The portal promptly spat them out - in the middle of a dry, barren plain. The ship teetered precariously for a moment before crashing to its side, tossing them all out onto the dirt.

"Regina!" Robin's voice cut through the dust cloud and the coughing and groans of the others. He cradled his wrist in one hand. "Regina!"

"Over here," she called out from where she was hanging, holding onto the lashings. "I'm okay."

Robin held out his arms as she shimmied carefully down the rope, setting her gently on her feet.

"What the devil..." Killian got to his feet, helping Emma up to hers.

"Henry? Mom? Dad?" Emma turned in a wide circle.

"Over here," Snow answered. "David?"

"Wrecked my knee," he said, limping over. "You?"

Snow held up a scraped and bloody arm. "So much for a water landing."

"Henry!" Regina screamed, and Emma broke into a run. Henry's crumpled form lay very still and away from the rest of the group.

"He must've been thrown further!" Killian shouted, racing after them.

Regina threw herself down next to Henry, patting his face and calling his name. He was unresponsive.

"What's wrong? Why isn't he waking up?" Emma said, dropping to her knees next to Regina.

"I don't know. And I can't heal him. Not here." She glanced around. "Can you feel it?"

Emma stiffened. "Like a magical vacuum. It's even hard to breathe."

"It's dampening the magic," Regina said. "I don't know why but we can't help him here. We have to get him home."

"Where's the water?" David asked, spinning around. "We were supposed to land in the sea."

"I know that!" Killian snapped. "And there is no bloody sea. Not anymore."

"So let's use the bean and get out of here," Emma said.

"Without the water, we're not going anywhere but oblivion," Killian reminded her. "There are only seven 'seven seas.' And this was the last one."

"Wait a minute," Snow said. "When Lake Nostos was dried up, Lancelot found water in a shell. We just have to look for it."

"Cora restored the lake with her magic," Killian said. "But that's out of the question if there's some sort of protective spell over the area."

"Regina, you stay with Henry," Emma said. "The rest of us will look for wa-"

She was interrupted by the sound of hoofbeats as a carriage pulled up next to them. A footmen jumped down, opening the door, and Wendy Darling jumped out, breathless and agitated.

"I've come to warn you!" she cried. "He's after the lot of you!"

Snow put her hands on the girl's shoulders. "Who?"

"The pirate! Please, you have to stop him!"

Before Snow could press her for more, the ground shuddered violently, as a lifeboat, clearly marked "Titanic" landed hard on the ground next to them. The figure inside rolled out, coughing, then swaggered to his feet.

"Jones!" He growled.

"Blackbeard?" Killian pulled his cutlass, then found himself jumping back as a group of horses thundered past, screeching to a halt. King George smiled down coldly from his saddle, sending a signal to his men.

"Kill them all!"

"Charming!" Snow pulled a dagger out of her boot as Robin nocked an arrow into his bow.

"Out of the way! He's mine!" shouted Edna, as she stepped out of a yellow cab with two prison guards.

"We've got to get out of here," Regina screamed. "It's all imploding!"

As if to punctuate her remark, the ground shook again, and out of the nearby foothill poured an army of orcs and Uruk-Hai, slashing and stabbing at everything in their path. George's forces turned to meet the new threat and were quickly cut down as the horde advanced. The prison guards drew their guns, taking cover behind the cab with Edna as Hook ushered Wendy back into the safety of the carriage.

He'd just shut the door when he felt a cutlass at his throat. "Now it's time to settle our debt," Blackbeard growled. He flinched suddenly at the feel of a blade at his own throat.

"Step away," Emma snapped. Blackbeard whirled, using his momentum to knock her blade aside and throw her off balance.

"So the dockside whore is here to save my lackey? This should be amusing..."

He drew his arm back, preparing for the kill, when a bright red blotch appeared on the front of his waistcoat, darkening and spreading as he looked down at the cutlass impaling him in disbelief.

"Don't insult my girlfriend," Killian growled, shoving Blackbeard's lifeless body off his blade.

"Look for water!" David shouted. "Robin and I will hold them off!"

"You need my bow!" Snow protested.

"You start drawing that rosette!" Emma called out. "Lily showed you how to do it. Killian and I will keep looking for water while they keep them at bay!" Snow gave her an uncertain nod, her frightened eyes on the endless, advancing horde that was almost upon them. She dropped down and began carving into the dirt next to Henry and Regina.

"Snow!" David shouted, tossing her the branch. Then he reached in his pocket, pulling out a book of matches with a casino name on them, and wrapped them in the reeds he'd been saving, tossing that over to her as well.

She placed them in the center of the forming rosette and kept on drawing.

"Hurry!" Regina urged, placing her body protectively over Henry's.

Emma gestured at Killian with her blad. "You go that way, I'll go this..." her words trailed off as the first of the orcs got through the barrage of bullets and arrows, ripping off the head of one of the prison guards. Two more orcs took out the other, and another took off after poor Edna, who ran screaming into the fray. Her screams cut off abruptly as David's blade met the sword of an incredibly large Uruk-Hai.

"We can't hold them!" Robin shouted as Emma and Hook charged forward.

"You need my bow!" Snow screamed again, finishing up the rosette and struggling to her feet.

"Does someone need a bow?" The voice called out from behind them, as silver arrows rained down on the horde, impossibly fast and with unerring accuracy.

"I'm Legolas," he called out. "Perhaps I can be of assistance?"

He whirled aside as a very large arrow, nearly the size of a man's leg in thickness and length drove into the ground just behind him. Killian leaped out of the way as well, and turned to look at the elf.

"Do I know you?"

"Have you been to middle-earth before?" Legolas asked as he continued firing.

"No. But you look like a pirate I once knew," Killian observed, swinging down to sink his hook in the neck of an advancing orc.

Legolas shrugged. "I hear that a lot." He took out two more Uruk-hai, just as David finished his own. Emma was slashing at an orc that had her leg, staggering back until she bumped into the arrow lodged in the ground. She pulled it out, beating the orc over the head with it until he dropped off.

She'd just started to throw the arrow aside when she noticed the tip.

"It's wet..." she murmured. Then she lifted her head, looking for Killian. "It's wet!" she shouted, holding the arrow up. "Killian - it struck water!"

He kicked his latest kill off his blade and rushed over.

"There!" she screamed, pointing at the ground. "Dig!"

He dropped to his knees, gashing at the ground with his hook as the others closed ranks around him, until finally a thin trickle began to fill up the hole. He pulled the bottle out, uncorking it, then dipped his cupped hand into the puddle, trickling it into the bottle. He capped it off, rolling out of the way of the Uruk-hai that Robin just felled.

"That's done it!" he shouted.

"We'll never keep them off us long enough to enact the spell!" David shouted.

Killian surveyed the horde, panting with exertion. David was right. They needed to wipe them out in one fell swoop. His fingers scrambled in his pocket.

"Get back!" he shouted. "Run!"

Emma looked at him, then down at his hand. "The bean! We're going to suck them into a portal!"

David pushed Emma ahead of him as Robin and Legolas fired off volley after volley. Killian ran forward a few paces, wound up, and threw the bean as hard as he could into the rest of the remaining throng. The portal blazed open, the whirlpool sucking most of them in, along with the cab, carriage and lifeboat.

"Light it!" David shouted.

"Regina! The dagger!" Emma called out. Regina reached inside Henry's jacket, pulling the former Dark One dagger free and driving it into one point of the rosette. David threw down his keyring into the second, followed by Robin, tossing his certificate onto the third. Emma added her dice at point four, and Regina laid Henry's book at the fifth point. Snow pulled out the tiara, dropping it on point six, Killian set his bottle down at point seven, and then Regina stood, looking helplessly at the others.

"I- I don't have anything to add," she stammered. "I didn't get a token. Nothing!"

"There has to be something!" Snow shouted over the sound of the remaining orcs, still falling under Legolas' arrows, but making steady progress toward them.

Emma threw up her arms in exasperation. "Regina, think! What would show that you overcame this? What counteracts sin? Think!"

Regina started to form a scathing answer, but then her eyes widened. She went absolutely still.

"Innocence."

She turned her eyes to Robin, knowing the full and awful truth. Her voice was shaking as she repeated it.

"Innocence."

"No...Regina!" Robin reached out, but she shook her head.

"Yes. It has to be. The baby is my token." She knew it with absolute surety.

"We don't know what that will do to you!" Robin said. "Please, Regina -"

"There's no time!" she cried. "Don't you see? This is the only way." She looked at Emma. "Get Henry home. Heal him." She reached out for Robin's hand, then touched his face gently. "Go home to Roland. Just remember that we had some happiness. Just the two of us."

He nodded, tears gathering in his eyes. "Just the two of us. I'll remember, Regina. Always."

She kissed him, her lips clinging to his, and then she lifted her chin and stepped onto the final point of the rosette. Snow lit the branch and reeds at the center, and the dagger glowed brilliant white, blinding them all.

When the spots cleared from their eyes, there were six of them. And they were home.

A cheer went up from the gathered crowd, and Robin stood motionless, staring at the empty spot on the rosette where Regina should have been until a squeal and a cry of "Daddy!" brought him around. He crouched down, receiving Roland as he flew into his arms, holding him fiercely, while his eyes still lingered on the empty spot.

Belle hugged Killian as Aurora passed over baby Neal to his parents, and Emma dropped instantly to Henry's side, putting a hand to his head and surrounding him with a magical glow.

"Mom?" he said, looking up at her in confusion. "Where are we? Whose dream?"

"We're home, Henry," she said, hugging him close. "Finally home."

Killian put a hand down, helping him to his feet. Henry dusted off his pants, complaining.

"I can't believe I missed the whole thing!" Then he looked around. "Where's my mom?"

Emma's agonized eyes held Killian's, wishing she could spare Henry yet another one of these tellings. She slid her arm around her son's shoulders. "Come over here," she said gently. "I need to tell you what happened."

She was just about to lead him away when David called her name. She turned to see him holding up his cellphone. "It's the station - they've found Regina!"

Robin leaped to his feet. "She's alive?"

"Yes! They're taking her to the hospital," David answered. "Come on - I'll drive!"

They ran for David's truck, piling into the back as he and Snow settled Neal in the front carseat. In a matter of minutes they were bursting through the doors, making their way to the room where Dr. Whale was just replacing her chart at the foot of the bed. He stepped forward to greet them.

"Not so fast," he said, holding up a hand. "We need to keep her quiet for awhile. They found her out in the woods. She's got a mild concussion and a few bruises, but it looks like the baby's doing fine."

Robin looked gobsmacked. "Baby?"

Regina leaned around Dr. Whale so she could see his face. "Baby," she replied. "We're still having a baby."

"How..? I don't..." Robin was at a loss for words. "Nevermind. I don't care how. It just is and it's wonderful."

He sat down on the bed, gathering her into his arms. "Never frighten me like that again," he said.

"I promise." She pulled back, still shaking her head in disbelief. "I think the magic within the rosette preserved me. I came to halfway down the wishing well. Lucky for me, Dr. Whale was on his daily run."

"Gotta keep the bod in shape for the ladies," Whale said, patting his mid-section. "I'll start the release paperwork," he said to Regina. You can go home provided you keep things quiet and relaxed for the next couple of weeks."

"I've had enough excitement for a lifetime," she said dryly. She held out a hand to Henry, who walked over, grinning ear-to-ear.

"Well, maybe just a little bit more?" Robin asked, sliding his hand protectively over her belly.

"I think it's time to go home," Snow said, cradling Neal close. "We've got a baby of our own to catch up with."

David reached down, running his fingers across the top of Neal's head. "I think he's grown some hair since we left."

"I hope so," Snow replied. "He's got a solid career ahead of him in rock 'n roll. He needs to get started."

Emma's lips twitched, but it turned into outright laughter at the look on Killian's face as her father hoisted Neal over his shoulder. He was turning to go when August appeared in the doorway.

"If you all don't mind...there's someone here who'd like to have a word." He pulled Lily in by the hand, and she stood before them, shoulders hunched, face reddened with shame.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "I can't really explain why I did what I did. It was just...I felt..." she looked up at their faces, then back down again. "I'm sorry. I'm leaving - you won't have to see me again."

She turned to go and Emma reached out, touching her arm. "Wait. Lily...it's okay."

"No, it's not," she said. "You don't have to be nice about it."

"When have you ever known me to be nice for no reason?" Emma said, raising her brows.

"She's right," Killian agreed.

Emma threw him a disgruntled look before continuing. "You gave me a chance to face one of my fears and realize what I was missing out on," she said.

"It was the same for me," Snow said. "I faced parts of myself that I never knew were still undermining me - and I conquered them. Thank you."

"I got to have an adventure," Henry said with a shrug. "And it was awesome!"

"It was, wasn't it?" David agreed. "Reminded me of the good old days."

Regina's hand went down to her belly, covering Robin's. "I think it goes without saying that Robin and I have a lot to thank you for."

Lily's hopeful eyes turned to Killian, who raised a brow and said, "I was just along for the ride. But it did feel good to best Blackbeard."

"Twice," Emma pointed out.

"Twice," he repeated, smiling a devilish smile. "Definitely worthy of thanks."

He gave Lily a deferential nod, and she gave everyone a hesitant smile. "You're all a lot kinder than I would have been."

"So you'll stay?" Emma asked.

Lily looked over at August, and he moved up next to her, sliding his arms around her waist.

"We'll do whatever you want to do," he said. "Go. Stay. Stay for awhile and then go..."

"I like the last option," she said. "As long as we're together."

"And on that note..." Emma said, a bit uncomfortable at eavesdropping on their private moment, "I think it's time to find my own bed."

"Or crib," Snow said, kissing the top of Neal's head.

"Henry? You coming?" Emma asked.

"I'd like to hang here - I can help out after Mom gets home," Henry offered.

"Congratulations, Regina," Snow beamed.

David gave Neal a pat as the baby chewed on one balled-up fist. "Greatest adventure of your life," he said.

"Thank you." Regina's eyes were filling up. "It's still hard to believe this is real."

Emma leaned back into Killian, and his lips brushed her ear as he said in a low voice: "Did I hear something about a bed...?"

###

"Can you believe we did it again?" Emma asked, reaching across the bed to close her hand around Killian's.

He let out a chuckle, squeezing her fingers. "We can try once more, if you like."

She rolled to her side, smiling. "I was talking about the dreamscape."

"Ah." He rolled to face her. "I was merely making sure I was doing my duty."

"Your vigilance has been noted," Emma said, stretching with a satisfied smile.

"Good." He leaned in to give her a kiss. "And now it's time to see that I do this properly."

He rolled to his side and off the bed, while Emma eyed his naked backside with clear appreciation, and padded over to where he'd slung his jacket, digging into the pocket.

He walked back over to the bed as Emma sat up, her eyes growing wider. As he sunk down to one knee, extending the ring in his open palm, her hand came up to cover her mouth.

"Marry me, Swan. Make an honest man of me."

She reached for him, pulling him up onto the bed next to her. "You are an honest man."

"That's not an answer."

"No," she said, pulling him closer. "But this is." She kissed him gently. "I'm yours, Killian. You don't have to do this."

"Yes, I do. I've never wanted to give a woman my name before. Or my children. But I look at you, and I can't imagine anyone I'd trust more with both." He kissed her again. "I love you, Emma. Say yes."

"Yes," she said, kissing him back. "Yes, yes, yes." She punctuated each with a kiss as he slipped the ring on her finger. Whatever she was going to say was lost as his lips found her neck and his urgent hands and trailing fingers forced the air from her lungs in a sigh and then a moan. She rolled with him, and then he was pulling her astride him and sitting up, face to face, their breath mingling and passing between them as he surged powerfully within her. And when she started to shake within his arms, he breathed in the cry from her lips and added the sound of his own.

And then they finally slept, bodies intertwined, breathing softly, with a smile on their lips.

Thank you all for going on yet another adventure with me. It's been a pleasure sharing with you, and thank you so much for reading, reviewing, inspiring and encouraging me. Please visit my bio page here for info on my novels (which I'll be working on) and I'll be back at hiatus with a new fic taking us back (by popular demand) to The Memory Keeper universe. Thank you again for all your support!