto Regina's shoulder. Tears mixed with rain on Regina's sodden coat as Belle's eyes rolled up in her head and she blacked out. Mulan looked to Regina before lifting Belle easily in her strong arms and carrying her up the stairs. Regina followed, waving a hand behind her. The small fires dotted around the room all went out and the library door closed and locked.

"Will she be okay?" asked Mulan, pacing the length of Belle's bedroom. Belle was asleep on the bedroom, mumbling occasionally in her slumber.

"I don't know," replied Regina. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, alternating between looking at Belle to watching her phone. Emma had phoned earlier to say she would give updates on Ruby's state, but she hadn't done so yet. It had been around an hour since her last call. Regina was getting worried.

"Have you ever seen her like this?" Regina sighed, looking up at Mulan with a look of regret.

"We haven't been friends for that long. I haven't been so good to her in the past," admitted Regina, closing her hand around Belle's. It was unusually cold.

"I wasn't so kind to her when I first met her either."

"It's a shame. I used her. In the cruellest way," said Regina quietly as she squeezed Belle's hand a little.

"But you're sorry, aren't you?" asked Mulan, sitting down on the bed.

"Very," nodded Regina, gazing at Belle's pale face. She had never had a proper friend before. She didn't want to lose this one. She rolled up the sleeves of her crisp white blouse which was tucked into her black trousers. Her coat was hung up in the living room to dry. Mulan folded her arms.

"When I first met her, she beat me to the beast I was hunting." Regina could hear the fondness in Mulan's voice. "I spent weeks tracking it. She found it in one day," smiled Mulan, looking at Belle. "I would never admit to her, but I was impressed. She had so much doubt in herself. But she saved the creature, and it turned out to be one of my best friends." Regina felt Belle's fingers tightening ever so slightly around her hand. The former Queen's attention returned to Belle, whose eyelids were fluttering ever so slightly.

"She has a habit of finding the good in people." Mulan opened her mouth to reply, but Belle groaned as her eyes fluttered open.

"I'm not dying," she said with a half-smile. "No need to write me a eulogy just yet." Regina felt a smile pull at her lips. Only two other people could make her smile this easily, and they were her family; Emma and Henry.

"How are you feeling?" asked Mulan, settling on the edge of the bed on the opposite side to Regina.

"Fine," replied Belle flatly as she heaved herself upright, placing a hand to her head as her head swam a little. She remembered the hurt look on Ruby's face and shook her head slightly, trying to dislodge the memory as she sighed heavily.

"I'm so sorry –" started Mulan but Belle stopped her with a gentle wave of her hand.

"It's not your fault."

Mulan and Regina shared a concerned look as Belle subtly ran a hand across her own cheek where the skin glistened a little in the dim lighting.

"Do you… uhm," Mulan was searching for words of comfort, but it was difficult. She had only really been close to one other girl. This wasn't her forte.

"You want me to kill someone?" asked Regina, trying to get a smile from her young friend. For a moment, she thought it was the wrong thing to say but Belle smiled, a small chuckle escaping from her lips.

"That won't be necessary, thank you though."

"You haven't really got the best support group, to be honest."

"Yeah, Belle, you're great at picking friends," added Mulan, glad to see the twinkle back in Belle's eyes, even if it was pretty dim.

"An ex-homicidal queen and a rather anti-social warrior. I could do worse," smiled Belle. They all shared a chuckle, before Belle sighed.

"How am I going to fix this?" she asked. Regina and Mulan looked at each other again.

"I think you should sleep on it tonight, and then tomorrow you can go and explain things. Ruby will have calmed down by then," said Regina, squeezing her hand again.

"You think?" Belle was looking at her friends with such hope and sadness that their hearts ached a little.

"She loves the bones of you. She wouldn't leave you for anything," replied Regina confidently.

"Ruby, tell me again, slowly this time," said Snow as she grasped Ruby's shaking hand. The werewolf girl had turned up on their doorstep out of the blue, soaking wet and crying uncontrollably, muttering something about Belle. Snow had been worried when she had heard the howl, but now she saw the state that Ruby was in, she needed to know what had happened. Unfortunately, the girl hadn't been able to speak for the past while, and though both she, and Emma when she had arrived had tried to get her to calm down, it was a fruitless task. After Emma had handed her a glass of whiskey, she had downed the whole thing and then blurted out the entire story at the speed of light.

"Belle…" sobbed Ruby as she sat on the sofa, gripping the arm of the chair tightly with her other hand as if trying to hold herself together. "She…" Ruby gulped. "I went home and I… I saw Belle, and there was this… this woman… Mulan her name was…"

"Mulan?" Emma glanced at Snow, who also was remembering the warrior woman they had met in the Enchanted Forest.

"No! Belle would never do that!" said Snow. "She would never cheat." Emma knelt in front of Ruby and handed her a tissue. She accepted it gratefully.

"No, she wouldn't, but… I don't know, it's… she's…" Ruby broke down again, sobs heaving through her body as Snow pulled her close, stroking her hair softly as she looked helplessly at her daughter, who shrugged, looking concerned.

"I need to go," muttered Ruby.

"Wait, Ruby –" started Emma as she straightened up, reaching out for Ruby's arm.

"Ruby, please…" said Snow as Ruby wrenched her arm free.

"I need air," Ruby mumbled as she darted to the door. Emma and Snow raced after her, following her to the street and out into the rain as night was beginning to fall. Her foot splashed in a puddle, closely followed by her paws as she transformed and bounded away, leaving Emma and Snow standing in the rain shouting after her.

"Come back!"

"Ruby!"

Belle was fast asleep when she heard it. It was the dead of night – Regina was sleeping in a chair next to Belle's bed while Mulan was sprawled out at the foot. They had been talking and then eventually they had fallen asleep. Regina and Mulan heard it too, both of them sitting up, their hair slightly messy. A blood curdling, shrieking howl that Belle knew off by heart but it had never been laced with so much pain.

"That didn't sound good," groaned Mulan as she rolled off of the bed. Regina reached across and checked her phone. Sixteen missed calls. She cursed herself for leaving her phone on vibrate while Belle slept. She hadn't expected to fall asleep too. Belle swung her legs out of bed and ran in search of her coat as Mulan followed her, tucking her sword into her belt.

"Belle, wait!" yelled Regina as she stumbled after the librarian. Mulan caught her before she opened the door. "Just wait a second, we don't' know for sure what that was!"

"It was Ruby! She was in pain, I know it! I know her howl better than anyone!" said Belle, struggling with Mulan, but the warrior was too strong and held fast.

"Belle, just calm down for a minute until we figure this out," said Regina as she dialled Emma's number. She impatiently waited for Emma to pick up.

"Emma, what's happening?" she asked after four rings.

"Regina! Why the hell haven't you answered your phone?" the irritable voice on the other end snapped.

"Later! Was that Ruby? What's happening?" asked Regina. Belle and Mulan looked on, Mulan now holding Belle up rather than keeping her from leaving. "No, no, Belle's fine. Emma, what's wrong?" Regina sounded worried.

"Why are you near the portal? Well, yes of course I know about it, we were going to close it tomorrow. A what? No that's… No… Emma, are you serious?" Regina was pacing now. Mulan squeezed Belle's shoulder.

"We'll be right there." Regina hung up the phone and turned to Belle and Mulan. Mulan had pulled on a long leather coat that Belle had picked out for her and Regina hurriedly grabbed her boots and coat – she was glad she decided to change into dark jeans earlier, since she wasn't doing any official work.

"Come here," she said, grabbing Belle and Mulan's arms, one in each hand. Suddenly, they were engulfed in purple smoke. They couldn't see anything as the smoke spiralled up around them. Once it dissipated, a cold breeze swept over them and they were standing on snow. The only light was the moon, but Regina promptly lit a fireball in her hand. The portal was shimmering away a little way to their right. A flash of white light shone nearby, and Snow and Emma stumbled out from behind the trees.

"Regina!" called Emma, running over to them, Snow following closely, torches in hand.

"What's happening?" demanded Regina, grasping Emma's arm.

"We're tracking Ruby," panted Emma, her breath. "She ran off a while ago, Snow tried tracking her, and then we heard that howl. We tracked her here, and then…"

"Then what?" asked Belle urgently.

"We found this…" said Snow, holding out a small arrow shaft with blood on it and dark, matted fur.

"It's…" Belle couldn't even finish the sentence.

"There are more of them down there," said Emma sadly, pointing towards the trees where she and Snow had emerged from moments before.

"And then…" Snow cleared her throat. "Then there are marks in the snow that seem to indicate that… Ruby was dragged into… into the portal." Her voice broke on the last few syllables and she reached out, placing a cold hand on Belle's. There was silence as the thought sank in until Mulan swore loudly. Everyone turned to her.

"Those damn hunters! I thought I had lost them. They were searching for interesting creatures, myths to prove fact. They had heard of us working on the Yaogui myth and asked me about it as I travelled, but I was reluctant to say anything. They must have followed me, thinking I was on another hunt." The warrior furiously slammed her fist into a tree and didn't even wince.

"We have to get her!" said Belle. There were no tears in her eyes now. Only rage. She blocked out the images of Ruby injured and howling as she turned to the portal.

"No, wait, Belle!" said Snow, grabbing her arm as the librarian stepped towards it.

"I'll help," said Mulan, stepping up beside Belle. "Anything I can do to help." Belle nodded gratefully.

"You two will get yourselves killed!" exclaimed Emma. "Do you know how dangerous this is? You can't just go in blind!"

"It is dangerous," said Regina. Emma smiled triumphantly. "That's why you'll probably need me," she grinned. Emma's face fell as she turned to Regina, gripping her bicep.

"Regina, no, you can't –"

"Emma, I can't just let them go, what if they need help? Besides, we all know that world –"

"It's changed dramatically!" yelled Emma.

"Nevertheless, I won't let her go alone. We'll be back, and there's magic on both sides now, so we can open another portal if this one closes. And Belle's pretty powerful."

"I don't –"

"Emma, I love you," said Regina, planting a kiss on Emma's lips. "Look after Henry. Tell him I'll be back soon, okay?" Regina smiled, a genuine, warm smile that rarely appeared unless Emma was around.

"Be careful," mumbled Emma as she kissed Regina again, before stepping back.

"Snow, you're in charge while I'm away," said Regina as she stood on Belle's other side, facing the portal.

"Me?"

"Yes."

"Good luck," said Snow quietly.

"Get Gold to monitor the portal while we're away, he can stabilise it if needs be."

"Okay."

Belle took a breath in.

"Ready?" she asked. Regina and Mulan nodded, and together they stepping into the portal, Belle's eyes blazing like a raging wildfire as she emerged into a new world, or rather, her old one.