Okay. Now Emma was beginning to understand how everyone found Gold to be so damn creepy in the past. Not that she'd ever had a great feeling about him, even before she believed in magic, but the glittery skin and the lizard-like eyes were just downright intimidating and terrifying to look at.
Neal looked like he wanted another portal to open underneath him and take him far, far away from here. Emma couldn't say she blamed him - despite their reuniting in Storybrooke and the work the two of them had put in already, she couldn't imagine being confronted with Gold while he looked like that was easy for him.
"I thought I felt some powerful magic around here, and here you two are," Rumplestiltskin hummed, his fingers steepled together. "I must say you're rather brave to be in this kingdom."
"And… why is that?" Emma questioned.
"Because of the war, of course. Snow White seems determined to take her kingdom back from her wicked stepmother," Rumplestiltskin replied, before he gave her a smirk. "There aren't many people in this realm that don't know about that considering Regina's reputation. I don't think you're from here at all."
"How could you - "
"I'm the Dark One, dearie. I know all."
Neal visibly shuddered next to her.
"Okay, fine. We're not from here. We got sent here from the future. See? It's all written in this book," Emma said, holding the book out in front of her. "I don't know how to get us home. I wasn't the one who cast the original time travel curse."
"Ah… yes I understand now. But Once Upon a Time is a rather on the nose title for a book isn't it?"
Emma shrugged. "Who knows why authors choose the titles they do?"
Gold smirked. "Yes. Who knows indeed."
"So how do Neal and I get back to our time?"
"That depends on you, dearie. What was it in this time that you hated so badly that you needed to change, hm? Who hurt you, and drove you to cast a spell like this? Desperation?"
"Neither of us cast the spell. We just got caught in the crossfire when Emma was trying to stop it." Neal wasn't looking at Gold as he spoke, and Emma couldn't say she blamed him. "So just tell us how to get home already."
"What's wrong, dearie? Not a fan of the past?" Gold giggled.
"You could say that."
Gold flourished his hands. "Well, if neither of you cast the curse, then I suppose you'll just have to watch the way things play out. Perhaps there's a feeling of loss that you have, that being here will heal. Just be sure not to change things around… you don't want something you love to disappear."
"But how do I - "
"There is a lake not too far from here. The waters there are magical, so I'm sure you'll be able to work it out. And who knows? You might be able to find what you're missing."
But she wasn't missing anything, was she…?
Gold raised a brow, like he knew what the issue was, and smiled. "Yes well, if you're going to risk running into people, you're going to need to look the part." His hands flourished, clouds of smoke surrounding them for a moment before it vanished, and they were on the edge of… what was supposed to be a lake, she was sure, but looked like an empty sand pit.
"Where the hell did he send us?" Neal whispered as they kept themselves hidden within the thicket of trees. They were alone, which was weird.
"I don't know," Emma whispered as she stepped forward. "But… I feel like I've been here before. It feels familiar."
"You mean when you got sucked through Jefferson's hat?"
Emma nodded. "Yeah, but it's weird… I could have sworn this was a lake." It was coming back to her now, slowly. This was the place she'd fought Hook and Cora, right before she and her mother had gone back to Storybrooke.
Before they had gone… home.
"This is Lake Nostos… there was supposed to be some sort of magical water in it… I wonder why your dad would have sent us here?"
"I wonder why there's no water here," Neal added with a frown, crouching down. "Does Henry's book say anything about this place?"
"I don't know," she replied, sitting on a log she wasn't sure was technically on the shore or if she'd be drowning if the lake looked normal. "Keep an eye out for anyone else coming and I'll take a look."
Neal nodded, looking into the thick brush that surrounded them.
Emma sighed and flipped through the book, searching for any mention of Lake Nostos. She stopped at one, where a siren tried to get David to drown himself to join her by disguising herself as Mary-Margaret (which Emma shuddered at, because ew). But the lake seemed fine, so she moved on, flipping further into the book, and only stopping when she noticed the same empty basin.
"Oh no," she whispered, flipping through the story and hoping for a happy ending despite knowing it wasn't meant to be. "Neal… this is the place David's mother died."
Neal's eyes widened. "Oh no. So if Papa sent us here, does that mean there's something you need to see before we're able to go home?"
Emma opened her mouth to reply, but shut it quickly when they heard the sound of footsteps and the creak of something being pulled. Neal ducked in front of her as she shoved the book in her bag, only managing to close it in time for her parents and Lancelot to appear from the forest, and her grandmother - and Emma could hardly believe she would be meeting one of her grandparents - on a cart being pulled behind them.
And Ruth had an arrow in her shoulder, her skin a sickly pale color as blood dripped onto her shoulder.
God, why would she have to watch one of her loved ones die? Hadn't she been through enough? Hadn't they all been through enough?
David had fallen to the ground and was clawing desperately at the sand, and Mary-Margaret was dabbing at Ruth's forehead, bent over the cart and speaking to her so quietly Emma couldn't hear her.
"Hey!" Lancelot shouted, looking at Emma and Neal with a hand on his sword. "Who are you and what happened to this lake?"
Emma held her hands up in surrender. "I'm… Odette, and this is Derek. We came here hoping to find some magic that will aid us in our quest. We don't know what happened. The lake was like this when we got here."
Lancelot frowned. "I see. We were hoping to save Ruth here. King George's men attacked her."
Neal gave him a weak smile. "Well, there's five of us. If we spread out and dig, surely we'll be able to find some."
It wasn't fair, Emma thought as she got down on her knees and began digging in the sand. She knew the little bit she was digging for wouldn't work, that Ruth would die either way. The little drop David found wouldn't be enough.
"Young lady… Odette, you said your name was?" she heard Ruth say quietly.
Emma looked up from the hole she'd been digging. "Oh - um, yes, Ruth?"
"Come here, dear. Away from my son and soon to be daughter-in-law's ears," Ruth requested, gesturing weakly with one of her hands, and when Emma leaned close to her, she smiled softly. "If you - if you find any of the magic water, make sure Snow drinks it. Not me."
Emma's eyes widened. "What? But why? You're the one who - "
"She's had a curse placed on her. One that will prevent her from bearing a child… and I can't in good conscious live while she has that burden."
Emma felt the color drain from her face. What?
"So please… promise me she will get the water. And you, of course. I do not know what burdens you, but you're so young. You deserve to be free of your burdens too."
Emma nodded a little, and god, she knew she shouldn't but… David would find a small bit of water, and somehow, her mother must have been the one to drink it, not Ruth so… if Emma could pull the same trick on Ruth that Ruth had done to Mary-Margaret… it wouldn't hurt, right? Saving her father from the pain and agony of losing his mother would only help, not hinder, right? It wouldn't be a bad thing…
So Emma dug, and dug, and dug until she thought her hands would start to bleed, and David found the small amount, and the switch happened with the water. Ruth, of course, did not heal from her injury.
Instead, Ruth asked to watch Mary-Margaret and David get married, so Emma and Neal helped them set it up, creating bouquets and setting up an arch.
"Ruth," Emma murmured as she handed her a completed bouquet of wildflowers. "There is something you should know."
Ruth was already looking dazed, but she did blink in an attempt to listen. "What is it, dear?"
"Ma - Snow's curse will be broken," Emma replied. "I know for a fact… because I'm living proof of it."
"What?"
Emma smiled. "My name is Emma Swan… I'm your granddaughter. I got flung back in time and Neal and I are trying to get back to our own time period but… I just wanted you to know that your sacrifice will not be in vain."
Ruth returned the smile and reached up to pat at Emma's cheek. "Oh… that's so good to hear. Thank you for soothing an old woman's heart."
"Hey Odette! Is everything alright?" she heard Mary-Margaret call
It wasn't alright, because she couldn't save Ruth. She was the Savior… how could she not save her own grandmother? But she couldn't let that slip, so she forced herself to look over at her with a smile. "Of course Snow. I was just giving Ruth her flowers."
Standing beside her mother as she married her father was a strange sensation, but it was really making her think of all the sacrifices her family made so she (and the new baby) could come into the world. She thought about the nursery that was supposed to be hers, the unicorn mobile, being put into the wardrobe to escape Regina's curse… and now Ruth's sacrifice.
It made her so damn itchy to think about it, because she hadn't exactly shown she cared.
She wanted to go home. Not to New York with Henry (and preferably Neal), but to Storybrooke. To her family.
Was this why the curse sent them here? So she could truly understand the impact of the sacrifices?
"Mother!" David suddenly said, the wedding ceremony complete and both of them looking so stupidly happy to be with each other. "We - mother?"
But it was too late.
Emma and Neal stayed back as David and Mary-Margaret rushed over to the cart, devastation on their faces - looks she'd only seen in the book after they'd sent her through the wardrobe.
Seeing it in person was worse.
"Emma - " Neal murmured.
"I want to go home," she whispered against his shoulder. "I want to go back to Storybrooke. I want my family - our family. I can't believe I was so stupid to think about leaving."
With her words, the ground suddenly opened beneath them, swallowing them into the golden light.
They landed in the barn they'd originally been sucked into. Everything in it looked the same, and Emma scrambled to her feet, hoping beyond anything that it was the same outside too. The baby's big naming party was today, or at least, it should be.
"Baelfire! You found her, thank goodness!" she heard Hook call as they raced toward Granny's. "They were about to send out a search party."
"Just needed a pep talk, Hook, that's all," Neal said with a nervous cough.
Emma stepped inside, finding all the guests that had been invited mingling and laughing, and her parents looked up in relief.
"Mom, Dad," she said as she threw her arms around them. It was the first time those words had left her mouth. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I just… needed to think about some things, and I realized how much you had to fight for your happy ending, and that… it includes me."
"Mom?" Henry said, glancing up from the soda he was drinking. "Does that mean - "
"That's right kid… we're staying here. We're staying home."
Her mother laughed in relief. "Thank goodness… you're going to have a lot to teach your brother."
"So what's his name then?" Emma asked, sitting next to Henry in the booth.
Her mother smiled. "Thank you all for coming. David and I are thrilled to introduce you to our new son… Prince Derek."
Emma exchanged a surprised glance with Neal, managing to hide her laughter in the cheers and applause from the rest of the crowd.
It seems they made an impression in the past after all.