I Will Find You
Bae, Emery and Hope were in Maleficent's living room. Hope was trying to find something on television while Bae and Emery were trying to get better control of their powers by meditating. Astrea was in the kitchen, she finally left the couch but was eating an entire carton of cookies and cream ice cream. She was going overboard, Maleficent took it from her.
Hope gasped. "Clueless, the TV show!"
"No!" Bae and Emery broke concentration.
"You drove us crazy watching that freaking movie. You are not about to drive us nuts with the TV show." Emery said.
Emma took a tablet with her when she went back to the Enchanted Forest. She kept it charged magically and she had a few movies downloaded on it, Clueless happened to be one of them.
"Shouldn't you be mediating too?" Bae asked.
"I did that for a few hours last night. You guys are slacking." She moved a book telekinetically across the table effortlessly then turned off the television. "Do you think you guys are ready to use your powers alone?"
"I've used my powers here before. It shouldn't be this difficult." Bae said.
"It's been a long time brother but a little motivation may help." Hope held out her hand and the drawing of Vella that Bae brought with him appeared in her hand. She handed it to him. "Oh yeah…" The photo booth pictures appeared in her hand and she handed it to him. "She's the reason why we're here, right? So find her."
"That only works when we use our powers together." Bae said.
"Yes but you believe she's your soulmate so you should try." Hope said.
"Hope's right. I can find Melody anywhere within the same realm at least." Emery informed.
"Okay." Bae said then concentrated on the pictures for a few moments. "It's not working."
"Focus. Breathe… Feel." Hope said.
He took a deep breath and did just that. Suddenly, he had a vision. It came in pieces. Michigan. Bedrock Diner. Vella.
The vision ended. For a moment he looked like a deer caught in headlights.
"I saw her. She's just as beautiful as the last day I saw her." Bae uttered.
"Okay lover boy. Let's go find your princess." Hope said.
"I think I can get there on my own." Bae said.
"Sure you could but we came this far, I want to meet this girl." Hope said.
"Then let's go." Bae held out his hand to join theirs.
"Not so fast, brother. If you're going to meet your soulmate again after seven years and you're all grown up and handsome, you have to do it in style." Hope said.
"Why didn't I see that coming?" Bae wondered.
"Let's see. It has to be memorable like grandpa and his red cape or Cinderella and her glass slipper." Hope waved her hand and put her brother in a stylish up to date outfit for 2022 in the land of no happy endings. "Perfect. Why should we even buy clothes here if we can just do that?"
"That was a very Rumple, Regina, Snow…" Maleficent started.
"And Emma…" Astrea added.
"Thing to do." Maleficent finished. "It's a bit disturbing how much you take after them all." She said to Hope. Rumple in his Dark One years never sent someone on their way to their happy ending without doing it in style. Regina, Snow and Emma did practically everything in style, always make an entrance and Regina was definitely the leader in that concept.
Hope and Emery changed their clothes to something that fit in more with this world but yet didn't stray far from their Enchanted Forest fashion. Both were wearing leather pants. Hope wore a modern cape fit for the fall and Emery wore a jean shirt and a cool jacket.
"We'll see you later." Emery said before they disappeared in light blue smoke.
-v-
Henry was asleep in the forest and a thief was sneaking up on him. Henry's eyes opened. He heard him coming, he was preparing to catch the thief off guard when he got close enough but before he had a chance, he heard the man get hit with an arrow. Henry quickly sat up and saw a pretty curly headed blonde with brown eyes who looked like a princess but dressed like a bandit standing on a rock. She jumped down, stepped over the thief and walked over to Henry.
"Thanks." Henry was mesmerized by her.
"You're welcome. I'm Goldilocks. My friends call me Goldie, at least they would if I had any."
"I'm Henry." He stood. "I can't believe someone as pretty as you are doesn't have any friends."
She laughed. "You shouldn't sleep here. It's a danger zone and there are a lot of bears lurking around."
"Thanks. I thought it was pretty peaceful out here since the kingdom united. I thought it was just the dark magical creatures and animals we had to worry about."
"Aww. So cute how naïve you are. There's always going to be someone trying to get over on or hurt someone else. The fact that the land is more peaceful just makes it easier for those people. Stick with me and I'll show you the ropes."
"How long have you lived like this?"
"Since I was a little girl. You?"
"Just a few days, I left home."
"You have a home and you left it to live out here? That's silly. Must be some terrible circumstances."
"I just need to decide who I am and what I want to be without others interfering."
"And who do you want to be Henry?"
"… I don't know." Henry answered truthfully then they began to walk.
-v-
Back at the castle, Regina was searching for a spell to figure out how she could watch over Henry when Roland, Salem, Emma and Neal entered the room.
"Mom, we're going to split up and look for Henry." Roland announced.
"He's been gone long enough." Neal said.
"I thought for sure he'd come back by now." Emma said.
Regina sighed. "Thank you."
They headed out on their mission, Roland and Salem went in one direction and Emma and Neal went in another.
A familiar carriage was going through the forest and it stopped in front of Roland and Salem, Alexandra soon exited the royal transportation.
"What are you guys doing out here?" Alexandra inquired.
"Searching for my stubborn brother." Roland replied.
"Oh. I'll help you." Alexandra volunteered.
"Are you sure you want to be out here in the forest?" Roland asked.
"Yes… Bruno, I'll meet you at the castle." Alexandra said to the driver.
"But Madame..." Bruno started.
"If anyone asks, I'm with Roland and Salem. I'm safe with them."
Bruno nodded reluctantly then continued along the trail.
-v-
Bae, Emery and Hope walked into the Bedrock Diner in Michigan. There was a Stone Age theme and a lot of people about their age around. It must be the cool hang out spot for the youth.
The three of them had a seat in a booth.
"I'm so glad Mal loaned us fare until we can cash in our gold. God knows we don't need a repeat of yesterday." Hope expressed.
"Do you see her?" Emery asked.
Bae glanced around the room then there she was taking a seat in a booth on the other side of the diner, her golden skin glowing as she joined her two friends at the table.
"There she is." Bae smiled and headed in her direction. Time seemed to slow down as he approached her, what would he do or say? He never exactly thought about it before. He just knew he wanted to see her again.
"Vella?" Bae questioned and Vella looked up at him. Their eyes met and they gazed at each other.
"Baelfire?" Vella replied.
"Baelfire?" Her two friends echoed in unison.
"Who the hell is Baelfire?" One friend named, Amy wondered aloud.
"I don't know but he is hot." Her friend Sam replied.
"Vella. Wonderful to see you again… The watch, it still ticks." He mentioned, showing the watch on his wrist. It was symbolic that for as long as it ticked, there was a chance they'd see each other again.
"That's amazing. I bought that for like ten bucks at a gift shop." Her eyes were sparkling like his. Her friends noticed. They looked at each other wondering if they both were noticing the same thing.
The front door of the diner opened then entered a six foot tall guy who was built like a basketball player, hair was slicked back and rocked a preppy look.
"It was nice seeing you again." Vella said quickly as a way to end the conversation. Bae got the hint but he moved slowly because he didn't expect it.
"Hey babe." The preppy guy said after walking over. "Who's this?"
"Just someone I met as a kid is all. He was just saying hi. Bye." Vella explained, tapping her fingers nervously on the table.
This was very odd. She was a bit on edge and she wasn't like that a moment ago. The sparkle that was in her eyes was erased and that seemed to be the result of the guy with too much hair product.
"I'm Daman." Hair product guy introduced himself then held out his hand.
"I'm Baelfire." He shook his hand.
"Your mother named you Baelfire?" Daman laughed.
"Your mother gave you a fancy name for demon. I don't think you should throw stones. Vella, I will see you." Bae walked back to his table.
"She has someone. I'm sorry." Emery said.
"He still has a chance… Oh look, I did the hope thing." Hope laughed. "Seriously, I don't like his vibe."
"You're always right about your vibes." Emery said.
"It only happened twice." Bae pointed out.
"That's because we're always around good people and both times I was right. Two for two. Besides, you have three significant advantages over him, one; you are like Prince Charming III, every girl's dream guy in most realms. You learned from the best. Two; you know you're her soulmate. Nothing beats that and three; you have better hair."
Bae and Emery laughed.
"What does that have to do with anything?" Bae asked.
"Nothing really. I just wish I could do something about it. Look at it, there's no volume whatsoever. It looks like a wet dog or something."
They laughed again.
"Hope, I'm glad you came." Bae said.
Hope smiled sweetly. It meant a lot.
-v-
After a while of searching, Roland, Alexandra and Salem finally ran into Henry with this girl they've never seen before.
"Henry! Enough is enough! You must come home now." Roland exclaimed.
"I must not. I'm fine." Henry replied.
"Why are you doing this to mom and papa? They love you. We all do, just come back home."
"No! I'm not living with a bunch of hypocrites telling me that I should do the right thing."
"How are they being hypocrites?"
"Name one person at home who hasn't killed someone, almost killed someone or stolen from people."
Roland thought about it. "David's a knight so it kind of doesn't count…" He tried. "… But they've all learned from their mistakes. They taught us to do better than them. That's what good role models do, genius."
"The dimple monster always has so much belief in the so-called family but did you know that the woman you've been calling mom the past twenty years murdered your real mother?"
Emma and Neal showed up right then. For a moment, it looked like Roland had stopped breathing. He looked over and saw Emma and Neal's faces and knew it was true. Everyone knew of Regina's evil past but that was personal. He never saw it coming.
"Most of us figured it out at some point. I guess you were just in denial." Henry continued.
Roland finally just walked away.
"Roland!" Emma called. Alexandra ran after him to let them finish dealing with Henry. Henry and Goldie started to walk away but Emma used her powers to stop him.
"Why would you do that?" Neal asked Henry.
"He was going to find out sooner or later." Henry said.
"So what? You just want to make a conscious decision to fall into darkness now? Why? You have love, you have power and no one has done anything to you so you don't want revenge. So what is it?" Emma asked.
"It's more fun in the dark."
"If that's really what you believe then you're in for a rude awakening." Neal said.
Henry lifted his hands and purple smoke appeared around him and Goldie then they disappeared.
-v-
Vella and her friends entered their dorm room and flopped on the bottom bunks.
"So Ms. Vella, are you going to spill the tea on who Baelfire is?" Amy asked.
"I told you. We met a few times when I was fourteen. I haven't seen him since." Vella explained as she pulled books out of her bookbag.
"And he has that kind of effect on you?" Amy asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Vella questioned.
"You were looking at him as if your whole world had finally been completed. Your eyes sparkled. You looked mesmerized. You smiled."
"You smiled!" Sam emphasized.
"You're all exaggerating. I don't even know dude. Don't let Damon here you guys talking like this."
"Damon isn't threatened by anyone." Sam said.
"But maybe he should be." Amy said.
"Just don't let him here you!" Vella insisted.
"Okay." They agreed.
-v-
Henry and Goldie were walking through the forest.
"So you have magic." Goldie said.
"Yes." Henry replied. He didn't plan on revealing that so soon.
"You know, seems to me you've already made a choice about who you want to be. When you make a choice you should follow through. No one can tell you who to be." Goldie said.
"Yeah. I guess you're right." He decided.
-v-
Emma and Neal entered the family room where Regina and Robin were. They quickly stood. They had hope that Henry would soon follow.
"Where's Henry?" Regina asked.
"Yeah… he's not coming. I think he may me a bigger problem than we thought." Emma said.
"What do you mean?" Robin inquired.
"He figures if most of us have dabbled in darkness a tad, especially you two, why should he be good?" Neal explained.
"I did not want this for him." Regina stated.
"There's more." Emma started to tell them that Roland knew the truth but he walked in.
"Is it true? Did you kill my mother?" Roland asked with hurt and anger but in a low tone?
"What? Where did you… Ro." Regina tried to gather her thoughts.
"It is true, isn't it? You married the woman who killed my mother and let me call her mom? You weren't going to tell me?" He asked Robin.
"I didn't- We didn't know." Robin said.
"I didn't figure it out until much later. I'm so sorry, Ro. If I could take it back, I swear I would. You know I would never hurt you." Regina's eyes were starting to water.
"Except you did." Roland walked out of the room.
"Ro!" Regina called. "How will he forgive me? Am I going to lose both my sons in one day?"
"You're not going to lose them. Ro just needs time." Robin said.
"Ro is one of the most forgiving hearts we know." Emma said.
"I'm sorry we couldn't bring back Henry. We won't give up but he's going to have to find his own path." Neal said then Neal and Emma left them alone.
Robin embraced Regina. She didn't change her entire life just so that it could start to fall apart now. To lose her son and to darkness no less was her biggest fear. For Roland to find out that she killed his mother, who she really didn't even remember because she killed so many people was another fear. Everyone knew her past, they accepted it and treated her for who she is and not who she was but to kill his mother was close to home. To find out now made it a fresh wound.
