Author's Note: Marphisa! You ROCK! I happen to love this chapter, so hopefully you guys will enjoy it as much as I do!
When Sarah had turned her back on Rumple and walked away from him, Regina had stiffened. Even she knew better than to be so flippant around him.
Mary Margaret and Snow had actually moved closer to her and created a wall between Rumple and the little girl.
"Come on, Snow. Rumple's not going to do a thing," Sarah said as she extended her hand to Little Snow.
Little Snow turned her head to look at Sarah, who somehow knew her name, then turned her head back to stare at Rumple, who still was staring at her. Her arms tightened around Regina once more, letting Regina know that she was still scared.
"Snow, go with Sarah. You'll be fine." Regina's voice was calm and collected, completely the opposite of what was going on inside her head. But she could dwell on her thoughts and emotions later when all of them were away from Rumplestiltskin.
Little Snow slowly turned her eyes away from the man's and looked at a smiling Sarah who continued to hold out her hand.
"Come on Snow. We'll go get something to eat."
Slowly Little Snow looked from Sarah to Mary Margaret who gave her a small smile and a nod to tell her it was ok to go with Sarah.
Little Snow turned and swallowed down the lump in her throat.
"I don't want to leave Regina." Then she tightened her hold on Regina as she looked at Sarah. "He could hurt her."
The last four words were supposed to be a whisper to Sarah, a way for Little Snow to make the woman understand why she didn't want to move.
Regina heard the little girls whisper and felt the tightening arms around her. The small arms around her waist holding her so tightly, but she refused to feel anything towards her at the moment. Her eyes focused solely on Rumplestiltskin and how his eyes didn't leave Little Snow's movements. Something deep inside Regina told her that something was more than suspicious about the way he was acting. She was not able to place her finger on what was disturbing her more, the fact there were now three different Snow Whites surrounding her or the fact that Rumplestiltskin was interested in just one of them.
Sarah saw how much this little version of her sister loved their mother. It seemed that this Snow was just a year or two younger than her sister had been when she herself had been born, which meant that Snow had to be around twelve.
The slow comprehension of the disaster of her being here finally hit Sarah. They didn't know what dimension this Little Snow was from, let alone what time period.
"Snow, I promise that Mary...and Margaret will make sure nothing happens to Regina. Isn't that right, MARGARET?" Sarah yelled across to her sister and gave her a pointed stare.
Snow startled as Sarah discreetly used magic to get her attention. Really it felt like a bucket of cold water had been splashed on her, when it was Sarah's magic that made her tear her eyes away from Rumplestiltskin and jump. With a glare on her own face, she turned and was ready to yell at her sister for pulling that evil trick on her - but stopped short when she realized what Sarah had called her.
"What?" Snow asked with a furrowed brow.
Sarah's nostrils flared as she stared at her sister in anger at her not having understood what she was doing. "I said that you and MARY were going to make sure that REGINA stays safe. Right, MARGARET?"
Little Snow had turned her head toward "Margaret" and was waiting to hear what she said, not wanting to leave Regina if she wasn't going to be protected. Though the question of how two seemingly defenseless women could protect Regina immediately passed through her mind.
Snow's eyes widened, "Oh...OH! Yes." Looking down at Little Snow she nodded her head and gave a huge smile. "Me and Mary Mm...and I will make sure she's safe."
Sarah rolled her eyes. Even though she had told the lie, her sister couldn't even manage a few seconds of acting to keep Little Snow from suspecting anything.
She closed her eyes and shook her head before focusing on Little Snow.
"I know you don't know anyone but Regina; but if she trusts me, would you believe me?" Sarah asked.
Little Snow considered Sarah's words then nodded swiftly.
Sarah smiled and then turned her head to stare at the back of her mother's head. "Do you trust me Regina?"
Regina had been so focused on Rumple that Sarah's question took a second to process.
The sensation of feeling her heart expand at the question shocked her. The surge of love that she felt for Sarah made her fear that Rumple could see that Sarah had become one of her weaknesses. But nothing could have prepared her for what came out of her own mouth at the question.
"With all my heart."
Sarah smiled hugely as she saw her mother turn her head to stare at her with shock written on her face.
"Me too," Sarah said with a huge smile. Anyone with eyes could see she truly loved her mother. In that moment, though Regina didn't know it, her eyes were reflecting back that emotion at Sarah through the shock.
Little time had passed, but Regina knew in that moment that she loved Sarah. Sarah—her daughter.
The shifting of the arms around her was the first indication Regina had that Little Snow trusted her words and was moving to go with Sarah.
"I'll be seeing you soon, dearie." Rumple's words startled Little Snow. She jerked her head towards him, but Regina quickly moved to block Little Snow's sight of the man.
"Go with Sarah, Snow. I'll be there shortly."
Little Snow swallowed the lump in her throat, her fear visible clearly in her face. It was something that Regina had never liked on the young girl's face. To scare a child was not something she had ever prided herself on.
If anything she had always wanted a child's love desperately because her stepdaughter had never tried to be close to her. In the end she had focused on Rumplestiltskin's teachings and become as distant as she could from Snow. Though now, as she stared at the young version of her "enemy," she realized that Snow had never stopped trying to reach her. Regina had been the one to pull away, the one who began to hate and blame.
Oddly, she couldn't remember the exact moment she had begun to set her sights on Snow for revenge. All she remembered was the overwhelming need to avenge Daniel's death. But in this moment she remembered a feeling of fondness, of warmth, she had felt for Snow as a little child. Maybe it was the trust she saw shining in the young girl's eyes as she stared at her, or maybe there was something else. All she knew in that moment was that she wanted to keep Little Snow away from Rumplestiltskin by what ever means humanly or magically necessary.
Little Snow nodded her head and moved swiftly to hug Regina tightly. "Please be careful."
The awkwardness of the frightened embrace left Regina with her arms up, but slowly she embraced the little girl like she had done with Henry so many a time. For a fleeting moment, a feeling that she had not felt since she had met Snow surged through her.
"I will. I'll be there shortly."
Henry watched all this from a short distance, and felt odd as he felt a little jealous of his mother showing affection to the young version of his grandmother. If anything he should have been ecstatic. But he wasn't.
The jealousy in that moment made him feel horrible about himself. All this time he had wanted his entire family to just get along, and now he was jealous of sharing Regina's affection with the one person he had wanted her to show affection to. Shaking his head, he turned to his grandfather, who in turn had a furrowed brow and a stupefied look on his face.
"So, I'm not the only one that thinks it's weird right?" Henry asked his grandfather.
David said nothing but shook his head as he continued to stare at the sight.
Henry smirked as he turned back and winced at the sight of Little Snow pulling away from Regina. "I guess you got your wish, Grandpa."
When they emerged from the cave, everyone immediately began to search for Sarah and Snow.
"More than likely, they've traveled a good distance. They might not have realized they weren't in our lands," James said as he spotted tracks of the two moving away from the cave.
"They would have tried to move towards the castle. Wherever we are right now, it's near noon," David said as he looked up in the sky through the trees.
"James can you track them?" Cora asked as she looked in the direction James was facing.
James nodded his head. "But we need to hurry. We don't have that many hours in the day left before it gets dark. Plus we might need to set up camp for everyone else."
Turning in his kneeling position—he had been inspecting the tracks—he motioned with his head to Regina.
Regina had been staying at Emma's side as everyone began the search for the two princesses. Her nerves were fried and she was on edge as she immediately realized that her girls weren't close to the portal. But as her brother motioned for her, she immediately moved towards him.
"What is it?" Regina asked, knowing the look on her brother's face.
David, Emma, and Cora moved towards the two.
"If we don't make good time, I want you to make sure that the others set up camp and form a patrol during the night," James began, but Regina shook her head almost immediately.
"I'm not going to stand around and wait. I'm coming with you if the others can't make the journey." Regina's no nonsense voice made James sigh as he realized the "Queen" was talking.
"No, your highness is staying right here and leaving the dangerous quests to her brothers!" James made sure he included David. Knowing his brother as he did, trying to stop him from searching for his wife would not be an option.
"This isn't the time for squabbling," Cora cut in, knowing a fight was about to happen when Regina straightened her spine. "Right now, the more time we waste the less chance we have of finding them."
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
"When we can tell which direction the sun is setting we can head east. I know Snow would have started to move them towards the castle." David expressed his plan.
James shook his head. Turning and pointing towards the tracks he had found, he spoke. "Their tracks lead in this direction. I say we follow them as far as they lead us. They still might be in danger." The last sentence was said as he turned towards his brother, knowing that the statement was going to worry him but not able to keep from sharing his thoughts.
David swallowed. The idea of Snow being in danger and him not doing anything only made him more anxious to find her.
David shook his head no, though. "I don't think she's in danger. I'd know it if she were."
Regina's rigid posture seemed to slump at those words. "Thank God. I've been waiting to hear you say something about not feeling her anymore." Tears of relief formed in Regina's eyes as she let out a huge sigh of relief.
David moved with a small smile and hugged his sister from the side, squeezing tight as he realized she had been keeping herself wound tight in fear he would say something.
"You've been waiting to hear my opinion? Now I know you were worried." David tried to joke but Regina leant into his embrace, squeezing him back just as tightly.
"I don't know what I'd do if they died," Regina whispered against David's chest, tears spilling down her face at the thought.
David's body trembled at the thought of finding his wife and niece dead.
"We won't have to find out, Gina. Hey, look at me!" David said as he tilted Regina's face up. "We're going to find them. They are going to be fine."
The look in her eyes and the way she nodded reminded him of all those years ago when he was still new in her life and trust had been hard to earn after everything that had occurred. But it still made him feel like he should have been there for her when they were both younger. If he had only been there to save her from their mother's vengeance, things would have turned out so differently.
But the what-ifs and the maybes had been put aside once Emma had been born. In that moment he had known that everything had happened for a reason. He just wished he could find a way to make his sister's heart heal from the wounds inflicted all those years ago.
Regina lowered her head as David placed his chin on top of her head, both holding the other tightly. "They're both strong because of you, Gina. They're both survivors...because of you."
"Nanna, we can't give up now, not now that we're here," Emma said as she held little Henry in her arms, bouncing him to keep him from fidgeting.
Regina swallowed and nodded her head with resolve. Emma was right.
"Alright. So where to now?" Regina asked James.
James smirked. "Right this way, Your Majesty."
As he turned, Cora slapped her son in the back of the head, making him jerk and touch his head.
Regina rolled her eyes.
"I wonder if he speaks the way he does from brain damage considering the way he's always getting smacked in the head," Regina quipped then looked up at David with a smirk.
David smiled at his sister than looked over at his twin. "Really? I always thought it shook loose the few good ideas his head held."
"Hey!" James said indignantly. "I'm standing right here."
"Enough!" Cora said with the raising of her hand.
"There's magic here."
The statement, made loudly, caused everyone to turn and stare at the man who had said the words.
"What?" Cora asked with a furrowed brow.
Rum didn't move as he stood still and let himself feel the tingling sensation that he associated with magic—with power.
"There's magic here. Can't you feel it?" Rum said as he turned and looked at Cora and Regina.
Cora said nothing, but turned to Emma. Emma nodded her head in understanding and slowly raised the hand that wasn't holding Henry and formed a ball of pure energy.
But soon Emma's face showed distress as the ball began to flicker in and out of sight. Emma began to sweat immediately and soon encased her hand around the ball to extinguish it. "It's weak...but it is here." Emma confirmed.
"It means we have little time to spare. We need to find them as fast as possible," Rum said as he walked towards James with his walking stick supporting him as he did so.
"What happens if we don't find them in time?" Bae asked as he walked towards his wife and son, looking at his father for the answer to his question.
But Rum didn't turn to look at Bae. His eyes looked to the ground, where a footprint could be seen.
Despite what David had said about finding the girls, Rum knew that with magic being so weak here, Sarah's chances of leaving this realm alive were slim to none. Voicing those thoughts would only cause more despair, though.
Looking up and in the direction the footprints weaved ahead of him, he said the only thing he could without destroying any hope they all had.
"Let's not find out."
And with that, he began to follow the footsteps of the girl who saved his life.
"Hey, don't worry. Your mom is going to be alright," Sarah said with a smile as she held Little Snow's hand as they walked towards Granny's diner.
"She's not my mother," Little Snow whispered with a sniffle. Her emotions were still very close to the surface from the sight of Regina after running away earlier.
The words made Sarah's smile vanish. Wherever this Snow was from, she was from a time that her mother had not yet wed her father.
"But I thought Regina is to marry your father, King Leopold; or am I mistaken?" Sarah asked forgetting something very important.
Little Snow stopped in her tracks. "How did you know that?"
Sarah knew what time period this Snow was from by the shock of Sarah knowing the King's intentions, which apparently shouldn't have been widely known yet. But Sarah was a good liar, and easily found a loophole, allowing Little Snow to relax in her presence once more.
"Regina trusts me; remember? She told me all about it."
Little Snow moved her lips in a way that Sarah knew meant she was mulling something over in her mind then pursed her lips as a decision was reached.
"Did she tell you everything...even her secrets?" Little Snow asked with a furrowed and worried brow.
The question caught Sarah off guard. What secrets would her mother have that she would tell her sister at such a young age?
"What secrets, Snow?" Sarah asked in a hushed tone, her own brow furrowing in curiosity.
Again, the young girl moved her lips, thinking of what to say next; then her shoulders slumped and she looked away shaking her head.
"Nothing."
Sarah said nothing as Little Snow slipped her hand back in hers and they began to walk once more.
Sarah turned her head around as they walked, staring at her mother, who had yet to turn back around and face Rumple.
Their eyes met even over the large distance between them. One question suddenly plagued Sarah's mind. What secret could Little Snow possible be talking about?
Author's Note: Any idea why Sarah might be in trouble? Any ideas on whats going to happen next? Let me know your thoughts! And let me know if you're enjoying! Please REVIEW!