~The Book~

Belle sat up with a start. Suddenly, she knew exactly why that book was in Emma's room, and she never got the chance to tell any of them anything about it. The only one who knew...

Not even getting fully dressed, she threw on a robe, not bothering to tie it before grabbing the book and sprinting down the hall to Emma's room. It was only logical to assume that's where she'd find them. If memories were back, and things happened the same as before… Poor Emma. They had to know, she had to tell them this time.

She burst through the door, despite the guard trying to stop her. Snow, sitting on the bed, barely seemed surprised by this. Regina raised an eyebrow at the intrusion. Hook barely managed to crook his head enough to give her a weary glance before it fell right back to his blank stare.

"Belle." Regina greeted, waving off the guards who looked to the Queen before making their exit. "Deja vu. You remember what you wanted to tell us?"

"Belle, are you alright?" Snow asked gently, the tears emerging, wetting her face.

Belle caught her breath. "Did Emma mention to any of you a book that was left in here? She found it the morning after..." She allowed herself to trail off. The timeline of things felt fuzzy, she just hoped they'd understand her

The two women looked at eachother, shaking their heads. Killian hadn't budged an inch.

"No, sweety, but we remember you never got the chance to tell us… last time."

"The missing day. You remember Baelfire's mutterings, repeating the name Atropos? After I found out about it, I went to the library, I did a lot of digging, and I found it. I came in here to tell you, but it must have been right at midnight and-."

"Yes, everyone seems to have their memories back, so, tell us now." Regina pried, her patience fried.

"Right. Atropos is a sister, one of three, and together they weave destiny, fate."

Snow's tears started falling more freely, her face in a look of disbelief. She spoke barely above a whisper. "This is her fate?"

Regina interjected. "No, Snow, there's more to it than that. It didn't happen like this before-"

Snow stood, glaring at Regina. "Before? Before when? In your other timeline?"

"Timeline?" Belle asked, feeling weak in her knees.

Regina closed her eyes, bowing her head. "It's not something I advertise. I was given the memories of what would happen if I cast the curse. Emma eventually had a son. She somehow met and fell in love with Neal, and he abandoned her like everyone else had in that version of her life. She was alone when she gave birth."

Snow sank down into the floor, almost in a prayer position. She took her daughter's hand, the silent sobs blurring her vision and wetting the bed as she buried her face into it.

Belle had to sit down too, crossing over to the vanity, wrapping her mind around everything. No wonder Regina seemed to know so much about everything. "So, that means this son, he has to be born, and these sisters of fate took over since it wasn't going to happen naturally?" Belle started rubbing her temples. It was all too much.

"I suppose so. He was said to have the heart of the truest believer, and it suited him well."

"This isn't a normal adversary." Belle muttered. "What are we supposed to do about fate? Do we fight them, all three sisters? Or just let them tinker with our lives?"

"They are a formidable opponent, to be sure." Regina replied. "We have no real way of knowing if we could walk right up to them with the answer on how to defeat them, or if they would simply snap their fingers to gain our defeat, or write us out of existence, or completely reset this timeline, making us all go back into that curse I didn't cast."

"There must be a way." Belle muttered. "I refuse to believe there isn't."

Regina spoke. "I wonder if another fate gave me those memories in the first place."

"Why, though?" Belle asked.

"You did say there are three?" Belle nodded. "All of this started when I didn't cast the curse. I didn't, because a witch gave me those memories, a lifetime's worth. Emma, a different Emma, and her son, both helped me to change. What you see now is the result of years of hard work from versions of people that no longer exist. Who, other than a God, could change the future in such a large way?"

"That doesn't explain why."

"No, but it may be a start to a solution. It's almost like we have a fate changing things, and another changing them back, like a course correction. Bae was whispering her name, right? One of the sisters?" Belle nodded slowly. Regina grinned. "Tell me what you know about them."

Belle retold what she had told Emma after the ball, and much more. Clotho, the Spinner, decides everything from who is born and when, when they would be killed, as well as any other important decisions in their lives. Lachesis, the Alloter, had the task of measuring the thread of life that was spun and was responsible for deciding how much life each living being had, as well as their destiny. Atropos, the Inflexible, was the one who decided how each human would die, and was the one who held the shears to cut the thread of life.

No one noticed when a certain pirate stealthily left as the conversation came to a grinding halt, allowing the information to sink in.