Author Note: Sorry. Work, lack of sleep and fickle as fuck muses; life is hectic and I know it took me for goddamn ever to write this, but I hope it was worth the wait.

Sat beneath the apple tree, I allowed my mind to wander for a time. No matter what thought occurred to me, it was followed almost immediately by the question I had yet to find an answer to. Everyone was counting on me to be their Savior, to figure out a way to stop the Dark One once and for all. It was a lot of pressure, but I knew, given my options, there wasn't a whole lot of room for choice.

How; was the question and I was stumped. How was I meant to defeat an evil centuries old? I was no more than an annoying speck on this Dark One's radar, with magic that was temperamental at best and dangerously explosive at worst. I'd almost caused an earthquake in the middle of the castle, and Regina, Blue—Snow were all counting on me to save them.

The idea was even more ridiculous than when they'd first told me. I wasn't cut out for this knight in shining armour crap, and no amount of dwelling on the thought was going to make it any less absurd. Still, that knowledge did very little in terms of me not thinking about it and I knew if I didn't leave soon, I'd end up spending the entire day in the garden, brooding about it.

It was as I stood, trying to recall the itinerary with the Prince for the day that I felt it. There was another presence in the garden, one that didn't belong; that announced itself in the form of a suffocating weight pressing down on my shoulders. I should have been afraid, but I was a creature of habit and even as it seemed to take an extraordinary amount of effort to breath, my eyes scanned the garden with a curious sweep.

Instinct alone told me to step forward and turn, and when I did, there he stood, one hand against the tree I'd been sat against. I recognized him straightaway from the descriptions Regina had given me when we sometimes spoke at night of her past. This was the Dark One, the ancient evil meant to tear the world asunder.

Looking at him, even that thought seemed absurd in the moment. With the shiny green skin and vaguely reptilian eyes, he seemed less an ancient evil and more a leather clad goblin. The longer I stared, the higher his brow rose and as the weight lifted from my shoulders, it was then that I felt the smirk slowly growing on my lips.

"A rather unusual reaction to my appearance," he noted, straightening from his position.

"Sorry," I offered with a shrug. "Guess I've seen too many horror movies." He tilted his head in confusion and it reminded me of where I was. "Right, no movies here. Never mind."

"My, you are a curious one."

Resisting a shudder at his tone, I folded my arms and cleared my throat. "Did you want something?"

He waved a hand. "Merely wanting to sate a curiosity, dearie."

He moved closer and for better or worse, I stood my ground as he began to circle me. It made me think of Regina and the first time we officially met; dark eyes roaming every inch of my body and making me feel as though I was nothing more than a piece of meat. Unlike Regina, his gaze seemed to be searching for something beyond how I might look spread out beneath him and it was ultimately that, that helped me remain calm.

"For someone meant to bring about my demise, I find myself to be rather…" He paused, standing before me as he sought the right word and eventually settled on, "Unimpressed."

I couldn't help myself, the sound burst from my chest as I laughed. For someone with his reputation, I expected far more than reality delivered and his comment summed up my own feelings on the matter perfectly.

"Ditto," I replied, brow raised. "If you're the best this world can do for a walking nightmare, you might want to go and thank Regina for not casting that curse of yours."

"Believe me, I have every intention of thanking her, Miss Swan." My body stiffened. No one had called me that since—"A favour should always be shown gratitude, after all, as unintentional as said favour may have been."

His words snapped me from the memories trying to take hold and I frowned, confused as I questioned, "What are you talking about?"

"All in good time, dearie." He turned then and I almost reached out to try and stop him before he spoke again. "Do tell Her Majesty that I will be by shortly, we have much to discuss."

As smoke gathered about his feet, he glanced over his shoulder. "Oh, and give my condolences to the Blue Fairy; how disappointed she must be of her chosen Savior, " he laughed, the mocking sound engulfed within the black cloud along with its owner as both vanished from sight.

I left the garden and tried to make sense of what just happened as I walked through the halls of the palace. Rumplestiltskin was nothing at all of what I expected, and I saw nothing of the man that Regina spoke of late at night. He was supposed to be the monster under the bed—the boogey man you called your parents to banish in the night, afraid he would take you while you slept if you left him in the closet—assuming one had parents to begin with, at least.

Everyone believed he wanted Regina dead, yet nothing about him screamed at me that that was true. I knew he could be manipulative but what he'd said—about thanking Regina for some favour she supposedly did? He sounded genuine. I sensed hesitance—nostalgia and longing in his voice but no deception.

Was I kidding myself? Perhaps. Maybe I simply wanted to believe his words because I didn't like the alternative. I had killed once in my life before, I possessed no desire to do it a second time and when it came to doing things I didn't want to do, I was exceptionally skilled at talking myself out of doing them. I didn't want to be the Savior—I didn't want to save these people and I'd made no secret of that fact. Denial was a skill that I excelled at, but this felt different.

From the moment I met Blue, something felt off. Everything about her stunk of falseness; the words, the smiles. I admired women who weren't soft spoken, who didn't slap on the femininity card in an excuse to be meek—submissive. Blue wasn't one to let me get away with my shit, but even that had red flags popping up all over the place and the more time I spent in her presence, the less I trusted her.

I've made an undeniable number of mistakes in my life, but I've learned to trust my instincts, and my instincts were telling me I was on the wrong side of the story. If I was meant to protect Regina and stop the Dark One from fulfilling whatever fucked up prophecy I was involved in, then why did he refer to me as Blue's Savior?

"You're late," the Queen spoke before I had even sighted her.

Despite the annoyance in her tone, I grinned. I still worried sometimes that she would grow tired of waiting for me, that she would call an end to our nighttime talks because of how rarely I was on time.

"I know," I murmured, trying my best to sound contrite. I hated being late, but saying no to Red and Graham when they invited me to the tavern was a lot harder when I was trying to avoid something.

"That's the second time today."

I nodded. I wanted more time to think and after leaving the tavern, I'd wandered out to the stream in the forest. It didn't take much more than a bit of fresh air to sober me up, but it wasn't until I did that I realized I was late. "I lost track of time."

"You said that this morning," she said, eyes narrowed. It was yet another reason being late wasn't worth it. If Regina sensed anything she didn't like, she'd hold on to it by the throat until she got what she wanted, and she always got what she wanted.

"It's as true now as it was then," I replied. I hadn't told her about my visitor. I couldn't, not at the time. I was still so unsure about everything and with Snow there, I didn't want to risk them planning something without me present.

If it was true. If Rumplestiltskin really was the enemy, then I was supposed to protect them and letting them run off to scheme while I was dealing with the Prince seemed somewhat counterproductive. Regina may have waited, but I didn't trust Snow and knowing the relationship she'd had with Blue in the past wasn't helping to convince me that I should.

She sighed. "Emma."

Smiling at the clear exasperation in her tone, I closed what remained of the distance between us and teased, "My Queen," as I reached down to cup her cheek

"Don't do that," she chided, leaning in to my hand. "You know it distracts me when you call me that."

I caressed her cheek with a chuckle and bent down, pressing a kiss to her lips before releasing her as I straightened. "That is the point, Your Majesty," I confessed, removing the sword from my hip and placing it against the bench before I dropped down beside her.

"Well don't," she groused. "I would like to talk, more importantly; I would like to talk about whatever it is you're hiding from me."

"What makes you think I'm hiding anything?"

She turned to me. "I know you," she said, daring me to deny it with an eyebrow raised in challenge. "Now tell me, before I lose my temper."

I chuckled, used to the threats by that point. "That's a rather undesirable form of incentive."

With a sigh, she pressed into my side and I slid an arm around her as she lay her head upon my shoulder. "I could send you to sleep in your old room."

The protest was immediate; a vehement, resounding shout of no on the tip of my tongue. I knew better though. She would laugh or at the very least, smirk knowingly. It was no secret that I despised being away from her, more so in sleep than at any other time. "Tell me about Rumplestiltskin," I said instead.

As torn as I was between believing him and believing what I'd been told, I needed to know more before I passed on his message. I didn't know him, I'd never met him until then. I needed to know if there was ever a time—even if only for a second, that Regina doubted the reputation in favour of the man behind it.

"No," she replied, jostling me with the shake of her head. I waited. There was too little hesitation—too much curiosity in that one word for her to be finished. "Why?"

"Humour me," I shrugged. "What was he like? I mean when he wasn't teaching you, you said he used to visit you. Why?"

Lifting her head, she stared at me for a few minutes, searching for something, before she sighed and lay back against my shoulder. "Then you'll tell me?"

"Sure."

"Emma," she growled.

I groaned, "Yes." The woman was like a dog with a bone. "Tell me what he was like and I'll tell you why I was late this morning."

"And now," she added.

"I had too much to drink and went for a walk to sober up," I explained. It wasn't a lie, at least. If she asked why I had been drinking however… "There, I answered one for you, your turn."

"You do smell as though you were kidnapped by pirates," she commented, a smirk in her voice.

Grinning, I kissed the top of her head and murmured into her hair, "I was. Hook took me out on his ship and we had a rum soaked orgy with his crew."

She laughed. "I will endeavor to research cures for the numerous diseases you've no doubt contracted…" She paused, and then added, "Before I eventually declare you a lost cause and set you on fire."

Smiling, I shook my head. "How 'bout I bathe before we go to bed and you do none of that?"

A thoughtful silence reigned for all of a few seconds before she conceded with a dramatic sigh. "I suppose that would be acceptable," she drawled, shifting in what I assumed was discomfort as she returned to the topic at hand. "As for Rumplestiltskin; he was… unusual."

That was one way to put it, I thought, mind wandering back to earlier that day.

"At my worst, I often wondered why people feared him more than they did me," she continued, laughing softly. "When he first began to teach me, I could see it. When he told me to take that unicorn's heart, that alone made me think he was evil, but after that? I honestly don't think I ever really considered him such."

I nodded and urged her on. She had told me the story, in a little more detail, after the night I learned of the curse and how she was meant to sacrifice her father for it to work. When I failed to express the kind of outrage she was used to, she finally began to understand that I wasn't the bright, shining beacon of goodness she first mistook me for and opening up to me came more easily to her.

"I feel as though I am betraying his memory by saying this, but Rumplestiltskin felt more like a father to me than my real father did."

Given the affection she often had in her voice whenever she spoke of her father, the confession surprised me and I jerked forward. She sat up slowly, head bowed as she brought her hands into her lap and stared at them while she spoke. "I realize he manipulated me for all of those years, but he was the only one who ever protected me from my mother."

Brow furrowed in confusion, I captured one of her hands and entwined our fingers as I questioned softly, "I thought you pushed her through a mirror and she was in a different world?"

Her head bobbed up and down. "I did, and she was, but that didn't stop her from trying to find a way back to me."

"What happened?"

"She succeeded… twice." Taking a deep breath, she straightened and sat back as I squeezed her hand, offering what little comfort I could. "The first time, she kidnapped my father in the hope I would bargain for his life in return for letting her back into my own. The second, she learned of a certain path Fate had in store for me and attempted to force it, which led to me cursing myself before Rumple intervened."

My frown deepened and I struggled, concerned about this curse I knew nothing about, and curious as to how he intervened. Ultimately, though, the decision made itself. I wanted to know about the Dark One, after all. "What did he do?" I asked, shelving the curse discussion for another time.

"He cursed her heart and shoved it back into her chest. He told her that if she ever removed it again, it would kill her." She smiled sadly and released an amused puff of air through her nose as she said, "She didn't believe him."

"Oh." Regina rarely spoke of her mother. I knew her father had died about a year before I arrived in the Enchanted Forest, but I'd always assumed her mother was still alive. "I'm—"

"Don't," she interrupted and my jaw snapped shut. It had been a stupid thought; to apologize, especially knowing everything that I did about the woman I'd never met. "She was an awful person who died too cleanly, and too quickly."

I could relate, in a sense.

I'd been in enough foster homes to know the good mothers from the bad and I had suffered enough abuse at the hands of so-called parents to share that perfectly reasonable, yet perhaps unforgivable, desire to want them dead. From the stories Regina told me, none of the families came close to just how fucked up Cora had been and so I did the only thing I could think to do; I agreed.

Short of a wary glance from the corner of her eye, Regina didn't respond and we were silent for a time, both lost in our thoughts. I wondered if I should wait to tell her about Rumple. I was still confused and hadn't a clue who I was supposed to trust, but after hearing everything she said, I knew one thing for certain; I had reason to trust the Dark One a hell of a lot more than I did Blue.

In the end, it was that thought that convinced me not to wait and I sighed. The sound drew her gaze to me and her forehead crinkled, lips parting ready to question. "I was late this morning because he visited me," I said before she could speak. "He said he was curious about me. Called me Blue's Savior, and told me to tell you he'd be dropping by."

"And why didn't you tell me this this morning?"

"Snow mostly," I replied, rolling a shoulder as I felt her hand tighten in mine. "Blue. You. Him. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing, Regina. Up until Snow arrived, you believed Blue and I was just… going along with it, but now…"

"But now," she prompted and I sighed again.

"But now," I repeated. "I want to believe some freakish dude everyone calls the Dark One because everything that flies out of that damn fairy's mouth pings my bullshit radar."

When she didn't respond, I turned my head and caught the thoughtful look on her features. I don't know what I expected; anger, that I hadn't told her sooner. Maybe. Irritation, perhaps. At the very least, I thought there would be some level of surprise that Rumple wanted to see her, but then I supposed I was still learning about her and I knew next to nothing of him.

Thinking about it, I realized that it probably wasn't all that strange. From all that I'd learned, Rumple and Regina had a long and complicated history. Was it really that unusual for a teacher to express a desire to see his student, regardless of the years that passed or the history between them?

Of course, despite my doubts, I still remembered what everyone was expecting. If he was a danger to Regina, then I needed to keep that in mind whether she decided to humour him or not and that, really, was all that mattered. I was confused about a lot of things, but Regina's safety wasn't one of them.

Blue, Rumple—the Enchanted Forest and prophecies aside, the Queen remained my number one priority and I would die before I let any of them use her again.

Gaze lifting from where our hands were joined, I watched as Regina stood and turned, a smile on her lips. "Come," she beckoned with a gentle tug of my arm. "It's time to prepare for the Dark One."