It started as an accident. She'd never meant to call up the memories of the looking glass in the hall, but they had played for her, nevertheless. All reflective surfaces, even window glass seemed capable of preforming this task.

It was Genie that told her of the possibility of opening a portal in a mirror large enough to pass through, something that he couldn't help her with, since he didn't have any more power over mirrors than she did with flying or shape shifting.

It was far harder than gaining control of any of the magic they'd discovered this far, but once she'd leaned how to send little objects through one castle mirror to the other, and even to other places, she began to notice just how many mirrors were connected. Some had more limited ranges than other, but the others… strange glimpses hinted that some of the mirrors might even be connected to other realms.

She raced through the streets, to Aladdin's hovel, and up the stone steps. He was sitting straight up, staring at the entryway when she came in. "I'm sorry, I just needed to speak to Genie."

Aladdin gestured to the lamp that lay nestled into a pillow on the other side of the room, then rolled over, to try to get some more sleep. The sun was barely up yet, but she needed advice.

She tapped on the lamp softly. "Genie?"

When Abu stirred, she lifted the lamp from the pillow, and made her way outside, where she would disturb anyone else's slumber. She called again, softly. "Genie?"

This time, the lamp shook, and blue smoke poured from the spout, forming the man she sought mid yawn. He smiled down at her. "Mornin' Mel. What's the problem?"

Poor Genie. Even free, his friends were constantly rubbing the lamp, needing help. "I'm sorry to wake you. I just… I may have discovered a way to find Bae!"

"Really? That's phenomenal! Of course you had to talk about it. Whatch'a got?"

She showed him the hand mirror that Jasmine had lent her, and used it to search through portal openings. "There. That's Wonderland. Hardly a land without magic, but if I could just find some clue as to where he went…"

"Something's bothering you."

She nodded. "Rumple. Do I tell him? Or not? He doesn't even know I have magic."

"Well…" He hesitated.

"Go on, please. I'd hardly have woken you up if I hadn't needed to hear your advice."

He chuckled, pointing to her necklace. "First things first, just use that next time."

She shrugged, felling sheepish. "I didn't want you to think it was an emergency."

He put his hands on his hips. "Not hardly. You wouldn't consider an army of firecats a big enough emergency to call me."

"Huh?"

"Never mind, long story. Second things second; have you actually used the portal yet?"

"Personally? No."

"Well, in that case, my advice to you is to test the waters before telling your brother anything. If you actually find a way to get him to his son, then you've got to tell him. But I'm afraid you've overlooked one ency little detail."

"What?"

His voice was gentle. "Bae went to a land without magic. So, chances are…"

She sighed. "I couldn't use magic to open a portal to get there."

"Well, no. Because he got there somehow. But if you couldn't use your magic to get back, it would be a one way trip."

"That wouldn't matter, so long as we could just find him. It's already been so long…"

He pulled her close for a hug. "I didn't mean to kill your momentum like that. It's great, really great! And it'd have to be a help. Let's see what we can do, and if he hit a dead end, or even just a snag, well, your brother ought to be fairly willing to help us out. Right?"

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*.

As it turned out, Genie was wrong. They waited until she'd successfully opened up a few portals that both of them had been able to step through, before they went to her brother to offer more help.

To her surprise, Rumple didn't get nearly as excited as Genie had. But perhaps his disappointment in her for hiding her magic for so long just disguised the fact. Then again, maybe stepping out of the mirror in the main dining hall of the dark castle had been too much of a shock. Not that he acted surprised to see her.

"We've already started looking. I can only scan so fast, but with a little luck, maybe I'll find something that will let us know which realm he's in."

He'd already gone back to spinning. "That information would hardly serve my purpose."

She sighed, exasperated. "But, Rumple, you could finally go after him!"

"To a land without magic? With no way to return? I don't think so."

"But it's Bae." Why did he have to be like this?

"Yes. And I'll be reunited with him. I found that seer again. I must enact a curse."

"But, there's another way now! You don't have to wait to get all your ingredients for the curse! If we can just find out where he went…"

"That's a pretty big if. The seer told me that I will find my boy, after enacting the curse."

"But you're doing it because she told you to in the first place! Yes, that will be your future if you choose to follow it. But it's not the only way…"

"I won't risk losing my son!" His eyes sparked, and she realized that she was implying that he could have ignored the seer that night before the battle as well. Her heart swelled, caught up in that moment that he'd returned, fight going out of her as she remembered how excited he'd been, to have a chance to go to war, to prove to everyone that he wasn't a coward, because he'd felt he'd needed to. Maybe he had. At that point, everyone, himself included was certain of it. Everyone but her. Her brother hadn't been born a coward; he'd become one after the war.

But nothing would ever compel her to utter those words out loud. "What do you need then?"

"Excuse me?"

"I'm here to help, Rumple. What do you want me to do."

He finally looked up, looking from her to Genie. "I can handle finding my son. There wasn't anything in the vision about you."

"But…"

"You're safer in Agrabah." The words were barely mumbled as the wheel stopped spinning, but she'd heard them, and she knew that he meant them.

"I'm safe here. It was a mistake, Rumple. And it got you closer to finding Bae, so it was worth it." She smiled at Genie. "Every second."

Just that quickly, the new Rumple was back. "Ah, yes. That little matter. I suppose you two think that you've found 'twoo wov'? Well, who said you could fall in love with her, genie? I don't think you have the right bargaining power for that kind of deal"

She blinked as Genie grew in size, fists clenched. "Before you go throwing that word around, you might want to think twice."

Rumple scoffed. "Because you think you can beat me?"

"No. Because of what she is."

Her brother looked at her again, and, this time, he really looked at her. Pain and regret flashed before a small smile appeared, and he allowed himself a display of something he'd forbidden himself; love.

It was all the encouragement she needed. In an instant, she was in his arms, healing flowing between them that wasn't from any of their magic. "I'm sorry about Belle."

"So am I, Little One." He pulled back, mask firmly in place, but there was still a glint of something in his eye that had been missing for a long time.

Genie was back to his normal size, looking pleased with the turn of events.

Rumple frowned, as if he needed to counteract the affection he'd just revealed with some more callousness. "I suppose something could be arranged…"

Genie slapped himself in the face, but she just smiled. "There's nothing to arrange, Rumple, because you don't own me."

He frowned at her. "I'm your benefactor." Another word she didn't like.

She kept her voice gentle anyway. "You're my brother, and you raised me. But you did give up the right of guardianship. Actually, if anyone owned me, it would be Genie, but he gave me back my freedom, twice over. So you're the one without a bargaining chip."

"Still, this girl means a lot to me, and I know you mean a lot to her, and she really ought to mean a lot to you. So how 'bout it? Do we have your blessing?"

His blessing? Her heart fluttered. That almost sounded like… but, he hadn't asked…

The look on her face stopped whatever retort her brother was about to spit out. "All I ask, is that you take good care of this girl. Whatever the future brings."