"He should be back by now, shouldn't he?" Emma says three days later when she's finally managed to corner Regina in the library. She's spent the past three days worrying for Henry while also trying to talk to Regina, who had always managed to elude her. She'd steered clear of everyone else, keeping Harper safely tucked away in the protected nursery.

Regina has spent the past three days steering clear of Emma and the past three nights visiting Harper in the nursery, even though it only made her heart ache worse. She sighs, although isn't really surprised that Emma has finally managed to catch up to her. Emma is nothing if not persistent. But Regina doesn't intend to allow Emma to break down her walls again.

"We don't know where he was going or how long it would take to get there. And he has to find the little dingbat and convince her to come back with him. She may not wish to. Or she may not remember this place at all."

"Can't you track him? Use your mirror or something?" Emma sounds truly desperate now.

"The mirror doesn't work through the realms." She admits and then quieter, "I've already tried."

"Okay." Emma sighs tiredly, but then perks up again, seeing her chance. "Since I've got you –"

"Believe me, Miss Swan," Regina snaps, "while you may have had many, many men in your life, you most certainly do not have me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma frowns, wondering where the hostility is coming from.

"It means that I am well aware of your track record with men. And since you claim that your daughter was sired by neither the pirate nor your supposed true love, then I can't help but wonder if you even know…"

"Don't." Emma warns, her voice hard to hide the shaking in it. She cannot have this conversation right now, not without blurting out the truth, and as much as she wants to just say it, she knows she needs to approach it with some kind of finesse. Otherwise Regina will never believe her.

"I merely wondered if you had exposed Henry to many men in your year away, given your penchant for one night sta–"

"The only man in my life was and is Henry." Emma snaps. "And you have absolutely no room to talk about one night stands."

"I beg your pardon." Regina scoffs, looking offended.

"Yeah, well, maybe you should've begged my pardon after you –" she wants to say fucked and ran, wants to spit the words angrily and see how Regina reacts. She wants to know if it really meant so little to her. "Left." She finally manages.

"I left? What are you talking about, Miss Swan?"

"Don't do that." Emma hisses at her, all her hurt and anger coming to the surface. "Don't act like you don't know or don't remember. Don't act like I didn't wake up alone after we –"

Regina's eyes blaze. "You woke up alone because I went to go check on my son, to make sure he was alright. If you couldn't handle that because of your abandonment issues –" she sees the minute the blow lands, the pain written all over Emma's face, but it doesn't feel much like a victory. The way that Emma's eyes harden and her walls come up instantaneously doesn't feel good at all. She wants to apologize, but she can't – she won't. "Besides, it isn't as if it mattered much to you. You didn't even speak to me after. You left me alone to fend for myself again."

"I tried to talk to you!" Emma huffs. "But you ignored me and focused on Henry. You shut me out again – out of your life and his. And yeah, once we got off the ship, I wasn't there for you, but that's because yet another crisis started. I tried to warn you and you turned me away."

"Because I thought you were trying to take Henry!"

"Well I wasn't!" Emma shouts, her voice breaking just the slightest bit, but Regina hears it because she's so attuned to finding people's weaknesses. "I was trying to make sure we were all okay. And we weren't. Of course we weren't. Because we never are. Because it never stops! It's always one more thing, one more disaster or villain or curse. And I'm the Savior, so I have to deal with it. And it never ends!"

Emma's as close to losing it as she's ever seen her – besides the night that she did lose it, crying and clutching to Harper in the empty nursery that should've been hers. "But you want it to."

"Of course I do! Don't you?" Emma's eyes are imploring, trying to find some understanding from Regina, some sign that she's not the only one who is tired of all these battles. "I got a taste of what a normal life could be like this year, thanks to you."

"And you want that back."

"Of course I do." Emma says again, but it's calmer now, more tired than anything. "No curses or magic, just my family and the day to day grind. That's all I've ever wanted."

A family. A family that she'd never been able to have, never been able to enjoy, not really, but for that one year without any of them, without any memory of them at all.

"And after this is over, you'll go back to that."

Emma frowns. "I don't know. I –"

"Henry told me you have the bean already." Regina accuses, suddenly all sharp and menacing again. Emma thinks of the small weight tucked into the inner pocket of her jeans, the backup plan, the escape route. The one she wanted to use with Harper, Henry, and Regina.

"Look me in the eye and tell me you don't plan on taking him back to New York with you when this is all over. Tell me again how you aren't going to take my son from me."

"Jesus, Regina! I don't know what I'm going to do when this is all over – if this is ever all over. I'm more concerned with Henry coming back alive right now! After that, yes, I think I'd like to go back to New York. But I would never make that decision without talking to Henry. Or without talking to you. I don't know what he wants – or what you want for that matter. How could I? I haven't exactly had time to talk to him about this since we got back and this is the first time you've spoken more than one sentence to me!"

Regina looks down then, knowing that Emma's words, at least about her, are true. She is the one who has deliberately kept her distance when Emma has continually sought her out.

"I thought of anyone, you'd be the one to listen to me." Emma says, her voice no more than a whisper. "I thought you'd be the one to talk all these things out with me. I don't know what I did, Regina, to make you hate me again –"

Regina's eyes snap up then, in time to catch the single tear that makes it way from the corner of Emma's eye. She feels her heart squeeze at the sight and remembers Mulan's words. "And it's sad, really, because Emma cares so very much for you and every time you ignore her and turn her away, she is hurt."

"But I would never just take Henry without telling you. Not after everything we've been through. I'd never keep your children from you."

Regina frowns in confusion at that. "My children? What –"

She doesn't get to finish the thought, though, because suddenly there's the sound of screaming and glass shattering as flying monkeys burst through it.

"She's here!" Comes Grumpy's shout and for just a moment, Regina is tossed back to the day that she cast the curse. It lasts only a second because there's movement all around them, enough to quickly break her from her reverie.

Emma's eyes widen when Regina looks to her again. "Harper!" She gasps, the sound panicked.

"Go!" Regina urges, doing her best to tamp down on her own rising panic at the thought of the little girl alone and defenseless. "I'll take care of this. You keep her safe."

Emma turns to run but stops, spinning back on her heel. "Regina!" She calls out to the queen who is already moving toward the Great Hall where she can hear the sound of the witch's cackle echoing off the walls. "I –"

The rest of the sentence dies as she sees Regina tossing magic at the winged monkeys circling overhead, her concentration fully on the task at hand. "Later." Regina grits out, unwilling to hear anything else from Emma at that moment. "Go!"

Emma goes.

Emma can hear the sounds of the battle going on as she rushes through the corridors to get to the nursery. The sound of flapping wings and screeching monkeys, of blasting magic and screaming people. She feels like a coward, running the way she is. She's supposed to be The Savior. She's supposed to have her sword drawn, charging into battle. She's not supposed to be running the other way.

But now more than ever, she knows that she is first and foremost a mother and she will protect her daughter at all costs.

She makes it to the nursery and is just about to slam the door shut, already murmuring under her breath to strengthen the protection spell when a blast of green magic hits the door and forces it open, the spell shattered.

"Well, well, well," comes a drawling voice and she turns to come face to face with The Wicked Witch of the West. "What have we here?"

Her long black hair is hanging in loose curls around her shoulders, falling onto the black dress that clings to her body. At first glance, it almost appears that the dress is made from rags, but closer up, as Emma finds herself, she can see that it's actually quite beautiful, made from layers of cloth with splashes of red and silver mixed in with the black.

She thinks of The Wicked Witch in the Wizard of Oz and is struck by how truly beautiful this green skinned woman is in comparison. She has dark brown eyes that remind Emma of Regina, and although her skin is green, it doesn't look ugly, not to Emma anyway.

She is broken from her pondering by The Witch's voice once more, taunting. "The Savior, running away to hide from me."

Emma blinks, her spine straightening. The Witch knows who she is. Does that mean she knows about Harper too? She cannot let The Witch have her. She needs to get her away from here.

"I'm not running from anyone, Greenie."

The Witch laughs then, a cackling sound. "Was that supposed to insult me?"

"What do you want?" Emma asks, stepping closer to her, hoping to force her back, out of the room and away from Harper.

Dark eyes flash. "What I want, you can't give me."

"Try me." Emma takes another step. They're nearly out of the nursery. Just a little bit farther.

"I'd rather fry you." The Witch responds, holding up a hand that begins to glow green. Emma swallows hard, but she stands firm.

But before The Witch can throw the magic, Harper lets out a cry that has both women turning to look at the crib. Emma's heart plummets, spinning around to try and catch The Witch by surprise or take the shot of magic herself. But that's when she sees it. The Witch falters at the sound of the baby. The glow of green disappears as The Witch takes in Harper.

"A child." She whispers to herself.

"Yes." Emma seizes on it, understanding suddenly just how little they know about this so called enemy. "My daughter. So if you want to kill me, go ahead, but please, leave her alone. She's just a baby and –"

"I would never hurt a child." The Witch hisses.

"I know." Emma says firmly, because she does know. She believes her.

Dark eyes turn back to her, narrowed in suspicion. "You do?"

"I do. Because you put out your ball of magic when you saw her. I know you wouldn't hurt her. In fact, I don't think you want to hurt anyone."

The Witch laughs then, but it's lacking somehow. "Don't you know, Savior? I'm The Wicked Witch of the West."

"No." Emma shakes her head, her confidence building as she watches The Witch. "That's not your name – your real name – is it?"

Dark eyes narrow into slits. "Whatever you think you know about me, you're wrong."

"I don't think I am. I don't think you're wicked at all. I think it was just a title that was given to you, to make you seem like a threat. I think it was The Wizard who gave you that title and I think that he was the truly wicked one. Am I right?"

The Witch blinks, clearly surprised. "How – how do you –"

Emma shrugs. "Hey, I saw Wicked."

"Excuse me?"

"Okay, okay, so I second acted it and watched the first act on YouTube. It's like impossible to get tickets to, okay?" Emma huffs, trying not to think about how she has memories of taking Henry to see the show for his ninth birthday and how they aren't real at all.

"What?"

"Oh! I bet you don't – in my world, Wicked is a musical about your life. It tells your side of the story. Or at least what those guys think is your side of the story. Hey, is your name really Elphaba?"

The Witch gasps. "How – how do you know that?"

"It is!" Emma grins. "So they were right. You weren't wicked. You were different. And powerful. And the Wizard couldn't handle that."

Harper lets out another cry and Elphaba moves closer to the crib to look in at her. Emma watches her and knows that she won't harm the child. She smiles encouragingly at her. "Go ahead. Pick her up."

Elphaba jumps back. "What?"

"I trust you." Emma says, knowing that she needs to show trust in the witch. "Go ahead."

Elphaba refuses to move, so Emma moves instead, scooping up Harper and placing a kiss on her head before placing her in Elphaba's arms. Elphaba shifts her hold and looks down at the little girl who reaches up towards her, babbling as she does.

"Well, hello, my pretty." Elphaba whispers, but it's not the threat the movie made it out to be. It's an endearment that makes Emma's heart squeeze. Just like Regina was always mislabeled, it seems that Elphaba has been too.

"You didn't just attack us for no reason, did you?"

Elphaba looks up, a scowl painted on her face. "I did not attack first. You did."

"What?"

"I sent Chistery, my dearest friend and most trusted advisor to bring a message for you when you arrived. He was sent back to me by your Regina with an arrow through his chest. An arrow that your sainted mother put there."

"Hey!" Emma raises her hands, shaking her head. "Don't put my mother's actions on me. I know better than anyone that she isn't a saint. And as for Regina – well, I know all about her too."

Elphaba blinks, as though not expecting to hear that from The Savior.

"What did the message say? The one that Chistery was to bring?"

Elphaba frowns as she looks away then. "I was looking for someone. Someone I thought had gotten caught up in the curse. When Chistery was sent back so, I assumed that meant that Regina was keeping her. I retaliated."

"Her." Emma says, the wheels spinning and pieces connecting in her head. "Glinda."

"Yes." Elphaba's voice sounds pained. "She disappeared from Oz before I could – Regina took her from me." There's the wickedness back in her tone now.

"No." Emma shakes her head. "I was in Storybrooke. Glinda wasn't there with us. And Regina swears that she never was, that she had nothing to do with her disappearance. The fairies think that she's what will bring about your downfall. There's a prophecy – my son, Henry, he went through a portal to try and find her. To bring her and The Waters of Oblivion back."

"The Waters of Oblivion?" Elphaba scoffs. "Do they intend to melt me because my soul is so unclean?"

Emma rocks back on her heels. "Grumpy thought it might work. The rest of them assume that the Waters have the power to – I don't know – turn you good or neutralize you or something. But they won't work on you, will they?"

"Why do you say that?"

"Because you're not evil. You're not wicked. You aren't controlled by dark forces. You're just like Regina. You had those titles thrust upon you whether they were true or not. The Waters work on people who are truly evil, to dispel that from them. But you aren't. So they won't affect you. Only your own choices will."

"Such belief in me. Some would say you are naïve, Savior."

"Many would, I'm sure. But I'm right."

"You do not know of which you speak."

"Yes, I do. You were given a title that you had to pretend to die to get away from. Only when you reappeared, so did the title. And the only person who had ever believed in you was gone too. You blamed Regina and when my mother killed Chistery because of her belief in your title, you retaliated. You had the rest of your monkeys attack our people. You perpetuated the title given to you."

"I did what I had to do."

"You killed my son's father." Emma says, but there's no real malice, just a statement. "You killed the father of another baby, a child who hadn't even been born yet. You nearly killed a small boy. That's not who you are, Elphaba. It isn't who you want to be. And it isn't who you have to be, either."

"They will never allow me to be anything else!"

"Yes, they will. I'll tell them the truth. I'll make this listen. I'll make them see their part in all of this. It won't be easy but –"

"It doesn't matter." Elphaba shakes her head. "Without Glinda –"

"Glinda is coming back. Henry will bring her back. I know he will. Trust me, Elphaba. We can end all of this."

"Why trust you? Why do you trust me?"

"Because I know who you really are. And so does my daughter. See?" Emma smirks, nodding to Harper, sound asleep in Elphaba's arms. "She likes you. Wouldn't fall asleep like that if she didn't. Ask my mother."

"So because your child fell asleep while I was holding her, you trust me?"

Emma rolls her eyes. "We've already been over this. Just put my daughter back in her crib and we'll go talk to everyone else."

"You seem so sure of yourself, Savior."

"Emma." She corrects. "And I am sure of myself. They'll listen to me. And then we'll wait for Henry to get back with Glinda."

There's a flash across brown eyes that Emma understands – the pain of being separated from someone and wishing for them back. It serves as a reassurance that she's right about Elphaba.

Elphaba leans over and carefully lays Harper back in the crib. It's just as she's about to straighten up that the door to the nursery flies open. Regina takes one glance at the scene and tosses out her arms, purple magic cracking through the air.

"Regina, no! Elphaba!" Emma shouts to warn her, but she knows it will be too late. Elphaba sends her own blast of magic out to try and protect herself, just as Emma rushes forward, determined to protect her.

Purple and green slam into Emma at the same time, much too quickly for her to stop it, lifting her body off the ground, rippling through her before dropping her back down to the floor with a horrific thud.

"Emma!" Regina gasps, racing forward and dropping to her knees, even as Emma's body continues to convulse as the magic goes through her body.

Finally the magic stops and Emma's body stills. Regina waits with baited breath for Emma to take one.

With a gasp, Emma's eyes fly open. "Fuck." Emma gasps.

"Emma." Regina lets out a laugh that sounds like a sob. "What were you thinking, jumping in front of her like that?"

"Saving her." Emma says, her voice rough. "She's not wicked. Like you. Misunderstood."

Regina looks over at Elphaba, who has dropped down beside Emma's body as well.

"Ahhh." Emma groans, her body suddenly beginning to convulse again.

"What? What's happening?"

"Our magic," Elphaba murmurs, her hands traveling over Emma's body. "It's attacking her from the inside. Killing her."

"Killing her?" Regina shakes her head. "No. No."

"You know the spell you sent at me. You know what your intentions were. What did you think would happen if it hit her instead?" Elphaba frowns. "My magic would double the effect."

"We have to stop it." Regina growls. "I can't lose – we can't let it kill her."

"Eleka nahmen nahmen ah tum ah tum eleka nahmen." Elphaba begins chanting over Emma.

"What are you doing?" Regina hisses at the sound of the chanting, still not trusting the green witch.

"Trying to turn me into a scarecrow." Emma begins to laugh, but ends up wincing and gasping in pain instead. Regina doesn't look at all amused.

"Trying to save you." The witch replies, not understanding the reference.

Emma feels the strength leaving her body, even with the magic Elphaba is using on her. Her eyes slide closed.

"No. Emma, open your eyes." Regina demands, grabbing Emma's hand and squeezing it tightly. She feels the familiar jolt when their skin meets and her eyes widen. "Magic. Emma, you have magic. Use it. Use it to fight."

Emma tries, tries to concentrate and think about protecting herself, think about combining her magic with Regina's to become stronger, but it doesn't work. Regina's magic isn't mixing with hers in that powerful way it usually does. Instead, it seems to be attacking hers, right along with Elphaba's. "Can't."

"Yes, you can. You can, Emma. Fight. Fight for Harper. Fight for Henry. You can't leave them. You can't leave me."

"When your heart breaks," Emma whispers, her voice shaking along with her body, "you should die."

"No!" Regina cries. "Emma, stop it."

"My heart was broken." She whispers. "Lost you. And then... Harper."

"Shh." Regina pushes hair out of Emma's face. "Stop talking. Save your strength. Let Elphaba help you." She glances at Elphaba, who is still chanting, but it's obvious from the set of her face that the witch doesn't have much confidence in her abilities, not when Emma isn't responding to her efforts.

Emma's eyes open, catching Regina's. She offers a smile, even as her body is wracked with coughs that shake her form and speckle her lips with red. Lips as red as blood. Regina grimaces. "She's yours."

"Wh-what?"

"Ours." Emma's eyes close again.

"Emma, what are you saying? What are you –"

"Harper," she breathes her daughter's name.

"No." Regina shakes her head, even as her heart soars and tears slide down her cheeks. "No. She can't be. You talked about her father. I heard you through the mirror, Emma. You're confused. You don't know –" Even as she denies it, she remembers the way Emma had constantly tried to talk to her, the words "your children", all of it.

"You." Emma manages, deadly serious. "The curse. Changed memories."

"The curse," Regina repeats in a whisper, thinking of how she had manipulated people's memories but how the curse also had its own abilities. Regina hadn't known that Emma was apparently pregnant when she'd recast it. The curse would've had to make up for that. And in a land without magic, Emma would have believed she was pregnant by a man – would have spoken to Harper about a father who was gone, instead of a mother in another realm.

"Thought you died." Emma's hand reaches up but then falls limply back down beside her before she can touch Regina's face. "Remembered your eyes." She smiles sadly. "When your heart breaks, you should die. Just took a while to catch up."

"Stop it." Regina cries, her eyes darting from Emma to Elphaba and back again, not sure who she's talking to, just knowing that she needs all of this to stop. She needs Emma to be okay so that they can talk about this – really talk about it and figure it all out.

"Take care of her. Love her." Emma murmurs as her body once again begins to shake.

"Not without you. Emma, please. Emma!" Regina begs as she is suddenly struck with the reality that she is sitting, holding Emma who is slowly dying on the floor of the nursery in the exact same spot that Snow had laid, clutching her own dying prince all those years ago. It's a horrible kind of déjà vu.

There's a rumbling then, the room beginning to shake, and Regina looks over at Elphaba. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" Elphaba cries.

Suddenly, the items on the wall begin to be sucked together, swirling around in a haze of silver, faster and faster and growing larger until Regina and Elphaba realize what it is.

"A portal."

"Henry!" Regina gasps as she watches her son come tumbling through, falling and rolling on the ground. A moment later, another person comes through behind him.

"Glinda." Elphaba breathes beside her.

"Elphie!" The small blonde squeaks, even as she unceremoniously falls to the floor too. Regina supposes it's a good thing that she's not wearing her poofy dress, but instead a form-fitting pink dress that looks far more modern than anything in this realm.

"Mom!" Henry calls out with a grin. "I did it! I found Glinda and –" he stops short as he finally takes in the scene before him. "Ma!" He shouts, crawling over to her.

Emma's eyes flutter, but don't open. "Hen-" She manages.

"What happened?" He spins on the green witch. "What did you do to her?"

"Oh, Elphie, no!" Glinda cries as she pushes herself up onto her knees.

"It was both of us." Regina manages. "We were throwing magic at each other. Emma got caught in the crossfire."

"Threw herself into the crossfire, more like it." Elphaba sighs. "She was trying to protect both of us. But our magic hit her and now it's killing her."

"No!" Henry cries. "She's the Savior. She can't die." He looks at Regina with wide, pleading eyes, "Kiss her, Mom. Kiss her!"

Regina freezes, staring down at Emma. She finds that she can't move, can't even attempt to kiss Emma. All she can think about is another body on a floor, another kiss that didn't work. She cannot go through that again. She cannot fail the person she loves again.

"It won't work." Elphaba says quietly, causing everyone to look at her. "This isn't a curse, boy. Not one that can be cured by those means. Not one that can be cured at all." She says the last sentence so quietly that they shouldn't have been able to hear it, but of course, they do.

"No!" Henry cries. "Save her!"

"I can't." Regina gasps, tears slipping from her eyes.

"Glinda, help." Henry turns to the blonde who he has come to trust in the short time he's been with her, pleading with her.

"Oh, Henry," she begins sadly, "I wish I –" her eyes widen. "Wish. That's it!"

She reaches down quickly and pulls the silver shoes that adorn her feet off, handing them to Regina. "Quickly, put them on."

"And what, click my heels three times?" Regina snaps.

Glinda laughs, a musical sound that would be pretty if not for the circumstances. "These are the silver shoes, the true silver shoes. They have the power to grant you your heart's desire. You have the power in you, Regina. These shoes will bring it out and grant you whatever it is you truly want."

With trembling hands, Regina slips on the shoes, then turns and grabs Emma's hand again. She closes her eyes, feeling the slight vibrations up her legs from their power. Her heart's desire. She doesn't even know what this is. All that she knows for sure is that Emma Swan needs to be alive for her to get it.

"I cannot lose her." She whispers. "Come back to me."

For a long moment, everything is still, including Emma herself. Then, suddenly, a silver glow starts from Regina's feet and begins to envelop her and Emma. Emma's body jerks up and everyone watches as green and purple begin to rise out from her body, swirling and mixing with the silver. It's beautiful, the dance of colors, and then, all at once, it disappears.

Emma's body falls back to the floor. Her eyes flutter open and she smiles beautifully up at Regina for just a moment before unconsciousness takes her again.

It's dark when Emma finally stirs, feeling the comfort of a bed beneath her instead of the hardness of the nursery floor. She blinks and takes a moment to get her bearings, grinning when she hears the sound of Regina singing softly.

Her eyes zero in on Regina, rocking Harper in her arms as she sings. "Go to sleep, right to sleep, little munchkin. Mama's tired, mama's tired and she has to run this town."

"She tends to prefer Billy Joel." Emma says, causing Regina to jump and turn towards her. "Not that that wasn't… adorable."

Regina huffs. "Well, excuse me. Everyone had to start somewhere, even Stephen Sondheim. At least it scans."

Emma laughs, glad to find that it doesn't hurt like hell this time. It's still pretty damn painful, but at least she's not about to die. "Number one, I'm pleasantly surprised you know who Sondheim is."

"I could say the same about you." Regina counters with a raised brow. "I'm not uncultured."

Emma smiles. "Of course not. Number two, I don't think you're gonna be nominated for a Grammy any time soon."

Regina shrugs. "Well, these things are so political."

Emma nods to the sleeping baby. "You look good together."

Regina sucks in a breath then, as though everything is suddenly hitting her. "Emma."

"Hey." She smiles.

Regina lets out a tiny sound that is probably a sob, but she does her best to cover it by turning to put Harper into the bassinet. "Hey."

"Everything okay? Henry?"

"He's fine." Regina assures quickly. "Very proud of himself. And worried about you."

"I guess the prophecy was right after all." Emma grins. "Elphaba?"

"Fine. She and Glinda are in one of the other chambers, catching up. She called off the monkeys. We repaired the damage to the castle. I told everyone to ceasefire, which was made easier by the fact that –" she stops suddenly.

"What?" Emma frowns. It never stops. "What happened now?"

"Your mother went into labor."

"Oh." Emma breathes, still not sure what she feels about that whole situation. She knows what she's supposed to feel, but she can't quite make her own feelings match up to that. "Is she okay?"

"Yes."

"And the baby?"

"A little boy."

"A boy." She whispers and she knows it's horrible, but she can't stop herself from thinking that at least it wasn't a little girl, at least they didn't manage to entirely replace her. She's still the only daughter they have, even if she's not what they wanted. "That's good, right? I mean, he can rule and everything. Be a king or… whatever."

"Yes." Regina says neutrally. "He can."

"Good." Emma nods. "Good."

Regina sits down and reaches out to touch Emma's arm. The spark of magic is there between them, strong as it has ever been, and it's comforting.

"Harper?" She glances over at her sleeping daughter, already knowing the answer.

"She's perfect." Regina murmurs.

"And you?" Emma asks her after she catches her eye. "How are you?"

"I –" She doesn't know how to answer that. Not really. Everything is still such a jumble of emotions.

"It's okay." Emma assures. "Thanks for saving me."

Regina makes a sound that's a mix between a laugh and a sob. "I didn't –"

"You did." Emma says. "The shoes helped, but I heard what Glinda said. It was you who had the power."

"Don't you ever, ever do something so idiotic again," Regina hisses, deflecting the topic for a moment before she opens up, her fingers tangling with Emma's and squeezing tightly. "I can't lose you, Emma."

"You won't." Emma promises. It's strange to be making that promise, a promise that is very much like forever, but Emma finds that it doesn't scare her. What does scare her is thinking about going back to a life without Regina in it.

"When we were in New York, I was happy. I had my children. I had a normal life, just like I always wanted. But something was always missing. And that something was someone. Because of the curse, I thought it was Harper's father. And really, I guess it was. Because it was you, Regina. You were what was missing. You are what I need. What we need."

"So what? We just leave everyone behind, go off to New York, and become a happy family? Get our happy ending?" Regina asks.

"Please, Regina. Is anything ever that easy for us?" Emma asks with a smirk. "We've both still got issues. There's a lot to work out. A lot to talk about. It will take time and it might even be painful. But I think we can do it. Together."

"Together."

"If that's what you want."

"And what do you want, Emma?"

"I want a normal life with my family. I want to be Henry and Harper's mom and your… whatever you want me to be. I want us to be together, wherever you want us to be. If you want us to be."

Regina opens her mouth to reply, but is interrupted by a cry from Harper. She moves over to pick her up, rocking her and smiling down at her before looking back over to Emma. "Billy Joel, huh?" She asks softly as she settles back down beside Emma, leaning against her and feeling the warmth of her body. It's a comfort and peace that she relishes.

"Your momma is the one who sings you silly songs, isn't she?" Regina coos down at the baby, who looks up at her mothers with wide eyes and a large baby smile, as though she knows that her family is finally all together. "Billy Joel and Madonna as lullabies. That's what's silly, isn't it, Harper? Beautiful, beautiful Harper."

"How do you –" Emma starts to ask before it clicks into place. "The mirror."

Regina blushes just the littlest bit as she keeps her gaze focused on Harper.

"You watched us. You could see us." She looks down at Harper, so enamored with Regina, reaching up to try and catch her face with her little baby fingers. "And she could see you."

Regina's head snaps up at that. "What?"

"You were what fascinated her. You were why she was so drawn to the mirror."

Regina shakes her head. "It's not possible." She protests, but she remembers the way that Harper's hand had fallen right against hers and how it had always seemed like the baby was looking right at her when she would watch them.

"Regina," Emma says, her voice full of something so much like love that she feels like her heart will burst from the sound of it, "don't you know by now? The impossible is possible for us. Why should it be any different for our children?"

Her heart does burst then, or at least that's what it feels like, love spilling out at those words. 'Our children'. Emma's right, it won't be easy, and it might be a kind of painful progress, but this is what her heart's desire truly is.

She smiles widely as she leans over and kisses Emma, trying to convey everything she feels for her in that kiss. Emma kisses her back with just as much emotion and Regina feels her whole body tingle as their magic buzzes under her skin.

When she finally pulls back, she's met with a dazzling smile from Emma and she knows that she matches it as she looks back down at Harper.

"Some folks like to getaway, take a holiday from the neighborhood." She starts to sing softly. "Hop a flight to Miami Beach or to Hollywood."

"But I'm takin' a Greyhound on the Hudson River line." Emma joins in with a soft smile, understanding what Regina's saying without ever saying it.

"I'm in a New York state of mind."