OOC: I'm loving the feedback everyone! Please, keep on reading and REVIEWING! Can you believe that in under 3 weeks, we've already reached almost 5000 views! I hope y'all enjoy this latest update, and that you keep on reading. It means the world to me! (edit: I removed that last sentence. I realized thanks to some important feedback, that my plot had taken a bad turn. I'm back on track now though Hopefully y'all will love chapter 8!)
Mary Margaret's fingers shook as she pushed the buttons of the phone. Her mind was conflicted. Was this really the right thing to do? David had a wife; he had a happy and content life without her involved. Why should she go and ruin that? And besides, maybe she had imagined all of that that happened on the street. Maybe David would think she was crazy. Maybe this would all be for nothing. Maybe she really was destined to be alone.
"Mary Margaret?" she heard Emma ask. "Are you alright?"
Mary Margaret looked down to see her index finger poised above the call button, unmoving. Was she ready to jump back into the David stream? She had just been getting over him. Or had she? Maybe that was just a façade she put up to hide her longing in her heart for him. She knew deep down in her soul that there was a connection there, and maybe she hadn't gotten over it quite yet. "Oh, right," she finally replied, "I'm fine." And with that she hit 'call'. No going back. Control of her own life. No more being a pushover.
The dial tone sounded ominously.
BLEEEEEEP.
BLEEEEEEEP.
BLEEE-"Hullo?" David's husky voice sounded through the receiver.
Mary Margaret's breath caught in her throat for a moment, and she wondered if she would ever be able to breath. "David?"
"Mary Margaret?" he said, "thank goodness you got my call. I really need to talk to you."
"About what?" she said softly, and as she looked over at Emma the other woman cast her an encouraging thumbs up.
"Whatever it was that happened out on the street, I mean…" David paused as if he were collecting his thoughts, "something happened to me, and I'm thinking it did to you as well."
Mary Margaret bit her lip and nodded, and then remembered David couldn't actually see her through the phone. "It did," she said softly.
"Can we meet and figure this out?" David suggested, "I need answers."
"When?"
"Tomorrow morning?"
"I have to teach."
"Oh, right," David sighed. "How about right now?"
"Now?" Mary Margaret's eyes widened in surprise. Emma shot her a look of confusion.
"Why not?" David said. "The sooner we sort this out, the better."
"I guess you're right," Mary Margaret sighed, her mind drawing up images of what Regina would do if they waited too long. "Where?"
"The toll bridge?"
Mary Margaret smiled to herself. That place definitely held special meaning. "Well I guess I'll be seeing you soon David Nolan. The toll bridge it is."
"Hurry," he replied, and hung up, leaving Mary Margaret dazed and confused. She set the phone down on the coffee table and turned toward the coat hook, pulling her coat and scarf off of it.
"Are you leaving?" Emma asked, pulling herself to a standing position.
"I think I should talk to him," Mary Margaret answered, then shook her head, "no, I NEED to talk to him. Get this straightened out. And yes, I know that he has a wife. But something is going on, don't you see it Emma? Something about this town isn't right, and we're all a part of it! The sooner answers are found, the better. And I think this might give me some answers." Or make me even more confused than before, she added silently to herself.
"A phone call is different than actually meeting the guy," Emma pointed out. "And it's dark and cold out there, you must be crazy.
"I know, but this needs to be in person," Mary Margaret answered simply. "And I'll be fine."
"No you won't," Emma's face was serious, "If whatever happened to Graham is linked to what's happening to you, I'm not going to let you go wandering the streets alone this late. Something might happen. At least let me drive you."
Mary Margaret sighed, silently cursing her eco-friendly choice not to invest in a vehicle of her own. "I guess so," she said, and with that Emma reached her car keys and followed Mary Margaret out the door.
The drive itself was uneventful, as Emma silently focused on the snow-covered road and Mary Margaret herself was too lost in thought to talk. What would happen when she saw David again? Another vision? Again she wondered if they were not visions as much as memories. But memories of what? The very idea that Henry was proposing, well it was absurd. Fairy tales were just that, fairy tales. Mary Margaret, being a sensible person, knew that there was no sensible way that fairy tale characters existed in life, let alone she herself being one! It was outrageous. Yet, a large part of her mind wondered if she was being hypocritical. Hadn't she always taught the children that believing in something was the strongest power one could have? That imagination was powerful beyond measure? And hadn't she given Henry that book because he needed something to believe in? Maybe she herself needed something to believe in.
"Are you ok to do this?" Emma asked, as they pulled out of town and onto the back road leading to the toll bridge. "I mean, things are a little weird between you two….to say the least."
"I need to do this," Mary Margaret sighed, repeating what she had been telling herself since David called.
"If you say so," Emma replied, and paused, "so you see things in the snow?" She looked out the window at the waves of falling flakes surrounding the car, her face sceptical.
"I don't know," Mary Margaret sighed. "I don't really know anything for sure right now. I do know that something happened. Something not ordinary." She rested her head on her hand and stared out into the snow distantly. She was just repeating herself wasn't she? With all this claiming that something she can't explain happened. What she really needed to do was explain it. Mary Margaret sighed again, and felt her vision blur.
She was in a carriage. She could feel the rumbling of wheels beneath her and hear the steady clip-clopping of hooves outside. Mary Margaret looked across from where she was sitting and saw David (James?) staring at her with a look of devotion. "Where did you say we were going again?" she heard herself ask. "You'll see," he smiled coyly and reached a hand across the space between them to stroke a stray piece of her hair. "No tell me," she smiled and pushed his hand away. "Do you remember when we met?" David smiled. "How can I forget?" Mary Margaret answered, "I stole your jewels. And look at us now, getting married in less than a week! Funny isn't it?" David looked out the carriage window. "It is," he said, "anyways, as a reminder of all that, we're going back to the place where it all started." Mary Margaret leaned forward and brushed back the curtains of the carriage, revealing a forest road, and in the distance an all too familiar bridge. "The troll bridge," she gasped in delight.
Mary Margaret blinked and she was back in reality. She shook her head and looked over to see Emma looking at her in confusion.
"Are you ok?" the other woman asked, "you kind of blanked out there for a second."
"I'm-I'm fine…" Mary Margaret sighed. She herself was amazed by her acceptance of this latest thought. This was almost the norm, though far from it. "It's nothing. Why did we stop?"
"We're here," Emma said simply and motioned to the sign on the road ahead. It read 'TOLL BRIDGE' but some vandal had drawn a crude 'r' in between the first two letters.
"Troll bridge," Mary Margaret mouthed to herself, staring at the sign.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Emma looked worried. "You don't have to do this you know."
"I need to do this," Mary Margaret replied, and opened the car door, letting in a swift and frigid gust of winter snow. She took a deep breath and wrapped her scarf around tighter. It was cold out tonight. She gently closed the car door and started towards the bridge. As she walked, Mary Margaret looked back to see Emma watching her sceptically from the car. At least she's not coming with me, Mary Margaret thought to herself as she turned back to face the bridge. Up ahead she could see a figure leaning on the guard rail, jacket collar popped against the wind and arms crossed. David.
"Mary Margaret," he said as she approached, and motioned to embrace her.
"Hi, David," Mary Margaret answered, stepping back to avoid his touch. "You wanted to talk."
"Yeah, I did. Do you know what happened on the street this afternoon?" his voice rushed with excitement. "I mean one moment we were there, and then we were in this room and you had long hair and I felt….different. That's the only way to describe it. I felt like a different person. But the same. You know, since I got my memories back, I thought I knew what was going on. I thought that my life had sorted itself out and gone back to normal. Like before. And it did, sort of. But after what happened on the street….something feels wrong about what I remember. What I saw this afternoon felt more real." He frowned. "But it wasn't was it? I mean that can't be real."
Mary Margaret felt the slightest tear come to her eye. David was so lost, so confused, so innocent. And she felt that feeling she had tried to repress for so long return. She did love him. In all his childlike innocence, kind heart and beautiful self she loved him. That love hurt though, because she knew he would never return it, at least not in this world. He has a wife you know, she told herself. And that wife loved him. Mary Margaret had almost ruined things for them once before, and she really didn't want to again. David didn't deserve that.
"Mary Margaret?" David asked, "Are you ok? I mean, I'm being outrageous, but this afternoon I felt something. Something I can only compare to that day I woke up. Right here." He motioned to the area around them. "I never realized it before, but there's something between us. Something. You must feel it too?"
Mary Margaret blinked back tears. Why had she come here? Why, why, why? She should have known that this would happen. What was it that she was looking for in coming here? Closure? Because obviously David was even more confused than she was. And it hurt her. She had only served in confusing him further. Maybe she really was ruining his life.
"Mary Margaret?" David said, and grasped both her hands. In an instant, they were both in a different place.
"So many memories," Mary Margaret heard herself say as she gazed around at the stone bridge. It was startlingly similar to the illustrations in Henry's book. Worn and weathered cobblestones, with soft vines of ivy adorning them. A large chasm opened up beneath them, and Mary Margaret could imagine the trolls lurking below. She looked over to see David standing beside her, his hand clasped in his. "Indeed my Snow," he smiled, "and let us make another." Mary Margaret looked up to see David leaning in towards her. "Oh James," she gasped as their lips met.
Mary Margaret lurched back into reality only to find her face in very close contact with David's. She lingered in the moment, revelling in the pure rightness of all of it. This was what she was meant to be doing. With her prince. A stray thought interrupted her moment though. He has a wife. With a start she pulled away, gasping, and felt David do the same.
"What the hell was that?" he exclaimed, looking at her with both love and confusion.
"I-I…" Mary Margaret stammered, images of David and Kathryn running through her mind. "I can't do this, you have a wife!" Her emotions told another story though. She wanted nothing more than to pull David back onto her lips and to kiss him like she meant it. It felt so right; it felt so pure and clean. Every vision (memory?) she had experienced pointed her towards loving him. Her heart loved him more than she ever thought possible. She wanted to run back into her arms, but something sent her turning back towards the little yellow car where Emma looked on, her face frozen in pure shock.
"Snow!" David called, but Mary Margaret did not turn back. She kept on walking her mind ablaze.
