Sands Of Time

by Annaelle

(PREVIOUSLY NAMED UNTITLED) "Here we go again." Ten hours since the last crisis. Just ten. Great. Emma swallows thickly and starts pushing her way through the crowd, yelling, "Sheriff coming through." Finally she manages to break through the last line of people, stopping dead as she takes in the sight before her. It's certainly not what she expected. CS/OQ/Snowing ON HIATUS

11. Sneak Peek Chapter 10

Hey everyone!

Once again, I must apologize for the immensly long wait on this story. As I mentioned in my last AN, I'm having some health issues-I'm not going to bore you with the details-and I haven't been able to write because of those and school and work.

The good news, however, is that I'm done planning the story, and there will be four, maybe five, more chapters. Now, I'm not quite finished with the next chapter, and I'm not sure how long that will take, so I decided to give you all a sneak peek into the upcoming chapter, and a quick AN to tell you that it IS almost finished, but not quite.

Anyway, I hope you're all well, I hope you all had a blast watching the Captains of our ship flaunt about at SDCC 2015 and that everyone is as excited as I am for Dark!Swan! :D

Love, Annaelle

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SNEAK PEEK

Leia eyes Belle sadly, her eyes locked on Belle's fingers as well, before she whispers, "I can't let you take his Dagger. Not while you are still so willing to believe in him."

Belle looks as though she wants to protest, and Emma half expects her to burst into frustrated and angry tears, but instead, she and Leia lock gazes, staring at each other intently for a few moments before Belle chokes, "Why not? I would never—"

"Yes," Leia interrupts, her voice shaky—but Emma can sense Leia's anger, her magic brewing in the air, even as Killian slowly makes his way over to where their daughter is nearly hanging in her seat, "You would. And he would lie to you, and you will believe it. And you won't care."

"You don't know that!" Belle cries, her beautiful features twisted with rage and—unless Emma is very much mistaken—fear.

"Yes, I do!" Leia's agonized shout catches everyone off guard, and Emma winces when Leia glares at Belle angrily. "I do know all of that—I've seen all of that! I've lived through all of that! I've seen all of you do things you couldn't even imagine doing right now! I've seen my grandfather nearly die because he was grieving, I saw my mother struggle to look at me because she couldn't stand that I reminded her of my father—"

Leia's voice breaks, and Emma chokes, her hand pressed to her chest as though it'll lessen the ache, the deep-rooted fear that she'll lose Killian, that she'll hurt her daughter, "I saw you," Leia continues, her eyes locking on Marian, "destroy yourself to get back at my family for your loss. I saw you lose your mind because Robin protected Regina—I watched you go mad because she died anyway and you couldn't take out your anger on her. I watched you make your son miserable for years before he managed to break free of you. I watched you kill my grandfather before I nearly killed you myself. I saw Belle sacrifice everything she believed in so she could stay with the Dark One."

Emma swallows thickly, ignoring the silent tears running down her cheeks—and her mother's, and even Regina's—as everyone in the room stares at Leia, completely dumbstruck by her tirade.

David is staring at her, gobsmacked, and Emma knows he too has finally figured out who Leia is.

"Leia," she whispers, her daughter's gaze meeting hers, "honey…" She reaches out to touch Leia's hand, but Leia pulls away abruptly, her eyes red rimmed and teary. "No," Leia shakes her head, a sob falling from her lips, "No. Don't."

Her eyes find Belle's again, and her voice turns steely. "Don't tell me I don't know. I've seen what the future looks like if I give you that Dagger, and I promise you, you will not like it."

There's a short moment of silence before Mary Margret rises regally, her hands folded before her and her voice thick as she quietly asks to be excused before marching up the stairs, David trailing behind her demurely.

"No!" Marian cries angrily, "No, I wouldn't do such terrible things! You are wrong!" Killian winces in Leia's stead when Marian also stands and shoots Leia a disgusted glare before she marches away with her son in her arms, unsure of what to do—he cannot rightly blame Marian for her reaction to Leia's outburst; he would likely not have wanted to believe Leia either, had it been him.

Robin looks oddly conflicted, shooting Leia an apologetic look before he follows his wife, leaving Leia with Killian and Emma in the now empty living room.

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That's it, folks!

I'll be seeing you when the chapter is fully done!