As far as bonding moments went with Henry that had not exactly been one she was proud of. They'd had better conversations than that when he worked in the store on Saturdays, but what they'd had was something at least. She couldn't blame him. He was tense, stressed out about Violet, and like it or not Henry wasn't a boy anymore. He was becoming a teenager. There were differences between being a teenage boy and a teenage girl, but if she recalled, mood swings like this were to be expected. Besides, his torment and anger were a good thing really. If he didn't love Emma, it wouldn't bother him as much as it did. The relationship was broken, but not beyond repair, not yet. Hers on the other hand…

Her stomach tightened the moment she and Henry came downstairs, and her eyes landed on Rumpelstiltskin. There was a time that catching a glimpse of him made her glance away with a smirk and a blush. Now it just made her nervous in a way that she'd never experienced.

"Henry…" she glanced up at the sound of Emma's voice and found that her eyes on the boy behind her. But not for long. Henry never responded to her. Instead, the moment that they stepped off the stairs he turned back to her.

"I think I'll go wait in the car," he stated coldly before setting his eyes on the door and walking out on her again.

"Henry…" Mary Margaret and David moved to go after the boy, but she reached out her hand to stop them.

"I wouldn't," she suggested. "He just needs some time…"

Emma hardly moved a muscle at his dismissal and their conversation, but her eyes betrayed her. Shocked, horrified, wounded…she didn't like being away from Henry like this. She would have felt sorry for her but she couldn't when she looked at Rumpelstiltskin. They were infected by the same curse. If he was responsible for his own choice's then so was Emma. She shouldn't have done what she did to Violet, plain and simple. No matter what she'd been trying to do, no matter the purpose behind it…there had to have been a better way.

"Hurts don't it?" a familiar voice questioned leaning against the wall. Blue dress, bow and arrows against her hip, wild red hair, and staring daggers at Emma, looking like she was absolutely enjoying this torture she was going through. "Yer boy out in the world…not knowin' where he is or what he's doin'…that smarts jus' a bit, don't it!" she commented with a smile. All at once she realized why she was there, and she glanced from Merida to Rumple and then to Regina.

"She's who you summoned? She's going to watch Emma?!"

"Aye," Merida answered before Regina could get a word out. "I wasn't so keen on being called in a puff of smoke but once they explained the need to be sure poor defenseless Emma here didn't get hurt…I figured I should repay the favor after she kept a right good eye on me for so long."

"Are you sure this is the best option?" David questioned looking at Rumple skeptically.

"Absolutely," he confirmed, the sword in his hand again she noticed. "You can trust her, despite what she says, she's a woman of honor. She'll keep your daughter safe from harm."

"I feel like it would be a better idea to simply remove the cuff and allow me to help."

"Not a chance," Regina smiled. "Merida isn't here to hurt you, just to make sure you stay put and out of danger. With no magic, it's a task that Merida can easily take care of-"

"Happily!" Merida added with a joyful grin. It made her nervous, but she didn't dare question Rumple since everyone else looked just as nervous as she did. There was no need to make it worse.

Regina ignored her then stepped forward. "And just for extra measure…" she watched as Regina put her hands over Emma's wrist, over the cuff. She held her breath, fearful for a moment that she was going to actually remove the cuff and once look at Emma's face, and she knew she wasn't alone in her thoughts. Emma's eyes widened in shock and anticipation…only to fall when Regina stepped away, and the cuff was still in place. "What are you doing?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Strengthening the cuff so that no one can be tempted by your pleas," she answered looking at Emma. "It'll only come off at my magic now. Either I take it off of you or no one does. And now…we need to leave."

"Where are you planning on going?" Mary Margaret questioned as Regina fetched her coat.

"I need to keep Robin and the baby safe. Zelena is on the loose and Gold isn't the only one that needs protecting. I'll join you as soon as I'm certain they're alright."

And with that Regina appeared to forget that Emma and Merida were even in the house. And so did everyone else. The five of them gathered coats and scarfs and gloves and canes and even swords and went straight to the door. Mary Margaret and David left first, not surprising considering she knew they were probably itching to talk to Henry who was out of sight, probably waiting in the car for them. She, Rumple, and Regina followed quickly after them down the walkway…

No, not all of them.

Behind her she heard Regina shut the door, locking Emma and Merida inside and Rumple…all at once she realized that he wasn't by her side like he'd been nearly all morning. She spun around and found him standing on the porch, cane in one hand, sword in another. His stillness didn't stop Regina from rushing off, but she didn't understand and turned back to him.

"Rumple, what's wrong?" she questioned. The look on his face…he looked like he had yesterday after he defeated Merida. But instead of allowing her voice to shake him and move toward her his feet stayed firmly planted where they were on Regina's porch. "Aren't you coming?" she asked, motioning to the group, trying her best to get him to move.

"I'm afraid my preparations for this battle can't be found in a book," he answered. Preparations for battle…wasn't he listening? He wasn't going to have to battle, they were going to figure out how to save him, all of them! They were going back to search through the chronicles, the chronicles he insisted had answers so that they could fix this! There was no need to duel.

"Well-bu-but this-this was your idea!" she reasoned as she marched back up the stairs to stand beside him. Why didn't he believe in it? It didn't inspire much hope if he didn't have faith in his own idea.

"For you…and the others…there might be some way to protect yourself, but for me…" he shook his head, and the smile he gave…it was doubting. "I've spent an entire life running away from battles. Time to stop."

This was his plan, why he wanted them to go to the library and look through the chronicles again. It wasn't so they would find something to stop Hook, or figure out what Nimue was supposed to help them with, it was so they'd find something to protect themselves when it was too late. When he….

No. No, not this again! It was the same thing as last night when he'd stopped her going after Zelena. There was a difference between being brave and going uselessly to death. This was the latter! There was no need for it. He was already a hero! There was no need to go pointlessly to battle and risk his life when she could see how much he'd changed.

"You don't have anything to prove anymore. You saved me from Merida!" she argued. "You're a hero now!"

"But that doesn't erase a lifetime of cowardice, nothing can!" he fought back.

Why was he doing this? He was the smartest man she knew why was he suddenly insisting that he be stupid?! Because of her? Because of what she'd said? Was this her fault?

"Belle…I know I've hurt you in unforgivable ways, but I also know that not wanting me to die isn't the same as wanting to be with me. So if I survive this, I want to do better by you. I want to love you in the way I never could before with honesty and courage. Let me be the man you deserve, the man I swore on my son's grave I would be."

They were here again. The place they'd been last night and in the early hours this morning. Her heart was racing, her blood was absolutely boiling, she worried tears in her eyes might betray her. She wanted that. Everything that he'd said now and last night and this morning she wanted all of it! And there was a time that she believed it was a gift, but she'd learned now. She'd been burned by him not just once or twice but too many times to count. She'd placed her heart back together so many times she worried that the glue wouldn't hold it together if it so much as cracked again. She wanted everything he said, but she also didn't want to hurt again. And this felt like hurting. Him before her, asking her to take a leap of faith…it was painful because she'd taken that leap before and dashed herself against the rocks at the bottom of the cliff.

But they were here. No books or tables or Mary Margaret to interrupt them. She didn't know how to respond without running away. "I uh…I-I don't know what to say…" she finally admitted sadly.

He turned his head away from her at her words. But he didn't look as broken as he had when she'd changed the subject this morning. "Don't say anything," he finally suggested with a shake of his head. Say nothing. Odd how her stomach turned over in guilt at those words. She glanced up to tell him they needed to go but found that he was already stepping away, giving her the air, the oxygen she needed to think clearly.

"If I win…if I win I'll go to the well, where we were married," he suggested stepping off the porch but still holding her gaze. "And if you meet me there…I'll know how you feel."

She opened her mouth but once more words eluded her as fear seeped into her bones and paralyzed her muscles. But this time, she didn't need words. The ultimatum was before her, and now Rumple, cane and sword and all stalked away from her into Regina's yard, leaving her with a choice she neither wanted nor needed at a time like this.


Okay, we all know what is coming, but it's killing me, can I take a minute to point out two more really stupid things they did here! Of course, I can it's my authors note. First of all, Merida. ::Flails madly:: Where the heck did she come from?! The show never actually explains this so it just leaves us thinking that despite the fact that Regina has no memories of her she left the house, ran out, got Merida, came back, left Merida to babysit, left again...really?! That was possibly the stupidest thing I've seen! No wait...it gets better! Where the hell is Rumple going at the end of this scene? Has anyone actually thought about that? He has this talk with Belle then just kind of saunters off into Regina's yard. He doesn't go down the steps to the street, he wings a left into the yard. Where's he going?! Is he going to commune with the bushes in the backyard?! Everyone else is piling into cars to go back into town, you'd think he'd hitch a ride with someone because the next time we see him, surprise, he's in town! It's like he just said "Yeah I know we're all going to the same place but I think I'll walk, not like we're on a deadline or anything! Ridiculous! There. I think I'm done. I think I feel better now. And that rant didn't even include the fact that Henry doesn't leave the house with them despite the fact that he's in the library, or the fact that I had to do something about the cuff because they rewrote their own mythology again! #sorrynotsorry. See, I think that at the heart of it, this is what gets me about this season. At some point, the creators stopped caring. They stopped treating all their charcters like people, and just started treating them as characters. They took away their depth and what made them human and smart and relatable and instead gave them cool walks off into the sunset and places in scenes that made no sense. They built up drama, then never properly brought it back down. The mistakes in this scene, that is what bothers me about this season.

Thank you, Kathryn Claire O' Connor, Grace5231973, Fox24, Carlyle23, Ladybugsmomma, and Teresa Martin, for the really awesome reviews you left me on the last chapter. They made me so happy considering that I didn't like that chapter as much. I was thrilled to hear it wasn't as awful as I thought it was. I hope the same can be said about some of these upcoming scenes. I've got a tough task ahead of me, but if I've done my job right, then the task should already be half accomplished. Just on the horizon, we've got another important talk with Neal coming up! But that's not next. Next, I'm fixing more of the problems with this episode. So, you can look forward to more commentary on this episode because...ugh...I just can't even! Peace and Happy Reading.