Aurelia was shown to be lying down on the living room floor with her favorite doll. She seemed to be smiling and had her tongue sticking out as she was deep in concentration with her coloring book and watched as the colors of red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet scattered across the book. Belle smiled warmly as Aurelia was busy coloring and soon tended to the meal she was going to share with her family later.
"Belle? I'm home!" Mr. Gold called out as he came through the front door before removing his coat to hang it up on the rack beside the front door. "And we have a very special guest!"
"I'm in the kitchen, Rumple!" Belle called back with a small smile.
Mr. Gold smiled and then looked at Cherry before nodding to her.
"I see not much has changed around here," Cherry said as she stepped into the house. "Then again, not a lot changes in Storybrooke, especially 28 years before I showed up."
"Let's just say Storybrooke was dark and in shadows before you came along." Mr. Gold remarked before letting her walk inside as he came to join her not long after.
"Heh... So I see, Rumple, so I see..." Cherry nodded as she knew that very well. "I just hope Cath and I can help the lost Cartoon Network people in your world. That must be even more confusing than Storybrooke used to be before Emma came to town."
"Oh, you have no idea," Mr. Gold rolled his eyes slightly. "Especially with random talking animals when we were mainly used to Jiminy Cricket or Ms. Blanchard back when she was Snow White talking to the woodland animals who were her friends."
"Let's just hope Cruella doesn't come back to this town and gives those animals her 'persuasion'." Cherry remarked.
"Agreed." Mr. Gold nodded as that sounded like a very good idea for the animals' sake.
Cherry and Mr. Gold then stepped inside as Aurelia continued to smile as she was coloring in her book, unaware of what was going on right now between the adults.
"Mm... Smells good..." Mr. Gold smiled as he sniffed the air.
"Thank you, Rumple," Belle smiled back before they shared a kiss on the lips before she took a brief glance. "Ah, Cherry, good. You're here. Could you get out the glasses and some-" she then did a double-take once she realized who was here. "Cherry!"
"Hey, Belle," Cherry chuckled. "Don't think you're imagining things. I've been in town for a while."
"Oh, Cherry... It's good to see you back home," Belle smiled before hugging the younger woman. "We've both missed you so much."
"In more ways than one." Mr. Gold added bashfully.
"You're both so sweet," Cherry said softly. "I'm sorry that we all got separated. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but Rumple here found me and brought me back along with a friend of mine."
"Oh? Which friend?" Belle asked. "And if you don't mind, could you get the glasses and juice out? I'm sure you remember where they are." she then gently requested.
"I don't mind at all and this friend of mine is Cathleen." Cherry replied as she began to do what Belle asked her to do.
"Oh... Right..." Belle then said. "Sorry, Cherry, I guess I have a lot on my mind right now."
"It's fine, I do too," Cherry reassured as she got the glasses and juice ready. "You guys don't mind if I stay for dinner, right?"
"No... Of course not... But what about your friend?" Belle then asked. "Won't she get lost being in this big town on her own?"
Cherry just sharply sighed as she seemed to want to avoid answering that question.
"Cherry and her friend are taking a small break from each other," Mr. Gold quietly told Belle. "They'll probably both sleep it off and go back to talking to each other in no time by tomorrow morning."
"I hope so... I don't like to watch friends fight over trivial things." Belle whispered and nodded hopefully.
"So... What's on the menu for tonight, Belle?" Cherry asked then.
"I guess I found myself thinking about you somehow because I just made some chicken and rice in the oven the way you like it." Belle smiled sweetly.
"Oh... Sounds perfect... Especially after the day I just had..." Cherry replied softly.
"Yes..." Belle nodded.
"Mama? Papa?" A tiny voice piped up.
Cherry, Mr. Gold, and Belle turned around to see Aurelia as she came by, holding onto her favorite doll.
"Oh, sweetie, dinner will be ready soon," Belle told the girl. "You should go wash up and remember, don't bring Milah to the table. She'll have to wait for you in the living room."
"Oki..." Aurelia said before looking at Cherry and pointing at her. "Who's that?"
Cherry flinched and tried to remain calm, though she knew that she should've expected that question sooner or later.
"Um... Well... She... Erm... She... Uh..." Belle stammered as she struggled to answer that question herself.
"Dearie, I think you should wash up right now," Mr. Gold then interrupted with a small smile. "We'll talk things out during dinner time."
"Um... Oki, Papa..." Aurelia said softly then as she hugged her doll.
"C'mon, kiddo. I'll join you." Cherry suggested with a small smile before she went to go with the golden-haired girl.
Aurelia glanced at her before shrugging, then going off to go and wash up for dinner as suggested.
"Think we should tell her?" Belle asked softly.
"Let's just try to make this an easy night for Cherry tonight," Mr. Gold suggested as he put his arm around Belle. "She's been through a lot suddenly."
"Fair enough..." Belle said before nodding. "Wanna help me finish up getting dinner ready then?" she then offered.
"Of course." Mr. Gold smiled warmly.
And with that, the two soon went to finish preparing dinner while Cherry and Aurelia went to the bathroom to wash their hands. Aurelia smiled at Cherry, enjoying her company so far, blissfully unaware that this young woman was actually very close and relative to her in a way, but she would probably find out about that later.
Meanwhile, Cathleen was finishing up at the diner with Ruby and Granny as Bubbles and Buttercup had already gone home. It was very wrong for her to see them walking around normally like a couple of run-of-the-mill girls rather than young superheroes and they didn't even use their superpowers which just felt so baffling. Just how bad was this curse on the Cartoon Network people who were sent to Storybrooke somehow and made it become Storybrooke City as a combination of Storybrooke itself and Cartoon Network City which was a popular time in the network's history of 2004 to 2006.
"Say, did I ever tell ya about how I saved the world when the aliens invaded?" The old man known as Gramps asked as he sat at a table that Granny was clearing out and he had a pair of kids with him who were his grandchildren who looked annoyed right now.
"Only about 100 times..." Granny rolled her eyes. "I think it's time for you to go, Gramps."
"Ya know, we could really be happy, just the two of us," Gramps smirked and winked at her. "Of course, once I get the little artichokes outta the house instead of playing their mind-numbing video games all day long and gettin' into fights all the time. What a couple of ingrates."
"Gramps, we're sitting right here." The grandson complained as he sat with his sister.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, why don't ya go to college already?" Gramps scoffed. "I was in college by the time I was your age."
"Gramps, I'm 9." The grandson reminded in annoyance.
"C'mon, let's just go so we can watch Gramps guess the wrong answers on Jeopardy and claim that he always knew the right answer." The granddaughter then told her brother.
"Yes, please go, we're closing." Granny added, sounding rather firm.
"All right. All right. I'll just see ya tomorrow then," Gramps said before leaving with his grandchildren. "Keep my seat warm for me, Granny."
"Don't need me to do that." Granny muttered as she cleared the table after they left.
"I think she likes me... She's quite a catch," Gramps chuckled to his grandchildren. "Reminds me of when I went to school with Red Hot Riding Hood's grandmother. I ever tell you sprouts about that story? Now SHE was a fox!"
The grandchildren just groaned as they walked off and left the diner.
"Good riddance." Granny mumbled and rolled her eyes.
"Sorry you had to go through that, Granny," Ruby said to her grandmother. "You showed pretty good restraint though."
"That may be so, but I was pretty close in getting out my crossbow." Granny replied.
Cathleen soon walked over and patted her sides.
"You finish up that table, dear?" Granny then asked.
"Yeah, I did," Cathleen nodded. "So, are we done for the day then?"
"Yes, we're done for the day, but we still wanna talk to you about something." Granny replied.
"Did I do something wrong?" Cathleen asked before she slumped, feeling a little unfortunate.
"No, Cathleen, you didn't do anything wrong," Ruby said with a small smile. "We just wanna talk to you about something we've been thinking about and wanna know more about."
"Well..." Cathleen said before taking out her phone to check the time. "I guess I could talk for a little bit." she then said before smiling.
"That's the spirit," Granny nodded. "Go ahead and get changed and I'll try not to take up too much of your time."
"Thanks." Cathleen said before she went to go in the back to punch out and then get changed back into her normal clothes.
Ruby and Granny smiled as Cathleen then went in the back to get changed and go back and meet them afterward. Granny then went to put the closed sign up and soon, Floyd the cook left to go back home as the sun was setting in Storybrooke. After a little while, Cathleen soon came back.
"Okay, guys. I'm dressed and ready for anything now. So what's up?" Cathleen said once she came back over to her new friends in the diner.
"Please, have a seat," Granny suggested, gesturing to across the booth as she sat on the other side with Ruby beside her. "We'll try not to take up too much of your time."
"Okay..." Cathleen shrugged before she sat down across from Granny and Ruby. "So... What's this all about?" she then asked them.
"All right... You're aware of when Wolfstime is, right?" Granny then asked.
"Of course, it's the one day a month the full moon comes out and we Wolf Out." Cathleen said before nodding.
"Yes, very good," Granny replied. "Well, you see, when I was a little girl, I grew up in a cottage with six older brothers and one night, there was a dangerous wolf who was stalking in the woods and my father and brothers told me to stay inside while they would hunt down the beast so that I wouldn't get hurt... Or worse. I soon saw my father brutally slaughtered the beast and I was suddenly faced with the wolf when I came outside and he bit me down on my forearm." she then said before rolling up her sleeve to show the scar that had lasted a lifetime for her.
"Oh, my gosh!" Cathleen winced as that had to hurt before she thought about it. "So... That soon turned you into a wolf?"
"Yes, it did," Granny nodded. "I had to abandon my former life in the cottage and I soon went away with the wolf."
"He then became my grandfather." Ruby then added.
"Oh..." Cathleen then said.
"Eventually, Zeke, that was his name, and I got married," Granny then continued to explain. "We had a couple of children."
"One of them was my mother," Ruby added. "Anita."
"So, what does this have to do with me?" Cathleen then asked.
"I had a son named Patrick who went missing a long time ago." Granny explained.
Cathleen's eyes widened. "So... Then... This could mean..." she then started to realize.
"We're not fully certain, but Cathleen, we think your father might be my son." Granny said before nodding.
"So we were talking about this and we were wondering if you would be interested in visiting the hospital with us very soon." Ruby then added.
"The hospital?" Cathleen then asked.
"Yes, Dr. Whale can run a DNA test for us and we can find out if you happen to be part of the Lucas pack or not," Granny replied. "Do you trust us enough to go through with this?"
Cathleen paused thoughtfully before nodding. "Sure, we could do that," she then said. "Just tell me in advance so I know how and when to prepare."
"No problem," Granny said before smiling. "It'll be a little bit fun."
"Yeah! It can be like a family reunion!" Ruby added. "...If you end up being family with us of course."
"Well... I think I would like that actually," Cathleen said before smiling. "To tell you the truth, I always felt very different in my family... Especially with the woman who I thought was my mother when she was actually Luna Lovegood and it led to a very rough and complicated story."
"Luna Lovegood, eh?" Granny then asked.
"You've heard of her?" Cathleen guessed.
"Just that she was a student in Hogwarts, but I know her quite a bit," Granny nodded. "Maybe we can talk about her later if you're up for it."
"Okay... But I have to ask... What happened to Anita?" Cathleen then asked.
Ruby frowned softly before looking away slightly.
"We'll... I... We'll tell you later." Granny said softly.
"Oh... Okay..." Cathleen then said. "Well, thank you for trusting me with this information and telling me more. I guess I'll see you guys later then? I'm gonna take a walk."
"Yes, of course, dear." Granny nodded.
"Want some company?" Ruby offered.
"Thanks, but I think I wanna be alone for right now," Cathleen said. "No offense of course."
"We understand," Ruby said. "We'll talk to you later then."
"Okay. Bye." Cathleen said as she got ready to leave.
Granny and Ruby nodded as they went to finish up in the diner and then get ready to head back home as it was getting late.
Cathleen stepped out of the diner with a lot on her mind before she flinched as a voice suddenly spoke to her.
"A lot to think about, isn't it?"
Cathleen then jolted and turned around to see that her new friend Malcolm was hanging around outside, seeming to come from nowhere as he stood there without fear. "Where did you come from?" she then complained. "Is this going to be a regular thing with you?"
"Let's just say I have a lot of secrets..." Malcolm smirked.
"Like what?" Cathleen demanded and put her hands on her hips.
"Well, if I told you they wouldn't really be a secret, would they?" Malcolm retorted as he smirked at her. "I've heard about your and Cherry's falling out. We can talk about it if you want."
"There's not much to talk about," Cathleen shrugged as she walked down the street before Malcolm decided to follow her. "We're just taking a break and she thinks she can be in charge cuz she thinks she's so mature or whatever. Like she's the boss."
"Heh... I've had that problem before..." Malcolm chuckled. "Especially where I came from before Storybrooke."
"Before Storybrooke?" Cathleen asked.
"Yeah, well, you know how the Storybrookians around here are from a world where fairy tales are real before they lost their memories and Emma Swan brought their memories back?" Malcolm prompted.
"I'm familiar with the premise of this town, yes." Cathleen nodded as she looked back at him.
"Well... Let's just say back in Neverland, there was a ruthless dictator who ruled over with an iron-clad fist," Malcolm told her with a small smirk. "They say Peter Pan only looked like a boy, but he was actually a demon."
"Peter Pan evil? No way..." Cathleen said.
"Stranger things have happened, haven't they, Cathleen?" Malcolm retorted smugly. "I mean, you met and befriended Regina Mills and she was once The Evil Queen who tried to get rid of Snow White."
"...I guess you have a point there." Cathleen then said as she had to admit that was true.
"Yes... The Enchanted Forest is filled with stories you're not familiar with," Malcolm replied. "Cherry knows this world better than you... She snuffed you out because of your ignorance and strong demeanor, right?"
Cathleen just looked at him before looking away softly.
"She singled me out once... It was very complicated..." Malcolm said innocently before he turned away and sighed wearily, though he smirked when he turned his back on her so she wouldn't see his weasely smirk.
"What did she do to you?" Cathleen asked softly.
"She broke my heart," Malcolm said softly before he turned around and looked innocent to her. "I gave her a chance for a lifetime of happiness and eternal bliss... But she chose someone over me... Someone very despicable and heartless."
"That doesn't sound like Cherry to me..." Cathleen said.
"Oh, yeah? Does choosing Rumplestiltskin sound familiar at all to you?" Malcolm then asked.
"Rumplestiltskin? ...You mean Mr. Gold?" Cathleen replied.
"Precisely," Malcolm said with a grin before looking briefly sad. "I mean... I was just scared, lost, and alone in Neverland when they came to save someone. I told her that if we went away together, her life would change forever... She would be a Queen~... But she chose the dark path and I never saw her again."
"That's horrible!" Cathleen frowned. "I never knew Cherry would be one to break someone's heart."
"Well, she broke yours didn't she?" Malcolm reminded calmly. "Let me help you... I very much miss her and I'd love to have her back... I'll even help you guys get to The Fallen Leader and find out who's responsible for this chaos with the classic Cartoon Cartoons trapped in this Storybrooke world they know nothing about like their very own Cartoon Network City."
"You know who The Fallen Leader is?!" Cathleen asked with a gasp.
"Maybe yes, maybe no, I just wanna know if you trust me or not," Malcolm said innocently. "If you don't, I'll go and you'll never find out who The Fallen Leader is."
Cathleen glanced at him before sniffing him suddenly, then backed away. "Well... You're not lying... You do seem to know who The Fallen Leader is and I do sense a closeness between you and Cherry somehow," she then admitted. "Well... I..."
Malcolm just grinned innocently, flashing his eyes and batted his eyelashes at her so he would appear to be cute and innocent.
"Well... Okay," Cathleen then gave in before she held out her hand. "I trust you, Malcolm."
"Oh, I was hoping you would," Malcolm said before he took her hand, squeezing it a bit as they shook on it. "It's a deal then."
"So... Are we gonna meet up later?" Cathleen then asked.
"I'm afraid I have to go now, but I'll look around for you," Malcolm said as he looked into her eyes. "Just don't go back on our deal."
"I won't... Just don't do the same to me." Cathleen then replied.
Malcolm nodded as he backed away from her.
"Man... This is a lot to think about..." Cathleen said as she turned away and looked at the night sky. "Well, I better run along... If you don't mind of course," she then said before looking over as Malcolm seemed to disappear. "...Hey, where'd he go? Who does this kid think he is, Batman?" she then scoffed and shrugged before she walked down the street to continue her walk. "Meh. Whatever. At least I did something worthwhile tonight."