The wind was howling down main street that afternoon, lashing faces with unforgiving cold and steeling the nerves of a girl who stood to brave it, standing determined against the mighty force. She breathed in, opening her blue eyes to the door in front of her, and exhaled.
"You can do this." A hand gently touched her shoulder, then firmed with the next words. "Just go in, tell him and leave. That's all you need to do."
Blue eyes peered over her shoulder, looking to the person who was giving the encouragement. "You know you're coming with me, right?"
"Ah, um, well, I don't really need to, I mean, you're fine talking to him alone, so…"
A messy head of blonde shook in disbelief and she turned around, putting her back to the door to face the other woman. "Nina."
"Okay, okay, fine!" The redhead huffed, pouting when the blonde faced the door again. "But I'm only here for moral support! Remember that!"
And that was just fine with Alison. She was the one who started this mess, so she'd be one to finish it. With another steadying breath, she opened the door to Mr. Gold's pawnshop.
As usual, the stingy shop owner was absent from the front counter, but instead of agitating Alison it actually pleased her for once. She wasn't quite ready to face him just yet, and as Nina perused the wares as she usually did whenever they came into the store, Alison took the time to gather her thoughts and muster up her courage. This was it; today was the day she threw away her old life of living in this man's shadow.
Her eyes snapped to the portrait behind the counter… oh how she had regretted the decision to ever try and sell it in the first place. She stared at the familiar brushstrokes and pigments, nearly crying out as the sound of a canvas being torn echoed through her mind. The quaint and peaceful kingdom had been crushed so swiftly and mercilessly that her pain was renewed at every sight of a walking cane. She let it steel her nerves for what she was about to do.
"Ali? Ali, come over here!" And in that brief moment, Nina was able to bring down her carefully crafted walls with the simple mention of her name. Whatever nerves she felt, or whatever anxieties she had about being in this store, Nina didn't show them, and she did it so effortlessly that Alison briefly grew jealous of her ability to step into unknowing situations without so much as a flinch.
She broke her gaze from the painting and joined her friend at the jewelry display, noticing that the elaborate golden piece of metal which had caught her eye in a previous visit was still available for purchase. She lingered on it a moment before Nina picked up something else on the counter. "Look at this," she breathed, eyes twinkling in the shine of what she held.
It was a simple thing, really, but it was bold and regal. A single piece of black material akin to velvet served as a necklace to hold a shining gold pendant in its center. The pendant was marked with an outline of a simple flower that gave Alison pause. The symbol was eerily similar to the shape of the center of the other golden piece that she was slowly growing fond of, guessing now that it was truly a tiara and not some wall art that she would readily use to decorate a living space with.
Nina giggled as she held the pendant up to the light. "Plain, simple, and a little daring," she said of the accessory. "Kind of like me, don't you think?"
"Oh, you are far from plain and simple." Alison rolled her eyes, getting a snarky look in return for the action. "A hyperactive girl who gets excited over everything, talks to every stranger she meets and barely avoids trouble on a daily basis but somehow manages to find time in her crazy life to slow down and help her friends. Nina, you are the complete opposite of plain and simple."
"Well when you say it like that you make me sound like a superhero."
"Oh, well now you're just being pompous," the blonde teased. Nina looked at her, stumped, but smiled anyway.
"I don't know what that means but I'm taking that as a compliment too!"
Alison was about to explain when she heard the telltale sound of something striking the floorboards in the back room of the store. She caught Nina's panicked look and the younger girl set the necklace down gently before scurrying off to the opposite side of the showroom, pretending to look interested in something while Alison squared her shoulders.
The man came out from the back room looking quite poised, not at all surprised at the presence of the two roommates mulling about the store. "Back so soon, Dearie?" he asked, smiling at Alison as she approached the counter. "I already paid your bail money back twice now; surely there is nothing more I can do for you right now until something else sells." He spied Nina in the far corner of the shop. "Or are you here to buy something nice for your girlfriend over there?"
"That article was fake," Alison snapped, placing her hands firmly on the counter. "If you read the newspaper at all this week you'd know that."
He shrugged, not at all disappointed that his mention of the tabloid didn't faze her. "Ah yes, it was a good thing they caught Mr. Torvik forging the interview, though it doesn't seem to matter now that Ms. Blanchard's stolen your spotlight as the town's biggest scandal," he chuckled, mentioning the recent rumors of the school teacher having a love affair with a married man. Just like the article on the two roommates, this recent rumor had spread like wildfire and suddenly Mary-Margaret was the target of everyone's ire save for the select few who believed she had been misguided. Alison was thankful that the attention had been taken away from her and Nina, but she sympathized with Mary-Margaret after spending a week as Storybrooke's most disgraceful resident.
"Though it seems the reporters won't rest until they find out who my mysterious bail provider is," he said, snapping her attention back to him and stoking her anger. "Or until I'm in jail. Whichever happens first, I suppose." He stopped, noting the tense muscles in Alison's shoulders and the way her jaw was clenched. Her fingers pressed the counter so hard that the tips were white and he leaned back cautiously. "What are you doing here, Ms. Vinter? Clearly you'd rather be elsewhere."
He read her like a book. He always had, and it frustrated her now because she didn't know if she was just that easy to figure out or if he was really that perceptive. He had managed to exploit her feelings for her work and for her living conditions and use them to his advantage in their deals. He had been cruel and unforgiving, not just to her but to her best friend, the one person who had picked her up after every exhausting conversation that took place in this store. Even now, as she squared off against the man with the golden cane, she could feel Nina looking over her shoulder, silently giving her the strength she needed to face him one last time.
"I want to end our partnership," she stated boldly, unwavering in her claim. She said nothing more and stared him straight in the eye. Any doubts that entered her mind were quickly cast aside as the painting he stood in front of reminded her of why this string of bad business had to end.
The only sign that he had been surprised at the statement were his raised brows and a slightly gaping mouth. If it weren't for the current circumstances, he might have been offended at the sudden breakup proposal. "I suppose I would like to know why."
His tone bordered on disappointment and she had to stop herself from feeling bad. He was taking most of her profits and giving hardly anything in return; he was a scoundrel, but as strong as she felt right now, she couldn't just throw that accusation in his face. "I can't do this anymore," she admitted, avoiding all the reasons she wanted to give but summing them up kindly. "With you out on bail and people trying to find out who paid it for you… everything's a mess right now and I can't live if nothing sells." She pointed to several of her other paintings that still hung on the wall for display, further emphasizing her point. "I have to sell them somewhere and right now it can't be here."
"Well, I must say that I'm rather… displeased that after all this time we've worked together, one bad situation has made you want to end our partnership." She had expected him to be angry, but his tone was surprisingly gentle. She wasn't aware of it, but their business relationship had lasted for twenty-eight years; his feelings about this were quite genuine.
He squared his cane beneath his palms and looked at her, this time with kinder eyes and not the steely ones she'd been used to avoiding whenever their deals turned to arguments. "However, I understand your reasoning and respect your feelings on the matter. Though of course, you understand that by backing out of our partnership, you forfeit whatever profits you might have gained on your current stock."
Alison's sigh was soft in spite of being overcome by what seemed to be a tsunami of relief. He hadn't taken anything personal, he didn't threaten her with some kind of clause to keep her in the partnership; he would only take what little of her share would be on the three remaining paintings she had in his store, and that was oddly fine by her. She wanted to turn and leave, satisfied with what had happened here, when he held a hand out and called to her.
"Ah, just one more thing, Ms. Vinter. I know that we haven't gotten along for most of this venture and I wanted to make it up to you."
"Really?" Her voice was so full of skepticism that it tarried on humor. "I'm sorry, but where did that come from? Every time I talk to you, you're always working some kind of deal or contract into things."
And for the first time, Mr. Gold was the one to tear his gaze away from Alison. He thought upon his reasons in silence, avoiding her until he came up with a reasonable answer. "I have lost something very important to me," he admitted, "and if things go my way, I am very close to getting it back. So to commemorate our time together, I'd like to give something back to you as well."
I want my money. The thought sprang up so fast in Alison's head that she blushed from such a base desire.
Mr. Gold held out a hand, sweeping an open palm in the air to motion all around the store. "I will let you take any one thing from the shop for free; no strings attached."
Alison spun around, meeting Nina's excited eyes. Anything in the store could be theirs: there was an antique, middle-eastern inspired lamp that looked interesting, or there was a neat collection of medieval swords that Alison had no interest in, but hey, she could take anything, including that elaborate golden piece that she was convinced was a crown. She followed Nina's gaze, wondering if the redhead had been musing over the availability of Mr. Gold's walking cane as their final prize, when she realized what she had truly been looking at. She saw it and she knew what she wanted.
The painting of the kingdom in the fjord had been her greatest piece and her biggest regret. It had been the product of countless hours agonizing over minute details and sweeping colors… and it had also been the object of an equal amount of pain. Once again, the sound of the canvas ripping plagued her mind and she shuddered against the torturous noise. The portrait that had once brought her joy now made her wince in its presence, reminding her just how cruel one person could be and that no one could be trusted.
"So Ms. Vinter? Have you decided?"
A small smirk crept on her face when she came to her decision. "Yeah, I have." Without another word, she walked over to the jewelry display and lingered her over the tiara one more time, spotting her reflection in its golden shine.
She turned around, holding up the black necklace with the gold pendant instead. "I choose this."
"Alison, wait," Nina interrupted, finding her voice and feeling as though her friend was making a big mistake. "What about the painting? You worked so hard on it… you paid for the repairs too, and I know you want it, so why-"
She was cut off as Alison took hold of her wrist and placed the necklace into her open palm. "Because life's too short to get stuck on the memories that painting brings me. I'm going to paint more amazing pictures," she said, smiling when Nina recognized the familiar words, "and I'm going to keep putting my all in every portrait. I'm painting new memories thanks to you."
Nina closed her hand around the pendant, clutching it tightly as it symbolized the end of a dark period of their lives. Things were completely different now since the day Mr. Gold had stabbed the fjord painting: Nina was working, Alison was reluctantly gaining confidence in herself and their ties to the greedy pawnbroker had mostly been severed save for a few strings that were left to be undone.
She looked back at the framed piece hanging on the wall behind the counter, briefly reminiscing the days after it had been pierced and subsequently broken her best friend. Sure, Alison didn't want it now, but perhaps somewhere down the line… "What are you going to do with the fjord painting? Sell it?" she asked pointedly to the pawnbroker, already formulating an improvised plan to escape with the thing if he had the intent to destroy it again.
He merely shrugged and took a glance at it as he made a split second decision. "I suppose I'll just keep it here, since it is mine after all," he stabbed, reminding them of the previous contract that had resulted in a month-long blackout in their home. "And besides, if for some reason you should find your current business partner inadequate, it'd be nice to have a bargaining chip on the table already when you come crawling back to me."
"You're kidding me…"
Alison's voice was low and on the edge of something else, not unlike when she negotiated his early release from prison. Her eyes were clear, a sharp bright blue that aimed to pierce but softened enough to clear her intent. "If you think you can threaten me with that, then you're wrong," she snapped.
This confident tone was new to Nina and she looked at her roommate in wonder. Just moments ago she was her usual self, a little meek, completely nervous about breaking her ties with Gold and her hands had been in her pockets or pressing hard against a surface for most of the conversation. Now her posture straightened, her hands were relaxed at her sides and her eyes narrowed. For a moment it looked like Alison was a completely different person entirely as she continued her cadence.
"After everything you've put us through, you think threatening me with that," she jabbed a finger at the painting, "would make me bend to your contracts? Mr. Gold, I've worked with you for so long that I've finally learned that our relationship wasn't a partnership; it was one giant self-serving contract for your benefit and I'd rather be out on the street than have to work with you again."
She turned and headed towards the door before the flame ignited in her heart could truly blaze, but she stopped before she made it far, halted by one final thought. "You may owe me a favor, but I'm done making deals with you."
Inspired by the skill and poise of her friend, Nina marched right up to the counter, stared Mr. Gold in the eyes, and rang the service bell with a smirk before pivoting on her heel and heading towards the exit.
"I hope I never see you two again," the pawnbroker scowled, gripping his cane tighter as he watched the redhead kick a pile of antique rugs out of spite before heading out the door.
Alison stood outside, letting the cool air relieve her emotions as she waited for Nina to catch up. She didn't have to wait long as the redhead came bounding out of the store with a wide smile on her face, barely managing to grab Alison's wrist and drag her along as she walked past her. "Okay Ali, time to go," she said through the clenched teeth of her grin, glancing back at the shop.
The blonde stumbled at Nina's hasty stride and she looked back as well. "I know you don't want to stay around here any longer than you have to," Alison started, trying to plead her friend to slow down so she'd have a chance to gather her thoughts aftre what just happened, "but it's not like he's going to come after us."
"…He might."
"Nina, what are you talki-" She blinked when a previous conversation sprang to mind, and suddenly Alison found herself panicking. "You didn't. Nina, please tell me you didn't."
"We should probably walk a little faster…"
"NINA!" Alison screamed as they both broke out into a full-on sprint down the main street of town, turning at an intersection just so they could get out of view of the pawn shop. "I thought we talked about this?!"
"Yeah, I know, but I couldn't help myself!" Nina laughed, her grin growing wider with the distance they covered. Her braided pigtails bounced as they ran and her eyes sparkled with held back laughter. "I can just imagine his face when he finds out where the stink is coming from! Operation: Lutefisk is a success!"
They trotted down to a casual walking pace to catch their breath and by the time Alison got air into her lungs she broke out into a similar wide grin. "If he decides to take it out on us, the money's coming out of your paycheck," she warned. "He's gonna know that it was us."
"No he won't! How many people in town do you know that actually eats lutefisk? Besides, if he ends up getting real angry about it, there's nothing he can do; he's out on bail, remember?"
"I guess you're right… how did you manage to sneak it in without him noticing?" Alison asked, now that the threat of danger had passed and they weren't being chased down by an angry shop owner, she couldn't help but be intrigued by the methods of her friend's hijinks. Really, she'd been thinking about it all week long and hadn't been able to come up with a plan to spring the lutefisk in the shop without Mr. Gold smelling it while they were in there.
Nina laughed to herself, rubbing her chin with the satisfaction of a job well done. "It was pretty easy, actually. I just unscrewed the top of the lid just enough so it was loose and sat it up in the rugs before Mr. Gold came out to talk to us. Before I left I just kicked the pile to knock it over. The juice inside is going to drip out slow, but if he doesn't notice the stink today…" she stifled another giggle. "Oh boy is he gonna smell it tomorrow!"
Alison chuckled to herself at the master plan, so simple in execution that her complex mind refused to even formulate the idea. "The responsible part of me wants to scold you," she said, putting her arm around Nina's shoulders and drawing her in for a sort of half hug, "but I really want to congratulate you. That was genius."
Nina hugged her back. "Hey, I should be congratulating you! You're finally free from that scumbag!"
"And I did it on my own terms, just like I said I would," Alison reminded with a wink. "I can't believe he actually gave us something for free though. I was pretty sure that he didn't understand the concept of actually giving things away without making people pay for it."
Nina pulled the necklace from her pocket and held it up for the both of them to stare at the gold pendant glinting in the sunlight. Staring harder at the symbol in the center, she brought the pendant back down and ran over the raised design with her thumb. "What do you think it means?" she asked, curious at the origin of the symbol.
"Probably nothing," Alison shrugged, dismissing any significance with the piece while completely able to admire its beauty. "That little flower could have just as easily been a butterfly or something."
"I guess so… it'd be pretty neat if it meant something though."
Truthfully, Alison had wanted it to mean something, and if it didn't, then she would make it mean something. The little necklace, for the moment, was a symbol of victory and freedom against Mr. Gold, and she'd be damned to forget it any time soon.
As they walked she realized that they were instinctually heading home, though in a roundabout way to avoid Mr. Gold just in case he discovered Nina's "gift" a little early. The afternoon was young and she had plenty of work to keep her busy, but her younger friend had one of her precious days off, and she knew she'd have some kind of plan to make it worthwhile. "So what are you up to for the rest of the day?" she asked.
Nina didn't answer her right away, lost in her own thoughts and the shine of the pendant before she put it back in her pocket. "I, uh… I have a date."
"Oh, really? So you two are finally official?"
"W-Well, it's not a "date" date…" she mumbled, avoiding her friend's questioning look while trying, and failing, to keep her blush down. Alison raised a brow at her answer, a sly smile spreading subtly across her face.
"You said the same thing last time."
"Did I?" Nina stomped her foot at Alison's nod, frustrated. "But it's still not really a date! I mean… he didn't really say that it was a date, he just wanted to meet for lunch…"
"It's a date."
"Lunch isn't a date!"
Alison rolled her eyes as she walked up to the front door of their apartment building. "Okay, if he pays, then it's a date. If he doesn't, then he's just a lousy boyfriend."
"Alison! Stop teasing me!" Nina pouted, crossing her arms as the blonde tossed her braid over her shoulder smugly. "And really, what would you know about dating? You've never gone out with anybody!"
The accusation didn't even seem to faze her and she stood in the doorway, still smiling. "That's true, but I am three years older and three years wiser. I know better."
"Three years wiser my a- you are such a stinker, you know that?" Nina asked, sending Alison into a fit of giggles. "You are such a jar of lutefisk!"
"Whatever you say, Nina. Have fun on your date!"
The redhead shook her head as her roommate retreated inside, but a smile remained on her face despite the teasing. When did she get so confident? It was a usual thing for the roommates to tease each other, but it was rare when Alison actually initiated it on purpose. Between this short exchange and the way the blonde had dealt with Mr. Gold without a single misstep, Nina couldn't help but feel proud of her.
I must be rubbing off on her, she thought to herself as she glanced at the clock tower.
"You did what?!"
Nina giggled, crossing her arms triumphantly and leaning back into the seat of their booth. "I sprang the lutefisk on him like I said I would! Did you know that he tried to threaten us with the painting again? I had to get back at him somehow, and… oh, come on, John! Don't give me that look! You look just like Alison when you do that!"
The blonde man sitting across from her was giving her a no-nonsense stare as he guzzled down the rest of his soft drink. "I'm just worried. I mean it's great that you guys aren't working with him anymore, but he has a reputation for taking it out on people who have done something wrong to him. Hopefully he doesn't realize it was you."
"Well… whatever. Every time I go in there he's always yelling at me not to touch anything because everything is priceless, so if it doesn't cost anything it shouldn't be a big deal if something gets damaged, right?"
He stared at her, mouth parted slightly in silence and she just stared right back. "What?" she asked.
"Nina, priceless means that something's worth so much that a price can't be put on it."
"Oh… uh-oh."
John leaned on the table with his forearms, smiling wide when the realization dawned on Nina. When she started looking around, possibly searching for Mr. Gold, he held his hands out to her to get her attention. "Hey! Hey, calm down. He probably doesn't know that it was you, and even if he finds out he's got bigger things to worry about. His trial is coming up soon."
She slumped down in her seat, staring at the table and wondering if she just messed everything up again with the mostly harmless prank. "I guess you're right…" Holding her hands together, she looked up from the spot on the table to look at him with wide hopeful eyes. "But it was a good prank, right?"
"Oh yeah, definitely!" he agreed, putting a smile back on Nina's face. "He's going to smell that for weeks!" They sat and laughed, easing Nina out of her troubles and worry when John spotted the clock and noted the time. He stood up casually and offered one last reassuring smile to the redhead. "I gotta get back to work," he said. "Lunch break's over. You working tomorrow morning?"
She nodded, crossing her arms on the table, suddenly chilled by the absence of his warmth in the seat across from her. "Bright and early, as always!"
"Alright! I'll see you tomorrow then!" He turned to leave and stopped, doubling back and taking a slip of paper off the table. "And I'll take care of this," he said, holding up the bill.
He missed Nina's blush when he went to go pay at the register and she held her cheeks in an attempt to hide it when he waved at her before he left. It brought up the conversation she had with Alison earlier that afternoon.
He… he paid, so that was a date… right? Oh my God…
The blush deepened and she bit her lip with a smile, practically glowing with her mental image of hearts falling from the ceiling and a six-string quartet playing sappy love music in her ears. She'd never felt this way about anyone before, not even Anderson, whom she believed up until last week was her true love. His initial refusal to believe her word about the false newspaper article had led her to distrust him, and his lack of effort in trying to form a relationship just frustrated her. When she finally decided to stop seeing him she didn't feel upset, but severely disappointed.
John had been there for her when she felt as though she was bothering Alison too much with talk about love and what it was. Her conversations with him had been pleasant, and though they still ended up teasing each other for something, it wasn't to annoy each other, but to poke fun at what made them different. He'd given her insight on things that she'd never dream to think about and she discovered things about herself that she never knew, like how she felt more energetic when she was outside and, surprisingly, that she was quite an amateur photographer when she wasn't in danger of dropping the camera somewhere unforgiving.
Despite all that, she wouldn't say that she and John were dating… but it was hard for her to deny that they were seeing each other.
"Looks like someone's a little lovesick."
Nina shook her head, snapping out of her daydream and looking up to find who belonged to the voice. Ruby smiled wide and set down a mug of hot cocoa with whipped cream on her table. "He bought this for you before he left. I told you he liked you!" She sighed as Nina eyed her favorite drink, completely jealous of the simple redheaded girl. "Funny, I thought you'd go for more of a prim and proper man."
Nina giggled, taking a flick of whipped cream off the top of the peak and licking it off her finger. "No, that's more of Alison's type… I think. Uh, but me and John aren't dating, we're just-"
"I know, I know! But one of these days you're actually going to admit it out loud, and I can't wait until you do so I can start teasing you about your boyfriend!"
"You know, between you, Ali and John all teasing me, it's kind of surprising that I don't have self-esteem issues," Nina said, drumming her fingers on the table as Ruby walked away with a self-satisfactory smile. Alone once more, she enjoyed the rare silence and sipped her drink slowly, allowing the warmth to take the chill out of her from the dying winter that dared enter the diner. She closed her eyes, letting the sweet flavor dance on her taste buds, and when she opened her eyes again she was surprised to find that she had guests in her booth.
"Emma? Henry? When did you guys get here?!"
"We just came in a few minutes ago," Emma said, pausing to take a sip from her own mug of hot chocolate. "Henry saw you sitting alone and he wanted to come over and say hi." She looked down at the young boy rummaging through his backpack and quickly caught Nina's eyes. "Sorry about this," she whispered, and before Nina could question her, Henry picked his head up and looked at the edge of the table where a metal shaker was sitting.
He reached over and picked it up, setting it down next to Nina's mug as a silent invitation for her to use it before he went back to searching through his bag. Unsure of what was in the shaker, Nina looked to their drinks for some sort of clue and saw light brown peppered on top of white clouds of whipped cream.
It was cinnamon. It had to be.
Teal eyes went wide and she shook her head at Emma while placing a hand over her mug, sliding it protectively closer to herself and mouthing the word "no." Emma simply shrugged, jumping slightly when Henry dropped a leather-bound book on the table with a thud.
"Emma and I were talking," he started, gripping the sides of the book as he looked at the familiar lettering on the cover. "We want to let you in on Operation: Cobra."
"Operation… Cobra?" Nina repeated, throwing her confusion at Emma, who gave no answer but a defeated nod. Assuming that it was one of Henry's games, or perhaps part of his therapy with Dr. Hopper, she decided to play along. "What is it?"
"I think everyone in Storybrooke is cursed," he whispered, eyeing the other patrons in the diner to make sure they weren't listening in to their conversation. "The Evil Queen cursed the kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest to forget who they are and she sent them all here."
"W-Wait, the Evil Queen?" Nina asked, looking between Henry and Emma. "Like from Snow White? That Evil Queen?"
Henry shrugged like what he said was no big deal. "She's my mom."
Nina, still in apparent confusion despite trying to play along with Henry's game, drew out a sigh from Emma and she leaned forward, keeping her voice quiet as well. "Henry thinks the Evil Queen is Regina and that everyone here is a fairy tale character. Operation: Cobra is a codename for when we talk about the curse," she explained, raising her brow in a silent attempt to have Nina keep up the ruse.
She got the message, though she didn't have to feign her intrigue as much as she had to tone down her skepticism. Henry seemed to really believe that this curse was real, and even though there was a strong part of her that knew curses and magic didn't exist, the story of it all excited her. "Okay, so…" she started, remembering to keep her voice down, "if Regina is the Evil Queen, who is everyone else?"
Henry beamed, happy that Nina was apparently believing him and not brushing off his ideas like Alison normally would every time he tried to talk with her about the curse. "Mary-Margaret is Snow White and David Nolan is Prince Charming," he said, taking pause when Nina winced, ever aware of the current scandal surrounding the two as they started seeing each other while David was still married to his wife, Kathryn. Now that Kathryn was missing, the scandal grew bigger and the town believed that she ran away due to the infidelity or was murdered to be taken out of the picture.
Henry broke Nina out of her worry for her friend by continuing to name off the people he knew. "Archie Hopper is Jiminy Cricket, Mother Superior is the Blue Fairy, Ashley Boyd is Cinderella…"
"Henry, how do you know all this?" Nina asked. If he had been making all of it up, it was quite the elaborate scheme. The boy responded by tapping the book he had placed on the table and turning it around so Nina could read the title.
Once Upon a Time.
"It's all in there," he said, reaching for the book and opening it to a random page. He flipped through it and Nina watched, glancing at words and illustrations, catching little bits of story from what she saw.
"If what you say is true…" she started, a little cautious to ask but her curiosity getting the better of her, "and everyone in Storybrooke is a character in this book, then which character am I?"
Henry's smile grew wider and he flipped through the pages faster, looking for a particular story. "Have you ever heard of the Snow Queen?" he asked, glancing up at Nina. She shook her head no when he finally found the place he was looking for. He shoved the book closer to her and she placed her hands on the pages, eyes wide in wonder.
On the left side of the margin was a beautiful illustration of a snowy mountain range, colored only by the glow of the dancing northern lights in the sky above. The page next to it displayed the title, "The Snow Queen," in a sophisticated, classic font.
"You're the sister of the Snow Queen," Henry explained as Nina flipped the pages, skipping over the first few because they didn't have any illustrations to go with the words. "On the day of her coronation, she accidentally freezes her kingdom and runs away. You go after her," he said, pointing a finger at her, "and after saving her life, you help her learn that love thaws and she frees the kingdom from the curse."
Nina blinked, connecting dots and drawing conclusions as she gazed upon another illustration, this one of a redheaded girl riding a white horse through a snowy tundra. She laughed quietly, suddenly unable to keep her poker face with what Henry was trying to tell her. "Wait, you think I'm a princess?" she asked. Henry's enthusiastic nod only added to her disbelief. Energetic, clumsy and completely ungraceful little Nina was a princess? Yeah right. For Henry's sake she tried to go along with it.
"Well, okay, if I'm this crazy princess running around the mountains in a ball gown," she started, pointing to the picture with a lopsided grin, "then who's my equally crazy sister who turned the kingdom into a popsicle?"
"I'm pretty sure that it's Alison."
The name made Nina sit straight up and she looked into the young boy's eyes. "Alison?"
He nodded and the redhead immediately slumped over, leaning her head into her palm and taking a swig of her hot chocolate as she tried to sort out her feelings on that bit of information. "Henry, I don't know if that's right. I mean, I get along with her and everything, but… sisters? We're like, total opposites." She looked up to the ceiling, searching for her mental list of things she had in common with her roommate, and it didn't surprise her that the list was short. "I think the only thing we both like are chocolate and sunsets."
"You just don't remember," Henry argued. "But it does fit, you gotta trust me. If she remembers who she is, maybe she can help us find a way to break the curse!"
"Okay, I think that's enough for one day," Emma interrupted, giving Nina a death glare for dragging out the game longer than it needed to be. She finished her hot chocolate and stood up to leave, but when Henry wasn't moving she grew irritated. "Come on, kid, we have to get you home before your mom gets off of work, and I have a lead to follow on the Kathryn case."
With a heavy sigh, Henry closed the book and put it back in his bag. "It's okay if you don't believe me," he said, remaining optimistic in spite of Nina's confused face during the whole conversation. "When we break the curse, everything will make sense. You just gotta believe in the story, Nina, that's all."
She waved at them when they said their goodbyes, but when they walked out the door she was left with a head of swirling thoughts. Operation: Cobra was, of course, an extremely elaborate game that Henry had made up, probably sometime in the last few months out of a need for comfort. She remembered how she'd walk him home after school sometimes and he'd tell her how lonely he felt despite being surrounded by friends and loved by his adoptive mother, and they both related to each other feeling out of place in Storybrooke. Despite the string of good luck she was experiencing lately, Nina still wasn't sure if she felt right about living here.
What bothered her the most was that Henry was convinced that she and Alison were sisters. It was true that they were close enough to be seen as such, but she had blurred memories of them going to school together and parting ways to go home to their separate families. They never saw each other outside of school until Alison graduated because she'd be stuck doing homework from her advanced classes until she went to bed each night.
And then there was the physical differences between them. Their faces were a little similar and yet completely different, and true, their eye color was nearly the same save for the odd amount of green that made Nina's look like pools of sea, but the similarities stopped there. Nina had a head of copper while Alison's locks were nearly platinum. Nina could get a fair tan in any amount of sunlight while Alison's skin was so pale that when they first started living together, Nina had been afraid to actually take her outside in fear of burning her to a crisp after five minutes.
There's no way that's true, she thought to herself, staring at her reflection in the remnants of her hot chocolate. If we were sisters she'd be a lot more like me.
"So how was your date?"
Nina blinked, hand on the doorknob and she froze completely in the threshold to the apartment. "You couldn't wait to ask until I walked in the door, first?"
Alison shrugged, dabbed a brush in a glob of bright blue paint and cocked her head to the side, squinting at the canvas she was working on. "Color me curious," she said, putting the paint to the picture with a steady hand. "You seemed a lot happier after you gave up on Anderson, so I just wondered how things were going with John. He seems nice enough."
"He is," Nina said with a smile, finally able to close the door behind her. She spotted a wrapped canvas leaning up against the side of the couch and her eyes went wide, genuinely surprised. "You finished Regina's painting already?" she asked, hoping to keep the subject off of her budding relationship with the fisherman.
"Yup! I only had a little bit more to do on it when I came home, so while that was drying I started working on this one," Alison said, stopping a line and leaning back to look at what she was creating. "Would you mind helping me deliver it to her office?"
"Sure! No problem." She walked into the apartment a little more, leaning against the wall that opened to the living room as she usually did to keep Alison company but also stay her distance so she wouldn't disturb her while she painted. Her mind was still stuck on the conversation she had with Henry at the diner, and though he revealed his thoughts on the true identities of just a few of Storybrooke's residents, she amused herself by trying to figure out the rest.
"Neeners? You okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I'm fine, I'm just thinking," she said, ignoring Alison's deliberate use of her hated nickname. "This is going to sound really weird," she started, unsure of how to continue, "and I don't want to worry you because I know you care about him too, but Henry… well, Henry's convinced that everybody in town is a story book character."
Alison shrugged and smiled, still working on her painting. "He's probably just playing a game with you, Nina. I wouldn't worry about it," she said, unable to remember that the young boy had confessed the same realization to her before.
"He… he said that Regina's the Evil Queen." Nina tapped the knuckles of her fingers together and bit her lip, anticipating Alison's reaction.
The blonde stopped painting and looked at her from the canvas, her mouth parted slightly in a frown. "He said something like that when I met him on the way to the sheriff's office to meet Mr. Gold," she admitted, brows tightening at the correlation. "I thought he was just making some kind of joke… I didn't think he was actually serious about it. Do you think we should tell his therapist?"
"I wouldn't. Archie probably already knows; Emma does." Nina crossed her arms, thinking back to all the silent clues Emma was giving her at the diner to go along with Henry's game and she laughed to herself, drawing the attention of her roommate. "He thinks that we're sisters and you're the Snow Queen," she said with a smile that drew out the blonde's playful smirk.
"I'm the Snow Queen?" she asked again, giggling when Nina gave her an enthusiastic nod. "And what, am I supposed to have magical ice powers or something?"
"He said that you froze your kingdom on your coronation day."
"Wow. That's…" she paused, looking at the painting she was working on and taking pause at it, momentarily stunned by what she had created. A bright blue snowflake grew out of the center of a black background, seemingly glowing against the darkness as it stretched in vain to reach the edges of the canvas. The irony of it didn't escape her.
"That sounds pretty terrible of me to freeze my kingdom right after I became queen." She stood up and after a parting, haunted glance at the snowflake, she took the wrapped canvas from the couch and wandered over to the closet to get her shoes. "So if you're supposed to be my sister, you probably got me to unfreeze it, huh?"
"Did you already read the story?!" Nina asked, surprised that Alison knew the ending before she told her. The blonde shook her head dismissively. "How did you know that, then?"
"Because I know you, and if the person you are now is the same as the Snow Queen's sister, then the queen's just as lucky as I am to have that little redheaded ray of optimism in her life, too."
"Oh, you're just saying that," Nina blushed.
"Maybe." Alison motioned over to the door with a nod of her head. "Now be my good little ray of optimism and escort the Snow Queen to the Evil Queen's castle," she joked, getting giggles out of the friend who curtsied when she opened the door for her.
"I am not going in there!"
"Oh come on!" Alison drawled as she hopped off the back of the bike. "You're always ready to go on adventures; what's so different about this?"
"Ali, its Regina." She said the name like she was spitting out poison. "I barely managed to stand still in Mr. Gold's shop without him getting mad at me. If I try standing still in Regina's office she's gonna have me arrested!"
Alison rolled her eyes with a smile. "She's not going to arrest you for just standing there."
"Wanna bet? I'm brave; not stupid. You go have fun with the Evil Queen, Your Majesty. I'll keep your chariot waiting."
"Fine, fine… I'll be back in a few minutes."
She walked up to the center door of Town Hall and swung it open, maneuvering herself and the painting through before it could close on her. On occasion Nina would drag her in here to attend town meetings, but she was frankly uninterested in them because the matters they discussed had little to do with her, nor did they affect her living conditions. On those same occasions, Nina would get bored during the intermissions and insisted they go adventuring, which was just an exciting way to say "Let's tour the town hall and see where we can go without getting in trouble."
It was thanks to those excursions that Alison knew right where she needed to go. The mayor, as far as she knew, didn't have a personal secretary; she preferred to handle all of her business on her own. She was a little surprised when she called her office this afternoon and was answered on the first ring to accept the delivery.
She knocked on the fogged door with the word "Mayor" printed on it with gold lettering. While she waited patiently outside, she looked around and admired the historical architecture of the town hall until the door opened and she was met with Regina's false smile.
"It's nice to see you again, Ms. Vinter!" she forcefully exclaimed, stepping out of the doorway and motioning to her office. "Please, come in, make yourself comfortable!"
"Th-Thank you, Madame Mayor," Alison stuttered, cursing herself for doing so in face of the powerful woman. Any courage she had remaining from her talk with Mr. Gold earlier escaped out the door just before it was closed behind her, and suddenly she wished she had tried harder to convince Nina to come with her.
"I'm surprised you finished it so fast," Regina said, leading Alison to a seating area off to the side of the room that was centered around a glass coffee table and cozied by the fireplace. "How long has it been since the festival? A month perhaps? You seemed to have quite the crowd at your table."
"Well I thought I'd prioritize your painting over my other commissions," Alison admitted as she set the piece on the table and began the process of unwrapping it. "Seeing as you're the mayor and everything."
"You didn't have to go through the trouble!" Regina said with a light chuckle that sent chills down Alison's spine. "I will admit that you couldn't have had better timing, though. I needed something to look forward to after all this mess with Mr. Gold, and now with Kathryn missing…" She closed her eyes briefly and shook her head to the side, casting away her troubles for now as Alison removed the last bit of wrapping and held the painting by the edges of the frame for her to see.
Her brown eyes went wide as she took in the details of the painting. A strict stone bridge served as a prelude to protective walls and a strong, sturdy gate with a pointed design running up its doors. Beyond the wall was the castle proper, not entirely visible behind the protective barrier, but still strong and hardy with pointed roofs, tall spires and triangular windows. The castle seemed to be sitting on an island of its own, backed by a sheer rock wall of crags.
Alison wouldn't say it, but her favorite part of the painting was the last minute details she added to it that afternoon. Inspired by the events that took place within Mr. Gold's shop that day, she had used the symbol from Nina's necklace as the crest of this fictional kingdom. It blazed proudly in gold against the purple and green shields that adorned the turrets and she smirked in satisfaction, happy that she was able to include her best friend in her work.
"My, you have truly outdone yourself," Regina gasped, stopping herself from running her fingers over the canvas out of a desire to simply jump into the scene that was painted for her. "Where did you come up with such an idea?"
"I really don't know," Alison answered truthfully, shrugging her shoulders. "I was just visiting some friends and suddenly a vision of it came to me." She watched as Regina set it gently against the slate couch to admire it from afar. "I hope it's okay, I mean… you just said that you wanted "a castle" and I wasn't sure what colors to use, but-"
"Oh nonsense, it's perfect!" With an open palm, she directed Alison towards her desk. "Of course there's the matter of your payment… oh, and would you like a glass of fresh apple cider before you go?" she asked, too sweetly for Alison's taste. She shook her head and held up her hands, wanting to keep her visit with the intimidating authority figure short.
"No thank you, I'm more of a tea drinker actually," she admitted as an excuse.
"Oh, well perhaps another time then. Your work is quite extraordinary; I may have to request another painting in the future," she smiled, taking her checkbook out from her bag. Alison secretly hoped that the mayor was just saying that to be nice, because the amount of stress this one painting caused her was so not worth it… until Regina began to fill out the amount of money she was paying her with the check. The sum started with a three, and the two additional zeroes already took her higher than her average pay from Mr. Gold. When Regina added an extra zero to the end and handed the check to Alison, the pale girl nearly fainted from her excitement.
"A-Are you sure?" she asked, looking between the check and the mayor with cautious blue eyes. Nina's voice popped into her head for a moment telling her to "take the money and run!" but there was some kind of fear that was holding her back.
Regina all but shoved the slip of paper into her hands. "I'm positive. Artwork such as this deserves a fair price."
"Oh wow, thank you so much! I…" It was time to go. She couldn't stay here any longer; her hands were starting to shake from nerves and there was just a simple bad feeling washing over her. "I don't mean to sound rude, but I have to get going. I kind of left Nina waiting outside and-"
"I understand," Regina said kindly with a curt nod. "I appreciate your business, Ms. Vinter. Perhaps in the future we could collaborate on a project together."
"That'd be great!" Oh, who was she kidding? That would be torture, having to work with the strict and fearsome mayor on a project that Alison would likely have little interest in. But if it paid just as well as one of her paintings did… well, she might just have to consider it. "Thank you again!" she waved, exiting the room and barely closing the door behind her before she made a mad dash to Nina out of both excitement and relief from the meeting being over.
As soon as the blonde removed herself from her office, Regina's practiced smile quickly faded to a tight frown and her eyebrows raised with renewed interest. She walked back to the couch, heels clicking stoically against the marble floor and she crossed her arms as she stared down the painting.
"The Kingdom of the North," she seethed, focusing on the golden crest of the fair castle. Looking up, she watched from her window as Alison climbed on the back of Nina's bike, and a wicked smile, a true smile, crept upon her ruby lips.
"So that's who you are…"