She gave a violent jerk. The weight that had been on her chest crashed to the floor with a loud thud. All the noises around her set her heart racing as she tried to figure out what was going on...

She was there in the back of the shop. She'd fallen asleep on the cot just like she had every other night, or rather the early hours of the morning. The weight she'd felt on her chest, it had been the book that she'd been reading the night before looking for the magical properties of babies. Some of what she'd read had turned her stomach so much she was surprised that she'd been able to fall asleep. But she'd woken, suddenly, this morning, to…

She scrambled out of the cot and lunged for her purse as she recognized the sound. Her cell phone was ringing. That was the sound that had woken her up. She rummaged quickly until she found it and checked the ID. Her stomach did a drop. David. As happy as she was that they were sharing information with her, none of that information had yet to be good news. So the question now was what was this? Neutral news? Bad news? Worse news?

"Yes?"

"Belle?" David's voice sounded relieved almost. Was that because of desperation? Or just because she'd only just barely managed to answer the phone? "We need your help, we're looking for something." She let the breath that she'd been holding on to out. It was just an ordinary phone call with an ordinary need. No, not ordinary for them. They'd wanted her to find information for them, not an object. Wanting objects from her was normal for everyone except the Charmings.

"What-what are you looking for, exactly?" she stuttered, already glancing around the objects that she had in the back room, expecting that she would see one of them and instantly recognize it as important, that it would answer some question, bring this terror to an end. But nothing stuck out to her.

"Henry's storybook," David breathed. "Is it there?"

She processed the request again, but it made just as much sense to her the second time as it did the first. Henry's storybook? At first she thought that maybe Henry had lost one of the books that she'd given him and they were looking for that. But Henry hadn't been in the shop, there was no chance that he'd left it here. And David didn't sound like he was just casually inquiring about a teenagers lost object but something significant with meaning! But Henry's storybook?! She'd never heard of such a thing, had no idea what they were talking about?

"I'm-I'm sorry," she breathed, "I don't understand. What storybook?" she asked stepping up to the shelves that she'd begun storing all the books on. They were mostly the magic books that he had before, the darker ones that she'd brought from home, and of course the few non-magic ones that had just been here. But nothing that looked like a "storybook".

"It's Henry's," David explained with a sigh. "It's got stories in it, only the stories are our own, Emma's. It's-" David paused and she heard talking in the background, female. Mary Margaret maybe? Emma? "It's brown," he said after a moment, "it has gold trim, and 'Once Upon a Time' written on the cover. Mary Margaret gave it to him during the last curse, it's what he used to get Emma to believe and break the curse. We think it might be able to help us break this one too but we haven't seen it. We figured everything else ended up at the shop, why not Henry's book?"

Why not Henry's book? Well, she knew why not. Because the book sounded as though it was specific to this town, to this realm. Their stories, they weren't stories in their world like they were here-they were real. It was only here that a book with their stories would exist, and she knew enough to be sure that there was nothing in this store like that. Everything here was a relic from their world. Magical, non-magical, important, Rumple's, some belonging to others…she didn't need to look. The book wouldn't be there.

"Have you seen it?" David questioned. "Is it in the shop?"

It was important, she could tell. Finding this book was a priority and she wanted desperately to say that she had seen it, that she had it here in the shop and he could come collect it any time he wanted to. But she couldn't. "I'm sorry," she muttered, "it's not here."

She heard David give a sound like a frustrated sigh. "Are you sure?" he practically begged. But the answer was the same.

"It's not here," she repeated confidently.

"Alright," she could practically see the man pacing back and forth, running a nervous hand over his face as he began plotting the next steps. "We'll figure something out. Just keep an eye out and if you see it let us know."

She promised she would but knew that it was useless. As much as he wanted for her to just be overlooking something she knew the book wouldn't be found in the shop. It was up to them. She placed the phone back in her bag and sat down on the cot again, suddenly she felt the rush of the panic that had woken her up leave her body. It was as if she'd had just enough adrenaline coursing through her to be awake for the conversation, but now that the event had passed, now that the shop was quiet again, she felt as though she'd just gotten up. She felt tired again, her mouth dry, her head spinning, she dropped it into her hands and saw the book that she'd been reading as she'd fallen asleep last night.

She grabbed the book and set it on her knees, trying to unfold the creases that had showed up overnight, marking the place that she'd been. It wasn't one of the darker books, she found those didn't help her much. Probably, she figured, because Rumple had figured out very early on that he couldn't go back in time to undo the terrible moment he'd let Bae go, but had to move forward knowing they could be reunited in the future. The only references to time travel were in the general books, usually a few sentences that were so predictable she practically had them memorized before she read them. There was always a line about its history, who first came up with the idea, the attempts that had been tried since then, usually in chronological succession, the ingredients that they'd used, and finally a long paragraph at the end detailing how time travel was impossible; no one had accomplished it or ever would.

That was why she hadn't been reading about time travel last night. Those entries weren't going to help her, they only told her what they already knew, and right now they needed to know something they weren't sure about, the factor Zelena was counting on: Mary Margaret's child. She was reading about symbols and ingredients again. For once she wished that finding "baby" was more difficult to look for in the books than it had been. But it wasn't. Something from a newborn, fluids, sounds, and, much to her disgust, body parts, were in no short supply. But the meaning behind them...only this basic spell book had something to say about that.

"Children have often been seen as important for conjuring both dark and light magic. They are often seen as a symbol of purity, innocence, rebirth, and beginnings. Though age requirements are rarely given in spells the age of the child could produce different results. The younger the child the better, for this reason practitioners often use the youngest child available for they are the purest. They know no wrong or evil. They are unaffected by gender, class, and race as some small children are. Their futures can be changed with the simple exchange of mother's arms. A child of royal blood can grow into the humblest of paupers under the right influence, and a child of paupers can become the most powerful of Kings.

"Frequently light magic will require a symbol of innocent intentions. Tears, hair, even finger nail shavings are capable of adequately representing the child.

"Dark magic, in contrast, requires a symbol of guilty intentions. Though it is unclear how this works, it is believed that it is not the item taken from the child that is important but rather how the item is acquired, that is how far a practitioner is willing to go to get what they desire. The destruction and maiming of a child, the exchange of innocence for guilt is seen by Universal Eyes to be a terrible thing that stains the soul. To be willing to use these indicates evil intentions which is magic far greater than any item could ever possess or add to a spell. Still, items frequently called for include: a stomach untouched by food, an unblemished heart, a sightless eye…"

She slammed the book shut on her lap. That happened a lot in the little research she'd been able to do after David brought her home last night. She'd arrive at something she just couldn't stomach, put it away for a while wondering how she could ever read such a thing, then return to it later more determined, without emotion, and just get through it. She remembered now. That was what had happened last night. She'd read that very passage but gotten no farther than "the destruction and maiming of a child" before she'd feared for what would come next laid it against her chest to work up her nerve to go on, and fallen asleep. At least she'd made it farther this time, though not as far as she would have liked.

She set the book aside, leaned back on the cot and rubbed her eyes. There was a time she would have fallen asleep reading some heroic or romantic tale, something fascinating that she ate up word for word. And now? Now everything was different. She woke up in the back of a pawn shop, she crossed the street to the public library, that was still not open to the public, to use the shower and change clothes in the tiny apartment, she went to Granny's for her meals, morning, noon, and night, then returned to the store and fell asleep reading things like…this!

The normal life had become abnormal, strange and unfamiliar to her. When was the last time she'd gone home? When was the last time she'd actually slept in their bed and ate something that didn't come from the diner? When was the last time she drove to the supermarket? When was the last time she drove anywhere for that matter?! Her entire life had been contained to Main Street since she'd last used the car to go to the funeral. She supposed it wasn't that long ago but it felt like ages had passed. For all she knew the car had been stolen and was lying in a ditch somewhere. She'd never know it!

She let out a sigh and shook her head, trying to remember there was a reason she was here, a reason she hadn't gone anywhere, that she wasn't staying at the house. Determined not to lose time, or no more than had already been lost she stood and stretched. It was good David had called, woken her when he did. She couldn't just waste time with Zelena on the loose. Normal people had time to waste. She had a witch to foil, a riddle to unravel, and a lover to rescue. David had mentioned they wanted to find the book to help break this curse. She hoped they knew where else to look, where they could find it, and that it would work. Because she knew, somewhere deep down, that nothing would go back to normal, or even their strange version of normal until Zelena was destroyed, and if reading these books had taught her anything, it was that they weren't going to get anywhere until they could figure out what had happened in the last year…no matter how abnormal it might have been.

3x19 only has 2 chapters in it but technically 3x19 and 3x20 make up an entire day so there is more to come. This particular chapter exists for a few reasons. One, because Belle has been using the car but I wanted to show how she didn't notice that Gold had it in the episode. Two, I think it shows Belle's mindset, where she's at what she's thinking. And three, because David said that he called Belle and I kind of wanted to sow that, if only to show how they are keeping their promise and keeping up with her. Beware ya'll, the next chapter, especially if you read ME...it's a killer.

Thank you to Meredith Pechta, Sara K M, Onlyinyourdreams77, Katido, Deweymay, Neferet25, Raizen Yusuke, and Grace5231973 for your awesome reviews. There were something interesting thoughts expressed, a lot of interesting opinions about Whale and Belle. Very, very interesting how everyone runs the gambit. I'm fascinated by how diverse all you, my readers are and yet how awesome! Peace and Happy Reading!