And Straight On 'til Morning

Regina chuckled lightly under her breath as Lyssa squeezed her tighter. She had been pacing, her nerves at seeing her son again after her ordeal pushing her to her feet despite Lyssa insisting she rest. Henry had been at the small playground near Granny's, under the watchful eye of the old wolf while his mother and grandparents had assisted Lyssa and Hook with rescuing her. They had gone there to get him…and to let him know the news about his father, how he'd apparently been shot by his own fiancé.

As much as she loathed Gold, Regina couldn't help but feel a twinge of sympathy for the man. She may have hoped Lyssa was still alive, but there was no proof and she had feared her daughter had perished for years on end. She had truly thought the girl was dead and, as a mother, it was the worst feeling in the world to lose a child. Gold, the first time around, had thought his son lost and not dead, but now that he'd been shot...it was a terrible thing to experience. They would never be friends, she would never forgive the man what he'd done to her and threatened to do to Lyssa, she would never trust him, she would never care for him, but she could feel for his loss.

Lyssa had gotten anxious watching her pace and fret until she'd gotten up and hugged her tightly to try and calm her down.

Regina closed her eyes tightly, keeping the tears back as she just took this moment with her daughter. For so many years, for almost three decades she'd been without the girl. She loved Henry, she did, he was her little prince the way Lyssa was her little fox. But with all this hardship with Henry, with how he hated her recently, having her child, one of them, hug her and mean it and do it because they wanted to comfort HER? It was almost too much at times. So often she looked at Lyssa and still saw that little girl who needed her protection, it shocked her at times to remember that girl was a woman now. While she would always feel it was her job as the adult to keep her safe and comfort her, it was nice to have someone want to give her the same. Only Daniel ever had.

She pulled away a moment later, quickly wiping under her eyes, when the door to the loft opened and the Charmings, with Henry in tow, entered.

"Henry!" Regina called, Lyssa stepping to the side as the boy rushed forward to hug his mother with a cry of 'mom!' which made Lyssa smile to see.

Whether he would continue to see the woman as his mother or flip-flop back and forth between that and the Evil Queen remained to be seen, but for now she was his mother and that was enough for Lyssa. As her mother had always taught her, hope sprung eternal and perhaps this close call would be what Henry needed to see that she was his mother first and forever, not just a 'villain' or the 'Evil Queen.' Though a bitter part of her couldn't help but feel upset with Henry's reaction, Regina had been set upon by the heroes for so many things, threatened, even had her own son so set to see her defeated (perhaps even killed) and, just because it was other 'villains' who had done this to her, he was worried? What would he have done if the heroes had captured her and 'interrogated' her or something like that? Would he have seen it as a good thing because it was a hero punishing the villain? Or would he have seen his mother being hurt and called for a stop?

She shook her head from those dark thoughts, focusing instead on how Henry clung to Regina, how relieved he'd been to see her ok. For now she was his mother, maybe it would stick this time.

Lyssa glanced back, feeling a hand settle on the small of her back to see Hook had joined her, the man having been keeping watch at the window much like before but foregoing it now to be closer to her, knowing how much this meant to her.

The calm moment was disrupted when, out of nowhere, the entire room began to shake as though an earthquake had struck.

"Regina…" Emma looked at her warily, "Was that…"

"Yes," Regina answered, clutching Henry tightly as Hook's hold on Lyssa's waist tightened to keep her steady, "The diamond was activated."

"So we're all gonna die," Henry whispered, recalling what Emma and the others had told him on the way back.

"You were born here, so you'll live," Regina reassured him, though her fearful gaze turned to Lyssa. The failsafe was meant to destroy everything from their land, even though Lyssa, Hook, and Emma hadn't gotten caught in the Curse, they were still from the Forest.

"No one is going to die," Lyssa said firmly, catching Regina's eye, a meaningful glint in it that Emma caught but didn't understand.

Regina nodded as she looked at her daughter, as though reminded of something that saw her determination restored, "No, no one will," she agreed.

The heroes would never know how often this had come up in their past, how many plans were made by the 'Evil Queen' to ensure other did NOT die at her hands or in the crossfire of an attack on Snow White. They had ample experience in this, they just needed a moment to work out how this time. More often than not, no attack occurred until she and Regina had gone through backups, until THEY came up with the plan to save everyone first. Nothing happened till they were SURE others would be safe. This...this was different, this was not their plan, they had little time, they had to find a way around someone else's plan. But Lyssa was sure they could do it, if they could outsmart the Dark One for nearly 18 years they could certainly work out a way to beat Tamara and Greg at their plan.

Emma shook her head, having had it up to here with the crypticness between the mother-daughter pair, "Regina," she tuned to the woman, "If you know how to make this stop…"

Regina was silent a long while, before sighing, "There is no stopping it. And the best thing I can do is slow it down, but that will only delay the inevitable."

"It'll give us the time we need," Charming stated.

"The time for what?" Snow White turned to him.

"Steal back the beans. Use them to get everyone into the Enchanted Forest before Storybrooke is gone."

"How?" Emma shook her head, "We don't even know where Greg and Tamara are."

"Mother can help with that," Lyssa spoke up, "If they don't have something to stop magic finding them, the magic mirrors should help, right?" she looked to Regina.

She nodded, "It should," she moved over to the nearest mirror she could reach, waving her hand across it, honestly surprised when it worked. She would have thought the two would have prepared for magical scrying, but it appeared they were in too much of a rush from what she saw to be thinking of that.

"They're back at the cannery," she told them, seeing the two slipping into the building. As far as plans went, it did make sense to return there. They likely assumed that the heroes wouldn't think to search there a second time after being found there the first.

"Right," Charming nodded, "Hook and I will go get them."

Emma scoffed, "You're going to trust a pirate to not just steal all the beans and leave you with the two of them?"

Hook didn't dine to respond, taking more amusement in the fierce glare Lyssa was sending the woman instead. The warmth spreading through him at how she was so ready to defend his 'honor' nearly made him chuckle, it was an incredible feeling to have someone have faith in you the way Lyssa did him.

"I don't have to trust him," Charming defended, "If he tries anything, I'll shoot him in the face."

"Quite hostile, aren't we?" Hook muttered.

"Just being clear."

Emma shook her head, "I'll take Regina to slow down the diamond, give you guys time."

"I'm going too," Lyssa cut in, "I may not have much magic, but every little bit helps," that and she did NOT want to be left alone with Snow White either.

"Fine," Emma agreed before Regina could argue for the girl to remain behind, "Mary Margaret, take Henry, and gather everyone. Make sure they're ready to go as soon as we have those beans."

Snow White and Henry nodded, hurrying for the door to do just that.

"Henry!" Regina called out, halting him in the doorway as she moved over to him, "Before you go, I'm sorry for what's happened. I tried to be the person that you wanted me to be and I failed. But I won't let anything happen to you," she promised, leaning down to look him in the eye so he would know she meant it, "You just know that I love you."

"I love you, too," Henry told her, hugging her before rushing off with his grandmother.

Lyssa's smile as she witnessed the parting was bittersweet. The boy claimed he loved her now, but what happened the next time someone cried 'villain' at her mother for something or another? Would he love her still? Lash out at her? Give her an ultimatum? Guilt her? You can't pick and choose when you love someone, you love them or you don't. Love was not a weapon to be used to get what you want from another person. She shook her head fiercely, she really needed to sit down and have a talk with Henry when all this was over, these bitter thoughts would do her no good. She didn't care if she had angry or bitter thoughts to Snow White, but Henry was her brother now and she would try to at least salvage a relationship with him.

"The things we do for our children..." Hook mused, earning glares from Emma, Charming, and Regina.

Lyssa took a breath, "We need to hurry."

~8~

"Over there!" Hook shouted, pointing his hook as Charming pulled his car up to the Cannery, spotting Greg standing before a can with a fire roaring in it, having just tossed something into it. Clearly, he was disposing of any evidence he had.

"Let's go!" Charming ordered, the two men rushing out of the car and racing towards Greg as the man made his own break for it...when another earthquake struck, nearly sending them to the ground.

"Time's running out."

"Oh, is that what that means?" Charming spat, sarcasm dripping from every word. He pushed himself up, his gun out as he stormed into the Cannery, his fear for his family and his people fueling him. They navigated the halls as carefully as they could, trying to keep each other in the corner of their eyes, neither trusting the other at all. He glanced at Hook another moment, "So, tell me, Hook, all this time, it's been about revenge for you. Why is it suddenly so important to you that you survive? I know what I'm fighting for, my family. What are you fighting for?"

Hook snorted, "Lyssa."

He wasn't overly shocked that the hero doubted his care for the girl. He wouldn't put it past the man to think his relationship with Lyssa was an elaborate ruse to get closer to the Evil Queen for some other form of revenge. He also wouldn't be surprised if Charming doubted he even had the ability to love at all. He knew HE had questioned himself after Milah's death, whether his heart ever could allow another in. He'd been content to be alone with his revenge.

And then Lyssa had appeared and everything he thought he knew had been turned on its head.

"Really?" the sarcasm was back in Charming's voice.

Hook shot him a glare, "You heroes don't have a monopoly on love," he sneered, "Nor are you the only ones who do anything in the name of it," he focused back on the halls ahead of them, "I may be skilled at surviving, but I don't care much if anything happens to me. Lyssa…" he shook his head, knowing he was opening himself up for the heroes to use her as leverage against him. But that ship had sailed long ago. Nothing stayed secret in this town for long, everyone would already know she was important to him.

He could understand Regina's plan to keep Lyssa hidden from the heroes.

But he would NOT keep his love for her secret as though it were dirty or wrong.

Especially not when they might all die in mere hours.

"Quiet," Charming spoke, hearing a noise in the distance. He lifted his gun carefully, moving faster, and turned around a corner, catching Greg as he approached, "The beans!" he demanded, "Give them to me."

Greg scoffed, pulling a small jar from his pocket with a just a handful of beans in them, "You mean these?"

A shot rang out as Tamara appeared, managing to knock Charming's gun right out of his hand with her blast. Hook didn't hesitate to leap at the duo, risking being shot to fight them for the beans, Charming doing the same as the four began to brawl. Soon enough Tamara had led Charming away down a hall, leaving the pirate and Greg to wrestle for the last of the beans.

~8~

Charming quickly ducked behind a corner as Tamara tried to shoot at him one more time. He just needed one good shot…but then Greg appeared, grabbing her as she moved to fire at him again, yanking her arm and shouting that they needed to go. He pushed himself off the wall and made to follow, when Hook hauled him back.

"What are you doing?" he demanded, pulling himself from the man's grasp, "They've got the beans!"

"Not all of them," Hook smirked, holding up a single bean, "I snagged one."

"Where are the rest?!"

"Who cares?" Hook huffed, "All we need is one," he reached out and grabbed a fistful of Charming's jacket when the man tried to run after the duo again, "Hey!" he snapped, "Live to fight another day, mate!"

Charming just glared at him, "I'm not your mate," he nearly snarled, reaching out to snatch the bean from him, shoving it in his pocket and stalking towards his car.

~8~

The magic mirrors had also proved helpful in tracking down the location of the trigger as well, since it had belonged to Regina the mirrors picked up on it quickly. Which was why Regina, Emma, and Lyssa were carefully making their way through the mines of Storybrooke. Regina reached out and took Lyssa's hand, the girl seeming to struggle a bit the further they went, breathing heavily as though there wasn't enough air to fill her lungs.

Lyssa offered her mother a reassuring smile, "At least we know we're close," she murmured, trying to find a silver lining.

"I can feel it," Emma agreed, "It's like the oxygen's being sucked out of the air."

"Not the oxygen," Regina corrected, "The magic…" she trailed off as they finally made it to where the trigger was, the jewel now glowing blue and floating a few feet off the ground. There were vines filling the room, seeming to go up through the ceiling. The energy pulsing off it was heavy, almost magnetic, as though trying to pull the three women in and absorb their magic, "There it is," Regina sighed, stepping closer to examine it, "Once it stops glowing, it's destruction is achieved. And then..." she shook her head, "Well, then we'll see the real carnage. I'll try to contain its energy as long as I can."

"Won't be long," Emma reassured her, "We'll have the beans soon. We can get the hell out of here."

Regina hesitated, glancing at Lyssa, "Slowing the device...it's going to require all of the strength I have."

Lyssa inhaled sharply, hearing more than that. It wasn't that it would take all her strength, it was that she wouldn't be able to stop once she started, it had to be a constant outpouring of magic to keep it from sucking the rest out of the town. Of course it would use all her strength, her mother would go as long as possible till there wasn't any more magic left in her, and then it would be too late to get away.

Emma seemed to realize that as well, "You're not coming with us, are you? When you said goodbye to Henry, you were...saying goodbye."

Regina nodded, "He knows I love him," she murmured, as though she was content with that, "As do you, right Little Fox?"

Lyssa swallowed hard as her mother looked up at her, "Always have," she breathed.

She knew why her mother hadn't said goodbye to her before. Doing so around Henry would only alert him to the fact she didn't think she'd come back. No, she was waiting till now, the last time she thought she'd see her daughter to do it.

"Regina, no," Emma stepped forward, "There has gotta be another way!"

"Please don't sacrifice yourself for the town, mama," Lyssa added.

"I am not sacrificing myself for this town," Regina swallowed hard, still looking at her daughter, "I am doing this because two people I love more than anything are still IN the town, and I swore to myself that I would never let anything hurt them."

"Mama…" Lyssa breathed, wishing Henry was there. She knew better than anyone the lengths her mother would go for her children. Henry wasn't there to see it, to know how much Regina loved him.

Regina looked away, hating to admit it, "Everything that's happening, it's my fault. I created this device. It's only fitting that it takes my life."

"What am I supposed to tell Henry?" Emma demanded.

"Tell him that...in the end, it wasn't too late for me to do the right thing," she looked at Emma now, "Everyone except Lyssa looks at me as the Evil Queen, including my son," her voice cracked, revealing exactly how much that killed her, "Let me die as Regina."

Lyssa waited only a moment after Regina began to try and slow the trigger by pouring her own magic into it, before she stepped up, "You can tell him she wasn't alone," she spoke, moving her hands on either side of the trigger, mirroring her mother, and beginning to bring up her magic as well.

She had been too quick for Regina to realize what she was about to do, which earned her a horrified, "Lyssa!" from Regina, the woman's eyes wide and filling with tears as the true weight of it all hit her.

Her daughter was going to die right there with her.

Lyssa gave her mother a soft smile, a look of…not quite contentment but peace…on her face, "As the master does, so must the apprentice," Lyssa said, as though reciting a lesson.

"Not like this," Regina insisted, "I never meant like this!"

"This can only help them," Lyssa countered, "Two of us will buy them more time. I know I don't have as much magic, mama, but I CAN help. And I will. I'm not going to let you do this alone. Not if I can help it."

"Analyssa…"

"I can't stop now," Lyssa reminded her quietly, "You said it yourself," she glanced over at Emma, "Please tell Killian I'm sorry."

Emma could only nod, looking between mother and daughter, feeling an odd mix of stunned at what they were doing, what Regina was doing, and as though she wasn't understanding something. It just…it didn't make sense to her that the Evil Queen would do this, risk her life to save all the heroes. Henry, yes, but everyone else? At the very worst, Henry would live so he truly wasn't in danger. There was no guarantee that they'd even be able to save the others and get them away, but Regina was willing to risk it…why?

And Lyssa? That girl was doing this for her mother. She loved Regina so much she would rather die with her, helping her, trying to give her mother more time. HOW did the Evil Queen have a child like that? What had she done to create such loyalty and devotion in the girl?

What was she missing about all this?

"Go, Emma," Regina's voice cut through her thoughts, "I will not have my daughter's life be for nothing by you standing there. Go!"

That last snap got through to her and Emma turned to take off.

"I never wanted this, Lyssa," Regina murmured to the girl once she was sure Emma was gone.

"I did," she admitted, wincing at how it came out, "I mean…" she looked at Regina, "Seeing my mother being herself, that was all I wanted."

Regina swallowed hard, looking back down at the trigger, trying to hold back her tears, she had done everything she could to protect her children…and now one was going to die beside her because of her mistakes.

If there was another life after this, another chance, she swore to herself she'd be the best mother ever to both her children, she'd be able to BE a mother to Lyssa outside of that little room in the Dark Castle, she'd be a mother for all to see.

~8~

Hook couldn't have cared less when he followed Charming into a room filled to the brim with heroes and their allies. He didn't care at all when their gazes turned to him, suspicious and distrusting. His gaze drifted past all of them, searching for a shock of red hair or a flash of a blue dress…

"We have the bean!" Charming announced.

"You did it?" Emma stared, sounding almost surprised.

"Yeah."

Her eyes moved down to his arm where there was a cut and blood drying, "You ok?"

"Oh, it's...grazed. It's fine."

"Ok," she nodded, "Let's get going," she began to lead the way to the door, when she noticed Henry wasn't following, "Henry?"

Henry swallowed and looked around, "Where's my mom?"

"Aye," Hook spoke up, "And Lyssa."

Emma hesitated to speak, "She's with Regina," she offered first, hoping it would give her time to find a way to phrase what she had to say next, but it did nothing, "Regina…she can hold off the self-destruct device long enough for us to escape, but..."

"But what?" Henry frowned.

"She won't survive."

"No," Henry gasped, shaking his head frantically, "No!"

Hook let out a small breath at that as well, understanding why he couldn't find Lyssa there now. The girl, knowing that, she would not leave Regina's side while the woman was in danger.

"Henry, I'm sorry," Emma turned to him, "I promised her I'd get you to safety."

"But we can't do this!" he yelled, "She's family! We don't leave family behind!"

"This is what she wants. We have a way out. We have to take it."

"We saved her from…from being killed by the Wraith. How is this any different?!"

"The Wraith!" Snow White suddenly gasped.

"What?" Emma looked at her.

"We sent it through a portal. Why can't we do the same thing with the self-destruct?"

"Because we don't know if it's gonna work."

"It could."

Emma shook her head, "It's too risky. No one will go along with it."

"Yes, we will!" another voice spoke up, Archie Hopper, Jiminy Cricket, stepping forward, speaking for the town, "Because it's the right thing to do. Look, Snow White and the Prince have always led us before, and we've always won. So, who's willing to let them lead us again?" he turned to the town as everyone gave a resounding cry of agreement.

"Thank you, Archie," Snow White beamed, turning to Emma, "This is what we should do."

"And will do," Charming agreed.

"Look, I know we haven't had a lot of chances to be parents, but give us this one. Let us do the right thing. It's not too late."

Emma struggled to agree, her arms moving around Henry, so torn, "I just don't want him to be alone. I don't want him to grow up the way I did…" she winced as a loud boom went off, triggering another earthquake, the worst one yet, "This plan could fail. If we use that bean now, we can get away for sure. We will survive."

"But it's wrong. Emma, I…" Snow White drew in a shaky breath, "I tried to trick Regina into killing her mother."

It didn't matter to her if Regina decided to do it of her own freewill in the end, it mattered that she had been fully intent to trick the woman into doing it, in the guise of helping her get her mother back.

"You did that to Cora because you had to…"

Snow White shook her head, "I wanted to do it because it was easy. It was a mistake. There were other paths, harder paths, and I wish I had taken them. So please, Emma, honey, let's take the hard path. Because if we don't we will be building a future on Regina's blood."

Emma looked around the room, at all the determined faces, before she nodded, "Ok," she turned to her father, who moved to toss her the bean.

But Hook reached out and grabbed the pouch the man had put it in, "You're all mad," he told them, jerking back when Emma and Charming tried to snatch it back, "I can live with myself."

"Give it back," Emma ordered.

"If Regina wants to die for us, I say let her," he knew Lyssa would be devastated to lose her mother, but he doubted Regina would ever want her daughter to die for her either. He'd be damned if he lost Lyssa when he could save her and...

"Did you miss the part where Lyssa, your supposed true love, is with her?" Emma glared.

Hook gave her an unimpressed look, "The lass may have magic, but she's not exactly a strongman."

He didn't bother to correct her about the love part. He loved her yes, he truly loved her, had even said to her that he wished to make a deal with the Dark One that neither would go after the other's true love, but...to say it out loud and to others who weren't Lyssa? To be someone's true love held such weight. He had known Lyssa a year, had only courted her, admitted he loved her, for far less than that and while heroes had true love at the drop of a hat, he was a villain and fate could never be so kind to him. Deep in his heart he would rejoice at being Lyssa's true love, and he wished to have true love again. But he had been hurt by loving others so much before he was cautious to put such a profound meaning to what he felt for her. He would insist on it to the Dark One, because if the crocodile felt Lyssa was any less important to him than Belle was to the Dark One, he had no doubt the man would use it to go after Lyssa even more, because it wasn't 'true' and he would be making an unfair deal. He wanted it to be true, but there was a part of him that felt he wasn't deserving of it, being the villain he was. He honestly doubted the heroes would even believe they had true love unless one of them was cursed and used True Love's Kiss to save the other, he never wanted either of them to be in such a position.

His words, however, caused Emma to realize he hadn't understood her. He thought Lyssa just refused to leave Regina's side. He was thinking he could just go down there and pull her away from Regina, as though Lyssa wouldn't put up a fight or hate him for the rest of her life if he did it. (Although, who was she to know what the girl would or wouldn't forgive. She seemed to forgive the Evil Queen for murdering and destroying lives so what did she really know?). He had no idea that Lyssa was part of slowing the trigger.

"Yeah, she does have magic," Emma remarked, "Which is exactly why she started using it to help Regina slow the trigger," she almost took a perverse pleasure in how his entire expression had morphed from smug to alarmed, "She can't stop once she's started. So you either give me the bean and we try to save both of them, or you…"

"Aye," he cut in, his jaw clenched, though whether in anger at her or Lyssa she didn't know. But he handed over the pouch. He stepped back, watching as the townspeople left the room, before he made his way to Emma's side, "Why are you really doing this?" he asked her.

She had gone from adamant to get them all out to saving Regina after a tense fight, she hadn't wanted to do it, but she'd agreed in the end. And he knew she had no love lost between her and Regina or Lyssa.

"The kid just lost his father today," Emma told him, doing her best not to choke on her words, "I'm not letting him lose a mother too. Or his sister."

"His father?" Hook frowned, "Who's Henry's father?"

"Neal."

He blinked, startled, recalling that Tamara woman calling her fiance Neal and how he was the child of the Dark One, as far as he knew, the crocodile had only one son, "Baelfire?"

"Yeah."

Hook watched her head out the door for a moment, feeling a familiar grief flow through him at the loss of Bae, of Milah's son. But he took a breath and cast it off, he couldn't afford to grieve now, Lyssa still needed him.

~8~

Regina hadn't taken her eyes off Lyssa since the two began trying to slow the trigger. She could see how much this was wearing on her daughter, she looked haggard, panting, and had tensed as though she was barely hanging onto the strength to remain standing let alone pouring her magic into the trigger. As worried as she was about her daughter…there was also an immense amount of pride in her. The 'Evil Queen' had managed to raise a hero at the height of her reign of terror it seemed. Lyssa was not going to give up till the very end and…the fact she was still standing was incredible to her. She knew she was a powerful sorceress in her own right, the Dark One wouldn't have taught her if she wasn't…but it was dawning on her now that she had underestimated her daughter.

She was sensitive to magic, she could sense it, in objects and in other people, but she hadn't picked up on Lyssa's ability. The Dark One had, he had sensed the magic in her. HE seemed to think Lyssa would one day have had the potential to cast his curse instead of her. She had thought it was a mere threat all these years, she knew it was, but…perhaps there had been more to it.

Lyssa was still pouring her magic into the trigger.

It meant she still HAD magic within her to pour out.

SHE was feeling weak, yes, but she'd had years to build her magical stores, an extra 28 in Storybrooke as well. For Lyssa, being younger and less trained, to still have magic within her after all this time? Her daughter had to be more powerful than they originally thought. It was the only explanation.

But WHY had her magic always seemed so weak? So hard to conjure?

It seemed as though they would never know, there was not going to be time to. This was it.

And if this was going to be her last few minutes on this Earth, she wanted the last thing she saw to be her children. She would have never wanted to condemn them to be with her in these final moments, but Lyssa was there.

Her head snapped to the side, seeing the Charmings, Henry, and Hook rushing into the area, "What are you doing here?!" Regina snapped, fear filling her at the sight of Henry so close to the trigger.

"Lass…" Hook breathed, moving to Lyssa's side, careful not to disturb her hands, but putting a hand on her back to support her, his gaze flickering to Regina with a deep concern written on it.

Lyssa had always worn her heart on her sleeve too, no mask in sight. The Evil Queen might go out in a blaze while making herself appear unaffected, having spent too much of her life unable to show her weaknesses, but Lyssa would not. She was showing exactly how exhausted and pained she was.

"You were willing to die to save us," Henry spoke to his mother, "That makes you a hero. Now we're gonna be heroes."

Charming nodded, "They're gonna open up a portal, throw this thing into a void."

"No," Regina shook her head, "You don't know that it'll work."

"We have to try!" Snow White insisted.

"It might destroy the Forest," Lyssa warned.

The heroes paused, not having considered that. It was a portal, there really was no guarantee it wouldn't open to the Forest and not some in-between limbo.

Snow White took a breath, "It's a risk we're willing to take."

If they saved the town…if they were stuck there for the rest of time…it would be ok, because they would be together. And she truly didn't believe it would end up there anyway, not without something to guide it there.

Charming nodded, "Everybody, step aside. Emma?"

Emma stepped up, pulling out a pouch from her pocket and dumping the bean into her hand, "Get ready to jump back," she warned Regina, looking to Hook more for Lyssa. The girl really did not look well at all, she was half expecting her to collapse into the portal the second the trigger was gone. Hook nodded, readying himself to pull her back at a moment's notice.

Emma took a breath and threw the bean on the ground as she'd seen Tamara do…

Only for nothing to happen.

"What?!" Emma gaped.

Regina sighed, shaking her head, "The trigger absorbs magic," she reminded them, "The bean is just a bean around it."

She had so been hoping she was wrong, but it appeared she wasn't.

"Get it away," Regina called to them as Charming hurried to grab it, "The longer it stays here, the more power it will lose. You can still open the portal, just away from here and…" she took a breath, "We can't contain this much longer."

"We're not strong enough," Lyssa spoke, "I thought, maybe the two of us…"

Emma's eyes widened, a thought striking her, "You may not be strong enough, but maybe we are," she quickly put her hands in between where their's were, the trigger encapsulated in a square of hands as she began to pour her own magic into it. She didn't know how much would be needed, so she gave all she had.

The glow around the trigger grew brighter and brighter with the additional power…until it flared and sputtered out, the gem falling to the ground at the same time that the girls collapsed. Regina stumbled into the wall behind her, Emma dropping to her knees her parents at her side, while Lyssa nearly fell back into Hook's arms.

"We're alive!" Charming cheered, helping Snow to her feet.

Regina reached out and picked up the trigger, pushing herself up to move to Lyssa's side, the girl barely keeping conscious, "We did it," she whispered to the girl, brushing a sweaty strand of hair from her forehead.

"Knew we could," she panted, her gaze flickering to Emma, the white spots that had been dancing along her vision starting to fade, "Thank you."

"No problem," Emma managed a grin as she pushed herself up.

"Gotta hand it to Henry," Charming chuckled, "He's right about a lot of things."

Emma snorted, "Yes, he is. Isn't that right, kid?" she turned, looking for her son…but he was nowhere to be seen, "Henry?"

Regina turned from Lyssa, the girl now standing on her own, to look for him as well, "Henry?"

"Go," Hook told Regina, "I've got her."

Lyssa nodded, urging her on as the three heroes and one 'Evil Queen' hurried through the tunnels in search of Henry.

"Killian…" Lyssa began.

"Aye, lass?"

"I don't think I can walk right now," she admitted, her legs were tingling far too much to be any use running for a minute or two.

He chuckled, "I can help with that," he said, deftly scooping her into his arms carefully and starting to walk through the tunnels after them.

"My hero," Lyssa teased.

"Don't insult me."

She laughed, "My pirate," she corrected, "Protecting his treasure."

He looked at her, a soft look he reserved just for her, "Always."

"…what is it?" they could hear Snow White ahead as they hurried through the tunnels, coming upon the foursome to see Emma holding a piece of cloth, a pack…Henry's pack…in her hands.

"They took him!" Emma nearly snarled, before racing away.

~8~

It was odd, how a danger to family could snap strength back into a person. Lyssa found herself running along with her mother and the others through Storybrooke, rushing to find Henry and save him from Greg and Tamara. It would have slowed them all down if Hook had had to carry her the whole way, and she was too worried for her brother. So she'd gathered the minor strength she'd gotten back from her short rest in Hook's arms, to run with them. She lagged behind, she knew, but she wasn't keeping the others from racing ahead. And Hook remained right at her side, urging her on with his hand in hers.

They had been lucky Henry was the fighter he was. The boy had struggled enough to slow his captors down, not by much, but enough that they had been able to spot them when they got out of the mines.

They were catching up to the trio though they were still a fair distance ahead and heading for the docks.

"Hey!" Emma shouted, seeing Greg and Tamara coming to a stop at the edge of a pier.

The man glanced over at her, before smirking and throwing something, a bean, into the water.

"They have a bean!" Regina realized, "They've opened a portal."

"Henry!" Emma and Charming screamed, rushing forward, the fastest of the group, trying to get to them but they were too late.

Greg and Tamara, with a still-struggling Henry between them, leapt off the dock and into the portal, taking the boy with them.

"No!" Lyssa gasped, rushing to her mother as they all caught up to Emma and Charming.

"We have to follow them!" Emma cried, pulling the pouch containing the bean out of her pocket, looking like she was about to throw it into the water.

"Stop!" Regina shouted, grabbing Emma's wrist and yanking the woman back, "We don't know where they went!"

"I don't care!" Emma yanked her arm back, "They took Henry!"

"They've taken Henry?" another voice spoke, causing them to look over and see Mr. Gold approaching, Belle, for she did not carry herself the way Lacey had, trailing after him.

"Yeah," Charming glared, "You're the Dark One. Do something."

"Gold, help us," Emma nearly begged.

"We can take the Jolly Roger," Hook offered, straightening when the heroes turned to him, disbelieving, "The lad is her brother," he said simply, an odd tone in his voice that had Lyssa taking his good hand.

She knew all about his brother, how he'd lost the man, how much he meant to him. She knew he would do anything to keep her having to lose a brother too, even one she'd only just met, even one who'd spent most of his time either hating her, distrusting her, or jealous of her.

He knew how important family was to her, he was doing this for her.

"We just need a way to track him," Lyssa spoke, turning to the heroes.

"Leave that to me," Gold offered this time, "I can get us to where we need to go."

"Well, let's do it!" Snow declared.

Gold nodded and turned to Belle, "Belle, I have to go. You have to stay here."

"No," Belle shook her head, "Why? I wanna help."

"The town is no longer safe."

"What?"

"What?" Charming repeated.

Gold sighed and looked at them, "Well, Greg and Tamara weren't working alone. Others will follow."

"He's right," Regina admitted grimly, "They mentioned a 'home office' when they weren't torturing me."

Charming looked torn, turning to his wife, "We can't leave people in danger…"

"It would appear you are wracking up quite a tab," Gold muttered, before taking a paper out of his pocket and turning to Belle, leading her off as he spoke quietly to her, leaving them to realize he was giving her something to keep the town safe.

"This way," Hook called to the heroes and Regina, turning to lead them to the Jolly Roger. They would need to get the ship prepared and quickly. He didn't trust the Crocodile not to change his mind and abandon them.

He managed a small smile when Lyssa got to work instructing the others of what to do to ready them to sail. She had done each of the tasks herself at one point over the last year. All of his crew needed to know each task in case they needed to fill in or take over for another. He knew most of his men had tried to do the tasks for Lyssa and just give her very detailed instructions. But she had learned, and now she was helping.

"So," he turned, hearing the Dark One approaching, "Are you done trying to kill me?"

He eyed the man a moment, taking his chance, "I believe so."

"Excellent. Then you can live."

Hook narrowed his eyes, "A deal," he began, "I do not harm your Belle, you do not harm Lyssa."

The Dark One stared him down.

"I can hurt her without magic just as easily as you could hurt Lyssa with magic," he reminded the man, "Neither of us harms the other's love," he held out his good hand, "Do we have a deal?"

Gold glanced down at the hand of his most loathed enemy, but nodded and shook it once. He would have rather had that leverage over Regina and the pirate of the ginger girl, it was the reason he'd agreed to help her find her mother after all, the deal they made. But having come so close to losing Belle, to her wound, to her memories, to the destruction of the town…he had a number of enemies but only one was likely to actually go after his love to hurt him and that man was right before him. He could kill Hook where he stood, but all it would do was complicate matters in finding Henry for he had a fairly good idea of where those two had taken him and if he was right, Hook would be needed.

"We have a deal," he told the man.

"Good."

Gold didn't respond, just turned and summoned a globe to his hand in a flash of magic, the very object he had used to locate Baelfire. He pricked his finger on the top of it and let a drop of blood fall, watching as the red seeped into it and began to form a strange pattern, an island…

"Where is that?" Regina asked, having been watching, "Where did they take Henry?"

Hook grew grim, "Neverland."

Lyssa stiffened at the name of the land. Hook had only ever told her of it, of the things that happened there, the people trapped there. He refused to let his ship or crew anywhere near it during the year she'd been with them. It was far too dangerous for her, he'd said. He wouldn't risk her there.

It appeared fate had other ideas.

Hook turned to Emma, holding out a hand for the bean.

Emma hesitated, but handed it over, trusting that Hook would know Neverland better than any of them and if they wanted to end up exactly there, he would be the one who needed to use the bean.

He moved to the very front of the ship, waiting a moment or two in concentration, before hurling the bean far into the ocean to give him time to get back so he could steer the ship.

"So who are we up against?" Charming looked at Gold, "Who are Greg and Tamara?"

"They're merely pawns, manipulated by forces far greater than they can conceive," Gold stated, "They have no idea who they're truly working for."

"And who's that?" Emma demanded.

Instead of answering, Gold just stated, "Someone we all should fear."

Lyssa glanced back at Hook, Regina beside her as they all began to grab onto parts of the ship to brace themselves for the trip into the portal. She had a very unsettling feeling in her gut that told her she knew exactly who that someone was.

The greatest force on Neverland…

Was Peter Pan.

To be continued...in...Rough Waters!

I feel that title is quite fitting given the mess and tensions that come up in the next season, with the losses certain characters suffer and the dangerous situations that will arise, it's going to be rough for everyone I think }:)

Poor Regina to go from torture to nearly dying to save the heroes and her children. Poor Lyssa to stand up and nearly die to help her mother save the town. Poor Hook for nearly losing Lyssa. Poor everyone lol.

I think, with Hook, there's a little confusion and even fear when it comes to his feelings for Lyssa. Hook loves Lyssa, he truly does love her, but sometimes he flip flops on whether it's true love, or if they are each other's true love. He thought he had it with Milah, but what he feels for Lyssa is different and so it makes him hesitant to believe it at times. Part of him wants it to be true, another part fears it won't be because he's a villain. He doesn't want to get too attached to the idea of being her true love or her his, when it may prove to be wrong :( He doesn't want them to end up in positions where TLK is the only way to save someone, because that situation would truly be devastating or deadly and he doesn't want to imagine Lyssa being in that way. He wants to know but doesn't want to know, you know? Lol, that's confusing.

Lyssa just seems to confuse a lot of people too lol. I think Emma, being not raised in the Forest or among heroes, is starting to get suspicious that something else is going on between the mother-daughter duo. HOW the heck did the EVIL QUEEN raise a daughter so 'innocent' and so loyal and so ready to stick with her mother to the bitter end. She's missing something, but a lot of things keep coming up that distract her from trying to find out what that is.

I have some big plans for the next story, Neal, the Wicked Witch, Robin Hood, Hook and Lyssa, Regina and Lyssa, a second Curse, SO MUCH planned!

But...just warning, it may be a while before we get to the next story in this series :( As mentioned in chapter 30, I wanted to try to get through this story and get it completed along with a few other open-stories. Now that this story is complete, I'll be posting 3 chapters (one episode) for my DW Angel story and then moving to complete my Lord of the Rings Menna/Aragorn story and so on. Once I've caught up to all my currently unfinished stories, I will then work out where I want to go next. I'm tempted to get this story caught up to where my other OUAT Piper story is, but I also want to work on that OUAT story too so I might get a story of that updated before doing another story for this series and rotate between them. Not 100 percent sure yet, mostly just focusing on getting my stories squared away. Just wanted to give a heads up that it may be a while before Rough Waters occurs, but I am determined that it WILL be posted and this series will continue, I just can't give a specific date yet ;) Once I decide what I'll be doing next I'll be sure to post it on my tumblr ;)

And, just to end...I really have to say thank you guys SO much! Really, I give each and every reader/reviewer/favoriter/follower/ko-fi giver/anythinger a virtual hug because you guys are amazing :) I write for all of you guys and I'm just so touched that you all liked the story and am truly thankful that you're enjoying Lyssa :) I'll do my very best to keep it up in the future, because you guys most definitely deserve it. I love you all :')

Some notes on reviews...

I can say we will see a flashback chapter of when Lyssa and Hook first meet yup ;)

Lol, you spotted it! I was wondering if anyone would spot the DW reference in the last chapter :D

I can understand the anger with what Lyssa said to Gold. She didn't mean it as an insult to him or even to hurt him, but a literal answer to a question directed at her and her mother. According to a child psychology class I took once, if a child doesn't love their parent, it's because that child felt they weren't loved by their parent or the love the parent felt didn't translate to the child in a way they could pick up on. I'm sure for many, many years Bae felt that 'lack' of love in how his father chose power over a life with him magicless. We can sort of see the same in Lyssa's reaction to her biological mother's death. Even at that young age, she had already begun to feel a lack of love from her mother and felt more fear from Cora than a deep grieving for the loss of her mother. Lyssa is basing her answer of what she knows of her relationship with Regina-as-Mother and the glimpses she's gotten into Neal based on what he himself said in the context of the story, how he was 'stuck' being the Dark One's son, his shock that she actually and genuinely loved her mother, his views on what her life might have been like with a villain for a parent. The comments Gold made about his son wanting nothing to do with him, to Lyssa, means he either did something to disturb that love/loyalty or didn't do enough to build it. I agree, she doesn't know the entire story between Bae and Gold, but as the question was directly about her own relationship with her mother, in that sense, she answered as much as she could on something very personal to her and something she'd been hiding for nearly 20 years, something her own magical oath would keep her from revealing too much of. As for Neal, I am quite a Swanfire fan myself and I have big plans for him, so I don't want to spoil too much about his future in this story ;)

Blue is super shady, I agree, and I find it sort of funny that, with how different Lyssa and Piper are, they both would not ever trust Blue lol :) The moment when Bae and Gold have to share a brain is definitely going to have more of an impact on Emma here than in the show, she's going to remember what Lyssa and Regina said about two memories and it's going to sort of be the moment she really sees what that can do to a person. Different situations, of course, but it'll sort of be a reality check for her that that is probably what it would have been like for Graham. Hearing it described and seeing it happen are two things not syncing up for Emma yet, till that moment :( Lyssa will definitely grow a lot more as the story goes on. Part of her vulnerability in Storybrooke, I think, is that it's not the Forest. In the Enchanted Forest, she was familiar with everything, she knew how things worked, she knew how her mother's enemies thought and the weapons used and learned how to use one (a sword). She was also somewhat sheltered in being hidden from the public as Regina's daughter so she never really HAD to defend herself much, Regina and Graham and later Hook and his crew always were there to watch out for her. In Storybrooke, she's in a world she knows nothing about, with so many new devices and weapons and customs, with people who now have another set of memories that might give them ideas and plans she wouldn't ever think of from them, and these same people now know who she is and are trying to target her to get to Regina, it's a little overwhelming. Another part of it is being unprepared, I think. We'll see a little more about how Lyssa handles danger when it's on her terms and part of an already-made plan, compared to coming up with things on the fly or walking in blind ;) I think she sort of needs to be back in the Forest, on familiar ground, and start to rework on things, like her magic and sword skills that grew rusty during the last year, to be better able to handle herself in our world again :) It'll be a long journey for her, but she will experience things that will help her grow and grow stronger :)