Emma stood in the corner of the room watching the scene before her. Marco was standing over August, who was still entirely made of wood, shaking his son by the shoulders. Archie was standing nearby; Mary Margaret had suggested he come along.

"Wake up, my boy. The curse is broken. Pinocchio, wake up." Tears slid down his face and Archie put a hand on his shoulder. "Pinocchio," Marco cried. "My boy, please wake up."

"Come on, Geppetto," Archie coaxed him away from the bed.

Guilt curled inside Emma, making her feel sick. This was her fault. August had tried to tell her about the curse, how she had to break it, but she hadn't listened. He'd paid the price for her stubbornness.

Mary Margaret approached Marco and he looked up, "Snow", he looked at her, guilt mixing with grief. "I'm sorry. I couldn't let my boy stay in our world with the curse coming. I'm the reason you couldn't go through with your daughter." He looked back at August. "And it was all for nothing. Will you ever forgive me?"

Mary Margaret shook her head. "Geppetto, you don't need my forgiveness. Your son was very brave. He came back, he helped Emma. The curse is broken. It all worked out. We'll find a way to fix this and then Pinnochio will be back to himself. You should speak to the Blue Fairy. Perhaps she can do something to help."

They started for the door, but as they passed Emma, she spoke up. "Marco, I'm sorry. If I'd believed sooner—"

He placed his hands on her shoulders gently. "Please know that none of this is your fault, it is all my doing. Promise me that you won't blame yourself any longer."

After a moment of hesitation, Emma quietly nodded.

"Let's go find the Blue Fairy," Archie said, putting an arm around his best friend. Everyone followed them out.

With Marco in Archie's care, the others went back to the apartment. The car ride was silent.

When Snow opened the door, she set down her key and looked around, smiling slightly. She grabbed Charming's hand and pulled him close, leaning into his arms. "It's so good to remember. This may not be our world, but I have you back and that's all that matters."

He kissed her lightly. Emma and Henry stepped around them, heading for the couch. Emma was feeling very uncomfortable, but Henry smiled. "This is how things are supposed to be."

Snow and Charming looked up, remembering they were not alone, and joined them in the living room. For the moment, Snow felt peaceful, despite the chaos of the day. She had her family back. Looking at Emma though, she could tell that something was on her daughter's mind. Their recent visit with Geppetto had been upsetting but Snow sensed there was something else bothering her. "Emma?"

Her daughter looked up.

"Was there something on your mind?"

A troubled expression crossed Emma's face. "Yeah." She paused. "It's the magic. I don't think it was Regina who brought it here."

Snow, Charming and Henry all looked at her incredulously.

"Of course it was her," Charming argued as he reached for Snow's hand and grasped it tightly. "She wants to do everything she can to keep us from being happy. Now that the curse has been broken, this is the next logical step."

"I don't think so," Emma said.

Snow leaned forward. "Why do you think it wasn't her?"

"Something she said to me in the hospital when Henry was in a coma." She swallowed hard. She'd been thinking the words, when Henry was dying. "She said that magic was unpredictable here. What she put in that turnover was meant to put me to sleep, but with Henry…" everyone finished the thought silently. "She talked about it like it was something she feared. It's uncontrollable here and she didn't like that."

Snow was caught up on a different thought. "Regina told you about magic before the curse was broken? She admitted to being the Evil Queen?"

"Yes."

Everyone looked shocked, but it was Henry who asked the question they were all thinking. "Why?"

"Because your life was in danger, Henry. We could only save you if she told the truth. What she said to you right after the curse had been broken…" she paused to look down at her hands. The next words were extremely difficult for her to say. "Henry, she really does love you and she would do anything to protect you."

Henry looked at the floor, embarrassed by the sudden emotion he felt for Regina. As much as he'd hated to admit it, he did love her. Even though he knew she was the Evil Queen, she had raised him. There had been a time as a small child when he'd expressed that love freely, before he'd started feeling resentful of his mother's controlling tendencies. He'd become more and more convinced that she did not feel any love toward him. In the months since Emma had come to town, he'd buried his love completely. He'd refused to show any affection for the woman who'd stolen everyone's happy endings by trapping them in this world. He'd looked into her eyes in the hospital when she told him that she loved him, but hadn't let himself believe her.

Snow and Charming were still shocked. Snow looked at Henry, who was tightly twisting his fingers together, and then back to Emma. "I think it's time you told us what happened between the time Henry ate that turnover and you broke the curse."

And so, Emma told them everything. About how she and Regina had worked together, how she had fought the dragon (which brought Henry back into the conversation, as he leaned forward excitedly to hear the details), and about Mr. Gold's sudden appearance and how he had tricked her.

Charming was still troubled with one thought. "Emma, if you're so sure that it wasn't Regina who brought the magic, then who do you think it was?"

"Gold," Emma said. "And I think it had something to do with what he took from Regina and I. He called it his back-up plan."

"But how could he use true love to bring magic back?" Charming's brow was furrowed. "There was only a small amount; how did he manage to convert it into magic that flooded the entire town?"

"I don't know." Snow watched her husband pace the room. "Emma, if that's true, then we're in more trouble than I thought. Rumpelstiltskin is dangerous."

"More dangerous than Regina?"

"Yes," she answered immediately. "Pain and a need for revenge is what made Regina evil. Rumpelstiltskin is evil for no other reason than that it is his nature. He's the Dark One, made that way by another curse. That makes him far more dangerous. He'll have something awful in mind."

"In that case," Emma said urgently, "we need to do something about it. We're going to need help."

Snow glanced at Charming and he frowned. He knew what she was thinking, and he didn't like it.

"What?" Emma asked, noticing the exchange.

"He's very powerful. That kind of power is impossible to fight without magic; strong magic. There's only one person I know who possesses such a thing."

It was Emma and Henry's turn to look at each other.

"Regina," Emma realized.

Snow nodded.


Belle hurried down the path after Rumpelstiltskin, careful not to trip on any tree roots sticking out of the ground. "What have you done?" she asked.

"I've leveled the playing field, my love. I've brought magic back into our lives."

"Yes, but if magic is back, how come we aren't? Why are we still stuck in this world?"

Rumpelstiltskin, moving quickly, stayed facing forward as he answered. "There are still a few things that need to be taken care of."

Belle wasn't sure she liked the answer. "You mean, you did this?"

"Of course, I was the one who designed the details of the curse."

"But why would you help trap everyone here?"

"I have my reasons."


"Rapunzel! Rapunzel, I have something to tell you. Let me up. Hurry, hurry!"

She jumped at the sound of Bae's voice. How could she have forgotten his visit?

He practically jumped into the room when he reached the top, and proceeded to bounce around excitedly.

"What is it?" Rapunzel asked, pulling out a chair.

"I know I told you I didn't want to talk to my father about your freedom because I was afraid of what he might ask for in return. But I couldn't sleep all night long. I was thinking about how you were trapped and you had no way of escaping and how horrible that is." There was a pause and Rapunzel opened her mouth to say something. However, the pause had been only to take a much-needed breath before Bae rushed on. "-and I knew it wasn't fair to keep you from your only chance. It's your life; you should be able to choose what you want to do. So I told my father about you. I didn't tell him where you are in case you changed your mind, but I told him about you and he wanted to help and he didn't even ask for anything! So I ran here to tell you, and now my father's waiting and if you want to be free, I'll run and tell him. You could be free tonight, Rapunzel!"

During his hurried recounting of events, Rapunzel had stood up excitedly and then sat back down in shock. She sat there, thoughts racing, suddenly overwhelmed by the choice she had never had before. Life outside the tower…She had few memories of it from her childhood. It would be foreign, scary…

"Rapunzel, didn't you hear me? You could be free! It's what you wanted!"

Freedom…Yes, freedom! She stood back up. What was there to think about? She could be free!

"Yes! Yes, yes! Run, Bae! Run and tell your father yes!"

She paced the tower the whole time he was gone. She knew Elise had gone to Wonderland to deal with her sister, but she still worried something might change; she could come back and catch Rapunzel trying to escape. What would Elise do to her, to Bae, if that were to happen? The waiting was agonizing, every second another chance to be caught.

Finally, what felt like an eternity later, she heard a voice. It did not belong to Bae, however, so she crept carefully to the edge of the window. There was a man standing there. "Where's Bae?" she called down to him, hoping this was his father.

"He's standing watch in the forest. We wouldn't want to take the chance that the witch would return and catch us in the act now, would we?"

Rapunzel had to keep from stepping back when Rumpelstiltskin climbed through the window. She didn't want to offend the man that was freeing her, but she felt the need to put as much distance between them as possible. With his discolored skin and impish grin, he was terrifying. She covered her fear with a curtsy and spoke with a voice that was only slightly shaking, "It is nice to meet you Rumpelstiltskin. Your son has told me of you. I am Rapunzel."

"Yes, dearie," he said, reaching out to pull her out of her curtsy. "The one who needs saving. So, the tales of the girl in the tower are true." Though his words were directed at her, his eyes focused only on her hair. He reached out and stroked it. "Are the tales of you hair's healing properties true as well?"

Rapunzel repressed a shudder. "Yes. You need only wrap it around whatever ails you. Is this what you want in return for my freedom?"

"Oh my, no! Didn't my Bae tell you? I want nothing in return. You've been kind to my boy, a friend to him. That is payment enough." He moved around the room, glancing at everything. His eyes came to rest again on Rapunzel's hair. "Now, to get you out of here."

"How? There is no way down. That window is the only way in or out."

"You will leave the same way I came up. Your hair." He laughed, a high-pitched, horrible sound, and it took all Rapunzel had not to grimace.

"What?"

Rumpelstiltskin pulled a pair of shining gold scissors out of his pocket.

Rapunzel's heart sank. She had been foolish to think anyone could help her escape this tower. "It won't work. No ordinary scissors can cut through my hair. Elise is the only one with the power to cut strands from it. She has put a spell on it to keep me from escaping."

"Of course she has dearie, but these are no ordinary scissors," he replied, smiling at them in his hands. "I designed them myself. They can cut through any material, and more importantly, they can cut through simple little spells."

"Alright," she turned slowly and closed her eyes. "Cut it." She held her breath as he brought his hands up to gather her hair just beneath her shoulders, and placed his scissors around it.

Then, miraculously, the hair fell to the floor as the blades sliced through it. As more and more fell away, Rapunzel felt the weight dropping like nothing she had ever imagined. She was so light, she felt as if she could fly. As the last strands fell around her feet, she looked up, smiling. She ran her fingers across her hair and over the ends. "It's gone. It's really gone."

"Yes, and now we must do something about that glow." He pulled a bottle out and handed it to her. "Pour this over your hair. It will mask the magic."

Rapunzel did as she was told. As Rumpelstiltskin tied one end of the hair around a column in the tower, she pulled strands of her hair in front of her face to study it. It was now a light brown. Shiny, but not glowing. Without the weight pulling it down, it had a slight wave. She looked up as Rumpelstiltskin called her name.

"Time to go, dearie."

They climbed down and, reaching the bottom, Rapunzel took a moment to look back up at the place that had been her prison for as long as she could remember.

"You'll stay with us for a while, " Rumpelstiltskin said, heading off into the forest.

Rapunzel followed him, about to disagree, but he seemed to already know what she was going to say. "You have nowhere else to go, dearie. Besides that, Bae won't hear of you staying anywhere else. You haven't got a choice."

He was right of course, and so, she followed him home.

"Where's Bae?" she asked when they arrived. She'd expected him to meet them at the door.

"Inside sleeping. I told him to run home to bed when he saw us climbing down the tower. It's past his bedtime after all. You can say hello to him in the morning, when you waken up. He will be very pleased you're staying with us."

"Alright. Well, goodnight." Rapunzel, although not wanting to stay with the strange man, was exhausted from the day's events. It didn't take her long to drift off to sleep.


She sat up suddenly, nightmares of being caught by Elise having woken her. She could see that it wasn't morning quite yet. There was barely any light outside.

Standing, she grabbed her shawl from the chair next to where she'd been sleeping. As she crept silently to the front door, she couldn't help but notice the state of things. She hadn't noticed the night before when it had been completely dark. Everything was covered in a thick layer of dust. The tiny house looked as if it hadn't been lived in for quite some time.

Rapunzel found it quite curious, but didn't stop to think for long. She noiselessly left the cottage, feeling guilty that she hadn't said goodbye to Bae, but she couldn't stay there. Rumpelstiltskin seemed dangerous and though he was Bae's father, she couldn't trust his intentions.


She'd been traveling directionless in the woods for hours, growing hungry, thirsty, and extremely tired when she heard it. The galloping hooves of horses, the shouting voices, and they were getting closer.

Drawing on what little strength she had left, Rapunzel ran. As fast as she was going, she couldn't outrun horses and she heard them following closely behind her. Distracted by fear, her foot caught on a root and she fell forward, scraping her hands as she tried to catch herself.

She heard the horses stop and someone walking toward her as she pushed herself painfully to her knees.

"Careful now, dear. You wouldn't want to hurt yourself." The voice was female, low. The words were kind, but still sent shivers down her spine. She turned to see an extravagantly dressed woman approaching her.

"You're the Queen," she breathed, shrinking back slightly as the woman reached out and tucked Rapunzel's hair carefully behind her ear, revealing the crescent scar.

"Yes, dear, and you are exactly the girl I've been looking for. Hello, Rapunzel."

I've been having fun writing this, and I'd love to know what you guys think! Leave me some reviews :)