The Maine wind whipped Emma's hair about her face as she stared out at the swirling ocean. Hook had come back to help, who would have thought? The blonde glanced around at the strange assortment of crew members with which she was allied. Gold stood, glaring at the water as if daring it to deny him what he wanted. Her parents clung to one another; a united, solid front as they always had been. Regina was braced on her absurd heels, leaning into the wind as though she could hear Henry calling.

The blonde glanced to their captain who seemed to see beyond the water; into the portal and their destination. I hope you know what you're doing. Emma sent him a look of distrust then turned her head back to face the wind and the vortex of water.

"Everyone hold tight!" Hook called.

Snow turned to Gold. "Can't you enchant the ship so that we won't fall off?" The bow began to dip into the tunnel of waves.

"Magic doesn't work in portals, dearie!" He shouted back with nary a hint of his usual bravado. "I suggest you cling to your family tightly!" He sent Regina a warning glance that all but Emma missed.

Would the portal strip them of their magic? How long would it take to pass through? The blonde found herself wondering these things as the ship lurched forward and her feet slid on the slick wood. She caught her footing easily enough but the same could not be said for the brunette with her arm entwined in the rope.

Regina and her damned heels. Emma watched the woman struggle to right herself, which she did with less grace than usual. The blonde flexed her knees and tried to keep her eyes on the bow of the ship and away from the spinning walls of water that had hollowed to allow them passage. But a noise distracted her.

"Regina!" Emma heard her mother's voice call out and the blonde snapped her head around to see the woman fighting to remain on her feet. The rope with which she had decided to anchor herself was unraveling.

"I know!" Shouted the brunette in agitation and fear. It continued to fray and Emma let go of her own stronghold. Regina looked up at the blonde in panic and anger. "Stay where you are, Miss Swan!" She tried and failed to grab another rope as Emma lurched toward her on the slick wood; barely maintaining her footing. "I said get back!" The angry witch shouted at the woman as the rope snapped and she went reeling backward toward the side of the ship.

"Emma!" her parents screamed as she lunged and grabbed the other end of the rope as the brunette's body rolled over the banister.

"Shit!" Emma growled as she wedged her torso against the banister and clung to the rope. Though Regina was rather small, her dead weight felt as though it was ripping Emma's arm out of socket; not to mention the thick rope slipping through her hand. The blonde braced her feet and knees against the side of the ship and grabbed the rope with both hands in spite of the burning heat the friction caused.

"Let go! You can't pull me back up!" Regina cried in panic. "Find Henry! Let me go!"

"Shut up and hang on!" Emma refused to hear the woman's suicidal pleas.

The brunette looked up at her with fearful and yet thankful eyes. "Emma…" she said quietly as their gaze met.

Suddenly, the ship lurched again and the blonde lost her footing. Her parents screamed again and Hook yelped in surprise as she found herself hurtling over the edge of the boat; still clinging to the rope as though it would be her salvation. Emma felt a strong hand grab her jacket and looked up into stunned brown eyes. But her vision was lost as the pair of women collided with the portal's wall of water.

The blonde felt water pressing in on all sides. She didn't know which way was up or if there even was an up. All she was aware of was the hand clutching her shirt tightly as they swirled about in the oxygen deprived environment. Light. Emma could sense it rather than see it. She looked up and suddenly had her bearings. The blonde grabbed her companion's wrist and tugged her upward toward the light.

She could feel the water moving past her as she beat against it with strong limbs and screaming muscles. Her lungs were dying and her brain was becoming dark and groggy. With relief, her head broke the surface and she drug Regina up into the cold air. The two women gulped thankfully; drinking in the frigid oxygen until their lungs were bursting to their capacity.

Emma glanced around for shore and spied a coast to the West. Thanking whatever higher power had allowed her heart to continue beating, she got Regina's attention and nodded toward the murky coast. "That doesn't look like Maine." The blonde said as they struck out across the gray water. "Are we in the Enchanted Forrest?"

"That is not my coastline." The brunette said warily as she struggled to keep up with the long limbs of the blonde.

Emma's feet hit silty, muddy earth and she pulled herself upon the bank before turning a hand to the brunette. However, the woman ignored it and pulled herself up; showing more dexterity and coordination than Emma would have imagined from the woman. The cold air chilled her to the bone and the blonde could feel her body and teeth trembling. "Can you warm us up? Do you have magic?"

Regina closed her eyes briefly, held her hands aloft and fire flew from her fingertips. An inferno blazed quickly before it died down. The brunette placed her hands on Emma's shoulders and the blonde felt the heat seep into her clothing; effectively drying her out. "Warm enough?"

"My hair?" Emma asked tentatively and the brunette whipped her hands back and forth. Suddenly, the blonde locks were dry, silky, and curled to perfection. "Damn." She mumbled; impressed against her will as she watched her companion do the same to herself.

"Magic is different here." Regina murmured and tossed back her raven locks dramatically. "Stronger."

"That's a good thing? Right?" Emma asked as she watched the woman turn and survey their surroundings.

"Well, it tells me that we are in neither of our homelands."

"Ok…"

"I have only experienced this once before." Regina murmured.

"So you've been here?"

"Not exactly." Emma sighed, causing the woman to turn and look at her in agitation. "Something you need to say, Miss Swan?"

"Have you been here or not?"

"Yes, but things are different now." Regina said and when she did not explain further, Emma raised a brow. "When I journeyed here, many years ago, magic was used frequently by many…much as it was in the Enchanted Forrest. It was more balanced and controllable." She explained. "But now…it feels much more violent, as if there are few magic users left."

"Wait…" Emma's mind was spinning. "So the more witches there are, the more predictable magic is?"

"Think of it as energy." Regina walked past her to climb up the soft bank of the waterline; toward a higher peak. "It can neither be created nor destroyed; it always exists in some form or another. It is converted to different forms and harnessed for different purposes but there is always the same amount."

"Ok…" Again, the blonde felt at a loss.

"However, magic can build up like static in a land if it is not utilized. This land feels charged, do you not feel it?" She turned to consider the woman as they came over the ridge and looked down on a heavily wooded area that went on for miles and miles.

Emma considered this. "Is it like something is buzzing in the back of your mind?"

"Yes, I suppose that would be an accurate description. Like you have an itch you can't reach."

The blonde considered this again and decided that she did, indeed feel tingly. "But prolonged exposure won't…injure us, right?"

"It's not like radiation, Miss Swan." Regina said with a superior tone and Emma fought to not roll her eyes. "It won't give you a rash."

"I'll give you a rash…" the blonde said out of the corner of her mouth.

"Pardon?"

"I was wondering where we go from here?" Emma cast a critical eye about the forest. "We have to get to Henry; we don't even know where he is." The brunette pursed her lips but was as silent as the gray sky above them. "Regina?"

"I know how to find him." She finally answered quietly.

"How?"

"With the help of an old friend."

"Is this friend anything like the dragon? Because you can fight her on your own-"

"No, Miss Swan, Elphaba and I were actually friends." Regina started down the ridge, headed to into the woods.

"Wait, why do I know that name? Is she in the book?"

"No, she was in another book." The woman said cryptically. "As were Glinda and Nessarose."

Emma knew the names were familiar. She felt like it was an episode of Friends that she had missed but heard about from someone else. Suddenly, she stopped in her tracks. "Wait." She swallowed and her head reeled. "You mean to say that we're…we're in-"

"Oz."