World with Some Magic

Emma and Maleficent were on a plane to San Francisco and would be landing soon. It was the first time either of them were on a plane and it was quite an experience. Meanwhile, they got to chat a bit more about what had been going on the past fourteen years.

"You're bored, aren't you? You know, in this world?" Emma asked Maleficent.

"Uh… Don't get me wrong, there are things I love about this world. It's fascinating…" Maleficent replied.

"But?" Emma added because she knew there was one.

"I'm happy I have my daughter and that is most important to me."

"But?" Emma waited.

"I'm bored, okay! Only sometimes. I just miss the adventure and beauty of our world. I'm sorry but I miss being in charge. I miss my clothes, my fabulous clothes! I miss magic and not just my powers, though I certainly do miss them. I miss people believing that happiness and love were something that can be achieved, believing that dreams can come true. People here want something they don't believe in, how does that make sense?"

"Maybe you should be a counselor or something."

"I am. I was a fairy for a couple centuries, fell in love, had my heart broken, went dark and found the light again. I have a lot of good advice to offer."

"Certainly."

"So… Snow actually calls Regina mom and Regina lets her?" Maleficent questioned and laughed. It popped into her head again. She just couldn't believe it.

Emma laughed. "Yes. We're all pretty close knit. Maybe too much… maybe a little co-dependent on each other."

-v-

Back in New York, Bae and Astrea were quietly sitting in her living room as he wrote in one of the brown leather books that hadn't been filled yet called, After Happily Ever After.

"What are you writing, Champ?" Astrea tried to start a conversation. He didn't say much.

"It's called, After Happily Ever After." Bae replied.

"Let me guess, it's about after happily ever after." Astrea joked. Bae looked at her dryly then looked back down at the book and continued to write. Well that got her nowhere.

"Come on, let me show you around. We'll have fun."

Bae closed the book and sighed. "Okay."

-v-

In San Francisco, Emma and Maleficent arrived at a big Victorian manor on a street full of Victorian homes that sat high with a flight of stairs leading up to it. There must've been people home, there was a blue SUV, a silver mini coop and a green bug in the driveway.

"Aww! That's like Neal's old car… That he stole." Emma reminisced as she noticed the green bug in the driveway. Then she and Maleficent headed up the stairs. Emma started to knock on the door but hesitated.

"What are you waiting for?" Maleficent asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Give me a break. Two fairy tale characters show up on your doorstep, it's going to be a little weird, even if you do know they exist. I'm just preparing myself for the conversation." Emma took a deep breath then knocked. A few moments later, a woman in her late thirties with honey brown eyes and brown hair half way down her back opened the door. "Hello! You must be… Piper Halliwell. I'm Emma and this is Maleficent…"

"Maleficent?" Piper questioned.

"We mean you no harm, I just need you and your sisters' help."

Piper looked at them suspiciously but evil beings don't usually knock and they haven't dealt with any evil beings for a few years now so she invited them in. Piper's younger sisters, Phoebe and Paige who also had brown eyes and long brown hair but not as long as Piper's were sitting in the living room drinking tea. Piper introduced them and they joined the sisters in the living room.

"So why do you need our help?" Piper asked.

"You know how the fairy tales are real?" Emma started.

"Yeah, had a serious reality check about that." Paige said.

"Well, I am Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter and this is Maleficent, you know from Sleeping Beauty."

Paige chuckled. "I'm sorry, I didn't expect that. Why do things still shock me?"

"Maleficent, wouldn't that make you evil?" Phoebe asked.

"I dabbled a bit in darkness once upon a time but I have turned a new leaf or found my way again, however you want to put it." Maleficent replied.

"You have a general idea about the origin of fairy tales so I'll get to the point. There's a curse cast by Cora, The Queen of Hearts. Yes, from Alice in Wonderland. She's also my step-great grandmother?" Emma thought about it to make sure that was right. The family tree is so confusing. "We suspect Ursula and Cruella De Vil are in cahoots with her. Most of the fairy tale characters are in this cursed town and I have to save them. I would appreciate it if you could help me with this mission but also now that I'm back in this world, I don't know how to tap into my powers. Maybe you could help with that too? Please?"

"Question, it's clear how we know about fairy tales but how do you know about us?" Piper asked.

"The same way." Emma pulled out Tales from Other Lands from her bag and flipped it open to The Charmed Ones and handed the book to Phoebe who was sitting in the middle of the sisters.

"We're in a book?" Phoebe questioned unbelievably.

"I feel so violated." Paige said.

"Tell me about it." Maleficent said. "At least they didn't make you out to be the worst villain to ever live."

"Did you not curse a baby?" Piper asked.

"I did some bad deeds but I have nothing on the other villains." Maleficent replied.

"Wait until you read the real Peter Pan story." Emma said.

Paige saw the Once Upon A Time book sticking out of Emma's bag and asked to see. Emma handed it to her and she flipped through the pages.

"We'll help you…" Piper started.

"Oh. My. Gosh." Paige exclaimed turning everyone's attention to her.

"What?" Phoebe asked.

"Enchantress. Enchantress is in the book." Paige stated.

"You know about the Evil Enchantress? Not the most popular story." Emma said.

"She's Paige's past life." Piper informed.

"Oh… She's The Queen of Heart's mother." Emma stated.

"What? I thought she didn't have a child." Paige said.

"She had a child, Cora. She was born some years before Enchantress took the thrown and joined the coven but she left her with her father. She wanted the power but it seems that is also why she was so obsessed with having another. She sort of regretted her decision to leave Cora behind." Light bulb moment. "This is how I can really defeat her. We always say love is the answer. Clearly, Cora has mommy issues like her daughters, talk about generational patterns. If she can get closure with her mother then maybe she will stop the madness."

"But I'm sort of not her mother anymore." Paige said.

"Maybe it's worth tapping into to save a soul from the darkness or try." Phoebe said.

"Try is the operative word. She's a tough case. If all else fails then maybe you could open a portal and send us home?" Emma asked. "It's a bit beyond the scope of my powers as powerful as I am and Cora will not do it willingly if we can't get her to come to her senses."

-v-

Back in New York, Astrea introduced Bae to the arcade. Once she taught him how to play the games, he really started to have fun. It seemed for a moment, he actually managed to forget how worried he was about his family. After hours of playing, they finally took a break to eat.

"So you're having fun?" Astrea asked.

"Yes. Thanks. I'm usually more… lively but…" Bae started.

"I understand. That's why I wanted to take your mind off of it for a while. Everything will work out. You'll see."

"I know. I know so much about the bad things that have happened but I never expected them to happen again. We had happily ever after. You can't lose happily ever after or so I thought."

"You didn't lose it. It's just misplaced. You and your mom will save the day, that's why you were given the opportunity and the power."

"You know, you're pretty cool. I can't wait to write about you."

Astrea laughed. "I'm not a "fairy tale" and I'm boring."

"You're the daughter of Maleficent and Donkey and you're best friends with Snow White's daughter. You're a fairy tale if you like it or not and I think you haven't realized your own destiny yet."

"Well thank you Baelfire. I will be sure to keep that in mind."

A beautiful brown skinned girl with jet black curly hair and hazel eyes who was about Bae's age walked by and caught his attention. She walked over to a motorcycle game and got on.

"Go play with her. Talk to her." Astrea suggested.

"Uh… I don't know, I kind of missed the Charming gene when it comes to girls."

"I highly doubt that."

"Really. Forget tongue tied, I can't even speak."

"You just need practice, I'm sure. Give it a shot. You're brave."

Bae went over and got on the motorcycle game next to the pretty girl and joined in the race. He didn't quite master that game yet.

"You're- You're good." Bae stuttered.

"Thanks… I'm Vella."

"Baelfire."

"That's different. I like it. You go to school around here?"

"No. I'm just visiting… Want to play another round?"

"Sure."

The two put in another token and started the game again.

-v-

Paige was trying to get Emma to tap into her powers so she had her meditating in the basement.

"Focus. You're powers are tied to your emotions." Paige said. This went on for about a half hour then she tried to actually get Emma to use her powers. So she focused on a vase. "Everyone has an emotional trigger. Piper, Phoebe and I had to get scared when we first tapped into our powers. I hear our sister Prue had to get angry. What's your thing?"

"I think it's anger but I never get angry enough to fully tap into it here."

"That was before. What makes you angry?"

"I don't know. Betrayal. Having my family and happiness ripped from me." The lights began to flicker.

"You're getting there. Don't hold back. Why does it make you angry?"

"Because it's not fair! We do everything to protect and do the right thing, to be good and where does it get us?" The lights flickered more rapidly. "We had everything we've worked so hard for taken away from us." Emma held her hand out and exploded the vase. "I did it!"

"Yeah! Got some bottled up anger, huh?"

Emma sighed. "Is it bad that being good is really hard sometimes?"

"If it were always easy, how would we grow? My sisters and I have been down the same road. It's natural but we have to keep fighting."

"You're good."

"Thanks, I was trained by the best. Plus, I'm half whitelighter which is an angel that guides good magical beings so it's sort of in my blood… Okay, let's get back to work. We have to get you strong enough to fight the Queens of Darkness."

-v-

Bae and Astrea were walking down a New York street and came upon a convenience store.

"This is where your parents met." Astrea informed.

"Cool. This is where he stole from, huh?"

"How do you…"

"I'm the author. I know a lot of things I probably shouldn't know."

They continued to walk a few more blocks until they reached the apartment building that he and his family lived in before they went to Storybrooke fourteen years ago. Then they headed to the amusement park where Neal used to take Emma and hung out on the carousel.

"I knew about these different places but it's pretty cool to actually experience them in person. You know what else would be cool to experience?"

"What's that?"

"School here."

"Really? Is this about that girl?"

"A little but I mean, I could relate to my mom more. You know, no one has really experienced a lot of what my mom has experienced except Lilo. As a writer I can understand my character even more."

Astrea laughed. "Aww. This is so not about your mom. Nice try though. What school does she go to?"

-v-

Emma, Maleficent and The Charmed Ones discussed the plan for when they get to Storybrooke. Emma was so grateful that they were so helpful and so nice. She really needed the most powerful magical beings of this world on her side.

"So when are we going to follow through with this plan?" Phoebe asked.

"How's seventy-two hours?" Emma asked.

"That's Saturday. The kids are out of school and hanging out with the men of the family anyway." Piper said.

"Perfect time to kick some ass." Phoebe said.

"Great! I have one more mission to accomplish first." Emma stated.

-v-

The next day, Astrea went to a school and asked if she and her "nephew" could sit in on some classes because she was deciding what school they wanted to enroll him in since he was new in town. Bae did find it interesting, a little boring at times but interesting. He actually did run into Vella between classes and was able to really talk to her during lunch.

"Are you stalking me?" Vella joked.

"No. I just wanted to check out the school, you know, in case I had to stay here but I just got news that I'll probably be leaving in a few days." Bae explained.

"That's too bad. It would be nice to get to know you better handsome." Vella smiled.

Bae was officially blushing. "Maybe we can hang out one last time before I go?"

"Sure. Here's my number." Vella ripped a piece of paper in the notebook she was carrying and wrote her number on it. "Call me." She smiled and walked away as the bell rang.

"Sure, just have to learn how first." He thought to himself and laughed. After the lunch period, he and Astrea went back to her apartment.

-v-

Emma and Maleficent left The Charmed Ones manor and were headed to their next destination.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Maleficent asked. She wasn't so sure about this little plan of hers.

They arrived on a very private secluded yet beautiful property which was also in San Francisco and knocked on the door.

"Yes I am. Don't worry. I have my powers under control and everything. I am going to save Stitch and these people are going to help me." Emma stated.