Chapter 36: Another Curse
Regina and her levitating stone sister walked through the portal and saw Jafar's undead army still waiting in the castle. Regina used her powers to consume them all in magic purple smoke and transport them back to Wonderland. The rest of the group then arrived through the time portal.
"What are we doing here?" Robin Hood asked.
"I had to take care of Jafar's army and free the Dark One." Regina said.
Regina then used her magic to turn Zelena back to her original green skinned self.
"Give me my pendant!" Zelena shouted.
Regina waved her arm at Zelena and magically immobilized her.
"Now you know how it feels." Regina said.
Regina then took the Dark One's dagger from Zelena and walked over to Rumplestiltskin in his cage.
"You're not her pet anymore." Regina said.
She then opened the cage and allowed Rumplestiltskin to walk free. He did not thank Regina, but instead walked hastily up to Zelena with a ball of magic fire on his palm. Regina used the dagger and stopped him from moving.
"No." Regina said.
"She took Belle and Bae somewhere I'll never find them!" Rumplestiltskin said. "I need to make her talk."
"I said no." Regina repeated. "How many lives have we taken trying to get what we want? It's time for us to do something else."
"You can't be serious." Rumple said.
"I am." Regina said. "It's taken my entire life to figure out that villains don't get happy endings. We have to be heroes if we want to see our children again. You won't be harming Zelena. I have a plan to make all of this right. You'll see your son again and I'll see mine."
"What's this plan of yours?" Alice asked.
"Henry is still a young boy and I'm still his mother. I'm still going to raise him and be there for him and I can't do that here. The Enchanted Forest is our home, but it's not his. He doesn't belong here. He belongs in Storybrooke with his family and friends, including all of you." Regina said.
"What are you saying?" Cyrus asked.
"I'm saying that I have unlimited power and I'm going to use it to undo Pan's curse and re-create Storybrooke. Then I'm going to be mayor again and raise my son and I'm taking you all with me." Regina said.
"Marian and I have never been to Storybrooke." Robin Hood said. "Can we not simply stay here with our son?"
"Henry needs all of the Storybrooke community in order to be happy." Regina said. "My son's happiness is nonnegotiable."
"We're not part of the Storybrooke community." Robin said. "Why would you bring me and my family to this new land?"
"I said its nonnegotiable." Regina repeated.
"What about us?" Alice asked.
"Storybrooke is a much better place to raise a baby than Wonderland or Agrabah." Regina said.
"I'm not from Wonderland." Alice said. "I'm from England and I want to raise my daughter there."
"Too bad." Regina said. "Nonnegotiable."
"Undoing the curse would only create Storybrooke." Rumple said. "It wouldn't make Henry and Emma remember you."
"Yes it would." Regina said. "Undoing Pan's curse means undoing every part of it. Everyone will return to Storybrooke and Henry will remember me."
"You can't be this selfish Regina." Robin said.
"Storybrooke will be a new beginning for all of us. We can all be together and we can raise our children." Regina said.
"My son belongs here." Robin said.
"My son doesn't, so that's the way it is." Regina said. "Now be quiet. Having ultimate power means I can break the laws of magic. I don't need any ingredients or the thing I love most to use the curse to bring us all to Storybrooke, but I need to concentrate."
Regina then magically paralyzed everyone, so she could focus. Regina held her arms up to the sky and concentrated on Henry. Soon, a magic gray and purple smoke swiftly erupted out of her hands and started to fill the room. Rumplestiltskin recognized this as the smoke created by the Dark Curse that will transport them all to Storybrooke. It took less than a minute for the smoke to completely fill the room. From there,the smoke escaped through the windows and proceeded to cover all of the Enchanted Forest and take everyone to a land without magic.
Neal, Belle, Snow, and Charming sat in Neal's apartment in New York City trying to figure out a way to make Emma and Henry remember, but they couldn't do it. For the past thirty minutes they sat saying nothing. There didn't seem to be anything left to say. Snow tried to remain positive, but she had failed in her mission. They all sat and let the quiet consume them.
Meanwhile, Emma and Henry sat in their apartment on their couch, eating popcorn, and watching a film together. Emma was enjoying the film and thinking about why Neal showed up earlier. She didn't even give him a chance to explain. Her head suddenly started to hurt. She put her hand to her head and thought she may have a fever. Then, Emma started to remember. She remembered Storybrooke. She remembered her parents. She remembered Peter Pan and she remembered Neal.
"Henry." Emma said.
"I remember." Henry said.
"Neal was here earlier. He's probably in his apartment. We have to go." Emma said.
Emma and Henry then got up from the couch and started to walk towards the door, but they couldn't make it out of the apartment before a magical cloud of purple smoke consumed them and transported them away. In Neal's apartment, a cloud of purple smoke consumed everyone and brought them away as well.
The next thing Emma saw after the smoke cleared was Mr. Gold's store in Storybrooke.
"Emma." Mary Margaret said.
Emma turned around and saw her parents, Belle, and Neal. She couldn't contain her joy and went to go hug them all. After Emma and Henry hugged everyone, Regina arrived in her signature puff of purple smoke.
"You stopped Zelena?" Belle asked.
"Yes." Regina said.
"How?" David asked. "Glinda said only light magic could defeat the Wicked Witch."
"Well she wasn't entirely correct." Regina said.
"So how'd you do it?" Neal asked.
"Wait." Emma said. "Who's Zelena and how are we all back in Storybrooke? I thought the curse brought you all to the Enchanted Forest."
"It did." Regina said. "We got back to the Enchanted Forest and my half sister Zelena had taken over my castle. My mother gave her up and Zelena's been jealous of me ever since. She teamed up with Jafar to cast the three genies spell and have enough power to go back in time to kill Snow White's mother. Cyrus was released from his genie curse and became human again, but someone else had to take his place and that was Hook."
"Hook's a genie now?" Emma asked.
"Let me finish." Regina said. "Zelena found Hook's bottle and Jafar had the other two. It's a really long story. I can fill you in on the specifics later, but the short version is that I took Zelena's pendant and now I'm the most powerful woman in all the realms. Our pasts are secure and Jafar is trapped in the past either unconscious or dead. We left in a hurry and we couldn't be sure, but everything is back to the way it was so leaving Jafar in the past clearly hasn't changed anything. I used Zelena's power to undo Pan's curse. I re-created Storybrooke, brought everyone back, and gave you both your old memories."
"Is Zelena dead?" Mary Margaret asked.
"No." Regina said. "She has no more magic and she can't hurt anyone. After the curse brought us all back here, she tried to take the Dark One's dagger again so I turned her into a statue and put her in my vault as punishment. We don't need to be afraid of her anymore. Oh and Belle, take the dagger. It's my way of apologizing for everything I've done to you."
Belle accepted the dagger and Regina's apology.
"I told you mom." Henry said. "You are a hero."
Regina and Henry shared a long hug.
"What are you going to do with Zelena's pendant?" Belle asked.
"Hook's still in a genie's bottle in Wonderland. I'm going to use my power to go there and free him. Then the genies spell will be lifted and Zelena will only be as powerful as she was before she cast the spell with Jafar, who will also lose his special powers and be permanently stuck in the past. Then, I'll put it in my vault where it'll be safe. First we're having a celebratory lunch at Granny's and I expect you all to be there." Regina said.
The group walked towards Granny's Diner. On the way, Mary Margaret stopped to tell Emma and Henry something.
"Emma, I have some news." She said. "You weren't with us in the Enchanted Forest so you don't know."
"What don't I know?" Emma asked.
"I'm pregnant." Mary Margaret said.