Chapter 20: The Castaway

The woman with long flowing blonde hair trudged along after their little ragtag group. Their encounter with Kora had been a real shit storm. They had been lucky to make it out of there alive.

Near death situations aside, the blonde savior was trying desperately to figure out what was going on. Sometime yesterday, around maybe five or six o'clock, Emma felt something shift inside her...like some kind invisible weight had been taken off of her.

It's around that same time that the blonde had realized what they had done. They had left an injured Artz in the hands of strangers and with her being out cold...so many things kept popping up in the blondes mind, each time...it was always something worse...she was getting all worked up and probably over nothing… right?

For the entire time she had been in Storybrooke, she had never trusted the red head...everything about her just seemed...wrong. She kept Artz at a distance especially when more and more of what she had said was actually correct.

She would admit that it was unsettling at first but over time, she had come to rely on her...a moral compass of sorts. The ginger didn't mind and often acted as a sounding board when she just needed to let off some steam.

She honestly believed that they were friends, despite the secrets on both sides...but when she broke the Curse to save Henry...whatever lingering feelings of friendship disappeared in an instant. She could barely stand to be around the woman.

They were arguing all the time and then Artz exploded, telling her everything she had wanted to know and so much more. Everything she said had sounded insane yet Emma actually believed her but for some reason, she kept treating the Crimson haired woman as a threat...as the enemy.

When the ginger chose to protect the Evil Queen and Mayor of Storybrooke, Regina Mills...the whole town turned on her; calling her a traitor, a monster, and that she deserved to die along side the Queen. Fortunately, David had been able to quiet things down and both he and Graham had escorted Regina and Artz to the police station, placing them in a cell together.

Was the not so evil queen thankful for her help...nope, not in the slightest. She was still pretty ticked off at the ginger, blaming her for why Graham had dumped her. Even now, she still despised the woman. When Gold summoned that creature to kill Regina, Artz protected her and they eventually came up with the plan to force the creature into a magical portal.

Once that portal was open, the Crimson haired woman had jumped in immediately, there had been no hesitation...not a single shred of doubt. She and Snow were sucked in afterwords and then taken prisoner. Why because apparently Artz had saved a prince from being killed...with light magic and as a result, people started calling her the savior instead of the blonde.

She didn't understand why that bothered her so much. She had spent almost a year railing against the whole savior thing and when it was finally given to someone else...she had gotten incredibly pissed off. The fact that it was Artz that now possessed the title of the savior just made her blood boil...Snow's too.

Snow White did not trust Artz Lanaria at all...especially as Mary Margaret before the Curse was broken. Most people in Storybrooke had often ignored Artz's presence altogether...like she wasnt important...like she wasnt meant to exist.

Emma, despite her conflicting feelings, had at least formed a tentative friendship with the red head...though her affiliation with Mr. Gold aka Rumplestiltskin did give her pause. Gold had treated the woman kindly, always acknowledging her presence, deliberately going out of his way to check up on her, always making certain that she was alright and asking if she needed anything.

Mr. Gold had always struck her as a manipulative bastard and that he cared only for himself and his desires, but then she noticed how he treated Artz. The first time she had seen them together, walking arm in arm, she had actually run up to them and told the pawnbroker to back off, to get away from the redhead.

The look he had given her that day...she still had nightmares about it. There had been so much fury in his eyes, but not a single trace of it in his expression or body language. She had realized later on that he had been controlling his reactions as to not cause the ginger any undue stress.

Gold genuinely cared for the Crimson haired woman. He was so kind to her, always chatting with her, making her smile and laugh, giving her little tokens or gifts, complimenting her and focused his complete attention on her before addressing anybody else.

To him, she always came first. This was extremely apparent every time he and Artz were amongst other people. When they ignored her and refused to acknowledge that she was even there, the pawnbroker either forcibly dragged her into the conversation by seeking her opinion or flat out ignoring everyone else and speaking only to her.

Observing the way they interacted with each other...it made Emma try to befriend the redhead, wanting to prove that she cared too but it always seemed to backfire; fighting, yelling, arguing...mainly on her side...and Artz simply smiling with her heart breaking in her eyes. Not once did she push the blonde away and by all rights she should have...should have given up on her almost straight away, but she never did...always constant, always there… always kind.

The Savior had been freed from the force that had once filled her heart with hatred, but in gaining that freedom, she now resides in a state of confusion and reflection. Why...the ever elusive question? The answer...hidden yet broken.