A/N: Hey there! Welcome to the fourth story, The Golden Rule, of my Once Upon a Time Series Bedtime Stories :) I would recommend for new readers read the first three stories (All That Glitters, Every Rose Has Its Thorns, and Phantom Melodies) to understand my OC, Piper (AKA Rose Red) and her relationship to Gold/Rumpelstiltskin as well as her ties to Snow White. This will be a Gold/OC story, the pairing name officially Dark Rose, and will be around 40 chapters long, updated daily too ;) This story will follow the episodes more in terms of what's happening with the OC, but will also have an Enchanted Forest flashback/backstory chapter afterwards and some more of the 'Missing Year' chapters too :)

A short physical description of Piper is that she's a tall, blonde woman, with forest green eyes (like Snow's). She tends to wear boots that she keeps her playing pipe in one, and the dagger of the Dark One in the other. She likes to wear colors, though Gold (or as she calls him, Rummy) prefers her in black ;) She also has a necklace of a small purple powder from the Enchanted Forest given to her by Gold. She appears to be about 40ish years old, though she is actually much older. For a reference, an actress I see as being similar to her is Sophia Myles ;)

~8~ is a scene break.

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time...or certain 'shock value' events from Season 4 would not have happened :)

~8~

A Tale of Two Sisters

Piper glanced over at Gold as they watched, feeling as though they were the only ones even aware of, Regina striding out of the diner, tears in her eyes for the reunion that had just happened before them between Robin Hood and his not-dead wife.

"This is not going to end well," she remarked to the man.

It wasn't even just that this, having a happy ending snatched away from her yet again by Snow White's family, would be a great temptation for the Evil Queen to be released. It wasn't even that, the Evil Queen was NOT the greatest threat to the town now. No, it was that two Laws of Magic had been broken by Emma's actions. And the consequences for everyone could be dire.

"No, Pip, I daren't think it will," Gold muttered.

Piper let out a deep breath when Emma finally noticed that Regina had rushed out and went after her. She stood, giving Gold a look and a nod towards the 'happy couple' still clinging to each other in the middle of the diner. He returned the nod and settled his hands on his cane to watch them while Piper headed out of the diner after Emma. She loved her family dearly, her niece very much, but Emma was not exactly the most empathetic to villains and she had inherited her mother and father's sense of moral justice and justification far too much for her to feel comfortable in leaving a heartbroken and angry former-evil queen alone with Emma in the chance Emma said the absolute worst thing to the woman and found herself facing down a fireball.

"I'm sorry," she heard Emma speaking as she stepped out into the night, watching as Emma paused in her approach of the woman, Regina standing just at the end of the path to Granny's with her back to Emma.

She would be willing to wager the Dark One's Dagger that Regina was doing so to keep Emma or anyone that might come after her from seeing her on the verge of crying.

"When I brought Marian back, I didn't know who she was," Emma defended, not seeming to realize Piper had joined them, nor that the woman was rolling her eyes at that, as though that mattered in the long run, time ought to have NOT been tampered with at all, "I didn't intend to cause you pain."

Well they all knew where the road that was paved with good intentions led to…

"Well, your intentions really don't matter," Regina spun around, "Because, once again, I've felt the brunt of heroism," her gaze flickered over Emma's shoulder at Piper as she slowly approached, "Always the villain," she muttered, a small scoff ending her words, "Even when I'm not."

And that was the worst of it, wasn't it? She tried SO hard to be good, to make amends and move from her past…and she constantly lost her happy ending. And yet there she was, the Pied Piper, another villain, the true love of the Dark One himself…and the two of them, who had, together, caused more carnage and destruction than she ever could, had their happy ending with each other.

No, it wasn't villains that suffered, just her. Only her.

"What was I supposed to do?!" Emma threw her arms out.

"Leave her," Piper answered, stepping up between the two women, looking at them both before focusing on Emma, "Time travel, altering time, Emma, is a Law of Magic, one you broke. On top of that, you also broke a second law to not bring back the dead, and Marian was very much dead from what Robin Hood recalled before all this happened."

"I am not gonna apologize for saving someone's life!" Emma nearly shouted, almost seeming surprised that Piper was defending Regina over her given how loyal Sirens were supposed to be over their families.

"If she died in the past, Emma, then she was meant to die," Piper tried to explain, "What if you had gone back and saved Hitler? Brought HIM to the present?"

"Marian isn't Hitler!" Emma huffed, "She is a human being. And whatever she did, she didn't deserve to die."

"Well, maybe she did," Regina snapped.

"Well, you would know," Emma shot her a look, "I saved her from YOU."

"Marian was an outlaw, as best I can recall," Piper countered, giving Regina a moment to pull herself together from that rather big shock, "She had a warrant out for her head as did her husband. Does it matter if Regina executed her for helping Snow or if another king had executed her for theft? Death is death, you should not have changed it."

"The woman who did that," Regina added, "That was the person I was, not the person I am. I worked very hard to build a future. A future that's now gone."

"You don't know that…" Emma frowned.

Piper snorted, "'Till Death do us part,'" she recited, "It was very, very firm a promise in our Land, Emma. Death has been retracted now. The vow is in place once more. YOU were the one that did not condone Mary Margaret's illicit affair with her own husband. You believe Robin would have one against his wife?"

"Yes, thank you," Regina shot Piper an angry look for that reminder.

"Regina, I'm sorry that you're in pain," Emma tried again, "If there's anything I can do to help…"

"Swan," Regina held up a hand, "The more you try to help, the worse my life becomes."

All three women looked over at the diner door as the bell jingled, Robin stepping through and leading Marian out, "Marian, please, meet her," he was pleading with the woman, clearly speaking of Regina, "She's not at all what you think," he turned around, spotting Regina still standing there and approached her, Emma and Piper backing away slightly, "Regina I…" he didn't seem to know what to say and gestured back and forth between her and Marian as she stepped across from Regina, "I want you to meet Marian. I…I want us to talk about this…"

"Wait," Marian cut in, "Were you two are you two together?!"

Piper, who had looked over at the diner door when she heard the bell jingle to see Mary Margaret, David, Henry, and Gold step out, turned back to look at the woman, a frown on her face.

How on earth would she come to THAT conclusion?

Robin wasn't standing especially close to Regina, he had a hand on her elbow but Regina wasn't especially receptive of his touch at the moment. He'd just hugged his wife and kissed her forehead before. He couldn't have had time (or mind) to tell Marian about the relationship he and Regina shared while in the diner, not when it sounded like he was just trying to get the woman to speak to the Queen. For all that could be guessed, Robin was just asking her to meet the woman as a way for Regina to apologize, or to show that his wife would be safe here.

There was really no logical reason for Marian to jump to that conclusion…

Which was quite suspicious.

She frowned, listening intently to Marian's song, she'd heard it vaguely when she and Rumpelstiltskin had hunted Robin Hood down in the Enchanted Forest, it sounded familiar in that sense, as far as she could tell, this was the real Marian but that jump to conclusion was just….odd, very odd. She winced a moment later, her head starting to throb as she heard Robin and Regina's songs mixing with Marian's in a very...poor way. It was like the flow of Regina and Robin's song was being disrupted, like there was an intrusion or third instrument not meant to be there. It was giving her a headache.

"Marian, please," Robin began, though the fact he hadn't denied it only served to confirm Marian's suspicions.

"You and the Evil Queen?!" Marian raged, "Did you let her near my son? Do you know what she's done? The terror that she's inflicted?"

"I would say her deeds are equal to mine," Piper offered, a small scoffing laugh on her tongue as she tried to focus on the present and force her headache down, "Hello Maid Marian," she greeted, "I am the Pied Piper."

Marian stepped back from that, clutching Roland, whose hand she'd been holding, tighter to her, moving him behind her legs, "Robin!" she hissed at her husband, her eyes wide, as though she couldn't believe so many villains and evil doers were surrounding her and her husband was just standing there.

"Is everything ok?" Mary Margaret asked, eyeing the small scene.

"Well, no one's been incinerated yet, so that's a good sign," David remarked.

"Regina," Mary Margaret stepped beside Piper, getting a better look at her former-step-mother, "You alright?"

Marian seemed horrified when, without even hesitating or glancing over, Mary Margaret passed the baby in her arms over to Piper when the woman gestured to hold the boy, "What are you doing!?"

"Holding my nephew," Piper stated, sounding entirely uninterested.

Marian shook her head as Gold stepped over, the Dark One, and placed a hand on Piper's waist, standing behind her and smirking, "What is wrong with you people?!" she cried, "Why are you just…" she shook her head, not even sure what to start with, but turned on Regina, seeing her as the more urgent matter, "Why are you even talking to her? Don't you know who she is?!"

"Mom," Henry called, looking at Regina, giving Marian yet another heartattack that someone would call the Evil Queen 'mother,' "What's going on?"

"She's a monster!" Marian pointed an accusing finger at Regina.

"Hardly," Piper scoffed, "Monster means not-human. She is very much human, unlike me," she gave Marian a hard look, "I would appreciate your consideration in labeling here, Maid Marian."

Despite Piper's words, Regina had already turned and stalked off, ignoring Robin's shouts and attempt to go after her. As much as Piper would have rather not had Regina storm off in a fury, the pressure in her head was starting to lessen the further Regina's song got from her.

"Regina…" Emma moved to follow as well when Robin was forced to hurry after Marian, who had, similarly, picked up Roland and started to head away.

But Hook reached out and snagged her arm with his hook, "No good has ever come of pushing that woman," Hook warned her, "Give her space."

"Yeah," David sighed, "But it's what she does in that space I'm worried about."

Henry turned to him, alarmed, "You don't think she'll become evil again. She can't. She's come too far!"

"I hope you're right, kid," Emma murmured.

Piper rolled her eyes, "If Regina does not kill her, I will be sorely tempted to do so," she shrugged.

"Rose!" Mary Margaret gaped.

"Your daughter broke TWO Laws of Magic, Snow," Piper explained, "We cannot go back in time and right what she has altered, make amends for the first broken law, but we CAN fix the second. The past cannot be changed. The dead cannot be returned to life. Those are the Laws of Magic, not just mere rules. And magic WILL come back to see the damage repaired, I am merely saying, to prevent that, to restore the balance and prevent Death from taking someone else's life, perhaps the newest life," she shuffled Neal in her arms with a point, "We MAY have to consider that Marian's life must be forfeit."

"It's not going to come to that," Emma defended, trying to sound firm.

"You sure about that dearie?" Gold asked, "Sure enough to risk the life of your brother on your folly? Tell me, how long have you been studying magic and the laws and rules and limitations of it?"

Emma was silent at that.

"Here," Piper sighed, handing Neal back to her cousin, "Rummy and I shall see if there is anything else we can do."

Gold's lips pursed at that, but he remained silent till they had turned and walked away, "We're going to save the forest maid now?"

"Hardly," Piper scoffed, "But it shall give us an excuse and cover for our other research," she shot him a smirk, making him grin as well.

While they were looking for a way to free him from his Dagger's control, everyone else would be thinking they were working to save Marian.

And, if the time came, where they had to ask if there WAS a way to save the woman…well, they'd be believed when they inevitably said 'no, let the wretch die.'

~8~

The next morning would find Piper and Gold standing before the grave of Baelfire, silent, solemn, their hands tightly clasped in the others'. It had taken time for them both to get there, both mentally, emotionally, and physically. It was hard for them to stand at the grave. It had been difficult for Piper to have been there for the funeral of the boy who was like, and should have been, a son to her, the boy who was the child of her true love. It was unbearable now that she had her memories of what had led to his death, of her role in it.

It was even more heartbreaking for Gold, he had tried so hard to get back to his boy. His entire plan, the Dark Curse, all of it had been his way of finding his son. All of it, everything he'd ever done had been for Baelfire…and now he was gone.

Piper squeezed his hand in support, letting it go a moment later so that he could kneel down before the gravestone, "My boy," he began, "Remember when you were small, there was a night, during the Ogre's War? There was a terrible noise. It was horses' hooves thundering down the dusty path. You crawled into my bed and…I can still hear your little voice. 'Papa. I'm afraid,'" he sniffled, spurring Piper to step closer, placing her hand on his shoulder, "And I guess by instinct, I just said, 'don't you worry, son. Everything's gonna be fine.' And you smiled at me. You know, that was the happiest moment of my life because, for the first time ever, I felt like a man that I could truly look after you, alone. Until I discovered this," he held out a hand to Piper who leaned over, pulling his dagger out of her boot to hand to him, "This," he shook his head at it, "It turned me into a monster, obsessed with power, when all I really needed was you, your love. And now, through my Pip," he shifted, lowering his one hand holding the Dagger and reaching with the other one to place it on his shoulder, on top of Piper's hand, "There's love in my life again. I've avenged your death, son, Pip helped," he turned, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand, "She loved you, you know, she would…she would have been a good mother to you, she loves us both. You died for me, for your papa, and I've failed you so many times in my life, because of this dagger," he lifted it, shaking it slightly, "But it won't rule me for long," he promised, "It won't cause me any more pain soon. It won't have a power over me, I won't be that monster any longer. All of this, everything that's happened, is because of this Dagger and I won't let it happen again. We…" he swallowed and glanced at Piper, the woman silent, looking down at him with tears in her eyes, "We want to try and have a child again, a little brother or sister for you," he looked back at the grave, "I promise you, Bae, I'll find a way to free myself from this wretched blade, just as you always wanted for me."

He shifted, about to stand…when Piper moved first, kneeling in the dirt beside him.

"Pip?" he murmured.

"May I?" she asked him, he nodded, so she took a breath and turned back to the stone, reaching out to place her free hand on it, "My deepest apologies, Baelfire," she began, "It is MY fault this happened to you," she closed her eyes at that, "It is…difficult, for a Siren to be away from the ones they love. In some cases, it can be consuming. To see Rummy 'die' before me and be away from him after, to have so many people tell me he was well and truly gone…" she swallowed hard, taking a deep breath when she felt Gold squeeze her hand, knowing that this was hard for her to do, to express the emotion she was. Sirens were a hard race, talking about something that was bringing tears to her eyes was a rare thing, "I just wanted him back," her voice cracked at that so she took a deeper breath, swallowing hard and not speaking for a moment till she could gather herself, "I am truly so sorry Bae, you were a hero at heart and I should have known that you would not allow Belle to be sacrificed. I should have known you would try to stop me using her in such a way and I failed, I failed to see it, I failed you, and…" she forced her eyes open and looked over at Gold, "I failed you, Rummy. I am sorry."

Gold leaned forward and put his arms around her, hugging her tightly as she began to shake in his arms, sniffling quietly, wet spots starting to leak through his jacket from her tears.

He didn't blame her for what happened to his son, not at all. Belle was a nuisance to them, if he'd had the opportunity, he would have gladly used Belle's life to allow himself to return, just like Piper had. He doubted even HE would have realized that Baelfire would have worked out the plan and tried to protect Belle from them given how little Baelfire had enjoyed or wished to learn about magic. Bae made his choice, and because of his actions he truly did die as a hero.

He had been in his boy's mind, or Bae had been in his, and he could see then even Baelfire didn't blame Piper. He could have stayed by, could have allowed it to happen to get his father back, but he knew his son wouldn't. Baelfire had jumped in the way before anyone could react least of all before Piper even realized what had happened.

"I don't blame you, Pip," he murmured in her ear, "Zelena was going to take away everything from me, not just my free will, but you, Bae…" he squeezed her tighter, "Bae died a hero, just as he always wished to be," he pulled away, reaching up his hand to touch her cheek, catching a tear that was falling from her eye with his thumb and brushing it away, "You made him a hero."

"He should not have died though," she whispered.

He swallowed hard at that, "Parents shouldn't have to bury their children," he agreed, closing his eyes at the thought that he hadn't even been able to attend, to do the burying. This was the first time he was at his son's grave, and it hit him hard that there was a grave at all, that his son was down there.

All he could do was tighten his grip on her and offer her the comfort she was offering him at the same time.

~8~

"It should be just around that bend," Piper spoke, directing Gold as he drove his car through the forest of Storybrooke, "I overheard one of Robin Hood's men talking of it while in Granny's. There is a house in the middle of the woods and, from what I recall, it was not there during the first curse. The men were planning to ransack it, but Robin stopped them apparently," she hummed at that in thought.

"It must have come over in the last curse," Gold remarked.

"It is possible, yet there is no one living in it, why bring a house and then not claim it?" she wondered, "If no one is there, however, we could use it as a base."

"A base?" Gold glanced at her.

She nodded, "If we are going to find a way to free you from that Dagger, Rummy, if anyone found out…"

"They'd stop us," he agreed, realizing what she was getting at, "They expect us to be at the shop or at home, we need a third undocumented location. Clever."

Piper smiled at that, "We can keep our research here," she blinked as the house…more like a mansion, came into sight, "There should be ample room to hide it," she added. The house was enormous, "I wonder whose house this is…"

"Perhaps they left a clue," Gold mused, parking the car, allowing the two of them to get out and head up to it.

They cautiously entered the building, glancing at each other for how the doors were unlocked, knowing it could mean anyone or anything was inside. The house seemed almost larger on the inside, with high ceilings, wide halls, large rooms and archways. It was tasteful and regal in an old-fashioned way and they made their way through each and every room, being careful to observe all that they could, making mental notes about what was there.

It wasn't till they reached a large ballroom that they stopped.

"Well, well, well," Gold started to smile.

"This reminds me of Snow's castle," Piper tilted her head, eyeing the room, stepping further into it, "We used to come to the ballrooms at times, escaping our studies, to play or build a hiding spot, or practice our dancing," she smiled a bit, "Sometimes I would practice my music for her."

"Will you?" Gold asked, making her turn to look at him, "For me?"

She smiled, "For you, Rummy, anything," she leaned over and picked her pipe out of her boot, lifting it to her lips and playing a tune for him.

He had heard her play a lullaby he used to sing to Bae before, many times, but there was something different about it now, something…more. It was like a combination of the acoustic, the room creating an echo and a support for the song coupled with the natural magic of her music. He closed his eyes, allowing the song to wash over him…

Only for a frown to slowly form on his face moments later.

"Pip," he held up a finger, gently telling her to stop.

"What is it?" she lowered the pipe, seeing his expression, "Rummy?"

"I sense magic here," he murmured, opening his eyes. He held out a hand to her, not about to leave her alone now that he knew there was something else there and not knowing what it was.

She slipped her pipe into her boot as she took his hand, following him out of the room, allowing him to lead her towards the source of the magic that he'd sensed. They moved through the halls, coming to a study of sorts.

Gold stopped in the doorway, staring ahead at something that was resting on a desk across the room. Piper frowned, glancing at Gold and then the item, though he still didn't move. She reached out her free hand and placed it on his arm in support and a little in question. He glanced at her a moment before taking a breath and stepping into the room, walking over to the desk to look down at the item.

"A…miniature bucket?" Piper inquired as she saw the item more clearly. It looked like a very small wooden bucket, but clearly made of some sort of metal, sculpted to look like one then.

"Oh…much more than that, Pip," he murmured, reaching out to take the item, fiddling it around in his fingers, "This…this might be just what we need to free me from the dagger."

"…a bucket?" she gave him an odd look.

He chuckled, "No, now…" he placed it down and looked at her, holding out his hand, "My dagger, if you would?"

Without even hesitating she pulled the dagger from her other boot and handed it over to him, watching as he turned to the small not-bucket and waved the dagger over it. Her eyes widened as the top of the not-bucket seemed to fade away, revealing what looked like a small galaxy within. The dust of it began to flow over the top of the item, starting to swirl up and form into a more solid shape…a hat, a pointed hat that seemed to have the stars and space within it, shining through the near sheer blue material of the hat.

"Excellent," Gold grinned at it, seeming so overwhelmingly pleased that he had to brace himself on the desk in his glee, "Pip…" he looked at her, "This changes everything."

Piper opened her mouth to ask him exactly what the hat was or did…when her phone went off.

"It is Emma," she frowned, glancing at Gold, he gestured her on, both of them knowing that family would always come first. Until they had a more set plan and idea of what to do, there was really nothing more that could be done right at that very second. Piper nodded and answered, "Emma?" she blinked, "There is a what-beast walking through the forest?"

~8~

Piper hadn't exactly thought Emma had her wits about her when she had called and said there was a snow-beast heading for the forest on the attack. But, just as she had reached Robin Hood's camp where Emma had instructed her to go, she had found herself corrected in her thoughts as a large brute that truly WAS made of snow was standing before Robin, Little John, Marian, Emma, David, and Hook, roaring at them…with an arrow in its shoulder.

She was now questioning the wits of Robin's men as she saw Little John lower a crossbow, clearly the one who had shot the beast. Did they truly think that a measly stick would do anything against a creature made of SNOW? Unless that arrow had been on fire, there was next to nothing it would do save enrage the beast.

"Emma!" Piper ran over to her, trying to get a better look at the beast.

"Pistol, sword, hook, my cunning wit," Hook muttered, listing their assets, the last one had Piper rolling her eyes at him, "I don't think we have what it takes."

"What about you?" Emma turned to Piper.

"Me? How am I supposed to be of use against a snow-beast?" Piper gave her a look.

"You're a Siren, aren't you? Don't you have control of water?"

"Have you ever seen me control water?" Piper seemed very unimpressed, "I control minds, Emma, music, and that is not helpful when something has no ears," she gestured at the creature that didn't appear to have any, "I cannot help with something like that, minds, not…not water, not snow," she could try to blast it with her pipe, gather up enough energy and fire at the beast, but if it was snow…chances were it would reform or just be blasted to bits, but snow was already just a massive amount of bits that stuck together, "My magic does not work that way."

"But Emma's does!" David seemed to realize, looking at Emma, "YOU can do it."

"What?" Emma shook her head.

"Your magic, love," Hook reminded her.

"Right…" Emma blinked, glancing at Piper who nodded encouragingly and stepped to the side to allow Emma a clearer shot. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, holding up her hands to concentrate.

"You can do this…" Hook whispered to her.

"She is trying, your whispers are not helping her concentrate," Piper hissed at him, sending him a glare. She still did NOT like that pirate with her niece.

Emma pushed her hands forward, sending out a wave of white energy at the beast, striking it in the shoulder and making it roar and stumble back. She grinned as she opened her eyes, "Take that, frosty!"

Unfortunately, it didn't seem to be enough as the beast merely growled, even more angry, spikes and other icy, jagged bits starting to shoot out of its shoulders, head, arms, and back, making it even more menacing.

"Really?!" Emma cried.

"Watch out!" Piper shouted, trying to pull Emma back as the beast took a large step for them, roaring and swinging its arms out, knocking the lot of them back and onto the ground.

Piper groaned as she rolled on her side, having been on the edge of the line of people, she hadn't been struck as firmly as the others that had been its main target. She looked up, seeing that Marian, who had been on the other side of the line, was still standing…and moving towards the snow-beast with a bow and arrow.

"Idiots," she muttered under her breath, had they really not deduced that an arrow was USELESS against the creature? Why would you try one again?

It seemed, despite having seen Little John's arrow do nothing, Marian hadn't realized the pointlessness of it till the beast roared at her for firing at it and sent her falling to the ground as it stomped towards her.

"Please!" Marian gasped and, for a moment, Piper thought she was speaking to her, but when she looked closer, Marian wasn't even looking in her direction but towards a tree…a tree that Regina was stepping out from behind and moving before the beast to look at it, "Help me," Marian begged, "Please!" Regina glanced at her, smirking, before she disappeared, "No!"

Piper remained quiet and still even as Regina disappeared in a burst of purple smoke, leaving Marian to her fate. The beast lifted its enormous foot and moved to bring it down on the woman that had attacked him, ready to stomp her into dust…

When it suddenly burst into flames.

Piper would forever deny that she pouted at that.

But the snow cleared, melted away, to reveal Regina behind it, her hand raised from where she'd hurled a fireball at it. Finally, someone with sense.

Marian slowly got to her feet, eyeing Regina, "You saved me…"

Piper rolled her eyes at that, no, Regina had thrown a tea party. She shook her head and started to push herself to her feet, moving to check on Emma as Robin and the others came to.

"Marian!" Robin hurried beside his wife, spotting the other woman standing there in her white suit and skirt, "Regina…" he breathed, seeming about to take a step towards her before he realized his wife was beside him and turned to her instead, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Marian answered, glancing over at Regina, "Maybe you're not a monster."

"Maybe I'm not," Regina agreed, her voice purposefully and forcefully flat, "Welcome to Storybrooke, Marian."

"Regina," Emma gasped as Piper got her standing, "We've been trying to find you. We need to talk about…" but before she could even finish, Regina disappeared in a swirl of smoke once more.

Piper shook her head, "Heroes and villains operate on very different levels, Emma," she gave the girl some advice, "Regina will have to work through this and how it makes her feel before she is ready to talk about it. And your empty apologies are not going to make her any more forgiving," she held up a hand to cut Emma off, "Until you truly regret saving Marian's life in the past, you will never truly be sorry for what you have done in the present and your apologies will never be entirely sincere."

"Yeah?" Emma scoffed, "And what if she works through it and feels angry and turns evil again?"

Piper, not up for Emma's attitude at the moment given she'd have to leave Gold in the middle of what seemed to be a great discovery, gave her an unimpressed look, "Well, then that would be on YOU, would it not?" she sighed, seeing Emma flinch at the reminder of what she'd done, "You were wrong to do what you did Emma, regardless of intention or heroism, the past is the past for a reason and should not be changed lest the future be altered irreversibly," she gave her a pointed look, "Instead of fretting about Regina, would it not be best to focus on how to fix your mistakes instead?"

"I'm not going to kill her," Emma told her quietly, glancing at Marian as she dabbed at Little John's head where he'd been cut in his fall.

"I know YOU will not," Piper rolled her eyes, her words half teasing and half serious, the implication that someone else would undoubtedly kill Marian not lost to either of them, "But it would better serve you to practice your magic, to learn all you can about it, before Magic itself comes to right your wrongs. IF magic were to come for your brother, you especially must be ready to protect him, do you not think?"

Emma swallowed hard at that but nodded.

Piper gave her a nod as well before she turned to leave. She knew she hadn't completely gotten through to Emma, hadn't made her realize the true magnitude of what she'd done and how WRONG it had been…but at least she'd made her realize that the consequences could be far more than the girl ever thought and, perhaps, one day, when the consequences came knocking, Emma would truly understand and learn from this.

~8~

Emma stood before the door to Regina's office in Town Hall, knocking on it as it was locked, "Regina?" she called through it, but no response came, "I know you're in there. I can see the light's on," she waited a moment but when silence reigned still she sighed, "I know this is all complicated, but you can have happiness. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you just have to fight. Ok?" she shook her head, "And if you won't, I will. Henry brought me to Storybrooke to bring back the happy endings. My job's not done until I do that for everyone, including you."

And with that, Emma turned and strode off.

Piper stepped out from around a corner as Emma walked off, waiting till the blonde woman was out of sight before she moved over to the same door to Regina's office, "The promises of heroes," she began with a sigh, "But I am not any such thing, I am not my cousin nor her daughter. Know that I was conscious during the snow beast's attack and there was a reason even I did not help the forest maid," she glanced to the stairs, making sure Emma wasn't about to head back and try to break down the door, "We have come to a truce, you and I," she reminded Regina before turning back to the door, "Know this as well…should you require support in…ridding the town her, I would be all too happy to assist."

She waited a moment longer before she nodded her head and turned to walk away, leaving Regina to her thoughts, but also finding her own thoughts were racing in her mind.

Because to offer assistance to Regina in this matter…meant also going against her family too.

A/N: Given some surprises in the last handful of episodes regarding Marian, namely from Heart of Gold. I can say there IS a reason that Piper is in the dark about it compared to past similar instances of deception and it will be explained in the end ;)

Also, to anyone following my Calm Before the Storm-Hook/OC story, I WILL be updating that again, but it will not be till mid-August. I want to get through this story first as Piper only needs to be caught up 1 season where as Lyssa is 3 seasons. I'll then break up the two OUAT stories by completing a Lord of the Rings story between them, and continuing with Lyssa right after. Her story WILL be resumed and it WILL be completed, I'm just trying to get things wrapped up and do them in terms of length, Piper's story is shorter to complete than Lyssa's and so on ;) So I apologize for the delay with Lyssa, but she will be resumed before Summer is over ;)

And I just want to say thank you to all of you for your understanding about the lateness of posting this series. My father is on the road of being declared Cancer Free and is recovering well and it really means a lot to me the support I received from readers and the understanding of the pauses I had to take in posting. I hope to be able to resume the stories and keep them going with no interruptions from here on out. In fact, to celebrate being back, today we should be getting a new story/chapter of other works just about every 2 hours ;)

I have, unfortunately, been forced to revise my stories for 2015 :( The new schedule of what will be updated/posted in 2015 and when is on my tumblr.

Some notes on reviews...(from the end of Phantom Melodies)...

You're very right that Piper is worse than Hook, she's said and implied many many times she is a hypocrite, it's a flaw of hers. Though she didn't try to kill Belle out of jealousy, she's very secure in her relationship with Gold, she wanted to use Belle as she knew that the only way to free the Dark One was to use a human sacrifice and she thought it would kill two birds with one stone to use Belle, Gold would be free and someone that was an annoyance to both of them would be gone ;) She's never been jealous of Belle, she finds her irritating and annoying and a hindrance and, to her, getting rid of her wouldn't be any skin off her nose so to speak. In general, I think humans are very much hypocrites when it comes more to people we care about. My brother would punch out any boyfriend of my sister or I if they dared upset our mother, but HE has no problem at all raging at her and making her cry himself :/ Piper finds her own actions justified at times while at others she fully admits that's just how she is and what she wanted to do, and she wants someone that she can trust with her niece, she doesn't trust Hook with Emma, because she knows what SHE is like as a villain and she wants better for her heroic niece. And, being part Siren, with Hook not being blood family or her true love (like Gold is), it's even harder for him to gain her trust with how hardened Piper's heart is (like stone) by now :( But you are very right, Piper is far darker and has likely done worse things than Hook and should have no place to comment on things he's done, but a lot of people in the world should have no right to comment on certain situations or topics yet they still do and get involved and think it justified to do so :( Piper feels that, as Emma's aunt, she has a right to protect her niece and, as she is a hypocrite, she'll hate other villains that show an interest in Emma. I've never denied how Piper is nor has Piper. I'm glad you noticed ;)

For Piper's Oath, what Emma did was create a parallel story, she changed time so everything that Piper remembers currently in the story is the original time. She has no memory of the oath because for her it never happened, she remembers only the original story where Snow met Charming and everything happened as it originally did :) I took the forgetting potion as Gold forgets everything after a certain point, or forgets Emma's involvement, like how Snow could forget a person but remember everything else :) In the story Gold wasn't dead, just trapped, so Baelfire didn't bring him back from the dead in that sense ;) We'll have to wait and see who might leave town or not though ;) Ooh there's SO much planned for Piper in Season 4, I can't wait :)

That's cool, I just have a thing about age differences and I felt that they played Belle more as a late teenager in the show when we first met her and it was one thing that threw me off liking Rumbelle and I mentioned sometimes the age an actress or actor looks can sometimes affect how people feel about the pairing :) I've seen actresses that are in their late 20s, are almost 30, that literally look 15 so if I try to imagine them say…paired with the Doctor or Peter Capaldi, I'd be a little wary of it just from appearance. Even being 20 years younger than Robert, that could still technically make him her father lol, but that's just my opinion and to each his/her own ;) As for Maid Marian, I blame the writers for making her appear like just an obstacle to some viewers, there was a lot more potential for her story than they chose to utilize :( I still support Outlaw Queen regardless of Maid Marian though, but it's mostly because I seriously headcanon that Regina couldn't, in any universe, have killed her. Marian was an outlaw, she actually participated in thieving, she had to know how to pick locks. And with the Sheriff being a former fiancé, she likely knew how a jail or dungeon worked, I really and truly believe she would have been able to escape on her own had Emma not been there and died another way, as Robin said, he 'put her in harm's way during a job' and that was how he thought she died, I can't see a man like Robin believing she's dead without having physically buried her body, to just take someone's word for it and not hold out hope and search for her everywhere, and if that was the case and Regina did kill her he would have known and never ever started a relationship with her, which is why I think Emma messed up more of the timeline than she realized. But that's just my theory and reason for still liking Outlaw Queen :)

Oh it's going to get very messy }:) But we'll definitely see a few tweaks to the dagger plot and a little more of August ;) For Marian, I really took it as Robin would NOT think she was really dead unless he'd actually buried her body, which is why I really think Emma messed up more than she realized in the show, but I doubt the writers will every actually explore what really would have happened to Marian without Emma being there (I really think she'd have been able to break out on her own though, she was an outlaw, she had to know how to pick locks, and her fiancé was once a sheriff, she had to know how jails/dungeons worked).

Piper's anger at Emma's actions will definitely pop up throughout Season 4 yup ;) But they will really sit down and talk about it and Emma will actually bring it up during a moment that shocks Emma just a little ;) I'm glad the forgetting potion scene added a little more of a different POV to it, there are a ton of things that happen in OUAT that I really dislike so I try to think of other reasons for it happening :)

We'll have to see if there might be a marriage coming up one day ;)

LotR should start on July 25th :)