Watching Hope's family was incredibly fascinating work, for William could see her in everything around him.
The way her brother absentmindedly touched his tattoo.
The look in her mother's eye.
The posture of an older man.
The look of focus on the dark haired woman's face.
Hope was laced in all of them.
And then there was her father.
As soon as they entered the tavern he had removed himself from the group, standing on the outside of their circle, but his eyes never left William.
William stared right back. He couldn't tell if the man wanted to kill him or not, but he certainly didn't think that showing fear was the right move.
The large group sat scattered about the restaurant, filling bar stools and booths haphazardly. William sat in a chair at the back of the room.
"How did you meet Hope?" the older man with the posture like Hope's asked from the counter. He wasn't her father, but he had a distinct air of paternal protection for her. William guessed he was her grandfather.
William hesitated before answering the question, but decided to tell the truth. They wanted to know the full story, and William knew Hope would want him to tell it.
"We met during an armed robbery about 2 years ago," William paused and smiled, "I got her arrested. But even so, she was able to pick the locks and get us both out,"
"That sounds like her," Hope's mother said with a knowing smile, after all, she had been the one to teach Hope how to pick locks.
William scoffed at the next part of the memory,
"She then picked my pocket and got away with what we both had been trying to steal. She was miles away before I even noticed," he should have been ashamed of this, but all he felt was pride.
There was no sweeter torture than being bested by Hope Jones.
"That also sounds like her," Hugo added this time. He had been notably silent since his quips outside, worry was written across his face. William recalled how Hope had characterized her brother as being her best friend. He very clearly felt the same way.
"I chased her for a long time after that, for over a year, and every time I caught her she bested me,"
WIlliam saw Hope's father smile out of the corner of his eye, Killian Jones knew his daughter's abilities well, that didn't mean he didn't feel immense pride when she used them.
"I made the mistake of thinking I could out drink her once," William winced at the memory, or lack thereof, that entire battle with Hope was a drunken haze in his mind. Hope had recounted it for him the next time they faced, her memory of it was as sharp as ever.
"Did you let her choose the drink?" Hugo asked, a grin spreading across his face, William nodded.
"Rookie mistake, she's got an inhuman tolerance for rum," Hugo's grin was notably different from his sister's, but equally as bright and mischievous.
Stefan looked less pleased at this detail, at the mention of Hope and alcohol, he had apparently snapped.
"Why are we listening to this? We have no proof this man even knows Hope," he stood and approached William. The men were about the same height and though Stefan was reasonably fit, William was almost certain he could beat the prince in a fight. That hypothesis was about to be put to the test when Henry reentered the room, he had disappeared after they came inside. He carried a large piece of parchment.
"Yes we do," Henry's face was emotionless as he held the paper up for all to see; William nearly choked.
For there they were on the page, the two of them at Bertrand's ball. Hope looked ever the princess while William maintained his best royal facade. It was an illustration rather than the kind of clear image that Hope had carried of her father. The lavender of Hope's gown was soft and dusted and the sheen of the gloves that covered her tattoo was dulled. But stil, the look between Hope and William on the page was unmistakable.
There wasn't a soul in that diner who was unfamiliar with true love.
William saw Hope's parents exchange a look before looking back at him with both fear and something else he couldn't identify in their eyes.
"Where was this?" Hugo asked quietly, his eyes were fixed on the image of his sister, longing laced in them. As if he thought that if he stared hard enough, she might just jump out of the page and tell him he was silly for thinking she wasn't okay.
"A ball… a few months ago… we were both there illegally… she's the only reason I escaped," he managed to stammer as his eyes drank in Hope's picture, this was the second time William had admitted to Hope saving his ass, he wanted to be mad. He felt he ought to be upset that she was the one doing all the saving, but he was too proud and in pain to feel anything else.
And that night meant too much to him for him to ruin it. The memories of Hope waltzing effortlessly in his arms and listening to the stories of his past meant too much to be clouded by foolish insecurity.
The reverence surrounding the page had made William forget that he had no idea how on earth Henry could have obtained such an image. It was the dark haired woman who broke the spell.
"So this sorceress who has Hope, what can you tell us about her?"
Although she was incredibly focused and her voice showed little emotion, William could see a deep concern in her eyes. He didn't know how this woman was related to Hope, but she clearly cared for her.
William recounted what little he knew about Rowena and gave an abridged version of how Hope had given her heart away. Sparing them the tender confessions of love and merely saying that Hope told him to find her family whilst she returned his heart. It was painful to realize just how little he knew about the enemy at hand, no one in his land knew anything of Rowena's past. But he did remember nearly everything Rowena had said in his presence.
"What doesn't make sense is how she found Hope, we gave Hope extensive training in repelling mind reading," the dark haired woman spoke again, pacing the length of the restaurant.
My mom and my aunt both tried to train me. William heard Hope's voice in his head.
This must be her aunt.
William recalled what Rowena had said, she had made sure he knew all details of how Hope had failed in the brief time he spent Rowena's prisoner.
"She said it was Hope's brother's fault," William's eyebrows furrowed in confusion at the thought, all eyes turned to Hugo and Henry. Both men looked like deer caught in headlights, but neither could fathom how Hope's capture was their fault.
It was the old man with the cane that knew the answer.
"Of course," he cursed under his breath, everyone turned to look at him, "The message Henry sent to Hope, to receive it, Hope would have had to lower her defenses, that would give Rowena more than enough time to enter Hope's mind and obtain valuable information without Hope even noticing," the old man appeared mildly distraught, as did Henry, he sat down in a booth as if he were winded with deep regret in his eyes.
"I never considered that Hope's mind might be under attack," he murmured, Henry buried his head in his hands.
"God it's all my fault,"
"Why did you contact Hope?" William asked, on this point of the story, he was as clueless as everyone else. Henry lifted his head, his face clouded with regret and anger,
"I needed to ask her if she'd be the godmother to my baby," William followed Henry's gaze to a woman with a hand placed protectively on her abdomen who sat next to him in a booth.
William pondered this for a moment before responding,
"Then you have nothing to feel sorry for," several people looked at him strangely, but he continued, "Such an announcement would have brought Hope nothing but joy, I am almost certain that she would have you make it again in a heartbeat."
WIlliam looked at the array of people around him, Hope's spirit woven through each of them. He remembered the way her face lit up when she spoke of them, even when she had been his enemy, her family was the one thing that would soften her heart.
"She gets her strength from all of you, it is your love that she holds dear, she wouldn't have you feeling remorseful for showing it,"
Henry looked at him skeptically, but after a moment he nodded.
"So what do we do?" he asked the group, his eyes looked past William to the woman William guessed to be Hope's aunt and the old man with the cane.
"We'll prepare everything we might need tonight, we still have a few magic beans on reserve so we should be fine on transportation, and we'll leave tomorrow morning."
The two magic wielding individuals shared a look of determination before turning to leave the building, the man left but the dark haired woman stopped abruptly.
"That 'we' cannot include you," she said to William with a hint of apology in her voice. He stared back at her incredulously, to his surprise it was Hope's father who jumped to his defense.
"Regina, he is the only person here who knows the realm," Killian Jones stood as he spoke and gestured his hook towards William. He wasn't entirely sure how he had gotten the pirate on his side, but he wasn't going to argue.
"That may be so but there is a reason Hope sent him here to us," William looked at the woman, Regina, in confusion, as did many of the others in the room.
She sighed exasperatedly,
"Hope sent him here not just to get our help, but to protect him. If what he has told us is true-"
"It is" Hugo interjected, William was once again shocked by the protection he was receiving from the Jones men, but he let Regina continue.
"And if this so-called sorceress wants to cast a dark curse, she needs someone to sacrifice the heart of the thing they love most." she shot a pained look back to William,
"With him here, Hope cannot cast the curse," Hope's mother finished Regina's argument with a deep reluctance in her voice.
William processed this information quickly, it didn't seem possible that he was what Hope loved the most, and yet, she had given up her heart for him. And before that she had saved him countless times.
It then hit him, Hope never acts for her own well-being, everything she does is in the pursuit of helping others. She is selfless to a fault. Suddenly the idea that she sent him to another realm not to save herself but to save him seemed all too real. But he still refused to believe it.
"No, Hope and I may love each other, but I am not the thing she loves most."
It seemed sacreligious to say, he had spent so long waiting for her affection. All he wanted was to be the thing she loved more than anything, but now if he truly was, he was going to be sidelined in saving her.
"I'm afraid that you are William," the old man had quietly reentered the diner, William recognized a magic bean in his hand. Everyone turned to look at him, it was as if the room was watching a tennis game with all their stares bouncing back and forth.
He tossed the bean on the ground where it spun for a moment before stopping, everyone looked up at him expectantly. His face held a small smile.
"It would seem that I taught young Hope too well. She cursed the border, or more specifically she cursed the bean this young man used to get to Storybrooke. She effectively put the walls up, the only way to travel between realms, would be another curse."
"What about Jefferson's hat? Or Dorothy's slippers?" the kind older woman asked from the back of the room. Hope's mother scoffed,
"Hope is smarter than that, when William traveled out of his realm he locked the door behind him, I'm willing to bet the hat and the slippers are blocked the same way as the beans,"
"So how the hell do we save her?" William asked angrily, she had tricked him one final time, locking him out of reach but condemning herself. His mind suddenly shot back to her closed eyes and shaking hand as she ripped her heart out. At the time he had chalked it up to nerves, but Hope doesn't get nervous. She does however close her eyes when she uses magic. And using too much zaps her energy.
She had cursed the magic bean and his path to Storybrooke right in front of him and he hadn't even noticed.
"We will find a way, but there is nothing we can do tonight, we should all get some rest." Hope's grandfather said calmly, William had to fight the urge to scream at the man, but he was fully aware that he was not the only person in the room who cared for Hope.
Even Stefan in all his reluctance to accept William looked vastly concerned. He wasn't her true love, William knew that for damn sure, but he did care for her. Wiliam couldn't fault him for that.
"You'll stay with us," Hope's mother said, it was a declaration not a question, he nodded respectfully.
Hugo shot him a small smile as best he could, but William saw the pain written all over the young man's face. He had looked strong and rebellious the entire time, but now his face looked every bit the scared little brother who just wanted his sister.
Everyone departed quickly and William was led by Hope's small family across town to a large house with a blue exterior.
Hope's mother showed him their guest room and gave him a crash course on modern plumbing (he was fascinated, but too worried to say so) before retreating to somewhere else in the house without a word, Hope's father followed her.
In the brief time he had been around them, he could already tell what Hope meant about her parents finding "not normal true love". It was like they acted with one mind, they were not codependent, they just seemed to be able to know what their partner thought before they did.
It was very impressive, and he could imagine for a teenage girl, very daunting.
He found himself in the hallway standing in front of a closed door, he didn't know why he'd been drawn to it but he was.
"It isn't locked you know," he turned to see Hugo standing behind him. He had removed his jacket but still wore his jeans and a black tee shirt. A long necklace hung around his neck and a hook tattoo graced his left hand.
The jacket now removed, he could see just how skinny Hugo was, he was taller than WIlliam by an inch or so, and all his limbs seemed a mite too long. He resembled a puppet or a scarecrow with bright blue hair.
Hugo silently walked past him and opened the door, revealing a bedroom with dark purple walls. Hugo strode in nonchalantly and splayed himself out across the bed. William followed him in but was drawn to the large bookshelf that covered nearly the entire far wall, he had of course never heard of any of the titles, but the sheer number of books would have been shocking even if he had.
His attention was then drawn to a number of pictures that hung on the wall above the bed.
A young girl and her father at the wheel of a ship
A teenage boy dressed as a prince and a teenage girl in a ballgown making faces at each other.
A family portrait, a blonde woman, a hook handed man and two devious looking teenagers sharing a look out of the corners of their eyes.
A teenage boy with two toddlers, one boy and one girl, hugging either side of him.
A blonde woman and a hook handed man looking lovingly at a small bundle in the woman's arms.
A young woman with wide eyes looking down upon a prince on one knee.
His eyes stopped at that one, for there it was just had Hope had described. Stefan's proposal in front to her entire family. He recognized the setting at Granny's tavern where he had just been. Hope wore a smile, but he could see clear anxiety in her eyes.
"Stefan's mom took that picture, gave it to Hope as an engagement present," he must have been staring at the picture for too long as Hugo chimed in.
"She hung it up while she was still pretending she was gonna marry him,"
"Yes, she told me you were the only one to see her unhappiness," he recalled from Hope's story of her failed engagement.
"She knows my deep secrets, I know hers," he said simply, not making any move to elaborate further.
"You and your father defended me, Why?" William decided to ask the question that had been plaguing him all night.
"Well for me, i know my sister, she wouldn't trust you if you weren't good. And quite frankly I like you a lot more than Stefan, you and her make a hell of a lot more sense than they ever did." Hugo laughed before continuing,
"And my dad? For one, he knows exactly what it feels like for the dad of Swan Princess to think you aren't good enough. And two, my dad loves both his kids, but Hope is his treasure. He failed her once by giving Stefan his blessing, if you are her true love, which I believe you are, he isn't gonna fail her again by turning you away,"
"You really think I'm her true love?" William barely had the courage to ask, vulnerability evident in his voice. He knew Hope loved him, but he had no idea how much.
Hugo turned to face him, all jokes and laughter gone, his face now stoic and serious.
"How far would you go for her?"
"To the end of the world, or time," the answer came out without even thinking about it, but it was one of the truest things William had ever said.
"Good answer," Hugo said as he lay back down on Hope's bed, staring at the blank ceiling.
The two young men stayed there for a time, just contemplating in silence before Hugo retreated to his own room, William left soon after. Neither man recalled ever falling asleep that night.
But William must have eventually, for he was woken by the sound of movement downstairs in the house. He woke to find clothing he guessed to be on loan from Hugo on a chair by the door. The fashion wasn't entirely strange, but it was certainly different than William was familiar with.
When he came downstairs he saw that he was not the only person who didn't sleep, though they all hid it well, their worry for their Hope was obvious on their faces.
It wasn't long after William's arrival downstairs that the party headed back to Granny's, this time in the light of day, William could see the town in much better light.
It was still an incredibly odd place, but even confused, he could feel its inherent charm.
The same group from the night before had assembled in the diner.
"Any luck breaking Hope's spell?" Hope's mother said as they entered. Regina and the old man looked up apologetically. Emma cocked her head,
"Never thought Hope being too good at magic would be a problem," she mumbled and sat down in a booth.
"On the bright side, we know that Rowena doesn't know Hope locked the border, or at least she didn't last night. So she has no reason to believe Hope can't cast the curse, and therefore won't hurt her," Regina explained to the group, it seemed like she was trying to convince herself of that fact, but it didn't seem to be working.
"I wouldn't be too sure about that," Henry entered the restaurant looking even worse than he had the night before, his eyes were red, his hair was a mess and he wore the same clothes he had worn the night before except now they were a wrinkled mess. He held another parchment in his hand.
"I woke up to find I did this," Henry slammed the paper down on a table before rubbing his hands across his face and walking away. Hope's grandmother gasped when she saw the image, Hope's brother turned away but her father, mother and grandfather stayed staring at it intently. William had to hold back bile.
It was another image of Hope, but this time, not one he knew. She lay in a cell, the white blouse she was wearing was torn and bloody. Her back was covered in long slashes, the picture didn't show her face but William didn't want to fathom that Rowena had scarred it too. From outside the cell, Rowena scowled angrily at the young woman on the ground. Whatever she wanted, she clearly wasn't getting it.
That's because of you.
She's in pain because of you.
A real man would have taken the pain for her instead.
William's mind screamed at him, he forced himself to look away from the page before tears came.
"How do we know that's real?" he managed to ask in a strained voice.
"Henry is a magical author, he can only write true stories," Hugo answered, his voice devoid of all emotion. William hadn't noticed, but his hair was no longer blue, instead it was the same shade of blonde as his mother's. He didn't know how he had changed it overnight, but it seemed like with the departure of his blue hair, Hugo had lost all his life and energy. He was a shell of the confident boy with the devilish grin that William had met the night before.
"She's being tortured," Hope's father choked out.
"And she can't do what the witch wants," Hope's mother continued, her voice as emotionless as her son's.
"There is one good thing," the old man with the cane said, eliciting incredulous looks from Hope's extended family, he held his hands up in surrender.
"With Henry's page, we can use the Queen's magic mirror to show us the events depicted on this page,"
Without any discussion, Regina snatched the page from the table and bolted to the back of the building with the entire family in tow.
They arrived at a large mirror with octopus-like tentacles extending from it, they crowded around as Regina held the page in one hand and waved the other in front of the mirror.
Their reflections dissolved to show a horror scene.
Hope considered herself to be having a mediocre day. She had saved her true love from death, but condemned herself in the process. It wasn't ideal, but it was good enough for her. Rowena couldn't touch her loved ones, so it didn't matter what happened to Hope.
She could practically hear her family yelling at her for that statement, but she meant it. It was their fault, they made her a hero. She had no doubt that they were now regretting it.
Now Hope had been in her fair share of pain, having her hand chopped off came to mind, but what Rowena did wasn't pain. It was cruelty.
The slashes on Hope's back felt like they were on fire, she wasn't even aware what had made the cuts, all she knew was that she had never felt pain so strong.
She thanked God that so far, Rowena had left the rest of her unscathed. Though she had removed Hope's false hand, which made her feel vastly exposed. In a twisted way, her hand was a security blanket, she felt almost wrong without it.
But most notably, on her wrist just below her hook tattoo, there was a tight leather cuff, blocking any and all attempts of magic.
The cell she was in had no locks, and Rowena had swiped the hairpins from her hair anyway.
In more ways than one, Hope was trapped in a cage she couldn't get out of.
Rowena had taken a break from torturing for enough time that Hope had gotten her bearings. She had pulled herself to a seated position and assessed that she was in the dungeon of Rowena's castle. She knew that was in the far North, but she hadn't learned exactly where before she was captured.
True to her word, Rowena had gotten into Hope's mind and learned just about everything about how to defeat her.
And worst of all for Hope, even if she could get out. Even if she figured out where she was. Even if she got the cuff off, Rowena still held her heart.
For one of the first times in her life, Hope felt utterly and completely powerless. And not in a good way like when William kissed her with her back against a tree. Hope prided herself on being mostly fearless, and while she knew she could die happily knowing her family was safe, she still feared death.
It wasn't long before Rowena returned.
"You know Hope, you are a disappointment," she said like a scolding mother from outside the doorless cell.
"I don't disagree but why do you think so?"
Even broken, Hope's mind was still sharp. After all, Hope knew the only chance she had, no matter how small, was to out think Rowena. And though she was in pain, outwitting was what Hope was best at.
Rowena glared at her but Hope refused to flinch.
"You have made yourself a slave to men," she said as if it were obvious.
This was the third time Rowena had mentioned men with malice or women in power in Hope's presence. She was coming to the conclusion that Rowena didn't have a great respect for the opposite sex.
"Now I don't think that's true," Hope swung her legs around and sat cross legged in front of Rowena, almost daring the witch to knock her down again.
"You could have escaped me back in the field, but you gave up your heart to save your true love," she spit the last words before gritting out her sentiment clearly, "You gave all your brilliance up to save a man,"
"Yeah believe me the true love thing was news to me too," this much was true, Hope was still reeling from her confession to William. She meant every word of it, but finally admitting that he was the man she loved more than anything was a hard thing to do.
"And then there is the issue of your hand, or lack thereof," Rowena smiled wickedly before returning to her face of disapproval.
"You could have escaped those pirates easily,"
"Yeah but I couldn't have saved Hugo," Hope recalled the memory well, the image of a knife at her unconscious brother's throat still painfully clear in her mind.
"Exactly, your brother was unconscious, and in the time it would take to magic him to safety, the pirate would have killed him," Hope felt the burn of Rowena in her mind, but she was powerless to stop her. She was resigned to reliving the memory with the sorceress.
"So rather than save yourself, you allowed the captain to cut your hand off and then you stalled, which gave your brother enough time to come to. Together, you overpowered the pirates and left, with one less hand than you came in with." she said as if Hope didn't already know.
"You lost your hand because of him, dear" she said with mock sweetness, evidently trying to get Hope to turn on her brother.
Hope knew that would be incredibly bad form.
"The only person to blame for the loss of my hand is the man who cut it off," she stated clearly, she was used to this argument. She had to give it to Hugo all the time after the event occurred.
"But that isn't true either is it? The only reason that captain wanted to take your hand was because of your father,"
At the mention of her father Hope snapped, leaping to her feet to grasp the bars of the cell. Her back ignited in pain again but she refused to cry out. Rowena stepped back, though she knew Hope couldn't get through the bars.
"Do not speak ill of my family," she said through gritted teeth, she was powerless against Rowena but she didn't care. True love for her family was what ran in her veins. Rowena laughed effortlessly,
"Hope you have been giving yourself up to men your entire life, you must know that they are not worthy of your greatness," something other than malice was in Rowena's voice, it wasn't kindness, but she seemed to genuinely believe in Hope's talent.
"And you allowed that filthy, disgraced prince to violate you on such a primitive level," Rowena stepped back, disgust dripping from her voice at William's mention again. Hope stepped back too, almost laughing at this statement despite the pain still in her back.
"Okay, violate is not the right word. I'm pretty sure that if WIlliam were here, he would tell you that I was pretty vocal in my consent that night. And I'll thank you not to debase the honor of the man I love."
Hope argued clearly, she would not hear of this slander. Memories of her night spent with William roamed her mind, it was the most vulnerable she had been in front of anyone in her life. She supposed that was what true love was, giving someone all they need to kill you and trusting them not to.
"Alright so you love your dear William, you thought you loved your Stefan, how do you know this love isn't equally as false?"
Hope pondered her answer, it wasn't enough to say that they were just different men. She truly had thought she loved Stefan, and he was a good man. But he would not have followed her for over a year or climbed a beanstalk with her. He couldn't make her feel like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. He definitely couldn't get her to give up her heart.
"Years ago, my parents spent time in a land called Camelot. My mother was cursed with a great dark magic and an evil voice constantly tried to tempt her to use it. Only when she told my father about it, was he able to carry some of her burden and make the voices go away," she remembered her mother telling her that story when she was a teenager, trying to help her explain what true love was.
"I never understood that, until I met William. For though I never intend to be faced with dark power, I know if I was, he would be the only one who could make it better," Hope quieted as she spoke, she had never vocalized any of this, now she didn't think she could stop.
"I grew up watching one of the truest examples of love in all the realms, a love that could conquer darkness and death. I am made of true love and surrounded by it, but I never really, really understood what true romantic love meant until Will,"
Tears fell from her eyes, she internally chided herself for being so weak and sappy in front of her enemy. But even from outside her body, Hope's heart yearned for William.
Love is not weakness.
Let this make you stronger.
The voice in her head was right, even though she was somewhat terrified of the depth of her feelings for William, there was no denying that she felt her strength returning with every thought of him.
She turned her focus back to Rowena. A woman with a vehement hatred for men and a respect for powerful women. Hope's mind ran the calculations on the possible reasons quicker than she could even process. She looked back up at the witch curiously,
"Who was the man that hurt you?"
Hope was filled with immediate regret as she felt slashes appearing on her legs, her head spun from the pain as she let out a choked scream.
Rowena's eyes burned red with rage, her hands extending with the effort of casting the spell, causing the unrelenting pain in Hope's body.
"You have not earned the right to ask questions, you weak and childish fool!" her voice echoed through the dungeons bouncing off the walls, Hope had fallen onto the ground as the pain expanded from her legs up through her torso.
"Not weak," Hope managed to stammer.
"Yes Hope you are weak, but you will see, I will make you strong. And when you cast my curse," Rowena walked right up to the bars, Hope still writhing on the ground in pain, "I won't need your heart to do it, you will do it because you want to,"
With a sneer and a twist of her hands, the pain encompassed Hope's entire body from head to toe, tears fell from her face and she screamed bloody murder, but Rowena didn't cease.
The image in the mirror dissolved suddenly, reconfiguring itself somewhere else.
"What happened? Where's Hope?" her father yelled angrily, the horror at watching his daughter be tortured manifesting itself as rage.
"The scene is connected to Hope, that's why Henry drew the page, because he is her brother. Hope can't bear the pain so her mind is taking her somewhere else, to her happiest memories. We just happen to be following her." Regina explained as the image cleared up, it was a bedchamber in a castle, a girl in a blue dress stood in the center while a pirate stood at the door.
"Daddy, do I have to go?" the girl begged, she looked to be about 12 or so.
"I think we would all be disappointed if you didn't," he moved from the door and knelt down in front of her.
"What is troubling you sweet lass?" He brushed a finger across the girl's cheek to wipe away a tear, her answer came as barely a whisper.
"I'm afraid I'll trip on the stairs," Her father couldn't contain his smile,
"My Hope is that all?"
"I know it's silly, but I would look so stupid if I did. And it has a significantly high probability of occurring." She remained incredibly serious as she expressed her concerns, her father stood back up and offered her his arm.
"I am afraid in that you are wrong lass, for it's a father's job to make sure his girl doesn't fall,"
Hope smiled and took his arm.
"Really?"
"I promise you darling lass, I will never let you fall,"
The scene dissolved again, this time it reappeared in what William recognized as Hope's bedroom, though she was far younger in this memory, no more than 7.
A storm thundered loudly outside the window, a flash of lightning shown through the window, casting a ghostly shadow across the room.
A little blonde boy in blue pajamas rushed into the room and shut the door behind him.
"Hope!" he whisper-screamed as he ran to the bed, a little girl sat up blinking the sleep from her eyes.
"Hugo?" she asked questioningly before another crack of thunder shook the house, Hugo's eyes went wide with fear.
"You're afraid of the storm?"
The little boy nodded emphatically, Hope gestured for him to get in bed with her as she repositioned herself. He sat cross legged directly facing her, terror written on his face.
"Well you shouldn't be because storms are just Zeus reminding us to tell the story of how he saved Daddy," she quickly supplied, she had come up with that answer on the fly, but Hugo had no way of knowing that.
"They are?" The boy questioned his sister, she pushed him back gently so he was lying down with his head at the foot of her bed.
"Yeah, I'll tell it so Zeus can stop yelling," she threw a blanket over him and began talking.
"Once upon a time, Daddy got trapped in the underworld, so Mommy and Grandma and Grandpa and Henry and Regina all had to go save him. Zeus' evil brother Hades was keeping him locked up, but Mommy saved him,"
Hugo's eyes lit up and he burrowed deeper under the covers.
"Mommy and Daddy were very brave but they couldn't defeat Hades in time, so Mommy had to leave Daddy in the underworld. But he loved Mommy so much that he found a way to help her defeat Hades, even though they were in different realms. And Zeus was so thankful to Daddy for helping defeat his brother that he sent him back to Storybrooke to be with Mommy and have us,"
Hope looked down at her brother who had fallen soundly asleep during the story at the foot of her bed. She smiled and laid herself back down.
"The End" she murmured as she closed her eyes. And as the little girl fell asleep, she could have sworn she heard a little voice say,
"I love you Hope,"
The broke apart a third time, William saw tears silently streaming down Hugo's face as the memory concluded. William, horribly, felt a bit envious that Hope found refuge in memories of her brother and father but not him. The next scene he recognized as Granny's.
"I'm really sorry Mom," Hope was older now, she looked like the woman William knew her as.
"For what? Not marrying a guy you don't love? Kid, you have nothing to be sorry for," Emma sat with her daughter in a corner booth, a mug in front of each of them. As she spoke she pulled out a flask and poured into both their drinks.
"I'm not 21 yet," Hope said with a hint of a smirk.
"And yet I just expected you to get married. You deserve a drink. And I think you and I both know it isn't your first,"
With that the women toasted and drank in silence for some time.
"Thanks Mama," Hope said with a deep vulnerability in her eyes after she finished her drink.
Her mother scooted around the booth and hugged her tightly.
Hope's shoulders visibly relaxed as she exhaled.
The memory dissolved again, and when it put itself back together, William found all his feelings of envy gone. For this was a scene he knew.
"You are the strangest woman I have ever met," the young man informed the young woman before him
"I do so hope that's a good thing," she teased as she reached her horse. William pulled her around to face him.
"Believe me my Hope," her heartbeat increased at the term of endearment, "It is a wonderful thing,"
He leaned down and kissed her softly, a kiss that was deep and full of what could be love. He had barely pulled away when she turned right back around and mounted her horse. William walked back towards his own with a laugh and a shake of his head.
"You don't mind us parting ways again?"
"Of course not," his devilish grin flashed, "All the best love stories are long," Hope blushed profusely but nodded her agreement.
"Besides, I already told you Jones, I will always find you,"
The image in the mirror suddenly faded for good, their reflections returning to face them. Leaving the family in a state of pained shock after what they had seen.
"The memories stopped, does that mean she's…" Hugo could clearly bring himself to ask. The old man with the cane pulled out the magic bean and tossed it at the ground unceremoniously. A few people jumped back but nothing happened.
"No, Hope merely went unconscious, most likely from the pain. We will know if she dies because the border will reopen. So long as Hope Jones lives, her spell stays active," the old man explained.
"So the fact we can't get to her is a good thing?" her mother asked reasonably, the old man nodded in response.
"Yes, but it doesn't change the fact that while she may be alive, we have absolutely no way to help her," her father marched back to the main room of Granny's angrily, the group followed.
"We will not stop trying to save her Hook, and we will find a way, we always do. But until we do, all we can do is hope that she finds a way to escape," her grandfather spoke with conviction even though he was very clearly shaken by what the mirror had shown them.
It was a tenuous hope, to think she might find a way to escape the sorceress, but it was the only one they had. And William knew his Hope, if there was ever a person who could beat these odds, it was her.
And he would never stop trying to find her.
All of the love Hope had expressed for him when explaining herself to Rowena swirled around his mind, but most prominent was the promise he had made in her final memory.
I already told you Jones, I will always find you
As the family settled around him, he knew they wouldn't stop either.
They would find Hope and everything would be fine.
He knew they would come up with a plan.
What he didn't know was that even with all her injuries, Hope already had one.