Emma couldn't help but feel more than a little antsy when she returned to her own palace. Seth greeted her instantly with a big hug, and Emma forced a smile, though she still hadn't forgiven her adopted brother for lying to her. She supposed she should, since his lie led to her ultimately meeting the Queen, and she wouldn't take any of that back, but that was beside the point.

For his part, Seth didn't seem to care either way.

Emma sighed as she walked through the halls to her bedchambers. Her parents had seemed distracted from the moment they'd stepped back onto the palace grounds, and she really didn't have an interest in talking to Seth. She found it odd how her once comforting childhood home now felt lonely to her, and she immediately missed Regina's presence. She was never alone at the Dark Palace, and she'd grown to like that.

Emma sat down at her vanity and stared at her own reflection in the mirror that she'd seen her Queen in so many times. Without really thinking about it, she began to tap on the glass, remembering how that had made Regina appear once before. But it didn't seem to be working this time.

She let out an exasperated sigh, before it occurred to her that perhaps she could use her own magic to appear in Regina's mirror.

It had only been a week that Emma had been learning magic, but she felt like she'd learned a great deal in that time, and she was sure she could pull this little trick off, even with the enchanted necklace still firmly in place around her neck. She'd overpowered it before to call to Regina, she was convinced she could do it again.

Emma took a deep breath and focused on that energy inside her, just as Regina had taught her to. She could still feel it, swirling around, just below the surface of her being, and she honed in on it, staring intently at the mirror and focusing on her desire to get in touch with Regina.

Nothing happened.

"Ugh!" Emma groaned, slamming her fists down hard on the vanity table, just as she heard a small smash from behind her. She turned her head quickly to see that one of the pretty, ornate sconces on her wall had just smashed, though no one was near it.

"Emma?"

Emma jumped at Seth's nervous voice, and turned her head to face the doorway where Seth had silently cracked open the door and was peeking his head inside.

"What, Seth?" Emma demanded, annoyed and a little frightened by what had just happened. She couldn't be sure, but she suspected that was her magic, even though she hadn't intended to break the sconce.

"I heard a smash. Are you alright?" Seth asked, stepping fully into the room.

Emma breathed out a long sigh. "I'm fine. A sconce broke. I guess the flame was too hot," she said, shrugging it off. "Don't tell Mother and Father, alright?"

Seth smiled and nodded eagerly. Emma supposed she had been ignoring him for some time, and he was likely glad his sister was finally on speaking terms with him again. But she wasn't quite ready to forgive and forget just yet.

"Seth, I've been meaning to ask you something," Emma said, thoughtfully.

"What is it?"

"Why did you tell me the Queen was dead?"

Seth merely shrugged. "Someone told me she was."

"Who?"

Seth shrugged again, looking at the floor. "I don't remember. Please don't be angry with me Emma. I've missed you."

"I suppose I'm not angry," Emma sighed.

Seth smiled. "I am sorry. But Mother says the Queen is kind to you."

Emma nodded. "She is. We've become… friends," she admitted. "I've actually grown to miss her when I'm away. She even gave me a horse of my own."

"Mother and Father miss you very much when you're away," Seth pointed out.

Internally, Emma cringed. If she was being honest with herself, she had forgotten all about them on several occasions during her week with Regina. Being with her felt so natural that sometimes Emma forgot that she had a whole other life outside the Dark Palace.

Well, it wasn't really a life when she was essentially a prisoner, but it occurred to her that now that she was under the Queen's protection, perhaps she could convince her parents to remove the walls. The seemed a little redundant now since they were only ever intended to keep the Queen out, and her parents hand-delivered her to the Queen herself whenever she so requested.

"Where are Mother and Father?" Emma asked.

"In the war room," said Seth.

"The war room? Why?" Emma felt a twinge of panic rising inside her.

"The are discussing forming an alliance with King Markus," Seth said, shrugging it off nonchalantly.

Emma's eyes went wide. "No! They can't do that!" she cried, jumping up from her vanity and all but pushing Seth over as she darted past him and dashed down the hallways until she reached the large doors of the war room. Without hesitation, she pushed them open and ran inside, sure enough finding her parents along with the heads of their guard and the Blue Fairy, around the large table, discussing plans.

"Emma!" Snow gasped, surprised by her daughter's unexpected intrusion.

"You can't align with the Silver Kingdom!" Emma exclaimed, and she reached the table and positioned herself between her parents.

"We have to, Emma. This war puts you in direct danger," David explained calmly.

"No! King Markus wants to kill Regina and make me marry Prince Michael anyway!" Emma cried. "You can't! If you want to help me, align with Regina and make King Markus back down."

"It's Regina's fault you're in danger in the first place," David reminded her. "We've done everything we can to protect you from her your entire life, and we're not about to stop now. Winning this war will win you back your freedom."

"I've never had freedom!" Emma shot back. "Not once, in my life; not until I met Regina. And I never will again if I am forced to marry Prince Michael. If the Silver Kingdom is seeking an alliance, then they must know they aren't strong enough to defeat her. Regina can slay throngs of knights without even leaving her balcony and he just keeps sending more. He doesn't have a plan and there's only going to be more casualties. Please don't do this!"

Snow frowned, looking at the obviously pained expression on her daughter's face. Regina had sworn Emma would come to love her, and Snow was beginning to realize she wasn't wrong. But she couldn't leave her daughter in harm's way.

"You're not safe with Regina while this war continues. She's not as invincible as she thinks she is," Snow explained.

"She promised to send me home if it was too dangerous for me to stay there!" Emma insisted.

"We can't just trust her to make that judgment call. You're our daughter and we need to protect you," David said, firmly. "This is not up for debate."

Emma looked back and forth between her parents. Realizing that there was no convincing them, she stormed back to her bedroom. She had never been one to storm about the castle, but she had also never been one to disagree with her parents. She had always had blind faith in every decision they made, because she'd never had a reason not to.

She found her bedroom thankfully empty when she returned. She didn't know or care where Seth had gone, but she noticed that the broken glass from the scone had been cleaned up, and the fixture had been replaced, and she knew it must have been him. She didn't have time to think about that now, however, as she was far too worked up and upset over what had just transpired. She slammed the door shut and headed to her vanity again, slumping down on the bench and letting her head drop to her hands and she began to sob.

She hadn't cried since the night that Regina had slapped her, and now it was all coming out at once: her fear over the war, and over magic, and over what Prince Michael had done that night at the Silver Palace, the uncertainty of the future, and, even stronger than all of the rest of these things, the desire to be with Regina again right now. She missed her dearly and it hurt in a way Emma had never thought possible.

In the midst of her tears, Emma felt her magic swirling inside her again, stronger this time than earlier when she'd tried to contact Regina. She remembered Regina telling her it was connected to her emotions, and she looked up just in time to see the white magic enveloping the mirror before her, and fading away to reveal an image of Regina in her study, sitting at her desk, looking intently at some papers before her.

Emma gasped, barely able to believe she'd just pulled that off. For a moment, she just stared, before she found her voice and called out for Regina.

Regina jumped and looked up, her eyes immediately finding the mirror that Emma knew hung on the wall directly across from the desk. Emma watched in awe as Regina lips curled into a small smile and she got up from her desk and approached the mirror.

"My, my, Little Swan, those lessons really are paying off, aren't they?" Regina asked, as she reached the mirror.

Emma just nodded, her eyes still wide.

"What's got you so upset, I wonder? Do you miss your Queen already?" Regina asked, cocking her head to one side.

Emma nodded again. "Yes, but it's more than that. My parents… they're going to align with King Markus!"

Regina smirked and shook her head. "This war is dwindling down before it even begins, my love. The King attacked without a plan, and now he's scrambling to to recover from that grave error, but he's lost so many men already. He's desperate. There's nothing for you to worry about, princess."

"But my parents will have the fairies and magic!" Emma insisted.

"Not if I vanquish the Silver Kingdom before they have a chance to align," Regina said, with a dismissive shrug.

"Can you do that?" Emma asked, incredulously.

"Just watch me," Regina replied, with a wink. "You know I'm not going to let anything come between you and me, not even a war. You will be back in my arms soon enough, Little Swan, safe and sound."

"Promise?"

Regina smiled, and moved her hand to the mirror, letting it slip magically through the enchanted glass, to stroke Emma's cheek. "I would do anything for you, my dear. I promise, when you return to me, all will be well again."

"Okay," Emma agreed, deciding to put her faith in Regina on this one. "Oh, I'm losing it!" she cried, as she watched Regina's image slowly begin to fade.

"That's alright, Emma. You did well. I'm proud of you," Regina said, as she withdrew her hand back to her side of the mirror. "I will see you soon."

Emma breathed a bittersweet sigh as Regina's face disappeared completely from view. She wished she could have held on to the magic longer, but she supposed she should be proud of herself for even managing it at all.

In any event, her thoughts were cut short by a light tapping on her bedroom door. She quickly wiped any remaining tears from her cheeks, before beckoning the visitor to come it. She'd expected it to be Seth, again, but was surprised to see it was her mother.

Snow offered Emma a warm smile as she stepped over to sit on her daughter's bed, and patting the mattress next to her, calling Emma over to sit with her.

"We've decided to delay the alliance," Snow said, as Emma sat down next to her. "The Silver Kingdom has already lost a great deal of men, and perhaps you are right, there will only be more casualties."

"Regina's not going to let me get hurt," Emma pointed out, again, for good measure.

"You're growing fond of her, aren't you?"

Emma looked down at the floor and shrugged, knowing that her daughter forming an affectionate relationship with Regina might be hard for Snow to take, at least so soon. "She's kind to me."

"So you keep telling me. I wish you would tell me what goes on while you're there," Snow pressed.

"Do you think perhaps it's time to remove the walls?" Emma asked, changing the subject completely. "I'm not in danger anymore. Perhaps it's time to let people in again, like the other Kingdoms do. And not just for special affairs."

Snow nodded, slowly. "I… I'll speak to your father and we'll decide, alright?"

Emma sighed. "That means no."

"It just means not right now," Snow insisted. "This deal we have with Regina is still new, my darling. I know you think you can trust her, but you barely know her. Let's give it more time before we do anything rash."

"Fine," Emma conceded. She supposed it didn't matter, anyway, since there was no place she'd want to go other than the Dark Palace, and no one she'd want to see other than Regina. What difference did it make if she was a prisoner here?

"Emma," Snow sighed. "I know you think you're trapped here, but please understand we've only ever done it to protect you. It was never my desire to raise you without the freedom you should have had, but I had to consider your ultimate safety first."

Emma nodded, not really caring to hear what Snow was saying right now. Of course, she knew her mother was right, but she'd also had a taste of freedom, and it was hard to go back once she knew what she was missing.

But it was alright. Soon enough, she'd be back in Regina's arms, once again.