Regina sat down with her back to the beanstalk. The sun was still high up in the sky, she guessed it was mid-afternoon. If Snow, the name brought a sneer to her lips, was to meet them at sundown, they still had a couple of hours at least.

She watched Emma pace the clearing nervously, where did the woman get the energy? Regina wondered absently. How long had it been since they'd fallen through that damned portal? At least a week, she guessed, maybe more. When was the last time she'd eaten anything other than roasted squirrel and berries? Her little trick with the apple had cost her more energy than she cared to think about, and that was quickly becoming a scarce resource. In any case, she knew that magically summoned sustenance could not replace the real thing, even magic had its limits. Her stomach growled in answer. She sighed and let her head fall back against the stalk.

Emma turned to her, "Hungry?" She asked, her fingers twitched and she bounced on her feet,

"Nervous?" Regina retorted with more confidence than she felt. Her mother was not an adversary to take lightly. Honestly, she'd be surprised if Snow made it back down in one piece. Not that she cared, her mother would only be doing her a favor by getting rid of that insufferable child. Woman, she corrected herself.

Still, a confrontation with Cora was not her idea of a good time, while she knew her mother wouldn't seriously harm her, she was also only too aware of the damage she could do without killing her. And then there was Emma. She didn't want to think about Emma.

Regina closed her eyes, Emma's pacing was giving her a headache.

"Will she know about the bean?" Emma asked,

Regina pressed her fingers against her temples, would the giant give in to Cora's questioning? Would her promise of reuniting him with his kind hold up?

She knew the answer to that. Regina was well aware that the carrot held no candle to the stick. And her mother would stop at nothing to get the information she wanted. Regina shuddered softly at the memory of Cora's anger.

"She'll know," She answered Emma's question, "We just have to hope Snow manages to make it down before her,"

"What if she doesn't?" Emma asked, sitting down heavily next to Regina. Her scent invaded Regina's senses, momentarily distracting her. Emma smelled faintly of sweat and dirt, but she guessed her own scent was not more pleasant.

"If she doesn't…" Regina sighed, ignoring how close Emma was to her, her hip pressed into Regina's, "Then we get Snow and run," She said.

It was a simple plan, but she didn't have the energy to come up with anything more elaborate, in any case, everything hinged on them getting to Nostos faster than her mother. Or rather, on Regina getting to Nostos faster than her mother.

Leaving Emma behind would hurt Henry, which was why Regina had decided she'd do her best to take the annoying blonde with her, but if she couldn't…well, she wasn't going to lose any sleep over it.

"Give me the bean," Emma said quietly, and Regina flinched, wondering if Emma's newfound powers included telepathy, the notion was dispelled as Emma continued, "Cora'll think you kept it, she won't imagine you'd trust me with it, it's safer with me,"

Regina turned her head to look at her, eyes narrowed,

"I don't trust you with it," She pointed out,

"Regina.." Emma sighed, "I promise I won't leave you here," she said, and Regina didn't believe her. But the savior was right, and they couldn't afford to lose the bean. She tapped her fingers against her thigh, humming softly to herself.

"Come on Regina, after what happened–" Emma started, she stopped when Regina glared daggers at her.

Now was certainly not the time to talk about…that.

"Fine," Regina said, she slipped her fingers in her corset, smirking slightly as Emma's gaze followed her movement, and pulled the bean out, it was a tiny, shrunken thing.

"You kept it in your bra?" Emma asked, a note of amusement in her tone.

Regina shrugged, "Seemed like the safest place," she said. She handed it over to Emma, who put it in her pocket.

Regina woke with a start, she blinked, trying to focus on her surroundings. Her neck hurt, she had fallen asleep with it bent against someone's shoulder. The moonlight illuminated the clearing, and Regina tried to focus on what had woken her up, Emma was still breathing heavily, clearly asleep.

Faint voices floated down from above her, two people. Two women. They were talking loudly. Fighting.

Regina shook Emma awake,

"Hey, wake up," she growled, "They're here,"

Emma blinked groggily before taking Regina's outstretched hand and standing,

"They?" She asked, the faint white light sharpened the cut of her jaw.

"My mother and yours," Regina said, looking away from Emma and up at the beanstalk. She couldn't see their figures, but now their voices were clearer.

"I'm just saying, you could have been nicer," Snow argued,

"Please," Cora responded, "You are still as naive as you were at ten,"

There was a long silence, as Emma and Regina braced themselves for the confrontation, and the other two women focused on climbing down in the darkness.

Finally, Snow jumped the last foot to the ground, she landed heavily, letting out a groan of pain. Emma rushed to her.

"You okay?" She asked, helping her mother stand.

Regina ignored them, eyes on her mother's figure clambering down, she fell with only a little more grace than Snow. Cora turned to face them.

"Regina," she said, and a shiver ran down Regina's spine.

"Mother," She responded carefully, the fact she wasn't bent over in pain yet made her hopeful that the giant had held his peace.

Cora stalked towards her, her features a mask of anger.

So, maybe not.

Regina stepped back, in the corner of her eye Emma shielded Snow with her body.

"You lied to me," Cora growled, "You sent me up there to distract me,"

Regina swallowed, reminding herself she was just as powerful as her mother. She was a Queen. Her pulse raced in her veins.

"Can you blame me?" She asked, voice even.

"I am your mother!" Cora stood close to her now, "Why don't you want me to come with you?" She whispered. The note of pain in her voice broke Regina's heart. She heard herself in that voice, heard her pleas to her own son. Heard the pain she felt every time he rejected her for his biological mother.

"Mother.." she sighed, "You're…" she paused, deciding how best to phrase it. A menace? A dangerous, volatile witch with delusions of grandeur?

"Dangerous," she finished, rather lamely.

"I want nothing but the best for you and for your son," Cora said, "And I've done nothing but help you!"

Regina rolled her eyes, a mistake, in retrospect.

"I made you Queen!" Cora snarled, "Without me, you'd be nothing," she hissed,

"Without you, I'd be free. I was free," Regina spit back.

Cora said nothing for a long moment. When she spoke again her voice was cold, controlled.

"You'll learn to appreciate me again," She said, then her hand reached forward and grabbed Regina's, sending a shock of pain up her arm and into her heart. Regina cried out, bending over from the pain.

"Where is it?" Cora growled, "Where is the bean?"

Regina looked up, meeting her gaze furiously,

"Not telling," She managed through gritted teeth. Earning herself another powerful blast of pain. She felt her strength wane. Swallowing thickly she looked past her mother into Emma's wide green eyes.

"Go," She choked, eyes watering.

Emma stared at her, unmoving.

"Go!" Regina screamed, Cora turned, her hand still gripped around Regina's.

Emma grabbed her mother and began to run.

"I wouldn't," Cora called,

Snow stopped in her tracks. Emma faltered, turning to her mother questioningly.

"Why–" Emma began to ask Snow.

"This is why," Cora said, she pulled something out of her cloak. Regina gasped.

A heart glowed red in her hand.

Regina closed her eyes. They'd lost.

"Whose…?" Emma looked shaken,

"Snow White's of course," Cora smiled, "Now, give it to me, or your mother dies,"

Emma's eyes widened. She stood frozen, Snow's hand held tight in hers.

"Go, Emma," Snow whispered, "Just go,"

Emma looked between her mother and Cora. Her gaze then fell to Regina, who nodded. Emma had to save herself, had to save Storybrooke from Cora.

"Go," Regina mouthed, her mother's back to her.

Emma shook her head. She walked forward, her hand in her pocket.

Regina bit her lip until she drew blood. Of course, she'd known Emma would make this choice, she was a damned hero after all.

Emma slipped the bean out, handing it to Cora, her other hand held out for her mother's heart.

"Damn it, Emma," Regina growled, as Cora passed Snow's heart to the blonde, who took it and ran back to her mother.

Emma said nothing, she pressed the heart back into Snow's chest.

"I think it's time for us to go," Cora said, a moment later Regina was enveloped by the familiar feel of her mother's magic.

Emma stared at the spot where Regina and Cora had just been standing, the only trace of them now was a faint purple smoke.

She resisted the urge to curse.

"Where did they go?" Mary Margaret asked, her head swiveling, looking for the two witches.

"Lake Nostos," Emma said with certainty, "We have to go," she urged, grabbing Mary Margaret's hand and dragging her towards the forest, to her surprise, she resisted.

"It's too late, Emma," Mary Margaret sighed, "It's my fault, I was weak, I let her take my heart, I didn't even realize she'd taken it!" She cried softly.

Emma stared at her, not once since the day she'd met her, had Emma seen Mary Margaret give up hope. Even cursed she was an incurable optimist.

"It's not too late," Emma said, "Regina will wait for us,"

"Regina?" Mary Margaret laughed, "Have you met her? She couldn't wait to leave us here,"

Emma swallowed the impulse to tell her why Regina might act out of character all of a sudden, instead she took a deep breath.

"Just trust me, okay?" Emma said, "We have to get to Nostos,"

Mary Margaret shrugged, "Alright," she said, "I don't see the harm, anyway,"

Emma grinned and took it as a win, she began to run.

Regina watched her mother pull up water from the lake again, the moonlight dancing across the rough surface of the water spray as it came out of the sandy earth.

She was miserable. Her mother was going to get her way again, and there was nothing she could do about it. She was so tired of fighting, so tired of having to claw her way to anything. Anyway, she didn't have the strength left to fight anymore, her magic had all but abandoned her.

At least she would see Henry soon. That was something.

The memory of her son flooded her. She'd done her best, her very best, not to raise him like her mother had raised her. She'd never hurt him, not once. She'd listened to him and held him when he cried, when he had nightmares. She wasn't perfect, far from it, but she'd tried.

Regina's magic danced on her fingertips.

Cora held her palm out, the small bean at the center of it. She let the water fall over it; the bean began to glow an iridescent green.

As it hit the ground, the bean disappeared, leaving a chasm in its place. Magic surrounded them, glowing green and purple in the night, lighting up the small valley of Lake Nostos.

The vortex spun violently, it howled loudly in the silence. Cora took Regina's hand in hers, giving her a smile, which Regina didn't return.

Instead, Regina let the same pulse of magic her mother had used on her run through her fingertips. Cora bent over, crying out.

That was possibly all the magic Regina had left in her, but with her other hand, she shoved at her mother, pushing her away.

Perhaps she could buy Emma and Snow time to get to them. She had no time to examine this thought, as Cora pushed back, towards the portal.

"Stop fighting me!" She screamed, above the roaring of the vortex.

Regina stood her ground, her feet planted firmly in the sand,

"No," she said, "I won't let you ruin my life again,"

"You are a child," Cora growled, "You have no idea what I've sacrificed for you, what I've done for you," She panted as she struggled against Regina, trying to throw her bodily into the chasm, "You ungrateful–" her words were swallowed by the roar of magic, as the two women, mother and daughter, fell into the vortex.

Emma's lungs were burning as she sprinted through the forest, Mary Margaret hot on her heels. They were nearly there, just a few more seconds and they'd be at the lake.

Moments earlier she and Mary Margaret had seen the tell tale glow of magic coming from the valley, and they'd both began to run wordlessly forward.

Emma hurtled past a stray root, bursting through the last of the foliage and into the valley. Below her, at the center of what used to be Nostos, Cora disappeared into the portal.

"No!" Emma screamed, falling down the side of the dune, skittering down, the sand swallowing her feet as she careened forward.

Mary Margaret panted behind her.

The portal began to close.

Regina was kneeling on something hard and rough, she opened her eyes and looked around.

The pale streetlights hurt her eyes, and she pressed her hand to her forehead to protect them.

Storybrooke's Main Street greeted her with silence. Her mother stood before her, looking around, the stores were all closed, but their LED signs glowed in the darkness.

"What a strange place," Cora mused.

Behind them, the portal began to close.

Emma grabbed Mary Margaret's hand and jumped. She wasn't sure they'd make it. But as her feet fell through the ground, she closed her eyes and thought of Henry.

The rush was like nothing she'd felt before. The first time she'd gone through a portal, she hadn't really been paying attention, now she noticed the way it knocked the air from her lungs, and constricted her almost painfully until she was sure she was about to pass out.

Moments later, her feet hit something hard and she fell forward, bracing herself on the hard pavement. She looked up, a car's headlight shone in her eyes. Emma pressed her forehead to the ground and almost cried in relief. They were home.

Another short chapter today! so sorry, but I really needed to get them from point A to point B (EF to StoryBrooke ahaha) But they're home now! Also, I was planning on leaving it on a cliffhanger of would they/wouldn't they make it home, but changed my mind at the end.

Also wanted to share this little tidbit I wrote and then deleted cause it just sounded too funny:

"Regina was well aware that the carrot held no candle to the stick. And my, what a mighty stick her mother had."

HAHA