(PopPotter777: we never did manage to see anyone break the Dragon free of the mirror world, but Regina told Henry on episode 16 of season 6 that she had done that. I figured after that he went back to New York, and that's where he comes from now.

: thanks! Glad you liked it, because to be honest I wasn't really sure about it. It feelt a little… rushed. Even for me. But well, I did my best.

This is a little bit of a slower chapter, but don't worry, because after this, the real fun will begin!)

As Zelena, Regina, Rumple and Elsa still struggled to catch their breath, Emma ran to Snow and hugged her. She had hardly experienced the loss of her mother, at least she didn't experience it the same way her father did, but she was still more than happy to see her mother again. "Mom!". Emma let herself stay in the safety of those arms and rested her head in Snow's shoulder, while David watched with a huge smile on his lips. Too many battles, but in the end, it was all worth it.

After a few minutes, and with everyone around Snow, Regina decided to approach the Dragon. "I see you got my message!" Regina smiled warmly at him. She was glad that a resistance was finally starting to form, one who might actually be powerful enough to fight Adda and win.

"Indeed. Storybrooke isn't an easy town to walk into, but here I am. Is this because of Adda? He's here, isn't he?" The Dragon looked at Regina with his usual eyes full of wisdom, making it clear he already knew the answer to the question he just asked. But it was also clear that he hated how positive the answer was.

Regina looked back at him confused. How could he know about that? She hadn't mentioned Adda in the letter, just that they needed help. "How do you know about Adda?"

"A powerful entity lurking in the shadows and stealing magic, can only hide from so many people. I know about him for some time now. And I knew this day would come sooner or later." The Dragon made a quick pause, and continued after a couple seconds. "You should go say hello to your friend." The Dragon smiled for the first time since he had entered Storybrooke and pointed at Snow, who was still surrounded by everyone else.

Regina looked at him for a few more seconds, before she decided to take his advice. She knew she would probably never understand that man, but he seemed to be someone full of wisdom and light inside him, and that could just be what they needed. And hopefully it would be enough.

Snow was thrilled to finally be reunited with everyone. It wasn't long before then that she had died, but to her it felt like it. The Underworld was a lonely and devastating place, and it was almost like time passed slower there. She knew it didn't, but she couldn't help to feel that way. Her smile grew even more when she saw Regina walk to her. "I hear you are one of the few who helped me. Thank you so much!" Snow smiled and hugged Regina tight. Maybe no one would have guessed a few years back that those two would be best friends, but there they were. And they were both glad for it.

"Don't put it all on me. This was all him." Regina pointed at David with her head. "He never gave up hope you could be brought back, and he was right. It seemed all those hope speeches really did pay off."

Snow gave Regina a quick 'seriously?' look and that was when she started feeling dizzy and like she was being pulled away from all that. Luckily for her, David caught her before she fell to the ground. As Snow looked at the ceiling, it was like she managed to see a few flashes of something. As the seconds went by, she realized that wasn't just in her head, it was really happening. And shortly before it ended, she couldn't help but smile because of what she had just felt.

Unlike Snow, no one else around her was smiling. They had no clue of what was going on. At least not until Regina analyzed her. "Someone's doing a bonding spell on her. Trying to see what she sees, probably to figure our location."

"Is it Adda?" David continued holding Snow in his arms as he knelt on the floor. He was so sick of that guy always trying to crush his family, always trying to destroy it.

"No. It's not Adda." When Snow went back to herself, still with that little smile on her lips, she looked around and started to get up. "It's Red. I think she's here in Storybrooke. I saw her." After a quick pause, Snow continued. "Well, I didn't really see her, but it's her I know it!" That whole experience was weird, and Snow could only compare it to when she used a potion to feel what Regina was feeling a few years back, in an attempt to find her. She wasn't sure about a lot of things in that moment, but she had no doubts about that.

"Red? How do you know that?" Regina's first thought was definitely the same one as David's: that it was Adda. But it also definitely could be Red, since she has been one of the few Regina asked for help. At least Regina hoped so.

"I don't know. I just... I felt her. I can't explain it, but it was her trust me. She knows where we are now. She's coming!" It was hard to put it into words, but for a few moments Snow could feel most of what Red was feeling. And the reason why she knew it was because she also felt past events. Snow felt Red turn into a wolf over and over. Felt the wind going through her fur as she ran as fast as she could. As she could feel the freedom of movement, the freedom of being free. It was only for a few seconds, but Snow had no doubts about it.

"Well, that's good. We need all the allies we can get." Regina looked around and saw the Dragon and Rumple talking. She was about to join them, when she saw Zelena approach her.

"Yes, we do. And now more than ever, because I think I know why Adda hasn't struck yet." Zelena stopped for a moment to look at everyone around her, who were all eager for what she had to say. "We took his source of time travel essence. He has some, but not enough. Not yet anyway. I too went back in time with Emma and Hook, and a few hours from now, when my magic is transferred to him, he will probably have enough essence to do the spell. He doesn't need to stop us because we are still giving him what he wants."

"So, how do we stop it?" Since she heard of Zelena's situation, Regina knew she had to find a way to give Zelena her magic back for good, but that plan was always sidelined by more urgent ones.

"I don't think we can stop it. Or at least not in time. Probably the only way to make sure his plan fails, is to attack him. And as soon as possible, while he can't yet do anything."

"Wait, attack Adda? Now?" Regina knew they had to make a stand, but she wasn't sure that even with all of them combined they were still powerful to take him down. And there would only be one shot at it, because if they tried and failed, Regina had no doubts he would kill them all.

"We have to eventually do something." Rumple pointed, as he and the Dragon joined the circle. "We already took enough hits, and we have been able to pull things off again; to get back together. And when he has Zelena's magic again, that will make us weaker and him more powerful, so even if this wasn't exactly what he was waiting for, we still needed to do something before that happened."

As Rumple finished, they all started hearing footsteps going down the stairs. Since they were expecting her, Zelena had removed the shields, even though she was still on the lookout. And when Red showed up, they realized she wasn't alone. After her, Dorothy and Mulan entered the room. Snow rushed to go hug her friend, and Emma walked to Mulan, leaving Dorothy to stare at Zelena, still a little unsure to trust her. But they knew they would have to find a way to trust each other for what was going to happen next.

In fact, everyone in that room would have to work together and stand together if there was ever going to be any hope of defeating Storybrooke's ultimate villain. After they put the newly arrivals on the same page, they started planing their attack. They knew Rumple was right, they had to fight back. And the time had come. Storybrooke was then closer than ever to its ultimate final battle.