Choice or Instinct

There was something wrong with Piper.

For a brief moment, Rumpelstiltskin couldn't help but pause, not just with the realization that something was clearly bothering the woman but that he had come to know her enough and care for her enough to be able to notice that fact. He loved her, he knew he did, but there were times where he almost questioned if the Darkness within him blinded him to the plight of others. Oh he could see desperation a mile away, he preyed on it, thrived on that and chaos. He could understand when he would torture others and they would scream, when they were openly weeping that they were upset. But he didn't pick up on the subtler clues as much as he knew he had when he'd been but a man.

He was sure there were many times that Belle had been unhappy or angry with him and he hadn't picked up on it, had brushed it off or not noticed, he hadn't cared enough to notice.

It still surprised him, at times, the fact that he could love and did love, even as the Dark One, even more so that his love was returned.

Piper wasn't crying or glaring or doing anything out of the norm and yet…he could not help but feel like something was off, that she was not herself.

He had only ever known one person that well, his son, to be able to tell with a glance that there was something on his boy's mind, he had never expected to find that with someone else and in such a different form of love. But he knew it to be true, Piper was upset about something even if she didn't speak of it.

She was sweeping the castle, as was one of her chores and even though they had long since moved past the caretaker and master of the castle roles, even though they were now partners and equals and she was mistress of his castle…she still did the chores every so often. It occupied her, she said, when he was away doing his deals and she had none lined up, when she was bored and the music room had been well used and she needed a rest from it. She would polish or sweep or dust for something to pass the time.

She wasn't sweeping like she normally did and wasn't that an odd thought that he had paid so much attention to her without realizing it that he knew exactly how she swept a room. She would normally sweep right to left, never changing the motion but more her own position, claiming that less dirt fell from the broom when she moved it in the same direction than to switch. She was switching now. She had this odd habit of making her sweeps rhythmic, the same length, the same time between brushing away and moving back to get more dirt. They were uneven now. And she would hum along with what she did, never seeming aware she did it, barely audible usually, but she would do it. And she was silent now. She would also move, constantly, either from her turning or from gathering the dirt into one place for easier cleaning, yet she stood in one area a little longer than normal.

Lord, just HOW close had he been watching her before that he also knew she would position her fingers more spread out along the handle of the broom than she did now?

He shook his head, it didn't really matter how he watched her in the past to come to know this, only that he knew it now and that it all added up to the fact that something was upsetting her and he would not have it. He hadn't cared with Belle, whether she was happy or not, she was the caretaker and little else, and any feeling he might have begun to feel had burned away when she tried to break his curse without his consent. He cared now, with Piper, he had for a very long time, and he wanted her to be happy here, with him, in his home…their home. He wanted her darkly delighted and content and pleased…she was nothing of the sort now.

He wracked his brain for something to cheer her. He would suggest the music room but she would have gone there already to cheer herself. He would conjure the mirror he'd given her so she might look upon her cousin and ensure she was well and happy…but if it was her cousin bothering her she would have already checked and been relieved. If it was something he had done, she had no qualms with telling him straight to his face her thoughts and critiques.

…he never thought he'd ever get into such a furious argument with someone over the proper way to gouge out an eye before, but that was neither here nor there.

If a deal had gone south well, she would have tormented the ones who broke the deal and been pleased with the vengeance that brought. The Queen had done nothing in recent days, to either village or Snow White to lead to melancholy. And he was very, very certain that the day they first met, with her full grown at least, had not passed without him knowing of it.

He could think of little else that would upset her and drive her to distracted silence such as this.

But he did know, there was one thing he could provide her that would undoubtedly cheer her when all else failed, even his own efforts to seduce her. Not that he had tried or failed in that regard, oh no, they had had quite a tantalizing evening mere days ago so it was no failure on his part he was sure. And...there was a part of him that didn't enjoy using that manner to cheer her when she was in a state as this. He wanted her to know that he cared enough to know what bothered her than to make her feel like he would use their bond and his body to make her forget or not think of it. He wanted her to see that he would help her, halve her burdens if she would allow it, share them with him so he might endure beside her and not merely distract her.

What upset her upset him.

"Pip!" he called out suddenly, "Grab your cloak, we're going for a trip."

~8~

"Where are we going?" Piper asked when, instead of magically transporting away, Rumpelstiltskin instead offered his arm and they began to walk down the dirt road from the castle.

"The village," he said simply.

"Did you have need of more straw?" she continued, a small frown of confusion on her face, mentally listing everything they usually obtained from the village to see if they were lacking in any of them.

He chuckled, knowing she was likely wondering and thinking about how much he had used since the last time she had obtained some straw and whether she had been remiss in her duties in that regard, "No," he assured her, "No. I am well stocked."

"Is it a deal then, that draws you from your home?"

"No deal today."

"Then what cause have you to go to the village?" she shook her head, unable to think of a reason he would.

He often sent HER there for supplies for the express reason that he did not enjoy being surrounded by so many people. The village was always on edge, whenever he or she appeared. Being so close to the Dark Castle, they knew of his power very well and were respectful (if terrified) of him being there, always thinking that he was there to cause destruction or exact punishment for something. Or, the more desperate, would take his presence as a show he was in a good mood to be among them and begin to request deals and favors of him. While he enjoyed his power, he often got irritated by large gatherings of people when he wasn't there to show off said power, and how they cowered and whispered and glared at him. He wasn't intimidated by it, he couldn't care less, but after centuries of having to go through the same reactions and the same whispers, it was an annoyance to him.

When she would go, they would whisper still, but stay out of her way, not just for her own reputation but for the knowledge that she worked for the Dark One and he would take vengeance on anyone who harmed something that belonged to him. She didn't mind so much, she had lived her life with the same wary looks and whispers and distrust, so long as she was left in peace to do her business and get what supplies they needed, she cared little.

For him to willingly wish to go to the village, and not for a deal, told her something else was going on.

"Can't I just want a bit of fresh air?" he challenged.

She gave him a look, "You would magically transport yourself to the top of a mountain if you wished for fresh air," she remarked dryly, "And if you were to go to the village, how would it be fresh? It is not the best smelling."

It was due more to the copious amount of animals and how crowded the village was than anything, truly the air was likely fresher on the road than in the village.

Rumpelstiltskin giggled at that, how blandly she talked about his use of power, how well she knew him too, "True."

"Then why are we going to the village? If you had need of anything, I could have fetched it for you. I know you are not usually eager to be near the villagers. Nor should you after…"

He sighed, patting her hand on his arm when she trailed off, not needing to bring up what happened mere days ago for him to recall a reason to stay away from said villagers. The Frontlands, their attempts to debase him, to find a way to kill him, and her rescue of it. It was not often that he, the Dark One, was rescued, usually it was others coming to him for rescuing or aid to rescue someone or the means to do it. He was the one with the power to do anything, it stirred something inside him to see Piper using the full force of her power and magic to do the same, to use it for him.

She had in the past, of course, used her magic to assist him with deals or to take down a handful of knights that tried to get him, but this felt far more personal. The lengths she had gone, the utter destruction she had caused…for HIM? He had thoroughly enjoyed lavishing his thanks upon her and expressing how very grateful he was to her for hours after.

"This is not the same," he reminded her, and it was true. The Frontlands had been his old village, he had not been able or willing to leave that land when he had first become the Dark One, for Bae, for it was his home, but it had not brought about the best reactions or acceptance from those he had once called neighbor. It appeared that resentment and anger and fear had festered for generations until they had been unable to stand his presence in the world.

THIS village knew and, even if they did not like him, they respected the power he had, feared the power he had, and would not make a similar move against him.

"I know," Piper admitted, taking a breath, and it was then that he realized how tight her grip was on his arm, how white her knuckles had gotten.

It was enough to have him, for a brief moment, reconsider this plan of his. The thing that was sure to cheer her and put her in better spirits was in the village, but if she was hesitant about being there…or at least about HIM being there…this might not work.

Yet she said no further word about it, did not try to talk him out of going on, so he merely took the hand gripping his and lifted it to his lips before returning it to his arm. He would take them away at the slightest hint that she was too anxious or on edge for his plan to work.

~8~

Piper looked around as she and Rumpelstiltskin walked through the village, her hand still tucked into the crook of his arm for he refused to let it go even as they approached. The villagers had only ever seen them together once before, a very long time ago, when he had taken her down to the village to show her which vendors he liked and what items he preferred and where to get the right object or item and so on. He was very particular about his straw and had taken an hour to show her how different vendors compared to each other and how sometimes one had a good haul and another didn't and it could change the next time she was there and she needed to pick the right straw or he would be very cross about it.

The poor vendors had had to stand there as he examined their wares, and she had seen the fear in their eyes, not for themselves for he could just ignore one and buy from the other, but for HER. For the minor threats he made about her picking the wrong straw.

She had merely smirked and said that she understood the importance, she was very particular about which instruments she used for one pipe was not the same as another and craftsmanship was important. He had stared at her for a long while at how she had been genuine in her acceptance of that quirk and the importance he put on the straw, and so she merely turned to examine the straw, as he had shown her, and help up a handful to get his approval for if she had selected correctly.

He'd only smirked, pleased, which she returned and it was almost as if, in that moment, the vendors realized that she was not like Belle, that there was something uniquely dangerous about her if she could agree with the Dark One and earn that sort of smile from him. They gave her a wide berth and kept eyes on her whenever she came around. They didn't look at her with concern or fear for her, but a wariness of what sort of trouble lurked under the surface of her own smile.

When they found out she was the Pied Piper…that had been an eventful day but no one dared try to double cross her on the deals or purchases any longer.

She couldn't, though, quite figure out why they were there. Rumpelstiltskin led her on, past the vendors he typically bought from, past the items he usually required, not seeming as though he really had any idea what he was looking for or where it would be which was ridiculous, he had lived there longer than the village had been a village so he knew where everything was.

"Ah, there we are," he paused, grinning, "Pip, be a dear, and go buy a small bag of cherries over there."

She gave him an odd look, "Cherries?"

"Yes."

"You?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

It was almost comical how quiet the people around them fell when she not only refused to move but questioned is command. She could almost see people holding their breath and growing pale out of the corner of her eye, expecting him to lash out.

"I'm in the mood for some cherries," he said simply.

"You hate cherries," she countered.

"It's an acquired taste, thought I should try it," he shrugged, "Now, cherries?"

She gave him one more odd look at his rather feeble excuse, but turned to head to the small vendor with a basket of cherries set up before them. It didn't take long to have a small bag of cherries in hand, the old woman serving her had turned her back on her other customers to ensure the Dark One's caretaker was, well, taken care of first.

She had just turned to take the cherries back to Rumpelstiltskin when she heard the voices off to the side. She looked to her right and saw a small group of children, gathered around a small boy with a blindfold on, spinning him around in a circle before dashing back as he began to reach out for them. It was a silly child's game, Blind Man's Bluff, there was nothing out of the ordinary about it, but Piper found herself standing there, staring at the small group of children in varying ages, boys and girls both, as they smiled and giggled and played.

The moment her forehead crinkled and the smallest of creases formed between her eyebrows, Rumpelstiltskin knew he'd made a terrible mistake.

He stiffened, straightening...the casual stance he'd taken, his shoulders relaxed, his arms crossed, head tilted with a smile on his face...immediately morphed into one of rigid attention and seriousness, a frown on his face as he watched Piper stiffly walk back to him, her eyes lowered, her shoulders set, and her grip on the bag likely crushing a few cherries near the top.

"Your cherries," she said, her voice hard in a way that told him she was carefully measuring exactly how she spoke and her tone so as not to reveal anything to anyone else as she handed him the bag.

"Pip…"

"If that is all, Rumpelstiltskin," she began, looking up at him, "May we return to the castle?"

He was tempted to ask her, to let the words slip out, that didn't she want to stay? For the reason they had come was just off to the side, but he held it back. He had mis-stepped, he knew that, the why escaped him but he would not prolong the agony she was clearly in to be there any longer.

"Of course, Pip," he nodded, reaching out to take her hand, waving the one now holding the cherries to encompass them in a swirl of smoke. He barely noticed the wide eyes and shocked looks of the villagers for his action, being so careful, so considerate, taking her hand, the tone of his voice, for surely they now knew exactly what other role Piper filled for him, but he cared little for what he might have exposed to them.

His only concern was getting Piper away as she clearly wished to be.

When they appeared in the main hall of the Dark Castle, Piper nearly slipped out of his hold to walk away, heading for her broom as she had not finished the task of sweeping before, managing to get two paces away, her hand tugged out of his, before he managed to snatch it back.

"Pip…" he began again.

"I am not yet done with the chores," she said.

"To hell with the chores," he tugged her, getting her to stop walking but not face him, so he moved around her till he was before her, reaching out with his other hand…rolling his eyes when he realized he was still holding the bag of cherries and magically sent them away…to place a finger under her chin and tilt it up so she would look at him, "The children…"

She inhaled sharply but held it, her jaw setting at the mention of them, "What of them?"

He frowned, "You love children," he said simply, it was why he had thought to take her to the village to see them.

He remembered the first time he took her to the village, how she had seen two little girls so sad that the other children would not let them play with them. She had gone over to them, kneeling before them and talking about the doll clutched in one of their hands. It was a doll made of fresh straw, it even had a small outfit on. She had whispered something to them and the one girl held the doll up. He could see Piper concentrating, her lips moving but not in any word but a sound, she was singing, he realized. And he'd watched as her magic animated the doll, which began to dance around on the girl's lap to their delight. It drew the attention of the other children who came running to see, and Piper had haughtily told them that being unkind to another child meant they got a special friend, a magical doll, and the others did not. The children had immediately included the girls in their games, for they did not like that they got something so special and they didn't.

It was then he had realized she had a soft spot for children. He had asked her about it, and all she had said was that children were innocent and did not deserve to be pushed aside for things they could not control. The other children had not liked that the little girls had such red hair, thinking them cursed, thinking they would end up in a fire if the girls played with them. How quickly that was forgotten when it came to choosing between them getting a magical doll or not.

Now though, given what he knew of her, of her past, her identity, he saw more in her soft spot than before. Yes, other children were cruel to her as she grew, but it was a cruelty learned from their parents. She had just been a girl and those adults had treated her like she was a monster about to attack, never to be trusted or loved, and it had trickled down to their children who treated her the same. The adults in this village were too on edge about him that they would dare not treat her badly or allow their children to do so. As a result, she never wanted a child to feel what she had felt, she wanted them to be happy.

The things she had done in other lands, she always did her best to keep the children out of it, or use them as bait and leverage but left them largely unharmed.

Unlike…

"Yes, the children," Piper spoke just as he realized what was wrong, "They are alive. Those of the Frontlands…" she had to look away, sounding more frustrated than upset, "They are not. And it was MY doing."

"You regret saving me."

"I regret nothing of the sort."

"Then you regret the lengths you went to do so."

"No."

He shook his head, "I don't understand."

She let out a breath, "I have done similar," she reminded him, "I have made others turn on each other, men, women…and children. But it has always been my CHOICE to do so. I took those actions knowing full well what I was doing and what would come of it. I live with that unburdened in the knowledge that it was deserved."

"You don't think the Frontlands deserved…"

"Will you stop putting words in my mouth?" she snapped, cutting him off.

His eyes widened for she rarely would get in a state where she snapped at him in such a manner.

She took a breath, "And let me finish?"

He nodded, "Go on."

"They deserved it," she told him, "All of them, every time I have taken another's life or caused them to take others, it was deserved. Whether heroes would agree with me or not, I care little. To me, it was deserved, and to me that is enough."

He opened his mouth, about to ask 'but why?' when she shot him a glare at the near interruption and his mouth snapped shut once more.

"My magic reacts to my intention," she continued, "If I wish magic imbued, it is. If I wish it to hurt, it does. If I think it deserved, it is. My magic reacts to what I want and does what I need it to do," she took a breath, "The Frontlands…it was deserved. But I did not have a choice."

"You had a choice," he argued lightly, his words measured and kinder than others would think them, "You could have left them, the squid ink would have worn off eventually and I would have…"

"I didn't," she cut in this time, "I had no choice. Not when I saw that my mate was being tormented in such a way."

Rumpelstiltskin let out a breath, finally realizing what all this was about, why this particular instance of her use of magic was impacting her so much more than the others, "Because your instincts kicked in," he finished for her, "And you reacted without conscious thought."

Piper nodded, "I wanted them to hurt," she admitted, "I wanted them dead. I wanted them to suffer for all the pain they caused you, ALL of them," she took a breath, "I just wanted more control over it."

"Yes," he began to smile, "You said that. You would have made them suffer more."

"I would," she agreed, though the way she looked at him had him tilting his head.

It made him feel like she was waiting for something to happen.

It was another very long minute before Piper blinked, "You...do not find that alarming?"

"Why would I?" he asked, shaking his head slightly.

"They always do," she said quietly, and she had even expected it from him, for he had had a son, a child, and then he had seen how easily she had...done what she had to those children, "Because I react," she told him, "I act out and, sometimes, I cannot stop myself. I have tried," she looked at him, almost sounding as though she were pleading with him to believe her, "I try so hard NOT to let them take over."

"Pip," he shook his head, "It is a natural thing, especially for one who is part Siren. It cannot be helped."

"But it should," she insisted, "It should be helped. I should be able to control it by now," she stepped back from him, her hands moving to her hips as she began to pace, "Every time they take over, every time, the looks…" she closed her eyes, shaking her head, her face scrunched as though she were recalling every time someone had given her a foul look for something she could not control, for something she could not help, "The whispers, the…" she let out a breath, opening her eyes, "I see it in their looks, they think me a monster. If I ever gave into the instinct, I was no longer human to them. Not that I ever was to begin with in their eyes but it just…proved it?" she shrugged, as though she weren't sure what the word was, "I worked so hard to keep it at bay, to keep control of it, to keep control of myself. I do not want to lose myself in something that controls me more than it."

Rumpelstiltskin could only look at her for that. Something about her small tirade told him it had happened more times than she would have wished it to, that something had happened that drew the instinct to the surface...and all it did was make others look at her differently afterwards.

Piper looked away, taking a breath, "It is different when I choose to use my magic," she admitted quietly, "They can look at me and call me monster all they like, it is something I control. When it is the instinct...it is something I cannot stop, I cannot help, and the looks are always worse. If I choose it, I am the monster. If I do not...then I am not human."

"Being human is overrated," he said simply, wanting to comfort her but...not knowing how.

Piper looked over at him for that, "At least you know what it means to have been human," she said, "I never have. The only times I came close to understanding humanity was when Snow was there go guide and help me. And when the instinct comes up...it just reminds everyone of that."

He blinked, as though just now realizing what she had been waiting for only moments ago, "You think I care whether you are human or ever were?" he asked.

She had been waiting for him to turn away from her, he saw that now. She had had so many people witness her lose control and think differently of her, see her as less than the glorious creature she was, that she...she truly thought HE would too.

"I love you, Pip."

"You can love someone and still look at them differently," Piper said.

Rumpelstiltskin frowned, seeing how her gaze drifted to the side, lost in thoughts and memories of exactly that, "I don't think that's possible. To love someone is to see all of them, accept all of them."

He had come to understand how Piper viewed herself, the two halves of herself, from the child she had been to the woman she was now. She had played the part of human for so long as she grew, it was not till she had been cast out alone, till fate had forced her hand, that she had become the Piper, given into that Siren half of her. At times it almost seemed that, in denying it for so long, it had come back with a vengeance, making her more Siren than human now. That it overwhelmed her at times was not a shocking thing.

But to have that idea of fighting down the instincts of a Siren all her life, and then for it to rage out of her at the Frontlands, to consume her so fully…

That it made her think back to other times where she had not been 'fully human' and had others react poorly was expected.

He had a sinking feeling that, when she spoke of someone loving her but still looking at her differently, she meant her cousin. Her words about how Snow White had helped 'teach' and 'guide' her in her humanity only reaffirmed that. It...bothered him, how little she seemed to realize that love was acceptance. Clearly her cousin had done something at some point to make her feel like being human was better than being Siren, that acting more like that half of her was less acceptable...but Piper didn't even seem to notice, she just thought love wasn't enough to keep someone from looking at you changed.

He vowed to himself, then and there, if there was one person in all of the Forest who would love her regardless, it would be him, and he would prove that to her. So he stepped closer to her, reaching out to take her hands, "You do not need to fear any of that with me...Rose," he told her, using her old name so she would know that he meant this, because it was not an issue the Piper had dealt with but one Rose Red had been burdened with her entire life, "I will never look at you the way others have, especially not when the instinct takes over."

She looked at him, seeming almost hesitant to believe him, "Truly?"

A part of him wanted to rage at the thought that she would ever need to ask, that she might doubt him in this, but he knew her story, he knew her past, and it made too much sense for him to be so angered. One day he would find every single person who ever made her feel like being her full and complete self was unacceptable and make them pay for it. Until then, he could do this for her now.

"How did I look at you in the Frontlands?" he asked, a small smirk growing across his face when pink began to flush across her cheeks, "I saw you. ALL of you, in the Frontlands, the human, the Siren, everything in between. I would say, as you might believe, I saw you at your worst, and do you know what?"

"What?" she murmured, starting to smile at how he looked at her.

"I welcome your instincts," he told her, "I long to see you embrace them, for they are part of you. And they are natural. And they are right. And any who would fault you for them, well…you send them to me for a lovely little chat."

She chuckled at the implication in the last part, for a 'chat' would be the last thing he would do with such a person, "Is that so?"

He nodded, "Your instincts make you who you are. You could drive my Dagger into my heart on instinct, if I ever dared harm Snow White, and I would still look at you as though you are a wonder," he lifted her hands to press a kiss to her knuckles, "Never doubt that I will forever look at you as I do now, no matter what."

She took a breath, seeing the truth in his eyes, "There is, however, one look from you that I do favor above this one."

"Oh?" he smirked, one which was mirrored by her as she turned and began to lead him away by the hand, "Where are we going, Pip?"

"The bedroom."

Rumpelstiltskin merely grinned and waved his hand, causing the two to disappear in a swirl of magical smoke for a shorter journey, Piper's laugh echoing through the hall as they vanished.

A/N: My heart broke for Piper in this chapter :( She legitimately thought that he would be affected negatively by what she'd done, because everyone always was when this would happen and the Frontlands were the absolute worst in terms of her loss of control :(

It's funny in a sad way how much we pick up on of other people and their thoughts on us without them actually SAYING it, and with children that sort of sticks with you. Piper has never had anyone love her fully and completely for who she is beyond her parents, and for children there could be that thought of 'they have to, they're my parents.' And even with Snow, there was so much emphasis on Rose Red's human side that Piper fixated on that more, because Snow was there.

I think, at one point, Rose Red would have asked Snow for help to be human, or tried to mimic her cousin because things were easier for her as a human. And it just stuck, and in the back of Snow's head, every remark or nudge in regards to Rose's humanity was what she thought Rose wanted, that she was helping her because once upon a time Rose wanted to be more human than Siren, wanted to be more like her cousin.

To Piper, Snow White's love for her was all she knew of love and acceptance, Snow's version of it was normal to her. So when the instinct happens, she just sort of expects the person she loves and who 'loves' her to react with disappointment or exasperation or chastising. She's been very, very careful not to lose as much control as she did in the Frontlands around Rumpelstiltskin for that reason. It may have been buried deep, but it was always there :(

She's come to sort of view her Siren half, after she's accepted it, as still being a bit of a separate entity. She accepts it to an extent, but when the instinct rises up she struggles with it. Choice means if people call her a monster it's because of HER and what she wanted and intended to do. Her instinct means they'd see her as one no matter what she did. She could be the greatest paragon of light, push that side of her down so far that it's buried...but the instinct would push its way to the top and she'd be a monster all over again :(

I felt like this connection to the earlier chapters was sort of needed. Because there was no way, in my mind, that Piper wouldn't have been somewhat affected by what happened and how she lost that much control :( She's sort of expecting the Dark One to be disgusted with what she did, as unreasonable and unrealistic as that is it's all she's known, so when he accepts her...she has a hard time believing he's true about it.

I feel like this is the first time she's had anyone outside of her family understand her so well and see all of her, everything in between, and love her still, look at her like he always has, and that was something she really needed.

It would take a very long time before Piper could realize that the 'love' Snow had for her wasn't as unconditional as she first thought it was. She can make excuses for her cousin and would make excuses because Snow is her family and, to a Siren, they are everything. To the point where, sometimes, she can't see that while they are everything to her she may not be everything to them :( She would defend her cousin, if Rumpel ever tried to bring up that possible lack of genuine love, because she's protecting her family. She had to come to terms with Snow's discomfort with her Siren half in her own time.

She spent a very long time putting on the human airs and trying her hardest to be as human as she could be around her family, so Snow really hadn't had much experience seeing Piper's Siren Half at play beyond her singing and music. Her coming face to face with her thought-to-be-dead-cousin and find out she's the Pied Piper was a shock, one that I don't think Snow could really reconcile until it was too late :(

It's always sad when family ties break down, but at least Snow seems to want to repair it, we'll have to wait and see if it happens }:)

Some notes on reviews...

I could see Snow maybe admitting some things and apologizing, David might be more along the lines of not outright admitting it but changing some of his behavior in a sort of unspoken admission ;) I have a few ideas in mind for the baby's name. I agree, I can't see it being Robin since he's not the father and there's no 'reason' for her to honor her baby that way. I feel like it would have been better in the show also if she'd had a different name, not a constant reminder to Regina that it's her soulmates child by another woman, and also sort of like it would have been the perfect moment for Zelena to name it something actually important to HER and to represent her change to a better person than a reminder of the man she raped :/

Lol, I think the only reason Piper doesn't paralyze David's vocal cords is because she then has an excuse to torture him for what he says. She can't get away with that if he doesn't say it out loud ;)

Oh I think Piper's going to need at least a week long vacation after this to catch up on all the sleep the stress probably kept her from getting lol :) Lol, I agree with the various attacks on Hook and David ;) We'll be seeing a bit more of the Piper-Regina Frenemy-ship come up as the series goes on. Let's just say Regina might get a bit of a kick in terms of a reminder that she can be a hero without needing to be blindly loyal and allied with the Charmings, and that she can be a hero and still have a villain for a 'friend' sometime soon ;) I'm glad you liked that question Henry brought up, it sort of brings up the self-fulfilling prophecy idea. If they keep treating someone like a villain, how long before they just go 'screw it, fine I'm a villain' and attack them? If the heroes won't be genuine in their trust, why bother earning it? And how many villains were just assumed to be villains without the heroes really knowing? Like with the Snow Queen and Elsa, they assumed Elsa was the villain at first when it was just her not able to control her magic as well. In this story, if Piper hadn't been there to talk Emma down when the Snow Queen had her running scared, how long would it have been before the heroes treated Emma like a villain about to snap and drove her to become one? :/ Very true about Snow's remark, I think for Piper's sake she had to take that as magic allowing Emma to know there were people out there when she didn't know before as opposed to just no one out there loving her :( Snow needs to be more careful with her words :/ I actually really can't wait till the AU I have planned, because Emma would have been found by Piper, along with August, and raised by her and the abandonment thing is going to hit so much worse for it, that Emma had been sent away with absolutely no plan for who would take care of her and it was only through Piper protecting her family that she ended up having someone there. I could see Baby Neal growing up feeling that way if they kept on. Like 'Mom, dad, I won an award at school, you need to be there' and then that night it's 'sorry Neal, we can't go, Maleficent's trying to burn down the fire station' or something :( Meanwhile Piper's there like 'let the town burn, let me see that award!' and Neal growing up to throw 'I wish Piper was my mother!' in his parents' faces whenever they get into a bad fight }:) It's sort of ironic, seeing Regina take this path with Zelena and the baby, because she fought so much when the heroes tried to take Henry from her because she wasn't fit to be a safe mother at that time, and she hated them...then she does it to Zelena. I'm not sure how I feel about that, because on the one hand she raged so much about it and it sort of feels at times like she's doing it because the heroes did it to her and if that's what heroes do then she'll do it too. But then at other times it feels like 'it worked for me it'll work for you' to try and help Zelena be a better person :/ Emma and Hook are going to have a long talk about trust at one point ;) We'll actually see a bit more about Robin's plan to protect the baby, and how he and the others plan to keep him and the child safe while out in the woods that are part of Hades' kingdom, a kingdom he knows all the goings-on of :/ It seemed like a foolish plan to me also, like why is Robin being in the woods going to be safe or protect the baby from Hades when he can poof anyone from anywhere to him? :/ We'll see a bit of a tweak to that plan ;) Lol, at one point I actually debated whether Menna should have been with Boromir or Aragorn, but as the outline developed and the story began to come together, it began to feel more like he'd be a loyal subject and friend, that having him owe her his life would have made it complicated and made both of them uncomfortable if anything developed of it. I like that she helped Boromir grow the same as she did with Aragorn, and he had a better life for it :) That's not to say we might not get a Boromir/OC one day. I don't have any plans for one right now, but I never know what will pop up whenever I rewatch a show or movie so you never know ;)