Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.
This chapter doesn't have too much of Lillian or Peter in it, as the episode only has one scene of Mary Margaret and Emma. Hope you like it anyway.
Oh, and reminder, a Tumblr has been set up for this story - GoodbyeMeansForgetting1 - I haven't gotten around to doing much with it, but still, go check it out; asks questions, demands, anything your heart's desire
When Lillian didn't turn up that morning, Gold thought little of it. More than likely, his young ward was giving him and Belle the privacy they desperately needed at the moment. Despite her insistence on staying and being a part of his life, he was loathe to leave the little world they'd created at his home, or have any visitors from the outside.
However, when noon came and went, worry began to gather in his gut. Even Belle, despite having never met Lilith, seemed concerned as they sat down for afternoon tea.
"Shouldn't... umm ... shouldn't Lillian have been here by now?" She asked, her dulcet tones soothing his frayed nerves.
He nodded distractedly, glancing at the phone that rested beside his now clenched fist. Belle's slender fingers soon covered it, her brow creased, and eyes filled with understanding when he looked up to meet them.
"Go on, Rumple," she smiled faintly. "I'll be fine for a few hours by myself."
Even though he desired nothing more than to stay cooped up with Belle for the foreseeable future, the fact that Lillian hadn't called or texted worried him more than he would admit. So, once he'd gathered his things, pressed a chaste kiss to Belle's forehead, he stormed out of the house, intent on tracking down his ward.
The Wraith had not succeeded, and while the thought crossed his mind, he ruled out Lillian being at Regina's stately mansion. The idea that the Saviour would allow her son to remain within a hundred feet of Regina, never mind under the same roof, was almost laughable. So, he headed straight for the loft apartment that Miss Swan had called home for the last few months, frowning when, after several minutes, he saw no one leave or enter the building.
Leaving the warmth of his car, he stalked across the street and up the stairs, knocking smartly on the white doorway with his no longer needed cane.
While not surprised to see David on the other side of the wood, the state the man was in was not what one would expect from someone who had just be reunited with his long-lost family.
David's eyes were puffy, with dark shadows beneath his red-rimmed gaze. The lwoer half of his face was shadowed with a light stubble, and his jaw was clenched tightly when his eyes fell on Gold standing before him.
"What?" He demanded shortly, throat sore and voice gruff. "If this is about Regina -"
"No, no," Gold corrected calmly, though the tightening on his fingers on the cane handle told another story. "I'm simply attempting to suss out the whereabouts of my young ward. Have you seen her?"
His stomach plummeted in time with David's expression. Guilt clouded the younger man's taunt, ashen features and his gaze flickered downwards with a deep sigh.
"I knew I forgot something... " David ran a hand over his tired, sore eyes, before he gathered the courage to meet Gold's searing gaze once more. "Gold... Lillian is... " He never got the chance to finish, as a hair-raising cry came from behind them.
Without another word to the startled pawnbroker, David turned and raced into the loft, Gold at his heels. Taking the stairs two at a time, he swung into his grandson's bedroom to see the poor boy in the throes of a nightmare, tossing and twisting in the sheets.
"Henry," he knelt beside the bed, shaking the boy's shoulders gently in an effort to rouse him. All the while he ignored Gold, who remained in the doorway, his expression hard and unforgiving. "Henry, wake up, please -"
David stumbled backwards when Henry shot upright, with frightened, staring eyes, tears trickling down his rapidly paling face. David moved, and Henry shifted in response, eyes growing even wider when they landed on his grandpa.
"Henry," David righted himself, staring at his grandson in equal parts surprise and fear. "What -"
"It was Lillian!" Henry nearly screamed in reply, trembling head to feet. He began to throw the twisted sheets off his legs, grunting with the effort, before he turned to face David fully. "She... she's hurt!"
By now, David's face had paled rapidly, and Gold was in a similar state. Panic washed over him, and the pawnbroker fell against the door jamb, chest heavy as anxiety rushed through his limbs.
"What." He ground through clenched teeth, advancing on David, who remained on the floor, expression lost. "Happened."
She had to admit, there were less pleasant ways to wake up. However, the tip of the steel pressed against her neck, sadly, wasn't the worst wake-up call she'd had in her long, long lifetime. After all, I lived with the bloody Dark One.
The woman, clearly from the lands to the east of the Enchanted Forest, ordered her up with a sharp, barking command. Rolling her eyes, Lillian began to push herself up, wincing as her sore and bruised body protested vehemently. Emma and Mary Margaret were still out cold beside her, the former bleeding quite heavily from a gash next to her temple.
The young sorceress winced at the sight of it and, without thinking, raised a glowing hand. Sunlight flashed off the sword, though the blade froze mid-swing with a negligent flick of Lillian's fingers. Gaping, Mulan watched, mind attempting to process what had just occurred, as Lillian dragged her battered self to Emma, fingers glowing once more.
Healing the bruised, bleeding cut roused the blonde woman, who jerked upright with a ragged gasp. Chest heaving beneath her leather coat, Emma wildly looked around, finally settling on Lillian, before she followed where the younger woman was staring. Gasping once more, Emma dove toward Mary margaret, who was still laying amidst the rubble.
"Mary Margaret!"
Seeing that Emma was going to resort to shaking the other woman, Lillian shoved her out of the way and knelt beside the unconscious teacher. By now, Mulan had recovered, though watched, stunned, as the girl who looked no older than an adolescent, produced magic, healing the short-haired woman.
Bleary eyed and clearly still quite stunned from their journey through the realms, Mary Margaret was harder to get up than Emma. Even the gleaming sword pointed at them did little to catch the former princess' attention. Instead, all the woman did was enfold her wide-eyed daughter into her arms, uncaring that said daughter went completely stiff in response.
Now that the last dredges of shock had worn off, Mulan steeled her spine, clinging to the rage that the sight of these women - the cause of poor Philip's death - created.
"Get up!" She barked once more, eyes narrowing when the magic user turned to her, eyes red slits. The blonde and brunette behind her peered cautiously at the armored woman, Mary Margaret scowling at the command. "Now!"
Trying to hide how overwhelmed she felt, Ruby began to direct the swarming crowds outside the Town Hall. Brushing her hair from her face tiredly, she forced a smile as another wave of panicked townsfolk came at her.
"If you are looking for a family member, come to the front table. If you need counseling, Dr. Hopper has a signup sheet." She pointed to each station. "If the wraith damaged your house, there are cots at the school."
As the group left, she quickly moved in the opposite direction of the already approaching group. Mother Superior stood, surveying the chaos quietly, a trouble expression on her usually serene features.
"This is getting out of hand," she confided in Ruby quietly as people continued to run around like headless chickens. "People are in a panic. They don't know what to do."
Ruby forced another smile, her cheeks aching with the effort. "It's okay. It'll be fine." She brushed off the disbelieving expression that briefly flitted across the head nun's face. "We just need everyone to remain calm. I have a feeling our Prince is working on something right now."
Nodding distractedly, Mother Superior turned, nearly running headlong into a tan, balding man. Mutter apologies, she made to walk past, before she fully caught sight of the stranger's face.
"Jacquimo?" The word fell from her lips, though the man's eye lit up at the sound. "Is that... what are you..." She trailed off, eyes narrowing as Ruby joined her.
Ruby's jaw fell slack once she got a good look at the man, eyebrows in danger of disappearing into her hairline. "Gino what... Oh, God. You're Lilith's -" She winced when his expression fell at the mention of the sorceress' name.
"Yes," he began hesitantly. "I know this is a shock but, I must speak with my niece." He looked around, as if expecting the girl to leap from the woodwork. "Where is she?"
Ruby gave a shuddering sigh that sounded suspiciously like a stifled sob. Looking between the two women, any hope was wiped clear of his features, a frown creasing his forehead. When neither woman spoke, though their sympathetic/pained expressions all but screamed at the man, he looked down, shutting his eyes tightly.
"I see." Swallowing past the sudden lump in his through with difficulty, he raised his head to meet Mother Superior's understanding eyes. "Perhaps I could... " He stopped, as if in physically agony, eyes shutting once more, before he forced the words out. "Was she... did she have a good life here?" While he'd known of Lillian Gold, the elusive, home schooled adopted daughter of Mr. Gold, he'd never interacted with the girl once in the past twenty-eight years.
Too busy being one of the regular drunks at the Rabbit Hole.
Ruby bit her lip, unaware if she should tell the man before her the truth. While Lillian had wanted for nothing 'growing up' in Storybrooke, her months leading up to the end of the Curse had been fraught with hospital visits and mental breakdowns. And now she's -. Ruby's throat closed up, but she forced herself to nod at the longing in Gino's expression, smiling so widely that her cheeks ached.
"She was happy, Gino, I promised you that. I could... I could tell you about her. We were best friends here. And how she -" She caught herself, catching the sheen of tears in the older man's eyes and, when he nodded, she took a few steps toward him. Pausing, she turned back to Mother Superior guiltily, aware that if she left, she'd been leaving the already overwhelmed nuns and their head mother to face the onslaught of panicked townspeople.
"Go on," Mother Superior urged, smiling patiently when Ruby didn't move, still clearly torn. "We'll manage. And, Gino?" He managed to meet her gaze. "If you need anything, I'm here to talk."
Steeling his spine, David raised a hand to knock rapidly on the large door. Despite the fact that it took mere moments for her to answer, the blond felt as if it had take hours for Regina to open the door cautiously.
Without waiting for her to react, he pushed his way inside, earning a displeased scowl that he ignored. Turning on his heel to face the put out woman, he rasied the crushed remains of the hat they'd used to banish the Wraith.
"Tell me…about this."
Regina merely settled for evasion. Crossing her arms, she snorted, "surprised you don't have armed guards 'round the clock."
"Don't need 'em." David snarked back, unwilling to be pleasant if she wasn't going to make the effort. "We both know if you step outside, there's a line a mile long for your head.
"Who's going to risk coming at me?"
"Take your chances, then. But I think that little wallpaper trick? It was an anomaly." And by her sudden guarded expression, he knew he'd hit the money.
If you had your abilities back, this town would be charcoal by now." He pulled back enough to study her approvingly, blue eyes narrowed. "You're having problems with magic, aren't you? Right now, the only thing keeping you alive? Is that Henry wishes it." That said, he raised the hat once more. "Now, this."
"It's the hat that pulled your loved ones away."
"Well, where did you get it?"
"I've long since forgotten." She lied airily, eager to change the subject. "You know what? Maybe, you should be less concerned with hats, and more concerned with taking care of my son."
David's hackles rose. "Oh, because you took such great care of him." He threw back. "Nevermind that, after I came out of my coma, and according to all of my Cursed memories, the only one I ever saw take care of him was Lillian."
"I will not listen to child care lectures from a man who put his daughter in a box and shipped her to Maine." Regina snarled back, ready to wrap her hands around his throat, conveniently ignoring his dig at her abuse of Lillian's babysitting services.
While he wanted nothing more than to strangle the woman across from him, he managed to subdue his anger enough to focus back on the task that had brought him there. "Okay, listen. I need my family. There's magic here now. There will have to be ways to follow them."
Regina forced a scoff past her painted lips. "Follow them where? Into a sucking airless void?" She demanded. "And good luck getting magic to work. Because, as you said, you'd be charcoal."
"Last I checked, before she was sucked into the vortex, Lillian managed to get her magic to work." Envy, pure and simple, flashed across Regina's face before she shuttered her expression, keeping it carefully blank. "Oh, frustrated, are we?" He couldn't resist digging. "Serves you right. You've earned every bit of this."
"Keep on baiting me, Charming." She snapped in return. "Right now, I don't have magic and I don't have my son. But, when I get one, I get the other." A small smirk made the corners of her lips twitch. "And you don't want to be around when that happens."
"If you have to use magic to keep your son, you don't really have him." Was all David had to say before he turned on his heels, storming from the house, and leaving Regina alone, as she tried to deny the agony his words brought.
"What happened?" Gino asked quietly, eyes reddened from the tears Ruby's stories of 'Lillian's' exploits had brought him.
Ruby looked down, fingers twisting on her lap. "There was that Wraith thing," Gino nodded, having been aware of the soulless creature's presence the night before. "And she, Snow, Charming and Emma and... Regina... " His brow raised at the inclusion of the Evil Queen, but he said nothing. "They were trying to stop it. They opened a portal back to the Enchanted Forest and managed to throw the Wraith in but Lilith... Emma got sucked in too and Lilith dove after her, with Snow following."
Seeing Gino's puzzled features, Ruby rushed to explain that, according to Regina, who had cast the Curse, their land was gone. While she expected horror at the very least, she herself was surprised when her pronouncement was met with merely puzzlement.
"If that is true," Gino asked slowly, brow creased. "Then where did the Wraith come from."
"Mr. Gold summoned it." The moment the words left her lips, Ruby's own brow creased in stunned realization.
"Yes," Gino's dark eyes twinkled as he nodded. "But, from where did it come?"
"Henry!" David strode to his grandson, deaf and blind to those who tried to gain is attention as he passed. "Have you seen Blue - uh, Mother Superior?"
"No." Henry answered simply as, it seemed, every person within a fifteen-foot radius zeroed in on his grandpa. "But everyone is looking for you."
At that, several people converged onto him, rapidly firing off questions one after the other. After fending off Ruby and Archie - he didn't find it too important to mention that he'd already seen both Gold and Regina, and that the latter was still clearly powerless - and Whale's slick, oily questions of whether or not the nuns were still nuns, his frantic gaze finally landed on Mother Superior.
"Blue!" Without a glance at those surrounding him, he jogged over to the woman, who turned from the nun/fairy she'd been in conversation with. "Could there be a tree on this side?" He question breathlessly the moment he'd reached her side. "The way we sent Emma through as a baby. Maybe I could go after them that way."
Mother Superior pursed her lips thoughtfully. "It's possible, but without fairy dust to guide us here… " She trailed off, shaking her head ruefully. "No, it's hopeless."
Henry, along with the host of people that had followed David, piped up from beside him. "You'll find another way. In the book, things always look worse right before there's good news."
His optimistic bubble, however, was popped when they heard more than saw Leroy, his brothers right behind him, running full tilt toward them.
"Terrible news! Terrible news!" He repeated, shoving his way toward David, a disgruntled Mr. Clark in tow. "We were out at the town limits. Tell them who you think you are, Sneezy."
Clark pulled himself from the burly man's grasp with an eye roll, staring at the man like he was a nutter. "Oh, will you stop calling me that." He snapped in reply. "You know who I am. I'm Tom Clark, I own the Dark Star Pharmacy." He looked around at the terrified faces that surrounded him. "What's going on here?"
"If you cross the border, you lose your memory all over again."
Archie's eyes had gone wide beneath his glasses. "A-and coming back doesn't fix it?"
"If it did, would I have come running in yelling 'terrible news'?!" Leroy retorted, glowering at the shrink before he turned to David. "If we leave, our curse selves become our only selves."
As the crowd began to panic, voices rising and falling with the emotion, Henry bit his lip and muttered, "I wonder if my mom knows."
However, he was pulled from his musings when his grandpa pulled away from the crowd and began to stride away, leaving the boy and the frantic townspeople to follow at his heels.
"I can help!" Henry yelled above the crowd, though David scarcely heard him, too intent on getting away from the people that all but clung to him for help.
"People!" David swung round, facing them with his arms raised in a placating manner. "Everybody! Everybody meet back here in two hours." He addressed the now deathly silent crowd. "I'll tell you my plan to fix everything."
Hoping that that was enough to satisfy them, David turned on his heel once more and stalked away. Ruby followed, though everyone else hung back, mollified by their prince's words, at least for the moment.
"What's the plan?" Ruby asked lowly, keeping pace with his fast strides.
"I don't know. But I got two hours to figure it out."
Looking around warily as she entered the seemingly deserted pawnshop, Regina carefully strode across the floor, heading directly for the stack of books on one counter. Absorbed in her searching, she didn't hear the soft, tell-tale click of Gold's cane as he entered the room, watching her calmly.
"The library's beneath the clock tower." Gold threw out calmly, amused when the mayor nearly jumped out of her sensible heels. "You closed it, remember? When you still had power."
Regina ignored the malicious amusement lurking in his eyes. "I need the book." She snapped. "I need to get my son back."
"Which book?" He asked innocently, playing dumb, with a smile curving the edge of his lips. "Ah... so, it's come down to that, eh?" His tone became mocking. "You need your mommy's help?"
"Give me the book."
"Do you really need the smell of the written word to get the magic flowing again, love?" She winced at the word, anger flashing in her eyes. "Maybe if you relaxed, it would just happen."
Regina desperately clung to the last shreds of her patience, knowing that if she snapped, he'd never give her what she wanted. "I don't have time. It worked once, I know I can do it. I just… I just need a shortcut back."
"Yeah, well, I don't have time, either." Pulling out his trump card, he finished with, "Leave. Please."
Instead of being forced to follow the magic woven into the word, Regina felt a smile bloom on her lips when nothing happened. Gold frowned in response, though his expression cleared when she blinked.
"Well, how about that? Your 'pleases' have lost their punch."
He shrugged elegantly. "Well, the fact remains, jumpstarting your magic is not in my best interest."
"You know what else isn't in your best interest?" She asked, taking a step forward. "Having everyone know the Enchanted Forest still exists. Knowing that, you and I, are keeping that little secret." Her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "You're up to something, and it doesn't involve going back home."
She began to go to the chest that rested on the nearest counter, only for the soft whoosh and the current of magic that raced down her spine to stop her. In his hand, Gold held the book, his expression faintly murderous.
"Careful, dearie." He warned as she eyed the book hungrily. "These are straight up spells - rough on the system."
"I don't care if they turn me green. I'm getting my son back." She snatched it from his hands and stalked to the door.
Watching her, he couldn't resist needling her, and muttered softly, as if to himself. "Oh my…."
"What?"
"It's just, holding that…." He tilted his head, eyes widening ever so slightly, as if he had just realized something. "I told you once you didn't look like her, but now… now I can see it."
The color drained from her face, though she did nothing more than send him a scathing glare before ripping the door open and stalking off.
"She's in the Enchanted Forest?" Felix parroted, wincing inwardly when Pan turned a sharp look his way. It was on the tip of his tongue to ask why Pan hadn't gone to get her, though he already knew the answer to that. Pan's powers had been waning, especially after he'd tried to rip Lily away from Storybrooke before the Curse had broken. But, he kept his questions and comments to himself, knowing that Pan could be wicked with the dagger on his belt, and despite his reputation for speaking little, he had no desire to live out the rest of his days without a tongue.
"Yes." Pan finally snapped in reply tersely, looking seconds away from murdering the next lost boy who looked cross-eyed at him.
All the boys in the clearing had gone silent, an odd occurrence, especially among those who hadn't had the pleasure of being on the island during the famed 'Tiger Lily's' tenure as a resident. Those that had known her, more than half of the group, had watched the prickly, defensive girl and their malicious, playful leader become... something.
The older ones had smirked behind their hands, though hadn't thought badly of Lily, especially once it was revealed that Peter had been a playmate during her childhood before the memories were ripped from her. To them, she'd just accepted the truth that she belonged on the island, with them and with Peter Pan. The youngest ones had seen her as a kind of mother, though she'd almost murdered the first boy to call her that to her face, which had put a rest to the moniker.
After she'd been ripped away from the island, Pan had changed. He'd become darker, broodier, and had snapped at them with an increasing rage that seemed to grow with each passing day. However, when he'd first made contact with Lily - and not her Cursed self, but the real Lily - he'd changed, acting more like himself than they'd seen in ages.
"What do we do?" One boy asked, breaking oppressive silence. To his credit, he managed to hold back a flinch when Pan twisted his head round, green eyes glinting like cold emeralds.
However, as several heartbeats passed, a snarl-smirk broke out across Pan's features, and the boys all released a silent, collective breath.
"We're going to play a game, of course."
Gold didn't even both to look up when his bell rang for an unwanted second time that morning. He continued packing, muttering under his breath as David barged into the store.
"It appears when I bought that closed sign, I was just throwing my money away."
"Looks like it."
Gold looked up, eyes narrowing, though David barely noticed the clear warning in them."Now, while I was sorry to hear about your wife and daughter, the fact that you managed to lose my assistant, who, might I remind you, is my adopted daughter, has made me less than sympathetic to your plight." David had the decency to wince. "So, if you're looking for a retrieval, I'm afraid portal jumping is just outside my purview, or I'd have already brought them back."
"Of course it is."
Gold sent him one last icy stare, mollified when the man winced, before he turned the conversation to somewhat more pleasant. "So, what's the commotion outside?"
"Oh, a little stir at the border." David said, unable to properly mask the worry in his tone. "Problem crossing the line."
"Do tell."
"Actually, I'm here to buy something." David steered past the question. "A way to find someone."
"Well, like a map?" Gold asked, eyebrow raised mockingly.
"Something with a bit more kick. Like the ring you gave me to find Snow."
Nodding his head, Gold's eyes began to sweep the shop in a bored manner. "Ah, yeah, magic. Whom are you following?"
"Not telling."
"So, do you have something of theirs, this missing person?"
David nodded. "Yes."
Gold held back the urge to roll his eyes. "May I see it?"
"No."
Without looking away from the other man, Gold reached for the box behind him, producing a small vial of liquid.
"Pour this on the object, and then follow it." David's eyes followed it, in an eerily similar manner to Regina's earlier expression when presented with the spell book. "So simple, even David Nolan could do it."
He offered it, pulling his hand back when David eagerly reached for it. The blond man's expression darkened somewhat, though he sighed resignedly.
"What do you want?"
"Peace." Gold replied simply. "Leave me alone."
"What do you care what David Nolan does?"
"Oh, no. It's Charming I worry about." Gold stated calmly, leaning closer. "I'd like a little non-interference guarantee."
Eyes narrowed, David found himself nodding despite the small voice in his head screaming otherwise. "Fine. If, you give me the same." He added, ignoring the slight curl of the other man's lips as he tacked on a stipulation to the deal. "You and I – we stay out of each other's way."
"Thank you for your business." Gold muttered, handing the vial to the former prince. Cradling it to his chest, David turned on his heel, his whole body beginning to hum with impatient excitement at the thought of finding the Mad Hatter.
"So, uh," Gold's voice called him back to the present, and he paused at the door, turning to look back at the older man. "What happens when you try and cross the border?"
"You lose your memory of everything of our old lives." David said, unaware that he'd just delivered a crushing blow to the already unstable man. "Looks like we're stuck here."
The moment the door closed, the bell echoing faintly in his mind, cold rage overtook Gold. Without a sound, he turned and swung hard with is cane, smashing first one display case, and then another.
Sitting beneath her apple tree, Regina began to rifle through the yellow, aged pages of the slim spell book. Stopping on a page that depicted a tree, she raised the page and gently blew on the page, watching as the ink began to rise in light clumps of black, shimmering magic. Inhaling the dust-like magic deeply, she felt the magic surge through her body, settling on her eyes, before the glow dimmed and cleared.
Behind her, the rotted apples in her tree rapidly ripened till they were as red as blood.
As David followed the hat, stumbling upon Jefferson trapped in the upside down car across town, more than half the citizens of Storybrooke gathered in the Town Hall, moments away from dissolving into a frenzy.
Henry gripped his phone tightly in his small hand, looking around as the mutterings of dissent increased around him. "Come on, Gramps." He muttered lowly. "Pick up. Come on…"
Ruby once more took charge, none too pleased about it, but she hid it behind a pleasant smile. "Please, everyone, just be patient." She said, hands raised in a placating manner. "I'm sure he's going to be here any second." Her attention was drawn to Granny, who was wandering around with a loaded crossbow. While not sure exactly where her grandmother had found the old thing, it didn't stop her from snarking dryly at the older woman. "Granny, do you really need that?"
Granny snorted in response, sending her granddaughter a disbelieving look over her glasses. "We've got a lawless town, Ruby." She patted the hilt. "Damn right I need it."
As she wandered away, likely to frighten unsuspecting citizens, Ruby bent down to Henry's level. "Try calling him again."
"He's not picking up."
"Just keep trying."
The words had barely fallen from her lips before the doors of the Town Hall slammed open, reveal Regina. Casually, far too much for anyone's peace of mind, she waltzed up the aisle, ignoring the way Henry cowered in Ruby's arms.
"My, what a nice turnout." She mocked lightly, sweetly. "No need for a fuss. It's just little old me."
Archie stepped from the crowd. "Regina," her gaze swept to him. "Think about what you're doing."
A half-sneer, half-smirk formed on her scarred lips. "Bug." She offered as a reply before she threw the man across the room with a negligent flick of her fingers.
"Hey!" Leroy snapped as he charged her, only to receive the same treatment as Archie.
Without a sound, Granny pulled on the trigger of her weapon, frowning grimly when Regina daintily caught the arrow moments before it hit her face.
"How sweet." She smiled at Granny, who had the good sense to duck out of the way the moment the arrow was engulfed in a fireball. Regina threw it anyway, causing the crowd to duck out of the way, and the flames hit the back wall, spreading slightly along the wood.
Ruby separated herself from the crowd, voice raised in distress. "What do you want?!"
"Me." All eyes turned to Henry as he stepped away from the safety of the crowd. "She wants me." He shrugged off Ruby's hands. It's okay, Ruby -"
"No!" The woman threw back, eyes wide with distress. "I promised Lillian that I'd take care of you... that I'd keep you safe."
Henry merely smiled sadly at Ruby before he tugged free of her slackening grip and turned to his expectant mother. "I'll come with you. Just leave them alone."
Regina smiled widely in response, offering her hands. "That's my boy."
Arm around his trembling shoulders, she steered him out of the Town Hall, practically beaming the entire time.
Chasing after Jefferson as them an fled, David nearly ran Ruby over, who latched onto his arm and refused to let go.
"David, stop!:
"Get out of my way!"
Ruby resisted the urge to shake him. Or maul him a little... "Regina has Henry."
"But he has the way!"
A snarl broke out on her face, twisting into a feral grimace. "She has Henry!" She snapped again, shaking him roughly for good measure. "She's threatening everyone."
As if a light had switched on, David's attention snapped from Jefferson's rapidly diminishing back, and to the woman grasping his arm. "She has Henry?" He repeated, sounding suddenly so lost that her heart ached.
"She showed up at your town meeting – the one you missed." She snapped angrily as he winced with guilt. "Her magic's back; everyone's panicking." Her eyes turned grave. "They want to leave town – they're going to lose everything."
David nodded, shrugging himself from her grip. "Okay. Okay, but I have to go after him first." He pointed to where Jefferson had run off to. "He's my only hope of finding a way to get Emma and Snow and Lilith back."
"Back to what?" Ruby demanded, clenching her hands to resist the urge to shake him again. "This town is about to come apart. You've got to do something."
The moment he crossed the threshold of the manor, he ran to the stairs, taking the two at a time in his haste to get away from his mother.
"Now, I don't want you to think that things are just going to go back to how they used to be." Regina began, frowning when Henry didn't stop on the stairs. If anything, he ran even faster, especially when she began to ascend them herself. "Henry!"
Without stopping, he slammed into his room, rushing for the open window. His hands yanked his pre-made rope made out of knotted sheets and blankets from under the bed, and threw it out the window after hooking it to the heating vent. He began to climb down the way Lillian had showed him, before the sound of cracking startled him. Turning his head, he watched in horror as vines snaked from the tree, wrapping around him gently, but firmly, and plucking him off the rope.
"Don't fight it, honey." Regina said calmly, leaning out of his window. "You'll get a splinter."
After leading him back up to his room, Regina seated herself across from him on the bed, smiling gently as he stared mutinously up at her.
"How long am I in prison?" He asked bluntly. "Till I grow up?"
Regina shook her head. "Henry, I rescued you because I love you."
"So, I'm a prisoner because you love me. That's not fair."
Regina's eyes narrowed slightly. "You know where I come from. That was really not fair." She chided. "Of all the places I've seen, this is the fairest of them all."
Henry's voice was low despite his face reddening in anger. "You ruined lives. You sent away Mary Margaret and Emma and... and Lillian..."
"That was an accident."
"The way you treated me wasn't an accident." He said in reply. "You made it so no one believed me. You made me feel like I was crazy." Regina blinked back the tears that the pain in her son's voice caused. "If it wasn't for Lillian, I'd have really gone crazy."
Regina frowned at the mention of Lillian, but brushed it aside. Smiling now, she leaned closer to her son. "But that's all going to change, now. Henry, you can know all the secrets." He eyed her in quiet disbelief. "You can live in a house with magic." She brought a loose fist to her face. "Look what I could do."
Blowing gently between her fingers and palm, she lowered her hand, faint purple smoke coming from it. Palm opening, she chuckled once as a large, frosted cupcake formed in her hand.
"And I can teach you." She continued, moving the cupcake closer. "You can do this and so much more. You can have all the friends you want come over any time, and you can show them everything in your book."
"No one's gonna wanna come over here." He said bluntly as her smile froze. "They're scared of you."
"You can make them not be scared." She said, voice becoming strident with temper. Catching herself, she lowered her voice once more to a conspiring whisper.
"You can make them love you."
Henry eyed her, not bothering to hide the incredulous expression he knew was gracing his face. "I don't want that." He locked eyes with her quietly. "I don't want to be you."
With that, he lightly hopped off the bed and left the room, leaving his mother sitting there, as cold, awful realization began to fill her.
Sitting cross-legged on his bed, the book on his lap, Henry barely reacted when the sound of splintering wood echoed from downstairs. Assuming his mother had a less than friendly visitor that she'd take care of quickly, he resumed reading the book, running his figners over the drawing of Lilith, eyes their natural hue this time, speaking to a hooded figure in a pied cloak.(David barges into Regina's house, equipped with his sword.)
"Henry," his mother's voice came from the entrance, carrying up the stairs. "Come down!" On the first floor, she turned back to David, who still had the tip of hsi sword placed at her neck. "You won't be using your sword." She told him quietly.
David's grip on the handle tightened. The speech he'd managed to give less than an hour earlier had filled him with courage, admittedly reckless courage, but still. "Whatever you conjure, I can fight."
Regina held back a sigh. "I mean, you won't need your sword." She lightly brushed the blade away, looking up when Henry cautiously came down the stairs. "Henry, you're going to go home with David."
The boy's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Really?" He asked dubiously, eying her in a wary manner that she instantly hated, as she knelt before him.
"Really." The calm mask she wore crumpled. "I shouldn't have brought you here. I was… I don't know how to love very well." She admitted softly, searching his quiet, unreadable expression. "I wasn't capable of it for a very long time, but I know I remember… if you hold onto someone too hard, that doesn't make them love you." She bit her lip to stave off the tears pricking her eyes. "I'm sorry I lied to you. And that I made you feel like I didn't know who you are." As his expression began to soften, so slightly she almost missed it, her resolve strengthened. "But I want you to be here, because you want to be here. Not because I forced you, and not because of magic. I want to redeem myself." She straightened and gestured up the stairs. "Go get your things."
Needing little prompting, eyes alight with happiness, Henry turned and dashed up the stairs. As his footfalls began to fade, Regina turned when David spoke, his voice serious and low.
"Then prove it."
A finely plucked eyebrow arched. "How?"
"Answer one question – does it exist?"
Regina blinked. "What?"
"The Enchanted Forest – our land." David growled through gritted teeth. "Does it still exist?"
"Yes." She answered simply, continuing before he could launch into a tirade. "But I have no idea how to get back there." She eyed him speculatively, inhaling deeply. "I can see I just launched you on a heroic quest. Just also make sure you take care of my son?"
David nodded sharply in reply. "That, I can do."
Henry tramped down the stairs, backpack in hand. David's free hand went around his slim shoulders, though Henry stopped and turned back to his mother. She watched, unshed tears glinting in her eyes, and Lillian's voice floated in his head.
"She's telling the truth, you know," Lillian said nonchalantly as they led Regina toward the prison, the two at the back of the small procession. He looked up at her curiously, brow creased, and she gently smoothed it over with her fingers. "Regina. She loves you. I can feel it." Her expression morphed into one of sadness. "Just... don't forget that she's your mum, no matter what she's done, okay?"
Turning sharply, Henry stepped toward Regina and abruptly hugged her around her midsection, catching the mother off-guard. As her arms shakily returned the embrace, David watched, his expression slipping into one of understanding as Henry, after Regina placed a kiss on the top of his head, pulled away from her. Nodding once at the clearly stricken mother, though she was smiling tremulously, David wrapped an arm around Henry's shoulders once more and led them from the house.
As they entered the Diner, Henry caught sight of Marco in a booth, sipping coffee quietly. Struck by a sudden thought that had been pushed to the back of his mind, he approached the older man, whispering softly in his ear as David watched, bemused. Eyes widening, Marco smiled, a trembling expression full of hope, before he stood, ruffling Henry's hair while he was at it before he headed toward the inn.
After they'd settled into a booth of their own and gotten their food, David turned to Henry, who was morosely picking at his food.
"Hey." At his gentle call, Henry raised his gaze to meet his smiling grandfather's. "It exists, Henry. The Enchanted Forest is still out there."
"And… so are they." Henry began slowly, excitement coloring his face, delight in his eyes.
David nodded, still smiling. "Yeah."
"But," frown back, Henry bit his lip. "How do we know they survived the trip there?"
David smirked. "Because I can feel it." The smug expression grew at Henry's look of amused disbelief. "Also, they had Lilith with them."
While she'd hated to use any of the scarce, precious poppy in her care, Mulan had seen no other means to keep the magic user from incinerating them all. Tied to the back of the third horse, limp and all but dead to the world. The other two, who showed no signs of having any powers, were bound to the saddles of her own horse and Aurora's, forced to walk unless they wanted to be dragged behind the horses.
Mary Margaret held back a shiver as she looked around the Enchanted Forest, devoid of any life. While she'd figured the Curse had left the realm in dire straits once she'd managed to take stock of their surroundings, this was worse than anything she could have imagined.
"What is this place?" She asked, breaking hours upon hours of silence, as they approached a long strip of land, leading to a small island surrounded by water.
Muln didn't even spare her a glance. "Our home."
Once they'd entered, Mulan and Aurora dismounted, the former slinging the sorceress over her back before she took the rope tied to the blonde woman, leaving the dark-haired one for Aurora. Once she was sure her charge had hold of the smaller woman, Mulan began leading them into the encampment.
"It's like they're refuges." Emma noted as they entered, her head twisting and turning to take in the sight of the makeshift village around them. The people milling about stopped, some dropping their tools or goods at the sight of the three strangers.
"We're survivors." Mulan corrected grimly, handing off the horses.
Swifter than anyone expected of her, Mary Margaret kneed Aurora in the gut, causing the princess to drop the rope in her grasp. Without hesitating, Mary Margaret began to run, calling for her daughter to do the same.
"Emma, run!"
As the blonde made to follow her companion, Mulan dropped the sorceress unceremoniously into the dirt before she grabbed hold of a slingshot. The released stone flew toward the dark-haired woman's head, striking her down and knocking her out. Doubling back, Emma dropped to her knees beside Mary Margaret.
"Mary Margaret!" She reached out to shake her, spinning her head around to glare up at Mulan, the expression intensifying when she finally caught sight of Lillian, practically face down in the dirt. "Lillian! What did you do?!"
"Take them to the pit." mulan ordered, helping Aurora up, and leading her from their prisoners as several men came forward to do as she ordered.
While she hadn't expected much, being thrown into a claustrophobic cell made of wood and lined with musty straw wasn't too far off. As they tossed Mary Margaret in after her, then Lillian, Emma barely managed to break the fall for the two, unwilling to let either of them become more injured.
"Be careful!" She yelled, voice cracking in distress, as the men shut the door behind them. "Come on… wake up." She pushed Mary Margaret's shoulder with her bound hands, wishing they were untied. "Hey... can you hear me?" She demanded, repeating it for Lillian, who had yet to even move.
"Do you need help?" A voice asked suddenly, the speaker obscured by the shadows.
Emma froze, staring at the figure with wide, almost frightened eyes. "Who are you?"
"A friend." The voice assured, and they began to step into the light before Emma could demand it of them. A older woman, with her dark auburn hair held over one shoulder loosely, clad in a gown of dark blue velvets and leathers, stepped toward her, coming to a stop with a hesitant smile.
"My name's Cora."
Thoughts? Comments? Questions?