Storybrooke- present day
That morning, Regina didn't wake her up like she had expected. Jade went down to the kitchen, expecting her to be waiting downstairs, but she wasn't. There was only breakfast on the table and a note:
"Jade,
I'm at the sheriff's station
With the Snow Queen defeated, we might finally succeed in waking Marian. I'll be back by noon. Kisses,
Regina"
The little girl smiled. If this wasn't fate, she didn't know what it was…
She ate and came back to her room to pack the dagger and the things she cared about the most. Then, she left without looking back. She had to find Rumplestiltskin; and she would do it where it all began.
A few minutes later, she was back at the farmhouse, a little anxious. What if something went wrong? But she quickly got rid of her doubts; her mother was protecting her, after all. How else would Regina have been out that specific day? She pulled the dagger from her bag and lifted it in front of her eyes.
"Rumplestiltskin."
Nothing happened.
"Rumplestiltskin, I command you to appear!"
Still nothing. So frustrating.
"Really? Dark One, I command thee! Come over! Now!" she yelled.
Finally, after a few endless seconds, a dark smoke started to show, shaping a man. And when it cleared, Mr. Gold was standing there.
"Jade, I suggest you put that down," was the first thing he said. The girl shook her head.
"Oh, no, I certainly won't. Do you know why?"
The pawnbroker raised an eyebrow. " I don't really care to know. But I suppose you're going to tell me anyway, aren't you?"
Jade frowned. "You killed my mother. You killed her, and now, I'm going to kill you. I have your precious dagger; you're powerless. You shouldn't have left it unattended."
She stopped when she saw the grin on Rumple's lips.
"Oh, but I didn't."
"What?" Jade's confidence dissipated. The dagger felt slippery in her hands.
His smile grew larger, but he remained silent.
"Anyway, I don't care. I'll revenge her death, no matter what. And if you don't think I can do it… "
"Oh, I know perfectly well you can do this, dearie. You're Zelena's daughter. I'm just afraid you don't have the required tools for that."
"I have your dagger, Rumplestilstkin. I summoned you with it. I think I have exactly what I need."
"You don't, and you know what?" he asked her.
He came closer.
"Stop." She ordered, dagger up, but he kept coming to her.
"I said stop!" she nearly screamed at him, panic dripping from every pore of her skin. So something had gone wrong, and she had no idea of what it was yet. But that mistake was probably her last one.
He didn't stop; instead he laughed while he took her chin in his hand. "I think you might have the wrong dagger, dear," he whispered in her ear.
That's when she remembered the tape. That tape she had only watched to see who had killed her mom, and which had been so awful she hadn't really cared about what was said. "You see, my father taught me something, the only useful thing he passed on. A little sleight of hand called "Fall of the Lady". Belle has a fake."
Oh.
That was why the dagger was so easy to steal.
That was why no one had interfered when she'd stolen it.
"See, I've been watching you for quite some time, Jade. You're a good witch, just like your mother. But, like her, you tend to look for the impossible…"
She dropped the fake dagger and lit her hand with magic, ready to fight, but he turned off the green glow with a move of his wrist.
He sneered. "Killing me is the impossible I'm talking about. But nice try, anyway. If it wasn't me you were trying to kill, I would almost congratulate you. But, unfortunately for you, I'm not exactly the gentle kind…"
He lifted her in the air like a puppet, when a voice came out from behind the house.
"Rumple, please, put my daughter down. Right now."
Marian emerged from the shadows, a cruel smile on her lips. Both Rumple and Jade stared at her, astonished.
"Wait. What?" was the only thing Rumple was able to answer at first. Then, he pulled himself back together, and put the girl down, magically tying her mouth, arms and legs.
"Lady Marian. To what do I owe the honor?"
Marian's smile grew larger, while playing with her necklace, a tiny six-leaved clover. "Rumple, dear. Don't tell me you didn't recognize me?"
He still looked completely lost, which wasn't displeasing the woman. She laughed and disappeared in a cloud of green smoke. In place of her now stood the Wicked Witch of the West, who was really enjoying the pawnbroker's face right now.
"Oh no…" he whispered.
"Oh yes, dear! Did you miss me?
"Mmmh!" interrupted Jade from behind her gag.
"Just a second, child, worry not; I'll take care of you. It's just such a wonderful thing, to trick the Dark One… Enjoy it, sweetie. It's something that's definitely worth everything we've been through."
Jade clearly didn't agree with that, but she kept quiet; she didn't have a choice with that gag on her mouth, anyway.
"So, so, where did we leave off? Oh, right. I was asking you if you missed me. You did, hum?" she asked, smiling like a child on Christmas Eve.
"How did you… "
"Oh, that ! Imported magic, dear. Never travel between worlds without it. Remember the six-leaved clover? From Oz? What an effective glamour spell."
"No, I… I killed you! "
"Well, you tried. When you stabbed me in that jail, somehow, I didn't die. My life force simply fled my body before it shattered. I had somewhere to go. Or, should I say, some… time."
"You followed Emma through the time portal," Rumple realized.
"That I did! And when I realized what Emma had planned for Marian, when they said they were taking Robin's wife back, well, I mean… Inspiration stroke! And then I struck. For a few moments, they left her unattended, and that was all I needed. I killed her. And then, I became her. I took her form…" She smiled.
"You didn't expect that, did you?
"Marian never made the trip to Storybrooke…"
"No, dear! It was me all along. She's as dead as… Well, your son. Oh, that's right, that means you never revenged his death, that… You failed. Oops."
At these words, he ran at her with a scream of rage, but she stopped him in the middle of his move with a move of her wrist. "Oh, dear, I thought we were done with this killing nonsense. You can't kill me, Rumple."
She started pacing around, not seeing the Dark One picking up the fake dagger, which actually had a real blade... Jade struggled to get rid of her ties and succeeded to free her mouth.
"Mom!"
But Zelena wasn't listening anymore. She was far too busy talking, instead. "See, travelling through time isn't easy, so when I found out I was in the wrong time, I felt quite upset. But then I realized…"
Rumple had snuck behind her and lifted the dagger.
"Mom!"
But Zelena was still talking, not noticing the sharp, shining blade coming closer each second.
Jade struggled harder, managing to free a hand. "Mom, please!"
She succeeded in creating a fireball with her finally free hand and threw it into the Dark One's back. He fell down with a scream, the dagger only cutting of Zelena a short lock of red hair.
She turned back, eyes wide open, to see the wizard lying on the floor. He growled in anger and disappeared in a cloud of dark smoke. Then, she lifted her eyes on her daughter.
"What happened?"
Jade cut her last ties with her magic and smiled at her.
"What happened is that you might tend to speak a little too much."
Zelena's cheeks reddened, and she came closer to her daughter. Jade ran at her and hugged her so tight she feared she might break her. But her mother just returned the hug, smiling. "I've missedyou," admitted the witch, almost surprised she was the one these words were coming from. After all she had been through, she was just realizing how much she had missed the child.
Jade strayed away just enough to be able to talk again.
"I thought you were dead, she whispered.
Zelena caressed her hair.
"I know, love. I'm sorry. I wanted to come for you, but I couldn't get rid of Robin for a minute, and then I was frozen, so it was so complicated, and I came as soon as possible, I swear. I didn't leave you; I never forgot about you, never.
"How did you find me? "
"That was easy; I used a tracking spell."
They kept quiet for a while, before Jade broke the silence. "You scared me. When you were talking to him. You sounded crazy."
A worried glance from her mother answered her. "I did? I'm sorry, this Dark One has a gift to take me out of myself. "
"Did you kill Marian? "
"Not really. I sent her back to the queen's jail, which she should never have left in the first place. "
"So, you left her to die."
"Hum. Said like that, it sounds a lot worse than it was… "
"It is. Mum, you could have just let her go… "
"And changed the whole continuum? It's possible you would've never been born if she did come back to Robin. "
"Hum."
Silence again. And then: ""Mum, why do you and Rumple hate each other so much? Who is he?"
Zelena giggled. "Oh, no more than your father, dear."
AN: So so sorry for the long wait! I promise I'll make it up by posting the end faster ^^ Thanks reading, I hope you like it :)!
