A/N: Some of you passing by might recognize a pretty similar story I had posted in Once upon a time and never finished. I thought it wiser to restart and post it where it truly belonged – with Merlin.
Prologue: Another nightmare
Lily's green eyes shot open. Her hand instinctively got up to her forehead, and wiped the cold sweat in which it was soaked.
Another nightmare.
As almost every night since the curse had been broken.
Before the Saviour broke the curse, Lily hadn't dreamt about lives long past and grieved. She had never been plagued with nightmares of what she could have lived if she had stayed.
If her father hadn't fetched her back.
Lily got out of bed and started her day as she usually did: breakfasting, getting dressed and going for a walk.
Storybrooke was a pretty town for those who weren't afraid of who ruled it.
And if Lily wasn't afraid of someone, it really was Regina.
Thinking about the Evil Queen made her smirk.
Really.
She had been trapped by her father into going in the sole world he could find his lost son Baelfire, and she hadn't got any of it.
What an idiot.
Without her consent, her feet brought her to the main street of the town, and she soon saw the flickering morning lights inside the pawn-broker's shop.
Time to pay her dad a visit...
"Dad?" Lily pushed the back-door opened. It took her a short time to adjust to the faint light in the small room that was her father's office, but she saw as clear as day when Rumpelstiltskin's head appeared in the archway.
"Lily?" He walked forward, his cane clicking onto the floor. "What are you doing here, dearie?"
She shot him a look. "You know what."
He sighed and sat down on a chair. "Another dream." She nodded. "So the previous potion didn't work. I'll have to think about it. Maybe you should the fairies."
Lily sighed and sat down next to him. "They wouldn't help. Everyone here is plagued with memories of a time they thought lost. I only happen to have magic on top of that."
"And don't shout it too loud."
She smirked at that. "Frightened Regina might try something on me?"
"Her or her mother."
Lily's gaze darkened. "Yes. Cora. I never met her but I'd have some things to tell her if I ever do."
"Tell her. I refuse you practise magic when I'm not here, is it understood?"
She nodded and smiled sadly. "So you're packed?"
He nodded back. "Yes. Miss Swan and her boy will come with me. We leave tomorrow morning."
"I'd pay quite a sum of money to see the look on Bae's face when you'll tell him he has an adopted sister..."
They both chuckled at the thought.
"Well, until you two meet, darling-"
She stood up. "Stay out of trouble, I know."
A quick hug and kiss on her father's cheek, and Lily was off.
Never was someone for goodbyes anyway...