Hi so here is another chapter and there are just six more left of this story. Hopefully I will be able to update again soon before the workload starts and timing becomes an issue.

I hope you all enjoy this chapter and review it and let me know what you think.

Disclaimer-Nothing is mine.

On another note-I wrote a section in the previous chapter where David thought he was in an unhappy marriage-that was not referring to his marriage to Snow but rather to his cursed marriage to Katheryn where he was in love with another woman-any questions on this chapter or any other part of the story then please dont hesitate to ask.

Please Read and Review.

Unguarded Moments

Chapter 4-Favour, Affection, Malice Or Ill Will

Emma sees her childhood (or what it could have been), Cora sees an opportunity, David sees nothing but regret and a new character is on the horizon seeing nothing but his revenge.

The castle was exactly the same as he had remembered it. The same winding steps and the same close stoned walls and spiral staircases though there were more cobwebs than before and the place smelled like damp and neglect and decay. The whole thing was sad. This had been his home, his home with his wife and his daughter. In reality they had never even gotten to enjoy one day together the three of them. More like one second.

The rooms were still the same only they had been ripped from the roots. The bedroom that Emma had been born into was smashed in two, the throne room was ruined. It looked like the magic had taken hold and ripped his home apart. Regina had done some damage he had to admit. But that was not the room that was going to haunt him of that David knew. The room that he had both imagined and dreaded seeing too many times since the he had been stuck in this land was coming towards him.

Emma's nursery.

It was the room he needed and yet the place he feared. It had been hope cruelly torn away and pain and suffering and yet for those few months when they had been designing the place it had seemed in those golden hours they could snatch together the best place in the world. Him, Snow and baby Emma in her mother's stomach kicking away to her hearts content.

Emma was right behind him though. Emma who was all grown up who didn't need a father. David wasn't too proud to snatch up the scraps he had remembered as David Nolan and since he had been in her company that she had shared about her childhood and he was not about to turn down more information. But this…his most painful memory…perhaps to Emma his most painful failure but in his mind his greatest accomplishment was the wardrobe that was in her nursery.

Getting her to it to safety…but also to a world filled with hurt and pain where she was alone. It was like his knees had become lead and he had to force himself it seemed to keep moving and put one foot in front of the other. It was not just him that was depending on this transportation. It was Emma, Mulan and Aurora who had no kingdom and no loves left. It was Henry who was depending on his mother. It was Snow who was probably keeping together a whole town and battling Regina and raising her grandson living in hope.

And it was that, that forced him to open the door.

It was…well…he had imagined worse.

The crib was gone, toys were strewn everywhere, the mobile smashed and discarded. Books, clothes and other trinkets gone. The warmth and the light had turned to dark cold and damn stale air. The blankets were faded and dirty. All of it…all of Emma's room was gone. And yet somehow he had imagined worse.

David was beginning to wonder if he had a very bad sense of imagination.

"Wow" was all Emma said looking around. "Was…was all of this for me?"

"Yeah" he said thickly trying to work through the knot in his throat that he had since been unable to unstick. How was he supposed to explain to her that this had been his hopes and dreams and now it was all in ruins. How was he supposed to even be a father to her? He'd had no clue back then and now she was a grown woman with her own child, a lifetime of baggage and more than a few scars. How was he supposed to be there for her when even as his alter ego she had not liked him in the slightest?

Snow would know what to do. Snow would know what to say and how to make her at ease. David didn't. Snow had always had that maternal instinct that had made people fall in love with her, it had come from both her personality in general and he suspected her royal upbringing, Snow knew how to love and receive love even if there was very little chance of it being recuperated. Even know David was unsure if his wife truly deeply hated her step-mother. David had been awkward at that. Love was not something he traded in. Courage perhaps although right now he didn't feel very courageous.

"So this is it?" Emma said staring at the wardrobe. "Henry was right"

"He was. But…Emma anyone would have thought that story was strange. Goodness it was my story and there were times when even I thought the kid was off his rocker. It didn't make sense to us then, you shouldn't blame yourself for not believing in him"

"He came looking for me because Regina didn't believe him. I don't think she knew until I came into town. And even then…I didn't believe him because it was…believing that you had a reason…it was something I had never considered. Never mind the fact that I thought the magic aspect was sheer rubbish"

She rubbed her forehead with her fingers as if massaging a headache away and the gesture was so intimately his wife that he had to look away for fearing of being overcome by a moment of sentimentality that really would not help them. They were alone Mulan and Aurora gone to search or perhaps to tactfully give father and daughter some time alone. He did not know nor did he care.

"Your mother…she was supposed to go in with you. I was the one that was supposed to wait in frozen time not the both of us. In the plans we discussed…one of us was always with you because she was going to go through as soon as the wardrobe was finished. When she was pregnant. But you came to early. It's not like you had any control over it but…but we did have a plan where you were not alone I promise you that"

Emma watched him for a second longer and his heart beat a little bit faster as he tried to pretend like her scrutiny wasn't agony. Emma opened her mouth, her eyes so impossibly and heartbreakingly sad, but before she could say anything there was a sound behind them and David turned weapon in hand ready to protect his daughter.

The shape moved out of the shadows. It was Lancelot.

And that was the moment David knew something instinctually wasn't right.

Ash. That was all it was. Ash. The wardrobe that was supposed to take them back home was gone. It had turned to dust and more to the point it was her hand that had thrown the flames at the wood torching their only plan. Instinct thought, Emma thought to herself. Instinct had brought them to this point. It had been the knowledge of Regina reuniting with her mother and her son in the same town that forced her move towards the wardrobe.

It had been the thing that had taken her out of this world and it was supposed to take her back to her own but Emma didn't really care about that. She cared about this room, the feelings it was inspiring in her that she really didn't like and the fact that David wasn't speaking to her right now didn't help matters either.

He was staring at the ash at his feet with an oddly detached expression. Emma bit her lip wondering what she was going to say. After all it was not just her that needed to get home, he did as well and she had pretty much torched their ride.

"Sorry I torched our ride" she said deciding to bite the bullet and get the whole conversation over with. Standing in the room where her childhood should have been was more sobering than she thought it would have been and that was just for her never mind what it must be like for her…for David.

"I just couldn't..." and there she was again tripping over her words. She didn't understand why she was doing that. She wasn't sure what to say. That was the feeling that she was struggling with. What to say, did she even want to say anything and the fact of the matter was, was anything that either she or David could say paint the picture of their lives in different colours?

"I know" David said and his voice was very soft. It was comforting in a way Emma registered dimly. "You couldn't let her get back to Henry. I understand"

Emma nodded. David moved to the door as if he was finally pulling himself out of whatever memories were grounding him in this room and that was when without warning, Emma opened her mouth and for the first time ever voiced her feelings towards her father.

"I hated you for so long"

It was nothing less than the truth but it made David stop and turn around his face a mask of smooth marble. Emma wondered if during her walk through the forest and the little information they had shared since sharing the truth if David hadn't been waiting for this one. He took a deep breath and Emma suddenly recognised that he was going to stand there and take whatever fury and hurt and pain that she had built for years deep inside of her.

That thought alone made her hurt.

But it was too late to turn back time now. She had to go on. Everything depended on her going on. She wet her lips and then continued as she finally managed to put a voice to her swirling, chaotic thoughts.

"Wondering, how you could choose to give me up" She paused and looked down and she saw the edge of her boot had touched what she supposed must have been a stuffed unicorn. There were so many stuffed animals here she would have been spoilt for choice. In the system she had, had nothing.

"But now…looking at all of this…you didn't have a choice did you?"

David was watching her his gaze half in light and then half in shadow so she couldn't easily see him. Emma didn't want to look at him as she told him that she had spent most of her childhood hating him for being a coward and a deadbeat, for leaving her at the side of the road like she was nothing but trash. It made her feel bad even though know she knew that it wasn't his fault.

"I'm sorry" she said because she was starting to tear up. The last time she had cried Henry had been lying on that bed looking lifeless and Emma had known that she had been alone—deep in her bones she had known the truth. That even if magic did exist and she was reunited with her parents it wouldn't make a blind bit of difference because she was alone.

"It's just…I'm not use to someone putting me first"

And there it was. The bitter truth. Nobody had ever put Emma's Swan first. And she had no idea how to react when someone did.

David…her Dad…was still watching her. It happened before she could say anything. He had crossed the room and hugged her, wrapping his arm around her and she pressed her face into his shoulder. This was not like hugging David Nolan she thought blindly. This was like a different kind of hug. His hand came to cover her head and for a second they stood there hugging. For a Emma Swan felt something, it took her a while before she realised that it was safety. She felt safe in her father's arms.

Well that was something she hadn't seen coming.

"Well get used to it" David said smiling. His eyes were overbright and Emma found herself blinking rather rapidly herself.

The moment was ruined by Mulan who stuck her head through the door looking around as if she expected Cora to rise from the ashes but Emma wondered if perhaps there was a corner turned between the two of them. But of course there was always something in the way.

Cora edged along the shoreline watching the figure on the black horizon. It had been years since she had last seen him and immortality in Neverland had been good for him. He still had the ruggedly handsome look of a man who had been ravaged by grief and driven by revenge. Cora supposed once upon a time she might have found him handsome. She supposed once upon a time she might have stopped him from killing Rumple. Her Rumple—the only man she had ever really loved. But…well…that was then and this was now.

Rumple was the only man that she had loved or ever considered herself an ally with. This man…this man was simply a means to an end. There was only going to be one winner between her daughter and Emma Swan and she was choosing her daughter to back. This man would get her there. Heart or no heart.

"Hello Cora" he said his eyes still glued on the shoreline. Cora didn't so much as flinch when she felt cold sand cover her silk shoes. She had endured much worse and she was the mother of a queen. She did not flinch, she did not so much as let a flicker cross her face. She was right where she was supposed to be. Rumple had been right it seemed, waiting for events to happen even when you could see them in advance did sooth the mind. Still she was about to make a deal with someone to get what she wanted and she knew how to play that game even if she was filled with a strong malice towards the place she was going to.

"Hello Hook"

Let the game begin then.

And there you go-Hope you all enjoy and I will try and update as soon as I am able to.

Not all of the dialogue is the same but I have tried to keep it as real as I can just putting my own spin on it.

Next Chapter-The gang come across what was left of the camp and find a soon to be familiar looking man who might be friend or foe. Emma climbs a beanstalk and makes a surprising decision. David is not impressed. Sleeping Beauty finds them a clue.