10

Going Home

When Emma, Bae, and Regina arrived back on Neverland's shore, Tiger Lily was waiting for them. The dryad eyed the two other magic wielders curiously then said, "Follow me into the greenwood tunnel and I'll take you to see your son."

The three eagerly followed her into the magical tunnel and soon emerged in the grove, where they found Henry along with Snow, Charming, Hook and Rumple, sitting around a low table eating some food the dryad had provided earlier. A small boy in a rather large linen shirt was standing next to Rumple, eating some berries from a bowl and drinking some coconut milk from a wooden cup. The shirt was one Rumple had conjured, and came down past Mouse's knees, and was loose enough to not aggravate or hurt the welts he still sported.

When the three adults and the dryad emerged from the tunnel, Mouse started, nearly spilling his drink all over Rumple. "Sorry! I'm sorry, Master Rumple!" he half-whimpered.

"It's okay, lad. It's only Emma, Bae, and Regina," Rumple soothed. "And just call me Rumple."

"Mom!" Henry cried upon seeing both his mothers and then, "Dad!" as well upon seeing Bae. He got up from the table and ran over to hug them.

Mouse watched the little family reunion with a sudden flicker of longing stealing over his slender face. He'd never had any kind of contact with adults until Rumple and Bae . . . though a part of him had always longed for a family . . . except nobody would want him as a son, not being so sickly and weak and everything.

He felt himself flush recalling how Rumple had tended him before falling asleep, and again just after he'd woken, gently applying salve to his cuts, so deftly that he'd hardly felt much pain. He'd tried to apologize for being so much trouble, but Rumple had said only, "You're hurt, and I'm just helping you. It's no trouble, lad."

He buried his face in his mug of coconut milk to hide the wistful expression on it.

Rumple had been looking up at him for a moment, however, and caught the child's expression. Once again he felt that same keen sense of compassion and kinship with the lost little boy. He would have to speak to Belle about Mouse when they returned to Storybrooke. The sorcerer glanced over at the little reunion taking place and smiled a bit wistfully himself, thinking that maybe things could be different between them now that Henry was rescued.

Tiger Lily approached him, looking serious. "Rumple, I need to speak with you. Now that Pan is gone, I and my sisters wish to reclaim Neverland and restore it to its former self . . . the way it was before Pan and his Lost Boys came here. But in order to do so, all of them . . . and Hook's crew of pirates . . . must leave here and never return."

"I understand," Rumple said. "Let me speak with my son and the others and we'll discuss taking the Lost Boys back to Storybrooke with us."

Tiger Lily looked relieved at that. "Good. And . . . might I also ask your help with a spell to protect and cloak Neverland, so that only children in dreams shall ever find it again? Now that Pan had been overthrown, no more shadows will go and steal away children on his orders. My sisters are even now setting free all the shadows in the Dark Hollow, so the only one that will exist here is the original one, which is the Shadow of the island."

"The Shadow of the island, dearie?"

"Yes. It's Neverland itself manifested into a form that it can communicate with us," the dryad explained. "That's the only true shadow permitted here. The other ones are free to leave."

"I see. That's very interesting," Rumple said. "And I will be glad to help you, dearie."

Tiger Lily smiled. "And perhaps, I shall be able to help you as well," she said mysteriously. "But first, you speak with your family and these others, while I go and talk with my sisters." She merged into her oak tree in a twinkling.

Not wanting to interrupt the tender reunion, Gold waited until they had stopped hugging before he rose to address Emma and Bae, reminding them of the need to gather up the other Lost Boys and take them from Neverland as per Tiger Lily's request.

"I would have done that anyway," Bae said.

"Will they all want to come with us?" Emma asked.

"It doesn't matter if they do or not, dearie. They have to, since that was one of the terms of my agreement with Tiger Lily. Once she helped me defeat Peter, then Neverland would return to its former state, and no one save its original inhabitants would be allowed to stay," Rumple explained. "So the Lost Boys will come back to Storybrooke with us, and we'll have to find homes and guardians for them."

Bae nodded. "I think that's just what they need, Papa. Will you be fostering one?"

"Well . . . I was thinking about it . . . if he and Belle agree . . . I'd like to take Mouse," Gold said diffidently.

"That would be okay with him, I think," Bae mused. He'd seen the rapport between the little boy and his father and thought it was rather awkward yet oddly sweet at the same time. And Mouse seemed to trust Rumple more than he did any of the other adults here, and no wonder since Rumple had saved his life.

"Neal, we should go and talk with the other Lost Boys, explain to them what's going on now that Pan's . . . gone," Emma said.

"Yes, you're right," he agreed. "Now how do we get there?"

"I can transport you there," Rumple said calmly.

Bae looked over at Emma. "Okay, let's go."

Rumple waved a hand and they vanished in a puff of purple smoke, reappearing in the center of the Lost Boy's camp.

When he turned about again, he found Snow behind him, looking rather uneasy. "Rumple, I have a favor to ask you," she began.

He raised an eyebrow. "What sort of favor, dearie?"

Haltingly, she began to explain how David had been poisoned by dreamshade and how Hook had given him some magical water from a spring on Neverland and now it wouldn't allow him to leave the island or else he'd die.

Rumple started to reply to her, sensing how desperate she was, when there came a sudden movement at his elbow, and Mouse said shyly, "I . . . I know a way that you can . . . cure the dreamshade poisoning."

"You do? How?" gasped Snow.

"Ask Tiger Lily. She knows how to cure most things, because she's a dryad and they have dominion over plants," Mouse informed her quietly. Then he dropped his eyes to the ground in embarrassment at having spoken up like that to an adult.

Snow looked like she had been given the elixir of youth or something like its equivalent. She beamed at Mouse and said, "Thank you, Mouse! Thank you very much!"

Mouse ducked his head, flushing at her praise. He'd never had a pretty woman like this praise him before . . . or anyone really, now that he thought about it. But he was glad he could help, since these people had rid him of Pan forever. Though he was glad of it, he was also uncertain for he didn't know what would become of him now that they were leaving Neverland for wherever this Storybrooke place was. Then he shrugged and supposed it had to be better than here, and wherever he ended up, they would always need someone to scrub the floor and clean up garbage and whatnot.

"Of course. Should have thought of that myself," Gold said, and gave the little boy an approving look. Then he went on to explain where Emma and Bae had gone and why.

At the other end of the table, Henry and Regina were talking softly, and Regina put a hand over Henry's heart and used her magic to prevent anyone from taking it from him.

Henry winced. "It stings."

"I know. But now no one can ever take your heart," Regina said, then she hugged him again. "And as soon as we can, we'll be off this island and we can go home."

"As long as I can repair a sail," Hook stated.

"What kind of sail?" asked the queen. "We're going to need more than that to get home."

"Magical sail." Hook responded. "Maybe you can help with that, eh?"

Regina nodded. "I'll take a look at it when we're back on the ship." For now, though, she decided to eat and then take a nap. Using her magic back on Skull Rock had taxed her more than a little, though she didn't like to admit it.

Mouse huddled against a tree, finishing up his berries and milk, watching his new "companions". Snow and David, the princess and prince, he thought in awe, seemed like decent people, and even the tall dark-haired woman Regina, Henry's adopted mother, looked to be okay. It was Hook that made him nervous. Hook had been the enemy of the Lost Boys and Pan's enemy too. He and his crew had fought Mouse's "brothers" more than once, and Mouse was wary of the pirate. He didn't know if Hook could be trusted. Then again, he didn't really know if any of them could—except for Rumple, Henry, and Bae. Biting his lip, he stood rather stiffly beside the large oak tree, careful to not touch it with his backside. He wondered if Baelfire and the blonde woman—Emma—were having a tough time convincing the other boys to leave. Felix would probably argue against it. Mouse grimaced, shuddering. He didn't want to think about Felix.

Rumple finished talking to the Charmings and glanced around, finally spotting Mouse beside a tree. The boy was so quiet, he thought, that he could have been a ghost. He approached the youngster, saying softly, "Mouse, have you had enough to eat?"

The child nodded. "Yes, sir."

"Good." Rumple waved a finger and the bowl in the boy's hand blinked over to the table. "How are you feeling, son? A little better?"

Another quick nod. Rumple eyed him shrewdly. Knowing what he did of the child, he suspected Mouse would have said he was fine if he was in danger of losing a limb. He reached out a hand to feel the boy's forehead. "Hmm. You feel a bit warm to me. Then again, it could be the heat here. I wish I had a thermometer." He shook his head. "Ah, well. If wishes were horses . . . maybe you ought to go and lie down. We may be here for another few hours, depending on what Tiger Lily's discussing and if Bae and Emma have trouble convincing the Lost Boys to come with us."

"They could have a problem. Like with Felix."

Rumple scowled, then said, "Maybe not so much as you'd think. Not if he's still sick from the snake venom."

"Snake venom?"

"That's right. You don't know about what I did to him for whipping the blazes out of you," Rumple told him. "You were passed out on that pole when I got there and saw him with the whip in his hand. He was lucky I didn't kill him instead of transform that whip into a snake and send it after him. It bit him just as I was leaving to bring you here."

Mouse gaped. "Felix . . . bit by a snake? Is he dead?"

"No. The snake's venom paralyzes you and makes you very sick for a day, but it doesn't kill. But I'm sure he's suffering like he made you suffer," Rumple said heatedly.

"That'd be a first," Mouse muttered. "Peter always . . . he always liked Felix, it's why he was the First Boy."

"The First Boy?"

"First among us," Mouse clarified. "It meant he could tell us what to do, sometimes, because Peter let him. He got the best weapons and treehouse and we all had to do what he said. Especially me, since I was the Last Boy."

"Well, you're not the Last Boy anymore. And you'll never have to obey him and his insane dictates ever again." He was about to say more when he noticed the child hiding a yawn. "Why don't you go take a nap?"

"Okay. M'tired," Mouse muttered, finding it to be true. He went back to the tent he'd shared with Rumple, carefully lying on his stomach on the blanket there.

Rumple followed. "Are you in pain? I can give you another dose of that medicine Tiger Lily gave me if you are."

Mouse thought about it. He was still sore, but . . . "No. M'fine."

"You tell me if you're hurting," Rumple encouraged. "Let me take a look at your back again, lad. I'll put some more salve on if you need it. Okay? Now relax, Mouse. Lie still."

Mouse put his head on his hands and did so, as the magician gently lifted his shirt and examined the awful crisscrossing pattern of cuts and bruises on his lower back, bottom, and thighs.

Rumple frowned. The cuts were raw and red, he wasn't sure if they were infected. Just looking at them made him angry all over again. He knew Tiger Lily's salve would help though, and he went and fetched it from his small pack and said, "I'm going to put a wee bit more on you, dearie. Sorry if it's uncomfortable. Be still, son."

The boy whimpered involuntarily when Rumple first began to smooth some on, for even though the magician was as gentle as possible, his tender flesh stung.

"Okay. Shhh. I'll be done soon. Try and sleep," Rumple continued talking, his voice a low hum, trying to relax the child and wishing like hell he could use magic to heal him. He hated causing the poor kid more pain, and kept his touch as light as possible. The child whimpered again as he touched one of the worst cuts and Rumple murmured, "Sorry. I know, this is the worst part. Relax, Mouse. Let me tell you a little story . . ." he began making up something, just to keep the boy's mind off what was happening, and by the time he'd finished doing what he needed to, he saw the child asleep on the blanket. "Thank God," Rumple breathed in relief, and covered him with the light cloth. "I'll have to take him to see Whale when we get back home, get some antibiotics in him," he said to himself as he wiped his hands on a rag. But for now, sleep was best.

When he emerged from the tent, he saw Tiger Lily talking with Snow and Charming, then handing Charming a small vial of something, probably the antidote Mouse had mentioned. Both of them looked vastly relieved as he drank it.

That's one problem solved, Rumple thought. Now for the rest of them.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Storybrooke:

Belle could hardly wait for the next two days to go by. She felt like she was in a state of constant expectation and excitement, mixed with euphoria. Ruby noticed how giddy she was when she came in to eat her hamburger the next day, after they had trapped Pan within the dreamscape and in Pandora's Box, and asked, "So, what have you been drinking, girlfriend? Something good, I hope. Want to share?"

Belle chuckled. "I've been dreaming. Well, a little more than that," she said, giving her friend a secret smile.

"Man, you look like you're having some really wild fantasies," Ruby grinned. "Like even when you're awake." She set an iced tea down in front of her.

"Ruby, you have no idea," Belle smirked, thinking as she ate her hamburger that as Mistress of the Booke of Dreams, she could have untold wicked fantasies . . . until Rumple came home, and then she'd have the reality.

Page~*~*~*~*~Break

Neverland:

At last everyone was on board the Jolly Roger, including all the Lost Boys, even Felix, who was still groggy and ill from the effects of the viper that had bitten him. Tiger Lily could have given him something to counteract the rest of the venom, but after seeing what his cruelty had done to Mouse, she had no sympathy for him, and since he wasn't dying and would recover eventually, did not bother procuring one for him.

Rumple alone remained on the shore of Neverland, next to Tiger Lily, while further up the beach was a circle of dryads, ready to help cast the protection spell that would also make the island unable to be found by anyone save children in dreams, as it had been so long ago, before Peter had come and twisted and polluted the magic for his own ends.

Tiger Lily stood with one foot on the shore and the other in the water, for the boundary spell must be cast over both mediums in order to be truly effective. Several yards out from shore was the Jolly Roger, magical pegasus sail billowing, having been fixed by Regina the night before, so they could not only sail the ship, but fly with it too.

Rumple stood on the shore, feeling the pulse of the island reverberating up through the soles of his boots. The magic was still shifting and changing, in a state of flux since Pan had been defeated and his stranglehold over it released. The island was humming and purring with new energy, like a car with a new engine.

He closed his eyes, letting the magic of Neverland surround him. Then he summoned back his shadow, and it came in a rush and reattached itself to him, bringing with it his dagger also. He took the dagger and thrust it into the hard-packed sand between his feet.

"Ready?" Tiger Lily asked.

Rumple nodded. Then he took the dryad's hands as she linked with her sisters in the circle and with him. "I, Rumplestiltskin Gold, call upon the five elements—wind, water, fire, air, spirit—and the spirit of Neverland, and ask to veil this place forever so that none may discover it, save for children in their dreams, and protect this place forever and ever!"

Then he concentrated, using both his own personal magic and that of the island to seal it off completely. Power filled him in a rush, flowing through him like liquid fire, then exploding outward in a rush.

His power melded with that of the dryads, as they took his titanic force and harnessed it with their own gentler magic, making it become part of the island, until it shivered with the influx of power, and then it spread out, like a great shimmering silvery blanket, tinged with blue and purple, across all of Neverland.

And as it did so, as his magic was absorbed into the land, Rumple felt something else shift and change.

Neverland's magic was an ancient one, a magic of earth and fire, formed from the primordial essence of creation, and it could not abide the taint of dark magic. That being so, it used its own force and began to change it, transmuting the darkness.

Rumple felt it as prickles across his skin then gasped as it became more pronounced. What . . . what is happening?

Neverland is taking your magic and changing it, Tiger Lily sent. For all great magic comes with a price, Rumplestiltskin. And this . . . this is yours.

At his feet, buried in the earth, the dagger glowed red hot, as Neverland's magic was absorbed into the cursed metal.

Rumple could feel it now, he felt as though he were about to explode, sweat dripping down him, and then . . . then a cool radiance washed over him, and the heat and pain were gone. He felt reborn, renewed.

And at his feet a sapling sprouted, a most unusual tree, with silvery hard bark and beautiful purple flowers.

Rumple stared at it. "The dagger . . .?"

"Is gone and in its place is this—the guardian tree," Tiger Lily said, satisfaction in her tone. "And your curse, the curse that had haunted your steps for centuries . . . is broken, Rumplestiltskin."

He stared down at himself. "Then . . . I'm just a man again?"

The dryad shook her head. "No . . . for while the price was your dark magic, it also rewards. You have magic still . . . but more like our own now. Nature magic."

Rumple wrinkled his nose. "You mean I have to go live in a tree?"

Tiger Lily laughed. "No, silly mage! You have magic that is aligned with nature now. You can manipulate the energies of all five elements, but with especial strength for things of the earth—and its aspects—growth, change, plants, animals, healing—you are almost like a male dryad, if such a thing were possible."

"Oh," was all he could think of to say. His head was still spinning at the thought that he was now free of his curse. "Then . . . in a way . . . the prophecy was right. Peter Pan was my . . . undoing."

Tiger Lily rolled her eyes. "If you wish to look upon it that way. I prefer to look at it as Neverland rewarding your for your service to her in her hour of need. You have proven a great friend, Rumplestiltskin, to me and mine. We shall always remember . . . and honor you by tending this tree, born out of your sacrifice."

Rumple blushed and for once had nothing to say.

Then Tiger Lily stepped close to him, as close as a lover, and whispered, "You had best go, before you are sent from here by your own spell. But first, I would give you a gift of my own—and know that if your heart did not belong wholly to another, I would have claimed it for myself." Then her arms wound about him and she kissed him passionately, a kiss of farewell, of longing that would forever go unfulfilled, a kiss that taunted him with dreams of what could have been, filled with the sweet seduction of dryad magic.

It lasted but an instant.

And just as Rumple found himself starting to respond to her, Tiger Lily stepped back, breaking off the kiss. "Farewell, Rumple. Tell our story to your children, and your children's children, and their children, and remember us in your legends, and in this way Neverland shall not be forgotten."

"I will."

She gave him a sad smile. "Don't forget, to tell your children, that in order to find their way here in their dreams, to follow the second star to the right and straight on till morning."

"Farewell, Tiger Lily," he lifted his hand in a wave, then transported himself onto the Jolly Roger, while Tiger Lily leaned against the sapling and waved back.

As he did so, the protection spell covered the entire island, sealing it away from mortals forever, and returning it to the magical creatures who claimed it as their haven, now and forever a place of dreams, where only children who believed in magic could venture, in short journeys while they slept.

Captain Hook called to his seamen and they cast off the lines, setting sail for the deep end of the ocean and then straight on home to Storybrooke.

A pair of green eyes watched the ship disappear, blinking as it wavered slightly in her vision. Farewell, Rumplestiltskin. And may you remember Neverland as fondly as I shall remember you.

Then Tiger Lily went back up the beach towards her sisters, skipping lightly across the sand. There was much to do to restore the island, and it would be very busy for the next several years, she thought. There would be no time for her to dwell upon her silly attraction to a half-mortal sorcerer, and dryads did not spend time regretting what was. But perhaps, in dreams, she would make her own happy ending.

A/N: Okay, dearies, hope you liked what happened here. I've always imagined Rumple without the dagger curse, but still keeping his magic, because I think the magic is essential to him, not as an addiction, but as a vocation. Get ready next chapter, for some very sexy Rumbelle times, as well as seeing what happens with the Lost Boys, which I felt we were cheated out of in the show. Thanks for reviewing and reading, you all rock!