Here's to Adventure

Roland and Nara were in the yard practicing archery. Since Nara admitted to feeling left out, they both made an effort to spend more time together. They are the only ones left there but Haven and Salem were visiting more often as well.

Emma walked over to them. "I have news. I've found a way to send you to the other world, however, I don't know how to bring you back. Bae, Hope and Emery can't bring you back unless they come too and if they can, they haven't learned how yet. What you'll have to do is go to The Charmed Ones in San Francisco and ask them to send you back. I'm positive they will help you but I'd feel much better if I had a way for you to go and come."

Roland took a breath. "Okay… So can I leave when I'm ready?"

"Yes." Emma replied.

"Can I go? Please mom!" Nara pled.

Emma sighed. Your father and I discussed it. You can go but Ro, please take care of my baby." She pulled Nara into her arms and hugged her tightly, Nara's face was suffocating in Emma's chest.

"Mom, I can't breathe!" Nara muffled into Emma's chest. Emma let her go.

"I will protect her with my life." Roland said.

"Yay! I can't wait!" Nara ran off.

"Please don't stay too long." Emma said.

"Just a few days, I promise you." Roland assured.

"The best part is, you'll be there just in time for Bae's birthday."

"It's killing you that you're going to miss it, isn't it? Maybe you should go."

"No, I have too many responsibilities here. Even without my children, I still have about a hundred of them depending on me along with my royal duties. Besides, I left that life behind me. It should stay that way."

-v-

Hope and Andy were on a date at an astronomy museum. How could that not be fascinating, learning about the planet and the stars and so on, accompanied by the visuals? It was quite beautiful. Hope was in awe, she was really enjoying it.

"I'm glad you're enjoying this. This can be a hit or miss date choice. Girls generally find this stuff boring." Andy said.

"No way. If it's something new to me, I'll probably like it. I like new things. I've seen a lot. New discoveries are always welcomed." Hope replied.

They entered a room where you can just sit down and the entire room would feel like you're up in space, as close to the stars as you can get.

"What triggered your interest in the stars and such?" Hope asked.

Andy chuckled. "When I was kid, I had this Buzz Lightyear action figure. He was Star Command's most prolific space ranger!" Andy quoted the commercial he remembered from his childhood. "At one point I wanted to be a cowboy due to my Woody toy." The smile suddenly left his face.

"I suppose you had a childhood full of dreams and endless possibilities."

"Yeah… There comes a time when everyone has to grow up and let dreams go."

"No. You're never too old to dream. Don't let anyone tell you any differently. Those toys seemed to really impact you, that's why you want to be a toy maker?"

"Yeah. I want to give others that joy, you know."

"There's no better reason to do something."

"I'm still a bit surprised I chose this career. My mom wasn't exactly happy about it either."

"Why?" Hope inquired. It sounded like something completely reasonable to her.

Andy looked at her. He'd said too much now. He didn't like where this conversation was going. She noticed the change in him that followed the question and though she was curious she decided to take the initiative and change the subject. It was a perfectly lovely date, let's keep it that way. There was always something he wasn't telling her, that was no secret. She was keeping something from him too so as long as he didn't hurt people, she didn't care what it was but after all this time, she was getting curious and tired of people staring at them when they were at the diner or something.

-v-

After a long day of dealing with the kingdom's concerns, the older adults returned to the relaxing quarters of the castle, away from all the responsibility they had. Henry really stirred the pot and that wasn't all that was brewing. However, they decided to let Henry and Goldie out of their cells but they still could not leave the perimeter of the castle. The castle was much bigger than a cell so at least they weren't confined to a box.

"You can't hold us here!" Henry yelled as he entered the room because he no doubt tried to.

"And we're supposed to let you go so you can terrorize our people?" Robin questioned.

"Do you have the slightest idea what you've started? We spent years, years rebuilding this kingdom. The last thing we want is to slowly watch it unravel in from of our eyes." Snow said.

"Every little thing has a domino effect, some bigger than others. One push can make everything after it collapse. That's something your grandpa Rumple was a master of. If he were here, he'd tell you not to start pushing it." Neal explained.

Henry didn't quite know what he had caused but he got the point. One side of him did not care but the other side? Well, the other side was why he walked out of the room.

"We'll deal with that later, now I suppose it's time we send Ro and Nara on their way." Regina said as she hugged Roland and wouldn't let go, literally and figuratively.

"Mom, it will only be a few days' time. It's even less time here than it is there." Roland said but Regina didn't budge.

"The spell will allow you to arrive near wherever Bae is but wherever there are no people. Before I cast it, let's change those clothes so you don't look like you're coming from a fair or something." Emma said then waved her hand. Roland and Nara appeared in something stylish for the other realm but with a hint of home. "Secondly, the gifts." Neal handed Ro a box about the size a small notebook. "Now, this spell was the best I can do. It's actually more of a tracker type of portal than anything but whatever, details… details… You have thirty seconds to go through once I say it, okay? Hugs!" Emma exclaimed. They all gathered and hugged them the two of them.

"We will be back soon. We will be fine." Roland assured.

Everyone said, "We love you," before Emma started the spell that opened the big blue portal that sent them on their way.

-v-

At Bedrock Diner, Bae, Emery, Hope and Andy were gathered in their booth while engaging in small talk. Hope was actually more engaged with her phone. This world was getting to her. Vella came in and joined them, she seemed happier and happier.

"So I just came from seeing a therapist, not that Hope wasn't doing a good job on her own but yeah I figured I was due. It's pretty good."

"I'm happy for you, love." Bae said. They all concurred.

"What has your attention on that phone?" Emery asked Hope.

"Instagram. I'm up to five hundred followers!" Hope replied.

"And the agency I work for saw your photos and want you to model for them. I have a meeting with them a few days before my birthday. They would like to see you then." Vella informed.

Hope finally looked up. "No way!" Hope screeched. "I'm so in!" Then two people walking into the diner caught her attention. "Okay, I may be more homesick than I thought because those two people look a lot like Ro and Nara. I must be losing it."

Bae looked over his shoulder and Emery looked over Bae's head.

"Wait. That is Ro and Nara." Emery realized.

"OMG!" Hope ran to them, jumped into Roland's arms then swung Nara around. Tears formed in her eyes as she walked back to the table. "Wow. Didn't expect that." She wiped her eyes.

Bae and Emery got up from the table to hug them.

"What are you doing here? How?" Bae asked.

"We needed to get away. We missed you and your mom figured something out." Roland replied.

"You just made our day." Emery said then introduced them. "This is our uncle Roland and my niece, their sister, Nara."

Vella and Andy looked confused as to how Roland was all of their uncle for a couple reasons but questions later.

"This is Vella and Andy." Bae introduced.

"Oh, so you're Vella!" Nara said in a cute tone. "Nice to finally meet you."

"And this is my boyfriend Andy." Hope sort of rushed out.

"Boyfriend? Ooh." Nara replied instinctively but not like a child ready to tell mom but like, "Oh boy, this can't be good."

"Well… pleasure to meet you both." Roland said.

"It's nice to meet more of your family." Vella said.

"Maybe we should get a bigger booth." Emery pointed out before they moved to a big round one.

-v-

At the castle, the adults were gathered for a discussion. It felt empty with two more of their children, who weren't really children anymore gone. There was only one left and they felt like they had been losing him for a while.

"Our people are getting riled up, questioning our intentions. We've been doing everything we can do to make sure that didn't happen." Snow explained.

"To top it off, King George is attempting to stage a takeover." David said.

Snow closed her eyes and massaged her temples.

"We'll have to go to war." Regina said since she knew no one else would.

"Mom no! It would cause more chaos than we have. It'll be dangerous." Snow exclaimed.

"I'm just saying. You were thinking it, that's why you look so stressed out over there."

Snow frowned, it was what she was thinking but she hoped it wouldn't come to that. "There has to be another option. We're all intelligent people, surely we can out smart King George."

-v-

Luckily Maleficent and her husband Bo didn't mind Roland and Nara staying at her place for a while. It's the most action she'd had in seven years, when they battled Cora and The Blue Fairy.

Bae, Hope, Emery, Roland and Nara were in the bedroom playing an Enchanted Forest monopoly that Hope created magically because why not?

"I see why you came back for Vella." Roland said. Bae smiled.

"Yes! She's fabulous dahling." Nara concurred.

"But Hope, you have a boyfriend?" Roland still couldn't believe it.

"This should be manufactured in stores." Hope spoke of the game, changing the subject.

"No. No. Let's go back." Roland said.

"Look, don't tell my mom and papa, okay? I like him. I like him a lot but we know it's temporary. We do." Hope replied.

"Okay! Just curious. I mean, you guys leave for a few months and everything's different." Roland said.

"Not everything… Have you met anyone?" Bae was just curious if Roland and Alexandra made a go of it.

"You mean Alex? We're doing well." Roland replied.

"I'm glad we're back together." Emery said.

"Nara felt a tad abandoned by us." Roland informed.

"More than a tad." Nara corrected.

"Aww! We're so sorry!" Hope pulled her little sister into a hug.

"Yeah… yeah." Nara said, nonchalantly.

Roland pulled out the box he was given before he left and handed it to Bae. "Here. Gift from home."

Bae opened the box and found three sheets of paper with mostly his mother's hand writing on it. One with each of their names on it. He handed one to Hope and Emery. Each paper had a poem on it, telling them how much they loved and missed them, Bae's also had a happy birthday message. It was hard for him, spending his birthday without his family. In his twenty-one years of existence, that's never happened but the twenty-second would be different. He was happy that he did have the ones who were there. The bottom of the papers were signed by the rest of the family with little messages by their names. Even though, they couldn't hear their families voices, it meant just as much to see their handwriting and see their messages to them but boy would it be nice to hear their voices.

A tear fell from Hope's eyes, she wiped it away quickly.

"Are you crying?" Nara questioned.

"No." Hope replied. Emery pulled her into a hug.

"While we're here, let's do something fun that we can't do at home." Nara said.

"I have an idea. Let's go to the funniest place on this earth." Emery said.

Disney World. They all went to Disney World the next day. It was exciting. It was fascinating and the best part, it wasn't cold near the end of December.

"Cinderella's castle, freakishly close to reality." Hope pointed out.

Bae chuckled. "That's probably where the similarities end."

They walked through and found the actors dressed as Snow White, Prince Charming and the Evil Queen.

"This is hilarious." Emery said.

"Yeah, grandma would never wear such a hideous dress." Hope referred to Snow White's dress. They all shook their heads. It wouldn't be Hope if she didn't comment on the dress.

"Let's take pictures with them." Emery said.

"Yeah, they will get a kick out of that." Roland said.

They went and took pictures with them before they headed for the rides. What to ride first? So many choices and it's probably the only time in their lives they'll have a chance to do this. They decided to go for a rollercoaster first.

"Uh… That's really high. Do we really want to do this?" Nara asked.

"Come on sis, we're Charming's, we're brave!" Hope exclaimed.

They got on the ride. It was terrifying but it was exciting. What a thrill. All day, they checked out as many attractions as possible and rode as many rides as possible. They came back the next day to try and do everything they couldn't do the first day. They still didn't seem to try everything but it was a couple of the best days of their lives. They'd never get another day like that again.

-v-

Vella was headed to her dorm room when she felt someone following her. The sensory training Hope had her doing was apparently really handy. She got a whiff of the person's cologne, a strong musk with a hint of spices like ginger and nutmeg. She was never very fond of it, she knew it was Damon.

She suddenly turned around with her right hand to his neck and pressed him against the wall. He didn't see it coming.

"What do you want?" Vella asked sternly.

His eyes were wide and dare I say, had a bit of fear. "You must be hanging with Baelfire's sister."

"What. Do. You. Want?" She asked again.

"Isn't it obvious? I want you."

She let him go and folded her arms, clearly guarded. "You can let that dream go, baby. I've moved on. I don't want you. I don't need you."

"Oh because you have Baelfire? He doesn't love y-"

"Don't try it. Don't feed me that bull about no one loving me and you're the only one who does. You don't love me. You don't love you. This isn't about Baelfire. This is about me. I love me again and that's what's important. Now go get you some therapy and leave me alone. If you come near me again, believe me you will regret it."

"What? You're going to send your boyfriend after me?" Damon patronized.

"No." Vella kneed him in the stomach and as he crouched down she put him in a headlock. "I think you get the picture now." She pushed him away and walked in her dorm.

-v-

Henry was on the castle's balcony just staring out into the distance when one of the chambermaids, Seiko passed behind him. She was pretty, her eyes were emerald green, wide and bright. Her hair was light brown and long with loose curls flowing down her back. He turned around as he felt her pass then called her name.

"Excuse me. Hello your highness." It was respectful but had a hint of snarkiness behind it.

Henry chuckled. "Your highness? What is with formalities? I'm Henry. We grew up together."

Seiko shook her head as if she was confused. "The only Henry I knew was kind and wouldn't hurt people or force people to be his servants. I don't know any other Henry. I miss him. Have you seen him around, your highness?"

Henry chuckled. "Oh. That's what this is about. You just don't understand."

"You're absolutely right, I don't, your highness. May I be excused? I must get back to work."

"No." Henry replied. Her eyebrows raised. "Cut the crap, Seiko. We've been friends our whole lives. You gave me my first kiss. Why are you acting like this?"

"Why are you acting the way you're acting? When you can give me an answer, maybe we can talk." She started to walk away but stopped. "And really? You're holding your parents' past against them? Grow up. They're the kindest people I know. People who were around for your mother's evil queen days, maybe they do still harbor feelings about all that she did but our generation can completely judge her on who she is and not who she was. All I know is, she was a wonderful mother to you and she would bandage my scraped knees when I would fall when we played together as children. She let me ride her horse and taught me how. She treated all of us like that and we're just the helps' children who would become the help ourselves. She didn't have to do that but she saw us as equals and she was kind. Yes, she did horrible things decades ago but not to you, not to us. Why do you want to be hateful? Being miserable and alone is appealing to you?"

Henry sighed. "You may go now."

Did he just dismiss her? Her eyebrows raised again. "You got what you wanted. Now that I tell you the truth, you want me to go? Well, I'm not finished. You brought that woman in here, pregnant, you don't even love her. What do you even know about her?"

"You're crossing the line."

"I don't think you remember what a line is… You're having a family with a woman you don't want or love. You know you were raised better."

"I love her." Henry said sternly.

"Where's the ring?"

"I'm working on it." He yelled. Seiko laughed. "Why do you care about any of it?"

"Because the Henry I knew was kind and wouldn't hurt people or force people to be his servants. I miss him. Everyone just wants our Henry back… Those villagers, those people, they were just like me. That would be my life if I wasn't fortunate enough to work in the castle. So what? You want to hurt everyone? You want to hurt me? Someone you claim is your friend? You know, I'm glad you won't be king in your lifetime because at this rate, we'd all be doomed." Seiko walked away.

Henry ran his hands through his thick black hair then rested his hands on his head as he looked up at the sky.

-v-

December 21, 2022, it was Prince Baelfire David Cassidy's twenty-second birthday. It was the first time he would celebrate his birthday in the world he was born in. It was actually the first time he celebrated on his actual birthday because time is a tad slower in their world. The days leading up to it was enjoyable so he didn't expect anything less for the day. They were set for some laser tag fun, something else that can't be done in the Enchanted Forest.

Then they went to the diner and they got him a birthday cake. It was white and blue, inspired by the winter with one blue candle on top. He made a wish…

Amy and Sam walked in and came over to the table, kindly said happy birthday.

"Join us!" Bae invited.

"Thanks but we're just going to order to-go." Sam said before she and Amy went to the counter to order. Vella followed.

"What's going on?" Clearly, there was something they weren't saying.

"Nothing…" Amy said. It was that nothing that was obviously something but you didn't want to say it was something.

Vella gave them a look, there are no idiots here.

"We're not a part of your new life and we don't want to intrude." Sam said.

"That's ridiculous. You're my best friends. For a long time you were all I had. Lately, I've just been working on myself, my issues, getting stronger and they bring some new hope into my life."

"But they hang out with Andy Davis." Sam said.

"So? Andy is cool. He's one of the nicest people you can meet."

"He's weird and crazy."

"Is that what people think, why they stare at him? He is not… Just come hang out with us. They're the kindest people ever. They're a little different. They say things that are a bit odd for people our age and have a different outlook on life but it's a part of their charm. Come on, it's our last chance to hang out before you both go home and I go to back to New York with Baelfire. So what do you say?"

They joined them at the table and could see that why Vella liked spending time with them. Bae's twenty-second birthday was a good one, can only hope that the rest of the year is just as good.

-v-

Christmas was like the ones you see in the movies, perfect decorations, good food and tons of gifts around the tree. There were gifts for everyone. The holiday wasn't totally foreign to them, Giselle's family and Lilo and Stitch who still live at the castle still celebrated it so they would join in some of their festivities. It brought them all closer together, it was a very warm and loving occasion. It definitely helped make Bae and Vella closer which only made Hope miss Andy, Emery miss Melody and Roland miss Alexandra.

On New Year's Eve, they went to Times Square to watch the ball drop. You know, when in Rome or in this case New York… It was fun, cold but fun. They've seen colder days in the Enchanted Forest so that wasn't much of a big deal. It began to snow lightly, first snow of the season. At home, it would have already snowed many times by now but apparently this world's weather is seriously tricked up because of something called global warning which isn't a problem in their world. So there are some benefits to not having all the advances that this world has. Came midnight, Bae looked into Vella's hazel and kissed her. He hoped he could kiss her for every year to come, for the connection they had was so natural, so true, it couldn't be anything but meant to be. They were soulmates and they didn't need a fairy to tell them so.

A couple days later, it was time for Roland and Nara to go back home. It was just the vacation they needed from what was going on at home. They got to experience new things, meet new people and spend time with Bae, Hope and Emery. They missed them dearly. They kept Bae in the dark about what was going on at home though, no one wanted to distract him from his mission. He would have felt the need to go home before it was time and there was no need, there really wasn't much he could do.

Bae took Roland and Nara to The Charmed Ones home in San Francisco. Bae rang the doorbell and a blonde haired man about his age opened the door.

"Hello, can I help you?" The man asked.

"Hello, I'm Baelfire, this is Roland and Nara. Does Piper Halliwell still live here?"

"Yes. I'm her son, Wyatt."

"Nice to meet you. My mother, Emma asked for your mom and aunts' help about seven years ago. We need their help, magical help again, though not as extreme this time."

Wyatt looked at them for a moment before pulling the door back to let them in. He can detect evil so he knew they weren't it. They went to the living room where Wyatt's younger sister, Melinda and brother, Chris were sitting and introduced them.

"What exactly do you all need?" Wyatt asked.

"They need a portal back to our world. You would probably call it fairy tale land." Bae explained.

"Oh, I remember mom talking about them." Chris said.

"Well, my mom and aunts aren't here but we can get you home." Wyatt informed.

How powerful the three of them were was in the "Tales from other Lands" book. They were the next generation of Charmed Ones but they called them Trinity. He just didn't know they had developed their powers to that extent.

"Thank you. It's truly appreciated." Roland said.

They all went up to the attic. Wyatt, Chris and Melinda got the Book of Shadows and said the spell that allowed them to open the portal in front of the triquetra drawn on the attic wall. It opened and after they hugged Bae goodbye, Roland and Nara walked through the portal.

"It was kind of you to help basic strangers with little question, though you sort of heard of before." Bae said.

"It's what we do." Melinda said.

"We have a lot to live up to being the children of heroes." Bae said. They understood that statement whole-heartedly, especially being more powerful than their elders. Bae teleported back to Maleficent's.