Regina wasn't whether she had ever seen Mr Gold at the stables. He'd certainly never come to ride any of the horses and he didn't seem the type to come and pick his own vegetables. Yet there he was, walking slowly towards her, eyes on the produce for sale.
She waited patiently. He walked as though one leg caused him pain, using an expensive-looking cane.
"How can I help you Mr Gold?"
"Actually, I think I can help you today."
"I'm listening."
"Your daughter came to see me today."
"Emma?"
He placed something on the counter in front of Regina. She hadn't noticed he was carrying anything.
It was Emma's book. Regina hesitated, unsure whether to pick it up.
"She traded this to me," Gold continued, leaning back on his cane.
"She loves that book."
"I suppose there is something she thinks is more important right now. Even if it is dangerous."
"If Emma is in danger…"
"You need to read the book."
"I have."
"No, you haven't. You need to read it, cover to cover, and soon."
Regina came around the counter to stand in front of Mr Gold, "what did Emma want from you?"
"Until you read the book, I can't tell you. You wouldn't believe me."
"Listen, I don't care who you…"
"Regina, just trust me."
She stared at him until something deep inside urged her to listen to him. Her hand touched the cover and pulled the book closer. She flipped the cover open and looked down.
The book glowed with a bright, yellow light and Mr Gold stepped back as the pages began to turn themselves over, watching as the magic pushed the stories directly into her mind, restoring her memories.
It was such a tiny scrap of paper. Emma hadn't believed that the oddly scratched words could be the answer she sought, but Mr Gold had made a deal and she knew from the book that she could trust it was what she had asked for – though she still didn't know why he had agreed to make the deal, and so she didn't really trust him.
She had snuck back home to get her bike, after visiting the pawnshop. It was the fastest way to travel, and the raven was impatient for her to follow. All she knew was that Lily would be somewhere at the edge of the town. Probably not along the coastline, but that left a large area and so walking was out of the question.
Out of the main part of town, she cycled faster. There were fewer cars out here, less reason to worry about the traffic. Still, she kept to the edge of the road with the raven visible against a blue sky. Eventually they came to the marker at the edge of town, the 'Leaving Storybrooke' sign. The raven hovered over it until Emma dismounted and leaned the bike against the sign. A moment later and it flew away; it's voice calling to Lily. Emma unravelled the scrap of paper while she waited for Lily to appear. She was a little nervous, she had seen something strange when the raven flew away, a slight shimmer in the air as it passed the sign.
Regina accelerated as she left the main town streets behind. She didn't know how close to the border Emma might be and she wanted to reach her daughter before she did something foolish. There was a chance that Emma tampering with the barrier could alert David, and if Gold was telling the truth he was the one who had activated this curse.
She was still listing everything that could possibly go wrong as she finally reached the town sign, and her daughter. Emma was standing in the middle of the road. She turned around when she heard the car approaching and Regina slowed enough to pull over before she reached the sign. Gold had warned her not to get too close to the barrier in the vehicle, the curse wouldn't appreciate anyone attempting to leave.
"Mom, what are you doing here?"
"Gold sent me."
Emma looked wary, "I just…"
"It's okay, he gave me your book and it restored my memories. I know about the curse."
"Really?" Emma ran over and hugged her, tears of relief in her eyes, "and you're here to help?"
"Emma what you're planning to do, it's dangerous."
"How? Lily's just a kid like me. It's not her fault she got stuck on the wrong side of the barrier." Emma released her mother.
"How do you even know the person you've been writing to is telling the truth? I don't know how you communicated with someone out there, but what if the person you let through is one of the villains from your storybook?"
"Does she look like a villain to you?" Emma asked, pointing behind her.
Regina turned to look. There was a young girl, around Emma's age, standing just a few feet away with a raven perched on her shoulder.
The black-haired girl was speaking to the raven, "I can't see anyone, are you sure Emma's here?"
The bird cawed to her, and Regina recognised his voice, "Diaval?"
"You know him?"
"He's one of Maleficent's ravens."
"Is that good or bad?"
Regina was staring at the girl on the other side of the barrier, "she can't be."
"Who?"
"Maleficent's child. It's impossible. I haven't seen Maleficent in Storybrooke, so she must have escaped the curse after all. Perhaps the girl is one of the ravens, trapped on the other side in human form."
"So we can help her, right?"
"No!" Regina grabbed the piece of paper from Emma, realising it must be the spell Gold had given her.
"Mom! We have to help her."
"No, I'm not putting you and Snow in danger. If David finds out about any of this he could make things worse."
"How? No-one remembers who they are, no-one ages except for me."
"At least we're together, as a family. What if he decides to reset the whole curse? You might not get that book, I might lose my memory again."
"So you want to keep Lily from her mother just so you can remember a life that no-one else does? What if I had been the one stuck on the other side of the barrier, or if you were the one trying to get home to mom and me?"
Diaval chose that moment to fly through the barrier, "what's going on?"
He hovered in midair when he realised Emma was not alone. Regina looked up.
"Emma, do you understand what he's saying?"
"Of course not, he's just a bird. Lily sends me notes to talk to me. Wait, do you understand him?"
"Yes, even in this land without magic."
Diaval flew closer, "well hello Regina."
"Diaval."
"You remember me, I'm flattered."
"Who's the girl?"
"Lily. Mal's daughter, of course, but you probably saw the resemblance. So are you going to help Emma bring her over here?"
"You seem to be managing that fine yourself."
"No idea how."
"You always had a gift for getting in places you shouldn't."
"That must be it. Now, about Lily…"
"If we let her over David might find out."
"So? She's just one girl, looking for her mother."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?"
Diaval sighed and wheeled around in the air to go back through the barrier, calling out to Lily to confirm her identity. She did, explaining that Diaval had explained about the curse and her mother, that her life on that side of the barrier was awful. Diaval tilted his head towards Regina, in an 'I told you so' manner, suggesting he could still see them despite the magic.
"Mom? Please?" Emma placed a hand on her mom's arm, looking up at her and waiting for her to agree to help.
"Fine, I'll do it. Stand back." She looked towards Diaval, "I don't know if you can hear me featherbrain, but there's not really any magic on this side either – believe me I tried to use it rather than the car to get here. I'm going to say the words, I just hope they'll work."
Diaval began reporting the good news to Lily as Regina took a look at the piece of paper. She smiled as she recognised the language. Emma would have struggled to read it alone.
Lily opened her bag, taking out the eggshell Diaval had helped her to retrieve earlier, "will this help?"
Diaval broke a piece off and flew it through the barrier to Regina. He dropped it into her hand and flew back to Lily. If something went wrong, he wanted to be on her side of the barrier.
Emma couldn't hear the words her mother spoke, but she saw light appear in the barrier again. She smiled as she realised Lily could finally see her too. Lily ran towards them as Diaval clung to her shoulder. Regina reached out to take her hand and pull her through the small opening, which had appeared.
"Welcome to Storybrooke."