4 Months, 1…2…3 Weeks, 3 Days
Once she resolved to go back to the castle she couldn't ignore the fact that Rumple coming after her and killing her was a very real possibility so she promptly blew Lumiere back out, secured him to the saddle and took off. She couldn't go back to Rumple's castle. With Rumple under Zelena's control she imagined she couldn't go back there again, every protection he'd had on it would be easily broken now…if she hadn't already figured out how to break the protection. Probably she had. Probably sealing the candle in her library was her doing. As for the other places, his room, her dungeons, Neal's bedroom…she didn't want to think of that possibility. She preferred to go to her grave believing that he'd done that…and Zelena…Zelena must have…she must have seen it and used it to…
If she thought about it too hard it all unraveled. So instead she focused on what she knew for certain. She couldn't go back to the castle. She couldn't collect the items, the supplies that she and Neal had left there thinking they'd return. In fact, if she followed that line of thinking, when she got back she wouldn't even be able to return home. She nearly broke into tears over the thought of living in the castle again with David and Snow until she realized how ridiculous she was being. Rumple was alive, Neal was…in a state of limbo and possibly… and amid all this she was upset because she'd have to live in a castle! With guards to protect her! With food and shelter even if the company was going to be…she didn't know how they'd respond to what had happened. She had to get back first to figure that out. But she most certainly couldn't stop first at his castle.
The closest village that she found was little more than bricks and mortar, a pitiful reminder that nothing was easily fixed even after months of trying, but it would do. She refused to stay with someone, refused to possibly put them at risk of the Dark One showing up in the middle of the night and murdering an innocent family just to get to her on Zelena's orders. So she used a few of the coins that they'd had left and paid for a stall at a long makeshift stable, the place that it looked like all the town was using with the exception possibly of a couple of hitching posts left in the front of yards and houses.
She didn't sleep.
Her horse did, she recognized the balanced sway that came with it as she huddled herself in the corner, hood up, heart racing, and ready at the slightest inclination to jump back on the beast and run as if her life depended on it…all the while knowing that if he came it would make no difference.
She lay low for a day.
When the sun finally rose, when villagers began to move about, even peer into the stall at the hooded figure sleeping in the barn, she rose too, but didn't leave. She couldn't. Even if she wanted to get back as fast as she could, she knew that there were things she had to do first, things she didn't want to care about but that Rumple and Neal would both scold her for if she didn't. Sometimes the fastest plan wasn't always the best one, and at the moment she needed the best plan. So when the women went out into the fields to gather berries, she followed after them and collected what she'd need for the sad journey home. After all, the others needed to be told what had happened and if she died of hunger on the way, they'd never know. She was able to barter a couple of loaves of bread off the knife that she had left, thinking that if the witch or Rumple caught her a knife would make little difference, though she had to admit that with every passing minute, every hour she spent alive, the fear that she would die by his hands eased and she began to wonder if it was really possible. Part of her didn't believe it was true, the other part of her wondered if she only believed it because she wanted to believe it so badly.
Finally, just before the sun went down, just before she huddled herself up again, she stopped a man walking by the stables and showed him the map, got an exact location of where she was, and with that was able to plot out her journey. Neal had done that part most of the time, it was the one part of this that she hadn't really learned, but she hoped that if she was careful, if she stopped and asked for help, if she stayed where it was crowded, she might just make it back without getting lost.
"Going to hear the Queen's announcement, are you?" the man asked as she secured the map.
"The Queen's announcement?" she questioned.
"Proclamation went out just last week carried by the fairies, lovely to see them again, of course they carry news the fastest, but then there is-"
"What," she shook her head and stopped the old man from launching into what she was sure would have been wonderful and interesting stories if she'd hadn't a second to waste. "What proclamation? What-what is the Queen's announcement?" Did they know already? Had Rumple gone to the castle to find her?!
"Well that's why they want people to gather isn't it? To hear the announcement! You're a bit early though aren't you? It'll take you a good two weeks to get there but the news won't be shared for another month so that everyone has time to arrive!" No. They wouldn't tell the world about their troubles with Zelena and even if they did why would they wait a month to do it?! The announcement was unrelated to what had happened in the mountains days ago…or at least as far as any of them knew.
Which was why, before the sun rose the next morning, but just as the first rays were starting to lighten the sky, she took off. There was no reason not to. She couldn't hunt but she had bread and water and berries, and Neal had taught her to forage well enough, there was no reason to waste time. Rumple wasn't coming. And deep down she felt foolish for ever thinking he might have been. With or without his mind, his heart belonged to her, and she was confident that Neal loved her to some degree just as she loved him. Neither of them were capable of hurting her even if they were ordered to. She could be safe, she was safe from them! But that didn't mean that she was safe from Zelena and it certainly didn't mean that the rest of the Enchanted Forest was safe from both of them.
On she went, following the map, galloping through the forest. She ran the horses she rode ragged, galloped until they couldn't gallop anymore then let them walk, whenever she came upon a town she traded the poor beasts, with their shaky exhausted legs, for a new stronger horse, then started to gallop again. When she needed to sleep, she slept. When she woke up, she rode. When she was hungry she ate, when she ran out of food she foraged, when her legs felt numb and tired from riding a horse so long…well, she ignored that in favor of time.
"A good two weeks" the man had said it would take to get back. She caught sight of the castle only eleven days later. There on the hill she felt her stomach turn over. There was no telling how they felt about her now, about Neal. The last time they'd seen them had been over a month ago before they'd left and both of them had known just how against making this trip they were. She didn't know what they'd think of her when she first arrived, but she knew that it probably wouldn't be good by the time she finished weaving the tale. She didn't want to do this, but still, whether she liked it or not, it had to be done.
Before she could lose her fervor, before her courage could fade she kicked at the horses belly and took off for the castle. It drew closer and closer with every thunderous step the horse took, but she managed to keep her eye firmly placed on her destination until something from above distracted her, until something made her pull on the reins to stop the horse. Even over the pounding of the hooves she'd heard it, a small snap had echoed through the empty forest, and branches shuffled as one tumbled down from the top of the tree canopy to the brown ground below. A branch. No, she'd heard that, but that hadn't been the sound that had stopped her in her tracks and made her feel sick to her stomach. Her eyes traveled up, up into the trees until she found the source of the all too familiar screech she'd heard.
A monkey with wings.
Two of them to be exact, looking down at her with curious eyes. The witch, spying on her. It wasn't a good sign, she didn't know how long it would take for them to alert her to what had happened, to inform her she was back and about to tell Regina and Snow and David about what she'd done, but she knew she couldn't stop now.
They watched her, their devilish eyes never left her horse as they stared down at her. Why they didn't bother to attack her now she wasn't sure, but she knew that if she raced ahead it wouldn't matter. There was cover close enough, she just had to get there. "Go," she said drawing Neal's hood up over her head, but her voice only came out as a tiny whisper. No, she couldn't have come this far just to fail in the end! So she swallowed her fear down, grabbed the reins tightly, snapped them, kicked, and managed to yell "Go! Now! Go!"
The horse took off like a bullet, going faster than she knew it was possible for the beast to go, all the while she urged him on, trying to make him go faster, but just couldn't bring herself to look back. Only forward. Only toward the castle. Protected shelter! For all she knew the monkeys weren't coming after her at all and were there to spy on someone else, though she doubted it and surely didn't let the idea that she wasn't in danger cross her mind. Any second now the Witch could arrive and any second she'd have reinforcements against her.
The castle grew larger. She could make out windows and doors, she could make out the open gates, the vegetation, budding bushes and plants, finally each individual leaf came into view, early spring berries galore as she flew past guards in a blur. The stable doors were open and the guards were far behind her. She had time to change that. As soon as she stopped in the familiar room she halted the horse and hopped off, pushed the doors closed, catching a glimpse of clear empty sky, and lowering the lock just for extra measure. If the guards continued to chase her then they'd probably catch her. They'd let her go of course but it wouldn't delay her further and right now she couldn't-
"Belle!" a small voice called from behind her.
She spun quickly and noticed for the first time that she wasn't in the stables alone. Roland was perched on one of the stalls as Robin Hood held him in place. The boy had seen her first, and called out for her in delight, while his father just looked like he was in a state of shock! "Belle!" he echoed happily, "you're back!" She wanted so much to be happy to see them, to stop and hug Roland to tell Robin Hood she was good to see him. But there was no time. And if they were shocked to see her, then she needed to remain faceless until she found the right people. She couldn't risk anyone stopping her even to say "hello"! "Where's Neal?" Robin asked as she covered her face. No, she certainly couldn't answer that question.
"Snow White and David, Regina, where is everyone?!" she demanded ignoring his question.
"They're in the Queen's upper tower, where they always go to have private disagreements, there are visitors and…where are you going?!" he demanded as she moved around him, ready to go to the tower and tell them immediately when there was a bang on the doors she'd just sealed. Someone trying to get in, or something trying to get in?
"Go!" she insisted lowering the hood over her face. "Take Roland someplace safe, now! Don't ask questions just do it!" And without turning to see if the message was received she left the barn and quickly worked her way through the castle, up into the tower, the one that they'd used what felt like an eternity ago when everyone had arrived and they found out Zelena had kidnapped an entire town to ensure that she was left alone. Now, thanks to her and Neal, she didn't need to kidnap anyone, just make a certain threat with a unique knife.
She heard them before she saw them, partly because the hood was down over her eyes as she wanted to avoid them facing them for as long as she could. But after a certain point it was useless, her legs carried her into the room, the angry tones Regina had been using died away and she very clearly heard David question "What's this?" in her direction. She'd never wanted to not do something so much in her life. Nevertheless she removed her hood, revealing her identity and what she was sure would be called a frown but was really just a poor attempt to hold back more tears when she thought about Neal.
"Belle!" Snow shouted in surprise.
"Are you okay?" David questioned, looking her over, but still his gaze seemed to hover not on her eyes, but on her face. It wasn't easy to keep news like she had in and clearly he could tell that everything was not "okay". "When you and Neal disappeared we feared the worst," David added making her stomach turn. They'd feared the worst. The worst had happened. She just wondered if they knew what the worst was because she surely hadn't…and neither had Neal.
"We went off to see if we could…revive the Dark One," she admitted carefully, stating what she was sure David had suspected all along. What would she have given to return with Rumple at her side, for him to tell them there was a way the family could all be together again? What would she have given not to fail?
"What happened?!" Regina questioned, looking suddenly interested in business she'd barely been involved in up until this point because she'd been too busy chasing after her sister…if only she'd caught her, found her, taken her magic…if only what had happened hadn't happened.
"Neal was able to resurrect him…at the cost of his own life," she informed them, the words tumbling out of her before she could think of a better way to say them.
"Rumple's alive," she heard Regina remark, but Snow's reaction was what caught her eye.
"Neal's dead!" the Queen managed. She went deathly pale, her jaw dropped, her eyes looked shocked and wide…and sad. It was everything that she felt. She understood.
The lump was back in her throat because she didn't want it to be true, but after what Lumiere had said, about them sharing a body, a brain, she had a brief terrible horrible thought that maybe she needed to not just accept his death, but hope for it. "I think so," she answered honestly.
"To which?" Regina questioned, wanting clarification she didn't realize she had to provide. Was Rumple alive? Was Neal dead?
"Both," she answered sadly, realizing that she really couldn't be sure of anything right now. Yes, Rumple might be alive, but she honestly wasn't sure if she could call his current state living. And no, she didn't know for sure if Neal was dead, but he might be as good as dead and there was really no one she could blame for that other than herself, for not stopping him, for not seeing his desperation sooner! And she wasn't the only one, the glare Regina was giving her at the moment, it was distrusting, and cruel, and hard, and it was probably what she deserved…she and Neal. And they hadn't even heard the worst part yet.
"You see," she explained, "when Rumple saw that Neal was dying he…" what was the word for it? One moment Neal had been there the next he hadn't! The Dark One had taken him into himself and Father and Son were one, and she couldn't think of a single word, or flailing gesture to describe it accurately enough! "Absorbed him," she concluded. "And, um…Zelena got a hold of the dagger!" she blurted out, continuing with the theory that just saying it all at once would make it easier. From the look on every ones face, especially Regina's, that wasn't the case. "Now she controls Rumple," she pointed out obviously.
There were sighs and nervous glances all along the room and movement from a corner, people she hadn't realized were standing there. Philip and Aurora, the visitors that Robin Hood had mentioned. Why were they here? The announcement she'd gotten wind of?
"Maybe now isn't the time to announce the pregnancy," Aurora stated, looking at Snow White. Pregnancy? Someone was pregnant? That was it? The announcement that the fairies had delivered…it was that kind of announcement?! For Aurora? Didn't everyone already know she was pregnant? Her cloak hid it well, but she'd seen her just before she left with Neal without it, it wasn't exactly easy to hide anymore. And besides why was she looking so desperately then at…Mary Margaret. "Regina is right," Aurora went on, "it's too dangerous!"
"No, if we don't we give into fear but if we do we give the Kingdom what they need…hope!" Snow concluded.
"We don't even know what this Wicked Witch wants," David added. Her mind wanted her to talk, to shout at them to come to their senses, that no matter what she wanted if she had Rumple it wasn't going to be good! But she just couldn't stop staring. David and Mary Margaret, Snow White and her handsome prince were pregnant! That's what had happened while they were away?! She supposed that Snow did look like she might have been eating a bit more, stress she would have naturally assumed that came from losing a child, returning a dying Kingdom to its previous thriving state, not to mention having a witch being on the loose in that Kingdom, but pregnant?! How pregnant? She and Neal hadn't been gone that long! Six weeks. Could a woman even know she was pregnant in six weeks without a pharmacy at hand? Could magic have been used to detect it? Was that how they'd gotten the announcement out so fast? Before they left she knew Snow had been planning a trip to see the dwarves and the fairies. Had the Blue Fairy known or informed her in some way? Was that even-
"Actually we do," Aurora's choked voice muttered beside her, bringing her back to the matter at hand and not idol suspicions and theories she could speculate about, or better yet ask her about some other time. Yes, the witch's plans. That was the focus here. Not what David and Snow had been up to while she and Neal had been gone! The witch had been planning something all this time, and by the sound of Aurora's voice it didn't sound good. "She wants your baby," she informed Snow White sadly. There was silence in the room as everyone processed what she'd just said, tried to make sense of it. Zelena wanted…Snow's baby?
"She came to us when you were gone," Philip went on, joining the circle, "threatened us and our unborn child unless we told her when you arrived in our land." She felt her jaw drop. How had Zelena known that they'd arrive back in the Enchanted Forest in the first place? Did Zelena have a way to spy on them in Storybrooke? Across lands? Was that why they'd been "vacationing", as Neal had put it? Had they been there waiting for them this entire time?!
"She thinks your baby could be important. I'm so sorry, she said she'd hurt us," Aurora cried sounding downright terrified.
David took a small step forward, his hand already valiantly on his sword, and she imagined he was about to offer them the same protection here in the castle that had been offered to everyone upon their arrival from Storybrooke, but before he got the chance to speak the words there was a howling wind that whipped around Regina's room, raising the hair on the back of her neck, and making her feel sick. She knew that wind. And she wasn't the only one.
Snow spun around. David drew his sword. Philip pushed a fearful Aurora back. And as everyone took a few steps away from the green monster riding on a broomstick she suddenly realized that Aurora and Philip had every right to fear Zelena. The monkeys had been for them. They hadn't attacked her in the forest because they weren't under orders to spy on her or capture her. They'd been watching Aurora and Philip.
"And I make good on my promises," Zelena assured the pair of them with a falsely kind smile the moment she landed. She waved her hand and sent her broom soaring across the room, then with another wave in the blink of an eye Aurora and Philip were engulfed in a green cloud of magic. When it cleared, where two humans had once stood, there were now two winged primates. Her heart raced, she struggled for breath as her jaw dropped while she watched them exchange frustrated and confused screeches, before taking off into the night. Frightened tears held her in a vice and despite the horror of what she'd just witnessed only one thought crossed her mind. She could turn anyone she wanted into those winged monkeys. Was that what she'd do to Neal? To Rumple? Her family?
"What do you want with our baby?" Snow White demanded, making her look back at Zelena as she tried to get her mind to work, to focus, again!
"Calm down, Sweetie," Zelena insisted in that sweet voice that she'd become accustom to. But she was sick of it, as far as she was concerned Zelena's sweetness was nothing but sour rot! "You don't want to go into early labor!" she mocked.
Snow moved forward but Zelena waved her hand, her stomach turned as she waited for the monkey to appear, as she contemplated if she should run for help because she'd traded her knife…but Snow didn't become a monkey as Aurora and Philip did. She only seemed to freeze, stiff as a board…defenseless.
"Stay away from my wife!" David screamed angrily, drawing his sword and…with another wave the same thing happened to him. Frozen stiff!
"Ooo," Zelena piqued unenthusiastically at him, "someone's testy."
Next to her Regina let out an irritated sigh. She shared her irritation, it was growing just below her panic. For a grown woman Zelena was certainly displaying childish behavior but put a weapon in a child's hands and the child still needed to be handled carefully, not like-
"Enough, sis!" Regina snarled, striding forward. "This is between you and me." But as she held her hand out to wield magic of her own, Zelena froze her too with little effort.
"Now," Zelena stated moving around Regina and David and standing next to the frozen statue of Mary Margaret, "let's see if this was all worth it," she said reaching for the Queen, she could only assume to touch her belly.
She hadn't been frozen like the others, in fact she was certain Zelena had hardly noticed she was there and that was the only thing that was keeping her safe! She wanted to do something, anything, but she truly didn't believe there was anything she could do except make herself seem small and scream for help if Zelena did anything worse than touch. Small step by small step she was making her way out of the room. If things turned violent, with any luck she'd be able to find someone before they got too violent.
"Oh, yes!" she sighed with a happy smile on her face. "Yes it was, this child shall do quite nicely," the witch informed her helpless victim. "So take good care of it for me, don't forget to eat well," Zelena instructed the future mother as if she was planning on adopting the child herself. For all they knew, she was. "I will be back for your happy day and what's yours…will be mine!" the witch vowed with a gleeful laugh.
Too many things happened at once. A wave of Zelena's arm sent her broom rocketing back into her hand. Regina, Snow, and David all took grand motions forward as the spell wore off. And before any of them could raise a hand to the wicked woman, she'd taken off out the window on her broom, winged monkeys following after her as she moved across the sky.
Alright, let's talk about timeline because frankly I probably should have mentioned it before now. As far as the timeline goes for this year...I was flexible with it. Not flexible enough to ruin it, but certainly flexible enough to make everything work together. Yes, I know that in 3x15 Belle and Neal go on their journey "one year earlier" but I'm assuming that isn't so much specific as it is relative. Like I said before I have a whole 12 months to fill up and they only gave us enough to fill up maybe a week so I stretched and expanded, had Neal and Belle plot and sent them on their little mission in the fourth and fifth month because honestly I think that if I was them and looked back on them I wouldn't say "oh yeah we rescued Rumple nine months ago" I think I'd say "Yeah it was about a year ago." Now, for Snow White, I did the math (don't laugh but I actually keep a calendar for Moments) and I had her get pregnant on the night Belle and Neal left, the night of the ball. So yes, that makes her six weeks pregnant. Aurora...she should be about seven months pregnant here, why she didn't look more pregnant is beyond me, but I figured with her big cloak...eh, it's A&E's problem not mine. More about this in the next chapter A/N because there is more about the pregnancy that isn't time line related. See you there!
Thank you to Kathryn Claire O'Connor, Meredith Pechta, Kagi-chan2, Raizen Yusuke, Deweymay, Agent66, and Skitzoeinhoven for your reviews of the last chapter. I know, it's terribly sad and I'm only going to make it worse. I'm terrible, but I promise the bad stuff will pay off. I think you will like what is in store for this rag tag group of heroes when all is said and done. Remember, I'm aiming to make them a strong family without Henry, all on their own. Which means that I've got to really tear them apart first. Peace and Happy Reading!