The Golden Rule

by LizzeXX

Gold/OC - Emma's actions in the past have put the Pied Piper and the Dark One ill at ease. As they both work to free him from the Dagger's control, they may encounter obstacles they never expected and face the worst betrayals imaginable. When the bonds of family and ties of loyalty are strained, will it only be a matter of time before they're severed? Fourth in the Bedtime Stories.

10. Stressed and Strained

Stressed and Strained

The Missing Year...

Piper quietly made her way down the halls of Regina's castle, not seeing anyone save a guard here or there on her trek. Not that she was really expecting anyone to be there, it was the dead of night and likely that no one else would be awake at such a godforsaken hour. SHE shouldn't have even been awake but…it was too much, everything was too much at the moment and if she had to spend one more night in that burning room she was going to kill someone in the castle, she was sure of it.

She let out a breath, rubbing her forehead, no…no she wouldn't kill anyone, not even that Little John behemoth that kept making snide remarks about her and how they ought to not even let her within sight of the children every time he saw her.

She would not kill anyone, for Snow, that was what she had to concentrate on, do not kill any of Snow's subjects.

But it was getting more and more difficult. There was so much going on and…she wasn't sure she could handle it.

Snow was pregnant, there was a wicked witch trying to attack them at all sides, Regina and Robin Hood were bickering like children, David was constantly asking her questions about raising a boy as he was utterly certain that this time, unlike last time, it WOULD be a boy, the parents whispered about her, the children were curious about her and kept trying to get near her which only infuriated the parents, Bae was dying somewhere, Rumpelstiltskin was the captive of the witch who also had his dagger, Pinocchio still didn't know who she was, and just…

She was tired, she was so incredibly tired but every time she slept she ended up in the burning room. She wouldn't be able to keep hiding the burns on her arms and legs from Snow forever. She could usually handle the room, had been able to handle it better in the World Without Magic, there was no magic there, the burns never happened there. But they were in the Enchanted Forest now, and the magic was very real and so long as she didn't move much the flames didn't lick her as badly. But she was tired and overwhelmed and…scared.

She could admit it to herself at the very least even if she never let anyone see past her mask, not even Snow, but she was scared. There was just so much going on and so much that was uncertain…she didn't know what to do to make it better or to stop it. She could hardly talk to Snow or David, they were frantic over their own child and actually getting to raise it, she was not THAT good of friends with the Evil Queen to speak of something like this, and the only other person there that she would have turned to for any semblance of comfort had been near driven insane and was being detained elsewhere regardless.

She had no one to speak to. She had nothing to do to keep her mind off of things. No one in the castle trusted her due to her relationship with the Dark One, no one trusted her as a guard or a lookout or a patrol or a scout, it was only by Snow's grace that she was even allowed on the council meetings. And the one thing that she had that could help her relieve her tension, the one thing she still had, she wasn't allowed to even touch really without the castle getting up in arms.

Her pipe was still in her boot, she would never part with that, but…she felt restricted, shackled even. If she so much as touched her pipe let alone brought it to her lips, the guards would put their hands on their swords, the adults would hide their children behind them, conversations would stop nearest to her. If anyone stumbled upon her, even in private, even in her own rooms, playing the pipe, even without magic behind it, they would immediately begin questioning her about what she was doing and playing and who she was trying to control and for what purpose. As though she couldn't control when she actually USED magic in her music instead of just playing music for the relaxation of it.

It was maddening!

Her music was the only thing she still had left that was hers and that should have been something she could turn to when she needed it.

Snow was busy running the kingdom and preparing for the baby, Rumpelstiltskin was locked away, Bae was gone, Pinocchio was a child no one would let her near, Emma and Henry were trapped in another realm…her music was the only companion she had left…and she was being forced to restrict when and where she played.

It was getting suffocating in the castle, yet she couldn't leave or risk the Witch attacking her and using her as bait against her cousin exactly as she'd feared Regina would do to her in the past. It was making her antsy and restless. She was nearing the end of her wits about it all and she just…she wanted it to stop, she wanted peace. She knew that her reputation was a foul one, she knew she was seen as a villain and a monster, something she never denied, a creature even now that people knew she was also Rose Red, the half-Siren princess, queen of the wasteland that had once been her kingdom. She knew no one would trust her, expected it even…

She just hadn't expected it to be this stifling to be able to go absolutely nowhere without eyes watching her.

It wouldn't have been so bad if the entire population of Storybrooke wasn't residing in the castle and the surrounding small village. They were all crammed in there because of the Witch, space was scarce, privacy almost nonexistent. It wouldn't have been so bad if it had been like a normal castle, with the royals and visiting guests, tutors and other nobles given rooms while the servants lived in the village and only came to the castle to do their duty. Every single person, no matter who they were, was living in the castle now and it was cramped.

She thrived on solitude and quiet, on peace and isolation…and there was so much noise! The nights she actually felt tired she could hardly sleep because of the songs of everyone in the castle echoing up to her. Normally the songs would fade, they always faded after she'd met someone, the more time around them the more it became a faint buzz in the back of her head. But large groups…that made it hard to get to know an individual song, and there were so many people she doubted she'd be able to meet them all if she met one a day for a year. It became a noisy cacophony when the world around her was silent as in the night.

And the nights she was just too exhausted to mind the song, the nights she near passed out she was so utterly spent…she was back in the burning room, alone, and trapped, feeling the flames dancing around her, taunting her, haunting her.

If this continued much longer without any sort of relief she was sure that she might actually weep from the frustration of it all.

She was not used to this. Even as a child she'd always had her mother and father and Snow to turn to for help and support, she'd known the servants and their songs and hadn't had so much noise around her. As an adult she'd been alone, yes, but travelling between kingdoms and towns and villages, on her own in the woods more often than not, with less sounds and more the tunes of nature which was calmer than around humans. Even when she'd gone to the Dark One, she'd been in a castle with just him, grown to be able to depend on him, open enough to turn to him when she needed help and support. And then there had been the magicless realm, and the songs were fainter even with the other noises of the realm being louder. She'd had August then, a little boy to care for. And back to Storybrooke with her family.

For the most part she had always had someone there that she could turn to and rely on, even if that person was herself. And now…now she wasn't even sure she had THAT. What had happened with Baelfire, it had shaken her more than anyone would care to notice. That had been her Siren instincts getting the best of her, pushing her and consuming her with thoughts of rescuing her mate, needing to get him back, needing to be reassured that he was alive. She had let that part of her get the best of her and Bae had suffered for it.

How could she trust herself after that? After she'd let herself fall so far into her instincts that she had as good as killed her true love's son?

She couldn't.

And so she had no one to turn to now.

And it was wearing at her.

So she walked on, roamed the castle halls till the sun began to peek through the forest and into the sky…and then she returned to her room to wait for Snow to come collect her for breakfast as the girl loved to do…with David in tow and half the Dwarves following behind and Red Riding Hood beside her. She returned to her room to wait to put on another mask for the day ahead, it would just happen all over again anyway.

~8~

"…heard that she got her boy killed."

Piper closed her eyes tightly, her lips pursing as the whispers drew nearer to her, not that they were actually whispers, but more a quiet speaking. The ones talking didn't seem to realize she was sitting in the window at the end of the long corridor and staring out at the forest in the direction of the Dark Castle. It wasn't anything she hadn't heard before but…she hadn't had a good night or a good morning. She'd been in the burning room and she'd just…snapped.

She'd gotten so angry about being there that she'd grabbed the few objects that were in there and tried to smash them against the walls, had raged against the room…but nothing worked. All it served to do was burn her up the length of her arm to the point where she'd had to sneak into the Dwarves' rooms and steal a salve from Doc to use with the binding she'd made for her arm. Worse yet, Snow had moved to link arms with her on the way to breakfast and grabbed her bad arm, making her hiss and swear in such a manner that Blackbeard himself would have likely applauded her for it. Snow had been horrified when she'd discovered the burns, tried to get her to actually SEE Doc or at the very least go to Regina and see if there was a way to heal the burns.

She hadn't wanted that, as much as she loved her cousin, she just…she didn't want her concern or her help!

She had been basically wasting away the entire time, growing more miserable as they days went by, was growing more distant and Snow had barely noticed, and she knew, she KNEW that it was hard and difficult for her cousin too to be a ruler again and have a baby on the way but she had expected Snow to notice something, just…something was wrong with her and nothing had happened till the skin on her arm had been literally falling off at her touch. That was how bad it had had to get for her dear cousin to actually notice something was amiss.

But, then again, it was partially her own fault. She hadn't exactly told Snow anything was wrong and she'd gotten very good at perfecting her indifferent mask when she didn't want others to see her weak. And Snow was always around others people, she could hardly get the woman alone enough to drop her mask so it stayed on. She hadn't spoken to Snow of how she was suffering, of how badly she hated not being able to play her pipe when she wanted, or be trusted just to sit nearby the children (and really, she always gave the children back anyway and it wasn't like she could actually spirit them away anywhere with the Witch out there and no one allowed to leave the grounds). She just...she hadn't told Snow about the whispers either, the ones she had heard of other mothers and random villagers and other castle-goers. She hadn't breathed a word of the vile things they said about her. Because if she told Snow, her cousin would DO something...and that something would be rash and defensive for her cousin and make her appear vulnerable to the people as a ruler. She couldn't let Snow take her side and have people claim that SHE had influenced or swayed or used her magic on Snow, she couldn't let Snow say a word or she'd be dealt the brunt of her people's anger over it. And the only way to keep Snow White from speaking of something, was to not let her know about it. Snow could hardly hold her tongue and she would tell the people to back off and all it would serve to do was alienate her from her kingdom, strain the loyalty of her men, garner her the distrust of the mothers. And Snow needed other mothers around her right now, more than ever.

So she would just hold her peace about it.

Speaking of holding peace though, she may have snapped at Snow and stormed off…she would have to apologize later, would gladly apologize later…but for now she just needed quiet, she just need…time to collect her thoughts and suck it all up and just…push through it, for however long they were in the Forest, for however long she was without her true love, she needed to be BETTER than this. She was of no use to her cousin or her family if she was falling apart at the seams. She just…needed to get better.

But this?

These whispers.

They never helped.

"No!" another voice gasped.

"Oh yes, he turned to wood! Do you believe it? Wood!" and a third voice just had to add that as well, her voice more nasally than the first which had been gravelly.

She recognized the voices before she identified the songs attached to them.

Anastasia and Drizella Tremaine, Cinderella's stepsisters, the first and third voices respectively. The second voice though surprised her, it was Nova the fairy. Well, it didn't really surprise her, Nova had always been a bit different than the other fairies, spending less time around them and more time with Grumpy. She doubted Blue had actually told the fairies exactly what happened and, by the time that word had spread through town there were already so many different versions that no one knew which to believe. She actually doubted that Nova even knew the story at all if she sounded that surprised about it.

"I heard that she was such a terrible mother that poor Pinocchio ran away from her," Anastasia continued haughtily, "He came to Storybrooke first, without her after all."

"Ooh, yes," Drizella agreed, "I remember him! You know, it doesn't surprise me he turned back into wood. Wasn't Pinocchio supposed to be honest, brave, and selfless?"

"Yes…" Nova answered slowly, "I…I think that's what Blue warned…"

"Well then, that answers that question," Drizella scoffed, "He turned to wood because he was a selfish, lying coward. And we ALL know Gepetto didn't raise him to be like that, don't we?"

"I'm sure she tried her best," Nova attempted to defend.

"Please," Anastasia argued, "Have you SEEN the Piper? She's so…cold and serious. And the way she watches the children? It's a good thing the Prince and Princess decreed she couldn't be left with the children alone."

"That's not quite what they said…"

"She'd probably spirit them away like all the other mothers think," Drizella agreed with her sister, "I wouldn't put it past her. That's why the mothers don't let the kids leave their sight unless one of the heroes are around to keep them safe from the Piper."

"I'm actually surprised the Princess even trusts the Piper to be in the same castle as them," Anastasia muttered, "I mean, didn't they say she KNEW about the Dark Curse coming, and she let it take the Princess's child anyway? Who knows what she'll do to the future prince or princess, I bet she'd try to take them and raise them as her own."

"I heard she was going to do that to Princess Emma! Thank the fates that she didn't get her hands on the princess! Could you imagine the Savior being raised by the Piper?"

"She'd be the Anti-Savior, no doubt. Now imagine what she'd do if she did manage to spirit the children of the castle off."

"I always wondered what she did with the children she took? Do you think she eats them?"

"Erg, Drizella be realistic," Anastasia huffed, "She kills them and uses their skin as leather for her clothing. Have you SEEN the way she dresses? Pfft."

"I'd heard she gives the children back in the end," Nova's words were growing quieter, as though she didn't want to really say anything against the women.

"She's a liar," Drizella reminded, "She'd have to be to be the Dark One's true love. I can only imagine what sort of monsters they'd have if they ever had children."

The disgusted shiver that sounded had Piper curling her hands into fists.

"As though they'd ever have children," Anastasia laughed, "If that…fish ever became with child, she'd probably be stoned to death. For the safety of the kingdom of course."

Piper's lips pursed so thin at that remark they nearly disappeared.

"That's horrible!" Nova cried.

"Think about it though," Drizella remarked, "A child that's half Dark One? Half…Pied Piper? What's that, a quarter siren?"

"Oh she has to be more than half," Anastasia disagreed, "There's no way a girl as cruel and terrible as the Piper is just half. I bet her mother tricked her father into thinking he was the real father. I bet it was just another fish!"

"She doesn't look much like Princess Snow," Drizella agreed.

"I think they have the same eyes…" Nova offered.

"That's easily fixed, who knows what male Siren eyes look like, they could be green!" Anastasia tutted.

"Urg, imagine what her child with the Dark One would look like!?" Drizella gasped, "It would be a monstrosity! That…that scaley skin…"

"And those freakish eyes that the Dark One has…"

"You shouldn't say such things," Nova tried to scold them, "A child is innocent and…"

"And it would be a danger to us all," Anastasia continued, "It would grow up to be one of the darkest creatures ever!"

"The Dark One's son wasn't like that though, he was very kind…"

"Because the Dark One wasn't the Dark One when he was born," Drizella sounded exactly like what a roll of the eyes would.

"But speaking of Baelfire," Anastasia latched onto that, "I can't imagine the Dark One would ever want to look at the Piper again after what she did."

"Yes, it's no secret that she got the poor boy killed. Belle told us all what happened."

"I would be surprised if he didn't try to kill her when next they meet."

"I heard she planned it, planned right from the start to use the Dark One's son to free the Dark One."

"I wouldn't put it past her."

"That isn't what Belle said at all!" Nova cried, "And we only have Belle's tale to take, no one has bothered to ask the Piper what happened from her point of view and…"

"And what?" Drizella scoffed, "I would trust Belle's words over the Piper's any day."

"She's a liar and a murderer," and that…Anastasia's words, much like her sister's, sounded the epitome of someone sticking their nose in the air, "She should never be allowed around the children let alone allowed to have her own."

"The little demon spawn…"

Drizella's words trailed off into utter silence as the three women reached the corner of the hall and turned it…seeing Piper sitting in the window, glaring at them, her hands clenched so tightly at her sides that her knuckles were white, but her face was so red from anger, her eyes so hard and narrowed that they looked like slits, her body rigid with just barely restrained fury.

"Piper…" Nova gasped, her eyes going wide as the women on either side of her faltered, all of them utterly terrified of what would come next.

Piper was panting, deep, heavy breaths, trying to keep her heart from pounding out of her chest, trying to keep herself from lunging across the small space and ripping the hearts out of the bloody sisters and crushing them herself.

"Turn," she demanded, her voice so low and deadly that the trio stumbled back at the sound of it, "And leave."

They just stared, too frightened to move.

"NOW!" she snapped, half-snarling at them.

The three turned tail and ran faster than anyone she had ever seen before.

Piper just closed her eyes, willing herself not to move from that spot until she'd calmed down…

She would not go on a rampage through her cousin's kingdom…

She would not go on a rampage through her cousin's kingdom…

~8~

She would not go on a rampage through her cousin's kingdom…

Clearly this motto was not working if she still felt just as enraged as before even now that the sun had firmly set behind her. Her breathing had eased up and she had been able to open her eyes, yet her gaze was locked on the matching window on the other side of the hall, staring at it, staring through it, not trusting herself just yet to leave that spot and not want to seek out the Tremaine sisters and murder them wherever they may be, in front of whomever they might be around.

So lost was she in her murderous thoughts that she jumped when she felt a small hand on her own where it was still curled and clenched on the edge of the window's ledge. She her gaze snapped down only to see the wide brown eyes of Roland Hood staring back up at her.

"Are you ok?" the boy asked.

She blinked at him, "What are you doing out of bed, child?"

"I wasn't in bed," he shrugged easily, "Are you ok?"

"Why do you ask?"

He shrugged again, kicking his little feet, having pulled himself up onto the ledge with her to sit beside her, "You look sad."

She blinked once more, "Do I?"

He nodded, his brown curls bouncing, "And papa says when someone's sad you should always ask why and if you can help," he tilted his head, "So can I help?"

She felt the smallest of smiles coming onto her face at the innocence in his gaze, the truth in his words, the genuine nature of the question, "I fear you cannot."

"Why?"

"I do not believe your father will be agreeable to you being here with me, you had best return to your bed before he catches sight of you in my company. He may become quite cross."

Roland frowned at her, "You talk funny."

She gave a small chuckle at that, "I have been told that a time or two."

Roland wrinkled his nose at her 'talking funny' still, "Why would papa be mad?" he asked.

She sighed, "Not many a parent are particularly fond of me, even less so when I am around their children."

"Papa's not like that," Roland told her.

"I do believe all parents are."

"Not papa!" Roland insisted.

"And what makes you say that?" she indulged him.

"People don't like Regina," Roland said simply, though he beamed at saying the Queen's name, a privilege the boy had been given that not even his father had, "People say she was a bad lady but she's really nice. She saved me and gave me Monkey!" he held up his other hand that was firmly gripping the stuffed monkey that Regina had rescued him from, "People call her evil but papa says she's bold and…and…acious."

"Acious?"

"Ad…adacious!"

"Audacious?" Piper had to smile at that, amused.

"Yes, yes!" Roland nodded again, beaming, "Papa says that people change and we should get to know someone before we judge them. So see!" he insisted again, as though he was right, "Papa will get to know you and see that you're nice too!"

The comment she'd been about to make, that his father had already met her and formed as sour an opinion of her as the other parents, died in her throat at his last words.

"You…think me…nice?"

Roland shrugged, "You're not mean."

She almost scoffed at that, if the boy only knew.

"And you talk to me," Roland added, starting to count it off on his fingers, "Most grownups don't talk to kids, they tell us to just go play but YOU'RE talking to me. And…and you're pretty. And you play nice music…"

"When did you hear me playing my pipe?" she stared at him, not recalling him ever being around when she would play her pipe, the rare times she managed to find some secluded part of the castle to get a melody or two out.

"I'm a Merry Man!" Roland decreed proudly, "We need to be sneaky!"

"You…snuck up on me?"

She must have been more distracted and tired than she thought if she'd missed Roland's song sneaking up on her and getting close enough to hear her playing.

"Uh huh," he seemed inordinately pleased by that, "Papa says it's hard to sneak up on you. But I did it!"

She let out a light breath at that, a soft smile on her face, "It appears you did. And you…enjoyed my music?"

"Uh huh," he repeated, bobbing his head again, "I liked it a lot!" before tilting his head to frown at her, "Why don't you play more? And why do you look so sad when you play?"

She sighed, "Many others have…requested me not to play as often as I should like. I am sad because…I like to play and yet I cannot play when I wish."

It was…a partial truth, but there was no need to burden the boy.

"Well that's mean," Roland pouted at that, seeming to be quite irate for her sake, "If you like something you should do it as much as you can."

"Others do not see it like that."

"Then they're the meanies," Roland declared, "And you shouldn't listen to them, cos they're mean."

"If only it were that simple," Piper murmured.

Roland fell silent, kicking his little feet a moment more before he looked at her, "Will you play for me?"

"What?" Piper blinked at him, not having expected that.

"I like your music, so will you play for me?"

"I…am afraid not."

"Why?"

"Because the…meanies," she supplied, feeling utterly foolish to be using such a word, "There are quite a few, Roland, and…if I upset enough of them, they will go to the prince and princess to request help in…dealing with me," it had happened a few times already, she didn't doubt that it wouldn't stop until she'd been run out of the castle, but she knew Snow would NEVER let it go that far, "It may reach a point where I am forbidden to play at all."

"That's sad."

"Yes, it is," she agreed solemnly.

The worst part was…it had a real possibility of happening. Everything was so fragile at the moment, the safety that surrounded them so tentative that it could be shattered so easily. If enough people gathered together to confront Snow with their complaints about HER…there was only so much her cousin could do to calm and pacify them. Everyone from Storybrooke still had their memories of a democracy and a mayor and…quite a few would not be shy about discussing the possibility of creating one there in the Forest instead of a monarchy. Snow's control over the people was very weak at the moment, only the threat of the Witch keeping the people from openly revolting and launching a coup.

And while she knew she wasn't nearly so important that her mere presence could lead to an uprising against Snow…her presences DID upset a number of people, her music even more, her reputation with the children the most.

The last thing she wanted to do was make life more difficult for her pregnant, stressed cousin.

And the people could do just that, if they got enough together and complained about the same issue. They could sway the minds of their rulers just as well as her music could sway the minds of others. The power really did lay in the hands of the people and they knew that now better than ever due to Storybrooke. The people had already gotten Snow to 'request' (though they would have liked if she'd demanded) that she not approach any of the children while they were alone or attempt to be around them without another adult present. Snow had spun it that the other adult would only serve as proof that she wasn't plotting anything underhanded with the children, though she knew it was really that the other person was just going to watch her like a hawk. They'd already gotten Snow to 'request' that she stop playing her music where others could hear, where others could be curious and lured to it. They didn't trust that sometimes her music was just regular music.

If they could take away her freedom to be around in passing without someone to watch her, if they could take away her freedom to play her songs even in privacy…she didn't doubt they could get Snow to 'request' that she not play at all, that they snap her pipe or lock it up or something else, burn all the musical instruments like they'd done to the spinning wheels in Aurora's kingdom, and then ban her from so much as humming and using her voice either.

She already lost her son, her true love, her cousin was slipping away from her, and her music was limited…if she lost it entirely…she didn't know how long she'd last in that case.

"I'm sorry," Roland's voice broke through her thoughts, "You should be allowed to play when you want. Cos you're really good at it."

"Thank you, Roland," she remarked, glancing at the window, at the stars starting to appear in the sky, "But I do think it is time you return to your quarters lest you worry your father."

Roland sighed but nodded, hopping off the window and heading for the corner of the hall.

"Roland," she called after a moment. He paused and looked back at her, "You…truly believe I am…nice?"

Roland smiled, "Yup," he told her, before turning to hurry away, back to his father.

Piper looked down at that, she wasn't nice, she knew that. But there was just something about a child looking at you as though you were, as though you had the potential to be, as though…as though you weren't the monster their parents thought you were.

Normally it didn't bother her, when others called her a monster. She knew she was one, she's called herself a monster more than once. But…Snow was pregnant. Snow was going to have another child. Snow was going to become a parent…

What if…what if she became like the other parents? What if she started to see her as monster as well? What if she didn't want her around the baby just like the others?

She let out a long breath and shook her head, she was being ridiculous, this was Snow White, her cousin…her sister. And to Snow, she was her family, her cousin, her sister, not a monster, not someone to be feared, not…not someone she couldn't trust with her child. She was being utterly ridiculous, she was, to even consider that Snow could become as hesitant and fearful around her as the other mothers.

Snow would never think that of her, not ever.

A/N: Poor Piper :( Something she actually did worry about for the briefest second and brushed off so quickly as an impossibility might just be occurring for her :( I mentioned in Phantom Melodies that Piper had a very difficult time being in the castle, with children around and their parents not wanting her near them, that she dealt with whispers about her 'failings' with Emma, Neal, and August, and it was just a very trying time. I wanted to look into that and also give a sort of look at what a child sees when they look at Piper through Roland. It's the adults that fear her, not the children, and the fact that even then she was on the edge of falling apart but held it together and kept quiet about it for her cousin's sake sort of also makes the hurt from the last chapter much more :( She's always trying to do right by Snow in the long run, even if Snow isn't aware of just how much Piper's done for her :(

Some notes on reviews...

I can say the angst may just kill Snow in the end ;) (not literally, but more guilt for some things she says and how her mentality on things affects Piper ;))

I was very curious what happened to Ana too, so much is lost in the cramming like how Will even got introduced to Belle or got her to give him a chance given how their last relationships went, what made him interested in her in the first place, and things. I feel like if we saw a little more of how it happened it would be a little more understandable, same with quite a few other events, if we SAW the background moments instead of hearing about them in passing it would make more sense in terms of story telling :) I'm very cautious and hesitant about Season 5, especially the whole plot with Zelena-Robin. That direction of the storyline actually made me really not want to watch anything else of OUAT it was really just SO far out of my comfort zone what happened with them :( But I'm trying to keep the faith and do as I sometimes ask readers to do with my story, trust the writers and hope that they have something epic planned for later. Depending how they spin that storyline and what they do with it might mean the difference between if I watch for enjoyment or solely to keep the stories going though :(

I don't think it's so much a delusion with Piper as opposed to a fact of biology for her in terms of coexistence through family ties. SHE knows that, as a half-siren, she is loyal to her family first and foremost so it makes perfect sense to her that her actions, while appearing one way to others, are never ever done with the intention to harm her family, that there's always something else going on that would benefit her family in the long run. It's almost an impossibility for her to betray them or turn on them or do anything that would truly harm them in the deepest most unhealable ways so she never understands why others think she will, or why others don't trust her when it comes to her family's safety. To her, it's a fact that Gold has proven his love and care for her and his desire to see her happy repeatedly...and her being happy means, in a very large way, that her family is safe. Therefore, for Gold to have her happy, he cannot harm her family. She really would KILL anyone that means her family harm, and that includes Gold at the moment. The sheer fact that he's still alive, that she holds his dagger and CAN kill him with it but doesn't, should be a clear sign to Snow that she trusts Gold with her family's lives, which a monumental thing for a Siren given how protective they are. Snow, out of every single person in the town, is the only one that knows exactly what being half-siren means for Piper, what a siren would do for family, and where her loyalties and intentions lie...so Snow not trusting Gold means she doesn't trust Piper's judgement and doesn't trust Piper's care for the family, which is a deep and serious hurt to Piper :( I agree, it doesn't always work outside her mind, she can't control other people's doubts and she can't understand why they would distrust her or think she could harm her family when being half-siren means she fights to keep them as safe as she can :( She sort of follows the belief of being what she is, whether good or bad, and not caring what others are so long as they don't threaten her family, she could be 90% bad in being the Piper but 10% good in protecting her family, so she doesn't really have to be all good or all bad ;) It's sort of like what Snow says to Regina in the show, she's not all good and Regina isn't all bad, it's always more complicated than that ;) Sometimes heroes do bad, truly evil things while at the same time sometimes villains do good, truly selfless things too. If the roles were reversed, others might see her as more deluded but in the sense that they might assume she's trying to 'save' the villains or reform them or believe they're good deep down, when, really she would just be existing among them without trying to influence them one way or the other, perhaps trying to come up with a way to solve a problem that doesn't involve murder or dark deeds but she wouldn't exactly stop them or try and force them to change their ways or fight them to the death over it, though she might fight others to the death to defend the villains which would be interesting to see ;) I think the adoring look itself is sweet, I just feel like it's really very out there in terms of what we've seen of Emma and how expressive she is, that she'd ever show that much adoration to anyone when, I don't think, she's ever even looked at her own child that way (in a platonic mother-son adoration way) so it actually made me wonder, when I first saw the episode, if she was sleep deprived or high when Hook helped rescue her because it was just such a loopy expression relatively speaking from how Emma expresses herself normally...though it might have just been the lighting and the camera angles emphasizing the wrong features in my view of it lol :)

I'm so sorry you had to say goodbye, -virtual hug!- :'( And thank you, your words and well wishes and prayers mean so much to me too :')

I feel like that's sort of an ongoing theme in the show with the heroes and the villains in terms of remembering the good deeds and life saving so I'm glad that it came across like the heroes sort of overlook when Piper helps or saves them :) In the show it bothered me so much that some villains would constantly be ready to die or get hurt or lose everything to try and do good...and all certain heroes did was throw their past back into their faces :( It's sort of like the idea of 'one good deed doesn't erase a lifetime of bad' but on a scale where they don't even acknowledge the good done after it's said and done, but the bad is never forgotten :( And vice versa with the heroes, if they do evil it's never mentioned again because it was for 'the greater good' :( I can say we'll see a Henry, Gold, and Piper bonding moment to come yup ;)

That's definitely going to be a big thing for Snow to realize later, just how much Gold and Piper were doing their own investigation to try and keep the family safe. It's like they really don't feel they can TELL Snow what they're doing given her really bad history with keeping any kind of secret. They can't risk her telling Emma or David or it getting back to the Snow Queen. They also know that, when it comes to other villains, there are likely to be things that will need to be done that the heroes won't feel comfortable doing or won't think to do or want/agree to do that a villain WOULD do. So they need to keep it underwraps so that the heroes won't try to stop them if it comes down to needing to get 'down and dirty' to deal with the threat :( She'll also realize her internal thoughts about the child not being near him in terms of her cousin having a child definitely ;) I feel like if they'd spaced Frozen out more and didn't make it this entire big production and so focal to the first half of the season I'd have enjoyed it more, it was just so 'in your face' that it got really old really fast :/ Lol, I think Piper would love a daughter after 'two' sons ;) I actually really LOVE the August/Lily pairing :) The moment we saw Lily in her episode I was like, I could see her with August, they both have that sort of bad decision streak and the bit of 'badboy' attitude, and it would be a little funny to see the jokes about Lily being a dragon and breathing fire and August being the flammable wooden boy lol :) I really was hoping we'd see them at least meet in the show or be introduced, but I've got my fingers crossed for Season 5 ;) I think I got the photo, I think I remember getting an email alert about it ;) I've been trying to get on my tumblr the last few days but things keep coming up that cut into my time and I'm really trying to keep the stories updated normally. But I hope to be able to get on my tumblr the next day or two to answer any asks and post any submissions ;)