"So you have no idea what happened after that?" Red asked Mulan. It was cold in the courtyard, last night's storm having marked the abrupt entrance of fall. Red shivered on the cold stone bench. She'd gone looking for her cloak earlier this morning, but it was nowhere to be found.

Mulan shook her head. "I helped escort people out, but it seemed like the royal family needed some time to themselves. My presence would have been an intrusion."

Red nodded, wishing it was easier to pretend she didn't care. All she really wanted was to know what Belle had done after she'd left. Whether she'd shown remorse. If she'd cried. If this was tearing her up inside was much as it was tearing Red up.

"It's cold," Red said, wrapping her arms around herself. Across the courtyard, she could see Snow entering through a door, with her husband in pursuit. Wonder what's going on there, she thought, with little actual interest. She wouldn't have even bothered to eavesdrop if it weren't for how loud they were talking.

"Snow, you have to calm down!" Charming was saying. He followed Snow as she stormed through the courtyard "It's not your fault, Regina tricked you! Take it out on her, not yourself!"

He seems awfully angry at Regina, Red thought, stiffening. Everyone knew Regina had turned over a new leaf. It wasn't fair of him to get so angry at her.

"Stop it, Charming!" Snow snapped. "I don't need your advice. It's not going to bring her back!"

"No, but you have to stop blaming yourself!"

"Any clue what's going on?" Red asked Mulan.

"No, but I think if we stay here long enough we'll find out pretty quick," Mulan replied.

Snow whirled on Charming. "I let it happen, didn't I? I'm the one who let Red up to talk. I'm the one who agreed we should listen to Regina. I'm the one who planned an entire ceremony without even thinking to take the moon cycle into account!"

They're talking about last night, Red realized. She started to stand, hoping she could leave before she was noticed. The last thing she wanted was to have another fight about what Belle had done. Even thinking about it made her heart twist unpleasantly in her chest. But before she could get all the way to her feet, Mulan put a hand on her shoulder.

"Something's not right here," she whispered. "Don't you want to find out what?"

Red felt that she didn't particularly care what was going on, but the pressure on her shoulder convinced her that Mulan wouldn't give up without a fight. Red was too tired to even think about fighting, so she sat down and kept her eyes carefully trained downward. Last night's storm had done a lot of damage, she noticed. The ground was littered with branches and roof tiles.

Charming's voice sounded entirely too close. "I know, but you didn't plan for this to happen. Regina did. She's the one who should be punished."

"Oh look," Snow said. Red flinched at how close she sounded, and the apparent anger in her voice. "It's Red and Mulan."

She was on my side last night, Red thought desperately. She looked up to the sight of Charming and Snow, standing only a few feet away from her and staring with a strange sort of intensity. Red hesitated, unsure of what she was supposed say. But before she had to, Mulan spoke up instead.

"Good day, Your Majesty," she said. Red relaxed a bit at her tone, which was one of cool disinterest.

All of the emotion that Snow had been directing at her husband was now aimed towards Red. "You don't even know what's happened, do you?" Snow asked. Her voice was almost mournful "You have no idea what you did."

Mulan put a protective arm around Red, who felt as though she couldn't breathe. "Your Majesty, I seem to recall you being on Red's side of things last night. You have no right to go after her now."

"If yelling at Red could make things right again, I'd be doing it too," Charming said quietly. "As it is, I'd say Snow has every right to express her grief this way."

"'Make things right?' What the hell do you think I made wrong, Belle's reputation?" Red asked scathingly. "She's ruined that on her own."

Snow's look was almost pitying. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what?" For some reason, Red felt like laughing. The whole situation seemed ridiculous, the intensity of Snow's moods like something out of a novel.

"Oh, Red," Snow said softly. "Belle's dead."

"She's… what?" Red asked. This time, she actually did laugh, so harshly that it hurt her throat. "No, she's not."

"She is," Charming said. His voice was far too calm, incongruous with what he was saying. "When you… turned, last night. It was too much for her. She collapsed, and never got back up."

Red felt as though she were listening to the words underwater. She could hear, but nothing made sense. "You're wrong. Belle's stronger than that, she wouldn't just—die, from something like that."

Charming just looked at her. "I can't make you believe anything you don't want to. But before you feel too sure you're right, I'd check the cemetery." He put an arm around Snow and led her out of the courtyard,

I'm cold, Red realized. She turned to Mulan. "She can't be dead, right? This doesn't make sense." Please, tell me I'm right. She found that she couldn't even feel upset; the idea that Belle was dead was far too alien to make sense. Belle had always seemed more alive than anyone she knew.

Mulan looked worried. "I'm not sure. I don't know why the king and queen would lie about something like that."

"Something's going on with them," Red said firmly. Then, in a quieter voice. "I didn't kill her."

Mulan's arm went back around her, in what was probably supposed to be a reassuring gesture. She didn't quite manage to pull it off, but then, she'd always been better at fighting than comforting. "I can go to the cemetery with you later, if you'd like to be sure."

"Later," Red agreed. Her hands had gone numb. She rubbed them against each other. Get it together, she told herself. She's not dead. Because wouldn't she know, somehow? Wouldn't she feel it, if Belle was dead in the ground and not somewhere out there in the world?

"What you need is a distraction," Mulan said. "We should go meet Killian. He's probably in the kitchen by now. Let's find out how well our plan worked, shall we?"

Red laughed, feeling her shoulders relax a little bit. She'd forgotten all about the plan, with everything that was happening. "That sounds like a great distraction." Although in the chaos last night, maybe Emma and Killian didn't get a chance to— maybe I wrecked—

She pushed the thought aside.

Red and Mulan entered the palace through a side door and made their way toward the kitchen. By unspoken agreement, they avoided any hallways where they might run into someone. Red was still sure she'd done the right thing the night before, but there was a little nagging piece of doubt that told her if she ran into someone, they might confirm what Snow and Charming had told her. As long as she didn't know for sure, Belle was still alive.

She still couldn't feel her hands.

When they entered the kitchen, Killian was already there. He'd been seated almost casually on a stool, but when he saw them enter, he stood and began to pace back and forth. "Ah. I was waiting for you to arrive," he said. "For we have much to discuss."

"About to tell us you broke your vow never to fall in love?" Red asked, a bit bitingly. If she herself had managed to stick to that vow, she wouldn't be in this kind of pain. If she had managed to stick to it, Belle would be alive.

Shut up, she's not dead, Red told herself, pushing down the panic that kept clawing at her throat, threatening her. She dropped down onto a stool.

"Should we tell him what Emma said?" Mulan asked.

Red forced a laugh. "The part where she spent hours talking about how much she hated him, only to admit at the very end that he was the handsomest man she'd ever seen?" She could feel something bitter coming out in her tone, but she couldn't understand where it had come from.

"Of course, after that she pretended not to care about any of that."

"And then said if she didn't hate him so much she might rather like him."

She expected Killian to take the bait, the way he had a few nights ago, but his expression didn't change. Instead, he looked her in the eye and said, "You don't happen to be missing anything, do you? A cloak, perhaps?"

"How did you—"

"You won't be finding it any time soon," he interrupted. "Certainly not before the end of Wolfstime." His face was stiff and he spoke too fast, as though this were difficult for him.

"And why's that, exactly?" Red asked, trying to put a hint of danger in her voice. "Because if you've taken it, Killian, I swear to God I'll—"

He held up his hands. "It was the Lady Swan's doing, although I'll admit I served accomplice. And you should be glad it's not worse, she's quite angry at your actions, as well as their consequences."

Red couldn't think of anything to say, so she looked at Mulan, who's expression was one of someone on the verge of solving a puzzle. After a moment, she spoke. "Something's going on with Snow and Charming," she said. "They're acting as though Belle is dead."

Killian looked at Red. "She is."

"That's impossible," Red said firmly. She wrapped her arms around herself as though trying to protect her insides. Please, don't let it be true. I'll do anything, just don't let it be true.

"Is it?" Killian asked knowingly. "Wouldn't be the first time the wolf killed somebody, would it?"

"You know I didn't touch her," Red snarled at him. She clenched her fists in an attempt to regain control of her emotions. "No matter what she did, I would never have hurt her."

"Red," Killian said gently, and somehow, this was worse than when he'd been accusing her. "I saw the body."

Red's heart was pounding. "I don't believe you," she said, but the dread that had been threatening to engulf her finally did. "She can't be dead." She hadn't even finished the sentence before she felt the tears finally fall from her eyes.

"So it is true?" Mulan asked.

"Aye."

Red couldn't take it any longer. She got to her feet, almost tripping over her skirts, and ran out of the kitchen. The only thought in her mind was that she needed to escape the palace, needed to get out of here while she still could. Mulan's footsteps echoed behind her so she sped up, almost running headlong into Happy and Dopey. The dwarves were standing in the middle of the hallway with two men in cuffs, speaking earnestly with Snow and Charming. Red managed to stop half a second before she would have caused a full-on collision.

Mulan caught up with Red just in time to hear Dopey say to Charming, "So you see, these men are surely guilty of most unpickable things, as is her ladyship the Evil Queen."

Red's breathing was loud and ragged, and Mulan felt a pang of remorse. When Snow and Charming had approached her for help convincing Red that Belle was dead, she'd agreed. The plan made a certain amount of sense, and she'd wanted to help. But as things went on, she realized that she'd been so focused on the end goal that she'd forgotten about the emotional consequences it would carry for Red.

"I knew she was involved somehow," Charming replied. "Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Dopey."

"What's going on?" Red asked. "What did they do?"

Happy beamed at her. "I'm glad you asked! First on the docket is lying—although I was most impressed, this young gentleman has almost turned lying into an art! Nobody appreciates good craftsmanship these days, it's a crying shame. Where was I?"

Red spoke up again, sounding annoyed. "You said Will's a liar. Which, no offense, isn't particularly new information."

"Right you are! And thank you, Red, I've always loved your willingness to give constructive criticism. As I was saying, these gentlemen have found guilty of conspiring with the Evil Queen to spread lies, as well as lying about it. Well, points for consistency, right?" He chuckled.

"You aren't making any sense," Mulan said impatiently. "Scarlet, what did you do?"

Will tried to shrug, but with his hands cuffed it didn't come off looking nearly as nonchalant as it would have otherwise. "Nothing big. And in my defense, it was all Regina's doing. All I was after was a magic bean."

"Regina wanted to destroy Red and Belle's happiness," Sidney said, seeming to decide he'd had enough of this. "So she set up a ruse so that it would seem that Belle had met with Will at her window."

"But I did see Belle there!" Red cried.

She's still under the Evil Queen's spell, Mulan had to remind herself. It's not her fault she doesn't understand. This reminder made it easier to go through with things. This morning, Red had sounded certain she'd never speak to Belle again. If faking Belle's death really did get Red to see sense, that was all the mattered.

"That was Lily, in one of Belle's dresses," Will said. He had the good grace to look ashamed. "She didn't know, mind you. She had no part in this whatsoever."

Sidney directed his next words at Red. "Regina made sure she would be believed by dosing you and the queen with a potion so that you would believe her."

Red frowned. "Regina wouldn't do that."

"Like hell she wouldn't," Mulan couldn't stop herself from saying. "Where is she?"

"Gone," Snow said. "We've sent soldiers after her, of course, but Regina's always been an expert at disappearing when she wants to."

"It wasn't Regina!" Red shouted. Then, in a quieter voice, she said. "This is my fault, isn't it? I shouldn't have handled things that way. If I'd just talked to her, instead of yelling in front of everyone—I shouldn't have let myself get that worked up. Not during Wolfstime."

Mulan put a hand on Red's shoulder in an attempt to comfort her, but Red pulled away. "It does make sense," Mulan said softly. "You know Regina's entirely capable of something like this." She desperately wished she could say something else, something like, I know you can't understand this right now but you have to stop blaming yourself, but it wouldn't do any good. Not yet.

Red shook her head. "Stop trying to make me feel better. I know what I did." The tears started flowing all at once, and within a few seconds Red's body was wracked with sobs. "What can I do?" she asked, falling to her knees at Snow's feet. "Please, tell me what I can do. I know I can't fix it but you have to let me do something."

What have we done? Mulan thought wearily. What were we thinking?

"You're right," Snow said, with an unreadable expression on her face. "You can't fix it. But you can tell the kingdom why it happened."

"Of course."

"We'll wait until Wolfstime is over, of course," Charming said. "But after that we'd like you to apologize for what happened and take full responsibility."

"That's all you want me to do?" Red demanded, tears still flowing freely. Her shoulders shook. "That's all Belle's life is worth to you?"

"Of course not!" Snow said fiercely. "But there's nothing else you can do, you can't bring her back. And to make you suffer more would only increase our own suffering."

"I'll do it," Red sobbed. "I'm so sorry. I know that's not enough, but I'm sorry."

"Good," Charming said. "Happy, thank you for the pains you took in examining these men. Take them to the dungeon for now and we can decide what to do with them later. With any luck, they can help us track down Regina."

Mulan took Red by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Come on," she said firmly, leading her away. "You need to sit down for a while, you've had a shock."

She might not be able to fix things, but at least she could provide some comfort until this all got sorted out.

Belle had better know what she's doing.

Killian tapped his foot against the ground as he waited for Emma to arrive. The parlor was stuffy, but it seemed like the proper place to sit when courting a princess. Besides, the courtyard had been a mess of activity today, what with the attempts to convince Red of Belle's death. As the opportunities to speak to Emma in private were dwindling, he wanted to make sure they weren't overheard today.

He looked down at the paper in his hand, which was barely legible from all of the places he'd scratched things out. He'd been attempting to write a poem of some sort for Emma, perhaps a sea shanty, but so far he'd written nothing that could ever see the light of day. In the beginning Killian had tried reference well-known pirate couples, but the trouble was that there really weren't any, or at least, not any famous ones. To make things worse, it turned out that while Killian Jones had skills in a great many arenas, rhyme was not one of them.

The sound of the doorknob made Killian jump. Barely taking the time to think it over, he dropped the paper and worked to shove it under the couch with his foot. "Emma," he said as she entered. "At last."

Emma's face looked drawn. "I can't leave Belle for very long," she said.

"Then let's make good use of the time you have." God, he could look at her forever, Killian realized as he drank in her appearance. Even tired and upset, she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen. More importantly, she was Emma.

"All right," Emma said. She sat down next to him on the couch. "Did you say anything to Red today?"

"A few foul words passed between us," Killian admitted.

Emma looked tense. "I guess it would destroy your whole air of mystery to be specific for once in your life."

"I made some veiled comments regarding her cloak." He took Emma's hand and squeezed it, but he knew what she really needed was a distraction. "Let us move on to more pleasant subjects. I've been wondering, which of my charming qualities did you first fall in love with?"

Emma laughed, seeming to relax a bit. "Oh, you know. Rudeness, facial hair, over-exaggerated stories of your life. All things that would be entire insufferable if they didn't go hand in hand with being an infamous pirate."

Killian quirked his eyebrow, impressed that he'd gotten so much out of her.

Emma's face flushed as she seemed to realize this. "Your turn. Which of my qualities was it that convinced you to deal with all of my emotional baggage?"

"I'll have you know I'm a fan of every part of you, including the baggage. Although, that does remind me of something I overheard your mother mention." He watched Emma's face, trying to gauge her reaction. "Who is Neal?"

She looked down. "I guess you have to find out about that eventually, huh?" When Killian continued to look at her, she said, "He wasn't really anyone. A farmhand nearby. He used to sneak into the palace and we'd explore all of the secret places, the parts where nobody goes anymore. I don't know. He made me forget that I was a princess, and that I had all these responsibilities."

"So you've always considered your royal status to be a burden." Killian filed this away, another piece of the puzzle that made up Emma Swan.

"I guess." She was silent for a little while. "We were going to run away together," she finally added. "After my eighteenth birthday."

"I'm assuming the lad didn't follow through on his plans? Seeing as I cannot imagine that you would be the one to back out."

"He left without me. Stole everything he could get his hands on, too. After that… I didn't want to be with anyone for a while. I thought it was safer."

"And then a dashing pirate swept in and stole your heart."

It wasn't meant to come out sounding like a question, but the uncertainty in his voice came out so strongly that Emma must have heard it. "Yes," she replied. "That's what happened. Against my will, I might add," she said, half teasing.

Killian put his hand to his heart. "How noble of you, to spite your heart for my sake!" During the days in which they'd danced around each other, he'd missed the ability to argue with her this way. Now, he found that it was even better than before.

Emma laughed. "Oh, shut up." She slapped his shoulder gently.

Killian removed his hand from his heart and placed it back in hers, where it belonged. "I suppose too such fiery personalities as you and I never could have expected to have a peaceful love story."

"That's all right," Emma said. "My parents didn't, either."

He laughed with surprise. Whatever he had been expecting to hear about Snow White and Prince Charming, that wasn't it. "I imagine that's a story I ought to hear sometime. But first, I must ask. How is Belle?" The mood shifted at once.

"She's not doing so hot," Emma said. "She's scared she won't be able to get through to Red. I can't blame her, really. Magic is a pretty serious thing to mess around with."

Killian released her hand and lifted his own to her face. "And how are you?" he asked, gently stroking her cheek.

"I'm not doing so hot either," Emma admitted. She leaned into his touch.

"I'll do whatever I can to help you mend. Starting with ensuring Red doesn't slip away before her public apology."

Emma closed her eyes for a moment and nodded. "I'm sure they'll manage to work things out. Much more sure than I was yesterday, at any rate. Honestly, I'm more worried about what we'll do once all this is over."

Killian inhaled sharply, letting his hand drop back to his side. "I'm not sure I catch your meaning."

"Well, Red's only acting this way because of Regina's curse, right? So once they figure out a way to break it, she and Belle will be all right again. But us—what'll we do when the focus is back off them, and everyone expects me to be a princess? Do you really think they'll just accept that I've fallen in love with a pirate? Besides which, you'll be leaving in a week to go out on the Jolly Roger again, and I'll be left behind."

"I've been having the same quandary myself," Killian admitted. "I've given it a great deal of thought."

"Any conclusions?" Emma asked.

Killian put his arm around her shoulders and ran his fingers through her hair. "I've written a letter to Smee. I plan to send it this evening so that he'll get it when he comes into port looking for me." He paused, scanning Emma's face for a reaction. "I've offered him a reasonable price for the Jolly, he'd be a fool not to accept."

Emma looked at him as though he'd grown a second head. "You'd—sell your ship for me?"

"Aye."

"No," she said, shaking her head determinedly. "I'm not letting you do that."

Killian's stomach sunk. Perhaps he'd mistaken her intentions, and this was all a passing fling. "I'm perfectly willing to."

"I don't care! You'd be miserable here, Killian! You think you know what's it's like, being at court, being expected to rule someday when you can barely remember which fork to use for salad and which for fish? This is no life for a pirate. You'll get tired of being here having to stand on ceremony, and you'll leave."

Just like the man who left before, Killian realized, in a flash of insight. "I swear to you, I won't."

Emma's reply was the last thing he expected to hear. "Take me with you," she said, turning her body so as to slide her arms around his neck. "Please, take me on your ship, let's go, let's get out of here."

Killian's good hand went around her waist. "What of your royal responsibilities?" he murmured in her ear. He slid his other arm around her, careful not to hurt her with his hook.

"Belle can have them. She'll be a much better queen than I would." Emma spoke as though it was already decided. And perhaps, in a way, it was.

"What will you tell your parents?" Killian asked, dropping a careful kiss on the side of her neck. He felt her shiver.

"I'll think of something. Just—take me away from here. Please."

"You do realize we'll have to leave within a few days?" Killian was forcing himself to be rational, think this through one step at a time when all he could think about was the fact that maybe he'd be able to have everything he wanted after all.

Emma nodded against his chest. "As long as we're here for Red's apology. I need to make sure everything turns out okay for her and Belle."

"Agreed."

Killian usually shook hands when he made deals, but when Emma's lips landed firmly on his he was forced to admit that this way was much, much, better.

The wolf ran through the woods. Something was wrong, but she didn't know what. Her feet pounded against the forest floor, but it was taking so much energy to keep moving, so she slowed to a walk, and then a limp as she entered the cemetery. Her body was heavy with a sadness that both was and wasn't her own.

The full moon illuminated the rows of graves. Her instinct was to use her nose to guide her, but something protested, so instead she wound her way around the tombstones, moving slowly and looking at each of them. The wolf couldn't read what they said, but she'd know when she found what she was looking for. When she was a flash of red towards the back of the cemetery, she made her way towards it.

The wolf couldn't read the stone, but she knew this was what she had been looking for. She dropped to the ground in front of it, barely bothering to growl at the cloak that lay on top of it, waiting for her. She knew this cloak, the one that was used to contain her when she wasn't wanted. As though a creature like herself could ever truly be contained.

Red woke up the next morning in front of Belle's grave, and wept again. When she left the graveyard, she left the cloak behind. There was only one more night of Wolfstime, and one night was nothing, not now.

Not when she'd already destroyed the person she cared about most.

Two nights later, Belle was standing in a hallway in her nicest gown, going through what she would say to Red just in case she'd managed to forget.It has to be perfect, she reminded herself, but the thought only made her more anxious.

"You ready?" Grumpy asked. "You've only got one shot."

"I'm ready," Belle said, letting Grumpy lead her to the door adjoining the balcony. She could hear the ceremony as it started. Snow explained to her subjects what had happened, informing them of Belle's "death." After that, Red was asked to speak.

Belle waited behind the closed door, taking steadying breaths. She could hear Red talking to the crowd, explaining her role in Belle's "death." There was no mention of the part Regina had played, but then, the Fidelity Potion would still be in effect.

When Red started crying, Belle had to tune it out. She could hear the words but refused to focus on their meaning.

This is all wrong, she thought. It wasn't fair, to hurt Red like this when her only crime was that she'd fallen prey to Regina's scheme. It could just as easily be her up there, having to apologize for a murder she hadn't committed.

None of this was fair.

"It was the only way," Grumpy said, seeming to have read her thoughts. Belle wondered whether he was right, but there was no easy answer. Either way, it was too late now. All she could do now was follow the plan.

Finally, the sound of Red's voice stopped, and Grumpy motioned for Belle to go through the door. She shook as she opened it, wishing she didn't have to do this in front of everyone. She appeared on the balcony, a little to the left of Red. The crowd gasped.

"Turn around," she said softly.

Red whirled towards the sound of her voice. Her face was streaked with tears. "Belle?" Her voice cracked. "But you're—"

"Dead?" If she'd felt bad about the deception before, it was nothing compared to how she felt at the look on Red's face. "Not quite. But I must speak with you."

"You—lied?" Red turned to Snow and Charming. "You told me she was dead! You made me think—"

"I'm so sorry, but it was the only way to be sure you'd be here tonight," Belle said.

"And why should I be?"

There should have been more time, Belle thought sadly. She should have been able to explain everything, even if it wouldn't have done any good. At least she could have tried. But she could see in Red's expression that she was on the verge of running, which meant Belle only had seconds. She made her mind up quickly.

"Hold still," Belle said softly. She stepped closer and placed her hands gently on either side of Red's face. "It'll all make sense in a minute."

She could feel the magic as her lips touched Red's, could feel whatever curse it was coming undone. Belle had never felt anything so powerful. She opened her mouth for a second, realizing that if it weren't for the crowd, this kiss could go on for much longer. As it was, she pulled away after a few seconds, but refused to move her hands from Red's face.

When she opened her eyes, Red was staring at her with a look of wonder that belied the tear tracks still on her face.

"Belle, I'm so sorry! I never would have—"

"I know," Belle said. It worked, she thought, with a sense of awe. It actually worked. She could feel her heartrate begin to speed up as the full meaning of this hit her.

Red still seemed to be in shock. "But Regina—and she—and I believed her, and—what the hell did she do to me?"

"It was a Fidelity Potion," Snow said softly. "She got me with it too."

"I don't understand," Red said. "How did you—and Belle, you swore she was dead—"

"True Love's Kiss," Belle said softly, stroking Red's cheeks. "I knew if I just asked you to come, you wouldn't do it. You were still under the potion. So we—came up with something."

Red laughed shakily. "You couldn't think of anything better than faking your own death?" Before Belle could answer, Red's arms were around her waist. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. I was stupid enough to let the Evil Queen trick me into thinking you didn't love me, so I guess that means you get to fake your own death if you want to."

Belle slipped her arms around Red's neck, and they held onto each other for a long time. After a moment, Red whispered in her ear, "True Love's Kiss, huh?"

"We can talk about it later," Belle promised.

"No need." Red pressed a kiss into her hair. "I always knew you were my true love."

"If I may," Charming said. From his tone of voice, it was clear that he knew he was interrupting a moment and had the good grace to feel at least a little bit awkward about it. "But there was another reason we wanted you both here tonight."

Belle reluctantly pulled away from Red. "And why is that?"

"Your coronation, of course!" Snow said. "I know it went badly last time, and I know I played my part in that, but we'd still really like to be your family if you'll let us."

"Of course!" Belle replied, touched that Snow felt she needed to ask.

"In that case, let's begin," Charming said.

As the ceremony started, Belle looked at Red out of the corner of her eye. She would have liked very much to leave with her right now, to forgo the pomp and circumstance in favor of spending time with the woman she loved. She looked forward to days spent together, talking about nothing and everything, getting to feel Red in her arms and know she was loved. But in the meantime, Belle got to stand here with Red's hand warm and firm in her own, about to be welcomed into a family she longed to be a part of.

This time, the coronation went off without a hitch.

After the ceremony there was, predictably, a ball. Emma put on a smile for Red and Belle's sake, but internally, she was counting down the minutes until she never had to attend one of these things again.

"Was this really necessary?" she asked her mom half an hour in.

Snow looked fondly at Emma, then indicated subtly across the room to where Red and Belle were dancing together, wrapped up in each other's arms. "Yes, I think it was. Besides, I thought you should get to attend one last ball."

"How did you—"

"It's all over your face. Come on, don't I get to do the whole mom thing where I know what's going on with you before you tell me?" She put her arm around Emma and squeezed, then let go.

"So you're not mad?"

Snow seemed to think about it. "You know, I'm really not. I think I always knew this wouldn't be the life you wanted. Even when you were little, you were much more interested in having adventures than in learning how to negotiate your way out of a war."

"You always managed to do both."

"That doesn't mean it has to be the right thing for you," Snow said gently. "And you're leaving us in good hands. Belle will be a wonderful queen when it's her time."

Emma felt as though an enormous weight had been lifted off her chest. She gave her mom a tight hug. "Thank you."

"You're welcome. And Emma?"

"Yeah?" Emma said as she let go.

"I'm glad you found him."

Before she had time to parse out her mother's meaning, Snow had walked away to join her husband. Reeling from the exchange, Emma sat down on a bench at the side of the room, ready to resume the wallflower act she'd grown close to perfecting over the years.

It only took a few minutes for Killian to appear by her side. "Would you like to dance?" he asked, offering her his arm.

Emma shook her head. "If we're really taking off tomorrow, I'm going to spend this last party exactly how I want to spend it."

"Which apparently does not include dancing with me." His face was carefully trained not to show emotion, but Emma could tell he was hurt.

She put a hand on his arm. "It's just—I've spent every ball since I was sixteen being told I had to dance, and be polite, and a whole host of other things I'd rather not think about. Honestly, I'd rather just sit here and talk with you."

Killian's face cleared. "If the lady insists," he said, sitting down next to her.

"You were worried, weren't you?" Emma said, unable to help teasing him a bit. "When I said I wouldn't dance with you."

"Not a bit."

"Liar." Emma noticed all of a sudden how close her parents were standing, almost as though they were listening in on the conversation. A few feet away, Red and Belle had been talking to Mulan, but they seemed to have stopped as well.

"Why should I? It's perfectly clear that you fancy me," Killian said.

Shit. Why did he have to do this here? Red and Belle were right there, and oh God, so were her parents, though judging from what her mother had said, she at least already had some idea, and this could get embarrassing fast.

At last, Emma found her voice. "Only when you're wearing that vest."

Killian looked amused. "That's funny, because I heard your mother, Red, and Mulan swear you were in love with me. Surely they weren't allmistaken?"

"Well, what about you?" Emma demanded, heart racing. "Are you in love with me? Because my father, Belle, and Marian claimed you were." She noticed that the others had given up all pretense that they weren't eavesdropping, and suddenly, she wasn't sure she cared. Things were starting to make sense, and she had a feeling that Red and Belle were in the thick of it.

"They said you thought you'd never love again until you met me."

"Well, Belle said you were suffering greatly after the way I danced with you at the ball."

"So?" Killian asked, and suddenly, this wasn't funny anymore. "Are you saying you don't love me? Were they wrong about all of it, then?"

Once again, the words caught in her throat. She could tell the truth, and risk losing everything, or she could lie, and lose everything too. No running away with Hook on his ship, no one to hold her at night, no love, but plenty of balls hosted by her parents in the hope of finding a suitor for her. The idea was insufferable.

But equally insufferable was the idea of putting herself out there only to be rejected. If the whole thing had been orchestrated—oh God, he had only said he loved her to be polite—she'd actually thought this meant something, but if the others had been lying about the whole thing—

"As a… friend, of course," Emma flailed.

Snow rolled her eyes and took a few steps closer to them. "Must we do everything for you? Come on, Emma, you're not fooling anyone."

"And I've got proof he loves her back," Red said, pulling a slip of paper out of her bodice. "I found it in one of the parlors. It's his handwriting. I can't be sure, of course, but I think he was trying to write her a love poem."

"Sea shanty," Killian said under his breath. Emma smirked at him.

"And I found this in Emma's journal," Belle said. Emma froze. "I think you'll find more than one mention of her love for Killian in it."

"Hey! That was my personal—" Emma snatched at it, but Killian got there first. For a guy with only one hand, he could grab things quickly. She settled for taking the sea shanty from Red's outstretched arm.

There was a tense silence while they both read. Finally, Emma broke it by laughing. "Did you really rhyme 'true' with 'blue?'" she asked. "That's weak, even for you."

"Are you sure you want to play that game, love?" Killian asked with a dangerous smile. He held up her journal page. "Because I've a few choice fragments I could—"

"All right, truce," Emma said quickly.

"Anyway, I guess that's us proven wrong," Killian said. "I suppose it was too much to expect we'd be able to outsmart people who seem to have spent weeks of their lives ensnaring us this in this way. I suppose I can be in love with you, but only out of pity. After all, it would be mostdishonorable to refuse love to a lady who speaks so highly of me in her journal."

"Well, I only love you out of pity for your terrible writing," Emma said.

"Oh, do shut up," Killian said, before leaning in for a kiss that made her do just that.

The next morning, Emma awoke at the crack of dawn and took her things to the carriage Killian had hired. There was nobody waiting to see her off, and she knew this was her mother's parting gift, letting her sneak out without drawing unnecessary attention. In the carriage, Killian took her hand and squeezed it gently.

"Ready to go, love?"

Emma looked behind her at the palace for one last goodbye. "Yes," she said, turning back to Killian. "I really am."

Author Notes: Happy last day of Red Beauty Week! This marks the end of the fic. I'm considering doing other OUAT/Shakespeare AUs, so if there's a Shakespeare play you'd like to see me do, leave a comment and let me know! I hope you've enjoyed reading.