The Halcyon

by ArkhamBarbie

~Two. In which a test is made.

The whole of Storybrooke was delighted to see the colorful cast greet them as they exited the theatre and to their surprise, a few stalls were installed with merchandise for sale in commemoration of the performance as well as a small stall of freshly picked flowers. The cast was approached by many asking them for photographs and signatures as well as slight encore performances. But the star of the show was yet to make a re-appearance. Though on opposite corners, Regina and Jefferson anticipated the arrival of the Ringmaster but to their dismay, he had arrived with a man of their age. Regina had recognized him. The cast had greeted their manager, Ben Sommerstern as he walked towards the group in all smiles.

Ben Sommerstern had spotted her, "Madam Mayor!" Regina shook his hand and smiled, "I do hope we were worth your time,"

Regina smiled, "Very much, you are welcome here,"

"Glad to hear. We will surely send you tickets and merchandise to the rest of our shows,"

Jefferson took that as a cue to join their conversation and approached himself. Regina looked at him as he cleared his throat, "Oh yes, Mr. Sommerstern, this is Jefferson,"

Ben shook his hand and grinned, "Of course! Your theatre is beautiful! Thank you so much for the accommodation,"

"It was a great performance and good business if I may say so which was why-" the troupe manager had cut him in midsentence and pursed his lips,

"Ah yes, I have heard of your dealings with design and crafts and the company would be honored to wear them however, you're going to have to win over the toughest client ever,"

Regina took the liberty to know more about the troupe. If her thoughts were right, then the semblance of Olivia to her deceased sister would be answered, "You mean your boss? The company owner?"

Ben inhaled, "Not exactly,"

There was a rustle that intruded their conversation and soon the hall was filled with applause. Olivia had arrived, still in her costume but this time her mask was off. Everyone was stunned to see the beauty behind the performance. At his peripheral, Jefferson could see the joy in his daughter's eyes as she quickly asked her adoptive parents to buy rose for Olivia. Regina began to shudder at the sight of this woman who was the splitting image of her sister that she could not help but excuse herself.

Ben gestured at Olivia and turned his attention back to Jefferson who tried to remain composed, "Will the mayor be alright? It's like she's seen a ghost,"

You have no idea. Jefferson thought. "She will, I'm sorry, you were saying?"

Ben looked from Olivia to Jefferson and beamed, "You want to close a deal? Convince her first. The key to theatre is the muse after all..."

~In the many travels of Jefferson, it was to a small town in the West Kingdom he had enjoyed resting in. In that town, everyone was a traveler and yet everyone still knew each other. Here, he was able to do business as a craftsman and the gold he had attained had nothing to do with his smith and his Hat. Everything seemed ordinary for him for a change.

At night, he roam the town to watch the stars and hear the bards at the town square but his routine was disrupted at the sight of a glowing rainbow of lights dancing from afar. A large tent had been setup at the town square and children and people alike had gathered to watch visiting circus-folk perform.

"Performers in the middle of the night? This I must see!" Jefferson hurriedly took a spot to watch the performance. He saw animal tamers, fire eaters and jugglers of all different heritages and costumes but what really caught his attention was the girl dancing in the middle of the performances. It was hard to make out a face from behind the mask but for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of her.

Soon, he was approached by one of the performers. His back was hunched and his eyes were uneven but his physical appearance did not match his jolly demeanor. Jefferson was hardly startled by him.

"You seem to be drawn to our muse sir, yes?"

Jefferson laughed, "By all of you actually and I must say, you are in need of new apparel and stage equipment should you wish to stay in business. Let me talk to your Robessmith,"

The performer leaned closer, "If you wish to make business with us, he's not the one you should talk to. You're going to have to prove that you deserve to dress us first and may I say, you're going to have to trample your most difficult client yet,"

Jefferson raised a brow, "And who do I have to convince in order to make business arrangements? I think I have enough skill and charm to how do you say, trample over my difficult client,"

The performer grinned and looked at the mysterious dancer, "Our muse of course,"~

Jefferson smiled, "Of course," he paused to edit, "Pleasure to meet you,"

"And you,"

Jefferson stood to the side as Grace looked at him in excitement.

She called from a distance, "Come with us?" she asked.

"You go ahead," he smiled and watched as her daughter approached the dancer she admired.

Jefferson went to the flower stall and took a minute to look at his choices. Majority of the flowers were roses which he had no intention to buy and so without thinking twice, he went with his gut and bought a single flower which he thought stood out from the rest. And then, he watched and listened.

Grace tugged on lady in black's dress which made Olivia turn to face her, "Why hello there," she greeted the little girl with sparkling eyes.

Grace's adoptive mother spoke, "She really admires you," this made Olivia smile. She knelt down to be at level with Grace, "And what's your name pretty?"

"Grace. I'm a dancer too!" she quipped.

"Really? I bet you're better than I was when I was your age. I should come and watch you dance sometime."

"I'm not the best but I'm trying to be," her statement made Olivia more cheerful.

Olivia took Grace's hand, "And that's all that matters. Your parents must be so proud and happy to have you as a daughter," she looked at Grace's parents now.

"They are! And so is my Papa!" Grace pointed towards Jefferson in which Olivia's eyes followed. Jefferson was caught off guard as he held up his hand. Olivia looked towards Grace's father.

"It's okay. We're very open about this. Grace's biological father is just on visiting terms for now but we're all in good relations,"

Olivia nodded and stood, "You have a lot of people who love and support you Grace. I hope I get to see you dance sometime,"

"And you can!" Mary Margaret interjected with her husband, David beside her, "I'm sorry but I couldn't help but overhear, I'm Sn-Mary Margaret, I'm one of Grace's teachers and this is my husband, David,"

Olivia shook David's hands, "The town sheriff and his first lady, of course. Please tell me how I can,"

"Well...the school is having a small event intended for career day so, I was hoping-"

Olivia shook her head and grinned, "Done."

Mary Margaret clapped her hands and jumped to hug Olivia, "Thank you so much! Great performance!" David laughed as he tried to segue his wife away from too much excitement, "We'll send your manager the details. Please, excuse us,"

Olivia returned her attention Grace, "How does that sound Grace?"

Grace's smile grew wide, "Nice to meet you Olivia!"

Jefferson watched as the three made their leave. Grace managed to sneak in a wave goodbye to her father which he returned. Olivia saw this gestured and couldn't help but smile. She was about to turn when she noticed Jefferson make his way towards her.

Jefferson felt himself tense as he began to approach Olivia who was patiently waiting for him. It was an eerie but bittersweet emotion that he felt as soon as he was at a close distance from her that he struggled for words. Regina was watching from afar, unbeknownst to either of them, worried.

"Th-that was very nice of you,"

Olivia gave him a small smile, "She's very lucky to have you all with her,"

Jefferson reluctantly held out his hand for introduction, "Sorry, I didn't mean to be rude, Jefferson," she shook his hand which made him tinge. She looked so much like his wife whom he had lost a long time ago. Even if the curse had an effect to bring other personalities into the entity of people from their world, there was no possibility that it could have brought the dead with it. She didn't even recognize him, let alone her sister.

"Olivia Fair. It's finally nice to meet the man behind this beautiful theatre,"

Jefferson was left mute in thought and recollection. If this wasn't his wife then who was she?

"Thank you but I do believe because of tonight's success, I could make it even better,"

"Glad we could be of assistance. Perhaps, you could watch Grace dance here too one day,"

Jefferson put his arms at his back, "Hopefully, one day," It was time for him to take a gamble, "I only wish that her mother would see that day too," He looked down and then at her, "Ever since we lost her mother, certain circumstances led to the decision of the adoption as he best chance at a good life. I was unstable for a while you see,"

Olivia sense sadness in his tone, "I'm sorry to hear," she placed her hand in his shoulder and pressed on it before she let go.

She didn't remember. Maybe she really isn't her.

Jefferson exhaled and wiped the grim look off of his face, "Forgive me, I didn't mean to spoil your evening,"

Olivia shook her head, "Please, you haven't,"

Jefferson looked at Olivia's eyes and was suddenly struck by an urge to grovel, "It was nice meeting you oh and, here," he held out the flower which she took abruptly, "Have a goodnight Olivia," Olivia nodded as he gave her on last smile and turned.

Olivia's eyes fell on the single flower on her hand and at the sight of it, her whole expression changed into glee, "Stargazer," she murmured which made Jefferson stop and turn once more, "It's been a while since I've received this kind of flower. It's actually my favorite one. Thank you, Jefferson," she gave him a rather sweet smile which he returned but the happiness in her face did not match the feeling that he felt at that moment. The flower was a test.

Stargazers were always her favorite and hers alone.

Regina may not have much room for belief in miracles but for him, he still had hope in himself to believe in the impossible.

AN: I do not own Once Upon a Time.

I have based Odette and Ben from Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, all other storybook characters are my own interpretation.

Thanks for the positive feed back and notifs. I welcome flames too. Here's a short update for the mean time.

Also if you love the Avengers and LOKI, do check out Worth by LVS! - s/8115346/1/Worth help me make her update soon!

~~~~~~~Babs