Author's Note: Wow! It was really encouraging to read all the reviews and PM's that came in. Thanks, guys! It helps knowing I'm still writing for SOMEONE out there! :)

FreakingCrazy- To make a Monty Python quote, Andy's "not dead yet!" He can still redeem himself . . . you will be reading something that deals with our favorite dork very soon.

Dream Guardian King Allen-Thanks for another review! Good luck with writing your new story. I look forward to reading it! You all should go and read what he's already put out. I know I will be!

TheSoulMustStandAjar- AHHH THANK YOU! So good to hear that some original fans are sticking with me through the long run. You rock.

ENJOY YOU LOVELY PEOPLE

It was almost time.

The long awaited attack was almost here.

The mission against Cinderella was only a small one. They wanted to make their presence known. Cinderella wasn't even an intended victim. She just fit the criteria.

The small villain task force was just double-checking the standard routine of the target for one last day before they made their move.

It was Gothel's turn to be with Hook again.

Things had been awkward between them since he had tried to get her to open up a while back. And if Gothel could admit it, he had really struck a nerve. Just when she thought that no one could see through her façade, he knew somehow that something about Rapunzel and Flynn bothered her to no end.

And now she was stuck with him again for another day-long shift.

They had managed to stay silent for most of the morning, Gothel only speaking if she was telling him to note something. But when they stopped to take a quick lunch, it was harder to avoid conversation. But Gothel was not going to bring it up. Hook, however, couldn't take the pressure.

"Look, I just wanted to apologize for last time. But in my defense, I was just trying to be a gentlem—"

"You were right." She guessed that she should make it as painless as possible and own up to it.

"What?"

"You spotted it. I was thinking about how happy Rapunzel was and how I wasn't. It made me mad. I spent so many years of my life making sure she was happy. Well, just so I could use her magic, but I never was rude unless I felt the need to, which just happened to be quite often. And now she's happy and I'm in the woods. Single and growing old." She looked at him. "Tell anyone this and I'll make sure the crocodile finishes his meal."

He gulped. "Whatever you say, madam. But just so we're clear . . . friends?"

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever you want to call it."

"Andy . . . " Bonnie started, walking into the kitchen. He was cooking dinner, trying his best to sauté shrimp over the stove.

"Bonnie, can we talk when I'm not handling hot foods?"

She rolled her eyes and shrugged in reluctant agreement, sitting down at the kitchen table and tracing the patterns on the wood with her forefinger, waiting.

After about fifteen minutes, Andy walked over at sat a fork and a plate filled with food on it in front of Bonnie and sat down next to her.

"What's up, kiddo? How was work?"

"Just normal. Did some sorting and organizing in the back."

Andy nodded. "Hey, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about earlier?"

Bonnie shrugged. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but you and Chris are acting weird."

He darted his gaze up at her, his face unchanging but his surprise apparent. "What makes you say that?"

"Well, you guys just don't seem like you do in the letters you've sent me."

"Bonnie, this is real life. Everything that happens in the letters is just some of the most memorable moments. There's a lot of boring stuff that happens in between."

"Does that include never talking to your best friend? Because that's what it seems like."

Andy dropped his fork into his plate. "Look, something happened and I just needed some time to think about it. I forgave Chris, but I told him it would be awhile until we could go back to normal."

"Okay, then. Tell me what happened."

"I don't think I should."

"Why not?"

Andy raised his eyebrows. "It's not really your business, Bonnie."

"But Andy, this is hurting you. And that is my business."

He looked at her, sad. "He saw Alice when she was leaving and he knew why and he never bothered to tell me."

"Why?"

Andy wasn't expecting that. "What?"

"Why? He had to have a reason."

He was quiet for a minute. "He said that he promised Alice because she said that it was best that I didn't know and that she just needed sometime for herself, which apparently meant not telling me."

Bonnie picked at her broccoli. "So . . . are you mad at Alice?"

He sat still. "I guess I didn't really think about that. But yeah, I guess I am."

"Why?"

He sighed, like he was telling something that he really didn't want to tell. "She left me . . . purposefully. And she expected me to just do without her for a while. No explanation, no messages telling me that she's okay. Nothing."

"Okay, so you're mad at both Alice and Chris, right?"

"Didn't we already go over this?"

Bonnie shoved a shrimp into her mouth. "No need for the sass. Just answer the question."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Bonnie, I feel like I'm repeating myself."

She reached for the salt. "That's the point."

"Well, I'm mad at Alice for leaving and I'm mad at Christopher for keeping the secret from me."

"Okay, so here's what I'm hearing. From my perspective." She gestured with her fork. "You're mad at your girlfriend for leaving so that she can spend some time sorting things out from something that happened that's really bothering her, and you're mad at your best friend for respecting her wishes of what she apparently thinks is best for you."

He paused, mouth open. "When you put it like that, it makes me feel like a jerk."

"It's supposed to, dumb butt."

He narrowed his eyes at her, smirking. It was rare that Bonnie made him mad. Tonight was not going to be one of those rarities. "Okay. So, maybe I've been a little inconsiderate."

"Yup," Bonnie said, mouth full.

"But don't you think that it was also inconsiderate that Alice left without a word to me? After I was so worried?"

"Hey," she said, holding up her hands as if surrendering, "That's for you and her to talk out when she gets back. I'm just saying. They didn't do anything with the intention to hurt you. Christopher Robin especially."

Andy looked into his near-empty plate. "Well, that doesn't change the fact that Chris is going to have to work to get my trust back."

"You said you forgave him?"

"Yeah, I did."

"Then why aren't you two talking?"

Andy picked up their two empty plates and headed to the sink. She followed him. "I already told you. It's going to be awhile until I can trust him."

"Does trusting him mean talking to him?"

"What kind of question is that? Of course not," he said, turning the water on.

"Well, how is he supposed to regain your trust if you don't even talk to him? He's trying to be there for you, Andy. That's why he told you in the first place."

Andy began scrubbing the dishes, trying to appear more focused on his work than the conversation. He was mute for a long time as he washed, rinsed, and dried the plates. "Fine."

"What was that?"

"Fine, I'll start talking to Chris again. I guess I didn't realize that I was still holding back some of my forgiveness."

"Good. That's what I like to hear." She laid an elbow on his shoulder, despite the fact that she had to reach way up to do so. "Also, can you do me a favor?"

"What's that?"

"Stop being a little black raincloud all over the place, please. It's really not helping anything, or anyone for that matter, including you, that you're being so gloomy. Alice is coming back. Chris is your best friend. I'm in town. Rejoice, kid."

Andy smiled just the littlest bit. "So, now I'm the kid."

"Well, just until your new resolution, I certainly wasn't the one acting like a three year old."

Andy smirked at her, spraying the sink nozzle in her direction for just a second.

"Hey!" She slapped him gently upside the head, then hugged him with her face pressed into his back. "That's more like it."

"Today marks the first ever Princess Intervention," Jasmine said, voice booming from the speakers over the audience. "Today's meeting will be brief. We have it on the schedule for the day to have an open mic session. Discussion is recommended. Today's topic is personal matters." Jasmine took a deep breath, readying herself to keep on. "I will go first to set the tone and expectations."

She coughed, adjusting the mic and gripping the podium tightly. "I'm sure that many of you know that I go back home to Agrabah quite frequently. And lately, it's been occurring more and more to me to move back." There were gasps in the audience. Dainty, pale hands covered opened, shocked mouths.

"Don't worry, it's not going to happen, but I had convinced myself that Disneyland was not where I was happy anymore. In fact, I wanted to completely forget that it even existed so that I could truly be happy back in Agrabah." It was a hard, truly secret, confession. She sniffed, still holding in her tears with every amount of strength she had. She could cry when she was sitting down. "But I realize that there is plenty around here that makes me happy. And there is plenty here left for me to do."

Jasmine took a step back from the mic and then said, "This is when I offer the mic to anyone who is willing to share."

Immediately, Belle stood up and walked to the podium. After giving an awkward, short introduction, Belle began to explain how her business was failing. She told of how great of a husband Adam had been throughout the process, but said that she had been holding in a great amount of anxiety.

"And for what?" she said, hands shaking. "I mean, does it make me any stronger for holding it in?" She sighed, relieved. "No. And after telling you all, I feel even stronger for it. I know now that I can trust you to help me. Even if we can't hold my business together, I know that I don't have to do it alone."

Several more teary eyes and shuddering breaths started in the audience.

Soon, many people wanted to speak. They didn't line up, but it became more competitive, in the nicest way possible, to speak on stage.

As it turned out, everyone had been holding in some serious problems in their lives. As each issue was confessed, there was a lightening in the room's tenseness. The princesses sat up straighter, smiled easier, and encouraged one another more.

Once everyone, literally everyone, shared, Jasmine stood again up at the podium, mascara running, and said, "I am so glad that we did this. The dilemma is, what do we do with it?"