A/N: Thanks to everyone who followed and reviewed! :

It was made known to me (thanks to Blackguard for pointing this out) that Emma and Ruby seem to have gotten engaged awfully fast. Here's my explanation: even though this is more or less set in season 1, the amount of time that Emma has been in Storybrooke is much longer than the amount of time she spent there during season 1. This is why it seems that Emma and Ruby got engaged very soon, but trust me, they've been dating long enough. :)

I dont' own OUAT, if I did a lot more episodes would be Red/Ruby centered.

Hope you guys enjoy this new chapter! :)

Stars and Midnight Blue

Fairy Tale Land - Fairy Tale Land - Fairy Tale Land - Fairy Tale Land

Rumpelstiltskin stared at the toddler for a few seconds.

"So, dearie," he said to her "anything you want to tell me?"

Blue stared at him blankly. What was the green man talking about? And where was her mum? Rumpelstiltskin watched her stare at him with puzzled eyes and sighed. This was going to be harder than he'd originally thought. He knew that he had to use the little girl and her mother if his plan to get Bae back was going to work. With this in his mind, and knowing his two minutes were almost up, he crouched down to Blue's eye-level and looked her square in the eye.

"Here," he said handing her a bottle with a glossy cyan potion in it, "drink up dearie."

Blue took the bottle from Rumpelstiltskin's hands and held it in her chubby baby-hands, looking at it keenly. Curiosity finally got the best of her, and she put the bottle to her lips and drank from it. As soon as the potion reached her mouth Blue scrunched up her face in disgust. She spit as much of it out as she could, splattering Rumpelstiltskin in the process. The man grunted; perfect, just what he needed: to be covered in baby spit. He wiped the potion away from his face and looked into Blue's eyes. He saw a snowy glint in her azure eyes and released a breath of relief; even though she had spit out the potion, she had swallowed some of it, and that was all he needed.

In that moment Red stormed in.

"That's it," she said, "your two minutes are up, I'm taking my daughter."

"Hi baby girl," she said to Blue as she picked her up. "Lets go home."

She turned around and walked out without giving the Dark One a second look. Once they were outside she put Blue down in the snow and set about checking her from head to toe. Snow helped her make sure that Blue was okay while Granny stood guard, hoping that Rumpelstiltskin wouldn't decide to follow them. Once Red felt completely sure that Blue was healthy and unhurt, the four of them set off towards their cabin.

Storybrooke - Storybrooke -Storybrooke -Storybrooke -Storybrooke -Storybrooke

Emma turned off the bug's ignition and got out of the car. She walked towards the building and rang the bell. She waited for a few seconds and then heard hurried footsteps approaching.

"Who is it?" asked mother superior.

"Sheriff Swan"

The nun opened the door and greeted the Sheriff with a bright smile.

"Good morning Sheriff. What brings you here so early?"

"I'm sorry to bother you, Reverend Mother" answered Emma politely, "I was hoping I could talk to Azure?"

The nun narrowed her eyes suspiciously, what did the Sheriff want with the girl; but as she could find no plausible excuse for denying Emma's request, she reluctantly moved away from the door and granted the visitor entrance. Emma smiled at the nun politely and asked where she could find the child. Mother Superior pointed her in the general direction of Azure's whereabouts and left.

Emma sighed, nuns had never seemed to like her much. She set off in the direction the nun had pointed in, hoping that it wouldn't take her too long to find Azure. Fortunately, her wish was granted and she found the little girl fairly quickly. Azure was sitting on the couch, huddled under a cerulean blanket, reading a book.

"Hello Sheriff" she said, without even looking up from her book.

Emma flinched. How had she known it was her? Emma shook her head, maybe Azure had seen her coming; anyways, that wasn't what she was here for.

"Hey Azure, watcha reading?" she asked, plastering a smile on her face, trying to give out some semblance of confidence and trustworthiness.

"Clifford the Big Red Dog," said Azure, finally looking at Emma.

"I've never heard of it, is it cool?"

Azure gave Emma a brilliant smile, "Yes! It is amazing!" and she launched into an explanation of both the books and the television series, which had Emma genuinely entertained for about ten minutes.

After the little girl had finished ranting about her book she looked at Emma intently.

"But you're not here to talk about my book, are you?" she asked the woman.

"No, not really."

"Then how may I help you Sheriff?"

"Please call me Emma. And I'm here to ask you about something strange that I've been noticing lately."

Azure looked at Emma silently, perplexity at the odd topic written all over her eyes. Emma took a deep breath, this wasn't going to be easy. How do you explain to a five year old that you think she is somehow oddly connected to your girlfriend?

"Azure," she began, "do you know Ruby Lucas?"

"The girl with the red hair?" queried Azure with a small smile on her lips.

"Yes! That's the one." said Emma.

"Well, I don't KNOW her know her. I've only seen her around when I go to Granny's on an errand. But why are you asking me about her?"

"You see Azure, Ruby is my fiance;" at this the little girl squealed happily, she loved weddings. Emma smiled tentatively and continued, "and I love her very much, which is why I'm here. See, every time Ruby sees you she gets very, very sad, and I want to understand why."

Azure stared at Emma, her forehead scrunched in confusion. "What do you mean she gets very sad when she sees me? I don't even know her."

Emma sighed in defeat. "It's ok Azure, I wasn't expecting this to yield many answers. You take care now. Oh, and enjoy your book."

"Thank you. I'm sorry I couldn't be more help." said Azure, and then waved at Emma as the Sheriff left.

As Emma walked to the door, she was intercepted by a nun.

"May I help you?" asked Emma, a little bewildered at the nun's bizarre behaviour.

"Shhh, not here." said the nun, and she took Emma's hand in her own and dragged her by it towards the back patio. Once they reached their destination she released Emma's hand,

"Hello, I'm sorry to have dragged you away like that, I couldn't tell you this were Mother Superior might've heard. I'm Sister Astrid by the way."

"Hello" said Emma, still a tad confused as to why she had been pulled away so suddenly, "what is it you want to show me?"

"I couldn't help but overhear your conversation with Azure, and I think it is in your best interest to read this letter," she answered, handing Emma an open envelope, "good day." And with that, she was gone.

Emma stood rooted in the spot for a few seconds. What the HELL had just happened? She gathered herself, and opened the letter.

Azure smiled to herself. She knew Sister Astrid had been listening, and she knew she would give Emma the letter. Maybe now she would finally be able to meet her mum.

OoOoOoOoOoOoO

In Regina's vault, the blue potion sitting in a bottle on the shelf glowed a brilliant shade of aquamarine.