Snow stopped just before they entered the church's sanctuary. "Rumple. Stop for a second."
Rumpelstiltskin frowned, "What is it now?"
"Let me take the lead?"
Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "That makes…"
Snow cut him off, "She's always felt protective of me. She wants me to have my happy ending, and…" Snow paused, "Honestly, I think that if she had to ruin someone else's happy ending so I could have mine, she would do it."
Rumpelstiltskin tilted his head to one side, "I thought that the lot of you revered the Blue Fairy as the purest of hearts."
Snow paused, "Over the past few days, even weeks, I've realized that perhaps life isn't as black and white, good and evil, as I thought it was."
Rumpelstiltskin was silent for a long minute, then he nodded. "Perhaps if you can question her subtlely then she will not see what we are doing."
Snow frowned, "You think it was her?"
"No. But I think she may know who it was."
Snow pushed through the door and entered the sanctuary. "Blue, hello, Blue, are you in here?"
From one of the side doors Blue appeared, "Snow, hello…" her voice cooled, "Rumpelstiltskin."
Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, "Oh dearie, one can tell so much in this world by how one is addressed."
Blue ignored Rumpelstiltskin, "Snow, is there something I can do for you?"
Snow took a step towards the Fairy Queen, "Yes, if you would. I'm worried. Rumple says that he didn't kill Zelena, and…" Snow leaned towards Blue and spoke just above a whisper, "I think I actually believe him. Of course, that means that we have someone else running around with the ability to shatter a human being. And that's not a good thing."
Blue regarded Snow, "Why isn't Emma conducting this little… investigation?"
Snow shook her head, "I think she went off to find someone else in town? Just Snow and David on the case." Rumpelstiltskin cleared his throat, Snow ignored him, "So, can you think of anyone or anything that could do that?"
Blue thought for a moment, "Perhaps, but, it's… it wasn't a person, but a story of a young woman. I think a teenager." She stopped a worried look on her face.
"Please Blue. I'm worried that Emma, or David, or even Henry could be next to have this happen to them. As much as we all disliked Zelena, we need to find out who killed her."
Blue stared at Rumpelstiltskin, "And you're… sure… that Rumplestiltskin didn't do it."
Snow nodded, "Yes, it had something to do with Belle doing something with the dagger to get him to tell the truth." Snow spoke out of the side of her mouth, "It wasn't as pleasant to watch as I thought it would be."
Blue slowly walked to one of the pews and sat, gesturing next to herself, "Please. Sit." Snow did. "As I said, it was the story of a teenager. And, the fact that it was a story even to me… it may not be true. But there was a young woman who could… freeze whatever she touched. They said that she was an orphan, that her father was the devil and her mother an angel and that she was cast from any home she tried to make her own because of this power of hers. She had no control over it, and so finally she was cast from the Enchanted Forest altogether. Cast…"
Snow groaned, "Let me guess, into the world without magic. The world that we're currently stuck in." Snow shook her head, "Do you think that maybe the story could have been a true one. That this young woman killed Zelena?"
Blue tilted her head from one side to the other, "Perhaps." She paused, "Does that help you any?"
Snow smiled just a little, "You wouldn't happen to know what this fantasy girl looks like?"
Blue shook her head, "That was not part of the story, no. I'm sorry."
Snow stood and Blue followed suit, "Didn't think it would be that easy. But, one thing my daughter has taught me since she's been back is that no piece of information is too small to matter." She put a hand on Blue's shoulder and pulled her in for a hug. "Thank you Blue. Thank you."
They left Blue tidying up the pews.
Snow waited until they were out of the sanctuary before she groaned, "Damn. I had hoped that she didn't know anything."
"You believe she was lying."
"Did you see how stiff she was when we hugged," Snow considered her next words, "I believe that she knows more than what she told us in there, yes."
Rumpelstiltskin regarded Snow as they exited the church, "Perhaps I have underestimated you."
Snow shuddered, "No. I think I like exactly what you think of me. I don't really want to… rise in your esteem or whatever you were about to imply."
Rumpelstiltskin inclined his head, "Fair enough."
"Also, everyone always seems to forget that I was a thief at one point. Not so Snow White as people think I am."
Rumpelstiltskin spoke, "People do tend to smooth out that part of your life. So, back to the library and our other halves."
"Better, I think the saying is Better halves."
Rumpelstiltskin gave Snow a look, "Belle may be nicer, and more on the side of good, but, she is not better than I."
Snow rolled her eyes, "Yep. Library it is, just so that I can have someone to talk to that I don't want to throttle."
oOOOOo
"I'm surprised you haven't asked what they all mean?"
Since Regina was on the aisle she took ahold of Angra's left arm. "These symbols represent Artemis, that's obvious because of the Cypress tree and bow and arrow. The ones on your right arm represent Apollo obviously because of the Sun and the Lyre. I haven't been able to see what's on the underside of either of them, but…" Angra flipped them over as one and Regina went pale. "That's… that's a lion."
Angra shrugged, "Not any lion, it's the Cowardly Lion from the Wizard of Oz… I went through hell as a kid, spent most of my childhood fearful of everything and anything. This reminds me of that, and that I'm not that kid, that I'm adult and brave now." Angra blushed a bit and stared out the window. "Lame, I know, but…"
Regina cleared her throat, her color slowly coming back, "Not at all. Our pasts have a way of continuing to dog us way past the time they should. And the millrind on your left arm?"
Angra blinked in surprise, "You know what that is?"
Regina smiled just a little, "It's the symbol of my family, so, yes…"
For the first time since Regina had met Angra, the young woman almost looked her age. "Ah, oh… who the hell are you anyway?"
"Regina Mills, daughter of Cora and Henry. You?"
"Ah, my given name is Angra, my… father…" she practically growled out the title, "...gave it to me."
Regina frowned, "It sounds beautiful."
Angra shook her head, "In Persian mythology it's Angra Mainyu. He was the god of darkness, death and destruction… so…"
Regina nodded, "My mother decided I would be queen."
Angra shrugged, "Yeah, parents seem to do that huh? Anyway, when I turned 18 and could I added a middle name, Ahura, he was the sorta yin god to Angra's yang. The god of light, truth and goodness" She paused, "Do you really think that I'm your son's birth mother?"
"There will be a DNA test, but…" Regina stared at the seat in front of her, "Yes."
Angra shook her head, "You're worried that I'm going to swoop in and take him away." Regina mumbled something and Angra leaned closer, "What?"
Regina looked over at Angra and they were nearly nose to nose, "I said. Again. This may be new to you, but, I have been here before. I have done this before."
Angra was silent for a moment, "Would it help if I said I was just using you…"
Regina sat back up and studied Angra, "How?"
"We need to make a stop before we get to Storybrooke."
Regina stared at Angra, "A… stop?"
Angra cleared her throat, "Yeah, to pick up my Aunt."
"Your Aunt?"
Angra nodded. "Yeah. I know the way, it's, ah… on the way too. Windham Maine, near Portland I think."
"I know where it is…" Regina was silent for a long moment, "Tell me what she did? What she did to get put in the Maine State Correctional Facility?"
Angra didn't look away from Regina, "She killed my father."
oOOOOo
"Tell me about Marian. Why do you love her?"
Robin blinked at the question, "I just… do. She's the mother of my child."
Emma shook her head, "That's sort of a sucky answer. So, you love her because she's, what, a good mother, or makes good suppers or something? I mean, why did you fall madly in love with her?"
Robin was silent as they walked through the woods. They were going to visit Robin and his Men's camp. Finally he answered, "She was mouthy."
Emma glanced over at Robin, "Seriously? I guess I can see why you like Regina too."
Robin chuckled at that, "No. They couldn't be more different. Marian, she said what was on her mind, and then she did something about it. When she had to chose between her kingdom, a safe and easy life, or life with me and my Merry Men, she didn't blink." Robin smiled, "She also tried to civilize us a bit, though I'm not sure it worked. She was strong and beautiful and she would defend anyone, me, Roland, or my Men with her life just as they would defend her with theirs." He cleared his throat a few times. "I guess I'm still in love with her." He paused, "Is that… does Killian."
Emma cut Robin off, "Oh, hell no. I- I could see myself maybe having sex with him, but, me, Hook, in a relationship? No. Never."
Robin couldn't help himself, he laughed, "Ah, I apologize M'l… Emma. Have you told him this fact?"
"Yes. Repeatedly."
Robin paused, "Would you like me to emphasize this fact with him?"
Emma shook her head, "Nah. I can deal with it. He's not the first stalker I've dealt with." She turned and looked at him, "You really are a nice guy though. If we do find Marian, it's gonna break Regina's heart to lose you."
"Is that why you're doing this for me, with me, so that you can hurt Regina as much as she's hurt you?"
Emma cleared her throat, "I- yeah, probably. I mean, somewhere in the back primitive part of my brain it really hurts that Henry's not my kid, and that even though it's not her fault that he's not, it was through her interference we found it out, so… yeah, probably."
Robin shook his head, "I believe you'll be surprised when you find that she is not as broken hearted as you think she will be."
Emma stopped and stood in front of Robin, "You've said that twice now. Explain what you mean Hood."
"Isn't it obvious Emma. Regina loves you. I can see it in her face every time she looks at you." He paused, "I thought that I could look past it. I thought that I could… settle for a relationship that was okay, but, seeing David and Snow, Nova and Grumpy, even Belle and Rumple. I just can't. Marian is my true love, Zelena said that she is still alive. I need to find her. I need to complete my soul, and give my son his mother back."
Emma stared at Robin for a long moment then shook her head and sighed, "Yeah, okay, let's go grill your Men, see if any of them have seen her, or heard anything. You got a bathroom out here by the way?"
"We have a hole."
Emma groaned.
