A/N: As always, thank you guys! :)

And now... the reunion between Rumpel and Bae! And Liv and Jaye! It's all going to be rainbows and cupcakes, right? ;)

x

Finally Rumpelstiltskin led them into a clearing that contained several wooden huts that looked as though they'd been thrown together by someone who didn't know one end of a hammer from the other. The man had a strong urge to work some magic and improve the make-shift village, but he remembered his son's hatred of magic and refrained.

Liv and Henry hung back, waiting to see what would happen. The group of heartless boys stood away from them, just watching. After a moment the door of one of the ramshackle houses opened and a small boy raced out. He had light brown hair and looked to be about Henry's age. Behind him they heard a gruff chuckle and then Neal appeared, chasing the boy good-naturedly.

He stopped at once, his eyes falling on his father. Neal frowned, folding his arms as he glared at Rumpelstiltskin. Then he spotted Henry and Liv and his mouth dropped open and he took a step forward.

"Henry, buddy, what are you doing here?"

"We came to take you home." Rumpelstiltskin said, smiling at his son.

"Henry?"

The boy nodded at his father. "He's right, Dad. We… we came to take you back to the Enchanted Forest."

"And you?"

It took Liv a moment to realise that Neal was talking to her. She shrugged. "I miss Jaye."

Neal watched her for a moment, before turning back to face his father. "What's really going on here? Why did you bring them with you? Did you think you'd stand more of a chance convincing me to go back if you brought my son? Did you think you could get Liv to persuade Jaye to convince me?"

"Bae…"

"My name is Neal!"

At the sound of shouting, two females emerged from the house and stared at them. Liv had never met Wendy before, but now she saw how similar she was to her daughter. Both were tall and thin and blonde, with the same pale skin and huge blue eyes. Those blue eyes were looking between their visitors with identical bemused expressions. Jaye's bleach blonde hair was growing out, her darker roots clearly visible with her hair lying loose around her shoulders. When she noticed Liv's eyes on her, she quickly scraped it back and secured it in a high pony-tail.

"Are you going to invite our guests inside, Neal?" Wendy called in the same accent as her daughter possessed. She stepped forward, smiling at the boy and his sister. "You must be Liv; I've heard so much about you."

The teenager nodded awkwardly, wondering what Jaye had told her mother. "Jane," Liv noticed the other girl rolling her eyes at the use of her real name, "has told me all about you and how you were there for her when she was having trouble dealing with the news that Neal was her father."

"Oh…"

But Wendy's eyes were already on Rumpelstiltskin, waiting for Neal to say something to him. The man sighed and motioned towards his father without looking at him. "You remember my father, Wendy?"

"Charmed…" The Dark One told her, smiling the first genuine smile Liv had seen on his face in a long time.

There was a slightly uncomfortable silence where everyone looked at each other and wondered what to say. Henry instinctively drew closer to Liv and she wrapped an arm around his shoulders. As he glanced up at her, she nodded slowly and smiled.

"So… can we go home now?" She asked bluntly.

Rumpelstiltskin glanced at his son, who held up his hands. "I'm not stopping you."

"Bae…"

"Neal… maybe you should talk to your father." Wendy suggested softly, laying a hand on his arm and squeezing it gently. He glanced at her and she smiled. With a sigh he nodded. "I'll take the kids out to the cove so you can have some peace."

"I'm not a kid." Jaye snapped at exactly the same moment Liv said the same.

Wendy smiled. "I think maybe you two need a talk as well." She suggested. "Jane mentioned you'd fallen out?"

Neither girl really knew what to say to that, especially with everyone looking at them. Liv wasn't sure who knew what about their argument and didn't really want to have to explain the cause. She just nodded slowly, locking eyes with her former friend. Jaye sighed and shrugged, stalking away from the clearing into the forest.

Wendy held out her hand to her son and motioned for the other two to follow them through the trees. Exchanging a look with Henry, who didn't seem to know how he felt about their current situation, the teenager pulled him after the blonde and the boy. They walked through a forest for a while, until it opened out onto a small rocky cove.

"Danny!" The blonde woman shouted as her son took off running towards the path leading down to the water. "Be careful!" She turned and smiled warmly at Henry. "Do you want to come down with us, Henry? Then Liv and Jane can work out their problems."

"Liv?"

"I'll keep a close eye on him, he'll be perfectly safe."

The teenager shrugged. "It's up to you, kid."

He nodded slowly and set off down the path Danny had disappeared along. Wendy smiled at Liv and then followed, picking her way carefully down the steep slope. That left the two teenage girls alone at the top of the cliff, staring down into the cove. Liv realised that if she sat on the grassy edge she could watch her brother running around below her. She was reluctant to let him out of her sight.

After a moment, Jaye moved to sit beside her. "So…"

"I'm really sorry, OK?" Liv told her, not moving her gaze from Henry's figure on the beach. "I never intended to upset you. It just got a bit out of hand and then you didn't let me explain or apologise properly."

"So this is my fault for… for what? Being oversensitive?" The blonde snapped, glaring at the brunette.

Liv could feel her glare burning into the side of her head. "That's not what I said."

"So what are you saying?"

"I'm saying I'm sorry for being insensitive and stupid and not thinking before I acted." She sighed deeply. "I didn't mean for you to read more into it than I intended. I never thought you actually…"

"I liked you, so what?"

"Liked? Past tense?" Liv teased, earning herself a sharp shove in the shoulder. "I'm sorry."

Jaye eyed her carefully. "What for? Being an idiot or not liking me back?"

"Both…" The girl acknowledged. "I just… maybe if things were different, but…"

"There's someone else you like, isn't there?" The blonde asked knowingly. Liv glanced at her sharply. "It doesn't take a genius to work that out. Who is it?" When the other girl didn't reply, just raised an eyebrow at her, Jaye laughed. "What? You think I'm going to try and scare them off or something? Don't flatter yourself! Besides, I'm kind of dating Jack now."

"Jack? Really?"

"Yeah… after you and I fell out he was really sweet and then when we all got sent back here we kinda just…"

"Nice one." Liv grinned, some of the guilt she'd been feeling about upsetting Jaye evaporating. With everything that was going on with her, even dating a Lost Boy had to be a better option.

"Yeah…" She smiled back. "So? Who is it?"

Liv shrugged, still a little uneasy about saying it out loud. "It doesn't matter. Unless you can help convince the asshole to agree to go back to the Enchanted Forest then we're stuck here and it really won't matter. Rumpelstiltskin won't leave without his son."

"But if we go back… Jack and I…"

"Get Jack to come with us." The brunette suggested. "I mean, what is there for him here, really?"

Sighing, Jaye shrugged. "We'll see."

"So… am I forgiven?"

The blonde grinned and jumped to her feet. "If you beat me down to the cove I'll think about it."

She sprinted away, leaving Liv to follow in her stead, laughing as they raced down to meet the others on the small strip of sand below them.

As soon as Wendy and the four children had vanished from the tiny village, Neal turned and stamped into his house. He left the door open behind him and his father took that as an invitation to follow. The inside of the house was basic; rough wooden furniture was dotted around on the bare earth floor and the few objects that were dotted around were similarly handmade and imperfect.

"Say what you want to say and then get out."

Rumpelstiltskin started at the tone of his son's voice, but didn't comment. Instead he took a seat at the table and looked carefully at the younger man. "I'm sorry."

"Too little, too late." Neal snapped back.

"I agree."

"What?" His son frowned.

The Dark One stood up and started pacing. "It is too little, too late; you're right. And for that I'm truly sorry. But even if it's too late for us, think of Henry; your son. Don't make the same mistake as I did."

"Don't you dare–"

"I'm not criticising you, son. I just don't want you to suffer the same way as I have; to miss out on seeing your boy grow into a man."

There was a long pause while Neal struggled with his feelings. "Fine. Fine, we'll come back. But I am not doing this for you; I'm doing it for Henry. It's going to take a lot more than an apology to win back my trust."

"I know."

"So how are we going to get back?" Neal asked. "How did you even get here?"

"Magic beans." Rumpelstiltskin informed him. "The irony… a magic bean took you away from me and another brought me to you. I have another that will get us back to the Enchanted Forest."

His son grunted and gave a sharp nod, moving around the room slowly, evidently deep in thought. "I understand why you brought Henry here… but why did you bring Liv? Why did she really agree to come?"

"She owed me a favour." When Neal frowned, the older man shrugged. "She got the better end of the deal… at the time, anyway. I thought that if she could get your daughter onside, Jane might be able to help persuade you too."

"When do we leave?"

"As soon as possible. There's just one more thing I want to do while we're here."

"What?"

"Where's Pan?"

"I have no idea." Neal told him with a shrug. "Why?"

"He has something of mine and I want it back."

His son narrowed his eyes. "What does he have?"

"A talisman… it's the reason he's remained so young for so long. He stole it from me and I want it back."

"Papa… can't you just let it go?" Neal almost pleaded, seeing the fire burning in his father's eyes and realising what it meant. "This is why I'm angry at you… because your things, your power, they always mean more to you than anyone ever could."

"Bae, that's not true. That talisman was supposed to be yours. If I can get it back you can give it to your son."

"I don't want it. Henry won't want it. You've seen what it's done to Pan… why would I want that? Why would I want to inflict that on my son?" Seeing that Rumpelstiltskin was unconvinced, Neal shook his head. "I mean it, Papa. This is your chance to show me you're serious. Let it go."

There was a long pause and then the Dark One gave a stiff nod. Neal sent him a weak, grateful smile and set about making tea. The rest of the time until Wendy and the children returned was spent alternating between making awkward small talk and sitting in silence.

When they did return, Neal explained what they'd decided. Henry grinned at Liv, relief that they were able to go home spreading over his face at once. The teenager couldn't stop herself returning the smile, pulling him into her side and kissing the top of his head. While Jaye headed off to inform Jack of the decision, Rumpelstiltskin pulled Liv aside to talk to her in private.

"I need you to help me track down Peter Pan."

"Why?" She questioned, Tinker Bell's warning ringing in her ears.

"He took something of mine and I want it back." He growled, his eyes flashing dangerously. "No one gets away with stealing from me."

"So he stole some talisman of eternal youth from you, who cares? You're immortal, right?"

Rumpelstiltskin's eyes narrowed. "How do you know what he took?"

"Tinker Bell told me… just before that boy went after Henry."

"And you trust that… fairy?"

Liv hesitated, remembering the unsettling feeling she'd got from proximity to the woman. Then she shook her head. "Not exactly."

"So why are you arguing with me?"

"Because I just want to go home." She admitted. "We've got what we came for; Neal's agreed to come with us. Can't you just forget about it?"

There was a pause and then he turned to look at her with a smirk, tilting his head to watch her carefully. "Do you want to see something interesting, Princess?"

The teenager clenched her jaw, hating his proximity but unable to do much about it. "That depends what you're asking."

Without warning, the man leant towards her and plunged his hand into her chest. Liv gasped, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open in horror. Having his hand inside her chest was a horrible sensation; feeling his digits closing around her most vital organ, feeling him tugging it free from her body, knowing that with the smallest flex of his fingers he could crush the life from her. She gasped again as she saw her heart held firmly in his palm.

"Look at it, Princess, look at your heart."

She did; unable to tear her gaze away. Unlike the hearts that she had cradled in her hands before squeezing the life from them, her heart was mottled red and black. It was disgusting; diseased. She went cold, feeling a shiver run down her spine, as she realised that her actions had damaged the organ. Tears leapt to her eyes as the reality of what she'd done hit her.

"I don't want…"

Rumpelstiltskin shook his head, waving off her plaintive tone. "After your grandmother tricked your mother into murdering her own mother, Snow went to Regina and begged her to end her life. She begged her to put her out of the misery she had brought upon herself by opening herself up to darkness. She blackened her heart." Rumpelstiltskin gazed down at Liv's heart thoughtfully. His fingers twitched, tightening his grip momentarily and making the teenager gasp, her knees almost giving way beneath her as a crippling pain ripped through her empty chest. "She had the tiniest black spot on her heart from her actions. Yours is much, much more–"

"If you're going to kill me, just do it already." Liv spat. "I won't beg."

He chuckled and roughly pushed her heart back into her chest. The teenager breathed deeply as she felt it click back into place, almost like pushing a plug into a socket. "I had no intention of killing you, dearie. I simply wanted to show you what you've done to your heart."

"It was your fault!" She pointed out, knowing how childish she sounded.

"Perhaps." He agreed with a shrug. "But how do you suppose your family will react to what you've become? They would probably have forgiven your first kill, maybe even the second. The third would have caused them a little consternation, I expect. But do you even remember how many hearts you've taken now? Do you think they'll be able forgive and forget? I don't doubt your heart was already blackened before you arrived in Storybrooke, but now..."

"I didn't have a choice!" Liv tried to defend her actions, knowing it was pointless. She didn't even believe herself. "Besides, I took those hearts, but I never killed them."

He giggled. "Where are those boys now, Princess? The hearts you stole… where are their owners."

Glancing around, Liv realised that the boys had vanished and she went cold, realising that they were dead. "But I didn't… it was you… I didn't."

"It's because of you."

"No! I didn't… I didn't know!"

"You didn't kill all those boys, no, but it's because of you that they're dead. Regina killed perhaps a handful of people herself, but she was responsible for so many more deaths. She had her guards carry out the killing for her. She massacred an entire village because they wouldn't tell her where Snow White was. Regina didn't wield the swords that took the lives of those men, women and children, but the order came from her mouth. She didn't kill her husband either; she tricked the poor, lovesick genie who actually believed she felt something for him into doing it for her. She used manipulation and threats to keep her hands clean and yet… they're still covered in blood. That's what chased all the goodness from her and it's what will destroy you too."

"But I never wanted…"

Rumpelstiltskin wasn't listening. He giggled happily as he danced around her, evidently completely satisfied with what he had achieved. "Regina's heart was so black, so dark. But she wanted to be better for Henry, then for Emma and then for you. Slowly her heart began to repair itself. Slowly but surely the darkness began to fade." He sighed disappointedly. "Cora's heart was never affected, because she ripped it from her own chest before she had a chance to mutilate it. But you... you're a girl after my own heart." He informed her, before laughing wildly at his joke.

"I just want to go home." Liv whispered, crumpling to the ground and wrapping her arms around her knees.