4 Months, 1 Week, 1 Day

She left Neal in his bedroom to have some privacy with the artifacts she'd shown him. She didn't know if she expected him to be surprised to see his room still there perfectly intact, but she certainly didn't expect him to get teary eyed like he did. With any luck it was a good sign. Maybe father and son could be repaired after all! Just as she hoped the bond of true love could be sealed again as it once was.

She walked through the cold dark halls of the castle she once knew so well without missing a step, even in the dying sunlight. It was all just as she remembered it, well, almost. The castle had been ransacked, surprising to her because she would have thought it would have spells over it to protect it from that very thing! Although, now that she thought about it, the important places seemed to have been perfectly protected. He was a creature of habit, his castle, just like his big home back in Storybrooke, it was just for show. It was all part of the illusion he'd worked to create, the façade that went along with the mask she could see through when they'd been here together. The castle had more to do with his pride than his character. But her quarters, Neal's, those rooms were the things that mattered and they'd been protectively sealed off from the rest of the world.

What did he care if-

She tripped over something laying in the middle of the hallway and reached down to pick it up. A candle! Perfect in the dying light, now if only…There! Down the hall there was a table that was over turned, its drawer flipped upside-down as if someone had been frustrated there was nothing of value in it. That was because there wasn't anything valuable inside of it, there never had been, not that she'd ever seen. But in a darkened hallway the treasure it contained was more important that any silver or gold. She stepped forward and righted the table, put it back in its place, then moved it an inch or so to the left, suddenly being proud that she remembered enough to be exact with it. She set the candle upon the table then knelt down to flip the drawer back over and stuffed it's contents back inside properly. A small book in the back, some paper toward the front, spare quills, small jars of ink, long since emptied, and toward the front, what she'd really been after, long match sticks. They'd taken her what felt like an eternity to learn to use when she'd first arrived. A silly thing really that a princess couldn't even light a candle, but now, even decades later the motions to make fire were old to her, comfortable and familiar.

She set the drawer back into its place in the little table, grabbed one of the match sticks and put a little light into the hallway. There, better already. The table was right where is should be, precisely. Its contents were ordered just the way she liked them and a bit of normal among the chaos, even if the normal was unimportant, felt just fine. Only the candle was wrong.

In the light she recognized it. It didn't belong in this hallway or even on this floor, it was a candle that had dwelled in what she'd come to think of as the drawing room because of its easels and empty canvases. No, that room had never held much interest for her, she'd never spent much time in it, like him there were only a few rooms of utmost importance that she ever paid regular visits to and the drawing room wasn't one of them. But she'd dusted every inch of this castle, she knew what belonged where probably even better than he had. And this…this candle belonged downstairs.

So she took her prize back to its home, having to resist the urge to clean up every little mess and pile of debris she saw, though she could already feel herself making lists and piles of her own in her mind. That jewelry box belonged in a bedroom. Those dishes in the cabinet in their room, third shelf and to the right. The fan belonged to a dress she knew was stashed away in a bedroom closet. That painting belonged downstairs in their room. And the dolls…

The dolls. Those creepy hideous dolls that she'd seen in his shop a million times, that were part of his collection and she'd wished with every inch of her being weren't! They were here? On a window ledge? Far from where they were supposed to be downstairs. Maybe things hadn't returned to the last place they'd been? And there! There was the sword that she'd once seen on a pedestal. A book that she knew he kept in his back room because she'd read it. There was one of the blankets he kept on the cot. It was everywhere, all over the place, bits and pieces of his shop scattered around the castle.

An idea hit her as she looked around her, her desire to return the candle to the drawing room put aside. They needed something magic, some way to find the dagger whether it was here or elsewhere. A way to resurrect Rumpelstiltskin from the dead…where better than to start than with magical items that were strong enough to make it into his shop. She found her way back into their room, the fire lit for her just as it always did and she found the perfect place to begin. Right there. She turned the chair that was supposed to sit by the fire over and enjoyed the heat for a moment before glancing around.

There were things scattered on the floor, things that she recognized, that she could place not only here in the castle, but also in the shop. She started there. She picked item after item up, identified it and placed it on the table. Clock, from the upstairs bedroom, in the back of the shop because it had been broken. Dishes, from her kitchen, inside the glass cases. A treasure chest, it belonged to the collection and she'd seen it in his tower once or twice, then it sat in the back of the shop, collecting dust on the shelves. Watches, books, knick knacks, everything she could possibly find until-

"Did you find something?" she turned quickly to find Neal striding back into the room, righting a pedestal that a strange looking hammer had once rested upon. He looked fine, looked strong and put together just as he always did. A few moments alone, that was all he'd needed. And all she'd needed.

"Lots of somethings," she answered placing another book on the table. "No sign of the dagger yet, but I found things he used to keep in the shop that were returned here after Storybrooke disappeared. I figured they'd be the next best place to start if we can't locate his knife."

Neal looked over the items on the table, his eyes scanned each one just as she had only instead of seeing each item individually he saw only the entire table, sprawled out overwhelmingly before him. "You know," Neal sighed and picked up the small treasure box she'd found, "I was thinking…you think my dad can get us back to Henry."

"I do," she answered immediately, finding the question strange. Not only had they had this discussion before, but if either of them believed he couldn't then she was certain they would have given up hope long ago.

"But it might take a while, you know to get everything in place and find a way…right?"

Her stomach turned. Yes. She thought that. In fact that was exactly what she thought, what she'd been hoping Neal would realize on his own so that he wasn't disappointed in his father if it took them a few months, maybe even years, to get back there. He'd come to that conclusion…sort of. Asking her about this, with that tone... What was he really asking her? There was more to it.

"I think it might take some time to figure it out just right."

Neal nodded and began his restless uncomfortable shuffling, glancing away from her and examining the treasure box with too much interest.

"Neal?" she questioned watching him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing…just," he sighed, "Do you think my Dad knows about Zelena? How to get rid of her?" That wasn't what she expected. Did he know about Zelena? Yes. By her own account, if they believed what Zelena had said during her last little visit, then yes he knew about her. But could he defeat her? Did he know how?

"I assume so," she answered honestly. Frankly, she didn't know enough about magic to be positive, but she felt like she knew him well enough. What made Zelena so strong anyway? That she was older than Regina? She'd been in hiding all this time, for all she knew the only thing she really knew how to do well was hide! For all they knew Regina could defeat her and if Regina could do it then… "Yes," she answered confidently. "He could-he can," she amended. Soon she wouldn't have to remind herself to think in present tense. Soon he'd be here. With her. With his son.

"You think he'd take care of her if we asked him to?" he asked with genuine uncertainty. But she felt like it was her who was uncertain about this conversation. Where was all this coming from? She'd left Neal with memories of his past and suddenly after months of being at odds with the others, he wanted to help them?

"Why the sudden change of heart?" she asked curiously. Neal was silent for a minute as she looked him over, feeling utterly confused. Suddenly he pushed himself away from the spot he'd been shuffling in.

"I don't know, you know! Just thinking I guess, remembering…" he sighed taking the treasure box over to the pedestal and set it there, keeping his back to her as he mumbled. "When we were in Neverland…you know it wasn't exactly like he was a team player all the time, no one was, but it felt like…I don't know…it felt like when we were all working together we at least got things done. It was only after he was gone that things turned…"

She understood. Well, she didn't, but she did. She didn't know what had prompted this latest turn in Neal's mind, the return he'd made to working with everyone instead of against. Maybe it had something to do with his clothes maybe it didn't. Maybe it was something that he'd been thinking about just as long as she had and now that it was becoming real he was softening. Maybe he remembered that David was a father just like he was, just like his father was. No, she didn't know what had been the cause of his sudden change of heart, but she knew she was happy about it. She'd rather work with them than against them as well and honestly if the three of them returned to the castle, if Rumple could provide answers about Zelena and a way to find her and defeat her and leave the Kingdom in peace…they might be more receptive to Neal getting back to Henry and Emma.

They might. In the future. But for now they couldn't speculate on that future until they'd done what they came here to do. She picked another book up off the floor and set it on the table with the others.

"It's not a bad way to do things, Neal," she muttered, feeling that maternal fire in her belly spring to life when she realized she was proud of him for the conclusion, the choice, he was making. "But for now, let's just focus on the first step in the process, finding out what happened to that dagger, and getting your father back! If there's anyone who can defeat that witch and get you back to your family, it's the Dark One," she promised, focusing on something positive. "The way to resurrect him has to be here." The question was where?

"You really believe in him, don't you?" Neal inquired suddenly, almost surprised by her answer. Did he really expect her, after all this time to deny that he could get him home, that he could be resurrected or even defeat the Witch? It didn't surprise her, not anymore, this came up too frequently for that, but still, she looked forward to the day that Neal believed him just as much as she did, for the same reason that she did.

"I love him," she stated with hesitation, "all of him, even…" she sat on the table with the book in her hand and smiled, thinking of the part Lacey had helped her come to accept. It was hard to admit, but Neal needed to hear it just as much as she did. "Even the parts that belong to the darkness." She never thought she would, never thought she'd be able to love that flawed half of him and would fight to the end for him to find a cure, but now she believed that she'd always fight for him, flawed or not. She loved him, always had and always would, now the only thing she had to do was get him back. If she needed his dark side to make that happen, then how could she ever despise it?

"Yeah, it took me a while to see past all that," Neal commented, "the good man trying to get out."

She smiled, trying to choke back tears. After all these months he finally spoke of Rumple as "a good man", finally was speaking about him with emotion and reverence in his voice. She didn't know what had happened in that room, but maybe he'd needed it desperately...more so than even she knew.

"He did get out," she reminded him. If the goodness inside of him had remained trapped then none of them would be here in the Enchanted Forest right now because they'd be back in Storybrooke, under Pan's curse, living in his new version of Neverland that he'd dreamed up.

"Yeah, he did," Neal finally agreed after a moment, making her sigh in relief. "The irony is now I need the dark part," he said turning back around, "in order to get to the ones I care about." Yes, that was true, they needed the magic within him, needed the Dark One to do what no ordinary sorcerer or witch could, but-

That wasn't all! Neal was fiddling with something there in his hands. Something more was going on in his mind, she knew him well enough to know when he was holding back from her. When he first came downstairs he'd asked her if she'd found anything…maybe it was her that should have asked him.

"What is that?" she questioned softly, trying to catch a glimpse of it through his gloves.

"A necklace," he muttered honestly, holding it up for her to see. Indeed it was. A pendent of some kind on a chain. "It was Emma's," he told her, holding it closer again, "it was supposed to represent our life together. I don't know how it survived the trip!" he pondered out loud examining it further as if he expected to find a flaw in it.

She could only smirk. It wouldn't be flawed and he certainly wouldn't find any kind of reasoning behind why it was here, nothing physical at least. It was emotional, spiritual…it was because of a bond. A bond she knew only too much about, even if her own was broken.

"Because," she breathed moving off the table to stand by him, a proper support whether he knew he needed it or not, "it was born of true love." He glanced at her, looking skeptical, but she wasn't, not one bit. Ordinary objects could take on extraordinary meaning. Her cup might not have been conjured with magic but it was magical to her, to them. It was the same with Neal and Emma. In her eyes a necklace was a necklace, but to the two of them, it meant so much more. And soon…it would be.

She'd just had a thought. A wonderful and beautiful thought and she wasn't sure why it had taken her so long to think of it. Something born out of true love, something that would have survived everything that had happened, that would have items that she'd seen in Storybrooke and even those that never made it there. That might be able to help her identify some of the objects she'd discovered. There was still a place they had yet to explore.

"Now come with me," she ordered. "I think I know where we can find what we need." So she grabbed her candle and led the pair of them out of the room.


I'm not so crazy about the transition I made here between the scene we saw and the scene we didn't. I did my best but it is a little awkward, at least when I read it. I hope it's just my imagination but...who knows.

Thank you to Meredith Pechta, Agent66, Fox24, Paige, Kathryn Claire O'Connor, Deweymay, Rumbellefan, Raizen Yusuke, Skitzoeinhoven, and Callalily32 for your reviews and thoughts on the last chapter. Interesting ideas. I don't know why but I've always assumed that Neal spend some kind of time in the castle, but I guess it really is something that we just don't know. Thanks for pointing it out to me, I'll make note of it and if I need to I'll change it in the future! Peace and Happy Reading!