Chapter Thirty-Six—"Hope for the Future"

Snow, Belle decided, made one heck of a warrior queen, straight backed and utterly at home wearing armor and in the saddle. Although David often joked that he did the fighting and Snow did the talking, the truth was that both were adept at either, and when Snow White arrived in Caer Dallben at the head of a thousand soldiers, people noticed.

Ruby had been with her for the entire trek across Snow and David's kingdom, but Rumplestiltskin had dropped Belle, Doc, and Dopey off only the afternoon before. Belle had sensed a certain amount of tension in her True Love when he'd done so, but even Rumplestiltskin admitted that he had no real basis for his concerns, only an uneasy feeling that something was going to go wrong. When pressed, he went on to say that he wasn't even certain that the feeling centered on Belle. It might as well have concerned his own mission to bring an errant sorcerer back into the fold before Cedric spilled what few secrets he knew to the fae. His visions were unclear and the puzzle pieces scattered, no matter how hard he tried to force them to make sense.

So, Belle had kissed him goodbye and promised to call upon him if something went wrong. She loved the man dearly, and always would, but there were times that his overprotective streak drove her mad. Belle could not live her life in Rumplestiltskin's shadow, no matter how badly he wanted to keep her safe, and he knew that.

Usually.

"So," she asked Snow, forcing her mind to the task at hand. "What's the plan?"

"We search the town," Snow replied with a shrug. "House by house if we have to. There was nothing in the woods, but Mulan's information had to come from somewhere."

The initial rumors—both from Mulan and a second corner of Belle's information network—had indicated that the fae were keeping prisoners in the forest outside Caer Dallben. But they had searched the woods yesterday without finding any evidence of magic, let alone prisoners. Tink had been able to enchant a short-ranged detector for fae magic, which Snow had brought, and Belle had retrieved Grumpy's old pick axe for Rumplestiltskin to place a locator spell on. But the search had so far proven fruitless, despite those tools. They had found absolutely nothing, which left the other dwarves irritable and frustrated.

"I'll see if I can't sniff anything out while your soldiers search," Ruby volunteered. "Dwarves smell…different."

"They do?" Belle had never noticed, but then, she didn't have a wolf's nose.

"Yeah." Ruby grimaced. "Spicy. And dirty. No matter how often they bathe, they always smell like caves."

The other two women smiled wanly. They were all tired and starting to lose hope, but they would not leave Grumpy—and whatever other poor souls were imprisoned with him—to the fae's mercy. The longer the fae were resident in the Enchanted Forest, the more horrid stories circulated about them, and by now Belle, Snow, and Ruby all had a pretty good idea what it would mean for Grumpy to be the pet of a powerful fae. Besides, it wasn't like they didn't have a trick or two up their sleeves, courtesy of both Tinker Bell and Rumplestiltskin. Bringing an actual magic user along on this quest would have tipped the fae off more quickly than arriving with an army, but that didn't mean that they couldn't bring tools to trap a fae if they found one.

"Okay." Snow squared her shoulders and gestured to her battalion commander. "Let's get to work."

Regina hated Wonderland and always would. The place had seemed fascinating at first, full of, well, wonders, but after a while the insanity got old. Even though Robin, foolish man that he was, seemed to view this as a bit of an adventure, she was growing more irritable by the moment. Why did I let Rumplestiltskin talk me into this? she asked herself for the hundredth time. Oh, right. I got greedy and wanted that favor. After all, if her old mentor had taught her nothing else, Rumplestiltskin had imbued in Regina the desire to gather power where she could. She and the former Dark One might be on the same side now, but owning a favor from him might matter in the future.

He also hated owing people. So Regina was more than happy to get under his skin like this.

"Will's a good sort, mostly," Robin told her as they threaded their way through the crowd in a really seedy bar that had obviously seen better days. It was filthy and full of filthy people, neither of which made it the type of place Regina was inclined to visit. What had that damn turtle called this place? The Underland? "For a thief, anyway. I'm not sure how he fell into this 'White King' business."

Regina snorted, sidestepping a drunk and resisting the urge to light him on fire when he leered at her. "The same way most of us do, I imagine. He married into it."

"I'm still not sure what makes him stay in this place," her love replied, eying a pair of hookah-smoking rabbits. "It's a bit…odd."

"Says a man who's never been to Storybrooke. You should have tried getting used to that place when you could remember the Enchanted Forest. It was…difficult."

She'd been so consumed by revenge in those days that Regina had gleefully thrown herself into the Land Without Magic and embraced its eccentricities, but even with curse-supplied memories in her head, the transition had been hard. She'd felt out of place for the first few years, felt like nothing was right and the world itself was off. And so very empty.

"Well, if someone's world-shattering curse hadn't left a few of us behind by accident, I'd know what you were talking about," he teased her gently, and despite herself, Regina smiled.

What would have happened if she'd brought Robin and his men along to Storybrooke? Could Regina have found love sooner, or would her heart still have been too closed off? Perhaps she'd needed to love Henry first. After all, she'd found Robin Hood coarse and obnoxious at when her reversal of the curse had first brought them back to the Enchanted Forest; only a chance encounter when she'd been at her emotional worst had changed that. Robin had inexplicably reached out to a hurting stranger, and Regina actually seen him for the first time that day. Somehow an undeniable attraction cropped up between them, and then they had become friends. Seeing his lion tattoo several weeks later had almost made her flee, but Regina had managed to stop herself.

Which was why she now found herself sitting at a rickety table with her soul mate in what was certainly this world's sleaziest bar. Almost immediately, another drunk stumbled over, burping as he struggled to focus on Robin.

"How much," the drunk slurred, "for a night w'yer wench?"

Regina's head snapped up. "Excuse me?"

"She's not for sale." Robin took the obnoxious proposition significantly better than she did, nonchalantly sipping his ale while he reached out to grasp her hand. The sudden warmth of his palm against hers was all that stopped Regina's instinct to turn the offending jackass into an actual jackass. Still, she couldn't stop herself from demanding:

"What do you think I am?" Yes, they were there incognito and Regina was certainly dressed nothing like a queen, but this really was ridiculous.

"Jus' what you look like, lass. A good lay."

"A good lay?" she echoed incredulously. Regina came halfway out of her chair before Robin managed to yank her back down. What kind of people lived in this horrid little land? If they were all drunks and fools, she despaired of getting any help from Robin's friend. No wonder why her mother had been in such a hurry to leave!

"I told you," Robin's voice was made of iron, and when he came to his feet, his movements were slow and dangerous. "She's not for sale. Now bugger off."

"Or what?" the drunk demanded.

Robin smiled, suddenly all charm. "Or I won't buy you a drink. Your call."

"Oh. Well, then." The drunk swayed, and then smiled back stupidly, showing mismatched teeth, some of which Regina was certain were made of wood.

Sitting back down casually, Robin signaled the barmaid and provided Regina's admirer with another libation, paying for it and then tipping the barmaid generously. The drunk stumbled off almost immediately, weaving his way through people and bumping off at least half of them in his quest to find companionship for the evening. Regina watched him go with a snarl, only letting the spell in her left hand, the one cupped under the table, die down after he was long gone.

"Apparently, you're not as enticing as another mug of ale," Robin told her cheerfully. "Sorry, love."

"You should have let me turn him into a jackass," she groused. "It would have been fitting."

"This sort of place is my world, Regina," her lover answered quietly, the forced humor fading from his eyes now that the drunk was out of earshot. "Introducing magic into it will only get people killed. Maybe even us."

She rolled her eyes. "I can make sure it isn't us." Over two months had passed since her bout with the Black Fairy. A few lingering weaknesses persisted, but Regina was back on form, and there was certainly no one in this miserable little world that could stand up to her.

Robin squeezed the hand he'd never let go of throughout the confrontation. "And I'd rather it not be anyone. I know you can defend your own honor, but let me take a round from time to time, eh?"

She was not blushing. Evil Queens did not blush.

"I'm going to ask your daughter to marry me."

The words echoed around the great hall of Maurice's castle, and made the landed knight whirl around to face the intruder. Moments earlier, he'd been alone with his maps, having just sent a trio of advisors away after a lengthy meeting. Now, he found himself staring at the man who had once dealt for his daughter in this very room, sweeping her away while Maurice and others watched helplessly. Only Belle had kept her composure that day, standing regally while the men blubbered and shied back from the monster. Only Belle had been unafraid.

The memory made Rumplestiltskin smile thinly. Perhaps that had not been the best beginning for a relationship, but he would not change it now, even if he could.

"I beg your pardon?" the larger man demanded, lurching out of his throne and to his feet. Rumplestiltskin remained where he was, leaning casually against the wall near a window that overlooked the city Belle had grown up in. It was a nice view.

"I'm going to ask Belle to marry me," he repeated. "I have every reason to believe she'll say yes."

Maurice looked like he had swallowed a particularly floppy live fish, and Rumplestiltskin fought back a laugh. He hadn't come to Avonlea to intentionally torment his prospective father-in-law; arriving here had been something of a whim. But the late Lord Cedric's lands—now owned by his much better behaved eldest son—bordered Avonlea, and it occurred to Rumplestiltskin that this was a visit he should make. Belle deserved better than anything else he might have done…and Maurice had surprised Rumplestiltskin back at the Dark Castle. He'd not expected the former Storybrooke florist to demonstrate such courage, standing with his daughter against the likes of Leah and Hubert. Rumplestiltskin even knew that Maurice had stayed in contact with Belle since and remained one of the Grand Alliance's strongest supporters. Apparently, Belle had inherited something from her father, after all.

And this wasn't the Land Without Magic. Certain things were expected in the Enchanted Forest.

"Are you asking my permission?" Maurice asked, stunned.

Rumplestiltskin laughed softly. "No. But I thought you should know."

Tradition or no, he was not some knight come to beg for the hand of his lord's daughter. He was the most powerful sorcerer alive, and Rumplestiltskin did have his pride. He'd once beaten this man half to death. He'd not come crawling to him now.

But, if they could tolerate one another, for Belle's sake if nothing else, perhaps this could mean something in the long run. Perhaps they could be civil enough, even if they'd never be happy with calling one another family. Then, without warning, a flash of light swept through Rumplestiltskin's mind, an image of a young girl with her mother's brown curls and his own darker eyes. The girl was smiling and laughing, dancing amongst wildflowers—and he knew her, even though he did not. The vision staggered him, leaving Rumplestiltskin blinding and reeling. He almost never Saw anything so close to himself, and yet…

Aware of Maurice's eyes on him, Rumplestiltskin forcibly separated himself from the vision in time to hear the knight say:

"And if I disagree?"

Ah. This, at least, he had expected. Far more than he'd anticipated the vision of a toddler with bouncy curls and an infectious smile. Rumplestiltskin shrugged.

"It matters more to Belle than to me," he replied frankly. If Maurice was looking for an apology for his stealing Belle away a lifetime earlier, he'd be waiting an eternity. Rumplestiltskin would not apologize. Belle had made her choice, and no one decided her fate but her. Even he'd learned that by now. Rumplestiltskin took a deep breath. "But I do love your daughter. And I want her to be happy."

His honesty seemed to give Maurice pause.

"You might be on the right side this time, Rumplestiltskin, but you're still a monster," the knight finally said. "How can I trust you to take care of my little girl?"

Another man might have been offended by that, but Rumplestiltskin had worn the mantle of the beast for far too long. "Because she's made her choice. I'll never fully understand what she sees in me, but she has. And anyone who ever tries to harm her will have to come through me first."

That wasn't a threat. It was a statement of fact, and one Maurice could actually appreciate; Rumplestiltskin saw that in his eyes. Good. Heartfelt honesty is not my best color, particularly with him.

"I've never seen why she loves you," Maurice admitted. "But I know she does. You don't deserve her."

"I know."

But True Love wasn't about deserving. It was about fighting, and loving, and being willing to dedicate and sacrifice all that you were. True Love was about sharing a heart; it was loving with your entire soul. A very long time had to pass before Rumplestiltskin had understood that, and he'd needed his curse to be broken before he could fully embrace it. He might never be a good man, but Belle's love made him want to be better.

"I suppose you have my blessing, then," Maurice replied after another long moment of silence. "For her sake. Not yours."

He could accept that. Rumplestiltskin nodded, and was surprised when the next words did not stick in his throat.

"Thank you."

Regina had flattened the obnoxious Caterpillar when he'd tried to make Robin bargain for directions. Her bargain had been simple; she'd let him live if he told them how to find who they were looking for. Miffed, the drugged up purple worm had taken the deal, muttering about insane sorceresses and how they felt they could walk all over everyone even when they were deep in other peoples' business. The Caterpillar had a little magic of his own, of course, but his was nothing like Regina's. His power was based in fear and in secrets, in sleights of hand that he could perform like no other. Regina, however, was not the subtle sort, particularly not once she got impatient.

The patrons in the Underland gave them a wide berth after that, and she and Robin were able to exit in peace.

"See?" Regina grinned at Robin. "I told you my way was better."

"This time." He scowled. "But will you at least let me deal with Will? I do know him, and he'll respond very poorly to threats."

"Of course. He's your friend."

Regina didn't need to upstage her lover, after all. It was just a contest that the two of them enjoyed. That didn't mean she'd let their fun get in the way of finding the evil sorcerer turned genie that Rumplestiltskin wanted so badly.

"'Friend' might be too strong of a word," Robin said after a moment.

"Excuse me?"

"He ran with the Merry Men for a while. I know him, but I never said he was my friend." He smiled crookedly. "I may have kicked him out of the band for refusing to follow my orders and stealing a magical portal from Maleficent."

"Oh. Great. So he's a dishonorable thief. Tell me again why we're going to him for help?"

"Don't look at me. You're the one who told me he was the so-called White King."

"It's what Rumplestiltskin told me," Regina retorted defensively.

Robin groaned. "He really is a manipulative bastard, isn't he? I've heard the stories, but…"

"You have no idea."

That little bastard is behind everything, as usual. And here I am, doing his dirty work. Again.

"At least we're having an adventure?" Robin tried to lighten the mood.

Regina scowled. "This is not an adventure. This is Wonderland. I hate this place!"

"Then where would you rather be?" Without warning, Robin grabbed her hands and spun her around, grinning suggestively. "Some place more romantic? More dangerous? More—"

Regina cut him off with a kiss. "More you."

Less Wonderland went without saying. Not for the first time, however, Regina found herself marveling at how Robin could lighten her mood with a mere smile. There had been so much darkness in her life, but his presence was like a constant set of fireworks in her soul, brilliant and colorful, illuminating even the most unreachable parts of her battered heart.

"I'm always game for that," he replied a little breathlessly. "Tell you what—when this is over: you and me, somewhere romantic, and just us."

She didn't deserve this man, but Regina kissed him again, anyway.

"You have yourself a deal," she promised.

The sudden surge of hope within Regina almost tore her off her feet. A year previously, just a few months after they'd returned to the Enchanted Forest, she'd felt that she had no future. No hope. Nothing. But now…now she had this wonderful man by her side, a son who had returned and loved her still, and another precious little boy who had wormed his way into her heart. For the first time since her mother had forced her to marry King Leopold, Regina had a future. And knowing that made her absolutely giddy.

"Let's go find your friend," she told Robin, giving him a brilliant smile. "Then we'll see about winning this damn war."

"Worst. Idea. Ever." Emma glared at him. "Neal, this is your fault!"

"Hey, I thought you said that you'd killed one of these things before!" he objected.

"Not with our son here!"

"Don't worry, Dad. I think it's cool," Henry interjected, causing both his parents to turn their glares on him.

"You're not helping!" they snapped in unison, but their thirteen year old only laughed.

"You guys are so cute."

"Henry!" Emma snarled, but quickly turned back to look at her hands.

"Don't torment your mom, bud. She's trying to do magic," Bae told his son.

"I know, and it's awesome!" Of course Henry was enthusiastic about Emma using magic. He always had been. It meant that both his mothers could be powerful sorceresses, and Bae knew that the day Henry started asking about magic wasn't far away. The thought still made him uneasy, and Bae often had to remind himself that he had accepted that magic was a part of his life. Still, it was one thing for Emma to become a sorceress, weird though the concept was. His son, on the other hand, was just about the age Bae had been when magic had barged its disastrous way into his life.

Making a mental note to talk to his own father about Henry, Bae returned his attention to the pair of chimeras who were trying to batter their way through the shield Emma had hastily created a few minutes earlier. Of course, her magic kept everything else out as effectively as it kept the chimeras in, which meant Bae couldn't just shoot the beasts while they were trapped. Emma either had to kill them with magic or let them out, and neither was eager to do the later while their son was there.

"He is so your son!" Emma snarled.

Despite the seriousness of the situation, Bae and Henry laughed together. The three of them had been off for a short trip, sent by David to sort out a minor dispute between landowners on the southern side of the kingdom. Actually, Emma had been sent, to help her grow into her role as a princess, but Bae and Henry had tagged along. They'd never expected one of the nearby towns to be plagued by a pair of magical beasts that kept trying to eat their children, but Bae and Emma's intention to send Henry home before dealing with the problem—or at least leave him somewhere safe—had been derailed by Henry himself. Of course their boy wanted to help, and he'd managed to save a pair of four year olds from the chimeras, only to be almost eaten himself.

That, of course, was why Emma had pinned the creatures into a magical ball and was now trying to kill them. Normally, they'd have gone after the pair with swords or at least a crossbow, but normally their son wasn't in danger. And loving every minute of it.

"I was not this crazy as a child," he retorted. "Unlike some children, I stayed out of the way when I was told to."

Henry snorted. "Sure you did, Dad."

Glaring at Henry again got him nowhere, and he really wasn't very angry at his son, anyway. Bae just hated standing here waiting for Emma to kill something. It wasn't like she wasn't good at it, but they had proven to be a damned good team, so sitting on the sidelines was really irksome.

Finally, the chimeras dropped to the ground, no longer breathing while Emma grinned tiredly but triumphantly. Henry hugged her.

"See, Mom? I told you you could do it."

Emma rolled her eyes, exchanging a look with Bae. Henry seemed to take every time Emma used magic as a victory of sorts—but then again, he had been a little bit instrumental in helping her decide to learn. "Sure you did, kid."

"C'mon, you two," Bae spoke up, wrapping an arm around Emma to drag his family along. "Let's blow this popsicle stand. If we head out now, we can make it back to Lord Soulis' castle by nightfall."

"Cool! I love staying with evil sorcerers," Henry replied immediately, and Emma groaned.

"Great idea, Neal. Just great."

"Hey, he's one of your parents' most influential lords," Bae objected. "And your dad wanted us to drop in on him while your mom's away. Don't blame me for this one."

"Fine. I'll punch David when we get back, then." But she didn't mean it, even if Henry did answer a little seriously:

"I don't think you're allowed to punch kings, Mom. Even if you are a princess."

Bae couldn't help laughing at that one, and after a moment, the other two joined in. Yeah, his life wasn't anything like he'd once thought it would be, but damn things were pretty good. Even if he did sometimes wind up as the metaphorical royal cloak holder while the princess he'd fallen in love with slayed demons, life was good.

One moment, they'd been staring at a blank outer wall of a blacksmith's shop on the outskirts of town. The next, courtesy of a sprinkle of fairy dust thrown by Snow (which had been 'acquired' by unknown means through Tinker Bell), they had found the doorway Ruby had insisted must be there. Whatever magic that had been shielding the door had been impervious to all their methods of detection, but Ruby has smelled Grumpy beyond the wall. Even the locator spell on Grumpy's pick axe had been fooled—the axe was probably still doing laps of Caer Dallben's town square while people ducked its inadvertent efforts to decapitate anyone in its path—but Ruby's nose had won the day.

Snow, Belle, and Ruby came through the doors together, weapons in hand and ready for anything. A dozen soldiers were on their heels, and Belle held the net designed to trap a fae, but there was only one occupant in the entire spacious room. It looked like the inside of a barn, but smelled of old blood and pain.

"Oh, no," Snow White's most loyal dwarf greeted them, his voice muffled by a bloody and swollen face. "What are you doing here?"

A/N: I apologize for the delay in updating this chapter—real life got in the way and writing got hard. Thank you for sticking with me! Questions going forward: 1) Why do you think Grumpy is so worried about Snow and company finding him? 2) Do you think that Rumplestiltskin will manage to pop the question any time soon, or will too many interruptions happen?

Stay tuned for Chapter 37: "Family Ties", in which Rumplestiltskin stops by to give Emma magic lessons and David learns something that really ticks him off.