A/N: Thank you so much for all of my follows and favorites so far! And thank you especially to Kate Pendragon, who left an awesome review and has an amazing OUAT story herself. This chapter is for you! :) Thank you, everyone! Hope you're enjoying it!

Mr. Gold sighed as he heard the bell to his shop ring. "Closed," he called over his shoulder, his back to the entrance. When was he going to remember to lock that door?

"This is important, Gold."

He turned to see Emma marching toward him with Henry in tow. Folding his hands on top of a glass case, Mr. Gold put on a smile. Though it wasn't truly genuine, these two were less of a nuisance than certain others.

"Miss Swan. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Hey, Mr. Gold," Henry said with a grin, announcing his presence as he stood beside his mother.

"Good to see you, Henry." That was truth; Henry was his own flesh and blood, the only remnant of Baelfire. Mr. Gold reached out to ruffle his hair, though he noted that he had to reach up instead of down. He was growing fast.

Emma placed her hands on the edge of the case. "We think Regina's up to something."

Mr. Gold chuckled. "Isn't she always? And now, if I were you, Miss Swan, I'd be watching my back."

"Look," Emma sighed, a familiar stab of guilt squeezing her heart, "I'm concerned for the town. Not just myself."

Now this was getting interesting. Mr. Gold straightened and inclined his head forward. "Let's hear it, then."

Emma looked down at Henry. "Explain away."

Henry met Mr. Gold's gaze with an urgent expression. "She has a genie."

Improbable, but not impossible. He raised his eyebrows at Henry, piqued by this bit of information. "Are you sure? Did you see it?"

"Well, I didn't exactly see him, but I heard him and my mom talking. They said something about Agrabah."

"It's possible. There are genies in Agrabah. But even if she did have a genie, why would you consider that a threat? He couldn't do anything Regina couldn't."

"He talked to her about changing the laws of magic."

Mr. Gold huffed, disappointed. "That's impossible. Trust me, I've tried." His gaze rested on Emma for only a moment. Only she could even begin to understand the grief of losing Baelfire. If there was a way to raise the dead, he, the Dark One,would surely have figured it out already.

"It's not impossible."

The new voice turned Mr. Gold's head. Belle emerged from the back room, smiling briefly at him.

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear." She stepped behind the counter, next to Mr. Gold, and looked between Emma and Henry. Then she trained her gaze on Mr. Gold. "Do you remember the book I found hidden in the library?"

Yes, he certainly did. The old book seemed to have been written in the Victorian age, in England, but it was the only copy remaining, so far as they had found. At first he had thought it was just an old version of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but what Belle had told him about the contents of the book made it seem like otherwise.

"I do. Did you ever finish it?"

"I did." She turned back to face the mother and son. "And I think it's more than just a book. There was a powerful sorcerer named Jafar who wanted to change the laws of magic, and he did it by using three genies and a sorceress. In the end, he was defeated and sentenced to a life serving others as a genie."

Henry glanced up at Emma. "Another book? Like Once Upon a Time?"

Emma seemed a little more unsure, her lips set in a frown. "What makes you think it's not just a story?"

However, Belle was not put off. Her expression remained just as confident. "Will Scarlet."