3.02: Journey On
Neverland
With one last strike of the hammer, the repairs on the ship Infinity were done and Prince Eric ordered his crew to hoist the anchor and prepare to sail.
"Can we please stay a little longer?" Mary Margaret begged. "If we move the ship, I don't know if Emma will be able to get back to us again."
Eric was in a grumpy mood from listening to Mary Margaret worry about Emma all day. He still didn't quite understand how she had disappeared from one of his ship's cabins, and even with David trying to explain to him that they were in a magical land, he also wasn't sure if he believed any of it. "I am sorry, but the damage to the ship cost us enough time. If we delay any longer I may never see my lady again."
Just then one of the servants walked by with a tray of food, and as he was eager to escape Mary Margaret's clamoring, Eric hurriedly ran over to the servant and engaged her in conversation. "Carlotta, how is Regina feeling?"
"She says the headache is getting worse. I'm just bringing her some broth that Chef Louis made."
Ever since Emma left, Regina had been complaining of a headache. At first, Mary Margaret thought that it was just shock at suddenly being married to Emma, but the headache had steadily gotten worse, as if something was draining her energy. Now it was accompanied by a fever.
"Mr. Gold, if we sail away, will Emma be able to get back to the ship with Henry?" Mary Margaret whinely asked the older man.
He shrugged while avoiding Mary Margaret's eyes. "Like I said before, magic can be unpredictable."
"What kind of an answer is that? If there's any chance that she won't be able to find us, we should get off this ship right now and wait for her on the island!"
Suddenly, a blinding flash of light ripped through the air, delivering Emma right in front of her worried mother. She was alone.
Mary Margaret rushed at her daughter and caught her in an embrace. "Emma, are you all right?! Where's Henry?!"
At the sound of his wife's high-pitched use of his daughter's name, David came running over. "Emma! Thank goodness!"
Emma was shaking and crying hysterically as if there was someone in front of her that only she could see. "Henry! Not Henry! Please, I'll do anything!"
"Why isn't Henry with you? Is someone hurting him?" David demanded.
Emma shook her head with despair, unable to say anything. Carlotta bustled over with a wooden cup full of fresh water and forced Emma to drink out of it. Emma greedily drank its contents and seemed to calm down a little. That is, until Regina kicked the door of her cabin down and promenaded over to Emma. "Where's my son?! You said you would find him!" she hollered at the blonde.
"I thought you weren't feeling well," Hook flatly stated. He had been watching the proceedings from the side of the ship with little interest while wishing that he had less irksome companions.
"Regina, back off!" David grabbed her around her waist and held her back from walloping Emma.
"I—it's all slipping away! I can't remember!" Emma wailed.
"What do you mean you can't remember?! I frickin' married you so we could get Henry back! Are you saying I did all that for nothing?!" Regina seemed to be as hysterical as Emma. The two women glared at each other over David's shoulder as both tried to get their breath back.
"All right, everyone calm down," Mary Margaret ordered. "Mr. Gold, what do you think we should do?"
But Mr. Gold was staring at Emma in utter shock.
"Mr. Gold?" Mary Margaret repeated.
"Uh—I'm just happy that Emma got back before we sailed off. Or we might have never seen her again," Mr. Gold said lamely.
"Don't believe him," Regina said curtly. "He's surprised that Emma was able to make it back to this world at all, seeing as we don't have a matching magical artifact to bind Emma here."
"I thought that's why Emma was forced to marry you, so your magic could anchor her here," David asked in a confused manner.
"That's only half the spell, but I was so anxious to get Henry back that I forgot about the rest," Regina said regretfully. "The fairy gave Emma a magical transportation stone that she needed to cross over to the other world where Henry is. Magical artifacts such as that need strong connections such as blood or marriage to work. My guess is that because Emma gave birth to Henry, she was able to use the stone by holding it in her fist while thinking of Henry and also having a strong intent to travel to him. However, what I forgot about was that I would also need a matching stone to anchor Emma to this world; marriage alone would not be enough."
"But Henry doesn't have a stone, and Emma is still supposedly able to get to him," Mary Margaret reasoned. "So why does Regina need a stone for Emma to get to her?"
"The other world acts differently than Neverland," Mr. Gold said wearily. "In Neverland, the Enchanted Forest, Storybrooke, and most worlds, many different portals and pathways can lead into it, and as long as someone knows how to, they can freely move into that world and back again without someone anchoring them to their home-world. However, in my pursuit to know the secrets of the universe, I learned about other worlds, ones that are like a trap. Once a person travels to one, there is no getting back. The only loophole I know of is if someone else comes to retrieve them, such as Emma going to retrieve Henry, or through anchoring to a relative or someone magically bound to that person with a magical artifact, such as that stone. In this case, we needed both.
"You knew! You knew I wouldn't be able to get back here, didn't you," Emma said through gritted teeth."
"I suspected," Mr. Gold admitted honestly. "But somehow against all odds, you've made it back to us. However did you find us again?"
"I don't remember," Emma whispered despondently. "All my memories from the last three days are fuzzy, as if there is a veil over them."
"Last three days?" Eric interjected incredulously, "You've only been gone for a day!" He suddenly blushed, as if he was embarrassed to be caught eavesdropping, and retreated to the back of the ship.
"All I do remember is the clock starting to strike dawn of the fourth day, which is when Tinker Bell said I should be back. And...somehow Ashley was there."
"Ashley? That...tart from Storybrooke whose baby you stole from me?" Mr. Gold asked accusingly.
"Yeah, that's the one. I don't remember what she was doing there. I just remember her face."
"Look, I hate to crash the party here," Regina said darkly while grinding her teeth, "But we still haven't found Henry yet. I say we start sailing again and search for Tinker Bell."
"An excellent idea!" Eric broke in excitedly. "Grimsby, tell everyone to prepare to leave!"
Storybrooke
Belle sat in Mr. Gold's study with the manuscript that had the cloaking spell inscribed on it in front of her. As soon as Mr. Gold had left her, she had unfolded it and intended to activate the spell at once. However, it wasn't as easy as that; the spell seemed to be in a different language, which was why she had spent a day poring over old books of Mr. Gold's in an attempt to translate. Unfortunately, not much progress had been made as Belle had not yet found a language in any of the books that was an exact match.
Suddenly, the door started creaking as it slowly opened. Belle found herself holding her breath as she ducked down behind a pile of books and furtively peeked around them at the door. Whoever could be coming in here? she wondered. She watched as a hooded figure stealthily slipped into the study and went over to one of the bookcases before deftly throwing the hood of the cloak back. It was Ruby.
"Oh Ruby, you startled me! I thought you were an intruder," Belle said with relief.
At the sound of Belle's voice, Ruby jumped slightly, and then whirled around to face Belle and said hostilely "What are you doing here?!"
Belle giggled. "What are you so upset about? I'm just doing some research for Mr. Gold on this cloaking spell he gave me."
Ruby frowned. "Cloaking spell?"
"Yeah, he wants me to cloak the entire town of Storybrooke so nobody from the outside surrounding area can find it. Especially no one that wants to destroy magic. This way we'll be cut off and nobody will be able to leave or enter the town." Seeing the look on Ruby's face, Belle quickly added "It's not for forever. It's just until we're able to leave this place and go back to the Enchanted Forest. By the way, I haven't seen you around for a while. What's been going on?"
Ruby looked away shiftily. "Oh, nothing. I've just been feeling a little sick lately so I've stayed indoors. But I'm feeling better now."
Suddenly, Ashley ran into the room through the open door. "Oh good, I found you."
Bell threw down the manuscript in mock exasperation. "More visitors. How am I ever going to get this done?"
"Mother Superior told me that we need to elect a mayor soon, and of course I immediately thought of you, Belle. I know you were really close to Mr. Gold, and he practically owned this town."
Belle looked at Ashley in surprise. The previous day, Belle had arranged a town meeting where she told the citizens of Storybrooke that Mr. Gold, Mary Margaret, David, Regina, Emma, and Hook had all left to rescue Henry from evil. She had completely forgotten that Storybrooke would need to elect a new leader."
"You want me to be mayor?"
"I think that's an excellent idea!" Ruby said with excitement. Belle noticed that she suddenly seemed much happier and peppier than she had been just moments before. "Belle would make a great mayor! I'll start persuading people right away." And with that, Ruby raced out of the room.
"Ruby, wait!" Belle called after her. But Ruby was already gone. "I don't really want to be mayor," Belle confided to Ashley. "I prefer to work behind the scenes."
"Yeah I don't want to be mayor either," Ashley replied, "But Mother Superior wants me to."
Belle looked at Ashley in amused disbelief. "Please, Mother Superior wants you to be mayor."
"Well, you don't have to look so surprised at the idea. But yes, she came to me this morning and proposed the idea. She said that because I was married to a prince back in the Enchanted Forest I was a natural choice for the role."
"Well, what about your husband. He was that prince."
"Sean is too busy working to even think about being the mayor. And Mother Superior didn't suggest him; she just seemed fixated on the idea of me leading the town. Anyway, as soon as she finished talking to me, I immediately thought that perhaps you might want to be the mayor instead."
"I'll have to think about it, but right now the answer is shaping up to be no. Unless no one better volunteers, that is."
Ashley smiled sweetly at Belle. "If no one else does, I'm sure you'll make a great mayor. Well, I have to get back to Alexandra. See you later."
"See ya!" Belle called after her friend. Belle then tried to focus her attention back on translating the cloaking spell instructions, but her mind was elsewhere. She wondered if Ruby really had been feeling sick for the past couple of weeks, and if so, why she had just been sneaking into Mr. Gold's study. She also was curious about the reason that Mother Superior wanted Ashley to be mayor so badly.
In the past
Cinderella lay sprawled over a couch in her castle, sobbing. "He's gone forever, and it's all my fault!"
"No, he's not gone forever. I'm sure you'll get him back someday." Snow White sat by her friend and whispered comforting nothings into her ear.
Ella cumbersomely sat up and hiccupped. "How can you say that? You know that when a deal with Rumpelstiltskin is broken he swiftly deals terrible punishment to that person." Ella sadly looked down at her stomach. "I still refuse to give my baby to that monster, and because of that I'll never see Thomas again!"
"You must not give up hope! There will be a chance to get him back in the future—I can feel it!"
The blonde princess looked at her friend through tearful eyes. "Snow, I know I might be asking too much, but do you think Regina might know—"
"—No!" Snow stormily interrupted. "I'm not asking that...that monster for anything ever!"
"But she probably knows where Rumpelstiltskin lives. She could give me directions, and I could, like, go and rescue Thomas!"
Snow sadly looked at her pitiful friend. "Ella, you're days away from giving birth to your child. You're in no condition to go rescuing anybody. I have an idea. Why don't we ask the Blue Fairy for help?" Snow went to the window and whistled. A blue bird flew to her outstretched hand. Ella watched as Snow whispered instructions into its ear before sending the bird on its way. Five minutes later, the Blue Fairy flew in through the window and gazed serenely at the two very-pregnant women.
"I just got your message. Now what is it you want help with?"
"Oh great fairy of knowledge, I implore you; please help me get my husband Thomas back from Rumpelstiltskin!"
The Blue Fairy looked at Cinderella in shock. "He has your husband? That's funny, and I thought he liked Belle. Oh well. Anyway, I know how to help you. However, what I have to say is for your ears only." She looked pointedly at Snow.
Snow carefully got to her feet. "I was just going to leave now anyway. I'm planning on painting Emma's nursery room today. It's probably all going to be for nothing once Regina's curse rips through later this week, but that's no reason not to stay busy in the meanwhile."
Once Snow left, Ella looked at the Blue Fairy curiously. "So, what do you have to say that you couldn't say in front of Snow?"
"Just that I have no idea where Rumpelstiltskin currently is, so we're gonna pay a visit to someone that does; someone that Snow White hates."
"That was my idea in the first place!" Ella complained as the Blue Fairy grabbed her pinky and flew them both out the window.
Storybrooke
Belle left the shop just before sundown. She was starving because her stash of snacks had run out a few hours earlier, so she decided to go to Granny's Diner for a bite. On the way there, Storybrooke residents that she had never even talked to before turned and waved at her. Hmm. This is strange. Then she saw a poster on a tree of her face with the words "ELECT BELLE FOR MAYOR" printed on it. Walking on, she saw an identical poster on the next tree. Oh no, she thought as she realized that the posters were on every single tree lining the street. By the time she finally got to Granny's, she had passed probably a hundred posters, all with her face smiling out at passersby.
"...And once we get back to the Enchanted Forest, she promises to build an intergalactic pathway so people who want to remain in Storybrooke can still visit their friends. These funds will come from Belle's gigantic..." Belle groaned in frustration. That was Ruby's voice coming out of the diner, and it sounded like she was telling the patrons of the restaurant a big pack of lies about Belle. Walking in, she saw that Ruby was surrounded by people all listening to her with wide-eyes. "Of course, Belle understands that unicorns might not survive in this world. But if people really want them, she says that research can be done to develop a magical atmosphere over the town."
"Ruby! Can I have a word with you?" Belle ran over to Ruby and grabbed her arm, intending to drag her out of the diner. However, the occupants of the diner grouped around her and prevented her from escaping.
"Belle, is it true that you want to support the miners?"
"What do you think about regulating the use of magic?"
"Do you really think that Mr. Gold is sexy?"
Belle tried to break away from their grasp, but it was to no avail. The townspeople seemed to have been whipped into a frenzy by Ruby.
"What is going on here?!" Mother Superior suddenly entered the diner, looking angrier and more commanding than Belle had ever seen her.
At the look on her face, everyone faltered. "We...want Belle to be the mayor," Leroy said abashedly.
"You want Belle to be mayor? Even though she was contaminated by Rumpelstiltskin?!"
What is she talking about? Belle saw Mother Superior quickly jerk her arm almost undiscernably, and Belle suddenly felt a weird burning sensation on her arms that lasted a few seconds.
"Look under her sweater. You will find the proof there."
Leroy lifted up the sleeves of her sweater, and Belle saw that her smooth skin had been transformed into the mottled skin that had afflicted Mr. Gold in his Dark One guise. The townspeople all gasped and started backing away.
"No, wait! It's not true! She did this to me!" Belle pointed at Mother Superior accusingly.
Ashley then walked through the door into the diner. "Ruby, I just want my usual. Hey, what's everybody staring at?"
"Oh, Ashley, thank goodness you're here," Mother Superior loudly proclaimed. "Belle had tricked the good citizens of Storybrooke into wanting her for mayor. But now that they know how corrupt she is, I'm sure they will want someone pure of heart who can lead them through these dark and difficult times. Someone...like you."
Ashley sighed wearily. "I told you, I don't really want to be mayor."
"You see how humble she is!" Mother Superior shouted so everyone could hear her.
"Well, I don't want to be mayor either," Belle stated emphatically.
The crowd grumbled uneasily at these new developments in the situation. Ruby, sensing that public opinion was suddenly swaying away from her candidate, pointed at Ashley and said clearly "You think Ashley is pure of heart? I guess you haven't heard about her and Dr. Whale then."
"What about her and Dr. Whale?" Ava asked curiously.
Ruby hesitated slightly and then said "Well, let's just say that I won't talk about it in front of children. It might give her nightmares. As well as the rest of you!"
Belle rolled her eyes. "Ruby, I said that I don't want to run for mayor. This is getting ridiculous. I'm leaving."
Ashley looked like she was about to cry. "I don't know what she's talking about. Really!"
Mother Superior glared at Ruby as if she was about to hex her. "This isn't over yet!" she articulated ominously.
Ruby crossed her arms and gave the nun her most venomous look. "Bring it, bitches."
In the past
"So what is it you want again?" the Evil Queen asked distractedly as she strolled around the room.
"Directions to Rumpelstiltskin, your majesty." Ella tried to control the quavers of fear in her voice, but it was difficult. Regina was a formidable woman, and it didn't help that the Blue Fairy had opted to wait outside for Ella (something about being allergic to the kind of wiring found in pushup bras; based on what the Blue Fairy herself was wearing, Ella didn't quite believe it).
"Well, I'm kind of busy right now. In case you didn't know, I'm in the middle of preparing to enact an epic curse on all of the Enchanted Forest. So, unless you want to help pack my multiple pairs of new silk pajamas into suitcases, I recommend that you vamoose and spend your last free days helping Snow paint her nursery—it looks like you're going to need a space in it soon too." She laughed cruelly after that statement.
"I'm being serious!" Ella exclaimed as she followed the queen.
"So was I." Regina suddenly turned around and pierced Ella with her gaze. "I just told you that you are all going to be cursed very soon, so why do you want to spend your last few days searching for a man?"
"Because I love him," Ella pleaded, "and when you love someone, you keep searching for them no matter what. Even if I can't spend the rest of my life with Thomas, at least I can have a few days with him."
Regina's eyes softened. "Well..."
"Oh please help me!"
"...I guess I can give you directions because you asked so nicely. But you need to do something for me when you get to Rumpelstiltskin's lair."
"Oh, whatever you want!" Ella said happily.
Regina grabbed a quill and a piece of parchment and hurriedly scribbled some directions onto it. "Here is this. And when you get there, I want you to bring me back this"—Regina then drew a picture of a vial onto the parchment.
"What is it?" Ella asked.
"Well, because in a few days you won't remember anything, I see no harm in telling you. Rumpelstiltskin has one of my tears, and I want it back. Tears can work powerful magic against the person who shed them, and I don't want him to have that power over me. I might as well get it back before the curse if I can." Regina rolled the parchment up and tied it before handing it to Ella.
"Oh thank you! You won't regret this!"
Regina smiled at seeing the eager look upon Ella's face. "I'll tell you what. If you bring my tear back to me, I'll make sure that you and Thomas are happily together after the curse is placed. But if you fail, your relationship with him will be full of strife."
"I won't fail! And thank you again! And good luck with your curse! See you later!"
Ella hobbled out of the room as fast as her pregnancy allowed her and went to find the Blue Fairy, leaving Regina to continue putting all of her drag queen-esque costumes in a pile that she planned to donate to the Enchanted Forest's Goodwill. If one thing was for certain, it was that magic always comes with a price, and in Regina's case this time, her sacrifice seemed to be her giving up her sexy Evil Queen clothing in order to fit into the new world
Neverland
"Tinker Bell! Tinker Bell!" Emma called for the umpteenth time. Emma had just remembered an hour earlier that the fairy had told her to call her name if she ever needed her.
"Emma, give it up! She's not coming," Regina snarled. She had been full of hope when Emma had first thought of calling the name, but over the past hour her hope had once again plummeted to despair.
"I don't understand, she told me to say her name if I ever needed her," Emma wondered aloud.
Regina gave Mr. Gold a look. "Well, Miss Swan, believe me when I say that Tinker Bell isn't the only unreliable magical being who falsely tells people that."
Carlotta the servant walked over to them. "The sun is going down and I thought I should show everyone to where they will be sleeping tonight. Mr. Jones and Mr. Gold, would you please follow me? Because the ship is very crowded now, you will be sleeping in the crew's quarters." The two men looked at her with horror at the thought of sleeping in the crew's quarters like some common servant, but they went with her without protest. She next came back for Mary Margaret and David.
"Wait, what about me? If there really isn't much room on the ship then I can sleep in the same cabin as them!" Emma said desperately, already guessing where this was going.
Carlotta gave her an inscrutable look before leaving with Emma's parents. Emma turned to face Regina. Both women stared at each other for a moment with blood rushing to their faces before they quickly turned away.
After what felt like hours of being alone in each other's company, Carlotta returned with Eric. He grinned at them. "I've decided to give my cabin over to the newlyweds and I will sleep with the crew."
"That really isn't necessary!" Emma impetuously cried out. "I'll happily sleep with the crew!"
Eric smiled at her indulgently before saying "Follow me."
"No really! I wasn't just saying it to be nice or polite! I really do want to sleep with the crew!" But Emma's agony fell on selective-listening ears; Eric led the two women to a cabin that had little else in it but for a desk, a dresser, a nightstand, and a bed.
Carlotta gave them some bundles of clothes. "I found these and I thought you might want to change out of what you've been wearing all day. All right, have a good night, ladies."
Emma glared at her. She better not be suggesting what I think she's suggesting.
Carlotta walked away, leaving Eric standing there grinning idiotically at them. "Um, goodnight," Regina said to Eric. She seemed resigned to her fate of spending a night next to Emma.
"Goodnight." Eric replied without making any move to leave. He continued to grin at them.
"Is there something you need?" Emma asked him while also steeling herself for spending the night alone with Henry's psychotic other-mother. Gosh darn it, if she can stand me, then I'll show her that I can also endure being with her.
"No." The two women gave him a look. "Oh!" Realization suddenly dawned on his face. "I guess you want to be alone now. Um, I'll just be going!" Eric ran from the room.
Regina gave Emma a look that said 'Don't you dare talk to me about any of this.' It was one of those rare occasions that Emma actually agreed with Regina about something.
Storybrooke
Astrid sat at a computer designing the ballot for the upcoming election. Although both women hadn't originally wanted to run for mayor, Belle and Ashley had finally relented and allowed their names to go on the ballot. Probably, she suspected, because both wanted revenge on the other side. Ruby had spent the day going door to door spreading malicious rumors about Ashley. Mother Superior, on the other hand, had a different tactic. Every time she saw Belle, she stealthily cursed her with another physical ailment. Along with the mottled arms, Belle was now sporting horns on top of her head and a tail. When Astrid had volunteered to design the ballot, Mother Superior asked her to leave Belle's name off of it and just have Ashley's name and a space for a write-in. Astrid had been brought up too well to do anything of the sort, so she included both names. To top it all off, when he had learned that there were no requirements to run for mayor except having once been a citizen of the Enchanted Forest, Nicholas had also decided to run to everyone's amusement. Lucky for him, neither Ruby nor Mother Superior considered him a threat, and so he remained unscathed.
"Are you almost finished?" Nicholas asked the sister. He had been popping in a lot lately to make sure that his name was on the ballot, much to Michael's chagrin. Michael wasn't exactly pleased at the thought of his young son running for mayor in the midst of the name-calling magic-slinging war.
"Yes, I'm done." The finished voting ticket had the names Ashley Boyd, Belle, Nicholas Zimmer, and a space for a write-in on it. Astrid then emailed the completed ballot to Leroy, who would print all of them out and bring them to the town hall where the voting would take place.
"Oh, good! Let's go to town hall now!"
Astrid smiled at the boy and obediently started walking with him. She actually didn't think that she would really mind if he won—he couldn't be any worse of a mayor than Belle, who seemed to be slowly turning into an exotic animal, or Ashley, who seemed to have banged half the town (according to Ruby). Then Astrid suddenly felt a weird pang in her stomach as she realized that she missed Regina; sure she had been an evil witch, but she had also been very good at keeping Storybrooke running in an orderly fashion.
They walked into the town hall alongside all the other residents of Storybrooke who had come to vote. Nicholas left Astrid and went up to the front of the room to stand next to Ashley and Belle. The three candidates would first give speeches on why they should be mayor, and then the voting would commence. Ashley went first with her notecards:
"I am only a simple woman who lives to serve Dr. Whale in his noble crusade to rescue his people! I was once as you are now and I promise you we will take these riches from the Charmings. Hey! This isn't the speech that I prepared!"
Ruby snickered in the front row and then called out "Are you sure that's not the speech you prepared? I can't imagine that anyone would want to mess with you."
Mother Superior looked over at Ruby with murder in her eyes. The dwarfs all flexed their muscles to ready themselves to break up a fight if they had to.
"Okay, time's up!" Jefferson called in a bored manner. He had been asked to be the person in charge of keeping time, which Astrid regretted because he always looked like he was stoned.
Belle next stepped up to the podium with her speech. "If I were mayor of Storybrooke, not queen, not duke, not prince; my regal robes of the forest, would be satin—eek I'm allergic to satin! And this isn't my speech either!"
Suddenly, a thick layer of fur started to grow around Belle's neck until she was displaying what resembled a lion's mane.
"She's turning into a beast! Get her out of here!" Mother Superior screamed.
"You did this to her!" Ruby hollered at the nun.
Astrid watched the two go at it with some amusement. Mother Superior usually seemed the very paradigm of decency, sophistication, and virtue, but she had really lost herself in the excitement and pressure of the election.
"Okay, time's up!" Jefferson called out again. This time the dwarfs had to force Mother Superior and Ruby to sit back down. It was finally Nicholas's turn.
"Um, hello everyone. I just want to say that if you elect me, I'll finally be able to earn that leadership scout badge that I've been trying to earn for a while. And everyone will have free ice cream forever."
Astrid stared at him in astonishment as he sat down. That was it? Between these three candidates, Storybrooke is doomed!
"It's time to vote," Leroy announced. "I will now pass out the ballots."
Astrid frowned at her ballot when she received it, at a complete loss about who to vote for. She searched her mind for memories of all three of them in the enchanted forest and Storybrooke, trying to think of who would make the best leader. Ashley had been married to a prince, but she had always struck Astrid as being kind of ditzy. Belle on the other hand seemed more clear-headed, but she was associated with Mr. Gold. And Nicholas, well, that was a joke, right?
In the end, sifting through her memories of people had the desired effect, and with a smile on her face, Astrid quickly penned a name in.
In the past
"At the candy cane grove turn right. No, right. RIGHT!"
The Blue Fairy irritably corrected her flying and went the right way. The closer they had gotten to Rumpelstiltskin's lair, the more the winds had picked up and the harder it was for Ella to communicate with her pilot.
"Are we almost there yet? You're starting to get really heavy."
"I think so. All we have remaining is a left at Pride Rock and then straight on until we get to a swamp. Whoa he lives in a swamp? Ew."
The pair dutifully flew on, albeit lower and lower to the ground as the Blue Fairy's strength started to give out. She bitterly reminded herself that she was really flying for three, as Ella's unborn child also undoubtedly added weight into the mix.
"Oh! I think I see it!" Ella exclaimed excitedly. "Yes, there's the swamp. All right, could you land over by that dry spot over there please?"
The Blue Fairy circled down and landed where Ella had pointed, glad to rest her muscles a bit. "Did Regina give you any pointers for getting Thomas back?"
"No, that's where you come in," Ella said in a 'duh' tone of voice.
"Oh," the Blue Fairy replied, a little uncertainly. When she had agreed to help the princess, she had had no idea that it entailed breaking into the lair of the Dark One. "Well, I think we should maybe try the door first." The pair squelched through the mud to the wooden door. It appeared that the evilest creature in the realm lived in a tree stump in a swamp.
"What do we do now?" Ella whispered once they stood in front of the door. "Should we try going in? You never know, he might be out collecting mushrooms or something."
The Blue Fairy could sense that there were magical spells crisscrossing all over the tree stump that would prevent somebody from simply blasting their way in. The door, however, was free from magic, as if it had never occurred to the imp that someone might try entering his house the old fashioned way. She was unable to think of a better approach to rescuing Thomas, so she silently opened the door.
The inside of the house had been enchanted so as to be much bigger than the tree stump it was contained in. Shelves full of books and gizmos lined every wall. Couches and beanbag chairs were strewn about at random, and there was what appeared to be a hot tub in the center of the room. Ella impatiently walked through the first room and into the second in her search for Thomas. The second room was filled with all kinds of weapons. The Blue Fairy stopped to examine a sword that was stuck in a block of marble while Ella pressed onward. He's got to be here somewhere. In the third room she found her husband lying on a couch staring at moving images on the wall while holding a strange wand with buttons.
"Oh Thomas darling! I've found you!" Ella waddled over to her husband and embraced him as well as she could under the circumstances.
"Ella, you have to see this! If I press a button on this rod, then a flat person shows up on that wall and throws a brown ball to another flat person! I could sit here watching this for days!"
"We really have to go now, Thomas! Rumpelstiltskin could be back any minute!"
Thomas reluctantly allowed himself to be shoved out of the television room and into the weapons room.
"Blue Fairy, I've found Thomas! We can go now!"
"Just a minute, Ella," the Blue Fairy said. She was still examining the sword that was stuck in the block of marble. On its hilt was a design made up of three triangles. "I haven't seen this in years, and I had no idea Rumpelstiltskin had it. Why, the last time I saw it was when it was—"
The Blue Fairy's reminiscing was cut short by none other than the dreaded Dark One himself, entering from the hot tub room. "I seem to not have been invited to the party, dearies," he cackled.
Ella's fear was swallowed by her anger. "You wicked wicked man! Trying to take my baby and now Thomas from me!"
"Ella, stop," the Blue Fairy hissed at the princess.
Ella paid the Blue Fairy no mind. "You can't just go around playing with people's lives whenever you feel like it."
Rumpelstiltskin giggled. "Eehee. I have an idea. Let's make another deal."
"No!" Ella cried, "No more deals!" In her desperation, Ella reached behind her and grabbed the handle of the sword stuck in the marble. It pulled free of the marble, and the princess held it in front of her in an attempt to look threatening. Which, given her disheveled gown and balloon-like appearance, did not exactly work.
Rumpelstiltskin blinked in surprise. "I've been trying to magic that sword out of that stone for years. How on earth did pull it off—er—out?"
The Blue Fairy looked even more surprised. "It can't be," she muttered to herself. "How can this helpless, ditzy, gold digger be the descendant of...no, it can't be. Rumpelstiltskin must be tricking me."
Ella attempted to swing the sword at the imp. "You are going to let us go now!"
He giggled again. "I suppose if I don't you are going to slay me. Very well, you may take your pansy husband and leave. The fairy stays here, however. I want to have a discussion with her. And give me that sword back!"
The princess had no problem with that because she had her husband back, so she gingerly handed the sword to Rumpelstiltskin and walked through the hot tub room and out into the swamp with Thomas. Once they got outside, the door quickly slammed shut behind them.
"How are we going to get back to my palace?" Thomas complained.
Ella patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. I passed a town that's close by on the way here. I'm sure they will have horses and a carriage to spare. Ella started to lumber slowly in the direction of where she had seen the town before suddenly stopping in alarm. "Oh no! I forgot Regina's tear! Without that, we won't be happy together!"
"Regina's what?" Thomas asked in confusion. Ella explained the situation to him. Thomas then ran back to the tree stump and tried the door, but it refused to open.
Ella's eyes opened wide with understanding. "That's why he let us go so easily! Because he knew that it wouldn't matter—that soon Regina's curse wouldn't let us be together anyway!"
Thomas looked sadly at his princess. "I promise you, that no matter what happens, I will always love you and always try to find you!"
Ella smiled slightly through the tears that were now running down her face. "You stole that phrase from James."
Neverland
Emma unfolded the packet of clothes that Carlotta had given her. Out fell what appeared to be a set of sailor clothes for the next day, and a long shirt that looked like a nightgown. Emma stole a glance at Regina. She had turned away from Emma and also examining the clothes she had received—it seemed that Carlotta had also given Regina a nightgown. Emma quickly slipped out of her clothes and put on the nightgown, all the while watching Regina to make sure that she wasn't watching her. Regina still hadn't moved to undress yet, but instead was examining her clothes. Emma took advantage of having nobody watching her to quickly get into the bed and pull the covers up to her chin. Then she turned away from Regina and closed her eyes. She wasn't sure why, but for some reason the thought of Regina seeing any of her bare skin made her nervous and uncomfortable.
"So you're just going to ignore me now?"
Regina's low-pitched voice made Emma snap back to reality. She must have dozed off, because Regina was suddenly in bed next to her.
"I thought you were the one ignoring me!" Emma protested, her voice sounding childishly high and whiny to her own ears.
"It's kind of hard to ignore you when you're the reason I spent the entire day feeling weaker and weaker."
"What do you mean?"
"Even without a matching stone to anchor you to me, I still felt a constant drain on my magic."
"How does that work?" Emma asked sleepily.
Regina yawned. "I'm not exactly sure. We'll have to ask Gold, but I'm guessing that by being magically bonded, my magic still wanted to connect to whatever puny bit of magic you have in you, and the distance between worlds took more energy to sustain that connection than it usually would."
Regina then blew out the candle on the nightstand. Emma was unable to fall asleep immediately as thoughts of Henry and Regina's words raced through her mind. She missed her son dearly, and the memory of the horror she felt immediately after she had gotten back to Neverland made her extremely worried about him. It was also strange to think that being far away from Regina could make her feel sick—Emma wasn't sure how she felt about having such a bond with the woman who could inspire such strong feelings of loathing in her at times.
