Merry christmas!
A prince in rich red clothes was riding fast. His marvellous white horse was going at full speed across the beach to the forest in the hope to finally find someone. In fact, THE someone.
Beside him, flying in a cloud of green dust, was a little girl. She was so small the blond could have been mistaken for a fairy. However, she did not possess wings nor the uncomfortable dress these little ladies usually did.
The two of them together did not spare a glance toward each others while traveling. They simply focused on the destination, one with determination and the other with well hidden nervosity.
Seeing seven small men in the distance surrounding a glass coffin, the man set foot on earth and joined them. The wingless fairy following slowly behind.
«You are too late» the one with glasses said, mentioning toward the body inside the coffin to the prince.
«No!» denied the poor lad, thinking his one true love was dead.
«Open it!» said more gently the prince, only to be refused by one of the 7 dwarfs.
«At least, let me say good-bye» asked the young men in tears, touching lightly the coffin were a beautiful woman in white lay. Glancing toward each others, the so small means accepted silently and did as asked. Floating over their head, the green eyed girl overlooked the morbid scene of a prince kissing the corpse of his beloved, or so she though when something happened.
A magic spell seemed to have taken place at the time their lips touched each other, leaving behind a rainbow wave wash over the realm. Gasping for breath, the princess woke up under the wide eyes of everyone.
«You... you found me» whispered the women, gently sitting up with the help of the man in red and gold.
«Did you ever doubt I would? » replied said the man, laughing in joy.
«Truthfully... the glass coffin gave me pause» she said will reach the prince's face with her left hand.
«Well, you never have to worry. I will always find you» said her one true love, also touching her under the stares of seven dwarfs and one child.
«Hum-hum» made the young fairy look alike, attracting the attention to herself.
«I know you didn't see each other for long and this.. whatever it is should be touching, but don't you think you two could do it another time? » proposed the blond.
…...
An old fashioned alarm clock awakened a young woman from her slumber, along with her hangover.
Getting out of her comfy four-posted bed made of wood with green and white sheets, she made a show to stretch herself. Doing so, she accidently hit the curtains made of fake white feathers covering the top of it.
Letting out a long hiss, the blond started to prepare herself for her day. She first went to her wardrobe and took out a short hot pink dress, a clean, black jacket, black legging and red pumps. Then, still in her pyjamas consisting of a camisole showing off her belly button and baggy white pants, she got out of her apartment to go see the inhabitant of the one above her's.
Walking on the stairs without shoes or stockings, she couldn't wait to see her neighbor. Knocking on the door three times in the same pattern of a song, she didn't have time to finish it before someone finally opened it.
«Good morning Rose» said a young woman with short black hair, letting the girl come in.
«Good morning» replied grumpily the girl before lighting up under the smell of coffee.
«You went to the Rabbit hole again, did you?» asked Mary Marguaret with a frown.
«Yep» answered without a bet Rose Evergreen, not regretting anything, apart from the fact Ashley couldn't come. Remembering last night with Ruby, it was fun, but she still wished Ashley didn't get knocked up so they still could go to bars together.
«Can I go out of my apartment? » laughed Mary, mirth in her eyes while serving a tray of toast with butter and eggs to her young landlord.
«It was one time» replied the girl, gaze fixated to the coffee machine, making her a spoon of yellow egg miss her mouth.
«One time too many» her neighbor replied, pointing out the mess she made.
«Don't worry, Whale left early this morning» smirked the girl, enjoying the look on Mary Marguaret face.
«Dr. Whale? » questioned the women.
«Yes, and let just say the name whale is fitting him, at least for the size» giggled Rose, making the conservative Mary blush a little.
«Here the coffee! » replied the cook, distracting the teenager of 18 years old. A comfortable silence took over the table for the rest of the breakfast before the two had to leave.
«I can't believe the Mayor let you work in that» sighed Mary Marguaret, getting out of the building with her landlord, only to face the cold breeze. She was right to give a clock to Rose, she would have frozen to death!
«What's wrong with my clothes? I find it cute, beside Mayor Mills love me, she would not complaint for something like that» answered the girl, before the teacher bumped into someone.
«Mayor Mills! I am so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going» excused herself Mary, sounding nervous.
«That's alright, just look where you're going next time Miss Blanchard and Miss Evergreen? Be sure to do, not mistake love with indulgence for a good assistant, anything which is rare to find these days.
«Good day» replied with a clipped tone Regina, quickly walking pass them.
«That was scary» exclaimed the teacher when she was sure Mayor Mills was gone.
«She seem to be in a bad mood today, I wonder if something happened again between her and Henry.. » contemplated the teen sadly.
«You think so? I think it's good for them though. Beside, Henry seems to be doing better these days, apart from the whole fairy tale thing» replied Blanchard.
«Fairy tale thing? » questioned the Mayor's assistant.
«Yes, you know, the whole story about how everyone in storybook is a fairy tale character» explained Mary Marguaret.
«I didn't know that» said the teenager, feeling a little sad. She is always the one the Mayor asks to babysit Henry after all, should he talk about these things with her?
«I'm sure he will talk about it sometime soon. Maybe you could even ask him which character you are? It's pretty funny actually» told the older women to her friend gently with a small smile.
«Sure, but who does he think you are exactly? Tinker Bell? » questioned Rose with humour.
«No, Snow white» replied Mary Marguaret before leaving her.
…...
«I do» answered Prince charming to the priest, surrounding by all the nobles of the realm.
«And do you, Snow White, promise to take this man to be your husband and love him for eternity?» asked the priest.
«I do» vowed the princess in the white dress, ignoring the soothing voices of the white flowers in her hair. Her sister-in-law was sweet, but those are very distracting. She was lucky Granny helped her make the wedding grow, who know what it would have done otherwise.
«I now pronounce you husband and wife» said the priest in the hall of the royal castle of the south. Clapping sound and cheers could be heard from all around, one of the loudest made by a blond woman with green eyes who stood in the back. Some glances were throw her way once in a while because of the inappropriate clothes she has on. This was a wedding, and usually ladies would wear a dress, not a whole outfit made of green leathers dusted with sand.
The couple was about to end this with a kiss when out of nowhere, the doors of the hall opened up with a bang. The sound was so loud that it ripped out a squeal out of the young teen. When everyone looked back, they see an ennemy they knew shouldn't be here, the evil queen.
«Sorry, I'm late» announcing the tall women wearing an outfit similar to the blond teen, only in black. Advancing toward the gazebo where the royal couple stood, two guards tried to attack her, but with a flick of her hand, they were projected away.
«It's the Queen, run! » screamed Doc, the dwarf with glasses on his nose.
«She's not a Queen anymore! She's nothing more than an evil witch» announced Snow white to her people, menacing said the witch with her husband's sword.
«Don't Snow, there is no need for that» finally spoke the girl in green, walking slowly from the back to the Queen, cutting her path if she try to run from where she came from.
«Beside, I don't think you should call her a witch in order to insult the last Queen, it's quite cruel for those of us who can use magic» reminded the blond to her sister-in-law, shocking the court with her words.
«What are you doing here?» asked the owner of the castle to the regent Queen, as if she didn't just take her defense in front of everyone.
«I have come to give your dear brother and his wife a gift» answered Regina slowly, looking at Snow White.
«We want nothing from you» exploded the bride with fury.
«But you shall have it» replied the Queen with a smirk.
«My gift to you is this happy, happy day, for tomorrow, my real work begins. » started, Regina, walking in small circles in order to look at everyone while talking. Unfortunately, each one of them looked elsewhere, apart from the royal couple and the noble blond.
«You've made your vows, now I make mine» continued, the women in black.
«Regina..» called the teen with a frown, but she was ignored.
«Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you forever and out of your suffering will rise my victory» exclaimed the sorceress with intensity, scaring the court and the royal couple, but the blond still looked at Regina with only sadness in her heart.
«I shall destroy your happiness, if it is the last thing I do» declared at the end the evil queen with regal before advancing toward the blond women who looked like someone killed her puppy.
«Hey! » screamed the prince, attracting the attention of Regina before throwing his sword to her chest, probably hoping to pierce her.
«No! » cried out his sister, projecting the weapon away with the help of the wind at the same time the women in black disappeared in a swirl of black smoke, both catching the eyes of each others.
The evil queen now no longer here, the whispers started to form in the crowd about what just happened.
Snow white now in fright because of her step-mother treat, hide in the chest of her husband, in need of comfort. The prince hugged her tightly while looking severely toward his sister.
Feeling the heavy stare, she gulped.
…...
Finishing arranging the paper works to sign for the Mayor, she checked the clock to find it was time to get in the Mills house in order to check on Henry. Putting her cloak on, she left the town hall and started to walk over the side road.
«Rose! » screamed Ruby in front of Granny's, waving her left hand around.
«Hey, sorry, I don't really have time to talk now, I have to go see Henry» said the girl to her red friend.
«Yay, about that, I didn't see him leave the school bus this afternoon» informed Granny's grandchild.
«Are you sure? » questioned the blond.
«Yay, pretty sure» continued Ruby.
«Thank Ruby, I really have to go now, I call you later? » said Rose, already walking away.
«Ok! Later! » replied the girl in red, nearly screaming since the tank has started to run away to the Mayor's house.
Running with all her strength to see if Henry was at home and not kidnapped or worse, she didn't see the worrying glances throws her way.
Barging into the house, she runs into Henry room, only to not find him. She checked over the house twice before the panic started to take over. She started to dial Regina's number, but she didn't answer, so she left a message.
«Regina! Henry is not here! I have looked everywhere in the house and he is just not here! Ruby said he never left the bus, he never went to school! Call me back! I'm gonna call the sheriff next! » screamed Rose on the phone.
Calling Graham next, she was as lucky as with Regina. The teen decided to also leave him a message.
«Henry has disappeared! I don't find him anywhere and he didn't go to school today! Call me back soon! » panicked the blond over her phone in tears.
She didn't know what to do, usually when they are problems around, the Mayor or the sheriff take care of them, but both are unavailable. Rose didn't know how to form a search party or who else to call, and as far as the girl knew, she was the nearest thing to a friend Henry had. Yet, was it really true? She didn't know about his fairy tale game, his teacher did...
…...
«We need to know more about the queen treat» stated the prince to his wife and big sister, all of them standing in the nursery of baby Emma.
«How? All we know is that she is preparing to cast a curse on these lands, and that is based on Malificient words» replied Snow with a frown on her lovely features.
«I think...I have an idea, but you won't like it» said the girl with short curly blond hair, blinking her doe green eyes.
«What is it?» asked her brother, a little wary. His sister view of the world was very different from normal people after all.
«We should visit Rumplestilskin» finally declared the teen, waiting for the dramatic reactions that would come.
«Are you crazy!? We just put him in this cell and you want us to what? Make a deal with him? What if he asks us to free him, huh? Cinderella and her baby could be in danger! » ranted the prince, waving his arms around before stopping when his wife pressed her right hand gently on his shoulder.
«Why, exactly, do you wish to see Rumplestilskin?» demanded Snow white.
«He was Regina's teacher, if someone can inform us about this curse,it is him. In fact, he probably is the one who gave it to her» explained the owner of the castle.
«You really think so? » questioned the princess thoughtfully.
«Everything she knows about magic? It's all came from him and do you know someone else than the Dark one who could have come up with that kind of curse? » asked the blond.
«Alright, then let's visit him tonight, but you won't come» decided Snow, interrupting her husband before he could talk.
«What? Why?» wondered out loud the princess's sister-in-law.
«You two share a history together, it would not be wise to take you to him» stated the women.
…...
«Rose, come here and take some tea, Mayor Mills and the Sheriff will find him» murmured Dr. Hopper, trying to soothe the poor girl. Exhausted, she didn't resist and sat on a couch with a cup of green tea.
She had called Dr. Hopper right before Regina and Graham arrived together at the house, both questioning her about Henry disappearance. The blond answered as best as she could, but was in the end escorted by the shrink in his office.
«Um, do you mind if we take Pongo out for a walk?» asked Dr. Hopper, breaking the silence. Instant of giving a verbal answer, Rose simply stood up and walked outside, the man and his dog not far behind.
The sky was dark and cold, making the teen shivers in her borrowed winter cloak. She walked side by side with the kind psychologist under the rain. For a moment, she was about to ask him why didn't he use his umbrella when she see a yellow car in front of the clock tower. A blond woman looking strangely like herself stood in front of it with a young boy. One she knows well.
«Henry! » screamed the babysitter, relief in her features, running toward the child before hugging him tight.
«Whe searched all over the town, but did not find you! I 'm so glad you're okay» whispered Rose, nearly crying.
«It's alright Rose, I just went on a field trip this morning» reassured Henry, looking over to see Archie, who just arrived in time to hear his words.
«Hello Henry, may I ask who is this?» said the shrink.
«Just someone trying to give him a ride home» responded the mysterious women, gaze fixated on Rose.
«She's my mom, Archie» informed the 10 years old kid.
«Your mom... and she live in Storybrooke? » questioned the teen with suspicion.
«I live in Boston» said the biological mother of Henry, shrugging when the boy shot her a betrayed look.
«Boston!? You skipped school to go in Boston alone! » exclaimed Rose.
«Like I said, I went on a field trip» responded Regina's boy, calmly.
«I think you should take him home while I take Rose here to her own appartement» proposed Archie, fearing the teen would hyperventilate.
«Sure, do you know where he lives? » replied Emma, wanting this night to finish soon.
«Right upon Mifflin street, the mayor's house is the biggest on the block» responded Archie, already taking the girl back home.