Chapter 38: The Queen is Dead
January 3, 2012
ISC Storybrooke Facility
As the sun rose and its rays creeped through the blinds, Buffy stirred to life. She was encapsulated in Mulan's warm body as their bare skin made contact. She could hear Mulan still breathing softly in her sleep.
Buffy smiled as she watched Mulan. "I love you," she whispered. She leaned over and kissed her wife waking Mulan. "Morning."
"Morning, Buffy," Mulan replied. "So, what do you have planned for today, my love?"
"Well I need to head in to the station," Buffy said. "And I would like you to join me an hour later."
"For what?" Mulan wondered as she looked her wife in the eyes.
"It is a surprise," Buffy answered. "I love you, Hua Mulan."
"And I love you Hua-White Buffy," Mulan returned.
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Downstairs David was cooking breakfast as Mary Margaret looked in a mirror. "What are you doing?" she asked.
"I'm making breakfast," David replied.
"Why?" Mary Margaret wondered.
David shrugged. "I'm hungry."
"You think I don't know what you're doing?" she told him. He knew it was her birthday after all. "We talked about this. We had a deal."
He sighed. "I know. I know," David told her. "But, with the curse broken, I thought maybe you would change your mind."
"Well, I didn't," Mary Margaret countered. "What's this?" She gestured to the table, where there was a wrapped gift with a card attached.
"Birthday present," he answered like it wasn't obvious.
"No, I told you…" Mary Margaret said with a sigh.
"Told him what?" Dawn asked as she walked into the kitchen.
"She doesn't want to celebrate her birthday," David answered his sister-in-law.
"Snow," Dawn said with a sigh. "Buffy, Faith and I have missed so many. At least let us celebrate one with you."
"Then is that from you?" Mary Margaret asked gesturing toward the wrapped gift.
"No," Dawn said. "And its not from Buffy either. We had something planned for later."
"Well other than you, David, Buffy, Faith and Aunt Joyce, no one knows today is my birthday," Mary Margaret said.
"Well someone knows," Dawn interjected.
"Dawn's right," David said. "Someone has to, especially since that was left on the front porch. Which means someone else knows."
Initially ignoring the card, Mary Margaret opened the gift. Inside she found a diamond tiara.
"What is it?" David and Dawn asked seeing Mary Margaret's eyes go wide in unison.
Mary Margaret lifted the tiara out of the box, as her eyes began to glisten. "I thought that was lost when the curse hit."
Dawn's eyes went wide. "It's yours, Snow?" she asked.
"It is, Dawn," Mary Margaret replied. She then looked at her husband. "And so, did I."
Dawn took the card from the gift and opened the envelope. "Who is Johanna?" she asked.
Mary Margaret took the card from her sister and read what it said: Thinking of you today, Johanna. "Johanna," she repeated.
"I didn't know she was in Storybrooke," David said in clear surprise.
"Who is she?" Dawn asked again.
"A family friend," Mary Margaret answered her sister.
Sheriff Station
Buffy walked into the station and hung up her jacket. She heard a noise and her Slayer senses went on high alert. While she was distracted by the noise Hook came up behind the Slayer and hit her over the head with a crowbar, knocking her unconscious.
Hook smirked as he took Buffy's keys. "Apologies, lass, but I think you have something of mine." He unlocked a drawer and took his hook out. He then replaced the fake hand with his hook.
Johanna's Home
Mary Margaret approached Johanna who was planting a small flower garden in her backyard. "Johanna?" she said.
"Snow…" Johanna replied turning to face her friend.
"It's Mary Margaret, here," Mary Margaret corrected.
Johanna smiled. "No. You will always be my dear Snow."
"You're just like my sisters and Aunt Joyce," Mary Margaret chuckled as she and Johanna embraced one another. "Their like you will always be Snow."
"I knew you had finally finding your sisters," Johanna said. "But I didn't know Joyce was here."
"It's kind of complicated," Mary Margaret said. "But she is here."
"I will have to pay her a visit then," Joanna said as she smiled.
"Anyways I never thought I'd see you again. Or this," Mary Margaret said as she took the tiara out of her bag and held it up.
Johanna smiled. "Oh. I came across it in Mr. Gold's shop, and I knew how much it meant to you. I knew you had to have it."
"Thank you," Mary Margaret replied as she smiled at her old friend. "I haven't seen those flowers in a long time."
"They reminded me of you," Johanna admitted. "Because they could survive the harshest winter, and you were born during the harshest one of all."
"That's why she named me Snow," Mary Margaret said.
"Out of you and your sisters only you and Dawn are named based on when you two were born," Johanna said with a chuckle.
"Yeah, when Regina asked if I wanted to name her. I named Dawn because she was born right at dawn," Mary Margaret said with a chuckle of her own.
Johanna nodded as she looked back at her garden. "I thought keeping this garden would be a nice way to honor your mother."
"It is," Mary Margaret agreed.
"I miss her, too. Oh, you…" Johanna said as she wiped a tear off of Mary Margaret's cheek. Suddenly they heard a noise coming from the woods behind them. "What was that?"
"Stay here," Mary Margaret ordered. "I'm sure it was nothing."
"Snow…" Johanna said intending to follow her friend.
"No, no, please," Mary Margaret said looking at Johanna. "Please, just stay here. I'll be right back." She hurried into the woods. Within moments she came across Cora and Regina, who was digging a hole.
"And you're sure this is where we're supposed to dig?" Cora asked her daughter.
"Yes," Regina asked as she consulted the map. "Hook marked it clearly. Rumpelstiltskin's dagger is here."
"Unless, Hook lied to us," Cora countered.
Regina sighed. "Well, then this map is useless," she admitted. "Gold is the only one who can translate it."
Cora smiled. "Oh, don't worry, sweetheart. Hook could've saved us a lot of effort with honesty, but the truth is, we don't need anyone. I can reconstruct the map. It'll just take a bit more time. And when we find it, I promise you, I'll use that dagger to force the Dark One to kill anyone you like."
Sheriff's Station
Mulan strolled into the building. "Buffy, my love?" she said. Then she saw Buffy lying on the floor unconscious. "Buffy!" she cried as she rushed to her wife. "Buffy!" she said shaking Buffy.
Buffy groaned as she opened her eyes.
"What happened?" Mulan asked looking at he wife.
"Hook," Buffy answered. "He ambushed me."
"I thought that was next to impossible," Mulan said, remembering their training to combat Böri Khan's invaders and how hard it had been for her to sneak up on Buffy.
"He distracted me," Buffy answered as Mulan helped her to sit up. "I heard a noise. It was just before he knocked me unconscious that I realized he was behind me not in front of me."
"Are you hurt?" Mulan asked. She knew her wife had accelerated healing, but still she asked out of concern. After all she had lost Buffy once, and she did not want to lose Buffy again.
"I'm fine, Mulan," Buffy replied as she leaned over and kissed Mulan. "Besides it's not me he wants. It's Rumpelstiltskin…and his hook. I'm going to enjoy throwing his ass in jail."
"Hook isn't the problem, Lizzie." Buffy and Mulan turned at the sound of the voice and saw Mary Margaret standing in the doorway.
"What do you mean, Snow?" Buffy asked.
"It's your mother…it's Regina," Mary Margaret answered looking at her sister. "She's been lying to us. She's working with Cora to find Gold's dagger."
Buffy's brow furrowed. "The dagger controls him. If Cora gets it, she can force Gold and all his power to do her bidding."
"Or…Become the Dark One herself," Mary Margaret said.
"Even in the Empire, I heard of the Dark One," Mulan admitted. "Is he as bad as the stories say?"
"He was," Mary Margaret said. "And to a degree still is. So, you understand that if…"
"Cora gets his powers then," Mulan answered. "Yes."
"Have you tried contacting Emma or Faith?" Buffy asked.
"Yeah," Mary Margaret replied. "I haven't gotten a reply and David is continuing to do so for us. We need to buy buy time until David either hears back or they return."
"How?" Mulan wondered.
"Regina," Mary Margaret told the warrior. "She doesn't trust her mother. Never has. If we can put some doubt in her about Cora's motives, it might slow them down."
"I guess I'm going to need to talk to her," Buffy said.
"Do you think you can do it, Lizzie?" Mary Margaret questioned.
"I'm her daughter," Buffy said. "Maybe its time to try and make amends." She looked at Mulan. "But there is one thing that needs to be done first."
"What's that?" Mary Margaret asked confused.
"Why I asked Mulan to meet me here," Buffy answered. "Hua Mulan, you will now take the Oath of the Warrior, pledging fidelity to the Four Pillars of Virtue." Mulan smiled and nodded. "Repeat after me. Brave!" she said as Mulan echoed her. "Loyal! True! Devotion to Family!" She smiled at her wife as she picked up a deputy's badge she held it out to her wife. "Congratulations, Deputy Hua Mulan. Welcome to the Storybrooke police force. The closest thing we have to the Imperial Guard."
Mulan took the badge and then smiled as she pinned it to her shirt. "I am, as always, your second."
"I thought Dawn was acting deputy in Emma's absence," Mary Margaret said in confusion.
"Despite the fact that Dawn is a Slayer, she wanted to go back to working at the school," Buffy answered. "She only stepped away from her job there to devote her time to our return. Now that we are back. She took up the position you left vacant." She looked at Mulan. "Besides there is nothing that says I can't have more than one deputy."
"So, what's with the oath?" Mary Margaret wondered slightly confused. "It's not the one you gave Emma when you made her your deputy."
"It is the oath of a warrior," Mulan answered. "Buffy and I both took the oath when we served in the army against the northern invaders."
Mary Margaret looked at her sister for a moment. "I wish I had known you were there; you know. I would have loved to have seen that."
"And looking back I would have loved for you to have seen it," Buffy agreed. "But you have to remember, Snow. For me that was a decade ago. My memories of you, of our family of our world had yet to be reawakened. I didn't even know that I had returned to the world I had been born in."
"I know, Lizzie," Mary Margaret said. "It is just another reminder that we were separated."
Pizzeria, New York City
"So, uh…you like pizza?" Neal asked looking at his son while they, Faith, Christine, Emma and Gold walked down the street.
"Yeah. Let me guess – you're going to tell me the best pizza's in New York, and I got to try it, right?" Henry almost smirked.
"Damn right," Faith piped up. "Nowhere can—do pizza like New York it's a fact."
"Actually, it's in the Kingdom of Damarian on the north shore of the Dragon Fields of Zorn." Neal looked out of the corner of his eye at Faith who was biting her lip to keep form laughing. "Nah, it's in New York. Here, let's get you a slice."
"So, you're really from another world?" Christine asked.
"Yeah, I am, Chris," Neal sighed almost hating the fact. He, Henry and Christine made their way into the pizza place leaving Faith, Gold and Emma outside.
"Do you think that we should…" Emma began but Gold just shook his head.
"If we were welcome, I feel confident an invitation would have been extended. It's a sad truth that the people closest to us are the ones capable of causing us the most pain. That's our common ground, Miss Swan," the man stared into the shop observing his son.
"Guess my lying to him just caught up with me." Emma looked at her son trying her best to think of a way to get him to forgive her.
Faith rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm going in." She knew she had to talk to her great nephew on Emma's behalf.
"Ah, give him time. He'll forgive you," Gold tried to comfort Emma as they watched Faith enter the restaurant.
"Is that you projecting your own hopes?" Emma raised an eyebrow at the man.
"My son and I have some way to go," the man sighed.
"I can see that," Emma turned her gaze back to Neal, Christine and Henry as Faith approached the trio.
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"Henry," Faith said as she approached the table. "Can I have a word with you." She looked at Neal and Christine. "In private. This is a family thing."
"If it has to do with Henry," Neal interjected shaking his head.
Faith sighed as she sat down next to her nephew. "Henry, I am going to tell you a story. Then I will need you to think really hard on what Emma did." She went on to tell Henry about the Lehanes and what they did to her.
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"I need you and Faith to speak to him. Try and convince him to come back to Storybrooke with us," Gold turned to Emma his tone suddenly desperate.
"If I recall, there was only one favor Aunt Lizzie and I owed you, and I think Aunt Faith and I have paid those favors," Emma crossed her arms suddenly defensive.
"This isn't about me anymore. You and Faith will do it for Henry," Gold almost demanded.
"How do you figure that?" Emma questioned.
"Well, because if you and Faith don't, you're going to wake up one morning, and discover he's hopped on a bus back to New York. He ran away to be with you. He'll do the same thing for his father." Gold smirked knowing he touched a nerve.
"Until Neal lets him down – which he will. It'll be a hard lesson, but then at least Henry will understand that I lied to protect him." Emma's fear crept up on her at the thought of her son leaving knowing there was always a possibility.
"Someone's beginning to sound a lot like Regina." Gold said as Emma's gaze snapped to him. "I think the real reason you lied was to protect yourself."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma tried to keep her tone calm but failed.
"From getting hurt again," Gold explained.
"That's not happening," Emma's tone left little room for argument.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
Faith finished her story and saw the look of horror on Neal, Christine and Henry's faces at the revelation that she had been abused by the Lehanes. "Now, Henry. You need to think really hard. Do you want a life like mine? Because that could be what awaits you if you were to go into foster care. Or would you rather forgive Emma for lying to you. She had her reasons, and while they may not have been good ones. She did believe she had your best interests at heart."
Henry looked toward the window and Emma and Gold for a long moment and then nodded. He knew Faith was right. Which meant he should apologize to his mother. "Your right, Aunt Faith," he said.
0 – 0 – 0 – 0 – 0
"You want a second chance with that man," Gold smirked.
"What makes you think that?" Emma was quickly losing her patience.
"The look on your face," he said and Emma was about to snap back as Faith, Christine, Neal and Henry walked out of the pizzeria.
"What are we talking about?" Neal asked sensing the tension
Emma and Gold were saved from responding by Henry. "Emma, Neal wanted to show me the museum. Do you think we can go back to the apartment and get my camera?"
"Yeah, well, I… kids like culture, right?" Neal smiled at his son's enthusiasm.
"Sure. Yeah, that's fine," Emma gave a tight smile. "You like the New York pizza?"
"Yeah. It's delicious and cheesy," Henry said as Faith nudged him. "Emma…Mom," he corrected himself. "I'm sorry."
Emma looked at Faith, she was sure her aunt had talked to Henry. "It's okay, Henry," she admitted. "Thank you," she mouthed to Faith.
Granny's Diner
Regina entered the diner and found Buffy waiting for her. "Elizabeth," she said in surprise. "I thought I was meeting Mary Margaret."
"I didn't want you to know it was me," Buffy said as Regina sat opposite her.
"So, how are you?" Regina asked looking her daughter in the eyes.
"I've been doing some thinking of late," Buffy admitted. "I want to give you a second chance. But here is the thing. I know you've been lying."
"I don't know what you're talking about, Elizabeth," Regina countered.
Buffy shook her head. "Mom, no lying. I know you've been with Cora. And I know you're looking for the dagger."
"Eliz…" Regina started and then sighed as she corrected herself. "…Lizzie, let it drop. What I am doing with your grandmother is my business."
"Mom, please," Buffy begged. "I don't want to see you go back down this path. You have this chance, choose to be with me, with Faith, with Dawn. Let go of this vendetta you have with Snow. Choose the side of good."
"Lizzie," Regina said looking at her daughter. "Have you thought that maybe I am good? After all it was your sister who added evil to my title."
"Mom," Buffy said. "I know what good is and I know what evil is. After all I was called to fight evil. I know your not evil, but the path you are going down is. Why would you choose this path over your own daughters?"
"Elizabeth," Regina said. "I am doing this for you, for Faith, for Dawn. So, we can be a family without a bunch of hypocrites who pretend they'll forgive me, when in their hearts, they know…they never will." She stood up and turned toward the door.
"Mom," Buffy said. "Listening to Cora is a mistake. She doesn't care about me or Faith or Dawn or even Henry. All she wants is power."
"Power is how you get things, Elizabeth," Regina countered.
"Mom, she doesn't care about you," Buffy said. "Please, I'm begging you. Don't make me choose. Because if I have to, I will choose my sisters, my adopted mother, my niece and my great nephew over Cora. And if you side with her, then sadly over you as well."
Neal and Christine's Apartment Building
"So, should I call you grandpa, now?" Henry asked Gold as they all walked toward the apartment building. Christine had left them, saying she needed to run an errand and would see them later.
"Call me whatever you'd like," Gold replied.
"He's a good kid," Neal said looking at Emma.
"Yeah," Emma agreed.
"Hey, I'm trying my best here," Neal interjected.
"She knows, Neal," Faith said.
"Aunt Faith is right," Emma agreed glancing at her aunt before looking back at Neal. "It's just, we're going to have to go back. To our home."
Neal sighed. "I'm just getting to know him."
"Then maybe… Maybe you should come with us," Emma said as Faith raised a questioning eyebrow.
"To Storybrooke?" Neal asked in surprise.
Emma smiled. "I've seen your apartment," she told him. "You don't have a lot going on here."
Neal sighed. "Looks can be deceiving. Listen… There's something I've been meaning to tell you. It's complicated."
"So, Neal, do you think we can take the subway?" Henry interjected.
"Yeah. Sure, of course. Let's go get that camera," Neal said as he let them into the building. He and Henry headed up to his apartment leaving Emma, Faith and Gold behind. "So, after this, maybe Times Square?"
"Okay," Faith said after Neal and Henry were out of earshot. "What was that about suggesting he come back with us?"
"I asked her to," Gold interjected. "Not for my benefit but for Henry's."
Faith let out a sigh in understanding as she looked at her niece. "So he doesn't have to choose between you and N."
"That's right," Emma replied. She looked at Gold. "And he said it's complicated."
Gold sighed. "Oh, I see."
"Rumpelstiltskin," Faith said. "I may not like you much, because of you know. But if my past is any indication. He could simply need time."
Suddenly, Hook ambushed the three of them in the lobby. He hit Emma and Faith knocking them to the ground before lunging at Gold. He pinned the older man m against the wall before stabbing him in the chest with his hook.
"Tick tock. Time's up, crocodile," Hook gloated. "You took Milah, my love, my happiness. And for that, I now take your life."
Faith jumped up and grabbed something and brought it down on Hook knocking him unconscious.
Emma rushed over to Gold to check on him. "Gold, are you alright?" she asked as Neal and Christine having heard the commotion rushed into the lobby.
"What the hell is going on?" Neal asked.
"One of your dad's enemies found us," Faith said waving at Hook.
Neal glared at Hook. "Hook."
"You know him?" Emma and Faith asked.
Neal knelt next to his father, checking Gold's wound. When he pulled his hand away, there was blood on his fingers. "Papa?" he whispered. He moved to lift his father.
"Let me, N," Faith offered. "I'm a Slayer, remember. Supernatural strength comes with the Slayer package." Neal nodded as he moved aside. She picked Gold up and carried him upstairs followed by Neal and Christine. She proceeded to lay him on the couch.
"Found a storage room and locked our stab-happy pirate in there," Emma said when she joined them a moment later. "Shouldn't be causing anyone else any problems. And get this–he had a map on him. It looks like he sailed his ship here."
"How'd he get a pirate ship into New York?" Neal asked in surprise.
"It's cloaked," Faith replied.
"Don't worry," Emma added. "He's not going to hurt any of us."
"But is Mr. Gold going to be okay?" Henry asked.
Christine knelt down next to Gold examining the wound. "He's going to be fine," she told the boy. She looked up at Neal, Emma and Faith. "That said I can only do so much here. This wound will need stitches."
"Mr. Gold, are you alright?" Henry asked as he approached Gold.
Gold grabbed his grandson abruptly. "You stay away from me," he snapped. "You caused this. You brought us back here. You did this." He released Henry from his grip.
Emma pulled out her cell phone and looked down at it. "Hey, kid. The battery's dead. Go in the other room and see if you can find a charger, okay?"
"Okay," Henry said as he left the room.
Gold looked up at Christine and shook his head. "I appreciate what you are doing, but it's pointless."
Christine nodded as she looked back at the wound and saw it had turned a sickly a yellow-green color. She looked up in the man's eyes. "You've been poisoned, haven't you?"
Gold nodded. "One of Hook's own making," he told the doctor. "There's no antidote in this world. It's…It's not from here."
"It's from your world," Christine said in understanding. "Is there anything I can do?"
"There is, there is," Gold replied looking past Christine to Faith and Emma.
"Storybrooke," Faith said as Gold nodded. "The cure lies in Storybrooke. Because Storybrooke houses not only this worlds magic but the magic of the Enchanted Forest as well."
"Unless the magic of your birth world is different than this one, it won't work," Christine said. "While I know more about using medicine with magic. This worlds magic isn't going to fix this. So unless…"
"It's possible," Faith said as she remembered what Joyce had done. "The magic of the Enchanted Forest operates on different rules than this worlds magic does."
"Alright," Christine said. She tossed Neal her keys. "My car is parked in its usual spot."
"I'll get it," Neal said as he headed for the door.
"No, no, no," Gold interjected. "There's not enough time. We need something faster. The Captain's ship."
"The Jolly Roger instead of a car?" Emma asked.
Gold nodded. "It's the fastest vessel in all the realms."
"Well, that's great, but who's going to captain it, since the only guy qualified wants you dead?" Emma wondered.
"I can do it," Neal told them reluctantly.
"Bae?" Gold said in surprise.
"Yeah. I can do it," Neal added.
"You know how to sail a pirate ship?" Christine asked her neighbor in surprise.
Neal nodded as he looked at Christine. "Yeah. I do."
Christine nodded. She looked at Emma, Neal and Faith. "I need to get some stuff out of my apartment. Then I'll be ready."
"Your going to come with us?" Faith asked in surprise.
"He needs a doctor till he can be treated for this poison," Christine explained. "And right now I am the only one qualified to help you that can come. Since I am still on vacation."
Storybrooke Convent
Buffy drove to the convent with Mulan in the passenger seat of the squad car and Mary Margaret in the back seat. "Just so you know, Mulan. Faith hates this woman with a vengeance. Blames her for everything. She hates Rumpelstiltskin of course, but not as much as the Blue Fairy."
"I understand," Mulan stated as she looked at her wife.
As Buffy pulled the car to a stop, they found Mother Superior waiting outside of the front doors.
"Mother Superior!" Mary Margaret cried as they got out of the car. "We need your help."
"I know," Mother Superior answered. "Something's wrong. I sense a great deal of dark magic has been expelled."
"That's why we're here," Buffy stated. "My mother and Cora are trying to find Rumpelstiltskin's dagger."
Mother Superior sighed. "So, they may control The Dark One."
"We're hoping your magic will find the dagger first," Mary Margaret said. "Please, Mother Superior, you're our only hope."
Neal and Christine's Apartment Building
"What are you doing?" Emma asked Neal when she saw him on his phone.
"Just letting someone know I am going to be out of town," Neal answered.
"So, you know Hook?" Faith asked.
Neal nodded with a sigh. "It's a long story. Short version, is this world wasn't my first stop when I left home."
"You mean there are others," Christine said with a raised eyebrow.
"Yes, Chris," Neal replied. "If it wasn't, I'd be a couple hundred years old by now."
"A couple hundred?" Faith said. She turned and looked at Gold. "We know that the curse was exacted twenty-eight years ago. And that I should be at least ten years older. So why am I not?"
"As I said once before," Gold said. "I do not know. You should have been yes. Maybe it was a result of the curse I enacted on you and your sisters. Maybe it was the Key. Remember I utilized the multiversal powers that Dawn has to send you across. Even as an infant she might have inadvertently sent you where you needed to be. This is all speculation on my part. Because as far as I know you should be approaching fifty if not older by now."
It was then that Neal's cell phone rang. He looked down at his caller ID. "I need to take this. While I am, I will go get the car." He turned and left the room.
"Emma…Aunt Faith, you need to see this," Henry said as he came into the room carrying Emma's cell phone.
"What is it, Henry?" Faith said.
"Aunt Lizzie, David and Mary Margaret," Henry said. "They've sent multiple texts.
"Hand it here," Faith said as she took the phone from her nephew. Emma moved beside her and they read the texts together.
"Bad news, Gold," Emma said looking over at the wounded man.
"What, worse than incurable poison?" the older man said.
"You have a dagger?" Faith said. "That's hidden somewhere in Storybrooke. That's the source of all your power?"
"Get to your point," he snapped.
"Cora is after it," Faith told him.
"The only way to stop her," Emma added, "is have Aunt Lizzie, mom and Mulan…" She looked at Faith. "I wonder why Dawn's not helping them." She looked back at Gold. "…get to it first."
"Yeah, let Cora try," Gold interjected.
"You can't seriously be willing to risk this," Emma said. "Not with your son coming back with you to Storybrooke."
"Miss Swan, that dagger has not left my possession for centuries," Gold countered. "It's not about to now."
"Yeah but you're dying," Faith said as she looked him the eyes.
"And right now, we are your best hope," Emma added. "Time's come for you to start trusting someone. And, if I were you, I'd start with family."
Mr. Gold's Pawn Shop
Buffy, Mulan and Mary Margaret stood outside the pawn shop as Mother Superior, using her wand, attempted to magically break into the store.
"If you can't do it," Buffy said. "I can ask my mom or Willow, they probably could."
"Then you might want to see if they can," Mother Superior said as her wand burned her causing her to drop it. "He's cast a protection spell."
Buffy nodded as she pulled out her cell phone and dialed. "Hey, mom. Can I get you, Dawn and Willow to swing by Rumpelstiltskin's shop? Yeah, we think his dagger could be in there. But there is a protection spell that the Blue Fairy can't breakthrough."
"What if they can't get through either?" Mary Margaret said when Buffy had ended the call.
"We will find something equally as powerful," Buffy offered.
"Dark magic?" Mulan asked as she looked at Buffy, surprised that Buffy would suggest it.
"Dear, you don't know what you're saying," Mother Superior said looking at Buffy.
"Believe I do," Buffy said with a sigh. "Willow delved into this world's dark magic heavily. So, I know what I am suggesting."
"I have to agree with Lizzie," Mary Margaret added. "Cora can't get that dagger. If Aunt Joyce, Dawn and Willow can't get in. Then dark magic will be the only thing that can break that protection spell. At that point we will need to make an exception and use it. Just like you told me once before."
Mother Superior's eyes narrowed as she looked at Mary Margaret. "What…I never told you any such thing."
"Look, I kept your secret," Mary Margaret said.
It was then that Buffy's cell phone rang. "Sheriff Hua-White," she said answering the call. "Hey, Charming. You heard from Faith and Emma? He told them where it is?" She looked toward the town clock just as Joyce, Dawn and Willow arrived. "Okay. Meet my mom and Snow there. Dawn, Mulan, Willow and I will keep watch on the street and try and head off Cora and Regina from there while you three find the dagger." She ended the call.
"Where is it?" Joyce asked.
"The clock tower," Buffy answered as she looked at her mother and Mary Margaret. "You two will meet David there. "Mulan, Willow, you two will take the other end of the street. Dawn, you and I will take this end."
Storybrooke Clock Tower
Joyce led David and Mary Margaret up the clock tower until they reach the clock itself. David took off the pane of glass and she looked inside. "It's here," she said detaching the dagger from the hand of the clock and pulling it out.
"A clever hiding place for a very clever man," David remarked.
"We did it," Mary Margaret said excitedly as she took the dagger from her aunt.
"The Dark One finally can be controlled," David said as he smiled at his wife and Joyce.
Just then Cora and Regina appeared in a puff of purple smoke. "Indeed, he can be," Cora said. "But by whom?"
"Cora…" Mary Margaret started only to be interrupted by David.
"You're too late," he said.
Cora smiled. "Actually, it seems that we found you just in time."
Mary Margaret looked at Regina. "I believe Lizzie told you to choose her over your mother. You should have listened. Good has won, just as it always does."
"I think the day's finally come, my darling Snow, for you to learn a long overdue lesson," Cora said as she waved her hand and Johanna magically appear.
"Johanna!" Mary Margaret and Joyce exclaimed in unison.
"Hi, Joyce," Johanna said looking at the older woman.
"You see, in the end, it isn't good or evil that wins…But power," Cora told them.
Regina magically stuck her hand into Johanna's chest and pulled out her heart. "Your choice," she said.
"Do not harm her," Mary Margaret begged. "She has nothing to do with this."
"Of course, she does," Cora countered.
"Whatever they want, Snow, Joyce, don't give it to them," Johanna told her friends.
"Quiet, handmaid," Cora snapped.
"Leave me, Snow! Joyce!" Johanna said looking at the two women with pleading eyes.
Joyce brought her hands up intending to use magic.
"I wouldn't Joyce," Cora told the sorceress just Regina began to squeeze Johanna's heart, causing Johanna to yell in pain. "Enough of this. Surrender the dagger. We all know you'll follow your mother's example, Snow, no matter the cost. All she ever wanted was for you to be good."
Mary Margaret looked at Cora for a moment. "Those words…Where did you hear those words?"
Cora smirked. "Where do you think?"
"The Blue Fairy made me swear never to speak of that candle again," Mary Margaret stated. "Not because it was a secret…But because it wasn't her."
"The dagger, dear," Cora instructed.
"She didn't give me that candle," Mary Margaret said in realization. "You did."
Joyce's eyes went wide as she too realized what Mary Margaret had. "Eva wasn't sick, was she?"
"Oh, she was quite sick, Joyce," Cora informed her.
"You did all of this," Mary Margaret growled. "You killed my mother!"
"Actually, the candle would've worked. You could've saved her," Cora informed her.
"But you knew I wouldn't. Why?" Mary Margaret asked, holding back the tears that threatened to fall. "Why did you take her from me?"
"To make my daughter the Queen," Cora answered. "Your mother wasn't the person the kingdom thought she was my dear, Snow. I personally knew that. I was a simple miller's daughter who had to work for a living. While I was delivering flour to the kingdom of King Xavier, I encountered your mother who tripped me." She saw a disbelieving look on Mary Margaret's face. "If you don't believe me then ask Joyce for, she, along with Johanna, was there."
Joyce sighed. "Damn it, Cora, why did you have to involve me in this?"
Mary Margaret looked toward Joyce. "Aunt Joyce, is what she saying true?"
Joyce stood there for a moment not wanting to look into Mary Margaret's eyes. "Yes, Snow," she said reluctantly. It's true in Eva's early years she was a bully she didn't realize how she treated people until after you were born. You were what changed her." She looked at Cora as she glared at the woman. "Cora stop this, the feud between you and Eva is done. Snow has nothing to do with this."
Cora grinned an evil grin. "Snow, you are better than your mother in one regard."
"And what's that Cora?" Mary Margaret asked.
"You befriended a wolf, unlike your mother who considered wolves to be an abomination after a wolf saved her life," Cora explained. "Joyce, you remembered the wolf's name, don't you?"
Joyce sighed. "Damn it again, Cora, why do you keep bringing me into this."
Cora smirked. "Because it's fun for me."
"Aunt Joyce," Mary Margaret said. "What was the wolf's name?"
Joyce sighed. "You know her, Snow, or at least know of her. Because her daughter is your friend and her adopted granddaughter is Buffy's friend."
"Anita," Mary Margaret said in understanding. "Ruby's mother."
"Hand over the dagger," Regina instructed, tired of reminiscing.
"No. No. I will not let you win," Mary Margaret stated. "Not again!"
"You've already lost your mother. How many connections to her do you have left?" Cora said as she looked between Johanna and Joyce. "I can't two."
"If we give up the dagger, we can still win," David informed his wife.
Mary Margaret looked at Joyce as if debating with herself on what to do.
"Let me go, Snow. It's alright," Johanna instructed her friend as Regina squeezed her heart. She let out another scream in pain.
"What would she say if she could see you now?" Cora asked looking at Mary Margaret. "If she wasn't dead. The dagger, dear."
"Give it to her," Joyce said in resignation.
Mary Margaret looked at Joyce and nodded in understanding. Johanna's life was worth more than the dagger. Besides they could always find a way to get it back later. She tossed the dagger to the ground.
Regina released her grip on Johanna's heart as Cora magically summoned the dagger to her hand. "Such a good girl," Cora said with a smirk.
"You have what you came for," Mary Margaret said.
Regina put Johanna's heart back into her chest and Johanna then rushed over to Joyce, Mary Margaret and David.
"Not quite everything," Cora said as she magically threw Johanna out through the clock window.
"Aunt Joyce!" Mary Margaret cried.
Joyce ran to the window and attempted to stop the woman's fall. She saw Dawn, Willow, Mulan and Buffy racing down the street toward the clock tower. Her magic failed to save Johanna and Dawn, Willow, Mulan and Buffy were too far away to save her either.
Joyce turned and raised her hands intending to use her magic on Cora and Regina.
"I wouldn't Joyce," Cora snapped just as she and Regina disappeared.
Joyce let out a sigh as she turned and pulled her niece into her arms. "I'm sorry, Snow."
"I know, Aunt Joyce," Mary Margaret said as she sobbed into Joyce's shoulder.
Storybrooke Town Hall
Regina and Cora appeared inside the Mayor's office. "It's nice to be back. Hiding is quite wearisome," she said. She then noticed the name plate on the desk. "Apparently I've been outed as Mayor."
Cora picked up the name plate. "Mayor Faith Mills-White," she read. "At least it remained in the family." She turned and saw her daughter looking at her. "What is it, my love? You look troubled."
"You never told me about your history with Snow's mother," Regina admitted.
"I spared you that burden, like any good parent would do," Cora answered. "Just like you did with your daughters."
"You didn't think I deserved to know exactly what it took for me to become Queen?" Regina asked.
Cora smiled. "Now you know."
Regina sighed. "That day at the stables, when I rescued her? That wasn't an accident, was it?
"And what does this knowledge change for you?" Cora asked.
"That you won, mother. I am the Queen," Regina said in resignation. "That my daughters would instantly become heirs to the throne if Snow died." She looked at her mother. "If that's what you wanted so badly, why do you need Rumpelstiltskin's dagger now?"
Cora smiled. "You're worried my interests are no longer aligned with yours."
"My only interest now is Elizabeth, Faith, Dawn and Henry," Regina answered.
"And I've told you – you'll have them," Cora said as she smiled.
"But how? Now that Joyce, Mary Margaret and David know we have the dagger, we can't use Gold to kill them without Elizabeth, Faith, Dawn and Henry finding out," Regina told her mother.
Cora smiled and evil smile. "Have patience, my love. By the time Rumpelstiltskin returns, Emma Swan and the rest of them will be nothing more than a vague unpleasant memory. And Elizabeth, Faith, Dawn and Henry, will be yours."
Streets of San Francisco
"It shouldn't be too far," Neal said as she, Faith and Emma entered the parking lot.
"You know," Faith said as Neal and Emma looked at her. "I've been thinking. There is now six of us. One car isn't going to be enough."
"No worries," Neal said. "I already thought of that, as I called a friend for help in that regards. You, Christine and my father will be in one car. While Emma, Henry and I will be in the other."
"Once we get the cars, what do we do about Hook?" Faith asked.
Neal shrugged. "I don't know. He made his way to New York. I'm sure he could make his way out of a basement. You have a problem leaving him behind?"
Faith and Emma chuckled. "Actually, I've done it before," Faith told him.
"Great," Neal said.
"I have to admit, after some of the things you've said," Emma admitted as she looked at her son's father. "I'm surprised you'd rally to his side like this."
"There's a difference between running away from your father, and watching him die in front of you," Neal admitted. "He may be a monster, but he's my blood."
Faith looked at Neal for a long moment thinking about Regina.
"What happens when he's healed?" Emma wondered.
Neal shrugged. "I don't know," he admitted. "Forgiveness isn't something I think is possible with him."
Faith sighed, she wondered if she could forgive her mother. After all Regina had done some bad things. Maybe it was time to try and put the past behind them?
"But somewhere inside you, you hope someday, it will be," Emma said looking at Faith. She could see in her aunt's eyes that Faith was thinking about Regina. Her statement was not just for Neal but for Faith as well.
"Life's full of surprises, isn't it?" Neal answered.
"Well, no matter what, it'll be nice for Henry to be around you a little bit, even if it is just for a visit," Emma admitted.
"Over there is Chris's car," Neal said pointing to a black car. He then made he way over to a grey car. "And here is the we're borrowing. He grabbed a set of keys from behind the wheel.
"Now that we have these," Neal said dangling the keys for the grey car before Faith and Emma. "Emma, we need to finish our conversation from earlier. There's something you need to know about me before we get on the ship."
"Neal! Thank God I caught you."
The turned at the sound of the voice and saw a woman approaching.
"What are you doing here?" Neal asked.
The woman shrugged. "I don't know. I…Maybe I got a little worried after talking to you. You can't just say you're…Leaving town for a while.
"Hey," he said. "Yeah, listen. Everything's fine, okay? I promise."
The woman smiled. "Great, sweetie. Just tell me what's going on."
"N?" Faith said.
"I'm Tamara," Tamara said as she offered first Emma and then Faith her hand, which they shook.
"Emma," Emma supplied.
"Faith," Faith added.
"She's my fiancée," Neal explained.
January 4, 2012
Storybrooke Church
Joyce and David sat, waiting for the wedding to begin. Suddenly, harps began to play and everyone stood up. Mary Margaret was the first to walk down the aisle and to her place. She was followed by Dawn and finally Willow. They watched as Mulan and Buffy came down the aisle next arm in arm.
Joyce smiled at her daughter, who was glowing with happiness that she and Mulan were renewing the vows they had made to one another in the other realm as well making it official in this realm as well.
David saw Mary Margaret smiling at her sister through the tears that fell. He was sure that while this was kind of a renewal of Buffy and Mulan's vows that Mary Margaret was happy that she was getting to see her sister get married. He was sure that Mary Margaret wished for only one change that would make the entire ceremony perfect. He was sure that instead of the brides walking down the aisle together. He was sure that Mary Margaret would have preferred their father to have walked Buffy down the aisle. But sadly, that was one thing that Regina had taken away from the sisters.
Eventually, Buffy and Mulan reached the platform and took their places. The priest smiled at them. "Friends and Honored Guests, we are gathered here to join Hua-White Buffy and Hua Mulan in the spiritual union of marriage," he said. "This is a day of great celebration and reverence, on which we come together to recognize and commemorate the sacred love and dedication shared between these two people."
He looked at Dawn, Willow and Mary Margaret and smiled at them. They had consented to be bridesmaids for both Buffy and Mulan. "It is wonderful to have family and friends here to join us today. The couple would like to thank their guests for being here, and would like you to know that each of you were invited here on this day because you have played an integral part in their intertwining lives."
"At this time, I'd like to perform the Blessing of the Hands," he said as he smiled at Buffy and Mulan. "Will you please join hands with your beloved?"
Buffy and Mulan smiled at each other as they took one another's hands. Dawn, Faith and Mary Margaret, all of whom stood beside Buffy and Mulan as their bridesmaids, wiped tears from their eyes.
"These are the hands of your partner, young and strong and full of love, holding your hands as you promise to love each other today, tomorrow, and forever," he went on. "These are the hands that will work alongside yours as together you build your future. These are the hands that will hold you and comfort you in grief and uncertainty. These are the hands that will countless times wipe the tears from your eyes, tears of sorrow and joy. These are the hands that will hold your family as one. These are the hands that will give you strength. And these are the hands that even when wrinkled and aged, will still be reaching for yours, still giving you the same unspoken tenderness with just a touch.
"In the time that Buffy and Mulan have spent together both here in Storybrooke and in our realm, they've built the sturdy foundation for a lifelong relationship. After a great deal of thoughtful consideration, they have decided to renew the vows they pledged before the Emperor of Mulan's people back in our realm." He paused as he looked at Joyce and David. "Who gives Buffy today?"
"Her sisters, her best friend Willow Lucas and I do," Joyce answered.
"And who gives Mulan today?" he asked.
"On behalf of Mulan's family who are no longer with us," David stated. "I do."
He nodded as he looked at the assembled guests. "Marriage is a sacred ceremony. Today we observe the renewal of the union of these two people with the respect the occasion warrants. What we honor with reverence, however, we also celebrate with great joy! For married life – a shared life – is a tremendous blessing. Now, as Buffy and Mulan continue on their journey together, they will continue to nurture a love that makes each of them better versions of themselves. Marriage is, indeed, the perfect garden, no pun intended given where we are, from which to sow and harvest personal growth."
He turned his attention to the couple in front of him. "In the world we came from, Buffy and Mulan, you two learned to work together, to laugh together, and to love together. Now that the two of you have found each other again, don't get caught up in worldly things that will draw you apart. Instead, focus on your shared devotion and turn inward. As your relationship once again strengthens you will find that you still share a remarkable love; a love that is both abundantly given and freely accepted. Knowing this, it's time to declare yourselves to one another."
He paused for a moment looking the couple in the eyes. "Do you Buffy take Mulan to be your partner and your wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, in good times and bad, treating her with love and compassion for as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," Buffy said, love evident in her voice.
"Do you Mulan take Buffy to be your partner and your wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, through great adventures and the everyday, to love and to laugh, to infinity and beyond?"
"I do," Mulan answered as she gazed lovingly at Buffy.
"Buffy and Mulan will exchange rings as a symbol of their devotion. As you wear these rings, let them be a reminder of the promises you make today."
Buffy and Mulan smiled as they slid the rings on each other's ring finger. "Loyal…Brave…True…Devotion to Family," they said in unison reciting the Pillars of Virtue that had been inscribed on their swords that had been presented to them when they had accepted the Emperor's offer to join his Imperial Guard.
"By the authority vested in me by the Town Council of Storybrooke and the State of Maine I pronounce you married! You may kiss!"
Buffy smiled as she leaned in and kissed Mulan passionately.
David smiled as he glanced briefly from Buffy to Mary Margaret and then back to Buffy. He knew that Buffy held True Love in her heart of course. But as he watched Buffy and Mulan kiss, he knew it was the kiss of True Love, and that Buffy and Mulan's love was eternal just as his and Mary Margaret's was.
When the ceremony ended, the reception began. "I'd like to take this opportunity to be the first to welcome you, Mulan, into our family," Mary Margaret announced, holding up a wine goblet to toast.
"Which as a result," Dawn interjected with a chuckle, "means you, Mulan, are now a Princess."
At that everyone took a drink of wine and clapped.
"Thank you, Snow," Buffy smiled at her sister. "For accepting Mulan into our family." She turned to her attention to Mulan. "Thank you, Mulan, for being the wonderful woman I love." She then looked at the assembled guests. "And the last one I wish to thank will be a surprise to everyone here. Because he is responsible for a lot of heartache, including kidnapping me and taking me, Dawn and Faith away from our family. But if he hadn't, I would never have found Mulan. Also, if it wasn't because of him setting the wraith loose on Regina, I would not have been reunited with Mulan either." She raised her wine goblet as well. "To all of them."
Everyone took another drink and clapped again.
Mulan raised her glass next. "I'd like to thank Snow White for accepting me into her family as well. And for Buffy for loving me in two realms. Our love is truly eternal. We found each other, even when we didn't remember each other. Buffy and I stated when we exchanged rings the Pillars of Virtue. They are the warrior's oath. They are Loyal…Brave…True. Those are the original three pillars. When the Emperor learned of our desire to make things right with my family. A new pillar was added…Devotion to Family. To me and Buffy both, there is nothing truer than that."
"Mulan is correct there," Buffy agreed.
Everyone took another drink and clapped.
"And now," David said as he smiled at Buffy and Mulan. "I think it is time that Buffy and Mulan grace us with their first dance as a married couple in this realm."
Buffy and Mulan stood and walked out onto the dance floor as the music began to play.
Storybrooke Town Cemetery
Several hours later Mary Margaret and David walked through the graveyard. They stopped in front of Johanna's grave where Mary Margaret planted the flowers she had brought.
"It was a beautiful service," David said as he watched Mary Margaret.
"Which one?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I was thinking of Johanna's but Buffy's and Mulan's was beautiful as well," David admitted.
"Yes, both of them were. And one of them never should've happened," Mary Margaret admitted. "Johanna was an innocent."
David looked at his for a moment. "You can't blame yourself. You did the best you could do in an impossible situation."
Mary Margaret glanced over at a mausoleum. "And yet, Regina's family mausoleum remains untouched," she said.
David sighed. "Mary Margaret…"
"I've had the same rule my entire life–hold on to goodness," she interjected before he could finish what he was saying. "It's what my mother taught me. What I tried to teach Lizzie and Faith before Gold sent them into this world. How many more lives is following that lesson going to take away from me?"
David sighed as he looked at his wife. "You can't let Cora make you lose faith in who you are–someone who does the right thing. You know, that's exactly what she wants."
"I made the right decision, when I stopped Regina's execution all those years ago," Mary Margaret said.
"You did that for Buffy, Dawn and Faith," he reminded his wife. "Because you knew that was what they would want you to do."
"I know," Mary Margaret said. "But it could've saved us all of this heartache if I hadn't. I made the right decision, when I sent Emma through the wardrobe alone, and we didn't see her first steps. I made the right decision, when I let my own mother die from Cora's poison."
"And we keep beating them," he interjected.
"At what cost?" Mary Margaret asked. "All I want is our happy ending. Just like the one Lizzie and Mulan now have. It's time. We've earned it. No more lives lost. No more hearts broken."
"The dagger…" he said. "It's useless until Gold returns to Storybrooke. We have time. We'll get it back. And when we do, we can bring Cora and Regina to justice."
"I don't care about justice anymore," Mary Margaret sighed. "We keep thinking that people will change. What if that's wrong? What if I'm the one who has to change?"
"Change how?" David wondered.
"I'm going to kill Cora," she stated.
"Think of what Buffy, Faith and Dawn would say," David countered. "If they found out you killed their grandmother, no matter how much they might despise the woman."
Mary Margaret sighed as she looked at her husband. "I am," she said. "I'm going to do this for not only Johanna but for them. Especially Lizzie, it's my wedding gift to her."