He gave an uncaring wave, a simple flick of his wrist that would dismiss David with the idea that he really wanted nothing to do with him, but the truth was that the second he left the chambers, he waved his hand over the crystal ball and watched him appear back in their tent. It was the middle of the night, but David didn't go inside to his cot next to Snow. He didn't pack or even seek out the dwarves. Instead, he went to the hitching post, untied his horse, and rode away.

He rode into town, the same town that he and Snow had been to earlier, and let himself into a barn. He watched as he searched and searched and searched before finding a lone sword in a scabbard. The Prince paid for it and poured a handful of coins into the scabbard before taking it away. On his horse, he rode for more than half the night, across fields, over bridges, and finally he left his horse at the bottom of a hill. He was back in his own country now, not far from the place he grew up in. That was probably how he knew there was a stone at the top with a crack running through it. It was in that rock that he jammed the stolen sword, before quickly riding back to their camp.

He must have been exhausted, but he didn't show it. To be perfectly honest, when he rode back into camp Snow looked like she'd had a worse night than he had. When he rode up to her, she was shooting arrows at a target, looking like a woman on a mission or a woman without one. But after a brief exchange, Snow went with him. The pair rode on well into the afternoon until they were back at the place that David had stashed the sword. David walked up to it and acted with perfection, straining to pull the sword from the stone. Then Snow approached it, pulled it free easily, and the look in her eyes finally changed. She went from the sad, scared eyes she'd had after Regina's encounter back to determination.

All the while, he stayed in his tower and grinned. The boy gave her back her belief just as he'd wanted him to. Impressive. Just as impressive as the effect it had on her.

Once she pulled the sword from the stone, the two made haste back to the village that Regina had attacked yesterday. It was the same as it had been the day before. Snow addressed the crowd, sword in hand, and a few moments later, Regina rolled up in her carriage. The pair spoke for a few brief moments, and then Regina struck. Instead of a young girl, she levitated Grumpy in the air. After an encouraging word from David, Snow charged. Regina disappeared again…but this time; it was different. For after Snow swung the sword and realized she was gone, she turned and swung again; blindly…but not without knowledge.

Grumpy dropped to the ground as the Queen shook a bit and put her hand to her cheek. Snow had gotten her. She'd learned from her mistakes yesterday as well as Regina's predictability, and she'd gotten her! It was a small cut, one just below her eye, but it spoke volumes to the people, to Regina, but especially to Snow White, who gritted her teeth and advanced upon the Queen with a sneer. Words were exchanged, but there were only two that were important, only two that she said so sternly that he could read them on her lips.

"My Kingdom."

At last, a Snow White prepared to fight, and her courage and confidence spread like wildfire. As Regina vanished, people pledged themselves to her, to fight for her! They laid down their swords, bent their knees, lowered their heads! Men kissed their wives and joined her army, the elderly brought out horses they no longer needed, children brought weapons and food for the cause. It was the start of an army; a ragged one indeed, but he knew that it was all she needed. Today she took the town. Tomorrow she'd take the Kingdom, which was why he was surprised to see her leave the celebration and wander into the woods alone. As David made himself busy with dwarves and organizing the people, she wandered off with the sword in her hand, and soon he understood why.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" The summons tugged at him, called to him as he spun. It wasn't done three times, but it was powerful enough to reach him. It was powerful enough to urge him to go. Power, magical or otherwise, was a hell of a thing.

"Rumpelstiltskin!"

"What do you want?!" he cried. Snow White was the summoner, a small figure in a clearing of dazzling shadows and sun. She was proud when she looked him over. Her back was straight, her shoulders perfectly set, her face confident. Confidence…she wore it well.

"We need to discuss the deal you made with Charming."

"Have to be a bit more specific, dearie." As he'd just told her fiancé, they'd come to him too often for "the deal" to tell him what she wanted to talk about, even if he already had a good idea of what she wanted.

"He came to you searching for something powerful enough to vanquish the Queen," she explained. "You told him of Excalibur. Now whatever it is that he promised you in return, I am prepared to pay it. But I won't allow him to remain in your debt."

He nearly rolled his eyes. True Love…he should have known that she would have been willing to do such a thing. He'd have done it in a heartbeat for Belle. Love truly did change people, though, in Snow's case, this wasn't so much a change as an exaggeration of who she'd always been. She would have done the same thing if the cricket had led her to that fake sword.

"How nauseatingly romantic."

"What did he promise you?" she pressed. "With you, everything comes with a cost."

He smiled. They'd shared nearly everything since David broke that curse, that much he knew. He might not have heard it, but he'd watched as they spent hours talking at night. She knew who David truly was, where he came from, what happened leading up to her curse, everything! But he hadn't told her this. Cute.

"It's true. Your prince came to ask for aid fighting the Queen. I told him I had nothing to give, and I didn't."

She glared at him, her smile knowing, but she deceived herself. She didn't know what she thought she knew. "Then how did you know where to find Excalibur?"

Oh, he didn't know what was funnier, that David had tried to convince her that he'd found Excalibur itself or that Snow had believed him. If it were him, he would have left out the details and just told her it was a different sword for one very important reason. He stepped up to Snow White and put his hand to his mouth as if he were preparing to tell her a secret, or rather save her from her own embarrassment.

"Everyone knows it's in Camelot."

"But it's not…" she took a step forward and held the sword in her hand out between the two of them gallantly. "I possess it now."

He nearly laughed. He'd watched David steal it from a barn that very morning before she woke. Even if it wasn't cheaply made, the metal held no hint of magic. "If that were Excalibur, I wouldn't be able to do...this!" With a bit of magic, he dissolved the sword into silver dust, leaving nothing in her hand but the jeweled hilt. The girl looked on in shock. "Sword's a fake, dearie. Shoddy craftsmanship, too. But then again, what can you expect from a shepherd? Lucky it wasn't made out of wool!"

"I struck Regina!" Snow argued. "I drew blood!"

"Enough of your ramblings!" he cried, stepping forward and wrapping his hands delicately around her neck. She barely noticed that he'd wrapped another hand around the charm hanging from her neck. It was all an act. He had to be what she wanted him to be, like he was for everyone. He could tell her about the game that he'd played, about the idea that he'd given her dear Charming…but she didn't need him to be that person. She wanted him to be-

With a single gesture, he pulled the charm from her neck, and it let out a snap that forced her to put her hand to her neck where it no longer resided. It meant nothing to him, nothing but what it meant to her.

"No. Please," she gasped. "That belonged to my mother."

"And now it belongs to me," he pronounced. "You're right about one thing, dearie. Everything comes with a cost, including wasting my time."

And then he disappeared. He'd leave David to tell her what she needed to know. And he'd leave her army to remind her of who she was, sword or not.

Not my favorite of the chapters, but it is what it is. We have to cover this sort of stuff because it is important to the future. But hey, look on the bright side, at least Rumple got to participate in this instead of just watching through a mirror. That's positive, right.

Thank you Grace5231973, Alarda, and Jennifer Baratta for your very kind reviews! I did my best with this chapter, though I know it's not perfect. I did try to exploit the dialogue a bit here. I know it sounds like David crafted the sword himself, but like Rumple said, he's a farmer, and because of the time constraints on this episode (again), I didn't feel there was time for David to actually try and make the sword himself. So I had him pay for one and take it. The dialogue never actually says he makes it, only implies it. But it could also imply this scenario. Up next, we'll continue on with the War. Peace and Happy Reading!