Chapter 21
Darkness had fallen an hour ago and they had finished eating the stew Granny and Ruby had made. Emma hadn't expected it to taste as nice as it did but after her first spoonful she couldn't stop. Now that the bowls were empty and the room was lit by candles, Emma looked around the table. Everyone looked tired and worn out but at the same time she recognised the resilience in their eyes. She took a deep breath, folded her hands on the table and her gaze found Mary Margaret's.
"We need to find Blue," she said. "She's the only one who can help us save Regina."
"She'll come to us," Ruby insisted. "It's what fairy godmothers do. They hear our wishes and then they find us to grant them."
"Then why isn't she here yet?" Emma asked impatiently.
"She'll come," Mary Margaret reassured her. "She's never let us down before and she won't do it now either."
Granny glanced at the bedroom door. "What are we going to do with her?"
"This is Belle we're talking about," Ruby said. "She's harmless. I know she's Rumpelstiltskin's true love or whatever but Belle herself wouldn't hurt a fly. I think that she can help us save Regina. And even if she can't, we can at least use her against Gold."
"I won't be some bargaining tool," said an unexpected voice.
The door to the bedroom had opened and Belle appeared. She looked straight at Ruby and anger flickered in her eyes. "I know what he is, I know what he's done, but I will not help you to destroy him."
"Nobody's asking you to do that," Emma said and she stood up to give Belle her seat. She glared at Granny who got up and found a bowl of stew for her. Belle eagerly started to eat and after a few mouthfuls she looked up at Emma. The blonde tried to smile.
"Do you know what he's done?" she asked. "To Regina?"
"Regina?" Belle asked. "Regina's here?"
"Everyone's here," David said and looked at Belle. She looked back at him with confusion etched across her face. "Including Gold. Or Rumpelstiltskin. Or whoever or whatever you prefer. He's here but he's back to his old tricks."
"He promised me he wouldn't hurt anyone," Belle said softly. Her green eyes found Emma's. "What has he done?"
"He erased Regina's memories," Emma said coolly. The bitterness crept into her voice without warning and she mentally scolded herself for taking her anger over Rumpelstiltskin out on Belle. She pushed her hands into the pockets of her jeans and sighed. "And he took her heart."
"Her heart?" Belle looked horrified. "What did he do with it?"
"We don't know," Mary Margaret said. "But if you take someone's heart, you control them completely. You can tell them what to think, what to say and what to do." She paused. "You also decide when they die."
"Why? Why would he do that?" Belle asked.
"To get back at Regina and to get to me," Emma answered. "Most of this goes back to the time where Rumpelstiltskin created the Curse for Regina. In return she promised him her life but when they reached Storybrooke he didn't remember who he was or who she was, so he had no control over her and Regina never lived up to her end of the deal. When he got his memory back, he remembered what Regina had promised him. When the Curse was broken he gave her an ultimatum; kill me or give up her life."
"Why didn't he just take her heart in Storybrooke?" Belle wanted to know. "Why go through all this to get her back here?"
"Because Regina fell in love," David said softly and looked up at Emma. His daughter's eyes reflected sadness now that he spoke those words out loud and he suddenly felt a sharp pang of guilt. "The heart he would have taken wasn't the same as the heart that belonged to the Evil Queen. To get what he wanted, Gold had to bring her back here and resurrect the Evil Queen. He erased all memories of Emma and of Henry and removed her heart. Now Regina's back to whom she was before and Rumpelstiltskin finally owns the Evil Queen."
"So what does he want to do with Regina?" Belle wondered. "He's got her heart, he erased her memories…"
"There is one thing he couldn't erase though," Emma interjected. "Regina's wearing a ring. A ring I gave her the night we were sent back to the Enchanted Forest. The ring only fits my one true love." She hesitated. "Regina." She felt her stomach do an unexpected flip. "When Regina and I touched the ring together, we both saw a flash of our old lives in Storybrooke so Rumpelstiltskin wasn't able to remove that from her."
"Nothing can erase true love," Belle said softly and looked up at Emma. Her eyes reflected regret. "It's the most powerful magic in the world. No curse can break that. Eventually people will always find each other because love is stronger than any force in any realm."
"Rumpelstiltskin will know that too," Emma said. "He probably knows that more than anyone."
Belle stared down at the table surface as she remembered the time her path had first crossed that of an imp called Rumpelstiltskin. She didn't like him at first. In fact, she probably hated him more than anything, but over time she noticed that the way she looked at him had begun to change. She could see the man behind the mask of the Dark One. A man who had loved and lost, who had been hurt and had been broken. That was the man she learnt to love and with that came his other sides but she had seen who he was underneath. Slowly she looked back up at Emma.
"I more than anyone know what it's like to fall in love with someone nobody else really understands," she said and her green eyes found Emma's. She ignored the way the others looked at her. "I know what it's like to see behind a mask, to see the person they used to be hidden underneath. I know, deep down, that Regina wasn't always the Evil Queen she became, the same way everybody else knows that too. The difference is that I understand why you fell in love with her, Emma, because it's the same reason I fell in love with him. We saw the person they are now, who they were in the past as well as the present, instead of the mask they became."
"Thank you," Emma said quietly and felt an unexpected blush creep onto her cheeks. "It can't have been easy."
Belle suddenly smiled and reached out to cover Emma's hand with her own. "Love never is."
A startling light blue glow began to form in the middle of the room. It grew brighter and larger until they were able to identify the shape of a human body. Emma blinked a few times until she recognised Blue, or Mother Superior, in her fairy form. Her curly hair framed her face and her wings looked like they had been spun from the finest silk.
"Blue!" David exclaimed and he jumped up in relief when he recognised her. "Thank God you found us."
"I'm sorry it took me a while," Blue apologised. "The lands have been torn apart. A lot has changed."
"What do you mean?" Mary Margaret asked.
"It seems that when the Curse was cast, time froze here," Blue said. "Only a handful of people stayed behind, trapped in some kind of spell of their own. Nobody really knows why but it turns ou that there have been wars while we were away. Villages have been burnt to the ground and ogres are roaming large parts of these lands. Nothing is like it was."
Emma looked at Mary Margaret, remembering the burnt village they had passed on their journey to the castle.
"Cora."
David turned around when Emma mentioned that name. It had been a long time since he had last heard it. "What?"
"It was Cora," Emma said resolutely. "It had to be."
"Cora?" Ruby questioned. "I have heard that name before. Wasn't she the miller's daughter?"
"She is also Regina's mother," Mary Margaret explained. "I met her when I was a little girl. She seemed nice. Deceptively nice even but I soon learnt she was manipulative and evil. When Regina was young you wouldn't have believed Regina was her daughter. Cora murdered the only other person Regina ever loved right in front of her. Regina never forgave her but as a result she turned to magic. We all know who taught her."
"Twenty bucks says Cora had the same teacher," Emma said and shook her head. "He's been planning this for a very long time." She took a deep breath. "If you're right and Cora is responsible for most of the terror we've seen, how much danger are we in?"
"Cora?" Mary Margaret said. "Think Regina but ten times worse. If Cora is somehow behind the destruction of our lands, then we're in for a lot worse than we expected." Her eyes darkened. "The woman doesn't have a heart."
"Neither does Regina at the moment and I'd really like to get it back," Emma reminded her and she turned to Blue. "Can you help us?"
"Rumpelstiltskin took Regina's heart and erased her memories of Storybrooke," David added. "She doesn't remember Emma or Henry or anybody else. She also wears Emma's ring and when they both touch it, Regina sees flashes from their old lives. But other than that, she doesn't remember."
"The most important thing is to get Regina's heart back," Blue answered. "As long as Rumpelstiltskin has it, he controls Regina. Whatever reasons he may have, they will not be good. We have to find out where he keeps the heart and bring it back."
"What about her memories?" Emma whispered. "How will we restore them?"
Blue flew down to the table and sat down. She put her magic wand down in her lap. "The magic used from Regina can only be countered with one other spell. It has to be done within the fifth sunset after the Curse was cast or the memory loss will be permanent." Her eyes drifted to the window. "We only have three more days."
"We have to do something!" Henry piped up. Tears constricted his voice. "I can't lose my mom!"
"Can you do it?" Emma asked the blue fairy. She sounded hopeful. There was a gauntness to her, as if the little bit of hope she was clinging on to was beginning to slip away from her. She looked tired and worn out, her blonde hair messy and her clothes stained. Her body was weak and she felt like she could collapse at any moment but she kept on going. She couldn't give up now. "Can you bring back Regina's memory?"
She hoped the answer was what she so desperately wanted to hear. She needed something, anything, to hold on to. The empty look in Regina's eyes, the hollowness of her chest where her heart should have been, haunted her. She wanted nothing more than to bring her back, to see again the woman she had grown to love. She'd give anything for the fire in Regina's eyes, the slight hint of accusation in her voice. She wanted it back, all of it, and she would hold on for as long as she could if it meant she'd find a way.
Blue sadly shook her head. "That kind of magic is beyond my capabilities, Emma. I can grant wishes and turn pumpkins into carriages, but I cannot bring back a memory that was taken by magic." She took a deep breath. "I only know of one man who has ever done something like this before but it was a long time ago. His name is Merlin."
"Merlin?" Emma asked and sceptically arched an eyebrow. "Really?"
"You know him?" David asked, looking at his daughter in surprise.
"Who doesn't?!" Emma answered. "I mean haven't you ever heard of the Sword in the Stone?"
Mary Margaret shook her head. "No." She looked back at Blue. "Who is this Merlin?"
"He's a very powerful wizard," Blue answered. "The most powerful there is, perhaps. In some ways he is more powerful than the Dark One. I have heard many stories about his magic. I have no doubt that he will be able to help us."
"Where do we find him?" Emma asked.
"When the Curse was cast, a small part of these lands was protected from its impact," Blue explained. "People couldn't leave or travel but once the Curse was broken, people could leave again. It was how the wars started and how the ogres moved into the rest of our lands. Merlin used to live in the Enchanted Forest, in small cottage, but I heard that when the Curse was broken, he left."
"Left?" Emma breathed. "Where did he go?"
Blue took a deep breath. "The second star to the right…."
"Neverland." Mary Margaret stood up. "Merlin's gone to Neverland."
Emma ran her fingers through her hair. "Neverland? As in, Peter Pan and the Lost Boys? And Captain Hook?" She shook her head in disbelief. "As if having to believe that Snow White is real wasn't confusing enough you're telling me that every single Fairytale or story I heard when I was a kid, is true?"
"How do we get to Neverland?" Ruby asked. "There are no magic beans to open a portal between the other worlds. Unless we find one we have no way of getting there." Her eyes found Emma's. "And we only have three days before Regina forgets Emma forever."
"There is a portal," Blue said and Emma's eyes snapped up in surprise. "Not many people know it exists but the portal remains permanently open."
"The portal is open?" Mary Margaret asked. "But that means we can go back to Storybrooke!"
Blue shook her head. "The portal only connects the Forest to Neverland. It doesn't go anywhere else."
"Where is it?" David's face fell as he realised that the portal wasn't the way home they had all been so desperate for but at least it was a glimmer of hope. "How do we find it?"
"The ocean," Blue answered and she noticed the sadness written across people's faces. For a moment they had believed there was a way home only to find that there wasn't. "The portal was created inside the Mermaid Cave. It's been there for many years. Some believe that when a bean was thrown into the water, it reacted differently than it did on land. On land the portal closes but in water is had stayed open. For years it has allowed mermaids to swim between different realms. They guard the entrance, allowing only very few to pass."
"Can you take us there?" Emma wanted to know. "Can you take us to the portal?"
"It would take us until midmorning to reach the ocean but I can take you there," Blue answered. "I will speak to the mermaids and see to it that they will allow you to pass."
Emma stood up. "I'm going."
"Emma, you can't do this alone," Mary Margaret insisted. "You don't know this land, you don't know Neverland. I can't let you do this on your own." She stood up and walked over to her daughter, taking Emma's hands into her own. Their eyes found each other. Emma could see the tears in Mary Margaret's eyes. "Let me help you."
"You go to Neverland," David decided and looked around the table. Everyone else appeared to be in agreement. "The rest of us will deal with Rumpelstiltskin and find Regina's heart."
Emma swallowed the hard lump in the back of her throat and nodded. She then turned to Blue. "We haven't got much time."
They said their goodbyes and Granny supplied Emma and Mary Margaret with some fresh bread and fruit for along the way. They packed up their bags with only the items they would really need and Emma accepted a dagger that Belle pulled from behind her shirt. They shared a quiet look of understanding before Belle averted her gaze and Emma kneeled down to the ground to hug Henry.
"I promise I'll do what I can to bring her back," she whispered into her son's ear. "I'm not giving up on her." She looked at him and was suddenly struck by how much he had grown. Somehow he no longer looked like the kid that had turned up outside her apartment. She ruffled his hair and kissed his forehead. "I'm not giving up on us as a family."
Henry looked up to her with tears in his eyes. "I love you, mom."
"I love you too, kid."
She got up and joined Mary Margaret and Blue who had already left the cottage. She closed the door behind her and found the other two waiting a couple of metres away. She joined them and they started their journey through the woods in the direction of the ocean. Emma didn't know there was a coastline in these lands at all and as they walked she asked Mary Margaret what she knew about it.
"I only went to the beach a few times when I was a little girl," Mary Margaret answered and a echo of sadness laced her words. "My mother loved it there. Father never took me again after she died."
"I'm sorry," Emma whispered. "You must have loved her a lot."
Mary Margaret gave Emma a sideways glance. "Every parent loves their child and every child, in some way, will love their parents. Even to hate them they must have loved them first. I loved my mother and I would have given my last breath to bring her back but, in a way, her death brought me something I may never have had if she had lived." She looked at her daughter. "You."
Emma swallowed hard. "It hasn't been easy, has it?"
"No, it hasn't," Mary Margaret answered and took Emma's hand. "But one day it will be."
"Yeah," Emma sighed. "One day."
She looked up to the skies and saw the first rays of sunshine appearing behind the horizon. Soon the darkness would be gone. Another day was dawning. They were running out of time. She felt her heart skip a beat at the realisation that if they failed to find Merlin, Regina would be lost forever. She heaved a sigh and glanced at her mother.
"Why her heart?" she sighed. "Why take her heart?"
"We experience every emotion inside our hearts," Mary Margaret answered. "Anger, sadness… Love."
Emma looked at her mother. "He took Regina's heart because she loved me."
"She loves you." Mary Margaret reassured her. "She will always love you."
"I heard a saying once, when I was living with one of my foster families," Emma said and her eyes darkened slightly.
"Yeah?" Mary Margaret asked. "What was it?"
Emma watched as the fine rays of golden sunshine rapidly chased the darkness away. The start of a new day felt like the end of something else. Time was running out. She swallowed hard and looked at her mother.
"Those who are heartless once cared too much." She turned her face away. "Maybe they were right."
Note: You guys have no idea how annoyed I was when I found out that they were taking the series to Neverland in the finale. I had just started writing this story when I stumbled across the spoilers and I was actually really irritated. It had been my plan all along and suddenly the show actually moves some of the characters to Neverland. Only advantage I have now? In my story they're getting there before they do on TV! Let me hear your thoughts!