Chapter 14:

Sorry guys I had exams to finish for UNI so I had to get them done and then I went away for for two weeks.
Due to the lack of reviews and therefore lack of inspiration for this story I have decided to start to finish up the story. I have planed out half of the next chapter so it will more than likely only be one or two more chapters left.

Thanks for putting up with me and again I'm sorry it took so long.

Emma didn't take her eyes away from the scene as her whole body fought against her fathers. She watched in horror as Regina got ready to pull her hand back out.

"DANIEL!"

Suddenly Regina froze. That name. Regina knew that name.

Regina couldn't move, it felt like she couldn't breath, she was taken back and the boy standing infront of her wasn't the young peasant boy but it was a stable boy. The man she fell in love with. Her fiance.

"Daniel.." Regina whispered to herself as memories of the only man she ever loved came rushing back to her. Her eyes flicked around the room until they stopped on the young girl struggling with all her will against her fathers strong hold with wet tears running down her face and eyes that were filled with fear and shock. Finally Regina's eyes landed back to the boy infront of her, who she could tell was trying desperately not to show any sign of pain as he stared back at her.

The situation was all too familiar for Regina and looking down at her hand still inside the boys chest she felt disappointed. She had sworn to herself a long time ago that she would never become what her mother was and here she was infront of someone so young about to rip his heart out, and why? Because he was in the way? She thought. Isn't this exactly what her mother had done to her.

Looking back over at the young girl Regina knew what she was feeling because once upon a time, she was that girl crying in fear so that's what made her slowly pull her hand back out of the boys chest.

The room was deadly silent not even a single breath could be heard as everyone stood frozen and watched Regina release her cruel hold on Daniel making him fall instantly to the ground. Emma stopped struggling in her fathers arms while her eyes locked with Daniel's unmoving figure laying still on the ground. She was about to get ready to charge at Regina when a hoarse cough escaped and her attention was drawn back to Daniel.

Snow's, Charming's and Emma's breaths could all be heard as they released a shocked sigh followed by Daniel trying to catch his own breath between a small coughing fit.

Emma's eyes met Regina's in complete confusion. "Go. I am tired of playing torture games with your family. Just stay out of my way." Regina sneered not taking her eyes away from Emma and before anyone could say a word, Regina disappeared in a cloud of purple smoke and the force holding the soilders in place around the room was broken.

Everyone was recovering from the shock of what just happened including Charming who loosened his hold around Emma. Emma quickly slipped from her fathers arms and ran over to Daniel who was still on the floor trying to even out his breathing.

Emma placed a hand on his shoulder and rolled him from his curled up fetal position on his side onto his back and facing her. "Daniel?" She whispered.

Daniel rolled over with one hand still clutching his chest. "Were you worrying about me again Princess?" He said looking up at her with a smile. "Because you should know me better than that by now." Emma released a shaky breath she didn't realize she was holding as she tried to hide her own smile. "You should have known I had the situation under control, I was just about to charm my way out of it." He continued pushing himself up into a sitting position.

Snow had come over and was kneeling beside Daniel making sure he was indeed okay while Charming stood just behind Emma ordering his men.

"Yer right." Emma scoffed. "The fact that she had her hand around your heart just screamed that you had everything under control."

"Are you sure you feel okay Daniel?" Snow cut in between the two. "You didn't hit you head when you fell or anything?" She started to worry and go all motherly on him and help him to his feet to get his balance.

"No ma'am, I honestly feel fine."

"Well okay but I'll have Doc check you over when we get home just to be safe." Daniel smiled gratefully at the woman not really sure why she was showing so much kindness to a boy who had just put her daughter in danger to come find him.

Emma noticed Daniel's face flicker with emotion as he gave her mother a smile but just as she was about to question him on it her father turned to them.

"Come on, let's get out of here. It's been a long day and personally I would feel much better when we all got out of here and back home."

Again Emma saw something flash across Daniel's face and he was quick to cover it up just as quick as it came. Daniel saw that Emma was glaring at him and that she noticed it but was thankful when Snow place a firm hand on both their shoulders and guided them to follow Charming out of the building, stopping Emma from saying anything.

…...…

Once they all arrived back to the castle Snow was already sending for someone to find Doc while Charming was thanking a few of his men and asking them to take their horses to cool down and put back in the stables.

Daniel couldn't help but feel slightly uncomfortable with not being able to do anything, this was something he was not use to. Usually it was him who people were giving orders to and not have someone do them for him. "Sir I can help out with cooling down the horses. It's the least I can do for you from putting yourself and others in danger just to help me escape Regina." Daniel asked Charming.

Charming appreciated by the boys gesture but there was no way he was letting that boy do anything but rest after what he went through today. "I'm very grateful for your gesture Daniel but I know Snow wants you to go inside and rest."

And as if on cue Snow walks up behind Daniel and places a hand on his back. "Daniel I have sent for Doc to come and check your cuts over so why don't I show you up to our guest room and you can get washed up before he gets here."

"Thank you very much." He said to both Charming and Snow. "But as you can see I have nothing to give back to you for any of this. I am happy to work off my dept and then I'll..."

Snow was very quick to cut the boy of from finishing his sentence and her brows furrowed slightly in confusion at how grown up this boy actually acts. "Sweetie we don't expect anything from you and we defiantly are not going to ask you to work for any of our hospitality."

"Yes and don't think for a second that you owe any kind of dept from today. It is my duty to make sure everyone in this kingdom is safe and protected and that includes you. I would gladly help you out any day Daniel, make sure you remember that." Charming patted the boy on the shoulder and gave him a smile. "Now why don't you follow Snow and she'll show you to your room."

Daniel was speechless when Charming and Snow had finished so he gave them both a nod and followed Snow as he was told to. Never has someone shown him so much kindness ever. Yes he has met nice people but they never went out of their way to do something for him like the Queen and King were. He had heard stories of how caring the two were but to him they were just that, stories.

Daniel followed Snow through the castle and up many stairs before she stopped outside a door and turned to face him.

"I hope you don't mind the morning sun, this room has a window that faces east and so it catches the mornings rase." Snow said in a sorry voice before placing her hand on the handle and opening the door and entering. "If it bothers you I can have curtains made and we can hang them up to block out the light."

Daniel slowly walked into the room. It was huge. It had a bed that sat against one of the walls that Daniel was sure could fit three people in it, a dresser which held a number of draws, a small desk with a book self to the side of it and in one corner two chair and a table. The walls had simple paintings around which gave it a homey feel and on the wall opposite the bed there was a door that he had no idea where it lead to.

Still amazed with the size of the room Daniel continued to look around before he remembered Snow standing by the window waiting for him to answer her. "N-no I don't mind the morning sun, I'm usually up by then anyway. This room... It's..."

Snow couldn't help smile at the boys loss of words she could tell he wasn't use to so much comfort. "The wash room is just through this door." She walked over and opened the door opposite the bed revealing a smaller room with a basin and towels laid out. "You can clean up and I'll send one of the maids to bring up a fresh pair of clothes and we can wash the ones you have on now." Snow finished and walked back over to the door to give the boy some space and privacy. "When Doc arrives I'll bring him back up to check you over."

"Thank you." Daniel quickly said before she close the door behind her. "Thank you for everything."

Snow stopped and smiled bigger at him. "It's the least I could do."

…...

Daniel was looking through the books on the shelf by the desk in his room when there was a soft knock at his door. He turned and was about to answer when it cracked open and Emma came walking in over to him.

"Hey." She said before she stopped halfway into the room and just stared at him.

"What?" Daniel asked not liking how she was scanning him up and down.

Emma laughed hoping to get the annoyed reaction from him. "Oh nothing just you look different. You look..." She trained off.

Knowing her teasing voice Daniel played along. "Nice? Handsome? Good looking? Charming?"

"I was going to say clean."

"Oi my other clothes were clean!" He tried to look offended knowing well that his old clothes had been covered in dirt. "Besides not all of us live like a princess do we."

"Oh that was a cheap blow. Anyway that may be true but while your best friends is a princess you may as well suck it up because your stuck here." Emma said back as she jumped onto the bed and laid down. "How's your head?" She asked more serious.

"I've had worse, it's just a cut. Your mother made Doc check me out and made sure I wasn't dying."

"I told you she gets all fussy over cuts and bruises." Emma badly wanted to ask him what Regina had done to him and how she found him but she knew he wouldn't tell her and only make jokes to get off the topic so she kept quiet.

"So how did it feel?" Daniel asks as he too jumped on the bed and laid down next to the blond feeling physically exhausted.

"How did what feel?"

"Using a sword in battle. Kicking ass. Fighting along side your parents. Protecting them."

Emma turned her head to see Daniel smiling his famous knowing smile at her like he already knew how she felt. "It was amazing. The adrenalin was amazing, the fighting was amazing, everything was amazing and I loved every single moment of it. Until of course you had to get yourself caught."

"Hey! I was fine until Regina came out of know where. The battle is never fair when someone is using magic."

A moment of silence filled between the two until Daniel turned to look at Emma again. She had her eyes closed and breaths were almost even. "Don't fall asleep here, doesn't the Princess have a huge room of her own to sleep in." He teased.

"Shhh I'm almost asleep." Emma grumbled which made Daniel chuckle. "Besides mom will be up soon to tell us supper is ready."

Daniel didn't say anything more, it had been too long since he has slept in a proper bed and not on the forest floor so his body was giving in to the comfort of sleep like Emma was. He battled for a few more minutes while he laid there with his eyes open but eventually his body gave up and his eyes shut.

Not finding Emma in her room Snow knew she would be with Daniel so she headed straight to his room. "Kids supper is o..." Snow was stopped when she entered the room to see that both Emma and Daniel were lying on the bed with their eyes closed. She waited in her frozen spot by the door to see if she had accidentally woken them but the lack of movement told her she hadn't woken them.

Taken by the peaceful sight of the sleeping children Snow didn't hear her husband come up behind her until he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I wondered how long it would be until they both collapsed. They looked completely exhausted the moment we got home." Charming commented in a whisper and wrapped his arms around Snow's waist and leaned his head down to kiss the side of her neck.

Snow smiled and locked her hand in his on her stomach. "It's been a very long day, for all of us."

"Were you planning on waking them for supper?"

"I was going to but looking at them I just can't bring myself to disrupt their peaceful sleep."

"Let them sleep love." Charming placed another kiss on her neck. "We can get them something when they wake." Charming waited for Snow to move out of the doorway but she didn't and that's when he twisted her around to face him so he could read her face to know just what she's thinking. Taking one look at her face Charming knew she was worrying, it was almost the same look she had when she worried about Emma. That's when Charming's gazed flicked over towards the sleeping figures in the room. "Snow you can't force him to stay."

Snow furrowed her eye brows. "I know."

"He might not want to be here." Charming knew she wasn't really listening to him. "Snow." He sighed.

"He doesn't have anyone Charming. He's only a boy and shouldn't be out there in the forest, he needs someone to look out for him."

Their whispering had gotten louder as Snow got more frustrated so Charming drew in a steady breath and cupped her face in his hands. This always made her relax and he didn't want them to wake either Emma or Daniel up. "I know you want him to stay Snow and just like you I don't want him out in the forest but please don't push him to stay. Let him adjust to everything first and get over what happened today okay."

"Okay." Snow finally sighed.

Charming smiled at her and took her hand to lead her over to the still sleeping children. As he grabbed a rug of one of the chairs in the corner of the room, Snow placed a kiss on both Emma's and Daniel's head then helped Charming carefully place the rug over them. Glancing over them once more and seeing that they were both safe she and Charming left the room, closing the door behind them.