Esme watched the door slam shut, heard the clanking of the guards armour as it walked down stairs and her heart sank to the bottom of her stomach. This very situation is what she had been afraid of for years only this time, it seemed worse because it wasn't just her that was in danger. Robin and Regina had been kind enough to take her in, help her, care for her - and that was before they found out she was their long lost forgotten daughter - and her way of repaying them was getting them locked up in a dank cell and away from their sons. This was all her fault; Esme had brought Robin and Regina to Cyrus' attention, she didn't understand what was going on, she didn't know this side of the island, and she had no magic to even try and open the portal so she had no idea how she was going to save them. In that moment, Esme was flooded with anger, sadness and hurt and she couldn't deal with it all at once, so as the emotions began to drown her, the tears started to rush down her cheek. She buried her head in her hands, hoping to shield her disappear from her parents but it was no use. Once she started, Esme couldn't contain herself and within seconds Esme was sobbing.

"Esme? Esmerelda. Come here, honey," Regina said as she walked over to the bars that separated their two cells. She reached her hands through the thick, rusty brown bars and waited till Esme practically ran to her. There was nothing Regina wanted more than to stop her tears, to make her feel better but she didn't now how; so for now, all she could do was hold her as close as the bars would allow and softly wipe away her tears. Regina felt for Esme because she knew exactly as how she felt; Regina was away from Henry and Roland at a time she couldn't afford to be. Zelena was now running around Storybrooke without her magic cuff and Emma was growing darker by the day. Now that Robin was here, Regina had no one that she truly trusted, not with their children lives, but she had no idea how to get out. She desperately wanted to get Robin back to Storybrooke, to keep him safe and to get home to her boys, but she wouldn't leave Esme. She couldn't. Somehow, someway, Esme was taken from her once before, but there was no way on earth that she was going to lose her again. If it killed her, Regina would protect her this time, with everything that she had.

"I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry," Esme wailed as she gripped Regina's red blazer as tightly as possible, finding comfort in the smell of her perfume and how she stroked the back of Esme's hair.

"What? Honey, this isn't your fault," Regina soothed as she pulled away slightly from Esme's grip and held her wet face in her hands.

"And this isn't your fight. They want me, okay? I don't know why but they want me, not you," Esme said as she placed her hands over Regina's. She wasn't quite sure why, but she had this intense need to touch her; she hated the fact that Regina and Robin were here, but she found great comfort in it and in Regina holding her. Esme had always been strong (ultimately being weak wasn't an option) but right now, there was nothing she wanted more than for Regina to hug her, to tell her everything was going to be okay but she couldn't.

"Of course it is!" Robin said. He was only a few centimetres away from both Esme and Regina, but he wanted them to have their moment; he had a feeling that they both needed each other right now. Regina turned around, saw the hurt in Robin's face and took a step backwards so that Robin could take her place. Regina knew that he was struggling; Regina initially struggled with having her memories of Esme, but of Esme having none of them. As they began to grow closer, Regina didn't mind quite as much because she wanted to focus on creating new memories with her daughter but Robin began to struggle. He loved Esme deeply, and so was hurt when, in situations like this, she tried to shut them out. Robin took Esme's hands in his, kissed them both and explained.

"My darling, listen to me. For you, we have been your parents all of 5 minutes and we know that. But for us, you are now and have always been our daughter. You were taken from us, we don't know how and we don't know why but you were and i cannot apologise more for that. But you are now and have always been our daughter, and this fight involves you which makes it our fight too. Do you understand?" Robin asked, looking at Esme as he held her hands to his heart. Regina had consoled her slightly and so her wails digressed into a gently yet steady flow of tears, but the second Robin finished, the tears that had diminished in volume returned and Robin felt helpless as he tried to hug his daughter as she broke her heart. Robin was devastated; not only was Regina in danger, but so was his daughter and he could do nothing. Things had been going so well - the last few weeks had been incredible. Robin and Regina got to grow close to Esme, and she had let them. She allowed Robin to teach her how to use a bow and arrow. She had let Regina help her practice magic. They had enjoyed family dinners, had long all-night conversations and they had even talked about which room Esme wanted to be hers; they weren't as close as Robin wished they were, but they were getting there. Now, two members of his family were in danger and he, yet again, was helpless; he was tired of it. He was tired of his family being in danger and him being able to do nothing - Regina was nearly killed by Zelena (a person he had ensured would be a part of their lives for the next 18 years at the very least), Esme was nearly killed by Emma and Robin could do absolutely nothing to help them.

"Ow. Robin!" Regina cried and whenever he turned around, he saw Regina holding her head. He quickly kissed Esme's head and ran to Regina, just in time to catch her before she fell to the ground in pain.

"Robin, bring her here," Esme said as she quickly wiped her tears and focussed on Regina. There were many things in this entire situation that Esme had absolutely no control over, but she could help Regina. Robin quickly picked her up and carried her very carefully over to Esme who immediately took Regina's hands, closed her eyes, focussed on Regina's pain and faded into the darkness.

As the world came into focus, Esme found that she was in the woods. It must have been summer for the trees were a spectacular green and the sun burst through them and danced on the ground as the sweet scent of grass filled Esme's nostrils. It was stunning. Esme would have been quite happy to stand there all day, but she heard a voice singing softly and she had a feeling that she should follow the sound. Once she walked across the leafy ground for a few moments through the glorious forrest, she found Robin. He was gently rocking a beautiful baby girl, who was tightly wrapped up in a pink crochet blanket and was singing a song Esme couldn't recognise. Esme's heart melted; Robin looked blissfully happy. He had the same goofy smile on his face that he had whenever Regina woke up and as he sang, the baby girl that we was holding slowly began to close her eyes. Esme smiled, in awe of how in love Robin was with this little baby and as she heard some footsteps nearing, she realised that she wasn't the only one. Regina slowly came around the corner, carrying a small handful of twigs for the fire, and she smiled just as Esme did when she saw them. She was wearing the same, old fashioned clothes Esme had usually seen her in, so Esme assumed she was in the Enchanted Forrest, and her long hair was twisted into an intricate braid, but the smile that had spread across her face made her stunning. In her whole life, this was by far her biggest achievement; she was proud that she was the woman who made Robin a father. Not only did he love it, he was born for it, and as Robin continued to rock the baby, Regina stood mesmerised at the love this man had for their daughter. She gently put the twigs down, being careful not to wake the cherubic little tot and carefully wrapped her arms around Robins chest and planted a kiss on his firm back.

"Is she actually sleep?" Regina whispered. Robin slowly turned around, wrapped his free arm around Regina's shoulder and kissed her on forehead as they stared at their little daughter.

"I think so," Robin said and he couldn't help but laugh. They hadn't had a proper night's sleep in weeks but Regina still looked flawless. This beautiful little baby was perfect, but she did not like sleep; the only place the baby liked to sleep was on Regina's chest after she fed her. Because of this, Regina had survived on around three hours of sleep every night for the last 5 weeks and not once did she complain. She gave all of her energy and devotion to their beautiful baby girl and with every day that went by, Robin gladly watched Regina fall totally and completely in love with the little bundle that once terrified her.

"Well aren't you just the best daddy," Regina said as she slowly kissed his lips. When Regina first found out that she was pregnant, she was scared. It was just under two years since Henry died and the thought of ever having to go through that pain again terrified her; it had nearly killed her and Robin once before and she truly didn't think they would survive it again. But it was Robin who soothed her, protected her, cared for her and got her excited about the birth of their daughter. He barely left her side the entire pregnancy; he held her hair when she was throwing up, he slept in the most uncomfortable positions just so that Regina could sleep, he tried to quench every single craving. Robin had been her rock and the whole process had made Regina fall in love with him even more; if that was even possible.

"Well why don't i put this little lady to bed," Robin said as he continued to rock her, praying that she wouldn't wake up when he put her down like she id every other time.

"No, no. Let me do it," Regina said as she carefully lifted her newborn baby girl out of Robin's arms and marvelled at how absolutely perfect she was. She looked a little like Henry had, which made her feel sad and happy all at once; Robin had said that their baby girl was a gift from Henry. Her tiny little hands were soft, she had a full head of perfect, curly dark brown hair and she had Regina's brown eyes. She was perfect.

"She's not going anywhere, my love," Robin laughed before he kissed the side of Regina's head on his way to light their fire before night came.

"I know, she's just… she's so beautiful," Regina said with a content sigh. She kissed their daughters soft head and carefully lay her in the crib Robin had built.

"Thankfully, she takes after her mother," Robin said with a flirtatious smile, a smile Regina quickly returned. He loved seeing her like this; seeing her happy. Finding out she was pregnant was the happiest Robin had seen her since Henry's death. He knew she was scared, although she wouldn't tell him so, but she was happy and the only thing made Robin happy was seeing that perfect smile on Regina's face.

"You know, we are going to have to think of a name for her. I refuse to name my daughter honey or bumble bee or whatever else you have decided to call her," Regina mocked as she joined Robin on the log he had now claimed. She wrapped her arm in his, held his hand and relaxed as she rested her head on his shoulder; this was the closest thing she had got to sleep in weeks.

"I'll have you know those names are adorable," Robin said as he kissed her head. Regina was almost certain he was kidding. Almost.

"What? Robin I love you, but we are not having a Honey Hood in our family"

"Oh we're not?" Robin said as he playfully kissed her.

"No, we're not," Regina laughed as she gladly kissed him back.

"Hmm, well i have been thinking of a name actually," Robin said as he wrapped his arm around Regina's waist and rested his head on hers.

"Really? What is it?" Regina asked curiously, wondering why he hadn't mentioned it before.

"Esmerelda."

"Well that's…. unusual.." Regina said, struggling to hide the fact that she wasn't entirely sold on the name.

"Now hear me out. The reason i want to name her Esmerelda is because it means Emerald," Robin said. Regina continued to look at him, hoping that he would offer greater explanation but he stopped and Regina was left confused.

"Okaay? Emerald? Why an emerald?" Regina said with a slight laugh.

"Because of this," Robin said as he dug into the pocket of his jacket and presented Regina with a ring. It was a gorgeous, dainty gold band, and it had a small green stone with a square cut in the centre of a cluster of tiny diamonds that surrounded it. It was stunning but Regina couldn't believe what was happening. She felt like a giddy school girl; she couldn't stop smiling or laughing so she simply covered her mouth and stared at Robin. This beautiful, kind, honourable man; the man who taught her what love truly was, how love truly felt actually want to spend the rest of his life with her.

"Well?" Robin said with a laugh.

"Come on you're making me sweat here, my love," Robin exclaimed.

"Ask me." Regina said moved her hands to her cheeks.

"What?" Robin laughed.

"Ask me. I need you to ask me. To make sure it's real," Regina said as a tear tentatively rolled down her cheek. The tear was met by Robin's soft hand and the statement was met with his smile.

"Regina Mills, I have loved you from the moment i met you in that great big castle of yours and I have been waiting for this very moment for three years. I know for some reason you don't want to believe it, but i promise that i will spend every moment of the rest of our lives trying to make you see how much i love you. I love and need you more than you will ever know. I need to see those gorgeous brown eyes of yours every morning when i wake up and i need to feel you beside me, with your head on my chest every night before we sleep. I was born to be your husband Regina, and, if you'll me, i would love to make you my wife," Robin proclaimed. The single tear that had strolled down her cheek had now become a small river and Regina simply couldn't control her emotions. She couldn't even answer the question but before she knew it, her hands were holding Robin's face and her lips were meeting his. Their kiss was wet, but perfect.

"I take that as a yes?" Robin said. He had a quizzical look on his face which tickled Regina and so she answered with a laugh.

"Oh my god, yes. That is most definitely a yes," Regina giggled and before she could kiss him again he was placing the beautiful emerald ring on her finger.

"I love you so, so much," Robin said as he gazed at Regina. He couldn't believe that this stunning, beautiful, powerful woman would ever settle for a lowly thief like him, but he consoled himself with the fact that no one would ever love Regina as much as he did.

"I love you too," Regina said before she kissed his soft, perfect lips.