Blueeyeddevil06 thank you for being my beta!
Zelena winced in pain as Baelfire changed her bandages. He wasn't sure if his father was tougher than her, if Belle was gentler than him, or some combination of both. He just knew that his father could get through the times like this without showing any pain. It was later, only when he was yelling and throwing things, that he could tell his father had been hurting.
"I'm almost done." He assured her. "You seem to be healing well. It looks exactly like what my papa went through."
"What are you talking about?!" Zelena asked him, ignoring the pain he was causing her. "The Dark One was injured?"
Shoot. He was supposed to keep that a secret. "A long time ago back before-"
"You're lying!" She hissed. "What happened?" She tried to sit up. She wanted to hit him.
Baelfire insisted she lay back down, and then he stepped back. "My father was hit with the same magic from Emma. It was how he knew she found her true love. He didn't want me to tell you."
"She injured him, and he didn't warn me!" She was livid. "She could have killed me." She narrowed her eyes, "You should look a little sadder about that husband."
"I didn't know you'd attack her." He said in his defense.
"I wouldn't have if I had known! Damn! How did he heal himself?"
"He couldn't. Dark magic can't counter her true love magic."
She huffed, "Go to town and find me a healer. I need someone that isn't as clumsy as you to help me." She didn't really want to even look at him right now.
"Okay," he agreed. "That is if you want people knowing that you are vulnerable to attack now. My father wouldn't have-"
"Damn, just finish with my bandages and then get me some food. I'm hungry. Forget the healer." She scowled at him. "I can't believe you let your wife go without that information."
"My papa-"
"Ugh! Grow a spine!" She was glad he was finally finished. "Get out of here." She waved him away and winced in pain again.
Baelfire walked out of the room, thinking about what she said. Was she right? Didn't he owe something to his wife? They were married now, and he lied to her. Something about that didn't sit right with him.
Belle found Rumple in his study surrounded by stacks of books. Several of them were lying open. All of them were about the Dark One dagger. The dagger was lying in front of him with his name engraved on it in big ominous letters. She shivered at the sight of it.
"You're researching the dagger?" She asked, hoping he'd explain why he'd been holed up in his study for the whole day.
"Yes." He waved his hands at his books. "I'm trying to work out a solution."
"To what?" She went over, stood by him, and placed her hands on his shoulders.
"How to unbind me from the dagger without dying."
She looked at him in shock. "You want to give up being The Dark One?"
"I chose you. I can't be the man you deserve and The Dark One. I'm not even sure I can be the man you deserve without being The Dark One, but I'm willing to try." He didn't look at her. He couldn't. He was terrified that she didn't want him enough.
Belle pulled his chair back with him in it, crawled in his lap, and kissed him passionately. "Rumple, you would do that for me?" There were tears in her eyes. "I'm so happy."
He cracked a smile. He was relieved. "I would do anything for you, Belle." He caressed her cheek.
She rested her head on his shoulder and considered the problem. "Why did you kidnap Emma?"
"I know you're still upset about that, but-"
"No! Well, yes. But that isn't what I mean. Why didn't you want her to find true love?" She leaned back and looked him in the eyes.
"She can destroy me. Actually, I think she's destined to."
"You, or the Dark One powers?"
"What?" He looked at her in confusion.
"What if she's your savior, not your destroyer? What if we ask her for help destroying the power of The Dark One?"
"What makes you think she'd help me?"
She shrugged, "She probably wouldn't trust you, but she'd help me. We're friends."
"Why didn't you tell me you were friends?!" He looked at her in alarm.
"I didn't think it would matter to you. You used to be very cold to me, remember?"
"Yes, I was trying and failing not to fall in love with you." He kissed her lips. "This is the first time I've ever been happy to fail."
That admission warmed her heart, but she brought him back to the topic she'd brought up. "What if she could help?"
"I don't trust her. I don't trust anyone." He admitted easily.
"I do. Learn to trust me, please."
He sighed, "I do trust you. I just… I kidnapped her! She's not going to want to help me."
"I think she wants the Dark One dagger destroyed as much as you do. You would have a similar goal."
"She's your friend?" He went back to the one fact that mattered to him.
"She is. Her parents' kingdom is large. My father took me to visit them."
"You will not call that man your father!" He roared. "He betrayed you and cast you off."
She caressed his cheek. "I like how angry that makes you. It's sweet."
He shook his head at her. "You're happy about the strangest things, Belle."
"Lucky for you." She placed her head on his shoulder again. "You are a strange man."
He couldn't help himself, and he smiled. "What is your plan for talking to Emma?"
"You could take me to the palace, and I could talk to her."
"I won't put you in danger!"
"She won't hurt me." She ran her fingers lightly over his chest. "We're friends."
"But, she hates me!"
"Only villains use the innocent as collateral damage."
"Her husband is a villain! Hook hates me." He felt he justly pointed out.
Belled kissed his neck. "No, he's not a villain anymore. He's Emma's true love. He won't hurt me because it would upset her."
"If something happens to you-"
"You really don't think much of me, do you? I'm not a fool." She sighed, "I should have figured out my father would react badly. You don't trust my judgment because of that instance."
"A child shouldn't expect to be betrayed by their parents. I don't hold that against you. Fine," he growled. "I'll try it your way. But, if they make one wrong move, I'm getting you out of there."
She didn't point out that he didn't threaten to kill them, just save her. She didn't think he'd be excited to hear he was changing even more.
Killian found he enjoyed family dinners. He liked everyone there, and they all had a lively sense of humor. Regina even jokingly threatened to kill some people. Well, he thought it was a joke. It didn't really bother him if it wasn't. He still had Captain Hook in him.
Robin looked at Emma and said, "So, Killian beat you sparing today. I think I heard it from just about everyone."
She scowled, "Great, everyone knows I lost." She smirked at Killian. "Although I did say that I'd probably marry the only man who could beat me."
"Aye, Swan, you did. Even without true love, I'd be the man for you." He gave her a cocky smile. He then looked at David. "You and Lancelot trained her well. She didn't need to use her sword on my ship, but it was nice to know she could defend herself."
"She didn't have to use her sword in any of the towns you stopped in?" Henry asked.
Billy shook his head, "No way! Captain Hook wouldn't let anything happen to her. Not ever. When he wasn't with her himself, she always had bodyguards. She also carried throwing knives he had made for her just in case. She was always protected." He smiled and looked proud of the information he was giving everyone about his captain. "When I was new to the ship, they said I'd have no trouble fitting in as long as I was good to Emma. They weren't married yet, but everyone already knew she was to be protected."
Killian was shocked to discover that he could still blush. He coughed to clear his throat. "My whole crew adores her," was all he said to that.
Emma smiled at that announcement. "When we had the crew from the Southern Isles ship on board the Jolly Roger, Killian's crew made sure I was always guarded as soon as I stepped out of our cabin."
Snow looked up in shock, "Who? What happened?"
"We were sailing north and saw a sinking Naval ship. It was from the Southern Isles. They were blown off course in a huge storm. We rescued all but one on board." Killian told them. He then went into all of the details of how Emma saved the horse. How Hans, the thirteenth prince, fell overboard in chains. Emma then told them about what happened to Queen Elsa. He placed his hand on hers when he saw tears spring to her eyes. She told about how Elsa's parents feared her magic and how it broke her heart.
Snow shocked him with the look on her face. She was furious. "How dare they! I kept comments they made to us to myself because I didn't want to hurt you with their views, Emma. The fact that their own daughter had magic and they knew it… I'm so mad I could spit!"
Billy started howling with laughter. It was apparent he wanted to see the sweet queen spit.
She continued, "The idea that her parents wouldn't support her in her magic. That they made her afraid of her gift!" She slammed her fist down on the table, and the silverware rattled.
Emma tried to calm her mother down. "Mom, it's okay. It sounds like her sister Anna is like Killian. As soon as she discovered Elsa had magic, she wasn't afraid of it."
"Really?" David said. He immediately lost interest in the story about Elsa. He looked at Killian. "You accepted her magic right away?"
"You act like that's special, David. My whole crew accepted her magic right away. Not one of us was afraid of her." He looked at Emma. "We knew Emma, and because of that, we knew her magic had to be good. In fact, I promised Emma I'd take her to meet Elsa sometime. I think they both could benefit from getting to know each other."
Henry made a show of making a fake check mark in the air. "Well, David, he's checked off everything you wanted for Emma. He even passed the test of never fearing her magic. It would be interesting to see if it's really true love or a spell you had cast to make her the perfect husband."
"If it were a spell I had cast, he would have been a prince." David quipped.
Killian scoffed, "No, he wouldn't have been. You would have thought he was boring then."
David shrugged, "You got me there."