Title: Meant to Be
Alternate Title: There is no Excuse for This
Summary: Post-Season 3, but not delving into Season 4's work with time portals and Frozen characters. Introducing new characters and answering the show's mysteries with headcannons. Because sometimes, things just happen differently.
Chapter Four: The Back-Up Plan
Chapter Summary: An unfamiliar person arrives in Storybrooke.
A/N: My line breaks aren't showing up for some reason, so for the story I'll be switching the type of break I use. Sorry about any inconvenience with that!
xxxxxxxxxxx
In Steven's mind, the only thing more degrading than harvesting avocados in a field full of four grown men singing The Farmer in the Dell was working for a female sheriff. He didn't have it in him to ask, but he quietly wondered about the logic that employed this admittedly gorgeous blonde as a sheriff. What next- kids? Animals?
"Here," she handed him an oddly-shaped box made out of Styrofoam.
"What's this?" he poked at it tentatively.
"Breakfast sandwich," she opened it for him. "I couldn't be a sheriff eating donuts. It's too cliché,"
Steven nodded and tried it. Evidently, "breakfast sandwiches" were made with English muffins, sausage patties, scrambled eggs and cheese. Why had he never thought of that?
"So, where's your friend today?"
By 'your friend,' he was sure she meant Azure. "She's helping out Mother Superior at the monastery. Seemed pretty excited to see her, must be her people senses," animals were known to have good senses about people.
Emma nodded. "Oh, before I forget," she swallowed her food and pointed to the cell; "don't go in there. It's- ahm- dangerous," it was hard to gauge how much of their reality he could take.
"Got it," Ring! Ring! "Good morning- sheriff's department," he grabbed a pen and a piece of paper; "You're...you're who, now?"
The sheriff, behind him, let out a small, quiet laugh. He took some notes; she waited for him to finish.
"Do you have any more information on the woman who followed you here?"
"Sister Elizabeth?" he looked over. "She followed me here?"
"Oh, no, um, sorry," she fumbled for words. Prior to now, she had assumed they knew each other, only because of what Blue told her about the reason she had shown up. "It's just an expression- she showed up right after you did. I thought you might know who she is,"
"Oh. Well, she looks familiar to me, but I can't place it,"
That clearly piqued Emma's interest. "Really? You think she's from wherever you're from?"
"I don't know any nuns named 'Elizabeth.' Sorry, Emma,"
"No- no, that's okay," she failed to pretend she thought they wouldn't know each other.
There was a break in conversation while he ate his sandwich. "I just got a call," he swallowed; "from a girl who thinks the sky is falling,"
"Penny," she answered with a sigh. "We get those calls every couple months- it's probably time for them to increase her medication," she finished the rest of her food and dusted the bread crumbs from her hands.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Mother Superior was tending the garden out in front of the monastery. As it turned out, even fairies needed to trim their hedges. And Azure helped as much as she could, safely, sensing that the older woman would definitely not want her to be hurt. They worked for a long time in silence, as it seemed Blue wasn't exactly sure what to say.
"I must say, I'm...glad to see you in good health,"
Azzie smiled and grabbed the nun by the wrist, avoiding her hand because that was where the hedge clippers were. Then she grabbed the hose.
"No, we don't need to water yet," the little girl put it down. "There are some more weeds in the flower beds, could you get them for me?" she nodded and headed for the flower beds that were closer to the walls.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
The honeymoon was nearly forgotten as Rumplestiltskin now found himself distracted with trying to figure out the mysterious portal. Belle, as per her usual self, had tracked down a few books on the subject herself and was throwing herself into it with more fervor than he could quite muster.
"Our time together keeps getting interrupted," he mentioned, standing behind her. She was so involved in what she was reading that she hadn't noticed him there, so it startled her.
"It's alright. We didn't have anything to do today except be married,"
"Do we have to have something else to do?"
She looked up at him and smiled with just the part of her mouth he could see, given the way her head was tilted. "I can happily say I'll never be bored with you, Rumple,"
"...hnn..." he turned his face away and thumped his cane on the ground.
"What is it? You've been so distracted lately,"
It took him a few seconds to gather a response. "Nothing to report,"
She rolled her eyes. "...alright, Rumple," with that, she returned to the book she had in front of her.
"So, what have you found so far?"
"It looks like...the most efficient way to close a one-man, one-way portal is..." she gave the text on the page an odd stare.
"Have you never read in this language before?" he put his finger over the text. "These are the ingredients to the spell that would shut down the portal,"
"But...what do eggs have to do with it?"
He abruptly jerked his head to the page. "Where do you see 'eggs' here?"
She pointed to a section of scribbles that, to anyone else, might look like a toddler had gotten a hold of an ink pen. He took her finger over a little on the page. "Oh- I see, so that's all one word. That makes more sense," she flipped through the book a little; "But we don't have any of this,"
"We have eggs in the refrigerator,"
Belle turned the page, making a laughing sound that resembled static on a television. She regained her seriousness after something in the text caught her eye. "It's also possible to shut down a portal by reversing it and sending him back through, as long as he's able to destroy the object the portal's in,"
"That," he said, straightening up his spine; "would require more items that I don't possess at the moment,"
"...so, basically...we don't have anything we'd need to shut down this portal?"
"Precisely. There's enough magic here for the ingredients to work- just no ingredients,"
"...surely there must be some substitution..." she kept looking. "It says that if we have an enchanted item, we can cross some of these items off our list,"
"...hm," he grunted and nodded. "That's a thought,"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flashback
Unknown Universe
Unknown Time
London, England
Six-year-old Mary-Jane didn't like being called 'Elizabeth,' but it was her middle name and her father liked it better, so that was how they introduced her, and it was what everyone called her. Everyone, that was, except Robbie.
It was early Sunday morning, the usual for church. Elizabeth's parents got out of the carriage just behind her as she struggled to ignore her childish whim of running up to greet her friend, little Robert Lincoln White Junior. Her parents would be upset with her.
"Good morning, Ms. Mary-Jane," he tipped the little hat he was wearing.
"Good morning, Mr. White," her mother tried to interrupt and talk over the top of her to keep her quiet, but it was unsuccessful. She wrapped her arms around him, anyways.
"Robbie!" she took in a deep breath and tried to start telling him about her week, but her father jerked her shoulder.
"Come along, Elizabeth,"
That still didn't deter her. "Come on, Robbie," she grabbed his arm. He obediently followed her and her parents. His parents, as usual, allowed him to sit with them. Her parents posed no real objections as long as they were quiet, so they would stay completely silent for the whole Catholic mass, only communicating through sighs and occasional facial expressions.
"And, as I've mentioned before, we should all know that these so-called 'magical abilities' are a trick of the enemy! All magic must be abandoned, so that we can truly live in Goodness of Spirit..."
Mary-Jane held her tongue. Her mother roughly pushed at her shoulder to break her gaze away from Robert.
"Pay attention, Elizabeth," she whispered angrily. Only she didn't want to. She didn't want to hear the priest call all magic 'evil' the way he did every week.
"Okay," she gave in and looked at the man who condemned all magic and its users to "a fate worse than death." As though he had the authority to do that.
Like most people in her world, Mary-Jane had a special ability. She could go inside any world that had been thought of, so long as it was written or drawn, and become a character in it until the story ended. And she used that power in secret, to bring happy endings into sad stories. And she just didn't understand how something like that could be considered 'evil,' but it wasn't like her opinions mattered.
"Take good mental notes, Elizabeth," her father said; "You'll need to know this for when you join the convent,"
Only Mary-Jane didn't want to be a nun in a religion that told her magic was evil. "Okay,"
And she tried to care, she really did. She tried to focus and pay attention and believe it for sure. But she didn't.
Robbie gave her a goofy smile from where he was sitting in an attempt to cheer her up. She smiled back politely.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Present day
Storybrooke, Maine
Steven ended up having to make a run to Granny's that afternoon for lunch. He ran in with a small list of requests from the town sheriff and patiently waited by the bar. The same waitress from the day before was running around like a chicken with her head cut off trying to serve all the tables and take all the orders. It was the diner's owner who came out to approach him.
"I hope you brought money this time,"
He pulled the small wad of green paper out of his pocket to show her.
"Good," time had softened her irritation with the whole incident. Given her general demeanor, he didn't expect an apology, or anything related to that, but things would hopefully go more smoothly from now on. "Now, what can I get for you?"
He grabbed the list and checked over it. "Uh...a Diner Classic Special, no ketchup, extra onions, and a Pepsi for the first order,"
"French fries or onion rings?" the confused look on his face let her know that Emma hadn't written it down. "I'll just give her her usual. And you?"
"Could you make a soup to-go?"
"Yep,"
"Okay. I'll have a...clam chowder,"
"Sure. Side salad and breadsticks?"
"Yes, please,"
She calculated something on the computer in front of her. "The total cost will be eighteen ninety-four,"
He handed her the fistful of cash. She weeded through it, found what she needed, and handed him some change. "The approximate wait time is twenty minutes. Someone 'll call you when it's ready,"
Steven gave her a nod and sat down at the barstool. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched Sister Elizabeth enter the building. She was seated at a booth, and he couldn't help but over-hear the conversation.
"Good afternoon! How are you doing today, Sister?"
"I'm doing well, thanks," she said that, though it was clear that she was self-conscious; she probably didn't expect to see Steven here. It seemed to be something about him that had her uneasy. "How are you today..." her eyes searched for a nametag.
"Oh, it's Ruby, and I'm doing fine- thanks for asking. Would you like to start with something to drink?"
"Yes, certainly. What do you have?"
"Pepsi products," at the inevitable confusion the woman suffered, the waitress realized she would have to elaborate. "We have Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Sprite, Mountain Dew-"
"Oh, Mountain Dew?" the piqued her interest. "That sounds lovely. You collect actual dew from the mountains and distill it?" Ruby didn't have a chance to answer, and wasn't exactly sure what to say anyways. She couldn't tell if the woman was being serious or not. "I'll have one of them, then. A 'Mountain Dew.' I'm sure it will be just divine,"
"Um...sure," she furrowed her brow and wrote it down. "Would you like some time to look over the menu while I get your drink?"
"Yes, please, there's so much on here!" Sister Elizabeth was overwhelmed with the number of items there were listed.
"No problem. I'll be back with your drink in a couple minutes,"
She looked over the menu intently as the girl walked away. There were so many words on here she didn't understand. While she was looking, the man she had previously been concerned about approached her table.
"It seems," he said; "that people in this town can just go up to other peoples' tables and start conversations with them,"
"I have never seen this happen until you did it today," she looked up to smile at him. He was more than several years her junior; based on appearances, approximately twenty. "You may sit here, if you like," her eyes returned to the menu and he obligingly sat down.
After what might have been half a minute in silence, Steven said; "Thank you for watching Azzie yesterday. You seem like you're really good with kids,"
Emotional recoil showed up in a brief, nearly undetectable flash on her face. Nevertheless, she nodded. "I do love children," she admitted. "It was a pleasure to watch her,"
He gave her a firm nod. "From what I hear, you showed up in town a little after I did. Where did you come from?"
"London, England. And you?"
"New York, America," he chuckled slightly. "Why did you come here?"
"To help a friend,"
"I wound up here by accident,"
Sister Elizabeth looked back up from her menu. "Yes," she breathed; "and I'm certain that you need to get home as soon as possible. I'm sure there's someone back at home who's waiting to see you,"
"My wife," he answered simply.
"...don't forget your parents. I'm sure they'll be happy to see you, too," the smile became more and more forced.
"Of course,"
"Here's your drink, Sister," she brought out an oddly-shaped glass. "Have you decided what you'd like to eat for lunch?"
"Yes, I'll have your turkey sandwich meal," she looked down at the glass; "Why is it green?"
"..." Ruby paused as she started to write the order down. "That's just what it looks like," then she finished writing. "The turkey sandwich is an experimental item, I'm trying a few things out right now. You want everything on it?"
"Yes,"
"And...pick a side?"
Sister Elizabeth looked over the list of sides. "I suppose I'll get it with 'onion rings,'"
"Okay. That'll be coming right up," she rushed out again. Sister Elizabeth pulled her glass towards herself and, after a few seconds of contemplation, decided to just take a drink out of it instead of trying to figure out the straw. It fizzed in her mouth and had the strangest flavor she'd ever experienced. The shock and bubbles in the liquid made her choke.
"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry," she apologized as the drink got everywhere. Steven grabbed a napkin and helped her clean up the mess.
"Don't worry about it. That happened to me the other day," he grinned in amusement of the past incident.
"That wasn't what I expected at all," she complained in a subtle tone. "I don't think dew drops are supposed to fizz. I don't know what this was, but it certainly wasn't 'mountain dew,'"
The mess got cleaned up, and the waitress offered to just bring her a water back- which worked out perfectly fine as far as anybody was concerned.
"Ah, so, Steven," Sister Elizabeth tried to start up a lighter conversation after that; "how do you like New York?"
"Well, I've lived there all my life, so I don't have anything to compare it to...I'd sort of like to travel, see more of America, but..." he shook his head; "my parents couldn't make the trip, and they need me around in case of an emergency,"
"You must really love your parents," it seemed she was gathering up the courage to say something.
"I do. They're the best parents I could have asked for,"
And the gumption left her immediately. "I hope they know their son thinks so highly of them. Once you get home, be sure to tell them. I'm sure they'll be glad to hear it,"
"Steven!" an unfamiliar blonde woman called him from behind the counter. "Your order's ready!"
"That's me," he stood up and made a motion over his head, as if to tip his hat, although he wasn't wearing one. "Have a nice day, Sister Elizabeth,"
"You do the same, Detective,"
And it was so natural to him to be called that, he didn't even question how she knew he was a detective.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flashback
Unknown Universe
Unknown Time
London, England
Elizabeth's pre-teen years came. She attended school in a convent, surrounded by floods of other girls. Her parents insisted that she get "socialized" around the nuns, because they were to be "her people." She was not to use magic- and, unless one was referring to the love of religion or love of the monastery or love of God- she was absolutely not to fall in love.
Of course not- love is the most powerful form of magic in existence.
There was to be no planning weddings- unless that referred to studying one's vows. No hopes for children of her own, and very little time to participate in endeavors outside the church-related functions her parents forced her into. As far as she understood- and the twelve-year-old was perceptive- her father was in the running to become a church elder, and the more she participated, the better he looked. Fortunately for her, there was one person at all these charities and fundraisers who wasn't completely brainwashed and talking according to a script.
"Why if it isn't Ms. Mary-Jane," Robert tipped his hat as she entered the chapel. She straightened her posture and looked directly at him, with a fond smile that could easily be taken for polite.
"Good morning, Little Robbie. What are our tasks for today?"
"Well," he answered; "I am sweeping the chimneys. Winter's coming 'round soon, the Sisters have already been making use of their fire places. Ask Sister Marigold about your assignment,"
"Thank you, Robert,"
He saw that her parents were there, and graciously bowed out of the conversation.
"Don't let the boys distract you," her mother scolded her in a subtle yet harsh tone. Her father said nothing.
"I know, mother,"
"Ah, Elizabeth, how wonderful to see you," Sister Marigold was an elderly woman, no younger than sixty-five, with her silver-white hair up in a tight bun. She was like a grandmother to the younger girl, a grandmother with whom your relationship was only "good" as long as you agreed with them on everything. That...probably described most grandparents, right?
"Good morning, Sister Marigold,"
Her father gave one of his self-important, attention-grabbing, completely-fake coughs. "I have errands to do today, Sister. Can we entrust our daughter to you for a while?"
"Why of course. Have a wonderful day," and, after a while of idling, useless chit-chat, the adults finally left her alone. Sister Marigold turned a wry smile to the young girl. "What job would you like to do today, Ms. Elizabeth?"
It was no longer so grating to be called 'Elizabeth.' The more she aged, the more 'Mary-Jane' and 'Elizabeth' seemed like two different people. And the more different the two of them seemed, the more she wanted these people just to call her 'Elizabeth.' Because they didn't know 'Mary-Jane,' the girl with her own opinions and dreams and desires and questions, they only knew 'Elizabeth,' the girl her parents wanted her to be.
"I would like to help out with the chimney sweeps,"
"Of course you would. Go see Little Robert. I put him in charge of the sweepers,"
"Yes, thank you,"
And she spent the rest of that day getting covered in soot and ash, knowing she'd be scolded and sent to bed without supper for getting so dirty, and completely not caring.
Her parents would scold her for something, anyways. She may as well have fun at whatever she was getting scolded for.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Present day
Storybrooke, Maine
The sun was beginning to set. Gradually, all the nuns piled back into the monastery from their outside volunteer work, and dinner was served in meager portions of canned goods. Azure was invited for food as she had been the previous night, and it seemed Sister Elizabeth wasn't terribly hungry after her lunch earlier, so she allowed the girl to take an extra helping of whatever she wanted from her plate.
They exchanged facial expressions. The little girl remained completely silent, although it was quite clear that she could still hear everyone. She was clumsy with the utensils and kept dropping them, most likely because she couldn't quite figure out her thumbs.
It must have been strange to have them.
Over the past few days, it had become quite clear to Elizabeth that everyone in this entire town had either two names, or half-names. Some had last names with no first names, and of the people on that list, the most interesting was 'Mr. Gold.'
"Ah, so, Sister Elizabeth," Mother Superior was one of the few people to actually address her even now. "Do you and Azure know each other from somewhere?"
And she turned her head, then tilted it downward slightly, a fond gaze directed right at the child. "I do know of, well, someone called 'Azure,' where I'm from," she admitted; "but that person didn't look quite so...human," and the little girl giggled at that.
"...I see," so then...all three of them were probably from the same world. And all three of them had probably entered through that same portal. The question was- why?- but Blue didn't bring up that question in front of the other sisters. She let everything go quiet between them for the time being.
Steven came to pick up Azzie as their meal was coming to a close. It was Sister Maggie's job to gather everybody's plates into the kitchen for the evening, so she walked around the table with a small cart and kept to it.
"Good evening, Steven, it's lovely to see you," Sister Elizabeth stood and helped Azzie down from a chair that was just a little too high for her. She responded with a thankful smile and ran to meet the man. "You're looking much better than yesterday,"
He chuckled dryly. "Thanks. I guess it's about time for me to get going, then. Have a good night, Sisters,"
"Good night!" they all called out to him at various different times, a few in unison but mostly scattered.
Mother Superior approached Elizabeth as the others began to scatter out.
"Can I help you with something?"
She nodded. "Actually, you can. I have some questions for you. Please, sit back down," Blue motioned for the large kitchen table, and took a seat where Sister Elizabeth could sit across from her.
"Certainly, Mother Superior,"
She cleared her throat. "Now, I realize this may be none of my business, but...when I asked you the other day, you told me you came here to help a friend. The only person that could be is Steven...yet, the two of you don't seem to know each other. Is he the one you came for?"
"Yes," she spared no information.
"So...what exactly is his relationship to you, if the two of you don't know each other?"
There was a pause. Elizabeth lightly swirled her finger around and around on the wooden table top, her eyes moving from place to place every so often as she tried to gather a response. "I'm afraid that's much more complicated than you realize, Mother Superior."
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flashback
Unknown Universe
Unknown Time
London, England
As Elizabeth headed through her teen years, certain things began to change. Although she was still attending school at the monastery, she was now- more than ever- willing to rebel. And Robert, whose family didn't buy into the "all magic is evil" nonsense, was more than willing to travel about with her. While her ability was to travel through stories, his ability was to follow. And it worked out perfectly. He would even make small chalk drawings for the two of them to travel through. As it turned out, Little Robbie was an excellent artist.
The two of them were now fourteen; it was a Saturday, another Saturday after a long day of sweeping chimneys. Her parents would go beyond scolding her and sending her to bed without supper now. And still, she couldn't find it in herself to care. What she was more concerned about was her feelings for this boy. Mary-Jane wasn't sure, but...in her nearly fifteen year old mind, she knew she at least liked him differently than she was supposed to.
"I don't think I want to be called 'Robbie' anymore," he told her. "That's what everyone calls my dad. I don't want to be 'Little Robbie Junior,'"
It was a sudden proclamation, but she accepted. "What shall I call you, then?"
"Hm...good question," he pondered it for a moment. She let him come up with whatever he wanted to be called on his own. "Perhaps...I've always liked 'Bert,'"
"'Bert' it is then, from now on,"
She was just finishing up the top of the chimney when she tripped and nearly fell. From behind her, she heard a concerned "Whoa-!", and Robert grabbed her arm.
For a few seconds, she hung there, looking down at the intimidating ground. Even in the dark, she could see, she would easily have died. And so would he, if he had lost his footing by even a millimeter. She slowly pulled herself back down onto the roof.
"You're lucky I didn't keep falling," she gasped, giving him a hug.
"No, you're lucky I was behind you,"
"...I'm always so lucky when I'm with you, Bert,"
"Aha!" he gave a jolly smile and spun her around towards the safe center of the rooftop. "It's because of my chimney-sweep charm," Bert held out his hand, showing that it was covered with ash and soot; "Good luck just rubs right off,"
And even though she had just had a near-brush with death, she laughed. He carried the cleaning utensils with him back towards the stairs that led downwards, then just set them down there and returned to her to sit and chat.
"So, how have you been, Ms. Mary-Jane?"
"Fine. Just fine. Um, did I tell you- my uncle wrote a book?"
"No, no you didn't. What's it called?"
"It's...it's called...The Plight of the Banks Children, or something like that. It's terribly sad, I don't know why he wrote it,"
"What happens?"
"It starts out with these two kids, Jane and Michael, and their family who's looking for a new nanny. They hire a new one, and she's this horrible old woman- makes everyone miserable. Eventually, the two kids give up and become completely obsessed with money, their Uncle Albert laughs himself to death, and their dad practically signs away all his morality to a bank that works him like a dog until he dies in the epilogue. And the saddest part is, by the time he dies, neither of the children knows anything about him but that he had money, and the only reason they care is because they want some,"
Bert took a moment to consider his response. Finally, he said; "Now, that, is a sad story. Every family should take a day off to just...you know, go fly a kite every once in a while,"
"That's what I thought,"
"So," he dusted his hands off on each other, succeeding in smudging it around more than in cleaning them off; "why don't we go, then?"
And she knew exactly what he meant. She nodded. "I was so hoping you would say that, because I brought the book with me," Mary-Jane grabbed his hand with one of hers and, with the other, pulled the book out of the large pocket on the apron she was wearing. "Now, remember, the story chooses what form you'll be in- you don't. And make absolutely certain that no one finds this book. If anyone reads it while we're inside, you'll be trapped in there forever,"
"Won't that happen to you, too?"
She shook her head 'no.' "Now- here. Hand me that chimney floot, it's easier to get inside the story if the magic has something to latch on to,"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Present day
Storybrooke, Maine
By the time Elizabeth reached the little antique shop with "Mr. Gold" written on it, it was pitch black out, and had been for a while. There was but one light on, and that one was from the inside of the building.
"...what about this one?" what on earth was that accent?
"No, that one's blessed, not enchanted,"
"...what's the difference?"
"'Blessed' starts with the creator, 'Enchanted' is in the material," the absolutely confused look on Belle's face told him he needed to explain more. "A blessed object is a normal object with an enchantment on it. An enchanted object is made out of magical materials,"
The door chimed open. Rumple let out an intense grunt of frustration, causing Belle to jerk and see what exactly was going on. Right. He didn't like being interrupted.
"Is that sign in a foreign language? I thought 'Closed' was in English,"
"It's nice to see you too," the nun lifted her head. "Rumplestiltskin," she tapped her umbrella on the ground. He stopped everything, his eyes narrowing in on that object.
"What's going on? She knows you?"
He nodded. "Yes...yes, I believe I do," he straightened himself up. "You weren't supposed to wind up here, Sister,"
"What do you want with him, Rumplestiltskin?"
That question brought a complete silence over the room. "Pardon me? What makes me think I want anything to do with him?"
"You're the only person I know who could travel to where I lived and leave,"
"...Well, I regret to inform you, but that's not actually my power. I needed an enchanted item to do that- and as I was just explaining to Belle...I have none. And besides that, no reason to bring Detective Penn over to Storybrooke. We have a perfectly good sheriff in town,"
It was his turn to silence her. He was the next person to talk.
"Is this your boy then, Sister?"
As though she was expecting this question, she answered; "You pose a complicated question,"
He didn't push her further.
"...so...how do you two know each other?"
"Sister Elizabeth was part of a...project...I was working on. A, uh, sort of..."Plan B" for the curse,"
"She was part of your back-up plan?"
He considered her choice of wording, and then nodded in approval. "Yes, that's a perfect way to say it,"
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flashback
Unknown Universe
Unknown Time
London, England
For her seventeenth birthday, Bert got her an umbrella. As far as her parents knew, it was a practical gift. But she knew better. She knew the umbrella was enchanted to help her expand her power, to help her focus it.
Mary-Jane had but a year left before she must become Elizabeth full-time, and she planned to utilize this time to her fullest. The book she liked the least had become her favorite as she frequented over and over, bringing happy endings wherever she could.
And, tonight, she had one last thing to express.
The stories put the new bodies to their personas as usual and dropped them into the story, this time with the umbrella to guide them. They landed on the pavement, and started off for the small inn they normally stayed at. Mary-Jane clasped her hand onto his. He took his hat off and placed it on her head. Within a few minutes, they had been given a room.
"Tomorrow," she informed him, as though he needed to be told; "the real fun starts," and he sat his things down on his bed.
"You betcha. I really like those two kids," he chuckled and sat down beside her on her bed after he had unpacked some of his things.
She was quiet and hesitant, but nevertheless asked; "Do you want children, Bert?"
"Yeah, sure. Someday,"
"..." she took a shaky breath. "I want to tell you something, Bert,"
"And what's that, Ms. Mary-Jane?"
She tried to say it. She opened her mouth, but the words didn't come out. For a split second, she wished she hadn't said anything. Then, she kissed him.
She kissed him. And it didn't stop there.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flashback
Cont.
London, England
In real time, it only took a few hours to finish the book. However, the whole story lasted over nine months. When Mary-Jane stepped out of the pages, she noticed a bulge in her stomach.
Oh...oh no.
She was...
pregnant...
Her mind reeled. In a blind panic, she grabbed her book and ran. No, she couldn't possibly stay at home. Her father would surely find a way to kill that child. He'd push her down the stairs, for one, and then disown her. She'd be ex-communicated.
It wasn't long before she was out of breath and struggling for a dock. She sneaked on and stowed away in a compartment of a ship, headed for America.
The wooden boat jerked and moved out into the ocean. Within a few seconds, once she had calmed down as much as she was going to, another horrifying thought occurred to her.
Where was Bert?
She opened the book. His name glared up at her in permanent ink and seared into her memory. Someone must have looked. And it trapped him in there.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Flashback
Cont.
Approaching land at New York Harbor
She spent the next series of days trying to hold down her tears.
There were so many things she was upset about that she couldn't tell one feeling from the next. But if she gave away her position on this boat, she would most likely be killed, along with her unborn child. At least three times she had nearly been found.
Mary-Jane clutched the book in her hand. The pile of wooden boxes clanked together all around her. She tried to shrink herself down and make herself invisible.
It didn't work, of course.
A man who looked like a crewman of the ship suddenly locked eyes with her. Her heart pounded, her breaths shook. He was headed right for her, with a look in his eye that told her he clearly knew what he was after. When he got close- and he did get close, mere centimeters from her face- she couldn't stop staring at him, out of pure terror. He let out an odd, awkward, high-pitched laugh.
"I thought I sensed...desperation," there was some manner of glee on his face. "And I was right,"
"Wha-what are you doing here? Who are you?!"
"Shhh! Tut-tut-tut, if you don't keep your voice down, everyone will hear you, dearie,"
"Who are you?" her whisper hissed through the air.
"Rumplestiltskin, at your service,"
She stopped talking a little bit. The boxes jerked around and she moved with them.
"So! I came to offer you a little deal, Ms..."
"Mary,"
"Mary! Well, alright then,"
"...what's the deal?"
"I'm afraid I won't know that until you make your wish. What's it gonna be?"
Mary stared at him in shock of what was happening. Then, all at once, her wishes hit her. She looked to the book, then her bulging stomach, then the other crewmen on board.
"Time is of the essence, dearie. What'll it be?"
She looked down at her belly and tears filled her eyes. "I wish...I wish that after we make it to shore, my child would be adopted by a nice couple before they can ever remember being abandoned,"
Rumplestiltskin was actually taken aback with that, and that was clear by his pause. "What a clever girl," he finally said; "You've found a way to combine two wishes into one," and, not only that, but she had put a stipulation on him. Now, he couldn't ask for her unborn child as payment. "Well, I can grant this for you, but you should know- all magic comes with a price. We can call it a 'service charge,'" he laughed again, a dreadful, humming laugh.
"What do you want?"
"Huh..." that was a good question. "Do you see that book you're carrying?" she nodded. "The page before 'The End.' That one,"
And she struggled for a second, but then she gave it to him. It was a small price to pay.
"It's too bad you couldn't fit your third wish in,"
And that was when he left. He blended back in with the crewmen aboard and seemed to completely disappear.
The rest of her ride went on in silence.
xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Present day
Storybrooke, Maine
When the next morning came, Emma couldn't track Steven down. He wasn't at the sheriff's department, and Happy didn't know where his roommate had gone. Mother Superior hadn't seen him. After she made about a hundred different phone calls, a small search party gathered outside the office.
Steven, with his young friend clasped onto his hand, quickly ambulated through town in what could only be desperation to leave. They were, to his knowledge, no closer to being able to send him home, and he needed to get there. As he neared the edge of town, he noticed the orange line that divided this town from the next.
"Wait!" his feet neared it. It was a blonde woman calling after him, one he'd not met yet.
The locals knew her as Tinkerbell. He ignored her.
"Mr. Penn, please stop!"
By the time she said that, he had already stepped over the line. He walked through a strange magical field, and after a few second, he ended up on a strange road. Azure, beside him, was a dog again, but the town he'd just left had...vanished. All he could do was stare wide-eyed at the blank expanse.