Chapter 40: Quite a common fairy

The group was trekking through the jungle, following Emma's map. David and Mary-Margaret were ahead talking, and Rose was close behind. She had been distracted by everything that had happened since their arrival, but she noticed that David seemed to get tired quickly and was starting to sweat. She was about to say something, but Emma got their attention.

They were supposed to be close to Pan's camp, but it appeared behind them on the map. Hook told them that Pan was moving the camp around Neverland, making it very difficult for them to find it. Regina suggested using her magic, but they didn't know the location of the camp, and Hook advised against it. He suggested getting help.

"A fairy who lived here when I was about. She might still be on the island. She'd be an inside source, knows all about the camp, can get us in. She might even have some pixie dust left. Perhaps we could fly in."

Emma stopped for a moment and looked at Hook.

"Wait a fairy?" She looked at Rose, who nodded and together said. "Tinkerbell."

Hook looked at them both and asked if they knew her or in Rose's case, remember her.

"In the books and movies, she is supposed to be Peter Pan's friend. She helps him and gives him the ability to fly with her pixie dust." The others looked at her and she shrugged. "It also says that she dies if she doesn't get attention."

"I thought it was if people didn't believe in her?" asked Emma with a raised eyebrow.

"Potato potahto." She said with a shrug.

"That's a bad idea." Said Regina. "Mark my words. This Tinkerbell is not going to save us."

Regina was sitting at the table trying to enjoy her meal, but was unable to. Rumpelstiltskin had paid her a visit and his words had stuck with her. Then she heard the door open and saw the young redhead princess approach with a frown on her face.

"Rose, sweetheart. What are you doing out of bed?" She asked tucking a lock of red hair behind the child's ear.

"I heard him again." Regina looked at her in question. "The weird man. He had been there before Cora left."

"You don't have to worry about that." She said with a nervous mile.

Rose Red was getting more perceptive as time passed. Regina didn't want her involved with the Dark One. She cared for Rose and didn't want the girl involved with someone like him.

"Come on. I'll take you back to your room." She said taking her hand.

Once they reached Rose's room, Regina tucked her into bed and went to leave.

"I don't' want you to be sad, Regina" Said Rose with a yawn. "You deserve to be happy."

She looked at the girl who fell asleep in a moment. How could no one see her pain and suffering except a kid? She made her way to her room, and after almost falling to her death, she met a fairy. The next day she had a conversation with Tinkerbell, about her life and how miserable she felt.

"It's not a marriage. It's a farce. I may be the queen. But alone in this palace I feel like the queen of nothing." She let out a sad chuckle. "For goodness' sake, the only support I have is from a girl."

"I assume it's not Snow White." Said Tinkerbell with a smirk.

"No. Her younger sister, Rose Red."

"Wow. Those are quite the names. If that is the case, no wonder you jumped."

Tinkerbell told Regina how she could help her find love again and be happy. That night, Tinkerbell took her to meet her new love. She left Regina at the tavern and went back to the castle to wait. She decided to stop at the fountain in the gardens, when a voice startled her.

"You are a fairy!"

Said fairy turned around and saw a young girl with dark red hair and different colored eyes. She knew it was Rose Red by Regina's description, but felt something strange in the girl. Magic was very strong in her.

"I heard you with Regina before. Are you here to help her be happy?"

"Oh. Yes." Said Tinkerbell in surprise. "I want her to be happy. Everyone deserves a second chance."

"I like your sound. It's nice and light and happy." Said Rose with a grin.

Tinkerbell smiled, but wondered about the girl. She had never met someone like her. The fairy looked around and then at the sky.

"It's very late. Shouldn't you be in bed? How did you get out here without anyone seeing you?" She asked looking at the redhead with a raised eyebrow.

"I just wanted to meet you. I'll go back to bed now. Don't worry. I can hear the guards, so I know how to avoid them." She said turning around and making her way back to the castle.

"Bye! It was nice to meet you, Tink!" Waved the young princess with a big grin.

Tinkerbell smiled and watched her go back inside the palace. Rose Red was truly a strange child. She decided to go back and check on Regina.

The group reached Tinkerbell's treehouse, but found it empty. Regina decided to stay back. Emma told Rose how Regina had a history with Tinkerbell. Rose just shrugged saying that's she had imagined something like that. After all, Regina had refused to get the fairy's help since the beginning.

They didn't find her, but they found Regina's handkerchief. They all left the treehouse to go look for them. Tinkerbell was after Regina. They finally found her, and everyone drew their weapons. The fairy was surprised to see them, but then her face turned to horror.

"Rose." She said in a whisper. "No. No. You shouldn't be here."

She grabbed her by the arms and looked at her with panic.

"You have to leave. He will kill you this time."

Emma and David pried the fairy away from Rose and demanded to know where Regina was. She came out of the cave and told them that Tinkerbell wasn't too inclined to help them. After some convincing, they got the fairy to maybe help them.

On their way to camp, Tinkerbell spoke with Rose with the rest paying close attention to their conversation.

"Why are you back? Don't you remember how hard it was to get you out last time?" After that she flinched. "Sorry. Of course, you don't remember. He has your memories."

"I am curious." Said Hook. "How did she escape Neverland?"

"With help from me, the mermaids and a Lost Boy." She said with a frown. "I knew Pan was going to try something against her, so I convinced the mermaids to take her away. One of the Lost Boys kept Pan preoccupied, and they took her back to the Enchanted Forest. But he had already taken her memories."

She turned to Rose with a serious face.

"That is why you shouldn't have come back. I won't' be able to convince the mermaids to help again. And Pan made sure that the Lost Boys would never trust you again."

In Pan's camp, he and Felix were looking at Henry. It was just a matter of time until he became one of them.

"She's back." Said Felix not taking his eyes off Henry. "And she doesn't seem to remember us."

Pan looked at his right-hand man, analyzing him. Trying to decipher what he would say next.

"What really happened that night?" He finally asked looking at Pan with a serious look.

"I told you what happened. She betrayed us all." He saw that Felix was about to say something and raised his hand. "You should go greet our newest arrival. He should be landing soon."

Felix frowned but nodded. Pan watched him go and his eyes filled with hate. It was time to do something about that thorn on his side.

Rose went to look for some water, while the others were at the camp discussing their plan. Suddenly she turned around drawing one of her dagger and putting it at Pan's neck.

"What are you doing here?" Asked Rose.

He just smirked and raised a bottle. He crushed it and a powder came out and Rose breathed it in. She instantly felt a headache, as images started coming to her. Then a bright red light started to envelop her. She looked at him.

"What did you do?" She said holding her head with one hand and watching how the other glowed.

"Nothing much." He smirked. "I gave you your memories back. Isn't that what you wanted? Let's see how you handle getting your full powers back."

He watched as the light got brighter. Rose fell to her knees, holding her head. The pain was excruciating. She finally let out a scream and the red light enveloped her completely. Pan covered his eyes, and when the light disappeared, he saw that Rose wasn't there anymore. In her place there were scorch marks.

"Welcome back, Rose Red."

The red light could be seen from all over Neverland. Henry was startled by it, and so were the Lost Boys, but they assumed that it had something to do with Pan and went back to what they were doing fairly quickly.

Felix had just welcomed back Neal, when they saw the light. Neal thought that it had something to do with his father, but Felix knew better. It was no coincidence that the moment he mentioned Rose to Pan, he sent him away and that light appeared.

Rumpelstiltskin looked at the light and frowned. That could only be Rose's powers coming back to her, and that meant that she had her memories back. But if that surge of power was something to go by, she didn't have any control over them.

The others were the closest to the incident, and the red light covered the entire camp and blinded them. Immediately, they knew that something had happened to Rose. Once they reached her location, they only found the results of her power being unleashed.

Everything had just gotten more complicated for everyone in Neverland.