7:15 AM AU - Things go a bit differently in the cabin during 7:15 AM. With memories returned, how will this change things?
Wow! Such a great response to this fic, which has turned out to be even more amazing than I thought it would. The idea for this fic actually started as an idea in my head on a drive to work, way back in January or February when I actually still drove to work. I work from home now like most and am glad this idea came to fruition. I'm glad everyone is enjoying the twists and turns. Season 1 can be very fun to play with. Enjoy this latest and keep reviewing! Here are individual responses to reviews:
Ghostwriter: I know, poor Kathryn, but I do promise her tirade kind of ends on a semi-positive note. Glad you're enjoying!
Jennifer Baratta: Yep, Granny had a win there. Glad you're enjoying!
Number Ten: Yeah, Kathryn might make it worse right now, but it actually ends better than you might think. A little bit better maybe. Yeah, that was a good move on the Judge's part, even if Gold gave him a nudge. Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Guest: No, I can't write more Anakin/Padme stories. And I'm skeptical that you actually read this one. I think you're just saying good story so you can interject your request for more Star Wars. Sorry, I don't have any desire to return to the Star Wars fandom. I can't just churn out more stories in something where my interest has faded. I'm glad you like my works in that fandom and enjoy them. Thanks
CoolColorofPink: Thanks! So glad you like it! And yes, there will be much more. :)
Grace5231973: Yeah, Kathryn is on the warpath and you can't blame her, though I think this confrontation ends on a semi-positive note. Sort of. I'm worried about what she will do too, but yeah, watching Gold beat her is always enjoyable. :)
Sexystarwarslover: Yeah, David might have to stop a fight coming. Hopefully, Kathryn can start to see that maybe Regina isn't the friend she thinks she is. Yeah, it's a great song. Yeah, Whale is a player for sure and yeah, I think his ego is hurt that Mary Margaret isn't chasing after him. Yep, Tamara will have to get through Emma and a lot of other people to get to Henry. Yeah, Regina is being a bit of a drama Queen. That was a good move on Gold's part with the judge. Yep, David is going to ignore Whale's suggestion of no vigorous activity. I know, Kathryn is going for a confrontation here. Glad you're enjoying! :)
AnonSnowing: Yep, sparks always fly with Snowing! Yes, David is enjoying Whale's sour mood and he's going to ignore that no vigorous activity thing. True, not everyone sees her that way and I think Whale is probably more miffed that his ego took a hit. I think he thought MM would chase after him, but she wanted nothing more to do with him. Nope, they could not get home fast enough. Yeah, Snow did nothing. You can't blame a child for not keeping a secret or being naive. They don't reason things out like adults. Yep, Tamara is up to no good for sure and I'm glad too that Albert Spencer doesn't have complete control. That would be bad. Regina is very dangerous at this point. Yeah, they managed, lol and David making pancakes for them. Yeah, the whole August thing will definitely be coming into focus in the next few chapters. I think Kathryn might start to see that things Regina says aren't adding up and that she might not be the friend she claims to be. Glad you're enjoying! :)
Clarity
Chapter 15: Sparks Fly, Pt 2
Snow cuddled against him, as they turned the corner and walked along Main street with his arm slung firmly around her.
"Cold?" he asked, with a chuckle.
"The winters here are just about as miserable as they were back home. But I guess cursing us to a place with sunny beaches would have been too pleasant," Snow mentioned. He chuckled and kissed her hair.
"I'll keep you warm," he promised. She smiled up at him.
"You always do," she said, as they were so absorbed by each other that they almost didn't see Kathryn barreling toward them.
"Oh…Kathryn," she said. The other woman glared at her.
"Well, I should congratulate you on the success of your article," the blonde said, as she held up a copy of the Storybrooke Mirror.
"My article? I didn't write that," Mary Margaret refuted.
"Oh no...but do you really expect me to believe that it wasn't you that fed these lies to this reporter!" Kathryn hissed.
"She didn't...we don't even know who this August person is," David insisted.
"Then why did he write these things!? You were my husband! I didn't make it up!" she shouted. He sighed.
"Maybe not, but for a really long time, I was gone and you didn't seem to give me a second thought. Did Regina tell you that she knew I was in the hospital the whole time?" David questioned. He knew that they couldn't really tell her that the marriage was exactly fake since that didn't mesh with her curse memories. But pointing out certain anomalies would bring other things into question.
"N...no, she didn't. She said she just found out you were there when you woke up," Kathryn said.
"But that can't be true. She was listed as my emergency contact and would have been notified the moment I was in whatever accident that I was in," David replied. Mary Margaret caught onto what he was trying to do.
"That's right...and the hospital had you listed as John Doe. That doesn't make any sense if you had an emergency contact. Regina would have been able to identify you," she recalled. This made Kathryn recoil in confusion. Everything they said made a lot of sense.
"But why would Regina hide you from everyone, especially me?" she asked.
"I don't know...but I don't think she's your friend like you think. Besides, do you really want to be with someone that can't love you the way you deserve?" he asked. Kathryn swallowed thickly and shook her head.
"Of course not...and I know we were just going through the motions," she admitted.
"You'll find someone," Mary Margaret assured her.
"That's easy for you to say," Kathryn grumbled.
"It is, but I happen to know someone at the school that's perfect for you. He's the gym class teacher," Mary Margaret said.
"I don't need dating advice from you!" Kathryn replied, as she stormed off.
"Well...that went well," he muttered, as they continued along the street.
"It was so nice of Regina to plant it into her head that I must have influenced the reporter to write that article," Mary Margaret said sarcastically. He scoffed.
"Yeah, we probably should have anticipated that, but why did you tell her that she should meet the gym teacher?" he asked curiously. She smiled coyly.
"Because Jim the gym teacher is really Frederick, her true husband," she replied and he smiled.
"Sneaky…I like it," he said, as they arrived at the Storybrooke Mirror's building. They knocked on the office door and unsurprisingly, Sidney Glass answered.
"Well...if it isn't Storybrooke's favorite adulterers," he said.
"Watch it or you'll find out how good my right cross is," David warned.
"What can I do for you and the fair Miss Blanchard?" Glass asked and David studied him with scrutiny. He seemed familiar, but he couldn't place who he might have been back in their land.
"We're looking for August W. Booth...he wrote an article in your newspaper," David said.
"We'd just like to talk to him," Mary Margaret added.
"Well...that makes three of us. You see, Mr. Booth neither works here nor had authorization to put that article in my paper," Sidney explained.
"Then why did you print it?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Isn't it obvious? This man broke into my office and placed his article in my paper without my knowledge or approval," Sidney replied.
"You must be in hot water with Mayorzilla then," David joked. He had heard Emma call her that in an offhand remark and decided that it was a fitting description if he had ever heard one.
"Laugh now, if you must, but I'll be printing a retraction to the article and then the town will go back to believing the truth about you both. You the cheater and her the tramp," Sidney said, which caused David to put his hand around the other man's neck and push him back against the door.
"If you hurt me...I'll make sure you're thrown in jail!" Sidney warned nervously.
"David...he's not worth it. He's a worm," Mary Margaret urged, as she touched his arm. David released him and backed away, as he attempted to collect himself.
"The waters have been muddied now and the truth always comes out, trust me. The town isn't so eager to believe anything reported by you anymore," David warned, as he took her hand and they continued on their way. As they walked by the alley, they didn't see the man standing there listening to the whole conversation.
Now that August knew they were looking for him, he would have to be careful to avoid them. They were clearly awake and he didn't want to be the one to tell them the truth about the wardrobe and who he really was.
"You two look cold...how about some cocoas?" Granny called, as she happened to be outside at the moment they walked by.
"Really?" Mary Margaret asked.
"I thought our kind wasn't welcome?" David asked and she nudged him.
"I see where Emma gets her lack of tact now," she murmured.
"Do you want the cocoa or not, chisel chin?" Granny asked shortly. Mary Margaret smiled.
"We'd love some," she said, as they followed Granny inside.
The gavel slammed down, as the Judge brought the hearing to order and they were seated. The Bayliff announced the docket number and the Judge looked over the documents in front of him.
"How do we know this guy isn't in Regina's pocket?" Emma whispered to Gold.
"That's actually a really good question," Neal agreed.
"I will be very convincing and he is more afraid of me than he is of her," Gold assured him.
"What did you do to him?" Neal questioned.
"Here...nothing yet. But I know things about him he'd rather not have made public," Gold replied vaguely.
"Wonderful…" Neal drawled.
"Who cares if it gets us visitation," Emma said and Neal conceded to that point with a nod.
"We're here today to discuss the visitation right of the biological parents of Henry Mills. I will hear opening arguments now," the Judge said, as Albert Spencer got to his feet and buttoned the front of his suit coat.
"Albert Spencer for the defendant, Mayor Regina Mills, Your Honor," he said, as he approached the bench.
"For the last ten years of Henry Mills' life, my client has raised her son and quite admirably so. She has been there for everything. The sleepless nights, the diapers, the nightmares, and all the ups and downs that come with often grueling duties of a parent. Now that the boy is older, the birth parents have come out of the woodwork to demand him back. To rip him from the woman that raised him would be a grave error in judgement, I believe. The birth parents are unstable and both have criminal backgrounds. It is my position that Regina Mills remain the sole custodian of Henry Mills," Spencer said, as he took his seat.
"Mr. Gold for the plaintiff, Your Honor," Gold said, as he rose from his seat.
"While we can agree that Regina Mills has raised young Henry from birth and provided him with all the material necessities he wants, she has not been exemplary when it comes to the boy's mental health," Gold said, which made Regina seethe.
"I have witnesses willing to submit testimony that they have heard the Mayor call her own son crazy for his very vivid imagination. The boy's own psychiatrist can testify that Mayor Mills' language alone could be very harmful to the boy. So much so that they boy sought out his own birth mother on his own," Gold continued.
"And while both Mr. Cassidy and Ms. Swan have made mistakes in their past, they were barely adults and have since turned their lives around. The boy wants them in his life and his opinion should be considered in this," Gold stated.
"Objection, Your Honor. That boy is a minor and it is not the practice of the courts to allow minors to make decisions concerning their well being themselves," Spencer objected.
"I believe I said that his feelings should be considered; not the sole basis of this case," Gold clarified, but the Judge put his hand up.
"As this is not the actual custody hearing, I believe this is a very simple decision," the Judge stated.
"I have reviewed the case, including comments from Dr. Hopper, who has stated that he has noticed a positive change in the minor in question since the resurfacing of his birth parents," he stated.
"Until we convene on the matter of custody, I am going to grant visitation rights to the birth parents. Every other weekend and two weeknights," he said.
"Your Honor...this is an outrage!" Spencer objected.
"Save it for the custody trial, Counselor. The visitation is only until trial and will be re-evaluated upon the outcome of the trial. But considering the birth father did not even know that he had a son, which could have changed whether or not his son was even adopted, I cannot in good conscience deny him the chance to know his son. The same goes for Ms. Swan, as she was clearly under duress at the time of his birth. Whether they are fit or not will or will not be proven in the custody hearing," the Judge ruled, as he slammed the gavel down. By now, Regina was fuming and if looks could kill, they would have surely all been dead.
"If you think this is going to go your way...then you're sadly mistaken," Regina growled, as she stormed out.
"Thanks...papa," Neal said, as he shocked Gold by giving him a gentle hug, which he reciprocated.
"You know that I would do anything for you...and Henry now," he replied. Neal nodded. He was still struggling with his feelings toward his father, but this had definitely made him reconsider his decision to keep him at arms length.
"Yeah...thanks. I owe you another one I guess," Emma said.
"This one is on the house, Ms. Swan," Gold replied.
"We should go see if we can get the kid and go to Granny's to celebrate. We can invite your parents too," Neal said, as they exited the courtroom.
"Will you stop calling them that?" Emma asked.
"How long are you going to keep denying what you know is true?" he replied.
"Neal…" she said.
"No…I'm serious. You have a gift for knowing when people are lying. I am from a place called the Enchanted Forest. My Dad is Rumpelstiltskin...also known as the Dark One. I escaped through a portal and landed in this world in the 1800's, London, to be specific. Then I got carried off to Neverland by Peter Pan's shadow…" he continued.
"Do you know how insane you sound?" she interjected.
"Yes...but am I lying?" he asked. She scoffed and walked off, but he persisted.
"I got rescued by none other than Captain Hook from the water, only for him to later sell me out to Peter Pan himself. Then I spent two hundred years in trying to escape that hell hole, only to finally succeed and find myself in the Land Without Magic again, America this time, in 1997. Then I met you just a few years later…" he continued, as Gold followed them, listening intently.
"Why does it matter to you so much if I believe or accept them as my parents, which they're not?" Emma asked, as they stopped on the street.
"Because I know how much you always wanted to find them and how much you wanted answers. Both are now staring you in the face and you're running away again," he accused.
"Screw you...Henry is the only thing keeping me here and you know it," Emma replied.
"Nope...now you're lying. You care about Mary Margaret and even David," he insisted.
"Enough! I don't give a damn about them and if it's all true, then why should I?" she shouted, as they were now just outside the diner.
"You've seen the book. You saw that nursery they made...for you. Parents that don't want their kid don't do that, Emma and you know it," Neal said, as neither of them noticed David and Mary Margaret coming out of the diner.
"Why do you care so much!?" Emma cried in exasperation.
"Because I know the truth! You were cheated out of having them and they were cheated out of having you! First, because of the curse...but ultimately, because of a lie told by people that were supposed to be their friends!" he said.
"What?" Mary Margaret asked and he suddenly realized they were there...