"Hey, don't shoot me!"

Snow let down an irritably sigh and slowly lowered her bow and arrow when she saw the man before her and Red was the man from before, whom she had firmly decided she would only call him 'Charming' in the most dry tone. Red started laughing when she saw his clothes were torn, far from the elegant looking man they had attempted to rob over two months before. His hands were still held up in surrender, and he slowly approached Snow and Red. When the two women did not object, he took the heaviest bag from them and slung it over his shoulders, something they begrudgingly allowed. Within a few more minutes, they were off on the trail, heading towards a nearby town. They needed to pick up a couple of provisions, and if anything it would be a good lesson for him. That was, if he were truly going to continue with them. Surprisingly, he didn't complain and seemed to be in pretty high spirits, something that made Snow wonder if he had lost his mind and made Red enjoy having someone to playfully mess with.

"Have you been stalking me?" Snow side-eyed Charming while they walked. "How did you find us?"

"I took a guess," He sheepishly replied. "I didn't quite know where to look after I got away."

"Away from where?" Red started laughing. "Don't you have your princely duties?"

"That's what I was running away from," Charming told her. "I couldn't take it anymore."

"What snapped for you?" Snow asked, unable to hide the burgeoning curiosity in her voice. "I think we all know what happened in my case."

Charming let out a heavy sigh, adjusting the bag on his back.

"You both know I was on my way to…." He let out a mirthless laugh. "I was on the way for my wedding. Or, at least, the preparations for my wedding."

"Don't you love her?" Snow's brow furrowed in confusion. "Aren't you worried about her, your fiance?"

"She and I didn't even know each other," Charming admitted, briefly startling when a few larger sticks cracked under him while he walked. "I hope she's going to find her own love. That is...what I want to find too. She deserves the same."

"That's so kind of you," Red grinned and elbowed him. "And cool. I bet you're both gonna walk right into love one day."

Snow rolled her eyes. "That sounds painful."

"No more painful than being thrown off a horse," Charming and Snow both grimaced when he spoke, and they paused, surprised. "When were you thrown off a horse?"

"Almost thrown off," She corrected. "When I was ten. That was….that was the day Regina and I first met. She...saved my life."

Charming gaped at her in abject disbelief. "I can't believe she ever saved you."

"She didn't know who I was," Snow let out a sigh. "I wish it had stayed that way. She and I could have had a better relationship even if she had married my father. I just wish she cared about me. She loves her own daughter, and I still can't believe it sometimes."

"I agree," Red said, a bitter edge to her voice. "I can't believe Regina has the ability to love anyone but herself."

"From what I know about her, I have to agree," Charming shook his head and looked to Snow, the three of them still steadily walking on. "I don't know if you have any thoughts about how the Evil Queen could love anyone, but…"

"She loved the father of her daughter," Snow explained tiredly stretching out her shoulders. "He was...if I remember correctly….a stable servant. He worked in the stables on her family's estate, and her mother was the queen of a small, neighbouring kingdom. It became part of Misthaven following Regina's marriage to my father. Their marriage was why I assumed Lynn was my father's. I had no idea she was pregnant until after they were married, and my father always told me she was. He even let her be formally declared a legitimate heir to the throne. So…."

"It was a good assumption," Red sympathetically reached over and patted her back. "It's all a horrible thing to even consider, let alone live through."

"I barely recognise her as the woman who saved me," Snow shook her head. "You're right. It's horrible, and nobody wins."

"Oh, Lynn," Regina tightly embraced her daughter upon seeing her little girl manage to summon a small, pale purple flame in her hands. "I'm so proud of you!"

Lynn giggled. "Momma!"

Regina smiled, standing up with her baby girl in her arms. Lynn happily tugged on her mother's necklaces, her tiny hands wrapping around her pearls. Regina couldn't help but happily watch her, one of those few times she could feel truly at ease. Her daughter. The one constant, always lovely part of her life. There was no one else she would protect so fiercely, apart from her own father. He had been the only one who ever cared about her before Daniel and Lynn, and he would always be the one she thought of first when it came to those who cared for and loved her. Lynn was different, her daughter, the purest embodiment of herself. Every day, she could see more of herself in her tiny, baby girl, and she saw Daniel in her daughter's milky skin and bright green eyes. It was perfect. She was perfect, and Regina knew full well she would do nothing but fight for and protect her. Lynn was her reason to live beyond avenging Daniel's death.

That was the one thing that kept her going on and living for more than just herself.

"Ah, I thought I saw some fire from the girl!"

Regina turned around, her eyes narrowing when she saw Rumple smirking at her.

"Did I ask you to be here?"

"No, you didn't dearie, yet," Rumple winked. "Here I am."

"Momma?" Lynn whimpered, staring up at her mother with wide eyes.

"So attached to you," Rumple remarked. "A much better relationship than whatever it was you had with your own mother."

Regina scowled at him. "Don't bring her up in front of Lynn."

"I doubt she remembers her, apart from being the woman who briefly scared her," Rumple waved his hand dismissively. "I wouldn't - or, even, let alone - think too hard about it. Are you perhaps overcompensating?"

Regina took in a sharp breath and drew Lynn closer towards her.

"Drop it, Rumple," She snapped. "You're scaring her."

"And you don't scare her?" Rumple started towards her, rolling his eyes when Regina stepped quickly back. "I've seen and know the things you do, Regina."

He appeared right before her and grazed his fingers against Lynn's face, causing her to scream and start sobbing into her mother. Regina wrenched herself and her daughter away from him, picking up a necklace off a table and throwing it at Rumple, managing to hit him in the left eye. He stumbled back, and the necklace fell from there, slamming into the cold marble floor with a metallic clack. Regina said nothing but shielded Lynn from Rumple's face, her hands quickly brushing up and down her daughter's hair, her magic active to try and soothe her. Rumple brushed himself off, rubbing his eye and then cleaning it of the small bruise almost instantly with his own magic. He and Regina stared each other up and down, the two of them filled with rage. There was nothing but tense hatred between them, but neither of them would admit it, well aware that, for better or for worse, they needed each other.

"Your aim has gotten significantly better, dearie," He said, his voice uncomfortably calm. "What was the last thing you threw at me? Hair pins? Or was it one of your crowns?"

Regina said nothing, merely glaring at him.

"Don't be like that," Rumple laughed. "I told you I'm your friend, dearie! You and I both know that to be true!"

"Since when," Regina hissed. "And I am well aware that I have asked this question far too many times, are we friends?"

"That is an excellent question!" Rumple exclaimed, his fingers and hands flicking and twitching up towards his face.

"I hate you so much," Regina muttered.

"With that in mind," Rumple remarked, a far too jovial tone to his voice. "I think I'll have to remind you that you rip hearts, crush them in the name of revenge and 'protecting' your child. Are you any better than me?"

"Well, she sure sleeps heavy," Charming remarked, tossing another blanket over Red, who was mostly covered loosely by her cloak. "At least it's a big tent...though I'm not sure that'll help much with her snoring."

"You'll get used to it," Snow told him, handing him a lukewarm herbal tea. "This should help calm your nerves enough to sleep. But it won't calm you too much to the point of harming your reflexes. If something happens - which it almost never does - we'll be able to pick up camp and defend ourselves. But there's a reason we find such secluded spots."

"Smart," Charming said, the drink warming his hands a little bit. "I'm not sure I'd have thought of something like that."

"You have to learn to think on your feet when you're living like this," Snow chewed at the inside of her cheek. "I'm not sure what I was expecting when I ran, but I'm forever grateful to the man who let me go. I wonder what happened to him."

"He's one of the Evil Queen's rotating sex toys," Charming replied.

Snow turned towards him suddenly. "What? How on earth would you know that?"

"I heard from my father," He grimaced. "She takes advantage of anyone who's willing to fulfill those desires, though I get the feeling he's wrangled into it rather than happy to do it all the time. Sounded a bit like a revenge thing, the way my father talked about it."

Snow buried her head in her hands.

"Are you okay?" Charming watched her uncomfortably.

Snow mumbled unintelligibly.

"Well…" Charming took a few sips of his tea, and watched her. "Uh…"

"I just…" Snow finally looked up, raking her hands through her hair. "Every single time I hear more about the person she's become, it feels worse and worse. I can't even….begin to imagine what it must be like for her daughter."

"By all accounts, and the brief times I've seen her, she's the happiest kid alive," Charming took another sip. "I was alone with her for a few hours fairly recently while Regina and my father were having a meeting. My father had demanded the princess be away from the meeting - despite Regina's threats and protests - and so I was the one who watched her. She is quite sweet, and absolutely adorable. You'd never be able to guess who her mother is if you didn't know. She might as well be the exact opposite of her mother."

Snow probed her forehead. "The only times I've ever seen Regina be happy were with her….I suppose it's not completely shocking to find out that her daughter is that way. She's only five, too, so of course she hasn't lost her childhood innocence."

Charming nodded. "It's a strange dynamic."

Snow sighed and watched him for a few seconds. "Could you tell me about when you were with Lynn? I do worry about her being left with Regina."

"Of course," Charming said, taking a few more sips of his tea. "I think it was about….a month or so ago at most."

"Where's momma?" Lynn had stared up at the Prince of the Northern Kingdom. "Where she?"

"She's just talking with my father," Prince James told her, holding her hand to keep her from running away. Lynn squirmed, not liking anyone but her mother touching her, and he let go, realising she wouldn't go too far away from the room they had left Regina and George speaking in. "You really love your mother, don't you?"

Lynn had nodded. "Momma keeps me safe!" She babbled. "And she does my hair, all fun things!"

James had smirked. "That sounds like fun."

"It is!" Lynn had declared. "She helps me sleep too! And magic! She teach magic!"

"Oh?" The Prince raised an eyebrow. "Isn't your mother well known for magic?"

Lynn had started bouncing excitedly. "Momma's talented!"

"She really was one of the cutest kids I've ever seen," Charming finished, handing Snow the last of the tea. "You should probably have some too."

Snow smiled and drank the rest of it quickly. "Thanks," She whispered. "Now, let's all get to sleep. It's going to be another long journey tomorrow to pick up some more supplies."