A/N : This is a story I have been working on, for the better part of a year. It is a story inspired by 'Destiny has its eyes on you' by the lovely EmilyBea on (Seriouslyhooked on Tumblr). And with the overwhelming support and love from EmilyBea and Ilovemesomekillianjones (On AO3, , and Tumblr) I have finally decided to present it to the public. I hope you enjoy, and if you haven't read the works from these lovely ladies, I highly recommend you do so. Ilovemesomekillianjones has also graciously agreed to be my beta on this entire project.
**This chapter is a collaboration between EmilyBea and I.**

Prologue

Time never passes for the three sisters as it does for the rest of the world. For them, it is far more fluid, pulling each corner of their sacred trifecta into a different segment of its currents. They deal with the past, the present and the future, and in the intersections of those states, they find their purpose. To keep the records of what had been, what is, and what would come to pass. Mostly their curse was to watch the world unfold in ways they could never influence, but this strand of the world's story was different, for the fate of an entire people rests on the shoulders of a young woman, a woman they'd been watching for some time. Her future was bright, her past nothing if not charmed, but the struggle to come was profound. Still, this girl with the golden hair and bright green eyes would overcome, that was written in the stars.

"She will undo a past of suffering for her people, and for her family. She is formed of that past, the product of true love that survived a storm of whirling chaos in the darkness." The first sister, guardian of the past said as they watched the image filled swirling pool of water before them.

"She will find her own love and with it, she will finally harness the power that's been trapped inside. Only with this can she make the future bright and hopeful once more." The sister of future confirmed, looking just the same. But several moments passed and soon the two sisters who had spoken turned to the third, distressed by her quiet. Preemptively the guardian of the present spoke.

"Almost there, just a few moments more … there. Now she is ready, she faces the journey ahead with courage and bravery. Now Emma Swan embraces her destiny."

"So it has been, so it is, and so it shall be." All three sisters echoed the chant together, sealing the bit of power they could to this story's heroine, but the guardian of the present added one last thing.

"Follow your heart, Emma Swan, for it will always be your light in the darkness."

Chapter 1

"No one should look so sad on their birthday, Emma."

Emma doesn't look at her mother directly, for she doesn't want her seeing the depth of the emotions she's grappling with. If her mother saw them, it would mean there would be talking, and Emma just didn't think she could stomach a pep talk today.

First, there's the sadness that her mother sees, sadness that she has been alive twenty-one years, is by all accounts an adult, and she knows relatively nothing of life beyond the small bubble of being a princess. To her parents, and to the people, she's a breakable, fragile flower, a symbol of hope for a better future. But she is never allowed to prove herself, to taste what life outside is really like.

Next her sadness blends into anger and resentment for the way that she's been raised and the reason things are this way. The Evil Queen is relentless, never letting down the threat of devastation on Emma's family, and waging a decades long war that has ravaged their kingdoms and their people. Everyone is terrified of the Queen's magic, but not Emma. She believes in a simple truth that her fairy tutor Tinkerbelle always says, "When faced with true light, there is no way for darkness to win." Emma has been training since she was a little girl to be that light, to make her magic strong enough to free this realm of the Queen's evil once and for all. Maybe then she can have her own life.

That thought brings to a head the third emotion swirling around inside Emma, guilt. She feels guilty for wanting more in a land where so many are struggling. Sure, she's confined, she hasn't left the walls of the palace in four years thanks to her parents' fear that something would happen, but she's safe, and loved and protected. She has food, shelter, and a palace to call home for heaven's sake, but she still wants more. Even though she mostly wants to save her kingdom, there is a part of her need to leave that is personal, and for that, Emma feels ashamed.

"I know you're not comfortable with the idea of a ball, Emma, but it's for the good of the kingdom. We've invited everyone, and it's a chance for them to see you and learn what we're fighting for."

Emma looks at her mother then, trying to see if she truly believes that.

"Doesn't it eat away at you? People dying every day, families torn apart just to try and protect us? It's not right! It's too much!"

"I would lay my life down to protect these people, Emma."

This is one of those moments where having Snow White as a mother is infuriating. She's always so calm, so certain in her beliefs, and it rattles at the tensions building up in Emma, prompting her to strike back with truth. "Yet you won't let me do the same! I can help, Mother, I'm of more use to this kingdom outside these walls. I have no knack for diplomacy, I hate balls and affairs of that sort. I want to fight like you did, and this time we can win."

Her mother shakes her head, resolute as she always is that Emma's entrance into the fray of fighting isn't the answer. "It's too risky, Emma."

Emma knew she could continue to argue her point but it wouldn't get her anywhere. There is no use in trying to make her see reason, Emma thought. Now all that is left to do is implement the plan she'd made many months ago. Tonight is the night that everything will change, and this too plays a part in the sadness that is set in Emma's features. Tonight I say goodbye to my family and fulfill the vow I made to myself.

She is going to be the Savior that is prophesied, and she is going to do it now.

"I should see Tink about today's lessons. I'll see you later." Emma moves past her mother and heads down the long corridor of the palace's East Wing and out a side entrance into the gardens where she spends most of her time. The rose blooms that mark her path are beautiful, but they hold little meaning for her today. I have to find Tink!

"Emma, over here."

From the side of the garden near a grove of trees, Emma sees her friend waving at her and she smiles. Try as she might, Tink is never discrete. Her voice is too loud, a tidbit too high, her motions are always drawing attention, but Emma loves her all the same. Tinkerbelle might be her teacher, but she's also Emma's best friend and one true confidant within the palace walls. She can trust Tink with anything, and she's trusted her with her plan to leave. "You know there's no need to hide. I can enact a barrier to guard what we're saying from the attendants on the lawn."

Tink shakes her head, looking a little preoccupied. "There's been a change in plan, Emma. I cannot leave with you. Fauna has been called to see Blue. She left earlier this afternoon. Without her, we have no one to create the diversion, so it has to be me."

Emma looks at her friend curiously, for her words simply don't compute. The plan had always been for Emma and Tink to go together, to find the young Lieutenant of the navy that she'd known as a girl, and ask for his help in undermining some of the hold Regina has over this whole realm. To go it alone is something Emma has never considered, it is the first time she second guesses her plan. "But I need you for so much of what we have to do."

Tink takes Emma's hand in hers and interrupts any other doubts that may arise. "Emma, you are more than ready for this. I haven't said it before, but there's something you should know. The world is not as fluid as we like to think, some things are simply meant to be. Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, so will you defeat Regina. It's the only destiny there is, and it's yours. You will save your kingdom. You will save all the people of Misthaven and the Enchanted Forest."

Emma nods, believing that Tink would never steer her wrong. "And what if Killian can't help me?"

Only now did Tink smile.

"Killian is it? I thought he was just Lieutenant Jones?"

Emma blushes, but she ignores the question about the man she'd met when she was just seventeen. Even if Tink knew Emma had always liked him, there is no time or room to harp on about it.

"Do I turn around with my tail between my legs if he says no? Everything depends on him, but what if he can't help? Or worse, what if he doesn't remember me?" That would be the worst torture indeed, she fretted. In all her days she's never met another man like him. He means so much to her, even though they'd only been in each others presence a few days' time.

"Oh, he'll remember you. A boy like that doesn't forget a princess as striking as you."

Emma's heart pounds in her chest. Just the thought that she is going to see him again has her feeling more hope than she's long believed in. What will he be like now? Has he changed as much as I have, or is he the same humble sailor with the lovely heart and the lopsided smile that she remembers?

"We have very little time left, Emma. Sneaking you out will be a test of everything we've practiced, but it's only the beginning." Tink pulls out her fairy wand and draws a lazy circle around Emma's person, while Emma just looks on, somewhat confused. "This spell will keep you untraceable from the likes of magic, even from Regina's."

"What about you?"

Tink sighs, a bit of regret hanging in the sound. "It will shield you from all magical seers, Emma. Even me."

That thought makes her heart hurt. What will I do without Tink? Keep going. I have to keep going, even if I'm scared. The thought cements Emma's resolve to push forward. She can do this. She has to do this.

Tink has her hands poised on her hips in that bossy fashion that Emma considers Tink's signature move as she asks Emma if she is ready.

"Yes. I am ready." Emma reaffirms her resolve, as she responds to Tink's inquiry.

As she looks into the mirror in her room, the one she's stared into at the start and end of each day, Emma barely recognizes herself. In a green satin dress, with a crown in her pinned up hair, she looks every bit the princess, but she also looks untouchable. She is no longer Emma, but an object, a token for the people and her parents to look at and dream of better days. Only Emma is done dreaming. She's ready to fight for the life that she wants, and the life that all of the people of this realm deserve.

Earlier in the day, Emma had packed the bag she'd be taking with her, the one she and Tink had embellished with magic over these past few months. It was covered in protections and able to fit far more than it looked capable of within its depths. Inside the bag were essential tools she'd need and enough money to get her through her journey.

Now she has two more things to put inside, a map and a miniature portrait. With the map and the one thing she has of Killian's, (a silver chain with a Swan pendant that he'd entrusted her to keep when they'd parted years ago), she'd found out where he was using a locator spell. The spell said he was in her kingdom's port, which was shocking. What were the odds, really? But it will make finding him far easier, she mused. The pendant meanwhile hangs around her neck, returned to its constant resting place once more. The miniature portrait is her parents and her little brother, she had painted it herself. In it they are happy, smiling and just as she most loves to picture them. It's going to be nearly impossible to say goodbye to her parents tonight, to know that she may never return if things go wrong, but saying goodbye to Leo, her junior by ten years might be the hardest thing she has ever had to do. She loves her little brother more than anything, but this is just as much for him as it is for her. Leo has few memories of life before the walls went up and the gates were shuttered, and she hopes that if she succeeds, he can one day see the world for all it can be.

"You look beautiful, Emma."

Shifting her eyes from her dress to the place behind her in the mirror, Emma sees her father's smiling face and feels a sudden sense of calm. He always seems to find her when she's hurting the most, and he's nearly perfect at remedying any problems that come her way. "Thank you." She turns from the mirror to look at him straight on. She notices worry lines have set in through the course of his life, and the streaks of gray that are starting to touch his temples. Her father has lived a life of fighting, even if he's also lived one of love, and time has taken its toll, perhaps faster than it might have in other circumstances. He is still very handsome, but he looks tired.

"I've been thinking of what to get you as a gift. I went through the ordinary ideas, a new horse, some more dresses, a new tiara …"

Emma hates all of those ideas, except maybe the horse, but her father's eyes tell her he's decided on something different.

At that moment he pulls a sword from behind his back and hands it to her. The handle is plated in gold, with distinctive markings, just like those on his own sword, but the sheath is different, designed specially for her with what looks like swans adorning it. "Then I remembered that my daughter is one of the best swordsmen in the kingdom, and I decided on this."

"It's stunning. And it's just like yours. Thank you!" Emma pulls the blade free of its sheath and marvels at the way it catches the firelight in her room. It's light enough to wield with ease, and feels to be the exact proportions she favors. It is easily the most magnificent sword she has ever seen.

"Your mother and I have worked very hard to keep you and your brother out of all of this, but a day will likely come when that hold on the outside world breaks. When it does, I want you to remember one thing; we all fight for something, and that something is hope."

Emma nods, having heard years of similar professions about the power of believing. Still, tonight, it brings tears to her eyes. She will hold her father's words close, and hopefully they will be enough. "I'll remember."

He smiles and extends his arm to her. "Good, now let's go see about that ball."