DISCLAIMER:: do not own. just borrowing for purpose of creative expression. no profit obtained.

A/N:: just a quick warning, the first conversation between regina and emma might punch some of you right in the feels. be aware and keep tissues in the vicinity. that being said, enjoy and review as always.

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-Chapter 36: You Never Have To Be Alone-

Movement startled Emma awake. She was on a horse, navigating its way down a dense roadway that looked as if it hadn't been used in years. The forest encroached in on both sides, broken tree branches discarded across the dirt, still laying in the places they'd toppled to after breaking off from the surrounding trees at some time or another. The trees on each side of the roadway had grown in an arch, their branches reaching for each other. Over time and with growth, the limbs from trees on either side had commingled, forming a ceiling of greenery over the path, blocking the sun from view.

A solid heat against her back told her that Regina was riding behind her. The brunette had warned her that they were leaving at first light, whether Emma was able to awaken or not. Why had she stayed up with August?

"Morning my love."

She smiled at the whisper in her ear, and relaxed back against the soft body behind her. "Mm, I like this. Remind me why I ride my own horse again?"

Regina chuckled, a warm sound in such dark circumstances. "As wonderful as this is and as much as I always choose to have you in my arms, it is quite faster moving when we're on separate steeds."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Is that cue for: I'm about to pull this thing over and kick you off?

Regina nuzzled the back of her neck. "I don't think that's necessary quite yet."

Emma smiled. "Where's the Huntsman?" She looked around and didn't see him anywhere, nor did she see her horse.

"He rode ahead to scout. He's meeting us at Fiastro."

Emma rubbed absentminded circles on the skin of the hand around her waist. "Did the mirror give you any updates before we left?"

"They are well across the second Hex. They'll be at Maleficent's before peak of night or early tomorrow morning." She sighed. "She seems to be treating Savya well."

"Like you said, she's baiting us. Her goal isn't to hurt Savya, it's to use her to draw us out. I just wish I knew why. If it had simply been to kill us, wouldn't she have done it already? She saved me from Hadrian; she easily could have fell me right there at the palace if that was her intention from the start. Why wait until now to make a move that was simpler before?"

Regina bit her lip. "The Huntsman offered up another theory as soon as we were off my old lands."

Emma raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"He thinks she's using Savya to draw us away from Rumpelstiltskin and his influence. I'm not so convinced she has pure motives just yet, but it does make sense."

Emma frowned. "Interesting theory and possible, but I don't see what influence he has. I mean, he gave me the creeps sure, but he also earned my respect."

Regina laughed. "You cannot be serious?"

"He's the only one who's told me the truth!"

"Oh Emma, really, you must learn to take what that man says with a grain of salt. He thrives on being manipulative and vexatious."

Emma shook her head, her fingers halting their play across Regina's hand. "I'm glad what he said means so little to you."

"Will you stop already? You're not the one facing death here Emma! So stop acting like it! It isn't the end of you; it's the end of me. Don't you think I'm the one that deserves to be angry or upset?"

"You should be!"

"Why… when I know you're already despairing enough for the both of us?"

Emma looked over her shoulder at Regina, anger uncoiling in the pit of her stomach like a snake. "You may be the one who will die, but I thought you'd understand my fear more than anyone. It's hard to die, but it can be just as hard to be what's left behind." She turned back to face forward.

All the anger that had been welling up inside Regina dissipated in an instant. More than most, she did know what it was like to be the survivor. And Emma was right, it had been far from easy. It had shaped her into the Evil Queen. It had ruled her life, fueled her vengeful purposes. It had defined her for many years. "If, and I do mean if, Rumpelstiltskin spoke the truth, promise me you will not become me. Do not do what I did… do not become something so dark you don't even recognize yourself anymore. I can make peace with the end of my life, it has been coming for many years, but I cannot accept the destruction of your soul. Promise me Emma."

Emma felt tears make trails down her cheeks, but she couldn't bring herself to utter the words. Her heart was already splintering and there was still time. "Are you scared?"

"I have not done all I wish to in life, but I have done much. Before I was put under that spell, if you would have asked me, I would have answered no. I had long anticipated death and there was a part of me that was so broken I would have welcomed a reprieve from the pain. But now… one only fears when there is something to lose. I don't want to lose you, so yes, I am afraid." She took a shaky breath. "The Elves believe that after we die, we go to this place that's like paradise, the most beautiful place you can imagine and there's no sorrow, there's no pain."

Emma pursed her lips. "Yea, I've heard of it." She thought of Earth and the idea of Heaven. The Elves believed in something even more grand than that. Emma found it hard to believe all souls could be so lucky.

"If I get to go to a place like that…"

Emma held up a hand to shut her up. Her heart was already on the brink of shattering completely. "I don't want to think of you not existing."

"But I will exist… there."

Emma felt more tears release from her eyes as Regina leaned around and pressed a kiss to her cheek. "If this world is to end, Savya and I will go there. I'll be with her, I promise. And you'll have your son, and a part of me. She is the part I wish to forget, but regardless, she is me. You'll have her and your son and you will live. You will live and be happy and…" Another shaky breath. "Savya and I… we'll wait for you. When you've lived your life and it's finally at its conclusion and you're ready… we'll be waiting for you."

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They reached Fiastro within two hours. The small town was at the base of the first Hex. The makeshift ceiling of trees had blocked the mountain from Emma's view for most of the ride, but about two miles north of the city, the roadway opened up and she saw the mass of purple-grey stone towering above her. The Hexes, though the same size as the Sunfair mountains in the North, were far more imposing. They looked threatening and harsh, which was probably why so many unsavory creatures favoured them.

The rules were different in the Forbidden Forest than they had been in the Enchanted Forest. There were no city walls, nor city guards to question them of their motives. In the Forbidden Forest, everyone coming or going had questionable motives. The people of Fiastro seemed to be more interested in the fine breeding of the horse they rode than the two women who rode it.

The Huntsman was waiting outside the town's inn. He had stuffed the two horses' saddle bags, apparently with food stores from the inn for their journey. He smiled at Emma. "Good to see you awake Your Grace."

Emma rolled her eyes. "We are no longer in a place where I'm considered royalty. Here, I am just a friend. Please, call me Emma." Regina slipped off the steed and helped her down, placing a hand under each arm and lifting her down as if she weighed barely anything at all, just like she constantly did with Savya.

"Starfire needs to rest. Take him to the stables Huntsman, make sure he is fed and rested and I will do the same with the Queen." Her tone brooked no argument.

Emma managed an apologetic frown in the Huntsman's direction before he strode off, the reins of all three horses bunched tightly in his fists.

Regina's expression softened once they were again alone. "We will be recognized here. To the passerby on the road, they take a moment to size up your threat level and then they keep to themselves, but here in town I will be recognized. Most likely, so will you. We can claim you are my prisoner, that I have you under a spell, if you wish to save face."

Emma slipped her hand into Regina's, entwining their fingers. She looked down at their clasped hands fondly. "I love you. I'm tired of hiding from that. I am not afraid of how I feel. If that loses me my crown, so be it. It was always a dreadful heavy thing anyway."

Regina smiled. "Alright. Together then." She squeezed Emma's hand and they made their way into the inn.

The moment they stepped into the common room, all conversation ceased, though because of her presence, Regina's presence, or their intimate proximity to each other, she couldn't tell. Slowly, a man got up from the bench where he was enjoying a pint of ale and he bowed. One by one, the other patrons followed suit, bowing before their Queen.

Emma had a feeling it wasn't to her they were showing fealty, so she too dipped low, bowing to her lover.

Regina put her free hand under Emma's chin. "Rise." She was speaking only to the blonde but everyone else obeyed the command as well.

A place was hastily cleared for them, the seat of honour, though it looked no different than any of the other tables.

Emma waited through a long parade of people coming to welcome her Dark Highness back to her proper place in the realm. By her demeanor, Emma could tell Regina was once again playing the part of the Evil Queen, adopting that dispassionate countenance to fool her followers. No one paid any attention to her, for which she was grateful. A runaway Queen from the Enchanted Forest apparently became yesterday's news in the face of the return of the Evil Queen after three decades of absence.

However, once the novelty had worn off and everyone had gotten a chance to say their peace and Regina and Emma had finally been allowed to dine quietly, the talk in the inn shifted to something Emma had not been expecting.

"The King of the Enchanted Forest, that foreign fellow, Hadrick or whatever… he's declared war."

"War… on who?"

"The Queen."

"Our Queen?"

"No, his Queen."

"No, not against the Queen, you stupid fool, on the Forbidden Forest."

"I heard he ain't know who he's declaring war on."

"The Queen left him to sail across the sea, I heard."

"I heard she killed herself just to get away from him."

"Well I heard he really is the Queen. She dresses herself up like a man so she can run the kingdom without being married."

Emma saw Regina's hand tighten around her fork, her jaw working as she chewed a chunk of potato and tried to keep her composure.

"Either way, he's marching south."

"He wouldn't dare come into the Forbidden Forest."

"He already is. His camp is just south of the Saltmire gate. I saw it with my own eyes."

"Enough!" Regina stood abruptly. All conversation halted and the patrons turned to her in fear. She looked to the man who had just spoke. "You… tell me everything you saw."

The man, in his forties and scrawny, paled. "I was coming through the gate at Saltmire, Your Majesty, and I noticed a lot of men in uniform just this side. I stopped one and asked after them and he said the King of the Enchanted Forest was coming after his wife, that she was in the Forbidden Forest."

Regina asked more questions of the people, gathering information, but Emma just tuned it out. She should have known it wouldn't be so easy. They had enough of a headstart and if they could make it to Maleficent's, Regina claimed they would be safe. But Hadrian wouldn't stop, not when his pride was the cost. She pushed away her plate, suddenly at a loss of appetite, and rubbed her temples. Wasn't this supposed to be the easy world? Wasn't this the place of magic and happy endings? It seemed at times that she struggled more here than she did in the other world. At least there, you always knew what you were getting. That world was fucked up but from a young age, she knew it never claimed to be something better. Life there was hard, everybody would tell you so. But here, on the brochure, it made it seem all about fairytales and true love, when it was much more complicated than that. It lured you in with a deceptively sweet exterior.

She felt a hand on her upper arms, guiding her out of the bench and she let herself be led from the clamour of the room and back out into the breezy air wafting down off the mountain.

"Are you alright?" Regina brushed some hair behind her ear. "You looked a little lost in there."

Emma frowned. "He may never let it go… he may never give up. I'd like to settle this peacefully, but it may become necessary to kill him."

"And if it comes to that, it was his pride, his part in all this that will bring him to that place. It's no fault of yours. You cannot be blamed for following your heart dear one."

Emma nodded. It made sense, but she couldn't help but feel the smallest seepings of guilt. This marriage had been her idea, because, in the beginning, she had bent so easily to the will of her people. This was all the tricklings of that original weakness.

She sighed. "It matters not. This is all worry for another time. Savya is our priority."

Regina nodded, instantly back to the task at hand. "If we make good time, we'll be halfway over the first Hex by nightfall. We'll make camp near Crenshaw Pass"

Emma started off in the directions of the stables. "Let's head out then. My time for today grows shorter with each passing minute."

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They made it to the other side of Crenshaw Pass, strategically their best spot for camp. This way, they could see anyone following after them and block the pass accordingly and if the woman in the white cloak tried to double back out of the Hexes, they'd be there to apprehend her. The Huntsman agreed to keep watch and Regina curled up on the bedroll with Emma, whispering comforting words to her until she succumbed to the pull of the other world.