Belladonna POV
As I fell back through my mind from my dream I came face to face with a horror struck Bell, "I have no words," She whispered.
Tears filled my eyes, "What words could be spoken in a moment like that?" I whispered back.
"Bell?" I hear Rumple's voice before his face comes into view. He pulls Bell out of the way as Mom, Ma and Henry come into my line of sight.
"Bella?" Mom whispers gently as she moves a nonexistent hair from my forehead.
"Hey kiddo." Ma takes my other hand.
"Hi sis!" Henry grins over Mom's shoulder.
"Hi guys... we got to quit meeting like this!" I smile up at them.
With a sigh of relief Mom says, "How are you feeling?" she is searching my face for any signs of pain.
"Just tired." I try to reassure her.
"What happened?" Ma asks, but I just shrug.
"I might have an answer for that." Rumple steps forward, "Your wound Miss Black." I cringe at his words, "It's a curse created by blood magic." I wait. Hoping against hope that I could avoid this conversation, as it ends no where pleasant.
"Who did this?" Mom demands.
I take one more breath and say, "I told you, all will be revealed tomorrow."
"Then explain why it is you passed out." Ma quirked getting more and more irritated.
"It is a part of a spell...or a curse...I am not sure how to describe it." I wince as I take the IV needle out of my arm.
"And where do you think you're going young lady?" Mom demands as she attempts to hold me down by my shoulders.
I take her hands in mine and look up with tired eyes, "I am fine. Let me go home I will rest much better there. Besides there is nothing anyone else can do to make me better or prevent me from getting worse."
"What does that mean?" Grandma quips.
"It means that in due time I will show all of you our future. I will help you prevent the horrors that await us. But as for this moment I need to rest." Once again I attempt to rise when Ma lays a hand on my shoulder.
"Wait a minute. Where is Mulan? She was suppose to be watching you." Ma looked around as if Mulan would jump in and say 'Here I am!' so I just shrug again.
"Oh I know where she is." Bell coming to life from behind her husband. "She would be with Aurora and little Phillip."
"But we had her posted to watch Bella. What if she went down and we weren't there? She could have died!" Ma was getting angry. Well to be fair she was upset more from me keeping her in the dark about everything, and that she doesn't know how to fight what she doesn't see. Arguably a frightening and frustrating situation.
"Trust me, Mulan is where she needs to be." I finally get up from the bed and start making a toga out of the hospital sheets.
"That makes sense. Might change something." Bell mumbled.
"What? Change what?" Ma asks.
"Well um, Bella told us some things, and we are sworn to secrecy but there are some deaths that we can prevent...hopefully." Bell avoids eye contact with the room.
"Aurora? Is she in danger?" Grandma asks, poised ready to run out the door to protect her friend.
"Mulan is with her now. Nothing will come near either of them." I smile sadly. If I can prevent this one tragedy from happening, even if I fail in the overall goal, I will count myself lucky! "I know you guys don't know it yet, but very soon everything will change."
"When?" Grandpa asks.
"After Henry's birthday...so there is some time."
"How do we prepare?" Mom asks.
"Tomorrow. Please I will tell you tomorrow." I trudge over to the door, "Now will someone please drive me home?" I look back at the sea of worried and confused faces. Inside my heart breaks for them. I want to tell them all, but I am unsure as to how well this plan is going to work. The likelihood that someone will do something stupid due to the fact they are trying to prevent one horror or another is pretty high. How many times have I seen tragedy strike, when the best of intentions had set them into motion.
Finally Mom reaches out, "Come, we will take you home with us. I am not comfortable with you being by yourself at your apartment. We can stop by there and pick up some of your things while you stay with us." She takes my hand and leads me out of the hospital.
I hear Grandma tell us that they will handle the release paperwork with Dr. Whale, and that they will check in on me in the morning. I wave absent mindedly behind me. Henry slips his hand into mine as we walk to the front door.
We stop on the curb, and suddenly Ma bursts into laughter. "Oh my god! We don't have a car!" The ridiculousness of the moment sinks in as we all join her in a chuckle.
"Well I am not usually fastidious but, I am not walking home in a bed sheet!" I say with hands propped up on my hips.
"Allow me to assist you." I hear Rumples voice as a cloud of red smoke surrounds me. As it disperses I look down to see a variation of my usual clothing.
I pull on the silk burgundy vest, over the black collar shirt; and give Rumple a half bow. "Thank you, it suits me well! What do I owe you?"
"This one is free. I do however look forward to hearing what it is you have to tell us tomorrow evening." He gives me a half smile, but his eye denote some worry. And I don't blame him. I am pretty sure he knows the blade that had cut me, and was worried about what I would say as to WHO did the cutting.
Emma POV
As we stroll down the street towards home, still trying to get use to that word, I look over at my family. We walk in a companionable silence, but I truly wish to find out some answers from Belladonna about what is coming. I know she is tired, and she keeps telling us that she will give us all the details we require tomorrow evening, but the idea of not knowing is driving me crazy. Maybe she has a plan, okay so I am hoping she has a plan.
I look over at Regina, who is walking on the other end of our unit next to Bella, and I smile as I catch her eye. She smiles back but looks away. Oh my god she's blushing! What is she thinking? I bet it's good! So when she looks back at me I grin again and quirk an eyebrow. I watch as she stifles her laugh and bites her lower lip; but then she looks back at me. Her dark eyes stare deeply into mine, and I feel a warmth fill my chest, spreading through out my body. How do you explain this feeling? This powerful draw to be closer to another person. It's not just some lust or greedy need that wants to be filled. It is an undeniable desire to be near them, adore them, protect and love them.
"You two want a room?" I hear Belladonna's voice break through the haze of my mind.
"What?" Regina and I ask.
"Seriously you to look like you were about to devour each other. I just thought I would ask if you two would like a moment...you know...ALONE!" both she and Henry grinning at my now bright red face.
"You two have a dirty mind!" I retort.
"EWWW!" Henry whines.
"What are you ewwwing? Do you even know what she is referring?" Belladonna asks.
"Like kissing and stuff." Henry mumbles.
"Sure! Let's start with that!" I grin at Regina as she rolls her eyes.
"Okay now I am a little grossed out!" Belladonna frowns, "To be fair, your...ummm... chemistry" she put is air quotes, "can be a little much at times."
"Oh? What you can't handle us when we're all lovey dovey?" I throw an arm around her shoulder and start making kissing noises in her ear.
"Ma! NO! STOP!" She giggles. She slips my grasp, and moves to the other side of Regina, "Mom help!"
"Well hello there!" I slip my hand in Regina's and bring it to my lips for a small but loving kiss.
"I am surrounded by children." She shakes her head at the brief exchange between Bella and myself.
I look at the similarities between Regina and Belladonna once again, the dark shades of color in their hair, their eyes and completion. But there are some striking differences. It is in their smile. Regina looks as though she holds a secret, and Bella looks as if she is about to retort some witty remark. Regina still moves as a Queen, almost a gliding stride, as if the whole world were her garden. But Belladonna moves like a solder, or a general reviewing the troops. My mind then wandered to what our other daughter looks like, what was her name? Heather! Regina said she was blond. Another little girl, it is so hard to believe! I can barely comprehend Belladonna is real and she is standing right in front of me.
I barely open my mouth to ask about Heather when Henry says, "So what are we having for lunch?"
"I was thinking," Regina paused for a moment, "that we could go to the house, grab a picnic basket and then go out to the park and eat there. Just the four of us."
"It's a perfect day for a picnic." Belladonna agreed.
"Can we get some Ice Cream afterwards?" Henry asks.
"Well perhaps. We shall see." Regina smiled back at Henry.
As we arrived at 810, I noticed Belladonna stop and look intently at the house. "What is it Bella?" I ask.
She kept looking at it and smiled a sad smile, "I have heard of stories of this house, all the while I was growing up. I had this image in my mind of how it would look. I know every room in such detail, that being here now is so surreal."
"Can I give you some advice?" I take her by the shoulders as we walk inside, "Live in the moment. Don't think about the past or the future. Live in the now, right now. I know it won't last and that terrible days are coming...but the memory of this moment might help you survive the next."
Henry's POV
I run up the stairs as soon as we enter the house.
"Don't run Henry!" I hear Mom call after me.
"Yes madam!" I holler back as I keep running to my room. I grab my baseball and extra gloves and stuff them into my backpack. I have always wanted to play catch when we go out for a picnic. Mom was never really big with the sports but with Ma and Bella I might be able to convince her to play ball with us. I hear someone walking up the stairs and I turn to see Belladonna coming into my door way. "Hey would you be willing to play a game of catch with me after we eat?"
She grins as she leans against my door frame, "I would love to bro."
I dig though my closet and find a base ball cap for the Boston Red Sox and pull it down over my head, "What do you think?"
Bella squints her eyes at me and moves to my closet, "Here," she hands me a jersey, "Matching jersey for your hat!"
I smile up at her as she returns it to me, "Ma said that this weekend we can watch the game! Will you be here to watch it with us?"
"Well don't you have a riding lesson this Sat?" she raises and eyebrow at me.
"You really look like Mom when you do that, you know?" I respond with my own raised eyebrow.
"You know something? So do you!" She whispers back.
"Hey you two, are you ready to go?" We hear Ma shouting from down stairs.
"Coming!" Bella shouts back.
"No running!" Mom replies.
"Apparently she has been shouting that for the better part of two decades!" Bella snorts.
"You too?" I ask.
"Every time." She grins as we start down the stairs.
"Are you two ready to go? What?" Ma asks us suspiciously.
We look at each other, raise an eyebrow, "Nothing." we say in unison.
"I don't trust them." Mom deadpans.
"Those are definitely your children." Ma smirks.
"And what is that suppose to mean?" Mom asks irritated.
"That is a look I am on the receiving end of in most of our conversations." She smiles at Mom.
"Come on guys! Let's go!" Bella moves past them out the door.
"If you say fly a kite, you are walking the whole way there!" Ma shouts after Bella.
"Those two are nuts." I say to Mom; I take her hand as we walk out the front door.
"What do you have there young man?" Mom pulls at my backpack.
"It is my baseball and a few gloves. I want to play after we eat." I move to open her car door.
As she slips inside she looks at Ma, "Your son wants to play baseball when we finish eating."
Ma grins really big, "That's my boy!"
After we had eaten our fill of sandwiches and fruit I looked at my family. Ma and Bella cracking jokes and Mom quietly smiling at both of them. She looked so happy. Never in my childhood had Mom smiled so contentedly. The stern expression that she usually carried has been replaced with a relaxed countenance. We had made it. Ma was true Savior, as she had rescued everyone, including Mom.
"So Henry," Ma streaches out on a the blanket between Mom and Bella, "I recall that someone was interested in playing a little catch!"
"Yeah!" I shouted, launching myself at my bag, "Wanna join us Bella?"
"You bet! I can catch anything you can throw at me bro!" She tossed another apple in her mouth. It was strange, she only ate apple slices and no other fruit.
"Question," I looked at Bella quizzically, "Why do you eat so many apples? You know the family stories right?"
"Oh I have heard." Bella smiled at Mom, "However, you should know that when Mom was pregnant she craved apples with everything. So much so that Ma went out and planted an entire orchard for her and magically made them grow. The next morning when Mom awoke, she came face to face with rows and rows of apples for her to enjoy."
As she finished her story Ma propped herself upon her elbow and laid her head on Mom's shoulder. She batted her eyes and said, "Wow! What a lucky woman. A whole orchard just for you!" Mom took an apple slice, and with a bemused grin, stuffed it into Ma's mouth.
"So why do you like them so much?" I asked again.
"I played in that orchard every day of my child hood," Bella stands offering me a hand up, "And that was a favorite bedtime story. I honestly have nothing but happy memories associated with them."
"Ha!" Laughed Ma.
"Don't tell your grandmother." Mom smirked.
Bella and I offered Ma a hand up, and she in turn offered one to Mom, but she shook her head.
"Why not?" Ma pouted, "I thought we all were going to play catch!"
"I am more of a spectator of the sport."
"We can teach you."
"How about I watch and prepare your desert when you are finished." Mom smiled up at us.
"Well if you're sure." Ma takes the glove I offer her, "Come on kid, hit us with your best shot!"
As we spread out, we toss the ball back and forth. A warmth filled me inside my chest as Ma and Bella shared jabs and jokes back and forth. mom stretched out on the blanket soaking up the sun's rays. I looked over at Ma as I threw her the ball, "Hey Ma, can we do this every day?"
Ma smiled, "What about when it rains or gets to cold?"
"We could play on the Wii!" I grinned.
"Well I tell you what." How about we aim for once a week to be together as a family and relax in whatever form it takes."
Ma tosses the ball in Bella's direction, but she doesn't catch it. Instead she stares past my head. Ma and I follow her gaze, and watch a white unmarked van drives down the street heading towards the school.
"Bella what's wrong?" Ma asks.
But Bella has already broken out into a run towards the school.