Yazi frowned, cautiously taking some steps back.

"How do you know my name?" she searched his face for any signs that would allow her to recognize the man, maybe she stole something from him in her thieving days? But she quickly dismissed that idea, she would recognize someone like that, her guilt was not going to allow her to forget about those she hurt so easily.

But then, how did he know who she was?

"It's-It's Baelfire" he replied, and her eyes opened wide, her eyebrows arched. He was grown up, taller and older, but his brown eyes remained the same as when he was a kid.

"Oh my god, Bae!" she exclaimed, reaching out to hug him. He had to bend down a lot to do so, but his warmth was the same as she remembered "What are you doing here?" she questioned excited, once they broke apart.

"I-I live here now" he explained, which made her frown.

"But how did you get out?" the place they had been in wasn't exactly easy to escape. To be honest, she wasn't even entirely sure how she could.

"I managed to fool it, and earn a ride back home" he replied, and Yazi knew what 'it' was.

"Smart" she commented, making him smile.

"Yazi!" they heard a voice behind them, and turned around to find Emma, finally catching up. She looked relieved to see the girl, but when she spotted Baelfire her eyes opened wide, almost in horror.

"Neal?" Yazi furrowed her eyebrows. 'Neal?' Since when?

"Emma" the man replied, almost in a whisper, which confused her even more.

"You know each other?" the girl managed to ask, cutting her gaze between the two of them.

"It's-it's complicated" he explained. Yazi took notice of the awkward atmosphere that had set, as Emma looked to the side uncomfortably and Bae rubbed the back of his neck nervously. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out what was going on.

"Oh" that was all she could manage to say, and then she realized something. Something she didn't know how to feel about "Wait a second" she spoke up, looking at him once again "If you're here...And you were trying to run away from us...That means you are Rumplestiltskin's son!" his eyes opened wide upon hearing that.

"He's here?" he questioned in disbelief.

"It's why we came" Yazi explained, motioning to Emma and her "You didn't tell me that your father was the dark one"

"I didn't want anyone to know"

"You know each other" Emma concluded.

"We were friends when we were kids" the girl explained, and then tilted her head to the side "When he was a kid"

"So you knew" the woman realized sternly, looking at Bae with fire in her eyes "You knew who I was and where I was from the whole time" he didn't answer, and that was enough confirmation "What was it? Part of some sickening plan?" she added, a bit more angry this time "Did you-did you even care about me at all?" she demanded, while Yazi remained quietly on the sidelines, not really knowing what to say or do in regards to the situation.

"Emma…" Neal began calling for her, almost pleadingly.

"Yazi, go back" she ordered, ignoring him.

"But…"

"You're under my care, and I'm not going to argue with you about this" she cut her off sternly "Go back now" she added, more firmly. And the girl knew she had no choice, so she gave her old friend one last glance, wondering if she would ever see him again afterwards, before going off.

All the way back to Bae's apartment, Yazi was immersed deep in her thoughts. First, she knew it was none of her business, but she had to admit she was a bit was curious about what exactly Emma and Bae had been through, although she wasn't going to ask about it, 'cause that would be weird.

Second, she thought about what exactly she'd say to Henry and Rumpelstiltskin. Especially to the latest, since she remembered perfectly well how Bae felt about him and his world. He didn't want anything to do with it or him, at all. In fact, if she was sure of anything, she was sure that the reason he decided to live in New York was to avoid exactly that. And she would be a terrible friend if she brought him back into it, contrary to the reason why she had come in that trip in the first place.

She just hoped the dark one wouldn't see through her. He wouldn't be able to hurt her in the land without magic, at least she hoped so, but part of her still got nervous every time she was around him. And she was sure she wasn't the only one. He had that effect on people. She knew better than to underestimate him.

"Yazi!" Henry's voices pulled her out of her thoughts, and when she looked up she found she had arrived to the apartment building. Henry was sitting there against a wall, eating a hot dog that Gold, who was sitting besides him, had probably bought him.

"Did you find him? Did you find my son?" the man questioned sternly, standing up. His eyes held a hint of hope, but she wasn't going to budge.

"I wasn't fast enough" she replied, shaking her head and his demeanor faltered "Emma sent me back, and said she would ask around" she added, and Henry nodded in agreement, which made her feel slightly guilty. But she could not say anything in Rumpelstiltskin's presence, even if it was in secret, since she was sure he would not let anything suspicious pass by. She had to wait for the right time, since she hated lying to her best friend.

Several minutes after Yazi arrived to the building, Emma did.

"Hey" she said softly, and stole a glance at the golden child. The girl could see in her face she was trying to figure out what happened when she was gone, whether she had told the truth or not.

"Did you find him?" the girl asked, indirectly answering her silent question. She saw the woman smile slightly, almost in relief.

"I'm sorry, your son got away" she stated remorsefully. Yazi looked at Gold, and saw several different emotions sliding through his eyes. Desperation, disbelief, confusion, sadness. It almost made her feel bad, almost. It would take a lot more than that for her to feel any sympathy for the dark one.

And suddenly, he turned around, his eyes fiery and began pressing, almost punching, every single button in the panel of the building. She wasn't sure how many people were actually in the building considering it was business hours, but there had to be someone, and she felt very bad for whoever it was.

"Gold, what are you doing?" Emma questioned in confusion, just as the buzzer ringed, and allowed him to open the gate leading to the rest of the building.

"Finding my son" he replied sternly.

"He's gone" Yazi and Emma stated at the same time, which resulted in a weird exchange of glances before looking back at him.

"But he lives here" Rumplestiltskin continued stubbornly "He'll be back, and I'll be waiting" he added, before going up the stairs. Yazi sighed, following him, the other two behind.

"You can't just break in" Emma tried to talk him out of it, but Yazi knew it was probably not going to work.

"Well, actually, that's something I'm quite adept at" he replied nonchalantly, looking around to find the apartment, before spotting it besides them.

"We don't even know if he'll be back" the girl chimed in, trying to convince herself more than anything. She'd feel terrible if that wasn't the case, especially since Bae had repeatedly told her he hated his father. And she had dragged him right back into his life. She felt awful.

"Finding people is what you do, Miss Swan" Gold stated, ignoring her words as he forced open the lock on the door with a lockpick. Yazi wondered if he had that on him all this time "I'm simply going to assist you, there might be information here. Who he is, what he does, who he loves"

"Don't do this" Emma pleaded "There are things called laws, you could get arrested"

"Then my son will have to testify against me, and we'll be reunited" he said with a deadpan face, and Yazi raised an eyebrow, wondering if he actually meant that. She didn't think he didn't, he seemed pretty desperate, and there's no stopping a desperate soul.

The lock finally clicked, and the door opened. Gold walked inside without a hint of doubt, and Yazi braced herself for what she would find, before following them inside.

The apartment was a studio apartment, there was the kitchen section on her left and a made bed on the corner of the room. A desk was placed in front of the window, and when Yazi looked down she realized that was how he managed to escape. There was a small balcony, with several stairs connecting all the apartments in the building. There was a phonograph and several vinyl records piled up on some shelves, along with books close to the door. There was a single separate space, the bathroom. Everything else was confined into the same small space, but it was quite organized.

"I don't think we should be here" Yazi spoke up. It was wrong, they were invading someone else's privacy unbeknownst to them. There were probably many things there that Bae didn't want anyone to see.

"I don't think he's listening" Henry said, and he was right. Gold just kept walking ahead, looking around and the several posters hanging from the walls. And soon enough, Henry began doing the same. Yazi couldn't help smiling in amusement.

Maybe this could be her chance to talk to him.

Looking around, she spotted Gold still looking around, and Emma gazing uncomfortably at the room.

"You know, the laws apply to you too" she joked, approaching Henry who was opening some lockers, in search of who knows what.

"There has to be something that can help Gold" he explained, looking at her, and she just bit her lip. She looked around once more, nobody was looking at them, before leaning closer to her friend, just in case.

"Maybe he doesn't want to be found" she said, almost in a whisper, and Henry looked at her with a frown. She gave him a glance, trying to silently convey why she said something like that. He tilted his head to the side, but before he could say anything, Gold spoke up.

"Find anything, dearie?" he questioned, and when the two kids turned to look at him, they saw Emma holding the dreamcatcher that had been hanging from the window until then.

"No" she replied "Just a dreamcatcher" Yazi frowned, trying to read her expression. She seemed dumbfounded, and even a little melancholic. The dreamcatcher definitely meant more than what she pretended.

"If it's nothing, then why are you still holding it?" Emma didn't know what to answer to that, and that was enough. Gold's eyes opened wide "You're lying to me"

"Let's get back to looking, okay?" she replied, putting the object back in its place and ignoring his words, but not denying them either.

"No, no, no, you saw something, tell me"

"You are being delusional" Yazi spoke up, trying to shift the focus of the conversation.

"Tell me!" he demanded, and she flinched slightly.

"Henry, Yazi, wait in the bathroom" the woman indicated.

"No, no, the girl stays here, you are both hiding something from me"

"I can help" the boy argued.

"Henry, go!" Emma snapped, and Yazi could see a look of hurt in Henry's eyes as he did as told. She wanted to go after him, but she knew Gold was not going to let her "There's nothing here, the guy's a ghost"

"You take me a fool?" Gold asked, both his hands lying on the upper part of his cane. Somehow, he looked even creepier that way "You are both holding back, I wanna know what and why"

"We're not" Emma argued.

"Did he tell you something?"

"Gold…"

"Did he tell you something?!" Yazi pressed her lips together, jaw clenched, doing her hardest to hold back her anger. Who did he think he was to yell at them like that?

Unfortunately, Rumplestiltskin noticed that gesture.

"You" he said venomously, approaching her but she didn't back away "You know something, you talked to him"

"I don't-"

"Tell me!"

"Leave Yazi out of this, Gold, she's just a child!" Emma stood up for the girl, whose patience was draining.

"Capable of more things than you can imagine" Gold stated, almost demeaning her, which didn't do anything to ease her boiling rage "You're smart, you managed to fool me all this time, but that is over. You know something, Miss Scarlett, and you are going to tell me what"

"I don't have to tell you anything"

"So you did talk to him"

"Don't put words in her mouth"

"Tell me what it is!" he demanded, ignoring Emma's words and looking straight at the girl "Tell me, or I'm gonna make you tell me" he added through clenched teeth.

"Really? How are you gonna do that?" Yazi questioned, knowing full well she was probably digging her own grave "You have no magic here, and without it, you have no power"

"I don't need magic" he hissed, approaching her.

"Stay away from her, Gold" Emma stated, standing in front of the girl protectively.

"Do not push me"

"Don't push me!"

"If you take a closer look at yourself, I think you'd realize why your son doesn't want to see you" Yazi spoke up, only adding more fuel to the fire. The logical part of her brain was telling her to shut up, but it was faded out the more the dark one kept pushing.

"You did lie to me"

"And you tossed your son to a unknown world because you didn't want to give up your power, so who's the true criminal here?"

"We had a deal! A deal!" he screamed, violently pushing a stool to the floor. Emma turned around to wrap her arms around Yazi, trying to keep her as far away from Gold as possible, who was out of his mind "No one, no one, breaks a deal with me!" he roared.

"HEY!"

We all know who that is, but this chapter was getting longer than I originally intended to so I cut off the flashback parts, which will appear in the last chapter of season two. Only two chapter left, and then we move on to season three.

Also, Yazi standing up to Gold, thoughts on that? I know so far you haven't seen her doing much of that, but it was because she didn't have a reason to. Now, with Neal in the picture, she does. You will see more of that in 3A, and also how the friendship with Neal came to be. I'm quite excited for that; no spoilers, but there's a scene that might seem meaningless at first, when it will actually be the foreshadowing of many things to come, so be on the lookout for that. It will happen in a flashback scene, that's all I can tell you.

Thanks for sticking with this story even if I haven't uploaded so often, but luckily I'm almost done with exams and hopefully the uploads will be right back on schedule.

See you soon!