Sealed with a kiss. There was no better way than to seal a deal of this nature. It simply had to be. But this time, with that promise, he did feel an urge to go further, to do more than just kiss. Though some old gentlemanly part of him wanted to wait, his whole body also burned with the recognition of how wonderful it would be to fall into the King's bed with her on the very day before she would have-

"Mistress Cora! Mistress!" The pounds on the door made her pull away from him and look nervously in that direction. In all fairness, for all of one second, it had sounded as though they'd be content to break down the door. "Did you get the dress on yet? We need to make our alterations!" a woman squealed.

"I need just a minute more to myself!" Cora called. "It's…emotional!"

But she didn't look at the door as she'd said that last bit, she'd looked back at him, wrapped her arms around his neck once more and kissed him again. However, unlike last time, the knowledge that her servants were just behind the door was enough to keep him from losing himself completely, and after only two kisses, he managed to push her away. It would be wonderful to go on as he'd envisioned, but they had much to do if they were going to keep this little plan of theirs working smoothly! They would have one chance at getting this perfectly right. One misstep, especially on his part, and things could go very wrong for him indeed.

"I'll meet you tonight, by the apple tree at the Southern edge of the property. Midnight!"

Cora nodded. "I'll count the hours until I'm free of them!"

She leaned in closer for another kiss, but he had to disappear before he let their lips touch again. He was certain that with just the slightest of touches, he might be tempted to take her with him now, and that wouldn't do. Not only would it be terribly unsatisfying to her, but it would be a terrible mistake on his part.

Back in his Tower again, his mind spun and reeled around. If not for the fact that he hadn't slept in about a century he probably would have figured that he had dreamed up what happened. But even knowing he didn't sleep still had him questioning it. Had he really just proposed to Cora?!

That was it, wasn't it. A proposal! He'd promised to change the contract, amend it to their own child, and so magically he could feel he was already bound to that arrangement but…a child! And Cora!

All his life, he'd wanted to be a parent, he'd wanted to be a father. It was the reason that all the happiest moments of his life revolved around Baelfire. The first time he'd held him, the first time he'd walked, teaching him how to spin, holding him and knowing everything was going to be okay the first time after Milah had gone…

But somehow, he never figured he'd get another opportunity to father another child, not as he was now, with this curse! And Cora…

Wasn't it an odd thing, that though he'd always wanted to be a father, being a husband had never really been part of his plans. Yes, he'd fallen hard under Milah's spell at one point, but he'd never been the one to propose. She had orchestrated their marriage, making the proposal no more than a moment of begging for help, which he would have completely regretted in the end if not for his son. He'd always wanted children. But now, with Cora…it was a proposal. He hadn't said the right words but somehow he knew they'd both understood it was a marriage proposal and in coming with him tonight, even if they never really married, she was vowing to live here in his castle with him, to study magic, to deliver a child, a daughter who would help to find her brother. It was overwhelming; it was remarkable and happy! So, so happy! He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this light! And nervous. And excited. And half a dozen other emotions that he couldn't identify!

But then…reality sank in. Sitting there on that couch reveling in what had just happened was one thing, but anticipating a future with her, a child…that led him to something else entirely. They'd been close to one another for weeks now, tension growing and building, and he was certain that if he brought her back here tonight, the actions that followed in his bedroom would be anything but innocent. It wasn't a problem for him, nor Cora he was sure, but the fact that at any time she could become pregnant…that was his concern…it was a problem that he had to rectify. Now that the deal had been sealed and their plan set, he needed that child more than anything. Fortunately, next to what she intended to do, his job was easy. Or at least he believed it was to be considerably easy. Everything about the deal he'd made with Cora worked in their favor with one little misstep he hadn't considered until now. What would be the firstborn of Cora would be his second born, and nearly a century ago, he had sold his second-born to save his firstborn with the confidence that he would simply never have a second born to give. That would have been one way around that particular contract, but there was always more than one way to win and he had figured this loophole out in less time than it had taken him to blink when he'd first suggested he change the contract with Cora. He couldn't owe a debt to a dead man.

Of course, it had been about a century since he'd made that deal, the average man might believe that the Healer he'd promised his daughter to was dead, but he'd long suspected the Healer was more than he'd seemed. A practice of magic like that was powerful indeed and now that he had this knowledge inside of him he knew that the Atlantis the Healer had claimed to be from was older than the Dark One Curse itself. This either meant that all the books in all the realm had gotten the fate of Atlantis wrong, or…that Healer had looked awfully good for his age when he first met him. He was willing to bet it was the second, but finding out was easy enough.

As much as he wanted to sit there and reflect upon what had happened and what could happen tonight, he forced himself to get up and go to the cauldron of water that he kept burning over the fire. He tossed in a few special herbs and then a potion that would summon up images, and finally he took the dagger from his boot, pressed the tip into his thumb, and dropped his blood into the boiling pot. It was a spell he'd only used a couple of times in his life, easy as it was, he didn't have much use for it as he tended to remember all his deals. But this potion was not to recall deals, it was to recall outstanding debts, deals he'd made that were unfulfilled, both those that he was the collector and those he was indebted to. It showed the most recent deals first; Cora's face came to the pot first, of course. The child not yet conceived or claimed. She was in her room, dressed in a regular gown again, speaking with some servants. He wished he could hear what she was talking about, he wished he knew what she was thinking about but-

"Later," he muttered. There would be time for all of that and more later. And with a flick of his wrist, the image changed. He saw Theseus sitting on a hillside with Mary, he saw a couple of men that who he suspected he'd be collecting on any day now, a few more men and women who simply owed him favors for simple spells, he never liked to give anything away for nothing, and-

"There you are…"

He saw the Healer. There plain as day in a little hut. He was still alive. His debt to him outstanding. And now that he knew he was alive, that was easy enough to fix.

He waited until it grew dark, until he'd have the element of surprise on his side. He gave himself enough time to let his anger grow, to forget about who the Healer was, about what he'd done for Baelfire, about how he had spared him…instead he chose to remember only how the Healer was demanding this new child. He'd taken terrible advantage of a man without a choice, and that was all he needed to spark his rage.

When the time finally came, all it required of him was a great breath, for him to conjure an image of the man as he remembered him, and then he disappeared.

When he opened his eyes, he smirked. Well…wasn't that lovely. He found himself standing outside a little house, a house in a world that he recognized. Though he knew it hadn't stood there forever, though the trees and brush had grown up around him since he'd been gone, he recognized it as the house he'd once been to in his old home, his former village. It was quieter now, it had the feel of a place that was abandoned, and he had heard that since he'd left, the population had declined as the fish had left, and the sea began to recede with time. Apparently, the Healer hadn't gotten the memo. Ah well, what problem was that to him? What problem was it to the Healer in a few minutes?

He did love to make an entrance, but that was difficult to do when he had no idea where the individual was and couldn't see through walls. Fortunately, there was an easy way to remedy that.

He knocked on the door. Inside he heard footsteps coming closer and now that he was sure of where his attention was he let himself disappear and reappear inside the home just in time to see a fat man open the doors and look out to find nothing there. Perfectly executed, he wondered if Cora's tasks would come this easy to her.

"Peekaboo!" he exclaimed so that Fendrake quickly turned around to face him. Now that was remarkable. He hadn't aged a day. Much like this little hut he had, it looked nearly identical to what he'd seen a hundred years ago and probably would have for another hundred…if not for the way he'd taken advantage of a sick little boy! "Some places never change, even after all these years. Wouldn't hurt to dust the chickens."

"I know who you are, Dark One," he replied in that tone that he'd had all those years ago. Even his voice had stayed the same.

"Well, I imagine you do!" he exclaimed happy to be playing along now that he was the one who finally had the upper hand where magic was concerned.

"You weren't like this before."

"That's right!" he cried, remembering all too well. "I was a mortal man then, and a moral one. A man in a desperate situation, and you took advantage, and I admire that a great deal. Full points. But I don't like carrying debt," he explained, drawing closer to him.

Fendrake only smiled. The calmness he'd been so grateful for all those years ago was suddenly less than admirable, but he could admit that it wasn't the worst thing. There were plenty of other people in the world he'd be pleased to make scream in his place.

"Unfortunately, Dark One, the contract is binding. Even if I wanted to change it, I couldn't. You owe me."

He let out a great laugh at his expense. It really would have paid the man to have at least a little bit of fear. Really, perhaps then, he might be able to see what he had in mind and try to defend himself. He'd never gone toe to toe with an Atlantean Healer before and imagined that after tonight he might never get the opportunity again. He could point it out, therefore drawing this encounter out, but…Cora was waiting.

"I owe you! That's right, but...I can't owe a debt to a dead man."

Before Fendrake could say anything, he reached out and plunged his hand into his chest, ripping his heart free from his body and holding it out for him to see just as he imagined Cora doing with King. They truly were perfect for each other. And with that, why waste time.

"Now, I don't like debts. But I do love a loophole…"

With the tightening of his fingers, the heart dissolved into dust in the palm of his hand, and the Healer, the one being that threatened his happiness with Cora, gave out one final sob before he fell to the floor dead.

"I do hate loose ends."


Well, that takes care of the Atlantean Healer and leaves us with the set up for 5B pretty much complete, at least where Rumple is concerned. 3A and 5B were the easiest set ups in this fiction, since most of their happens in the two previous fictions. Every other season or half season needs a number of different chapters to get everything where it needs to be but these two pretty much needed one chapter each. It was nice. I wish they all could have been like this. After this chapter, we're on to the last two chapters in Cora's section, which obviously set up a good chunk of season 2 for Rumple as well as Regina!

Thank you, as always, for your kind, kind reviews MissAmande, MerlockVonBaron, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta. I'm so happy everyone likes this fiction and how it's been composed! After taking well over a year to write it, you can imagine just how thrilled I am to know that it's well-received! Peace and Happy Reading!