As promised, the next chapter!

Dinner was...tense.

When Emma told Regina her idea, the latter hadn't been very receptive to the idea. "You do know he's probably only agreeing to this because he figures he can finally get a shot in and kill me, right?"

Emma rolled her eyes. "I'm sure he's not. You need to give him a chance too."

"If you say so. I'm still going to prepare something for dinner that won't involve knives."

Which was why they were currently all eating spaghetti. David and Regina were sitting on opposite sides of the table, glaring daggers at one another every once in a while, as if waiting for the other to start something, and Emma wondered if her girlfriend and father would try to kill the other with forks and spoons.

The only one who was oblivious to the tension was Henry. He was absolutely overjoyed at getting to talk to his grandfather, and ask him question about his adventures in the Enchanted Forest.

Thankfully, David was more than happy to regale a few tales.

Once dinner finished, Henry excused himself in order to finish homework, and that was when David took the opportunity to strike.

"Emma, would you mind giving Regina and I a chance to talk privately?"

Emma was absolutely not going to do that, but she couldn't very well shoot him down without a reason. "Why?"

"Because I need to speak to her about a few things, and would prefer to do this with her alone."

"Yeah, no, not happening-"

"Emma, it's okay," Regina interjected, and Emma whipped around to face her, flabbergasted. "If that's what David wants, I'll comply."

And with a pleading look from Regina, Emma let the matter go. She figured that Regina just wanted to bury the hatchet, and so she acquiesced.

A few minutes after Regina and David got up and walked away, Emma decided that it was best to just occupy herself with clearing up the dinner mess, rather than imagining what was happening in the study where her girlfriend and father had retired to.

"I'm surprised you gave in so easily. I figured you wouldn't want to be left alone with me," David commented, taking his seat across from Regina on the couch, his back tense and his brows furrowed.

"We'll call it a mutual surprise. I wasn't expecting you to agree to dinner, I figured you'd think I was trying to poison you," Regina retorted just as icily.

"Yeah well, I decided to take the chance. I had to see for myself this magical transformation Emma claimed. I never would have guessed you capable of a change of heart. What made you do it?"

Regina gritted her teeth. "And why do you care? You think of me as evil still, I can feel it in your glare."

"I personally would have never thought that you'd go on the path of redemption, but Emma seems to care for you, and Henry is my grandson. So, for their sake, I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt."

"Well aren't you charitable," Regina drawled. "And I wouldn't be acting so high and mighty, Charming. I know you're not as noble as you claim to be."

He grimaced at the nickname. He hated it when she called him that - it was his and Snow's thing. "What are you talking about?"

She silently got up and pulled out a leather tome from her desk, and brought it up onto the coffee table between them. "Meet the storybook that has stories on nearly everyone in this town. Including you and your devious exploits, Prince James."

David paced around his room at the Midas castle.

Of course trying to recreate his image wouldn't work as he wanted. All of his attempts had failed, for the people exclusively saw him as the opportunistic, womanizing and vile prince, and wouldn't accept his help.

And if that wasn't enough, he was also paying the price for trying to blackmail his father. King George had just practically sold him out to wed a princess from a neighbouring kingdom as punishment, disguised as charity.

"You can't force me to marry her," David had retorted, slamming his fists on the table.

But King George just smirked and asked, "I can't, but surely your newly minted conscience wouldn't let Princess Abigail and her father go without protection from our army?"

"We can lend them help without marriage."

George had snorted in amusement. "But it's always more concrete this way. And if that won't be enough for you, I'll make sure to include some money for your beloved mother; I hear that this winter is going to be particularly dastardly. Wouldn't want her left out in the cold, now would you?"

So he had unwillingly agreed to the arranged marriage.

But not before King Midas had decided to put him through his paces.

"The King, your father, assures me you're now a proper prince, and won't go gallivanting off. But first, I would like to see it for myself. There is a beast that lives beyond the mountains - a dragon. You will take a squadron and kill him," King Midas explained the afternoon they met.

"Certainly, when would you have me leave?" David had asked, wanting to at least leave the room as soon as he possibly could.

"Soon. But first, I will test your skills with a captured beast we have - the Behemoth. I don't want to send my men down with someone who can't defend himself properly. You understand, don't you James?"

And David could do nothing more but to agree. He hated the fact that he was still referred to as James. But, as much as he hated that name, and all that it represented, and would much rather go by David, he couldn't very well try explaining his name change.

A knock on the door brought him out of his thoughts. "They're ready for you, Your Highness."

James sighed and grabbed his helmet. Time to go defeat the Behemoth.

David cleared his throat and tried to remain impassive. "What are you talking about?"

Regina flipped to the parts in the book showing his early exploits. "I'm sure I don't need to go into too many details, but leaving Jack for dead with the giants, extorting a poor family after helping them, swindling people of their riches, need I go on?"

There was a moment of silence, with David crossing his arms as if that would protect him from the images and words he was seeing. "No, you don't."

After another moment, he continued, a million questions running through his mind, "This book covers all of that? How did it even come to be?"

And so Regina gave him a quick run-down of the book, and its purpose. By the end of it, David was speechless.

"Has..has Emma read it?" David asked after a beat.

"No. She has seen some of it, but not all. Henry and I have though." Regina paused for a moment before adding. "I hope you understand that I'm not telling you this to belittle you, just to remind you...not everyone is perfect. I know I made mistakes, and I did some truly horrible things. But if I have learnt anything, it's that everyone has. Even your precious Snow.

"And all I want now is to get my second chance. Like everyone else has. Which is why I'm going to great lengths to help break the curse that I enacted in the first place."

David thought about it for a moment. He could see the sincerity in Regina's eyes, he felt Emma's protectiveness earlier in the dinner table. Henry obviously felt happy with the two of them, and as Regina rightfully reminded him, he himself wasn't perfect. He had blood on his hands, and not for noble reasons either.

"Very well. As you said, everyone deserves a second chance, and if you are truly on that path, then I won't stand in the way. But pray tell, how are you planning on breaking the curse?"

"By giving everyone their happy endings back." Regina flipped the book to the people they had already helped and briefly explained how they had accomplished it.

David nodded along. "And what about Snow? Will you give her her happy ending back?"

"Yes. everyone's," Regina reassured him.

David looked impressed. "May I?" he asked, gesturing to the book.

Regina gestured that he could go ahead.

While David perused the book, he cracked a smile as he asked, "Are you also getting a happy ending?"

"I would hope so," Regina responded, a small smile on her face as well.

As fate would have it, just then he turned to the infamous page with Emma and Regina kissing in the stable, and his face grew ashen. "What is this?"

Regina's mouth curled into a frown. She was not here for him being derisive on her and Emma's relationship in the past. "It's a long story. But I care for this Emma-"

"No, no, not that," David interrupted, tapping the illustration. "Just..how is Emma there?"

"We have no clue."

"That's how I knew her..." David muttered under his breath.

Regina blinked. "Excuse me?"

"When Emma came to me after I went to Snow's house, Emma asked me how I knew who she was, having never seen her as a grown up before. I thought it might have been some sort of fatherly instinct, but now I realize, I met her before."

Young Prince James loved to get away from his princely studies and just go down to the market and watch the people. He had a ledge at the edge of a hill that overlooked the village square, and it gave him an excellent vantage point.

He generally saw all the same people, but today it was a bit different.

There was a blonde lady walking around the market, and she seemed fairly lost. Her clothes looked a few sizes too large for her, and she seemed to be looking around as if the entire place was all foreign to her.

The young boy, not yet the rapscallion he would become as a young adult, decided he could go down and offer her assistance.

"Excuse me, are you lost?" he asked, tugging on her tunic.

The blonde whipped around, and she smiled uneasily. "Oh! Yeah, no, I'm just wondering if anyone nearby is selling horses."

James pointed to the other end of the square. "The stables are that way, maybe he's selling?"

"Thanks for the tip."

"I can take you there! I know the stable master!" James beamed at her. She seemed nice enough, and he didn't have much else to do.

The woman looked around and asked, "Are you allowed to be by yourself just like that?"

James shrugged. "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

The woman shook her head, and smiled. "No reason."

As they began walking towards the stables, James asked, "What's your name?"

"Emma. What about you?"

"My name is James." He didn't want to disclose his princely status. It had been ingrained on him from very early on that he absolutely couldn't just tell anyone who he was, for many would try to take advantage of it. "Did you just arrive?"

Emma hummed. "I did. Is it that obvious?"

James nodded. "You looked very lost. But, how did you get here without a horse?"

"Oh! It's...a long story. Is this the place?"

After James confirmed it was, they went inside. There, the stable master was tending to a horse, and when he saw James, he immediately jumped up. "Your Highness! Don't tell me you ran away again!"

Emma looked at him, flabbergasted. "Wait, you're Prince James?"

And James looked between the two of them before running away as fast as his short legs could carry him. He heard them yelling, but paid them no mind. If he was caught, he would be in big trouble.

Two days later, he tried to see if he could find Emma again, but clearly she had left. He did hear that the guards were chasing a blonde woman on horseback the previous night, and wondered if it was Emma, but he never found out.

And that was that!

I'll try to not take 2 years to update again, and I have been on a roll with writing so hopefully I can get back to this soon!

Within the coming chapters, we'll get to the curse breaking and then onwards to s2!

And I have added another clue to the mystery of past!Emma.

Meanwhile, I'll be updating a supercorp fic, plus How Many Times Can a Heart Break?

Thank you again for everyone's patience, as well as all the wonderful words for this fic!