Emma's arms shot up on reflex and covered her face as the glare burned her eyes and seemed to scorch her retinas. Even behind closed eyelids, she still noticed the brightness and was glad that Hope was still asleep and her head was rolled to the opposite side. When it got dark again, she carefully opened her eyes and stared over at the tree. There was no sign of Regina. Her heart was heavy because part of her had hoped until the last moment that the spell would fail and now she didn't quite know whether she should be happy or not.

Sighing, she turned to Hope. At that moment, she would have given anything to be that small and clueless again, oblivious to the impossible choices life had in store.

Finally, she started the engine and drove the short distance back to Storybrooke.

As she entered her house and moved Hope from her car seat to her bassinet, she once again felt like she was in a ghost town. Every noise she made seemed a little too loud and echoing, and although there was no reason for it, she felt a tingling sensation on the back of her neck the whole time, as if she was being watched.

As she pushed Regina's wheelchair into the storeroom under the stairs, she tried again not to lose her composure completely. Regina wasn't here and who knew when she would be back. She didn't need her wheelchair at the moment. Still, as she turned out the light and closed the door to the windowless room, Emma felt as if she were erasing any trace of Regina's presence, as if she had only imagined the last few days and she had never left Storybrooke, as if she had only woken up in the empty town that morning and never tracked Regina down in Seattle. The only proof that she hadn't imagined her experiences was sleeping peacefully next door.

A melancholy smile found its way onto Emma's lips. Regina had been right, she wasn't alone this time, she had Hope. And as insecure and anxious as she felt, she would look after her daughter and spend day after day here until Storybrooke eventually filled with life again. That was how it had to be, she wouldn't allow any other thought. So she grabbed Regina's red shawl from the coat hook, hugged it tightly to her chest and sat down in the living room, where she watched Hope's calm, deep breaths slowly calming her down.

Regina had no idea if her arrival had caused a stir and hoped she wouldn't be struck down by Snow's and David's guards before any questions could be asked. Carefully, she crawled on all fours out of the sorry remains of the magic wardrobe and then brushed the ashes off her sleeves before scrambling to her feet.

Stunned, Regina looked down at herself and examined her legs in disbelief. She had stood up without thinking about it. Although she could feel the tension in her muscles, which she hadn't used for so long, this didn't change the fact that her feet otherwise carried her without any problems. However, it was of course exactly what she had tried to explain to Emma: everything here was magic and what the healing spell had not been able to achieve in reality, it did here.

Her first steps towards the door were shaky and unsteady, but soon her body remembered how to put one foot in front of the other and carried her through the narrow corridors of the castle. Glad that she knew her way around here, she soon found the right way into the main hallway, but the distance drained her, she was no longer used to walking so far and her legs already felt like jello when she finally met someone. "Hey!" she called out to the boy she thought she had never seen before.

He stopped and looked at her questioningly with his head tilted.

Regina looked down at herself and realized that he was probably confused by her jeans and short-sleeved blouse. He obviously didn't recognize her. "I'm looking for Henry Mills... or Zelena Mills. Or Snow and David?" She had no idea who she was actually looking for, she just knew she wanted to meet some familiar face.

The boy's face brightened. "Oh, you're Regina, aren't you?" he asked, not waiting for an answer. "You're eagerly awaited. Snow and David are in the castle courtyard," he informed her. Although he had never had anything to do with Regina, every member of the Enchanted Forest who had stayed in the castle knew by now about the plan to bring Regina and Emma here.

Regina curled her lips briefly when he told her the whereabouts of the two people she wouldn't necessarily have gone to voluntarily first, but that wasn't the boy's fault after all. So she thanked him and trudged on through the entrance hall and down the grand staircase. She would never have thought it possible that she would forget how to walk so quickly after only a few weeks in a wheelchair and cursed herself for not listening to the doctors, who had told her several times that she needed to exercise her muscles. Somehow she had believed until the very end that she would be able to solve this little problem with a magic spell at some point.

Clenching her teeth, Regina finally arrived at the ivy-covered pavilion and leaned exhaustedly against one of the pillars. "Hello everyone," she said.

Snow's and David's heads shot around to her at the same time; both their mouths were slightly open and Snow's eyes were also wide open.

"Don't worry, I'm not a ghost," Regina couldn't stop herself from saying and shuffled the last few steps over to one of the chairs, onto which she dropped with a groan. "It really is me."

David was the first to regain his speech. "Regina, are you hurt?"

The brunette laughed softly for a moment. "It's a long story. I'm fine."

"Where's Emma?" Snow wanted to know the next moment and looked at her hopefully.

Regina could hardly bear the look. "She... didn't come with me. But don't worry," she added quickly before they could lose their composure, "she's with Hope in Storybrooke in her house, just waiting for us all to come back."

"You left her there alone?" The reproach in Snow's voice was unmistakable.

Regina did her best not to comment on it, but couldn't help her voice becoming ironic and wrinkles forming on her forehead. "She's there with her daughter. I'm very sorry that you don't like the fact that only I came, but you might be interested to know that I have a plan to get us back, all of us."

Snow opened her mouth again, but then closed it again. "The Blue Fairy and Zelena have been looking for a solution for ages and you show up here and have one ready?" she asked skeptically after a while.

Regina's features softened when she heard her sister's name. "Is Zelena all right?"

"She's fine again," David nodded. "She gave us quite a scare, for a while it looked like she wasn't going to make it either."

A stone fell from Regina's heart before she raised a brow and looked David in the eye. "What do you mean 'either'?" She didn't like the look that Snow and David exchanged at this question at all.

While Snow looked down at the floor, David took a deep breath. "It's... We had to say goodbye to Hook," he said haltingly.

Snow let out a stifled sob before standing up and hurrying away.

"Say goodbye to him? What does that mean?" Regina asked, feeling hot and cold at the same time.

"You know what that means," David said with a serious look into her eyes. "He was shot during his search for a magic bean by another pirate who had betrayed him."

Regina clung so tightly to the edges of the chair she was sitting on that her knuckles turned white. "But... Emma and Hope," she whispered, closing her eyes.

David nodded. "Yes. The little girl will have to grow up without a father, just like Henry."

As if in a trance, Regina stood up and held her forehead for a moment. "I need to talk to Zelena. Do you know where I can find her?"

Confused by the sudden change of subject, David nodded slowly. "Of course, I do. She's over there in the basement." He nodded across the courtyard to the only door on that wall. "That's where she's tinkering with her spells with the Blue Fairy."

"Thank you." Regina's mouth was dry, her steps still stiff and labored, but she walked as if mechanically in the direction he had indicated, leaning only slightly on the wall as she climbed down the stairs.

"How many times do I have to say that not everyone should come and go as they please?" Zelena huffed as the door opened. However, her furious expression changed from shock to disbelief to overwhelm in the blink of an eye. "Regina?" Her gaze shot down to the vial dangling in front of her chest, which had now taken on an orange glow that had previously eluded her.

Regina nodded briefly and tears welled up in her eyes as Zelena came to her and put her arms around her. They were tears of both happiness and sadness and the feel of Zelena's curls between her fingers only made her more emotional. "I thought I'd never see you again. I thought you had died!"

"I felt the same way," the redhead replied dryly and turned to the Blue Fairy, who was standing in the corner watching the scene, beaming with joy at the reunion. "We're off for now then."

xxx

Once in Zelena's chamber, the two sat down together on her bed and brought each other up to date on everything that had happened in the time that contact had been broken off. Although her sister insisted on knowing why Regina was walking so stiffly, she only got to hear the short version, which she accepted to Regina's delight. This meant she could go straight to her plan regarding the Dark Curse.

"And you think this can work?" Zelena asked incredulously.

Regina nodded. "It's the best idea we've had and, as you say, you haven't really gotten anywhere." She paused and then looked at her seriously. "About Hook..." She broke off and shook her head, brushing her hair back from her forehead.

"Yeah, terrible. We were never friends, but... we weren't enemies either," Zelena said slowly. "And then there's the fact that Hope will never know her father. Robin never said anything about that, but I know she sometimes wonders what her father was like."

Regina swallowed and looked away from her.

"I'm sorry," Zelena replied immediately. "I know that Robin is for you..."

"No," Regina interrupted her, "it's not that." Her gaze was restlessly aimed at the bedspread they were sitting on while her fingers nervously plucked at the fabric. "It's about Emma," she then whispered and took a deep breath.

Zelena raised a brow and rolled her eyes. "Now spit it out already!"

Regina lifted her gaze to Zelena's eyes and then stared at a point over her shoulder. "Emma wanted to break up with Hook. We kissed."

"What?!" Zelena's voice echoed so shrilly through the room that Regina had the feeling the whole castle knew. "Her husband is laying down his life for you and you're fucking each other in the meantime? Are you mad?"

"We weren't... fucking. And how was I supposed to know that he was dead?" Regina spat back, shaking her head. "Why can't something just go right for once?"

"I wouldn't exactly call taking her off his hands a good thing either."

Regina's eyes were almost sparking. "Zelena!"

"Well, it's true!" She looked at her without remorse before her voice softened. "I knew you loved her. It was clear to me at the latest after your reaction to their engagement."

Regina said nothing, just looked at her as she chewed on her lower lip. "I should have just opened my mouth then, years before at best," she whispered ruefully and then shook her head slightly. "Or we're just not meant to be. I don't know what she'll do when she finds out about Hook."

Zelena looked sympathetically at her sister before pulling her into another hug and stroking the back of her head. "Who needs romantic relationships? We have each other."