"Magic! It's beautiful! Can you teach me?!"
"Not. So. Fast!" he taunted, pulling the torch from Zelena's grip as she lunged for it. "I've a few questions of my own. First and foremost…who are you?" he asked, pointing at her.
She took a step back, her face dropping and wrinkling as a child's might after they were denied a toy they wanted and instead given a test for it.
"I've told you," she shrugged. "I'm Zelena, the first-born daughter of Cora."
"Yes, yes, you've covered that, now I need to know the rest."
"The rest? What more do you need to know?"
He didn't roll his eyes, though he wanted to, desperately. But with her standing there looking confused and scared all at once and magic flowing freely through her, he didn't think that the smartest course of action. Wherever she'd been, this girl clearly had little access to education.
"Let's start with the basics," he suggested bringing the light forward once more and making her squint. "If you're the firstborn of Cora, then why does everyone believe that her firstborn, and only child, resides in the castle with the King? Where have you been?"
The girl deflated visibly. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked down at her feet. Gone was the pride she had when she announced that she was a child of Cora. What was left, an unassuming, but still very powerful, frightened little girl.
"Over the rainbow…" she shrugged.
"Precious, but I'm going to need you to be more specific."
"Oz."
"Oz…" he echoed.
"Yes…my father only just told me that I wasn't theirs, you see. He is a woodcutter and a drunk there. My mother died years ago, but I believed they were my real parents until he just…burst out that I wasn't theirs! They found me."
"And how was that? How did you get from here…all the way to Oz?"
"I'm…I'm not sure. I was only a baby, and my father said it was a tornado, but…but I had to know myself, so I went to see the Wizard. I wanted to be here. I wanted to know all about-"
"Ah-ah-ah!" he cut off, shoving a waving finger in her face because he knew that she was once more leading up to something that he wasn't ready for her to go. How she'd gotten to him; that was the most important part of all this. "Still my turn."
"Well…when do I get my turn?!" she pouted, showing her immature, childish nature so clearly.
"When I decide it's your turn," he answered with the authority of a parent she so desperately needed. "How did you get from Oz to here?"
"The Wizard sent me. He showed me a vision of a woman leaving me in the woods, my real mother. He said her name was Cora, and then I saw you teaching Regina, and I saw how she was struggling, and I knew you had the wrong student! It's me you should be teaching! I have magic! And he said that here it's not considered evil. Here, magic is a gift, and you are a great Wizard! You could teach me! Because I'm Cora's daughter, don't you see just like Regina! And you…you knew my mother? You knew Cora? How? What was she like?"
He desperately wanted more details, but at the same time, he recognized the resilience in Zelena's eyes. The girl was powerful. Truly powerful. He could sense it just below her skin, growing more and more frantic just as she grew more and more frantic. She resembled Cora. If not physically, then through her power. But she had none of her mother's calm conniving demeanor. Who was her father, he wondered. Perhaps she'd inherited that from him.
"I knew your mother," he confirmed, taking a step forward to walk with the girl a bit. If she didn't work off some of the energy she had, then it could be disastrous for him. He should send her back, have faith in the Seer. Why hadn't he just sent her back then?! "I was the one who taught Cora magic. We spent much time together before she married her prince and gave birth to your sister, Regina."
"And…Cora never mentioned me?" she asked, wringing her hands in front of her.
"A firstborn daughter? I think that's something I would remember. Now tell me dearie…how exactly did you get from there…to here," he questioned, going back to the important question. Zelena wasn't the one he wanted. He knew that now. She'd been a distraction, and if he'd bothered to ask the question of how she got there in the first place, then it would have taken a hell of a lot less time rather than what had actually happened. It would have spared him more crazy than even he could handle.
"These shoes," she answered, lifting her skirts so he could see them. "The wizard gave them to me. They take me realm to realm."
That was where he'd gone wrong with Zelena. He'd indulged her, feared her insanity so much that he hadn't pushed her when he should have. If he had, she might have shown him the shoes earlier. He might have attacked the untrained witch, killed her, stolen those shoes off of her feet, and transformed them into lovely boots that he could wear. Then it would have been three clicks of his heels, and he would have been with Baelfire right now.
But naturally, he hadn't done that. Naturally, he'd been too patient with her, too indulging. Naturally, he'd never gotten his hands on those shoes, and now here he was, the Curse cast…waiting, waiting, waiting.
He felt something. Magic. Dark Magic. Strong and powerful. It was just a breeze, barely a ripple. Something precursory to prepare the land. Its heart was a distance away, but he could feel it. It was familiar. It was familiar in the most wonderful way!
The Curse…it lived. Regina had done it.
He laughed. He let out a peal of laughter that was only just the beginning of his laughter. What a strange thing…he'd spent so long focusing on how to get the Curse here he'd never thought of what he'd do once it was done. Laughter…it wasn't what he would have bet on, but it was the only thing he could do that fit. What else could he do when the greatest plan he'd ever had just succeeded.
And the sensation of it as it moved through the air of the cell, powerful enough to charge it even through all their precautions and fairy magic...it was euphoria. It allowed power to course through him again. He moved fast, stalking the walls of his cage, enjoying the feeling of magic flowing freely through him while he could. It was enough to escape should he wish, but there was no point in that. Soon it would be done. Soon it would all be over, and he'd have everything he ever wanted.
Outside he heard a guard enter the mines, probably his breakfast, but he had no interest in eating. Not now. There was no point! And he was too busy laughing.
"What is this? Do you know what he can do with this? Do you want to let him out?!"
He laughed. Freedom was in his future. Prison was in their own, and they had no idea!
"Your carelessness could get us killed. Drop it and be gone!"
Be gone. Oh, he couldn't wait to be gone! For them all to be gone! After spending every single moment of the last hundred years plotting and planning and making it his business to know everything, he couldn't wait to spend the next twenty-eight years in quiet peace and comfort before getting back to work!
"What's he laughing about?" someone asked, making him beam. He did so love to drive them nearly as crazy as he felt sometimes.
"Nothing. He's been at it for two days now."
Two days?! Oh, he'd hardly noticed the days and nights passing. He knew it would take a while for the Curse to envelop the entire land, but that long?! How remarkable! There was a sound down below, and the guard opened the little trap that they'd been shoving his worm invested food through.
Fun.
He wanted to celebrate and have some fun! There was so little of it in his life! He pulled on the magic that the Dark Curse was permeating into the air and leaped forward. He grabbed the soldier by the wrist. The boy froze, his body instantly trembling at the contact as he looked at him in fear.
"It has begun!" he declared to him as an explanation.
The guard didn't stay long enough to understand.
Poor Rumple. Ironic how much easier everything would be for him in the future if he'd just killed Zelena and taken the shoes. This is actually, to me, the saddest of the "what-if" moments because it's such a missed opportunity. Yes, with the others, things would certainly be different. But if this one had come true, if he'd acted differently at this moment, just think how drastically the rest of the story would change! But of course, he doesn't even know the kind of threat Zelena is, not at this moment. I imagine later he just might come to regret this "what-if" even more than he does now.
The rest of this scene, you may or may not recognize. It was a deleted scene from the first season. I think I heard somewhere that this was supposed to be the scene that actually opened the entire series, but it was deemed too dark and too "Rumple-focused," so they just nixed it altogether. Not a bad scene, just not a lot taking place. It was fun to use it and bring a new interpretation to it since we never really see Rumple act this manic again. Peace and Happy Reading!