And we continue with Skin Deep and the Valentine's Day goings on. Sarah Monday is still in town, so what shenanigans is the Evil Queen going to get up to in order to oust her? And will the backfire? I have no idea- I'm making this up as I go.

In other, more personal news: I've only got one final left then I graduate! From college! I'll have a Bachelor's Degree & be expected to be all adult-y.

Isn't that scary?


February 14, 2012

Ada slid into the booth where Mary Margaret and David sat discussing a book Mary Margaret had insisted David try. She tried to sucker Ada and Emma into reading Anna Karenina as well, but the girls skillfully evaded her attempts. They both had the sinking feeling that it was only a temporary reprieve, though. Ada was already resigning herself to having to find the audiobook in a few weeks' time.

"I beat Emma and Henry here?" she asked, interrupting the couple's flirtatious discussion. Ada was pretty sure Tolstoy wasn't that cutesy. Especially with the words "doomed love," on the back cover.

"Yes, they should be here soon though," Mary Margaret informed her, and was immediately proven correct when the two in question entered the diner.

"Hey," Ada greeted them as they both clambered into her own side of the booth. "How was school today?" she asked Henry, who launched into a story about a history assignment he was interested in.

"So are we going to talk about Miss Monday?" Mary Margaret asked as soon as it was clear Henry was done with this tale. Emma and Ada exchanged a look over Henry's head.

"I had five minutes," Ada said, "You owe me coffee."

Emma sighed and rolled her eyes.

"What?" David asked and Mary Margaret groaned at the two girls.

"We had a bet over how long Mary Margaret would last before she brought that up," Emma confessed.

"Emma thought she'd make it a whole ten minutes," Ada said with a pitying smile in her sister's direction that seemed to say you-poor-naive-fool. Emma rolled her eyes. Henry giggled between them.

Mary Margaret gave a huff, "Well, I'm concerned, so sue me."

Ada gave a grin, "We aren't supposed to really know Miss Monday's findings or conclusions. They're confidential, and even the lawyers only see the parts that she decides to let them see. It's all very hush hush to protect everyone involved."

"So what's the next step?" David asked.

Henry looked up at Emma and Ada, waiting to hear their verdict.

"Well," Ada said, folding her hands on the table before her, "Bill is going to file the petition for child custody, that's the first official step. Next Regina has to file a response form and then there's the first court appearance."

"Will I have to be there?" Henry asked.

Ada gave a shrug, "It all kind of depends. The first time? Probably not, I'd imagine. Anyways, it's a pretty lengthy process- there's going to be quite a few summons and then there's the psych eval."

"You mean we're all going to have to talk to a shrink?" Emma asked.

Ada shrugged, "You and Regina will have to be evaluated, and it'll probably be Archie who does it, honestly. The two attorneys usually reach some sort of consensus. Since he has a history with Henry and in Storybrooke, I'd imagine that as long as you raise no objections they'll go with him."

"What if Regina objects to Archie?" Mary Margaret sensibly pointed out.

"Then it'll look very bad for her in front of the judge, I'd imagine," Ada countered, "Why would she let Henry see a therapist she doesn't trust? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if she does object," Ada, Emma, and Henry all exchanged a significant look here, knowing Regina wouldn't want anyone she cursed in charge of defending her in court, especially if people were waking up and no longer responding to her threats. "But, again, it'll count more for us if she does, so," Ada shrugged.

"You got any questions, kid?" Emma asked him.

"What if she blames me?" Henry softly voiced, remembering the story of his grandmother- she was ten, so was he. "What if she gets mad at me for the whole thing and blames me?"

Ada wrapped an arm around Henry, "Listen, they'll decide pretty early on what's going to be your custody arrangement while this all is going on. You probably won't be living with either Emma or Regina during this, considering...circumstances," Ada didn't want to say the word abuse. Not in front of Henry, not in public like this. She wasn't sure what labeling it would do for Henry and until she was sure it would help him or at least not hurt him, she was going to keep her mouth shut.

Henry nodded and leaned into her, "Would I stay with you?"

Ada smirked, "Probably not, since I'm Emma's friend. Then again, maybe, since I do have all the clearances and I work with kids like this all the time."

"Have you ever had kids staying with you while their parents fought?" Henry asked, looking over at Emma, who nodded.

"A handful of times," she told him, "Usually not for long, just until they could go somewhere else, but yeah."

The topic had been covered enough for one day, Ada decided, and she turned to happier thoughts, "So what are the big plans for tomorrow, you two?" she asked the couple across from them all, "And please remember, there is a minor present."

"Ada!" Mary Margaret instantly objected.

"We don't have time for much- school's still in session," David pointed out.

"Six hours," Mary Margaret nodded.

"Six hours?" a new voice chimed in, and the group turned to see Ashley handing baby Alexandra over to Granny, "You take newborns? Cuz I'd love six hours."

"Ashley! I didn't-I didn't even recognize you!" Mary Margaret greeted.

"Baby on the outside?" Ashley teased gently. She grabbed a chair and sat down with the group as she caught up with them.

"You look good," Ada insisted.

"How's it going?" Emma asked, examining the teenager in a new light. This was the first time she'd run into Ashley since finding out she was actually Cinderella.

"It's uh," Ashley gave a sad sort of shrug, "I mean, baby's great. But, we really haven't had time to do the whole getting married thing, so... that's been rough and Sean's been working double shifts at the cannery."

"Well, you guys probably have to save up," David pointed out. "Sean told me he's been trying to take as many shifts as he can get so you guys have enough put away for a decent college fund."

Ashley gave a small smile, "Yeah, but on Valentine's Day? He couldn't get out of it."

"Well, you'll have all the other Valentine's Days for the rest of your lives," Ada pointed out, then took a decidedly less romantic path, "Besides, the most famous thing that actually happened on this day in history was a massacre so," she shrugged as the rest of the group gave her odd looks. "What? It's true. St. Valentine had nothing to do with anything about how we celebrate Valentine's Day now! I know- my parents sent me to Catholic school when I was little!"

"Anyways," Emma turned back to Ashley, "I'm sorry, that sucks."

Ruby descended on the table with her usual flair and gave Ashley some coffee. "It doesn't have to! Come out with me! Let's have a girls' night! We can all go, Ada, Emma too, if you promise to leave the badge at home."

"I'm not really-" Emma began but Ada cut her off.

"We'll be there," she promised Ruby, "With bells on."

Ruby gave a pleased smirk towards Emma who was trying to suppress the glare she wanted to send in Ada's direction until they were out of the public eye.

"Oh and Ruby?" Ada added just as the waitress was about to walk away, "Emma's buying my coffee today."

Ruby gave a chuckle as Emma huffed and rolled her eyes yet again, but refrained from saying anything. Henry grinned between the sisters.

Emma's phone rang then and the blonde fished it out of her pocket.

"What was that?" Mary Margaret asked as Emma stood.

"The station. Something's up," she ruffled Henry's hair and exited.

Ada eyed her sister's retreating back, "So...do you think I should follow her?" she asked Henry, who laughed.


Gold surveyed his house, Miss Swan by his side. He should've known something like this would happen, and he cursed himself briefly for the lack of foresight, then he began to plan.

"Sheriff Swan, you can go now. I know exactly what was taken and who did it. I've got it from here," he waved her off.

"No, you don't," the blonde immediately countered. He fought the urge to sigh, "This was a robbery, public menace, and if you don't tell me what you know, I will have to arrest you for obstruction of justice. I have a feeling you don't wanna be behind bars."

In some cases, the laws of these lands were quite a hindrance. Had they been in the Enchanted Forest, people would have left someone in his situation to deal with the robbery on their own should they so choose. "Indeed not," he allowed, "Alright, his name's Moe French. He sells flowers, and he recently defaulted on a loan. A short time ago, we had a little disagreement over collateral. Your sister, Miss Ward, was witness to it. And we had a long talk about it afterwards. She can give you the details on the man's...past."

He was fairly certain that Miss Swan would not approve of the old King Maurice after hearing of his treatment of Belle. Very few people would.

Emma didn't miss the inflection and gave a nod, "Okay. I'll go get him, check him out."

He wasn't quite ready to be as accommodating as all that, though, "I'm sure you will, assuming I don't find him," he chuckled, "Let's just say, bad things tend to happen to bad people."

Emma raised an eyebrow, judging the irony of that statement, but let it pass, "Is that a threat?"

"Observation," he countered. Miss Swan turned to leave and he couldn't resist calling out a slightly mocking "Good luck."

She, no doubt, would be calling her sister soon for the details, and while they were exchanging information, he'd be hunting down Moe French.


When Miss Ward stepped onto his porch and whistled at his damaged front door, Rumple had the sinking feeling that he had forgotten to account for something. While, yes, the sisters would exchange information, they also could do so on their cell phones.

Technology made things infernally complex.

"So... Belle, huh?" he watched as her purple heels clicked on the wood of his flooring, the skirt of her matching dress swirling around her knees. There was a white jacket tossed over her arm as she looked around his house.

"So did you pick the pink or was that Regina trying to stick it to you in whatever way she could?" Miss Ward chirped.

He couldn't quite help a small chuckle, "I imagine the Mayor has to take her digs where she can."

Ada hummed as she rocked back and forth on her heels slightly. "So," she began again, "Belle?"

"What about her dearie?" Rumple was on alert now.

"Let me take a stab at this," Ada began, "She came to live with you as your caretaker as part of the deal."

"I told you that," he interjected.

"Don't interrupt," she scolded him lightly, and he couldn't help but be amused by the audacity. "She comes and lives with you, you guys spend a lot of time together. You fall in love," she was skilled, he had to admit, she didn't even turn to look directly at him when she said that, but he had no doubt she noticed how his grip on his cane tightened. "I'm not quite sure what happened, but I imagine it has something to do with her wanting to go home?" she shook her head as she turned to look directly at him, "No. She already promised to stay with you. You wouldn't fall for someone who doesn't follow through on their word without complaint. It was something else. The relationship. You both were in love but one of you moved too fast or too slow and you sent her away in a pique. She returned home and Regina came knocking a few days later singing over how she'd jumped from the tower to escape her father."

"And where'd you gather all that, dearie? I wasn't aware that story was in young Henry's book."

"It isn't," she told him, then gave a shrug, "But, you know, tale as old as time."

He raised a brow at that but she did not elaborate.


Sarah Monday looked at the apple turnover the Mayor had given her. It felt, oddly enough, like a threat. Not a bribe, which is how Sarah would've felt about it in most circumstances, but a threat.

Sarah sighed and tossed it out. She was allergic to apples, anyways.


Gold and Ada entered the Sheriff's station together, having still been exchanging quips when the call came in.

Emma, with a flourish, whipped a sheet off of all the item spread over the desk. "You're welcome. You were right. Your man Moe ripped you off. It was all still at his place."

"And the man himself?" Mr. Gold asked, even as his eyes remained glued to the desk, seeking out one item in particular.

"Closing in on him," Emma assured.

Gold sneered, "So, job well half-done, then."

"Hey," Ada objected on her sister's behalf. "It hasn't even been twenty-four hours and you got your stuff back."

"Is something wrong?" Emma asked as both girls began to notice Gold's tightening grip on his cane and his darkening expression. Ada's head tilted to one side as she examined the pawnbroker.

"You've recovered nothing," he growled, "There's something missing." He began to leave the station.

"What?" Ada asked even as Emma shouted at Gold's back, "I'll get it when I find him."

Gold turned to leave with one final remark, "Not if I find him first."

The two sisters exchanged a look and nodded. Ada ran after Rumpelstiltskin.


David sighed as he looked at the Valentine's cards available in Dark Star Pharmacy. He wanted something meaningful, and then he spotted the card. He supposed it would do, but it still seemed to fall short of what he felt for Mary Margaret.

Hopefully the night he had planned for her would communicate everything he wanted to say.


"And what do you think you'll accomplish, exactly?" Ada continued to hound Gold as he stalked through the town. She wasn't quite sure where he was going, but she knew it wasn't good.

"I think I'll get my property back," he countered, acting as if she were a fly he couldn't quite get to buzz off.

Ada decided to take a chance and reached forward to grab onto Gold's arm, pulling him to a stop. "Tell me about Belle," she demanded.

"What?" Rumple shook his head at the non-sequitur.

"Tell me about Belle," Ada repeated, "What was she like? Why did you love her? How did you fall in love with her?"

"Don't you mean how did she fall in love with such a beast?"

Ada shook her head, "It is a sad fact of the world that girls can and will fall for men who are beasts, mostly because they think they can save them or change them. Most of the time they're wrong. The only person who can save a beast is himself. But, sometimes, being loved by a girl enables a man to...stop being a beast. This metaphor is starting to get away from me but the point is: I'm not totally shocked by the story. As I said: tale as old as time. But I've always known the girl's side of the story. Tell me the story of the beast."

Gold sighed, "Alright, but we keep moving." Ada nodded and slipped her arm into his again, keeping him at a sedate pace as he began the tale, "Belle was...well, first I should probably tell you she was beautiful, correct?"

Ada shook her head, "You're not one for appearances. And not just because you're normally all covered in scales, either."

"Well, she was, uh, beautiful," he told the redhead with a flourish of his hand, "But more immediately: she was intelligent. She was clever. Always reading, that girl. I sent her to dust the library and she had to stop to read each and every book."

"And, of course, giving her all those books wasn't your plan at all," Ada teased.

Rumple shot her a look from the corner of his eye, "Of course not dearie, I'm not that sort of beast."

Ada gave a non-committal hum. "Go on."

"She was brave without being foolish. A Princess- she knew the cost of things and was willing to pay them," he began to get a bit lost in his memories, "She used to ask questions. All the time. Why did I spin so much? Where was this from? What was that land like? Couldn't get away from all her questions. But she could be quiet, too. Give her a book and she'd be," he waved his hand, "Poof. Lost in another world."

Ada watched as he seemed to transform, speaking of this girl, and she wondered again at Regina being the one to deliver the news of her death.

"It was Regina, put the idea in her head," he added almost sadly, "True Love's kiss can break any curse," he mocked.

"I hate to be the one to break this to you," Ada took a deep breath before continuing, "But I'm pretty sure she would've ended up kissing you eventually. Love tends to lead to that sort of thing."

"Love. It's like a delicate flame. And once it's gone, it's gone forever."


Mary Margaret carefully smoothed down the hem of her dress and a grin lit up her face when she heard the knock at her door. It was David. Taking a deep breath, she tried to open the door as calmly as possible, but couldn't quite contain the wide grin she beamed as soon as she saw him, dressed up, with a bouquet of flowers. Fortunately, David wore a matching expression.

"Oh, those are beautiful," Mary Margaret beamed as she took the bouquet. There were some small rose buds, and a tiny white flower interspersed with them that looked oddly familiar. "I love the little white ones."

"They're called rue anemone," David supplied, "I saw them and, I don't know- they just reminded me of you." He shrugged and plucked one out of the arrangement to tuck into her hair. His expression softened into something that was somewhat like awe and a lot like love, "You look beautiful."

Instead of blushing, Mary Margaret smiled up at him, and took his hand. "Let's go," she whispered as they exited the loft.


Ada looked at the time. She had promised Ruby a girl's night out, but Gold was still...well, he was still Rumpelstiltskin, and she didn't trust him not to do something...evil while she was gone.

She sighed. Maybe she could do a good old-fashioned guilt trip? Manipulate him into buying some time?

"You know, I wonder what she would think."

"Of what, dearie?"

Ada sighed again, shaking her head, "Of you. How you are now. I mean, I know she fell in love with you even while you were all dark dealings and I'll-take-your-first-born, but, I can't help but wonder what she would've hoped for you. You know? I mean, we all hope things for those we love. I've got about a million hopes for Emma and Henry. I wonder what hers were for you."

As if on cue, Ada's phone rang- Ruby, calling her to see when she was going to arrive at the bar.

"Hey," Ada answered, ignoring the wondering look on Gold's face as she walked away to hold the conversation, "Yeah, I'll be there in about an hour. I've got to change first. I'll see you then." She hung up and turned back to Gold. "I'll see you later, got to go."


When Ada arrived at the Rabbit Hole, she spotted the girls immediately. Emma had managed to beg out of the evening, citing tracking down Moe French as a damnably reasonable excuse, but Ruby and Ashley were both there, waiting for Ada to join in.

Ashley downed a shot and Ada couldn't help but be impressed. To think, she was sitting here drinking with Cinderella and Red Riding Hood. And Cinderella apparently could hold her liqueur relatively well. For a princess.

"You might want to slow down there," Ada greeted them and grinned as they all exchanged hugs.

"This is my first night out since I've had the baby," Ashley told them with a smile that seemed to have cracks around the edges, "I am making up for lost time." With that, she downed another shot.

Ruby eyed some men across the bar, "Ooh, Ash, check out those guys. Ada?"

"Oh, honey," Ashley shook her head, "I'm still with Sean."

"You're not married," Ruby countered "And he's not here."

"He's working," Ashley defended her prince.

"He's always working," Ruby rolled her eyes. "Have fun moping! Ada?" she turned to eye up the redhead.

"I'll join you in a second, you get first pick," Ada assured her. Ruby gave a wolf-like grin as she practically stalked over to the men, drink in hand. They looked quite pleased with the situation.

"She's right," Ashley sighed, "He is always working. I thought love would be different."

"Oh, hon," Ada took a moment to appreciate that she was going to give Cinderella relationship advice, then shook the thought out of her head as way too disturbing. "Have you talked to him about it at all? Or have you just quietly let him go on thinking you thought it was a good idea to work like this too?"

"Well," Ashley countered, "I don't want to be unsupportive. And it's not like he's wrong- we do need the money with the baby and his father won't help us," she sighed again.

"But you do deserve some time together, so I'll tell you what," Ada grabbed Ashley's purse and pulled out the girl's phone, "When Sean comes home, you tell him you want to have a date night, and explain to him that he can't work himself to death even for his family because while it's good to have money, it's more important to have him. You guys make plans and if you want me to babysit," she handed the phone back to Ashley, "There's my number. I'm fully qualified," she added with a wink.

Ashley gave a giggle that was still a little sad and Ada tried one more time.

"Listen, from what I've seen, love is never what anyone expects it to be," she thought once again on Rumpelstiltskin and the elusive Belle, "And that's to be expected- everyone is different, no two loves are the same and life has a way of, well, getting in the way. But, you've got to fight for what you want and you've got to hold onto hope." Ada paused a moment and remembered Cinderella's moral from her story, "You can change your life, but only if you try."

Ada grabbed her drink and downed it, realizing how much she was beginning to sound like the damn storybook. She flashed Ashley one more smile and then went to check on Ruby, who seemed to be making quite the impression.

And that's that. Quite a bit shorter than the last update, but I want to spread out Skin Deep a little more. For the record, yes, the white flowers that David gives to Mary Margaret are supposed to be the same flowers we see in Snow's hair at her wedding and in that nursery scene. It took me freaking forever to try and figure out what type of flower they were since the Once wikia didn't say and I had to keep searching google for five-petaled white flowers with yellow stamen (the blurry photos I was trying to compare and contrast did not help). Still not sure if that's the right kind, I was torn between rue anemone and common strawberry flowers, but I went with the rue because it had a prettier name and I could do a lot more symbolism with a name that has "rue" in it than I could with a strawberry.

I just want to thank everyone who stuck with this story even with my long, unexpected absence. And thank you and welcome to all the new people as well! I'm fully convinced only the most awesome of people are reading my story and that's a heady feeling. Hope you all are enjoying it and, please, tell me what you think! Of this chapter, of the story, of the show in general. Gimme some feedback and review! Each and every one makes my day, I swear to you.