Chapter 21:
The next day Snow and her traveling companions managed to make the rest of the way to the castle and they arrived right before nightfall.
"I can't help but feel like we're being followed." Robin whispered in Snow's ear as they entered the castle.
"Me too. I've been feeling it for the past few hours." Snow nodded.
"I'll keep watch at the door with my men." Robin offered.
"Okay, be careful." Snow nodded.
"You too. Can you take Roland with you? He'll be safer inside." He asked her.
"Of course." She nodded before she led Bella, Roland, Emma and Mulan inside.
First, she led Bella to the hat making room, where she found the equipment she needed. It was dusty and a lot of the fabric stored there were ruined but there was enough left so that Bella would be able to make what she needed. The hat didn't need to be pretty or in fashion, she just needed it to be whole, and to work.
"I'll get started immediately." Bella nodded.
"I'll stay and keep watch here with her." Mulan decided.
"Okay, we'll come back here after we've checked Emma's baby room. If you're done before we're back, it's on the first floor, turn left, then right, then it's the third door on the right. Her name is written in pink on the door." Snow told the two young women before she led Roland and Emma upstairs.
Emma was a bit nervous to see what should have been her home growing up and she could see that her mother was sad to see the state of her castle, the place that should have been her home. As soon as they pushed the doors to enter her baby room, Emma could see how much it hurt her mother to see everything destroyed. It also helped her see how much it had hurt them to send her away from them. They had prepared everything for her. Around the room, she could see the remains of all kind of toys. There was even a dollhouse in a corner. She would have been happy growing up there.
"I was going to teach you how to walk in here. Help you get ready for your first ball, your first date. I was going to brush your hair in front of that mirror, tell you stories in that chair…" Snow stated in a sad voice.
"It's a pretty room. I would have loved to grow up there." Emma smiled sincerely, trying to hide her emotions.
"Can I play with this?" Roland asked Snow in a shy voice, pointing to a small teddy bear that only had one eye missing.
"You can even keep it if you want." Snow nodded.
While Snow went to check over the wardrobe, Emma bent down to speak to Roland:
"Can you do something for me, kid?"
"Sure." He nodded, eager to help.
His eagerness to help and be a hero reminded her of Henry and made her smile. She missed her son.
"Can you look around for me and check if you can find anything I could keep as a souvenir? Something small and not too broken?" She asked him softly, thinking that, in case they couldn't come back here, she'd want to take something with her.
"Sure, I can do that!" Roland nodded happily.
Emma smiled and went to join her mother near the wardrobe.
"Wow, I really traveled in this thing?" She asked, trying to keep a neutral voice.
In this room, Snow was seeing everything she had missed with her daughter. Emma was seeing what her life could have been like growing up. She could see a life were she would have been loved and desired. A life where she would have been happy and safe, always. A life with loving parents that would have always been there for her. She could imagine her life as a princess.
"It's going to be heavy. I don't know how we'll get this out of the castle, let alone all the way to the lake." Emma shook her head.
"I don't even know if Bella's right about it still being magic." Snow shook her head.
"She's usually right about these things. If she says it still has some magic, then it probably does." Emma smiled at her mother before she turned around and watched as Roland looked around the room for her.
He had a small diadem in one hand and was still looking for more. The bear he wanted to keep was resting nicely near the wardrobe.
"With the help of Robin and his men we should have no problem carrying it out and to the lake. Unless Bella has another plan… I don't know what part she wants to use." Snow replied, still inspecting the thing.
"Or you can step back and let me have it." A strong feminine voice stated from the doorway.
.
Cora didn't waste any time entering the castle while Hook distracted the merry men and attacked them, on his own. She didn't really care if he made it or not, all she wanted was for him to provide her with some of the help she wanted. Quickly, not looking back to check on Hook, she climbed the steps that led to the baby room, knowing she'd find Snow there.
Standing behind hidden in the corridor, Cora could hear Emma and Snow talking about what they'd do with the wardrobe and decided that now would be the best time to show herself.
"Or you can step back and let me have it." She declared.
"Cora!" Snow exclaimed, motioning for Roland and Emma to stand behind her.
"Regina's mother?" Emma asked and Snow answered with a nod.
"What do you want with this wardrobe?" Snow asked Cora, making sure that Roland was safe.
Smart, the little boy had grabbed a piece of wood to protect himself, brandishing it like it was a shield. His father had prepared him well in case they faced an enemy.
"To go home to my daughter of course." Cora smirked.
"What makes you think that she'd even want to see you?" Snow asked, trying to gain time while help came.
"I'm her mother, she needs me. Especially now that her precious curse was broken and that she has been defeated by you lot. When I bring her your heart as a gift, she'll be happy to see me." Cora replied with a smirk.
"I won't let you get there." Emma snapped, stepping forward to be side by side with her mother.
The wardrobe was behind Snow and Roland had slowly made his way behind a broken shelf, knowing he needed to get away from the evil woman.
"How will you stop me now?" Cora asked her, using her magic to make Emma's gun disappear.
"We'll find a way." Snow replied while Emma hesitantly took the sword her mother had forced her to take at the market from its resting place at her belt.
"You'll try, that I believe, Snow. But you'll fail, you'll lose and I'll be on my way to Storybrook." Cora stated like it was evident.
"I won't let you!" Emma snapped before Cora, tired of talking, tried sending fireballs on Snow, who defended herself with her sword.
While her mother and Cora fought, Emma did the only thing she could think of: she burnt down the wardrobe. She'd rather be stuck in the Enchanted Forest than let Cora go to Storybrook, where Henry, her father and Graham were waiting.
"Now you won't." Emma smirked, watching the fire that quickly burnt the wardrobe.
"No! You stupid woman! You'll pay for this, it isn't over!" Cora exclaimed, enraged, before she left in a cloud of smoke.
"I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't let her get to Henry." Emma told her mother.
"I know, don't worry. We'll find another way. Are you okay Roland?"
"Yes. I'm fine." The boy nodded as he left his hiding place.
He was sad to see that the little toy he wanted to keep was now on fire along with the wardrobe but he knew that it didn't matter.
"Emma, you stay here with Roland, I'll go down to check on Robin and Bella. Close the door behind me and lock it. Only open it if it's me, Robin or Bella asking and only if you're sure it's us." Snow ordered before she left, ready for another fight.
.
Bella went to work on the hat as soon as Snow had left the room while Mulan kept watch.
"Don't you think you're being a bit paranoid? Relax a little, Mulan." Bella told her new friend while she cut some fabric.
She didn't need the hat to be pretty but since there was some pretty fabric to choose from, she did the best she could.
"We were being followed earlier today, I could swear it. We never know who might be trying to stop us. When on a mission this important, we always need to be on our guards." Mulan replied in a tone a teacher would use to speak to his student.
"If you say so." Bella smiled.
.
While Bella was working hard on the hat, Hook had lead Robin and his men away from the gates and managed to enter the castle on his own, without hurting anyone or getting hurt. Instead of going up, where he could hear voices and fighting in the distance, he went another way, where his instinct guided him. He could hear voices there too, only calmer, more relaxed.
As silently as he could, he approached to see Mulan, the woman Warrior, guarding a door while Bella, the brunette, was inside, doing something obviously important.
Hook was silently trying to figure out the best plan of attack when Mulan stood straighter and motioned to her companion to be silent.
"What is it?" Bella asked in a lower voice.
"Someone else is here." Mulan replied.
"Maybe Emma and Snow are done and coming down to look for us." Bella suggested, not worried.
"No, they'd call out for us, so would Robin and his men." Mulan shook her head.
"Okay, so we're worried then?" Bella asked.
Hook saw Mulan nod and was about to step back when he felt a sword against his back.
"You don't move. Mulan, over here!" Snow White called out.
Soon, Hook was tied up to a chair, surrounded by merry men while Mulan and Roland were still with Bella, who was finishing whatever she had started.
"I'm going back up, Bella thinks that she can use the ashes from the wardrobe." Emma told them as she passed in front of them on her way up.
"Now back to our guest. Who are you and why were you following us?" Robin Hood asked him.
"Why were you working with Cora?" Snow added.
"Fine, my name is Killian Jones, most people know me as Hook though. I was working with Cora because she said she could get me to your world, where I'd be able to get my revenge on the man who took my hand. Obviously she left me behind. If you can offer me the same deal, I can help you as well." He replied.
"We don't need your help, we have everything we need." Snow shook her head.
"You may have found a portal, but are you sure it'll take you to where you want to go? I can get you to a compass that will be able to guide you through the portal." He replied, desperate to convince her.
"Keep him here, I'll go and ask Bella about it." Snow declared and Robin nodded.
Snow White explained to Bella what Hook had told them and Bella was thoughtful for a minute.
"It might be a good idea to use it. Jefferson was able to make his Hat go wherever he wanted but he was used to it, he had years of practice behind him to master the art of portal jumping. This compass could help us make sure we land in Storybrook and not someplace else." Bella replied.
"Alright, I'll take his deal then." Snow nodded just as Bella came back with a bucket full of ashes.
"Take whose deal?" Emma asked.
"I'll explain on the way up, you can listen to what he says and tell me if he's lying or not." Snow told her daughter.
"How are you going to use the ashes?" Roland asked Bella, sitting on a tool next to her and watching her with great interest.
"Look. I'm going to us magic to separate the magical ashes from the rest, then I'll place these ashes inside the hat liner." Bella replied kindly before she concentrated and managed to make a handful of sparkly pink ash fly away from the rest.
With a triumphant smile, she guided them to where she wanted them and finished closing the hat.
"Now we just need to wait until the ashes' magic replicates and contaminates the rest of the hat." Bella smiled.
"Cool!" Roland exclaimed.
Roland managed to find a hatbox that was still in good shape and they placed to finished hat inside before they joined the others just in time to witness Emma, Snow, Robin and Hook sealing their deal.
"So, what now?" Bella asked.
"Now we go see a giant about a compass milady." Hook replied flirtingly.
"That's so cool!" Roland whispered, making Bella chuckle.
Obviously the kid was happy to be living adventures.
"Before we go, Isn't there anything you want to take with you? I can miniaturize it until we get home if you want." Bella told Emma and Snow.
"Roland found what I needed. It's in my bag." Emma replied, thinking of the diadem and the almost unbroken princess doll he had found for her.
"I… No, nothing." Snow shook her head.
Truthfully, she wanted to take a lot with her but she wouldn't know where to put it once they got back home.
"Are you sure mom? We might not be able to come back." Emma told her.
"Actually if we can use the hat to go back home, we should be able to use it to come back here later." Bella corrected.
"We'll see later then. But maybe we should go and load on weapons." Snow replied, leading them in the right direction before they started walking to the beanstalk.
"I'll wait here and call Gold with the mirror, see if he has any suggestion to stop Cora." Bella told them.
"I'll stay with her. I have everything I need." Mulan replied, enjoying spending time with the young woman.
.The sorcerer's thoughts.
I'm very proud of the way my daughter acted and made the hat. I can see it work.
What I don't like is the pirate joining them. Of course he's not that bad of a person, he has some redeeming qualities and could become a good person if he chose to but would he want to? I see him flirt with my daughter and Emma and wonder if he's just trying to get on their good side or if he truly likes one of them...
I don't know what to think of the growing friendship between my daughter and Mulan. I can see that to Mulan, it's more than friendship but it's too soon for Bella, she still thinks of August, she still loves him dearly.
All I can do for now is watch and hope for the best. Hope that Cora stays out of their ways, hope that my daughter's heart stays strong, hope that magic will work the right way and stay on their side, hope that everything will go fine with the giant in that castle in the clouds.
Another chapter... Sorry for the delay. I had writer's block for a while there working on the next chapter. It's solved now but I changed the way this story was going (changed 2 points that are kind of important: someone who was supposed to live will die and someone will be paired up with someone else.) Right now I have 2 more chapters written and i'm working on the ext one. I'll try to update sooner.
A little review please? Maybe it will help me wirte faster? ;-)
Lorelei Candice Black