"Lily, sweetheart, we're nearing the border."
Lily stirred from the back of the Cadillac and immediately peered outside the window. Trees passed by the vehicle as they neared the entrance into Storybrooke. The sun peeked in between the branches of the tall standing flora that guarded the road as they drove on.
"You said to wake you when we got close. Well…," continued her father as he felt a certain glee swell within him. A smile broke out across his face as he said, "…here we are."
Lily sat up in her seat and saw through the front windshield window how the never-ending forest hugged along the sidelines of the single highway that guided them to their destination. The magical forest seemed to welcome their arrival.
"You've called Henry. He knows we're near?" double-checked Belle to Gold.
"I called him when we stopped at the gas station. Told him that we should be arriving within a few hours."
"And the movers? How far behind are they?"
"They should be arriving within a day or so. Don't worry. They have the address and should have no issues navigating into Storybrooke. Should they have any difficulty finding the location, they know to contact me," answered Gold coolly and confidently.
Belle was anxious to reach their new destination and it was evident in the tone of her voice. Lily, on the other hand, was excited to be coming home; her destined home, the home from her vision. As much as Lily loved New York, Storybrooke just seemed to hit a place within her that just resonated the feeling of belongingness.
Within minutes, small antiquated buildings began springing up into view. The buildings began to proliferate into more developments and when they rounded a corner, Lily could see in the far off distance the standing clock-tower from her dreams. The beacon of the small town. They had arrived in Storybrooke. The tower grew larger and larger into view, but before they could enter the main street Gold turned away from it and onto one of the side-streets that led to a gated community.
To Lily, it was strange entering a neighborhood she had never been to before but knew all about. And it was in that thought that the excitement she once felt quickly deflated into apprehension. What did the future hold for her here? Her family? Would she have another vision? Would that vision put her or her family in danger? Even as the Cadillac rounded each street corner, she marveled over how she was able to anticipate each street post until finally they had arrived at the salmon-colored Victorian house. They were home. According to what Lily knew from her vision, everything was as it should be except for the yellow Volkswagon Bug that was presently parked outside the house.
As the Cadillac pulled up into the narrow drive-way, the family was surprised to see Emma greet them instead Henry. While they were in the car, Belle wondered out loud to Gold, "Wasn't Henry supposed to meet us?"
"Evidently," he said as he turned off the car and removed the keys from the ignition, "business required him elsewhere. Let's see what Ms. Swan wants."
As the family slowly unloaded out of the vehicle from their long drive, Emma called out from the front porch of the house, "You guys certainly pack light for a family of three."
"We have movers coming within a day or so with the rest of our things," answered Belle as she stepped forward toward the house.
"Where's Henry? He was supposed to meet us here when we arrived," said Gold getting directly to the point.
"He had a trip to catch with one of his clients," she said as she descended halfway down the front stairs, "As CEO of the M.T.A., his transportation business has really taken off since the last time you were here."
"M.T.A.?" asked Gold.
"Magical Transport Authority."
"Ah, I see," said Gold disappointedly.
"That," added Emma who seemed unfinished with her thought, "and I'm here on official sheriff business."
"What do you mean?" asked Belle as her face twisted with concern.
"Ms. Swan," Gold began with an exhausted sigh, "we've only just arrived here. Whatever it is that you are accusing us of, there's no possible way we could have done it."
"I'm not accusing you guys of doing anything. Actually, I'm here, because there's been a rash of vandalism happening around Storybrooke." Emma could tell by the puzzled looks on everyone's face that she quickly needed to get straight to the point. So she gestured with her head for Mr. and Mrs. Gold to follow her and replied, "Apparently Henry wasn't the only one expecting you today."
The family followed after Emma up the front stairs onto the porch to investigate the cause for Emma's visit. When they arrived to the front door, it was evident as to what Emma was talking about. To their surprise, the front oak door was spray-painted with a giant purple 'M'. Around the 'M' was a circle with a line crossed through it and next to the foreboding symbol laid a threatening arrow embedded in the door.
"What's the meaning behind this?" Gold asked Emma seriously as he nodded toward the door.
"Ever since your departure from Storybrooke and the discovery of Henry's functioning pocket-watch, tensions over the politics of magic being reinjected into the community has been a mounting issue."
"I don't understand. Magic in Storybrooke was never an issue before," claimed Belle.
"That may be true, but then again the citizens never really had a choice over the matter before," Emma noted, glancing at Gold for having brought magic back to Storybrooke in the first place. "Now, they do."
"It's just Henry's pocket-watch. It's the only thing left that's still magical in Storybrooke. When I cast my mother's spell, I performed it with the full intention of magic not existing here," pointed out Belle trying to reassure and convey to Emma that their presence meant no ill-will.
"There's a small faction within the community that still believes that this will just snowball into bringing magic back entirely. Not that I can really blame them, of course, because for the past eight years Storybrooke has been, for the most part, peaceful… right up till' last year when the Author paid us a visit and the whole town flip-flopped between magic. I think the people of Storybrooke just want to get back to the peace and simplicity they had before."
"Hence, this vandalism out of protest," observed Gold as they all stared at the symbol on the door.
"Henry wanted to be here to welcome you back into the community. In fact, it was he who reported the graffiti to me when he arrived here to greet you. He wanted to be the one here to explain this and what's been going on himself, but, of course, had to comply with his prior obligations. I'm sorry that it was me instead of him to greet you," said Emma with an awkward half-smile.
"Thank you Emma… for telling us about the door. It surely would have been an upsetting thing to arrive to after our long trip," said Belle.
Emma nodded and replied, "I just wish it was under better circumstances. I just wanted to let you both know that an investigation is already underway. I've already taken a picture of this and documented what I needed for this case file, so now that you've seen for yourselves what you've moved back to I'll just take this," she said as she forcefully removed the arrow from the door, "and take it in for evidence. I'll let Henry know you've arrived the next time I see him. Welcome to Storybrooke."
Emma moved passed the family and descended the front porch stairs down to her Bug and started her car. As soon as the engine roared to life, she took off leaving the family sort of stunned by the ominous letter on their door.
"'M'?" Lily wondered out loud.
"For Magic I would assume," postulated Gold.
"But why the arrow?" asked Belle.
"Possibly belonging to the vandal himself. I suspect the vandal was literally sharing his point as a threat."
"Or herself… I know for a fact that there are at least two women in town who are skilled archers," Belle mentioned.
"I doubt heavily that Snow White or Granny have a vendetta against magic, or us for that matter. Their close ties to Emma would make them unlikely suspects, but perhaps you're right. I have a feeling that this case may be hitting a lot closer to home than we realize."
"Meaning what?" asked Lily.
"Meaning that I suspect that the vandal in question will be someone close to the community, but just distant enough to not be suspected," explained Gold.
"But that could be anybody," Belle pointed out. "Emma did mention that this had been going on elsewhere around town. I wonder who else had been plagued with this on their doorway."
"Well, it's not our job to speculate, or investigate for that matter. I'm retired from being involved with this town's petty issues and we're tired from our day's travels." As curious as everyone was in the group, they couldn't help but admit that he was right. "So I say, let's move past this and finally settle into our new home."
Aside from the egregious graffiti marking that painted their doorway, they collectively gasped with anticipation as Mr. Gold unlocked the door and pushed it open. He was the first to enter followed by Belle and Lily who filed in slowly behind him. In silence, they all gazed around in wild wonder. For both Belle and Rumple, they looked around the old familiar sights with fondness as they remembered particular things from their past about the place. Lily, on the other hand, wandered slowly around the foyer curiously looking around at the various rooms.
Lily ventured into the living room filled with dust and furniture covered by white blankets. Lily couldn't help but recognize everything she saw. Despite having never been to the house, what disturbed her the most was how she recognized everything. The dream she had was nearly a year old but she was still able to recall vividly the part in her dream where her father from the past in another universe had visited the house. Would her parents' special cup still be in the sink?
Lily moved quickly out of the living room and into the kitchen. She moved tentatively as if half-expecting a monster to jump out at her from the sink, but when she arrived there was no cup or single item in the sink. What else could she remember?
After entering the house, Belle immediately proceeded toward the ascending stairway and climbed. As she ascended, she ran her hands along the familiar old banister and smiled to herself as she remembered their wedding night. In her mind she could still remember undressing and casually hanging her wedding clothes over the banister as she and Rumple made it to their bedroom. She peered down the darkened hallway and decided to venture into their bedroom first.
Everything was as she had left it when they moved away eight years ago. As she worked her way around the bedroom she began pulling away white blankets protecting the furniture. Already in her mind she began making a list of items to start cleaning. Dusting was definitely in order, but first things first, she would need her cleaning tools and chemicals. Even the mere thought of cleaning and getting her house in order put another smile on her face as she felt a tinge of excitement swell within her. There was a lot to do.
Belle bundled the drapes that were in her arms and tossed them to the middle of the floor when something caught her eye. The side table that stood next to his side of the bed was propped open and left ajar. She went to push the drawer in when she spotted a picture frame within. She pulled the frame out and broke out into another huge smile. It was an up close picture of her and Rumplestiltskin at the cottage during their honeymoon. It was truly a wonderful honeymoon and a lovely memory. She placed the picture frame erect and positioned on Rumple's nightstand and left the bedroom to see what other treasures she could find.
She stepped outside their bedroom and immediately noticed the bedroom at the end of the hall propped open. The light from the open room was illuminating the hallway which piqued Belle's curiosity. The warm inviting light lured her into the room and with surprise discovered her daughter standing solemnly inside.
"This was my room, wasn't it?" Lily asked as she looked around the room. She walked over to what appeared to be a crib which was covered by a white cloth and placed her hands delicately on it. Her question caught Belle off-guard as she took a moment to regain her wherewithal to reply.
"At one point in time this was your nursery, yes," she confirmed but was immediately confused by how she knew. "How-how did you know?"
"Papa ventured here often in my dream. I know how happy it made him." The tone in Lily's voice seemed hauntingly somber. It never occurred to Belle to ask Lily how she felt about her impressions of the home so Belle asked, "What, um, what do you think of the place?"
Lily looked around the room as if she had a ton of books balancing on her head. It was apparent to Belle based off of Lily's face that she wasn't receiving the house well. Lily's silence said it all. As soon as Belle realized that Lily wasn't going to respond she suggested, "You don't have to stay here. There are plenty of other rooms in this house that you can claim as your own."
"Thank you, uh," Lily stuttered as she began to fidget where she stood. "I, uh, it's weird, you know? I know this place. I know this town. Maybe because of when I was here last year, but the town isn't what's so scary, this house…"
"Are you having doubts about moving here?" Belle asked with a concerned eyebrow raised.
"No! I… I'm sure this house will be great," Lily said with false confidence. Belle could sense Lily's doubts over the move, just like how she was feeling with her reservations. Belle moved in closer to her daughter and brought her in for a consoling hug. Belle kissed the top of Lily's head and said softly as she comforted her daughter, "Moving isn't always an easy adjustment. New house, new school… change isn't easy."
"But that's not it, Mum. Nothing about this place is new. That's what's so frightening. I shouldn't recognize everything, but I do. I guess I'm just-"
"-overwhelmed. Yeah, I guess I can understand how that can be scary."
Lily nodded into her mother's chest, though it wasn't exactly the reason for her dread. The feeling she carried couldn't be articulated, but she knew it wasn't good. Perhaps her father could… Suddenly they heard a loud crash and shout come from two floors down. Both Lily and Belle left the old nursery and descended down the stairs to investigate the occurrence down below.
"Rumple! Is everything ok? Are you alright?" called out Belle as she rounded the stairs to the basement door which was left open.
"I'm fine! I just… dropped a box on my foot. Sorry! Didn't mean to frighten you," shouted Gold to Belle and Lily from downstairs in the basement.
"Lily and I are going to get our bedrooms ready and then get started on dinner," called out Belle to her husband from the top of the stairs to the basement. "I'll call you when it's ready."
"Alright," said Rumple as he heaved one last angry breath and moved away from the shattered box by his foot. Rumple stared angrily at the shattered box of corn laid sprawled on the basement floor. His pair of silver shoes had gone missing.
Thank you Grace5231973 and Imusicluver23 for R/R last chapter! I know these postings between chapters are really far apart, but I've decided to pace myself and not overwhelm myself like I did with the last story. It'll be worth it. I promise! Hopefully you guys enjoyed this chapter as well. See you next chapter!