AN: I didn't want to write the Hook thing because it really made no sense to put it here, so they are under the assumption that Snow needs the ring (specifically) for the voyage out of the Enchanted Forrest (without them telling her to get the ring...) Let's say they read it in the book before the pages became blank... Changing canon events a bit more there, I hope that makes sense.


Emma and Regina continued their journey to Rumpelstiltskin's castle in silence. After what felt like several hours to Emma, they came to a clearing from which they could see a castle completely covered in gold.

"So, there it is, Miss Swan," Regina said without looking at her. "The Dark One's castle."

"Regina, come on," replied Emma. "How did it become Miss Swan again?"

Regina, rather reluctantly, turned to face Emma. "I apologize for my... forwardness and sudden display of emotions. I think it best if we just get this over with, fix this mess, make your parents meet, get back home, and forget any of this happened, wouldn't you agree?"

Emma moved closer to Regina and took one of her hands in hers, holding it between them as she spoke. "Regina, no, I don't agree. I really wanted to thank you for what you said earlier, but then I kinda messed it all up when I stopped my parents from meeting each other for the first time and everything." She paused and nervously looked Regina in the eye. "So thank you. Really." She was still holding Regina's hand in hers and didn't have any intention of letting it go.

Surprisingly enough, Regina didn't pull her hand away either, but just kept looking at her. Emma found the brunette's expression hard to read, and she was reminded of the countless times they had been standing like this before, unable to tell what Regina's gazes meant and how she ought to react to them. She had been confused so many times, one of those times being their goodbye at the town line...

"Well, well, what do we have here?" A voice behind them interrupted Emma's thoughts, and her mouth gaped open once more when she turned around and saw… Rumpelstiltskin, apparently, giggling a few feet away from them. She saw that Regina had turned her head to the opposite direction and pulled her hand away.

Emma wanted to say something, but nothing came out of her mouth. Rumpelstiltskin kept laughing and motioning with his hands, and maybe he said something more, but Emma wasn't in any state to register such things. That was when Regina turned around and showed her face.

The Dark One's expression changed rapidly. He looked at Regina and seemed very puzzled about the current turn of events. "How peculiar is this?" he squealed. "You're not Regina! I just saw her! Would one of you care to explain what's going on here? Who is this impostor?"

Regina seemed to regain her posture before Emma did. "We are from the future, Rumpelstiltskin, and we need your help." It seemed to be hard for her to go ask for help from her previous mentor, but there wasn't much of a choice left.

"Well, if you're from the future, then I should be going so we won't change anything with our little interactions here now, dearies," Rumpelstiltskin said and turned to leave. Emma realized she needed to do something to stop him from going.

"I know your son!" she yelled before it was too late. Both Regina and Rumpelstiltskin's faces turned to Emma. Regina was showing her usual really, Miss Swan? expression, and Rumple's face was very incredulous.

"You're lying!" Rumpelstiltskin shouted and pointed his finger at her. "What would you know of my son?"

"His name is Baelfire. You're planning to enact a curse in hopes of reuniting with him," Emma said while panic started to rise inside her. She had told Rumpelstiltskin too much already, and she was practically playing with fire now.

"Who told you that?" Rumpelstiltskin growled. He turned to Regina, looking puzzled. "Really, who is this?"

Regina looked both bored and worried when she answered, "She's the Savior. The product of true love. She broke the curse. The curse you had me cast, by the way."

He stared at Emma disbelievingly. "But that's just my speculation!" He stopped and his eyes went from Regina to Emma and then back to Regina. "I haven't done it!"

"Well, you obviously will, as you can see," Regina said and waved her hand to Emma's direction.

"And you will succeed," added Emma, unable to help herself.

Rumpelstiltskin looked at her for a moment and giggled. "You need my help? Then answer me one question. Do I find my son?" Emma didn't answer, and Regina was quiet as well. "Answer me!"

"Yes," Emma replied, frightened, and smiled in a way that was probably hard for Rumpelstiltskin to read. He would find his son, but he would lose him too. Emma felt like she was lying, even though Rumpelstiltskin himself was known for playing with words.

"Bae. I find Bae. How? Don't tell me. If I succeed, I don't want anything in my head that might throw it off," he said as he waved his hands.

Emma looked at Rumpelstiltskin, feeling both sad and nervous. She could see Regina's eyes were on her all the time, her expression sad as well. "Yeah… About that. It might already kind of be thrown off," she finally said.

Rumpelstiltskin looked very unamused, and a frown more displeased than his previous ones appeared on his face. "You've changed things. What have you done?"

She turned back to Rumpelstiltskin, feeling extremely guilty. "We interrupted my parents meeting."


After arriving to the Dark One's castle, Emma saw Regina question Rumpelstiltskin about the issue that had been bothering her. She attempted to follow the conversation in her constant state of bafflement as she tried to take all of the castle in.

"Rumpelstiltskin," Regina started. He turned around, his fingers flicking, an anticipatory expression on his face. "My magic isn't working here, and I could really use a reason for that." Regina opened her hand again to no avail and looked the imp in the eye.

"Well, it just seems to me that all magic comes with a price, and for you, time traveling came with this price," he giggled. Emma saw Regina cross her arms and exhale impatiently. "I don't know what you want me to say, dearie. I have never dealt with anything like this before, so I could only assume that the time portal is the reason for your magic disappearing."

Regina groaned and turned around, running a hand through her hair. "Perfect… Just perfect. As if we didn't have enough problems in our hands already."

Emma put her hand on Regina's arm, and the brunette stopped her frustrated murmurs. "We'll get through this," Emma said before she even planned to say it. Just then someone else came into the room, and she dropped her hand.

"Rumpelstiltskin! You're back. Do you need anything?" asked a girl who Emma recognized as Belle. Emma's mouth gaped open for the umpteenth time that day, the sight of Belle walking into the room, looking as real as in Storybrooke, baffling her.

"Belle!" left Emma's mouth before she could stop herself.

"Do we know each other?" Belle asked, a perplexed expression on her face.

"Sorry. No. Um, mister Rumple, The Dark One, um, told me about you," she tried to explain, mentally kicking herself.

"Did he?" Belle smirked.

"No!" Rumpelstiltskin negated fast. "Go away and read a book or whatever it is you like to do," he said and waved his hands. "Come back and clean later."

"You could ask nicely," Belle pointed out, and Emma turned to look at Regina who was looking at Belle with a slightly pained regretful expression on her face.

"I could also turn you into a toad," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"It's a miracle you two fall for each other," Emma commented as Belle left the room. She realized her slip too late when she saw Regina's murderous gaze.

"What?" Rumpelstiltskin laughed. "You're telling me I fall for the help?"

"I believe we have some more urgent matters at hand, such as fixing this mess. I propose we concentrate on the relevant issue here," Regina interrupted in an irritated tone.

"Yes," Rumpelstiltskin agreed, "Who are your parents?"

"Snow White and Prince Charming," Emma replied, knowing that if her past self had seen her now, she wouldn't have believed her eyes.

Rumpelstiltskin sat down looking rather amused. "Prince Charming?" He raised his eyebrows. Emma realized that that wasn't her father's real name.

Regina rolled her eyes at the situation. "Prince James."

Rumpelstiltskin's eyebrows were still raised. "King George's son, whose wedding I've just arranged?"

"That marriage isn't supposed to happen because it keeps the two idiots from getting together," Regina clarified.

"That would be my parents," Emma added.

Rumpelstiltskin looked rather amused. "It's quite a tale you're spinning."

Emma had a plan to show Rumpelstiltskin she was telling the truth. She put Henry's book on the long table in front of them and flipped through the pages of the thick book. "Here, let me show you. It's in the book." When Emma got to the correct part of the book, all she could see was blank pages. "Wait. What?"

"The ripple effect. We have changed the past, so nothing in the book is the same anymore until we put everything back to its course," Regina explained. "Not that it is a very good book for objective information, anyway," she muttered under her breath.

"We need to get Snow to steal that ring, so we can put their story back on track," Emma said, knowing what they should do but having no idea how to do it.

Rumpelstiltskin raised his finger. "You're in luck. There's a ball tonight at King Midas' castle. Prince James will be there and so will his ring," he smirked.

"So, we just need Snow there," she said, feeling hopeful again.

Rumpelstiltskin winked and stood up. "Allow me." He walked to a crystal ball, and after a wave of his hand they could all see Snow sitting across a pirate.

"She's trying to secure a passage on his ship, but can't. She can't escape from me without the ring she needs for the passage," Regina thought out loud.

"Can you help us?" Emma asked Rumpelstiltskin. She was getting desperate. She remembered the book saying the pirate captain had wanted a specific ring to pay for the passage.

"Help you?" Rumpelstiltskin said. "I can work on getting your portal to the future open again, but getting your parents together? You made that mess, dearie. Only you know what you did. Now go undo it."

Rumpelstiltskin left the room, and Emma turned to face Regina.

"So, what now?"

"I think she's going back to the castle for the ring so she can trade it for the passage… She should have no problem sneaking in. But how do we get in? I don't have magic, and the place is guarded..."

"I don't like leaving things to chance and hope she just pulls it off," Emma concluded.

"Well, actually, dearie…." Rumpelstiltskin said by the door. "I don't like doing that either, which is why I never do. I might be able to help you with one more problem," he said and snapped his fingers. "See? An invitation to the ball." He showed them an invitation that had just appeared in his hand.

"So, you'll be inside to watch out for her," Emma realized.

"No, no, I'll be far too busy sorting out how to get you home," Rumpelstiltskin replied.

"Well, who's the invitation for?" she asked.

Regina nudged her side. "It's for us. We're going to the ball."

Oh. She understood now. "You can open our portal?"

"There's a powerful wand, which, uh, I came to possess," Rumpelstiltskin said. "Anyway, legend says it can recreate any magic that's ever been wielded. Now, with a little work, I can use it to recreate whatever portal brought you here."

"Please, do it quickly. We'll be in and out before you know it. I want to get the hell out of here," she pleaded. She really did. She just wanted to get back home to Henry... and her parents, and her baby brother, and hell, even arresting Leroy when he was drunk seemed like a dream job compared to this.

"You and I both, Emma," Regina muttered.

"Oh, confidence! I like it," Rumpelstiltskin exclaimed. Emma turned, ready to go, but was stopped by his voice again. "Wait! Not like that."

He looked at both of them for a second, and whereas Regina's expression was almost bored, Emma was utterly confused until Rumpelstiltskin waved his hands and they were surrounded by crimson mist.

"The Savior can't come this far and not play princess for a day," he said, and as Emma looked down, she saw she was wearing a red ball gown.

"But I'm not supposed to stick out. What if someone remembers me in the future?" she said and turned to Regina. And… if she wasn't supposed to stick out, what was Regina doing, then? The woman looked stunning and as regal as ever in a dark blue dress not too different from Emma's, the expression on her face still unamused. Speaking of her face (her very beautiful face, Emma could've added) the woman couldn't possibly go to the ball. Everyone knew her. "Regina…"

"This is not all, Emma. He performed a glamor spell as well, I'm rather sure," Regina said, still staring at Rumpelstiltskin.

"It seems you know all my tricks," Rumpelstiltskin said and giggled. "By the way, I've returned those stolen rags, luckily before they were missed. I mean, it's a miracle the timeline hasn't imploded already. Amateurs."

Emma looked from Regina to Rumpelstiltskin, still feeling confused.

"This is how you shall appear to one and all," he said and pulled a mirror out of thin air. Emma could see her reflection, and Regina's, except that those weren't their reflections, but them with someone else's faces.

"Now run along and do everything you can to make sure Snow White gets that ring. Once they are back on track, everything else will be, too," the Dark One said and waved his hand.

Emma closed her eyes, and they were surrounded by crimson mist again. When she opened them, she saw they were relocated near King Midas' castle, ready to go to the ball.