Here we have the next and final part of "Desperate Souls" which has been quite fun for me to write. I do enjoy writing Rumple, both from his POV and from others'. He's a complicated character that I really enjoy because he works so hard to keep everything- especially himself- under control. You rarely see Gold fly off the handle, unlike other villains, and it's because of that that he's probably the most successful villain of them all. He's very calm, cool, collected. So interesting.
Housekeeping stuff: poll's still up, I'm pretty firmly in Robin Hood camp now, but either way, it won't be happening until, god, season four.
Wow...I have to write three more seasons and I'm only half-way through the first one. God, this is going to be forever. Though, I am all-powerful, I could speed things up if I wanted.
We'll see. Till then- enjoy the new chapter!
11/29/22 Edit: This. Timeline. Makes. No. Sense. I am trying to make sense out of the senseless. Listen, I'm making this up as I go and so far it's all making some vague sense. I probably didn't help myself by mixing it up, but honestly- the actual professional show writers couldn't even do it so I'm not going to feel bad.
January 6, 2012 Continued
Ada was waiting in Gold's Pawnshop for the man himself to arrive. Where he had gone, she didn't know.
She wasn't sure she wanted to know, honestly.
The bell gave a slight jingle as he walked in.
"Now, to what do I have the honor of a second visit in as many days?" he questioned, walking slowly towards Ada as he effortlessly avoided his various piles and counters with his cane. Ada imagined years of practice enabled him to walk around his store without glancing at his feet.
She'd rather not think of how many years, precisely.
"Emma's decided to start the custody battle."
"Excellent timing from Miss Swan," Gold commented.
Ada thought she smelled the briefest hint of smoke, but it was gone before she could be sure it wasn't her imagination.
Gold opened a drawer of an antique desk with a key he withdrew from his pocket, taking out a manila folder that was within.
"I think you'll find this most helpful," he told Ada as he set the file before her on the counter.
She was, however, distracted by the black fingerprints he left behind.
"What's on your hands?" she asked.
Emma looked around the burning building, seeking anything that could help her get out. Spotting such a godsend, she began to move towards it, stepping over where Regina was sprawled across the steps. "You're going to leave me here, aren't you?" Regina said, almost calmly, but the grip she had on Emma's arm was anything but calm. Her eyes were wild, and Emma, slightly disgusted the woman could think so lowly of her, pulled her arm out of the Mayor's iron grasp, and turned to jump through the flames.
Ada was going to kill her for this stunt.
Emma practically ripped the fire extinguisher off the wall and tried to clear the doorway of flames. Determining she'd cleared it enough, she stepped back through, hoisted Madame Mayor up, wrapping the woman's arm around her shoulders, and began leading her to safety, using the extinguisher where necessary, and kicking down the door to the exit.
They were free.
A blinding light from a camera caused Emma to stumble slightly (the hacking coughs the smoke had caused weren't helping the issue) and she tried to set Regina down.
"Ow, ow, ow!" the woman shouted, "My ankle! Set me down gently!" she ordered.
"Seriously?" Emma managed to ask between coughs, "You're complaining about how I saved your life?"
The wail of the sirens from the firetrucks made it difficult to hear, but Regina's voice carried enough, "The Firemen are here, it's not like we were really in danger," she turned away from Emma to examine her ankle.
Emma continued coughing, "Fine," she began to walk away, "Next time I'll just...I'll just," she sighed and gave into the truth, "Oh, you know what? Next time I'll do the same thing. And the time after that because that's what decent human beings do. That's what good people do."
Regina gave no response aside from another cough.
"Ah, well," Gold gave a little shrug, "Sometimes we have to get our hands a bit dirty to accomplish our ends."
Ada was silent for a moment. While she agreed with the sentiment...she wasn't sure she would agree with the actions behind it.
Regina was reclined on a stretcher, a fireman's coat around her shoulders, oxygen mask covering her face. Hearing the murmurs of the people around her, seeing her chances of the Sheriff's election going down the toilet, she angrily ripped the mask away from her mouth.
"Enough!" she tossed it away from her.
"Regina," a paramedic tried to stop her, but she was in no mood.
"I'm fine," she bit out.
Sidney choose that unfortunate moment to come up and take a picture, "Nice shot of the victim?"
"Sidney?" Regina was in shock. She knew her pawns were imbeciles (that's part of the reason they were, after all, pawns) but this was carrying it a bit too far. "The hell are you doing?" she gripped the front of his suit in her fist, dragging him forward, "Are you trying to hand this election to her?"
The man appeared honestly befuddled, "But...it's news."
"She's the competition, you fool!" Regina was fairly sure her night could not get worse, as she pushed Sidney away and brought a hand to her head- this was giving her a headache.
"Gold," she looked up at the man, her grip tightening on the file he'd handed her. "What've you done?"
"A little...accelerant for our plan."
Emma knelt before Henry, letting Archie, Granny, Ruby, and Mary Margaret wander off to talk about the campaign. She wanted to win something far more important right now: Henry's hope.
"This is how good wins," she told him, "You do something good and people see it, and then they want to help you."
Henry gave her a heart-stopping grin, "Maybe you're right."
"You see, Henry?" Emma drove the point home, "We don't have to fight dirty," she turned to face the building, and noticed a piece of fabric. Fabric that looked familiar- she had seen it before. Literally in Gold's hands earlier that day.
Emma got a sinking feeling she may have just lied to Henry- they might've been fighting dirty after all.
"You should call Ada," Henry told her, voice chipper again, and Emma couldn't bring herself to tell him, to send him back to the depression that had surrounded him in the weeks since Graham's death. "She'll be worried."
"Yeah," Emma trailed off, her hand automatically grasping her phone.
Ada.
Ada's phone ringing broke the tension between her and Gold and she practically ripped it out of her pocket.
"Emma?"
"A- where are you?"
"Gold's- why- what's happened?"
"Stay there and keep Gold with you- I'm on my way."
It was minutes later that Emma stormed in.
"Lots of visitors today," Gold commented mildly, "Do hope you're not going to break my little bell."
"You set the fire," Emma accused.
Ada jumped in here, "Fire? What fire?"
"I've been right here, Miss Swan, as Miss Ward can tell you," Gold commented.
Emma stomped forward, lifting a piece of fabric under Gold's nose, "Take a whiff. It smells like your sheep crap oil. Turns out it's flammable."
"Oh. Are you sure?" Gold calmly returned, unperturbed, "There's some construction working on at City Hall at the moment. There's loads of flammable solvents used in construction."
"Why did you do it?" Emma insisted.
Gold took a step around his desk, , setting down the rag he had been using to clean his hands. Ada's eyes tracked its movement, "If I did it- If I did it that would be because, you cannot win without something big. Something like, uh, oh I don't know. Being the hero in a fire?"
"How could you even know I'd be there at the right time?" Emma wondered aloud. Ada was beginning to piece together what had happened.
She'd been right- she hadn't liked the actions behind the the sentiment.
"Regina's not the only one with eyes and ears in this town. Or maybe... I'm just intuitive, were I involved," Gold smirked.
"I could've run and left her there," Emma argued.
Ada stumbled over her words, still absorbing it all, but certain she'd figured it out, "I think we all know, Emma, that you'd never leave anyone behind."
"I can't go along with this," Emma shook her head.
Gold suddenly turned cool. Not calm, but icy. "You just did. This is just the price of election, Miss Swan." He gave a bit of shrug.
"A price I'm not willing to pay," Emma countered, throwing the fabric down, "Find another sucker!"
"Okay. Go ahead, expose me. But if you do," he paused, clearly waiting for the two women to hang on his every word, "Just think about what you'll be exposing and what you'll be walking away from," Emma glared, heading for the door, Ada only a step behind. "Oh, yes," Gold added, "And um, who you might be disappointing," at that, both women glared- knowing exactly who he was talking about.
The sisters left Gold's Pawnshop deeply unsettled.
January 7, 2012
Mary Margaret was stapling up flyers stating "Swan for Sheriff," when she literally bumped into David Nolan.
"Oh!" she gasped, "David! Hi!"
She hadn't seen him since Graham's funeral, over two weeks ago now. They'd chatted briefly, but Mary Margaret had been more focused on Emma and Ada at the time, and David had respected that, concerned for the two women, particularly the blonde, himself.
"Mary Margaret, hi," he smiled easily, returning her greeting, and Mary Margaret sighed a bit in relief, relaxing at the sight.
"I was just putting up some flyers for Emma."
David nodded, "How's she doing?"
Mary Margaret shrugged, "I think only Ada would really know, but I think she's doing better. I wish she'd open up more, though. It'd be good for her," David nodded. "And how're you?"
He grinned, excited to share his news, "Good. I got a job. I'm working at the animal shelter."
"Really?" Mary Margaret confirmed, clearly pleased.
"Yeah, I enjoy the animals."
Mary Margaret nodded, "They don't expect much from you," David's face said that she had hit the nail on the head.
"Yeah, they don't. I, um, also am coming to an end with the divorce papers."
"Oh," Mary Margaret tried not to sound happy. It wasn't right to sound happy about divorce. But still... "How much longer do you think that'll be?"
"Probably only a week or two more. There's not really much to settle, it's just getting it all processed and official. I'll be glad when it's done."
"Me, too," Mary Margaret said without thinking, then blushed.
David laughed. "Well, you've got flyers to put up, and I've got to get to work. I'll see you later, Mary Margaret."
"Yes," the schoolteacher replied, her blush not diminished in the least, "I'll see you later."
Emma sat at the counter of Granny's, nursing a drink supplied by Ruby, as Ada shifted from table to table, chatting with people. Gold was apparently good for his word, since some of them talked not only of the fire, but of adoption laws as well.
"Ada, you're a child advocate, right- so you work with adoptions?" Mary Margaret called her over to the table where she sat with Archie and Marco.
"Yeah, I know a fair bit. That's how I was able to help Ella," she reminded the group.
"So...Henry-" Marco trailed off, clearly not knowing where to go from there.
"Henry was born in Arizona," Ada recited carefully, "Which, if I remember the laws right, a resident of the state of Arizona can adopt a child whether married, unmarried, or divorced. Provided, of course, they pass the background checks and the home visits and are willing to wait through the whole process. It's quite lengthy and can take years for someone to be approved to adopt."
She left the table to their own conclusions.
Ada heard Mr. Clark whisper something about Henry being left home alone all the time.
She knew how Emma was going to end this whole fire thing- in fact, she was surprised to see her sister waffling over it this much, but the fear of disappointing Henry and potentially sending him spiraling back into depression was a strong one.
In the meantime, Ada had some work to do. Mr. Gold's file had turned out to be a goldmine, and Ada was thankful she'd manage to escape Gold's shop with it before the man could bargain a price out of her. Emma had turned out to be an unplanned but fortuitous distraction from that business.
David Nolan sat by the windows at Granny's, initially having come there to catch another glimpse of Mary Margaret. Sure, he had agreed not to make any romantic overtures until he'd established himself somewhat, and he more than respected that, he admired Mary Margaret for insisting on it. But that didn't mean he wanted to go weeks without catching so much as a glimpse of her, and Christmas had felt lonely and isolating. Seeing her helped reassure him that he was doing the right thing. He had pictured Mary Margaret curled up in her tiny loft with Emma and perhaps Ada, celebrating in some small way together, and he longed to be there. But she'd set him a task, and he would accomplish it. Whenever the divorce papers stalled or got lost (which happened with an alarming frequency- he was almost beginning to get suspicious, to the point where he'd taken to delivering everything himself and watching each necessary person sign them in person) or someone looked at him, waiting for him to remember something, or physical therapy left him particularly sore, a single glance of Mary Margaret was enough to bring up reserves of strength and patience he honestly hadn't thought he'd had in him.
She was enough to make a mortal man into a Prince.
But, despite having come to Granny's for the express purpose of seeing Mary Margaret, he'd found an entire different woman had caught his attention.
He hadn't associated much with Emma Swan. She'd rescued him, she'd counseled Mary Margaret when they'd begun having feelings for each other, but that was about it. He'd probably spoken to her sister, Ada, more.
But he couldn't help but notice how she stared into her drink, brow furrowed, mouth turned down.
This was a woman with a problem, and while David didn't necessarily remember anything he could use to help advise her, he liked to think he made a pretty good listener. Plus, he didn't want to leave her sitting there on her own with only alcohol.
He took the stool beside her with a straight-to-the-point, "Something on your mind?"
David wasn't the most tactful of men, but it had worked for him so far.
Emma looked up at him, as if startled to see him there, asking about her problems. She was probably used to Ada being the only one sitting beside her, and David remembered Mary Margaret mentioning how she thought it'd be good for Emma to open up more to others.
He found he agreed with her.
"I'm fine."
"Sure," David easily returned, pointing his gaze ahead, so as to not make Emma uncomfortable. Something told him she'd feel better about talking if she felt like she wasn't being watched. He folded his hands on the counter before him, "That's why you're over here with only a glass of liquor and thinking so hard steam was practically pouring out of your ears." He saw Emma wrinkle her nose at his turn of phrase, "I'm just saying- if you want to say something, you don't have to explain it to me, and I won't tell anyone anyways, but you look like you need to vent so," he shrugged, "I am here as a sounding board."
Emma sighed, shifting in her seat. "What if...to do the right thing you found out that someone had arranged for you to do something bad that you thought was good but then found out was bad? But you're afraid to take it back because you want to do the right thing that started the whole mess?"
"And you don't want to disappoint anyone?" David inferred as he noticed Emma's eyes looked deeper and deeper inward.
Emma's head thunked down to the counter, "God, yes. I couldn't...Henry's been so depressed since," she cut herself off quickly, "And...god, what if I screw this all up?"
David sighed as he tried to straighten out his own thoughts. This felt sort of monumental, helping Emma. It felt big. Bigger than him.
But the blonde looked totally miserable, and something about that just seemed so very wrong to David that he decided to try his best and hope he was up for the task.
And there it was. "Well, I think that Henry's a good kid, and it seems like he's got a pretty strong belief in right and wrong, what with the whole fairy-tale thing. I think, as long as you're trying to do what's good, you won't disappoint him. You just have to try your best and hope you're up for the task."
Emma seemed to be absorbing that and David determined it was probably time to leave her to her own thoughts again. Settling his hand on her shoulder, he gave it a quick squeeze before rising. He wandered over to a booth where Walter was talking about the Mayor apparently dismissing Dr. Hopper when he'd mentioned Henry being depressed at the last session. Walter apparently had been cleaning the offices and over heard the Mayor flippantly disregard the Doctor's words. David frowned and joined in the conversation.
That didn't sound right.
January 8, 2012
Ada stood in the wings as Emma paced nervously. The debate was about to start, and Ada was fairly certain she knew how this was going to go down.
"Emma?" she called out, trying to focus her sister.
"I just have to try my best and hope I'm up for the task," the blonde muttered.
Ada's eyebrows met to discuss their confusion over that statement, "Good policy," she remarked to her sister, "Not sure if the crazy muttering is helping your case, though."
"Does it count as talking to myself if you're in the room?" Emma gently teased as she straightened her shoulders, evidently having come to a decision.
"Please," Ada rolled her eyes, "Talking to me counts as talking to yourself."
Emma gave a smile as she drew back the curtains and saw Gold enter the Hall.
Well, this was going to get interesting.
Try your best and hope you're up for the task.
Emma took a deep breath and walked to her seat.
"You guys all know I have what they call an uh- troubled past" Emma began shakily, then her voice steadied, "But, you've been able to overlook it because of the um, hero thing. But here's the thing: The fire was a setup." Suddenly the audience's murmur rose, Emma spoke louder to carry over the noise. "Mr. Gold agreed to support me in this race, but I didn't know that that meant he was going to set a fire. I don't have definitive evidence but I'm sure. And the worst part of all this was- The worst part of all this is I let you all think it was real. I can't win that way. I'm sorry."
Emma found herself in an oddly similar position as she was the other day, sitting at the counter at Granny's as Ruby pours her a drink.
But this time, Ada was next to her, "Well, I can't believe it took you so long to realize you were going to confess the whole thing," the redhead commented, "I figured you'd be doing that the moment I found out about it all."
"Glad to know you have so much faith in me," Emma dryly commented as she swallowed the last of her drink.
"Another?" Ruby asked sympathetically.
"Oh, hell yes," Emma nodded, nudging the glass towards Ruby, who took it away for a refill.
The bells jingled as Henry entered the diner and Ada smiled before leaving mother and son alone, taking her coffee with her (and if she'd asked Ruby to add a little something extra to the brew, well...no one needed to know but her and the Lucas women).
"Hey, Henry," Emma turned towards the boy, who fished around in his bag before handing Emma a walkie talkie.
Emma examined it for a beat before asking, "What's this for?"
"You stood up to Mr. Gold," Henry calmly stated, seating himself beside Emma, "It's pretty amazing."
"Well, he did something illegal," Emma pointed out.
Henry gave her a little smile, "That's what heroes do. Expose stuff like that." Ruby returned with Emma's drink and a glass of milk for Henry. The boy leaned closer and whispered to Emma, "I shouldn't have given up on Operation Cobra." Emma smiled, looking down.
The bells jingled again at the entrance of Regina and Sidney.
"I thought I might find you here. With a drink. And my son," she said, her disapproving eyes sweeping the whole scene. Ada rolled her eyes before stepping forward to join the group again.
Emma smiled slightly at Sidney, ignoring the Mayor for now, "Here to card me, officer?"
"Well, not at all," Sidney smiled back, "In fact, I think I will join you." Ada thought she caught Regina giving a slight roll of her eyes at that, but couldn't be sure.
Emma was a bit confused, "Here? I don't know. I think they're setting up a back room for the victory party."
"Oh, well," the newspaper man stated calmly, "You'll have to tell me what that's like." The Emma and Henry each glanced between Regina and Sidney in confusion while Ada began to smirk, seeing where this was going.
Regina, looking like she had swallowed several lemons, took the Sheriff's badge- Graham's badge- out of her pocket. There's poetry for you, Ada couldn't help but think. "Congratulations," Regina grimaced through the words as though they tasted rotten on her tongue, and placed the badge on the counter before Emma. "Sheriff Swan."
"Wait- what?" Henry spoke for both him and Emma as Ada's smirk transformed into a full-blown grin.
She'd hoped for this.
"There was a very close vote," Regina said, as if to make it clear that Emma only barely beat her at her own game, but the woman managed to give a somewhat sincere smile as she continued, "But people really seem to like the idea of a sheriff brave enough to stand up to Mr. Gold."
"To say nothing of standing up to the Mayor as well," Ada chimed in, just to receive a glare from the Mayor in question. Mary Margaret, Archie, and others were filtering into the diner now, just in time to witness it all.
"Are you joking?" Emma asked, still trying to absorb the news.
"She isn't joking," Sidney quickly confirmed with a shake of his head.
"You didn't pick a great friend in Mr. Gold, Miss Swan," Regina lectured, "But he does make a superlative enemy" Regina gave a wide smile towards the blonde, "Enjoy that," she practically chirped before walking away.
Well, that was chilling.
January 9, 2012
Emma walked into the Sheriff's office- Graham's office- the next morning with a sigh. In her hands she carried some files, but also a few things she was going to add to the desk in order to make it more her own. Her favorite coffee mug, some chewed up pens and her keys clinking within it, a picture of Henry in a frame, ready to be placed on her new desk.
Graham's old desk.
Emma braced herself and took another step forward. This wasn't going to be easy, but Ada was on her way, and she had told Emma to wait for her to get there if she needed to. But Emma wanted to do this- this one thing- on her own. Ada wasn't the one who had felt...anyways, it was Emma who needed to do this. For Graham.
She placed the items on the desk, and straightened up before she came to a total halt.
Graham's jacket.
Graham's jacket hanging there.
On the same hook as always.
For a delirious moment Emma wondered if the whole thing had been a sort of dream. If Graham was going to waltz out of the back room with some new files that he'd later lose in his complete disorganization. Or maybe he'd gone to fill his own coffee mug with the crappy brew that came out of the station's machine.
But no, "The Sheriff's jacket," Gold said, startling Emma into actually physically jumping and breaking the illusion. "I thought you might want it after all."
"You do know I'm armed, right?" Emma tried to regain her composure, not willing to let Gold know how shaken she'd been.
Gold smirked and stepped into the office, "It's all part of the act, m'dear," he announced like the ringleader of a circus, putting on a show.
Emma couldn't help but wonder how accurate that comparison was.
"Political theater in an actual theater," he continued, "I knew no one was going to vote for you unless we gave you some kind of extraordinary quality. And I'm afraid saving old Regina's ass from the fire just wasn't gonna do, now. We had to give you a higher form of bravery. They had to see you defy me. And they did."
"No way," Emma breathed, unable to believe how far Gold's manipulation had gone. Granted, Ada had known what Emma would do before Emma did, but Gold? A total stranger like Gold? "There's no way you planned that," Emma tried to convince herself, crossing her arms.
The Pawnbroker gave a delighted smirk, as if he was truly amused by her shock, before his face transformed into a seriousness Emma wasn't going to admit was a bit terrifying, "Everyone's afraid of Regina. But they are more afraid of me. By standing up to me, you won them over. It was the only way."
"You knew I'd agree," Emma whispered.
"Oh, yeah," Gold confirmed. "I know how to recognize a desperate soul."
There was silence in the station for a moment as Emma absorbed this, trying not to let her eyes dart over to Graham's jacket. She didn't want Gold to know any more than he already did.
"Why did you do it?" Emma asked- one question in her mind: motivation.
Gold took a deep breath before answering, "Your sister and I made a deal sometime back, Miss Swan. We established that she owed me a favor, which, really, is the same as you owing me a favor. I know that can be a bad feeling - owing someone. Having someone you care about owe someone. Now that you're sheriff, I'm sure we'll find some way for you and your lovely sister to pay back what you owe me. As much as I enjoy my little conversations with Miss Ward, I'm not going to forget a debt." He slowly walked out of the station, his cane making a click as his shoes made thumps, and Emma wondered how he'd managed to enter so silently before. "Congratulations" he whispered as he made his exit.
Emma got the feeling there was more to that encounter then she knew.
She wasn't terribly fond of the feeling.
"Emma?" Ada's voice echoed slightly through the station, right before the redhead herself made an appearance, "Why was Mr. Gold just leaving?"
"I really don't know," Emma sighed, her eyes getting caught once more on Graham's jacket.
"Is that?" Ada whispered, her eyes following her sister's gaze.
"Yeah."
Ada stepped forward and spotted the box- the box containing all Graham's possessions, sitting at the foot of the coat rack.
"Emma," she called to her sister, "Come here."
Emma walked forward as if in a daze and the practically collapsed into a sitting position on the ground, staring up at the jacket.
Ada settled herself on the floor next to the blonde, and pulled the box towards her. She reverently went through it- pulling out an old article cut out about Graham organizing a charity event for the animal shelter (it looked disturbingly familiar to Ada, who'd investigated the newspaper office, but to Emma it was something else entirely) there were odd things here and there, and at the very bottom, Graham's boots, laces untied and lying limply. Ada thought they looked rather sad, as if they knew their owner was gone.
God, she was getting sappy, thinking about shoelaces like that.
But Emma reached in and grasped one boot, methodically taking the shoelace out. Ada said nothing, only watched. The lace now free, Emma began to wrap it around her wrist, right above her buttercup tattoo, the wrist Neal had once clasped a stolen watch onto, promising Tallahassee.
Ada understood the significance more than Emma probably did at that moment.
"Help me?" Emma requested softly, holding out her wrist, the shoelace ends pinched together between the fingertips of her free hand. Ada grabbed either end and tied them securely, tucking the loose ends under and between the coil that now partially covered Emma's tattoo.
"Not sentimental, huh?" she softly teased, and Emma gave a chocked laugh before the two of them leaned against each other, staring into the box that had contained all of Graham's worldly possessions.
They'd find homes for everything later. Little pieces of Graham scattered around.
He would've stayed, if he could.
They wouldn't let him be forgotten.
I told you we wouldn't be forgetting Graham so quickly. And we got the start of Emma wearing the shoelace! I couldn't not include that. I remember, when I first knew about the shoelace, I thought about how sad it was that Emma tied that on her wrist by herself because (as anyone who has tried to tie anything on their wrist by themselves knows) that was probably pretty difficult. So not only is she tying Graham's shoelace on her wrist, on the same wrist Neal put that stolen watch on (yeah, I did not make that part up- I rewatched the episodes to check), but she was probably struggling to tie it all by herself, which is even sadder.
So I had Ada there to help.
But enough sadness! Next episode is "True North" so we get Hansel and Gretel and the cannibal witch! Well, she doesn't actually show up, but she is mentioned, and since she's played by Anya from Buffy (which I only realized when rewatching the episode while writing it) I'm quite delighted by that. Plus: cannibal. Shame I don't do the flashbacks, since we get so creepy in them in that episode. I had forgotten quite a few things about "True North." We learn that Regina kidnapped the father purposefully to send the twins into the witch's house, we see her trying to keep them like little dolls (which, come on, really puts her relationship with all children into perspective) and we actually have her verbally admitting that she had sent several children to the blind witch's house, and Hansel and Gretel were the first to survive the cannibal. Unhappy that the twins don't want to play house with her, she goes back on the deal and sends them to the Infinite Forest to wander around, forever separated from the father she only released from her prison once his children were beyond his reach.
Creepy.
