A/N: Thank you, Syed, for your review and to everyone who followed and favorited. This chapter should answer some of your questions, and the rest will be answered in time.

Warning: This chapter contains spoilers for the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman and for Good Omens by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett.


Complications

Chapter 7: Advice Given

~Catspook


Rumplestiltskin walked stiffly, rage, terror, and relief at war within him. The strain of being shot, his magic returning, and then healing himself did not help matters in the least. He hadn't been lying about magic being different here; what would have been effortless in the Enchanted Forest had drained him. As tired as he was, he was grateful they were walking back. Aside from the fact that Bae wouldn't like it, Rumplestiltskin didn't think he had the energy to transport them all back to town.

It also gave him time to regret shouting at Belle. She's probably packing her bags right now. Just as well; she was never going to stay. No one had - no one until Bae, and then only as long as Rumplestiltskin was powerless. At least he agreed to come back. But for how long? It was inevitable. Rumplestiltskin drove away those he loved, always.

He nearly flinched when Charming spoke. "You said something about side effects of crossing the town line; do you have any idea what they might be?"

"No. I don't even know if there are any, but I will not take the risk, not with Bae."

"Could you take a look? Figure it out? We need to know."

"Possibly, but not immediately. To know for certain, I suggest you toss Glass over the line and see what happens to him. This was his doing, after all."

"What about Regina?" the dwarf asked hopefully. "She was calling the shots."

"Indeed. Unfortunately, as the caster of the curse, she has always been exempt from its effects. She can likely still cross unharmed, but that may not be true for the rest of us. Likewise with Emma, Henry, and Mr. Booth. And possibly Reul Ghorm," he added bitterly.

"What are you going to do about the Shadow?" Rumplestiltskin saw Bae shudder. He imagined pulling Regina's heart from her chest. It wasn't as soothing as he had hoped.

"Make sure I have all the ingredients I need to brew a new potion. Put up blood wards over my shop and home. I will not allow him to take Bae."

"And Henry?"

"It would be best if Emma placed those wards herself. I can teach her if she is willing."

"What if she's not?"

Rumplestiltskin pinned Charming with a baleful stare. "Convince her."


Belle paced as she waited for Rumplestiltskin to return. Mary Margaret was watching her out of the corner of her eye while she directed people, and she suspected that both Archie and August were doing the same, but they all had the courtesy to leave her alone while she tried to master herself.

She wouldn't be able to live with herself if her inattention caused something to happen to Baelfire. He's already been though so much. And it would destroy Rumple. She knew that with utter certainty. Rumple loved his son enough to move worlds. It was him, she realized, that he'd been thinking of when he let Robin Hood live. Belle had a place in Rumplestiltskin's heart, but Baelfire was at its center.

Belle looked up when she heard a commotion, but it was Emma and her party returning, not Rumple. Mary Margaret had called Emma after David had called her (and again after Rumple had disappeared), and Emma and the dwarves had doubled back immediately. "I checked in with Ruby," she said, "Regina's staying put for now. Apparently, she's having some trouble with her powers, or something. I take it Gold isn't?"

Snow shook her head, "I don't think so. But he looks different. Or rather, the same." Belle had noticed that too.

Emma quirked an eyebrow. "Care to explain that one?"

"He has magic, but he looks human."

"And that's bad?"

"It's not how he looked back home. I don't know what it means that he doesn't look like the Dark One but still had his powers."

"Maybe it's like Archie; he's not a cricket here."

"Maybe," Mary Margaret frowned. "I wish we could ask Blue."

"No way; we'd have a better chance getting a straight answer out of Gold."

"I know," the Queen said sadly. It must be terrible for her, to have been betrayed so. Belle thought of her father - she was so angry with him - but it wasn't the same. He was trying to save me; the Blue Fairy used Queen Snow and her daughter. She's as bad as Rumple ever was. Worse, really, as Rumple had always been quick to remind everyone he was a monster. He's not, but still you knew to be wary. Reul Ghorm hid her machinations behind a veneer of goodness; those she betrayed never saw it coming.

"What are we going to do with him?" Emma asked, gesturing to Glass, who was restrained and being watched carefully by August and a young man Mary Margaret had referred to as Frederick. "Probably not a good idea to keep him and Regina in the same place."

Snow nodded. "That's why we didn't take him to the Sheriff's Station. We might have to keep him at the hospital."

Belle shuddered at the idea, but the man had attacked Rumple. Tried to kill him, in fact, if she'd overheard correctly. And, even with his magic returned, he was not unharmed. Was he in pain at this moment? Had he found Baelfire? She wished she had one of those phones so she could call him, or that he'd taken her with him. As it was, all she could do was wait.

So she did. She waited and paced, keeping an eye out for Rumple and for her father. Ruby and Mary Margaret, thankfully, had chased Maurice off earlier, but Belle did not trust that he would not return to try to 'save' her. For his sake as well as her own, she hoped he would not; if Rumple learned exactly why Belle had lost track of Baelfire, he would not react well.

Eventually, just as she had hoped, Rumple returned with David, Grumpy, Nova, and - thankfully - Baelfire. She hurried over. "Rumple! Bae!"

Bae looked unhurt but miserable, shoulders hunched defensively. He looked up when she called his name, but said nothing. Rumple took a step back, his expression wary. There were still two holes in his clothing, wet with blood, but he seemed to pay them no mind; his eyes were fixed on her. "Are you both all right?" she asked, once she was close enough not to shout.

Bae shifted but said nothing. Rumple looked at him then back to her. "Belle, I…"

"What is it? Are you hurt?" she looked again at the blood on his front.

"No, I…" he was staring at her like he could not comprehend why she was even there. "I'm sorry," he blurted out, "I should not have shouted at you."

That's what he was worried about? Silly man. "Oh, Rumple," she said, stepping closer, "He's your son; of course you were frightened." She reached out for him. He took another step back, bringing his left arm up to cover the bloody holes in his clothing.

"Ah, best not. I should… change. Bae, will you… come home?"

Bae jumped. He'd been staring at Sydney Glass. He looked at Rumple, then wordlessly began walking. Heart in his eyes, Rumple followed. As close as she dared, Belle followed Rumple. She did not miss how heavily he was leaning on his cane.

Belle was not given to hate; it wasn't in her nature. But after this, on top of everything else, she thought she might be starting to truly hate Regina.


August watched the Golds and Belle as they headed home. Most of the crowd, he was sure, was glad to see them go. Or glad to see Rumplestiltskin go, at any rate. The exchange between Belle and Rumplestiltskin had obviously confused many of them. A week ago, August wouldn't have believed it either, but after all he's seen since then he wasn't terribly surprised by it.

His attention shifted to the dwarves, who were clustering around Grumpy. "What ha-ha-ha-choo!-happened?" Sneezy asked.

"I punched Gold in the face!" Grumpy declared with a triumphant grin. August raised an eyebrow.

"And… you're still alive?" Bashful asked incredulously.

"Well, I sure ain't no zombie, sister," Grumpy declared.

"Grumpy," Snow scolded.

"No, I had to! The kid wanted proof he wasn't controlling us, so… I gave it to him." August had to grin. He wasn't given to violence himself, but he had to appreciate the reasoning (and the mental image) that Leroy gave. And it might even be true, for all he knew.

"You should let me have a look at that," Doc said, gesturing to Leroy's blood-soaked leg.

"It's fine. Gold healed it up."

"Before or after you punched him?" Happy asked, grinning more widely than August was.

"Before, when we went after Glass."

"Why don't you tell us everything from the beginning," Emma said, "Some of us are missing some details here."

"In a moment," Snow said, "First, what should we do with Sydney?"

The man in question shifted, and August watched closely in case he tried to do a runner; but no, he just looked around, as if hoping Regina would swoop in any minute to save him. It was almost sad - or would have been, if he hadn't tried to kill two people and put everyone (but especially Henry) in danger from Pan. And Regina, for that matter. August was truly relieved that he could move again and that the pain was gone (and that he wouldn't die if he screwed up again) but that wouldn't be much help if Regina went on a magic-fuelled rampage. He was sure Rumplestiltskin could take her out, but August knew the man couldn't give two fucks for anyone is town other than Bae and Belle; minimizing civilian casualties was unlikely to be high on his list of priorities.

"I like Gold's idea," Grumpy said.

"Grumpy," Charming chided, with a long-suffering sigh.

"Why shouldn't he be the guinea pig? This mess is his fault."

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked.

"Gold thinks there could be some kind of side-effect of crossing the town line," Charming explained. "He said the best way to test it was to send someone across; he thinks it should be Glass."

"Why not Regina?" Sleepy asked.

"Because the curse didn't affect her like it affected us," Grumpy said. "She can still leave if she wants to."

"Does that sound right to you?" Emma asked Nova, "You're our magical expert here."

"I… I suppose so. I don't really know about curses, though."

"It does make sense," Emma said with a sigh.

"Emma, you can't possibly mean we should force someone across!" Queen Snow said, scandalized. Why the hell not? This is his fault.

"I meant the Regina thing. But we should talk about that too; someone should probably try it. Why not the guy that caused it?"

It blew up in to quite the debate, and August did find it just a little bit amusing to watch Glass squirm as they discussed "chucking" him across, to quote Leroy. In the end, Queen Snow agreed to offer Glass a choice: his cell in the hospital, or crossing the town line, after which he could go free. He chose to gamble with the line, and that was how they learned that anyone who crossed it reverted to their cursed selves, presumably forever. When he heard that, August was incredibly thankful that Baelfire hadn't made it across.

The first time Rumplestiltskin almost lost his son, he became the Dark One. The second time, he spent centuries tearing the worlds asunder. August didn't know about anyone else, but he really didn't want to see what was behind door number three.


"Hello, dearie." Regina looked up, startled. Rumple was standing in the doorway. "Having a little trouble with your magic? I'm not."

"What are you doing here?" Granny demanded, pointing her crossbow at Gold. He just quirked an eyebrow at it and continued to swagger towards Regina's cell.

"Just checking on the prisoner. The fallen fairy means well, but if she gets loose, you're going to need me."

"So you're not going to just kill me now?" Regina taunted. If she were going to die today, she would go out a Queen. "You have gone soft. And you're still limping."

He smirked and lifted his cane, twirling it as he walked towards her in two steady feet. Damn. "Not soft. I just have priorities; and you, my dear, are not high on the list."

"But still worth a visit, apparently."

"Consider it a professional courtesy."

"Courtesy? You?" Granny snorted too, which was more gratifying than it should have been.

"Yes. I'm guessing no one has bothered to tell you the danger your little stunt has put young Henry in?"

She slammed her hand into the bars. "Don't you go near him!"

"Oh, not from me, dearie, but all magic comes with a price. I'd have thought you learned that already with your little sleeping curse, but here we are again. One of these days, you're going to do something you can't undo, and Henry will be suffering the consequences."

"You dropped your son through a portal," she accused, "I would never do that to Henry."

"You may already have; you just don't know it yet."

"What are you babbling about?"

"That potion your genie stole from me; I was going to use it to place protective barriers around Storybrooke."

"I know that; the blue bug told me." Ruby and Granny exchanged a look, and Rumple nodded knowingly.

"Ah, there it is. I do assume she didn't tell you what the barriers were for?"

"To protect your kid from some enemy of yours, not that that narrowed it down at all. That's what you told her, anyway. What's the real story, Rumple? What was your plan?"

Rumple laughed, and Regina longed for her magic just so she could set fire to that expensive suit. "Reul Ghorm already told you, although she seems to have left out an important detail. Pan is a threat to Bae, certainly, but his real target is Henry. And thanks to you, it will be months before I can put up the barriers needed to protect your son from him."

"Pan? Of Neverland? He wants Henry?"

Rumple smirked. "Oh, not all of him, dearie - just his heart."

Regina felt like he'd dropped her in a freezing lake. And she would know; he had actually done it before - more than once. "How do you know that?" she demanded.

"Bae," he said, coming closer. "That's were he's been: Neverland. A fact Reul Ghorm very conveniently kept from me."

"Why should I believe anything your brat says? Or anything you say he said?"

He sneered, but removed a piece of paper from his jacket. He unfolded it and showed it to her. It was a portrait. "Look familiar?" It did. "Bae drew this. Poor Tinker Bell, it seems, ended up in Neverland some time after your little adventure with the pixie dust. Did you know that?"

"Mother sent her there."

"Ah. I did wonder. I also wondered how you knew Bae was there, and why you never gave him a cursed identity when you didn't know who he was to me. But you never intended to take him at all, did you? You sent the curse after Tinker Bell, and it took Bae instead."

She had sent the curse after the fairy. She'd assumed the magic of Neverland was enough to stop it, and that was why she'd never seen Tinker Bell in Storybrooke. Within the borders of his own land, Pan was even more powerful than Rumple or Blue; if he didn't want Regina taking one of his prizes, he could stop her. And now he wanted Henry. If Rumple is telling the truth; and how often does that happen? "You know what she looks like; you could have conjured that."

He sighed. "Believe as you will; you always do. But do stay out of my way Regina, for everyone's sake. Especially your own."

She arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He stepped closer. "Oh, yes. Understand this: the only reason you are still alive is because Bae and Belle wish it. Bae made a deal with me, you see. I'm not allowed to hurt you." He paused dramatically, and Regina's second eyebrow joined her first. "Any more than is required to stop you."

"Stop me from what?"

"Oh, Bae didn't exactly specify, but I know what he meant. He is a kindhearted soul."

"I guess the apple fell far from that tree," Regina scoffed. Granny snorted again.

He smirked, stepping ever closer. He was stalking her like prey, and in their current situation (him with magic, her without), Regina would be lying to say it wasn't making her the tiniest bit nervous. But that kind of thing had never stopped Regina; she quashed it easily and stared him down.

"Oh, indeed," he continued, "For myself, I don't give a damn if you burn this town to the ground as long as you leave Bae and Belle alone. But Bae? He cares about these people. So that means: if you go after Emma… if you go after Snow… if you so much as bother the cricket's dog… I'll be there, waiting, to stop you."

"Us too," the younger werewolf said. The old one nodded.

Regina sneered. "I cursed you once, I can do it again."

Rumple chuckled, shaking his head. "Regina, Regina, haven't you been paying attention? I let you curse me. And them. But now I have what I want, and you're no longer of use to me."

Regina stared. "It's true, everything in the Book. You used me to find your son."

"Ah… yeah," he nodded jovially. "And you performed that task even more admirably than I anticipated. I suppose I might owe you for that, but then I owe you for Belle as well."

"I didn't kill her. I could have."

He - literally - bared his teeth at her. "Oh, you did worse, and you know it. You kept her alive so you could kill her when it suited you."

"Is that what you're doing now?"

He shook his head. "No, no. Haven't you been listening? If you sit here quietly in your little cell, I can't touch you. If I end up killing you, it will only be because you gave me the excuse. For everyone's sake, Regina: don't."

And then he walked away. She focused, trying to sir up a spark - anything - to wipe that smug smile off his face, but nothing happened. As he passed the wolves, he half-turned. "And Regina?"

"What?" she snapped.

"If you go after Reul Ghorm… well, I might just let you have that one." The old wolf scowled, and Red rolled her eyes.

Once he'd gone, Red turned to her. "He was telling the truth about Bae; he's the one who told us about Pan and Henry. If you care for Henry at all, take Gold's advice - stay out of his way."

"And ours," Granny said. "While we try to clean up your mess."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Why don't you both go play fetch?"

"Why don't you put Henry first, for once?" Red asked, accusingly. "You know, Snow always thought you could be better. She felt sorry for you, because of what Cora did. But if you can't put your darkness aside for your son, I guess she was wrong; you're a monster, and you always were."

No, I wasn't! Mother and Rumple made me this way! And now he has everything, and I have nothing! Just wait until I get my magic back. You fleabags will be the first to go, and then nothing - nothing! - will keep me from my son!

Outwardly, Regina only sneered. "Well, then I guess that makes three of us."


Dreamy was too stubborn to go to the hospital, so Doc took him home ("I guess I've got to change anyway," Dreamy had said gruffly), while the rest of their brothers helped Emma escort Sydney Glass to the town line. After they'd gone, Nova was at loose ends. She would have liked to have gone with Dreamy, but it was just too soon, and she could tell that he didn't want her to see him like that.

Yesterday she'd been helping Ruby with the photographs, but only until August - Pinocchio - had arrived looking for Mary Margaret and Emma. She'd tripped right into him, and they'd ended up on the ground in a heap. Nova still felt terrible about it; he'd been in pain to start with, and Nova falling on top of him hadn't helped at all.

It was horrible, what Blue had done to him and Emma and everyone else. Oh, she probably thought it was for the greater good, but she'd ruined lives in pursuit of that goal. She might preach the virtues of light magic, but she'd wielded it like a weapon, and anyone looking at August now would say he was cursed. And he'd still been kind. Somewhat baffled to be immediately pressed into doing missing person sketches (his drawing of the Apprentice had impressed Mary Margaret and Archie) but happy enough to be given a job to do, she thought, and as patient with her as Ruby, Granny, and Archie had been.

Nova wished that she had a talent like that. She'd been so flustered after knocking August over that she'd started getting the photographs mixed up, and Ruby had waved her off, telling her to "go help Granny." Granny hadn't needed help, nor had Mary Margaret or Archie. In the end, she'd simply wandered around the rest of the afternoon, trying to direct people to others that could help them better.

And now she couldn't even do that. The crowd was gone, and Ruby and Granny were off guarding Regina; Nova would be no use there. David and Mary Margaret were speaking quietly, and she did not want to disturb them. Frederick had left with Princess Abigail, and only Henry, Archie, August, and Geppetto remained. After chatting a bit (Geppetto and August had embraced sweetly, and it had made Nova miss Dreamy and her sisters both), they started stacking chairs and gathering up litter and paperwork. She probably couldn't be trusted not to topple the chairs (or lose the paperwork), but she could help with the litter.

"Hi, Nova!" Henry said, as she approached, waving cheerfully.

She waved back. "Hello, Henry. Can I help?"

"Of course! Archie wants to gather everything to bring inside the Town Hall; it's supposed to rain tonight."

"OK. Where are the trash bags?"

"I… don't know."

"Over by the display boards," Archie offered, gathering up a large box of colored pencils.

"Thank you."

August was there, stacking chairs. "Hey," he said, "You all right?"

She smiled shyly. "Yes, thank you for asking. Are you? The magic…"

He shook his head. "No complaints here; I can move again."

"Does it still… hurt?"

"No. It just feels a little weird where the wood and human parts meet."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It's really not bad. I guess it's kind of like being a cyborg, except, you know, with wood. Which, you have to admit, sounds pretty cool."

"Yes, it does!" Henry cheered. August chuckled.

"I don't know what a cyborg is," Nova admitted, embarrassed. Her cursed memories were as sheltered as her real ones. A parochial schoolgirl who had immediately entered the Order, she'd never gone anywhere or done anything interesting; she didn't even understand the music and television references Ruby kept making. And it was worse talking to someone as worldly as August; she imagined that he had to have seen everything, even if the tales he shared about his travels weren't always entirely truthful (Ruby was still irritated about the story with the lemurs).

"A cyborg is someone who is part human and part robot. Like Darth Vader. Or Luke Skywalker, for that matter."

"I… don't know who they are either."

"Really?" August looked annoyed. "I take it the convent doesn't have movie night? Probably the same reason Regina kept the library closed; Blue wouldn't want you getting ideas."

It did make sense. The Blue Fairy had never encouraged independence or, Nova thought, creativity. They weren't even supposed to call each other by their names, only colors. "Maybe," she mumbled, looking at the ground.

August cringed. "Sorry, that was probably out of line."

"No, no, you have a point. Blue doesn't like it when fairies start questioning things. She'll probably take my wings now that magic is back, like she did to Tinker Bell."

August stared. "That's… she can do that?"

"Of course; she has absolute authority over all fairies. To defy her is to reject being a fairy."

"That's disgusting! She shouldn't be allowed to do that; you should tell David and Mary Margaret. We're not in the Enchanted Forest anymore, and even if we were, who gave her that authority anyway?"

Nova blinked. "I don't know; it's just always been that way."

"Well, it's wrong; no wonder no one ever questioned her! God, it's like we went from Disney to His Dark Materials."

"Who's?" She lowered her voice, "The Dark One?"

"No, no; it's a book series. Near the end you find out that Satan was right and God is the bad guy. Although the Metatron is the real asshole."

"That's…" Blasphemous. And yet… "Interesting."

August laughed humorlessly. "It's worth a read. Maybe Belle will get a copy for the library."

"Maybe they already have one; the library does have a lot of books."

"It does? Good. Although I'm assuming the collection hasn't been updated since 1983; the series is more recent than that."

"Oh." Nova didn't know what kinds of books had been published in the past 28 years. She didn't know anything.

"Of course, if you want something a little less depressing, Good Omens is a lot more fun."

"Is God a… villain in that too?"

"Well, I guess that depends on your interpretation. He's trying to bring about Armageddon, so from humanity's perspective - yes, probably."

Nova frowned. "And that is… fun?"

"What's fun is how it doesn't happen. A comedy of errors… for the apocalypse," he said with a grin. "The final battle between good and evil, diverted by a mix-up and a kid who just… wants to be a kid."

She smiled. "That does sound nice. It has a happy ending then?"

"As happy as I've ever read… except for those bikers."

Nova smiled. "I bet you've read a lot."

"I guess," he replied, almost sheepish.

"I haven't," she confessed. "I haven't done anything. I don't know anything." I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm no longer a nun or a fairy, and I can't stay at Granny's forever. And Dreamy - what am I going to do about Dreamy?

"You know magic; that's why Mary Margaret brought you in. You're the only magic expert we can trust right now."

"I'm no expert," she said, "I was a terrible fairy."

"Hey, you walked out on Blue; as far as I'm concerned, that makes you the only fairy any of us can trust. I bet she's the one who told you you were terrible, wasn't she?" He was frowning, his arms crossed over his chest.

Nova looked down. "She told me I might never be a fairy godmother."

"Fuck her." Nova stared, her eyes wide, and August himself look startled by his own language. "Er, sorry. But seriously, don't listen to a word she says."

"But she was right. I'll never be a fairy godmother now."

"Why not?"

"Because I left the Order; I'm a fallen fairy now."

"So? Freelance! God knows Blue could use the competition."

Nova gaped. Her? Compete? With the Blue Fairy? "Without wings? Without fairy dust?"

"I don't… Blue shouldn't take your wings. You really should talk to Mary Margaret and David about that; she doesn't have that right. And the dust - the dwarves mine for it, don't they? I can think of a least one who'll make sure you get your share," he said with a teasing grin.

She smiled shyly, but explained, "They don't get to decide that."

"Who does? Blue? If she wanted to keep calling those shots, she shouldn't have dragged us all to land that outlawed slavery 150 years ago."

"What? Dwarves aren't slaves!"

"Do they get paid?"

"I… no."

"Are they allowed to leave if they want to?"

"The only one who ever wanted to was Dreamy…"

"And Blue stopped him."

"Yes," she said quietly.

"Sounds like slavery to me. They're the ones that mine the dust; they should have a say in where it goes."

Nova shook her head. "You don't understand."

"Then explain it to me."

"It's… that's just how it's done."

"Well, 'how it's done' led us here; I can't say I'm a fan. Maybe it's time to try something different." Isn't that what I wanted? To try something different? "Look, this is probably none of my business, but what you're telling me… Blue manipulates people. She controls them. It's wrong. If you want to be a fairy godmother, she has no right to stop you. But if you want to wash your hands of this whole mess, well, can't say that I'd blame you for that either. Do whatever you want to do. Be a fairy godmother. Be a waitress. Open a paintball range. Whatever you want; but don't think you can't do something just because Blue told you so." He looked at his wooden hand.

"Did she tell you something like that?"

He grimaced, and his hand creaked as he clenched it into a fist. "Not exactly. But she did tell me that the only way I could help Emma was to send her to jail, so… yeah. She's not exactly a reliable source. Don't listen to her; I shouldn't have."

There was an awkward silence, and Nova looked at the ground. She looked up when August said, "Hey, Belle."

"Hello, August. How are you?"

"Fully mobile," he answered, waving with his left hand.

"That's great," Belle said with a smile. "And how are you?" she asked Nova. Confused. Frightened.

She smiled. "Fine. Is… Mr. Gold all right?"

Belle nodded, still smiling. "Yes, thank you for asking. He went to talk to Regina; he thinks Reul Ghorm told her about the well and the potion."

"I knew it!" August said.

"Will he… hurt her?"

"He gave me his word not to."

Nova nodded. "Good."

"I wanted to ask you something."

"Yes?"

Belle was carrying a key, and she held it out to Nova. "This may be forward, but… this is the key to the library. There's an apartment above it. It's meant for the caretaker, but I obviously don't need it, and I thought… would you like to help me with the library? Then you could stay there if you wish."

Nova stared at the key. "You… truly?"

Belle nodded. "Yes. But only if you want to."

Her own space. A job. It wasn't her dream, but it was another step away from Blue and into the world. And wasn't that her dream? To experience the world instead of just flying above it?

Is this what it feels like to have a fairy godmother?

With a shaking hand, she took the key. "Thank you. Yes."