A/N: Hello my lovelies! Last week I mentioned a few changes to my schedule, and here they are. Next weekend there probably won't be an update, as I have end of year exams on Thursday, Friday, Monday and Tuesday, and studying will take up all of my time. The weekdays after that will be full of brown cardboard boxes and packing tape, so I won't even be able to update during the week. But, and here's the good news, the weekend of the 27th marks the beginning to my summer holidays, and the beginning of two updates per week! Thursday and Sunday, probably, though that all depends on how excited I am to post the next chapter. Thank you all for bearing with me, I hope that the story is worth it! As for the story, we're picking up with Killian telling his fireside tale a bit later on, to save time. To avoid any confusion, just assume everything happened the same as it does on OUAT. I'll let you know later on if anything's different, as it becomes relevant. Cheers, and onwards!

Chapter 8

"BUT THE QUEEN wasn't finished with her foe." Killian explained to his rapt audience, which now included a very drowsy puppy. "She concocted a curse that would send them all to live out their worst nightmares, and sent her troops to make sure everyone was caught in it. Which was a poor decision on her part, as the sight of the advancing troops gave the royals the warning they needed to get everyone out. They evacuated onto ships, but the princess was lost in the melee and no one has seen her since. So, there you have it."

"What about the King and Queen?" Emma surprised herself with the question, with how much she wanted to know the answer. "What happened to them? Why didn't they look for her?" Why didn't they find her?

"Ah, but they did look. The ships took the entire population of the palace to faraway Arendelle, an ally of Misthaven. The Arendelle royals lent the King and Queen a winter castle for the refugees, and most went there. A few trusted allies, Grumpy here included, were sent to search for the princess in secret. If it were found out that she were missing, and one of their enemies found her… well, things would not be pleasant for the princess. However, the Evil Queen had other plans. She had a second curse up her sleeve, from her good friend Maleficent. A curse to send the entire castle to sleep until true love's kiss could wake them.

"Unfortunately for the King and Queen, they were put under the spell at the same time. Neither one could wake the other, and all of the refugees and their loved ones were trapped as well. Due to the nature of the curse, only by waking Snow White or Prince Charming could the rest of the castle be saved."

"I heard Snow describe the sleeping curse." Grumpy put in, for the first time that night. Emma had thought he'd dozed off. "She said it took her to a dark palace, with nothing but the ghosts of her past and all those she loved to haunt her. Said she even saw glimpses of people, what was happening while she was asleep. But once the curse was lifted, when she slept she went straight into a burning room, with no exit."

"And the whole palace was cursed to that?" Emma asked, appalled. Killian nodded, an odd look in his eyes. "How could she do that?"

"She's evil." Grumpy said with vehemence.

"No, mate. Evil doesn't care about people, it can't hold grudges. Evil can't hate. The Queen hates plenty, and she's hurt plenty, too." Killian argued. "The Queen is just bad. She knows she's wrong, somewhere in that rage, but she does it anyway. Anger is worse than evil."

"She wants revenge." Emma added, lost in thought.

"Aye, and she'll stop at nothing to get it. That's what makes her dangerous."

"Well, the magic doesn't hurt." Grumpy muttered, and they laughed. Henry, sensing that the serious talk was over, decided that now was the time to jump onto the dwarf's lap and lick his nose. "Alright, I know what you want. Easy, mutt. Watch the valuables."

"Grumpy…" Killian warned, noticing Emma's red cheeks.

"I meant the pastries!" Grumpy pulled a slightly crumpled paper bag out of his shirt, and Emma giggled. "Got 'em from a very lovely lady in the village. Swans for the Swan."

The pastries were indeed swans, crafted out of sweet bread and spun sugar. Emma took one with a grin, inspecting her dessert.

"It looks too pretty to eat!" She turned to Grumpy. "Thank you!"

"It's nothing." The big dwarf was actually blushing. Killian stifled a chuckle.

"Keep it up, Princess, and we'll have to change his name to Bashful," he teased, taking a bite of his pastry swan. It was good, but he had little time to enjoy the taste before he had to duck. Grumpy had thrown the scrunched up paper bag at his head. "Your aim needs work, mate."

"Are you offering to help be my target practice?" The dwarf's grin promised nothing good, and Killian chuckled.

"Perhaps you'd better ask the princess for lessons." Killian bowed his head to Emma.

"What do you say? Will you help me make the bastard eat his words?" Grumpy asked the girl, whose answering smile was a hundred times scarier than the dwarf's.

"Gladly."

SNOW HUDDLED ON the floor, savouring its cool tiles on her burns. The mirror was becoming more and more hazy, and she knew what that meant. Soon it would show her Emma, and then the flames would begin again.

It had been this way since the start of the curse. Regina had visited her in the burning room, magically transporting herself in and out. She had come to gloat, but when Snow reminded her that Emma would find them, would always find them, Regina had grown less confident. Instead of leaving her to fiery exile, she had left a gift.

The mirror was a gift, even if it was meant as another curse. It showed her Emma, growing up, finding her way, but only the bad parts. The moments that beat her down, crushed her hope, and left her broken and lost. The moments when she cried herself to sleep, thinking her parents had abandoned her, when she nearly lost all hope for the future.

It should have been torture, but Snow took comfort in how rare these visions were. At least Emma's life wasn't constantly awful, if the mirror only worked every so often. And it meant she was alive.

The one thing that kept her hoping, beyond hope, that one day Emma would find them was that every time Snow saw her, Emma had her necklace. If she kept it, it meant that she still had hope, and that she still felt that maybe, someone out there loved her. And maybe, one day, she'd go looking for them.

But it was not Emma's face that showed through the clearing mist this time. It was Regina's.

"Enjoying your sleep, Snow?" The Queen taunted.

"It's wonderful, thank you." Snow White panted, still recovering from her stint with the flames. "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Oh, I thought you'd like to know that your daughter is looking for you, finally." Seeing the joy in her eyes, Regina laughed. "Oh, yes, enjoy this little moment. Because I will make sure that not only will she never find you, but every ounce of her hope and love and belief will be crushed. I will break her once and for all, and then I'll kill her."

"Why tell me this? Why not just kill her now?" Snow asked, knowing there had to be a catch.

"Oh, I had someone remind me that it would be far worse for you to see how close your little girl gets to happiness, before I take it away forever. Just like you did to me. And I only came here in person to let you know why I'll be showing you her entire adventure, not just the low moments. To make it all the more painful when she finally fails. Enjoy it while it lasts. You'll have eternity to wallow in regret."

With that the mirror warped to show a peaceful clearing. Snow could see Emma, sleeping soundly with a small dog wrapped up in her arms. Two men were with her, and Snow's heart lifted to see that Grumpy was one of them. He did it! He found her!

The other man looked more suspect, in a long dark coat, but she didn't want to judge him by his looks. Then Grumpy spoke, and Snow's heart plummeted.

"You really think she's buying it?" He whispered, so that Emma couldn't hear. "It was risky, telling her that everyone was under a sleeping curse."

"Of course. But she would have found out when we got there, and it's better that she is prepared. It's of no use setting her up as the princess and teaching her all the history and the manners if she baulks at the last second. We need her to pass first inspection so that we can get the money and get out. After that, it doesn't matter who she is. The Ice Queen and her soft-hearted sister will take care of her."

"You promised to find her family." Grumpy reminded the man.

"And odds are her family is cursed and lost to the world." His voice had turned harsh, and Snow wondered if he had someone who'd been cursed. There was something familiar about him…

"What if she's it? What if she can save them all?" It almost shocked Snow, hearing such optimistic thoughts coming from her terse friend, but then, she'd always thought he was a big softie on the inside.

"Then everything will be happily ever after, won't it? For now, though, I'll live in the real world, the one where we're still hunted by the Queen's men, and with no papers for official travel. It'll be a miracle if we even make it through the mountains alive."

They drifted out of earshot, and Snow sat back on her heels. Grumpy didn't recognise Emma, that was certain, but he was going to con Elsa and Anna into believing the girl they'd found was the true princess. Which should be easy, considering they had somehow managed to find her. Snow began to laugh.

Regina was going to regret letting Emma search for her parents. Because she was going to find them, and she was going to save them all. Snow knew it, and the thought filled her with more hope than she'd felt since losing Emma in the first place. They would be together again. A family. And they would defeat Regina, together. Her laughter filled the burning room, bouncing off the walls as the flames started up again, but Snow didn't care. One thought filled her mind:

Emma was coming.