Resolution Chapter 1
"Gamma!" Two young voices chorused.
Regina looked up from her paperwork with a smile and pushed back from the desk slightly.
Dillon and Zita ran full force into her legs and giggled as she swooped both up into her lap.
Henry strolled into the mayor's office and grinned. "Congratulations Mom, winning reelection again."
"Thank you. How're the kids doing on their projects?"
Henry rolled his eyes. "Still complaining about how hard the research is."
"If they only knew how hard actual research is."
"Exactly."
Henry was an English teacher for the senior class in Storybrooke High School. He and Violet had married shortly after they started college. Violet was now a pharmacist. Two years ago their twins Zita and Dillon were born. Roland was in his senior year in high school, and one of Henry's students.
"How's Roland doing in your class?"
"Still top of class, even though he complains just like the rest of them." Henry laughed.
"Oh yes, I heard all about how you're tougher on him than the rest of the class. How that happens every time he gets a relative, other than me, teaching him anything."
"Oh yeah, I've heard that one too. Aunt Rowena in art class, Grandma Snow in Middle School, now me. Only mom in magic class wasn't unfair to him."
Regina chuckled, "That's because he knows how to use those puppy dog eyes with Robin and me."
"Yeah he just pushes you both right over."
"Sadly, that's true. Thankfully he's a good boy despite that. And I recall you being pretty good at the same thing, so he picked it up from you." Regina mock scolded.
"Well, Violet says I'm the same with these two hellions, so I guess I learned that from you." Henry laughed.
"Speaking of hellions; Hope's showing signs of my favorite stage of parenting, Grace won't be far behind, I'm sure." Regina sighed.
"You'll do fine, Mom, just do what you did with Roland."
"I know, but they'll also be coming into their full potential of magic. They're both going to be high level like my sister and me. Honestly, I'm a bit more worried about Grace. Hope's temperament is calmer, a bit more cautious, Grace though is impulsive and her mixed element type Fire and Water is not an easy combination. We found out Hope does have low level Air along with Earth, but it's low level where Grace's both are high level."
"Mom, if anyone can parent well, it's you."
"Well, I colossally messed up for a bit with you."
"I was a self-righteous jerk."
"You were a child, and I shouldn't have lied to you about being adopted, and acted like you were delusional when you found out my past from the storybook."
"You were scared I'd reject you, then I did. We both changed and it got better."
"Yeah." Regina smiled and then looked down and laughed; Dillon had unhooked the clasp of her necklace and tried to put it on himself. "Well, I wonder if you picked up thievery from your grandpa, Dillon." Zita had found the soft rubber eraser and was thumping it on the desk in some kind of vaguely rhythmical pattern. "And you little miss; maybe your daddy needs to get you a drum to play."
"Add to the chaos, huh?" Henry laughed
"Regina!" Emma burst into the office; phone in hand "You better look at this."
"Gamma Emma!" the twins shouted and jumped down from Regina's lap and ran to their other grandmother.
"Still not used to that." Emma muttered, then to the twins "Hey kiddos. Have to talk to your other grandma about something important now. We'll play later."
Henry picked up Regina's necklace from the floor and handed it to her. He distracted the twins with a couple of toys, then stood between Regina and Emma to see what they were watching.
"Gold." Regina muttered.
"He's making his move." Emma nodded.
They were watching a press conference in Washington DC. The new president was speaking, and among the people on stage behind him was Gold. Emma followed the presidential races much more than anyone else in Storybrooke. Most of the time, whoever became president had no effect on them. People wanted to vote for president though, even though their vote would never be counted. That vote was basically meaningless. Archie had pointed it out to Regina they could use it to track changes in cultural trends. So in that sense it wasn't worthless.
Regina hadn't cared for the man who won this time; he seemed like a conman. Regina was glad he'd lost in Storybrooke, by a substantial amount. Seeing Gold on stage with him, Regina was sure he was a conman. Gold had to have the man completely in his pocket. The conman was being strung along by someone far better at the game.
Regina suddenly felt a jolt, like an earthquake, but this was magical not terrestrial.
"Did you feel that?" Emma asked.
"Yeah. Gold's done something. Our ley line was protected but whatever he's done sent a tremor through our line and to us."
"I felt it too." Henry said.
"That means probably anyone with even low level magic felt it."
"Get ready for your phone to start ringing. I better get back to the station; we'll be getting calls too. "
"Henry, could you stop by Roland's acting practice and let him know I'll probably won't be able to pick him up."
"I'll drop him off at the house. Is it Robin's day to pick up Hope and Grace?"
"Yes, thank goodness. I'll call him and let him know what's going on, but he probably felt it too."
The phone rang at that point.
Henry waved bye and then got Dillon and Zita's attention. Regina waved back as Henry and the twins left.
Henry walked into the school with the twins. Roland had won the lead role in the senior class school play, even though it was only early November and play wasn't till March. Ava was determined to make sure the kids had their lines down, even in their sleep. She had said that not just to the kids but in the faculty lounge.
Roland definitely had the talent and charisma for acting. Storybrooke just had two theatres, a small seasonal troop, and a professional theatre. Roland had already played a support role two years ago with the seasonal troop, and a minor role at the professional theatre this past summer. Mom was a bit worried about acting as his career; it wasn't exactly the most stable one. But Robin was sure he'd be okay and kept Mom from worrying too much. Henry agreed with Robin, plus everyone seemed to like Roland; he had lots of friends, and basic survival skills. It was strange watching how popular Roland was with his classmates. Henry had always preferred being by himself, he just had a few close friends his age, and most of those had been since he started teaching. Paige was his only friend from childhood, and she was a teacher as well.
As he turned down the hallway to the auditorium two students walked past him.
"Hey, Mr. Mills. Roland's still in there. Ms. Zimmer cancelled practice because of that weird earthquake."
"So you felt it too?"
"I didn't, but Ms. Zimmer and a bunch of the other kids did."
"I did!" The other student said with a grin.
"Me too!" both Zita and Dillon chorused. Rebecka had said she could see magic potential in both of them. This was the first time they'd shown it. But Henry knew that meant they would probably be high level if they felt the magical jolt that young.
Roland was laughing with his girlfriend Eimi and boyfriend Douglas. Eimi was sitting on Douglas's lap but flirting with Roland. The three had a really tight bond; maybe you could have two true loves at the same time... Henry remembered Fionn's story about his aunt, which certainly sounded like she had two true loves at the same time, pretty similar to Roland. Eimi was half kitsune. Two years ago Inari had come back to Storybrooke, voluntarily that time, with Eimi. Eimi was the daughter of one of the other fox spirits. Her father had left her long ago at one of Inari's temples in Japan. She had shown signs of inheriting kitsune magic and the other people in the village pressured him into leaving the "odd child" at the temple. She had been around 5 years old then. She went to the fox spirit realm and stayed with her mother for about a century in our world, but she only aged about 10 years in that time. She suddenly started feeling restless and unhappy in the fox spirit realm...
"This happens sometimes; we don't know why. But it's always best to bring them to somewhere on this world. They can then decide whether they feel at home more here or in the fox spirit realm. I knew here she wouldn't be treated badly because of her kitsune magic." Inari had told them at the impromptu small town hall meeting at Granny's.
Regina walked over to Eimi and asked her directly "Do you want to stay here?"
Eimi looked surprised to be asked directly then nodded. "It feels better here. Uncle Inari is right. I don't know why the fox spirit realm started feeling wrong for me; it just did."
Granny spoke up. "I'll take you in, if you want."
Inari smiled "She's the one I told you about"
Eimi grinned "The wolf lady. Yeah, I'd like that."
Granny smirked "Just what did you tell her?"
Inari laughed.
"I will find out" Granny mock scolded.
That had been two years ago. Roland and Eimi were friends almost as soon as they met. Douglas was the son of one of the Enchanted Forest royalty. A very young boy when the curse brought them all here. He had been very blunt about being glad the curse brought them here. His father had the kingdom in a constant state of war, as had his father. It was a rigid, militaristic kingdom. Here his father was a car mechanic at the garage and his mom was a nurse. They were enraged when the curse broke and they remembered their Enchanted Forest past. They both still hated Mom because of the jobs the curse had given them the skills for. Douglas hadn't had an easy childhood since the curse broke. And he'd been thrown out of the house when his parents discovered he was close with Roland. He lived with foster parents now. Henry had met them, they were nice enough, but a fairly elderly couple. Douglas was taking care of them as much as they were him. Douglas didn't seem to mind; besides acting he was also thinking about doing home healthcare for the elderly and disabled. Eimi and Roland were completely focused on acting. Like Roland both Eimi and Douglas had a moderate level of magic. That had also been an issue with Douglas' parents. They hated all magic, even fairies. His foster parents were happy with his magic; he was one of the children that had developed healing magic. Douglass was happy to help them live with far less pain.
Roland spoke, bringing Henry's thoughts back to the present. "So does Mom know what caused the magic earthquake?"
Henry looked around and saw Ava and the other students had left, "Sort of. My other grandfather did something. It hit against our ley line."
"Mr. Gold's done something with magic, wherever he is?" Douglas asked.
"Yeah. That's all we know right now."
The next evening there was an emergency meeting at Regina and Robin's house.
Emma and Henry had searched online to find any information about Gold.
"Checked the legal records. He owns multiple houses, and not just in the US." Emma stated.
"How'd he get that kind of money? Never mind, I can guess." Regina responded.
"This isn't the first politician he's advised. There's been at least ten, all over the world. This is the first one he's been out in the open ." Henry said.
"He wanted us to see him." Regina said grimacing. "Wanted us to know how powerful he is."
"What did he do with the ley line?" Roland asked.
"Storybrooke's? Nothing. It isn't useful to him. But we think he pulled power from all the ones he has access to, at once. Not to the point of draining them, but pulling a little on so many at once caused the magical earthquake on ours."
"A sudden shock to the system." Emma commented.
"Yes. But Gold's cunning and knows the rules. He can bend them to the breaking point and know he can get away with it. Even if he's done what we've guessed he'll probably get away with it. But I'm betting all those Guardians are on high alert now, probably preparing for some kind of battle with Gold."
"So this was just a first strike, Mom?" Henry asked.
"Likely. My guess is he'll wait to do that again after the ley lines rebalance the energy. If he does it that way he could potentially have near unlimited magical power reserves."
"He's trying to make himself a god." Belle said sadly. "I see the pieces now. But why would he take Bae away?"
"Her magic potential. He can draw on it, perhaps in a less destructive way than Zelena did with Neal." Regina stated.
"We can't let him do that." David said.
"I won't let him." Belle wrapped her arms around her daughter protectively. Bae was sitting next to her mother on the couch.
"Why would daddy hurt me like how Neal was?" Bae looked heartbroken.
Regina looked at her gently. "We hope he won't, that he'll remember you are his child, that his power madness hasn't gone that far. But we'll all protect you." Regina glanced at her own young daughters. This was the first time the three girls, and also Snow and Charming's son Neal, were included in one these emergency meetings. Bae and Grace were both over a month from their eleventh birthdays, but this was about Bae's father and Grace would have pitched a fit if she'd been excluded and probably snuck down anyway. Better to just include her as well.
Hope and Grace both looked a bit scared; Regina knew stories circulated among the children of Mr. Gold as terrifying monster of a man. No one was terribly inclined to refute the stories, better the children be wary of him. Even Belle didn't refute them to anyone but her daughter. Some of the stories were actually true, other just slightly embellished; only a few were just wild tales the children had made up.
Roland had a very real terrifying memory of Gold targeting him at only five years old. He never spoke of that moment but when she looked over at Roland, sitting on the floor with Eimi and Douglass, she could tell he hadn't forgotten it. His expression was so much like Robin's when he was barely containing his rage. Roland had no tolerance for bullying of children by adults. The one time Roland got in serious trouble in school was when he was twelve; he struck a teacher who was screaming at another child. Roland was suspended for three days. Regina did tell Roland striking the teacher was wrong. But she had also used her position as mayor to make sure the screaming incident was investigated. The teacher had to take anger management classes and then voluntarily quit at the end of the school year.
"What's our plan, Mom?" Henry asked.
"Try to stop Gold from taking Bae from Storybrooke, if he does come here. Emma and I are the ones strongest in magic and we're practiced in combining magic-"
"That should make you last line of defense, not first." Killian commented.
"I agree. " Regina said "It's Emma you'll have to convince on that point."
"We should be first because we have the best chance of stopping him."
"Didn't you hear Regina; Crocodile has made himself practically a god. If even both of you try to go up against him first, he'll take both of you out, then he'll just breeze through the rest of us and get his kid."
"I'm loathe to say it" Regina's mouth quirked in a brief smile, showing she meant that in a more joking than serious manner, "but he's right, Emma. We have to be the last line, so that if he does take it to that level, he'll at least be worn down a little before he gets to us."
"Alright, I get it." Emma muttered.
"But the first line does need to be a strong magic user, one who knows Gold's tactics well."
"That would be me." Maleficent stated.
"And me." Tinkerbelle said firmly.
"Okay, we'll work out the rest depending on when and where he strikes. We know he'll have to pass the town line first though."
"It's possible he could try during the school day when he knows neither Regina nor me will be nearby." Emma said.
"It's a time of day Bae won't be near Belle either, so she won't be able to try to persuade him not to."
"In my dream I was there." Belle disagreed.
"The dreams are a possibility of what could happen. Were you at home, the shop or the library?"
"Home. Rumple used the excuse of wanting to visit."
"That's probable too; you'd be isolated."
"I live close." Douglas spoke up. His foster parents' apartment was just a street over.
"We're too." Snow said "Both our apartment and the sheriff's station. "
"My clinic is close by too." Rebecka stated.
"The mayor's office isn't too far either." Regina said.
"If he comes to school I'll be close by, as will Roland, Douglas and Eimi" Henry said.
"Don't try to fight him, just message everyone." Regina replied to Henry and looked at Roland to make sure he knew she was speaking to him as well. She was glad all three levels of the school were right next to each other but neither Henry or Roland or his boyfriend and girlfriend were any kind of trained magical fighters.
"I'm his grandson; I might be able to reason with him."
Regina, at first, was going to say "don't even try" but she saw the set look on his face and knew he would try, give his grandfather one last chance to make the right decision. "Okay." She said reluctantly. But don't try to get in his way; he'll see that as a threat, and grandson or not, he'll hurt you."
"I know mom."
"Mama," Grace piped up "I'm in the same class as Bae. What if he gets to the class?"
"Send me a text right away. Stay away from him. But if he acts friendly and speaks to you, you can talk to him. But text me first."
"Okay."
"Text me too." Hope said worriedly.
Grace nodded.
Despite the circumstances, Regina smiled at Hope's protective urge toward her little sister. The girls still were very close , and protective 0f each other.
"If you have time, text Roland and Henry as well. They'll be closest. If you can text me as well. But your priority is your mother and Henry. Like Henry said, he is Gold's grandson, he might be able to reason with him. Your mother is powerful and she understands Gold's tactics best. " Robin said.
"What about me? Can I text anyone?" Bae asked.
"Your mother. I'm sure he'll expect you to, if he shows up unannounced. Just text your mom and tell her your dad is here." Emma said.
"Yeah. Let me handle texting Emma and Regina. Just text me." Belle agreed.
Bae anxiously said "Okay."
"We don't know when, or even if, for certain he'll come here. But at least we've figured out a start of a plan tonight. I don't think it will be right away though. He prefers to plan long term. But we shouldn't assume we have plenty of time, or get slack." Regina advised.
"So how often do you think we should meet on this, Regina?" Snow asked.
"Gold's enough of a threat I think we should meet weekly, like we did back during the missing year."
"How do we do that without people finding out and getting panicked?" David questioned.
"We'll have to have a town hall meeting sometime. Gold's not being subtle anymore with what he's doing. If we've figured it out, others are going to as well. " Regina replied. "Granny is one."
"Do you want me to talk to her about it?" Eimi asked.
"Yes. She'll probably want to be in on the meetings from now on once she knows."
"We included her in the missing year." Snow reminded Regina.
"We did. And if Eimi's involved then Granny probably should be anyway." Regina agreed. "As for the town hall, I think we should watch for Gold's next move. If he makes another blatant move, then we schedule the town hall for the next weekend. We'll focus on what he's doing, not the potential threat to Bae.
"That's probably a good idea. Keep them from panicking, but let them know we're concerned about what Gold is doing, and have plans on keeping Storybrooke safe." David said.
"So we watch what Gold does for now." Robin said.
"Yes." Regina replied. "For now I think that's all we can do."
"Other than plan out what we're going to say at the town hall, and who 's going to talk." Robin replied. "You, it goes without saying."
"Emma and David" Snow said.
"You as well" Regina looked at Snow.
"Robin should too." Henry said.
"And you as the author, should as well" Robin replied.
"Maybe I could too." Belle said.
"Only if you feel comfortable. No one here will judge you if you can't" Regina said kindly.
"Thank you. But I understand Rumple's hidden side best. I might be able to say something that could help."
"We definitely need your help in anything about this." Emma said.
"Is it okay if I tell Mom and Dad what we know?" Roberta said. Rowena and Wilfred, nor her brothers Matthew and Cedric didn't come to this meeting. Wilfred was working the late shift as a stockroom manager at the hardware store. Rowena was firing the kids pottery projects in the school kiln. It was best to do that in the evenings, after the kids were gone for the day. Matthew was studying for exams in his college classes. Plus all three preferred living more normal civilian lives. Matthew still had some interest in adventures and magic, though, but he was consumed by his college classes. Cedric was just a little kid, over two years younger than Grace. None of them had magic either. She was the only one. Roberta had felt like she more belonged to her Uncle Robin's family, they all had magic, even Uncle Robin, a bit.
"Definitely do so." Robin smiled and looked at his watch, "best be getting you back home to Rowena. She's probably worried with the meeting running this late."
"Yeah, she'll be imagining all kinds of terrible things; she's a huge worrywart." Roberta rolled her eyes. "Plus she'll lecture me about getting enough sleep for school tomorrow."
Robin laughed, then looked over at Roland, Eimi and Douglas. "Eimi, Douglass? Can drop you off as well?"
"Thanks, Mr. Locksley!" Eimi said. "Granny will complain if I stay out much later than this on a school night."
"Yeah school." Douglas sighed and rolled his eyes, then more seriously added. "My foster parents are probably worried too, and sometimes they get real tired and need to go to bed early."
"We better go too Moms, Robin, grandma, grandpa, everyone…" Henry said looking around the room. "Won't go too well if Mr. Mills falls asleep during class." He grinned.
"I've the early shift at the pharmacy too, and tomorrow's the busiest day of the week, usually. " Violet added.
"Same goes for me, Henry." Snow said with smile. "It's past Neal's bedtime as well"
"But mom, I'm not sleepy" the eleven year old pouted, but his droopy eyelids gave lie to that.
"We'll have some popcorn when we get home and play one computer game, but them we all need to go to bed. Mom and me too. I'm taking the first patrol in the morning, okay?" David reasoned with his son.
"Okay." Neal replied.
"Can we have popcorn too mama, daddy?" Hope pleaded.
"Please?" Grace chimed in.
"I suppose so. But when your father gets back from dropping off Eimi, Douglas and Roberta, it's time for bed.'
The girls nodded.
"We'll go on too, Rebecka said as Mulan and she stood up. "The clinic needs to open bright and early."
As they walked to the door following Robin, Mulan said. "I don't have magic, but I have a connection to The Dragon. When we met in this land, he said someday I would need his help. I think he meant now."
Robin looked back at Mulan. "If you know how to get in touch with him, we could certainly use his help."
Mulan nodded. "I will."
"Well, Swan looks like it's time for us to shove off too." Killian said. He turned to Belle, who was readying to leave with a worried but sleepy Bae. "If I think of anything in my history that could keep him from taking your little girl, you've got it. I owe you that, at least, for the awful things I did because I wanted revenge on the Crocodile."
"Thank you."
"Regina, I have a longer history with Gold than you do, I'll be thinking on anything that might stop this." Maleficent said as she and Tinkerbelle readied to leave.
Tinkerbelle was hugging Hope and Grace as she talked to them. "Remember, I'm your fairy godmother, so even if you just write my name and think real hard that you want me there, I'll hear you. Maleficent and I will be watching the school, doing what we can to keep you and Bae safe."
Roland walked out to the car with Eimi and Douglas. The three group hugged with a laugh. Then his companions climbed into the back seat of the SUV while Roberta got in the front passenger seat.
Roberta was in the class after Roland and his friends. The four of them sometimes ate together at lunch. Roberta was somewhat in awe of them; they seemed so comfortable with themselves and funny. She was still a bit more shy, but enjoyed being part of their lunch time crew. Henry said she was more like him. She kind of wished teachers could eat lunch with the kids, because on the days she didn't eat lunch with Roland and his friends she'd eat alone, or with her one best friend. But even she didn't have magic, so she didn't understand some of the stuff she needed to talk about. Roland and his friends preferred to joke around during lunch, not have serious conversations. She wished Henry could have lunches with her, because he always listened and gave good advice. He and Violet seemed so grown up now, careers, kids and all. She still felt uncertain about what she wanted to do. She liked tutoring Neal in magic, so maybe she could teach like mom, Henry, his grandma and even Aunt Regina.
"Deep thoughts?" Robin said to Roberta, after he dropped off Eimi and Douglas.
"Yeah kinda. Not about the stuff we talked about tonight though."
"Do you need advice or just want to talk?"
"Not sure."
Robin nodded.
"I'm not sure what I want to do after school. Roland and Matthew already knew before they were my age. And I think Henry did too?"
"Kind of, but he was a bit uncertain until he started his senior year. You're in your junior year, so you aren't behind in any way. Do you have any vague ideas?"
"Kinda. I like tutoring Neal in magic."
"So a teacher perhaps?"
"Maybe. But I'm not sure I like all that school structure. I like more like what Aunt Regina does."
"Ah, she'll be glad to hear that, one of her former students wants to follow in her footsteps"
"Really? "
"Absolutely. And a plus you have an element magic that neither she or your cousins have."
"So you think I should talk to Aunt Regina about helping her out in the weekly magic class once I graduate?"
"Definitely." Robin smiled. His sister was going to tease him about how Roberta was so attached to his family, she might as well be his daughter. He knew Roberta felt a bit like the odd one out. In her immediate family she had a magical ability, but no one else did. Roberta and Wilfred had never done a thing to make her feel that way; it was just the circumstances. Robin was happy he'd been reunited with his little sister for all kinds of reasons. Being a relative that had magic too so Roberta wouldn't feel so alone was one of those. Rowena and Wilfred often talked to Regina and himself about how to parent a magical child. The simple answer was basically the same as any child, just with support for their growing abilities, just like any talented child.