Trouble, trouble, trouble. He hoped that all this trouble wasn't an indication of life once the Savior finally came into his own; naturally, not by some fluke of magic.
He'd given them a simple task; one simple task. Go into the castle, dance the night away, be sure that Snow White stole the ring, that David knew it was her, and the timeline was back on track. How they'd managed to screw it up as immensely as they had was remarkable. And yet-not.
Not when he remembered that he'd trusted Hook to it all. He'd watched the entire thing, sometimes in sound through one of the mirrors and other times within his crystal ball, and sometimes he'd needed to use the cauldron as well! But he still couldn't figure out how they'd gotten it so wrong and yet…so right. Or at least close to right. Probably because the parts that were right they'd barely had a hand in.
The pair went to the ball, just as they were supposed to. They danced, they watched Prince Charming, and all the while he'd watched Snow White climb the walls of the towers in his cauldron at the same time.
She'd found the ring, stolen it just in time for the False Prince to enter his chambers and find her stealing it. They'd had a brief interaction in which he'd seen her face, and he was certain that was all there was too it. He'd almost thought to stop watching and summon the pair to him right then and there…until Abigail had entered the chamber and began crying out. Regina, who attended the ball appropriately enough, had gotten word, so had Hook and the Swan who stupidly rushed off to help the Princess that he was certain didn't need help. She'd been well on her way to escape when the pair had intervened unnecessarily. The Savior had been captured. But not before she realized that in the chaos of the heist, Snow White had dropped the ring.
He could have cried out in anger and beat his head against a wall because he knew that he could have done a better job in half the time and not ended up in Regina's dungeon. For a moment he did consider helping the Savior, but something told him it was best to let the girl go, to not intervene, and let her save herself. His mother's wand was powerful, very powerful indeed. While he was waiting for something to happen over the next day or so he'd done some more researching on his mother's wand, making sure that he could use it to get the pair back to their own time. After all, they'd caused enough trouble, as soon as this was over, it was best for everyone involved if they got back to where they belonged. But in his investigation, he'd stumbled upon something that he hadn't planned on. According to legend, it could recreate magic, but only magic that had been used by the welder. He'd never traveled back in time before; he'd never experienced the portal that the Swan and the Captain had, ergo, he could not open the portal to get them home. But they could.
Or rather, she could.
She was strong enough, he could sense that easily enough, and all his digging into the magic on True Love told him that if she was who she said she was, then she would have all the magic required to open the portal that had brought her here and get herself and the pirate back to where they belonged. There was only one problem, he hadn't seen her do a single bit of magic since she'd been in the Enchanted Forest. In fact, she seemed downright put off by any situation that involved it. Magical, but refusing to use it? Or incapable?
He had the thought that being in such a precarious position with Regina might help him answer that. True, his glamour spell would have taken away her magic, but if she was the Savior, the Product of True Love, then her magic was a unique thing. There might not be anything that could stop it. Regina wasn't one to fool with these days. For helping Snow White escape, the Evil Queen wouldn't care if she did claim she was a princess, she'd be executed. And if she had read that book that she'd claimed once held the past she would be well aware of that. He'd hoped that would push the Swan to do what she could with her power. He'd been wrong. He watched throughout the night as she shared a morsel with another prisoner, then settled against a cell wall, twirling and twirling and twirling the ring that should have been with Snow White by now, around her finger, staring into nothing. She'd been removed from her fine clothes, put back into a thin peasant's dress and blue cloak that didn't appear to hold in heat. But the Savior wasn't where the story was. That was back in Midas' land.
Unaware of the weight of what had happened, he watched as David spent the night out, tracking and plotting in the unfamiliar forest, searching for something in a way he might search for a lost sheep. And the pirate was always there, one step behind him, watching safely in the distance, out of the way. And one step ahead of David…the Princess Snow White.
It was a shame she hadn't gotten away with his ring, for it appeared he had caught a bug for the woman. If she hadn't dropped the ring on the way out, this meeting would have been all they needed, and he could have summoned the Savior and Hook back to leave. Instead, he watched as David tracked Snow White down, one step behind until he suddenly veered off track and set up a trap in the woods so obvious he was certain that she'd never fall for it…until she stepped right inside of it. And that was the moment Hook chose to reveal himself.
He cursed himself for not sending Pirithous out, in fact, he cursed himself for it all day as the trio exchanged words, Snow White fell to the ground with a slice of David's sword, and Hook bought two horses and a cart with money that was once the Prince James'. The trio traveled together all day into the Queen's territory, and he could see David and Snow talking. Oh, how he longed to summon Pirithous and find out why! But after watching David before the bird was already suspicious. He didn't need him asking more questions, he didn't need to make more memory potion for him as well, and he didn't need for him to know so much of David's life or anything of the future.
Once they arrived and the castle was in their sights but still far enough away to be outside the guard of the Evil Queen, Snow left the pair, and David and Hook sat in the woods together, talking and making a fire. He didn't need Pirithous to know what was being said. In a way, he didn't need to know. Wanted to know, certainly, but need? All he needed was to see the Swan freed, he needed her to use her magic, and get back to this place so he could get them home and take a memory potion.
But that night, so many things happened all at once; it was difficult to keep track of them. Snow fetched Red. Red went to find Hook and David in the woods. She transformed into a wolf to help them get past Regina's guard and into the castle. Their plan seemed simple enough to follow visually only. The wolf would appear. The guard would become distracted, fearing for his safety in her presence. And that was when David would appear and knock the guard off his feet into unconsciousness before the alarm could be raised.
He supposed their plan was to go all the way in and rescue the Swan, but it would never come to pass. There was no need. The Swan was busy rescuing herself, much to his displeasure, without magic. It would have taken a witch or wizard five seconds to break free of the lock that Regina had placed on the door. It had taken her an entire day, but only because it had taken her so long to figure out she could use some spare bit of wire to pick the lock. And much to his disappointment, she brought a friend. One that he recognized.
'Twas Maid Marian. Robin Hood's wife, who he had last seen very, heavily pregnant. Apparently, she'd had the baby, and counting the months from the time he'd last seen her, she'd soon after become prisoner of none other than Regina. It almost made him laugh. He couldn't wait for Regina to explain that to the man that the Seer called "her heart" in the future. But that was a laugh for another time, once the present was sorted out and the future back on track. For now, he continued his vigil.
By the time the two groups ran into one another, his head was already spinning. When he finally found Snow White, he thought he was going to be sick. She had sent Red back to the boys for a reason, for as they made their great escape, she was sneaking into the castle, walking halls she hadn't graced in years not since her father died. There was a confrontation, one in which the Princess attempted to use unmistakable Black Fairy dust against his pupil. Regina's magic prevailed where the princesses didn't. Between the cauldron and the mirror, he watched as Snow was led away to her execution. A pyre was built.
He summoned his magic as she was led to the pike and tied to it, preparing to fix this, to summon the Princess away should it be necessary. The Prince and the Princess had met, if he saved her, then it might be enough for them to meet again. There didn't need to be a ring involved. But just as Regina threw a fireball at her feet, which exploded, he watched as the girl opened her hands and an unmistakable shimmer interrupted the fire for a brief second. A moment later, he saw a spark that had nothing to do with the fire pitch itself out of the flames. More black fairy dust. She'd saved herself by becoming a bug and then flown away.
There was still hope. He had a cure for Black Fairy dust around somewhere if she needed it. He could arrange for it to be used easily enough. As the rescuers, still shocked from thinking they'd just witnessed their mother, friend, and would be True Love perish in flame, left the building with the help of Hook and Marian, he prepared to be summoned. He prepared to take the cure and bring it to them and hunt her down himself to set it all right. But again, the need was not necessary. He tracked Snow White, just as he tracked the others back out into the forest where they made a fire and sat down to mourn, some of them unaware what they were really upset for. It was when the other three left the fire to unload something or other from the cart they'd ridden in on, and Hook and the Swan were alone, that it happened. They put it together before she found them, the look on the Savior's face just before she crept up on them told him that. But eventually, a ladybug rested upon her shoulder. In the next second, the other three had joined them. David was the next one to put it together, to cradle the precious bug in his hands, all before a familiar blue light came upon them. He would never be ecstatic to see the Blue Fairy, but leave it to a Blue Bug to make a red one human again.
As the unknowing family and new friends hunkered down for the night, he collapsed into a chair himself. Watching, leaving a job that should have been his to someone else was more than stressful. He'd barely moved all day, but he felt like he'd lived through it all right there with them. It wasn't nearly as simple as he would have done it, but it was done. David and Snow had met. He crossed his fingers that it was enough to set things straight.
Sorry that this chapter is not more exciting. It's my least favorite of the 3x21/3x22 chapters. But I couldn't avoid it. If you watch these two episodes from Rumple's perspective, you'll find that there's no choice but to have a chapter like this that completes the circle. That makes it a very necessary filler chapter. If I don't have a chapter like this in here, it's as if Rumple just looks away and says "well, the entire future of seeing my son is at stake, but I guess I'll trust my mortal enemy to fix it and just spend my time knitting as I stare at Belle." Not really Rumple at all. I had to have him watch the bulk of this play out.
Thank you Alarda, Grace5231973, and Jennifer Baratta for your reviews on the last chapter. Again, I am sorry for this pitiful chapter, but it just had to be here. I had meant for it to be only a couple of paragraphs but there was just too much happening to do that, so here it is. Trust me, though, the chapters that follow will be better and make up for it. Peace and Happy Reading!