Once Upon A Time

The ogre war lasted for fourteen years.

It was Dagian's first thought every day when she woke up and it was the last thoughts she had every night before she went to bed. For 14 years she lived in the constant paranoia that they would come for her. Technically she was a criminal since she avoided her services to fight the war. But since the countryside was struggling every day just to survive then she wasn't noticed. Very few people cared anymore that she was Dagian; charged with treason and wife of the man who ran. Why would they care when it was just a struggle every day to survive?

She traveled constantly. Always on the move to avoid the recruiters. She was aware that how much trouble she was in and she knew what would happen if they caught her. She'd be thrown on the front lines in a place she would be killed to serve as an example. But that would be after she was flayed for running as long as she did.

Her friend…Filib, the recruiter that had helped her village all those years ago when her husband had been pulled away while she carried Baelfire in her womb, helped her survive by letting her know when the recruiters were coming her way. She tried to stay in villages that had already served their time but sometimes she would end up in a village that hadn't. She would spend days hiding in the nearby woods while mothers and wives and children screamed as their loved ones were ripped from their arms.

And then desperate to escape the chilling screams and her own memories of the same thing happening to her, she packed what little things she had and moved on.

Fourteen years of that life left her a shadow of her formal self. She was much thinner than she should've been. Her thick red curls now hung limp and lifeless and her eyes didn't look as green or alive as she once remembered.

She spent the first two months of the fourteenth year she'd left working in an inn as a laundry woman. The winter that year had been anther cold one and she'd just barely made enough money to scrape by. She worked more than she slept to earn those coppers. By the time spring finally rolled around her hands were so red, raw, and dry from her working that they bled frequently

"Dagian!"

She looked up sharply from the tub she was bent over and recognized the voice immediately. She stood when she recognized Filib, the recruiter that'd helped her get a position here in a way that the innkeeper didn't ask questions and barely made it to the door before he threw it open, "The war is over."

She blinked. She hated this dream, "What?"

"The war is over," he wrapped his arms around her smaller frame in an embrace, "A truce was made."

She tried to process what he was telling her. No more recruits? She could settle down? Stay in one place? She wouldn't have to sleep on the road anymore praying that she would find food the next day? Or that she wouldn't be robbed or worse?

"But….but how-"

He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the door to the outside. The inn that she worked in was large and well known and so the keeper could spend money to make it gorgeous. There was a large garden on the property that always seemed like such a…like such a clash. It was a heavy reminder that there was still beauty and there was still life to be found despite the horrors of war and the struggle for survival.

Filib led her to a bench and sat her down. His eyes were dancing with glee and he put his hand on her back.

She put her face in her hands in relief and started sobbing. She knew that technically she would be a war criminal all her life. However now that the recruiters would be pulled back then she didn't have to live in such a fear that she'd be caught.

"Dagian," he took her hand and from the look on his face, she knew what was going to ask. Again, "Dagian, marry me."

She averted her gaze. Was she supposed to settle down now? Forget everything she experienced and give him a family? She didn't even stay with the one that she already had, how did he trust that she'd stay with him now?"

"Dagian," he told her seriously, "It's been fourteen years. One day you're going to need to forgive yourself for leaving them."

"By starting over, that makes sense."

He averted his gaze and sat next to her, "I love you. You know that."

"I don't know why you would," she said and stared ahead, ashamed, "I ran away from a marriage and I abandoned my duty in war. Not exactly the ideal choice in a soldier's wife."

"And I don't know why you'd love a recruiter either since you claim that it's the most cowardly position a soldier could serve."

"You didn't have a choice though," she reminded him, "You also served four times in the war. I don't hate recruiters as much as I hate the ones that abuse their power and unfortunately that's more of them then what there should be."

"The things I've done are still hardly noble."

She looked at him. The things he'd done to keep her safe, the risks that he'd taken for her own cowardice. He'd waited for her for fourteen years. She didn't want to marry him out of obligation, that'd been the main drive for why she was refusing to be with him for fourteen years.

But she couldn't deny that there was a part of her that loved him. He didn't care if she was a coward or a criminal. She didn't understand why he loved her despite everything she was but she knew that despite her own misgivings and her inability to trust herself she did want to be with him.

"Are you sure you're ready?" she asked, "I've developed this rather bad habit of running away from my problems."

"I'm sure we'll work it out," he said and kissed her hand, "Will you marry me?"

The war was over. It was a good time to start anew and maybe if she married Filib then she could restore some of the dignity that she had left.

She could build herself back up again. She screwed up being a wife the first time, maybe this time she could actually hope to get it right.

"Alright," she said and he visibly brightened, "I'll marry you."

She smiled as he grabbed her face gently and kissed her. She drew back slightly but placed her hands on his chest. It'd been a long time since she'd been kissed like that.

All of a sudden he stiffened in her arms and she pulled back, "Filib?"

A moan escaped his lips and he fell forward, an arrow was implanted in his back.

"Filib," she cried and saw someone coming from a hiding place in the bushes. Out of the corner of her eye she saw two men approaching her from the inn. They weren't…villagers that she saw every day when she went home. They were wearing different. Richer clothing…like someone that would serve a king instead of a duke.

She got on her feet, ready to take off towards the woods on her right but another one grabbed a fistful of her hair and forced her on her knees with a knife to her throat.

"Sorry to inconvenience you, Dagian, but we're looking for your husband. And since he's not exactly showing himself to us right now…we kind of need your help."

Before she could ask what he was talking about, a bag was forced over her head.


Once Upon A Time In Storybrooke.

Dawn had never been to the cabin in the woods even though she'd lived in this stupid town for as long as she could remember.

Everyone else had. Or so they said. The locks were flimsy and most claimed that they'd taken advantage of that as a sort of 'up yours' toward Mr. Gold because he owned it.

She doubted it was true though, people crossed the street just to avoid him. Why would they come damage his little vacation home when he could easily find out who was responsible?

"Bit cold tonight," he muttered, opened the door and put his hand on the small of Dawn's back. She tensed at the intimate gesture as he led her in and it just turned awkward when he didn't remove it after they were inside.

"I think we should get this issue concerning your father out of the way, dear."

"It's sort of cold," she said and drew her jacket closer, "I think I'm going to get a fire started."

"I can do that."

"No, no," she said and looked at his leg, "I can. I saw some firewood on the porch; I can get a fire going. It looks like it's going to rain anyway and I don't mind. In fact after today, it'd be nice to have something to hit. "

"Would you like me to make us something to eat?" he asked.

"That'll be nice."

"Hm," he mused, "Interesting gender role reversal.

"Do you want to talk about what happened today?" Gold asked and took a bite of the stew that was on his bowl

Dawn sat cross legged on the couch with her untouched bowl in her lap, "Not really. I was hoping that you hadn't heard about it."

"Mr. White works for me, darling. Of course he'd tell me what happened. You said you were okay but with all due respect, I don't think you are."

"Well I don't want to talk about it," she looked down.

"Darling," he put the plate on the table and turned to face her, "We've already established that I'm not going to leave you but considering the controlling nature of your father I'm afraid I'm not getting the same assurances."

"Yeah, as if I'd go back to that life."

"I also really don't feel comfortable if you enable his rather bad habit."

She scoffed, "I wasn't going to give him money for drinking."

"Were you going to give him money for rent? Because that was the excuses he use to come to me for and I admit…I gave him the money because either way I was getting it back with interest but I think you can agree that this is different."

"No darling, I'm not an idiot. I know not to give him money because he's going to lie and use it for the bar," she shook her head and wiped a tear from her face.

"Ah, see? You're not alright."

"I thought that I was going to be safe. I never even realized that I was going to see him again after we got married."

"It was supposed to have been handled," he said and she immediately detected the anger in his voice.

"My father is stubborn," she said and shook her head, "Don't blame Mr. White, he had no way of knowing that my dad was in the store."

"Regardless," he moved closer and put his hand over hers, "I've made sure that he won't bother you after today."

She rested her head on the couch, the emotions of today left her exhausted emotionally so she didn't have the energy to get angry at him or scared at the insinuation. It wasn't like she still had that love for her father anyway, "What did you do?"

"Don't worry dear," he gave an ambiguous smile, "I didn't kill him. However I imagine that I left enough of an… impression on him that he won't ever come near you again."

She smiled despite her tears, "You know I expected not to be scared anymore but when I saw him again my…the feelings just came back."

He reached over and wiped the tears off her face with the back of his knuckle and she closed her eyes and smiled at the touch. She felt much more relaxed at him touching her than she had when they married a couple of days ago.

"Who would've thought," he said after a beat of silence, "That someone like me would've been the one to save you."

She laughed despite herself and shook her head, "Is that what you're going to put in your vows if we ever renew them?"

"Something like that," he smiled and moved to kiss her cheek.

She turned her head so that he'd catch her mouth with his. She expected him to pull back or get angry but instead he returned the gesture and placed his hand on her back so that her body was pressed against his.

And it felt like a spark was ignited and for some reason, and she didn't know how to explain it, something just clicked and she felt right. After an entire lifetime of feeling out of place, she finally felt that even though she would still be an outcast, she was where she belonged.

He kept his hand on her back and changed positions so that he could lower her on the couch without dropping her and thereby spoiling the mood.

He pulled back as soon as she was laying on the couch with both her legs on either side of his hips, and stared at her face, "Are you sure you're ready for this darling?"

She pushed his hair over his hair out of his face, tucked it behind his hear and rested her hand on his cheek. Her thumb traced the sharp bone of his cheek in remembrance to the same gesture he'd given her last night.

"Yes," she whispered.

He searched her eyes as if he were making sure that she was telling the truth.

When he was satisfied that she was, he gave her a smile that was so light and carefree that it almost didn't' look like the Mr. Gold that she was so used to seeing and she was only barely aware of his hand on her belt when he began kissing her again.


Present Day

Dawn pulled the car up alongside the curb of the house and raced towards the front doors of the house. Her husband appeared at the door the second she hit the top step and she wrapped her arms around his neck, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," he whispered and held her tightly. The seconds passed and it started to get awkward.

"Okay," she pulled away and saw that there was a hint of fear in his eyes, "I was worried when- I thought you might've been home."

"No, I had things to do."

"Well it doesn't matter now," she saw his gaze cloud over with a vicious anger that took her aback, "You're safe and that's all that matters."

She looked towards the cabinet where he kept some of his more precious items to see that only one thing had been taken out. That chipped teacup that was important to him was missing.

He averted her gaze when she looked at him and she bit back a surge of jealousy and rested her hand on the side of his face, "We'll get it back."

"Oh I imagine I will. It's a small town and he can't go anywhere," he seethed and kissed her cheek before adding wryly, "What a great surprise right before valentine's day."

She didn't respond as he walked around her towards the stairs and she bit her lip as his hand slipped from hers.


Once Upon A Time in Storybrooke

Thunder rumbled outside, pulling Dawn out of her thoughts. She shivered, pulled the sheet over her chest and rested her head on her husband's bare shoulder.

"Are you cold, dear?" he asked, "We could throw some more wood in the fireplace."

She looked up at him. They were still sitting on the couch. IT wasn't the most comfortable thing in the world and he'd told her earlier that the bed was much more preferable, especially since both seemed eager to pick up where they'd left off after getting some rest. However, she was scared that getting up would ruin this intimate moment that they'd both shared.

"I'm fine," she whispered and kissed his chest. She was in as comfortable position as she could be. He sat facing the fireplace she sat facing him with her legs casually strewn over his lap.

"We're going to have to go to bed soon darling," he whispered and kissed her temple.

"Well I'm not tired," she said and kissed his neck, "I certainly hope that I didn't wear you out. Perhaps I was too much woman for you."

"OH, well perhaps I'll have to prove you wrong," he said and pushed her against the cough again.

"No," she giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck as he lay on top of her, "No. Not yet darling. I'm still enjoying the moment."

"Did I hurt you?" he asked.

"No," she shook her head, "No, I'm fine. I just…"

She never thought about this. Oh she thought about marriages. She thought about honeymoons and making love and she thought about her escape from her father's home but she never thought about this. She never thought about the moments after when she was so vulnerable and so exposed physically, mentally, and emotionally next to a like this. She knew that in the following weeks and hopefully years that they would get used to these moments. And while that did give her some comfort because she had never been in this position before, she was kind of sad that the feeling would be over after this.

"Just what, dear?" he asked breaking her thoughts.

"Why did you pick me? I mean I imagine you could've had your pick of any woman in town that could've offered you more. Ruby's far prettier underneath all that makeup and…I don't know, Ashley's already got a family on the way that you could've adopted as your own because I doubt that spineless boyfriend will ever come back to her. "

"I didn't want them," he said and she felt his hand brush through the tangles in her hair and he kissed the tip of her nose.

"There were others."

"I didn't want them either."

"Why did you want me?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, Dawn. Perhaps I thought you could ground me. Perhaps I knew that you'd be alright with the kind of man I was and you'd be alright with the agreement that I presented at the table. Perhaps I wanted to help you. Perhaps I thought you were the most attractive woman in this town, or perhaps I figured that since we're both incredibly broken, then we could use each other to heal ourselves."

"Or make ourselves worse than ever," she pointed out.

He smiled and kissed her. It wasn't like the other ones before tonight, especially not at the wedding. This one felt warmer, more intimate and it made her regret that this moment would end.

"Do you want to go to bed?" he said and she heard the insinuation that he would much rather continue their activities in there where it was apparently more comfortable than in there.

She shook her head, "Not yet," she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and smiled when she felt him slide a knuckle down her side. She looked at the fire where it was fixing to burn out, "Just a few more minutes."

He sighed, "Alright, there's plenty of time for…other activities I suppose."

Something he said earlier sunk in and she smiled, "Aw, you think I'm the most attractive woman in Storybrooke."

Once Upon A Time

Dawn drew in as deep a breath as she could when they yanked her off the horse that they'd laid her on and she nearly stumbled when the ground was a lot further away then what she'd anticipated when she was yanked off.

"Ayrka," one of the men whispered, "He's not going to come for her. If he cared then he would have already. We've been riding for two hours."

She wouldn't pressed her hands against her ribcage if her hands weren't bound with some kind of tight twine behind her back

The hood was pulled off her head and she drew in a couple of deep breaths.

"Here," the man shoved a canteen against her lips. She drank two swallows and let her mouth fill with another. She eyed a knife on his belt…she knew that if she could get to it then she might be able to get free.

She spit the water in the man's face and turned so that she could grab the knife in his belt. He recovered from the surprise just as she grabbed the handle and he shoved her forward. The knife fell out of her hands and clattered on the ground.

"Gods," one of the others walked forward, "Can't you control one woman?"

He hit her across the face, grabbed her by the front of her dress, and threw her down. A rock hit her ribcage, jarring it even more and she tried to force herself up.

"Perhaps we're not…enough of a threat for him to want to save you," the one called Aykra said and removed his cloak, "Perhaps we should…get his attention some other way."

"No," she said and scooted backwards, "No, no, no."

"Call for him."

"I don't even know why…I don't even know what's going on. Please…let me go."

"Oh, you haven't heard?" he grabbed the back of her hair and forced her to look at him, "I suppose you wouldn't…news doesn't travel fast in these parts…."

She heard a gasp to her right and from the looks of it then so did Aykra. One of the men lay dead a few feet away.

This time a scream sounded behind them. The other one…the one that had given her the canteen leaned against a tree. Dagian saw immediately that his head had been snapped so viciously that the only thing keeping it from rolling off was the skin.

Aykra put his hand on his sword, "Show yourself!"

"Be careful what you wish for," a voice hissed and a being walked out from behind a tree. He was wearing a dark purple robe but his face was so familiar. If it wasn't for the eyes then she would swear it was…

She drew in a shaky breath…Oh gods no…

"Hello dearie," Rumpelstiltskin smiled at her and paid not the slightest bit of attention to the man standing over her, "Did you miss me?"