On the edge of the town of Storybrooke, Belle was making her way through Jefferson's estate, gathering up used towels and dirty clothes in a laundry basket. Before heading down to the laundry room, she made one final stop, stepping into the master bedroom at the end of the upstairs hallway. Upon entering the room, she could not fight the smile that formed on her face at the sight of Jefferson, still lying in bed. From the way he was holding one of the many pillows over his face, it was clear he was trying to block out the sunlight that was pouring in from the nearby window.

"Okay," Belle announced, striding right over to the bed. "Get up, sleepyhead. I need the sheets." To emphasize her statement, Belle started to tug at the blankets, getting ready to remove them from the bed. In response, Jefferson let out a low groan, but instead of moving out of bed, his arm shot out, catching Belle by the waist. In one fluid movement, he'd flipped her onto the bed and was hovering over her in moments, a large smile on his face. Emboldened by the sounds of Belle giggling, he closed the distance between them, placing a slow but still chaste kiss on her lips.

"What time is it?" he asked when they came up for air.

"Nine," Belle replied. "The Dark Star Pharmacy opens at eight."

"All right," Jefferson sighed, untangling himself from their embrace in order to get up.

"Don't forget the clotted cream," Belle requested. "We'll need some to go with the scones for Grace's birthday tea."

"I'll remember," Jefferson promised.


By the time Jefferson had begun the drive to Dark Star Pharmacy to get the items on the grocery list he and Belle had put together, and to drop Belle off at the local library, the shops along Main Street were all up and running. Shoppers moved up and down the street, carrying parcels and bags from the Modern Fashions, the Purbeck Shoe Store, and Jolene's Arts and Crafts. The familiar aroma of bacon and coffee drifted out from Granny's Diner as patrons entered and exited. At first glance, the town looked exactly the same as it had done for nearly 30 years. But there were significant differences. Not the least of which was the fact that the old clock tower above the Storybrooke Library was operational after 28 years of dormancy. The most noticeable difference was that the old sign that used to hang over Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop had been replaced, with the sign now reading 'Cassidy Art Dealers.' The shop windows, which had once been filled with an eclectic assortment of items, from stone busts and violins to chess sets and crystal goblets, were now adorned with framed paintings and sketches.

Neal's art dealership wasn't the only new addition in town. Another new business had been recently established on a side street branching off from Main Street, just a stone's throw away from Game of Thorns, the florist shop Belle's father ran. After the curse had been broken, one of the former Sisters of Saint Meissa had amicably split off from the rest of the group, having remembered her true identity as Mab, a renowned fairy midwife of the Enchanted Forest. While it had taken her a few months to make it happen, she had now been able to open up a birthing clinic, which she ran with the help of some volunteer nurses and a few of her fellow fairies. It was this establishment that David parked his truck in front of before stepping around to help Mary Margret out of the passenger seat.

It had been Aurora who had informed them of the new birthing clinic. Her own pregnancy was about a month further along than Mary Margret's, but she had no desire to have checkups at the local hospital. Since she and Phillip weren't brought over during the Dark Curse, they weren't as familiar to the technology within this new realm, and Aurora was quite leery of the machines and clinical atmosphere of the hospital room. When the birthing clinic opened, she'd quickly been won over by the homey, intimate atmosphere, finding it closer to what was offered in the Enchanted Forest. As such, she was quick to recommend it to Mary Margret and David, who had agreed to give the place a fair chance.

Upon entering the facility, they were welcomed by the sight of a cozy reception area, decorated with couches and a few cushioned rocking chairs. Along the wall were two separate magazine racks. One was filled with magazines and brochures discussing the procedures the clinic offered while the other was filled with children's books. There was also what appeared to be a toy chest in the corner of the room. However, the only other people in the room at the present time were the two women chatting over at the receptionist desk, both of whom looked up when David and Mary Margret entered. When she noticed who they were, Mary Margret's face lit up.

"Astrid, Tink!" Mary Margret exclaimed. "I didn't know you two worked here."

"Well," Tink replied with a shrug, "I may have my wings back again, but I suppose I'd just spent too much time on my own. I just wasn't connecting with the rest of the fairies anymore. After a while, I realized that it was probably better to carve my own niche. So, when Mab was looking for anyone who might be interested in joining her staff, I figured I might as well step forward. After all, I've always felt it was a fairy's responsibility to help people. I'd say this certainly qualifies as helping people."

"And while I'll never say anything against Blue," Astrid added, "Mab is… a bit more easy-going with how she runs things. At least, things are slightly less structured here."

"You're just happy Mab doesn't have a problem with you spending your lunch breaks with a certain friend of yours," Tink commented with a teasing smirk. "Name rhymes with Troy?"

"Anyway," Astrid announced, a definite blush tinting her cheeks as she tried to change the subject, "I suppose you're here because of the baby, Mary Margret? Aurora said you might be stopping by."

"Well, we certainly were curious," David admitted.

"Of course," Tink agreed. "Mab's in a meeting with another expectant couple at the moment, but I can give you a little tour of the place in the meantime."

"That would be nice," Mary Margret said.


"Okay," Mother Superior announced. "That's enough of that for now." In response to her statement, the other fairies halted the magical test they were performing on the golden urn. Out of all the magical artifacts Jefferson, Belle, Ruby and the rest of the Enchanted Forest expedition brought back from the Dark Castle, this urn was the only one they were having trouble cracking. The only thing their multiple tests had unveiled was an inscription written in a language none of the fairies were able to identify.

"Perhaps the Dark One's son has an idea of what this urn was used for?" one of the fairies suggested as the group left the room to convene for breakfast in the refectory.

"I already asked him," Mother Superior replied. "He said he didn't recognize it. Clearly, Rumpelstiltskin obtained it after Baelfire used the magic bean I gave him. But perhaps we should bring in Belle once again. It is possible she would be able to decipher the inscription on the urn. There might be something within her library that can identify that language."

As the group of fairies continued to follow after Mother Superiour, one of the women slowly came to a halt, a frown on her face as she carefully felt around inside her pocket. When she noticed her friend falling behind, another fairy stopped and looked back in concern.

"Sister Anser?" she asked. "Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course," Sister Anser answered, speaking quickly. "Just… you go ahead. I'll join you in a minute."

Without another word, Sister Anser turned and quickly reentered the room they had just left, closing the door behind her. The instant she was alone in the room, she turned and looked around franticly.

"Roquefort?" she called out in a loud whisper. "Roquefort, where are you?" When she got no response, she started to move carefully around the room, being noticeably mindful about where she stepped. As she scanned the room, she continued to call out for 'Roquefort.'

After a minute or two, however, she finally noticed a slight movement out of the corner of her eye. Turning, she spotted the black and white spotted mouse perched on the pedestal where the mysterious urn had been left.

"Roquefort!" Sister Anser hissed in a scolding tone. "You shouldn't be up there!" Moving slowly in an attempt to not spook her pet mouse, she carefully reached out a hand towards the small animal. But at the last possible second, Roquefort took a flying leap off the pedestal, forcing Sister Anser to lunge forward in order to catch him. In the process, her shoulder collided with the urn, causing it to fall to the floor. Upon landing, the lid of the urn fell off, releasing what appeared to be a thick blue liquid. The liquid seemed to consolidate into a puddle before slowly stretching upwards, taking the unmistakable shape of a person.

Briefly, Sister Anser could only watch in shocked surprise as a woman she'd never seen before emerged from the strange blue liquid. The mysterious woman, it seemed, hadn't yet noticed Sister Anser and simply looked around. Upon noticing that the woman was starting to look particularly agitated, she decided to try and approach her.

"Um, excuse me?" Sister Asner began. "Can I help…?"

Sister Anser didn't get a chance to finish her question. The moment she heard the fairy speak, the mysterious woman spun around, a burst of magic shooting out from her extended hand. Even though Sister Anser was able to dodge out of the way in time, resulting in the magical blast to collide with the wall, she was unable to hold in the gasp of surprise at the unexpected attack. When she looked back to face the stranger, however, she saw the mysterious woman was gone. The only sign of her retreat was the door standing ajar. Throat too tight to speak, Sister Anser turned to look back at the wall where the magical attack had collided. Instead of the scorch mark she was expecting to see, there was only a large patch of what appeared to be ice. It was only then that she noticed there was also a trail of ice formed along the ground, which seemed to be marking the path the mysterious woman had taken in her flight.


Emma made her way down the hall leading to the main room of the sheriff's department, shrugging out of her coat as she walked. Upon reaching her office, she hung up the coat on the coatrack standing in the corner, pausing a moment to spare a wistful glance at the battered leather jacket that always hung there. Pushing aside the memories, she turned her attention to her desk, and the waiting pile of paperwork. But before she could give the paperwork the attention it needed, she paused at the sight of a steaming mug of coffee sitting in the middle of her desk. For a few moments, Emma simply looked at the coffee. She was sure it wasn't there when she left work yesterday.

Instantly, a knowing smirk appeared on her face. Shaking her head, she glanced over her shoulder.

"I know you're there, Killian," she called out.

"I get a summons from a fair maiden, and I'm on the spot," Killian announced, emerging from the side room while directing a disarming smile in her direction. "What can I help you with, Swan?"

"Well, first of all, thank you for the coffee," Emma began, taking a sampling sip. "You're getting very good at working the coffeemaker. Anyway, there was a matter I wanted to discuss with you."

"If it's about the bar fight last week, I already spoke to my crew about that," Killian responded. "They've agreed to come to an agreement with the dwarfs to avoid going to the Rabbit Hole on the same night. I assure you, there won't be a repeat performance of that."

"While that is appreciated, that's isn't what I was concerned about."

"What, then?"

"It's about the curse that Regina cast. You know how time was frozen when it was still in effect, with no one in town aging."

"Aye, I was aware," Killian agreed with a nod.

"Well, now that the curse is broken, it means that there's an important fact that should be discussed. Up until now, the oldest children in town were around 14 years old, at the most. There weren't many older kids. But with time moving again, and people aging, it won't be long before Storybrooke is filled with older teenagers. Especially with the former Lost Boys we brought back from Neverland. The problem is, because there was never a need for it before, there's not much available in town that interest teenagers older than 15."

"Yes," Killian mused. "I can see how that would be a problem. I trust you have a plan of action on how that might be remedied."

"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," Emma admitted. "Obviously, you didn't have things like this in the Enchanted Forest. But in this world we had….special groups that were designed to help school-aged children develop values that would need as adults. It was called 'Scouting.' Maybe we should organize a similar offering in Storybrooke. Preferably without having separate groups for boys and girls."

"And what sort of thing do these 'scouts' do?" Killian inquired.

"That's where I'm hoping you come in," Emma said. "Most scouting programs in this world feature a lot of outdoor activities. Like camping and fishing. I see no reason why we couldn't do something similar in Storybrooke. And I've already got a list of potential volunteer program leaders. For instance, Anton said he'd be able to help teach the Storybrooke Scouts gardening tips. And Robin said he'd be more than willing to teach them about camping and foraging for food. But…"

"I'm listening," Killian said gently, casually reaching out to give her hand a supportive squeeze, seeing she was suddenly getting nervous.

"Well, Henry overhead me discussing it the other day," Emma admitted. "He had a few ideas about activities that could be offered, too. Such as….sailing a ship?"

"Ah, I see," Killian nodded in understanding. "So, you're asking me if I'd be willing to help teach the town's children. I don't know, Swan. Are you certain parents would be tolerant of the knowledge that a pirate such as myself was among the chosen instructors in your scouting program?"

"You might be a pirate," Emma allowed. "But if anyone has a problem with it, I'll simply ask them if they have a better candidate in mind for teaching them about navigation and steering a ship."

Killian didn't respond to that statement right away, simply scratching at his ear. It was clear he wasn't oblivious to the subtle praise in Emma's statement. When he finally looked back up at Emma, he took a moment to study her face.

"Were you worried I wouldn't want to assist you in your endeavor?"

"Well, I wouldn't have been surprised if you didn't want to," Emma consented with a shrug. "Considering the scouting group would contain the boys we brought back from Neverland. I wasn't sure you'd want to be in such close proximity to them again, considering your…past conflicts with each other."

Slowly, an understanding smile appeared on Killian's face, realizing that Emma's hesitance in asking him to help oversee her proposed program was solely out of concern for him and his feelings.

"Emma, unless the parents of the children in this scouting program of yours have a problem with me being there, I would be honored to assist you," he stated. To emphasize his words, he brought her hand up to his lips in a chaste but reverent kiss. When he once again met her eyes, he was pleased to see the touched smile grace her features.

At that moment, however, the phone sitting on Emma's desk started to ring, disrupting the intimacy of the moment.

"Sorry," Emma apologized, turning her attention to the phone. "I need to take this." Nodding in understanding, Killian stepped back to allow her fulfill her duties and answer up the phone. "Sherriff Swan, speaking…. Could you say that again?"


AN: And a new adventure begins.

For those of you who were curious, Sister Anser is supposed to be the Storybrooke name of Fawn, one of the fairies in those Tinkerbell movies. While I've never actually seen those movies, I am fully aware of their existence, and know that Fawn is the animal-loving fairy. And yes, her pet mouse shares the same name as the mouse from Aristocats. That was intentional