Ch. 29-A Message from Merlin
A few days had passed and Saturday rolled around again. Moira paid Granny for an additional two weeks stay as it seems tings were at a bit of a standstill for both how to help Emma Swan and Gold. At least the time hadn't been wasted for Galahad. Moira was pleased to see him and the Librarian have coffee together the other day. And Ms. French was being oh-so helpful in acclimating the Knight to the ways of this world.
For Gold, life had never been more peaceful. Since Bae's birthday, Gold and Mahveen had settled into a routine where she would be with him at night. He was too much of a gentleman to take advantage of the situation, but just being able to hold someone in his arms quieted the demons he had and gave him peaceful dreams. Something he never had with Belle (she didn't like to cuddle). Plus, he did enjoy waking her up with a few kisses before she shrieked and demanded to be released so she could at least brush her teeth first. Gold was just pleased that Mahveen seemed more at ease and less shy showing affection. Though he did miss her blushes and could summon one up if he looked at her a certain way.
Unbeknownst to Mahveen, Gold had asked Regina to pull out his heart. At first, Regina thought he was insane, but then she agreed as curiosity took over. She wanted to know just as badly as Gold did what his heart looked like now it was curse-free.
"Just do it already," Gold hissed, bracing for the pain.
Quickly, Regina shoved her hand into his chest and pulled out his heart. They slowly looked at it with Regina turning it over carefully.
"You said it used to be all black?" Regina asked for clarification.
"Yes, but a little bit remained red," he replied, unable to take his eyes away from his heart.
"Well, it seems that being curse-free is doing you a world of good," Regina stated.
To both of their amazement, half of Gold's heart was a deep red while the other side showed little pinpricks of red appearing where it was still white.
"I had hoped it just wouldn't be all black," Gold said," but I never imagined it would be so red so soon."
"It can't just be because you're not the Dark One," Regina stated. "There has to be more to it than that."
"Well," Gold acknowledged," I did suspend all rents for a years and all loans have been considered paid in full."
"What!" Regina screamed. "I can't believe it! You actually did something good for the entire town!" Regina forcefully slammed the heart back into Gold's chest, making him wince and groan in pain. "I never thought you'd ever be capable of something like that." Regina started pacing back and forth before stopping suddenly and pointing a finger at him. "If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes-held it with my hand-I'd never have believe it."
"Isn't yours transformed as well?" Gold asked since Regina was a user of Light Magic now.
"It's definitely less black, but nowhere near as startling as yours," she replied.
"What I'm worried about," he admitted," is if I take on the curse again, will it turn black just as quickly?"
"IF you take it back?" Regina sputtered. "Are you having second thoughts?"
"Having second thoughts is perfectly normal, giving his situation," Moira said, seeming to appear out of nowhere.
"Did you just pop over here?" Regina stated, a little startled at Moira's appearance.
"Yes," Moira said. "I've been watching you and Gold discussing his heart in my crystal and decided to pop right over.
"Do you have any input into the matter?" Gold asked.
"No, but I do think once you are the Dark One again, the binding will keep your heart at least half red," Moira stated. "It might even be possible to keep it at two-thirds red, but that might be pushing it. Plus, Merlin thinks he may be able to split the darkness-he is not sure."
"Are you certain?" Regina asked.
"You and Gold will never have pure hearts," Moira explained, "but that just means you'll be more sensible with your magic as well."
"I can live with that," Regina replied. "Being like Mary Margaret would be a boring future for me."
"I'm so glad," Moira beamed. "Now, I also popped over because I had a message from Merlin regarding his hat."
"Does he know why it's not working?" Gold stated.
"Not exactly," Moira shook her head, tilting it to the side. "He had to find the original spell first, but he did want me to get samples of blood from the Charmings so he could analyze it."
"For what purpose," Regina stted, crossing her arms across her chest.
"To calculate the intensity of their True Love to Soul Mate ratio, obviously," Moira stated, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling. "I assume wither of you can let the Charmings know and if it could get done by the end of the day, Merlin would appreciate it."
"I'll call Dr. Whaler to see when he's free today," Regina sighed.
"And I'll call David to let him know," Gold said.
"Excellent! I'll be in my room. Ta ta!" Moira said before she popped back to her room at the inn.
"Gold, did you notice what she was wearing?" Regina hissed.
"You mean the neon argyle stockings?" Gold replied. "They are kind of hard to miss."
"That and the pill box hat with fake cherries bobbing on top of her head," Regina pointed out.
"So that's what those were," Gold said. "I thought they were just red balls or something."
Regina just looked at him and shook her head as she exited the shop. Gold again made a mental note to ask Mahveen about Moira's fashion sense.
