[b] Collaboration between YoshiSkittlez, Ghost Shadow, Guardian Angel Haruki, and Tanderbolt[/b]

Snow was still struggling to process her reunion with David, her memories engulfed her in a sea of emotions. She looked into his eyes and said "I thought I lost you forever,"
This gave David cause to smile, letting the rough pads of his fingers caress the side of her silky smooth cheeks.

"It's gonna take a whole lot more than The Dark and Sleeping curses to keep me from finding you." He answered with an airy laugh. His beady, wettened eyes glanced down for a moment to her stomach, a pang of dread rushing through his face causing the color to quickly drain. "The baby..."

XXX

[i]5 years ago...
Snow took this moment to reflect on recent events and future plans. Regina was her mortal enemy, and always would be. Both of them had put forth a great effort to destroy the other, and so far all attempts had failed. Snow had grown tired of this cycle, and thought about other things while she stood alone in the courtyard. She knew that there was more to life than killing Regina, otherwise it would be pointless to plan any further.

Before everything happened, Snow wanted to raise a family. For a long time she feared for their safety and delayed her dreams, but now she was tired of waiting. Her and Charming had gotten quite good at evading Regina, and raising a family would give her a new purpose in life, another goal to strive towards. Still though, she wanted a guarantee. Snow knew that he alone had the power to guarantee the safety of her child, should she ever have one, and she would be willing to accept his bargain. She sighed and muttered "Rumpelstiltskin" as a formality. When nothing happened, she cleared her throat and said the name of The Dark One again, more sure this time with a hint of anxiousness.

"What do you want?" The shrill voice of the infamous Imp called behind her, sounding rather agitated for being summoned at such a late hour, however the ever so tantalizing grin on his face offset his tone entirely. It truly was an impossible feat to know what kind of mood The Dark One was in simply by looking at him. He sat plainly on the stone bench just behind Snow White, one leg crossing over the other with his knotted fingers clasping tight to his knee. His dark eyes searched the face of the new Queen, his smile faultering only slightly as he seemed to be mulling over something in his head.

She had long given up trying to read Rumpelstiltskin's emotions, she wanted to get to the point quickly. Snow said "What's Regina up to?"
The Dark One rose from his sitting position, his shoulders shrugging in high exaggeration as a low chuckle came from his throat, though turned his hands out in question as if he was unsure.

"Well that's quite the question dearie," He said taking a moment to wipe of a speck of dust resting on the shoulder of his brown, dragon-hide coat. "whats it worth?"
"Voluntary exchange is a fundamental moral principle, I do not expect nor desire that you give me anything for free. I am not a parasite that demands or takes unjustly, I will pay the price you name."

Rumpelstiltskin seemed to think her request over, his fingers fidgeting as he looked upon her thoughtfully.
"There is a man," He began, the shrill, childlike tone replaced by something else entirely, something more...human. "you may know him as Jefferson, a good friend of your Prince-turned-King. You'll tell him to meet with me in a weeks time?" He asked, stating his price.
Deals with Rumpelstiltskin were never as innocent as they first appeared, but this one had no obvious red flags. She said "I accept. Now will you answer my question?"
The Imp once again shrunk back from Snow with a light giggle.

"You're worried about The Queen's threat." He observed, keeping his smile plastered to his face as he watched the new Queen's eyes darken on him. "Fear not! For I can ease your mind!" He sing-songed with a slight flourish of his arms before letting his smile fall completely, and looked back upon Snow White with a great intensity, suddenly grim and serious. 

"The Queen has created a powerful curse, and it's coming. Soon you'll all be in a prison. Your prison; [b]all[/b] of our prisons will be [b]time[/b]. Time will stop, and we will be trapped, someplace horrible, where everything we hold dear, [b]everything[/b] we love will be [b]ripped[/b] from us while we suffer for [b]all[/b] eternity; while The Queen celebrates [b]victorious at last![/b] No more happy endings..."

Snow's face remained cold, she hid her worry and displeasure at the answer. Perhaps the only thing more dangerous than making a deal with Rumpelstiltskin was letting him know your hand. "But we are alive? Until I'm buried, Regina hasn't won. My very existence is intolerable to her. If she wins, either I am dead or she didn't want to kill me."
"Well," Rumpelstiltskin began, the child-like tone returning to his voice. "there is the small matter of a piece of fruit..." He giggled and waved his hand at his own comment, brushing it aside. "I assured you once before that The Queen will be unable to harm you and your family in [b]this[/b] land, and that [b]is[/b] the case...[b]in this land[/b]. The prison to where we are to be sent to is uncertain, and I can not guarantee the safety of that little thing growing inside of you." His hands came out of ther showy flourish and gestured towards Snow's stomach.

She didn't appreciate his crudeness, but her annoyance was quickly swept aside by her shock at the news. She wanted a child, and had been trying to concieve, but didn't think that it was already on its way. "I'm pregnant? Even I don't feel anything different, how can you know for certain?"
Rumpelstiltskin turned his head, a sideways glance with a raised eyebrow in a non-verbal 'really?'

Snow immediately decided that she did not want to spend any more time pondering exactly how Rumpel could see inside her body. As despicable as he was, he didn't lie, and she couldn't think of any way he could be wrong. She glared at him and said "Ok, so I'm pregnant. Earlier, you said that it may not be safe for my child, what did you mean by that?"

"Just exactly what I said!" The Imp replied with a fast-paced flourish of his arms, clearly growing irritated with the conversation already. Why was it that people always had a hard time believing his words? Gauging the look on the new Queen's face, Rumpelstiltskin scrunched up his nose in annoyance and flicked his wrist. When the small amount of violet smoke had cleared, a small envelope was held fastly in his hand, in the center a golden wax seal pulsing with white magic.
"Mmmm...here..." He said handing her the letter with obvious reluctance and a breath of hesitation.

It was useless trying to get Rumpelstiltskin to elaborate on anything. She cautiously walked forward to pick grab the letter, and examined the seal. It wouldn't open for her right now, so she put it out of her mind.
"It won't open." Rumpelstitlskin said unable to keep his eyes from rolling at the obvious. Well, obvious to him. "Not until you are ready. Keep it in a safe place dearie, that letter will guide you once the curse has broken. A lot can happen in five years..."

Everything he said only raised more questions. She didn't know what curse he was referring to, and his comment about five years was equally cryptic. Snow raised her voice to ask him something "So, her curse doesn't last forever, she doesn't win? What's happening in five years?"

The Imp seemed rather giddy in his response, his otherwise lopsided smile growing with the glee in his dark eyes.
"There is much I do not know of this new land we are to be imprisoned in, but there is one thing I am most certain about...you." Suddenly he was gone, not even a cloud of blood red smoke to be seen as per his usual exit. The only proof of him being there to begin with being the letter now in Snow White's posession.

The sound of metal scraping against metal filled the air where the Imp's giggle had once been, drawing Snow's attention to the gardens in which James had just walked out of. Even by the blue moonlight she could see that the color had been drained from his face, his beady eyes staring at the spot where The Dark One had just vanished from as he carefully sheathed his sword. He finally brough his bright blues to look upon his wife, his face undreadable as he asked quietly,
"Snow?"

Seeing Charming calmed her down, she walked to him with arms outstretched. 'Were you there the whole time?"
"Long enough." James replied, keeping his hand on his hip where his sword rested, and unmoving towards Snow's embrace. "You...you went to [b]him[/b]? Even after all we've gone through?" He asked, a hint of hurt in his voice.
"We both know that he is the only one who could give us answers. In times like these, I think we need every little bit of help we can get."

Charming sighed and used his free hand to run his fingers through his sandy colored hair. She was right; she was always right...but that didn't mean he always had to like it.
"But you're...we're..." He paused, the first letter of his next word getting stuck on his lips for a moment or two. "...pregnant..." He wasn't sure if he was asking, or confirming. 

Either way, he wasn't sure how to take it given what Rumpelstiltskin had to say about their future.
"It's what we wanted, isn't it? We knew we were taking a chance, and we still don't know what's going to happen. All we can do is stay together and stand strong. Not everything he said was bad."

"You're right." James said letting his hand loose from his hip and placed both hands on Snow's shoulder's delicately, staring intently into her eyes as he face melted away from the unsure to something more determined; braver. "You're absolutely right. You are going to be a wonderful mother Snow, let's just hope that she inherits your intuition." He cracked a smile, a glint of humor in his eye as the realization slowly began to settle in within him; he was going to be a father![/i]
XXX

David's words reminded Mary Margaret of another concern, the life of her unborn child. Being reunited with David overwhelmed her with happiness, thinking about the baby was more unsettling. They were in the new land that Rumpelstiltskin had warned her about, and Regina was as big a threat as ever.
"It'll be alright. With both of us, there's nothing-"

"SNOW!" Ruby ignored the painful, small bits of asphault beginning to embed in her bare feet as she ran down Main Street, finding Snow and Charming in front of the Clock Tower. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she looked upon her best friend, alive and well and...[i]alive[/i]! The waitress didn't stop running until she had her arms wrapped firmly around her best friend's neck in a tight hug and as she was taller than the raven-haired woman, she settled for resting her chin on the top of Snow's hair. 
"Easy Ruby, you're going to knock her over!" David remarked with a light chuckle, stepping closer to the two women to put one arm around Mary Margaret, and the other behind Ruby, putting himself into the hug which didn't go unnoticed by the two women.

"You're alive! Dear Gods you're alive!" Ruby sobbed quietly into her friends hair, years and years of penitenced guilt building up in her heart finally coming undone in a painful, yet welcome release. She couldn't even bring herself to acknowledge David, not just yet, not when her and Snow had so much to catch up on, emotions and all.
Mary Margaret was glad to see another friend. Her time in the hospital had told her very little about the inhabitants of Storybrooke, most of the faces there were unfamiliar to her. She put aside her questions for a moment to talk to her friend. 

"I'm glad to be awake. Rumpelstiltskin told me the future would be bleak, but it can't be that bad if I've got you around. Before we do anything else, I think we should work on finding somewhere safe, we can catch up after that." She looked at the clock tower, pondering how long it would be before more people came looking for her.
"Where? How?" Ruby asked pulling out of the awkwardly positioned three-way hug, now looking over both her friends with equal adoration as Charming moved beside Snow to wrap his arm around her waist lovingly. He looked so much better at Mary Margaret's hip than Knox did. "Regina is still Mayor, still in control, and Mr. Gold..." The waitress shuddered, unable to keep the goosebumps that crawled over her flesh at the very thought of the man in the pawnshop.

"Maybe we could leave town, go somewhere else. This world is huge, Regina can't be everywhere. As long as she is here, the enchanted forest is safe, and we will find our way back there some day."

David didn't look so convinced.
"Is there a reason we weren't...you know, magically put back into The Enchanted Forest?" He asked more towards Snow than Ruby. "I mean, Regina's curse is broken, so what's keeping us here?"

"Good question." Henry's voice called out behind the trio, apparantly having snuck up behind them with Heather in tow.
His eyes landed on Snow, awake, alive for the first in what seemed like forever, a wide grin appearing on his face before speaking again. "Hello Snow." He greeted simply, unsure of what else [i]to[/i] say to her. 

Snow didn't recognize the man who greeted her, and he was with one of the doctors from the hospital, who didn't resemble anyone she remembered from The Enchanted Forest. It was bewildering to encounter more new people. When the male spoke, his voice sounded familiar to her, and she said "Cheshire? You've changed a lot since I saw you last."
"Human again, yes...Oh, how I missed it - and missed you." He said in a tone that was completely serious, yet warm at the same time.

Heather ignored Henry's answer to Snow as she looked at David and Ruby, while the emotions that came from how Henry looked at Snow were pushed to the back of her mind. She recognized both David and Ruby from the brief moment David had seen Hyde, and from when she tended to Ruby's possible internal injuries back in Rumpelstiltskin's castle. She didn't say anything to them though, knowing David wouldn't recognize her and it would raise suspicions. 
She suggested, the British accent leaking back into her voice, "Anyways...I don't suppose we could ask Regina, or anyone else who could know, about this matter?"
"Gold." David answered Dr. Stevenson indefinitely, eyes narrowed in the slightest as if speaking the name physically caused him pain. He ignored the subtle exchange between his wife and Henry, as there was more to that tale than either of them were letting up, and also ignored the daggered looks he got from both Mary Margaret and Ruby at his suggestion, instead keeping his eyes trained on Dr. Stevenson for the moment. He tried desperately to recall who she might have been before the curse, but the face wasn't striking any remote resemblance to anyone he knew. "He's our only other option." He finally finished, moving his gaze from Faye, then to Henry (again, unable to put his face to anyone he knew outside of Storybrooke), and back to his wife.

"If those are our only two options, then we're screwed." Ruby sighed and brought her fingers to her temples were her headache wasn't seeming to get any better.
Henry practically scoffed at David as he mentioned speaking to the Dark One. 

"And what do you have to trade with the Imp in return, [i]Your Majesty[/i]?" He asked the prince with enough condescension in his tone to match Regina's herself. 
David bit the inside of his cheek to keep from lashing out at the clear shot to his authority. There would be a time for questions, and more importantly answers, later. For now, they needed to decide what the next best course of action to take was. He looked to those gathering around him and Snow, the assumed leaders since the regaining of their memories, their King and Queen. Still, there was one thought that David was unable to shake, and felt that he should voice his concern to the group.
"That purple smoke; where did it come from and what did it do?"

"It's magic." Henry put bluntly, though there was a small sense of pride in his tone. "And it was Rumpelstiltskin who arranged its return...that means he has it - and so does Regina." Henry added in a more affable tone; putting his own hatred for the prince aside to discuss a common issue. There was an audible groan heard throughout the group, none of which were happy to hear the news.

"I don't think the Queen will be open to taking visitors, especially considering she could incinerate us with a flick of her wrist." Henry said lastly, a dry edge to his voice. 
"Then we find another way." David said meeting Henry's steely gaze, his own eyes holding nothing but hope and optimism in return.