Once Regina had been procured shoes, the two set out. They found Mary Margaret and Lancelot in the square, speaking quietly, their heads bent close together. As the two approached, they separated, seemingly trying to put distance between each other. Snow gave Emma a soft smile, she didn't even glance at Regina.

"You look better" Lancelot said curtly,

Regina inclined her head.

"Is there a way to get back to Storybrooke?" Emma asked, she was in no mood for pleasantries, the longer they were there, the longer Henry was without both his mothers.

"Unfortunately, all the portals have been destroyed" Lancelot told them.

"All of them? That's not possible" Regina's tone was biting, as always.

"It is true, however" he said plainly.

"We have to get back there" Emma said "I have to get back to my son!"

"Our son"

"Our son" Emma glanced at Regina, she didn't seem particularly annoyed, but she was looking at Lancelot with something akin to desperation.

"Our? I thought you were just friends?"

"We are" Emma said quickly "it's..a long story" she added in explanation.

"Getting back to the matter at hand" Regina interjected "how are we going to get back?"

"What about the wardrobe?" Snow said softly

"The one you put your newborn daughter in?"

"It must still be in the castle" Snow ignored the comment.

"The one I traveled in?" Emma asked.

"If it still exists" Regina said "it may have enough magic left to take us back"

"It's settled then, we'll go to the castle" she turned to Emma "at least you'll finally see where you were born"

Lancelot bent his head in assent.

"Very well, but take Mulan with you, she is a skilled warrior, and this forest is dangerous"

"We won't need her if you take this thing off of me" Regina said, raising her hand and showing him the wristband. He hesitated

"What? I'm Emma's friend" she said sweetly, her brown eyes widening.

Emma found herself thinking a person could get lost in those eyes, but she quickly shook the thought away.

Lancelot still hadn't moved, he looked at Snow, his eyebrows knit together.

"I think it's best if you kept that" Snow said

"What?" Regina's voice cracked,

"He's the only one who can take it off, what if we need my magic?"

"He can take it off of you when we get back" Snow said levelly, ignoring how close Regina seemed to be to a breakdown.

"I need my magic," she whispered, stepping closer to Snow.

"And you'll get it" she said, "when we get back"

The two were in a standoff, eyes locked on each others, when Regina broke off and turned

"Emma," she said, "Don't we need magic?"

"Nope sorry," she shrugged "I'm with Mary Margaret on this one" she hadn't seen Regina in action yet, but knowing what she could do without magic was enough to scare her off ever seeing her with magic.

The four of them, Emma, Regina, Snow and Mulan, had assembled around a wooden chest, it contained a jumble of weapons of every type. Emma quickly found her gun and holstered it, she felt much safer with it on her hip, then she pulled out a sword, it felt heavy in her hands. She tied it to her waist, for good measure. Snow grabbed a bow and a quiver full of arrows. Emma shook her head internally, a bow and arrows!

Regina looked through the chest for a long time, before finally settling on a short dagger, it came with a belt, which she deftly tied around her waist.

"What're you going to do with that?" Emma raised her eyebrows

"It's a dagger, Swan"

At least she'd dropped the miss.

"That'll be useful against ogres," Snow commented, as she walked away.

"If you'd let me have my magic back–" Regina started

"No, sorry, you can't be trusted," Emma said before she could finish.

Regina looked at her with lips pursed, it reminded Emma of when she'd refused to leave Storybrooke all those months ago. She grinned.

"Sorry Queenie" she whispered as she passed her, enjoying the look of pure rage that elicited.

Snow smiled as her daughter joined her a little way from Mulan and Regina. She glanced back, making sure they were out of earshot.

"Why did you save her, Emma?"

"Are you kidding?" her eyebrows shot up

"We're supposed to be the good guys, Mary Margaret"

"I know but," she stopped, looking over at the woman who'd ruined so much of her adult life. The woman who had caused her so much pain and anguish. The woman who had forced her to give up her newborn daughter.

"She's evil," Snow said with feeling.

"So I should have let your friend kill her?" There was a tinge of disgust in her voice.

Mary Margaret looked at her daughter, her brown eyes full of sadness, her daughter who was now a grown woman, a strong, beautiful, kind woman. She hadn't seen her take her first steps, she hadn't been there for her first words, her first day of school, her first crush. It hurt deep within her soul, to know that she'd never experience those things with Emma. Logically she knew she had made the decision to put her baby in that wardrobe, all those years ago. Nevertheless, it was Regina's fault. Anger cursed through her, like she'd never felt before. It was one thing to hurt her, but her family? She clenched her fists.

"Emma" she said "This woman has ruined my life in more ways than you can imagine. She's tried to have me killed, multiple times. She is the reason you grew up alone, Emma!" she took a breath "Don't you understand that?" her wide eyes were pleading.

"So you want her dead? Why didn't you say who she was?"

Mary Margaret was quiet, she wasn't sure why. Somehow letting her die and actively participating in her death felt very different.

"I don't know, I just know you need to remember who she is. And if she dies here, then so be it" Snow said quietly.

"I know who she is, Mary Margaret." It was true, Emma certainly had not forgotten the past few months in Storybrooke, if the fire in her eyes was any indication.

"Let's just focus on getting back to Henry"

"And who's fault is it you're separated from him?" Snow asked pointedly, her head tilting upwards to look at her daughter squarely in the face.

"Mine" Emma replied "I should have never been so close to the portal" as she spoke, her eyes misted over.

"It's my fault he was under that sleeping spell too!" She spoke quickly now "if only I'd believed him in the first place, none of this would've happened"

"Emma! We can't play the blame game!"

She took Emma's arm, comforting her with her touch.

"If I hadn't told Cora about Regina's true love, she wouldn't have killed him, Regina wouldn't have wanted revenge and none of this would've happened" she said quietly.

Emma shook her head and began to say something, but she stopped her.

"See how stupid that sounds? If we all go looking for reasons to feel guilty we'll never get anything done!"

She glanced in the direction of the group. Emma sighed, and nodded in resignation.

As Snow began to walk away she heard her daughter speak behind her, her voice was gruff but steady.

"Regina" she said

"What?"

"It's Regina's fault"

Snow turned and nodded, their eyes met as

understanding passed between them.

The moment was interrupted when Mulan called out to them

"Are you coming?"

Emma nodded to her mother, it still felt strange to think of her that way.

"Come on, let's go" she said

"Do you know where we're going?" Mulan asked, looking at Snow.

She pointed towards the West, Emma knew it was west because the sun was beginning to set over the treetops, bathing the meadow they were standing in, in golden light.

"We'll get as far as we can tonight, then make camp." Snow said resolutely, "We should be there by tomorrow at sundown"

Mulan had already tried to insist that the journey should begin the next day, but the three of them had agreed that the sooner they left the sooner they'd be back in storybrooke. Emma had begun to chew at her nails again, something she hadn't done since she was a child in foster care. As much as she disliked Regina, she wished she'd stayed in Storybrooke to take care of Henry. How must the kid be feeling now? With both his mothers gone? Emma absentmindedly chewed at her cuticles. Of course, it was Regina's fault they were in this mess in the first place, maybe Emma should have let the wraith take her soul…

"Stop that, it's a disgusting habit" Regina overtook her, walking past Mulan ahead of the group.

Emma glowered at her back. She felt Snow's hand on her bicep, as she too walked past.

"Come on, let's go home"

They'd walked well past sundown, as darkness began to press down on them, they began to stumble every few feet, walking made difficult by the vegetation underfoot. Mulan had lit a torch she'd brought with her, and walked ahead of the others, Regina next to her, followed by Emma and Snow, who walked together, a little ways behind the other two.

"We should stop for the night," Mulan said, turning to face the three, and speaking softly. Emma had been told that they needed to keep quiet, as ogres hunted by sound and smell. She had wondered how difficult it would be to kill an ogre with a gun.

"We've still got some steam" Mary Margaret said

"No, it's too dangerous, ogres are more active at night"

Emma looked between Snow and Regina, both of them looked exhausted, Regina's mouth was set resolutely, but her skin was pale and beads of sweat had formed on her hairline.

"Mulan is right, we should sleep, we won't get far like this"

They were in a small clearing, and Mulan set up a lean-to between two trees, while Mary Margaret busied herself making a circle of stones.

"Can you get us some firewood?" she asked, turning to Regina. Their eyes met, and Regina's chin jutted out.

"Fine" she said quietly

"I'll come with you" Emma said quickly, she wanted to help, and didn't trust Regina out there alone.

"If you insist" she inclined her head. Even dressed as she was, her hair messy and tangled, she looked regal, her neck long and slim, her jaw poised.

They made their way away from the clearing, Mulan had given them a smaller torch to light their way through the thick woods. Regina walked ahead of Emma. She walked softly, making sure each foot fell away from twigs and brown leaves and onto the soft moss.

"Why are you walking like that?" Emma asked,

"Shh, !" Regina shushed her softly "do you WANT to get eaten by an ogre?"

Emma snorted softly, but Regina took no notice. She bent over and began to pick the driest twigs and branches she could find, Emma followed suit. The soft light emitted from the torch helped, she used it to sweep the ground, still they mostly worked by touch. More than once Emma's hand made contact with something soft and slimy and she yelped softly, Regina glared at her each time.

Once they'd gathered so much that neither of them could carry anymore, they headed back, Emma still walking behind Regina. Suddenly, a flash of movement up ahead alerted her, she put her hand on Regina's arm to stop her, then, at her questioning look, she inclined her head towards where she'd seen the movement, they were near the clearing now, and, between the trees, they could see Mulan's lean-to, and Snow, sitting on a log next to the empty fire pit. Regina's eyes narrowed, she looked at Emma and inclined her head in question.

"I thought I saw something" Emma said quietly

"I'll walk around" She pointed to her left, she wanted to walk around the clearing to make sure there was no danger.

"Don't" Regina started, she waved her torch, but Emma was already walking away. She sighed and continued in a straight line towards the clearing. Then she saw it; movement just at the edge of her sight. She stopped, maybe she'd imagined it? No, there it was again, in the direction Emma had gone. She set down the bundle of twigs, and creeped forward, holding the flaming torch out in front of her. Suddenly, someone sprang from the woods to the left of the clearing, they jumped over a rock and ran straight towards Snow, who had her back to them. Without thinking Regina dropped the torch and ran forward, her hand going to the dagger on her hip, and unsheathing it. She burst into the clearing just as the figure got to Snow, toppling her over and onto the ground. Regina saw a flash of metal, and she jumped. Landing onto the woman who'd tackled Snow with a grunt, she pushed her off of Snow and onto her back on the hard ground. Instinctively, she pressed her dagger into the woman's throat threateningly.

"Stop!" Mulan called out "She's a friend" she started.

Then there was a bang.

Regina could swear it was the loudest sound she'd ever heard, and her heart shot into her throat. She turned to see what had caused it, making sure to keep her dagger pressed into the woman's throat.

Emma stood a few feet away, at the edge of the clearing, with her gun pointed in the air, she was breathing hard, her chest rising and falling quickly.

"Enough!" she said

"Emma!" Snow said, rising from the ground, her face a mask of terror "What have you done?"

I just realized I called Ogres "orcs" in chapter 2 and 3 so I've fixed that + edited a few details. I know I've been posting every three days or so, but I'm going to start posting one chapter a week from now on, probably on fridays or saturdays (depending on your timezone)