Katherine groaned in pain as she landed on the dirt floor of the cell, Emma landing right behind her.
"Are you alright?" a woman asked, who was locked in the cell next to them. Katherine looked over and realized it was the woman her mother had taken earlier.
"Yeah, I think so. Thanks" Emma said. "I'm Leia."
"Isabella," Katherine said, resting her head again on the rocky cell wall.
"I wish I could say it was nice to meet you" the woman sighed.
"Yeah, but under the circumstances, I get it. What's your name?" Emma asked.
"I dare not speak it here," she said. "The Queen doesn't know who I am and my silence is the only thing keeping my family safe."
Emma turned to Katherine and gestured toward the locks. "Can't you..."
"No. The locks are enchanted. Can only be opened with a key" she sighed.
"So what did she put you in here for?" Emma asked, turning back to the woman. "I knew where Snow White was hiding but I refused to tell the Queen."
"You gave up your freedom to ensure Snow White's?" Emma asked. "Yes, I believe her to be innocent. She is our true princess not that dreaded Katherine" the woman said.
"Something tells me she wouldn't be to fond of you either" Katherine mumbled.
"How long are you in for?" Emma asked. "Same as you," the woman said. "Just one more night."
"Really? One night? Why? Is Regina going soft?" Emma asked.
"No, Leia. One night because tomorrow we're all going to be executed" Katherine said, remembering her mother's executions extremely well. And they were nothing if not brutal.
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
While Killian knew how to sneak into the Queen's castle, he was only an expert at getting into Katherine's room. Something told him that getting into the dungeons was going to be a much harder task.
And for that, he'd need help.
It was easy to track down Charming who had successfully tracked down Snow. Killian found them in the woods, with Charming having Snow caught in a net that hung from a tree.
"I don't have your ring," Snow said. "And why don't I believe you," Charming said.
"You should," Killian said as he walked over. "She's telling the truth mate."
Charming grabbed his sword not knowing if Killian would be a threat or not.
"Prince Charles. Lovely ball the other night. The mutton was a tad overcooked, but that happens" he said, walking over. "Snow White doesn't have your ring. But I can tell you who does. My princess. Well, her and her...sister. And I need your help to get her back."
"They have my ring?" Charming asked. "That's three women who robbed me. Where are they?"
"Well, that's the problem. The Queen's castle" Killian said.
"Actually, that's not a problem at all," Snow said. "I know it well. It used to be mine. I can get us in there, but not from up here. So, you let me down, and you get your princess, you get your ring. And I never have to see your charming face again."
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Snow's plan was simple. At least it would be if they knew what it was. She left the two men to wait for her until nightfall while she went to get help. From who she didn't tell.
Killian and David sat in front of a fire as they waited for her to get back.
"You excited for your nuptials?" Killian asked, trying to make conversation.
"I'm marrying Midas' daughter. What's not to be excited about?" Charming asked.
"I don't mean to pry, mate, but you don't exactly look like a man who's doing this by choice," Killian said.
I always thought I'd marry for love" Charming said. "And here I am about to enter into what amounts to a business transaction. A merger of two kingdoms. This whole ordeal makes me wonder if there even such a thing as true love."
"I once felt as you did, mate, and all it took was meeting the right person and everything changed," Killian said.
"Princess Isabella? The one we're rescuing?" Charming asked.
"Aye. I'd go to the end of the world for her. Or time?" he laughed.
"And she for you, I take it?" Charming asked.
"Well let's just say it's usually her rescuing me" Killian sighed.
"Then is there a reason you don't have a ring on your finger?" Charming asked.
"There are many...complications" he sighed.
"Family? Because my father is making things quite difficult for me."
"Aye, there's that. I'm not so sure her parents approve of me. Not to mention, I'm worried I can't give her everything she truly deserves" Killian said.
"Well given the lengths you've gone to save her, they'd be crazy not to approve. Plus I don't think she's expecting much more from you then just...to love her" Charming said.
Suddenly someone walked past their camp, causing a shadow through the fire. "What the hell was that?" Charming asked as they both stood up, swords drawn. "I think we're about to find out," Killian said.
"Who the hell are you?" Charming asked as a woman walked over, wearing a red coat and carrying a picket basket.
"Names Red," she said, setting down the basket. "I'm a friend of Snow's. She sent me to help get you into the castle."
"How?" Killian asked as she took off the robe.
"You'll see."
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
Emma sat next to Katherine as the guards came by, slipping food under the cell gate but neither one was hungry.
"What's that?" the woman in the next cell asked, looking over at the ring Emma still had.
"It's my parents'. I guess you could call it their wedding ring" Emma sighed.
"And they entrusted you with it?" the woman asked. "Sort of. I need to get it back to them" Emma said.
"And we will," Katherine told her.
"Being away from family is a terrible, terrible thing" the woman said. "The longer I'm seperated from them, the pain doesn't dull. It worsens. Maybe because I'll know I'll never see them again."
"If my mom was here, she would tell me to have hope," Emma said. "Maybe you should too. Who knows, maybe you will see them again."
"I don't think so. I'm fairly certain they already think that I'm dead. And soon that'll be true" the woman said.
Emma sat up, looking at the metal wiring wrapped around the wooden spoons they were given. "Maybe not," she said.
"What are you doing?" Katherine asked, watching her unravel the wire. "Give me your spoon," Emma said, taking it from her.
"It's all about the tumblers" Emma mumbled, eyeing the locks. "The what?" Katherine asked. Emma twisted the two pieces of metal together before shimmying them into the keyhole.
Katherine watched in anticipation as Emma fumbled with it for a few moments before the lock snapped open. "You did it!" Katherine exclaimed.
She stood up, rushing with Emma out of the cell. "What are you doing?" she asked, seeing Emma try to unlock the woman's cell.
"We can't leave her here," Emma said.
"We don't have a choice. Stepping on ants remember! This is her fate" Katherine said. "It doesn't have to be!" Emma said, pulling the lock open.
"Thank you," the woman said, as Emma let her out. Katherine grabbed Emma's arm. "This is a horrible idea. We can't save her" she said.
"Yes, we can. And we will. Let's go before the guard's come" Emma said, running off. Katherine groaned but followed after her.
They turned around a corner, surprised to be met with a sword held up at them. "Katherine?" Killian asked.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, as he lowered his sword. "Me? What are you doing? You're depriving me of a dashing rescue" he said.
"Well lucky for me I got locked up with the woman who spent 11 months of prison for stealing watches" she shrugged.
"I didn't steal them! And it doesn't matter. I'm not gonna be around much longer unless we find where this belongs" Emma said, holding up the ring.
"I think that belongs to me," David said, taking it from her. "You guys have a way out of here?" Emma asked.
"Follow me," Red said. "Snow told me where to meet her."
"Thank you, Leia," the woman said, following them. Killian looked at Katherine and shook his head.
"You let her rescue her?" he asked. "I told her not to! We can talk about this after we get out of here. The last person we need to run into right now is me" she said.
He nodded, following her as they ran through the dungeons. Katherine stopped as they ran past a large window, looking out on the courtyard below.
"What is it?" Emma asked. "Did you find Snow?"
"You could say that," Katherine said, as they saw Snow being tied to a wooden post by the knights with the Queen standing ready, to kill her.
"We have to get down there before it's too late," Emma said. "I don't think we can," David said.
"You have to do something!" Emma said, looking at Katherine. "I can't. I'm not...me right now" she said.
"No" Emma mumbled, powerless to do nothing but watch as the Queen hurled a fireball toward Snow, her body and the post going up in flames.
─── · 。ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
After making it out of the Queen's castle, they all went back to the camp Killian and Charming stayed. Emma sat near the fire, tears running down her face as she stared at the fire in front of her with a black expression.
"After my brother passed, all I could do was relive that final terrible moment. Don't do that to yourself" Killian said. "All we can do in times like these is try to live in the here an now."
Katherine looked up, his words making her realize something.
"Hold on. Why are you still here?" Katherine asked, looking at Emma.
"Excuse me?"
"Not like that," Katherine said, shaking her head. "If Snow White is dead, you shoud've bleeped out of existence moments after."
"Then that means she could still be alive," Emma said, standing up. "If Snow is out there, we have to find her."
Katherine whipped her hand around as a bug buzzed past her. "We should head back to the castle and look there," she said, groaning as the bug flew back.
"Perhaps it's a trick by Regina" Killian said, as Katherine cursed at whatever bug kept bothering her. "No. Whatever happened, Regina thinks Snow is dead."
The bug landed on Emma's arm and Katherine was prepared to swat it before Charming shouted at her.
"No! Wait, don't harm that thing" he said, running over. "When we were coming to rescue you, Snow told me what her dust would do to the Queen. She said it would turn her into a form that could easily be squashed. A bug."
"You think Snow turned herself into that?" Emma asked as Charming scooped the bug into his hands.
"Well, if she timed it right she could've escaped that fireball, faked her death and flown away. We just need to find a way to bring her back" David said.
"She's saying something," Emma said, leaning closer.
"You speak bug?" Katherine asked.
"She's calling for me," the Blue Fairy said, flying down in from the sky. "Blue!" Emma smiled.
"That's right. And you are?" Blue asked.
"Leia," Emma said.
"No" Blue laughed. "That's not it. But your secrets can be yours. I sense it's better that way."
"Can you bring Snow back?" Ruby asked.
"Dark magic did this to her. Light magic can undo it" Blue said, waving around her wand. The bug in David's hand transformed with a burst of bright light that left Snow standing on the ground in its place.
"You're alive!" Emma cried, pulling her into a hug. Snow was stunned, technically have no idea who Emma was.
"Oh, um. Yes. Thank you" she said, pulling away to greet Red who she was much more excited to see.
Emma stood there, happy that her mother was alive but heartbroken at the empty look in Snow's eyes when she looked at her.
"Looks like we're back on track," Katherine said, trying to make her feel better. "Yeah" Emma mumbled, wanting nothing more than to get back home and see her mother again.