"Very interesting," Zelena said as she looked in her magic mirror.
She had seen two people come out of the portal that her pet monkey, Walsh tried to open. She remembered their faces, although somewhat older, of Snow White and Prince Charming whom her dear sister Regina tried to vanquish.
Regina never did have the killing instinct when it came to her step-daughter. She could have easily killed her many times but always held back on delivering the killing blow. Maybe the same reason Regina could never kill Snow White was the same reason why Zelena could not kill Regina. There was still a tie there, a connection. She could however, make her really unhappy. She went down to her dungeon of a castle that she took over from some royal she killed long ago and unlocked one of the doors.
Zelena stepped into the prison that held her sister. Her sister was lying on a raised dais on her back with her hands crossed and resting on her waist in quiet repose. Zelena put Regina under a sleeping curse but one that would allow the cursed one to be aware and hear what was going on around them as if they were frozen and couldn't move. It was one of the worst sleeping curses imaginable. What could be a worse fate than being trapped inside your own body? The only bonus of the sleeping curse is that the cursed one didn't age so Regina looked the same as the day she was cursed while Zelena aged.
"Regina, you wouldn't believe what I saw today," Zelena said excitedly.
Regina lying there would have said, if she could, "I'm sure I couldn't possibly care less."
"Snow White and her Prince Charming are back!" Zelena taunted. "Remember I told you that their darling little girl was taken out of hiding and is to wed Prince Killian of Alleland? Well, they are back just in time for the wedding, to celebrate a happy day! Isn't that wonderful, sis?"
Regina was enraged but it didn't register on her face. Zelena knew it though deep down how angry she would have been had she been awake.
"Oh, and just in case you were wondering, it wasn't me who brought them back, dearest," Zelena answered with a small grin. "Apparently there is someone with enough magic to bring them back through a magic portal."
"Who?" Regina wondered.
"I don't bloody well know who but I definitely need to find out" Zelena said, talking not to Regina but to herself, her mind spinning its wheels. "It's never good to have a magical do-gooder hanging around, nor is it good to have another villain."
Regina in her mind was screaming, "I need to get out of here! I'm in hell!"
"I have to get back to my voyeurism," Zelena said, "Sorry, I couldn't stay longer this time. You'll just have to find something else to occupy your time. Toodles, sis!"
Zelena left. The sounds of her cackling reverberated through the walls at the joke she made at Regina's expense.
Killian rode his horse long and hard until he reached the North Woods. He alighted from his mount when he reached the place where he had heard the Good Witch resided. It was said that a person with a pure heart could only find where she lived. He walked for a while until he saw branches of a vine that were weaved together forming an arch. It was rather a strange sight to see. He decided to walk under the arch when he found himself in the middle of a luxurious-looking great hall. He looked behind him and saw a door with an arch similar in size to the weaved vines. He walked further into the hall when he heard a voice coming from a woman sitting on a big silver chair at the end of the hall beckoning him closer.
"Prince Killian of Alleland, welcome to my humble abode," the Good Witch of the North said.
"I'm glad to have such a pleasant reception, Good Witch," Killian answered with a deep bow.
"Call me Locasta, please," the Good Witch granted. "What of my services do you require, Prince Killian?"
"I'm here to find my fiancé, Princess Emma," Killian said. "A woman named Milah switched bodies with her and she was transported by the Dark One to who knows where."
Killian looked down feeling anguished and in a voice that was just above a whisper, "I love her and I want her back. A princess named Belle who was forced to be a servant of the Dark One told me you could help."
Killian looked up at her, hoping to see a response in her eyes that would give him what he was hoping for. His desperation must have shown in his eyes because Locasta's eyes softened in sympathy.
"Of course I can help," Locasta reached out to take his hand. Killian put his hand in hers and she waved her hands producing a mirror. "Concentrate on your love."
He closed his eyes and remembered how he felt when she was with him. Not just her image but what he could feel of her spirit, her essence. He channeled the love he felt for Emma into Locasta's hands as she tried to conjure an image. He opened his eyes to see an image of Milah who was really Emma in the mirror with three other people. One of the two men he didn't recognize but the other one he knew he had seen him before. Then his gaze went to the other dark haired woman and realized it was Snow White and Charming. Emma's parents! He was paralyzed with fear at the thought of Emma in another realm where he couldn't get to her. He looked closely and gathered from the setting that they were back in their abandoned castle in the Enchanted Forest. Her parents came back from the other realm!
"I can't believe it," Killian stared at their images with disbelief. "Snow White and Charming, they're back in the Enchanted Forest!"
"So it would seem," Locasta said also incredulous at what she was seeing. "Emma is the product of true love so it's possible she has magic, she probably brought them back."
"I need to get to her," Killian said. He saw Emma's hand on the shoulder of the stranger trying to comfort him. He felt an irrational pang of jealousy. He reminded himself that Emma had a kind, compassionate nature that probably wanted to help a stranger. He had a strong urge to leave right away.
"Thank you, Locasta. Belle gave me this to give to you as a token of appreciation."
He took the box with writing on it out of his satchel and handed it to her.
"There was no need to give gifts but it would be rude of me to refuse," Locasta commented accepting the gift.
Killian thought that was strange and he felt uncertain of leaving that in her hands considering it was from the Dark One's castle, but he dismissed it because it came from Belle.
"Just let me know if you found your princess, Prince Killian," Locasta asked.
"I'll be back to let you know," Killian said. He left her great hall to walk under the arch and he was back in the North Woods again. He mounted his horse and rode towards the Enchanted Forest.
As soon as Killian left, Locasta peered at the box. She waved her hand over it to open the box and all of a sudden something sucked her into the box. While the box was sucking the magical being of the Good Witch of the North Woods into the box, it was also expelling something out from the other side of the box. It was another magical being, a genie.
The great hall of the Witch of the North Woods disappeared and it was a forest once more. The genie glanced around, happiness etched in his face because he was free. He didn't care where he was; only that he was relieved of being outside that box. He started to run and stretch his legs because he hadn't stretched them in years, leaving the box behind.
Then in a poof of red smoke, Rumpelstiltskin appeared and picked up the box.
"Well, that's funny," the Dark One commented to no one. "I didn't know anyone was in there."
He giggled, patted the box and disappeared back to his castle.
"Who are you?" Emma asked the dark haired woman and light haired man.
"I am Snow White of the Enchanted Forest and this is my husband, David," Snow White answered. "Who are you?"
Emma sucked her breath in surprise realizing she was seeing her parents for the first time in fifteen years. Emma started feeling distressed when she grasped that her parents would see her when she was in Milah's body. She wasn't sure if she should tell them she was their daughter until she was back in her body. Their reunion meeting just didn't feel right.
"I'm…" Emma didn't know what to say.
"I guess it wasn't meant to be," Walsh interrupted, rubbing his forehead hard like he was about to come down with a terrible headache.
Emma realized that Walsh was still there and the spell did not work to bring him back home.
"Oh, Walsh, I'm so sorry," Emma said while patting his shoulder. Emma wondered the reason that the spell didn't work for him was because thinking about her parents made the spell work in reverse, bringing them here instead of transport Walsh back to his own land.
"I thought this could work, I was sure the magic portal would bring me back," Walsh exclaimed feeling really upset. "I can't stay here anymore, especially with the Wicked Witch after me."
"The Wicked Witch?" Snow White asked.
David joked, "Try having the Evil Queen after you and maybe she could do you a favor and throw you into a portal and send you back home."
"David, he looks really upset, this is no time for jokes," Snow White whispered to him.
"Right, well, it seems instead of the portal bringing you to your land, it brought us back to our land," David deduced.
"We need to find our daughter," Snow said to Charming. "Do you know of a Princess Emma of the Enchanted Forest?"
"Never heard of her," Walsh answered, still very disappointed and frightened. "But her name is Emma,"
Walsh pointed at Emma.
Her parents looked at her in anticipation. Emma felt comforted that her parents' first task was trying to find her.
"I think I know where she might be," Emma volunteered.
Her parents looked at her eagerly for information about their daughter.
"She is engaged to be married to Prince Killian of Alleland in a couple of months," Emma told them.
"Oh, Killian," Snow White cried, "He was always such a handsome, smart and charming boy."
Charming then added in a deadpan voice, "I guess we are just in time for the wedding."
Emma's heart clenched at the thought of her parents now being able to attend her wedding to Killian. She had felt sad that she had no family or friends, no one she knew, to attend her wedding and now she had her parents. Of course, the only way she would marry him was if she was back in her own body. It just wouldn't feel right being married to Killian in someone else's body, most especially his ex-mistress. Emma was distressed and started twisting the ring that caused the body switch with Milah.
"Is Princess Emma in Alleland?" Snow asked.
"Yes, she lives there," Emma said. At least her body was there. She still was divided whether or not she should tell her parents that she was Emma but in another person's body. They would probably want to know about her life and remembering King Richard's reaction to her upbringing, she didn't want her parents to feel double sorry for her. She never felt so undecided in her life. She knew she would have to tell them eventually.