The next morning Ava and Nicky noticed that Emma was oddly happy. They had expected her to still be angry at them over what happened in the woods, but she made breakfast with a smile on her face and asked them how they slept. Mary had gone to school early that morning because of a teacher's meeting that was scheduled before school started. Emma still liked tired, as she hadn't been sleeping well for a while, she just pushed through it.

"I feel kind of bad for making her worry," Nicky admitted to Ava when Emma had gone to take a shower. "This is the nicest home we've ever lived in and we could have sent away again, like Conner."

"Emma wouldn't let anything happen to us," Ava retorted.

Nicky frowned, "I know. That's why I think we shouldn't be doing anything to stress her out. You know she's got a lot to deal with without us running in the woods and trying to prove the mayor is a fairy tale character."

Ava didn't replied. She just glared at him and went back to finishing her breakfast.

As soon as Emma dropped them off at school, Ava and Nicky made a beeline for Conner as he got out of the Rahim family car. He waved to them, a small sad smile on his face.

"What happened?" Nicky asked. "Are you okay?"

Conner shrugged, "I guess. I don't really want to talk about it."

Later that day they got a moment alone with Henry and Paige while waiting for their parents to pick them up. Ava and Nicky were to leave with Mary when she finished her work at school, but they stood outside by the curb to spend time with their friends.

Henry looked defeated. "I'm sorry I got you in so much trouble. I really thought we'd find something in the woods," he told Conner.

"Don't be. I went along with it, I should have known better," Conner replied.

"Maybe there isn't anything out there," Henry said, his eyes downcast.

Conner shook his head, "No, there has to be proof that my sister is innocent! You said we just have to have hope!"

Ava cut in, "Remember when Sheriff Graham walked in with that bag? I think maybe he found something that could prove Flora is innocent!"

Henry perked up, "I forgot about that."

"Maybe it was something else. We can't know for sure it was proof," Nicky doubted.

"Did you see that look he gave the mayor? He knows something, I'm sure of it." Ava insisted. Conner gave her a hopeful, grateful smile, but Paige just looked skeptical.

"This wouldn't be the first time the Evil Queen has caught doing something evil." Henry noted.

Nicky crossed his arms, "It doesn't matter either way. Even if what your saying about the curse is true, the sheriff won't do anything to her. She controls the whole time."

"But what if the curse is weakening?" Conner asked, looking expectantly at Henry.

"I noticed that things starting changing when Emma arrived," Henry explained, "But then things just settled into a new normal. She refuses to believe in magic, no matter what weird things happen here."

"Maybe the curse is reacting to Emma," Ava suggested, "Like, what's that work, what we learned in biology, homeotaxis?"

"Homeostasis," Conner corrected.

"Right, that!" Ava replied excited. "Maybe the curse adjusts itself whenever something changes, so nothing really changes. And that's why Emma can't believe in magic."

"I don't believe in magic!" Paige objected, speaking up for the first time. "Are we really discussing this like it's a real thing?"

"I'm with Paige," Nicky agreed. "We're letting this get out of hand."

Before anyone could answer him, the Rahim family car pulled into the driveway and Ali Rahim waved to Conner from the driver's seat. Conner looked apologetically to his friends, "I have to go. Can we talk about this later?"

The other four children muttered, "Sure."


"The lab just sent me an email, they got our sample," Graham told Emma gravely as she walked into work that morning. He glanced briefly at Flora, who was still asleep, then ushered Emma into a back room to make sure their conversation stayed private.

Her expression darkened. "Oh, that's...well we'll get an answer soon enough then. Any theories on who our kidnapper could be?"

"I'm keeping my options open." Graham replied. "To honest, I'm not even sure the jacket is definitely related to the case, but we have to rule it out before I can dismiss it as evidence."

Emma nodded, "So it's not a smoking gun?"

"Depends on what the lab says." Graham looked thoughtful, "It's weird, isn't it? The blood splatter pattern doesn't fit any pattern I've ever seen before, but then again I'm not a forensic pathologist."

"If this isn't connected to Priscilla's case, I'll eat my hat." Emma stated. She downed her second cup of coffee. Her nightmares still hadn't let up, but she was learning to cope. With lots and lots of caffeine.

Graham gave Emma a thoughtful look, "I'm starting to think Henry might be onto something."

"About?"

"His mother."

Emma laughed sarcastically, "Please don't tell me you're starting to believe in magic too."

"Of course not, "Graham rolled his eyes, "But his insistence that Regina's evil might have a bit of truth to it."

"She's a huge bitch but," Emma grew uncomfortable, "You think she would do something like this?"

"How well do any of us really knew Regina?"

"You've been sleeping with her! I'm sure you know her better than any of us."

Graham's face turned to bright red, and Emma instantly regretted her statement. "I-I, well yeah. But we haven't been together in weeks, I swear."

"Oh." Emma noted.

"Even we were together, I didn't feel like I really knew Regina. She's always been pretty cold and distant." Graham confessed, clearly embarrassed but feeling that he had to explain himself. "I don't even really know why I was with so long. It became a habit, I guess."

The last thing Emma wanted to talk about was Graham's relationship with Regina, so she changed the subject. "It's a shame this didn't come up before Flora's arraignment. If we had another suspect to pin this on, I'm sure she would have gotten bail."

"What makes you certain this evidence won't incriminate her?" Graham challenged, with no real heat in his tone. He was just relieved they weren't talking about Regina anymore.

"She's got an alibi," Emma stated confidently.

Graham noted, "We still have to check those out and cross examine witness."

"Because it's the rule," Emma shrugged, "But as long as the DA doesn't pull any shit, she should be out of here in no time."


Had it been anyone else, Killian would have felt bad about breaking in, but this was Rumpelstiltskin.

In the nearly three decades he'd spent roaming America, he'd spent much of time on the wrong side of the law. While he wasn't exactly proud of that, it did give him certain special skills. Namely breaking and entering. Rumpelstiltskin had a primitive security system that took no time at all to hack, and since he was known to divide his time between the pawn shop, the hospital, and the court case, Killian didn't worry that he'd been home anytime soon. The fact that he lives a way out of town far from possible witnesses was an added bonus.

His new partner didn't ask how he'd gotten so good at entering people's homes unannounced, and for that he felt grateful. After Killian disabled the alarms, Priscilla went right to work scouring the Dark One's house for traces of magic or magical items. For their endeavor the duo took care to minimize signs of their presence. They wore gloves to make sure they didn't leave prints and skullcaps to make sure they didn't leave traces of hair lying around.

Killian had never had any special interest in magic, so he just brought every object that caught his interest to Priscilla. After nearly two hours meticulously combing through Rumpelstiltskin's belongings, Priscilla seemed convinced that they wouldn't find anything incriminating.

"If he's got any magical items, he's good at hiding them," she sighed.

Determined not to give up, Killian interjected, "We haven't checked the basement yet."

Priscilla did not look convinced, but she nodded. Killian picked the lock on the basement door. After a few tense minutes, they were in. Priscilla turned on her flashlight, waving along the walls to find the light switch. When she turned it on, she and Killian gazed around the room for a minute. Rumpelstiltskin kept his basement incredibly neat and well air-conditioned, although it lacked any decorations. The walls were stark white and lined with plain oak cabinets. A old wooden spinning wheel rested in one corner, and a plain cot in another. There was a table in the back loaded with neatly arranged metal and wooden tool that Killian didn't recognize. They certainly weren't the ordinary tools used around the house.

"We found it," Priscilla exclaimed. She pushed her flashlight into Killian hands and ran to the cabinets. Opening them at all once and rifling through their contents, a satisfied smile grew on her face. "Toadstool, nightshade, Duke's blood," she breathed, "He's got quite a collection."

Killian came over. The function of these items flew over his head, but not their significance. "The bastard's awake." His suspicions were confirmed. If Rumpelstiltskin knew about magic, he went right to the top of their suspect list.

"I think he was trying to silence me." Priscilla mused, echoing Killian's thoughts. "That's my own fault. I shouldn't have been so open about what I knew, but I think I liked the attention."

"Everyone called you crazy," Killian noted.

She shrugged, "It was better than being locked away in my house, forgotten and alone. But it got me locked away in a difference sense."

"Well we can't exactly turn this into the police as evidence, especially not with how we got it."

"We don't have to," Priscilla answered serenely. "Our focus is on breaking the curse. Justice will follow."

"Since we know the Crocodile has magic and likely kidnapped you, we should interrogate him and figure out how to break it."

Priscilla looked at him like he was the mad one, "That is a horrible plan. Rumpelstiltskin has endured torture before; he can take a lot of punishment before he breaks. And if he has magic, he may be able to use it against us before we get anything out of him. Like I said, it's not wise to show your cards too soon."

"You know a lot about him?" Killian narrowed his eyes.

She replied candidly, "I used to work for him."

"Why would you do something like that?"

"Because I was selfish and money-hungry and didn't care how my actions affected other people," Priscilla confessed. "That was before I had Grace. Before I...I'll tell you another time."

Killian frowned, but decided not to press the issue. "Regardless, we have to do something about Rumpelstiltskin. He might have the key to breaking the curse."

"If he's got this much in this home, he's probably got a lot more in his pawn shop."

"Fancy more breaking and entering?" Killian asked with a raised eyebrow.


Rumpelstiltskin felt exhausted as he walked into Granny's that evening. He's just finished filing another appeal in his case against the Thorne family, hoping that would at least buy him more time before they got full control over Belle's medical care. She was living on borrowed time, and he was letting her die.

When he'd come up with this plan, he assumed he'd get Emma Swan to break the curse in no time, wake up Belle, and find his son. But Emma had turned out to be the worst possible person to include in the curse's loophole. He knew people in this world - at least this part of this world - stopped believing in magic by the time they were adults, but Emma's refusal to believe bordered on inhuman. There was abnormal about this case, something he was missing.

Could Regina have had a hand in it? No, he would have caught of anything scheme she tried to implement while he was awake, and only a day separated Emma's arrival from his awakening. Regina couldn't have done something to her in only twenty-four hours to permanently ensure Emma never believed in magic.

Perhaps the answer laid with Henry Mills book. Regina's son at been a curiosity to him since he woke up. At first he assumed the boy was some lad from the Enchanted Forest Regina had take on as her child, but then he heard rumors that the boy believed in magic, that he had a book full of strange fairy tales. Of course, getting close to Henry was easier said that done. Regina kept on closer eye on that boy than was normal or probably healthy.

As he took his order, he noticed two figures slipping out the front door from the corner of his eyes. Jones and Jefferson. Rumpelstiltskin barely noticed that the waitress handed him the receipt. He snapped himself back to the present.

Emma Swan walked into Granny's. Her body language tensed when she saw him, but she pretended to be nonchalant.

"Ms. Swan," Rumpelstiltskin greeted politely.

"Mr. Gold," Emma replied. She ordered dinner for herself and her family, then sat on the booth next to him to wait for it. "So, how's Belle's case going."

"It's going," Rumpelstiltskin sighed.

Emma looked guilty. "I wish there was more I could do to help. Even if..."

Even if I think you're creepy, she didn't say.

"I wish I knew what to tell you," Rumpelstiltskin stated. A hysterical laugh hid behind his mouth. "It's my fault, really. Belle's condition, Regina, you being here."

Emma narrowed her eyes, "What do you mean by that?"

"Ignore me," Rumpelstiltskin waved her off. He took his order, and gave Emma a parting nod as he walked away, taking in the surprised, suspicious look on her face.

Spiking Emma's tea with manticore venom had not produced the expected results. It should have given her visions of the past so strong and unmistakable that she finally understood the magic was real, visions of Regina casting the curse and the explanation of how to break it. Instead, he'd heard around town that she has experienced terrying nightmares so horrible that she had trouble sleeping for months. Well, he really botched that, hadn't he? Or maybe the manticore wasn't working as intended because some other magic was interfering with it. At any rate, Rumpelstiltskin didn't know what was wrong with Emma Swan and he was running out of time to figure out what.


Aurora, Mulan and Ah Ping felt crushing disappointment when they finally reached Oswyna. From the stories Aurora head from her neighbors, the hushed whispers over fireplaces and in on fields at dusk, she expected something more...sinister. Oswyna was pretty. The wide, clean streets were all aligned in a neat grid. All the buildings were made of a whitewashed brick with pale blue roofs and window shutters. In some places, freshly washed laundry hung from wire across windows. Few people roamed the streets, mostly merchants and common laborers. They didn't see any children running around, which was odd, but Mulan overhead a baby cry from an upstairs window.

As they walked through the city looking for a witch who could give them the tools to return to Mulan and Ah Ping's realm, and hopefully find out what happened to their village, an elderly woman walked up to them. She stood tall and straight despite her age. Her skin with paper white and filled with wrinkles, with a long, beaky nose in its center. Her stark white hair fell down her back in long, thick braid. She smiled, showing off too-straight, too-white teeth. The only color in her face was in her eyes, which were dark grey and hard as iron.

"I suppose you're here because you need help from a sorcerer," she addressed them in a strong, clear voice with a heavy Slavic accident. "You're in luck."

Mulan immediately distrusted this stranger. "Yes, and we can find one on our own."

The strange woman cocked her head, "I doubt that. My name is Baba Yaga. May I have your names?"

"No!" Aurora blurted out. Having been raised by fairies, she knew to be careful about giving out one's name to a fairy. "You may not have our names, but we are willing to tell you our names."

Baba Yaga's smile vanished, replaced by a look of annoyance. "Very well," she grumbled.

Though Mulan and Ah Ping were rather confused by this exchange, Aurora's suspicious were confirmed. If you gave a fairy your name they would take, like a possession, and use it to control. If you told a fairy your name, that was something different. "My name is Aurora, and these are my companions, Mulan and Ah Ping."

"And what brings you to the city of sorcerers?"

"My brother and I are looking for a way back to our realm," Mulan explained. "We have to find our family."

"And we don't need your help," Aurora added forcefully.

Baba Yaga glared at them down her long nose, "So rude. This is why no one likes country folk." She walked past them with a determined gait, but the trio was just relieved that she was gone.

Aurora turned to the others, "We have to be careful while we're here. Don't talk to anyone and don't let anyone know where we're staying."

With that disturbing encounter in mind, they found an inn to stay in so they could rest and begin their search in the morning.