It had been a dull two months. Work, work, work…he'd taken to seeing some people again and dealing just to quell some of his boredom. The truth was that at the moment, there was really nothing that he could do except to keep himself busy and watch. Regina was working diligently on the Curse, with a passion for the magic he'd given her as he'd never seen before in the girl. That was good. She was depending upon it; she had faith and a heart in what it was and what it would bring to her. That was very good for him. Since acquiring it, she'd barely been back to her castle, just a few stops inside to gather a couple of dresses and ingredients from her stores, but she soon discovered that the Curse, while simple to create, was not simple to assemble. That was how she'd been spending her time, analyzing the ingredients and gathering them together so that she could create the Curse that would allow her to destroy the happiness of Snow White.

But while Regina was fretting about trying to end that happiness, he had the very distinct feeling that the Queen's happiness was only growing. He hoped that soon enough, something else would be growing too, if not already. Snow and David had enjoyed a very extended honeymoon. With the dwarves placed in charge of the Kingdom in their absence, they stayed at the Summer Palace for the last two months, on their own, usually wearing very comfortable clothes and sometimes wearing none at all. When he caught them in those moments, he was always sure to look away, but the sight of it was enough to give him a small thrill as he wondered if that was the time that they might conceive the Swan.

The end of their honeymoon finally arrived, brought on by the need to attend an extraordinary event he too had been waiting for. When a carriage finally arrived for them at the Summer Palace, the pair were dressed regally again and set off for another Kingdom.

Just as his vision predicted, there were fireworks over Prince Thomas's castle on the night that they arrived, but this time the fireworks were for a ball of a different kind. This was a celebration! A wedding! Snow and David had finally wed and now so had Cinderella and Thomas. The couple had attended the wedding earlier in the day before putting on gowns and finer clothes for the wedding banquet that evening. In a day or so, Snow White and David would leave the castle with everyone else, return to their Kingdom, and their honeymoon would be over. But for now, they were dancing the night away with Cinderella and Thomas, and, much to his own surprise…him.

The Seer was telling him to go. She was urging him to leave his tower and claim his prize for what he'd done for Cinderella now that she was wed, and there was no turning back. His prize…

He'd been purposefully vague the first time he'd met the girl telling himself he didn't want to settle on anything in particular, but if he was honest, he always knew what he was going to ask for.

"A favor"…it had to be carefully chosen, something that would seem impossible for dear Ella to give and yet something that made an exchange with the Savior seem small by comparison. He knew exactly what it had to be, whether because of his own dealing instincts or because the Seer had told him he didn't know, and he didn't care. He was ready to get this underway.

At the ball, he watched from the shadows in his own golden clothes, as Thomas and Cinderella were announced and descended in their finest white clothes to the ball that had been planned for them, the one that Snow and David had chosen to attend as a cap to their honeymoon. Tonight the pair were dancing and smiling at the wedding. Tomorrow they'd be back in their own palace, Snow would probably be dressed in pants as she almost always was these days, and they'd oversee the affairs of their Kingdom as Regina continued to collect the ingredients she needed to complete the Curse that would destroy them and everyone here. He couldn't wait.

But he did wait, for now, watched and waited for the right time to get the princess alone. The time came, of all times during a dance. Dances at balls wouldn't have seemed the obvious choice; they were usually so well planned, the steps were memorized partners exchanged in perfect harmony…until the lovely Snow White undid it all. At a moment when Cinderella should have been dancing with her husband and Snow was paired with an older gentleman, she abandoned him. She disrupted the flow and the steps as the two princesses had a conversation and danced with each other leaving their gentlemen standing there unattended. It was a perfect way for him to get to speak with her and leave without being noticed.

"All I did was get married," he heard the girl explain to the princess as he sauntered closer to get into position.

"All you did was show that anyone can change her life," Snow corrected. "I'm proud of you."

And just like that, Snow fell away, went back to dancing with the gentleman that should be paired with Cinderella, but because Snow had missed the chance to move on and her own husband was now dancing with the next woman in line. He was all too happy to fill the void the small hiccup had left for him.

"I'm proud of you, too," he smiled as she stopped turning. It was perfect. Though she stopped moving and looked at him as though he'd just stolen all the happiness out of the room, he grinned ear to ear and didn't miss a beat of the dance that one of the Dark Ones had fortunately learned in their time.

"You. What are you doing here?"

He grabbed her waist, forcing her to dance along to the music so that it wouldn't look so conspicuous to onlookers, and as he did, he got a whiff of her skin and nearly let a laugh loose. In the months leading up to their wedding, she and Prince Thomas, it seemed, hadn't been nearly as restrained as Snow and David had.

"I just wanted to make sure you were happy with your end of the bargain. You know–true love, riches, happy endings. Did you get everything you desired?"

"Yes. Yes, I did. Now, what do you want?" she questioned coldly, going along with the dance. "What's your price? My jewels? The ring?"

Oh, if only it were that simple. "No, no dear. Keep your baubles. What I want is something you don't yet possess, but something I know is coming…your firstborn," he proclaimed, giving her a spin so that he could step away. He didn't leave her time to beg or time to swallow the pill he'd given her, just left her there to digest what she'd heard. It was better that way. He always had to be what they wanted him to be, and to her, he was a dark and terrifying menace. Getting in and out without notice was sure to leave her just as unsettled as the news that he'd delivered to her.

When he returned to his castle and was able to watch her in his mirror, the look on her face said it all, and he beamed with pride at the work that had been done and the plan that had been laid. That night she'd gone from someone happy and carefree as a lark to carrying a dreadful secret.

She didn't know that she was pregnant yet, or at least she hadn't, but now it was all there in the open. Apparently, her dear step-mother never did tell her what came of late-night dalliances with princes. It was new. He couldn't blame her for not yet knowing. The smell was faint, but it was there. Pregnancy was magical all on his own, and he could always smell it on a woman. Several women in that room were pregnant, he was hoping that Snow was one of them after two months of honeymooning, but he dared not get close enough to her to confirm. Why bother, he trusted the Seer, and now that trap was set-

Nine months

No…more than nine months…decades.

Oh, he nearly dropped the crystal ball in his hand when the Seer began talking to him, warning him that his timeline was wrong. Cinderella wouldn't have her child in nine months; instead, it would take decades because the child…the child wouldn't be born in this world. It would be of this world, how could it not with two parents like Cinderella and Prince Thomas?! But the child, a girl named Alexandra…she wouldn't be born in this world because she was destined to be born in that world; A World Without Magic, which meant that in less than a year, he'd be in the World Without Magic. If the child was to be born in that world, but he knew that the Swan was to be born in this world, that she would outrun the Curse that was coming from him, then that meant…Snow White was pregnant too!

Oh, he'd seen nothing to confirm this yet, he hadn't been able to get a good smell of the woman tonight, and after two months, it was entirely possible that she was only on the brink of knowing! The two women might only be days apart, but it would only take a moment to save one child and freeze the other in time until the curse broke. Snow White was pregnant. He knew it was true, and it was the most beautiful truth he'd ever heard. He had less than a year before he was in the same realm as Baelfire once again.

It was time to make final preparations.

Hey, Cinderella is married! And that twist that I promised you is? She's already pregnant. I don't want to get into the lengths I took to calculate all this and place these events on the timeline. Just trust me here, in order for her to get stuck in the Curse for 28 years and have the baby when it begins to break, she has to be pregnant now. I chose to let time pass between Thomas getting Cinderella back and their wedding because, well, the reactions in this. Snow and Cinderella greet each other like they are old friends who might have been writing for months instead of just strangers that met at a ball the day before. And Ella's reaction to Rumple...that was the key to this. She's shocked when she sees him, it's almost like until that moment she'd forgotten about him entirely and if all this happened in a few days or even a week...I just couldn't see that reaction happening without proper time. And it is a royal wedding and Thomas's dad seems like he's had time to get to know Ella as well. If Thomas brought her home and in one night said, "this is the girl I want to marry," I feel like there would be some skeptical and standoffish signs. Instead, it's like they're one big happy family. So for me, it made more sense to separate the events with some time and then handle the pregnancy issue by just assuming one night the Prince and Ella had a few too many drinks, their rooms are close to each other, and well...when the time is right, it just happens.

Thank you, Jennifer Baratta, Grace5231973, and Alarda, for the reviews you left for me on the last chapter. Up next is the last chapter in this section. I know we all already know where we're going, but I think it'll give everyone an obvious indication of what we'll find in that final section. Peace and Happy Reading!