Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, only my OC.

Storybrooke

Alator sipped nonchalantly from a glass of tea as he watched the exchange between Walter, Mr. Clark and Leroy from his seat, before shaking his head slightly. It had been a few days since Mary Margaret's affair with David Nolan had been discovered. Since then, things hadn't been easy for Mary Margaret, who was being treated as a pariah by the townspeople.

He smiled slightly, it would be amusing to see how they would react once the Curse was broken and their memories returned.

He was pulled from his musings when he heard the bell ring as Mary Margaret walked in.

She cleared her throat, "Excuse me. Can I have everyone's attention, please?"

Suddenly the entire diner went silent, "I'm sorry to interrupt your morning, but I just wanted to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us – Miner's Day. As always, the nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved, and will help sell their exquisite candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So, who wants to join me?"

The whole diner was quiet for a moment before everyone simply went back to what they were doing and the chatter resumed. As Leroy got up and headed to the door, Mary Margaret perked up hopefully, "Leroy, you want to volunteer?"

"I wanna leave, sister." He grumbled. "You're blocking the door."

Mary Margaret's smile faltered, "Of course. Uh, you know, if you wanted to help, it could really be a–"

Leroy scoffed in derision, "Oh, yeah. Right. Quite a team we'd make. Town harlot, town drunk. The only person in this town people like less than me is you. If You're coming to me, you're screwed."

With that said, Leroy brushed past her and left. Mary Margaret stood there, crestfallen, for a few moments before exiting as well.

Emma stood and followed her from the diner, rushing to catch up with her.

After a few moments, Alator quietly got up and followed them, as well.

"Hey." Emma greeted, once she caught up with the schoolteacher, "Mind if I join you?" Mary Margaret shrugged sorrowfully, "So, what the hell is Miner's Day and why are you beating yourself up over it?"

"It's an annual holiday celebrating an old tradition. The nuns used to make candles and trade them with the miners for coal." Mary Margaret explained.

Emma's brow furrowed in confusion, "Coal? In Maine? If they were mining for lobster, I'd understand."

"Look, I don't know. Now they use it as a fundraiser. It's an amazing party. Everyone loves it."

"It doesn't seem like everyone loves it." said Emma dryly.

Mary Margaret shook her head as guilt overtook her features, "It's not Miner's Day – it's me. Last week, I had 10 volunteers. This week, they all dropped out."

"You think this is about what happened with David?" Emma asked.

"Oh, I know it is. A few of them told me as much." Mary Margaret looked down, "I've never…been a homewrecker before."

"It's going to blow over." Emma assured her, "You made a mistake with David. It happens. But, you don't have to do charity to try to win people's hearts back."

"I have to do something, and this is the best I can do." Mary Margaret looked down again, "Love ruined my life."

Emma's phone rang, preventing her from offering any further comfort, "Sheriff Swan." She answered, listening for several seconds, "Yeah, I'll be right down." She hung up, sighing, "Well, apparently, duty calls. Hang in there." She placed a hand on Mary Margaret's arm. "And, if there's anything I can do to help, I will."

"I know." The schoolteacher answered, trying to smile, "Thank you."

As Emma left, Alator approached her from behind, "Love hurts, Miss Blanchard, this is true." he said, as she turned around startled, he gently laid a comforting hand upon her shoulder, "But we cannot live without it, we are only human, we are fashioned for love, and thus we desire to be loved, this is both our greatest blessing, and our greatest curse."

"But Miss Swan is right," his piercing blue eyes twinkled behind his glasses, "Take heart, Miss Blanchard." he said reassuringly, "This will blow over soon enough. Your situation may seem rather hopeless now, but even in our darkest moments, there is hope to be found, if you look for the light."

He stepped back, and inclined his head slightly, "Good luck, Miss Blanchard. I hope to see you at the festival."

Mary Margaret stood in silence, as Mr. Indigo walked away, she suddenly felt more reassured than she had before, for the first time in days, she felt…hopeful.

Alator's nose wrinkled slightly at the strong smell of fish, as he and Gold stood on the dock, as Leroy tried to sell a rather rundown boat to either one of them, "Now, I know it's a bit of a fixer-upper, could probably use a new coat of paint, a few spritzes of Febreze here and there, but you can't tell me that five thousand's not a reasonable price for this beauty."

Gold glanced at Alator, "What do you think, dearie?"

Alator looked at the boat appraisingly, "Three thousand, I think." he answered.

"I need five."

"You need five?" Gold turned to him, "To what do we owe the specificity?"

Leroy shrugged. "Trying to help out a friend."

Gold nodded slowly, "Oh, I see."

"Look," Leroy sighed, "You don't even have to pay me anything. Just forgive one month's rent for the nuns."

Gold's voice turned dangerous, "The nuns?"

"You can have the boat." Leroy continued, clearly grasping at straws. "They'll pay you back eventually. It's a good deal. You get everything."

"So, that's what this is about." Gold mused.

"Come on, you're a rich guy. You can afford to give them time to make up one month's, right?"

"You're right – I could." Gold agreed easily.

Leroy grinned, "So, great."

"But I won't." Gold interjected, barely able to hide his obvious pleasure with the fact. "I have a fairly specific rental agreement. If they miss a payment, I'm within my rights to evict."

"Oh, come on. Why don't you—"

"And, quite honestly, it's going to be a great relief to be rid of such distasteful tenants." Gold spat, his eyes narrowed in anger.

Leroy held back the urge to take a step away from the obvious fury in Gold's voice. "You don't like nuns?" he asked, "Who doesn't like nuns?"

"Oh, I have my reasons. And they're mine." Gold's voice hardened slightly. "Let's just say, I have a long and complicated history with them, and leave it at that."

With that, he turned and stalked away, followed by Alator, who gave Leroy a sympathetic glance.

He had nothing against the nuns personally, but he wasn't overly fond of the Mother Superior, her self-righteous attitude often grated on his nerves.

Even in the Enchanted Forest, he hadn't quite trusted Reul Ghorm, though she always claimed to be an agent of goodness, there was something 'shady' about her—as they would say, in this world.

Alator wandered the carnival-like grounds of the Miner's Day Festival, taking in the sights and observing others in the crowd. Gold himself had chosen not to attend the event, for obvious reasons.

Personally, Alator wasn't fond of such gatherings or celebrations himself, but he acknowledged its necessity, and it also provided an opportunity to observe the people around him, while they were distracted by the festivities.

He had glanced over by the candle booth, grimacing at the large amount of unsold candles still sitting by the booth, it appeared that all their efforts had been for naught.

Suddenly, the festival, and all of Storybrooke, went dark, and the crowd began to panic.

Meanwhile, Mary Margaret and Leroy, had returned to their booth, and had begun lighting candles, as a small crowd began to form at their booth, all of them clamoring to buy candles.

Alator sat down on a bench, he smirked knowingly, as the dark festival was gradually lit up by candles, the small flames burning like fireflies in the darkness.

He smiled slightly as he looked around, only for his small smile to become a contemplative frown as he noticed Emma escorting David to the police car to take him back to the station…