A/N: All characters and Once Upon A Time are property of ABC and the show's creators.

-CS-

Satisfied with their handy work, Ruby and Mary Margaret smiled at one another, clinked their half-empty wine glasses and closed the laptop. What Emma didn't know wouldn't hurt her. What would hurt her was spending the rest of her life alone, running from the one thing she would not admit she needed most - Love. Over the past ten years, the two had watched her thwart every attempt at even the slightest hint of romance they had tossed at her; blind dates, chance meetings, speed dating... she'd flustered the match maker they had hired so badly, the aging woman had declared that "this one would just have to be alone forever; she's impossible." But they had one last trick up their sleeve... eSoulMate, the most talked about Internet dating site they could find - if this didn't work, they had resigned themselves to giving in, giving up and allowing Emma to win. It was their last ditch effort at finding their best friend's one true love.

Their efforts had started earlier in the day after Emma had left for work. Unbeknownst to her, her two friends had been snapping off candid photos of her on their phones for weeks and texting profile ideas for just as long. When Victor and David had found out about their plan they had both been hesitant, expressing their concerns over what would happen if a certain blonde attracted the eye of an online suitor. They knew her just as well as their partners and feared her anger would rip apart their long time friendships, or quite literally their partners, if Emma were to actually find out. Yet after much discussion on the matter, and some very persuasive measures on the parts of Rudy and Mary Margaret, they had been convinced that a simple listing on a website filled with thousands of people really couldn't be all that harmful. The two men still had their doubts, but arguing with two determined women was a hopeless cause.

In the end, what was the worst that could happen?... Emma find happiness?

-CS-

He was tired - exhausted really, if he had to admit it. His week had been dragging from bad to worse. Every wrong turn seemed to lead to two more. If it could go wrong, it pretty much had and right now, leaning back into the plush cushions of his sofa, he was more than ready for it to just be over with. One more day, he reminded himself, just one more bloody day.

Flipping open the laptop that had begun to permanently take up residence on his coffee table, Killian clicked on his inbox and sighed as the messages poured in. He scanned them absently noting that everything he saw could wait until the morning... Everything except one that had particularly caught his eye. Smiling back at him from the inbox's preview pane was a radiant woman - her head slightly bowed, lips turned up into a dazzling smile, long blonde tresses tossed careless over her shoulders and riveting greens eyes that, truth be told, made his body tingle and ping. According to the subject line, she was his latest match on eSoulMate; the very same site he had reminded himself that morning to cancel his subscription to due to its utter lack of finding him anything but a soul mate during the six months he had been a member.

Clicking open the email, he began to scan the snippets of her profile expertly provided in order to entice him to visit the page. LostAndLonging appeared to be thirty years of age, have a professional level career and also reside in the Boston area. Pretty generic from what he could tell but something about her eyes made him want to know more... her eyes and her headline - "Will You Be The One That Saves Me...?"

Sighing inwardly, he bit the bait and clicked the link that would carry him to her profile. He resisted the urge to flip through her photos first; her eyes had already captivated and sucked him in to browsing, what he really desired was more substance, more insight. Skimming through he found that Emma, as it stated her name was, actually was quiet an intriguing minx of a woman. Her answers to the hideously intrusive amount of questions the site asked were pleasant and passionate and even a bit humorous at times. The remainder of her photos were just as the first; some color, some black and white, but all more of an intimate peek into her private moments instead of a myriad of self portraits and roughly cropped past photos as the other women on the site seemed to favor. She was a witty one, this Emma... the brilliant blonde with the emerald eyes. Without a thought he clicked open a new message window and began to type.

-CS-

Mary Margaret was practically dancing around the kitchen counter with excitement; hardly content to wait for Ruby to drag herself out of bed, let alone pace around until Emma made her way out the door and on her way to her office. There was an email in the account they had created for Emma's online dating profile... An email from a very handsome, dark haired, blue eyed man with the pen of EvryGrlLuvsAnIrishman. If she could have exploded where she stood, she'd probably be in a million pieces right now, and waiting to read the email was simply the most painful torture imaginable. Emma sensed something was going on when she breezed into the kitchen to grab her regular morning cup of cocoa with cinnamon before running off to work. Her longtime friend had unceremoniously (... and a bit nervously) slammed down the screen of her laptop and smiled, wide-eyed and innocently, at her.

"Emma! Good morning!" She was like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She knew Emma recognized it but Mary Margaret worked diligently to cover it up.

Emma groaned as she stirred her cocoa. "How on earth can you be so chipper at this time of the morning?" She took a tentative sip from her travel mug, testing the temperature of the thick, hot liquid. "You're like Mary-freakin-Poppins."

Mary Margaret shrugged, "I just love mornings, I guess. It's fresh and innocent and clean - completely untouched, just like... A new romance?" She dropped a hint she knew her friend would never pick up on. For as brilliant as Emma Swan was, she could be a bit dense.

Emma rolled her eyes and turned to leave. "See you tonight..."

"Friday night dinner and a movie!... It's a tradition!" Mary Margaret was big on traditions, especially when it came to her two friends. They had done dinner and a movie every Friday night - without fail - for nearly twenty years.

Two couples and me, Emma thought... Oh joy.

"Have a great day, Emma!" ... One down and one to go. Time to wake up Ruby.

It took nearly thirty minutes to rouse the third roommate from her sleep. Mary Margaret tried to be nice at first, but when she received no response she was forced to get more persistent. Once Ruby was finally seated next to her at the kitchen island, sipping on a strong cup of hot black coffee, Mary Margaret flipped open the laptop, clicked a few times and pulled up the email from Mister Beautiful Eyes (as she had begun to call him).

"Should I read it aloud or do we just want to read it together?"

Ruby glared at her. It was far too early for her upbeat little questions. "You should probably just read it. I doubt I'm awake enough to process complex thoughts yet." She had worked a double the night before. Ruby loved the tips she made when she worked the bar at County Kerry, but she hated the late hours.

Taking a deep breath, Mary Margaret clicked on the email... "Okay, here we go! Our first step towards finding Emma a soul mate!" She began to read in hushed tones. Ruby shot her an inquisitive glance but chose not to interrupt.

To the woman who stole my soul with her eyes...

First, I must admit that I am not nearly half as charming over these bloody, blasted things as I am I person. Now with that card clearly on the table, let's give it a try, shall we?

I couldn't resist reaching out to a woman who claims she enjoys the finest drink of the Gods... Otherwise known as scotch. A rare and precious treasure indeed.

Know I must ask, for I am genuinely intrigued... To what do the citizens of Boston owe their pleasure in having you grace us with your presence? It's certainly not New York City by any stretch of the imagination, but we do have some finer eating establishments, a nice assortment of Pubs and some charming history. I've heard a few decent sporting groups as well, though I have yet to see for myself.

I must re-confess that I am far from an expert in online introductions; fact of the matter I feel like a bloody fool. I prefer the opportunity to court a lass when I know for certain she is a lass - in the flesh and breathing. At the insistence of my mates, I signed up for this flip, however you have been the only lass to catch my attention in nearly six months time.

I suppose I've said enough. If I sparked even the slightest bit of interest in you, darling, please pay a man some praise and at least give me a nod in return.

All my best...

Killian

As a side: Should you ever find yourself at Liam's, I fancy the side of the bar closest to the window... Cheers!

Mary Margaret squealed... Rudy smiled. When they clicked to actually view his profile, they both admittedly swooned. He was a handsome specimen of man - dark messy hair, piercing blue eyes, what appeared to be a permanent five o'clock shadow and a smile that dared a woman to kiss it clear off of his face. Not to mention, he had given them a hint as to how they could locate him. And that gave the ladies an idea. Friday night dinner and a movie was about to become Friday night at the pub. Besides, the thing about traditions was that eventually, they had to be broken.

As if reading one another's thoughts, Ruby and Mary Margaret began pecking away at the laptop's keyboard feverishly. Tonight, LostAndLonging was going to chance a meeting with EvryGrlLuvsAnIrishman. But not before 'she' could pop off at least one response.