It was just an ordinary day for Mulan, Aurora and Philip. After having got Philip's soul from the wraith, pretty much anything seemed normal to them.
They were walking along the beach to find somewhere safe to stay when they heard a strange noise. Of course Mulan, being Mulan, ran straight over to it. And at the sight of a man she gasped. Aurora and Philip followed. Mulan turned him over so he was facing them and looked at him strangely.
"Do you know this man?" Aurora asked her.
Mulan shook her head. "No and I think it's best of we just move on.
"We can't just leave him here!" Aurora exclaimed.
Mulan sighed. "For all we know he could be a spy."
Aurora rolled her eyes and grabbed Mulan by her arm. "Look, we can't just leave him here for dead. If we do then other people, people much worse than us will find him and who knows what they would do to him."
"He's practically dead anyway." Mulan muttered. She looked up at Philip to see what he thought and to her dismay he seemed to be agreeing with Aurora. "Fine, we'll help him." Aurora looked joyful. "But you're helping me carry him." She added to Philip.
They carried the unfamiliar man to the closest Safe place that Mulan could think of and set him down.
"Do you think you can save him?" Philip asked her.
"I'm not sure, I'll have to assess his wound."
Philip nodded and let her get to work. She didn't want to do this, but if it meant not having Aurora moan at her, then she would help this man and let him go on his way.
She took off his top layers and saw the bullet in his shoulder and winced at the sight. She was familiar with treating all kinds of wounds, but the shock was always still there. She took her time slowly getting the bullet out, that was the most important part. Once that was done, she could sew him up. She placed a wet flannel on his head and left him to rest.
She exited the tent to fond Aurora and Philip snuggling up together and did her best not to roll her eyes.
Aurora noticed her first. "Will he be okay?"
"I got the bullet out, so I think he should be fine."
Aurora made a sigh of relief. Mulan thought that odd since she didn't even know this man, but that was such an Aurora thing to do.
Nightfall came quickly and they put out their fire and went to bed.
Mulan, as usual, was awake before anyone else and managed to find some food to cook over a small fire for breakfast. Aurora and Philip awoke at the smell.
They were enjoying their breakfast and having a funny conversation so they didn't notice their stranger come out of the tent.
"Where... where am I?" He asked them rubbing his head. "And who are you?"
"I am Mulan and this is Aurora and Philip. Who are you?"
He hesitated for a moment. "Neal. Now can you tell me where I am?"
"We're on the outskirts of the Enchanted Forest."
"The Enchanted Forest? The Enchanted Forest?!" He exclaimed. "No, no, no, no, no. I cannot be in the Enchanted Forest. This is some sort of sick dream isn't it?"
"I'm afraid not." Mulan answered calmly. His outburst had startled Aurora, ever such a sensitive person. "You washed up on the shore and I cleaned your wound."
"My wound?" He asked. Then he took his hand and placed it on his shoulder, wincing at the slight pain. "I was shot."
"Yes, it certainly seems that way. Could you possibly tell us what happened?"
He sighed and figured why not just tell them. "There was a fight. My fiance, erm ex fiance, she shot me and she was going to kill me. But Emma, Emma saved me. And of course it all went wrong from there. Tamara, that's the ex fiance, she through a bean to create a portal and that's how I ended up here."
"Sounds rough."
He chuckled in spite of himself. "Yeah, you don't say."
Aurora looked at him. "When you say Emma, do you mean Emma Swan?"
"Yes! You know her?"
"Yes, her and her mother were here a while ago. Did she not mention it?"
"She did say something about being stuck here, but things have been a little crazy in Storybrooke, so she didn't mention the specifics."
"Do you know where she is?"
He shook his head. "No, I don't know if she's in Storybrooke any more or what the hell happened."
"Then we'll just have to find her." Aurora stated.
Mulan looked at her like that was the last thing she wanted to do. But she looked at Neal with his sad expression. "Yes, we will do our best to help you find her."
Neal reached into his pocket and found the Swan necklace that Emma had thrown at him. He had kept it because he couldn't bear to throw it away and now he was glad he had it to keep his mind on her. "Thank you, I'm sure that with your help we will find her." He squeezed the necklace. "We just have to."
