A/N:

Hi guys!

First I wanted to say thank you for all the great responses to last chapter, you were all correct about the David/Emma fairy dust thing, I'm glad you enjoyed the plot twist. This chapter is a little bit filler and a little but fluff and a little bit important stuff, I hope you like it!

As always favs/follows/reviews are appreciated!

Happy reading,

Rosie

Emma and Regina walked along, largely in silence, as they contemplated the events which had just unfolded. Emma was confused; Regina not so much. It had taken a while of thinking but the brunette had already come to terms with the strange idea of "David" as her true love. In fact, this revelation made everything so much clearer. She had wondered ever since the night that Emma healed her how it was possible for her to have two soulmates, two people with whom she was supposed to spend the rest of her life, and now everything was obvious It was Emma - it had always been Emma - even way back then. What seemed like a thousand years ago, another life away, had really been preparing her for everything that she was set to experience. It also made her extremely happy that she hadn't walked into the tavern that day to meet the "man of her dreams", because if she had then there may have been a chance that Emma was never born at all, as weird as that sounded. Regina knew that Emma must be slightly confused but she hoped that the blonde would be able to figure it out; she wasn't stupid after all.

There was an undeniable nervousness settling in the brunette's stomach as they walked through the dense woodland of the enchanted forest, looking for a good place to set up for the night. Returning to Regina's castle wasn't an option now, obviously, and the best bet for their safety was to hole away somewhere, away from the prying eyes of citizens who might recognise the former queen for her true identity.

Since Emma's arm was still wrapped tightly in a sling Regina had offered to hold their provisions as they walked, but Emma had insisted that they share the load. She carried the light pack which held the clothes, Henry's book and the necklace - they agreed it would be best for neither of them to wear it - while the brunette carried the food. It looked strange to the blonde to see the regal woman she knew and…loved, God, do I love her? Emma thought to herself, I think I do. The blonde stole a glance at the woman and tried to hold in a broad smile, failing miserably. Why does everything have to be so complicated? What does all of this mean? She wondered. A part of her hoped that the revelation of her father as the man the pixie dust lead to would have something to do with her, some hidden meaning which meant that in fact it was supposed to point to Emma all along, but that would be ridiculous, wouldn't it?

"Maybe we should stop soon?" Emma voiced, tired and aching and ready to curl up in a ball and sleep until they found a way to go home.

"Yes, I think we're probably far enough from civilisation now that we won't be attacked, though you never know," Regina answered. "Over here looks like as good a place as any?"

They walked over to a large cluster of rocks and Regina dropped the bag they has procured from the tavern. "If we set up facing this way we'll have a good view of the woods and our backs protected?" The blonde said as she sat down against one of the stones, relaxing for a moment and catching her breath.

"Good idea." Regina was lost in thought somewhat, still wondering what it the world was going through Emma's head, whether she had figured it out yet. She began to pull things out of the sack and lay them on the ground next to each other in order to determine exactly what they had. They didn't, after all, know how long they would be stuck in the Enchanted Forest before they found a way to return to Storybrooke.

It only took ten minutes for Regina to create them a pretty nice little shelter, given the circumstances. Emma sat on the floor and watched, much to Regina's annoyance, while she used magic to attach one large piece of cloth to trees on either side of them and create a canopy over their heads. The blonde did have to move while Regina positioned another on the floor for them to lie on, and proceeded to whine like a child about being forced out of her comfy spot.

"If you're going to insist on sitting on the ground being useless then you could at least make us a fire and start cooking some food?" Regina asked impatiently, earning a mischievous look from Emma.

"Sorry, I'm being really unhelpful aren't I? I'm very surprised to trust me to cook food though, that's new," Emma japed. With a flick of her wrist the pulled a few twigs together and set them alight. "Will that do?"

"Very funny, Saviour," the brunette laughed, "just do as you're told? As Henry would say, I could eat an Ogre right now."

Emma laughed before her face hardened again, "He would say that. okay, I'm on it. I just…what's Henry going to be thinking right now? We promised him we'd see him and my parents and the diner and we just…never show up? What if we can never get back to him?" Emma asked, not usually one to voice her concerns so freely.

Regina paused her fiddling with the shelter and went to sit down next to Emma, looking her square in the eyes. "We will get back to him Emma, we haven't failed yet and we won't fail this time?"

"Okay," the blonde affirmed, trying to infuse herself with a scrap of hope. "Hey, since when are you the optimistic one?" A small, careful smile traced the outlines of her lips.

"Since apparently you chose today of all says to turn into a whiny child?" Regina joked.

"Hey, totally not fair. You had to pop my arm back into its socket, that wasn't fun for me!"

"Okay, you make an excellent point. Tomorrow you'd better get your Saviour on though, so we can get home to our son," Regina insisted, shifting minutely closer to Emma in their sitting positions.

"I promise I will," Emma said truthfully, "today's just been…a long day."

"And tomorrow will be a longer one still, no doubt," the brunette added.

They ate their meal of fire-roasted rabbit, bread and cheese in relative silence, Regina enjoying the sounds of the forrest around them and Emma too preoccupied with staring at the fire to form coherent sentences. When dusk settled around them and it came time to sleep Regina suggested that she take the first watch so that Emma could get some rest, to which the Saviour happily obliged.

The fire still crackled in the background and it relaxed Emma. But even with the cloak pulled over her for warmth the ground was hard and cold and she struggled to actually fall asleep, instead tossing and turning on the ground, not being helped by the fact that she could feel the former queen's eyes on her whenever she grumbled under her breath or flipped herself around, making sure not to jolt her injured arm too much. This continued for a while, Emma couldn't have said how long, before she heard the familiar smooth voice drift through the air.

"Emma?" she said, somewhat nervous yet still as bold and adamant sounding to Emma as it had always been.

"Yes Regina?" She answered quietly.

"If you wish to use me as a pillow, that would be acceptable," Regina tried for her tone to express indifference but she knew that the meaning behind her words would obscure any attempt at neutrality.

"I think that might help, thank you," Emma answered, shuffling herself over to rest her head on the top of the brunette's thighs as the woman leaned back against the rock. It was much more comfortable than the ground and she immediately sank into the warmth of another person like it was her morning coffee. Slowly and surely she began to drift to sleep, the noises of the outside world giving way to the soft warmth of Regina beneath her.

Regina watched the flames dance like lovers in front of her eyes and absent-mindedly began to run her fingers through the tangled blonde locks that splayed out across Emma's back. She then moved her hand upwards and began to stroke her fingers gently across the blonde's scalp. The woman beneath her sighed into her touch and nestled herself impossibly closer. Regina revelled in the feeling of having Emma lying on her, such an intimate moment which nowadays she yearned for more often than not.

The former queen stayed like this for hours, her legs becoming dead from the weight of Emma's head and her inability to move them without waking the woman up. Though she wished they could stay like this forever Regina was somewhat relieved when Emma began to wake, noises and a yawn escaping from her as she rose from her short slumber. She looked up and her eyes met with Regina's.

"How long have I been asleep?" she asked, warily, she felt like she had slept for days.

"4 hours, maybe a bit longer. You can go back to sleep though, I don't mind staying up," Regina said, somewhat affectionately.

"No, no," Emma said, pulling herself out of the brunette's lap, to both of their disappointment, "you should get some sleep too, I'll be fine for a while."

"If you're sure?" Regina asked again.

"Yes, positive, you need some rest," Emma said as she shuffled forwards on her ass, throwing several more sticks onto the fire to keep it going. By the time she shuffled back to her previous position, sat up, looking outwards at the dark forest, Regina had turned to face the other way and pulled her cloak tightly around her for warmth. The blonde sat awkwardly for a few minutes, not really knowing what to do with herself.

"Regina?" Emma voiced nervously.

"Yes?"

"If you wanted to use me as a pillow too, that would be fine," she said, unable to stop herself from wanting to provide Regina some comfort after everything that had happened.

Without speaking Regina turned herself around to lie on her other side. She looked up at Emma with big brown eyes but still, no words came out of her mouth. She simply mimicked Emma's position on her and sighed into the contact when she felt the blonde's lithe fingers running across her scalp, her eyes drifting shut.

For a while Emma amused herself by watching the fire, thinking about Regina and absent-mindedly stroking her hair, however after a while she got bored and reached around herself with her good arm to pick the bag with Henry's storybook and the necklace up off the floor. It was an awkward movement, but luckily she did not awaken the sleeping brunette. The blonde tipped both items out onto her outstretched knees. First she looked at the necklace, then placed it to one side of her and began to flick through the pages one by one, looking at the pictures but not really reading the stories that accompanied them. She had read this book so many times before, both for herself and for Henry, that she knew every story almost by heart. This was probably helped by the fact that she knew everyone featured in the book on a personal level and couldn't ever help being dragged into their lives. However, as she turned the page she realised that this was a picture she had never seen before. It was Regina, leaning over her balcony, older than Emma had seen her than day. The blonde read the words which accompanied it out loud under her breath.

"That night, disheartened by the absence of love and happiness in her life, she wished on every star she could see for three things: she wished for love, for happiness and for a family. Good and Evil go hand in hand, for every evil deed is done with the hope for something better at the end of it all. Some villains wish for infamy, some for power, and some for the destruction of those who have wronged them the most. Regina wished for all these things, but most of all she wished that some day, maybe in some other life, she could have the happiness she truly deserved."

As Emma spoke she ran her hands lightly across the picture, it drew her in. When he words were finished, the picture began to glow, the colours so vivid and precise that the scene displayed in front of her almost looked real, like she could jump right into it. The book began to almost vibrate in her hands and jolted against the sleeping woman, rousing her immediately from her slumber.

Regina's eyes were wide open and she sat up in shock, only several inches away from Emma's face, looking at Emma as if she had accidentally just set the whole world on fire.

"Emma what did you do?" Regina said, exasperated, trying to wake herself up as quickly as possible. Over Emma's legs she noticed the necklace on the floor and reached out to grab it, inadvertently leaning herself over the blonde's lap to do so.

"I don't know!" The saviour replied, her worry continuing to grow as the light coming from the picture became brighter and brighter. She shifted her legs and put the book flat on the ground in front of them. The next the thing two women knew, everything was golden around them, the world span again and again and Emma's hand reached out unconsciously to grasp Regina's in such a firm grip that she thought she may lose circulation. The necklace chain almost cut into both their hands and Emma thanked whatever god that existed that despite everything around her moving faster than she speed of light she still happen to be sitting down; she couldn't cope with another injured limb.

Then everything began to slow again, like when you're on a merry-go-round and it finally begins to stop. The world gradually returned to normal, colour filtering back into the trees flowers surrounding them.

Emma's hand began to loosen it's grip on Regina's but the brunette didn't allow her to let go, firmly refusing to let the woman out of her grasp incase she got whisked away again by…whatever that was. The shelter Regina had built for them had disappeared and they now sat on the wet forest floor, nothing left but the cloaks that were laid over them and Henry's storybook.

"Oh for gods sake," came the outcry from the former queen, mimicking Emma's exact thoughts.

"What in the hell just happened?" Emma asked as she looked sideways at Regina and they finally let their hands detach. She pushed herself off the floor with her sling-free arm then once she was upright began to undo the knot from behind her neck.

"If I had to hazard a guess I would say that we just got pulled into the book, or the book pulled us somewhere" Regina answered. She looked down at the necklace and then looped the chain around it before placing it in her back pocket. "Why are you taking that off?" she asked as she watched Emma's pull the fabric sling away from her.

"It was annoying, and my arm doesn't hurt anymore. Must have been the magic," she said absently. She picked up the book and held it open in her hands, running her fingers over the page again.

"Do you think maybe it would be a good idea if we don't do that?" Regina scolded, taking the book from Emma's hands and taking a closer look.

"I was just reading from the storybook. I stumbled across a page I hadn't seen before and I read the words aloud, and then all the glowing and crazy shit happened. What did I do?" Emma questioned, baffled as to how she always managed to ruin things in some way or another.

"Is this the page?" Regina requested, pointing down at the picture of her former self leaning across the balcony.

"Yeah, did this happen or is it made up?" Emma asked, even though all of this still felt like made up stories to her a lot of the time.

The brunette's eyes ran from side to side as she skimmed the words, "this definitely happened. But it has never been in the storybook before. You just opened the book and here it was?" Regina knew that things could be added to the book, but she assumed that there would some kid of special process, magic quill or paper or something of that sort; she didn't anticipate that things could simply just…appear.

"Uh huh," Emma answered, perturbed.

They stood in silence for a minute, contemplating it all.

"Okay, I have an idea," the blonde announced, causing Regina to look up at her from the words etched into the page. "I think the book brought us here because it wants us to see that," Emma said, pointing to the picture. "When we came here from Storybrooke we just so happened to land not far away from the tavern, where we saw all that…stuff. Maybe there's something here we need to find out, too?"

"I see where you're coming from, but I remember this, there was no one else even there," the brunette said, doubtful.

"Well maybe its connected to…something else?" Emma asked. "Come on Regina, we have nothing better to do and who knows, maybe this is how we get back to Henry?"

"Its worth a try I suppose," she assented. It wasn't that she didn't want to go or that she thought the blonde was wrong, it was that the time from the picture had been a terrible time in her life and she didn't want to relive it, let alone let Emma see it. But then there was a part of her, a part which she was not at all well-versed with that kind of wanted Emma to see it all. Regina wanted the other woman to know her, properly, before anything occurred between them. The blonde already knew Regina almost better than anyone, but that was Regina's present, her future. Emma was not so well-versed in her past and she worried of what could be revealed to them. There was another part of her that just didn't want to know.

"So, are we going?" Emma asked somewhat impatiently as she flicked her long blonde hair behind her shoulder and fastened the cloak around her neck. Regina had been lost in her own little world for a while.

"Yes, lets go." She steeled herself. Whatever was going to come, she and Emma would get through it together. She tucked the book under her arm and pulled her cloak around her shoulders. She hated it and it made her feel like a peasant, but it was best to try and blend in.

Emma looked up at the sky to gauge the sun's position. "Thats north," she answered, pointing ahead of them, which direction is your castle in?"

"Looking at this picture, I actually believe it is Leopold's castle we must go to," Regina said.

"My mom's castle?" The blonde asked and received a nod from the brunette in reply, "okay, so where's that?"

"East. I think, its been a long time," the brunette stated solemnly.

"Okay, then lets do this," she replied, turning to her right and beginning to walk. She heard the brunette begin to follow her and soon the woman came into her peripheral vision.

"I hope you're not going to be this peppy the entire way, I'm not sure I can cope with that," Regina said harshly, but both she and Emma knew that she would cope with the blonde in any form she appeared in.

"Sorry, I'm just trying to be optimistic, you know?" Emma smiled at her and saw the woman reciprocate it out of the corner of her eye.

"I know, I'm just…scared," came Regina's reply, unexpected yet welcomed.

Emerald eyes connected with the former queen's, open and honest and true.

"I know how much it takes for you to say that, so you should just know that I'm scared too."