Emma sat quietly finishing her letter to Ruby. They had been discussing what to put in depth, and it had been decided that their first priority would be to protect Ruby, Dot and Lily.

So Emma wrote in her letter that they should come to the Enchanted Forest in two days, and had requested to meet at midnight in the Fairy Glade. This was a full 10 days before the expected meet-up Granny had requested, and so should give them plenty of time to plan their next moves.

They would bring nothing with them but their essentials with the knowledge they would be well looked after once they arrived. She had explained the situation about Blue removing Granny's heart, and advised that she thought that they were all in danger. Happy with the contents, she gave it to the others to read through.

"Do I need to write anything else?" Emma asked, glancing at them all, as they read the letter over Regina's shoulder.

"I don't think so. We don't want to put too much information about the situation here in the castle, just in case the letter falls into the wrong hands," Mal assured her, "what you've written is enough to get them here, and then we can take the next step together."

"Poor Ruby, she's going to be devastated to learn about Granny. We need to get her heart back, but we have no idea where she keeps it," Belle said frustratedly.

"We have a more important issue to consider," Regina cut in, "it's just occurred to me, we need to prevent this from happening again. Any of us are at risk of having our hearts removed, and we wouldn't even know it. We've put a protection amulet around Isabelle's ankle, and enchanted it so that she can never never leave the castle without either myself or Emma with her. We never considered what we needed to do to keep everybody else safe."

"What about the protection spell that you used on Henry on the way back from Neverland," Emma suggested.

"It's a possibility but it will be draining. It's much harder to enchant and protect a heart, than to quickly check whether or not it's still there," Regina explained, "maybe we should start doing the rounds tonight? Hopefully we can get everybody protected before we meet up with Ruby."

"I'm worried that it will leave us too tired to protect ourselves, if we're leaving the castle to meet them," Emma nibbled at her bottom lip distractedly.

"I can prepare a dose each of the rejuvenation potion I gave Regina, so she wasn't tired on your wedding day. It only takes a moment to prepare and doesn't need time to brew, so I can have some ready for tonight. It's never a long term solution," Mal warned them, "but it would give us a boost."

"If we had that, then we could get through all the enchantments tonight, and then rest ourselves tomorrow, ready to go and meet Ruby, Lily and Dot, the night after," Regina suggested.

"You must really be looking forwards to seeing your daughter," Belle asked Mal, but of course she knew the answer to that already.

"I am, so much," Mal confirmed, but looked hesitant.

"What is it?" Emma asked, "why do you look worried?"

"I haven't seen Lily since the wedding, and I know she noticed Belle and I arrived together, but I'm not sure she understood what that meant," Mal sighed.

"You're worried your daughter won't approve of Belle?" Regina clarified.

"Yes. I haven't known her for long, and have never had a partner in that time. I've never had a reason to mention my preference for the fairer sex," Mal told them primly, "what if she rejects me?"

Emma started laughing, drawing a scowl from Mal.

"What?" Emma shrugged, "you're kidding, right?! Lily won't have a problem with you having a girlfriend, I promise."

Mal glowered at Emma, upset that she wasn't taking her concerns seriously, because the matter had been pressing heavily on her mind.

"How could you possibly know that?" Mal demanded, glaring at her.

Emma laughed again, "I know because Lily was my first kiss, for starters," to the shock of everyone in the room. They had known the girls had met as teens and seen the video of them together, and yes, they looked close. Was it more than that though?

Seeing their unasked questions, Emma spoke again, "don't get me wrong, I love Lily, I really do, but it was just two girls messing around. We were too young for anything to come of it and we were split up not long after that. All it did was confirm our feelings for other girls, but not for each other."

"So she really won't have a problem?" Mal allowed herself to relax a little.

"No. not then, and not now. I don't want you to worry, so I'll tell you this, but please don't let her know I broke her confidence. We talked when she first came to Storybrooke, and she told me she had had relationships with both men and women, but hadn't wanted to settle down with any of them," Emma confided to Mal, "she always felt like maybe she was destined to be alone, and she was happy that way. Lily is a force to be reckoned with, and didn't need anyone else. She is enough, all on her own."

"I should have talked to you sooner," Mal admitted, "I just didn't want to hear something that confirmed my fears."

"Lily might not have been raised by you, but she is your flesh and blood, my love," Belle comforted her, "she will always be a special person and you have to extend some trust to her. Trust that she is enough like you, for silly things like this not to ever cause a rift between you"

"Everything will be fine, Mal, don't worry," Regina reassured the older woman, "now, shall we send the letter?"

"How do we do that?" asked Emma curiously, "it's hard to cross realms, but you can just send a letter? Is there some kind of Inter-Realm Postal Service, I don't know about?"

"It's a simple spell, hand me the letter and I can show you, so you know next time," Mal held her hand out to Regina, expectantly.

"Wait!" Emma took the letter back from Regina, picked up a pen and added a final line, before handing the letter to Mal.

Mal read it and laughed, "'P.s have you had any puppies yet?' really, Emma?" she asked, amused.

Emma defended herself, "it's so she knows it's me cos I must have asked her 20 times when she was going to have puppies, so that I could be a Godmother to a cute little wolf pup," she explained, before giggling, "plus, it's just funny!"

Eye's twinkling, Mal put the letter, along with the one from Granny in a larger envelope and sealed it. Flicking her hand, the letter disappeared, and three seconds later a spark of purple cracked in front of them.

Emma jumped, "what was that?!"

"I believe it's the equivalent of a read receipt, that you had on your devices back in Storybrooke. It was letting us know that it had found it's intended recipient," Mal explained patiently, knowing that Emma's knowledge of magic was still limited.

"That's pretty cool. I really need to learn more about this magic crap," Emma conceded.

"Magic crap? Eloquent as always, darling," Regina teased with a warm smile.

"Well, I figure there are two of the most powerful women in the realm, sitting here in this room with me, I may as well take advantage of it."

"Magic lessons are a good idea, maybe you can join me when I am teaching Willow?" Mal suggested.

"I'm not joining a class for kids," Emma rolled her eyes, "I want to learn the good stuff!"

Mal chuckled, "you daughter is already far more advanced than you, Emma, you have a lot of catching up to do, before you get to the 'good stuff'."

Emma turned to Regina, looking for backup from her wife, but Regina just laughed too, "she's right you know, Willow is extraordinary!"

"Urgh, next you're gonna tell me that Isabelle is better than me," Emma said sulkily.

"Well, she could already magically transport herself at less than a day old," Belle grinned, "she will be more powerful than all of you, I suspect."

Emma huffed and crossed her arms, before looking up and smiling, "our kids are awesome," she told them proudly and with so much enthusiasm, "I would love to have lessons with Willow, if I'm welcome?"

"We'll get started straight away," Mal smiled evilly, already planning how much fun she could have at Emma's expense.

"I don't like that look in your eye, Mal," Emma gulped, turning to Regina, "tell her she has to behave!"

"Oh no," Regina denied her request, "I'm not getting in the middle of you two! However, I'm sure Belle and I will make some popcorn, ready to watch your lessons," Regina grinned at Belle.

xxxxxxxxxx

"Blue, what's the latest?" Snow demanded, scowling as she walked into the study, where Blue was sat at a table, going through old magical tome's.

"Hi, Blue, how are you today?" Blue mocked her, causing Snow to drop her scowl and look vaguely remorseful.

"I'm sorry," Snow apologised, "How are you?"

"You would know if you didn't get up and sneak out before I woke up, or come back to the room so late I'm already asleep," Blue snapped at her, "the only reason I know you have slept there is because your pillow has an indent the shape of your head left in it."

"I've not been sleeping well," confessed Snow, "I've been riding in the mornings, and staying up by the fire late at night."

Blue softened slightly, on the surface, but underneath she was fuming. How dare the spoiled little princess slight her like this. Schooling her voice into a gentler tone, she spoke, "I know you're upset about your family. We will get them back, one way or another, for turning their backs on you. We will make them suffer, I promise."

"Any updates from within the castle?" Snow enquired.

"Regina and Emma had the baby, but I would imagine it's so well protected, that we have no chance of snatching her, even if we could get close enough. Emma may be new to magic, but Regina is not, and neither is that dragon," Blue told her.

"How is the device coming along?" Snow checked.

"We have sent out people to gather the resources, but it's taking time. One of the items will be coming from Oz, in 10 days time, at the beginning of the next cycle of the moon," Blue revealed. "Ruby may not need it anymore to control her wolf, but she never goes anywhere without her cloak and she will be meeting 'Granny' by Lake Nostos. Except, it won't be Granny, it will be me," Blue smirked.

"Why do you need the cloak? How does that help us?" Snow wondered.

"The cloak acts like a shield, but not in the way that you would expect. It absorbs the magic and energy from the full moon, to protect Ruby from it when she was using it to control her wolf. That cloak is essential to making the device that absorbs magic from people. We can't recreate that ourselves, I have been searching through these tome's, for weeks, and the knowledge has been lost to this realm. We need the cloak," Blue advised.

"What about the others? What if she brings Dot and Lily with her? They all left Storybrooke together?" Snow pointed out.

"Ah, but I have plans for them," Blue smiled maliciously, "Dot won't let Ruby come here alone, so she will no doubt trail along behind. The wolf and the dragon just even the score a little bit. Once I take their hearts, they will be mine to control, and we can have them working for us. No one who is currently against us would ever do anything to hurt either of them, so they are the perfect defence. They will help keep us safe until we can complete our plan."

"That's genius," Snow gloated, "we have ourselves a guard dog, and a dragon. Not many people would be stupid enough to go up against them, but they would give us the advantage over Regina, Emma and Mal, because they would try to protect them, to their own detriment."

"Now you're beginning to see," Blue stood up, "come to bed tonight, Snow, you need to rest. You have to trust that I know what I'm doing."

"I will," promised Snow, a leering look in her eye, as they raked over Blue's slender form.

"Later," Blue smiled seductively, walking out the room, satisfied that once again she had Snow back on her leash.

xxxxxxxxxx

Later that night, Mal appeared in the Swan-Mills suite, with Belle in tow, who by the looks of it still hadn't gotten used to the sudden transportation by magic that Mal was so fond of.

Emma gave Belle a sympathetic look, "the old dragon still not giving you any warning before she does that?"

"Less of the old," Mal cut in indignantly, eyes flashing.

"How old are you now, Mal?" Emma teased, knowing she was sensitive about the age gap between her and Belle, who was younger than her daughter by a few years.

"742," Mal mumbled, turning her head away.

"I can't hear you!" Emma sang in the most annoying voice she could muster.

Mal flicked her wrist and suddenly Emma was silent. Mal observed her, scrutinising the now quiet Saviour, "much better," she said, obviously pleased with her handiwork.

Emma stuck her tongue out and flopped down in the chair, defiantly.

Regina walked in with Isabelle in her arms, noticing Emma's glowering face as she sat looking gloomily in the fire.

Cocking her head to one side, she looked for answers, and then turned to Belle, "I take it these two are having fun?" gesturing between the two women who were deliberately not looking at each other.

"Emma was teasing Mal about her age, and Mal took her voice. It was a fair trade," Belle joked.

Emma stood up, apparently talking at a million miles a minute, but no sound was coming out.

Regina looked pointedly at Mal who sighed, and waved a dismissive hand, giving Emma her voice back.

"Old bat!" Emma threw at Mal, who looked at Regina. Noting her small nod she took Emma's voice away again.

Regina laughed, "Sorry darling, but you were kind of asking for it!"

Emma looked shocked for a moment that her wife would betray her, then a mischievous look came into her eyes, as an idea entered her head.

Walking determinedly, she stalked towards Regina with purpose. She took Izzy from her arms and handed her to Belle, who was more than happy to have her turn, holding her namesake.

Emma turned to Regina, pressing hands to her cheeks, as she pulled her close and kissed her. A rainbow light exploded from them and danced around the room.

"What am I always telling you, Mal," Emma asked smuggly, "Love. Always. Wins!"

"Fine, you win this one, Saviour," Mal conceded begrudgingly.

"Ok, enough, you two, shall we get started?" Regina intervened before the two women could start again.

Reaching into her cloak, Mal retrieved three vials of liquid, "if we drink these now, they should enhance our power enough to be able to protect everyone in the castle."

Emma pulled the cork out of the top, wincing as the odour reached her nose, "why does it smell so bad?"

Mal tried not to laugh, and kept her face expressionless, "most potions do, Emma, drink up," and much to her delight, Emma did, though she gagged on the last swallow.

Regina and Mal lifted theirs up and unstoppered them.

"Hey!" Emma snarled, "why are yours different colours to mine?"

"I'm sure I don't know," Mal smirked, watching as Emma put the pieces together in her mind.

"You made mine taste bad on purpose!" Emma accused her, pointing a finger at her angrily.

"I did no such thing!" Mal denied, "I just didn't make yours taste nice, by adding licorice. There's a difference."

"You wait, dragon, just you wait," Emma threatened with a mock glare, "I'm gonna… I'm gonna… well, you'll see," she finished lamely, adding "fine, you win this one, dragon," under her breath. Mal, with her enhanced hearing, heard it off course, but wisely kept her smirk to herself.

Nearly five hours later and the job was done. Every heart, of every resident in the castle was protected, so it couldn't be removed. Slumping down tiredly into the chairs in front of the fire, the three women were too tired to move.

Isabelle was in her cot, warm by the fire and Belle was asleep on the sofa, which was large and surprisingly comfortable. Emma won a grateful look from Mal as she dragged herself back up tiredly, to fetch a blanket to cover the young woman with.

"Why don't you leave her sleeping here, Mal?" Emma suggested quietly, "you can either join her on the sofa, it's large enough for two, or you can take one of the guest rooms."

"Thank you. A guest room would be lovely, I don't want to disturb her, she looks exhausted," Mal agreed gratefully.

"She's been doing so much lately," Regina looked concerned, "I think she feels that she needs to do more, because she doesn't have magic. She confessed that she feels somehow less than us, in terms of being useful. I think she tries too hard to make up for it."

"But Belle is amazing!" Emma said, surprised, "how can she not know that? She's like a walking library and has so many skills. She doesn't need magic."

"She is, isn't she?" Mal looked at the women sleeping on the couch with a soft expression that Emma rarely got to see, "she is truly incredible."

"You're perfect for each other," Regina told Mal, before asking, "when are you going to seal the deal?"

Mal's expression made Emma laugh quietly, because she really looked like a deer in the headlights, as the saying goes.

"What?!" Mal asked, shocked.

"When are you going to ask her to marry you?" Emma clarified for the older woman.

"I'm not sure if I am," Mal admitted, "it's different for dragons, we have a mating bond that joins us for life. What if she doesn't want that?"

"Well, maybe you need to give her the choice? She can't say 'yes' or 'no' if she doesn't know what her options are," Regina countered, "we had a choice when we got married, and decided as a couple to be magically handfasted. It's the same thing, in terms of the results it gives."

"I suppose," Mal agreed, looking up hopefully, "do you really think she would say yes?"

"Mal, as much as I like to tease you and get on your nerves, you're the best person I know apart from my wife. I can't imagine a single reason why she would say no. Hell, if I didn't have Regina I would have tried to snap you up myself," Emma winked at the dragon, making Regina laugh at her antics and roll her eyes at the pair of them.

"Oh what beautiful lies you tell me," Mal grinned, feeling more confident, "will you help me plan something special?"

"You got it!" Emma happily bounced in her chair with excitement.