Emma left with her parents and rented a room at Granny's Bed and Breakfast, where she put Henry to bed. Then, leaving his room, she went back into the living area, where her parents were waiting. And River.
"Okay. Henry's asleep upstairs," Emma said. "If he wakes up, you two are helping me with the case, okay?" She sat down on the couch in front of her mother. "So what the hell happened here? I mean, besides the obvious?"
"We don't know," Mary Margaret admitted. "We watched you drive over the town line with Henry. Then, Regina started to cast her spell to take us all back to the Enchanted Forest, and then, everything went black."
"And then, we remember waking up in our beds like it was any other morning in Storybrooke," David added.
Mary Margaret gestured to her pregnant stomach. "Except it wasn't."
"A year has passed. I know that it did. I was in New York the whole year," Emma said.
"And we don't know where we were," David told her. "We don't even know if we left Storybrooke."
"You were," River told him. "In the message that the Doctor sent out to me; it came from there - the Enchanted Forest. What exactly happened? I don't know."
"So, Regina's spell did work," Mary Margaret mused.
"But now, you are cursed," Emma said. "Why doesn't that surprise me?"
Mary Margaret shook her head. "Regina seems as clueless as the rest of us. I'm not sure she was involved in this."
"So she says."
The door opened behind them, and three of the dwarves walked in. "What is it?" David asked.
"We lost another one," Leroy answered. "We're down to five now."
"Four, actually," Happy said as he looked at his phone. "Bashful's not answering."
"Wait. What is going on?" Emma asked.
"Thank God you're back, sister," Leroy told her.
"It's not just our memories that are missing," Mary Margaret said. "Ever since we woke up, people have begun disappearing."
"Whoever cursed us is picking us off one by one," Leroy added. "Who exactly is missing?" Emma asked.
"Aside from the dwarves, we're not sure," David answered. "There's been much confusion over
the past few days. It's been hard to keep track of everyone."
"Wait … Neal. Is he here?" Emma asked.
"Well, we haven't found him yet," Mary Margaret said.
"So, he might have been taken, too?"
"Smart money's on, yes," Leroy said. "Leroy!" Mary Margaret snapped.
"Some folks are starting to set up camp in the woods at the edge of town. Neal might be there," David stated.
"Or he may not have gotten swept up in the curse," Mary Margaret said.
Emma got up. "There's only one way we'll figure all this out. But, first, we need to get your memories back."
"How are we going to do that?" Mary Margaret asked.
Emma stood up. "By figuring out who took them in the first place."
Emma and Henry were in the diner the following day, where Ruby gave him his order. His hot chocolate. She smiled at him. It was good to see him and his mother back in Storybrooke. "Here you go, Hen…." She stopped herself. He didn't know any of them. " ... young man - a nice hot cocoa."
Henry looked down at it. The diner had precisely made it how he liked it with cinnamon on the top. "Hey," he called out to her. She stopped and turned around. "The cinnamon … How did you know?"
"Uh, lucky guess. You have got a cinnamon kind of face."
Emma stifled a chuckle as Mary Margaret and David walked in. "Oh, Henry, this is David and Mary Margaret," she said.
"Are you helping my mum with the case?" Henry asked, then leaned to Emma and whispered, "Or are they the ones who jumped bail?"
Mary Margaret laughed.
"Oh, no, they are…." Emma began and stood up. "They're just old friends."
"Friends from where?" Henry asked.
"Phoenix," Mary Margaret said.
"Here," Emma said at the same time as Mary Margaret. Henry looked at both of them. "Well, Phoenix, and then here," Emma added.
"But I thought you were only in Phoenix for being in that other place?" Henry asked.
"Right. We were cellmates," Mary Margaret said.
"Really? What were you in for?"
"Banditry." She sat down next to Emma and David on the other side next to Henry. "People make mistakes. The important thing is to find a way to keep moving on."
"Did you know my dad?" Henry asked.
"Should we order?" David interrupted. "Let's order." He raised his hand and called a waitress over. But, they were all interrupted by a dish shattering to the floor. Then, the whole diner grew silent.
They turned around and saw who it was. Regina Mills. She had caught sight of Henry, her adoptive son, whom she thought she would never see again after watching him leave when she undid the curse.
She was silent and was lost for words. She didn't know what to say. Or think. She didn't understand why her son was there. Or if he remembered everything. "Oh … I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Regina said.
"Oh, um … that's okay," Henry said.
Emma got up from her seat, squeezing past Mary Margaret, and went over to where Regina stood. She had some explaining to do. "Regina. Regina … We need to talk. Come on." She walked with her to the back of the diner and into the hall.
Regina shakily took a breath, holding back tears. "He looked right through me," she said quietly. "Because he doesn't remember you," Emma told her.
"But you do. Why are you here?"
"Storybrooke. A new curse. Missing year. Why do you think?"
"No, what I mean is, how did you know to come back? I gave you and Henry a new life. New memories."
"Someone named River Song found me," Emma told her. "She's a friend of the Doctor. She gave me a potion that made me remember. But, unfortunately, there wasn't enough for Henry."
She took a breath. "Look, I didn't cast this curse if that's what you're thinking."
"The thought did cross my mind."
"Why would I do this? Why would I erase an entire year of my life?"
"Maybe it was a bad year for you. Maybe this curse was your way of getting me to bring Henry back here."
"With no memory of me? If I wanted my son back, do you think I'd put myself through this kind of torture? I cast curses to hurt other people. Not myself."
"Maybe so. But I need to start crossing people off the list."
"How? By walking around and using your superpower on everyone?" "You got a better idea?"
A while later, Robin Hood called David and Emma to the town line. Something unusual had happened while he and his Merry Men had been hunting for something to eat. A strange creature had abducted Little John.
Emma had called River too, who was with the Doctor at the time, and they both decided to join.
"This …" Robin began, pointing to the town line. "This is where he was taken."
Emma rushed forward. "I wouldn't step over that line if I were you."
Robin pointed to the red spray-painted line on the road. "You think Little John was carried away 'cause he attempted to cross that line?"
"Yeah. Makes sense. The dwarves were checking the line to see if anyone was coming or going when they disappeared," David said. "What exactly took Little John?"
"We didn't get a good look," Robin began. "Some manner of a beast with wings."
"Sounds like that creature in New York," River mused, then turned to Emma. "The one you were going to marry, remember?"
"You were gonna marry someone?" David asked his daughter.
"It looked like a monkey. With wings," River added.
"Look. We need to find Little John," Robin interrupted.
"It may lead us to everyone else who's gone missing. David, take him and the rest of his …" Emma began, but she couldn't finish the sentence. It seemed too … odd to her.
"Merry Men," Robin finished for her.
"Right," Emma said with a nod. "Them. And run a search grid, and see if you can find any sign of the missing guy."
"You're not joining us?" the Doctor asked.
"Not yet. Regina was right. I'm not going to figure out who's behind this curse by talking to people. River, you said that a witch cast it. You guys don't know who that witch would be?"
The Doctor shook his head. "I don't. I've been searching for her in Storybrooke, but she's hidden pretty well. Like some sort of perception filter to disguise herself. If she's here, well, she could be anybody."
"What are you gonna do?" David asked his daughter.
"I'm going to talk to everybody. See if I can find her," Emma told her father.
