Disclaimer: I wish I owned OUAT but I do not lol.

abeylin1982asked: "Can not wait to see where this story goes - will Emma change the future (/canon)?"

I can safely say that a lot will change lol.

"is Liam Jones a result of said changes...(I so want him to be the CS kid)"

He's not CS kid. There will be other time travel shenanigans, but I just wrote in Killian's little brother Liam II, because I wondered if he was cursed. Then we found out he went with Nemo, but by that point I had already come up with plots for kid Liam Jones II, so I decided not to change my story, and also who even cares about canon? lol.

"will they defeat Cora sooner than expected, or will she wreak even more havoc than before due to changes?!"

What happens with Cora will be different.

ASnowFern asked: "Liam Jones II has to be Emma and Killian's son... so how does that work? How could they have a cursed son? Unless I'm guessing wrong?"

It's Killian's younger half brother. I had planned plots for him in this fic before canon showed us he wasn't cursed and grew up, but I say screw it, I like the idea of Killian's little brother being here, lol.

captainswanrocks asked: "also, marian? what's that about? is she really marian?"

She is really Marian.

"what killian's little brother is here too?"

Yeah, I thought that it would be fun to have him in and good for Killian's arc.

Sorry for the lack of updates. The muse has been a stubborn bitch and has not wanted to write anything. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!


Chapter 3


A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step - Lao Tzu


Freezing temperatures weren't exactly ideal to sleep in, but Liam was wearing layers and he was wrapped up in a wool blanket. There was still a nip in the air, though. There wasn't anything Liam could do though. His house was more of a shack and there was no power. Under the curse, the days had always been perfect, at least up until this past October. That's when things started to change and it was harder to hide the fact that he lived on his own and couldn't afford food.

He'd been rationing the school lunches, glad that those were free at least. There was also sneaking food in his pockets when the lunch ladies weren't looking.

Stealing made him uncomfortable, even ashamed, but what choice did he have? Until he found his father, he had to do what he could do to survive.

It was late, but at least tomorrow was Sunday. He could sleep in a bit before going into town to search for his dad and hang out with Henry. They were going to do their homework together, which relieved Liam. While he was good at most subjects, he struggled with English, so Henry could help him out, and where he was good at math, Henry wasn't and he helped Henry out. It was nice to have a friend for once, especially one as kind as Henry.

Now if only he could find his father. He didn't have a picture of Brennan Jones, nor did he think that he could draw his father from memory. Instead, Liam went to the lost relative bulletin board outside of town hall, but he found no drawings or posters of him.

Did his father even know that he was cursed? Was his father even here?

If his father wasn't here, Liam had no idea what he could do. He was only ten; there was no way that he could survive on his own. If his father was here, then wouldn't he be looking for him? Part of him wanted to get help, but a more stubborn part of him was reluctant to admit he was helpless.

That's why he had to find his father. If there was one thing that he knew, then it was that Brennan Jones was a good father, and that he wouldn't just abandon his son. The problem was that Liam had no idea where his father was, or even if he was cursed, and if he didn't find Brennan soon, then he would have no choice but to get help.

He just hoped he would be able to find his father soon, before it came to that extreme. If it did, Liam wasn't sure who he could turn to.

There was Henry and his grandfather David; David seemed nice enough, but would he help out a kid he barely knew? Liam never heard much about the former prince back in the Enchanted Forest, except the news of winning the war against King George. David was apparently in charge of the town too with the Evil Queen pushed out of office and the Savior gone. He probably didn't have time to worry about random, orphan kids.

"You're not an orphan." He chided himself, burrowing deeper into the covers. "You'll find Papa soon."

Shivering at the chill in the air, Liam did what he could to stay warm and soon fell into a restless sleep.


Her parents' castle loomed ahead in ruins, just as Emma remembered it looking. It was so very different from the illustrations in Henry's book.

Emma looked over at her mother, remembering how devastated Snow had looked the first time Emma had been in the Enchanted Forest.

Snow's expression was just as Emma remembered it. Just as devastated as before.

This castle had been Snow and Charming's home; it had been where Emma was born and where she should've, would've, been raised had it not been for Regina's curse.

Bitterness stung at her heart. While she loved Henry more than anything, Emma still couldn't help but wonder what her life would've been like had Regina not cast the curse. How different would Emma even be? Her parents would've raised her here in the Enchanted Forest and she would've been a princess. A real, honest to God princess. It was surreal thinking about that.

Emma was the farthest thing from a princess; definitely more pirate at heart.

"It's destroyed." Snow whispered, her eyes glistening.

Emma's heart broke for her mother. While Emma never had a home until Henry, this was a place that Snow had made her home. It was hard for the former princess to see it in such shambles. Emma wanted to say something comforting to her mother, but she wasn't quite sure what to say.

"This was our home." Snow continued. "Now it's gone."

Mulan walked over to them. "How are we going to cross the bridge? It doesn't look steady."

"Carefully and slowly." Hook spoke. "To be safe, we should go over one at a time."

"Someone should stay here and keep watch." Mulan glared at Hook.

Marian and Aurora didn't look certain of the idea.

"No." Emma said. "It's too dangerous. There are ogres on this side, and who knows what's in the castle."

"Emma's right." Snow said. "It's safer to stay together."

"Then we'll do as Hook suggests and go one at a time." Emma walked over to the bridge, stopping beside Hook. "I'll go first, I want you to follow next."

"Perhaps I should go first." Hook protested. "If there are loose stones…"

"I'll take my chances." Emma cut him off, not wanting him to risk himself unnecessarily.

Hook looked uncertain, but Emma was already stepping out onto the ruins of the bridge. "Be careful, Swan."


David found Jefferson lounging in a booth at The Rabbit Hole. He walked over, stood over the man with his arms crossed, a glare in place. "We need to talk."

Jefferson stopped fiddling with the label on his beer, looking up at the acting sheriff. "What can I do for you, your highness?"

David bristled at the title. "Your hat." David pulled the crushed hat from behind his back, placing it on the table before the mad hatter.

The other man studied the hat, before flicking a finger at it. "So this is how Emma and your wife disappeared?"

"Can you get it to work?" David asked, getting to the point.

"No." Jefferson took a sip of his beer.

"What do you mean no?" David growled, looming over Jefferson now.

"I mean no." Jefferson glared at him. "The hat is destroyed. That means no portal."

"You can't fix that?" David needed to get this hat to work. He needed to bring Emma and Snow home.

Jefferson couldn't help but laugh hard and loud at David's presumption. "You're joking, right? I'm a portal jumper, not a portal creator."

The blasé attitude Jefferson presented grated on David. Before the mad hatter could blink, the former prince jerked Jefferson upwards by the collar of his shirt. "My wife and daughter are gone! I need to bring them back!"

Jefferson'a expression grew serious. "Look, I don't know how to get them back. All I do know is that they're in the Enchanted Forest."

"Wait, the Enchanted Forest still exists?" David let Jefferson go as the words sunk in.

"Yeah." Jefferson said. "Even if the hat worked, you wouldn't be able to get both of them and you'd have to leave someone behind." He leaned back and straightened his collar. "The hat has a rule of two. Only two people can use it and only two people can come back. If you and a friend went through, then out of the two of you, Snow, and Emma, only two of you could come back."

David sat across from Jefferson, completely deflated now. "So there's no other way? No other portal?"

"None that I know of." Jefferson said. "I wish I could help, but I can't. I'm sorry." Jefferson finished his beer and left money on the table and stood up. "There's some extra there." He gestured at the cash. "Get yourself a cold one on me."

Jefferson left David alone.

David ran a hand through his hair. What the hell was he going to do now? He knew where Emma and Snow were, but how could he get to them? How could he bring them back?

His flip phone rang in his pocket.

David sighed.

Time to get back to work.


The nursery wasn't in any better shape than the rest of the castle. Toys and furniture were scattered everywhere, either destroyed by the curse or from years of rotting away in the ruins.

Only the wardrobe looked untouched, save for the dust that covered it.

Emma looked around the room, allowing herself to feel the pain of loss that she had shoved down the first time she had been in this room.

"I never thought I'd see this place again." Snow spoke softly, walking over to the ruined crib.

Emma walked over to her as the other four stayed back, sensing that this was a personal moment.

Snow gave her a sad smile. "This room was your nursery, or it was supposed to be." She released a shaky breath. "You never even got to spend the night here. As soon as you were born, your father had to put you in the wardrobe." Snow reached out and took Emma's hand. "This is the life that I wanted you to have. You were going to learn how to walk in here, learn how to talk. I'd dress you up for your first ball. You never got to do any of it. You're a princess who never got to be one. We never got to be a family."

Uncomfortable at the mention of her title, Emma pulled away. Apparently some walls were still up after all. "I'm not a princess." She winced, realizing she said that too loudly. "And we have a family back home in Storybrooke." Emma stood next to the wardrobe and ran her hand over it.

Hook stepped forward, motioning at the wardrobe. "So, how do we make this work?"

"Magic." Snow said. "We need to find someone with enough magic to make it work."

Emma wondered if her own magic could power the wardrobe, but she had never tried something like that before. Her magic was still on a learning curve as well; she had only just started practicing more and more, but since Rumplestiltskin was banished, Regina had gone lax on her lessons, which Emma hadn't minded much because that meant more time with Killian and her family.

There was also the fact that she wasn't supposed to know that she had magic. It wasn't until after she and Snow had returned to Storybrooke the first time around and Emma had told Gold about Cora being unable to take her heart that he revealed that she had magic. It would be way too suspicious if she revealed that she had magic right now.

"We need to take it to the Safe Haven." Snow told the group. "Hopefully someone there has magic, and they can get it to work again."

"How are we going to take it back?" Aurora asked. "It looks like it would be heavy even with six of us."

"Seven of us." Lancelot entered the room with a smile.

"Lancelot?" Snow smiled, though it was a bit confused. "What are you doing here?"

Mulan looked at the man suspiciously, which Emma found interesting considering her trust in Lancelot. Perhaps, Mulan knew on some level that something was off.

Of course, Emma was the only one who knew that he was really Cora in disguise.

Hook too looked suspicious, but Emma didn't know if he figured out that it was Cora, or if he was wondering why Lancelot would leave the Safe Haven without leadership.

"Ogres were said to be in the area." Lancelot explained. "I thought you might need more help."

"Who's in charge at the Haven?" Mulan asked.

Lancelot smiled at Mulan. "There's no need to worry. Everything is taken care of." He looked over at the wardrobe. "Is this the portal that you were looking for?"

"No." Emma spoke before the others could. She took a step forward. "If you heard ogres were in the area, why did you come alone? I've never met an ogre, but from how Mulan describes them, they sound difficult for people to fight."

"Ogres are blind." Lancelot said. "They hunt with their hearing. More people means more noise."

"So you're saying that the people who grew up in this land and know about the ogres, even those trained soldiers I saw back at the island, wouldn't know how to be quiet in dangerous territory?" Emma asked, trying to get Lancelot to slip up.

Lancelot crossed his arms. "What are you saying?"

Emma smirked. "I'm saying that I can tell when someone's lying." She pulled her sword from it's scabbard. "You are lying."

"Emma!" Snow admonished.

"He's not here because of ogres." Emma told her mother.

Mulan narrowed her eyes, while Marian pulled Aurora back away from Lancelot.

Hook stepped up next to Emma, preparing for a fight.

Snow looked between her daughter and Lancelot as if she wasn't sure who to side with.

"Why are you really here?" Emma asked. She wanted to call Cora out, but Lancelot had said nothing that gave himself away as Cora. Emma needed to push the witch in that direction.

"Snow, tell your daughter that I can be trusted." Lancelot implored.

Snow wanted to trust Emma, and her superpower, but Lancelot was an old friend, who could be trusted.

"No, Emma is right." Mulan cut in. "Lancelot wouldn't leave the Safe Haven alone if ogres were near."

Lancelot seemed to realize that he wasn't getting any trust, and Cora's magic appeared, Lancelot becoming Cora. "Well, you two sure know how to ruin best laid plans."

"Cora!" Snow was as shocked as the others, save for Emma and Hook.

Hook hadn't known the Cora was posing as Lancelot, Cora still hadn't trusted him with her plans, but he had known Cora was up to something and that her magic was involved.

"Where's Lancelot?" Snow asked.

"Dead." Cora said without remorse. "He has been for some time now."

Mulan charged the witch, but Cora flung the warrior away with magic. Mulan crashed into Marian and Aurora, knocking them all to the ground.

"So you killed him and posed as him?" Snow felt rage against this woman who continued to ruin lives.

"Well, people weren't going to listen to me, were they?" Cora smirked. "The people of this land are so simple. Give them a hero and they will follow them without question."

"What do you want?" Emma growled, feeling her magic tingle under her skin.

"I want that portal." Cora said. "I want to see my daughter again. It's been too long" Cora eyed Hook and Emma wondered if she'd reveal that Hook had been working for her.

"You're not getting this portal!" Snow snapped, charging for Cora.

Emma moved to stop her, seeing as how well that move had worked for Mulan, but it was too late, and Snow was magically tossed aside. Emma knew that she had no choice now. She had to burn the wardrobe and chase Cora off, then collect the ashes before Cora could. She pulled out a small pouch full of gunpowder that she had lifted off of Hook.

He noticed and seemed to realize her plan, already producing a flint.

Emma dumped the powder onto the wardrobe. "I'll keep her distracted. Hurry up and light this thing up."

Hook nodded, and Emma rushed over to Cora, who now had Snow in a magical hold, choking the princess.

"Let her go!" Emma shoved Cora away, causing Cora to stumble back and drop Snow.

An arrow hit Cora in the shoulder.

The witch turned to see Marian notching another arrow.

Giving Marian a chance, Emma threw a fallen stone at Cora.

Cora used her magic to stop the stone, hurtling it back towards Emma, who's hands went up to instinctively block. But she didn't block the stone; no, Emma froze it.

"Interesting." Cora muttered.

"Emma." Snow was looking at her with surprise.

It was then that a hissing noise reached their ears and the room lit up.

The wardrobe was on fire.

"You fool!" Cora exclaimed.

"Looks like you'll have to find another way." Emma said calmly.

Cora glared at her before poofing out in navy smoke.

Emma helped Snow to stand. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Snow was still looking at Emma as though she wasn't sure what to make of her daughter, or at least, of her daughter's magic.

It certainly made Emma feel uncomfortable.

"Thanks for saving me." Snow said.

Emma shrugged, before turning to Hook. "Thanks for the help."

"Aye." Hook nodded. "Your portal is gone though."

"Maybe, maybe not." Emma said as the fire kept burning. "If the wardrobe had any magic left, the ashes could too."

"We can't stay here and wait for that to burn out." Mulan said. "We need to get back to Safe Haven and tell everyone what's happened."

If Cora left them alive this time, then they needed to know. Emma wasn't sure why Cora killed them all the first time, though she was sure it was to help create a cover for Hook. The thought made her queasy, then again she never did condone his actions as a villain, but if Regina and the freaking Dark One were allowed to stick around, even when they had still hurt people and committed crimes, then it was only fair that Hook had gotten a shot to redeem himself.

"Maybe Emma can make it go out." Marian suggested.

"What?" Emma wasn't sure where Marian was going with this.

"She's right." Hook spoke. "You have magic. You can will the fire to extinguish, and collect all of the ashes."

"Look, I don't even know how I did that." Emma lied. True, she hadn't intended to use her magic at all, but Regina had explained that instincts activated magic as much as emotions did. "I have no idea how to use it. I didn't even know I had magic."

"But you know now." Hook said. "You can do this, Swan."

He believed in her, just as he always did, and that sent Emma's heart spiraling through a whirlwind of different emotions.

"I don't know if that's a good idea." Snow spoke up. "Magic can be dangerous."

"What choice do we have?" Aurora said. "If Emma's right about the ashes, then Cora could still use them, couldn't she?"

"With Cora's knowledge of magic, I've no doubt of that." Hook said.

That earned him a suspicious look from Mulan that no one really noticed.

"If Cora gets the ashes, and she uses magic on them, then she could create a portal." Emma pretended as though she were theorizing. "I'm not chancing her getting a ticket to Storybrooke. Not when Henry's there and Regina is doing who knows what to everyone." Emma took a breath and started to concentrate her magic. "Since I have no idea what I'm doing, everyone should probably step back."

The group did so.

Emma reached out with her magic, using her love for Henry and Killian and her parents and her friends. She looked at the fire and willed her magic to go forth and extinguish the fire. As she concentrated, the flames grew smaller and smaller until they were out. "Well, that was easier than I thought it'd be." Emma lied once more for cover. "Anyone got a container?"

Marian produced a coin purse, removing the remaining coins. "Will this work?"

"It'll have to." Emma took the purse and reached out again, willing the ashes into it.

A wind picked up in the room, the ashes rose swirling about, before Emma managed to direct them to the purse. When the last of the ashes was inside the pouch, Emma closed it and pocketed it. "Let's get moving. I don't want to be here if Cora does come back."


Henry was reading his storybook when someone sat across from him. He looked up to see Liam, who looked like he hadn't slept much at all. "Are you okay?"

"Tired." Liam gave him a weak smile. "Hungry."

"You want to order anything?" Henry asked. He himself was still waiting on his lunch. It was Saturday, but there was a lot going on, and his grandpa was called away, leaving Henry under Granny's watchful eye once again.

Liam shook his head. "I don't have any money."

"Don't worry about it." Henry said. "Granny can put it on a tab, then your mom can pay her later."

Pain flashed in Liam's eyes. "I…my mom isn't around."

Henry had suspected as much from his other conversations with Liam, but he hadn't wanted to push him. "So both your parents were taken from you during the curse?"

Liam shook his head. "No, just my papa. My mother died before the curse."

"I'm sorry." Henry really was too. He hadn't meant to bring up painful memories.

"It's fine." Liam shrugged.

Granny came over with Henry's order, but surprised them by putting another plate in front of Liam. "Don't worry about the money." Granny said. "If you're hungry, I'll feed you."

Liam flushed with embarrassment. "Thank you, but that's not necessary."

Granny stared him down.

"Thank you." Liam repeated before pulling the plate closer to him.

Satisfied that he was going to eat, Granny left them.

"How did she know?" Liam asked, trying to refrain from stuffing his face.

"She used to be a werewolf." Henry said, casually. "She's still got really good hearing."

Liam gaped at him. "You're serious?"

"Yeah." Henry said. "It's all in my book if you want to read it." Henry pushed the tome across the table.

"Maybe later." Liam said. "Right now, this burger looks too good to ignore."

Henry smiled as his friend tore into his meal with gusto, but he couldn't help but wonder what Liam's home life was like. If both of his real parents were gone, did he have cursed parents? Was anyone taking care of him? He was torn about bringing up the topic with Liam again, or letting it go, but Liam had a tendency to clam up when it came to personal details. It probably wouldn't do either of them any good to bring it up.

Still, Henry hoped that someone was watching out for his friend.


As they walked back towards Safe Haven, Hook could feel Mulan's eyes on him, watching his every move. He knew the warrior wasn't one to trust others, but it was unnerving that she had been watching him since they had left the castle.

Cora hadn't said anything about him having worked for her, so why was Mulan glaring daggers at him now?

"Emma, can we talk?" Snow asked Emma, who had been in front of Hook as they walked.

"What about?" Emma asked as she continued on, hoping that the Safe Haven was still there.

"In private?" Snow urged.

Emma stopped, sighing heavily. "We need to get back and put a plan together."

"What's going on?" Aurora stoped next to Hook, wondering why they were stopping.

Marian and Mulan followed suit.

"Nothing." Snow said. "I just need to talk to Emma."

Emma shook her head. "Is this about my magic? What does it freak you out?" Truth be told, that was a question that had been sticking with Emma ever since she learned of her magic. Snow had been good at hiding it back in Storybrooke and Neverland, but Emma always got the sense that her mother never approved of her magic.

Her words flustered Snow. "It's not that."

"There are more pressing issues." Mulan snapped. "Hook for one thing."

Hook arched a brow at her. "Oh really, please do enlighten us?"

"Hook." Emma sighed, slightly exasperated. They really didn't need anyone antagonizing anyone else. Emma just wanted to figure out how to get them to the beanstalk and Lake Nostos without straight out telling them that she had future knowledge.

"He's working with Cora." Mulan accused.

"Where did you get that idea?" Marian asked. From what it seemed, Hook had been nothing but helpful from the start.

"He knows her." Mulan said, glaring at Hook. "You weren't surprised that Cora showed up and you sounded like you know her when you spoke of her magic."

"He's not working for Cora." Emma said, stepping between Mulan and Hook. "Trust me, he's on our side."

"I don't even know you." Mulan said. "I don't trust you or him."

Emma rolled her eyes. "Fine, don't. You don't have to be here. You and your princess can head back to Safe Haven."

"You're making a mistake." Mulan growled. "You can't trust him. He's working with her…"

"Not anymore." Emma said with a fierce finality.

That certainly silenced everyone.

"He's not working for Cora, anymore." Emma said calmly this time. "He's working for me. You don't have to trust him, or me, or like the decisions that I'm making, but all I care about is getting home to my son, and Hook is helping me do that. Got it?"

Mulan didn't seem to want to back down, but said nothing.

"Emma?" Snow looked a bit betrayed. "You knew he was working for Cora?"

"It wasn't anything that any of you needed to know." Emma said. "He's on our side now. Deal with it."

Hook was impressed, even somewhat touched, by Emma's defense of him. Perhaps…should he tell her about Cora's original plan? She hadn't been keen to share it with him, but he had made sure to be just difficult enough that Cora had to give him something to keep him on her side.

Then Emma came along and turned his whole world upside down.

He could see that Snow and Mulan were ready to fight Emma on this, while Marian and Aurora looked unsure. "Perhaps a show of good faith?"

The women all watched him as he produced a cuff from his pockets. The other one had already been secured to his wrist before the start of the journey.

"What's that?" Marian asked.

"Before Emma and Snow came along, Cora had a plan in place." Hook said. "There's a beanstalk. The magic beans are gone of course, but portals need to be navigated. This particular beanstalk has a compass, one that we'll need if we're going through a portal. However, it's protected by magic, and Cora enchanted these cuffs so that we could climb the beanstalk."

"So you were going to get our portal and give it to her?" Snow accused.

"No, he wasn't." Emma snapped. "He just said it was Cora's plan before we showed up."

"Yet he chooses now, when he's outed as her ally to share it." Mulan said.

"So he didn't trust us?" Emma rolled her eyes. "You still don't trust any of us, and you don't have to."

"The point is, I'm trying to prove that I'm on your side." Hook said. "Believe me, working for Cora wasn't my finest hour, but when Swan offered me another path, I took it."

"Crossing Cora isn't something someone does if they want to live." Snow said. "So your either suicidal, or stupid."

"Perhaps I just love a challenge." Hook retorted with a wink. He turned to Emma. "What do you say, Swan? Care for some adventure?" He dangled the cuff in front of her.

"It could be a trap." Snow said.

Emma stepped closer to Hook and placed her hand on his shoulder.

Hook put the cuff on her wrist and it glowed.

"There's been enough mistrust." Emma said. "If we don't stick together, Cora wins. So everyone better put their issues aside until this is all over with. Got it?"

There were grumblings of agreement.

Emma took her hand from Hook, but he caught it as it swung to her side. He leaned in close. "I trust you, Swan. You can believe that."

Her super power found no lie. She nodded and turned away, still unwilling to give into her feelings as long as he was still on his path for revenge. At least Hook told them about the beanstalk; now Emma had to worry about getting them to Lake Nostos once they found the compass.


David entered Granny's and found Henry and his new friend Liam deep in conversation as they poured over Henry's storybook. He decided to leave them be; he hadn't told Henry that he planned on finding out more information about the hat, but he really wasn't keen on telling his grandson that they had no way, at least right now, to bring Snow and Emma back.

He sat at the end of the bar, keeping Henry in his sight, but also trying to sit away from people. His mood wasn't one for idle chat or listening to other people's problems at the moment. He just needed a break.

"You look like you need something stronger than coffee." Ruby said as she came over to take his order.

"I do, but I can't." David sighed, with an attempt at a smile. "I'll have a burger and onion rings though."

"Coming right up." Ruby went back to put in the order before walking back over. "So, did you find out anything? Will the hat work?"

David shook his head. "I talked to Jefferson. The hat won't work, and even if it did, only two people could use it at a time."

"So even if you went to get Snow and Emma, you'd have to take someone with you?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah, but if two of us crossed over, only two could come back." David sighed. "Then two more people would have to use the hat again so that me and whoever went with me could come back, and a cycle would start."

"That's some bullshit magic rules." Ruby scoffed.

"I agree, but Jefferson knows how the hat works better than anyone." David said. "He says it won't work anyway. He didn't create the hat, so he doesn't know how creating a portal with it would even work."

"So what new we going to do?" Ruby asked.

"I don't know." David said. "It's to a point where we might have to go to Gold, but I'd rather not. I don't want to make any deals."

"No one does." Ruby agreed. "We'll figure it out."

David hoped that they would. "I just don't know how to tell Henry."

Ruby looked back over her shoulder at the boy, who was laughing happily with his friend. "Should you?" She looked back at David. "I mean I'm not saying lie to him, but he is just a kid. I know he wants to help, but last time he tried to help, he was nearly snake food. If you tell him that the hat won't work, what's to stop him from going to Regina's vault again, or going to Gold and making a deal?"

David grimaced. Ruby had a point. Though Henry had promised not to go off on his own again, Henry was also as stubborn as the rest of their family. If Henry got in in his head that he could find a way to get Snow and Emma back, he wouldn't stop until he succeeded. No, Ruby was right, David shouldn't tell Henry about the hat. At least, not yet.

Henry deserved to just be a kid.

"No, you're right." David agreed. "He doesn't need to know."

Though David knew that he'd have to find a portal soon, or Henry would start asking questions, or worse, he'd start trying to go off on his own again. He needed to protect Henry, no matter what. It was his job now, and he wasn't going to fail, not again.


When they made camp, there was some argument over whether or not to continue to Safe Haven or to go to the beanstalk, but Emma made it clear that regardless, she and Hook were headed for the beanstalk.

That left Snow with no choice but to go as well, because she was not leaving her daughter alone with a pirate, who admitted to working with Cora. Marian decided to go to as Emma promised to help Marian find her son. That left Aurora and Mulan, which hadn't taken long since Aurora said that she couldn't just not help, and she decided to go along too. Mulan hadn't been happy about that at all, but she swore to protect Aurora and that meant she had to join them on their detour.

Snow was concerned though. There was Emma's magic to consider; how she even had magic, Snow didn't know, but that was a problem for another day. The more pressing issue was Emma herself.

Emma's behavior had been odd lately, and now, Emma seemed to trust Hook more than the rest of them. Her attraction to the pirate had to be clouding her judgement. Snow knew that Emma had a level head, and wasn't likely to trust, but clearly there was some explanation as to her trust in Hook, and since Snow caught them last night…well she hadn't seen much, but Emma and Hook had been close together and touching each other. Honestly, she didn't want to dwell on it more than she had, but Snow was trying to figure Emma out. Though Emma had been off since before they even met Hook.

What was going on with her? How could she be closed off, wary, and out of her element one day and then a peace keeping, take no shit, take charge Emma the next day? It was almost as if she was a different person. Snow even wondered if Emma was Cora in disguise, but Cora hadn't known about their arrival until after they arrived in Safe Haven.

No, there was definitely another explanation as to her daughter's change in attitude. Hook wasn't helping though. For some reason, though Emma hid it well, she had a soft spot for the pirate.

Snow watched Emma and Hook carefully as the two sat together by the fire. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but Hook was giving Emma flirty smiles, clearly trying to get a reaction from Emma. Emma was trying not to give in, rolling her eyes and shooting him glares, but they were ineffective since she couldn't help but smile. Her smiling at him only encouraged Hook more.

There was definitely something there, and Snow had to stop it.

"Hey, Emma?" Snow called out, getting everyone's attentions, but Mulan and Aurora simply returned to their own conversation, and Marian continued skinning the next rabbit to be cooked.

Emma looked a bit displeased that Snow interrupted Hook's flirting, but quickly tried to mask it with stoicism. "Yeah?"

"Can we talk?" Snow was already standing up and walking away.

Emma gave Hook and apologetic look before following her mother.

They didn't stray far from camp, but the trees masked them from view of the others and they were out of earshot.

"What's going on?" Emma asked.

"That's actually what I was going to ask you." Snow said. "You've been off since you woke up yesterday morning, and I just want to know what's going on."

Emma hoped that her face remained passive, because inside she was cursing up a storm. Her hope that Snow hadn't noticed any change in her had now been dashed. She was hoping that maybe she was pulling off this obfuscating ignorance act, but Snow had noticed. Crap, crap, crap. What was she going to do now? Well, playing dumb had gotten her this far. "What are you talking about?"

Snow gave her a look that clearly said playing dumb wasn't going to work. "Emma, you can talk to me."

Not about this. Emma thought over what to say, but she couldn't tell the truth. Time travel wasn't something people were supposed to do, and if she told Snow…well Emma wasn't sure how Snow would react, but she couldn't risk it. "There's nothing to talk about. Look, we have people on our side, we have a plan, and if we keep this up, we'll be home in a couple of days."

"I don't trust Hook." Snow said. "You shouldn't either. I don't know what's going on between the two of you, but he's a pirate, and the stories of Captain Hook in this world and the Land Without Magic paint him as a villain. There's a reason for that."

"Who says I trust him?" Emma glared, her walls rising up and slamming Snow out. It didn't matter all of the progress that had been made between them in Emma's other life; that progress hadn't happened yet, and how dare Snow accuse her of lacking better judgement. Did her mother really think that a pretty face could sway her so easily? "I'm not an idiot, or a child, so don't treat me like one. You might be my mother, but I've done just fine without you my whole life, I don't need you." Though Emma regretted the words as soon as they left her, she turned away from her mother and headed away from camp as well. She'd apologize later; right now, she just wanted space and time to cool off.

Emma's words were like a knife to Snow's heart. I don't need you. Snow's eyes watered as she watched Emma walked away. I've done just fine without you. She badly wanted to go after Emma, but her own pain wouldn't let her. Her wounds needed to be licked before heading into another fight.

Snow knew though that no matter what was said, that she had to fix hers and Emma's relationship before it was too late.


Cora watched Snow with a smile.

When she had gone back to the castle to retrieve the ashes of the wardrobe and found them gone, she knew that Snow's little brigade had taken them. So, Cora did what she did best.

She called upon her magic and made herself invisible. She had watched Hook betray her, watched the arguments unfold within the group. Tensions were escalated between all of them.

Cora was eager to take advantage of that, but she knew that she had to wait. Patience was everything at the moment. No, she would stay hidden for now and keep listening and watching. Her enemies would be their own downfall, and her ticket to her daughter.

This was going to be fun.


Whoops, careful there Emma. You might slip up.

Reviews and questions are always welcome!

Until next time!