Labor of Love

Piper sighed as she followed Emma through the woods, Henry beside her, the woman intently searching for any clue that could help them find Hook. After seeing the state the man was in, Piper could tell the guilt was eating away are her that he was suffering in this place and Emma was even more determined to find him quickly. They had taken the south woods while Regina, Robin, and Gold took the North. Gold had not been pleased to split up, but they agreed, between the four of them, that there should be 2 magic users in each group. Piper would not part from Emma, nor did Gold expect her to, and so he had resignedly agreed to accompany Regina and Robin, charging Henry with keeping his aunt and mother safe. Mary Margaret and David had remained in the graveyard to reunite later, searching the gravestones to see if there might be any others with unfinished business who could aid them in their quest.

"He is not here, Emma," Piper called to her, "I know his song, and they still resonate even down here, I would have told you if I heard it."

"Maybe he's just too far away," Emma argued, continuing on, trying to track Hook.

"Mom, we already covered this trail," Henry reminded he when she began to go down a familiar path, "It was cold."

"Then we cover it again, and we keep going until we find a trail that's hot."

"I'm afraid, dearie, that's not likely to happen," Gold remarked as he walked over with Regina and Robin, "Hades would never make it so easy as to leave someone of such…interest…in Storybrooke in plain sight."

"There's no sign of Hook in the North Woods," Regina reported.

"Well, we have to keep going," Emma reasoned, "If he's not in Storybrooke, then maybe he's further outside it. Maybe out by the Troll Bridge..."

"Wait," Regina called when Emma started in that direction.

"What?"

"There may be a way to make our search quicker."

"How?"

"In Storybrooke, I have schematics, maps, of the whole town. Every last inch of it."

"So you think the equivalent maps of this town are here?"

"Everything else in Bizarro Storybrooke has an analog so far."

Robin Hood stepped up, "I'm on it. You keep working here. I'll go get you your Intel."

"Wait," Regina reached out to stop him, "Take Henry."

"Regina," Piper gave her a firm look, not liking this plan to split up and have Henry with a non-magic user.

"It might be dangerous," Robin Hood even seemed to agree.

"My mother's gone now," Regina looked between them, "The office should be empty. And no one knows it better than Henry. He'll be fine. You'll be there to protect him," she added to Robin.

He gave her a gentle smile and leaned in to kiss her, "Alright, come on. Let's go."

"I should go with you," Piper spoke, very on edge about Henry being off.

Henry gave her a smile, "I appreciate it, Aunt P, but…" he glanced over at where Emma had already walked off, "I think you should stay with mom," he told her.

Piper took a deep breath and nodded, "Be careful," she warned him.

She really would have rather gone with him, but Emma was growing more and more upset by the minute and would likely require all their help to keep her focused and calm.

"And that's a no to you, too, grandpa," Henry added when Gold opened his mouth to offer assistance as well, equally as ill at ease with his grandson going off with only a thief's protection, "Robin and I can handle it, it's just an office," he gave them all one more smile before turning to hurry off with Robin Hood.

"He is…" Gold sighed, "Just like Bae."

Piper reached out and linked her arm with his, the two of them moving in the direction Emma had gone, Regina behind them, when Emma called out, "I found something!"

The trio hurried over to her, quickly catching up to see that Emma had spotted blood on the dirt, some speckles of it, dispersed but heading in a direction, "Blood…" Regina confirmed.

"There's a trail of it," Emma realized, "It's not dry yet. It's fresh. Killian!" she stood up and moved to rush after it, "Killian!"

"No," Piper reached out and grabbed her arm, looking ahead, "It is not his song I hear," she warned them, "It is someone else."

Emma nearly deflated at that, almost sagging at the hope fizzling out of her, before she took a breath and straightened herself, "Then someone's hurt," she realized, moving to follow the trail anyway, the small specks of blood on the plants, someone who ran past them while bleeding, until they came to a very large fallen tree.

Piper almost snorted at the look on Regina's face for Emma's words. The woman looked half relieved and half determined, as though she were pleased to hear Emma concerned for another, as though it were a sign she was back to being a hero, and Regina could take cues from Emma in how to go. But she knew better, the look on Emma's face hadn't been a determination to help someone injured, it had been a realization that if someone was hurt, there was a chance they might have been hurt in the same place Hook had been. They could be a lead to Hook, not some damsel in distress to be saved by heroes.

"Hello?" Emma called out.

"Hello?" a voice echoed and they stepped around the tree to see a pale woman in a torn cloak crouched down, hidden behind it, her hair long and brown, with various cuts on her face, "You were calling for Killian," she said, starting to stand, nearly stumbling till Emma helped her, "I know him."

"Who are you?" Emma asked the woman "Where's Killian?"

They all looked sharply to the side when they heard a fearsome roaring in the distance.

"Now what was that?" Piper wondered, tilting her head as she tried to think of a creature that would make that noise.

"You don't want to know, Pip," Gold tensed, moving before her as though to guard her, his eyes locked through the trees.

"We have to get out of here," the woman gasped, growing more frantic as the roaring grew louder and nearer, "It's coming. Hide me. We have to go...now!"

Gold merely turned, waving his hand, the five of them disappearing in a cloud of black smoke.

~8~

When the smoke cleared, they found themselves in Mary Margaret's apartment, or the underworld version of it, which looked very un-lived in, full of dust and sheets covering numerous items. It had been the place they'd all agreed to meet once the Charmings were done at the graveyard.

"Here," Emma quickly turned to the woman, yanking a sheet off the couch and moving her to sit, the girl was shaking, "Lie down," the girl just shook her head and sat, drawing her legs to her chest, panting with the fear of what she'd heard in the woods, "Are you ok?"

"I…I w-will b-be," the woman stuttered.

"And Hook?"

The woman took a breath, "I...I don't know."

"Where is he?"

The woman looked at Emma, then to the three others in the room watching her, before turning to the woman sitting beside her, "In an underground prison. I escaped through tunnels. They let out in a cave somewhere in the woods, and...next thing I knew, you found me."

"And this cave," Piper spoke, "Could you find it again?"

"Yes," she nodded, "But it's being guarded by something...terrible."

"The Cerberus," Gold stated, "Three heads, teeth that can crush the bone, burning red eyes…"

"Hmm," Piper hummed, starting to smile, "Sounds like quite the beast," she glanced at Gold, "I do love a challenge."

"You can do nothing," the woman gasped out, shaking harder, "Nothing can defeat this monster!"

"That's not true," Mary Margaret called out, entering the room with David, having caught the last part of the remark as they arrived, "I know exactly what this beast is...and how we can defeat it."

"We do not need any other assistance than this," Piper shook her head, pulling her pipe from her boot.

"A…pipe?" the scared woman eyed it oddly.

"Music does soothe the savage beast," Piper chuckled under here breath, drawing a smirk from Gold as he remembered all the manner of beasts she had subdued in their time together, "I should very much like a chance to quell a Cerberus. As far as magical accomplishments go, it may even come a close second to the Frontlands."

Regina, Mary Margaret, and David stiffened at that, turning slowly to Piper, "What?" David breathed.

"Rose…" Mary Margaret seemed horrified, "The…the Frontlands were YOU?"

"I told you I didn't do it," Regina muttered under her breath.

Emma frowned, looking between the all, "What's the Frontlands?"

"It's the village where I lived as a mortal," Rumpelstiltskin spoke.

"It was…" David swallowed hard, "It was destroyed about two years before you were born, Emma."

"Everyone thought it was the Evil Queen's doing," Mary Margaret continued to stare at Piper, "Because it wasn't just destroyed, it was savaged. The houses were burned, the people massacred, everything in ruins…"

"At the time, I was happy to take credit for it," Regina added, "Any aid to my reputation. But it wasn't me."

"It was you, Aunt P?" Emma turned to her, catching on.

Piper nodded, not denying it, not lying, "They took my mate," her voice hardened, as though just the mere memory of it was enough to raise her ire, "And sought to harm him. I could not let that stand."

"Rose…" Mary Margaret breathed, sounding disappointed.

Piper shot her a look, "You do not get to judge me for what is my nature, Snow White. I am half-Siren, as much as you are loathe to admit it or accept it now. That is what I am, and when a Siren's mate is in danger, we attack. As my mother did for my father, I would do for Rummy."

The way Mary Margaret looked away, Piper genuinely wasn't sure if she was recalling a fact she hadn't thought to connect (for she knew Snow White and King Leopold had been made aware of her mother's actions when they were informed of her father's injury at the hand of bandits) or if she was still that disgusted that her cousin would do the same as a full-blooded Siren.

"You…" the woman looked over at Piper, "You destroyed an entire village? By yourself?"

"With this," Piper held up the pipe, "And if I could do that then, I can certainly slumber a beast now."

Mary Margaret forced herself to push the revelation to the side, seeing Emma getting more antsy about potentially finding Hook, reminded of why they were there. She and Piper would need to talk, about a lot of things, but this was not the time or place, not when Hook's soul was on the line and a beast was likely hunting down this woman, "We don't need to send it to sleep, we…we need to vanquish it, and I know someone here whose unfinished business IS to stop the Cerberus," she looked at them, "If this is a way to help someone move on, and still get to Hook, I think we should try it first."

Emma pursed her lips, not happy to have to delay the rescue, but understanding it was a way to help someone else and help Hook at the same time, kill two birds with one stone, "Fine."

"I say we allow Pip to play should your plan fail," Gold remarked, curious to see if she would manage to subdue the beast himself. He would never let her near it, but he could protect her while she played and…truly, any opportunity to see her use her magic was one he would never pass up. Just as she would never stop him being the Dark One, he would never stop her being the Piper.

He would just be there to protect her while she was.

"Should?" Piper glanced at him.

"When," he offered.

"Hey!" David shot him a glare.

"If Hercules is dead, and Cerberus was his last labor," Piper remarked, "Then he failed to fell the beast the first time. What makes you think he will succeed now?"

The others fell silent.

"How'd you know it was Hercules?"

Piper shot him a look now, "While you may be reluctant to recall that a villain such as myself is of a familial relation to your wife, I AM her cousin, and she could never keep any sort of secret or story from me as children."

And indeed Snow had, gone on and on about Hercules, and how he had helped teach her a bow and arrow and how to be a hero. While she and Snow were close as children, they did not spend every waking moment together, they did have their own separate kingdoms to learn to run. Her Uncle Leopold had come to visit his brother once, to settle a matter happening between the two kingdoms and work on a solution, leaving Snow with Regina to 'bond' as mother and daughter for he felt he had taken too much of Snow's time for himself and it was unfair to deny Regina the chance to spend time with her new daughter. She had gone with Leopold back to his kingdom when he left, to visit Snow, and the girl had excitedly told her everything. About Hercules and his quest and labors, how he had only one left to become a full god, how curious he'd been about the fact that Snow White had a demi-Siren cousin for he had not met many other demi-anythings before.

Snow had even dragged her out to the woods to try and meet Hercules again but he had already left to finish his labors.

"I am well aware of Hercules," she continued, "If he failed then, he may yet fail again, and I shall be glad to tempt the beast if he does."

"Agreed," Emma cut in, stopping any argument from her mother about how they should have more faith in Hercules. Right now they couldn't afford blind faith and hope in someone who already failed and died for it, they needed to be realistic and have a backup plan.

~8~

It only occurred to David after the fact, after Piper and Gold agreed to remain in the apartment with him and Meg, as they'd come to learn the woman's name was, after Emma, Regina, and Mary Margaret returned back after trying to get past Cerberus…that Piper and Gold had only done so because they truly hadn't thought the plan would work and that the others would end up back there again and resorting to the backup plan. Piper would have been right at Emma's side if she thought the girl about to be in danger, but she'd never thought the plan would succeed enough to get to that point.

When the others returned, dejected and worn, they had been reluctant to admit Hercules had failed, the man disappearing back to his 'job' at the docks soon after. Apparently Hades had appeared with a warning for them, revealing at the same time that Piper had been correct and Hercules had died of Cerberus the last time. He had given them a single warning, not to interfere with his family or he would come after theirs. Emma, almost as though she were channeling her aunt, having spent so much time with her as the Dark Swan, challenged him right back, dared him to try and go after her family.

Hades had managed to break through Emma's charade quickly, revealing Hook's hook, covered in blood, and reminding her he'd already done terrible things to Hook and could, and would, do far worse to the man.

Of all of them, Mary Margaret took it the worst, felt that she had been the one to let them all down, not Hercules. She had asked for a moment alone and wandered into the bedroom of the apartment, leaving the others to hash out the backup plan Piper had suggested before. Or at least that's what she'd thought, for Piper entered the room not even ten minutes later closing the door and leaning on it, her arms crossed as she observed Mary Margaret sitting there, her head bowed, her back hunched, seeming beaten down and resigned.

Piper tilted her head as she eyed her, "Perhaps it is not just I who changed for the worse," she remarked after a moment.

Mary Margaret looked up at her, "Rose…I'm not in the mood."

"Nor was I when you banished my true love from the town," Piper cut in, causing her to flinch, "I endured it. You can endure this."

Mary Margaret sighed and looked up at her, "What?"

Piper just continued to look at her, "There are times I wonder if it was my fault you became as you are."

"What we did to Emma…" Mary Margaret began, guessing Piper was going to use that, how they had ripped the darkness out of Emma for fear of her struggling the way Piper had.

"No, not that," Piper cut in, "All of it, everything you are, the mistakes you have been making. I wonder, at times, if it was my doing."

"Not everything is about you, Rose."

"You were better when I was there," Piper continued as though she hadn't spoken, "You tried to be better, more good, when you were trying to show ME how to be. Perhaps...accepting I am not so good or light finally allowed you to accept that neither are you, that you no longer have to be. Only you do not know how to not be light."

Mary Margaret fell silent, "I made bad choices," she shook her head, "I did things a hero would never do…"

"That is nothing new, for any hero," Piper scoffed, "Heroes do all manner of dark deeds, the hypocrisy is that you are still praised for it."

"My daughter turned into the Dark One to get back at me for my 'dark deed.'"

"You stole another woman's child, cursed it, and banished it," Piper shot her a look, "And yet all your followers will praise you for it. That you 'rid the world of another evil' all because that child was the child of a villain. They will not see Lily, or any child of a villain, as being innocent, they will always be automatically doomed and dark. Look at yourself, Snow White, and think about how others have reacted to learning what you did to Maleficent? Your close council," for she knew that the Dwarves and Granny had been told at the very least, "Has anyone punished you? Told you you were wrong? Condemned you?"

Mary Margaret was silent.

"For you it is a mere...error in judgement, or a great feat of heroism depending who views it. But had I taken a child of a hero and cursed it and banished it? I would be the vilest villain to walk the planet. The hatred it would inspire…" Piper shook her head, "Why do you get to be the hero despite that, when other villains suffer for doing the same thing?"

"I…" Mary Margaret let out a breath, as though finally realizing the double standard held for villains compared to heroes, how she really had done exactly what a villain would have, and yet she had not been labeled 'villain' for it, "I don't know."

"It's not fair," Piper spoke, and her voice cracked so subtly Mary Margaret felt she would have missed it if she wasn't so familiar with her cousin. Piper took a breath, stilling her voice, "All people are hypocrites, villains merely stop making excuses for their hypocrisy, whereas heroes will use any excuse to defend it."

Mary Margaret had to look away, though she nodded subtly at that. She saw that now, after all the time she and David had spent thinking about what they'd done to Lily, to Emma, what Emma had become just to prove a point to them. And how similar what they'd done was to what other villains had done and yet they were still labeled heroes.

It...it truly wasn't fair.

"I will not apologize for being who I am, what I am," Piper continued, "Nor for loving whom I love."

"Nor should you," Mary Margaret agreed, her voice small and quiet as she looked up at Piper, "Rose…"

"Piper," she cut in, though it did not have the bite it did the other times, "I am Piper now, Sn...Mary Margaret," she corrected, sighing, "Perhaps it is time we both accept who the other has become."

Because that was just the thing, it wasn't just HER who changed in the eyes of their cousin. This had always been under the surface for her, kept at bay by her love for Snow White, her desire to be a good person for her cousin, to be accepted. But it had been there. And it came out in full force when they were parted, grew more so when she had met the Dark One and was truly accepted for who and what she was by him. And then she met her cousin again and she was a new person to the woman, Snow White had never known Rose Red as the Pied Piper, it had been a jarring experience to her, to see her dear cousin so changed.

Her change had been sudden, in the eyes of Mary Margaret, but more subtle on the other foot. She had watched Snow White slowly distrusting her, questioning her, assuming the worst in her, when she never had before. It had been a long time coming, but she had seen it on the horizon, hoped, foolishly like a hero, that Snow White's own love for her would hold anything at bay. It hadn't. Snow White had changed from the person she'd been, full of hope and trust and belief, brimming with determination and inspiration, so fiercely loyal to those she loved and able to love so completely and fully. She hadn't been that woman in a long while, she hadn't been Snow White in too long. And perhaps it was time SHE accepted the woman she saw as her cousin had changed and become someone different as well. Mary Margaret now.

In this one instance, she cared about how it wouldn't be fair for her to expect this woman to accept her as Piper, and not also accept her as Mary Margaret.

Both of them had to accept that the girls they remembered as their cousins were gone.

Mary Margaret shook her head though, "I'm not sure I can," she said, continuing on when Pier moved to speak, "I'm not sure I want to be Mary Margaret. She…" she let out a breath, "She's made very bad choices, she's hurt people she loves very much," she kept her gaze on Piper so she'd know she was included in that group, "I feel like…ever since the curse broke and we all became both, I haven't. I haven't been Snow White in a long time, I've been more Mary Margaret," she shook her head again, "And that's not me. That woman will never be me."

It was…truly the only thing she could think of that made sense of everything, how she'd acted, what she'd done, who she'd become. When the curse broke and her memories came back, she was more Snow than Mary Margaret, being in the Enchanted Forest had reaffirmed that, but then...coming back and being around Storybrooke and everyone and…she'd settled, she'd left Snow White behind to be Mary Margaret, she had been content to be that.

And everything fell apart because of Mary Margaret.

Snow White loved her cousin, half-Siren and all, she loved Rose Red, and she would never change her, she accepted her even if she didn't understand her. Encountering her as the Pied Piper…it took time, but she still saw glimmers of her cousin, her protectiveness for family, her dry humor, her music, her love and compassion for those she cared for, her willingness to do anything it took to keep her family safe…there was so much of Rose Red in Piper, she could see her cousin growing into this woman.

Others might argue about what she'd done to Lily and Emma, as her being unaccepting of Piper. She blamed the Author for that, that he'd made them do it, but she understood a part of it was herself, was her. And it was not because she couldn't accept her cousin or hated that darkness in her. It truly was the suffering she saw her cousin endure as a child, the tears, the hesitation, the way she tried so hard to be accepted. She never wanted any child to experience that or feel that way. The Author had preyed on that and manipulated it. He had twisted her devastation at seeing her cousin so pained and morphed it into a fear for her daughter.

Had she known then that the Pied Piper, the villain, was Rose Red, she never would have done what she had to Emma. She would have found her cousin, gotten to know her, seen the love between her and the Dark One, and accepted that even darkness could create light, happiness could be found anywhere, love could grow between anyone. She would have accepted her cousin as a villain, as Snow White, and then accepted her daughter if she grew to become one.

It was Mary Margaret that was the problem, everything changed. She was less trusting, more hesitant, always looking to be betrayed, cautious of Mr. Gold and fearful of others with power. She wasn't as active, wasn't a fighter, wasn't willing to go the distance and do anything for her family like Snow White was.

"I don't want to be her," she finished.

"Then don't be," Piper said simply, "I did not want to be Rose Red any longer, and now I am not. And I shall never be again," she eyed Mary Margaret…no, Snow White, a moment longer, "Perhaps Mary Margaret is not who anyone needs any longer."

Snow cracked the smallest of smiles, not seeing it as an insult but the idea that Snow White was the one people truly needed, "Wait," she called out when the woman moved to leave, pausing to look back at her, "Emma became the Dark One," she said, "I lost someone I loved to darkness. Like you…like I forced you to nearly lose Gold."

"You did," Piper remarked, it was not the full extent of it, Snow had lost her child to darkness the same way SHE had almost lost her child, but she did not trust any of the heroes with the knowledge of its existence yet. After all, Snow White had been the one to rip the darkness out of her unborn child, she would not risk this woman who wanted to be her again, doing the same to this child.

"Was…was that your version of revenge?" Snow asked, "Has…has your heart…has it softened against me?"

"It has," Piper answered after a moment.

"So we're ok again?" Snow tried to smile more, hopeful.

"No," Piper said bluntly, causing her smile to fall, "My heart has softened, but it has not healed of the wounds you gave it. That will be up to you to accomplish. It only means…" she trailed off, sighing a moment, "It means that I may not fight you as much, should you choose to try and heal them."

"You have to know I will," Snow declared, getting up, her spirit, her fighting spirit, renewed, "I'll do whatever it takes to get us back to where we were...Piper."

Piper was silent, looking at her, "You called me Piper," she remarked, not giving a smile or any other indication that she appreciated it, "That is a good first step."

It had not escaped her notice, though, that while Snow called her 'Piper'...she had not said anything like a true apology.

~8~

"I don't see why we're not just going after the beast," Gold remarked as he and Piper stood across from David near the window of the apartment, the man keeping a look out for Snow White to return from where she'd gone to try and convince Hercules to give it one more chance, "Pip's music can do it and we've already agreed she would use her magic when the plan failed."

"Look," David sighed, "Mary Margaret wants to give it one more chance, and Emma agreed. We're all going this time and if it fails Piper can do whatever she wants," he turned back to the window, and froze, "Get back!" he warned the two of them, backing away from the window himself, Emma rising from the couch and calling for Regina at his warning.

"What's going on?" Emma asked him, reaching out to help Meg up.

He didn't get a chance to answer before the glass shattered on the floor above them, and a bed fell through the ceiling onto the kitchen counter, the Cerberus on top of it, snapping and growling.

"Run!" Emma shouted, thankful Henry and Robin were still out.

Gold rolled his eyes and waved his arm, magically transporting the six of them to the street instead just as Mary Margaret and Hercules ran up to them.

"Are you ok?" Mary Margaret looked at them, a bow in her hand, arrows strapped to her back, "What happened?"

"I think that would be obvious, dearie," Gold huffed.

"Cerberus," David told her, "He found us."

"He's going to be coming after us any minute," Regina warned them, holding onto Meg as the woman shook as though her legs would give out.

Piper huffed, "Are we done now?" she looked at them all, very unamused, "May I make this easy on us all?"

Gold spoke before the others could, "I think a little ditty is in order."

"A what?" Hercules shook his head, gaping when Piper pulled her pipe from her boot, "You're not serious?! That beast will…"

"Just shut up and cover your ears," Emma cut in, her patience at its end now too, moving to cover her ears with her hands, not willing to get caught in the crossfire of Piper's melody and fall asleep or whatever she might do to the monster.

For a brief moment she couldn't help but feel irritated her parents and the others had come with them on this quest. This would have been dealt with so long ago if it had been just her, Piper, and Gold, but the heroes had one way they wanted to do things, and helping Hercules while taking out the rabid dog was 'for the greater good.' And then with her guilt over Hook, she couldn't help but feel the tiniest stirrings of guilt over tricking her family, and she felt this stupid need to make it up to them and to show them she was still a 'good' person by allowing their way to be the main way and...it was just a mess. She wanted this over and done with, the guard keeping her from getting to Hook taken out for good.

Piper waited till they all did as Emma had before she lifted her pipe to her lips and began to play. Having not seen any animals in the town, she assumed it was safe to play a general tune meant to draw those of simpler minds to her, mostly animals…though there was one time the village idiot had wandered in in the middle of something similar. She shook her head, focusing on the tune, on drawing the beast to them, but while also imbuing the song with soothing tones that would keep it calm and docile the longer it heard the melody. It would need to listen to find them, and in listening it would be more susceptible to the influence of the magic.

Perhaps she put a bit more magic in than she normally would, she could probably fell a very frightened elephant or even put Maleficent to sleep in her dragon form if she needed to with the amount she let flood her notes. But, never having encountered a Cerberus before, she was being careful, her mate and her niece were right there after all.

She opened her eyes, unaware she'd even closed them as the melody drifted, to see Gold smirking at something over her shoulder, and turned to see the Cerberus approaching, far slower than its rampant attack had been, shuffling almost, like a dog tired after a long walk. She snorted through her nose when she saw all three of its tongues lobbing out the side of its mouths in contentment. She took a few steps towards it and it slowed even more, coming to a sit before her, tilting its heads as she played on, knowing the others were likely watching in shock and, perhaps, awe, while she truly soothed the savage beast.

She shifted the melody, more to a lullaby, what she would often use to put the dogs of the castle to sleep when she was but a girl and wanted to sneak out at night and lay in the flower fields to look at the stars. They always barked at the scarcest noise and she would have gotten caught if not for lulling them to sleep. She watched, biting back her smirk, as the heads began to droop, the eyelids fluttering as the dog tried to stay awake, but her magic was too much and it shuffled to the ground, stretching and then pulling into a tight circle, its heads resting on one of its paws as it drifted off.

She played on for another minute, to ensure it was well and truly asleep and unaware of the world, before she lowered her pipe and turned to the others.

"That…" David began, but Piper put a finger to her lips to quiet him.

She may have put the dog to bed but there was no saying how long it would last given its size and the magical properties about it. She merely turned, taking her finger from her lips and pointing at Hercules. She rolled her eyes when he pointed at himself, and stepped to the side, gesturing to the dog in a clear indication that he ought to get on with it.

Hercules blinked, but took a breath and pulled a sword from its sheath at his hip, striding forward. He looked down at the dog, moving to its side where its heart would be, and lifted the blade to stab down into it…

Causing it to disappear in a cloud of black smoke.

Hercules grinned widely, knowing it was finally over, and turned to the others in time to see Meg swaying o her feet, overcome, "Whoa!" he hurried past them, to the woman's side and caught her quickly enough to straighten her, "Hey, hey. Hey."

"I guess I'm not used to all that excitement," Meg murmured, staring at the place the beast had been before turning to Hercules.

"I'm Hercules."

"Megara. But my friends call me Meg."

"Nice to meet you, Meg."

Mary Margaret smiled as she watched the two of them get a bit lost in each other, before she turned back to the others, watching Piper as she approached, winding her arm through Gold's when she reached his side, "Thank you," she offered the woman, "Piper."

Piper nodded her welcome in return, before turning to Gold, "I take it back," she told him, "As far as animals go, the tiger was more a challenge than that beast."

Gold merely chuckled at the memory.

"What tiger?" Emma asked.

"It is a long story," Piper waved it off.

~8~

They didn't want to take the chance of the Cerberus resurrecting or returning, not sure what would happen if one was killed while in limbo, or if the beast could ever truly be killed given its purpose and magical nature. So they quickly walked through town, trying to get back to the room of fire Regina's father had crossed into heaven at, knowing that was at least one area where it could happen.

"Looks like Herc found a new friend," David remarked as he walked with Mary Margaret, holding her hand, Emma on her other side, with Piper and Gold behind them, with Regina ahead to lead Hercules and Meg to the destination.

"Maybe defeating Cerberus wasn't Hercules' only piece of unfinished business," Mary Margaret mused, "Maybe he needed to save her, too," they had happened to overhear Meg telling Hercules that she had died of the Cerberus attack before, just after Hercules had tried to fell it the first time.

"You ok?" Emma eyed her.

"Yeah," she sighed, glancing over her shoulder at Piper and back to Emma, knowing the two were close enough to hear her, "You didn't know me in the Enchanted Forest, Emma, but...I was someone who took risks even when she was afraid. I was someone who...I guess, inspired people. I was someone who saw the good in everyone and the light in the dark," she glanced back at Piper once more, offering her a small smile and turned back to her daughter, "Someone very important to me reminded me of that. I just don't want to ever run the risk of forgetting who I was again."

"What are you saying, Mary Margaret?" David asked.

"I'm saying I don't want to be Mary Margaret anymore. I want to be Snow White again."

David smiled, "I think we can make that happen...Snow."

"Good," Snow beamed, feeling, for the first time in too long, like there was hope.

"This is it," Regina called from ahead, leading them into a set of rock archways near the edge of town, stepping right into the fiery room once more, though there wasn't as much fire, the room seeming to sense the intent and destination of the next two souls as not being a worse fate but a better one.

"Do you think you can get to the prison through the tunnels?" Meg turned to them before they could leave.

"Yes, between your map," Emma nodded, "His magic," she gestured at Gold, "And her music," and Piper, "We'll be fine."

Meg smiled, "If it weren't for Hook, I'd still be rotting in that cell. You'll tell him that I did the right thing? That he was right to trust me?"

"I will. Thank you."

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay and help?" Hercules looked at the small group.

"I think you've been down here long enough," Mary Margaret told them, "And if you don't cross before your uncle finds you, who knows what he'll do."

"I was right," he smiled at her, "You became an amazing hero," he stepped over to her and hugged her tightly for a moment, smiling again before he turned and took Meg's hand, moving over the bridge that had formed to take them up to a better place, nearly laughing when what could only be Olympus appeared ahead of them.

"What is it?" Meg breathed.

"Olympus," he told her, the two of them pausing to wave back at the others, before continuing on and crossing over, a clock ticking in the distance.

A/N: Tiny bit of resolution between Snow and Piper, a small step, a start. It won't be an instant renewal of their bond, it will need to be built up, trust has to be reestablished, and Piper still has a lot of anger in her about everything that just hasn't boiled to the surface yet. Right now her heart has softened, but it's a very recent thing so she's not instantly in 'attack mode' but once that feeling settles, depending how Snow handles this, that anger will either build or slowly chip away. Piper keeping her child secret from Snow is a big indicator that she doesn't trust Snow White fully. There's still a lot Snow needs to work on to make up with Piper, but she seems to have started to come to her senses about Piper, a new point of acceptance for her cousin, and a new resolve to make things work once more. Though...we've all seen her get to that point and falter before, I wonder if she'll slip up again? }:)

There's still a bit of denial on Snow's part, a lack of full acceptance about things she's done. She's sort of blaming it on being Mary Margaret, instead of perhaps accepting that she sort of IS Mary Margaret in a way. They're the same person now, having memories of both in her head, she can't blame everything on having been Mary Margaret. Like some of her reactions in the Forest after the first Curse broke, some of her refusal to hear about Rose being half-non human when they were children, like her decision to rip the dark potential out of Emma and curse/banish another child...those weren't Mary Margaret and she can only go so long using that as an excuse before she has to confront some other truths about herself :( We'll still see some more internal thought on hers and David's part about the 'lesson' Emma intended for them, more from Emma too about that lesson as well ;)

I feel like part of Piper being the one to 'make the first move' and speak to Snow was more she genuinely didn't think it would go down a path of Snow actually admitting things or apologizing or wanting to work things out. She really thought she'd say her piece about how Snow has gone quite 'villainous' and leave her to her dark thoughts about it. She began to point out how far off the heroic path Snow started going, but the conversation took a different path. I DID promise we'd have a very big confrontation between Piper and Snow where she'd really ram home those points of darkness, this isn't it, which means it's still to come somewhere down the line }:)

Like Piper notices, Snow took a step to calling her Piper now...but she hasn't said 'I'm sorry' either }:)

I know it might seem sort of 'too easy' that Cerberus was taken down by Piper and then Herc so quickly. But it's been her thing for 4 stories now that she can use her magic on all manner of beasts, magical or not, and he's just a giant dog. He has ears, and so long as someone can hear, her music can affect them :) Not all plans have to be as complicated or deadly as heroes make them out. One of the pitfalls, I think, is that heroes 'sometimes' won't go too far down the easy path because 'it's too easy' and it's not 'heroic' if it's easy, whereas villains are like 'dude, if I can get from point A to B by cutting through something, whether it's a person or not, I'll do it.'

But here's another question, what actually happened at the Frontlands? We'll find out very, very soon }:)

Some notes on reviews...

I'm not fully sure about the Marvel shows on Disney Plus just yet :) WandaVision probably won't happen, but Loki might as a spin-off sort of thing, depending how the rest of his story goes and how the show itself goes ;) The Winter Soldier-Falcon show might possibly happen, but if it did it would be for Bucky's OC and since we haven't gotten to her yet, I can't make any promises ;) I am open to seeing them play out as spin-offs, just depends on the stories and the shows :)

We will find out Zelena's reaction to nearly losing her daughter to the Mark of Charon yup ;) I can say she didn't find out in town, I got the impression she'd been kept apart from her daughter and the first time she is able to go near her is after everyone's gone to the Underworld and a portal opens up to suck Zelena and Belle (in the show) there, so she may not know her daughter was involved until others tell her. I can't see the Dwarves hunting her down just to chastise her about her baby, she'd probably kill them :( But she will find out ;) The heart thing is weird :/ I feel like, as long as they have a heart in their chest that allows them to function, they consider it to not be heartless, it's just hard to find someone with a compatible heart :/ Like Henry's heart was pulled out and he dropped, Graham and David had theirs crushed and died, but since David is living, then it must mean Snow's heart does work within him, so he's probably more half-hearted (lol, I feel like I should have him say things 'half-heartedly' now) than heartless. David has a very black and white view of good and evil, so I could see him being like 'sometimes, to do the right thing, you have to break a promise.' He'd spin it like...if someone tells you a secret and makes you promise not to tell anyone, but the secret is that they are being harmed at home or planning to harm others or themselves, then yes you must break that promise to do good for that person and help them or stop them hurting others. He'd find exceptions to prove his point that 'he did the right thing' or something :( I feel like, in a way, it's a reflection of how he grew up compared to Snow. She sort of went very far off the deep end in turning on Piper so firmly, but before that point, and here, she questions things, she considers that there's dark in everyone. She grew up seeing that in her own family, where David didn't, not on that level. So his idea of being good and a hero are firmly in the light, whereas Snow might be coming back around to the 'there's grey' idea ;) But I agree, emphasizing Rose's human side would just make it worse, because each time Piper doesn't act fully human around them, they're just going to think Snow is wrong and they are right or that 'she's not here enough to see it' or something :( Lol, I LOVED your comments, those were basically my internal thoughts pretty much any time David speaks, sarcasm or exasperation :)

Lol, we'll see a bit more of Hook's connection to Bae and Milah pointed out to Emma yup ;)

Bonjour! Je vais bien, j'espère que vous aussi :) Emma est techniquement le `` premier cousin une fois enlevé '' de Piper, mais comme Piper et Snow ont grandi si près, ils se considéraient plus comme des sœurs et pensaient que leurs enfants ressembleraient plus à des `` cousins ''. Piper appelle juste Emma sa nièce et Henry son neveu. Si Gold avait élevé Emma comme sa fille, je pense que Piper aurait fini par être à Storybrooke avec eux, si vous vouliez dire pendant la première malédiction. La seule raison pour laquelle elle était en dehors de la malédiction était de trouver Emma et d'essayer de l'élever, mais elle n'a pas pu la trouver: (Si Gold l'avait eue, Piper aurait été avec elle, et elle ressemblerait plus à une mère à Emma que n'importe quoi :) Ce serait probablement similaire à l'histoire alternative que j'ai planifiée, où Piper trouve Emma et l'élève à l'extérieur de Storybrooke, en termes de relation, cela pourrait prendre un peu de temps à Emma pour voir Gold comme n'importe quelle sorte du matériel 'père';) -Câlins! - (I used Google translate to try and say: Hello! I am well, I hope you are too :) Emma is technically Piper's 'First Cousin Once Removed' but since Piper and Snow grew up so close, they considered each other more like sisters and felt their children would be more like 'cousins' so Piper just calls Emma her niece and Henry her nephew. If Gold had raised Emma as his daughter, I think Piper would have ended up being in Storybrooke with them, if you meant during the First Curse. The only reason she was outside the curse was to find Emma and try to raise her, but she wasn't able to find her :( If Gold had her, Piper would have been with her, and she'd be more like a mother to Emma than anything :) It would probably be similar to the alternate-story I have planned, where Piper does find Emma and raises her outside Storybrooke, in terms of relationship, it might just take Emma a little while to see Gold as any sort of 'father' material ;) -hugs!-)

Snow hesitated to tell Emma they hadn't found Hook mostly because, in the show, she'd just had an encounter with David's dead (and 'evil') twin brother who pretended to be him so he could kiss Snow and mess with her, so she was sort of in shock that James was there and that someone who wasn't her husband had kissed her ;)