Emma sat quietly by the fire, staring at the compass. Snow was off finding food, and Mulan and Aurora were having quite the conversation. Something about Phillip, probably. That's all they seemed to have in common, well, they seemed to like to argue about him. Emma played with the firelight bouncing off the compass. The needle didn't turn, it just kept pointing to the beanstalk. Emma gazed in the direction of the towering stalk in the distance, wondering, worrying. Her thoughts were interrupted by a twig snapping behind her. Snow came out of the darkness, bow in one hand, rabbit in the other.

"Dinner," Snow said, throwing the rabbit next to the fire. Emma grimaced a little. It was better than squirrell, but what she wouldn't do for some pizza right now, or even something frozen. Anything but something she had to skin first. Snow sat on the log next to Emma and took out her knife. As she started to clean the rabbit, Emma looked away. "Does this still bother you?"

"It's not my most favorite part of this trip," Emma stated. Snow smiled and continued to clean the rabbit.

"I used to have to do this all the time, when I lived out in the woods by myself. It's just something you have to do if you're hungry enough," Snow stated. Emma looked at Snow. Wasn't she a princess? Maybe she was referencing when she lived with the dwarves. Either way, she never really heard many stories about her parents. They haven't even had very much time to really talk or exchange life stories. Snow must have sensed that Emma had some questions. "The Queen put a bounty out on me after the Huntsman showed me mercy- Graham." Emma tensed a little. Graham, another man she could love lost. Why did she even think that was possible? Everyone she loves eventually ends up lost, and she prayed she wasn't going to do the same to Henry if she was stuck here. "I lived in the woods a long time," Snow continued. "Then I met your father and everything changed. We both had something to fight for. Love, protecting the kingdom, fighting for our future."

"So you met him in the woods? You didn't meet him after the glass coffin?" Emma asked.

"Of course not! We had big adventures before that," Snow said, a little shocked that Emma didn't know their story. "No, there was storming King George's castle- twice, running from the Queen's guards, and, of course, the troll bridge."

"Troll Bridge?" Emma asked.

"It was our first adventure, and where we fell in love," Snow stated, looking off wistfully. "Before that, I just thought he was some stuck up royal. Then he saved me from the queens guards, and I could tell there was something. But when we got stuck on the troll bridge, and it almost looked like your father would be killed, I ran back into the danger and saved him. Standing together on that troll bridge we knew, but couldn't say it. It was love. And we would find each other, always," Snow looked thoughtfully into the night sky. Long ago, when she was a princess, she and Charming would look up in the sky and make all kinds of wishes for their baby. Bravery, a kind heart, a true love someday. Emma looked down at the fire and poked it with a nearby stick.

"So, you...went back to save him," Emma started. Snow looked at her daughter and could see the hurt on her face.

"Emma, what happened up there?" Snow asked. Emma continued to poke at the fire. "Emma, did you..."

"Did I what?" Emma asked defensively. Snow searched her face and she knew. Emma didn't have to say it, she might not even know herself. Snow returned to her true love on the bridge, but Emma overpowered the battle with her heart on that beanstalk. Emma had guilt and longing in her eyes. She was fighting her pain. Snow knew that feeling all too well, when she was trying to fight her feelings for Charming, and ultimately, took the wrong road to force those feelings out. She wished that Emma wouldn't have to go through the same.

"Nothing," Snow said, finishing cleaning the rabbit and put it over the fire to cook. Snow continued to season the rabbit with herbs that were nearby. Don't say anything, she thought, if Charming were here, he'd tell you not to pry. "Do you think he's okay?"

"He'll be fine," Emma said, gritting her teeth. "He can handle himself. He's cunning, crafty...smart...gentle." Emma caught herself and Snow looked at her knowingly. Emma wrapped her jacket around her even tighter and kept her eyes away from Snow's gaze. "He's a pirate." Snow nodded and smiled to herself. Of course, they were in the enchanted forest and, whether Emma liked it or not, it had a way of opening the heart. Snow left Emma by the fire to get some water from the stream over the hedge. As Snow bent down to scoop some water into the canteen, she looked up to the stars. She wondered if Charming could see the same stars that she was.

"Charming," she whispered to the stars, hoping they would carry the message to him. "Our daughter is in love. I'm sorry to tell you, he's a pirate, but if our daughter loves him, I know there's good in him." She smiled for a moment, then a tear came to her eye. "I don't know how to comfort her. Her heart is so closed. I think she even closed Hook out, and that's why she came back alone. Did we do that to her when we sent her through the wardrobe? Close her heart?" Snow's voice was choked with tears and she wiped her eyes dry. "No. She's our daughter. Her heart can be full of love again- I know it. I see it when she's with Henry, and she will with us again. And, just maybe, with Hook." Snow threw some water on her face to wash the tears away. As she went to go back over the hill, she turned back up to the stars one more time. "And- I like him, even if he is a pirate. You'll just have to get used to the idea, Charming." Snow walked back over the hill to find that Aurora and Mulan had joined Emma around the fire. Emma was still lost in thought, and the other two were still a bit snippy with each other. Aurora smiled at Snow, took the canteen and passed it around so everyone could have a drink. Snow sat back down next to Emma.

"Maybe, someday, you'll have to tell me how that true love thing works," Emma said, giving Snow a bit of a nudge. Snow smiled in return. You'll know soon enough, my girl, Snow thought.