Chapter 5:
Bella and Emma made their way to Mary-Margaret's apartment and waited for the young woman to come home. Less than 15 minutes later, she came inside with a grocery bag in her arms and her usual enthusiastic smile on her face. Emma felt like she was seeing the woman with new eyes.
This wasn't the nice woman who became her friend and offered her a place to stay anymore, she was also her mother. The princess who had sent her away and sacrificed seeing her growing up to give her her best chance, the woman who put her first. Had she always looked this way? Emma felt suddenly nervous and a bit intimidated.
"Hey, isn't this Henry's book? You decided to read it after all, good for you." Mary-Margaret told Emma with a smile after nodding a hello at Bella.
"Remember when you asked me who I was in the book and I told you that I wasn't in it?" Emma asked her friend, without answering her question directly.
"Of course."
"I lied." Emma declared.
"Why? Who are you?" Mary-Margaret asked her.
"Here, you should read the last few pages it'll be easier than to explain." Emma told her and when the school teacher looked up, confused, Bella and Emma only encouraged her with a nod.
Seeing how serious the two young women looked, Mary-Margaret sat down and started reading the pages Emma had pointed out. While she read, Emma went to get the box she had her childhood memories in and took the blanket out, leaving the rest inside without giving it a second look. There would be time for the rest later.
"So, Henry thinks that you're my daughter?" Mary-Margaret asked once she was done, only to have her eyes land on the blanket.
"He does." Emma nodded before she handed the blanket to the teacher.
"This looks just like the one in the book…" The teacher breathed out.
"Mary-Margaret…" Emma started to say but, when she couldn't find the right words, she turned to look at Bella who nodded, knowing that her friend needed her help explaining things.
"Would you be willing to consider Henry's theory as being true?" Bella asked her best friend's mother.
"The one about the curse or the one about Emma being my daughter? Because I think that I would remember giving birth to someone 28 years ago." She asked.
"Both." Emma replied, looking down, preparing herself for the rejection she was used to getting from most people in her life.
"You're serious… You believe in this?" Mary-Margaret asked Emma and Bella.
"I know how crazy it sounds. All you have to do is open your mind to it being true and hold the book… At least it worked for Bella, Henry and me. I… I don't know if you'd get your memories back or if you'll simply see things are real but… I…" Emma said, trying not to look so afraid.
"Please, could you try?" Bella asked Mary-Margaret who didn't move or say anything for a few minutes.
She was deep in thoughts and was thinking about everything. How easy it was for her to trust Emma, how close she felt to David Nolan, Regina's hatred of her even though she never did anything to her… Not in this life at least.
She glanced up and the resigned look on Emma's face broke her heart a little. If this was her daughter, she had to trust her, to believe in her and to go for it. She couldn't turn her back on her, she couldn't risk it not being true. It's with a determined look on her face that, a couple of minutes later, the young teacher took the book in her hands.
"Emma… I… It's weird… I don't remember everything but it's like the parts that are in the book are clear in my head… I… I remember giving birth to you and telling David to put you in the wardrobe to give you your best chance but I don't remember living it… It's like memories of a dream or a movie I saw at some point or something..." Mary-Margaret suddenly declared, her eyes full of tears as she rushed to put the book down and take her daughter in her arms.
"It's probably because the curse isn't broken yet. The book is here to help break it, not to do Emma's job for her." Bella replied.
"So it's really true? You're my… my mother?" Emma asked Mary-Margaret shyly.
"I am, yes. Oh Emma… What are we going to do? Your father is… How am I supposed to watch him while he's with Abigail?" The teacher exclaimed.
"Abigail? You mean Katherine?" Emma asked her and Snow nodded.
"She's Princess Abigail, King Midas' daughter." The mother replied.
"In the book, she has a prince so it's simple: find him here and get them to meet." Bella added while she looked for a picture of Princess Abigail's prince in the book.
"He kind of looks like the school's gym teacher." Mary-Margaret replied.
"Okay, it's simple then, tomorrow, Emma has to deal with Graham who might start remembering things since he kissed her earlier and I have to meet with M. Gold and try to see what he knows so Mary-Margaret, you'll work with Henry to get Frederic back to his princess and her, away from your prince." Bella decided, taking charge of things.
"You make it sound so simple." Emma chuckled.
"Anything is possible when you put your heart to it." Bella replied with a decided smile on her face.
"Sounds like a quote taken right out of the book." Emma shook her head.
"Will Henry even want to help?" Mary-Margaret asked, only now starting to realize that he was her grandson.
"Henry's always ready for Operation Cobra." Emma nodded with a chuckle.
"Now, why don't we decide on a tactic over Burgers at Granny's? On me." Bella offered and the two women nodded and followed her down the stairs and to the dinner.
.
The next morning, Bella, Emma and Mary-Margaret had breakfast together at Granny's where Henry joined them before going to school with his teacher. He was happy to learn that his biological mother finally believed in the curse and in him and that his teacher and grandmother believed as well. He felt that things would be much easier now.
Of course he was more than happy to help Mary-Margaret in reuniting Frederic and princess Abigail (Katherine) so that David could be with Mary-Margaret, or at least be alone until they managed to break the curse.
"It's not going to be easy. How are you going to do it?" Bella asked Henry and his teacher.
"We can get her to school under false pretense and make sure she accidentally meets him. I think we can do it pretty easily." Mary-Margaret assured them.
"Well, I hope you'll be fine. I have to go to the station and see what Graham remembers." Emma told them as she stood up and put her jacket back on.
"Take the book with you, it might help but don't try anything too dangerous on your own. Call before making a move against anyone." Bella told her friend who nodded, understanding that by 'anyone' Bella really meant 'Regina'.
"Call us before you try anything." Mary-Margaret insisted, a serious look on her face.
"I will." Emma nodded, a softer look on her face as she thought about the fact that her new friend was actually her mother and that she was concerned about her.
After Emma left, Henry and Mary-Margaret left as well and Bella was left on her own. She took her time finishing her breakfast before she made her way to Mister Gold's pawnbroker shop to see if he remembered anything and if he could tell her anything useful about the curse, the way to break it or even her and her father.
.
While Henry and his teacher managed to accomplish their mission perfectly, Emma was at the station, facing awkwardly Graham. She had hoped to arrive before he did and to be the one waiting for him but it looked like he had been there for a couple of hours already.
"Emma! We need to talk, since last night I've been seeing things… Remembering things… I remember trying to hurt Mary-Margaret in a forest but I don't know when it was…" He said, rushing to her.
"I can explain everything but you'll have a hard time believing it." Emma told him.
"As long as your explanation isn't that I'm crazy, I'm fine with it." He smiled.
"Okay, you need to sit down, open your mind to any possibility and take this book. Then, depending on what happens, I'll explain everything." Emma told him with a smile.
.
Bella was now standing nervously in front of the Pawnbroker's shop. How to bring her problem up?
After about 10 minutes of hesitating, she finally gathered her courage and pushed the door open.
"Ah, I thought you were going to stay outside all day." A man she guessed was Mister Gold said from behind the counter.
"Good morning Mister Gold. My name is Bella Swan." She smiled.
"Any relations to Emma?" He asked her.
"Yes, we're together." She replied before blushing when she realized how it could have been understood after seeing his amused smirk.
"I mean… Not intimate, I mean, we... We're family, like family. Best friends… It's a long story." She corrected with a deep embarrassed blush, making Gold chuckle.
"I've heard about you, it seems that the Widow Lucas is very fond of you." He replied.
"Only because she likes my books." Bella smiled.
"I was curious so I ordered them. I guess I'll start reading them as soon as I get them." He told her.
"I hope you'll like it. Considering the number of books you have around, you must love reading… It's not often you see that many books in a pawnbroker's shop."
"Is that why you're here? To buy a book?" he asked her.
"No, not yet anyway. I was wondering if you were the one who gave Henry the Storybook he took his curse theory from. It looks like a well kept antique or something." She asked him.
"Regina asked me the same question and I'll tell you what I told her: I've never even seen this book before."
"Oh, and here I thought you might be able to enlighten me about some facts…"
"Facts?" He asked her.
"About the storybook and the people in it, where they are, how to identify them, that kind of things." She explained.
"Because you believe in his theory?" He asked her.
"I might."
"Why come to me thought?" He asked her.
"Because if I believed in the curse, I'd also believe that you are Rumpelstiltskin and that you created it in the first place." She smiled.
"That's some theory…" He shook his head.
"Well, it's too bad you're not him because if you were, I'd be able to reunite you with your one true love and give you a second chance with her." Bella replied, hoping to catch him on a lie.
"How? She's dead." He said before realizing what he had just done.
"Are you admitting to it being true?" She asked him.
"If you are believing in it, then I am Rumpelstiltskin." He smiled.
He liked her and the way she handled him, she amused him.
"I guess we've taken a big step forward in breaking the curse." Bella assured him.
"Does the savior believe?" he asked her, showing her to the back room so they could both sit down.
"Emma believes since last night, so do the sheriff and her mother. Mary-Margaret and Henry are working on introducing Abigail/ Katherine to her prince so David can be free if not with his wife. Emma is explaining everything to Graham, we'll work on getting his heart back later." Bella explained.
"How did you know you could trust me?" He asked her.
"Without trusting you completely, I have a pretty good instinct and I know that you want Belle and your son. As long as our interests go in the same direction, we'll be able to work together. Maybe we'll even manage to become friends someday." She replied.
"You mentioned Belle… How could you reunite us?"
"She's not dead. In the book, there's a page about how Regina told you she was dead when she was locked in her tower the entire time. As soon as Graham has his heart back, Emma and I will join him and try to find her." Bella told him.
"Do you have it with you?" He asked her and she understood that he needed to see it in order to believe it.
"No, Emma took the book to show Graham but if you come with me now, we can join them and she'll show you."
"Very well." He nodded, standing up and grabbing his jacket and cane before he followed her outside.
.The sorcerer's thoughts.
I don't know how I feel about my daughter spending time with the vile Rumpelstiltskin but I agree with her, as long as their interest align, he'll stay on her side. Despite his power, The Dark One remains a coward and he'll always try to have powerful people by his side. He'll soon feel that she is powerful and that she could have the power to stop him, that moment, I'll know if the Dark One is worth giving a chance to or not. If he goes after her, I'll know he has a place in my hat. If he doesn't go after her and behaves himself, then I might consider helping him get rid of the darkness of the Dark One without having to die.
I just hope that he won't hurt my baby.
It's all because of his mother really. He wouldn't have become the Dark One, none of this would have happened if she hadn't abandoned him. The fact that everyone looks up to her and thinks she is such a great person makes me want to laugh sometimes... What a great actress she is.
So, like, love or hate?
Review?
Lorelei Candice Black