(A/N: Sorry for the delay in the story! This past month was full of changes and had to adjust storywriting back into my schedule... it took longer than usual but I am back! Hope you will continue to enjoy the story!)
Dawn walked through the woods for what felt like eternity. Normally, on a Saturday afternoon, the hiking trail would be filled with people that you would be zig- zagging to avoid them. But today, no one was around due to the town meeting, even the animals seemed to be scarce. It gave Dawn that same feeling as she did when she was younger but instead of running into town to find Pinocchio, she was running into the forest, the place she used to call home. She shoved her hands deeper into her pockets as she sighed and looked around, wondering where to start.
She only stayed at the town meeting for five minutes to actually see if anyone was a nymph in human form but no one recognized the tiara on her head, she just got a few weird looks from the townspeople; either because she had a tiara on her head or that she was the Mayor's assistant and was one of the first people everyone had to see. After that, she did a quick search around town, making sure that Geppetto's theory wasn't true as well, that Pinocchio would choose that time to make rounds, but August is smarter than that. Dawn knew it wasn't going to be easy to find the man and would be surprised by her own skills of finding him on the first day. Still, she wondered where in Storybrooke could her childhood friend be.
Dawn closed her eyes and sighed as she tried to concentrate on the earth around her feeling the air pick up as she hoped it was because of her abilities. She lowered herself to the ground and touched the wet soil as her mind's eye expanded like the roots beneath her connecting herself to the trees around her. Her mind had a dull strain but she could tell it was her magical hold working it's muscles back into her brain.
Suddenly, she opened her eyes and gasped as she got up and went over to a tree and touched it, confused at what she first felt. Dawn tried again but it was harder this time, whether it was from not practicing magic for a long time or because she was in shock at what she felt.
Slowly, it came back to her as silent as it could be but it was still there; a heartbeat.
"They're trapped in there"
Dawn gasped and turned around to see Mr. Gold standing behind her, "Why?"
"Same way how it's difficult to use magic" Mr. Gold shrugged, "They don't know how to take themselves out of their respective nature"
"The Lady Nymph's last command was for everyone to return" Dawn said, "But I was the only nymph that didn't listen"
"Exactly" Mr. Gold nodded, "And look? Here you are! Not only the last nymph but the new Lady Nymph! Congratulations"
Dawn shook her head, "I never wanted this kind of power"
Mr. Gold, or should Dawn call him Rumplestiltskin, didn't seem surprised at her rejection of power. Most "good beings" never want to reach their true potential and seem content with what they have right now. He was aware though that she still had on the tiara that mixed in with her wavy red hair. He watched as she slowly turned back to the tree and seemed to hear another heartbeat and looked off to the right. He almost pitied the girl for being truly alone as the last nymph but there was no gain in reaching into her sorrow.
"You're Rumplestiltskin" Dawn turned back to him, "One of the most powerful people in our realm-"
"One of the most?" Mr. Gold raised an eyebrow.
Dawn took a step towards him, "Surely you've figured out a way to overcome this obstacle to relearn magic"
"I might've" Dawn gasped and jumped back as Mr. Gold appeared right next to her.
"Then you have to teach me" Dawn gasped out, "Teach me how to regain magic to help free my people"
"There are several things wrong with that proposal" Mr. Gold said, "One, I can not teach you Elemental Magic because I have Dark Magic, our types of magic is fueled differently. Two, I have nothing to gain out of you learning magic which means you're out of luck on me helping you and then there's three, which I will give you as the only advice, magic here is like relearning another language it can be difficult, but in some cases, not impossible if you had magic back in the Enchanted Forest"
Dawn couldn't help but glare at the old man and rolled her eyes at his flat out rejection. Everyone always said that Rumplestiltskin doesn't work for charity and she hoped that Mr. Gold had some sort of decency in him, unfortunately not. She folded her arms over her chest and glanced around the surroundings as she wondered what to do next. Dawn then noticed that Rumplestiltskin didn't leave, making her glare at him.
"What?!"
"I'm just curious" Mr. Gold said, "I know the last Lady Nymph would never let me see you in person but I do remember hearing that you were a child back in our land. The Dark Curse made us all frozen in time… but not you. You still aged when no one else did… why is that?"
Dawn hesitated before she said, "And why would I answer that question?"
"Because eventually, I will find out the answer" Mr. Gold said darkly, "I had a trick up my sleeve in order to regain my own memories before the Curse was broken, surely you did something non- elemental in order to spare your age"
Dawn couldn't help but let out a giggle and shrug, it might've been damn near foolish of her to reject Rumplestiltskin an answer but he rejected her help and she took that very seriously. She could tell it was killing him on the inside to know how to break some form of the Curse before anyone else. She didn't understand why he cared about her aging factor but knowing he wanted an answer gave her leverage.
"Guess you'll never find out," Dawn said in a happy voice.
"You know it's bad news to cross me, dearie" Mr. Gold said impatiently, "Take that as a warning"
"And when I regain my magic, I won't just regain my Earth abilities but all" Dawn said, "That will make me powerful, not as powerful as you but we will see about that. I'm not like the other Lady Nymph's, you threaten me or anyone I love and I will fight back no matter what the cost"
"Including for Pinocchio, no doubt"
Dawn blinked in surprise, "What?"
"You see, I may not have known you personally, dearie, but I do know about you" Rumplestiltskin went on, "I know that you and Pinocchio were childhood friends before the Curse happened and now that he came back and the Curse is broken, he's all of a sudden missing"
Dawn was surprised by his choice of words as her fists formed as up above him the wind seemed to have picked up speed. This time, Mr. Gold chuckled and waved his hand, making Dawn become still.
"If you think I was the cause for him to go missing, I wasn't" Mr. Gold said, "But do let him know that I am looking for the boy… or should I say man, I have some unfinished business with him"
"What did Pinocchio do to possibly cause a feud with the Dark One?" Dawn asked.
"Similar to you, I guess" Mr. Gold said, "Your rebellious nature got in the way of reasonable thinking… learn from it next time you decide to cross me"
"I didn't cross you" Dawn responded, "You were the one who seeked me out, remember?"
Mr. Gold laughed, "I wasn't seeking you out, dearie, I was just taking a walk in the woods"
"What do you think the other world is going to be like, Dawn?" Pinocchio asked as he gazed up at the starry sky for what could be the last time in a long while, "The Evil Queen said that it was going to be dreadful and filled with sorrow. What do you think she means by that? Are we going to remember our lives like how it used to be here?"
"Pinocchio, I don't think there is such a thing as an unhappy ending" Dawn turned and looked over to her friend.
"How can you say that?" Pinocchio turned to his friend.
"Because I can't have an unhappy ending without you by my side" Dawn smiled at him.
Pinocchio smiled down to her as he moved his hand over and placed it on top of hers. Dawn's tiny cold fingers wrapped around his hand in almost a perfect match.
"Promise me something" Pinocchio told her, "I mean, only if, the Curse comes"
"Anything"
"That we will find each other, no matter what" Pinocchio gave her hand a firm grip.
"Of course! And we will stick together, just like these times" Dawn smiled brighter.
"I won't let anything happen to you if that day comes. I promise you with my life" Pinocchio said with his eyes on hers with fierce determination.
"You don't have to do that"
"I want to"
"Why?"
"To show how much I care for you"
"Children, come along inside now!" Granny yelled out as the elder woman waved them over.
"Last one in is a rotten egg!" Dawn quickly got up and ran out of the courtyard, "Come on, Pinocchio!"
"That's still cheating!" Pinocchio yelled out as he raced after her with a huge smile on his face.
Pinocchio stopped at the doorway as he noticed that the little nymph was already getting soup poured into her bowl. Dawn turned around and stuck her tongue out at him before she started to skip away and over to the table. A smile formed on his lips as he glanced around and wanted to remember this moment. The moment when he knew of what love could possibly feel like.
A strong pat came on his shoulders as he looked up to see his Papa smiling down at him with a pint in his hand. A fluttering sound came from the right as he noticed Jiminy Cricket placing his hand over his umbrella. Pinocchio smiled back to the both of them as his father urged him to get something to eat.