7:15 AM AU - Things go a bit differently in the cabin during 7:15 AM. With memories returned, how will this change things?
Face Claim for Narcissa: Eileen Davidson
Face Claims for the three good fairies:
Flora: Maggie Smith
Fauna: Linsey Godfrey
Merryweather: Jackee Harry
Thanks for the amazing response to this story. It's a lot of fun. 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:
Grace5231973: I'm glad they stopped her too, but now they still have Regina and Narcissa presently to deal with. I loathe Tamara too. We'll see what happens there. ;) Glad you're enjoying!
Number Ten: Yeah, I think Tamara will definitely put up a fight. Me too, I'm glad the fairies intervened. Glad you're enjoying! :)
Ghostwriter: Aw, thanks, glad you enjoy my fics so much. :)
sexystarwarslover: Glad you like Flora and Merryweather arguing over pink and blue. Yep, I think you can guess what item Snow will have that's peridot in her future. Yeah, Granny might reconsider that when the curse breaks and she remembers Ruby is a wolf. Yeah, I'm an animal lover too. It doesn't take me long to get attached. Yep, Tamara is pissed and thinks it's Emma's fault. She's a bit jealous I think or acting jealous anyway. Narcissa is scary. Maybe even scarier than Regina as you will see in coming chapters. Yep, it's Wilby! And Wilby will be going home with Snowing. Yep, Charming is very fit and perfect for this job. He's hired! Unfortunately, Regina and Narcissa teaming up is about to cause major upheaval. Yep, the good fairies stopped Narcissa for now. Glad you're enjoying!
AnonSnowing: Yep, no Wilby at the Inn. But there just might be two people willing and eager to take him in. Yeah, Tamara is the worst and she's not even aware that she's ultimately a pawn. Yep, Emma's denial is slowing receding. Tamara is crazy to think that she can make decisions about Henry. She would be a controlling step-monster. Thankfully, Neal won't be marrying her. Yep, Snow recognizes Wilby! Yes, David is perfect for the job as Deputy! And yes, he's very fit! Lol, I just love that line. He's hired! I know, it was adorable how happy Snow was for him. No, David was never standoffish with her. She just crashed through his walls from the start. Yep, the Snow hate from them both is just dumb and petty. Yep, the good fairies stopped Narcissa for now, but I'm sure they will have to interfere again. Yes, something very special in peridot is in Snow's future and white is perfect for her. You're welcome, glad you enjoyed it! :)
Clarity
Chapter 22: Piece By Piece, Pt 1
After parting ways with David, she went to her interview that morning and though she could tell that the hospital administrator definitely didn't like her with all the recent scandal around her, her work there as a volunteer spoke for itself and the woman reluctantly hired her. She started her day by filing, which was mind numbing, but later, she would get to do the rounds and bring flowers to some of the patient rooms. Since she had been gone, no one had been doing it and they admitted to her that a lot of the patients missed it.
"Well, well...this hospital really is going downhill. Guess we're hiring tramps now," one of the nurse's that worked the mental ward in the basement said. Mary Margaret ignored her though. She might have been intimidated by her in the past, but Snow was not. She didn't know who she was back in their land, but people around the hospital always jokingly referred to her as Nurse Ratched.
"At least I can get a man...especially one like David," Snow retorted. The woman looked surprised by her bold comment. At one time, Mary Margaret had barely been able to look anyone of authority in the eye, let alone stare them down in defiance the way Snow was now.
"You'd do well to watch your tongue, Miss Blanchard...or I'll have to file a complaint with your supervisor," Ratched warned, as she punched in the code to the basement door and went inside. As Mary Margaret, she had never given much thought to the hospital mental ward, but as Snow, she was curious as to who was being kept down there. This town was full of Regina's secrets and it would be just like her stepmother to keep what she considered unsavory people locked away. Truthfully, Snow was surprised she herself wasn't locked away. She eyed the door again and decided to keep it in mind to find an opportunity to do a little investigating. It was risky and David would protest her putting herself in danger, especially since Regina would love to find a way to take her out, but she couldn't help the nagging feeling that there was a reason she needed to get down into that basement. A voice interrupted her thoughts though.
"Don't listen to that horrible woman, dear...you're doing a wonderful job," the woman said. Mary Margaret turned to find a nurse. She had seen her here and there before, but had never talked to her. She noticed a pair of peridot gemstone pins on the lapels of the collar beneath her scrub top.
"Oh...thank you. Um...I don't think I got your name?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Nurse Fawn...Sarah Fawn," she said.
"It's nice to meet you," Mary Margaret replied.
"Nice to meet you too. Keep up the good work," Sarah said, as she returned to her rounds. Mary Margaret smiled and then returned to thinking about the basement level of the hospital. Somehow, she knew she had to eventually find a way down there.
When David arrived at the station, Emma had a stack of paperwork waiting for him. She had been on her own for a while and it naturally had piled up. He took it on happily, after she walked him through the process and he made his way through a significant stack, while she did her own. He noticed that she kept casting glances at Wilby, who sat quietly on a dog bed that Emma had picked up for him at the thrift store on the way. He chewed his way through the bone that David had bought at the pharmacy and he glanced up at her.
"You can ask me anything, you know," he said. She looked down back at her page, but then back up again. Wilby went over to her and nudged her hand. She smiled and scratched his ears.
"So...what did you need a bloodhound for on a farm?" she asked curiously.
"Bloodhounds make pretty good sheepdogs. He was in the field with me most days," he replied.
"So...you were poor?" she asked.
"Dirt poor...Mom did her best though. It was hard to get ahead though when you had a bloodthirsty warlord overseeing the farmlands and taxing the hell out of us," he replied.
"Warlord?" she asked, as her eyebrows were in her hair. He nodded.
"Bo Peep…" he replied. Her eyes widened.
"Bo Peep...like the nursery rhyme?" she asked. He snorted.
"Maybe in this land...but in ours, she was a vicious warlord and slaver," he replied.
"Slaver? Like owning people?" she asked in disbelief.
"Yep...we came pretty close to being owned by her. Long story short...someone taught me to fight and stand up to her. I beat her in a sword fight and won our freedom. It wasn't long after that the Dark One came to tell me that I was needed to take my brother's place as Prince James," he replied.
"And you had no idea you had a twin?" she asked.
"No…it was too painful for my Mother and she didn't think I'd ever have a reason to know," he answered.
"And your Dad?" she asked, finding herself wanting to know everything suddenly. She cursed herself for that, but he was really easy to talk to.
"He was a drunk...he died when I was six," he said, a bit more bitterly than he meant to. Emma was shocked by that. She knew their lives weren't perfect, but they supposedly came from this fantastical place of magic. He saw an opportunity to inject a piece of information into the conversation.
"Our land can be a magical place and finding Snow was the best thing that ever happened to me. But it was not without hardship or strife," he said.
"So no love at first sight crap?" Emma asked. He chuckled.
"Maybe not quite at first sight...but it didn't take me long to fall in love with her," he replied.
"She hit you with a rock," Emma reminded him.
"She did...this scar, all my scars, didn't come from a car accident. But this one is my favorite," he said, pointing to the one on his chin.
"I'm pretty fond of the other ones on my side and shoulder though," he added. She raised an eyebrow and knew what the book said those two scars were from.
"So...would you and...Mary Margaret really have come through the wardrobe before she went into labor if you'd been told the truth?" Emma asked. He looked up at her.
"In a heartbeat," he said.
"But you lived in a castle...you would have come here and been poor as mice," she replied.
"Money never meant much to us...we never really cared about any of that. We wanted to be together and we wanted a family. It was all that mattered to us," he said.
"We defeated her and we made a deal with the Dark One so she could no longer hurt us...in that world. So she found a way to bring us to a new one and it destroyed everything we had planned for you," he added.
"For everyone...you were the Savior and for nine months, they hammered that into us. But to us, you were...are our daughter. We just wanted to be a family," he said and she remembered the pages in the book of the nursery they had built for her.
"Some friends…" she muttered and to her surprise, he chuckled.
"Tell me about it...to be honest, they were your mother's friends and I wasn't too welcome, at first," he said. She narrowed her gaze.
"Didn't you awaken her from the sleeping curse supposedly?" she replied. He nodded.
"I did...but that didn't stop the dwarves from accusing me of being a gold digger," he said.
"Yeah...why is Mary Margaret friends with them again?" she asked.
"They did take her in when she was on the run from Regina. She was a bandit for a while and we thought we couldn't be together," he replied.
"But if you were really a gold digger...then wouldn't you have just married Midas' daughter like they wanted you to?" Emma asked. He smiled.
"No one ever accused dwarves of being good critical thinkers. But they warmed up to me for the most part later on and Ruby...Red and your mother were as close as sisters. I came to care about her like a sister too," he replied.
"If anyone had our backs, it was definitely Red. She was going to be your Godmother," he added. Emma blew out a breath and recalled her conversation yesterday with Ruby and her defense of them. Even cursed, she seemed to be the only one on David and Mary Margaret's side. Her phone chimed and she checked it.
"Thanks for the history lesson...it's helping," she said, as she stood up.
"Are you up for learning patrol?" she asked.
"Of course," he replied.
"Good...cause I hate mornings and I'd rather you start taking the early one," he said.
"Good thing mornings are my thing then," he said, as she pulled something out of her drawer and handed it to him. He saw that it was a badge.
"Thanks," he said, as he took it and clipped it to his belt. She nodded.
"You'll need a holster. The only spare though is the body holster though," she said, as she was wearing the belt holster.
"Anything will work," he said, as he put it on and holstered his firearm.
"Okay...let's go," she replied. David smiled and followed her out.
"Come on Wilby," he called, as the dog eagerly followed.
Many Years Ago
The worst snowstorm on record raged in the Enchanted Forest that day, but for Queen Eva and King Leopold, it was a happy, wonderful day for them, for the birth of their daughter was imminent.
Queen Eva, with the assistance of the midwife and the nursemaid, Johanna, braved hours of labor. Johanna dabbed the Queen's forehead with a cool cloth.
"We are very close...she's crowning," the midwife said. Queen Eva cried out, as she completed the birthing and the baby's cries pierced the air. Eva beamed in elation, as she fell immediately in love with the tiny human before her. She was cleaned off and swaddled, before being placed in the Queen's arms.
"She is beautiful, Your Majesty...quite possibly the most beautiful baby ever," Johanna praised.
"Oh she is…" Eva agreed.
"What will you call her?" Johanna asked, as the Queen looked outside at the raging snowstorm.
"Snow…" she said.
"My Queen?" Johanna asked.
"Her name is Snow White," Eva replied, as she looked at her.
"What a beautiful name," Johanna said.
Narcissa watched the scene in her mirror and let out a psychotic yell of frustration, as her niece drew breath.
"Mirror...mirror on the wall...who is the fairest of all?" she questioned, pleading with the Gods that she was still the fairest and the madness inside her would not consume her. The face of the mirror appeared and spoke.
"Snow White...Snow White is the fairest in all the lands," the mirror answered. Narcissa collapsed to her knees and sobbed uncontrollably.
"This can't be...I am the fairest! She is but a babe! How can she be more beautiful than me?" Narcissa whined.
"Her outer beauty matches her beauty within...or will as she grows from a tiny babe, into a girl...and finally a woman," the mirror answered. Narcissa seethed.
"No...because she isn't going to make it that far!" Narcissa growled. As soon as the storm cleared...she'd go to her sister's castle and make sure her niece didn't make it to her first birthday…
"Oh dear...it doesn't seem like she's going to heed our warning," Fauna said, as they observed the birth of Princess Snow White and subsequently Queen Narcissa's descent into maddening evil.
"I'm afraid not," Flora said regrettably.
"Oooh...that horrible woman! I'd like to turn her into a toad! Huh...that would fix her just fine!" Merryweather said.
"Easy Merryweather…" Flora admonished.
"Well, why not? I'll lose my wings before I let her hurt that baby!" Merryweather said.
"I am with Merryweather on this one. Narcissa must be stopped. As long as she is around...Snow White is in terrible danger," Fauna agreed.
"Yes...but I believe I have a solution. But to justify it...we must let Narcissa show her true colors," Flora said.
"What if she doesn't?" Merryweather asked.
"She will...most likely at Snow's christening. She will be in attendance and will not be able to handle all the attention on her niece instead of her. We will stop her then, expose her, and do what is necessary," Flora replied.
"Zap her to dust?" Merryweather asked.
"Merryweather...a fairy does not kill," Flora scolded.
"Then banishment?" Fauna asked. Flora nodded.
"And I know the perfect place for Narcissa to serve her penance," Flora replied, as she went to prepare for the coming task...