Usually, he hated to be wrong. Usually, he prided himself on being right, knowing precisely what to do, and taking safe risks based on the idea that he was right. Usually, he was right.

But now, he found himself terribly, horribly wrong for the first time in a long while. And he didn't hate it. But he couldn't be entirely happy about it either. Yes, Emma and Mary Margaret were back; no other bodies had come through that well. Somehow, someway, Cora had been left behind in their world, defeated probably by nothing but a bit of squid ink, and now Cora was no longer a threat to him or Belle. It would appear that everything had worked out for the better.

And yet…the guilt was immense. It was overwhelming. He'd nearly killed Emma and Mary Margaret for nothing. Normally something like that might not have bothered him. He was old; he had a body count so high he couldn't even begin to work out an accurate number. Some had been killed for good reasons, others not so good reasons, but this time…

This time he'd been a fool. A coward. Again.

The threat of Cora was enough to panic him, to make him see Emma as nothing but collateral, a stupid thing when he stopped to think about it. In the heat of the moment, he'd been willing to sacrifice her, to convince himself that he'd find a way around the prophecy and get to Bae with the help of someone else. In the cold chill of reality that followed…he knew better. It was Emma. It was always Emma. He'd have been willing to give up Baelfire to keep Cora gone? To keep from having to confront her again? He'd been willing to trade Belle's safety for a reunion with his own son…that was the one he kept circling back to time and time again. Belle or Bae, Belle or Bae. In her mind, there was never a choice. She wasn't asking him to choose between them, but in situations like this, when he so clearly took sides, it was hard to pretend there wasn't a choice. And now, Belle…

He was going to have to tell her. There was no way around it. Emma, Mary Margaret, Ruby, Henry…too many people had witnessed what he'd done for him to hide this. One way or another, Belle was going to find out what he'd done. This time it was more than a couple of lies. It was murder, attempted, admittedly, but he couldn't imagine her seeing a difference. He doubted she'd take this truth half as well as she had the last one.

The last truth had been another chance she'd given him that he didn't deserve. He didn't think she'd be able to forgive this one. He didn't think that she'd be able to live with it. He'd been prepared for that, of course, when he'd gone out there, but then he'd assumed that he'd be bringing Cora's dead body back, he'd have proof he was right, and even if she finally left him, he'd have the assurance that what he'd done would have protected her. Now he had nothing to show for it. Nothing except the hope that he could finish his potion and Emma would take him to Bae.

He sighed as he arrived back in his shop, noting the dwarves' presence still in the back. He'd forgotten about them. He'd forgotten that he'd assumed they were there to watch Henry after Ruby left, but in fact, it appeared they were there to keep watch over David when Ruby and Henry left.

The others weren't far behind him. It figured. He'd driven his car from where he parked it back to the shop, but with David still in the Sleeping Curse, he wasn't surprised to see damn near everyone slam into his shop, breathless and flushed from running a few minutes after him. Mary Margaret was the first, naturally. She slowed her gate down just long enough to catch his gaze behind the counter and for him to jerk his head in the direction of his backroom. By the time Ruby came in, she was already running again. The wolf glared at him, probably for throwing her across the woods, but took off after her friend. Emma and Henry trailed behind, and Regina…

Regina brought up the very rear. Walking slowly…pathetically. Unlike him, she had done the right thing today, a fact that pained him to admit. But he'd also seen the look on her face as Henry had screamed out "Mom" after she'd done it and then raced into Emma's arms. He was sure it stung. Probably just as much as the thought of how Belle would react when he told her what had happened.

"David!" he heard Mary Margaret cry out from the back as Regina disappeared. There was no answer, but a few seconds later-

A familiar pulse of magic moved through the shop, one he'd felt once before in his life. True Love's Kiss could break any curse, and if the gasps of amazement and wonder he heard in the back were any indication, it had just broken a Sleeping Curse. Again. He ignored the sounds of conversation, of sniffling and light laughter. He'd give them a few moments before he kicked them out of the back so he could get on with his life without the threat of Cora looming. Or maybe he wouldn't have to.

As he placed the fairy wand back into its place, someone emerged from the back room. For a moment, he dared to hope the others would follow, but it was just one person…just Emma. She walked right into the shop, her eyes narrowing and fixing on him in a way that twisted his insides up.

"We need to talk," Emma muttered quietly behind him.

"Yes," he breathed.

He'd had a head start, but he'd left everyone behind at the well. He was certain by now she'd know exactly what he didn't want Belle to know. She'd probably be furious with him by now. Hell, he was furious with himself. He didn't regret it. In fact, he had the feeling that if this little scenario ever played out again, he'd probably do the same stupid things he'd done this time. He'd probably play it the same way. And that was perhaps why he felt utterly guilty about the entire thing. Oh, he knew it was bad when someone like him felt something like that.

"I believe apologies are in order."

"No. No apologies necessary. I understand why you wanted to keep Cora out of here."

Well, now…wasn't that a shock. Almost as much of a shock as it had been watching her climb out of the well instead of Cora.

"Just remind me never to bet against you in the future, Miss Swan."

"It's not really a bet when the game is rigged, is it?"

The game? Rigged? We need to talk? What did she want to talk about?

"To what exactly are you referring?" he smiled knowingly, a trait that made those he was speaking to uncomfortable because it convinced them he knew more about what they were talking about than they did. He found the gesture incredibly helpful, especially when he really didn't know what was going on.

"Your scroll, I saw it in your cell."

Ah…they had found it. They must have managed to use the squid ink then. But why Emma was so taken with had him perplexed.

"You wrote my name again, and again, and again…" she muttered gently so that he could take in the shock in her eyes, the stillness of her features. It was the look of a woman who had just come face to face with something terrifying. Ordinarily, he would have assumed it was Cora. But given the circumstances and the person standing before him, he had a feeling it was something a little bit more than that. He'd forgotten the state of the ink in his cell. Well, perhaps "forgotten" wasn't correct. It simply hadn't dawned on him until that moment how she would find it, what he'd used it for. But it was probably a good thing. Looking at her now, he could tell that any seeds of doubt the girl had still harbored about herself, about her parents, about who and what she was…they'd just been crushed.

He offered her a shrug. "Just wanted to make sure it would stick."

"The ink," she pressed. "It was there all the time. You could've gotten out."

"I was exactly where I wanted to be. You needed to find that, so all this could occur."

"You created the curse, Gold. You made me the Savior. So everything I've ever done…it's exactly what you wanted me to do."

"I created the Curse, dearie, but I didn't make you," he scoffed. So, she hadn't quite figured all of it out yet. That was coming…in time. For now, he'd settle for this small realization from the woman he needed to bring him to his Baelfire. "I merely took advantage of what you are – the product of true love."

Emma's gaze turned back to the curtain, back to where her parents had just broken another Sleeping Curse with nothing more than a kiss. It was finally sinking in.

"That's why you're powerful. And everything you've done, you've done yourself."

"So, you don't know?" she muttered, glancing back at him with confusion and, perhaps, a bit of hope.

"Know what?" he questioned carefully, giving a non-committal tone.

Emma took careful steps toward him and raised her hand to her heart, looking suddenly as pale as her mother naturally was. Something had scared her.

"Cora…" she breathed, "tried to rip my heart out, but she couldn't. She was blasted back by something inside me. By…by…"

Emma struggled, searching for an explanation, for something else to explain what he suspected she already knew to be true but wished wasn't.

"By magic," he finished for her.

His smile grew, and he fought back the urge to laugh at what he'd always known but never truly seen evidence of until now. Emma Swan had magical abilities. All Saviors had the capacity for it, children of True Love even more so. The only reason she hadn't show any propensity for it now was that she'd never been in a world with magic, a place where the ability could be revealed. But magic, first and foremost, was an instinct. He couldn't tell what spell she'd unintentionally cast to "blast back" Cora. But he knew it was her magic that was finally revealing itself, coming to life. Her magic was rearing its head, and he knew from the look on her terrified face that she considered that head very, very ugly indeed. Pity.

"Whatever that was, I didn't do that. You did."

Emma swallowed hard, and he could see a slight tremble in her features as she glanced over to the curtain her family lay behind. For the first time since he'd known her, he wondered if she was about to burst into tears. It was as if he'd just told her she had cancer and only days to live instead of magic with infinite possibilities. He tried to remember what it was like for him in those early days, in those first minutes and hours when he'd realized he had great power. He supposed it could be overwhelming and terrifying…at least without the right guide.

"Worry not, Miss. Swan. When you're ready, I'm sure a suitable teacher can be found to guide you through your new abilities." He tried not to give her a salesman's smile, but it was difficult not to, given the fact that he wanted to be the one to train her when that time came. He wanted to be the one to assess her powers as he had Regina and Zelena, to know how they ticked and what lay just beyond the surface. A Savior with magic. That was something that had endless possibilities before she likely died the death all Saviors did.

But Emma didn't give him a hint about catching on to that small offer. She simply began to move, slowly, on shaking legs, away from him and back into the room everyone had disappeared into.

I loved writing this chapter. This is really only the second time, post-curse, that Rumple and Emma have had time to chat, and the number of ways that this conversation differs from their first one after the Wraith appeared...it was fun to have two very different conversations, two very different Emmas to deal with.

This is, of course, where we saw 2x09 more or less ended for Rumple, save for one cheap shot he got in with Regina. But just because it ends here on the show doesn't mean it ends here in the Chronicles. Rumple has already been hinting at what's going to come next. Aside from that cheap shot at Regina, Belle's back in the next chapter. How do you think that conversation will go? I suppose we'll have to read on to find out. Peace and Happy Reading!