A/N: This is super short, but I felt like it was important to give a little background. Both of these scenes take place 17-18 years before the story starts.
This has Rumple/Cora and Snowing. Straight people have infiltrated my story.
"What have you done?" Henry hurried after his wife. "We discussed it just this morning. She was to be named after my mother!"
Cora came to a stop once they reached her chambers, looking down at the baby without a hint of emotion. Henry had gotten used to being looked at like that, but the way Cora handled their child felt unnatural. As if Isabella was an object, not a person.
No, he reminded himself. Not Isabella. Regina.
"I wanted to make a statement," Cora said, flicking her bored eyes up to meet Henry's.
"A treasonous statement! They'll kill her, and you, and probably me as well." He threw the closet open, beginning to throw things to pack on the bed. "We have to run."
"I do not run," Cora said, dropping Regina into the pile of clothes on the bed. "I'm not a coward."
"No, you're no coward," a third voice said. "You're a reckless fool who is going to get herself killed."
Henry and Cora glanced up to see that Rumplestiltskin was perched on the chair in the corner. Regina whined, and her father picked her up, cradling her close. "What do you want?" he demanded.
"Oh, just wanted to give the little one a present." Rumplestiltskin approached Henry and pulled a shimmering translucent bean from his pocket. "A chance to live."
Regina continued fussing, and Henry bounced her gently while looking skeptically up at the imp. "She's his daughter, isn't she?" he asked, turning towards Cora. He could see the same question in the Dark One's eyes.
Cora just waved dismissively at them. "Do you really think I'd take the chance that my child was born without a drop of noble blood?" She laughed, and Regina began to cry in Henry's arms. "Do you really think I'd give birth to a peasant bastard?"
Henry pulled Regina in tighter, leaning down to kiss her forehead. He didn't care whose she was, he realized as she quieted and stared up at him with big brown eyes.
Rumplestiltskin looked almost disappointed, but he hid the emotion quickly. "Promise me you'll protect her," he whispered to Henry, glancing wistfully at Cora. Without another word, he threw the bean down, a portal swirling open on the floor.
Charming burst into the nursery to see Snow crouched by the wardrobe, opening and closing the door. She had run straight from the battlefield just like him, not even taking the time to tend to the cut on her forehead that was trickling blood. She stood up, and Charming was surprised to see fear in her eyes. "We've won," he said, taking her hands in his. "King Midas has been captured, King George is dead. They can't tear us apart." He pulled her in for a kiss. "Abigail will leave us be, and she'll be a good queen. And we can finally have our happily ever after."
"Charming," Snow said softly, reluctantly. He let her go to hurry to the crib and she fixed her eyes on the ceiling, body tense as she waited for the real battle to begin.
"Where's Emma?"
Snow closed her eyes and forced herself to take in a deep breath. "They got so close to the palace. I didn't want them to find her."
Charming immediately ran to the wardrobe, bending down in front of it and opening the door to find it empty. "We agreed on this, Snow," he said. "Fairy magic is spotty at best, and you know what they say."
She forced herself to look at him, to see the pain in his eyes. "It always comes with a price."
He opened the door again. "Where is she, Snow?"
"I put her through," Snow said, tears mingling with the blood dripping down the side of her face. "She was supposed to come back when I unlocked it again, but she wasn't there on the other side. She must have moved, or someone moved her."
He stood up straight, anger overtaking worry in his eyes. "If she'd stayed here, we would have protected her at all costs. We knew what we were up against. Now we don't even know where she is."
"She could be anywhere," Snow admitted. "The wardrobe only had magic for one. We can't follow her. We'd have to scour every realm to get her back."
Charming wanted more than anything to call for the Blue Fairy and demand a portal, but nobody knew how many realms there were, or how big they were. They commanded a large army, but no army was large enough to cover all of that space and find the lost princess. "She's gone," he said, walking over to the crib and staring down into the empty space where he'd last seen his daughter.
Snow sank down onto the floor and covered her face with her hands. "I'm so sorry," she sobbed, Charming's words forcing both to accept the truth.
"You made a mistake." Snow glanced up hopefully at those words, but Charming's expression was steely as he turned to face her. "You made a mistake, and now our baby girl is out there paying the price." He snatched up a stuffed bear from the crib and strode towards the door. "I love you, Snow, but I will never forgive this."
Snow watched him leave before whispering, "I love you, too."