Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC where they insist on splitting the season up. This isn't the BBC! Thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate it and I'll get back to you soon. Please let me know what you think and happy reading!
Last December
Beatrice awoke in the middle of her parents' bed with the dog crushing her legs.
"How humiliating," she said.
Belle and Gold both awoke with a start and looked at each other.
"Please tell me you know who I am and who you are," said Beatrice. "Otherwise, this is going to be really awkward."
"No, sweetheart, of course we remember," said Belle.
"Mind telling me just so I can be clear?"
Gold sat up. "Rumplestiltskin and you are my darling girl," he said, giving her a kiss on the cheek.
"So, what happened?"
Gold opened the drapes. "Well, we still appear to be in Storybrooke."
Belle got up and joined him. The street appeared as it had the day before. "So, we're cursed more now?"
"We didn't at least get a Starbucks, did we?," asked Beatrice.
Belle's phone began vibrating on top of the night table. Beatrice reached over and grabbed it.
"It's Mary Margaret."
"And so it begins," said Gold.
"What does?," asked Belle.
"A new curse. The plebeians will quickly seek to blame one of the three most powerful sorcerers in Storybrooke or any other realm. That would leave me, your dear father and to a lesser extent, Regina."
"So, is Christmas still on?," asked Beatrice. She gasped.
"What, sweetheart?," asked Gold.
"Is DirecTV working?" Beatrice rushed out of the room and back to her own.
Where her phone was ringing on her nightstand.
She picked it up. "Hello?"
"Beatrice."
"Oh, Joseph, hey."
"I was just wondering if you were alright after the... whatever that was."
Beatrice finally remembered that Joseph had no idea what was going on and it looked as if they were finally going to have to break it to him after keeping it from him for two months.
"Yeah, quick question, do you keep up with the Disney movies?"
"What?"
Belle popped her head in. "Beatrice, you need to get dressed. Regina and Merlin are arguing in the center of town. Grumpy's forming a posse and Granny already has her crossbow out."
"What did she just say?," asked Joseph.
"Yeah, if you look outside your window, you will probably see an angry mob forming," said Beatrice.
There was a delay as Joseph walked to his window. "Yes?"
"I'll meet you there in thirty minutes."
Today
Gold looked across the diner as Joseph came in. The young man went and sat at the counter and ordered a tea.
"What is the point of this exercise?"
"We're trying to figure out what she fell in love with," said Belle.
Gold snorted. "Of course it couldn't be simple like the Charmings."
"If it were simple like the Charmings, it wouldn't be Beatrice," said Belle. "Now think."
"It's Beatrice. I haven't the slightest idea what's in her head, certainly not what she makes of boys."
"Well, he's handsome," said Belle.
"Is he?," Gold asked.
"In sort of an imperfect way. Have you noticed his eyelashes?"
"Is this what goes through women's heads?," asked Gold.
Belle patted his hand. "I'll try not to shock you too terribly."
"Amateurs."
They looked up to see Merlin.
"Bloody amateurs."
Gold looked at Belle as Merlin sat down. "You told him."
"He's been uniting True Love for fourteen generations," said Belle. "Of course I told him."
"I did unite Snow and Charming," said Gold.
Merlin laughed. "Oh, yeah, love at first sight with a meet cute in the woods. That's very hard. Do you know how many times in those fourteen generations there was love at first sight? Zero. Attraction, yes. I'm talking about love for the skeptical. Loving without knowing is no trouble at all."
"And what do you propose, dearie?"
"It's a meeting of the minds for those two."
"Speaking of which..." Gold looked up at Merlin. "Do you know why Zelena wants his brain?"
"He's very clever. You've noticed."
"Whatever she is planning is extreme, she must want a very particular brain, why his?"
"Because of who he is, I would think."
"He's no one," Gold protested.
Merlin shrugged. "Have it your way, sunshine."
"He's an outsider. I don't even understand how he can be who he supposedly is."
Merlin turned to Belle. "Get them to work together again. Find a way to have him get to know her." He paused. "Her room."
"Her room?!," Gold exclaimed so loud some of the diners glanced up at him.
"Why her room?," asked Belle.
"I don't care who he is or how much True Love there is," Gold said punctuating the last words with a mocking hand gesture, "there is no way that I am letting that man into my daughter's bedroom."
"Calm down, sunshine," said Merlin. "I'm not suggesting anything unseemly-"
"Really, dearie?," Gold bit back.
Merlin turned to Belle. "He likes deduction. She likes watching him deduce..."
"And if it was about her..." said Belle.
"See, she gets it," said Merlin.
Gold looked at Belle in disbelief.
"Girls like to know boys are paying attention," said Belle.
"Why does she need him to pay attention?," Gold protested.
Merlin just groaned.
"Not to mention there might be clues in Beatrice's room," said Belle. "Some evidence of how she spent the past year. I'm going to go ask him over."
Before Gold could stop her, Belle was walking over to the counter.
"Are you pleased with yourself?," he asked Merlin.
"Ask me after the wedding," said Merlin.
Last December
"Guys!," Emma exclaimed. "This isn't solving anything!"
Merlin continued unabated as the crowd of townsfolk grew yet larger. "Who keeps a Dark Curse locked away in a vault that a ten-year old can and has broken into?!"
"I am not going to stand here and be lectured by you, freak show," Regina shot back.
"You ripped your own father's heart out and I'm the freak show?"
"Your father was an incubus!"
"Yeah, but I didn't rip his heart out!"
"Okay, which one of you cast the new curse so we can know who to beat?," asked Grumpy.
Merlin spun around. "Do not start with me, dwarf! I will cast until you all look like Walt Disney drew you!"
"Calm down, everyone," said David.
"The same goes for you, Charming," Merlin added.
The mob parted as Gold walked through with Belle and Beatrice behind him.
"So, what have I missed?," asked Gold.
"Gold, we know you miss Neal," said Mary Margaret. "We would understand-"
Gold scoffed. "You really must be joking now, Your Highness. No one can cast the Dark Curse without giving up the heart of the thing they love most. Do you think I would be stupid enough to do that?"
Beatrice spotted Joseph and made her way over to the sidewalk.
"Yeah, so what's going on?," asked Joseph.
"Long story short, there are worlds parallel to this one-" said Beatrice, cutting herself off. "Never mind. Forget long story short. I've got no way to make this short. Worlds running parallel to this one, the people in this town are from one of those worlds called-"
"The Enchanted Forest?"
Beatrice paused. "Okay, how did you know that?"
"I may have been lying about the nature photography."
"Then what was the point of the hat?"
"It's a hat for the country. I wore it in the country."
"Okay, so, if you aren't a nature photographer, what do you do?"
"I was investigating a curious disappearance. A little boy who vanished from his room and then reappeared?"
"You mean Adi?" Beatrice shook her head. "Adi wasn't supposed to remember us. We were just supposed to be stories. That's why Mom gave him the book."
"That didn't quite happen. By the way, my little cousins are quite taken with you."
"What? Really?"
Joseph nodded. "The Dark Princess who fought Peter Pan. Is he really your grandfather?"
"Yeah."
"How does that work?"
"We so don't have time for that."
Joseph nodded. "So I take it that everyone here has a fairy tale identity?"
"Yes."
"I'm guessing your mother is the Belle. That would make your father-"
"Rumplestiltskin."
"What happened to the Beast?"
"Rumplestiltskin is the Beast."
"So you can be more than one character?"
Beatrice snorted. "Yeah, more like all the characters. He even gets in Frankenstein's story."
"You have a Frankenstein? It's not just fairy tale characters?"
"Good morning, Miss Gold," said Archie. "Beautiful day, isn't it?"
"Yeah, good morning-" Beatrice paused and turned. "Doctor Hopper?"
Archie stopped. "I hope you haven't forgotten about our session later."
"We don't have a session later. You weren't even here yesterday and it's like two days before Christmas and why am I- Dad!"
The sea of people parted again.
"Doctor Hopper," said Gold.
"Oh, hi, Mr. Gold. I'll have the rent ready for you on the first."
"Where's my son?," asked Gold.
"Your son? I haven't seen Neal."
"Archie, how did you get back?," asked Emma.
Without warning, Gold grabbed Archie by the lapels and shoved him against the building.
"Where is my son?"
"Rumple-" said Belle.
"Now, Mr. Gold, don't do something you're going to regret, please, let your conscience be your guide."
"My conscience is clear on this, dearie," said Gold.
Henry sided up to his grandfather. "No, don't you see?! This is just how he acted when he was cursed the last time!"
"That must mean they're all as cursed as we were," said Mary Margaret.
With a sneer, Gold released Archie.
"Henry, we really have to discuss the line between fantasy and reality..." said Archie.
"So, the new curse brought him back from the Enchanted Forest and he has his cursed memories. Again," said Emma.
"Bae could be back," said Gold.
"We'll find him later," said David. "We still have a town to deal with, Gold."
"No, you have a town to deal with, dearie. I have my own priorities." He turned to Joseph. "Mr. Gillette."
"Mr. Gold."
The Charmings led a shaken Archie away.
"Since you are here now I suppose there's no way to conceal the truth from you. Has Beatrice has a chance to give you an account of me yet?"
"You're Rumplestiltskin and the Beast."
"One of the other names I am known as is the Dark One. Would you care to know how I came by that name?"
"Rumple," said Belle, "this really isn't-"
"I stabbed the previous Dark One in the heart in order to protect my son. I spent three hundred years finding a curse to take me to a Land Without Magic to find him. I will do anything for my children. Do you understand?"
"That you're threatening me? Yeah. Caught that."
"Dad, seriously..." said Beatrice.
"Rumple, come on," said Belle. "We can try your blood magic again."
Belle led him away. Merlin walked up to Beatrice and Joseph.
"And who might you be?," asked Joseph.
"Merlin."
Beatrice looked to her grandfather. "Did the new curse bring everyone over?"
"It's early to say. It just strikes me that there might be some people we left behind in the Enchanted Forest for a reason..." Merlin looked to Regina.
"You mean my mother," said Regina.
"Well, she definitely makes my top ten," said Merlin.
"Who's her mother?," Joseph asked Beatrice.
"The Queen of Hearts. Also, the Miller's Daughter. Also, she used to date my dad. It was creepy."
"I am right here," said Regina.
"You don't find it creepy that your mom and my dad were like two seconds from eloping before she ripped her heart out?"
"Sorry," said Joseph. "She ripped her heart out? Her own heart?"
"My mother did not cast this curse," said Regina. "She doesn't have her heart. She can't love anything."
"This is your fault," said Merlin.
"My fault? How is it my fault?"
"Because you didn't kill her properly!"
"What about you?," asked Regina. "You didn't kill her the last time you saw her."
"You know what?," said Merlin. "You're right. I ought to have killed her. I ought to have killed her the day I met the heartless wench, but no, I had to distract Rumplestiltskin and let him plan out his little curse so, yes, in retrospect, I should have killed her and you ought never have been born. Is that what you wanted to hear?"
Regina stiffened.
Belle returned. "Beatrice! We found your brother!"
Beatrice found. "The blood magic thing worked that fast?"
"Doctor Whale called. He's in the hospital, come on," said Belle.
Today
"Beatrice!," Belle called.
Beatrice paused her TV as Martha ran downstairs. She followed the dog to see her parents walking in with Joseph.
"Hello, girl," said Joseph as the Dalmatian stood on her hind legs to greet him.
"Hey," said Beatrice.
"Hi," said Joseph as the dog settled.
"Merlin thought that Joseph could put his investigative skills to good use here trying to sort out what we've been up to the last year," said Belle. She looked at Joseph. "Why don't you start in Beatrice's room?"
"My room?," asked Beatrice. A quick glance at her father made her uneasy.
"Well, you have to start somewhere," said Belle. She smiled. "I'll make tea."
Last December
Joseph tagged along to the hospital Belle and Gold went ahead into the room after talking to Whale.
"Frankenstein is the doctor?," he asked.
"Yeah, you'll have to ask Regina about that one," said Beatrice.
They entered the room. Apparently, Neal was not happy to see his father.
"Bae-"
"Don't call me that!," Neal snapped. "You're not a rapper!"
Gold looked confused. He turned to Belle.
"Bae is a slang term," Joseph offered. "An abbreviation for 'Before Anyone Else.'"
"It's hard to describe how much I don't care," said Gold.
"Look," said Neal, "you don't need to be here to pretend you care. You just go back with your pretty trophy wife and your perfect little princess-"
"Hey," said Beatrice.
"Beatrice, he's not himself," said Belle.
"Yeah, I don't need you making excuses for me, okay? Even your own dad knows you're a whore-"
"That's enough-" said Gold.
"Come on, Dad, she was three years ahead of me in high school! She was obviously after your money! Why the hell else would she-"
"This is a twisted world in your head," said Beatrice.
"More twisted than the real one?," asked Joseph.
"Maybe this isn't a good time," offered Whale.
"I don't want them here," said Neal.
Beatrice stepped up. "You're not remembering this right. That isn't what happened."
Neal snorted. "And why would I ever believe you?"
"Because I'm your sister."
"You ruined my life," Neal sneered.
"Okay, this is enough," said Belle. She started leading Beatrice and Gold away.
They got in the hallway.
"Did he say anything to you?," Belle asked Whale.
Whale shrugged. "He thinks he's estranged from his family. He had quite a story in his mind about you and Gold."
"Oh, yay," said Beatrice. "So glad whoever created the new curse could get super creative with us."
"He's alive and he's here. That's what's important," said Belle. "Alright? We're just going to have to sort out the rest like everyone else who has been cursed."
"Oh, believe me, I'll sort it out," said Gold.
Belle led Gold away as Beatrice's phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Bea, it's Ariel."
"Hey, what's up?"
"That show you like with the doctor. Isn't there a blue box in it?"
"Yeah..."
"Because there's one on Main Street."
"I'll be there in five minutes," said Beatrice.
"Well, it's just a box-"
"Ariel, watch that box. If there's a loud brake grinding sound and the wind starts to blow, shout 'Doctor' a lot and run towards it. If a guy comes out, play the mermaid card to keep him here."
"The mermaid card?"
"Yes, he's totally going to want to know what a mermaid is doing in Maine with legs!"
She hung up the phone. "Gotta run."
Beatrice started walking as Joseph followed her.
"Where are you going?"
"TARDIS!"
Today
Beatrice opened the door to her room.
"Well, this is it," said Beatrice.
Joseph looked around. Beatrice tried to follow his gaze, wondering what he would make of the posters or shelves of Doctor Who collectibles. He gave a passing glance to the heap of shoes at the foot of her bed, then bent down to pick up a black ankle boot.
"Do you do any farm work?"
She frowned. "Do I look like I do farm work?"
"These boots," said Joseph. "There's dirt on the bottom, as if you dug your heels in as if someone were dragging you."
"And the farm?"
"It's not caked on, so the dirt was initially dry. Everything around here is covered in snow, snow melts, dirt plus water is mud. Dirt but indoors suggests barn."
"I don't hang out in barns."
He resumed his survey of the room.
Beatrice threw her arms up. "Well, are you getting anything from this?"
"Yes. You spend a lot of time in your room and this wasn't always your room."
Beatrice nodded. "Yes on the first one. How are you getting the second one?"
Joseph motioned at the floor behind the fuzzy white rug. "There are scrapes on the floor. It looks as if there was a bigger bed here. If you had always been in this room, the furniture would have gotten bigger, not smaller."
"It was a really scary bed," said Beatrice.
"And someone bought all of this at the same time," Joseph observed. "Colors change season to season. Next year's cerulean won't be the same as this year's cerulean, but everything in here is in the same shade of teal. Probably when your father repainted, which is curious."
"Is it?"
"Normally, I would say that he was a stepfather who was attempting to curry favor, but you have his eyes and the little bump in his nose."
Beatrice tried to subtly run her finger down the ridge of her nose.
"There's no animosity between your parents and thus could never have been a separation. So little that I would question your maternity if I couldn't put you and your mother together from two streets away from each other. Your figure is a little fuller, but that still leaves your hair, your cheeks, your forehead, your chin. So, I have to ask why you haven't always been in this room. There's closer rooms to the Master Bedroom, which surely would have been your mother's preference when you first came home from hospital. Even if your father tried to move you further down the hall, he most likely would have acquiesced to her wishes-"
As he talked Beatrice desperately tried to take her attention away from his quick description of her looks. It had been hard enough waking up with a lost year with a body she didn't remember without anyone drawing attention to it. "How do you know which one is the Master Bedroom?"
Joseph shrugged. "Victorian architecture. So, a curse brought you all here, but you haven't been in this room and you're not in the room next to your parents..."
"I wasn't here the whole time," said Beatrice. "My mom and I were in New York."
"How did that happen?"
"She didn't remember who she was or who he was. He thought she was dead and didn't know I existed until we came to Storybrooke."
"Well, that explains some things," said Joseph.
"Like what?"
"You're not like anyone else in this town which is fortunate."
"You haven't been to high school with these people. It's really not."
"You're a technology fiend," said Joseph, walking over to the desk and cast a curious glance at the faux fur chair before sitting down. He opened her Macbook.
"I've got Facebook, but it's not going to do you any good. I have like twenty friends and it's not like I can make a status update like 'Beatrice Gold is fighting the Wicked Witch of the West' or post pics from Neverland."
"You were tagged in pictures."
"What? Someone tagged me?" Beatrice peered over his shoulder.
"Your friend, Mahnaz."
"Mahnaz? I don't know a Mahnaz."
"Well, let us meet Mahnaz Khalidi. She's in high school in Augusta, Afghan parents, three younger sisters and oh, she likes Doctor Who as well..."
Beatrice looked to see a picture of a girl whose hijab coordinated with the Doctor Who tee she was wearing.
"She was here," remarked Joseph.
"She was?"
Joseph pointed at a series of photos. "'Had a great time with Beatrice Gold this weekend. Thanks for having me! Mr. Gold makes the best chocolate chip pancakes ever!.'"
"She took pictures of my dad's pancakes?"
"Yes, it appears you met for dates at the cinema and attended Boston Comic Con together. Oh, this is interesting. Her status from July."
Beatrice read. "Just a quick update to let everyone know I'm okay. There was a freak storm that destroyed my dorm. They finally found my roommate. She's in the hospital. Please pray for her.'"
"Beatrice."
"What?"
"You were her roommate." Joseph motioned at a picture of Beatrice and the girl in a dorm room.
"MIT Science Camp," said Beatrice.
"Did you register for that or-"
"I looked at the brochure. I thought it was a long shot."
"This freak storm in Boston landed you in hospital," he said, opening another tab on the browser. "That's curious."
"What is?"
He pointed. "National Weather Service. Freak tornado in Boston, uncommon for urban areas, uncommon for Boston, but not impossible. The Wicked Witch says you were in Oz, isn't that how one gets there?"
Last December
It took Beatrice no time at all to get from the hospital back to Main Street where the blue box sat. Ariel waved at them.
"Does this not seem odd to you?," asked Joseph.
"My whole life seems odd to me," said Beatrice. "The only difference is that it's awesome!"
Beatrice walked up to where Ariel waited by the police box.
"It's not even the right dimensions for a police box," said Joseph. "The windows are wrong."
Beatrice shook her head. "You are so not a fan."
They walked up to Ariel.
The mermaid motioned at the blue box. "It's just been sitting here."
"That's what it does. Until it travels in time."
"There is no such thing as time travel," said Joseph.
"Yeah, actually there is and I can do it," said Beatrice.
"How?"
"Well, I don't know how yet," said Beatrice.
Ariel frowned. "So you're just going to go off in a time machine?"
"It's also goes through space," said Beatrice.
She knocked on the door of the blue box and as she did, the door flew open and she found it was bigger on the inside.
Just not in a good way.
Today
"What is it we're looking for?," Beatrice asked.
Her father was currently deep inside her closet, not that she had anything all that scandalous in her closet unless she started some bad habit in the past year. Joseph was still scrolling through her computer and her mother was researching this Boston cyclone on the iPad.
"I'll know it when I see it," said Gold.
"Right..." said Beatrice. "If I went to Oz, you think I got a postcard or something?"
"Who's Jamie?," asked Joseph.
"I don't know."
"He keeps sharing articles on your Facebook page," said Joseph. "Johnlock? What is Johnlock?"
"This article says that the cyclone appeared without warning and didn't appear on any radar," said Belle.
"Well, I don't know how to conjure a tornado and I thought this stuff didn't work in the Land Without Magic."
"Magic is different here," said Gold.
"That explains nothing."
"How many swimsuits do you own?," demanded Gold.
Beatrice looked at Belle. "Mom!"
Belle put the iPad down and went to the closet. "Rumple, if there's anything it won't be in the swimsuits."
"Yeah, obviously, check to see if I have an Oz souvenir t-shirt, not to be confused with my Wicked souvenir hoodie," said Beatrice.
"I'm counting ten," said Gold.
"Put that aside," said Belle, closing the storage box. "What about the shoes?"
"Okay, granted, I haven't had a lot of time to look, but I don't think I have any ruby slippers."
"What does OTP mean?," asked Joseph.
Beatrice turned back to Joseph. "What are you looking at?"
"Tumblr."
"Okay, I like tumblr, too, but we are trying to do something and I haven't finished some stuff yet so I need to avoid spoilers."
"Do you recall where you got these?"
Beatrice turned back. Gold was holding a pair of silver heels and a plastic bag from a hospital with her name on it.
"No, they're ugly, though. They're like disco pilgrim shoes."
"Well, I know," said Gold. "I've seen them on someone else. Zelena."
"I stole her shoes?"
"These shoes have the ability to travel between realms."
"Or they're just ugly," said Beatrice.
"Beatrice, they have to be magical," said Belle. "You would never buy them."
"Did I do something in Oz?'
"Zelena was never a great strategist," said Gold.
"I wouldn't be so sure," said Joseph. "She seems to be playing us all fairly well."
Last December
Beatrice found herself in a dark room.
"Oh, no."
Beatrice spun around. There was no escape, everything was black.
Don't panic. There's no need to panic.
Holding her hand out she attempted to summon a fireball or a candle or a freaking match would do, but nothing would conjure.
"Beatrice!"
"Joseph?"
"Are you alright?"
"Mostly."
"You're panicking. Why are you panicking?"
"Because it's dark!"
He paused.
"Beatrice, there is a way out."
"I don't see it!"
"You went in so that you means you can come out."
"I don't see it!"
"It's there! It has to be!"
"It's not!"
"It's logic! If there's a way to get in, there's a way to get out!"
"There is no logic in this town!"
"Then what is there?!"
"Magic! Belief! A bunch of random crap!"
Beatrice turned around again, trying not to hyperventilate and screeched as Joseph's hand landed in her face.
"Sorry!" Then it became enveloped in flame and disappeared.
"Joseph?"
"I'm fine," said Joseph, looking down at the fresh burns on his hand. "Beatrice, I'm going to put my hand back and you are going to take it."
"You'll get burned."
"I'll be fine!"
"I'll get burned!"
"Beatrice, just try."
Joseph took a breath and put his hand back in.
Beatrice closed her eyes and took his hand.
Joseph pulled her through the doorway and she couldn't stop hyperventilating.
"Beatrice, Beatrice, look at me," said Joseph, grabbing her by the shoulders.
She did, her eyes shooting up into his.
"You're fine," he said.
"Yeah."
"Beatrice!," called Belle.
She looked up just as Belle and Gold came towards her.
"Mom, Dad, how-"
Belle motioned at the box. "A blue box appeared. We got calls."
Gold examined the door. The fire had disappeared, the darkness and it was just wood.
"What is it?," asked Joseph.
Gold turned to Beatrice. "Sweetheart, what was in here?"
She shook her head. "It was dark, there were flames, just like the Netherworld."
"Netherworld?," asked Joseph. "Were you there?"
"No, this is an illusion. A very good one," said Gold. "I would say I admire the sorcerer, but I'm more interested in finding him and ripping him limb from limb."
"So, we should keep the box, right?," asked Beatrice.
Gold sighed. "We can keep the box."
"Rumple," said Belle, "it's the thing she fears most inside the thing she loves."
"It's a trap," said Joseph.
"Indeed," said Gold.
Belle gasped and gingerly took Joseph's wrist. "Gods! What happened to your hand?!"
"You said it was fine!," said Beatrice.
"Rumple," said Belle.
Joseph surprised Belle by fingering her bracelet.
"Where did you get that?"
"Rumple made it for me, years ago. It's gold that he spun and braided."
"Do you want me to fix your hand or not, dearie?," Gold asked brusquely.
"Dad!," hissed Beatrice.
Gold took Joseph's hand from Belle and waved his other hand. He waved his hand and the burns were healed.
With rage at the happy reunion scene across the street, Zelena transported herself through green smoke into the cellar where Cora sat.
"Well," Cora sighed, "you've finally come to visit your mother. How nice."
"It didn't work," Zelena fumed. "The trap didn't work. How could it not work? I put the strongest curse possible on that box and now it's just plywood! How is that possible?"
"Rumplestiltskin is a clever and wily opponent-"
"It wasn't Rumplestiltskin!," shrieked Zelena. "It was someone else. A man. He reached for her and pulled her out!"
A rueful smile played at the edges of Cora's mouth.
"What?," demanded Zelena. "What's so funny?"
"True Love is the most powerful magic in any realm," said Cora, stepping up as she walked to the edge of her cell. "Now you're going to let me out."
Zelena scoffed. "And why would I do that?"
"Because I'm going to show you that love is weakness. We're going to use that man and then you will have everything you need for your spell and we can start again."
