Author's Notes: I do not own Once Upon A Time which is a show on ABC that's owned by a parent company that owns the theme park I was at when I was not updating. I also do not own Wicked which I have borrowed from which you will see shortly. Have you tried to type on a Kindle? Not good. Anyway, thanks for the reads and reviews. I will get back to you all soon. Thank you so much for your patience, please let me know what you think and happy reading!
Now...
Beatrice stood with Joseph at the town line. They had been there a couple of hours waiting for the mysterious Mahnaz to arrive. She had completed the awkward task of inviting the girl without actually remembering who she was.
She felt horrible about it.
"Well, try not to feel so bad. You are doing this to save an entire town."
"I am tricking someone into being cursed with us. I don't even know what's going to happen when she crosses over the line."
"Don't trust the Merry Men?"
"Their last guy became a Flying Monkey."
Joseph motioned over at Robin as he paced back and forth. "What do you make of the Prince of Thieves and the Evil Queen? That was unexpected."
Beatrice snorted. "Everything around here is unexpected. Aurora and Mulan?"
"That was much less unexpected."
"We should make a ship name for it."
"A ship name? What do you mean?"
Beatrice searched for an example. "Johnlock? That's a ship. People who think John Watson and Sherlock Holmes should get together."
Joseph frowned. "They think what?"
"You know, from Sherlock. Then there's Sherlolly, my personal favorite."
"Is it?"
"I don't mind Johnlock, but you know, Molly Hooper, nerd. Me, nerd. Then there's Mystrade and there's Sheriarty which is a little weird-"
"What's Mystrade?"
"There's a car coming!," called Robin. He turned towards Beatrice. "This ought to be your friend, Your Highness."
"You know, you don't have to call me Your Highness," said Beatrice.
"Oh, let him," said Joseph. He leaned over. "Things are so much easier when everyone remembers his place."
Beatrice shook her head at him. She raised her hands as the red Kia came over the orange line.
Flying Monkeys swooped in from nowhere and Robin and his men shot their arrows. Beatrice threw ice at them, landing the monkeys in blocks of ice. The car skidded towards the side of the road and a frazzled girl got out of the car.
"Hey, so you found it," said Beatrice.
Mahnaz shook her head. "What was that?"
Robin rushed over. "Are you alright, milady?"
Mahnaz turned to Beatrice. "Who's he?"
"Robin of Locksley, milady. At your service."
"Sorry, who?"
"This is all much better explained at my house," said Beatrice, taking Mahnaz by the arm. "By the way, this is Joseph."
Mahnaz entered the house to see the crowd of semi-strangers gathered in the living room. She seemed yet more unnerved when they all stood.
"Hello," Mahnaz said skeptically.
"Mahnaz, welcome back," Belle said with a smile. She gave her a quick hug.
"Thank you, Mrs. Gold." Mahnaz looked at Beatrice. "I think."
"Listen, sweetheart, I'm sorry to have to drag you here, but our options are somewhat limited," said Merlin.
"What's going on, Mr. Avalon?," asked Mahnaz.
"You might try calling him by his real name," said Regina.
"What happened to easing her into it?," asked Emma.
"I don't have time. My sister's on a rampage."
"Rampage?," asked Mahnaz.
"Mahnaz, did you ever read any fairy tales growing up?," asked Beatrice.
"Not really."
"Then this should be all new to you," muttered Regina.
"Seriously, Regina?," asked Beatrice.
"Mahnaz," said Merlin, "I suppose like Beatrice you believe there are worlds running parallel to this one, where the laws of physics could be different."
"Laws of physics?," asked David.
Merlin waved his hand dismissively towards the prince. "Ignore him."
Mahnaz nodded. "Well, it's a theory, but there's not really a way to know for certain."
"Ah, see, that's where you're wrong," said Merlin. "There is a way to know for certain because that is where we are from."
Mahnaz shook her head. "I'm not understanding."
"There is anotther realm, in fact there are many others, this one is called the Enchanted Forest-"
"The Enchanted Forest?" Mahnaz looked at Beatrice. "I don't get it."
"Stay with me," said Merlin. "The fairy tale characters you know exist there and now some of them exist here."
"Fairy tale characters?"
"You remember my mom's name?," asked Beatrice.
"Oh, come on," said Mahnaz. "Lots of people are named Belle."
"And have a library and are really pretty..." said Beatrice.
"And what? Your dad is the Beast?" Mahnaz motioned.
"Well... yeah."
Mahnaz motioned at Merlin. "And what? He's Maurice?"
"No, he's Merlin," said Beatrice.
Mahnaz frowned.
"Yeah," said Emma, "the fairy tales start getting twisted pretty quick."
"And what character are you?," Mahnaz asked Joseph.
Joseph opened his mouth.
Merlin beat him to an answer. "He is yet to be determined. Now, this is Regina who you may know as the Evil Queen, Snow White and Prince Charming."
Mahnaz still looked skeptical.
"I think it's about time we showed our friend that we mean what we say," said Gold. "Outside."
They led Mahnaz outside. Regina stood across from Beatrice.
Regina pulled her hand back to launch a fireball. Beatrice fired another one up at it and they collided together in an explosion. She looked at Mahnaz.
"What did you just do?," asked Mahnaz.
"It's magic," said Beatrice. "We do magic. See?"
Beatrice then waved her hand and brought down a snowfall.
"I don't know what's going on, but I'm leaving," said Mahnaz.
Gold shook his head. "The people of this world..."
"No, please don't," said Mary Margaret. "We really need your help."
"Besides that she'll turn into a Flying Monkey," said Regina.
"What?," asked Mahnaz.
Emma shook her head. "As usual, our conversation earlier was totally pointless, Regina."
Joseph turned to face Mahnaz. "You know the story of Rumplestiltskin, do you not?"
"Weird imp. Straw into gold?"
Gold glared as Belle patted him on the wrist.
Joseph spoke again. "What if I told you he was Rumplestiltskin and he spun straw into gold?"
Mahnaz frowned. "I thought he was the beast."
"He's a lot of people," said Joseph.
The magical parade continued as they all followed Gold into the cellar. Joseph made a show of handing the straw to Mahnaz to examine and then she carefully eyed Gold as he spun and touched it again once it became his gold thread.
"Okay, you can spin straw into gold," said Mahnaz.
"That she believes?," Regina huffed.
"It's so weird," said Mahnaz. She looked at Beatrice. "I can't believe my grandmother was right."
"About what?"
"Well, you. She thought you were a witch."
"Why did your grandma think I was a witch?," Beatrice shrieked.
"Um, hey," said Emma.
"Fine. I'll drop it," said Beatrice.
"What else can you do?," asked Mahnaz.
"The problem, Mahnaz," Belle softly interjected, "is that we need you to do something for us."
"Me? What can I do?"
"We've been cursed by the Wicked Witch of the West..."
"Sorry," said Mahnaz. "Defying Gravity Wicked Witch?"
"She's nowhere near as cool," said Beatrice.
Belle continued. "She's taken away our memories of the past year. We think Beatrice met her in Oz when she was caught up in that storm in Boston and something happened there that we need to find out about, but none of us can even remember that day."
Mahnaz shrugged. "I don't know how I can help. It's not like Beatrice said anything, I wasn't even in the dorm."
"Yes, but conveniently this is where magic comes in," said Merlin.
They gathered in the dining room and sat at the table. Gold brought out a crystal ball the size of a globe and set it between Beatrice and Mahnaz.
"What is that going to do?," asked Beatrice.
"You're going to touch it and Mahnaz is going to think of the day you supposedly disappeared," said Merlin. "That should give us what we need."
"My trip to Oz," said Beatrice.
Merlin motioned for them both to touch it.
"What do I do?," asked Mahnaz.
Merlin knelt down next to her.
"Try to think of every detail you remember that day. What the weather was, what you wore, what the air smelled like..."
Beatrice watched as Mahnaz's eyes glazed over. Then she soon snapped back herself...
BOSTON - LAST SUMMER
Beatrice giggled.
It had been sort of funny.
Girls did that, right? Laughed at jokes they didn't find hilarious? Her mom laughed at her dad all the time.
Actually, she was pretty sure her mom did find her dad hilarious. It was one of the many hundreds of reasons they were weirdos together.
Wyndham was the name of the boy. He was from Philadelphia, seriously old money and on paper, he was perfect. Perfect hair, perfect chin. He was in the same summer physics camp as Beatrice and they'd been paired up as lab partners the first day.
There wasn't True Love, but then again Beatrice knew she was never going to find True Love.
"Were you at the lecture last night?," asked Beatrice as she sipped her coffee. "I didn't see you."
"I bailed," said Wyndham. "Brian Cox. Boring."
Actually, Beatrice had been first in line for the lecture. She had even had her mother mail her the copy of the physicist's book she had at home so she could have it autographed. She had even gotten to talk with him after the lecture and might have fangirled slightly.
"It was good," Beatrice finally responded.
"Yeah, I'm just doing this camp to look well-rounded anyway. My college counselor said I needed to if I had any chance of getting into one of the Ivies."
"Oh," said Beatrice.
"What about you?"
"What do you mean?"
"Where do you want to go?"
"Oh, you know, the usual," said Beatrice. This had become a source of contention at home. Further than the town line seemed to make her father unhappy. She had to acknowledge it was problematic having parents who couldn't leave town. Belle had been steering her towards the little ivies. "Then uh, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby."
"Does your school send a lot of people there?"
"I used to go to New Amsterdam."
"Yeah, but some no name school in Maine? That's going to be hard to sell. You'll be lucky if you don't end up at a state school."
Not to mention her current high school had never actually sent a student anywhere.
"I'm going to get another smoothie," said Wyndham.
He got up and his phone started buzzing. Beatrice glanced up and back.
Wyndham sat down.
"Who's Cassandra?," asked Beatrice.
"You looked at my phone."
"You left it on the table."
"She's my girlfriend."
Beatrice scowled. "We're on a date."
"Well, that's school, this is summer."
Beatrice handed his phone back. "I am not a summer girl."
Wyndham scoffed. "What? You think you're regular girlfriend material? You're the hottest nerd here-"
"I'm the what?"
"Come on, you're from nowhere. Your dad is a pawnbroker, your mom's a librarian. You're just lucky to be here."
Beatrice stood, not even noticing the clouds as they began to darken.
"What? Don't be like that."
"We're done," said Beatrice.
She walked out amid Wyndham's protests.
Beatrice tried to keep from crying as she walked down the street, the wind whipping her hair. She had been desperate to come to this camp, someplace where no one had ever heard of the Dark Princess, let alone the Dark One and they thought Beauty and the Beast and Rumplestiltskin were two completely unconnected fairy tales. Now she had the opposite of that. He thought she was no one.
The weather had been changing over the past few minutes Mahnaz observed. The sky had darkened and the wind was blowing. Beatrice stormed in the dorm room as rain began.
"That good, huh?," she asked as she looked up from her book.
"He has a girlfriend," said Beatrice.
"Jerk," said Mahnaz.
Beatrice sat on her bed and reached for her earbuds.
"Do you want to talk?," asked Mahnaz.
"Nope," said Beatrice, plugging the earbuds into her iPhone.
Mahnaz stood up. "I have to go to mosque. I promised my parents."
"Really? How will they know?"
"Well, I'll know," said Mahnaz. "Also, my mom makes me check in on Facebook. If I have any hope of going to Georgetown I can't screw this up."
Mahnaz picked up her purse and turned around as she was nearly out the door.
"Oh, your dad called on the room phone."
Beatrice groaned as Mahnaz left. She gathered up the strength to call home. She hadn't even mentioned the date so she hoped it wouldn't be too painful.
"Beatrice!," Belle said brightly.
"Hi, Mom," said Beatrice.
"Is something the matter?"
Why could she always tell?
"No, I'm just tired," she lied. "Dad called?"
"Oh, he's just changing. We're going out for dinner. We had Bae and Henry for dinner last night, but tonight is date night."
Beatrice shuddered. "Date night..."
"How was the lecture?," asked Belle. "Did you get to meet him? Did he sign your book?"
"Yeah, he was great."
"I wish you sounded a little more enthusiastic. Are you sure you're feeling alright?"
"Is that Beatrice?," she heard her father ask.
"Yes," Belle answered.
"What do you mean she's not feeling well? Is she ill?"
"I'm fine!," Beatrice said futilely.
"I'll make an elixir. I'll have Bae drive it there."
"I don't need an elixir!," Beatrice shouted.
"I'll put Papa on," said Belle.
There was a momentary pause as Belle handed the phone over.
"Hello, sweetheart," said Gold.
"Hi, Dad."
"You sound tired."
"Yeah, sure, I'm tired."
"Are you eating properly? Is the food alright?"
"The food is fine, Dad."
"Do you have enough money?"
"Yes," said Beatrice. Her father had again sent her off with a wad of bills worthy of a mafia don, not to mention her American Express.
"You should try to get some rest, sweetheart. You have the weekend off from classes, you ought to do something fun. You could go out for dinner with your roommate. My treat."
"Okay, Dad. Thanks, Dad."
Beatrice managed to get off the phone after ten minutes more of reassurances and suggestions, promising to call if she had the slightest sign of a cold. By then, the storm had grown and the rain was heavy.
She put her earbuds on and began her angry music.
I'm through accepting limits, 'cause someone says they're so, some things I cannot change but till I try I'll never know! Too long I've been afraid of losing love I guess I've lost. Well, if that's love, it comes at much too high a cost!
Suddenly, the room was pitch black as lightning and thunder cracked. The air began to swirl. Beatrice felt as if she was being pulled away and she couldn't see.
Wind swirled and Beatrice screamed against the vortex, as if no sound could come out.
It finally stopped and she was in a heap of wood.
"Are you kidding me?," Beatrice muttered struggling to her feet.
Rubble was pushed aside from the window. A white gloved hand reached into the room. Before Beatrice could question the Boston Fire Department, she found herself facing a kind looking blonde in an elaborate white gown. She was next to a tall redhead in a similar brown outfit.
"Are you alright?," asked the woman in white.
"I think so," said Beatrice looking around. Nothing looked familiar. How far did tornadoes go anyway? She looked up.
Trees.
No buildings.
"How could I have left Boston?," she asked.
"Boston. What world are you from?," asked the redhead.
If she was being asked a question like what world she was from, that was a bad sign.
She knew the answer.
"The Land Without Magic," said Beatrice.
"Well, then," said the blonde. "Welcome to Oz."
"Oz," said Beatrice. "Well, that's just great."
"What's your name?"
"Beatrice."
"You must be very strong to survive such a storm. You must be a very special girl," said the blonde.
Beatrice walked a short distance away as the two women followed her.
"I'm Glinda and this is Zelena," said the blonde.
"Glinda?," asked Beatrice, her interest finally piqued. "Do you have a friend called Elphaba?"
"No," said Glinda.
"Right," said Beatrice. "Did you used to be called Galinda?"
"No."
"Did you have a college professor that was a goat?"
"What are you looking for?," asked Glinda.
"The yellow brick road and some ruby slippers," said Beatrice. "The wizard ought to have them, hopefully he doesn't turn out to be anyone's dad. Hopefully he doesn't turn out to be my dad though usually my dad is everyone."
"I'm sorry but the wizard is no more," said Glinda. "He can't help you."
"Ah, you guys figured out the guy behind the curtain thing, right," said Beatrice. "That is a setback, but it's manageable. My dad will come get me. Then he's never going to let me leave the house again. Which will be another setback, but again, manageable."
Glinda and Zelena exchanged glances.
"How can your father travel between realms?," asked Zelena. "I thought he was from a Land Without Magic."
"Well, Land Without Magic by way of the Enchanted Forest," said Beatrice. "He usually figures these things out."
"Come, you can stay with us in the meantime," said Glinda. "Our sisters will be so excited to meet you. Won't they, Zelena?"
Glinda and Zelena took Beatrice with them back to where they lived with their sister witches.
"None of you are Nessa, I'm guessing," said Beatrice.
Glinda smiled. "These are our sisters, Davina and Imara, the other witches of Oz."
The witches looked at each other.
"Does anybody even sing?", asked Beatrice.
"Sing?," asked Davina.
"Never mind."
"You're welcome to stay here as long as you need," said Glinda.
"Oh, cookies," said Beatrice, spotting a tray on a table. "Do you mind?"
Imara nodded.
"You said you come from a Land Without Magic," said Zelena. "But you mentioned the Enchanted Forest."
"Yeah, long story with a Dark Curse," said Beatrice. She pointed at the table. "What's up with this?"
"The four lands of Oz. Each of us is protector of one,"
"Right. North, south, east, west..." said Beatrice. "Oh, elements. The west is water. Interesting."
"Why is that interesting?," asked Zelena.
"Reasons," said Beatrice.
"You seem to know your way around magic," said Glinda.
"I get by."
"But you said you were from a land without magic," said Zelena.
"Yeah, there's no magic except when there is."
"You need to give us a better explanation than that," said Davina.
An idea then occurred to Beatrice and it seemed so much better than the truth.
"I am a Time Lord from the wonderful world of Gallifrey," said Beatrice.
"Gallifrey?," asked Zelena.
"Yes, you wouldn't have heard of it because of the time lock," said Beatrice. She shrugged. "That's why no one knows about it. It's the curse of the Time Lords."
Zelena seemed terribly interested all of a sudden. "Can you time travel?"
Right. That was one of those laws of magic things. One of those you weren't supposed to break.
"See, we used to all travel around in... enchanted blue boxes," Beatrice began. "Then there was a battle with a Dark Wizard called... Rassilon and you know, time lock. Now no one can. Like I said, it's the curse of the Time Lords."
Zelena seemed deflated by that.
"We should get you something to eat," Glinda cheerfully suggested.
"Beatrice," said Glinda. "I know you're lying."
Beatrice didn't answer.
"There's no Gallifrey."
"Well, not anymore. Time lock."
Glinda frowned at her. "You can tell the sisters anything. You're safe here."
"I just don't like to name drop," said Beatrice.
"What do you mean, child? Does it have to do with your knowledge of magic?"
"It's not just knowledge. I'm the... I'm the Dark Princess."
Glinda's eyes widened.
"Yeah, see, that's the look I was hoping to avoid..."
"Come, Beatrice," said Glinda.
Beatrice followed Glinda into her room, like the table room, it opened onto the night sky but was covered in white. She pulled out a book.
"This is the Book of Records, a record of all magical people who have visited Oz. The Dark Princess is in here, along with her family and the Great Detective."
Beatrice frowned. "The Great Detective? Do you mean Sherlock Holmes?"
"Why, yes, I-" Glinda stopped. "You haven't met him yet."
"Uh, haven't met Sherlock Holmes? No. Let me see the book."
Glinda held the book away from her. "Sometimes news from other lands comes to the book at the wrong time. I fear this may be one of those times. You may have been right. Zelena was until recently a pupil of a great and powerful sorcerer in the Enchanted Forest. She returned to Oz once he rejected her and has been trying to change her ways ever since."
"So she can travel between realms?"
"I would keep your true identity a secret from her. You can do what eludes her and she'll want to use that knowledge for revenge."
"Okay, I won't help her with the big revenge plan, but if she knows how to get between worlds, I need her help."
"Don't push her. She's delicate."
The next morning Beatrice set out to find Zelena. She found her in the main room, studying a book.
"Hey, El- Zelena."
Zelena scowled. "You're still here? Your father the sorcerer hasn't found a way here yet?"
"Apparently not."
Zelena went back to the book.
"So, Zelena..." said Beatrice, wondering how to start a conversation with the Witch of the West, "what's up?"
"I'm trying to learn about my new territory," said Zelena. "The West."
"We can go visit!," suggested Beatrice. "There's got to be some Animals and some Munchkins or something."
Zelena scowled. "You're new to this world, but you know so much about it."
"Well, in my world stuff from other realms gets through as fiction and I have seen-" She paused. It seemed rude to suggest the word "Wicked" at the moment. "I have seen a musical based on this world several times and read the novels and I've only seen the Wizard of Oz twice, once with a Pink Floyd album playing, but I think I got the gist of it."
"And why would I want to meet Munchkins?"
Beatrice frowned. "Because you're their protector. Come on. It'll be fun."
"Fun?"
"You have had fun before, right?"
"I have things to do."
"Can't even show me the Emerald City?," asked Beatrice. "One short day in the Emerald City, one short day..."
Zelena turned and scowled.
"Come with me to the Emerald City..." Beatrice sang. "One short day full of so much to do..."
"I'll go if you promise not to sing," said Zelena.
"Given my circumstances, I can't promise that," said Beatrice. "However, I will keep it to one song if you teach me one trick."
"Teach you?," Zelena sneered.
"This is awesome!," Beatrice screamed as she flew on her broom.
"You're a quick study," remarked Zelena on her neighboring broom.
Beatrice turned to Zelena. "How are you not more excited?! There's no fight we cannot win, Just you and I, defying gravity, with you and I defying gravity!"
"Where did you learn your magic?," asked Zelena.
"My dad, my grandfather a little and this Ice Princess..."
Zelena eyed her.
"Who was my great-grandmother."
"We both come from magical families then," said Zelena. "Where yours nurtured yours, I was cast aside and everything that should have been mine was taken by my sister."
"That sucks," said Beatrice.
"Do you have any siblings?"
"A brother," said Beatrice. "Not magical, though."
"Consider yourself fortunate."
"You know, honestly, at some point you should probably let that go," said Beatrice.
Zelena nodded. "You're right. Thank you."
Beatrice turned back towards flying.
"This doesn't make you happy, though," said Zelena.
"Well, no," said Beatrice. "I want to go home."
"Your family really means that much to you?"
Zelena led Beatrice inside the wizard's palace.
"When you're with the wizard, your whole life will change..."
"Do you have to sing?"
"It is really hard not to given the circumstances."
Zelena waved her hand and the door to the throne room opened where they were confronted by a Flying Monkey.
"Beatrice, meet Walsh."
"Uh, hey, Walsh," said Beatrice.
"This is a way to view other realms," said Zelena. "The Wizard used it once to help me find my family. Perhaps you can use it to check in on yours."
Beatrice knelt down. "So what do I do? Just picture them?"
"Well, I thought I-"
Beatrice thought of her mother. She smiled as Belle appeared in the circle. She read a book on the sofa and patted Martha on the head as the Dalmatian laid next to her.
"Is that your mother?," asked Zelena. "She's beautiful."
Beatrice shook her head. "They ought to be looking for me."
"Perhaps they've given up," Zelena shrugged.
"No, my mother never gives up."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Because she's my mom."
"I wouldn't know. My mother left me in the woods."
Beatrice looked back up at Zelena. "Seriously, your family sucks."
The phone rang and Belle picked it up.
"Hello?" She paused. "Yes, this is Belle Gold. Of course I'm Beatrice Gold's mother. What is this about? Is she alright?"
"They don't know I'm gone yet," Beatrice mused.
"A storm? What do you mean you don't know?," Belle stammered. "Of course, I'll be there right away!"
"Time must run differently here," said Beatrice. She looked up at Zelena's doubting expression. "Big universe. Lots of different universes, anything's possible including the possibility that time is different here. Just like Pete's World."
"Is that something you learned on Gallifrey?"
"Yes," Beatrice answered with a smile, nodding definitively.
"Rumple!," Belle called.
Beatrice looked up at Zelena. Patches of green were on her neck and growing larger.
"Zelena?," asked Beatrice. "You're turning green."
"Rumplestiltskin," she sneered. "You're Rumplestiltskin's daughter."
"I..." She remembered Glinda's words.
Sorcerer.
Enchanted Forest.
Seriously, there only seemed to be two sorcerers in the Enchanted Forest and she was related to both.
"Oh, God, not again. Every time," said Beatrice.
"You tricked me," Zelena sneered. "Is there even a Gallifrey?!"
Zelena raised her hand to knock Beatrice back. Beatrice waved her hand to land a magical rain cloud over Zelena.
Which had no effect whatsoever.
"Oh, come on..." muttered Beatrice.
In her experiences with magic, no one had really given Beatrice a major butt kicking by magic.
She didn't like it.
She laid, dejected, in the dungeon of the wizard's palace, unable to do anything, unwilling to move. Every flinch caused untold pain.
Time ran differently here.
They didn't even know she was gone yet.
How long would it take them to find her?
"One long day in the Emerald City..." she sang to herself when the silence became unbearable. "One long day in a lifetime of long days... Wish my dad would get here so I could leave here..."
The dungeon gate opened. Beatrice looked up to see a Flying Monkey screech at her.
Taking the invitation to follow, she found herself back in the Wizard's throne room. Zelena waited with the Book of Records in her hands.
Also, Beatrice noticed that like a froggy, ferny cabbage Zelena was unnaturally green.
"I've been reading up on you," said Zelena. "The Dark Princess. Descended from the longest line of True Love in the Enchanted Forest. The likes of Venus, Merlin, Rumplestiltskin, Peter Pan and those are just the ones you know about. Not to mention the Great Detective."
"The Great Detective?," asked Beatrice.
"Your True Love."
"My what?"
"Oh, didn't you know? Does that not fit into your Time Lord story?"
"I had to tell you something because if you had known..." Beatrice paused. "Well, yeah, here we are."
"If I had known you were Rumplestiltskin's daughter I would have cut your throat the minute I laid eyes on you!," Zelena spat.
"Like that's the first time I heard that," said Beatrice.
Zelena got in her face. "You have no idea what it's like! I was left for dead in the woods! My sister got everything that should have been mine! You've had a mother to protect you, a father who gives you anything you ask for and you don't have to work for any of it! A family who loves you!"
"If it's any consolation, I don't think my grandfather liked me that much," said Beatrice.
Zelena waved her hand and a wave of magic landed Beatrice back on the floor.
"No answers, Dark Princess? Do you want to try dumping a bucket of water on me again?!"
Zelena waved her hand and the viewer materialized again. Zelena had called up a vision of her parents in the living room. It had grown dark. Belle was pacing with a cup of tea.
"This is all they've done," said Zelena. "Pathetic. Just sitting here and wondering where their Dark Princess is. Their poor lost little girl. They'll never know, will they? They'll just spend the rest of their lives, wondering. You'll never see them again."
Beatrice looked at her parents and her dog.
Never see them again.
They would never know.
They would never know.
Beatrice looked up at Zelena.
"As a plan for revenge, that's pretty limited, isn't it?," asked Beatrice.
"Excuse me."
"I mean, you'll know you killed me, but he'll never know." She pointed at her father. "He will never know and he's the one you need to prove yourself to."
Zelena shook her head. "You're insane."
"Look who's talking."
Zelena raised her hand slamming Beatrice back to the floor again.
"My point is," she said, struggling against the pain coursing through her, "is that if he never knows, he will never know he was wrong about you. He'll never realize his mistake."
"Do you think I'm that vain?"
"Oh, so you're not actually better than Regina is what you're telling me?"
"What do you want?," she sneered.
"I want to go home."
"Fine," said Zelena.
"What?"
Zelena walked up to her.
"You're right. When I kill you, I want Rumplestiltskin to watch and I want you to watch me kill your mother."
Beatrice twitched. "I will stop you."
"We'll be sure to sort that all out later."
Zelena waved her hand. Silver slippers appeared on Beatrice's feet.
"Enjoy the time I'm giving you, Dark Princess," Zelena sneered. "It won't last long."
"Beatrice..."
Beep.
Beeps.
Steady beeps.
"Beatrice."
Beatrice hazily opened her eyes to see Merlin standing over her bed.
"Well, look who decided to join us?," said a nurse in blue scrubs. She looked up at Merlin. "Vitals look good."
"Merlin?," asked Beatrice.
The nurse eyed Beatrice then Merlin.
Merlin shook his head. "She is obsessed with British television. Have you seen that show Merlin?"
"I don't even watch that..." muttered Beatrice.
"Poor thing. Obviously not recognizing your Grandpa Colin."
"I'll call the doctor," said the nurse. She left them alone.
Merlin leaned over. "How are you feeling?"
"Lousy. You watch Merlin?"
"People started telling me I was in love with Arthur which is certainly a frightening thought. You've met that twit." He took a breath. "It looks as if you've had a beating."
"Then fix it."
"Land Without Magic, remember?," asked Merlin. "You're at Massachusetts General, the staff here is refreshingly competent unlike that soap opera set Regina calls a hospital back in Storybrooke complete with cad doctor."
"Mom and Dad couldn't come," Beatrice stated.
"No, afraid not. I think we'll have to rectify that at some point in the very near future."
"Can you call her?"
"Of course I can," said Merlin, getting out his phone.
Belle couldn't wait at the house. Gold acquiesced and they drove the Cadillac to just before the town line to wait for Merlin's ancient Land Rover to come across.
Merlin pulled over. As he got out his mockery began.
"Oh, I know, that town line we'll lose our memories if we cross, let's go drive out and stand really close to it..."
Belle shot him a look.
"She's in the back."
Belle hurried to open the door. Beatrice was slumped over, head on her pillow against the window. Belle climbed in next to her.
"Hey, baby," Belle said, gently rousing her. She smiled as Beatrice opened her eyes. "You're home."
For reasons Beatrice didn't understand, she looked at her mother with fresh eyes. As if she were a miracle. She threw her arms around her in a tight, almost desperate embrace.
"Hey, it's okay," said Belle. "You're here now."
Belle helped Beatrice out of the car and she hugged her father. He held her face gingerly in his hands.
"So many cuts..." said Gold.
"Yeah, more concerned with the fact that I still sort of feel like I got tossed around a building in a freak storm," said Beatrice. "That's right. I did."
Gold waved his hand. The cuts and bruises vanished.
"Better?," he asked.
"Much. Thank you."
"You needn't thank me, sweetheart," said Gold, kissing her on the forehead. He looked at her. "What's the matter? Did I miss something?"
"No... I'm forgetting to tell you something."
"I'm sure you'll think of it," Belle said reassuringly. "Let's go home. Martha can't wait to see you."
Beatrice snapped back to the present. She looked up to see the others around the table and Mahnaz had let go of the crystal ball.
"What? Did you all get that?," asked Beatrice.
"Oh, sweetheart," said Belle, getting up from her chair and coming over to squeeze her daughter. "We had no idea."
"Didn't you all get your day back?," asked Beatrice.
"Yours was the only interesting one," said Emma.
"I wish I could forget mine," said Regina.
Gold cast a glare at her. "The door was locked. The sign said closed. If you could take a hint, Your Majesty, we wouldn't have a problem."
"Why, what happened?," asked Beatrice. As soon as the words flew from her mouth, she realized it. "Oh, come on. Ew."
"The important thing is we know what happened in Oz," said Merlin. "Did you happen to catch the important part?"
"The Witches," said Beatrice.
"The table," said Joseph. "The virtues are the same things the Witch has been searching for. Courage, love..."
"Innocence," said Emma. She looked up at Merlin. "Is that what the baby is for?"
"There's something I'm still not remembering," said Beatrice.
"I think you've done enough, sweetheart," said Gold.
Beatrice looked up at Merlin. "Can we do it again?"
"Do what again?"
She motioned at the crystal ball. "That. We found out what happened in Oz, but we could just pick a random day or better yet, the day before we woke up without our memories."
"This magic is temperamental," said Merlin. He looked at Mahnaz. "If you are willing, I think it could be attempted."
"So, the Wicked Witch of the West is jealous of the Evil Queen because she was trained by Rumplestiltskin?," asked Mahnaz.
"Uh, I don't think we have time for that," said Mary Margaret.
"Mary Margaret?," asked David.
"The baby," said Mary Margaret. "It's coming."
"Now?," Emma said incredulously.
"Are you people serious?," asked Beatrice.
"Beatrice..." said Belle.
"We just got a clue! This was the closest we've come to figuring out this thing and she has to go have a baby! Why weren't you on bedrest?!," she shrieked.
"For starters, why don't we get her away from my dining room?," asked Gold.
"Rumple!," said Belle.
"Forgive me, but I don't see how this situation can be helped by Her Highness giving birth in my dining room," said Gold.
"I'll call Leigh," said Belle, shooting a glare over her shoulder as she left the room.
Gold followed her.
"I'll go get the truck," said David.
"I'll call Robin and have him meet us at the hospital," said Regina.
Soon it was just Beatrice, Joseph and Mahnaz.
"Don't you see what the witch needs?," asked Joseph. "It's pretty obvious if you just think about it a moment."
"A brain," said Mahnaz.
"Thank you. I've missed real people," said Joseph.
Beatrice frowned. "Whose brain?"
"Whose indeed?," asked Joseph.
