This chapter turned a little long so I had to split it in half. However, I didn't think you would mind. Thank you again for all your support on this and my other fics.

"This is a horrible idea," Robin said, offering his arm to his wife to help her down the steep and slippery stairs. "The whole reason we are here was to avoid him. And now you want to see him."

Regina ignored his offer and rubbed at the leathery straps around her wrist. For such a brief time she had been free of the bonds that controlled her magic, but Rumpelstiltskin had replaced them with ones much stronger. All of Elsa's attempts, as well as a few by the Blue Fairy had ended in near explosions. However, she knew that her regaining magic was not the priority of any of the people searching or worrying over Princess Emma.

"He may be under control with the bars and squid ink, but he's still the most knowledgeable man in any realm when it comes to magic," she told her husband firmly. "If there is a way for both Emma and I to have Henry, he will know how to make it so."

Robin breathed in, looking skeptically at the woman. "And you trust him? After all that he has done?"

"If he can fix this, then I am willing to try." She didn't pause at all, continuing forward. "You don't have to do this."

The guards standing at the entrance to the cavern looked at her with fearful yet determined expressions, holding their swords firmly. Robin cast his apologetic glances their way and walked at her side. It was clear he was going to remain there.

When they came upon the clearing, separated from him by the bars and a molten river that seemed by all accounts impassable, Regina said his name only once. She wasn't summoning him, instead just drawing his attention from the meditative state of his being. He looked to her with wild eyes that beguiled humanity. "You're worried," he said, as if reading tarot cards with all the mysteries unfurling. "You're worried that you're about to lose to Snow White yet again. Every bit of your happiness could disappear simply because you wanted to renege on your deal with me."

"I want my son to remain with me," she said, making herself abundantly clear. "You can tell me how to make that happen."

The impish man took a jump back in mock surprise of her demand. "I'm afraid that is impossible, dearie. Even if I wanted to do so, I could not. It's impossible. The die has been cast."

"You could if you wanted to. You have the ability…"

"I don't," he said with a shrug. "When I set into place the events that would give me my grandson, it was with the finest and most tenuous of threads. All it took was one of those threads snapping – Emma learning of her son's true fate – and the future is already in motion. I suggest that you covet your memories, dearie. They are all that you have left."

"I'm not someone who gives up," Regina bellowed, her voice echoing off the stone walls. "I won't. I simply want a new deal. We made one before. We can make one now."

"Regina, no," Robin said, his skin blanching at the sight of his wife trying to negotiate with a monster. "You don't want to do this."

"I do," she insisted. "Let's talk about a new deal." She stood just at the edge of the crevice between the guards and the cell. The heat and sulphur smell wafting upwards toward her. "Now."

Rumpelstiltskin giggled gleefully. "Unfortunately for you, that would require something you don't have."

"And what is that?"

"An interested party with which to make a deal. I have no interest now. If Emma succeeds in bringing back the ingredient I need, then we may be able to talk. But she is currently in the midst of an unending labyrinth where she may never return. Before you get your hopes up though, I would think long and hard. Do you truly think that your nemesis will give up her grandson to you?"

"I'll give you anything," Regina said, sounding more desperate than she had in a long time.

"Regina…" Robin's pleas fell on deaf ears.

"You no longer have anything that I want, dearie."

***AAA***

Henry bounded over the rise and down again, weaving and ducking as though some imaginary beast was chasing him with a bloodlust that might never be quenched. It was an amusing sight to Snow, who watched from the veranda, Granny at her side.

"Emma would do that," she mused, eyes welling up at the way the light seemed to catch on the highlights of his brown hair. "She had quite an imagination."

Rubbing her arm absently, Granny clicked her tongue approvingly. "It's growing on you, isn't it?" she asked. "This thought of being a grandmother."

"It's more than a thought," Snow asserted. "He's…he's my grandson."

"And step-brother, it would seem," Granny reminded her, turning her aging face toward the large windows of the second floor. "I don't trust her."

"It's hard to know what will happen with all this, but I am grateful she acquiesced and gave us this moment. It can't be easy for her, knowing that he could be leaving her soon." She twisted her ring on her hand and breathed deeply. "I can't begin to fathom how we will work this out."

Granny nodded, her fingers digging deeper into her arm. "That's all well and good, but it is not up to you, Snow. As much as you may want to protect Emma and this boy from the pain of separation, it is Emma who must assert herself."

"Easier said than done," she sighed. Looking toward the grounds again, she smiled at Henry's exuberance when one of the stable hands brought with him a new colt. He shooed the three boys away from it, but let them witness the small horse's strong gait and let them take turns feeding the animal carrots from the storehouse. "Have we heard from any of the advisors? I know that Elsa is working on that spell, but there must be something we can do."

Granny lowered her eyes. "We knew that they were risking themselves by going into those woods. I shouldn't think a solution would be easy."

It was clear that the Queen was at the end of her rope, her normally pale skin almost sickly and her eyes rimmed darkly. "It's not impossible. It can't be impossible."

***AAA***

The glowing eyes of the dragon penetrated through her, making her very skin burn from within as the steam and smoke began to seep through its scale laced pores. She felt ill as she stood primed with the heavy sword, ignoring the waves of nausea that seemed to hit her. There was a spot, her father had told her in his stories, a spot where one could see the pit of fire boiling inside a dragon, the heart of the beast. She had thought, from his vivid descriptions that it would be hard to find, more obscure that the glowing wall of flesh and scales. However, as she stood there with her eyes trained on it, the glowing grew and became an obvious target. Knowing she could not reach such a tall goal, she heaved the sword through the air and directly into it.

"Emma?" Killian's voice sounded within the cavern, but that made no sense. "Emma, love, are you alright? You're shaking."

She lifted her eyes to see him hovering over her, the concern of a man not understanding what she had seen hovering over her. "It was just a dream."

"A frightening one by the way you reacted." The camp they had made was quiet, except for the occasional snore of Graham and Red's crunching footfalls on the ground as she paced at a distance. "Do you wish to talk about it?"

She blinked, only able to see his silhouette in the darkness. "I'm well."

"Of course you are, love," he said, propping himself up on his left elbow. "I would hold you if you might rest easier that way, but I fear your father's reaction might not bode well for my health should he wake before us. May I hold your hand instead, Emma?"

She smiled into the nothingness and extended a trembling hand, folding her other arm under her again as a pillow. "You are not so fearsome when you are being so kind and considerate."

His chuckle was more of a rumble as he squeezed his palm against hers. "Then I will be sure not to offer my hand to any of my enemies."

They lay there like that for a good while, the pressure of his hand caressing and squeezing hers becoming softer. She wondered if he was asleep when she loosened her grip on his, but his quick reflexes kept the cold metal of his rings running over the soft skin of her hand. "Where is your favorite place?"

"Other than at your side?" he asked, almost teasing with the flirtatiousness of it.

"In your travels," she said softly. "You have seen so many places that I have not. Where is your favorite?"

It was as if the sun came out and shined for a single moment as she saw his features soften with the memory of some untold adventure. Licking his dry lips, he began his tale of some far off island where the sun shone brightly and a soft breeze carried with it the scent of the ocean, coconuts, and flowers that she had never laid eyes on before. He promised that someday to take her there, let her place bare feet in the lapping water and lay a wreath of flowers on her golden hair.

"I'd like to do that," she said, squeezing his hand. "We would have to take Henry too."

"Aye, the lad would surely have a good time playing about in the surf." He continued to tell her of the place and the people they would see, speaking of it in terms of a vacation or holiday that would include her son. She smiled sleepily at his words, letting them comfort her as she imagined a future so different than her plans had been.

***AAA***

"I did not have so many visitors in all my years living alone," Rumpelstiltskin said, his gleeful voice echoing as Snow and Elsa drew closer to the cage that held him. "It makes me feel like the belle of the ball." He spun in place, arms held out wide. "And what do the queens wish of me?"

"My husband, daughter, and the others haven't come back," Snow said, her hooded cape falling backward. "Tell us how to get to them." She held the dagger in her hands, shoulders back and her eyes staring at the wavy blade. "Tell us the spell we need to use now."

A stillness fell over them. "There is no spell." His words were straightforward, with the flowery riddles and hints. "It isn't something that…"

"He's lying," Elsa said, lunging toward Snow to retrieve the dagger. "Make him tell us. There's a locator spell that will work. I know it."

Snow's eyes dragged across the man, noting his posture. "Emma can always tell when someone is lying, a power she's had since childhood. But I can tell too. I have the dagger. He cannot lie to us."

"You do hold it," Rumpelstiltskin said frankly. "And your daughter holds what I hope is the ingredient to get to my son. So I have no reason to deceive you, despite your rather incomplete opinion of me."

Holding her breath, Snow stared at the man and wanted to stab him with that dagger, but knew that the repercussions would be greater than she could afford. "How did you get out of here the first time? I know it wasn't through your magic or cunning. We had guards watching. It was supposed to be impossible."

There was clearly a fight going on inside him, a struggle to resist the urges that came so natural and the pull of the dagger's power. "Cora," he said rather weakly. "Cora freed me."

Elsa placed a comforting hand on Snow's shoulder as she heard the other queen's anguished cry at that news. She wanted to ask about it, but she had heard stories of the woman, knowing that the evil there was far greater than any she had ever seen.

"No," Snow managed to say, "but Cora's dead. I killed her myself. I watched her die a full year before your imprisonment. It's impossible."

Given that there was no request for action or information in Snow's statements, the Dark One remained quiet. However, even with his head bowed, his ears were searching for details and his eyes would scan between them with fierce intensity. She suddenly remembered the purpose and stood back from the edge of the crevice and held up the dagger again. "How do we find my family?"

"Then ring, dearie. The answer is the ring. It's always been the ring." His explanation was listless and weary as she stared at the emerald on her hand. "Yes, that ring. It will take you to your true love."

"But will it get us back?" she asked, wary of his riddles and half truths. "Will we be able to return."

"If you do not dawdle or stray," he said, the sing-song quality to his words returning. "They should have used it before. The pirate would have led them to the princess and you would be sharing tea. But nobody asked me."

***AAA***

"Do you see anything, mate?" Killian called, his grip on the rope surprisingly secure for a man with one hand. "Any sign of the end of this blasted forest?"

The King's hand shielded his eyes as he scanned the foliage heavy horizon. Even as a child growing up on a farm he had not ever climbed as many trees, nor as high. The altitude was playing with his senses, but he was reluctant to show the effects to the others. Instead, he concentrated on the task and his breathing. Eventually requesting a bit of slack in the line so as to lower himself. To his relief, the pirate did not argue. However, it was his daughter's hauntingly hopeful expression that made him nearly break.

"It all appears the same," he explained, holding his chapped and blistered hands away from his body. "I see no end to it."

The hopefulness slid from Emma's face as if melting under the glare of reality. Yet she did not cry as he would expect many in her position. Instead, she busied herself with the duties of gathering the ropes and preparing to walk on with the rest. She passed her father some of the fabric from hers and Red's dresses and underskirts that they had been using as bandages.

"Emma, we will find a way," he tried to assure her.

"Yes, Papa," she said, reverting to his former moniker. "I'm sure of it."

He found himself too tired and without concern over his daughter's reckless and even brazen affection toward the pirate. She held his hand and slept next to him each night. There was no doubt that they were hardly intimate, but still the implication was there. He said nothing though, feeling that if Killian Jones provided Emma any measure of comfort, he was not about to argue the point.

Killian pulled her into his side for a hug before lowering his lips to the top of her head. The two exchanged a quick word before his daughter headed off in the direction of Red and Graham. The serenely anticipative expression on Killian's face fell away the moment she stepped through the tree line.

"You are keeping up the act for her," David said, tying off the latest bandage and testing its durability with a few stretches of his fingers. "She's strong enough to know that things aren't going well."

"I hardly see you saying anything to her that isn't encouraging," Killian noted, throwing the longest loop of the rope over his left shoulder. "I know that we are trying to solve this with logic and reason, but Emma possesses magic. I believe in her and her abilities. Is that so hard to fathom, your highness?"

Holding his bandaged hands up in surrender, David shook his head. "I appreciate your belief in her, though she doesn't seem to believe it yet. I only hoped that you were not doing it to spare her feelings and feed her false hope about our progress. You and I both know that this is becoming a fool's errand. Our best hope might lie with Elsa and Regina, though that thought scares me quite a bit."

"If the solution is within her, Emma will do it," he countered. "I believe that. I also believe that our situation is becoming precarious. We have not found more water since yesterday and according to Graham the game here is quite sparse. What he has found is not substantial enough to keep us going very long."

David heaved the last of the equipment they had fashioned into his arms and led Killian down the same path as Emma. "I'm glad to see that love has not swayed your take on our situation. Pirates are notorious for their practicality. We would not want word coming out that you have softened your stance and started to become optimistic."

Killian smiled into the collar of his leather coat. "I do suppose I have a balance of the two. We can't lose our wits or our hope."

***AAA***

Regina bowed over Snow's hand and inspected the ring there, not quite touching it but viewing it with certain appraisal. "I had heard of it, but I'm afraid I have basis for understanding its origins."

"According to the story that David would tell, his mother claimed it would lead you to your true love. She was known to say that 'true love follows this ring.'" The Queen drew her hand back to run a finger over the green stone. "I think that it may help us get them back."

Elsa stood just off center of the two women, her focus trained to a book in front of her. "I am not so sure. What if it just leads you into the forest? We don't even know that they are still alive. It has been days. If they found Emma, they still have to find their way out of the maze that is that forest."

"David managed it before," Regina said, rather glumly. Her dark red dress stood in stark contrast to her dark eyes and hair. The glinted tie about her waist showed off her slender stature. "Though I think the ring may have been enchanted further by Rumpelstiltskin at that point."

Snow looked pensively at Elsa, knowing that what she was about to say to her former stepmother would take more than tact. Stealing in a deep breath, she spoke quite plainly to the other queen. "Can we have a moment, Elsa?"

"Of course," the blonde said, gathering the purplish train of her skirts and departing through the heavy wooden door. "I will check on Belle."

An arched eyebrow was the only significant response from the former queen, as she watched Snow fidget slightly before motioning toward the other chair. "Have a seat, Regina," she said. "We have something we need to discuss."

"I am sure this is not good news, otherwise you would have let the ice queen stay with us."

Ignoring the comment directed toward Elsa, Snow's lips parted. "I went to see Rumpelstiltskin today, Regina. And while he was not as helpful as I might have liked, he said something that I think you should know."

Holding her breath, Regina looked toward the cold fireplace, noting that Snow had not had it lit in the past few nights. While she knew that Elsa did not mind the cold, she was sure that Snow still got chilled quite easily. It was clear that it was a way for Snow to feel more connected to her family and friends lost in the woods. They were sleeping on the cold ground and so she too had taken to lessening her own comfort. "I suppose he told you that I went to see him too," she confessed. "I wanted to know if…I wanted to know if there was something that could be done about this situation with Henry."

"I see," Snow said, not showing much emotion as she considered that. "I suppose that is not a surprise, but no he did not tell me of that. He said that he originally escaped by way of your mother. He said that Cora did not die in the way we had all thought."

"But I watched her…"

"As did I," Snow continued. "I don't know if she is still alive or if his riddles are just that. All I could discern from using the dagger was that Cora was not in this realm. If she is still alive…"

"She hasn't contacted me, Snow, not at all."

"I did not presume that she had," Snow answered quickly. "I only wanted to alert you to the possibility. I have no desire to fight another war over assumed slights and hurt feelings."

Regina crossed back over to Snow, abruptly grabbing her left hand and holding it before her own face. The ring glinted at her brightly. "My mother," she said, running her thumb over the stone, "spoke of a way to talk with your true love. I ignored her because I thought such things were not meant for me after Daniel's death."

The Queen blanched at the mention of the man's murder for which she had been blamed by Regina. It was the reason that for years the kingdom had been one at near civil war over its leadership. "How does it work?"

"I presume that he gave this to you? David, I mean."

"Yes, of course," Snow answered. "It was how he proposed." She did not detail the other interactions with the ring.

"Tell Elsa to come. We will need her help in brewing a tea. Once you drink it, you will be able to communicate with him through the ring. It won't be easy, but once he is asleep it should work."

***AAA***

Emma shook her head violently. "It's not worth the risk, Papa," she said, looking to Red and Killian for support. "You have scaled two trees today and Graham has scaled another. We have gotten no closer to finding our way out of this. There has to be another way."

Her braided hair was hanging limply over one shoulder, a few leaves and twigs embedded in it. Red was just off to her side, the red cape that protected her was slipping so she held it with a single fist.

"Emma, I don't know that we have another plan." Red's voice was sympathetic and guilt ridden. "I have fun far ahead and found nothing. I have spent the majority of the day in search of any clue as to an escape and found nothing. Our options aren't many. We can give up or we can continue trying to find a way out."

"You think I don't know that?" Emma said, frustration pouring out of her. "I can't do anything to make it right. I shouldn't have…" A flash flew from her hand as she waved it.

"Emma, love, please don't blame yourself," Killian said so quietly that she almost didn't hear. "Nobody here came without regard for their own safety. And your return is still our goal."

She stared down at her hand, watching the way her fingers wavered and trembled. It was not in her nature to give in and give up, but the threat of losing everyone was so real that she could not see a way out. Even if she told them to leave her, she was not guaranteed of their safety. She said a quick thank you again, turning her back to them and walking toward the horse she had been riding. Somehow it helped to busy herself with the mundane.

"Emma?" Killian approached her with his usual heavy footfalls that were hard to miss. However, the concern etched on his face seemed to make him appear softer. "Love, I know you need a moment's privacy, but I think we need to acknowledge that your magic…"

"It was just a flash. I can't control it. I can't make it happen again."

"Perhaps not, but it is not hopeful to see it work at all. You were concerned that it would not here in these woods. And for days it hasn't."

"Killian, I…"

"I only meant that you might wish to spend your time alone practicing these skills. It is worth a try." He took out a low hanging branch with his hook, capturing it under his foot after the fall. "Should you wish a partner to practice with, I hope you know that I'm available."

She grinned. "While I think you'd be more sympathetic and kind than Regina, I don't know that I could concentrate. When you're near me I tend to become a little flustered."

"Do tell, my love, I appreciate hearing that I may affect your presence of mind." The hopeful grin he had shown up with earlier had become a full on smirk. Holding out his hand, he offered it to her and without hesitation, she let him pull her toward him. "Emma, you have a gift that few can understand or accept. I, myself, have been quite averse to it for most of my many years. Yet, I trust you, love, to use it for good and right. If there is a magical way out of this forest, I know you will find it."

"How do you know that?" she asked sincerely, finding that spot at the crook of his neck where she felt herself melt a bit more. "I could not stop Rumpelstiltskin. I only saved Henry because I was foolish enough to believe I could be a substitute for him. I endangered you, my father, my godmother, and Graham. I feel like this is all a sign that I should quell my magic and try to live life normally."

"I should like to tell you all the ways that you saved me, but I know that we have work we must do." He pulled his head back, craning his neck so as to see her better. She took the hint and looked up at him. Though he didn't mean for it to be the reason they had escaped to this area alone, his lips crashed down on hers and almost bruisingly reacquainted themselves with the soft tenderness of her own. She sighed into his kiss, keeping her grasp on the back of his neck and his shoulder. The need for air soon parted them, but she couldn't help but give a short laugh at his still hopeful expression.

"You don't court me like the princes of other kingdoms."

"I'm far from a prince, love, but if you insisted upon it then I might do just that. Though there are no gardens for us to walk through with chaperones and it feels a bit silly to write to you when our bed rolls are next to each other at night."

"You're teasing."

He assured her that he was not, placing her arm through his bent one to walk her back to the others. She leaned her cheek into the soft leather that covered his shoulder and sighed. "I know that this situation we are in is dire, but I can't help but feel good with you near."

"Only good?"

"Maybe a bit better than that."

It would have been a good moment for a kiss, a seal to the promises they intended to make and the feelings that were still bubbling out from them. However, a sickening crack splintered through the air and filled them with dread. The snap was punctuated by a shout from the King and then a horrendous thump.