#like yep there were Circumstances but you fully betrayed your family there

[fincalinde]

What do you think about jc?

I've sat on this ask for a bit because I have so much to say about JC that it was difficult to pick an angle. Then I remembered some of the tags that were added to my JYL and WWX post. A few people seem to disagree with my assessment that JYL loves WWX more than JC, and I thought it would be worth responding to that because I see why there's disagreement but I stand by my position.

Standard disclaimer: I'm commenting on a trend here because I think it's interesting, and I'm not responding to anyone in particular.

OK so.

I don't dispute that JYL loves JC deeply. She takes care of him, she adores him, and I'm sure she's willing to die for him.

Where the taggers and I seem to differ is that I place more emphasis on the way JYL treats JC than the way she feels about him in the abstract. I don't doubt for a second that JYL herself would insist and truly believe that she loves JC and WWX equally as her darling baby brothers.

However, when the chips are down her actions don't bear this out. We see JYL with her brothers more than once so we do have a decent holistic picture of their dynamic right up until her death, both when things are good and when things are very bad—the latter of which being, in my opinion, much more telling.

I've gone through all their scenes (in presented rather than chronological order) to examine how JYL treats her brothers in ordinary circumstances and to highlight how that treatment differs when the stakes are higher.

Lotus Pier and lotus seeds

Though JYL is mentioned earlier than this in the novel, she first appears in the scene where YZY is upbraiding JC for shooting arrows with WWX and some of the other disciples. She slaps JC, calls him an ignorant child, and tells him off for messing around when one day he'll be clan leader. She then turns on WWX and blames him for influencing JC to fool around.

I won't get into YZY's poor parenting and leadership here. I'll just note that she scolds and humiliates both JC and WWX. And then I'll note that in the next scene, at dinner after the news that each clan must send at least twenty disciples for 'teaching', JYL passes WWX a small dish of peeled lotus seeds. It's a very sweet and quietly supportive gesture and very characteristic of her. But JC has also been scolded and struck and humiliated. Where are his lotus seeds? I realise this sounds petty, but these small things add up.

I don't at all read this scene as implying that JYL doesn't feel sympathy or love for JC. But it's the first indication that her instincts guide her towards meeting WWX's emotional needs before JC's.

Post-cave soup

Nothing notable here, WWX has just been through an ordeal and JC is in the pink of health so it makes sense that JYL is feeding WWX soup and focusing on him.

Phoenix Mountain hunt flower chuck

Before the hunt JYL's face lights up when she sees both of her brothers and she risks her fragile health to throw them a flower each. Again nothing notable about this. At that particular moment in time all is theoretically well.

Langya soup

JYL makes extra soup for both of her brothers. Makes sense, they are both present and neither are in active crisis, this is a standard domestic task she carries out for both of them (and JZX, oops).

No living man am I!

JYL stands up for WWX at the Phoenix Mountain hunt. JC isn't present this so I'm really noting it for the sake of being thorough. It's not ideal that JC isn't present and hears about it later, but it doesn't have any bearing on whether or not JYL favours WWX in her treatment of her brothers as she's not choosing between them here and she's acting as much to defend the reputation of the Jiang as to protect WWX.

The ancestral hall

Just some quick banter in this scene, Xianxian is being three years old and when JC arrives it's really the twin heroes show while JYL says she'll make them both soup to stop them fighting. JC is being pretty harsh with his words here but it's still within the realms of the way he and WWX typically rag on each other, so no one's in genuine distress and JYL is just trying to stop a squabble rather than actually tend to anyone's hurt feelings.

That said, it is one of the best examples of the typical dynamic between the three of them: the boys bickering (though here in particular with ominous undertones) while JYL gently tries to keep the peace.

Sad backstory

The scenes where JYL goes out to fetch tiny WWX from the tree and he and JC reconcile after JC loses his beloved dogs aren't a smoking gun but they are indicative of where the dynamic ends up. JYL handles this situation incredibly maturely for a girl her age. She does the right thing in going to get WWX and in ensuring JC apologises and they make up. She is in no way to blame for the fact that it's unreasonable and unfair to take away a child's dogs and expect him to accept that and be gracious about a new child whose presence is the reason for the dogs' absence.

I don't think JYL is favouring WWX here. For one thing, she's just met him and hasn't had time to love him as much as she loves JC. But it does establish a dynamic we'll see cropping up again: WWX needing support and JYL providing it, while JC's needs go comparatively unmet. I'll emphasise again that JYL is absolutely not responsible here for the awfulness of the situation, and she's doing the best anyone possibly could in her shoes. But later, when she does bear more responsibility for the disparity in the level of sisterly attention WWX and JC receive, this particular dynamic has a familiar feel.

Say yes to the dress

JC and JYL sneak out so WWX can see JYL in her wedding dress. JC really is for the most part a very good clan leader and brother and he deserves a lot of credit for moments like this where he takes a reputational risk purely because of his brotherly love and loyalty to WWX and JYL. JC is also the one who suggests WWX be the one to pick the courtesy name, which is extraordinarily generous of him and a meaningful gesture that shows he truly considers WWX family even if they've mutually agreed that in public they can't associate any more.

Like the majority of the scenes with the three of them together, this captures a moment of relative calm where it's correspondingly easier for JYL to balance her brothers' emotional needs and keep the peace through their bickering. But now we're getting to the heavy stuff ...

MEMORIES CONSUME LIKE OPENING THE WOUND

So everything that happens after WWX kills JZX does need to be properly contextualised i.e. it has to be acknowledged that this is an extreme situation. But this section is also what I personally consider to be the smoking gun, so here goes.

After JZX's death, JYL is in a terrible state but she travels alone to the pledge conference just to see WWX. In the middle of a literal battle full of resentful corpses, she runs around looking for WWX. JC and WWX try to find her and can't get to her in time, as WWX is no longer able to control the corpses and one of them seriously injures her. JC picks up JYL while LWJ holds WWX back.

At this point JYL is badly hurt but not mortally wounded. She's in JC's arms and at no point during this entire sequence does she acknowledge him in any way. All her attention is focused on WWX. She says she came to tell him something, but she can't finish her sentence because she can't bring herself to tell him it's fine and she doesn't hate him—but she also can't bring herself to say it's not fine and she does hate him.

WWX gets the corpses back under control at JYL's request and then a random disciple trying to avenge his brother strikes at WWX. JYL intercepts the blow and dies instantly (still in JC's arms the entire time).

There's quite a bit to unpack here, but what I take from this is the following:

JYL loves WWX so much that even when he has literally murdered her husband and the father of her baby she can't stop loving him and can't bring herself to condemn him even if she also can't bring herself to forgive him. This is a hugely fraught moment between the two of them and it does make perfect sense that WWX would be her primary focus. She's grieving and traumatised and that does tend to narrow one's focus.

Can I imagine a scenario where JC has struck JZX in rage and killed him and JYL struggles across a battlefield to reach him and is then unable to forgive or condemn him? Yes, without question.

Can I imagine the above scenario where WWX is also there and JYL completely ignores his existence the entire time? That would be a hell no.

And yes I know WWX is an attention grabber and harder to ignore. But as obnoxious as he can be, I do think he would if only briefly let JYL and JC have their moment. But I just can't picture a sequence of events where an injured JYL falls into WWX's arms and she doesn't even glance at him because she only has eyes for JC.

There's obviously a degree of subjectivity here of course, and I'm making my argument based on the totality of their interactions rather than picking out specific quotes. I personally think it matters that though JYL might love her brothers equally in theory, when the going gets tough she doesn't treat them equally in practice. And for me the disparity, however minor, comes to an awful culmination in their final scenes together. JC is always second best to WWX by razor thin margins, and this is yet another time where he falls infinitesimally short with cruelly painful consequences. A completely ignored JC holding his dead sister in his arms hits painfully hard, not least because it really is not possible to imagine WWX could ever have been in his place.

[littlemisssquiggles]

Ok so In this one anime uh, Owari no Seraph, there’s this child that got experimented on and literally turned into a weapon for the military. Could this happen to Oscar?..

Never watched Owari no Seraph before but what you said pretty much describes my Pinehead headcanon anon-chan. 

My hunch is that at some point during V7, Ironwood might convince Oscar to undo experiments on his aura. Initially it was on the grounds of helping the young farm boy reconnect with the old soul who had locked himself inside of mind. The experiments were meant to force Ozpin to come out isolation by having Oscar undo circumstances where his life was placed in immediate danger. The last time, Oscar’s life was on the line, Oz returned to help him only to disappear afterwards.

The idea I have is that Ironwood would put Oscar a series of stress tests to force Oz to return. But when those tests fail and only serve to anger Ozpin and make him even more withdrawn, that’s when Ironwood would come forward and propose the notion to possibly separate Ozpin’s soul from Oscar’s via Atlas’s experimental aura technology and research.

So out of desperation, Oscar agrees to go through with the aura experiments. Unfortunately, similar to the stress tests, the aura experiment fails as well since it proved too painful for Oscar to fully go through without killing himself in the process. So the experiment was ceased but not before Ironwood was able to discover something very unique about Oscar’s soul.

Since Penny Polendina was the first artificial lifeform to possess an aura, I have a feeling that that’s going to come back into play for V7 or at least some point during the Atlas Arc. 

My guess is that following what happened to Penny during the Vytal Festival, Ironwood ceased his aura experiments. My theory for Penny is that she was made from the harvested aura of Dr. Polendina’s original daughter who possibly died prior to the series. 

The experiment was supposed to be Penny’s second chance at life but what it led to was the doctor watching his beloved child die twice before his eyes. I’d like to think that Penny’s ‘soul’ is still intact, safely contained somewhere in Dr. Polendina’s lab or something of the like. My theory is that following the events of Beacon, Dr. Polendina confiscated the remnants of his daughter’s soul that Atlas had used to create Penny since he didn’t wish for Ironwood to use his daughter like that again.

I’d like to think that Penny is still alive but not really. My theory for Dr. Polendina that he’s a grieving father who hasn’t been ready to let his daughter go for years and has tried everything he could to keep her alive. While Ozpin is probably the man that sparked Ironwood’s curiosity about the soul, I’d like to think that Dr. Polendina was responsible for proving to the general that the soul can be harvested in some way. 

My hunch is that Dr. Polendina was keeping his daughter’s soul that was harvested years prior under safe keeping. I still wish to believe there is a connection between Dr. Polendina and Arthur Watts. 

Like perhaps Watts was formerly the doctor’s apprentice and adoptive son who was once very close to him and his family. And what if…the original Penny used to be someone close to Watts.

I know we all know Penny as being a teenage girl around the same age as Ruby and the other huntsmen and huntresses (y’know age sixteen to seventeen-ish). But imagine if…there was a twist that Penny was actually the younger robotic clone of Dr. Polendina’s daughter who was previously the loving wife of Arthur Watts who died tragically of an incurable disease?

Perhaps this is why Arthur was banished from Atlas (or left it). What if…when his wife was going to die, Arthur performed inhuman experiments on her in an attempt to salvage what was left of her? This resulted in him successfully extracting his wife’s soul. Watt’s had made plans to further his experimental research in the hopes of figuring out a scientific way to resurrect his wife but when Dr. Polendina discovered what Watts had done, the doctor was devastated. 

Dr. Polendina reported Watts to the Atlesian authorities on the grounds that ‘his experimentations were a crime against human nature, punishable by law’. 

What if…Dr. Polendina caused Watts to be banished from Atlas and he’s held a grudge against him the most for more reasons that just getting him thrown out of his own home.

What if…the studies on the human soul was originally Watt’s idea and the research that Ironwood eventually used to conduct his own experimentswas his as well. So basically, what if…Ironwood stole Watts’ research while Dr. Polendina encouraged him?

Hear me out on this one.

Imagine how twisted of a twist it would be if Dr. Polendina caused Watts to lose everything— his career, his reputation as a scientist and researchers and all the hard work he had done because Dr. P believed the work that Arthur was doing was immoral and inhuman.

Work that Arthur was only doing because he was desperate to resurrect the woman he loved. The same woman Dr. Polendina loved. His own daughter.

Dr. Polendina thought Watts was a monster. The mad doctor, he called him the night he betrayed him. Yet still, Dr. Polendina allowed Ironwood to steal and continue Watts’ research in secret.

And to add more insult to injury, he even condoned the General creating that robotic abomination (Penny) he had the gall to parade around as his ‘daughter’. As if that mindless machine could ever be the real Penny. Watts’ Penny.

I kind of like the concept of Watts’ taking pleasure in contributing to Penny’s destruction and feeling no remorse for her. Even if Penny was a younger artificial clone created from the soul of Dr. Polendina’s daughter and Watts’ wife, unlike Dr. P, Watts could never see this broken machine as his beloved.  

Pardon the deviation to discuss Watts and Dr. Polendina. It all ties into my theory on Oscar, I swear. I don’t share or indulge in much theories of Watts but for the longest while, I have liked the thought of him sharing a connection with Dr. Polendina. It’s the musing that makes the most sense to me and having Watts share a connection to Penny fits too.

In the beginning, I figured original Penny was Watts’ sister who was terminally ill and he had tried to resurrect her with his research on aura experiments that Ironwood stole. But now I think it would be a much better, bigger twist is the original Penny (that I’ll hereby dub Penelope Polendina) used to be Watts’ deceased wife and that the Penny we know is just a young robotic clone of Watts’ wife. Just a copy. 

Imagine how tragic that would be? For Watts’ to learn that Atlas had secretly used his own research that they had condemned him for to produce a robotic clone of his former wife powered by her soul he had harvested years ago, puppeting her around as an innocent young huntress representing the kingdom when she was in fact a weapon. A lifeless doll they had crammed his wife’s soul into.

And to make matters worse it was all done under the consent of the same man who has caused Watts’ damnation? The man he once called master. The man he once called father.

Dr. Polendina had stopped Watts from saving original Penny but allowed Ironwood and his military to use her as a tool. 

When I picture the backstory between Watts, Dr. Polendina and Penny like this, it makes it sound so depressing yet fascinating.

Arthur Watts intrigues me as villain since, like Hazel, I’d like to believe there are more layers to him than meets the eyes that contributed to him becoming the man he is presently. 

Not trying to say my hunches are true. Just saying it would be cool if his story took a turn in a direction like what I described. Doubt that will be the case for the canon but I am curious to see what Watts’ story will be for the Atlas Arc. That’s my small hunch for how him and Dr. Polendina are related.

Resuming talk on Oscar now, how all of this stuff I said with Penny ties back into Oscar is that—if Penny proved that it is possible for one soul to power a machine capable of producing an aura then what say you for an entire army of machines fueled by one potent soul. A soul that is a culmination of many souls gathered over centuries of lives.

My hunch is that at some point Ironwood would get the idea to create an infinite army of robotic soldiers powered by Oscar’s soul as his so-called ‘new approach’ to stopping Salem.

So to really answer your question anon-chan. Do I believe Ironwood would turn Oscar into a weapon? Yep. I think that will play into his moment of treachery for V7. Whether or not it’ll happen that way is up to the series itself to show. Either way, I’m firmly sticking with my ‘Ironwood’s Immortal Legion’ headcanon I talked about here. That’s my main hunch for now. 

 ~LittleMissSquiggles (2019)

[thewriterwithnoplan]

Moonlight (Part 1)

Summary: Under the sea isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. In fact, I, Y/N L/N, was imprisoned down there for half my life. Why? Well, let's just say that old seashell isn’t very impressed that even Artemis gets a child when he is bound to an oath. Funny thing is, somehow I escaped and I’m just slightly ticked off... So I’m following the Demi-god who found me on the beach. He’s chasing the person who got his sister killed, so I guess I am too.  Pairing: Nico Di Angelo x Reader Word Count: 1110 Warnings: None.

My name is Y/N L/N. I'm not the only person who can call themselves a demigod. Half-mortal, half-divine. I was, however, the only one sired by the huntress Artemis. Yep, the goddess of chastity had broken her vowel - in theory. I mean I hadn't technically been born but rather made. Carved from moonstone by my mother, blessed with a soul by Hades, shocked to life with Zeus' lightning, given sentience by Athena and trapped eternally under the ocean by Poseidon. Turns out the old man was a little more than ticked off that even Artemis got a demigod when he was bound by his oath.

So why the hell was I washed up on a beach instead of stuck under the Pacific Ocean? No clue. Not that I was complaining, being free was a relief. What wasn't a relief, though, was the fact that I was now cold, wet and half-dead on some unnamed shore. How I'd escaped the prison-like air bubble was beyond me, even more so how I hadn't drowned.

And so here I was. My first time in the mortal world since my creation. About ready to call it a day, turn around and drown myself in the sea when a sword was pointed right between my eyes. I'd like to say that I was shocked, but I'd been kidnapped and imprisoned under the sea. So this seemed about my luck.

Looking past the blade, I caught my first glimpse of the sky. It was a full moon so the sky was bright, even so, a dazzling amount of stars were twinkling happily above. Then I shifted my gaze to the boy holding the sword. He was perhaps my age with olive skin and black hair that swept haphazardly across his forehead.

"Who're you?" He motioned with the blade at my body before returning it to my head. "You look human enough."

"I'm..." The single syllable sent me cascading into a coughing fit. A sharp pain formed at the bridge of my nose as harsh metal bit into the skin there. The boy gave an indignant huff and leant to tip a water bottle over me.

"Speak." He demanded before the sword was back at my head.

There was a brief moment of silence before I rallied my strength to do as he demanded. Turns out that living your entire life under the ocean with no fresh food or water could make you a little more than weak. Good thing that the way I was made stopped me from dying from those means. Didn't make it hurt any less.

With another weak cough, I answered, "I'm a demigod, like you Son of Hades."

He furrowed his eyebrows as if to ask how I knew. I motioned to the Stygian Iron sword carefully. A weapon only wielded by someone from the underworld. Realisation dawned in his eyes and he moved the blade to reach a hand out to help me up. He looked young enough, though his eyes screamed of something old and wrathful. Using the little strength that remained, I took his outstretched arm and heaved myself up.

"You don't seem like any kind of half-blood I've met," He tilted his head back to peer down his nose at me. "Less..."

"Less what? Pigheaded, intimidating, mortal?" I offered jokingly, but his lips remained pressed in a straight line.

"Less alive." He amended, sheathing his blade before spinning on his heel and beginning to stalk off.

"Hey! Umm..." He turned again, an expectant look just barely changing his expression from a scowl. I glanced back at the water with a shudder. "I-I don't exactly know where I am. Could I just-"

"No."

"Maybe I-"

"No." He growled disdainfully.

We were doing this the hard way then. I lunged at him, hand colliding with his chest. Screwing my eyes shut I threw a tendril of power barreling into him. This was a power of mine from my mother, I'm what one would call an empath. I can't magically change emotions, I can, however, sense them. And let me tell you, this boy had a lot of emotions.

It hit like a freight train, an avalanche of bottled up emotions. With a hiss, I lurched back, eyeing the boy up and down. How in the name of the underworld was he okay with all that? Normal people had an order to where their emotions were, his were all over the place. It had been painful feeling them second hand.

"Are you okay?" It was a breathy question. "All that..." I gestured to his chest.

He brought a hand up, touching the place awkwardly. His eyebrows furrowed together up in questioning. I screwed up my eyes again, tapping back into that whirlwind of emotion. It was everywhere and nowhere all at once. Like the emotions had lives of themselves they ducked in an out of view as if trying to hide or escape.

"You're grieving and-" I told him without opening my eyes. "Angry. No, vengeful. You were betrayed by a friend and... they got someone important killed. You're also bitter, there's nobody left, not after the person... Someone from your family? Mother? No, that's an old pain. You lost your brother... Wait, sister."

He fumed, pressing his hand further into his chest, "How in Hades did you know any of that?"

"I was gaging your emotions," I explained calmly. "I can help. You're new to this, my expertise could be invaluable."

He gave me a look from head to toe as if to say; I'd need you? Okay so maybe a decade under the ocean hadn't done me any favours. The lack of food - while not fatal - had reduced me to skin and bone. But like he was much better! This boy was definitely not your run of the mill buffed up demi-god. However - if his eyes were anything to go off - at least he had instinct if not a fully functioning brain.

"Okay look, Son of Hades." I crossed my arms. "You've got a quest or at least a vendetta. My guess is your going to need to visit the underworld. So take me with you, I'll help where I can and then you can ditch me in your father's realm. Deal?"

He eyed me for a moment longer, obviously sizing me up for weaknesses. However, when his hand shifted back to his chest I knew I had him. He knew what I could do now. As weak as the power seemed it was invaluable in certain situations. And considering the circumstances, such situations seemed highly likely. Ever the cool, calm half-god he gave a crisp nod before turning on his heel and calling over his shoulder.

"It's your funeral."

[lilacmoon83]

Love in a Ruined World

Also on Fanfiction.net and A03

Chapter 7: A Meeting and a Reunion

David approached Gold and Belle's little corner in the Town Hall, where they dwelled, with a purposeful stride.

"Gold...we need to talk," David stated.

"It sounds serious...should I leave?" Belle asked.

"No...in fact I think he's going to need your support for what I'm about to tell him," David responded, as he led them behind a partition they had put up to allow for private conversations. David sighed.

"We had a few outsiders cross the town line again today. Fortunately, they weren't violent and we have let them join our ranks...for now," he explained.

"Do you really think that's wise?" Gold hissed.

"Let me explain," David insisted.

"The last outsiders that came through here nearly killed us and they're the reason there's no magic!" Rumple growled.

"Rumple...please," Belle pleaded.

"I know...if you recall, Snow and I dispatched those outsiders and we're the reason that potion ever existed in the first place from what you've told us," David snapped back, as the older man relaxed slightly.

"The reason we let them in was because there was someone with them that vouched for them and insisted that they weren't violent," the Prince explained.

"And who is this person that you suddenly trust? Because while I know your wife is quite trusting...you're not. You grew up like me. Poor as dirt with a father that betrayed you at a very early age. I know you don't trust so easily," Gold said, as their eyes met. It was true that they connected on that level and David had never expected Rumpelstiltskin had humbled beginnings like him.

"You're right...and there are things about this man that I'm still very angry about, but there is one thing about him that overrules that," David replied.

"And what is that?" Rumple questioned.

"Because he's your son," David stated, shocking both Belle and Rumple.

"Bae...Bae is here?" he questioned.

"That's what he says and we know it's true, because there's more. There's something else that none of us expected," David continued.

"What is it?" Belle asked.

"In this land, he goes by the name of Neal Cassidy," David responded.

"And that's supposed to mean something to us?" Rumple questioned.

"No...but it means something to Emma," David countered.

"Neal Cassidy is Henry's biological father and he is meeting his own son as we speak," he continued. Rumple was stunned. For all his foresight and planning for the future he had done from his visions, he had never seen this twist. His son, his precious Bae had somehow encountered the Savior in her youth. The son of the Dark One had conceived a child with the daughter of the truest love he had ever encountered; a virtual symbol of pure light. There was no way that this was coincidence; fate did not allow for such. Light and Dark joined in such a way...it was unprecedented and he was probably the only one that could fully appreciate the gravity of such.

"Rumple…" Belle cooed, snapping him back to reality.

"I need to see him…" he said. David nodded.

"I'll warn you...from what I gather, he's still angry with you. He told me outright that if the world hadn't ended that he would have tried to make sure you never found him," he warned.

"But since circumstances are a bit different, he recognizes that family is important and came to find you," David added.

"Thank you David," Belle said for him, as he was still too lost in his own musings to properly respond.

"You're welcome...guess this is one more thing we have in common. Emma would have every right to be angry with me and Snow. But she's gotten over it and so will your son," he offered.

"Except that your choice to give her up was forced. Mine was not...it's different," Rumple refuted.

"Perhaps...but like I said, things are different now. It's times like these that family becomes incredibly important and we all have to support each other. Family is all we have and I think your son realizes that," David stated.

"We?" Rumple asked. Charming smirked.

"Like it or not, Gold...but you now share a grandson with me and Snow," he replied, as he led them to the moment of truth and for some surprising reason, Rumple didn't find sharing something with the likes of Snow and Charming all that offensive as he thought he might.

~*~

"Is that why you're telling me now? Is he here?" Henry asked. She nodded and Neal stepped toward him.

"Yeah...I'm here," Neal said, as Henry looked up at him.

"You're my Dad?" Henry asked.

"Yeah...guess I am. If it helps...I didn't know," Neal replied. Henry shrugged.

"I get it...but how did you find out about me now and where I was?" he asked inquisitively.

"Well...I actually came here for a very different reason. I'm like everyone else here...I'm from there," he revealed. Henry perked up at that and his eyes widened.

"You are?" he asked, with avid interest.

"Yep...and so I came here looking for my father, even though I swore I never wanted to see him again," he said, just as David approached with Rumple and Belle. His eyes met his father's and Rumple looked as though he may fall apart right there. His usual composure was failing him and normally, he wouldn't let that show openly. But he couldn't help it.

"Bae…" he said tearfully.

"Papa…" Neal said stiffly. Henry looked at him in surprise.

"You're Baelfire?" he asked in amazement.

"Yeah...but I like going by Neal now," he answered.

"Did you know, Mom?" Henry asked.

"Not a clue, kid. Back then...I wouldn't have believed him even if he did tell me," Emma replied.

"It's not her fault Henry. August tracked me down and told me who she was. He convinced me to leave her and I was stupid enough to listen to him," Neal said, as he glanced at Emma.

"Where is that puppet anyway? I owe him a punch in his big lying nose," Neal mentioned. Emma shrugged.

"Get in line...but no one has seen him. I'm not sure if he survived," she replied quietly.

"Bae…" Rumple said, as he hobbled forth.

"I'm still pissed at you," Neal warned.

"Bae...the moment you were gone, I regretted ever letting you go. I spent...my entire life since then trying to find you," Rumple replied.

"Well you shouldn't have!" Neal snapped.

"I made a huge mistake…" Rumple pleaded.

"Yeah...you did and everyone else paid for it!" Neal roared.

"Did you even for a second care about the families you were ripping apart to come after me?" he questioned.

"All I could think about was finding you…" Rumple admitted. Neal snorted.

"Yeah and in the process, a lot of people got hurt. Emma and her parents didn't deserve to be ripped apart just so you could find me," he scolded.

"We didn't...but it got us Henry," Emma reminded and he sighed.

"Yeah...I guess it did," Neal said, as he knelt down in front of him.

"I hear you're the reason the curse was broken at all," he said fondly. Henry shrugged.

"Mom Emma broke the curse," he said.

"Yeah, but you found me and brought me to town, kid. None of it could have happened without you," Emma reminded.

"Oh yeah," Henry agreed, making them all chuckle. Neal stood up and noticed Regina standing there, looking half fondly at Henry and half threatened by them. He supposed that wasn't surprising. The son she had adopted and that used to be totally reliant on her was now surrounded by both his paternal and maternal biological family.

"I'm not sure whether to thank you for taking care of our son or to berate you for helping my father cause all this in the first place," Neal said boldly.

"Try thanking me. You may be his biological parents, but I am his mother. I have a say on who is in his life," Regina warned.

"Mom…" Henry chided.

"Yeah...August told me the story. The people you hate are the reason he exists at all," Neal retorted. David nodded.

"He's got a point...you're welcome," he quipped, earning him a sharp glare from the former Queen.

"I'm aware…" she admitted.

"He loves them...and he loves you. Emma and I are pretty screwed up, because of my father's and your actions. I think we should try to avoid that with him, yeah?" Neal asked. Emma nodded.

"Agreed," Regina replied.

"Henry's grandparents no longer have anything to fear from me," she added and Henry hugged her for that.

"Thanks Mom...that's all I want. For us all to be a family," Henry said.

"I want that too Henry," she admitted.

"You think that's sincere?" Neal questioned. Emma shrugged.

"Deep down...I think so. It helps that there's no magic, you know?" she asked.

"Oh yeah...trust me, it's a blessing in disguise. Magic just royally fu…" he started to say and she gave him a look.

"You have to watch your swears around the kid," she warned. He chuckled.

"Right...magic screws things up, let's just leave at that," he said. She nodded.

"Neither of them, Regina or your Dad, are particularly comfortable without it. They've had to rely on my parents to survive more than they like. I have to, honestly. I had no idea how to hunt, forage, farm...none of it. But they're really good at it. We haven't lost anyone yet, because of them, save for the ones that died when that plane crashed into town," she explained.

"Yeah...trust me, Storybrooke is way better off than I've seen," he said.

"Then the cities are as bad as we've heard?" Emma asked.

"Probably worse. New York is the home base for this new faction that's taken over all the major cities. Whoever is leading it has pretty much recruited most of the former military and anyone that wants to fight or remain on top of the food chain, so to speak," Neal replied, catching David's attention.

"Do you think they'll come here?" he asked. Neal shrugged.

"It's possible...they've pretty much scavenged most of the country for guns and ammunition so they have a pretty good supply. We'll be in trouble if they do come here," he admitted.

"With winter coming, I'd say they'll try to move on any settlements then. It's the most vulnerable time," he surmised.

"We might have a solution for that and it might make the difference this winter. Then next spring, we can move north and settle. There's still a lot of untouched farmland up state," he mentioned.

"Plus we have the benefit of the harbor and being able to fish," Snow added. He nodded.

"I assume you and your friends at least have some useful skills?" David questioned. Neal chuckled.

"I'm afraid most of them worked in cubicles before now, but they can learn. Me...just tell me what you need help with. I've had to forage and hunt for food before. Henry and I could go see what we can catch for dinner," he suggested, as he looked at Emma and Regina for approval.

"Can I Moms?" he asked eagerly.

"Sure...its fine with me," Emma replied, with a shrug.

"Me too," Regina agreed a bit uncertainly.

"Bae...can we please talk later?" Rumple requested. Neal sighed.

"I've said what I need to say. Not sure what else there is," he refuted.

"But I have much to atone for...please," Gold pleaded.

"Yeah...you do. But I have a feeling that if there was magic here that you'd be too busy scheming and screwing people over with your deals to atone for anything. You haven't changed...you just don't have any choice but to behave, because you're now depending on others for survival. Things would be very different if there was magic here and so far, I haven't seen any reason to believe otherwise," Neal said coldly.

"Please Bae...I have changed. I can show you," Rumple pleaded. He scoffed.

"Like I said, you haven't really changed. Your circumstances are making you be on your best behavior, because Emma's parents are the reason you're alive and have food in your stomach. And to be honest...I hope magic never comes back," he added, as he and Henry left together. Emma winced and turned to her parents.

"How are you holding up, sweetie?" Snow asked.

"Okay I guess...I expected that to be a lot worse. I thought Henry was going to hate me," she admitted. Snow squeezed her hand.

"He knows you love him and that you didn't really want to give him up. And I think he understands why you told him his father was dead. None of this has been easy for anyone," Snow reasoned.

"Only because Dad explained it to him and got through. Thank you," she told her father. David smiled.

"I love that kid, as much as I love you," he assured, as he hugged her and cradled her head.

"We never wanted to give you up, Emma," he reminded. She sniffed.

"I know...and I'm not angry with you guys anymore. I love you both," she confessed. Snow sniffed.

"Oh Emma…" Snow gushed, as they hugged her between them. David chuckled and gently wiped a few of the tears away on both their faces with his thumb, even though he had his own staining his cheeks.

"Come on...let's go get a fire started for whatever they bring back," David suggested.

"Okay...but they might come back empty, because I'm not sure Henry can stay quiet enough to catch any fish," Emma joked, as they started walking toward the woods to build a fire, when she turned back briefly.

"Are you guys coming?" she asked.

"I'm not sure we're welcome," Gold replied. She sighed.

"Look, I know you both would probably be ruling this town with magic and have us at your mercy and everything if you could...but that's not the case. Add to that, like it or not, we're all family now. And Henry wants us to be a family, so we all owe it to him to be that for him," Emma said sternly. Belle smiled and urged him along.

"I couldn't agree more," she agreed, as they followed.

"That means you too, Queenie," Emma called and her parents chuckled.

"Excuse me?" Regina asked in an accusatory tone.

"You heard me. Come on and keep up...you need to stop wearing those dumb heels you have on too," Emma called back.

"I'm a Queen...I'm a bit more refined than you and your woods-dwelling parents," she quipped.

"Aren't you technically Queen too, Mom?" Emma retorted.

"Um...well, I suppose, but there was never an official coronation, so technically, I'm still a Princess," Snow responded.

"You were born into the crown...a coronation is just a formality," Rumple interjected.

"I'm still Queen...I married into it," Regina protested.

"Which technically makes you Queen Mother," Rumple argued.

"And that would make my Dad the King, right?" Emma questioned.

"Absolutely not...he's not royal by birth. He married into it and is only Prince Consort," Regina protested.

"Except that Snow has the power as Queen to bestow the title of King on him if she so chooses to do so," Rumple interjected.

"And I choose to...because he is King of my heart," Snow agreed, as she kissed him tenderly.

"Ugh...that's probably the most sickening thing you've ever said," Regina grumbled.

"And with them...that's saying something, believe me," Emma said, as her parents continued to kiss, hearing none of their complaints.

"Hello? Are you two going to come up for air and start this stupid fire? I for one would like to eat," Regina replied. Snow and David's lips finally parted. They started gathering firewood and mused at their circumstances. None of them could have ever imagined things would have turned out this way and lead them to all being a family. But it had worked out that way and no one really seemed too upset about that...