In which I continue to make stuff up about the politics of the Enchanted Forest and Ruth raised David better than to ignore a lady in distress - even if that lady is his evil stepmother-in-law.

Also I've made Regina younger when she married than she was in canon - my reasoning being thus: Cora was pretty determined to marry Regina off (specifically to Leopold). The politics of the EF seems to parallel those of medieval England. While child marriages were not as common then as people seem to think, among nobility they were amazingly common. You cannot tell me that Cora waited ten years plus after Regina became 'eligible' for marriage before marrying her off.

August was avoiding the inevitable.

Ruby was already giving him scolding looks from across the diner - weirdly maternal looks too, considering that not even a week previously, she was still hitting on him every time she opened her mouth.

Of course, that had been Ruby-Ruby, not Red-Ruby, but that was beside the point.

His father had put a poster up on the bulletin board - with a drawing of himself as a child. Of course, that was the last image his father had of him, but it also sent a pang of guilt through him.

The fairies knew who he was - including Blue - but clearly none of them had told Geppetto that August was Pinocchio - otherwise he would have found him by now.

It was Henry who gave him the final push, when he picked him up from the school bus.

A cry of 'Papa!' from behind them caught their attention, and August turned just in time to see Paige running into Jefferson's arms.

Not Paige then.

Grace.

"He was really worried she'd be mad at him for leaving," Henry said matter-of-factly. "Looks like he shouldn't have been worried." His face lit up. "Does Grandpa have swords?"

August looked over; sure enough David was approaching them with two wooden training weapons. "Looks like you're getting that training you wanted."

"Awesome," Henry breathed. "That gives you time to talk to Geppetto, right?"

August chuckled. "Alright, kid. I'm going."

Leaving Henry in David's capable hands, he walked over to Marco's workshop. The open front of the shop was empty, but he could hear voices in the back room, and slowly edged towards the open door, his heart in his mouth.

"We'll find him, Geppetto," Archie was saying gently. "He must be looking for us."

"But she was here," Geppetto said shakily. "He wasn't with her. He was supposed to be with her."

August winced, guilt stinging his heart once more.

"Geppetto, that's not fair," Archie said firmly. "You know that. He was only a child and you should never have put that on his head."

"I know that!" Geppetto wailed, head in his hands. "You warned me, Jiminy; you warned me not to lie - and this is the price I pay - my boy … my only boy …"

"Papa," August said immediately. "Papa, I'm right here."

Archie's face split into a grin and he rose to his feet. "I had a feeling - when you didn't come around, I …" He threw his arms around his surrogate nephew. "I'm glad you made it."

August gave him a weak smile, moving to crouch beside his father. "Papa … I'm sorry … I let you down."

"My boy …" Geppetto reached out to take his face in his hands, searching August's eyes for any sign of the little boy he'd once been. "Where …?"

"I was afraid," August admitted in a whisper. "I failed her. And then I was turning back to wood, and then I wasn't, but Emma tasked me with looking after Henry, and … I failed you. I let you down."

"No, my boy," Geppetto said, his voice stronger than August had heard it since before the curse. "I let you down." He drew August into a strong embrace. "Welcome home, son."

'Untouched' was not an entirely accurate description.

And now it was even worse, the smoke still stinging her eyes, giving her a reasonable excuse for the tears that welled as she gazed across what had clearly been a very lovingly created room.

She should be offering some kind of reassurance to Snow, really - the revelation that Lancelot was dead had clearly been a tough blow, and whoever that woman was that had been masquerading as him had shaken her mother more than anything she'd seen thus far.

Her only focus had been to protect Henry, to stop the unknown witch from getting to Storybrooke - to her son.

She was distantly aware of Snow and Mulan agreeing to make camp in the castle grounds, her hand trailing along the fractured side of what would have been her crib.

"Emma?" Snow asked, as Mulan left. "Are you alright?"

"You wanted me," Emma murmured.

"Sorry?" Snow asked, startled.

Emma hesitated. "Never mind."

"Emma …" Snow took a tentative step towards her. "If you're not ready to talk, you're not ready to talk. But when you are … just know that I'm ready to listen."

Emma smiled weakly. "It's not about being ready. I just … I don't want to hurt you. I kind of wish I'd confided in Mary Margaret now; you'd already know."

Snow took a deep breath. "I can take it."

"I know what it's like," Emma said slowly, "to give up a child to give them their best chance. I understand why you did what you did. But … I guess … I still had this thought in the back of my head that you didn't have to. But it wouldn't have been as easy as just being together under the curse, would it?"

"Regina would never have allowed us to stay together," Snow said immediately. "She had her knights looking for you, even as the curse hit us. The best case scenario would have been her adopting you instead."

Emma snorted. "I actually would have preferred that."

"How could you …" Snow cut herself off, taking a calming breath. "Sorry."

"No, I get it," Emma said. "She's the Evil Queen. How could I rather have stayed with her, right? The thing is - she's also Henry's mother. She raised him. And, yes, she was strict, but I saw her when Henry ate that turnover. She adores him. He wanted for nothing. It was the best I could have hoped for when I gave him up."

"She was a good mother," Snow conceded softly. "I … You weren't as lucky?"

"I was adopted," Emma said, not looking at her. "I can't remember them very clearly, but I remember being happy. When I was three, she fell pregnant with her own baby. I was excited because I thought I was going to be a big sister, but instead they took me back to the group home and told me that I wasn't their real child and they only had room for one, so they couldn't keep me anymore."

"Emma …"

"When I was four, I was put with another foster parent," Emma continued. "She had six of us. After a few weeks, she'd just tied my hair back for school, and I gave her a hug and called her mom. She shoved me into a wall so hard I broke my arm, and told me not to call her that. You don't have a mother, Emma; your mother didn't want you, so she left you on the side of the road." She sank into the rocking chair by the balcony, gazing out at the Enchanted Forest. "I ended up in four or five different group homes, and seven or eight foster homes. Always told that I'd find a forever home one day but never wanted. All the foster homes just wanted their welfare check - at best they were neglectful, at worst they were abusive. As soon as I was eighteen, the last foster home kicked me out the door because they stopped getting paid at that point, and I ended up stealing to survive. I gave up on finding my parents a long time ago and now … I don't know how to be a daughter. And I'm sitting in this room and … You wanted me."

"Of course we did," Snow whispered. She crossed the room from where she had been frozen in place by Emma's words, to sit beside her daughter in the oversized rocking chair. "I would sit here in this chair, and imagine what it would be like to be a mother. Sometimes I'd fall asleep, and I'd wake up to find your dad telling you stories. We were so excited to be parents, Emma."

"I'm not the daughter you expected," Emma whispered.

"No, you're not," Snow agreed. "But I think that's true for all parents. It's not like we can see the future. You say you don't know how to be a daughter. But, Emma, we don't know how to be parents. Regina's curse had us reliving the same year over and over again, and I only remember the last year before you arrived. As far as my memory tells me, I gave birth two years ago, not nearly 29. And now my daughter's an adult and I'm a grandmother. Please don't think that you're the only one that's a bit lost here."

Emma swallowed hard, biting back the tears that threatened her composure. "I'm … I'm not used to having someone that puts me first."

Snow wrapped her arms around her. "Well, get used to it."

Emma buried her face in her mother's shoulder for a few minutes, letting herself by soothed by Snow's hand gently stroking her hair.

"We'll be alright," Snow murmured. "We just need time."

Emma nodded, pulling away from her mother. "We should … We should find the others."

Emma offered to take the watch that night, something Mulan reluctantly agreed to, and she settled down by the campfire in the shadow of the castle that should have been her home, her ears tuned to every little noise.

Even so, she was startled when Snow slid on to the log beside her.

"Couldn't sleep," she said by way of explanation.

Emma nodded. "Since you're awake - I have a few questions?"

Snow smiled. "Go ahead."

"I don't know why, but I thought the Enchanted Forest was one kingdom," Emma said. "But it's not, is it?"

"No," Snow said, picking up a stick from the ground. "I'm not the best artist, so you'll have to bear with me."

Emma leaned in closer, watching her mother sketch out a rough shape in the dirt and divide it into sections.

"We are currently in Nolansia," Snow began. "Nolansia was ruled by King George and his wife, who was cursed so she was unable to bear children. They made a deal with Rumplestiltskin - I don't know what they offered in exchange, but Rumplestiltskin went to a couple called Robert and Ruth, who had twin boys, James and David. He gave them their farm in exchange for one of the boys, but James grew up spoiled and arrogant, and was killed when he turned his back on an opponent. David ended up going in his place."

"And Lancelot helped you overthrow George?" Emma asked.

Snow nodded. "George was everything you didn't want in a king. Once he'd been exiled, we came here."

"So, are you the Queen of Nolansia then?" Emma asked.

"Technically yes," Snow said, "except we never had a coronation. By the time we'd had the war with Regina, and the wedding, and the curse … It wasn't one of our priorities I guess. Regina ruled Misthaven, over here."

"And that was where you grew up," Emma guessed.

"That's right," Snow said. "My father, Leopold, died when I was sixteen. She killed him."

"Was it …?" Emma hesitated. "Was it really about vanity? It seems … extreme. I mean, I never questioned it when I was younger, watching the movie, but now it's real it seems … petty."

"It is," Snow murmured, glancing over her shoulder. "I … It wasn't about vanity, Emma. There are several kingdoms between Nolansia and Misthaven - Aurumnia and Crepidia are the main ones. Aurumnia was ruled by King Midas - his daughter, Abigail, was Kathryn Nolan. Crepidia was ruled by King Thomas - his son, Prince Thomas, was Sean Herman, which makes Ashley Ella."

"Ella?" Emma repeated. "As in Cinderella?"

"Just Ella," Snow said. "Cinderella was a rather nasty nickname one of her stepsisters gave her. Aurora's father King Stefan ruled Sentisrota with his wife Queen Briar Rose, until they both passed away not long before you were born. And King Richard rules Sherwood."

Emma smiled. "Does that make the 'thorn in his side' Robin Hood?"

"It does," Snow said. "I've never met him though."

"Well, that answers one of my other questions," Emma said. "Who was that woman?"

"That was Cora," Snow said darkly. "Regina's mother. And she's a hundred times worse than her daughter."

Emma frowned. "And now I'm back to Regina. Why does she hate you?"

Snow didn't answer for a few seconds. "I'm still not … I understand why, I just … When I said that she was a good mother … I wasn't just talking about Henry."

Part of him wanted to leave.

Henry was curled up in the back of the bug, shaking as the adrenaline left his body, and he had to be David's priority.

But he couldn't shake the look that had been in Regina's eyes, the one that had convinced him to back away and let her speak to Daniel herself, despite the concern that she would let him continue to run amok.

The roar of a motorbike caught his attention and he breathed a sigh of relief as August pulled up beside him, tugging his helmet off before he'd even cut the engine.

"What …?"

"Stay with Henry," David said, before he could finish. "Do not come into the stables, no matter what, alright?"

He barely waited for August's agreement, before turning on his heel and heading back into the stable block, not quite sure what he was going to find.

Whatever he had been expecting, it was not Regina, collapsed in a heap on the ground, her body shaking with the force of her weeping.

There was no sign of Daniel, but the pile of ash nearby told him everything he needed to know.

Part of David - the part that had felt Snow bite that apple, the part that had held her as she cried, the part that had looked into his daughter's eyes and seen a guarded stranger staring back - wanted to leave her.

But that wasn't the man his mother raised, so he took slow, cautious steps towards her, until he was standing right beside her.

Her sobs had stopped, but she didn't raise her head, keeping her face buried in her arms, and David was struck all at once by how … young she looked. He had always considered Regina as part of the old guard, assumed she was of an age akin to his father and had kept her appearance young through vanity-laced magic.

He was starting to reconsider.

David leaned against the wall beside her, allowing himself to sink down until he was sitting next to her, and said nothing.

A few moments later, she began crying again.

Mayor Mills had made a pass at David Nolan, talked to him about being lonely. Now, of course, David saw it for what it was - a further attempt at making Mary Margaret miserable - but maybe Regina had been more honest than she had intended.

When the sobs began to die away, David pulled out a handkerchief and held it out to her without looking. A second later, it was tugged out of his hand.

The air stirred with magic and he suppressed a flinch, glancing over when it passed to see that she had straightened up, her face free of tears, her make-up perfect.

"I'm sorry," David said.

Regina gave a stiff nod. "Thank you."

"May I ask a personal question?" David asked.

"I'm not talking about it," Regina snapped.

"I wasn't going to ask about him," David said. "How old are you?"

Regina rolled her eyes. "Really Charming, did your wife never teach you never to ask a lady about her age?"

"Alright," David said. "What's the age gap between you and my wife? I always figured it was about twenty years or so and you used magic to look younger, but you haven't had magic for the last 29 years so it can't be that."

Regina was quiet for a moment. "Seven years."

David blinked. That was less than he thought. "So … you were seventeen when …"

"When I married the king," Regina finished.

"When Daniel was killed," David said instead.

Regina stiffened. "Yes."

"You know, Snow felt awful when she found out," David said. "She never admitted the truth to the kingdom because she was ashamed about how she'd allowed your mother to manipulate her, even after you'd warned her. What I don't understand is why you couldn't forgive her."

Regina turned an icy gaze on him. "She …"

"She was ten," David said firmly. "And she'd just lost her mother. And despite the fact that you hated her, you were clearly enough of a good mother that she still called you that. Even after the apple, even when you threatened the curse - she was still referring to you as Emma's grandmother until a few weeks before she was born. So you clearly managed to bury it enough."

"I …" Regina hesitated. "I don't know. It wasn't that bad to start with. I was angry with her, yes, but not to the extent that I became. It …" she gave a bitter laugh. "It wasn't until Gold started teaching me that it became worse. He … I can see it now, you know. He built my hopes up about bringing Daniel back and then crushed them and pushed me towards vengeance instead. He wanted me to cast the curse. Made it look like I'd teased it out of him, and come up with the idea myself, but the entire time, he wanted the curse cast."

"And the entire time he was helping us," David said. "So he clearly wanted it broken."

Regina shook her head. "He's been pulling the strings the whole time. Playing both sides since day one. I just wish I knew why."

David couldn't answer that one. But he did have another question. "You know you saved my life."

"I know," Regina said.

"Why not just let me die?" David asked.

Regina hesitated. "Because I wanted to watch her walk past you every day without knowing it."

"Then why didn't you do to her what you did to the Hatter?" David asked. "Let her remember everything knowing she couldn't do anything about it?"

"I don't know," Regina said, some of her fire returning to her. "Is that what you want? I couldn't save Daniel and then I couldn't even avenge him properly."

"Maybe," David said, as Regina got to her feet, before she could disappear, "deep down, you know it's not Snow's fault."

Regina froze. "Of course it's her fault. It has to be."

"Why?" David asked.

Regina turned away. "Because otherwise everything I've done has been for nothing. And that can't be true."

But David was rather afraid, as she vanished in a cloud of purple smoke, that that was exactly what it was.