It was well past midnight. Something must have been wrong. He knew it was wrong. He felt it in his bones.

Cora wasn't exactly a perfectly prompt individual; a few minutes late was normal for her, but not this late. He paced as his mind raced, thinking up the most dreadful of scenarios while he waited with nothing else to do. Every sense he had was on high alert, he heard every bug, every cricket, every owl around him. He felt charged. Waiting for a potential ambush, an explanation, or even for her just to show up breathless and apologize for being late. He wasn't sure what to do.

Perhaps he'd been wrong to agree to let her kill the King without him, unsupervised. The taking of a heart was a delicate thing, and she'd only been doing it for a week or so now while practicing on servants, not Kings. Different people held onto their hearts in different ways, and it wouldn't be an anomaly for a royal king to strike a deal with someone to cast a spell to protect their heart, he'd made a few of those deals himself in his time.

And then there was the fact that she intended to kill the king. She'd never killed before, not to his knowledge. When they stole the hearts they always returned them with altered memories. To take a heart was different than to crush it. She could do it, she had the desire and the hate for it, as he did, but to actually do it for the first time...that could be nervewracking.

It was late. The King had servants in and out of his chamber at all hours of the day and night. If he was dead the castle, these grounds he walked on, should have been in hysterics by now; bells tolling, women wailing, men fighting over a crown. It should have been a perfect time for Cora to simply slip away in all the commotion, never to be seen again…but there was none of that. Unlike himself, the grounds around him were calm. Peaceful even!

So then what was taking so long? What was she waiting for? Was she attempting to hide the body? He certainly hoped not. They hadn't exactly discussed her plan for long before he'd left her to it, but he figured she was smart enough to know to leave the body where it was. Had she gone into the King's bedchamber and woken him from sleep to keep the guards from discovering his death until morning? That would have been the wisest course of action. And Cora was smart. Perhaps that was what had happened…but then why wasn't she here yet?

His mind began to wander into darker places, terrible, frightening scenarios he'd rather not imagine but forced himself to all the same. Thanks to her public display of turning straw into gold, the entire Kingdom knew that Cora had magic. If things hadn't gone as planned, if she hadn't been able to take the King's heart or alter his memories, he'd have called the guard on her immediately. She was magic, but hers was steeped in revenge and anger, if she was fearful as she was dragged away she might not have been able to access it and if King Xavier was one of those Kings who possessed a dungeon capable of holding one who had magic…

She would need to be rescued. He'd need to arrange for her release! But how! He wouldn't have magic in a place like that either, at least not all his magic! It would always be effected somehow. How was he to save her if he couldn't use magic! It would be like trying to rescue Milah all over again! His limp might even come back and-

Finally, from behind him, he heard footsteps, and from out of the darkness a figure suddenly appeared, it was a silhouette he recognized right away and he allowed himself to sigh in relief. There now. It was nothing. He'd simply let his mind wander away from him.

He smiled as she walked toward him, the cloak he'd once crafted for her over her shoulders and a hope chest they'd so often practiced putting hearts into held in her arms. A servant's heart, perhaps, something she wanted to take with her? Unless…she hadn't kept the King's heart with her, had she? What on earth was she planning if she'd kept him alive? He'd often heard of couples eloping in the middle of the night, and though he wouldn't exactly term this as that, he had to admit that it felt an awful lot like they were. They were leaving one life in exchange for another, and he couldn't wait not to look back. So then, what was she holding onto?

"I was starting to grow concerned," he commented as she stepped forward.

"Well, here I am," she shrugged before he reached forward to embrace her. The kiss he gave nearly stopped his own heart as he pulled away simply for that reason alone. It was a kiss he had given to her.

And nothing more.

He was excited, he had to admit that, but at the same time…she'd never been a passive lover before. She was nearly as aggressive as he could be even more so. She like to grope, to embrace, to swallow him even as he threatened to do the same to her! To simply allow him to kiss her…it wasn't Cora.

"Something's not right," he pointed out, summoning his magic, preparing for an attack, for a glamor to be revealed or the Blue Fairy to turn up and confess to tricking him in some way. But Cora only nodded.

"Yes. You're correct," she stated. But nothing happened. There was no flare of magic, no reveal. There was no motion from her at all. Was she upset, perhaps? Had she not gotten what she wanted? There were ways to fix that!

"Well, what happened?" he goaded. "Couldn't you take the King's heart?"

"No, I was able to do it," she corrected. "I chose not to."

She chose not to…she chose it? But it was…it was nothing like Cora. Mercy from her? It simply didn't exist in her, he was sure of it. He was positive.

"Ah…" he was utterly confused and at a loss for words as he felt that great thing in his chest, the monster that had grown significantly since she'd come into his life, begin to fade. He had a bad feeling, and it just so happened that bad feeling had the voice of the Seer, reminding him in his head of a prophecy. "Firstborn of Princess Cora to cast the curse to end all curses…"

Princess Cora…fate could be rewritten, and just one pesky detail could be changed…couldn't it?!

She stepped forward and moved the back of her hand over his cheek as she stared into his eyes with…nothing! There was nothing there. No passion, no love, no lust, no interest. Nothing.

"I'm sorry, my dear Rumple. I'm not going with you. You see, I have a wedding to go to…my own."

Her wedding. To Prince Henry.

His heart sank as he pulled away from her with new suspicion. "Whose heart is in the box?" he demanded, though he had a terrible feeling that he knew exactly whose heart it was. The symptoms were there in her eyes.

"Don't make this harder-"

"You lied to me!" he snarled as he looked back into her emotionless stare. This…this felt like it could kill him, blacken his heart far more than any sin of Dark Magic, and on her face, there was nothing! It was apparent, and he wanted to hear her say it! He wanted to hear her tell him that she was choosing this life! This miserable, spotless, silly piece of oppressive perfection over what he'd given her these long months. He wanted to hear her tell him what he'd done to her heart to make this life tolerable.

"Whose heart?"

"Mine," she finally admitted.

He knew it was impossible, but this was as close as he'd ever come to feeling feint since he'd become the Dark One. The steps he took to get away from her weren't enough, and he suddenly had the sensation of being doused in cold water! He'd never experienced the sensation of having his heart pulled from his chest and crushed, but he imagined it felt a lot like this! Oh, he'd…he'd been a fool! A terrible fool to ever think…to ever hope that she…that anyone…could ever…

"I had to," she growled in excuse. "You told me not to let anything stop me until they're on their knees. My heart was stopping me."

Her heart…lies! All lies! Like Milah and the Blue Fairy and even that common girl from his village! It was all a lie! Her heart wasn't stopping her! If she'd truly loved him as she'd said she had, then it should have helped her! No, for this to happen…it was the crown she wanted, power and magic just like any common person, and he'd played right into her hands! Helping her get it! Helping her to guide this pain he felt now into his flesh, his own heart! It was a dagger all it's own. No! She spoke nothing of the truth. Only lies! And now…

His boiling anger began to simmer into something worse than anger, something far more concentrated.

He'd show her! He'd show her exactly what the stroke of her pen had bought her for her deceit! He'd forget everything they'd shared, every false lie, every timed kiss, every unimportant encounter. He'd make sure she remembered it for her entire life, every time she looked at her children and saw one missing!

"You never loved me. Never. You're not getting away with this!" he shouted. "We had a contract! I'll take your baby!"

"You changed the contract, Rumple," she reminded him calmly, heartlessly. "You only get your own child. And any baby I have…it won't be yours."

He had the distinct feeling like he'd been slapped in the face though the wound didn't feel like that of a handprint. Clever girl. He'd thought of those words a dozen times a day since he'd met her, he'd reveled in them, been utterly attracted to them but now he was so angry he felt tears gather in his eyes. There were tears in her eyes, but they never made it to the heart of her, to the places that he needed to see them. And worse…was that a smirk he'd seen? For one small tiny flash of a second?

She'd been plotting this. She'd been planning for this to happen all along! Ever since he'd named the price to spare her in that tower, she'd kept him close, had him teach her music, told him that she loved him all so that on the day she convinced him to alter the agreement he'd think nothing of it. She'd walk away with her magic and her child and now a royal title to boot. He'd been tricked, deceived in the worst way! And she…

He'd never met a more clever and heartless bitch in all his life…and that included Milah.

He lunged for her, flew at her propelled by a rage that lit up the night, and made the forest seemed bathed in blood. He'd kissed that neck only the day before, but now he had the urge to feel it snap beneath his palms!

But before he could touch her, she vanished in a cloud of red magic. He felt it flare up behind him before he heard her.

"Please, don't make this any harder than it has to be, Darling. You taught me well!"

"Don't do that!" he screamed. "Don't call me that!"

"I'm sorry!" she cried as she moved out of his grasp again so that all he held between his fingers was smoke. "You taught me too well!"

This time when she vanished, she didn't reappear. There was no flash of familiar magic, no heartbeat hiding in the trees. Only light from the castle that he was certain she'd retreated to like the undeniable coward she was.

Oh, she'd pay! He'd wait. He'd wait until she was asleep, until she felt comfortable and safe, and then he would steal her heart from that chest and crush it as she'd crushed his! If she'd protected it he'd cut her throat and bathe her husband in her blood and take the child from her belly…

The child…the baby!

He ground his teeth together so hard he felt his jaw crack before he turned around and set a tree on fire and let out a loud agonizing scream!

The baby! He was ready, oh so ready to go after Cora, to kill her if not today then tomorrow or the day after! But he couldn't. The miserable witch had a shield around her, and it was his own son! He longed to see Baelfire more than anything else in this world, far more than he longed to kill Cora, and the truth was that now, more than ever, she was destined to become a Princess and have the child, the daughter who would get him back to Bae! If he killed Cora now, then he would be effectively murdering any chance he ever had of seeing Baelfire again by taking the child from himself!

"There's more than one way around a deal, Dearie!" he heard himself growl as he looked up at the lights of the castle. There were voices in the distance, drawn by the flames of the tree he'd lit up and their desire to put the blaze out.

He had to go. He had to leave this place. He had to leave Cora to this life that she had chosen even if that meant it was a half-life. For now, he had to leave her alive, no matter how much he wanted to twist her neck and make her scream!

We are not done yet with Cora! Oh-ho you better believe we are not done because there was one thing left to her story that was never covered, but talked about. There was one thing that I felt robbed of and had to correct in this fiction! In the show, we have a couple of small hints as to what Cora and Rumple's relationship was going forward. On more than one occasion, a battle between Rumple and Cora was referenced. This battle was never really explained further, but there was always one thing that came of it. Cora said she won, Rumple says he won. And I guess some people might see this as a sort of battle, but it's not good enough for me. Especially because we know, according to Rumple, he met Regina after she was born "held her in his arms"...and then it would seem he leaves her life until Regina summons him because she has no clue who he is. Why? Oh...you know I am not about to let details like that go to waste! So ya'll, get ready, because for the last chapter in the Cora section, we are going to see that battle! Like Granny's story, it's one of my favorite additions to this story, and I can't wait to see what you think!

Thank you MissAmande, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta for your comments on the last chapter. I'm sorry if this one seems scattered but I wanted it to feel a little like Rumple was falling apart at the seams, first from nerves, then from heartbreak. It is, in my mind, this scene that causes great repercussions in Rumple's life that will last for decades to come. Peace and Happy Reading!