Sorry it has taken me so long to get another chapter up! Hopefully I'll get back into writing more!
Chapter 35: The Return
In the days following Madeleine's departure, Regina had chosen to ignore her feelings and focus on finding a cure for Marian and dealing with the Snow Queen. After those issues were resolved, another one arose. Marian couldn't stay in the town without her heart freezing. Robin was forced to leave with his little family, much to Regina's heartache.
She tried to fill those next seven weeks with finding The Author, resuming her mayoral duties, freeing the fairies from the magical box Rumple trapped them in, and trying to forget about the people she had recently lost. In the meantime, she was busy with the new residents of Storybrooke, Cruella, Ursula, and Maleficent, along with an old, familiar one: Rumpelstiltskin.
She was playing a villain, going undercover to gather Intel on what the mischievous Queens of Darkness and the Dark One were up too. She figured out their plan to go after The Author and reverse the happy endings to the villains instead of the heroes.
Maleficent had forced her to kidnap Pinocchio, much to Regina's dismay, but she had to prove to them that she was on their side. After Rumple used his dark magic to turn Pinocchio back into a man, they began torturing him for information regarding The Author. It was hard for Regina to swallow, but she had to act her part. She allowed a bit of the Evil Queen to come out and play.
Henry, Emma, and the Charmings were sitting in a booth at Granny's Diner trying to figure out where to search for clues next. It didn't take very long for an argument to ensue between the adults. "I still think we should wait to hear from Regina." Snow said while rocking baby Neal in her arms.
"What if she's hurt or they figured out she's on our side?" Henry questioned with a worried look on his face.
Emma comfortingly rubbed her son's back. "The kid's right. I don't like that she's in there by herself. She should've contacted us by now."
"I'm sure Regina has things under control." David assured her. "I'm sure she would-", He noticed Henry's jaw drop as he stared out the window of the diner. "What?"
They all looked out the window to see a huge green twister in the middle of the forest. "That's not normal," Emma replied with a confused look on her face. "Please don't tell me the Wicked Witch is back."
Henry shook his head. "I think its Maddie." He slid out of the booth and raced out the front door.
"Woah, kid!" Emma followed close behind him. "Wait up!"
David was driving him, Emma, and Henry towards the swirling vortex before dropping Snow and baby back at their apartment. They could see the funnel weakening, but were hoping to get to Maddie before it disappeared completely. By the time they reached the girl, the green tornado was almost gone. Emma was the first one out of the car. She ran up to the teenager lying on the ground.
"Maddie!" She shook the girl gently just in case she was hurt. Maddie groggily opened her eyes a bit and gave the blonde a weak smile. "Emma."
Henry grabbed Maddie's hand. "Are you okay?" He pulled her up slowly to a sitting position.
She rubbed her head and blinked a few times trying to get the nauseous feeling to leave her stomach. "I think I need to lie down for a bit."
Emma and David both helped Maddie to the car and got her situated. The teenager filled them in on the happenings in Oz before they updated her on previous and current events going on in Storybrooke. Maddie was most concerned for Regina. She was sad to hear about Robin and Roland's departure, and she didn't like that Regina was 'pretending' to be working with the Queens of Darkness.
"Cruella is here in Storybooke?" Maddie asked trying to hide the fear on her face as they walked through the door to the Charming's apartment.
"Yea." Emma confirmed as Henry helped Maddie to the couch. "Do you know her?"
"Unfortunately," Maddie replied rubbing her temples.
Snow came down the stairs, baby in hand. "Madeleine, you're back," Snow said with a relieved look on her face.
It was a warm welcome to see Snow's smiling face. "Hi Snow."
Before Emma could question Maddie any further, her phone went off. "It's a text from Regina. I guess she bought another phone or something."
Maddie perked up a bit at the mention of her aunt.
"What's it say?" David questioned.
"Pinocchio is fine. He's back to himself…or older self," She began reading.
"August is back?" Snow asked.
Emma shrugged her shoulders. "I'm assuming that's what she means." She looked back down at her phone and continued reading. "But there's something else you should know. Gold is here. We're held up in this cabin. He's here for more than The Author but he won't tell me why, which means whatever it is he's planning…it isn't good."
David rolled his eyes. "Great. Just what we need. More darkness in this town."
"We should go to Belle and get Gold's dagger, then try to find this cabin." Emma suggested. Before Maddie or Henry could open their mouths, she shut them down. "You two are staying here. Madeleine, get some rest. And Henry, I need you to keep an eye on things."
"We'll drop the baby off with Ruby so you won't have to worry about him." Snow grabbed the diaper bag and followed Emma and David out the door.
Maddie looked over at Henry with an annoyed look on her face. "I did not miss the bossy adults."
He plopped down next to her. "Welcome back, Mads."
She sighed as she rested her head on the back of the couch and shut her eyes to rest for a bit, but Henry had other intentions. "Why did you leave?"
Maddie knew this question was coming; she just hoped she could've avoided it for a little longer. She lifted her head and sadly looked at him. "Truth is, I was jealous of you and Regina. Of your relationship together."
"Why?" He asked confused.
"Because I know I'll never have that with anyone. Not my mother. Not Regina. No one." She fully admitted though it was hard for her to do.
He shook his head. "That's why you left?"
"And I was turning green…or so I thought." She sat up a bit more and let out a nervous laugh. "I think Gold slipped me a potion or elixir that made me think I was turning green with envy, just like my mother."
"Did he ask to make a deal with you?" She nodded. He shot up from the couch, fists clenched. "He probably wanted you to trap the fairies in that magic box of his."
Maddie raised an eyebrow. "Come again?"
"Hook ended up doing it and Regina set them free later on. But the point is, he probably gave you that potion so you would go to him to try and get you to make a deal with him. He would 'magically' remove your green skinned problem and you would do what he wanted in return."
Maddie thought about it for a minute, then nodded. "Sounds like Gold."
"Just wait until my mom hears about this." Henry began pacing. "She's going to be pissed."
Maddie had never seen him get so mad, but she liked it when her cousin got riled up a bit. He was always too serious for her. Though she felt he needed to calm down right now. "How is she doing? With the whole Robin leaving with Marian thing."
He took a deep breath before sitting back down next to her. "She puts on a good face, but deep down I know she's still hurting. I wouldn't bring it up though, not unless she wants to talk about it."
Maddie was going to let her aunt know that she was there for her, but that's all she would say to Regina about that situation. She wished she could make things better for her aunt, but there wasn't really anything she could do. "I'm going upstairs to lie down. Wake me if something happens."
The sun was setting by the time they rescued August and brought him back to the Charming's apartment. Snow and David went to pick up their son at Granny's diner, while Emma was in the kitchen preparing a cup of tea. Henry flipped through his storybook as August slept on the couch nearby.
The front door opened a bit and Regina stuck her head in, surveying the room. She sighed with relief when she saw August's sleeping form. She shut the door and headed towards Emma. "We're lucky he's okay."
"It wasn't luck. You got us that message. Thank you," Emma said as she stirred her tea.
Regina shuffled uncomfortably before looking back up at Emma. "I need your help with something."
Emma stilled her stirring motion for a moment and gave Regina her undivided attention. "What is it?"
She took a deep breath before she began to explain. "I had a dream earlier. Robin came back and we were finally together. But then I, the Evil Queen, showed up with a fireball in her hand."
"I may not be Archie but it sounds like you're afraid of the villain you were and the villain you might become again," Emma said softly not wanting to upset the brunette.
Regina shook her head. "No, I don't think that's it. In my dream, I don't think the Evil Queen was there to hurt Robin. I think she was there to protect him." Regina's smile was bigger than Emma had ever seen. She could tell Regina really loved and missed Robin.
"From what?" Emma asked.
"I don't know." Regina looked down at her hands before lifting her head back up. "I just felt it."
Emma was a bit skeptical of Regina's 'dream' but she didn't say anything to discourage what Regina was feeling. "You used to track people for a living." Regina spoke up. "Do you think you could, maybe, get me a phone number? A way to contact him? Anything?" She asked hopefully.
Emma was a little surprised by her request but she was more than willing to help. "Yea, I can do that."
"Thank you." Regina's smile was full of gratitude.
"Regina?"
Regina turned around and saw Maddie standing at the bottom of the stairs pushing the hair out of her face and rubbing her sleepy eyes. Regina's eyes grew wide with surprise as her jaw dropped open. She turned to look at Emma who said, "She came back this morning."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Regina raised her voice in annoyance. But before she could scream at the blonde any further, she felt arms around her waist.
She turned back around to hug Maddie tightly. Henry and Emma were smiling at the pair. The two were finally happy.
"I've missed you so much." Maddie cried into Regina's shoulder.
Regina cradled her niece's head as her own tears began to spill over. "I'm so happy you're back."
Maddie looked up at her aunt. "I want to stay. I want to stay with you."
Those words were like music to her ears. "You can." Regina smiled at her. "Why did you leave?"
Henry hated to break up their reunion, but August was beginning to wake up. "We'll fill you in later, mom. You guys should come over here."
They hurried over to where August lay on the sofa. He saw Regina and instantly tensed. "What is she doing here?"
"She's fine," Emma promised.
"August," Regina said kneeling down. "We need to talk about how I'm going to keep my cover with Gold and the others. The only reason I was able to come here was because they think I'm here to steal this page." She held up a page from Henry's book with a door on it.
"Wait, you're going back with those people?" Maddie asked a little shocked.
Regina grabbed her hand. "Madeleine, I have to. We have to stop them." She turned back to August. "We didn't find the door in the Sorcerer's mansion."
"That's because it's not there."
"What?" Henry asked confused, but not as confused as Maddie. She only got a brief update on what was happening with finding this Author. She knew nothing about a door.
"But you said you didn't know where it was. And your nose didn't grow." Regina countered.
"My nose didn't grow because I wasn't lying." He explained. "I didn't know where Henry was keeping this page." He pointed to the page in Regina's hand.
No one knew why that would matter. He sat up a little more. "This isn't just an illustration. This is the door. The Author is trapped inside the book."
Emma looked directly at Regina. "What do we do now? What are you going to tell the others?"
"Let me think for a minute, Emma." Regina stood and put her hands on her hips trying to decide how to proceed with this information. She grabbed the page off the table and looked at it. "I don't understand how The Author is trapped inside the book."
"You're the magic expert." Emma looked at Regina expectantly.
"Mom." Henry stood looking at both of his mothers who went on with their conversation as if he wasn't there.
"This is insane." Regina continued to complain. "What are we supposed to do? Draw a key?"
"Whatever it is, we have to figure it out before Gold does," Emma said seriously.
"MOM!" They both looked over at their son.
"What is it?" Regina asked looking over to him. Henry sat down next to August who was lying still lying on the couch, but unconscious.
"There's something wrong with the puppet." Maddie said as she poked the guy. "He's not waking up."
"August?" Emma began to shake him gently, trying to coax him awake. "We need to get him help."
Regina knew just where to take him. She transported all of them to the Blue Fairy hoping she could heal him. As the Blue Fairy explained to them how Pinocchio could recover from this, Regina was receiving texts left and right. "We have a bigger problem," She told Emma.
They left The Blue Fairy and August in one of the rooms and began walking down the hallway. "Gold and these other witches are expecting me. They sent me on a mission to get that page from the book and if I show up empty handed, whatever suspicions they have of me will be confirmed."
Emma smiled. "Then give them this." She held out her hand and produced an exact replica of the page in question.
Maddie smirked. "Someone's been practicing."
It was Maddie's way of a compliment, but Emma was happy nonetheless. Regina grabbed the paper from Emma's hand and looked at it skeptically. "A forgery? This is Gold we're talking about."
"Then pull out and we will protect you." Emma crossed her arms slightly annoyed. She didn't want Regina going under cover just like Henry and Maddie didn't.
"But we still don't know what they're up too." Regina protested. "It's a bigger risk not to know." Regina's phone went off again as she handed the page to her niece. "That's them wondering where I am."
"The forgery looks pretty decent," Maddie said looking over the two pages side by side.
"It's not good enough for them," Regina tried to explain. "But maybe we need a different kind of copy." Regina held up her phone and took a picture of the page.
"Since Gold and these withes don't know that that's the real door, hopefully it will keep them on a wild goose chase for a little bit," Maddie said trying to lighten the mood.
"Hopefully it's enough time for us to figure this all out before they do." Emma tiredly ran her fingers through her hair.
Regina looked over at Henry and Maddie. "I have to get going."
"But I just got back." Maddie argued. "Don't go yet."
Regina gave her a sad smile. "I have to figure out what they're up too. But when I get back, we need to talk."
Maddie looked away, clearly bothered that her aunt was leaving so soon. Regina knew the kids wanted her to stay, but she had to stop these villains. Regina wrapped her arms around both of them, squeezing tight. She held on a little longer than usual. "Mom." Henry rolled his eyes, but Maddie was enjoying the hug.
Regina backed away. "I'm sorry. I just don't know when I'll see you two again." She noticed their startled faces. "But don't worry, I'll be fine."
Regina looked to Emma and began explaining how long to wait before she would be contacting the blonde again. Henry leaned over and whispered to Maddie, "You should tell Regina now."
"About Gold?" Maddie questioned to which he nodded. "No way. This isn't the right time. She's about to leave."
"When will be the right time?" Henry whispered loudly. "She's going back to Gold anyway so let her be mad doing it."
"I'm not telling her now," Maddie said firmly.
"Tell who what?" Emma questioned as the adults turned their attention to them.
Maddie looked between the both of them but nothing came out of her mouth. It was Henry who spoke up. "Gold's the reason as to why Maddie left."
They both looked to Maddie for the rest of the explanation. "What?" Regina questioned with a darkened look on her face. The teenager sighed, knowing her aunt was going to be angry. "I think he slipped me a potion of sorts to make my skin turn green because I became super jealous of your and Henry's relationship."
Regina's face grew harder as her eyes filled with murder. She had already disappeared in a puff of purple smoke before anyone could stop her.
"This isn't good," Emma said once the smoke dissipated.
"What do you think she's going to do?" Henry questioned with a concerned look on his face.
Maddie sighed. "She's unpredictable." The two others nodded in agreement before they all began walking to the front door.
Regina stormed into the cabin where Maleficent, Cruella, and Rumple were waiting anxiously. "Finally!" Cruella exclaimed.
"Where's the page, Regina?" Maleficent asked, getting right down to business.
Regina shook her head as she eyed the Dark One. "You sent my niece away."
Rumple was unmoved by her accusatory tone. "Regina, if you didn't get the page-"
"This isn't about the page, Rumple!" She yelled. "You made Madeleine think she was becoming like her mother and made her a scared, confused girl! You slipped her a potion, one that made her turn green with envy."
He shook his head. "We don't have time for this."
"Did you do it, Rumple?" Maleficent asked from behind him. She hated people who stole children away from their parents, and in this case, an aunt.
"Even if I did, there's no proof." Rumple confidently said.
Regina clenched her fists as she walked a few steps towards him. "We don't need proof to know you played a part in her leaving. You always have a hand in everything around here."
"Who cares about the little brat." Cruella rolled her eyes. "Did you get the page or not?"
Regina would have to deal with Rumple later, for she still had to keep up appearances. "No, it was under a protection spell that was cooked up by the Savior. She almost caught me trying to break it. I had to flee."
"Are you sure that's what happened?" Rumple asked skeptically.
Regina glared at him for a moment trying to suppress her rage. "Of course I'm sure."
Rumple folded his hands together. "It's just, you've been gone an awfully long time." They all advanced a bit.
"That's because my niece came back." Regina snapped. "Am I not allowed to talk to her?"
"Not if she interferes with our plans." Rumple shot back.
"Well if you didn't send her away, I wouldn't have to spend so much time catching up with her." Regina huffed as she dug in her pocket for her phone. "I was able to get a picture."
Cruella snatched the phone out of her hands and scoffed. "You can't see anything with that glare." She handed the phone to Rumple who studied the picture for a minute. "No, that's not a glare. That's magic."
Regina frowned knowing their 'hopeful' advantage had just come to an end. Rumple knows. "This door has been sealed by it. This is the door we've been looking for."
"You think the Author is trapped inside an illustration?" Maleficent questioned making sure she was following Rumple's odd theory. "You mean-"
"The Sorcerer imprisoned him in the book," Rumple finished. Regina pursed her lips as they all figured it out. She mentally kicked herself for not taking Emma's forgery. "We need to get it. Bring us the page." He told Regina.
Regina's glare at the Dark One didn't falter. "That won't be easy, imp," She angrily said, still bitter about him forcing Maddie to leave her. "The Savior and the rest of them won't let it out of their sight."
"Don't worry about them," Maleficent said from behind Regina. "I have just the thing." Regina turned and looked at the dragon skeptically, trying to figure out what her plan was.