The salty air of the sea hit them the moment they entered the beach, which made the town seem even further away. David smiled; he felt as if he was, truly, back in the Enchanted Forest, out on an adventure with his beloved princess by his side. Although, said princess was currently a bit more moody and anxious to get back home than she had been back then.

Mary Margaret had been like this ever since he managed to drag her out of the apartment, an hour ago, after Rachel had assured them over and over and over again that Neal would be fine. In fact, she had even convinced him that they needed to head to the Sheriff's station to pick up his walkie-talkie, in case they ended up without cell reception. A good thing in the end, though, since this had shown that Will Scarlet had managed to escape his cell, which in turn had prompted David to get them both out on this – very small and not very dangerous – adventure. Glancing over at his wife he could see that she was, actually, enjoying it. At least a little bit, when she thought he was not looking.

"I should be home with Neal", she now said, "not chasing after some thief."

"Let's just give it a little while longer, okay?" David said. Mary Margaret glared at him.

"We've been out for an hour. That's longer than I've ever been away from the baby since he was born! David, I think it's a pretty good start."

David sighed, then stopped and turned to face her.

"Alright", he said, "you're right. You head home."

He tilted her head up so that he could place a soft kiss on her mouth. Just like every other time they had kissed since the new curse was cast, their hearts – two parts of the same object – started beating in sync. He could have kissed her forever, but he had a thief to catch and his wife had a baby to get back to. Thus he pulled back and smiled at her.

"I'll deal with this and meet you back at the loft."

Mary Margaret nodded and smiled as well, then stood still while he hurried on along the beach.

If he had turned around he might have seen that she stood there for quite a while, watching his black leather jacket blend into the darkness around them, before turning around and walking back up towards the road. He would also have heard what caused Mary Margaret to stop and turn back towards the beach. In the opposite direction of where David had walked was another man, only visible from the waist up as he stood in a hole he was digging quite frantically. Mary Margaret frowned at the figure and did not hear when a pair of short girls came up to stand next to her.

"What's he doing?" Jade asked, causing Mary Margaret to jump. Next to Jade stood June, who looked just as intrigued and surprised about the man's actions.

"Don't know", Mary Margaret replied, "and it's none of my business. Good evening."

She turned and walked back up to the road, again, but once more she turned and looked at the man. Even from here she could hear him cursing to himself as he kept digging. June and Jade glanced back at her, eyebrows raised in a challenging way, and despite the motherly urge to run back to Neal, Mary Margaret could not help but smile as she realized that the man was definitely doing something suspicious and that she wanted nothing more than to investigate it.

"You know", she said as she walked back to the two girls, "I think it actually is my business to know what he's up to."

Together the trio walked closer to where the man stood in his hole and found that this hole was not his first. Mary Margaret counted four others, each of them about two and a half feet deep and wide enough for a man to stand in. The hole he was currently digging, the fifth, was approaching the same depth as the others.

"Bollocks", the man muttered to himself as he straightened up and wiped some sweat from his forehead. "Where the bloody hell is it?"

"Looking for something?" Mary Margaret asked, causing the man to spin around in his little hole.

"Not really your concern, is it, ladies?" he replied.

"Maybe you should've made a map for whatever it is you're looking for", June suggested.

"I did make a map, thank you very much."

"Did you lose it?" Mary Margaret questioned. The man shook his head.

"No, I didn't lose me map", he said. "It's in my travelling sack; safe and sound."

"But you're not travelling", Jade said, frowning.

"Because he buried the sack and the map, didn't you?" Mary Margaret realized. The man groaned.

"Yes, okay, yes. I buried the map to find the sack in the sack I'm trying to find. I screwed up; happens to the best of us."

"Not really", Jade replied and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Alright, it happens to the best of us when... we have a touch too much to drink."

"Yep, that I'd buy", Jade said. "You're Will Scarlet, aren't you?"

"What's it to you?" the man asked.

"Heard about you. From Robin."

Will narrowed his eyes at her, then shrugged.

"What's it to you?" he asked. "It's not like you're the Sheriff."

"Oh, no, I'm not", Mary Margaret agreed, "but I am the Sheriff's wife."

Will frowned deeply.

"You married to the blonde?"

"That's my daughter. The other Sheriff."

If possible, Will's frown deepened even more.

"What now?"

"It's complicated; don't ask", Jade sighed. "Personally, though, I thought you'd be smarter... and taller."

With Will standing in the hole, all of the women – who all considered themselves to be quite short – towered over him. Will looked quite offended at being called both stupid and short and quickly got out of the hole, brushed off some sand and stood right in front of them.

"You broke out of jail and you're not even going to try to run?" Mary Margaret asked.

"No", Will replied. "Consider yourself lucky that I'm too knackered. And that you carry... those things."

He waved at the wands in Jade's and June's hands. Mary Margaret had not even noticed that they had pulled them out. However, she did wonder how someone who claimed to be drunk had managed to break out of jail. Emma was very thorough when it came to not having anything in the jail cells that could be used for picking a lock, so she doubted Will Scarlet had done that. Realization hit her like a lightning bolt.

"You didn't break out of jail, did you?" she asked.

"I didn't?" Will said.

"He didn't?" Jade chimed in.

"My husband let you go", Mary Margaret said, proud to have solved the mystery of the missing thief, "just so that I could have a little victory of my own. Do a little tracking, catch the criminal, feel good about myself. I bet you didn't even do anything serious to get yourself locked up in the first place."

"I got drunk and broke into a library", Will replied, frowning at her. Mary Margaret let out a laugh.

"A boozy bookworm! Oh, this is so David."

Will cast a swift glance of surprise at Jade and June, both of them mirroring the feeling. Mary Margaret, however, did not seem to notice their confusion.

"You can admit it, you know", she said, "that this whole thing is an elaborate hoax."

"And what if I did?" Will asked. "Admit it, that is."

"Then I'd pardon you", Mary Margaret replied with a smile. Will blinked.

"Right", he said, "so I'm supposed to believe that the Sheriff's wife can give me my freedom?"

"I'm also the Mayor."

"He did it!" Will quickly replied. Mary Margaret grinned.

"I knew it!"

Still smiling she then waved them all goodbye, turned and almost skipped back up the beach, leaving the remaining trio staring after her disappearing orange coat.

"What just happened?" June asked.

"You lied about David being involved in this, didn't you?" Jade said. Will glanced at her, then at the wand in her hand.

"What if I did?"

Jade shrugged and put the wand away.

"Just checking. I'd tell you to stay out of more trouble, though, especially when it comes to that family."

Will blinked, then turned to face her fully on.

"We haven't met before, have we?" he asked.

"Nope. Not that I can recall."

Will nodded.

"Strange. You know, you look just like... nah, never mind."

Jade, who had been about to tell June that they should head back to the mansions, froze, mouth slightly open as she turned back towards Will.

"Who?" she asked. "Who do I look like?"

"A girl I knew back in the Enchanted Forest", Will replied after a brief pause. "Only met her a few times, thanks to Robin kicking me out of the gang..."

"What was her name?" Jade interrupted. Will frowned.

"Who are you to Robin?" he asked. "You're not old enough to have been part of the Merry Men when the first Dark Curse was cast and none of them has changed in the thirty years it was active."

"My name's Jade", she replied, "and my story with Robin... it's kind of complicated. Just like all of my friends have complicated background stories that one of them can't wait to write down. Oh, and she happens to be the sister of the Sheriff. Not the blonde, mind; other Sheriff."

Will's frown deepened even more.

"Elise", he then said, answering her earlier question. "Her name was Elise. Her husband's name was Ash, or Asher, or maybe Ashton. Can't quite remember, but I think everyone called him Ash."

A few moments passed when all Jade could think about were those two names. Ash and Elise. Her parents. Her biological parents, that was. Robin had told her about them, giving her brief snippets of their lives every now and then, but he had never spoken their names. Why?

"Would you like to come stay with us for the night?" June asked when Jade seemed to have lost her ability to do so. "I doubt your pardon hasn't reached the town yet and it's getting quite cold out here."

"Yes, I would like that", Will replied, his eyes still glued on Jade.

They walked in silence back towards town, meeting up with Jenna and Nathan. The siblings frowned at the newly pardoned thief in their company – before Nathan fired off one of his trademark grins and Jenna punched him in the stomach for it.

"You take the fun out of everything", Nathan grunted as he slid onto the passenger seat.

"Well, I don't see why you have to flirt with every guy you meet and then dump them on the streets the next day", Jenna replied as she fastened her seatbelt.

"Are all your friends like this?" Will asked, turning towards Jade.

"Crazy?" she replied, speaking for the first time since Will had told her the real names of her parents. "A bit, yeah."

Since Nathan was staying at the Phoenix Mansion while the rest of them lived at the Tiger Mansion, they had to take a detour to drop him off. Once he was out of the car – and out of reach from Jenna's punches – he fired off another grin at Will along with a wink.

"Next time I see him I'm going to jinx him", Jenna muttered as they drove off west in the direction of the Tiger Mansion.

"He really wasn't that bad", Will replied with a shrug. "Problem is I've already found me True Love, so his charms don't bite on me."

"You have a True Love?" June asked, eyes widening. "Who?"

Will suddenly seemed to shut himself up like a clam.

"No one."

An awkward silence settled in the car while they drove the rest of the way to the mansion. The lights were still on, which was a common thing in all four mansions. There was always someone awake, working on one thing or another.

As they entered the spacious living room with its golden couches and four fireplaces, they found that almost everyone else living at the mansion were already there – apart from Arianne and Victor – and that they had a guest. Imogen, Toby's apprentice. She was in a heated discussion regarding the usage of curses with Josh, who was arguing that one could not just cast a curse on someone to get rid of them without consequences. But this discussion quieted down the moment Will spoke.

"Ana?"

Everyone in the room turned towards him. He was staring at Imogen, who frowned at him.

"Who?"

"Anastasia, it's me."

He marched into the room and grabbed her arm.

"Whoa, easy there", Josh said and pushed Will away.

"What's he doing here?" Indira asked. "He's supposed to be in custody."

"Well, Mary Margaret pardoned him", Jade replied. "We can discuss that later. Now; Anastasia?"

"You're Anastasia", Will said, as if that explained everything, and looked intensely at Imogen. "You're Anastasia!"

"What?" Imogen managed to gasp in reply. Will struggled against Josh's hold on him.

"Please don't tell me you don't remember me", he pleaded. "Please don't. Please, Ana!"

"What are you talking about?" Maryse asked, stepping forwards with her arms crossed.

"Don't any of you know?" Will asked, tears forming in his eyes. "She's Anastasia, the Red Queen of Wonderland!"


That's the last chapter for tonight, guys! Next chapter should be up on Sunday, if my schedule works out as planned :)