Ruby Slippers
With some magical transportation help, it was fast work getting Red Riding Hood back to the Underbrooke apartment to lie down and the group gathered in the bedroom part of the loft. It was very clear that Red was still alive, that she hadn't just died and come to the Underworld, not given how she'd arrived…which meant if she had a way there then maybe she had a way back and it could mean they had a way out of the Underworld, too.
"Is she ok?" Snow asked as David set her down on the bed.
"Why is she down here?" the man wondered.
"She's not..." Henry began, not wanting to have lost a person as good as Red had been.
"No," Piper shook her head, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder. He had been working on his Author powers in his room, listening to music, when her parents had barged in and there hadn't been time to get him, but magical teleportation was hard to miss, even more so Snow shouting for blankets and pillows. He'd been, understandably, disappointed he'd lost out on meeting more of his Enchanted Forest family when they explained where they'd all gone and why.
Perhaps it had been for the best that he had missed her parents, if her mother had had a worse reaction to Regina than she had...she didn't want Henry to witness his mother being torn limb from limb.
"She's still breathing," Hook agreed.
Snow looked over at Piper, "How long do you think she'll be out?"
"Another few minutes," Piper shrugged, "I was not aiming to kill her this time."
"No?" David scoffed.
Piper narrowed her eyes at him, but it was Snow who spoke, "David, she was my friend."
Gold snorted, "You think that's why Pip didn't attack her? Her connection to you?" he shook his head when Snow frowned, he was pleased to see that she was remembering why the wolf would have been safe before all of this, he was quite relieved to hear her defend Piper against her husband, but he would not and could not allow her to assume that was the reason now. If she kept on believing it, she would only be horrified and heartbroken when the reason inevitably failed some point later. He wouldn't have her turn on Piper again for her own misunderstanding, "You severed that bond. Pip could have easily killed the wolf and not shed a tear, she has no true connection to Emma or Henry."
Snow stiffened, seeing Piper did not disagree with that remark.
"Then why didn't you?" Regina asked, eyeing the two women carefully, sensing something had changed but that they were still very distant.
"She appeared here not on the boat," Piper looked at them, "If she can come here, perhaps she has a way to leave. I would rather not have killed her and had to track down her spirit to request help after that."
"How did she even get here?" David had to ask, turning to Snow for how Piper said Red hadn't appeared by boat, "Where has she been since she left Storybrooke?"
"I don't know," Snow sighed, "She went to find her pack."
"Unless they're dead, I'd say she's sniffing in the wrong place," Regina deadpanned.
"Any explanation for what she's doing here?" Hook looked around.
Emma, who had been checking Red for any other injuries, merely held up a scrap of light blue, checkered cloth that Red had been gripping in her hand, "Just this."
"Red?" Snow cut off, as Red began to stir on the bed, starting to come around, just as Piper had guessed, "Red, hey, hey, hi!" she smiled as Red blinked away.
"Snow?" Red breathed, before sitting up and quickly pulling her friend into a tight hug, "Oh, my gosh, Snow!"
"Red, what happened?" Snow pulled away to look at her, "Why are you in the Underworld?"
Red frowned, "The Underworld? I don't understand. I used a tracking spell so the cyclone would bring me to Zelena."
"Ruby, she's down here, too," Emma told her.
"Wait, love, you came down here looking for Zelena?" Hook frowned.
Regina sighed, "Why am I not surprised? What did my sister do now?"
"It's my friend, Dorothy," Red told them, "Zelena wanted her magic slippers so that she could get back to her baby."
"Ruby, what did Zelena do to your friend?" Snow asked cautiously, sensing something in her tone and words that told her to tread carefully about the subject of Dorothy.
"That's why I'm here. I don't know. Dorothy went to face her and just...disappeared. Mulan and I looked everywhere, but we couldn't find her," she sighed, "Snow, this is all my fault. None of this would have happened if I hadn't show up in Oz. It's just one more life that I have destroyed because of what I am."
"Please," Piper scoffed, "What you are has nothing to do with this," she told the wolf, "What you decide to do with what you are, would. If you were not a hero at heart at least."
"Funny, isn't it?" Gold mused, "No one cares what you are so long as you're a hero. Being only half human means nothing if you use your other half for good," the implication and reminder of Hercules was heavy on their minds, "But being a villain? Being only half human and not using your other half for 'good?' THAT'S when you're condemned and a monster."
Red's face was scrunched as she considered their words, almost seeming startled that words of wisdom and…somehow comfort…were coming from the two truly darkest villains in the room.
David, though, looked away at that. Red had been such a loyal friend to Snow and such a staunch ally that he...he just thought of her as Red, not the Wolf she was. It was...hard for him, to admit that he held Red to a different standard than Piper, when Piper had truly gone above and beyond anything Red had ever done for his wife. A loyal friend? Piper had decades on Red, even when her cousin hadn't remembered her, she'd done everything she could to be a friend to her, support her. A staunch ally? She'd spent almost 30 years trying to find a child so she wouldn't be alone, then defended Mary Margaret against Regina, helped break the curse on the town, and more.
Red was half human, half wolf. Piper was half human, half Siren. Werewolves, too, were classified as dark creatures and yet he and Snow had never treated Red like an enemy or a villain because of it. First because she couldn't control that part of her, it took her over, and then because, when she could control it, she used it to help them. Wasn't it largely the same for Piper? He had heard Snow speak of an 'instinct' that Sirens were afflicted with, had heard Ilayda herself state it existed. There had been a part of her she could not control and it took her over and yet...he blamed her for it instead. Like the Frontlands, as disgusted as he was by what happened, he'd gleamed enough to know that Piper's mate had been in danger and she'd reacted, the instinct had driven her to it. He'd seen glimpses of what that could do to her when they thought Gold had died and they'd been trapped in the Enchanted Forest. And when she could control it...she HAD used it to help them...in her own, twisted way.
As a whole though, he knew where his discomfort with Piper lied. HOW she used her magic. Sometimes to help them, but in doing so she readily, willingly, and easily hurt others. She used her magic to harm HIM a time or two. She used it to kill, she used it to torture, she used it to manipulate, usually for her own gain or amusement, or to help them. But he didn't want help like that. He would rather die than allow someone to be tortured in his name. Red had chosen to use her abilities to help and to protect, to attack only when there was no other choice...not attack first and kill second.
"Being a wolf doesn't make you bad," Emma agreed, "You don't destroy lives just being a wolf. It's what you choose to do, as a person and a wolf, that determines anything," she was very careful to add in 'choose' to that sentence, knowing Red had had some issues controlling her wolf half a while ago. She knew, also, that Piper made some very questionable choices many times, sometimes outright horrifying choices, but those were not her ONLY choices, there was more too her than pain and luring people, there was her compassion, her protection, her love for her family to consider too. She expressed it in very different ways than heroes would, but that didn't mean it didn't exist.
"Ruby," Snow turned to her friend, clearing her throat that had gotten a bit thick with tears at the reminder of the hypocrisy she herself had been part of.
It wasn't the creature part that made a person evil, it was choices, and even then…even then there were things beyond control of that. Red had killed her boyfriend as a wolf, because she couldn't control that half of her, she'd been too ingrained and lost to the wolf instinct to hunt. SHE hadn't blamed Red for it, she'd tried to help her, accept her, understand her…her own cousin was half Siren, and she had struggled to understand this new side of her, this Siren half, the instincts that came with it, or even to ask how far the instinct went? How many people had Piper taken down merely because the instinct to protect her family had been too strong? Cruella was one, she knew now, how many others were there? How much of what Piper said and did and thought were because of that instinct and other side of her? And how much were her own choices?
That was a long discussion she was going to have to have with her cousin when this was over.
She shook her head, "We'll find out what happened to Dorothy. I promise."
"There's only one way we're gonna do that," Emma looked around, "It's time to talk to Zelena."
Gold scoffed, "She won't help."
"She might," Regina surprisingly defended, "I actually thought we were getting somewhere with her."
"And if not..." Piper merely smirked in continuation of that thought.
"No torturing my sister," Regina shook her head, "If anyone's gonna torture information out of her, it'll be me."
Gold chuckled at the almost-pout on Piper's face at being denied the opportunity.
~8~
In the end, it had been almost unanimous who would go confront Zelena and who would handle other things. All the women would join Red to find and confront Zelena, the reason being Snow would not leave Red to do it alone, Regina claimed she had almost gotten through to her as a sister, Emma was there in case anyone magically attacked, and Piper well…she was merely hoping for the opportunity to actually torture the woman some more. It wouldn't do for that chance to come about and no one else take it because of something like morals. It was one of the reasons why she had been so keen to keep her family safe from darkening their hearts, from having to make the truly horrible decisions. She could handle it, she could do it and not bat an eye or lose sleep over it, where it would torment others to no end.
David and Hook, upon request from Snow, were going to the phone booth to reach out to Neal, it had been days since the child had last heard his parents' voices and she hadn't wanted David to go alone. Henry had opted to join his grandfather at his shop, looking for things that might help them extract the information from Zelena without need for torture, since it would likely be a majority vote against Piper having that honor, and also to pick up some charms he hoped were there that prevented summonings so that Hades would not be able to just nab them from anywhere.
As they approached Zelena's house, the only place Regina could think the woman would go, they could see the proof of Red's story in that Zelena was standing before her Underbrooke house, in the silver slippers Red had mentioned the witch had wanted from Dorothy, slippers that could transport a person anywhere they imagined.
"You're not going anywhere, sis!" Regina called out, magically freezing Zelena from completing the third and final clicking of the heels that would trigger the magic.
"How do you expect me to become mother material if you won't leave me be?" Zelena demanded, glaring at Regina as they approached.
"Well, we were planning on it, until someone you screwed over literally dropped out of the sky."
"What did you do to Dorothy?" Red nearly yelled at her, knowing she had to have done something even worse to have Dorothy's slippers on her feet.
"Zelena," Regina huffed when the woman crossed her arms in challenge, "Tell us what you did to Dorothy. Fight your instincts and help us. It's the only way you'll ever see your little girl again. Trust me."
"No," Zelena replied, "I'm afraid I can't fix this. Even I can't help Dorothy now."
"Why not?" Emma frowned.
Zelena rolled her eyes and waved her hand, conjuring a small mirror through which they could see the image of a woman lying on a cushioned bed, laid out as though for a wake or a mourning ceremony.
"You killed her?!" Red gasped, tears filling her eyes.
"Not quite. I took a page out of your book, Regina."
"Sleeping curse," Regina realized.
"You need to wake her up!" Red snapped.
Piper gave her a dry look, "Sleeping curses can only be broken one way," she reminded the girl, seeing she was getting frantic and likely not thinking straight or she would have realized that.
"Dorothy may have the love of the people of Oz, but she has no family, unmarried, unloved, all alone," Zelena sighed, "There's no one that can give Dorothy what she needs."
"True Love's Kiss," Snow breathed.
Zelena smirked, "I'm afraid sometimes...I'm just too clever."
Piper looked at the others as they either glared at Zelena or looked on in horror, "Is torture back on the table then?"
~8~
Sadly torture was NOT back on the table, much to Piper's disappointment. Instead Regina had grabbed Zelena by the arm and dragged her into the house, shooting them a look to tell them to stay outside for now and let her handle this. Which was why Piper found herself leaning against the edge of Zelena's porch railing, Emma resting beside her while Snow stood off to the side, watching Red pacing back and forth in a silence that grew steadily more tense and frantic with each pass.
"If I cannot torture Zelena, can I at least knock her out?" Piper asked Emma, her eye on Red, "She is making me tired just watching her."
Emma snorted beside her, "I think she's a little too wound up for even you to calm her down, Aunt P."
"You would be surprised," Piper remarked, "Those who are not fully human succumb to my magic far easier than humans do."
"Really?" Emma raised an eyebrow, "I would have thought they'd have more magic to protect them."
"Some," Piper could concede, "Hercules, for instance, would he harder to sway. Harder, but not impossible, as he was half god and not half creature. But those who are part animal especially, my songs resonate with that half of them, it makes their human half less likely to resist."
Emma opened her mouth to say something when a thought occurred to her...Red. It was jarring almost, for her to recall Red was a werewolf. Red wasn't fully human, she was half wolf, but the town saw her as a hero because she was Snow White's best friend. The town did NOT see Piper as a hero even being her cousin and blood family. She got it, their actions, how the interacted, the things they did, made a clear distinction to the town for who fell into hero or villain but just...it was weird to her, looking at Red now, knowing how Snow White had handled Piper recently. That Snow could accept a werewolf best friend but struggled with a half-Siren cousin. Both had killed people because of their instincts and loss of control, but the town overlooked Red's and condemned Piper's. Again, she got it, Red was contrite after it and strove to be heroic and do good while Piper hadn't cared and continued to do what her instincts told her to.
She wondered what it was truly like for Piper to grow up, thinking about what Ilayda had said about how Piper seemed to have no choice other than to become what she was. Maybe not as extreme, but she would have been noticeably different, darker, especially compared to Snow White. Ilayda had truly brought up the fact that life experiences played a large role in shaping a person. Would it have been possible for anyone to turn out much different than Piper had, given the trauma she'd lived through at just 17, the way she'd had to grow and how she'd had to harden just to survive? If Snow White had been alone, beaten, starving, captive, tortured, the way Piper had, with no allies to assist her, would she be as good and pure as she remained?
For a brief moment she wondered why Red was friends with Snow over Piper, when both were not fully human and, really, of the two of them, Piper would have understood the duality of their natures far more than Snow ever could. Perhaps it was just how Red saw herself, wanting to be a hero, wanting to be seen as a hero and a good person, so she stuck with Snow to become that, whereas if she'd gone to Piper maybe she thought she'd go dark and turn full wolf...if that was even possible.
It made her even more grateful for the bond she had formed with her Aunt, to know that she had been able to see past the halves and see the whole, to understand her aunt and be understood and accepted for all she was. Maybe if Red had left Snow and found Piper in the early days she would have accepted herself sooner, found a pack of her own, maybe even embraced more of her wolf without being so frightened of that side of her.
It was Red's loss.
"So what you're saying is if we ever run into a rabid centaur, let you handle it?" Emma smirked, trying to shake off the more melancholy thoughts.
Piper grinned, "It would be my pleasure."
"How can you sit there and joke at at time like this!?" Red demanded, her wolf ears picking up on their hushed talk, "We have to do something. Dorothy is all alone back there. She doesn't have anyone."
"Not for long," Regina called, stepping out of the house with a bag in hand, "These can at least get you back to Oz," she pulled the slippers out and handed them to Red.
"How did you get her to hand those over to you?" Snow gaped, surprised, looking at Emma and Red to make sure she hadn't just missed the sounds of a magic-fight going on inside, but they were both equally curious.
"You're not going to believe me, but...all I did was ask."
"What good are slippers if there is no one back in Oz that can give Dorothy True Love's Kiss?" Red huffed.
"Are you sure there isn't anyone?" Snow turned to her, giving her a meaningful look.
"Her family was awful to her. And the only person that she has ever loved was her deceased Aunt Em."
"You realize we are in the Underworld where deceased people go, yes?" Piper deadpanned.
"She may still be here!" Snow realized.
Emma nodded, "All we have to do is find her."
"How do we do that?" Red turned to them, eager, hopeful now.
"First we need to know if she's even here," Regina cut in, "And I know one way to do that. We need to find her gravestone."
~8~
Red was a force to be reckoned with as they reached the cemetery, nearly running through the gravestones to try and find the one for Dorothy's aunt while the rest of them split up and looked a bit more carefully.
"That's her!" Red called them over as she came across one for Emily Brown, "That's Auntie Em."
"It's not cracked or tipped," Snow remarked as they gathered to examine the stone, recalling what the Blind Witch had told them, "She's still down here."
"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's find her!"
"It's not that simple," Regina reminded her, "If she's dead, she can't just leave the Underworld to give Dorothy True Love's Kiss."
"And there are many souls here," Piper added, "She could be anywhere."
"The Blind Witch may be able to help," Emma offered, "She gets a lot of people in the diner, maybe she's come across Aunt Em."
"That still leaves the fact that she can't leave," Regina pointed out.
"Maybe she doesn't have to," Snow offered, "The other day, the Blind Witch bottled David's breath..."
"What?" Emma grimaced, "Why would she do that?"
"You are asking this of the woman who would cook and eat children?" Piper lifted an eyebrow at that.
"Do we even want the answer to that?" Snow agreed, "The point is, maybe we can do the same thing with the kiss from Aunt Em."
"Ruby could use the slippers to deliver it Dorothy in Oz," Emma followed along.
"Snow!" David's voice called out and they turned to see him and Hook running across the cemetery towards them, "We've been looking everywhere for you."
"What is it?" Snow turned to him, "Did you talk to Neal?"
"Hades ripped out the phone," Hook told them, "He's cut us off from Storybrooke."
"What? Why?"
"Snow, Neal's fine," David tried to reassure her.
"Wait, no, we don't know that. I mean, maybe Hades did this for a reason. Maybe he's gonna make a move on Storybrooke now that we're trapped down here."
"This is exactly what he wants, for us all to lose hope."
"Well, it's hard not to when our child's life might be in danger."
"Hmm," Piper hummed, "If only we had some way to SLIP out of the Underworld," she remarked dryly, honestly wondering why everyone kept growing so frantic right now. It wasn't as though Hades could truly do anything to Storybrooke or move on it, he'd needed Gold to help him even make a portal to the place and he'd already said, as Henry depicted in his book, that he could not do much on Earth either, so while he was powerful in his kingdom he could not attack Storybrooke from there.
"Mom, I think it's time for you to go home, both of you," Emma looked at her parents.
"We haven't completed our mission," Snow argued, "We haven't defeated Hades."
Piper chose to remain quiet on the fact that the woman had just been freaking out about her infant son and was now denying the chance to go back to him. She understood wanting to be there for one's child, Emma, but Emma was a grown woman with allies around her whereas Neal was a baby who needed his parents...on top of the fact that said first child was telling them to go to the second child. It should not even be a question.
"You've done more for me than you know and so many down here," Emma began.
"And I meant what I said...we came because we wanted to."
"Because you thought I needed you," Emma huffed, "But mom…I didn't, not really," she reminded them, looking between her mother and father, "Aunt P and Gold and I planned to go, just the three of us. You coming was great and and I'm grateful for it, but you didn't have to. And right now your other kid needs you more. And Storybrooke might, too."
"Well, what about Hades?" David asked, "We don't even know how to begin to fight him yet."
"Well, we'll just have to find a way to wage our war without the Charmings," Hook offered.
"But this is the Underworld. We can't just walk out."
"The fi…" Regina cut herself off, "Piper," she amended, "Was right. You can't walk out, but you can slip out, with the slippers."
Emma nodded, "Go to Oz with Ruby. Once you help Dorothy, you can click your way back to Storybrooke. You've done enough. Go take care of the rest of our family. I'm gonna be ok."
"I will make sure of it," Piper added as Emma linked their arms together.
"You all are forgetting something," Regina cut in, "Hades carved Snow's name on a tombstone. Emma, you couldn't take it off. Even with the slippers, she can't leave."
Snow sighed, "I can't," she agreed, before she looked at her husband, "But you can."
~8~
The sigh Piper gave as she stepped into Gold's shop, seeing him within through the windows before entering, might have sounded, to anyone else, that she was relieved and happy to see him based on the smirk that grew across his face, the amusement in it.
"They wouldn't let you torture her, would they?" he guessed, knowing, instead, the sigh had been more exasperated and resigned and disappointed than anything.
"Not even once," she huffed, moving over to the counter where he had a few items in a bag. The others were going to track down Auntie Em, Hook and David returning to the apartment to try and see if there was anything in the storybook that could help them learn more about either Auntie Em or if there might be someone Dorothy hadn't told Red about that might be living and able to help her. She had volunteered to collect Gold and Henry, Henry to assist with the book, and Gold because there was no need to look for ways to extract the information from Zelena now that she'd given it somewhat willingly, "Heroes," she scoffed.
Gold chuckled at that, "Typical."
"Henry?" she asked, glancing around when she didn't see him though she could hear his song nearby.
He gave her a small smile, "Napping in the back," he told her, "With an anti-summoning charm on," he gestured to the bag to let her know he had more.
They both knew how much pressure he'd put on himself to try and get Hades's story written, how frustrated he was that it hadn't happened yet. He had slept probably as much as Emma, though the others hadn't noticed yet. He was often up in another room and she would check on him frequently enough that she'd caught him faking his sleep. That he took this opportunity to nap, likely knowing that Gold would know best where everything was and what would be helpful, she was just glad he was resting finally.
"Good," she nodded to herself, "That makes this easier."
"What?" he asked, turning to her fully.
"I had a thought, a plan, I would like to enact," she began, "It is one I doubt you will approve of. However," she began to smile, "I believe I can persuade you."
He eyed her a moment, "And what is this plan?"
"The pirate said Hades wanted him to select the names and carve them on the stones," she spoke, "If he still possesses that magic, I should like to request he change Snow's name to my own."
Gold frowned, "I did not think your heart had softened that much."
"It has not," she assured him, not wanting him to think she did this on instinct, but that she had truly thought it through, "I do not do this for her. I have, as it were, two very good reasons to ask this."
"And they are?" he crossed his arms on the counter leaning forward, ready to hear her out. It didn't do them any good to jump to conclusions like heroes did, he found that their plans often worked better when they were heard out in their entirety, to be cast aside after or altered to be better would come only then.
She had heard out enough of his plans the whole way through, he owed this to her.
"Neal," she replied, "He is my family, he deserves all that I can give him. And if I have this opportunity to give him both his parents, I will endeavor to do so, regardless of who his parents are or how I feel for them presently."
"They've found a way out of the Underworld then," he picked up on that.
She nodded, "The slippers, Zelena still had them on her. They can transport a person between worlds."
He hummed a moment, "And the second reason?"
Piper smirked a bit, reaching out with a hand to lightly run her finger along the top of one of his hands as they rested on the counter, "Well, you see, my mate is a very powerful man."
Gold began to smirk more from her words than what he might have to do with her plan, "Is he?"
"Oh yes," she looked at him, "Even more so now that he has the magic of every Dark One that came before him."
"Ah, yes, I see."
She leaned in a bit more, "He, tragically, has not had opportunity to revel in his magic, to thrive on the darkness of his being."
"No, he hasn't," he agreed, he'd only become the Dark One again such a short while ago and since then he hadn't had a chance to truly show what he could do, to even try to see what he could do now that he was more powerful than before.
"It is a crime," she said, mock seriously, "One I wish to rectify."
"How so?" he leaned in more towards her.
"Well, I suppose, if his true love was trapped down in the Underworld…he would raze it to the ground to free her, would he not?"
"And more," he agreed, turning his hand over from where she was still tracing it to link their fingers and lift her hand to his lips, "And much, much worse."
She smirked darkly, "Who am I to deny him the excuse?"
Gold chuckled at that, reaching out to her face with his free hand to guide her closer, planting a deep kiss on her lips, understanding now.
If her name appeared on a gravestone in this world…he would stop at nothing to free her, to have her back, he would let nothing and no one get in his way, he would destroy and burn anything he had to to keep her by his side.
The heroes would disagree with his methods, surely they would, but if she did this...he would have all the excuse in the world to do things his way and to do them viciously without them faulting him for it.
She wanted to see the Dark One in action.
He could never deny her anything.
~8~
It was hardly surprising, how easy it was to convince the pirate to put her name on the tombstone. The Shepherd had tried to argue, tried to be valiant and offer himself as 'it's my wife!' but the argument fell short when reminded that it was over HIS son. Truly Piper had the distinct feeling it was Hook's way of getting even a modicum of revenge against her or Gold to put her name on the stone, and David's way of trying to at least make a show that he'd argued against this when he probably wouldn't have cared if she remained trapped down there forever or not. She did this for his son and she knew he likely would still not admit out loud that she had some good in her.
They all gathered in the graveyard of the Underbrooke, waiting for Red to return from where she was laying something to rest at Auntie Em's stone, now cracked. Apparently their attempt to save Dorothy had resulted in the aunt's demise. Hades had cursed the bottle they were going to use to store her kiss in and liquefied the woman before she could. He'd threatened the other inhabitants that, if they helped the heroes, they would suffer the same fate and so on and so forth. And, as always with heroes, when things looked grim they found a light. It seemed Red had feelings for Dorothy and was going to take the risk of using True Love's Kiss to wake her and hope for the best.
"Ready," Red called as she came over.
Regina held out the slippers to her, "Put these on. Think of where you want to go. Then click your heels three times. David, you should take her hand and hold tight."
David took a breath and looked around at the people gathered there, trying to work out a way to tell his wife what happened, "So, I guess this is goodbye…"
"When you get home," Snow cut in before he could continue, "Tell Neal that I will be there as fast as I can."
"Well," David hesitated to speak, seeming to just now realize that he didn't actually know how his wife would react to what they'd done. Months ago he would have said she'd take it well…not good, but better than she would have just after the first Curse had been broken. Now though, she had confided that she wanted to try to make amends with Piper, and she may not appreciate what he'd agreed to after that confession. He took a breath and bit the bullet, "I was actually hoping that you could tell him that yourself."
"David, you know I can't leave."
"Actually," he took her hand and began to lead her over to the tombstones, "Now you can."
"What?" she shook her head, confused.
"I removed your name from the headstone," Hook called out as they followed, giving Red time to change her shoes.
"Am I missing something?" Regina frowned, "Emma already tried that."
"Yeah, and it didn't work," Emma agreed.
"Because you tried to erase the names," Gold answered, "The rule down here mimic the rules of magic, there's always a price."
Piper nodded, seeing, in the gaping looks the others sent her, that they had seen the crude markings on the stone, the way Snow White had been crossed out and Rose Red had been chiseled in, "A life for a life."
"Rose Red..." Snow read, before looking at her in confusion and awe, "You…how?" she shook her head.
"Hades overlooked one thing during my escape," Hook began, "He enchanted my hand to carve these markers in the first place. I can't erase the names, but I can change them."
Snow swallowed hard, looking at Piper with tears in her eyes, "You did this for me?" she asked, and it was so strange to her to have to ask. Because, so long ago, it would have never been a question, she would have expected Piper to do this, would have had to warn her NOT to, and she wouldn't have been surprised when the woman ignored that to do it anyway...to find that she wasn't truly sure sent a sharp pain to her heart.
Piper scoffed and shook her head, "I do not do this for you, Snow White," she told the woman, "Our bond is not nearly so strong that I would risk condemning myself to endless Limbo so you might live. No, I do this for Neal. For 28 years, all I could think about was finding Emma, giving her a home, a family, I want the same for Neal. I would never take both his parents from him, no matter how many times I wished I could end your Shepherd."
"Thanks," David muttered, sounding both sarcastic and grateful at the same time. Because he knew it was true, as much as she threatened him and disliked him and, yes, tortured him at times, she never would have truly killed him because he had, first, been her cousin's true love and she wouldn't have done that to Snow, and then because he was her niece's father, her nephew's grandfather, and now her other nephew's father.
"Yes," Snow nodded, though the guilt was eating her alive. All of this had started because she hadn't trusted Piper with Neal, she'd doubted her cousin and her cousin's true love, that her son wasn't fully safe with them. And now? Now Piper was risking damnation to give her child both of his parents, she was going to sacrifice herself for Neal...and how she could have ever thought Neal wouldn't be safe with Piper she honestly could not work out, "Either way," she cleared her throat, fidgeting, unsure if Piper would allow the tight hug she was dying to give and so she held back and offered, "Thank you R..." she cut herself off, her mind still too recently on the tombstone and the thoughts of how her cousin as she knew her before would have done this in a heartbeat, and took a breath, "Piper."
Piper merely gave her a short nod.
"Alright," David took a breath, "We should hurry."
They moved back over to where Red was now waiting, pausing only when Regina reached out to tug on Snow's arm, "Snow, while you're up there, will look in on Roland for Robin Hood. I know he'd want me to ask you that."
"Of course," David agreed for her, both of them nodding.
"Tell him not to worry," Snow offered her a smile, looking around at everyone, "You'll all be ok?"
"We'll be fine," Emma promised, watching as they moved to Red's side, on either side of her and linking arms with her.
"Ready?" Snow asked the wolf.
She nodded, "Let's go find Dorothy," before she closed her eyes and clinked her heels together three times, sending them off to Oz.
"Well then," Piper smirked, turning to the others, "Now that the heroes are gone, what say we have a little fun with Hades?"
Even Henry knew her definition of 'a little fun' would be nothing of the sort for the god.
Things were about to get very interesting.
A.N: So we got a bit of a look into David's thoughts, a peek at Emma, and a tiny glimpse at Snow here :) Still more to come for Henry and even Hook ;)
Having Red there, I felt, was really going to force some of the heroes to really think about what they have against Piper since there are some strong parallels between her and Red. Like they can't say 'she's a Siren!' as their reason when Red is a werewolf. They can't say 'she loses control and attacks people!' because so did Red. They can't say 'she's not human!' because neither is Red. They need to reevaluate the specific things Piper does that they don't agree with and make THAT their point, solid and legitimate reasons to not trust her or feel she's not a 'good person.'
I think, though, that it did force a number of them to come face to face with their own hypocrisy, the very clear comparisons between Red and Piper and their own past acceptance and defense of her compared to Piper, so it's a step :)
As for Piper putting her name on the tombstone, it's sort of a little bittersweet in a way. Because the Piper from the beginning of the series would have done it in a heartbeat, better her than Snow sort of thing. But this Piper is more calculating, and has enough distance from Snow that it's not an automatic instinct but a conscious choice she's making. It's for Neal's sake, because she loves her nephew and she wants him to NOT be abandoned so the sooner he can have family back with him, the better. But it's also for Gold, because the heroes understand fighting for love and doing all you can to save the person you love...so if Gold goes 'too dark' for them to handle, he has that excuse of doing it for Piper, to save her. It gives him that extra bit of freedom to do his worst without worrying about the heroes labeling him a threat and trying to banish him again ;)
And I know David was the one to put his name on the tombstone instead of Snow's in the show, I can say there's a tiny twist for why he's going with Snow that we'll see soon ;)
Now...bit of a surprise for you all! :)
As some of you may know I have an AU planned for when this series is over after the next story, a what-if where Piper DOES find Emma with August and raises them both.
Some news about that would be...we're getting an additional sort of 'subplot' to that story...which means we'll be getting flashback chapters for it (when we weren't originally!) :D
This chapter inspired me to add in another little twist to the AU. The original AU would focus mostly on changes that happen after the Curse has been cast, and the additional twist would allow us to see a somewhat altered backstory for Piper as well!
Basically I'm very curious what it would have been like if Red HAD found Piper instead of stuck with Snow. Like if, when she first realized what she was or maybe during that moment just before she found her mother's pack, or even if she had once upon a time used herself to lure some Black Knights away from Snow or act as a diversion, and she just ran and ran and ran till she encountered Piper. I think they would have ended up being quite a duo, after time though. I think Red would have likely fought against Piper's mentality for a while, maybe engaged in a battle of wills trying to 'save' Piper from the dark and the 'monster' within...before slowly, ever so slowly, embracing that part of her and similar (but not quite the exact same) to Piper, experimenting and learning more about what she can do and how she can use her strengths and things in both wolf and human form.
I think Red would have ended up being quite dangerous in her own right, if she fully embraced her wolf and all that came with it. I could really see her and Piper relying on each other in a way Snow and Red didn't since Snow ended up having many more allies around her. Like, Piper helping with her music to soothe her in her beast form when she struggles to control it, Red viciously mauling down the men who would hurt Piper before she met Gold. Piper taking care of Red and making sure she knows she's accepted and safe, and Red just having Piper's back like a guard dog lol. Red being on edge about Gold and how close he's getting to Piper, ultimately accepting him as Pack when she realizes he's her true love.
The way Piper in this story went from having 2 people in her heart (Snow and Gold) to an entire family (Emma, Henry, August, Baelfire, Neal, her child…to a distant extent Regina and David but only because of their ties to the main family), Red would be learning she can make her own pack too, gaining that family and belonging through Piper and her family.
I didn't plan to do any flashback chapters in the AU, because the only thing different would be after Piper found Emma and I could just do in-chapter snippets of memories. BUT adding this additional twist means we need to explore Piper and Red's friendship, bond, Red's reaction and relationship with Gold, and that would give me enough meat to add flashback chapters of that AND of Piper raising Emma :)
And adding that change to Red would make such a stark contrast for Red and Snow when they get their memories back. Red wouldn't have been protected from the magic, and, because Snow is Piper's cousin, she would have volunteered to be in Storybrooke to help keep Snow company till Piper returned (even if she didn't remember it). Piper coming back and Snow remembering and Red being just 180 different than the girl Snow first began a friendship with. The town dealing with not only the Pied Piper but the Big Bad Wolf too? I'm just picturing anyone in the town trying to go at Piper and Red just like wolfing out and nearly tearing an arm off and just shocking everyone because that was so not the Red they knew…and what dark magic did Piper use to turn her villain? And it's literally just that she accepted all of Red, human and wolf, and so on.
It's sort of a fitting twist to add, I think, because the AU is really an exploration of what Piper and her life would be like if she sort of ended up with more people on her side and supporting her than JUST Snow or JUST Gold or JUST August (and I sort of just now realized that, until she came to Storybrooke, she really had only ever had ONE person at her side at any given time O.O). I can say that Piper would have a bigger family entering Storybrooke before the curse is broken, she'd have more people with her who have spent years being cared for by her and who are supremely loyal to her over light or dark or good or evil or hero or villain, they will be firmly entrenched on her side. So that's already a stronger dynamic than just her and August for years on end. Then the curse breaks and you could get the powerhouse that is Ruby the Big Bad Wolf on her side too? Someone who had once been Snow White's best friend now swearing loyalty to Rose Red? O.O She'd have a really large and strong base of support and I just wonder what she'd be like if she'd had that. What some obstacles would be like if it wasn't just her and Gold against the world.
I sort of jokingly have a tagline for the AU in my head as being 'How many things can you take from Snow before she goes full villain?' lol :)
So I just wanted to let you know about that little surprise twist! AND the addition of flashback chapters for the AU :D
Some notes on reviews...
I have 2 actors in mind for her parents, I'm working on a sort of 'family portrait' that I'll be posting on my tumblr soon which is where I'll announce the actor/actress I see and I'll be sure to put a note here as well about it ;) I just don't want to say who they are just yet till I get the 'portrait' right ;) And that's sort of the great thing about fanfiction, it's always open to interpretation, how I see the characters vs. how they come across to others, so I love the ones you picture for them ;)
I can't say if we'll ever get a prequel spin-off for Ilayda and Ethan or not. I try to never say never lol, because every time I think I know for sure something changes :) So there's always a chance for a story like that, but I can't guarantee it or promise it yet ;) I'm glad you like the characters so much that you want to know more about their background and history, I always love it when characters that are sort of 'in the background' win over people and get some loving attention :')
I hope you feel better soon! I know it's not the same but there have been times where I've run out of some medicine I have to take once or twice every month and it's always the worst experience because the medicine makes things manageable and without it it's like I can't function at all it's so painful, so I very much hope you feel extra, extra better very, very soon ;)
I agree, George does not deserve the respect of that title ;) We'll get a rundown of things that happened in Storybrooke while they were on their quest, yup ;) I can say August DID consider taking Neal, but since he wasn't 'family' or his legal guardian, and since he didn't play nice with Blue she wasn't very keen to make any exceptions for him :( The nuns were aware of Hades' portal and have put more enchantments on the room to protect Neal and August would visit him every day to check on him ;) Which will probably be another thing Snow and David need to consider, that Piper raised him to the man he is and he did that for his mother and because of his mother and it was a decent thing to do...so she can't really be as 'bad' as they might have thought at one point if she raised a good man as her son ;)