A WALK TO THE MINES
Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time.
I hope some of you will appreciate a more positive view of Snowing before tonight's episode.
Here's another Snowing/Abirick missing scene, just like I promised. It takes place in canon and in the same universe as my other stories about both couples, "A Royal Wedding" and "An Interesting Double Date." However, you don't need to read the previous stories if you don't want to. All you need to know is that Snowing and Abirick became friends in the Enchanted Forest, after both couples got married, and were able to establish a tentative friendship after "In the Name of the Brother," in Storybrooke.
Oh, and I call Fredrick "Alan Woodson" in Storybrooke, rather than Jim. It makes more sense to me, because Alan means "something involving gold."
Mary Margaret watched as Emma and Henry rushed to the mines before they ran out of time. Their hands seemed to be clutching each other tightly as they ran, like mother and son were worried they might lose each other. Mary Margaret knew the feeling as she clutched onto David's hand. Still, they had to try to save Regina.
There was a big part of Mary Margaret that wanted to run up to Emma and Henry so they could all go down to the mines together as a family. But then she looked at another couple in the distance. Abigail and Fredrick. Or rather, Kathryn and…what was his name here? Alec?...Alex?...No, Alan! Yeah, that was it. They had been in the diner ten minutes ago, but they hadn't really said much. Were they okay with this plan?
"David," Mary Margaret whispered in her husband's ear as they walked to the mines. "Should we talk to them for a little bit?" she gestured to Kathryn and Alan. "I mean they're supposed to be our friends…and they're leaders too…"
David squeezed her hand and nodded. "Good idea. Kathryn, Alan, will you walk with us for a minute?"
They both nodded headed over to see Mary Margaret and David.
"I guess you didn't get a chance to say what you thought of this plan back at Granny's," Mary Margaret began as all four of them walked toward the mines now. "I know it might seem ridiculous to try to save a woman who tried to kill me so many times…"
"But she's important to Henry," David finished.
Mary Margaret nodded. That was part of it. She kept walking toward the mines.
Alan shrugged. "I guess I was kind of looking forward to returning to the Enchanted Forest," he admitted finally. "But I can handle being a gym teacher again."
"I don't really care where I live, as long as I have you," Kathryn commented as she looked at Fredrick.
Mary Margaret nodded. "I know the feeling," she replied, looking at David and then glancing up at Emma and Henry. "All we need is our family."
"Right," David agreed, a little forcefully, like he was trying to convince himself. Mary Margret squeezed his hand. She knew how much he'd wanted to return to the Enchanted Forest before.
"I have to admit, I don't really understand why we need to save Regina, of all people, though," Alan commented. "I mean this is the woman who ripped us away from our home the first time. She gave us all horrible lives under the Curse. And worst of all, she made my wife believe she was married to someone else! I mean, every time you two were…together, it was because of her. Didn't she kind of commit de facto rape on both of you?" He sounded quite bitter.
Mary Margaret sighed. Alan did have a point. Regina was the reason why her Charming had slept with another woman. Against his will. She blinked her eyes as the unwanted images appeared for a second.
David sighed. "Yes. I know." The tone of his voice indicated he'd thought of this before. "But to Henry, Regina will always be one of his mothers, no matter what else she did. I…can't tell him we let her die when there was something else we could do. The look on his face at the diner…" he shook his head at the memory. Mary Margaret's heart swelled with love for him at that. She knew helping Regina was hard for her husband. Extremely hard. He would probably always hate Regina for what she did to his wife in the Enchanted Forest and in Storybrooke. But he would help her for their grandson's sake. He was a wonderful man.
Alan nodded and kept walking along with Kathryn as well as Mary Margaret and David.
"This is something we have to do," Mary Margaret tried to explain. "For Henry. For Emma….And for Regina herself, too, because she's trying to be a better person. She needs to be given a chance. But I suppose, we made a mistake, back in the diner. We didn't give you a chance to say what you thought. You leaders, too. You have just as much right to decide what to do as we do."
Alan shook his head. "Not really. I married into royalty, but I'm really just a knight."
David looked guilty for a second, but Mary Margaret shook her head. Now wasn't the best time to explain that David had been born a shepherd instead of a prince. Instead, David told the other man, "You still should have the chance to say what you think." He continued walking toward the mines.
Kathryn shrugged. "I think people in this town looked to you two more because the Curse was cast because of you. So they think you're the best people to make decisions like this. And…I'm okay with that. I agree. And…Freddie (Freddie?), I know you don't want to hear this, but I think Regina does have some good in her, too. She was my friend under the Curse, after all."
Alan shook his head firmly. "She was only pretending to be your friend, you know that. And she still forced you to sleep with someone that you would have never considered otherwise."
Kathryn took both of Alan's hands to force him to look at her. "She was pretending to be my friend, but she showed more of her real self than she realized back then. With Henry. And…some of the things she said…I know they were true. As for the…sleeping with David thing, that's true. And I don't like it. And I know it's the thing that's the hardest to forgive her for, but you need to try. For me. Because I don't think I want Regina to die, either."
Alan shrugged. "All right."
"So let's get to that mine. I think Emma and Regina might need some help. Remember what happened with the wraith? "
Mary Margaret shuddered for a second, remembering. "Either way, we should be with our family, Charming," Mary Margaret replied. They ran as fast as they could to catch up with Emma and Henry, who were just entering the mines.
"Where were you?" Emma asked, after her and David climbed into the mine shaft.
"We just had some things to clear up with some friends," David replied.
"And now we're going to help Regina," Mary Margaret finished as they walked down the mine. "Together."
"Thanks," Emma replied.
"Thank you!" Henry agreed.