Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Three—"Ask Ev'ry Person if He's Heard the Story"

It took them forever to make it to Storybrooke. First there was Elsa to convince, which took longer than anyone expected when representatives from two neighboring kingdoms came knocking on the door demanding to know what had happened. Then they had to go to Misthaven via ship, looking for the doorway that Grand Pabbie thought was there. But it turned out that while Grand Pabbie knew an awful lot about magic, he certainly didn't know everything, so that was an absolute bust. Of course, while they were there, Kristoff picked (and won!) a fight with an ogre, and Anna found herself learning to cook for the first time, which had been a lot less successful than Kristoff's fight with the ogre, if she did say so herself.

That side trip took up almost two weeks, though, and left Anna really annoyed. She just wanted to go check on her friends, but getting there felt impossible. Just when she'd started to lose hope, however, a friendly realm-hopping rabbit showed up in Arendelle, doing a tour of neighboring realms just to see if everything was still okay. It turned out that their next closest world (aside from Misthaven, of course) was a funny little place called Wonderland. The White Rabbit was from there, and he offered to take them to Storybrooke on his way home. Anna jumped at the chance despite Elsa's objections, and soon enough, she and Kristoff were jumping through a rabbit hole towards Storybrooke.

Weird though that was, it was certainly better than traveling via enchanted chest. Particularly when said chest was busy taking on water. But since pretty much anything was better than that, that wasn't saying much.

The guy that they ran into after climbing out of said rabbit hole, however, didn't seem to agree.

"Wow." The brown haired guy reared back, staring at them skeptically. "I've seen a lot of stuff in my day, and while this doesn't exactly take the cake, seeing a rabbit dig out of the street kind of takes the cake."

Anna frowned. "We didn't bring any cake."

"It's just a figure of speech." The stranger blinked. "I'm, um, going to go out on a limb and assume that you aren't from around here. Hence the portal."

"Yeah, that's kind of obvious, isn't it?" At least he wasn't an idiot, but Anna wasn't sure who he was, so she had to tell herself to be cautious. Kristoff was certainly looking at the guy with suspicious eyes, at least, which was good, because it meant that Anna could just be curious, right? "We're from Arendelle. Well, except the Rabbit. He's from Wonderland, but he was nice enough to give us a ride."

"It seemed to be the best way to end things amicably," the Rabbit spoke up with a shrug. Then he turned to them. "But if you're satisfied, I'll be on my way. Queen Anastasia merely wanted assurances that Storybrooke survived, and that does seem to be the case. Will was very particular about never coming back to this 'horrid place', as he called it, and—"

"Yeah, why don't you stick around for a few minutes," Kristoff cut him off. "Just in case. Looks can be deceiving, you know."

"Oh, I'm sure everything's fine." Anna looked around, noticing that the diner was still there, and people seemed to be moving around in what seemed to be a normal fashion. If something had gone really wrong here, surely there'd be signs, right? Storybrooke hadn't seemed like the kind of place where people would just quietly accept something crazy happening when she'd been there before, but even Anna had to admit that she hadn't really seen much of the town. Elsa had seen a lot more, but Elsa was stuck at home playing queen.

"Maybe." Kristoff didn't look convinced, and he looked the stranger up and down. "I didn't catch your name. No offense, but we didn't see you last time we were here."

"Ah, well, that's because I probably wasn't here." A strangely off-kilter grin. "I, ah, took a bit of a leave of absence of sorts. It's a long story. But I didn't exactly catch who you two are, either, and I've never heard of Arendelle."

"You haven't? That's funny. Well, I'm Anna, and this is Kristoff. My sister Elsa was here with us last time, but she's back home, being—"

"Busy. She's busy." Kristoff gave her one of his paranoid looks, which made Anna sigh. She knew that she was generally kind of reckless and maybe a little bit overly friendly, but Kristoff really did go overboard trying to compensate for that sometimes.

"Right. Well, I'm Baelfire. Some people call me Neal, though."

Kristoff caught on right away. "From that curse, right?"

"Um, not exactly. But close enough." He glanced around. "So, what brings you guys here, anyway? It's not every day that a portal opens from other worlds." A grimace. "In fact, we've actually been trying to prevent that recently."

"We're not here to cause trouble," Anna said quickly. "We just wanted to see our friends to make sure everything is okay! Kristoff and I have both been friends with David for years, and Belle came to Arendelle once. I promised Elsa I'd check on Emma, too, and the Rabbit has to say hi to Belle, too, from Will Scarlet, and—"

"Whoa, yeah, I get the idea. Okay, you know people. I can help you find some of them, if you want, though I suspect Belle's going to be harder to find. She's gone off to talk to Blue about some stuff that you probably don't want to get in the middle of."

"Blue? Is that one of the fairies?" Kristoff asked, making Anna think hard. She vaguely remembered the fairies, but she hadn't really paid much attention to them. She knew they were supposed to be good, of course, but Misthaven had always been a confusing place, and Storybrooke was even worse on that front.

After all, the fact that the scaly lizard-like evil sorcerer she'd met had turned into a nice guy and married her friend made things more than a little weird.

"Yeah." Baelfire grimaced. "Blue is definitely a fairy."

He said the word like it was a curse, and that really got Anna's attention.

"I'm surprised to see you here, child." Blue gave Belle what was probably her best maternal smile, but Belle was done falling for that act. Particularly now that she was—strange though it felt—her great-aunt's equal in terms of power.

That was why she'd come alone, instead of bringing Rumplestiltskin like he'd practically begged her to. He thought that talking to Blue was an utter waste of time, but he was also concerned that Blue might try something shady. Belle didn't think that was that stupid, or at least not after Rumple had killed Danns', but she certainly wasn't in a trusting mood. It had taken her weeks to worm the truth out of Titania and Hobyah, but she finally had gotten to the bottom of what was going on with the two remaining fae. Now that she knew, Belle didn't like it one bit.

"Please don't call me that." Belle intentionally refused the seat Blue offered her, squaring her shoulders and standing as tall as she could. She felt like a blimp, now that she was showing more and more every day, but Belle didn't care. This needed to be done. So, she gave Blue a hard look. "I might be much younger than you, but I am what you are."

"Very well." Blue pursed her lips. "What can I do for you, then, Belle?"

"You can tell me why you're making offers to the fae behind my back."

"Excuse me?" Blue actually had the audacity to look offended. "Why would I ever do such a thing?"

"According to them, because you're the closest thing they have to a leader these days." Taking a deep breath, Belle forced herself not to lose her temper. Anger made her magic much less predictable, and although she hadn't done anything catastrophic yet, she was very careful to try to keep herself optimistic and happy. Her magic was light in nature, so very light, but that didn't mean that light couldn't burn. "You offered them sanctuary."

Blue sniffed. "Well, that would certainly be better than being locked away in the asylum for the rest of their very long lives."

"You do know that they killed people. And we have a justice system here, one that we actually intend to make work." Belle could hardly contain her desire to spit at Blue; it wasn't the fact that Blue wanted to 'help' the fae that annoyed her so. It was the fact that Blue had promised them no punishment for their crimes.

"Fairies are hardly humans to be subjected to human laws." Blue smiled benignly. "We take care of our own issues."

"Just like you took care of my grandmother."

Blue flinched, actual anger entering her eyes. "I would not have killed her. I would have—"

"Exiled her using Henry's heart," Belle cut her off. "Just like you did in the past. Because humans are so much less important than fairies, and it doesn't matter if you have to burn up a child to save a fairy life." The books on Blue's shelves started to rattle slightly, and Belle throttled down her anger with an effort, biting out each word in turn. "I didn't want her to die, either. But she gave us no choice."

"There is always a choice." A sad shake of the head told Belle that Blue thought she'd made the wrong one, but Belle was beyond caring for what Blue thought. Blue had redeemed herself a little by helping heal people in the final battle, but they both knew that Blue could have done so much more.

"Yes, and my grandmother had one." Belle let out a careful breath, struggling to keep from shouting. "And so do you."

"Of course I do." Blue folded her hands, and for a moment, Belle sympathized with every time Rumplestiltskin had ranted about fairies and their insular worldview.

"That's really all you're going to say, isn't it?" She wished she could sound incredulous, but by this point, Belle was just sadly unsurprised.

"I made my point."

Fury raced through Belle, making more books rattle. She clamped down on it again, forcing herself to speak calmly. "Then let me make mine: leave the fae where they are. They will serve the time that the law demands for their crimes, and then they are my concern."

Blue's eyebrows rose. "Yours?"

"I promised my grandmother that I would look after her people, and I will." Belle would also make sure that both Titania and Hobyah answered for the people they had hurt, but ironically, those two had been two of the less-bloody-minded fae. Or at least so far as we can prove.

The month and a half since the battle had been full of figuring out the law and trying to apply it. Musicbrooke had held elections while the Camulodians struggled to figure out what kind of society they wanted to have, although they'd already co-opted Mordred into running whatever government they eventually settled on. Storybrooke's town council met fairly constantly, working out a system of laws that was a compromise between the old world and the new. David had led those committees, with heavy input from Regina and Rumplestiltskin, whose law degree had turned out to be very useful, particularly since he had a near-encyclopedic level of knowledge concerning laws back in the Enchanted Forest, too. In the end, Lamorak and his bully boys had been put on trial for extortion—and in a few cases—murder. Now the worst of them were locked up while the minor players were stuck doing years' worth of community service, and Belle didn't feel a flicker of pity for them.

They were even drawing up a new town charter, one that Belle had hoped Blue would support. But it was obvious that Blue was determined to have her own private fiefdom within Storybrooke, where the fairies answered only to her. The most worrisome thing was the one fact Belle had definitely not mentioned to Blue: Titania seemed to think that Blue would get the other fae out of exile and use them to bolster the fairies' power, reuniting the fae and fairies into faeries once and for all.

As little as six months earlier, Belle wouldn't have been able to stop herself from confronting Blue. But now she remained silent, waiting and watching. Being forewarned was being forearmed, after all, and she would take a page from her husband's book and wait to see what would happen. If Blue was truly determined to seek power for herself, they would stop her. But if she wasn't, and Titania was only hoping that she would, a confrontation now would serve no one.

Meanwhile, Belle would do everything she could to help the human residents of Storybrooke recover from years of upheaval and battles. She had the power to do what needed to be done, and she would.

So, she left Blue's office without expecting any response…and without a flicker of guilt.

David hadn't been expecting Kristoff and Anna to show up, but he was a little glad they had. Robin was off at a doctor's appointment with Regina, Emma was at the elementary school giving a presentation on how magic could help with solving crimes, and as a result, the Sheriff's Station was pretty empty. Being alone was never a good thing, particularly now that everything had quieted down and left him missing Snow more than ever, so he was really glad for the company. Even if listening to Anna was kind of like listening to Baby Neal when he got babbling.

"He's so cute!" Anna was actually leaning over Neal at the moment, who David had brought to work that day. Neal seemed to like her, too, and commenced a good babble that entertained Anna to no end.

"I'm sorry to hear about Snow," Kristoff said quietly while Anna made faces at Neal. "I didn't get to know her well, but I can…well, I can guess how you have to feel."

David swallowed, but still found his hand drifting towards where his wife's heart beat in his chest. "Yeah. Part of her will always be with me, but…it's not the same."

"If we can do anything—not that I really think we can make it better—just let us know, all right?" Kristoff's round face was full of genuine emotion, and David nodded.

"I will. It's been long enough that I've figured out to live without her, though I never really expected that I would have to." He let out a breath, feeling that now-familiar pulse of warmth and love rush through him. I'll always love you, Snow, he thought. No matter what. "Luckily, I have a lot of family around, and I know that Snow would want me to go on."

"Speaking of family, how's Emma? Elsa wanted us to check up on her, and we honestly don't know enough about this town to figure out how to find her. We were lucky that what's-his-name showed us how to find you."

David snorted out a laugh. "Baelfire. He's actually the one Neal's named after."

Kristoff gave him a funny look. "Good friend of yours?"

"Um." David realized that he should have thought before sharing that tidbit of information, because this one was really hard to explain to outsiders. "He is now, yeah. But Snow and I named Neal because Bae—or Neal, which he was going by at the time—died to save all of us."

"He looked pretty alive to me."

"That's kind of a long story." David sighed, trying to figure out how much of it to share or just to leave it at that. Kristoff, however, had just kind of shrugged, reminding David of how very laid back Kristoff was. Kristoff was a practical sort, and one who took things at face value. He was definitely the counterweight needed for Anna's dreaminess, too. David liked them both a lot, and Anna had helped him discover important things about himself when they'd both been younger, but he'd found they were both much more likeable together.

In the end, Anna rescued him from having to explain their (even more these days) weird family tree by deciding that she was going to teach Neal to fly. David stepped in to rescue his giggling son before that could go too far, and figured he could leave it to Emma to explain how her dead ex-boyfriend was now her boyfriend again.

"We've got some visitors from Arendelle," Bae said by way of greeting, walking into the shop a little while after lunch.

"Oh?" Rumplestiltskin never had much liked that world, although he had to admit that his last visit there had gone better than ones in the past. Belle was rather fond of Anna, too, and the rest of the family had made friends with Arendelle's royal clan, so he supposed that he should be on his best behavior.

He also hoped they weren't there for help of a non-ice magic sort, but the odds of that were probably low. Belle can help them, he decided. It'll be good practice for her, and I'm happy to hold her cloak while she does. Adjusting to the fact that Belle could match him power-for-power had been an interesting experience, but Rumplestiltskin found it was one he usually enjoyed. For him, power was security, but for Belle, it was a way of helping people. And he sensed that she was much happier when she wasn't the 'junior' member of their partnership, even if she'd never say as much. So, Rumplestiltskin was happy to wear the mantle of the mysterious sorcerer while his wife became the bringer of goodness and light.

Though he was trying to keep her from exerting herself too much at this point in her pregnancy. Belle was almost six months along, and Rumplestiltskin had to fight the daily urge to protect her from everything and everyone, much to her displeasure. They'd mostly managed to find a happy medium, however, and their marriage was doing better than ever now that the insane string of calamities had finally stopped.

"Yeah. Named Kristoff and Anna. Apparently, they know Belle—and I'm hoping you never did anything terribly evil to them." His practical son didn't sound very hopeful, though, and Rumplestiltskin had to snort at the wary expression on Bae's face.

"Not recently, no." He shrugged. "Our last meeting was even rather civil. I took Belle to Arendelle to find her memories of her mother's death. It went well enough."

"That's a relief." Bae snorted. "They came through a portal with a white rabbit. Snarky little rabbit, actually."

Now that was at least a little interesting. Rumplestiltskin had met the White Rabbit a few times in his days as the Dark One; he'd even contemplated cultivating the Rabbit's friendship in order to use him as a portal jumper. Unfortunately, he'd learned that the Rabbit's magic had the same limitations that Jefferson's did, and the Rabbit could only travel to lands with magic. That had made the Rabbit's hole-digging abilities less than useful for his purposes, so he'd shelved the idea and left the White Rabbit alone. Yet Bae was waiting for an answer, wearing a bemused expression that said he thought his father was old and losing touch.

"Yes, we've met." Rumplestiltskin cocked his head. "But why in the world did he bring the other two?"

"I'm not really sure, but he said something about delivering a message to Belle from someone named Will."

The thought of Will Scarlet brought an instinctive scowl to Rumplestiltskin's face, but he tried to push his old feelings aside. Will had been merely friendly with Belle when he left, and eager to patch up his relationship with his own True Love. In his heart, Rumplestiltskin knew he had nothing to worry about, but the old, nervous spinner in him still wanted to rush to Belle and make sure she hadn't suddenly decided to leave him.

I trust her, he told himself firmly. And Scarlet would have come himself if he was trying to romance my wife, not sent a rabbit. Even he's not that foolish.

"Interesting," was all he said, forcing his insecurities back. Doing so was easier these days, easier than it had ever been.

"Is he the one who Belle had that stupid fling with? She mentioned him once, said she'd been lonely and dumb."

Bae's question made him blink, and Rumplestiltskin had to fight back a smile at the phrasing. If Belle had told Bae about Will, that truly meant she'd never felt anything for the scrappy thief. So, he was able to smile easily enough when he answered: "That's the one."

"Hey, at least Belle's ex isn't hanging around." Bae shrugged, but Rumplestiltskin could see the way anxiety was trying to creep into his son's pseudo-casual posture. "I can't say the same for Emma."

"And here I thought that the pirate was busy romancing Maleficent's daughter."

Bae gave him a dirty look. "The 'pirate' is your nephew, Pop."

Rumplestiltskin shrugged. "Point stands."

"Yes, he is. And he seems happy with her, too." Bae sighed quietly, slumping against the counter. "It's just…I don't know how to do this. Any of this."

"Any of what?"

"You know. Long term romance." Brown eyes so very like his own turned to Rumplestiltskin, and they were more than a little wide with panic. "What if I screw it up again? What if I screw her over again? Emma means the world to me, and I can't afford to mess this up. There's no way she'd forgive me a second time."

"Have you done something that requires forgiveness?"

"No! Of course not. I'm just…" Bae trailed off, gesturing helplessly.

"Nervous," Rumplestiltskin finished for him, smiling softly. "You feel like you're out of your league, like she'll find someone better and walk away without looking back."

"Yeah." His son suddenly looked so very sad. "I mean, I'm just a spinner's kid from the Frontlands, y'know? She's a princess, Papa."

Reaching out, Rumplestiltskin put a hand on his son's arm and squeezed gently. "Do you think she cares about that?"

"No." Bae shook his head. "I mean, I know Emma doesn't give a damn about what we were born as, but…she's still the Savior. And I'm just me. I don't deserve her."

"A wise woman once told me that love isn't about deserving. Love is about love." It took me long enough to understand that, but now I think I finally do.

"That sounds like Belle." Bae finally cracked a smile, and Rumplestiltskin chuckled.

"Probably because it was her." He studied his son. "Now, what brings on this sudden attack of nerves?"

Bae had always been far braver than his father, had always been able to adapt and adjust to any situation. So Rumplestiltskin doubted that any small spat with Emma had brought this on; no, there had to be something significant going on. Something big enough to shake Bae's usually casual confidence.

"I'm, um, thinking about—eventually, I mean, not yet—trying to, ah…you know."

"I know…?" He waited for Bae to stop stuttering and say something sensible, but his son only gestured wildly.

"You know! Relationship stuff. Making it matter. All that."

What Bae was trying to say hit him like a ton of bricks, and Rumplestiltskin barely managed not to gape. "You're talking about proposing to Miss Swan?"

Bae cringed. "Yeah. I mean, it's got to wait a bit, since we've only lived together for a month, but I want to spend my life with her, Papa. I missed my last chance because I was a stupid coward, and I'm not going to miss out on this one. I love her."

"I know you do, Bae." Rumplestiltskin squeezed his son's arm again, forcibly calming his own racing mind. He'd always wanted Bae to be happy, even if that meant his son being involved with a woman with whom Rumplestiltskin had—at best!—a contentious relationship with. But he'd been on much better terms with Emma since she'd become the Dark One, and in the end, that didn't really matter. What mattered was how Bae felt.

And Henry, too, but they all already knew what Henry would say about this idea. He'd ask his father why he hadn't proposed a month earlier.

"Are you okay with this?" Bae's voice was suddenly small, and for a moment, he seemed like a six year old, desperate for his papa's approval.

"Of course I am." Rumplestiltskin didn't even hesitate. "I know how much she means to you, and you did share True Love's kiss, Bae. That would have made a believer out of me, even on my worst days."

That finally made his son smile, right up until nervousness stole the expression away. "I'm going to suck at this when I do propose."

"Haven't you done that before?" Rumplestiltskin asked before he could stop himself. If he'd been an absolutely honest man, he would have found a way to tell Bae that he'd killed Tamara, but there was still a little too much of the old Rumplestiltskin left in him to volunteer that information. If Bae asked, he wouldn't lie…but now wasn't the time to bring it up. Bae was happy, and some wounds didn't need to be picked at. She betrayed him, and he didn't seem upset when he learned she was dead, he told himself. He never asked who did it, either. For all I know, Bae might have already guessed.

He wasn't going to ask, though. Not when Bae was shaking his head. "No, actually Tamara proposed to me. It seemed too fast, but I was lonely and she was all I had…so, I said yes. Seems pretty stupid now that I know she was using me."

"No worse than my relationship with Cora."

"Yeah, no, I think you win there, Pop." Bae grimaced. "That woman was seriously scary. Not to mention psychotic."

"Let's not mention that, yes." Rumplestiltskin couldn't argue, but he was glad that he could think of Cora without too much anger. He had loved her, once, with every fiber of his broken and darkened heart. Theirs had been a destructive love, however, and it had taken Belle to teach him that there really was something better out there.

It had taken Belle's love for Rumplestiltskin to remember how be to worthy of this amazing man his son had become, too. Cora would have hated Bae, and Bae really would have hated her.

But Cora was gone, as was Tamara, and they were both in far healthier relationships. So, Rumplestiltskin talked his son through his nerves over asking Emma to marry him, and then took him to the jewelry store downtown to help him start ring shopping.

After Anna and Kristoff's visit, time seemed to pass quickly in Storybrooke. Belle insisted on housing the pair for a week's visit, and although Anna still gave Rumplestiltskin sideways looks from time to time, they managed to get along fairly well. Anna did make a few very poorly timed jokes about Emma and Killian's breakup, and at one point they were all fairly sure that Lily wanted to burn her to a crisp, but Emma managed to talk Lily down. Those two grew closer and closer, and they ended up sharing a lot of somehow-not-awkward double dates with their respective beaus as the months ticked by.

Life was pretty normal until Emma found herself holding Regina's hand while Henry's other mom gave birth, and if that wasn't both weird and out of place at the same time, she didn't know how else to describe it.

"No one is going to try to steal this baby, are they?" Whale asked while Regina groaned.

"Do I look like I care?" Regina snarled. "Just get her out of me!"

"I was just checking." Whale shrugged, and then added: "Strangely enough, there's some parts of this process that can't be rushed. Just keep breathing, and—"

"Don't choke him, Regina!" Emma got in just as Regina's hand tried to wrench free of her own, and she could tell exactly what Regina had in mind. "He's a jerk, but he's not worth it."

"Besides, he's still the only doctor in town, love. We need him." Robin was probably trying to sound reasonable from Regina's other side, but all it did was earn him a glare.

"I hate you sometimes." Regina's voice dropped to a growl. "Particularly now. This is all your fault!"

That was definitely the wrong thing to say, given how said child had been conceived, and Robin looked stricken. "Gina, I—"

"Oh, don't apologize," she snapped. "I knew what I was getting into. I don't hate you for that. I hate you for being reasonable!"

Robin's laugh was strained, but another contraction cut off anyone else from saying more, and then Emma managed to get Regina's attention on breathing instead of bitching. Elaine, the midwife from Camulodunum, continued talking Regina through things, and at least Regina listened to her. It didn't stop Whale from cracking sarcastic comments from time to time, but they were mostly able to ignore him.

Once the baby was born—and not stolen—everyone forgot about their differences, anyway.

Hours later, Regina finally felt like she might eventually be human again. She was grateful that Belle had dropped by with a potion to help her insides heal more quickly, even if it made her more tired than she wanted to admit. Still, she had Robin at her side and their daughter in her arms, and Regina thought that was just about perfect.

"She's beautiful, 'Gina," Robin whispered, trying not to wake their little girl. "Absolutely perfect. I can't thank you enough for—"

"Hush." For once, there was no sharpness in her voice, and Regina liked that. "Don't thank me. She's my daughter, too."

Robin just planted a wordless kiss on her forehead, and Regina felt the distant flare of perfect magic as he did. For a moment, the feeling made her close her eyes, marveling at how peaceful she felt. She had doubted so many times if she would ever find true happiness, had done so many terrible things that she had doubted she'd deserve it, yet here she was. Her life wasn't perfect; she would never forget that her daughter had been conceived when Zelena raped Robin, and Regina would never truly forgive herself for the horrible crimes she had committed, but she could accept that. She could be who she was: a mayor who had learned how to lead, a mother to her sister's daughter, and a woman who loved so fiercely that she could feel her heart burning with the fury of it all.

Now she looked at the little girl who she wouldn't trade away for a thousand children of her own and smiled. "I think she's going to have black hair."

"I think she is." Robin chuckled softly. "There's no one in my family with black hair, love. I think you've rubbed off on her."

"Me?" Somehow, that hadn't occurred to Regina, and it made her look up at Robin with wide eyes.

"Yeah." He leaned in to kiss her forehead again. "You."

Regina couldn't quite explain why that brought tears to her eyes, but it did. Perhaps their daughter was hers in more than her heart. Perhaps she wasn't. In the end, it didn't really matter. Regina would love her all the same. Gently, she brushed at the so-soft hair on their daughter's head. "I love her so much already. I love her so much that it hurts."

"Me, too." Robin's voice was full of wonder, and several moments passed in blissful silence as they just watched their sleeping daughter. Finally, he asked: "Shall we call her Raven, then?"

"Raven?" Regina tested the name out, and found she rather liked the way it sounded. They'd discussed several names, and Raven hadn't been one of them, but somehow that just fit. "Raven, Robin, Roland, and Regina?" She laughed despite herself. "Poor Henry might feel left out."

Robin snorted. "I think he's secure enough not to worry."

"I know." Regina had been joking, and she'd actually been rather touched when Henry had insisted on being there for the birth. He was a little young for this kind of thing, so they'd kicked him out before it got really messy, but Regina knew that her eldest son loved her just as deeply as she loved him. "Raven Hood, or Raven Locksley?"

"I was thinking Raven Mills, actually." Robin's words took her breath away, but he just shrugged. "Locksley was my title before I gave it up, and Hood is a rubbish last name. So, I thought we might all take yours, assuming it's all right with you."

Regina just kissed him like her life depended on it. She figured that was answer enough.

Two months to the day after Raven Mills was born, Gabrielle Gold screamed her way into the world. Her father was a nervous wreck during the birth, having never seen anything like this before—somehow, Rumplestiltskin had managed to avoid women giving birth, despite the high number of babies who had passed through his hands—but Belle barely seemed to break a sweat. She did almost kick him out of the room when Rumplestiltskin started fretting, but Morgan yelling at him had shamed him into calming down. Either that, or the idea of his brother mocking him for being unable to stomach his own child being born did the trick, because he knew that Mordred was in the crowd waiting outside.

Bae was there, too, as were Henry and Emma—who was finally sporting that ring on her finger after Bae needed the last two months to work up the courage to propose. Had David not inadvertently ruined the surprise by asking Emma if Bae had popped the question yet, they might still have been waiting to find out if those two would ever tie the knot, but Bae had hurried to make up for that, much to his father's amusement. Killian was still teasing him about that, now that he and Lily were back from their three month tour of the eastern seaboard, and Rumplestiltskin found that the idea of the formerly-one handed pirate waiting outside the hospital room no longer bothered him.

They had entirely too much family these days, Rumplestiltskin figured, but all disgruntled thoughts left his mind the moment he held his baby girl in his arms. She was absolutely beautiful and looked nothing like him, which Rumplestiltskin figured would be a blessing as she grew older.

"Oh, Belle." He didn't have any other words, just a besotted smile for his wife that he transferred back to their daughter after a moment.

Belle's smile was radiant, too. "I think she looks like you."

"Let's hope not." But he managed to laugh; Rumplestiltskin was a father, again, and this time he wouldn't screw things up. He wouldn't give up his relationship with Baelfire for anything, but he was determined to do right by this child from the start.

It was also nice to know that his daughter would never go hungry, that she'd never lack for necessities—or even luxuries—and that his wife would love her every bit as much as he did. Grow though Rumplestiltskin might have done over the last nine months, he would never shake the memories of struggling alone to keep his son alive through hard winters. Or those of having frightened his son with his power, of chasing a beloved child away because he could not contain his own darkness. Not this time, he vowed. This time I will be the father my child deserves.

"I think you're beautiful," Belle said as he handed Gabrielle back over.

"I think she's beautiful." He kissed his wife gently. "Almost as beautiful as you."

"Give her time," Morgan put in from Belle's other side, smiling like the proud grandmother she was. "I think your daughter is going to break many hearts."

Rumplestiltskin wasn't sure that he liked the sound of that. "Better she break their hearts than I their heads," he muttered before he could stop himself.

"Rumple." Belle chided him gently, but she didn't look too put out. They were both too happy to take him seriously, even if Rumplestiltskin did plan on terrifying the life out of any boy who thought they could take liberties with his little girl.

Seventeen years and a dozen boyfriends later, his legendary ability to intimidate would-be lovers failed him when Gabi announced that she was dating Raven Mills, who knew that her 'Uncle Rumple' was far more bark than he was bite.

Watching them kiss for the first time, however, damn near gave him a heart attack.

Of course, that was hardly the end of the story, or even the high points. Henry had started writing in earnest after the Final Battle, but he'd been careful to go back and record the stories of both curses, too, because his original storybook only covered the casting of the first curse. Writing without the quill was slower, but he figured that he had time—and a computer, too, which sped things up in ways he really liked. Maybe someday he'd publish the stories, he figured, although he knew no one would believe they were true.

Still, he was the Author. It took him a long time to realize how important that role was; when he was younger, Henry just wanted to change things, just wanted to be a hero. But as he grew older, Henry started to understand that there were many heroes in the world, and not all of them fought with swords or magic. Most of them weren't perfectly heroic, either; maybe things had been simpler back in the Enchanted Forest, but in Storybrooke, things were real. And he didn't have to be just some knight or prince from a fairytale. He could be that and the Author, and Henry rather liked the idea of younger generations reading his word.

After all, who would he have been without the Book in his life?

"Whatcha doing?" A small hand tugged on his sleeve, making Henry look down.

Seeing his youngest uncle made him smile. "Writing a story."

"Is it a fun story?"

"It's the best story." Reaching down, Henry pulled Gideon into his lap. Gideon was just six, now, the baby of a very large family, and Henry had babysat him—along with Gabi, Neal, Roland, and Raven—too many times to count. "You're in it, too."

"Me?" Brown eyes widened, and for a moment, Henry had to grin to himself. Everyone from the Cornwall side of the family seemed to have those brown eyes, from Morgan on down. That was a link to the paternal side of his family that Henry had never expected to have, and he liked it.

"Yep. We all are."

"What's it called?"

"You know, I was going to change the title." Henry chuckled to himself, glancing at the place where the original Book was propped up against the side of his desk, always there to remind him about how everything had begun. "But I think I'm not going to."

Gideon peered at him with wide eyes. "Then what is it?"

"It's a classic. Once Upon a Time."

"Isn't that just how stories start?" His little uncle frowned, and Henry shook his head.

"Yeah, it's a start. But it's a lot more than that, too. It's the story of who we are."

FINIS.

A/N: And this is it. Wow. 845,000 words later, this story is finally done. I'm still a little in shock.

That said, I'm not quite done with this universe—I plan to write oneshots here and there in the "Ruins & Battles" universe, so look for them both here and on tumblr. In the meantime, if you're on tumblr and so inclined, please vote for Ruins & Battles as Best Series (this story isn't eligible after winning Best AU!OUAT and Best Season Rewrite last year). Also, if you're reading this story's remix, A Different Battle, look for an update to that fic this week.

Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck with me through this wild ride of a story!