Author's Note: In regards to the last chapter being so short, I wanted to get Graham's death out of the way while also establishing Link as his wolf in this universe. With that, here's the next chapter.


This was it. Her first day as sheriff in this strange town. Emma didn't really know how to handle all this, so she merely drove around the town, looking for anything to preoccupy her.

When nothing happened there, she went to Henry, hoping that he would be busying himself with their 'Operation Cobra,' rather than dwelling on Graham's death. As it turned out, he was doing the exact opposite.

"I think we should stop Operation Cobra for now," he said. Emma was shocked, and asked why. "My mom killed Graham because he was starting to remember. Who knows what she could do to you."

Emma was heartbroken, and tried spending the rest of the day in the sheriff's station. Then, a middle aged-woman came into the place. She had dark hair that was beginning to turn grey, and was much taller than the average woman her age.

"Excuse me," she said. "Are you the new sheriff?"

"Yeah," said Emma. "Um, Sheriff Swan, I guess. What's the problem?"

"It's my daughter. I haven't seen her in days," said the woman worriedly.

"Days? Shouldn't you have come earlier?"

"She usually disappears like this, but this time, I don't know. I just feel like this is different. Oh god, something's happened, I know it!" She began to cry, and Emma showed her to a chair.

"Please, calm down ma'am. What's your daughter's name?"

"M-Mary. Mary Dunbrough."


The three champions stood in a line, and Merida watched from the stands. It was a tournament in her honor, and whoever won would be given her hand in marriage.

"First," cried the announcer, "Hiccup, from the kingdom of Berk!"

A lanky young man Merida's age readied his bow and took aim at the target. When he fired, however, his arrow only made it half way, landing with a disappointing 'thud' on the ground not too far from him.

Hiccup looked to his father, who was now looking away.

"Second, Prince James from the kingdom of Grimmia!"

A charming man who must've been at least ten years older than Merida took his aim, but when he fired, the bow did indeed hit his target, it was nowhere near the center, dangling on the wooden plate's edge.

"Finally, Prince Hans of the Southern Isles."

The handsome young man took his bow, but and easily hit the bulls-eye. "It appears that-"

"No!" cried Merida. No one knew how, but she had entered among the princes ranks with her bow and arrow in hand. "I am Merida, and I'll be shooting for my own hand!"

"Merida! Stop!" cried Queen Eleanor. But Merida had already knocked her first arrow, firing and easily hitting the center of the target. Walking while readying her next aim, another dead-center shot. Then, she came to the third target, she fired, and miraculously, it found the arrow in the center, penetrating the prince's shot, splintering it into two pieces of wood, while Merida's went straight to the center.


The search for Mary was on, but after hours of keeping this up, it was to no avail.

"You should go home, Eleanor," said Emma to the crying mother. "I'm sure that she will turn up eventually. I'll start looking again first thing in the morning."

Eleanor went home with tears in her eyes while Emma began her walk back to Mary Margaret's apartment. On her way, she noticed a lanky boy around the age of the girl Emma was looking for. The boy carried two pizza boxes while walking home.

Instinctively, Emma approached the boy.

"Hey," said Emma. "Late dinner?"

"Oh, um, yeah. Just for me."

Emma was suspicious. "Mhm. What's your name, kid?"

"Um, William. William Berk."

"Hey there, I'm the new sheriff. Anyways, you're the age of a girl who's missing. Do you know a Mary Dunbrough? Or would you happen to know where she is?"

"Um, I don't know. I mean, I know her, but I don't know where she is at the moment, you know?" he said hurriedly.

"You know," said Emma, "I have this little super power of mine to always know when someone is lying. But even without that, it's pretty obvious how much you're trying to avoid the truth."

William gulped, and beckoned Emma to follow him.


Merida rode off on her horse, her bow and arrow slung over her back, and found herself at the strange stones that lay nearby. Her mother had snapped at her, and Merida could no longer take a life of responsibilities she didn't want, or arranged marriages she didn't deserve. She would have to find her own way to change her fate, and the only way she could do that was to see a certain man.

Following her, however, were three figures. She quickly drew her bow, and the three stopped.

"Come out!" cried Merida. "Before your last sight is an arrow coming at your face!"

The three exited, and emerging from the brush in the woods were the princes from earlier, Hiccup, James, and Hans.

"What do you three want?" she asked.

"We, um," started Hiccup, "we know you're off to see the Dark One. We want to come to."

Merida lowered her bow. "Why?"

James went first. "My brother is James, I'm his twin. James and I were separated at birth, and the Dark One gave him to my so-called 'father.' I don't want this life, I just want to return to my old one."

Hans stood before them. "I was a last resort to enter this tournament. My twelve brothers, they were all supposed to enter but had other business. I've never gotten anything I wanted because of them, so I just want respect, and a life of my own as well."

Hiccup was last. "I suppose the same reason as them. I don't want to live this life, and my father sees me as a disappointment anyways. I might as well try and escape it like everyone wants me to."

Merida slung herself back onto her horse and beckoned the three to follow.

At last, they arrived at the castle of the Dark One, Rumplestiltskin.

The doors opened by themselves, and the party of four entered. To their surprise, the grey skinned demon was waiting for them.

"Hello, dearies," said the creature gleefully. "To what do I owe the pleasure of so many royals?"

"Well-"

"Rhetorical question! I know why you're here. I can see the future you know. Anyways, if you three princes want to change your fate, then just give me certain things. From Hans here, I require your love."

"My what?!"

"Oh, that sounded flirtatious. I meant your heart. Your ability to love."

Hans stood confused. "Why would you need that?

"Why do you?"

Hans thought for a second, and finally agreed.

"Excellent! Now, from our little Hiccup here, I demand a dragon scale."

"Where am I supposed to-"

"Shut up. I'm fully aware that you keep a Night Fury around you. A scale from that, and we'll be all good."

Hiccup agreed.

"And from Prince Charming here…"

Rumplestiltskin quickly appeared behind him, and plucked a hair from his head.

"I need this!"

"What do you need with a strand of my hair?"

"What do you need with it now that it's been plucked from your head?"

Charming didn't question, and the imp laughed.

"What about me?" asked Merida.

"Well, dearie, you are a tricky subject. You've got a complex destiny involving bears and whisps and whatnot. And Queen Eleanor? She's hard to work with. With such a complex future, are you sure you want to change it?"

"Yes?"

"Are you really sure? If you had the chance to change your fate, would you, dearie?"

"…Yes."

"Alright then. It's settled. All I needed from you, was a yes." In his hand materialized a small cake. "Get your mother to eat this, and nothing will ever be the same."

Merida took the cake, and the four headed outside, ready to begin on their new destinies.


Emma entered the apartment, and found Mary lying on the couch. Mary looked at the sheriff, and gasped. "William! Why did you get the new sheriff here?!"

"She figured us out!" he said. He laid the pizzas on the table, which were greeted by his dog, Toothless.

"Mary Dunbrough? Your mother is pretty worried about you. Where have you been?"

"A party each night before crashing here at Will's."

"Ah. Well then, how about you come with me to see your mother?"

"What? No!" she cried.

Emma sighed. This was going to be tricky.


A bear. That was what Eleanor had become. Merida panicked, and her and her transformed mother made their way to Rumplestiltskin's home. However, upon arriving, they found that he was not as compliant as he was before.

"What do you mean you won't change her back?!" demanded Merida whilst drawing her bow.

"I wouldn't do that dearie. You could seriously hurt someone with that thing." He giggled, and snapped his fingers. A moment later, the bow was in his hand, and Merida found herself disarmed.

"You've changed your fate, what more do you want?" he asked. "The only way to break this curse is the 'mend the bond torn by pride.'

"And what does that mean?"

"Absolutely no idea. I don't make some of these curses, I just hand them out."

Tossing her the bow, Merida took it and left.

"Oh dearie!" the Dark One cried out. "Make sure you figure it out quickly, before animal instinct takes over!"

Merida hurried into the distance, her mother following her.

When Merida came to a stop, she found that her mother did not stop running, and she came right towards her, claws readying for a pounce.


Merida wouldn't move from this spot, and Emma knew she could not easily be convinced.

That's when she had an idea.

Hurrying to the sheriff's station, she got out a tape recorder, and quickly came back to Will's apartment.

"Mary," said Emma, "look, I didn't grow up with a parent of any kind. My parents left me on the side of a highway and when I was adopted, they sent me back. But you have a mother who cares for you, so just listen to this."

"What is it?" asked Mary.

"It's standard to record conversations with people when it comes to cases. The crying you're about to hear and misconstrued words, they belong to your mom."


The creature that Eleanor had become chased Merida, with the princess firing as many warning shots as possible, each time barely missing her.

Then, Merida's hand slipped, and her arrow shot the creature right in its hard.

"MOM!" cried Merida. She went to it, and began to cry over its limp body.

"MOM! PLEASE DON'T GO! I NEED YOU!" said Merida through her tears. As she cried, the body refused to move, and Merida gave up hope. But she couldn't leave its side. She wasn't sure she ever could.

Then, a miracle happened. The fur began to disappear, and the large mass of an animal started to revert back to human.

Eleanor lay on the ground, and Merida still cried. "You're okay!" she screamed with joy.

"Of course I am. I love you, Merida."

The two returned to the castle, where all the ships were beginning to depart.

Merida, Hans, James, and Hiccup all met up to say goodbye to each other.

"What will you guys do now?" she asked.

"Apparently," began James, "there was the king of Hyrule in the audience, with his daughter, Zelda. He met up with my father, so now I'm to somehow marry her."

"But I thought your life was supposed to change, go back to your old one."

James sighed. "Apparently not, as that would interfere with a deal my father made with the Dark One. It'll happen one day, but for right now, their deal takes precedence over mine."

"As for me," said Hiccup, "we got word from back home. Dragons have become docile, meaning the landscape we've been living on is free for exploration, and my father has given me permission to lead those expeditions. I hope he'll handle the news of me keeping my own dragon well."

Merida turned to Hans, who seemed a bit relieved. "My father said I was his first choice to represent us at a coronation in another kingdom. I suppose I'll go there and represent the Southern Isles."

"Well," said Merida, "my mum seems a bit less restrictive since our whole bear accident, so I guess this is my changed fate."

"I guess we should be going now," said James. "Take care, Merida."

The four said their goodbyes, and Merida watched them go, then looked back, knowing a new life was ahead of her.


Emma and Mary waited by the sheriff station. Eleanor drove up, and couldn't wait to run right up to Mary and hug her.

To her surprise, Mary hugged back.

"I'm sorry, mom," said Mary. To Mary's own surprise, she was beginning to cry, and hugged even tighter.

"It's alright, Mary. I love you."

To just about everyone's surprise, Mary seemed actually a little happy to get in the car with her mother, and Emma waved goodbye to the two.

Henry came out the door of the station just then as the two drove away.

"Henry? I thought I locked up, and it is way too late for you to not be home."

"I'm just here to prove to you that you're the savior."

"How so?" Secretly, Emma was extremely happy on the inside. He wasn't afraid to talk about Operation Cobra again.

Henry laughed. "Without you, Merida and Queen Eleanor would never have been reunited."

"Kid, I don't need to be a savior to be a good person."

The two chatted for a few minutes before Emma remembered how late it was. "Come on kid," she said. "I'll drive you home."

Just before they got into Emma's car, they noticed something. Someone on a motorcycle was driving up to the place.

It was another variation in their story.

This variation was in the form of a young man about Emma's age. He was handsome, with rugged blonde hair and beautiful hazel colored eyes.

"You know where I can find a room around here?" he asked.

"Um, at Granny's place, just down the street," said Emma.

"Thanks," said the stranger. "I'm Alfie, by the way." With that, he rode off.

"I thought you said strangers don't come into Storybrooke," said Emma.

Henry was shocked. "They don't."