"So let me get this straight," Emma said, pacing the floor in front of her husband.

She tried to keep her voice low as possible since the children were finally snoozing again. She wasn't about to let them out of her sight. The babies' crib had been moved into their bedroom for their time being. Henry had fallen asleep on top of their bed and she would have to figure out what to do with him before she and Rumpel succumbed to sleep. For now, they were wide awake, discussing this latest threat to their family.

"This...Zelena...is Regina's sister-"

"Half-sister," Rumpel corrected. "Not even Regina knew she existed."

"Half-sister...who happened to be ten times more powerful? And she fell in love with you during your leather-sparkle stage, you dropped her like a hot potato, and now she wants your head on a silver platter?"

"I didn't sparkle," he protested, running his palm under his smooth chin. "Zelena's main problem is her tendency to be jealous. Even though she was more powerful than Regina, she envied everything Regina had. My instruction in magic, a promise of future royalty, and supposedly her mother's love. The reason I chose Regina over her to cast my curse is because she confessed to falling in love with me. If she cast the curse, she would need to rip out the heart of the thing she loved most."

He spread his hands wide, encouraging her to fill in the rest.

"If she used your heart, the curse would be pointless. You'd never see Bae again," Emma finished. She turned to look down at her babies. Her beautiful, innocent girls that had almost fallen into Zelena's wicked hands. "What does that have to do with our children?"

Rumpel shrugged. It was a careless gesture, but she could tell just by looking at his tired face that he was frantic, too. The thought of losing another child frightened him to the core.

"Isabelle's magic continues to grow everyday. If Zelena was spying on us, she might have recognized her potential. She saw a chance to wound me for what I've done and she took it," he explained.

Emma didn't want to think about what Zelena might have done had she escaped with one or both of their babies. Would she have left them to die? Would she have used them to cast a curse? Could she have found a way to extract Isabelle's power and bring it down on their heads?

She shivered violently and realized the balcony doors were open. On other nights, she would have welcomed the cool night breeze and left the doors open, but tonight it filled her heart with ice. If they left the doors open, there was no telling what would enter the castle. Charging over to the balcony doors, she slammed them shut with her shoulder.

Of course, it would never be enough to keep out Zelena.

"Tomorrow morning, after I'm rested, I'm going to make the wards around the castle stronger," Emma declared. If it weren't for the children, she would place secret walls of flame over the doors in case Zelena attempted to invade the normal way. Fate would be cruel enough to spite her by injuring her children with her own magic.

Rumpel's expression was grim. He never liked it when she depended too heavily on her magic. She would use every ounce of it if it meant protecting her family. Even then, it would only prolong the inevitable. Zelena would come back, one day.

"I want to stop her before she tries to hurt anyone again," Emma announced, gritting her teeth together. The familiar anger she felt toward Regina was now aimed at her half-sister. "I want to find her and blast her red hair off with a fireball. Or curse her with blindness so she can't find her way back here. Or-"

Rumpel noticed Emma's growing agitation and jumped up from his chair by the crib. He stopped her midsentence, grabbing her by the shoulders tightly. He forced her to stop her furious pacing and look him in the eye.

"I understand that you are hurt and terrified, Emma...but magic will give you more problems than solutions. There is always another way. A better way."

She wasn't listening. Her green eyes blazed with rage that refused to be cooled. Her shoulders quivered under her hands. Even though she was standing there, a few inches apart from his body, her mind was closed and a milion miles away.

"She's out there, waiting for another opportunity to strike. Are we just going to let her do it? She came close to taking our children once-" The pressure on her shoulders increased. His face became pained.

"Don't you think I'm worrying about that? The worst possible scenarios keep playing in my head, each one worse than the last. There is no question that Zelena poses a significant threat to our family...but we must be careful how we resolve it. Emma, if you let darkness decide how you wield your magic, it will consume you. One time will not be enough to satisfy it. Trust me; I lost sight of any goodness I had for centuries."

His agony was raw, his regret genuine. For a long time, he had let himself be controlled by that dark curse, wielding the most sinister magic to get what he wanted, and sacrificing countless lives for the purpose of a dark curse. And he had done it in his son's name.

Looking into her husband's pleading eyes now, Emma gained control of her senses. He was afraid she would do everything in her power to protect her family...and lose sight of her goodness in the process.

"I'm sorry. I'm just angry..." Rumpel stopped her with a tender kiss on the lips. She returned it and almost forgot how to breathe.

"Never apologize for the desire to protect your loved ones. That kind of will is honorable," he told her, tipping her chin up so that her lips met his again. "I don't want to see this magic control you. I don't want you to become a slave to it, like I did. Magic is first and foremost unpredictable."

She promised him it would not happen, but she also promised to do whatever was necessary to keep her family safe and intact. She had spent most of her life alone without any sense of family. Now she would die to preserve it.

"We'll start with the wards," she said, "and go from there." Rumpel nodded his head in agreement, his cheek grazing hers. She brushed aside his hair and her thumb traced the rough pink scar on his cheek. "By the way, are there any other psychotic, powerful ex-girlfriends I should know about?"

Rumpel exhaled softly. His breath tickled her lips.

"Not that I can recall at the moment," he answered innocently. "Unless you consider Belle to be psychotic."

...

"You want me to do what now?"

Jefferson gawked at Emma like she had lost her head completely. They were gathered just outside the walls of the Dark Castle. New and hopefully stronger wards surrounded it, invisible to their eye. If Emma stretched her hand out, she could sense the buzz of those magical wards.

Someone had to test it out.

"It won't hurt," Emma reassured him. I think, she added in her head. At the very least, it wouldn't cause any lasting damage to him. They had to be sure the wards worked. Jefferson looked like he deeply regretted offering his help.

"Then what's the kid here for? An eye witness?" He motioned to Henry, who was sitting on the ground. A large bucket of ice water was cradled between his legs. Grace huddled close beside him, with Mary in her arms. The girl enjoyed holding the babies whenever she visited with her father.

"He's here for emergency purposes. Say, if you happen to catch on fire," Rumpel said. His calm demeanor was chilling. The bucket jolted in Henry's lap, some water splasing over the rim. Belle stood off to the side with Isabelle in her arms and she stopped cooing to give Rumpel a nasty glare.

"Rumpelstiltskin!" He shrank back under the whip of her tone. Ex-girlfriend or not, she still had the power to tame him with a word. "You can't set my husband on fire! Especially not in front of the children!"

"Can't we just wait until an angry bird dives over your castle?" Jefferson suggested. Everyone ignored his attempts to wiggle out of this situation. Rumpel pinched the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

"Belle, you don't understand. If you had children, you would recognize the desire to protect them at all costs," he said tensely, without directly meeting Belle's sharp gaze. The accusation stung Belle. She and Jefferson had only begun to toy with the idea of having a child.

"Is that how you explain stepping on so many snails?" Bae piped up from behind Henry. He threw invisible daggers into the back of his father's head with his eyes. Rumpel whirled around with an exasperated look.

"I said I was sorry! A dozen times! I'll join a committee to Save the Snails if it makes you happy!" Bae looked like he was deeply considering it. Rumpel could have used his excuse to justify any number of wrongful acts he'd committed in the past, which perhaps was why Belle did not stand down. Instead, she went to stand between Rumpel and Jefferson.

"Relax," Emma told her friend. "Jefferson wouldn't be a major threat, so the wards shouldn't affect him so much. The most he'll feel is temporary discomfort. I just need to know the wards work. I sensed Zelena just in time to act last night. I want to be able to feel her coming a mile away next time."

There would undoubtedly be a next time.

Belle's rigid stance softened. The baby in her arms whined and Belle dangled her golden necklace in front of Isabelle's face to distract her. She solemnly nodded her head.

"Are you alright with this?" Belle turned to address Jefferson. He ran his hand across the back of her head, weaving his fingers through her dark curls. He smiled reassuringly.

"I've lived through worse," he said carelessly. Today he wore a smoky midnight blue cravat around his throat, threaded through with silver. Everyone knew that a scar was hidden beneath it, encircling his neck. "One question: I'm not a threat to you. So, how is this going to work?"

They had considered that already. They needed to make it appear that Jefferson was a threat.

"Catch," Henry called out. From behind his back, he pulled out his wooden sword and tossed it at Jefferson, who fumbled with it. He held it away from his body, as though it were a poisonous snake instead of a fake sword.

"You just want to see me roast like a Thanksgiving turkey. You're too much like your father," Jefferson taunted the kid. Henry and Rumpel exchanged devious glances while Bae shifted uncomfortably behind them. Belle still wasn't convinced.

"You promise he won't be hurt?" Belle demanded of Rumpel. She knew Rumpel wasn't about to make the mistake of breaking his word. The first time he had done it led to the worst mistake of his life.

"You have my word, Belle," he said, bowing his head. Only then did Belle step aside to let Jefferson proceed with this late afternoon show. He waved the wooden around like a baton. Swordplay wasn't exactly his expertise.

Grace chewed nervously on her fingernails. It was obvious to Emma that the young girl was struck with worry for her father. She couldn't say she blamed her, since Grace had also been separated from her family for a long time.

"You'll be okay, Papa?" She asked quietly. Jefferson turned to his daughter, fresh uncertainty flooding his eyes. With the wooden sword still in hand, he knelt down beside her and Mary. He gently took ahold of Grace's hand.

"Hey, I made it all the way to Wonderland, faced down the Queen of Hearts, and made it home to you, didn't I?" Grace nodded hesitantly. Jefferson bent his head to kiss her forehead. "Nothing can defeat the Mad Hatter." The ridiculous name made Grace smile. Jefferson took that as a good sign and got to his feet. Once more, he approached Emma and the invisible wards, the sword held out in front of him.

"How do we do this?" Jefferson gave Emma a long, curious once-over, especially since her hands remained empty of a weapon. She stepped backwards until she stood within the walls of the Dark Castle. He guessed she was shielded by the wards.

"I have no weapon, which makes me vulnerable to attack," she stated. All of them knew that wasn't precisely true. Magic could be as deadly a weapon in Emma's hands as a sharpened sword. She simply preferred hand-to-hand combat. "Attack me. Like you mean it."

Jefferson hesitated for a moment. After swearing his allegiance to Emma, the thought of bringing her harm repulsed him. Then he glanced back at the children and remembered their purpose in doing this. Rumpel might have been an easier target to attack than Emma, but when those two came to blows, it was hard to pull them apart.

"I'm...going to attack you now," Jefferson spoke loudly, as if the wards would take spoken threats into consideration.

"The wards don't have ears, dearie," Rumpel snapped. Clearly he was impatient to get this show on the road. Jefferson inched toward Emma, his eyes scanning the area for a magical wall he could not detect. He licked his lips carefully.

"Just me and my sword here," he rambled on under his breath. Emma didn't move even as he prepared to corner her. He lifted the sword higher into the air, mimicking a soldier about to strike. "Closing in on this poor damsel in distress. I certainly hope there are no magical wards to stop me-aahhh!"

Jefferson stopped a few feet away from Emma, but not of his own will. From her side of things, it looked like he ran straight into a solid wall. The wards shimmered. The wooden sword fell from his hand. The wards acted as a bug zapper for humans, electrifying Jefferson with enough power to make his hair stand on end. Emma thought she saw tiny blue sparks on his fingertips. He danced and flailed in place.

"Rumpel," Belle exclaimed in horror, shaking his shoulder. "You promised he wouldn't be hurt!" Rumpel didn't answer immediately, but only because he was struggling to hold in his laughter.

"He's not hurt, Belle," he replied. "He's dancing." Belle gave him an incredulous look and seemed to be two inches away from slapping the humor off Rumpel's face.

"Should I throw the water on him now?" Henry asked urgently. Rumpel wiped some moisture from his eyes. He was amused by the most peculiar things.

"Not yet, Henry," he gasped through another bubble of laughter. Striding forward, he reached out to grab Jefferson by the arm with the intent of pulling him away from the wards. I wouldn't do that if I were you, Emma thought, but it was too late. The minute Rumpel's hand fell on Jefferson's arm, he was caught in the same electricitifying current, dancing along with Jefferson. The electricity passed between their bodies, occasionally crackling in the air.

Belle scooped up the wooden sword and beat the two men back with the flat blade. Once they were clear of the ward, they slumped to the ground. Their muscles continued to twitch.

"Now," Emma alerted Henry. The kid jumped up and tossed the bucket of water over their fallen bodies. Jefferson and Rumpel's eyes bolted open from the impact of the ice-cold water, though they lacked the energy to rise from the ground. Together they lay on their backs, staring up at the sky like two stargazers, all the while coughing up water.

"My tongue...is numb," Rumpel complained and pinched it between his fingers. Emma was surprised that was the only part of his body he complained of being numb. His leg must be in a bad shape.

"That tingled," Jefferson said, his head rolling back and forth on the ground. A goofy grin covered his face and he burst into giggles. "Let's do it again." He's gone mad. Well...madder. Belle handed Isabelle off to her rightful mother and knelt down to lift Jefferson's head into her lap. He stared up at her, mouth wide open, as if seeing her for the very first time. "Wow. You are pretty."

"I agree," Rumpel moaned.

"Hey! I saw her first," Jefferson growled, sticking his lip out in a childish pout.

"Sorry," Emma quietly apologized to Belle.

Rumpel regained his senses faster than Jefferson, scrambling halfway up from the ground. He tumbled once, but managed to get to his feet without too much complication. His legs wobbled and he only took two steps before falling on his face again. Bae rushed over to help his father stand.

"I wonder which he prefers," Bae muttered, wrapping Rumpel's limp arm around his shoulders. "The old limp or the new jelly legs?"

"What's so wrong with jelly?" Rumpel mumbled. His words slurred, almost incoherent. "There's plenty of jelly to go around. Grape jelly, strawberry jelly, jelly pre-mixed with peanut butter...oh, gods, what am I saying?" Rumpel shook his head, attempting to rid his brain of those nonsensical whims. "You did wonderfully, darling."

"Thank you," Jefferson shouted from the ground. Rumpel reared back in disgust and almost pulled Bae down with him.

"Not you! You're not blonde and attractive! I'm already married, remember? As a matter of fact, so are you." Emma wondered how long it would take for the confusion to wear off. Rumpel swayed over to her with strangely bright eyes. "Your wards are stronger than ever. Just extend them further and we'll be golden."

"You were golden once," Jefferson said, waving his finger in Rumpel's direction. Belle smiled at the memory, but Rumpel groaned.

"Don't remind me. I practically invented Neutrogena."

...

While Emma concentrated on extending the wards outside the Dark Castle, Jefferson and Rumpel wandered off around the grounds. Their legs and arms were stronger than before, but every now and again they would stumble.

Rumpel left the little ones with the others. With his head still cloudy with confusion, he didn't trust himself to hold the babies. Even if he didn't enjoy thinking of Belle being intimate with Jefferson, he knew without a doubt that she would be a good mother to any children she would have. She was one of the few people he trusted most in this world and so it was easy to place his children in her care.

"I'm going to assume you have a good reason for luring me away from the others and not because you want to frolic through the flowers," Jefferson quipped, glancing sideways at Rumpel. They ventured into the gardens, where only a cluster of flowers were in bloom.

"What's wrong with my flowers? They don't bite," Rumpel remarked.

Oh, but how amusing would that be? What if Zelena was frightened away by ankle-biting roses? Perhaps he would suggest that to Emma for added protection. Wonderland was equipped with man-eating hedges; why couldn't they have biting flowers?

Jefferson tiptoed carefully among the flowers. Apparently, he wasn't taking Rumpel's word for it. At one point he tripped over his own feet and yelped as he came face-to-face with a bush of roses.

"I've lasted in Wonderland too long to trust roses again," Jefferson grumbled.

"I didn't steal you away for your gardening tips," Rumpel said. He bent down to pluck a white rose from the bush and wondered if Emma would appreciate it. She wasn't very big on flowers. "Emma wants to track down Zelena."

"It's too risky," Jefferson objected at once. He eyed one of the red roses longingly, presumably with Belle in mind. Rumpel picked one and held it out to him. Unlike Emma, Belle had a strong fascination for roses. "She has her children to think about. Believe me; I know how difficult it is for a child to be separated from a parent. So do you."

Jefferson studied Rumpel warily. He must have anticipated the kind of request Rumpel would make.

"I know. Yet sometimes being with your child and doing what is necessary to ensure their protection do not fall on the same path. I'll need to borrow your magic hat."

"No," Jefferson refused. Itw as a good thing he didn't bring it along or Rumpel might have snatched it from his head. He couldn't run very fast, but he was skilled at evasion when he wanted to be. "I know what you're thinking. You're planning to get to Zelena before Emma has the chance. You think you're doing the right thing, but you won't forgive yourself for relapsing into your old ways. You don't even have any magic-how do you plan to take down Zelena?"

Rumpel's resolve remained stony, unmoving. It was difficult to talk him out of something when he committed himself to doing it.

"She has weaknesses. And if I don't do this, Emma might. I am better suited for the darkness. I've spent centuries drenched in it. I won't let her become like me," he roared. Jefferson stole the white rose from his hand before his fist could crush it.

"Think about what you're doing," Jefferson implored him. Rumpel's brown eyes rolled toward the sky, his mind blocking out the hatter's pleas. "Don't go back to your old ways. It's foolish. Your family needs you. You want to protect them so badly? Stay with them and never let them go. The worst fate you can bestow on your children is one where they lose their father."

Deep down, Rumpel knew Jefferson was right. Something in his face changed, his defenses crumbling.

Jefferson understood that it had been hard for Rumpel to be cut off from all magic; he just didn't realize the extent of his struggles until now. More than likely, he viewed himself as weak for not having the power to vaporize any threat to his family. Jefferson thought he was better off this way. Magic only led to more problems than it was worth.

"This storm will pass," Jefferson promised. He handed Rumpel back the white rose. Rumpel carried it with much less admiration than before, the petals swinging upside-down by his hip as they retraced their steps. His expression was unreadable, his dark gaze focused on the glowing horizon.

"Dearie, the storm hasn't even begun."

...

Summoning a tornado to carry her back to Oz didn't wear Zelena down as it might less powerful beings. She returned to the looking glass only a little more shaken up than when she'd left it. The bitterness of her failure cut deep. She never liked to lose.

With a shrill screech, she stormed to the thick velvet curtains hanging at one end of the room and ripped them down. Then she stomped on them until they were covered in dirt. At the end of it all, she lit them on fire and let them burn. She despised those curtains as she despised the man that used to hide behind them. He made a good flying monkey.

When she calmed down, she towered over the looking glass set into the floor and watched the 'Stiltskin family for ages. It turned her stomach to see those two act so...loving. The Rumpelstiltskin she knew was cold-hearted, selfish, cruel. This man she did not know. Her emerald skin darkened as she stood there, drowning in jealousy.

How she wanted to reach through the mirror and squeeze their throats, tear them apart. Even that show of power was beyond her capabilities. It was strenuous enough to be able to peer across realms.

With every passing second of staring hypnotically into the mirror, Zelena came to a depressing realization.

There was nothing she could do for now, unless she wanted to go in guns blazing. No, she wanted to take her time in making them suffer. She wanted her revenge to be sweet. They were strengthening the wards around the castle, preparing for battle. They knew she would come back, but they did not know when.

The girl was the key. She would grow and that magic would grow with her. Someone needed to teach her the ins and outs of magic. Someone would have to take her under their wing. Her parents sure as hell weren't going to let it thrive to full potential. Rumpel would make the same mistake with his daughter as he had with his best student.

Zelena could wait. Her happy ending would come.

...