Hey there everyone! So, this is kind of the pinnacle of my writing that I completed over spring break. I was woefully busy, but I'm really rather proud of this. So, let me know what you think and thanks for reading! :D

Disclaimer: I don't own, I forget these too often, see profile, etc, etc, etc.

Emma heaved a deep sigh as she flopped down in what had become her favorite chair in Mary Margaret's living room. It had been…well, it had been a hell of a last forty-eight hours. She bet she'd gone through twice as much in the last two days than most sheriffs did in their entire terms.

It had all started the night after Ruby had brought her the heart in the box. As she and Graham had agreed, she'd wiped down the box, knowing without a doubt that Regina was trying to frame Mary Margaret. After that, she'd bagged the heart and sent it by express mail to the forensic lab in Augusta. Even though she was just from little Storybrooke, she got the feeling her package would get their attention and she'd get a prompt answer as to DNA and all that good stuff. It would take still take longer than sending it to the closest town, but she was putting that evidence as far out of the reach of Mayor Evil as possible. She was taking no chances with Mary Margaret and incarceration.

She'd barely had time to pick depressingly at her dinner at the diner before feeling her phone begin to go off in her pocket. Frowning down at it, putting her fork on her plate and pulling it out, she answered, "Hello?"

"EMMA! EMMA! EMMA, you'll never guess what happened!"

Emma was sure that even August—all the way across the diner by the front window—could hear Ruby's piercingly high pitch. Shuddering as she tried to regain some sensation in her ear, it took her a few minutes before she could reply.

"What happened?"

"We found Belle! We found Belle; she's in the basement of the hospital. We got her door open and she's really nice. I don't know why they think she's crazy. You'd like her. She's snarky like you. But, you have to come here with your badge and help us get her out. Henry says you should bring Mr. Gold. We'll hold down everything here. Graham and Snowball will make sure nothing happens to her until you guys get here. Plus," Emma heard a decidedly smug sort of smirk in Ruby's tone, "I don't think the nurse will be telling on us anytime soon…"

Not quite sure what that meant, Emma just replied, "I'll be right there."

She'd arrived outside the dimly lit exterior of Gold's pawnshop ten minutes later. She didn't know why, but she had the feeling he'd be there. It took only a few moments of pounding on the door before his usual self-serving grin opened the door. "Why hello, sheriff. What can I do for you?"

"You need to come with me," Emma replied.

"Now why ever would I need to do that?"

Emma couldn't keep the slight smile off her face; call her a complete girl but even if it was Gold, she was glad that somebody was getting the beginnings of a happy ending. "Because you want to see Belle again."

At his awestruck look and lack of movement, she went on hurriedly, "Yes, I know all about the curse. Yes, I believe Henry. Yes, I'm dating the Huntsman and he tells me everything. Yes, when you're against Regina, I'm on your side. Yes, we need to go now." She grabbed him by the elbow and had to drag him the first few steps toward her cruiser. It didn't take much longer than that, though, before he was outpacing her.

"Sheriff, we just might be able to be friends." He'd sat himself down in the passenger seat before she could even get to her door.

With Gold nagging her to go faster like an old wife the entire way, Emma pulled into the back parking lot of the hospital within minutes. She tried and failed to feel guilty about likely breaking a few traffic laws. The safety of her friend/mom and the fate of the entire town quite possibly rode on Gold getting Belle back: she'd pay the fine for a speeding ticket later.

Once again, Gold beat her into the building. For having a gimp leg that guy could move. The positively driven glint in his eyes—an almost gold one—gave her a glimpse at the evil trickster that had the power to rival the Evil Queen. She knew he'd never be on her side-he was only ever on his—but she was glad that their sides were after the same goal at the moment.

Waving her badge at anyone and everyone who got in their way made quick work of any curious nurses and they soon found themselves in the dark, rather dank bowels of the Storybrooke hospital. Just as Ruby had implied, the nurse that was supposed to be guarding the entrance to the secret psych ward was crumpled in a corner, looking fearfully down the hall whenever Ruby's voice reached her.

Emma had the sudden urge to laugh. Not at the fact that the woman was scared of Ruby—the girl's angry, shrill tone was enough to scare anyone anyway—but that Ruby thought she was so useless. She set her mind to it and she could have full grown people cowering in a corner at the mere sound of her voice.

Gold took absolutely no notice of the woman aside from an angered glare. If he'd had more time and more of a motivation, he probably would've found a way to make her regret ever being born, but Emma was glad that he didn't appear to need to at that point.

They had just turned the last corner when the two of them heard a female voice that was decidedly not Ruby's. It was lower, quieter, and had the lilt of wit and some sort of accent. There was confusion in the voice, but determination as well. Yeah, Emma decided, she was going to like Belle.

Gold, however, froze in place. His breathing had quickened and he was as close to flustered as Emma had ever seen him. The only other time she'd seen him without perfect control was when he was beating a man over the head. That had been anger; this was something completely different. He seemed almost…shy.

He almost turned around, fearing the negative possibilities before him. She could hate him. She could have forgotten him. Or worse, she could remember him perfectly. She could remember all the horrible things he'd done to her. She could remember how he'd been a coward, how he'd thrown her out.

His brain—a brain tactical, conniving, ingenious, and perfect for keeping his interests at the forefront of everything—was screaming at him to run. He was miserable now, yes, but it wouldn't be anything different from what he'd been going through for years. He'd survive. He always did.

His heart—it never failed to amaze him that it had somehow survived through everything—was paralyzing his legs. He could almost hear it telling his brain to screw itself and shut up for once. It was tired of being miserable; it at least wanted a chance.

And so, he stood there, looking like a scared idiot as that voice—that wonderful, beautiful, amazing, necessary voice—trailed off in mid-sentence. Her blues eyes found his and he felt like he'd been punched in the stomach. In the span of a few seconds, Belle's bright blue eyes had glanced his way, her train of thought had derailed, and he could practically see the puzzle pieces fit back together.

Belle remembered.

She took one step toward him, ignoring the smirking Henry and Ruby and the broody yet seemingly approving Graham. Her steps were shaky, but as it always had been with her, her words were not. Staring past the golden skin that he no longer sported, the bitingly snarky remarks straight into the soul she'd helped him find, she asked him one simple question.

"Are you still too scared?"

He shook his head, heart pounding so fiercely in his throat he didn't know how the words came out so clearly, "No, I'm not too scared. Never again too scared, dearie."

He watched as she froze at the name he referred to everyone as, yet the name that had become a term of endearment when aimed at her. He didn't know the extent of what she remembered or how, but that single word seemed to cement all of it for her. Smiling as she shook her hair back of her shoulders to reveal the tears streaming down her face, Belle held out her hand. She opened it to reveal a small, slim chip of white and blue porcelain. Gold sucked in a breath at the sight of it.

She'd somehow managed to keep it.

"Never again, Rumple?" she queried, searching his face for some indication of being thrown to the wayside again, of her love being rejected once more.

"Never again," he replied firmly, shaking his head for emphasis.

It wasn't a proper apology, a normal apology, but Belle knew it as soon as he gave it. With no reason to hesitate a moment longer, she closed her hand around her chip and ran to him.

Emma had to fight the urge to laugh when the small brunette connected with Gold, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him. He stiffened for the first second, as if he wasn't used to such a hug in either of his lives, but the tension visibly left him. He melted around the woman in his arms, bringing the hand holding his cane around the small of her back and the other up to lose itself in her long, tangled hair. After a moment of simply holding her, Gold ran a hand down Belle's face, wiping a few tears away, before leaning down and hungrily kissing her. He wasn't wasting his second chance.

Ruby let out a shrill, happy squeal at the couple. Snowball wagged his tail at her feet.

Emma swore she heard him whisper "I love you, Belle" after a few moments. She also saw him and Graham exchanged a loaded glance. Graham nodded at its end; their accord had been fulfilled. When she found her Huntsman's blue eyes, his mouth spread into the ornery grin she loved so much.

And for that beautiful moment, they had once again won.

Regina hadn't found out about Belle's discharge from the hospital until the next day.

After the happily sobbing Belle had managed to detangle herself from Storybrooke's Rumplestiltskin, the group had made their way upstairs. Ruby, Henry, Snowball, and Graham had snuck away, their involvement no longer needing to be known, lest the Evil Queen take her anger out on them. Emma was initially worried about the nurse, but Ruby had bared her teeth at the woman with a smug grin and the woman turned to mush. Emma wondered if she would ever actually speak again.

She sent a questioning look at Henry, but he just winked at her happily. Ruby didn't quite understand everything yet. She'd been started on the path, though.

Emma, Gold, and Belle then made their way through the quiet hallways, nighttime making everything move slower. With every step upward they took, Belle's strength seemed to grow; her footsteps became steadier, and her grip on Gold's arm tightened.

Emma was happy for her. The woman had gotten her life back, despite everything Regina had thrown at her so far. And, she knew they were no Snow White and Prince Charming, but Emma could see the unwavering bond of love between the two before her. Gold would've likely begun plotting her death if she said it out loud, but Emma smiled at the thought that the dreaded Rumplestiltskin and the beautiful, intelligent Belle had a love worthy of tales.

They walked in silence, Emma and Gold both somehow knowing where they were going.

Mo French's recovery room came upon them quickly. Belle frowned at the door for a moment, "He's-He's my father, right?"

"Yes, dearie."

Belle swallowed and took a deep breath, though Emma didn't think it was from trying to muster up bravery. From the gleam in the woman's eyes, she figured they were attempts to calm herself. She had her memories back; she remembered exactly what her father had done to her in both her lives. After a moment, though, she gave Emma a bright smile, "Let's go talk to him…Why are we talking to him?"

Emma grasped the papers Gold had pulled out of his jacket pocket, "When all this started, he put you in here. It was the mayor's doing, but it'll be his signature that put you in here and it'll be his that gets you out. This is an admission that he wrongfully admitted you to the psych ward. I think Gold's probably had it and a couple dozen other possible forms ready since he got to Storybrooke." She smirked at the level glare he was shooting her.

Seeing his daughter up, about, and walking toward him had made Mo French's hand write very quickly. Emma hadn't even gotten through with explaining the document before he'd torn the pen from her grasp and signed it through his still battered face.

Passing Belle the document, Emma smiled at her, "You're a legal adult; you may go where you please, Miss French."

And so, Emma had driven a still snarky, yet decidedly less grouchy Mr. Gold and an ecstatic Belle to Gold's house in the darkness. When she'd stopped by the curb and opened the back door of the cruiser for them, she could only smile as Belle looked about her outdoor environment and began spinning with delight, her face to the sky and her arms out wide.

Gold stood beside her for a few moments, letting his beloved revel in her freedom. With a quiet, almost pained voice, he said, "Thank…you, Emma. Tell Graham and Henry I…thank them as well."

"Just keep her safe, Gold." With a parting wave to Belle, Emma had gotten back in her cruiser and driven home, curling up next to Graham with a smile and a sense of satisfaction that, coupled with the warmth of his arms around her, allowed her to fall into a deep, wonderful sleep.

Then, of course, Regina had found out the next morning as the rumor of the sheriff, Mr. Gold, and a strange girl from the psych ward made it around to the eyes and ears that she controlled.

Emma had chuckled as her work phone began to ring shrilly during her breakfast of stealing Graham's cereal and coffee the next morning. Holding up the caller ID for him to see, she commented, "I take it she knows."

He laughed with her. "I'll say that's a safe bet," he stated before pushing her still ringing phone down to the counter and kissing her soundly and deeply. When he pulled back, grinning at the pleasantly dazed expression on her face, he commented smugly, "You should answer that."

Making a face at him, Emma quipped, "Rude," before answering the infernally ringing technology.

Half an hour later, she was striding into the mayor's office, her badge and hands on her hips, "You summoned me, Ms. Mayor."

"Indeed," Regina replied, her voice as level as ever but with anger clearly bubbling beneath the surface to Emma's satisfaction. "You're not doing your job, Ms. Swan. I have a problem with this. We have a possible murder on our hands, with two possible suspects, and you're worrying about long-term mental patients. I think we need to get your priorities straightened out, sheriff."

"Well," Emma began nonchalantly, "first off, Belle has nothing wrong with her mental state, except for a bad case of cabin fever. As a citizen of this community, I have as much of a responsibility to her as to Katherine Nolan. Second, what are our two suspects for her disappearance? Who are they? Is there something you know that I don't, mayor?"

The mayor's expression turned sweet, a sure sign she had something irritating and evil up her sleeve, "How can you not know, sheriff? There is, of course, David Nolan. His alibi for the time of the crime is shaky and he was the last to see his wife before she disappeared. The second is, quite naturally, Mary Margaret Blanchard. She has motive, and this," she held up a picture of the heart box, "has been seen in her classroom. It's now missing. I want you to arrest her."

Emma's happiness had vanished. "You want me to arrest Mary Margaret on circumstantial evidence of a box and an unlikely motive? It had no fingerprints or anything else on it to indicate her. If it was in her classroom, anyone could have taken it. Even you, mayor."

"Don't be ridiculous, Miss Swan. It doesn't become you. Of course, I didn't take the box. No one will ever believe that…especially after this morning's paper. Sydney is the editor again, you know."

She tossed that morning's copy of the paper on her desk between them. Emma read the headline, "Local Love Triangle Turns Deadly." Mary Margaret and David's names were within the first few sentences and a picture of the heart box large on the front page. Her mouth opened in rage, "He can't print lies like these! And I am not arresting her because of a newspaper article."

"Sheriff," the mayor chastised, "I would never dream of arresting a woman on something so fickle. I just get the feeling you're going to begin getting witnesses that can attest to Mary Margaret's likely guilt in the case. As we've all seen, she's had to deal with public humiliation the last few weeks. Was it 'Tramp' that someone painted on her vehicle? Perhaps she'd finally had enough and decided to take out the root of all her pain."

With narrowed eyes, Emma replied, "We'll see."

No fewer than six people Emma had never seen or spoken to before appeared at the sheriff's office that day, claiming to have seen Mary Margaret driving out of town, walking outside of the Nolan home repeatedly, and a host of other ridiculous, incriminating things. Following lunch, before these people had arrived, the mayor had decided to set up shop in Emma's office. She ensured the new witnesses were questioned in intensive detail and all was written down meticulously.

By that night, Emma had had no choice but to arrest Mary Margaret, only for holding overnight. Emma couldn't get the look of pure betrayal on her friend/mother's face out of her mind as she settled down to sleep in her office that night, not wanting to leave her friend alone.

The next day had only gotten more tiring after a night sitting upright, filled with guilt, as the mayor had arrived to gloat, the DNA results had returned, confirming that the heart was Katherine Nolan's, and David's upsetting visit that left Mary Margaret in tears.

By the end of the day, Mr. Gold had provided the only bit of positive action. As Mary Margaret's new lawyer, he had found a beautifully forgotten bit of Storybrooke legislation, providing for his client's release, that Emma was only too happy to facilitate. With Henry's earlier revelation that Mayor Evil had keys that fit into every lock in town, Emma suggested to her friend, "Mary Margaret, I-I know it sounds odd, but I think you should leave town for a while. I need to find the evidence that leads the case to the mayor, and if you're not around then she has one less vaguely plausible person to frame."

The teacher had nodded, tears still stinging her eyes at the course of her last twenty-four hours, "Okay. Where should I go?"

"Graham knows a place. We have some old friends of yours that have a spare room."

And so, Emma sat in an apartment she no longer felt truly safe in, waiting for Graham to come back from escorting Snow White back to the home of the seven dwarves. For better and definitely worse, the past forty-eight hours had been tiring. Waiting for her love to come back and for the Evil Queen to decide her next plan of attack, Emma sat in as much comfort as she could.

Belle had been saved and Rumplestiltskin had been…appeased? Emma didn't quite know the right word for what they'd done for Gold. Perhaps 'saved' was an apt word for him, too, though he was just as shrewd as ever. That was good; they'd need it. Yet, Snow and Charming still seemed to be on a crash course for disaster…

Sprinkling some more cinnamon on her hot chocolate, Emma sighed once again, "One person at a time, Emma. One person at a time…"