A/N: Prompt by pamrenea: Regina keeps her promise to Henry. Emma and snow are returned to SB. But emma has been gravely wounded. Regina realizes her feelings as tends to Emma much to Charmings dismay.

Regina was absolutely positive the sheer joy she felt at Emma and Mary Margaret coming back through the portal-a rabbit hole of all things-was completely related to making Henry happy and showing him that she could change. There was no way she was happy to see them for any other reason. Regina glanced down at the shirt she was wearing, realizing it was the one that Emma had borrowed without permission a while back, and turned a little pale. Maybe her subconscious was trying to tell her something, but it couldn't be. The idea was just too preposterous. Her train of thought was interrupted at the sound of Henry's scream; that was when she noticed that Emma was covered in blood.

"Emma!" Henry cried, his screams giving way to coherent thought. "Mom, you have to get Dr. Whale. Go, now. Mom, we have to help Emma. I learned first aid at school. Go!"

Regina picked up the phone to call for an ambulance, wishing that the only doctor in all of Storybrooke didn't hate her guts. Surely, he would put his personal feelings for her aside and help Emma; there was some oath doctors took, right? To help everyone, no matter how undeserving? She spoke into the phone, "Hi, yes, I need an ambulance. Emma, oh god, there is so much blood. Yes, I think she's breathing. Yes, my son is trying to stop the bleeding. No, I don't know what happened. Just get here!"

"Emma, you're going to be ok. You're the Savior. Good always wins," Henry insisted, sounding surer of himself than he felt as he applied the pressure to Emma's wounds.

Regina had hung up the phone and found herself clutching Emma's right hand on instinct. She tried to look only at Emma's face, "Emma, what happened?"

"Ogres," Emma responded weakly. The ogres had attacked while she had been too busy trying to fend off Regina's mother to realize all the noise they had been making. Cora seemed to hate her and Mary Margaret…Snow…even more than Regina did, which Emma had never thought possible.

Unwilling to admit how terrified she was at Emma's condition, Regina bristled at the sheriff's answer, "After all that I went through to bring you back through the portal? Ms. Swan, part of being a mother means not putting yourself in mortal danger at the drop of a hat, do you hear me?"

"Mary…Margaret," Emma tried to pick her head up to see what had become of her friend and 'mother'. She needed to know if Snow had made it through the portal with her.

Regina finally remembered that Emma was not the only one who had come through the portal. She looked around to discover Mary Margaret unconscious on the floor with what appeared to be only minor wounds. Her joy at seeing her former nemesis injured was short-lived as she realized that if anything happened to either Emma or Mary Margaret, Henry would never forgive her. She looked back at Emma, "Don't you dare try to get up. Mary Margaret will be fine. You were trying to protect her, weren't you?"

"Cora," Emma managed to say as she lost consciousness from blood loss. She let the darkness overwhelm her, exhausted from the pain, knowing that her loved ones were safe.

Regina began to tremble, her voice growing more anxious by the second, "Emma, Emma, wake up! You have to wake up."

"Mom, who is Cora?" Henry asked as the ambulance arrived, and the EMTs pushed him out of the way to put Emma and Mary Margaret on stretchers.

"My mother," Regina answered. How did Emma know about her mother? Did Mary Margaret tell her or…had Cora managed to find her way out of Wonderland into the Enchanted Forest? With her mother's knowledge of magic, she surmised it was only a matter of time before she arrived in Storybrooke. She would have to prepare, but first, she needed Emma alive and ready to help her.

"Mom, they want to know if we want to ride in the ambulance," Henry said. He could tell Regina was distracted. She had never told him anything about her mother, and Henry had always assumed that the Evil Queen didn't have one.

Regina looked at him, still dazed, "No, we'll follow in my car. C'mon, let's get going."

Mary Margaret was sent home from the hospital with David relatively quickly, having only sustained minor injuries. She had wanted to stay for Emma's sake, but David convinced her it wouldn't help her own recovery if she was constantly worrying about her daughter and that Regina (or more likely Henry) would let them know of any changes to Emma's condition.

In contrast, Regina had spent days at Emma's hospital bedside-for Henry's sake (at least that's what she kept telling herself). Henry had refused to leave Emma while she was in the hospital, and Regina wasn't leaving Henry alone if there was the slightest chance her mother would find a way to follow Emma and Snow to Storybrooke. Even though her magic wasn't working the way it normally did, she knew that Henry stood a better chance with her there to protect him than he did on his own. Not that Cora knew about Henry, but she couldn't take any chances with Snow's inability to keep secrets.

While Emma recovered, Regina and Henry took turns telling Emma tales of what she had missed while she was off cavorting with ogres. Henry spoke excitedly of learning to ride horses and the time he had spent with David. Regina was much less forthcoming and had to be urged on by her…their son repeatedly. She admitted that she had started therapy with 'that blasted cricket' at Henry's urging. What she didn't tell Emma was that the tipping point was looking into Henry's eyes and realizing she was beginning to turn into her mother, something she'd fought against all her life. She told Emma that she was no longer working as mayor of the town and that David had picked up the job of Sheriff while she was gone.

Every so often, Henry would ask about Cora, but Regina remained tight-lipped about her mother, saying that they would all talk about it when Emma was awake and stable. In fact, Regina had just about run out of excuses by the time Dr. Whale said that Emma was safe to be released from the hospital.

"Here are Ms. Swan's release papers. All you need to do is sign here, and I'll go over her aftercare needs with you before you take her home," Dr. Whale held up a stack of papers and a pen.

Henry looked up, "Wait, mom, you're taking Emma home?"

Regina was startled, "Henry, I'm afraid I'm just as confused as you are. I thought her parents would have to sign her out."

"Funny story that. Legally speaking, Ms. Swan has no parents as she grew up a ward of the state. Ms. Blanchard and Mr. Nolan never filed any paperwork with the state of Maine to change that. Our hospital policy states that since you called it in and Ms. Swan has no other family according to the state of Maine that is of legal age, you are technically her emergency contact," Dr. Whale explained with an air of condescension.

"Oh," Regina said in wonder. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this news.

"Emma's coming home with me to Mary Margaret and David's apartment," Henry explained to Dr. Whale with all the authority he could muster having lived with Regina for nearly eleven years.

"Henry, we discussed you coming home with me, now that Emma and Mary Margaret are back," Regina said softly. She knew it had to be his choice to come home with her, but she wasn't sure she could handle another rejection.

Henry contemplated his answer carefully, "I guess you did keep up your end of the deal. But I can't leave Emma like this. She needs me."

"Then, it's settled, you and Emma will both come home with me," Regina asserted. If bringing Emma into her home was what it took to get Henry back, she was willing to meet him halfway.

"Woah, don't I get a say in this?" Emma said weakly.

Regina responded by glaring back at her, "Not when Henry's safety is on the line."

"Relax, I'm kidding. I would love to stay with you and Henry," Emma forced a smile. "My parents have their own issues to work out."

Henry stared at Emma, "Are you sure?"

"Kid, I saw what's out there, and your mom is right. She and I have the best chance of keeping you safe if we work together," Emma answered. "So about those papers?"

"Yes, of course," Regina stammered. She signed on the dotted line and tried to digest the massive list of instructions regarding Emma's outpatient treatment, grateful when Dr. Whale handed her a written copy that she could peruse later when she could better concentrate.