Chapter Fourteen
Message in a Bottle
Storybrooke
"There's not enough magic to send you guys through the portal!" Jefferson shouted, upset. "I'm sorry."
"No one can go, but can we send a message?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Message?" Jefferson asked. "Do you know where she is?"
Regina sighed. "We never could get that part…we don't know."
"Then, sorry, there is no message!" Jefferson said.
Just then, David and Hook, who nobody noticed leaving the room, entered, with Cora.
"WHERE ARE THEY!?" David roared.
Cora laughed, evilly, a laugh that made a person's skin crawl. "Oh, Charming…why can't you all face the fact that your precious little daughter is gone?!" She said, breaking free from the grasp of Hook and David. Everyone turned and watched her.
"You tell us where Emma is," David demanded.
"No, you seem to forget who controls the happy endings here…it's not you, it's me." She demanded.
"Well, maybe you'll learn from this," Cora said. "Stay in the yellow brick road, and you'll always be safe.."
Then, Cora slowly walked away.
"Yellow brick road? That couldn't be!" Mary Margaret stated.
"My mother gives weird analogies…pay no mind to her." Regina stated, leaning against the wall.
The whole group just sat there wondering what to do next.
#####
Oz
Walter, Neal, and I walked hurriedly behind the worker, until we were in a room. A room with a bottle.
"What…this is so important!?" Walter shouted.
"A mere, bottle! That's the message!"
"No, sir…uh, well, the message's inside the bottle."
"Inside the bottle?"
"Yes, sir."
Walter walked over to the bottle, and Neal and I shared a nervous glance.
Walter opened the bottle, and unrolled the small slip of paper inside.
"It's for you," He said, handing it to me.
#####
Storybrooke
"We need to get something to her, if we can not get to her." Mary Margaret said.
"You don't think we know that, what have we been trying to do here! What are we hanging out just for fun? I don't think so!"
Regina turned to leave.
"Where do you think you're going?" David asked.
"Home. I have a son waiting for me." Regina replied.
"I don't think so, love." Hook said, pushing himself from the wall.
"I beg your pardon," Regina replied, in a state of shock.
"Henry will not stay with you." He said.
"I do not think so. Henry is my son…mine!" Regina shouted.
"He may be your son, but he's Emma's son too, which makes him my stepson, and as of right now I do not trust you…your mother is evil, and she teamed up with Milah, so yes I do believe Henry should stay with me, his father until this whole situation is sorted out, you want to be with your son, love, you have to give me some reason why you will not hurt Emma's son." Hook spat.
"You can't separate me from my son," Regina said, through clenched teeth.
"Regina, listen to him. No one is stopping you from seeing Henry, we just want to be sure that Henry is kept safe."
"Kept safe?" Regina demanded.
"He's going to be with a pirate, Mary Margaret think of that!"
"Let me tell you, Regina, I trust him more than I trust your mother and Milah…and if you have your mother staying there with you… I think it's in everyone's best interest if he spends his time with his new father." Mary Margaret said.
Frowning and turning to leave, Regina stopped in her tracks.
"Oz." She muttered, underneath her breath.
"What?" David asked.
Regina turned, staring into each person's eyes. "They're in Oz."
#####
Oz
I nervously walked towards Walter, and got the slip of paper from him.
Dear Emma,
We don't have much time…or space to write this in, but we're going to try.
We know who sent you to Oz. We are going to try every way possible to get you back. Don't worry about Henry, he will be kept safe until all of this over.
Emma, we love you.
Love,
Mom and Dad
P.S. Hook wanted to tell you, that he loves you, and he misses you.
My breath caught.
"What is it?" Neal asked.
"They're going to rescue us." I whispered.
Neal took the letter from me.
"They're coming," He said, smiling. "Hook? Hook's in Storybrooke?"
"So, not the time, so…the way you suggested to get out of Oz…how does that work?" I asked.
"It's just a regular hot air balloon."
#####
Storybrooke
Regina stood outside her window, watching Hook take her son away.
"How did you know?" Mary Margaret asked.
Regina turned and found Mary Margaret was standing there.
"How did you know, that Emma and Neal were in Oz?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Because every day for as long as I remembered, my mother always said the bad little boys and girls always go to Oz." Regina explained. "To some girls and boys, they connect Oz as a wonderful place where they could make friends…but to me, it was always a place of darkness."
"Is..Emma…"
Regina quickly shook her head, frowning. "I bet she's safe…the only thing we have to worry about is if she crossed paths with the Wicked witch…which I doubt happened."
Mary Margaret sighed.
"Listen, Regina, you want to help get your son back…you want us to have trust in you, you have to help us. Help us win, don't let us lose to your mother because of some selfish pride, that you have to be the only one happy…because if you do…you don't have to worry about us not letting you see Henry every night…you have to worry about Henry's decision." Mary Margaret replied, leaving the room, and Regina alone.
####
Oz
We all stood in a large room, with the roof opened, letting in the sunlight.
"Before you two embark on this long journey…let me warn you, this balloon is very unpredictable, you may just land in Oz again or a part of our human world that will make it a pain to get back to your home, I just wanted to tell you that you're basically taking a chance with this, it's not a 100% guarantee." Walter explained.
I smiled. "Thank you for everything you've done for us." I said.
He smiled, as he gave me a hug.
"Don't mention it." He said.
"Thanks," Neal said, shaking the man's hand. We boarded the air-balloon.
"Storybrooke, here we come." I said, with a smile. Neal also smiled, as we looked into the crowd, and the balloon was released. We waved to the crowd, happy as ever, and knowing that we were that much closer to home.