Emma got up early so that she could leave the motel before the shady young man returned to work. She had already paid for her stay the night before, so all she had to do now was leave the room key behind.
She immediately felt more at ease in her car, even though she was beginning to feel the strain of the journey even after longer breaks. Her back was tense and the little passenger in her tummy started doing somersaults more often, as if it could feel her tension. "Little girl, I know you don't feel like it anymore. That makes two of us. But please lie still for a while so that Mommy can concentrate on driving, okay?" she asked gently, stroking her tummy before waiting a little longer for calm to return and finally setting off again.
The fact that she would reach her destination that day, if everything continued to go well, at least boosted her motivation a little.
xxx
She made good progress until midday, but the closer she got to Seattle, the heavier and tougher the traffic became. As annoying as it was, however, she had to stop briefly anyway to eat something to remedy her circulatory problems.
After the short break, the biggest traffic jam had cleared up, so at least the break wasn't just a time-consuming interruption.
When she finally reached Seattle, she became unexpectedly nervous. She hadn't given much thought to how she would find Regina. She had rather wondered how she would find her and how they could get in touch with the others. But now, little by little, Killian's words came back to her mind and made her worries grow. However, she wouldn't have been Emma Swan if she had let the negative voice in her head stop her from her mission.
She just had to be systematic and wanted to start the search as planned in the bar Regina had run during the curse. It shouldn't be too difficult to locate the place by name. Even if Regina wasn't there, she could still keep an eye out for clues to her whereabouts and she was counting on people being talkative and leaking something. Although Seattle was a big city and not a small village where every piece of news made the rounds within hours, if you knew what to look out for, it wasn't an impossible task.
Emma winced again as her baby moved a lot. "So, this is what happens when two people who can't sit still have a baby together," she mumbled, placing one hand on her stomach as she continued to steer the car with the other. "We're looking for Regina, I can't stop every few minutes because you get bored. When we find her, we'll rest, I promise."
Emma wasn't really inclined to talk to her stomach in such a sentimental way, but the lack of people to talk to over the last few days kept her coming back to it. At least she could disguise her self-talk, because she knew from other women that it was quite common to talk to the unborn baby, but until now it had always seemed pointless. But somehow it was starting to feel good to connect with her child in this way. She had never spoken to Henry because she knew before he was born that she wouldn't keep him. Now, on the other hand, she was almost certain that she would even miss this kind of communication when she was no longer alone and would stop doing it.
"I understand your concerns, but you must also understand me, Doctor. I'm much better now, I haven't had any more seizures, what more do you want?" Regina tried again that day to convince her doctor to discharge her during the ward rounds.
"Yes, that's all true. And of course I can't keep you here against your will. But I can assure you that you're not staying here without a reason, and I've already told you many times."
Because of her legs and her back, of course she knew. And she also knew that no hospital could afford to keep patients longer than absolutely necessary, as they only caused costs.
"I already stood yesterday without anyone's help," she assured him, not even lying; after all, crutches and a walker were not people.
"Roni, give yourself another week. And then we can have this conversation again, all right?"
Regina realized, of course, that he wasn't getting involved with her at all and that nothing would change his mind. She thought about what could happen in a week and quickly pushed the thought aside. "A week and not a day longer," she said seriously.
"I can live with that," Dr. James nodded. "Incidentally, you should take the painkillers the nurses bring you. The relieving posture you are taking due to the pain will slow down the healing process," he advised her before he and the nurse moved on to the next room.
Regina still didn't have what she wanted, but at least she could work towards a date. As she slid back down in bed, she pursed her lips briefly, which caused her gaze to wander to the bedside table with the pills. It wasn't as if she hadn't taken pills during her time as mayor of Storybrooke when she'd had headaches and lived cut off from all magic. But she still preferred magic. With the remedies that people had invented in this country, she always had the feeling of having absorbent cotton in her head. But at least they really helped with the pain, so she wanted to behave herself so as not to jeopardize her discharge and took the pills without hesitating again. The cool water was a pleasant contrast to the harsh pills in her throat and made her drink the whole cup straight away.
As she lay still again and it was so quiet in the room that she could hear her own heartbeat, she thought about Zelena. She wondered what her sister would say if she saw her like this. 'What crazy horse did you let trample you?' She could literally hear her voice and the snide tone, and she made a small, amused sound. Yes, Zelena wouldn't mince her words, but that was just the way she liked it.
She could hardly stand it anymore when people weren't honest with her and tried to pack her in cotton wool. She had the impression that this had only intensified after Robin's death. Emma in particular had been kinder and more understanding than ever before, but it was probably the only way she could cope with her feelings of guilt. And after marrying Hook, it hadn't taken long for her to settle down in Storybrooke while she herself stayed in the Enchanted Forest. Surely it had been the best thing for everyone involved, but if it was the best thing, why did it hurt so damn much?
"And just holding it up to the light is enough?" Henry twirled the golden crystal in his hands as he and Hook waited for the full moon to reach its highest point. He and the pirate both sat on a tree stump and listened to the crickets chirping in the tall grass that lined the clearing.
"Aye. When the light hits it, the crystal stores it. We should be able to connect more than once for a few minutes this time; last time the thing was buried underground for decades, after all. It was a miracle it had any residual energy stored at all."
Henry ran his fingers reverently along the smooth polished edges. "Zelena's not sure if they'll be able to reactivate the magic," he said abruptly.
"I know. If not, I'll find another way back to your mother, you can count on that. Even if it costs me my ship."
As Hook loved his ship more than anything, this was an immense show of love for his wife, which made Henry smile. "I'm glad Mom found you."
"It was no easy feat to win her heart. It was easier to sail through the odd storm, believe me."
At last, after what seemed like an eternity, the moon flashed above the treetops and bathed the clearing in such a bright light that it looked as if day had dawned.
"Hold it up, Henry!" Hook called out, who watched intently as the young man complied with his request.
It seemed as if the crystal was literally craving to soak up as much of the precious moonlight as possible. Within a very short time, it was glowing so bright gold that they both had to squint their eyes to avoid being blinded.
"It works!" Henry said excitedly and with relief, feeling the cool gemstone vibrate slightly in his hand. "At least it gives us a chance to talk to them, even if the portal doesn't open again."
Hook nodded and brushed his hair back from his forehead with his hand. "If it starts to warm up, it's enough," he explained.
However, it took a few more minutes for the crystal to soak up the magical light and change the temperature in Henry's hand. When it was ready, Henry put the treasure back into the leather pouch and jumped off the tree stump he had climbed to stand on the highest possible point. "I'd love to try it out right away to see if it really works," he admitted as they made their way back to the castle.
"An understandable wish, but we should probably try it during the day so as not to wake them up," Hook pointed out.
Of course, Henry could only agree with him. But he knew that it would be a restless night for him and that he would probably not get much sleep.
Emma had thought that the easier part would follow, but after half an hour of hopeless wandering she had already given up the idea. When she finally found a free parking space at the side of the road, she put on the blinker and left the congested city center street.
With a sigh, she unfolded the map of Seattle and leaned it against the steering wheel and her stomach. It wasn't the first time she'd consulted the map, but she'd hoped she'd simply missed Hyperion Heights due to her fatigue. But even now, she couldn't find the part of town her husband had described for the life of her. It was as if it didn't exist at all.
"Emma, are you there?" Emma flinched and turned her head to the back seat in a flash, only to find it empty. Only then did she remember the previously useless crystal in her jacket and pulled it out. It was no longer just a simple gemstone, but glowed again in that silver hue, much more brilliantly now than when she had first spoken to Hook.
"Henry! Yes, I'm here!" A load lifted from her mind; it was as if her family had known that she was at a loss at that very moment. An elderly couple walked past her car on the sidewalk and pointed at her in astonishment. Only then did she realize what a sight she must be making with the glowing stone in her hand and turned so that her falling hair covered it as she continued to hold it to her lips. "I'm so glad to hear your voice. Are you all right?"
"Of course. We're all fine, except we're insanely worried about you and mom. Be careful, I don't know how much time we have. The crystal can only be charged by the full moon."
"I tried to contact you, but it didn't work."
"It couldn't, Swan. You only have the receiver. You need the golden crystal to reach anyone."
"Killian!" She couldn't say anything else, she was so immensely glad to be able to listen to her husband too and not just hear second-hand that he was fine.
"Yes, love. I know. Are you and our little one all right?" the pirate wanted to know in a gentle voice.
Emma nodded. "Yes, we're fine. We just miss you so much."
"I know," he said again. "But Henry's still right, we have to hurry. Have you found Regina yet?"
"No, and I need your help. I arrived in Seattle today, but Hyperion Heights doesn't exist, not even on the map," she explained her biggest problem so far.
"Have you tried calling her yet?" Henry spoke up again.
"My cell phone is broken and I don't have her number," she said, explaining why she hadn't tried the most obvious thing yet. She had also not yet managed to get internet access to find out Regina's number that way.
"Why haven't you said that already? I can give it to you. Mom insisted when I was little that I memorize it for emergencies."
Emma's heart immediately lightened as she scribbled the number her son told her on the back of a gas station bill.
"In case you can't reach her that way and still have to look for her, Hyperion Heights probably disappeared when I broke the curse," Henry continued. "But it can't have been erased from the landscape like Storybrooke has been in the past, that would tear a hole in the town center. Probably just the name has disappeared and no one remembers it. You have to look for features. Ask about the troll, it's a huge stone sculpture under a bridge, it can't just be gone. If you keep following the road, you'll eventually reach Roni's Bar. It's probably called something else now, but it must be there. I'm sorry I can't give you any more clues, but if you find the troll, at least you'll know you've arrived in the right part of town."
Emma had listened to her son with a furrowed brow without interrupting him once, writing the little information under the phone number. "Thank you, Henry. I think that will help me. What should I do when I've found Regina?" she then wanted to know. She noticed that she was starting to get a headache and wondered whether it was due to the stress of the last few days or whether using the crystal was draining some of her magic.
"That's what Zelena and the Blue Fairy are working on at the moment. They're trying to reactivate the portal through which you escaped from the Enchanted Forest as a baby."
"The wardrobe? But the tree is near Storybrooke," Emma pointed out. Henry and Killian's silence was answer enough for her. "No... You can't be serious. Do you know how long it took me to get here? It's exhausting and tiring and your sister keeps wanting me to stuff my face with calories," she said, realizing that she sounded like a whining child and didn't care.
"Try to find mom now, okay? We'll get back to you in three days. By then, we might have a better idea and you can stay where you are," her son agreed.
"All right." Emma sighed and held back her tears. "I love you guys. Tell mom and dad I'm fine and not to worry."
"We'll do that. See you, Emma."
The young woman had hoped to hear her husband's voice again briefly, but the silver glow went out and turned the magic crystal back into a simple, lifeless stone.