Here's chapter 7, hope you like it. Let me know what you think.
Neal awoke confused and sore. As he opened his eyes he saw he was lying under a makeshift tent of some kind. He moved to sit up to better take in his surroundings, hissing in pain from the wound to his gut.
"He's awake!" He heard a woman shout as she rushed over to him, the sound of two other pairs of feet joining hers.
Neal moved to sit up again but an oriental looking woman pushed him gently back down.
"No, don't move. You'll rip out your stitches. I worked hard on those." Her voice was more severe than the other woman's voice he'd heard.
"So I'm not dead?" Neal asked absently.
"No," the woman replied. "You came very close to dying though. It's lucky we found you when we did. Another hour or maybe even less and you might've died."
"Where am I?" He asked, trying again to sit up and look around.
"I said stay down," the woman said.
"Can you please just help me sit up? I'll be careful, I won't do anything to rip the stitches out."
"Fine," she huffed. She slowly helped Neal get into a sitting position.
As he finally got a chance to look around, he was pretty sure he knew where he had ended up. He couldn't be too sure but the place looked familiar, though all he could really see were trees. It was more of a gut feeling. It felt familiar to him. He was sure he was back in the Enchanted Forest; somewhere he thought he'd never go back to.
"You're in the Enchanted Forest," a man to his right said. "I'm Philip, this is Mulan," he pointed to the oriental woman, "and this is Aurora," he said as he grasped her hand and smiled at her. They must be a couple Neal thought.
"I thought so," Neal replied.
"You've been here before?" The woman named Aurora had asked looking surprised.
"I was born here a long time ago."
"You don't look like you were born a long time ago, nor do you look like you come from here," Mulan stated skeptically taking in his attire.
"I spent some time in Neverland. People don't age there. I was born here, in the Enchanted Forest, back during the old Ogre Wars."
"The wars Rumplestiltskin ended?" Philip asked.
Neal recoiled slightly at the mention of his father and the casual way the name was just tossed out. Of course these people had no idea he was Rumplestiltskin's son.
"Yeah, those wars," he answered.
"So you came from Neverland?" Aurora asked.
"Well no, not exactly. I came through a portal from a place called Storybrooke."
Mulan and Aurora gasped and looked at one another. "Emma," they whispered simultaneously.
"Wait, you know Emma?" Neal asked, his interest piquing.
"Yes. We helped her and her mother get back to Storybrooke. They had gotten sent here somehow. I take it she made it back there just fine then?" Asked Mulan.
"Yeah. I didn't even know she'd come here."
"And how is Henry, do you know?" Aurora asked. Ever since she had talked with him in the Netherworld she had been curious to know if he was ok. She had been burnt in that room and she imagined he might have been as well.
"You know Henry too?!"
Mulan and Aurora nodded. "We know of him at least," Mulan said. "Emma was frantic to make it back to Storybrooke for him. He's her son."
"Yeah, I know that. I'm his father," Neal stated.
"You're Henry's father!?" Mulan asked, her severe expression crumbling into one of genuine shock.
"Yeah. It's kind of a long story. But I need you're help now too. Do you think you can help me get back to Storybrooke too? Everyone there was in trouble when I fell through that portal. I need to get back there. I need to help them," Neal stated frantically.
"I don't know if there's a way anymore," Aurora replied sadly.
"But we're going to help you find a way if there is," Philip stated, clapping him lightly on the back.
"How many times have I told you? You have to feel it. It's not just about wanting it, wanting that power. You have to feel it with every fiber of you're being," Rumplestiltskin instructed, gesticulating wildly with his hands as he did so.
"I am feeling it!" Ursula yelled back at him.
"If you were feeling it, it would be working!"
Ursula just glared back at him her dark eyes becoming even darker than normally, which probably would've scared other people. Not Rumplestiltskin though.
"Look," Rumplestiltskin said making his way over to her. "It's not about how much you want it, it's about how much you need it. Why do you need the power, the magic?"
"I need it becua…" but Rumplestiltskin cut her off.
"I don't care, I don't need to know why. You do. You need to think about it, let the reasons fill you up. Remember what you hope to gain from this and it will work. Now try again!"
Ursula focused all of her thoughts on what she wanted and what she hoped to gain from having magic, letting it fill her up. She waved her arms at a nearby tree forcing it's branches to contort wildly and move around. She had done it. She had used powerful magic.
"That's better," Rumplestiltskin replied, a ghost of a smile gracing his lips.
In truth, Ursula was very gifted. She had mastered the easier and less intense forms of magic weeks ago. It was the harder stuff that was giving her problems. Her thirst for power hindered her ability to do magic.
Like many things, the types of people who craved magic and the power to wield it were those least suited to do so. Magic was inherently good in the vague meaning of the word. Its power had been twisted and warped by those people who had been drawn to it. It could now be used for "bad" or "evil" things but it was much harder for those who intended to use it that way to learn it.
Rumplestiltskin found it easy to be frustrated with Ursula for he could see her potential. And a small part of him resented her. He could tell that she planned to use her powers for evil, for control, which is why it was so hard for her to learn it. It had been the same for him but in reverse. He wasn't able to use his powers in a good way to do the things he had wanted. He ended up giving into the power, letting it take him over and change him, doing good in a bad way.
The magic was in the air in the Enchanted Forest. It was a force of good by nature until someone harnessed it for evil. Had he known that when he'd been desperate to keep Baelfire from going to war, he wouldn't have become the Dark One and he wouldn't have lost his son. He'd still have the one thing in the world that he loved and that loved him back.
Instead he'd been manipulated by the old Dark One into taking on his powers. He had been unable to fight the darkness. He had wanted to end the war and be seen as a hero but he let the darkness take him over. He killed all the ogres and when he was done he killed the Duke of the Frontlands and all his followers. It hadn't been necessary but after seeing what he was able to do to the ogres, he could only imagine what he could do to the men who had humiliated him in front of his boy.
That's why he resented her. She had so much potential and would be able to wield magic effortlessly and expertly if she had been trying to use it for good. He envied that she had the opportunity that he hadn't, of using the magic the Enchanted Forest exuded. If only he had known.
He watched as she moved around from tree to tree moving the branches as she pleased. The darkness in her eyes increased with every display of magic she showed. They seemed to light up in a dark kind of way. It would have worried him had he not known she planned to leave the Enchanted Forest. She would be a powerful force to contend with if she stuck around. He wouldn't want that kind of threat to his own power lurking around.
Suddenly a large tree a few yards away from the two of them burst into flames. Ursula stood there illuminated by the inferno laughing maniacally. For just a fraction of a second Rumplestiltskin became concerned. Maybe he should not have agreed to teach her. She was even more insane than him. But he was curious; he wanted to see what she was capable of. So he pushed that concern down deep and hoped he'd never see the day where his concern grew so much that he had to stop instructing her.
"Well I think that's enough for today, dearie," Rumplestiltskin replied, waving his hand at the tree causing the fire to cease. "In the meantime think about what I've told you about feeling it. You'll be ready to rule Neverland with absurd ease in no time. Toodeloo!" he giggled, and with a flourish he vanished.
"Good morning Ms. Swan," Gold said, sauntering up to her where she stood looking out into the ocean. She could see a mass of land off in the distance and she wondered where on that mass her son could be and what sort of trouble he could be in. "It seems we're the first ones to wake."
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep very well," then she turned to look at him. "Hey! I didn't notice in the dark last night but you look different, younger somehow. And you're not limping. Where's your cane?"
"It's this place Ms. Swan. I'm sure even in the stories you were told, that people don't age here."
"Yeah…"
"Well it's more than just not aging. It makes you youthful."
"Do I look any different?" She asked, not having had access to a mirror since boarding the ship.
Gold laughed at her naïveté. "No, dearie, you are already youthful. I imagine I'll be the only one who looks any different. The rest of you are already much younger than me, both in the age I appear by your worlds standards and certainly by the actual number of years I've lived. Well except perhaps Hook," he couldn't help but practically spit the name, "he's lived a comparatively long time as well, spending lots of his time here in Neverland."
"And your leg?" She asked wondering if that had something to do with making him youthful.
"That is simply the powerful magic in the air here. Magic is an inherent part of this world, and since I have magic as well I was able to heal my leg again…"
"Again?" Emma interrupted.
"When I was the Dark One in the Enchanted Forest my leg was healed from the magic I possessed."
"And back in Storybrooke?"
"I tried to heal it but the magic wasn't strong enough. Magic is different there. There I was only able to heal minor wounds. I imagine not being impaired will certainly come in handy while we're here though. I'll be considerably more useful."
"Wait, so you were able to heal yourself magically in Storybrooke?" Emma was confused, she recalled him getting hurt the other day, and him letting her put a band-aid on his wound. The band-aid was still on his forehead.
"Yes. I healed Belle when she got shot, remember?" Gold hadn't recognized the real reason for her confusion, simply thinking she was just interested in his abilities.
"Then why did you let me put a band-aid and everything on your cut after Hook hit you?" She asked pointing to his forehead.
Gold could feel his face heat up at her words. He had forgotten about that. He suspected the cut was healed now though just from being in Neverland and being surrounded by such powerful magical energy.
His embarrassment from her deduction had him flustered and he was unable to stop the words from falling out of his mouth: "I liked the way it felt."
Luckily, a shouted "Emma!" drowned his words out as David came up from below.
Emma curiously turned her eyes from Gold to David. She couldn't be sure because David had shouted her name but it had sounded like Gold had said he'd liked the way it felt when she treated his cut. Surely she must have misheard him. Though the soft look in Gold's eyes did make her wonder if maybe she had heard him correctly.
As David slowly made his way over to them she thought back to that moment when she'd patched Gold up. She certainly had liked the way it felt, her hands on his face, her body so close to his. His skin was softer than she imagined it would be yet had certain callousness to it as well. She could practically feel the hardships he'd faced when her hands touched him.
His skin had been the perfect temperature too. Not too cold so that it felt harsh to the touch and not too hot that he felt clammy and uninviting. She had enjoyed the feel of his skin far too much. She remembered how hard she had tried to avoid looking in his eyes. They had been standing too close, what would he have been able to see in her eyes if they had met. She had revealed too much to him already at that point, she shuddered to think what her eyes would have revealed to him.
"So, Gold," David said in his most business like tone. "What is it that we're up against?"
Gold was about to answer when the others, Regina, Mary Margaret and Hook all came up from below behind David.
"Why don't we wait until they get over here so I don't have to repeat myself." Now that the others were back, all the softness he'd had in his eyes and voice when speaking with Emma a moment ago had gone.
"So, Gold, what is it we're up against?" Mary Margaret mimicked her husband exactly. It was uncanny sometimes how similar they were in certain respects.
"Well, as I said, I suspect Tamara and Greg don't really know who they're working for. Neverland is one of the most magical realms in existence and for two people who claim to want to get rid of magic, this seems like an odd place for them to have gone."
"So then who do you think it is that they're working for?" Regina asked.
"It could be Ursula or it could be,"
"Peter-Pan," Hook finished Gold's sentence.
"Precisely," Gold said, nodding in Hook's direction.
"Wait…I thought Peter-Pan was a good guy," Emma said, again getting the feeling she had said something stupid.
"Ms. Swan, I think it's time you forget the stories you were told or read as a child. Those are fanciful twists on real stories. The real ones are much more sordid than the tales parents tell their children," explained Mr. Gold.
"And by Ursual, do you mean like The Little Mermaid?"
Hooks turned his head in Emma's direction so quickly he nearly cricked his neck in the process. "You mean Ariel?" He asked her.
"Yeah. Do you…do you know her?" She asked tentatively. It seemed to Emma that she hadn't really come to grips with this whole "fairytale characters are real" thing after all.
"Kind of. She saved my life once. I fell off the ship and she brought me to shore." Hook got a glazed look in his eyes as he recalled the event.
He remembered thinking she had been the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. Even while he'd been with Milah, and certainly after she had passed, there wasn't a day that had gone by that he didn't think about his savior.
When she had saved him, she had told him of how she wanted to become human. He had hoped one day she would, briefly imagining a romance with her. She was absolutely captivating. The last he knew though Ursula had made her a prisoner.
"Wow, ok," Emma said shaking her head in disbelief. "So Ursula is real and is in Neverland and Peter-Pan is a bad guy."
"It's more complicated than that," Gold and Hook said in unison.
Emma sighed. It seemed complicated enough to her as it was. She couldn't imagine how it could be any more complicated.
At lunchtime, Ruby decided she would go visit Belle at the library. After what happened yesterday with Mr. Gold leaving to go to Neverland, she knew Belle would need someone to comfort her. The poor girl was heartbroken.
"Belle," Ruby called when she entered the library.
"Yeah," she heard a voice call back with just the tiniest hint of a sniffle afterwards.
"Where are you?"
"Right here," Belle said stepping out into the lobby of the library.
Ruby could tell instantly that she had been crying. Her eyes were all red and puffy.
"Are you okay?" Ruby asked taking a step towards her.
"Not really," Belle replied sadly.
"What happened when Mr. Gold left?"
"He didn't just leave. He broke up with me."
"What?! Why?!" Ruby asked. She was genuinely surprised and confused but a little part of her was happy for some reason that she and Gold were no longer together. She felt like a horrible friend for thinking that way and didn't really understand why she felt that way.
"He told me he's never going to be the man I want him to be and that he had to let me go."
Inwardly Ruby thought that was kind of true. She knew Mr. Gold and she knew he'd never be the kind of person Belle wanted and deserved. She had never really thought that Belle and Gold were good together but she believed the pairing was mainly because Belle had never gotten close to anyone else and nobody had ever wanted to get close to Rumplestiltskin. Ruby thought it was more a relationship based on physical proximity than anything emotional like actual love.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this, but maybe he was right. I've known him as both Mr. Gold and Rumplestiltskin and I've known him as Mr. Gold longer than you have. He's not exactly a bad guy but he's definitely not a good guy."
"I think the reason I'm so upset is because I knew that. I don't think I ever really knew him at all. I lived with him for months and never really got to know him. He was the only person I really knew outside of my family and Gaston, the man I was supposed to marry, and I just don't know. I wanted so badly for him to be the kind of person I thought he could be but he's right, he's not. I was wrong to try and make him be someone he's not. I'm a terrible person," Belle sobbed.
"No, no, you're not a terrible person. You were in love. People do silly things when they're in love," Like be happy that their friend just got dumped? Ruby couldn't help but think. "I think he wanted to be that person for you because he loved you too but he knew he couldn't so he let you go so you could find the person you deserve," Ruby tried to console her, wrapping an arm around her while trying her best to ignore the hint happiness she was feeling at the entire situation.
"You really think so?" Belle asked through her tears.
"I really do. Come on, why don't you come with me to the diner and I'll fix you something to eat. Ok?"
"Yeah, I'd like that, that sounds good."
"Ok, come on," Ruby said grabbing Belle's hand and pulling her along. "I'll have Granny fix you up whatever you'd like. On the house," she said smiling at Belle.