Belle thought long and hard about what Killian had said. They were only about a week's ride from Rumple's final destination. At this point throughout the journey, she was much more acquainted with reading a map than ever before. Her horse and she were quite the pair when they rode, she dares say she was almost as good as Regina at riding at this point.

A wild thought entered her mind as she lay in bed. It was so wild Belle couldn't entertain it…but why couldn't she?

I can do the rest of the trip alone

Her heart raced at the thought of freedom from Killian and Ruby. It was all she longed for, but she couldn't help but wonder if that would hinder her chances of rescuing Rumple? Should she set her pride and intuition aside in hopes of having a better chance at facing whatever monster was holding Rumple their prisoner? But would they even make a difference when they have ill intent? The questions coursed through Belle so much she couldn't sleep through the night. Once rays of sunlight began to peek in through the window, she knew all chances of getting a decent sleep was shot. She knew in a few hours Ruby and Killian would be up and ready to continue their trip. She had to make her decision there and then. It was a matter if she stayed and faired her chances or she left the inn on her own and trusted in herself.

Be brave.

Be smart.

Be who he needs you to be.

The words had become a prayer to her. She repeated them in her time of need to herself and now more than ever she needed them. She longed for a sign that she knew would never come. She had to trust that whatever decision she made would be the right one.

Throwing caution to the wind Belle fastened her knapsack to her horse's saddle after situating herself on top of Juliet. The horse looked at her companions still tied up in the inn's stables. Belle felt guilty for separating them, but she mentally promised she would reunite them one day. She was a good creature, after all, she had a heart for all of nature's living things. But right now, she was putting her husband's needs before that of natures and her own. She had to go her own way.

"Let's ride Juliet." Belle patted the horse and then commanded the reigns so that the horse moved forward and slowly began to ride on out of town. Eventually, Juliet and Belle picked up the pace once they reached the outskirts of the town. The sun was still not fully out and there was still some darkness leftover from the nighttime. The countryside looked beautiful. It was the first time Belle had the pleasure of taking in the journey without any disturbance. She was alone and therefore she could gaze out into the horizon without any worry of judgment.

She rode straight for approximately 6 hours before Juliet began to tire and Belle decided to stop when she saw a flowing river that the horse could drink from and rest for a few minutes before they continued. While Juliet began to drink from the river Belle took the time to refresh herself by splashing some water on her face and taking a liberal sip by shaping her hands into a cup and bringing them to her lips.

Lifting herself from the bed of water at her feet Belle noticed a reflection peering behind her.

"Who goes there." Belle turned fiercely ready to combat any obstacle that might impede her journey to save her husband.

"Silly girl put your hands down, I am not challenging you to a duel." The blonde woman dressed in all black motioned for her to lower her fists. She did as she asked with some reservations.

"What do you want?" Belle asked unsure why the woman had approached her.

"Why to help you."

"Help me? How?"

"You just drank poison, see." The blonde lowered her hands and Belle realized the waterbed she had drunken from was ominously separate from the flowing water of the river that Juliet had drunken from. As if on cue Belle could feel her tongue thickening and her chest tighten as if removing all the air from her lungs. "I'm guessing you've lost the ability to speak."

Belle nodded as she attempted to make a sound to no avail. She wanted to scream. She felt so foolish. Her legs locked and suddenly she lost the ability to hold herself up. The last thing she remembered was hitting the dirt face-first unable to catch herself with her hands.

The moment that Belle's eyes opened she noticed she was in some sort of quaint wooden cottage. The floorboards and the weathered wall panels were the same shade of pewter. As Belle regained motion, she noticed that someone had laid her down on a cot and wrapped her up in white sheets.

"Hello?" Belle called out wondering if she was alone in the cottage. Her eyes observed every corner of the room. It wasn't as large as her cottage back home, but it was still a decent size. There was a circular large wooden table nearly in the middle of the room that had an array of loaves of bread, meats, and cheeses lined up on plates. The coal cookstove was still on, which meant someone had to be nearby. Potions sat on dusty shelves that Belle couldn't help but study. They were odd and almost seemed out of place, the cottage would've been normal if it wasn't for the jars containing mixtures of things she had never seen before.

"Making yourself comfortable?" The blonde said opening the door nearly startling Belle into falling back into the cot.

"What is this place?" Belle asked with her eyes still glued to the potions.

"It's our home." She said with a smile immediately knowing what Belle's eyes lingered on. "Don't tell me your husband doesn't keep his supply of magical ingredients in your home."

Belle's eyes darted to the blonde with confusion. She had a genuine smile on her face, as far as Belle could see there was no malice or ill intent within her. Yet, something felt off with the fact that she seemed to know so much about Belle when Belle barely even knew her.

"No," Belle answered deciding not to question how she knew so much about her. She figured the questions would probably be futile and it was best to just move forward. " My husband keeps all elements of magic out of our home, he says it could be bad for the children."

"Children? Last I heard you two had no kids."

"We don't. I'm not quite ready to be a mother…at least that's what he thinks." Belle brought a hand to her mouth and felt slightly startled by her admission. It was a sore subject and for some reason, Belle couldn't help but be completely transparent with the woman in front of her. She wasn't even this open with Regina. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have admitted that to you," Belle added.

"It's perfectly normal. It's the healing potions I gave you to remove the poison from your body. I've tried my best to eliminate that after effect but unfortunately to no avail. So, don't worry, it's not your fault you're being so honest with me."

"Oh, that makes sense." Belle felt a relief that there was a logical explanation behind her honestly and odd behavior.

"And I bet you're probably wondering who the hell I am now?" The blonde raised a brow and slightly cocked her head.

"Yes, I suppose that bit of information would be helpful."

"My name is Emma, pleased to make your acquaintance." The blonde reached out to shake Belle's hand, "Oh and I'm the Dark One." Before Belle's hand met the blondes, she couldn't help but stumble back as the words Dark One rang through her. How the hell had she not noticed before? Belle felt a lump in her throat and immediately she wanted to run from the cottage.

"I knew you'd be scared of me," Emma said studying the fear in Belle's eyes. "I hoped you wouldn't be but hey I can't say I blame you."

"You're everything that Rumple isn't…you're evil?" Belle intended for the words to leave her mouth as a statement, but they formed into a sentence as if she wasn't sure herself. Emma had helped her; in fact, she had healed her a possibly saved her life. Would an evil person do that? No, they most likely wouldn't.

"People tend to confuse the power the Dark One harbors with that of evil, however, it would surprise you if you knew that this power doesn't have to be. Just like the power of the Light One doesn't necessarily have to be good. It all depends on the wielder of the magic. We've chosen to use our magic for good…not that anyone ever believes me. But it's the truth. I have no intention of harming you no matter who you are." Emma smiled at Belle.

"You said we?" A chill crawled up Belle's spine.

"Yes…I did say we, didn't I? Emma hesitated to look for words to explain to Belle what she asked. It wasn't a simple subject matter and for that reason, she couldn't just say what she meant plain and simple. "Well I'm not the only Dark One, I can't explain to you why because even I am not too sure why. But well…he's my husband."

There was a sudden burst of happiness that radiated off Emma as she explained to Belle. Belle couldn't help but pick up on the happiest of smiles that was plastered on Emma's face when she said the word husband. Oddly enough, it all made sense why Emma was good and not evil. For centuries the Dark One had always been subjected to a life of solitude and left to love nothing and no one. Yet here was Emma with rosy cheeks and a toothy grin just thinking about a man that she loved. She believed her. She believed that Emma was genuinely good and was only handed a cursed moniker.

"Where is he?" Belle asked suddenly realizing there were traces of a man throughout the cottage. There were big leather boots by the bedside. There hung a black wool coat three sizes too big for Emma on a rack by the door frame. By the washtub, there was a sharp blade that he probably used for shaving.

"He is out foraging for some ingredients we need. We are constantly running low on the eye of newt due to it being a popular ingredient in the healing elixirs I make for the nearby villagers who stop by seeking my help. He's already been gone for a few days so I suspect he should be home any day now." Emma looked at the door as if she was hoping he would come dashing in at that very moment.

"Emma," Belle said reaching out for her hands. The blonde stiffened slightly at the feel of the beauty's hands. However, there was a warmness within her that Emma couldn't deny nor reject. "I thank you for saving my life, if I had more time I would stay and make it up to you because lawfully it is what is right. However, I think you out of all people can understand why I must take my leave."

"Your husband," Emma said as a matter of fact not even skipping a beat.

"Yes. The Light One has been trapped by some magical warlock and he has left me with instructions and a map on how to locate him and defeat the warlock."

Emma looked surprised by Belle's words. Her brows furrowed and her lips drew a tight line. She knew many things about many people several hundred miles away from her but at this very moment, she was confused. She genuinely had no idea what Belle was talking about.

"Forgive me but…this is something I did not know about. All I knew about you was that your name is Belle. You're the Light One's wife and have been for a good number of years. I know of his magic and what he does with it. I know you have no children…however, I suppose it makes a great deal of sense as you are very far away from your home village." Emma spoke in a low tone as if pulling details out of her memory. Her voice was shaky, and her eyes looked like she was in thought.

"It's not your fault you didn't know, it's perfectly okay. I am grateful for healing me, but I really should get going now." Belle smiled at the blonde and turned around towards the cot she was originally laid in looking for her bag of supplies and her coat. She was desperate to leave as soon as possible.

"You can't be serious about going on this mission on your own?" Emma asked confused watching her go through the motions.

"Well yes. I began this journey with a man I considered a trustworthy ally, but he was anything but so yes I must complete the rest of my journey on my own." Belle said.

Emma looked saddened by Belle's words and she wanted nothing more than to understand how Belle could be so strong and unafraid in the eye of despair.

"Oh, don't you go worrying about me, Emma. This is my destiny. I fell in love with my husband and I promised I would be love and honor him until my dying day."

"No," Emma spoke in a louder tone than before. "You're not going alone. I am going with you." Emma declared not waiting for Belle to accept her words.

"Emma, you can't be serious? I wouldn't want to bring any harm to you. You've done more than enough." Belle grabbed Emma's arm as she reached for a satchel and began to pack an assortment of items for their journey.

"Yes. You can and you will. Belle if I can do anything to help you I will. Plus, if you're going up against a dangerous warlock then you're going to need someone with magic." Emma declared not letting Belle speak again.

Emma couldn't help but feel suspicious about the letter that Belle had received. While it was authentically the Light One's handwriting, something about the letter felt off. It wasn't like her to do anything to help the Light One, but if she could do something to help the first person who hadn't treated her like a complete monster to survive, then she would. Belle wasn't like anyone she had ever met. There was almost a magical aura of kindness surrounding her. It was calling to Emma like a moth to a flame. Emma packed her last healing potion in her traveling knapsack hopeful that she wouldn't need more than one.

Belle eventually decided it was futile to continue arguing with Emma and she simply shrugged and allowed her to join without further comments. Once they were outside of Emma's cottage Belle eyed Juliet tied up in the stables in the distance, she smiled as she was reunited with the beautiful horse once again. Emma had her own horse in the stables that was all black with a matching black mane that made the horse look almost ghostly and devilish. But alas, the horse was as kind and friendly as Emma.

They hadn't even been riding for more than a day when they decided to stop for some water and to eat pieces of cured meats that Emma had packed up for them from her cottage. Belle watched with amazement as Emma materialized a fire without needing to put in any work into it. Rumple never did magic around Belle because he worried it would confuse her. But now as she watched Emma light fires and refill their canteens seamlessly, Belle felt amazed. She wished more than anything she could wield magic in that way.

"Can you teleport too? I don't know much about magic, but I've read about it in books." Belle asked between bites of meat.

"I can but that works in strange ways. I have to have been wherever I wish to travel to, and it can't be too far for me to sense it. I have to be able to feel the place's energy." Emma explained earnestly. Belle felt amazed by her response and at the same time pleased that she wasn't treating her ignorance as stupid. She had always wanted to ask Rumple about his magic, but she was scared he would remind her just how little she knew about the magical realm. It was true – but that didn't mean she liked being reminded of that fact.

"Do you mind if I see that map one more time," Emma asked tightening the knot on her coat as the wind was beginning to pick up.

"Yes." Belle walked over to Juliet and grabbed the parchment from her knapsack. "Here you go." She said as she handed it over to Emma.

Emma's eyes studied the map along with the letter attached to it with more fervor than before. Her face contorted slightly in confusion as her eyes moved up and down the parchment. Belle was curious about what was confusing Emma about the map but seeing as she probably knew more about map reading than her, she decided she wouldn't press the question.

"We're nearly there." Emma declared using her fingers to pinpoint the spot on the map. "I can probably get us there by this time tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Belle nearly choked on the water she drank from her canteen. "I didn't think it would be so soon, the last person I traveled with said I was about a week's ride away and that was only two days ago."

"Well that person wouldn't be wrong, but I can transport us from here to here." Emma used her fingers to explain. "I know these villages and I've done the transport in the past."

"Oh Emma, I don't know how I could ever repay you." Belle brought Emma into an embrace and Emma awkwardly followed her lead. Belle could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and more than anything she couldn't believe that in just one day she would be reunited with the love of her life. She could go home and finally have the children she's always wanted.

"Well let's see how the Light One reacts when he finds out who helped you find him," Emma stated solemnly.

Belle was too busy whipping tears from her eyes to truly give Emma any attention on what on earth she could be referring to. But she didn't care to ask her to explain herself, all she could think about was seeing Rumple again.