"Mom!"

Henry's call made Regina's heart beat faster. When she had wanted to see him and had been told that he was off on a ride with Lucy, she had found it very difficult to hide her disappointment and had finally been persuaded to eat something first. "Henry!" she said happily. She lowered her spoon and spread her arms.

Henry crossed the room with long strides and almost ran the last few meters before hugging his mother tightly. "It's so good to see you! We'd barely left when the spell Zelena mixed suddenly changed color. We turned back immediately and I actually thought that it couldn't be and that it must be a mistake, but here you really are! How are you?"

"Now that I see you, I'm fine," Regina smiled and stroked his hair briefly as she studied his eyes, which were so familiar to her. "I wish I could have brought Emma and Hope with me, but unfortunately that would have been beyond my strength," she apologized to him immediately.

Henry nodded and put a hand on her shoulder. "You made it here, I'm sure you'll find a way back," he said confidently. "But Emma's fine too?" he wanted to know.

Regina nodded and a smile lit up her face for a moment as she thought of the blonde. "She's so happy that she's given birth to her baby girl."

"I can't wait to meet my sister," Henry smirked before his face turned serious and deep creases dug into his forehead. "Have you heard about Hook?" he asked quietly.

Regina swallowed and couldn't hold his gaze as she nodded. "Yes, David told me right after I arrived."

"Do you think Emma will get over the news?" Henry waited for a while, but when no answer came from her, he whispered, "Mom?"

Regina lifted her head and nodded. "Yeah, I mean, I don't know. Somehow she'll have to." The lump in her throat only seemed to swell more as she tried to give him an answer to his question. She swallowed hard and looked at the door. "Where's Lucy?" she quickly changed the subject.

"She's getting changed. She and her pony just had to take the route through the sand and she was covered in dust when we got back," he laughed and took a seat on the bench next to his mother. "She's been asking about you a lot. I can't wait to see what she thinks of Storybrooke."

"Have you spoken to your wife about it yet?" Regina inquired, raising her eyebrows. To reassure her, Henry nodded.

"Both Ella and Lucy are looking forward to getting to know my home," he told her with shining eyes, popping a piece of apple into his mouth that was on the table for Regina. "I hope they don't get homesick," he murmured thoughtfully between bites.

Regina nodded and thought of Emma and Hope. She had been away for less than three hours and already missed them. This fact made her realize once again that it didn't matter where you were, but that you were with the people you loved. "Maybe they will," she agreed, "but as long as you're with them, it doesn't matter where they are."

"I hope so," Henry nodded. "You know what? You eat in peace and I'll go upstairs and tell Lucy that you're actually there. Then the peace and quiet will be over and she'll be all over you."

Regina laughed and nodded. "I'm looking forward to seeing her. I'll just have to work with Zelena later to make sure you can actually show Storybrooke to your family."

However, it was no longer necessary for Henry to come to Lucy's room; just a moment later, the high double doors flew open and the girl came running in, her hair blowing, and threw herself into Regina's arms. "Grandma!" she exclaimed happily, burying her face in Regina's blouse. "I've missed you so much!"

Regina did her best to hold back her tears of joy and stroked Lucy's hair before planting a kiss on her head. "Missed you too, little princess," she whispered, shaking her head slowly with a loving expression on her face. "You've grown a lot since I last saw you!" she replied.

Laughing, Lucy sat down on the bench next to Regina and leaned against her side. "Nonsense, Grandma. It's only been a few days."

"It seemed like an eternity," Regina sighed, not even exaggerating.

"Okay, I think you two have a lot to talk about for now. Lucy, I'll be with your mom if you come looking for me," Henry finally said.

The girl nodded and then immediately turned back to Regina to tell her all about the last few days.

"Are you sure about this, Regina?" Snow crossed her arms skeptically in front of her chest and raised her brows as she eyed her stepmother, who had just told her together with her sister about the idea of the Dark Curse.

"It's no safer or more unsafe than anything else," Regina said, shrugging her shoulders.

Unconvinced by this answer, Snow tilted her head. "But it is... the Dark Curse. That's scary, Regina!"

Zelena rolled her eyes. "If you have a better idea, go ahead, we're all ears," the red-haired witch said, annoyed.

"I'm just worried, after all, it's about all these people!" Snow said indignantly.

David's hand rested thoughtfully on his chin. While his wife had voiced all her concerns, he had initially listened wordlessly to the sisters' explanations. "We don't know anything about magic, Snow. Even if it seems scary to us, we'll have to trust them in this matter," he finally said.

Regina noticed that Snow's expression was still unhappy, so she took a deep breath and tried to explain everything calmly. "It's understandable that the word 'curse' scares you. But at the end of the day, it's just a normal spell. It always depends on what you make of it and we have no intention of using it for evil purposes. The original Dark Curse took everyone's memories and separated them from their loved ones. But we know exactly which part is responsible and will replace it so that it is simply a powerful teleportation spell."

Zelena looked at her sister from the side and admired her for how calm she remained. In general, she seemed very calm and collected since she had been here and the fact that she vehemently denied that she was having difficulty walking, even though it was quite obvious that she was, made Zelena wonder what she was hiding from her. It was only Snow's deep sigh that drew her attention back to the couple in front of them.

"All right, I believe you. But I probably wouldn't agree if our daughter wasn't sitting all alone in Storybrooke." Her green eyes, so similar to her daughter's, gleamed moistly and she nodded to the sisters. "Do what it takes, just don't kill anyone in the process."

Zelena rolled her eyes again and rose from the chair she had been sitting on.

Regina did the same and they left the meeting room side by side. "Why does she always have to emphasize that? Is she afraid I'll relapse and suddenly want everyone dead?" the brunette snorted, stumbling slightly as they descended the steps.

Zelena's hand immediately shot forward and grabbed Regina's arm to stop her from falling. "Okay, Regina, seriously now. What's wrong with you?"

Regina determinedly removed her arm and strode across the castle courtyard towards the entrance to the cellar. "Nothing's wrong with me. I've had some really unpleasant days, I flew through a makeshift portal and then found out that the man I stole the wife from had died. I think I'm entitled to be a little out of character!"

"You're not out of character, you're walking like an old woman," Zelena replied dryly and entered the cellar with her. Ever since the Blue Fairy had found out that they wanted to cast black magic in order to return, she had left them without comment and slightly offended, leaving the vault empty.

Regina didn't say anything back, but took a seat at one of the long, wooden tables and bent over the parchment scroll she had taken from Maleficent so long ago. "What would you think if we united all the magical worlds? Then Storybrooke could act as a hub, much like Jefferson's hat," she said thoughtfully.

"Don't overdo it," Zelena muttered and took a seat opposite her. "And above all, don't think you can distract from the real issue."

Groaning, Regina pushed the parchment aside and raised her eyes to her sister. "What do you want to hear?"

"I don't know, how about the truth?" the redhead suggested, shrugging her shoulders. "I was bloody worried about you! You were in hospital!"

Regina nodded and ran her fingers through her hair. "Gothel hurt me. Don't ask me for details, I hardly understand all this gibberish the doctors are spouting either. Well, I... couldn't walk for a while, that's all. Are you happy?"

"And that's all right now, is it?" Zelena asked confused.

"I'm walking, aren't I?" Regina mumbled grumpily. "So, we're looking for the right formula now, aren't we?"

Rolling her eyes, Zelena pulled out the old script again and, like her sister, bent over it. "We'll remove this part here," she said, pointing to a few lines, "and add another one. I'm pretty sure I've read something like this in the last few days, I just need to remember where it was. Do you have a concrete plan for this crazy idea with the hat imitation?"

Shaking her head, Regina walked over to the bookshelves and ran her index finger over the thick spines of the books. "No, but if we can find the part where we can transport ourselves in the desired direction, the part for the opposite direction can't be far away either. Not that there's any hurry, but I spoke to Henry earlier and then greeted Lucy and Ella. They all want to go to Storybrooke, there's no question about that, but I got the impression from Ella in particular that she'd be more comfortable if there was a definite way back," she said honestly. "But that's secondary. The way to Storybrooke is important now and nothing else. We have magic there too and can experiment later."

Zelena nodded and then turned her attention to the books, which were arranged in piles all over the tables, as they were the ones she had already read. She was absolutely certain that she had read the answer to the gap in the formula in one of them. She just had to find out exactly where.

That evening, after Emma had nursed Hope and put her to bed, she was again overcome by an inner restlessness that she had not known for years. In the past, when she had lived from day to day without a family and at times even homeless, this feeling had been nothing unusual, but now she found it difficult to deal with. The rest of the day, her daughter had ensured that she hadn't had time to think about it. But now, as darkness slowly settled over Storybrooke and Hope slept blissfully, Emma's thoughts drifted to the fact that she and the little baby were the only inhabitants of the town.

To clear her head, she finally took her red leather jacket from the wardrobe, slipped into its sleeves and went out into the cool night air. While she made sure that the baby monitor's range extended a little beyond the edge of the garden, she took a few slow steps and breathed in and out deeply. A glance at the sky showed her a pale moon and the first scattered stars. Not for the first time, this sight made her wonder where exactly the fairytale world was. Was it a magical land in the sky above her, or was it simply a parallel world, separated from her own by a veil? Was someone perhaps standing right next to her at that moment while they were unaware of each other?

"Regina," Emma whispered and felt stupid the very next moment. Her friend would neither hear her nor be able to answer, and the soft sound of Emma's voice, which was immediately swallowed up by the dusk, seemed far too loud. Shaking her head, she returned to the house and quietly closed the door behind her. A little lost, she stood in the hallway for a few seconds before making a decision. She would not allow her loneliness to consume her, but would take action.

Armed with pen and paper, she sat on the sofa a short time later, her legs drawn up against her body to form her writing surface, and began to draw up a weekly schedule. She planned each day in detail, starting with breakfast, errands she had to run, what she would cook for lunch and ending with dinner. In between, she noted down activities such as 'going for a walk' or 'feeding the ducks' and, of course, all the things that would ensure Hope was looked after.

Satisfied with her work, she finally read through everything again and then pinned the note to the fridge with a magnet. She could do it. However long it took for her family to get back to her, from now on she would make a plan like this week by week if she had to, and at some point, someone would just have to knock on her door and tell her that the wait was finally over.