Evermore ~ Rumplestiltskin

Chapter Seventeen

Liana's POV

I was so happy to get to spend the day with Rumple. We were in his shop having a picnic. I put the picnic basket on the counter and he opened it, "Ah, well that looks delicious. Thank you, Liana." I smiled and took off my coat. I then frowned as the door opened, Mary Margaret, Emma and David walked in.
"Nothing warms my heart more than a family reunited. You have your mother's chin, Miss Swan."

"We know that you killed him," said Emma.

I furrowed my eyebrows.

"And you have your father's tact," replied Rumple.

David put his hands on his hips. "Someone's dead?" I questioned.

"Dr. Hopper," said Emma.

My heart skipped a few beats.

"Why on earth would you think I had anything to do with that?" Rumple questioned.

"Because all of the evidence points to Regina," said Emma.

"And she's not capable of doing something so vile?" I asked.

"It's a frame job," said Emma.

"It wouldn't be the first time you used someone to try to hurt her," added Mary Margaret.

Rumple smiled. "Nice to see your memories still intact, dearie. But this time I'm afraid I'm gonna have to disappoint you. It wasn't me."

"Why should we believe you?" David asked, crossing his arms.

I looked at rumple in the eyes hoping that he had some sort of plan to get himself out of this mess. I knew he didn't do it but it was a matter of getting the others to trust him.

"Because I can prove it," said Rumple.

"How?" I asked.

He looked at me before saying, "Ask the witness."

"No one was there," said Emma, crossing her arms.

"Now, that's not strictly true, is it?" he asked.

A few minutes later David brought in Pongo. "Hey, hey, good boy, good boy," said Rumple, kneeling down to pet him.

I chuckled. "I didn't know you were such a dog person," I said.

"Well, a long time ago in another life, I got to know a sheep dog or two."

"That's fascinating," said Emma. "But unless you speak dog, how is Pongo gonna tell us anything?"

"Through magic, of course," replied Rumple. "It won't allow us to communicate but it will allow us to extract his memories."

Rumple stood up.

"Extract?" David asked.

"You don't have to worry, he won't feel a thing," I said. "It's been done before."

"Why should we trust you?" asked Emma, walking towards Rumple and I. "Couldn't you just as easily use magic to fool us?"

"Because I'm not the one going to be using the magic, you are," said Rumple.

"Me? How?" asked Emma.

I rolled my eyes.

"You have it within you," said Rumple, turning to open the cabinet. "You told me and Liana so yourself. You witnessed it, didn't you?"

"Emma, you don't have to do this."

"If it tells us something about Archie's death, then so be it."

"Do you know what this is?" Rumple asked, pulling out a dream catcher.

"A dream catcher," Emma replied.

Rumple laughed. "Well, it's capable of catching so much more." Rumple clicked his tongue and then touched the dog's fur with the feathers of the dreamcatcher. "Here they are, the memories, Miss Swan, you show us how." Rumple passed the dreamcatcher to her.

"How? It's just a jumble," said Emma.

"Will it, will it and we shall see."

Emma took the dreamcatcher that was filled with memories and looked into it. "I can't."

I crossed my arms.

"Yes, you can," said Rumple.

Emma closed her eyes and then opened them again, making the jumbled up memories into a picture. "Emma, you're doing it," said Mary Margaret.

"Regina," said Emma. Mary Margaret hugged David and then Emma dropped the dream catcher and looked at her parents. "You were right all along."

"I'm sorry, Emma," said David.

David, Mary Margaret and Emma then left the shop. "I'm sorry, sweetheart," said Rumple.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "For what?"

"Our picnic was rudely interrupted," said Rumple.

I smiled at him. "You don't have to apologize for that. I'm just sorry that people still blame you for things that you don't have control over."

He smiled back at me. "I love you," he said.

My heart fluttered. "I love you too."

"Shall we go and eat?" asked Rumple.

I grinned. "Definitely."

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Update: Sorry this is a short chapter! I've been extremely busy preparing for college finals and such! I will try to update a little sooner next time!