A/N: hi there, sorry if you were reading Welcome to Storybrooke. That's on hiatus. Indefinitely. I apologise. This story will be updated once a week on Wednesdays. Reviews are always deeply appreciated.

Prologue

"Your curse didn't work, Imp," Regina snapped, waving her hand at Rumpelstiltskin. It was meant to blast him backwards into the rocks that made up the wall of his prison. Instead, the bastard just giggled and deflected her magic.

"And you used the heart of the thing you love most?" he asked, a twinkle in his eyes.

"I used my prize steed," Regina replied, trying to think of another type of magical attack she could use against the Dark One. Coming up with something good was difficult since he'd been the one to train her.

"A horse?" Rumple asked. "You used a horse heart and expected that was going to cast the dark curse?"

Regina sneered at him.

"It's supposed to be the heart of the thing you love most, dearie, and that isn't a bloody horse," Rumple said. "Try again!"

He giggled with that grating giggle of his. Regina cursed loudly and vanished into a cloud of smoke, appearing in her bedroom at the castle. Her father was waiting for her there. He rushed over and embraced her.

"Well? Did the Dark One tell you what went wrong?" he asked.

"I didn't use the heart of the thing I love most," Regina said. She felt sick. Snow and that idiot prince of hers were married and happy and about to have a baby and she couldn't even cast a simple curse to break them up.

"You know the only thing I've ever wanted for you was your happiness," her father said, stroking the back of her hair. "And if this curse would make you happy, then you can have-"

"What are you saying?" Regina asked, stepping away from his embrace and frowning at him. Her father was the only person who'd ever truly loved her. And she knew he was the thing she loved most. And now he was offering – no. She couldn't. There was no way she could take her father's heart.

"If this curse is the key to your happiness, then you can have my heart," he offered.

"Daddy-" Regina started.

"No, I'm serious, Regina," he replied. "All I want is for you to be happy. Being queen, running the kingdom, that was your mother's plan for you. I just want what's best for you."

He looked and sounded so sincere that Regina felt her heart break all over again.

"I can't," she said, feeling like she was still the scared little girl Rumple forced to take the heart of a unicorn. "I can't kill you."

She noticed the relief in her father's eyes. "Then we'll find a different way to get your happy ending, my dear."

OOooOOooOOooOO

Looking out across the kingdom revealed only clear blue skies. Grumpy frowned. Given the threats the Evil Queen had been making, the curse should've come that day. But day wore on into evening, then twilight, then night. The fireflies came out, the owls called and swooped over the forest looking for mice. In the trees surrounding the causeway to the castle, the wolves on patrol howled. But the valleys to all sides were clear. There was no curse.

As the night darkened and headed distinctly towards a curse-free dawn, there was a pop and a shower of blue dust and then the blue fairy materialised in front of Leroy. He glowered at her.

"What do you want?" he grumbled.

"Oh it's the most excellent news!" Blue exclaimed. "The Evil Queen had a change of heart. She decided not to cast the curse! We're safe!"

The fairy shrugged her wings back out, and then shrunk down to normal size and flitted away. Grumpy stared after her and kicked Sleepy in the foot.

"Hey, wake up!" he shouted. Sleepy jumped awake and stared at him with tired eyes. "There's no curse! We're safe!"

News of their safety spread across the castle quickly, and when it reached the prince and princess, they opened the cellar and threw an impromptu feast to celebrate. Grumpy couldn't remember the last time ale had tasted quite so good, or food so succulent. But if the Evil Queen wasn't going to stand in the way of their happiness, then maybe there were other matters that could be dealt with.

OOooOOooOOooOO

The Dark One sat alone in his cell, holding the bars, waiting. Something had gone wrong. He should've been in the land without magic by now. Not still stuck in this cell. His visions had been quite clear. He would find his son again, but he knew the only way to do that was to journey to the land without magic, and for that he needed Regina to cast the dark curse that he'd gone through so much trouble to procure. And now there was…nothing.

"Something wrong?" the prince asked, walking up to Rumple's cell with a torch in hand. He was flanked by a few other princes and Rumple wanted nothing more than to introduce all of their faces to a good beating.

"Not at all, Charming," Rumple said, letting go of the bars and stepping back. "I just expected…the curse."

"The word came down," Charming said. "The Evil Queen changed her mind. There's not going to be a curse."

Rumple considered this new information, and grimaced. That certainly wasn't according to the plan.

"Well then," he said, fishing in the crack in the wall for the scroll of parchment.

"What are you doing?" Charming asked, gripping the hilt of his sword.

Wasn't that just charming, Rumple thought. Thinking he could defeat the Dark One with a common sword.

"If there isn't going to be a curse," Rumple said. "Then there's no reason for me to stay here."

"This cell is inescapable," one of Charming's companions said. His name started with some kind of vowel as far as Rumple knew. Aaron, or Oliver, or Eric or something. It didn't matter, not really.

"That's nice, dearie," Rumple said. He unfurled his scroll and looked at his carefully drawn chain of names. Ah well. There were other squids. He lifted the parchment and blew, scattering the words in a cloud. They wrapped around the bars of the cell and the fanglike protrusions disappeared, allowing Rumple to step out. The three princes drew their swords.

Rumple had no patience for that. With a backhanded wave, the princes flew backwards into the walls. He had things to do.

OOooOOooOOooOO

"She didn't cast the curse," Cora said, frowning and staring at the unclouded land.

"What does that mean?" Hook asked, scanning the area. He didn't trust Cora, but if she was going to get him closer to killing the crocodile then he was going to stick with her.

"It means my daughter needs me," Cora said. She smiled at Hook. "Just…not yet."

Hook rolled his eyes. He'd waited centuries to kill the crocodile. He supposed he could wait a while longer.

"So what's our plan?" Hook asked.

He was unimpressed when Cora disappeared in a swirl of purple smoke, and was even less amazed when she returned moments later.

"I forgot something," she said. She waved her gloved hand at him and a wave of magic cascaded over him. Hook shuddered. "After all that time you spent in Neverland, I have no idea what you'd do if your hair turned grey."

Hook frowned. "What did you do to me?"

"Nothing drastic," Cora said. "I just froze you in time. You're no good to me if you lose your pretty face."

She started to disappear again, but Hook caught her wrist in his hook. "What's the plan?"

"You just wait for me, dear," Cora said. She smiled. "I've got my own curse to cast."

Review!

(I promise there's a plot at some point)