Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Big Surprise

Lately, it felt to John Smith like he and Ruby had grown much closer to each other, especially following her discovery of the alive and well Kathryn Nolan outside of Granny's. Smith would never forget the day that event occurred – he was sitting in the diner that fateful Saturday afternoon, and he and Ruby were discussing plans to vacation together in Nepal to look at lemurs (the exotic animals that she heard about from August W. Booth) when Ruby stepped outside for a moment to take out the garbage. As soon as Smith heard her scream, he ran out to find her terrified out of her wits; had August and Emma not been near the area, he would have had his hands full between calming her and discovering Kathryn.

Ever since that moment and the fact Smith seemed to be always there for her when she needed him, the two had fallen into a deep, intimate relationship. It was only a matter of time when Smith would get the courage to ask Ruby to marry him. He imagined the moment of the proposal happening possibly in Nepal – there he and Ruby would be, looking at the lemurs, and then Smith would get down on one knee and say, "Ruby, will you marry me?" And then she would say…

"Hey, Mr. Smith!"

The overenthusiastic voice of Henry Mills brought Smith out of his fantasy as he realized that he was standing beside him outside of Granny's. "Oh, 'ello, Henry. Um…I didn't say anything in particular out loud, did I?"

"You mean other than 'Ruby, will you marry me?'"

Smith frowned. "I suppose the cat's now out of the bag."

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone that you have plans. It'll be our little secret."

Smith sighed and smiled. "Thank you, Henry."

"But you'll probably forget all about it after the big surprise I have for you inside the diner."

"Big surprise? What big surprise?"

"You'll see. Follow me."

Smith curiously did as Henry requested and followed him inside the diner, the bell jingling as they entered. The diner was partially busy that morning with just a few patrons being served by Ruby. Smith saw her particularly serving Leon his daily breakfast at the counter; as soon as she saw him enter with Henry, she looked his way and waved by wiggling her fingers. Smith grinned and waved back in the same motion; but as he had done so, someone near him did not hold back in criticizing his gesture.

"I see the small town life has you turning into a lovesick puppy."

Startled by the new voice addressing him, Smith looked to his left to see the speaker. Sitting at a booth closest to the door were two unfamiliar faces – a young Scottish redhead (the one who criticized him) and a young, dense-looking man with a nose that appeared rather large to Smith. The young man was the one who then pointed to Smith and said in an English accent, "T-That's him!"

The young man's comment prompted Smith to turn around to see if anyone else had entered; but, alas, the young man was referring to him. Pointing to himself, Smith inquired, "Me?"

The redhead then got up from the booth and admired Smith's attire. "I must say…you've certainly made yourself over nicely. And you've finally ditched that stupid bowtie." She stroked his tie while complimenting, unknowingly making Smith a little uncomfortable.

"Excuse me, but…who the hell are you?" Smith asked.

"Oh, don't be like that, fussy pants." The redhead remarked. "You think that running away and hiding yourself in the land of confusion would throw us off your scent? You could've at least called or somethin' after fakin' your death. Instead, we had to have a kid call us and tell us where you've been all these months."

The young Englishman then said to Henry, who the redhead was obviously referring to, "She doesn't mean any offense by that."

"None taken." Henry said with a smile. "I'm just glad you guys actually came."

"Wait. Henry, you called these crazies here?" Smith questioned in surprise.

"Crazies?" The redhead exclaimed. "You leave for almost a year and now you pretend that you don't even know us?"

Smith was almost becoming furious. "That's because I don't know you!" His genuine frustration took the redhead and her friend by surprise as they realize that he was telling the truth. "I've never met you people in my entire life. And if I had, I would've certainly had you committed for your abrasive behavior." He pointed directly to the redhead upon making that comment. "Henry, if this is the 'big surprise' you promised me, then I've really expected better from you. Bringing foreign strangers into town for…for…Blimey, why did you bring them here?"

Henry was about to answer before Ruby appeared, carrying a coffee pot and a look of concern. "John?" She glimpsed over the two strangers in the diner until centering on Smith and asking, "Is everything alright?"

Smith calmed himself to speak to the woman he loved. "Everything's fine, Ruby." He faked a smile as he gestured between Henry and the two strangers and added, "Henry was just introducing me to some new friends of his that he met on the Internet. Their names are…are…what did you say they were, Henry?"

Henry sighed. "Amy and Rory Williams."

Smith snapped his fingers, continuing to feign joyfulness. "That's it. Amy and Roy Williams." He failed to catch the mistake he made in pronouncing Rory's name. Rory even attempted to correct him, but Smith's mouth was too quick to give him a chance. "They've come across the pond, just to see Henry."

Ruby smiled, shaking hands with the foreign couple, who were still shocked by how much Smith had changed. "It's nice to meet you." She only gave them a second of attention before focusing on Smith. "John, do you want me to get your breakfast ready?"

"Uh, I'm afraid I've wasted too much time talking to eat this morning." Smith answered. "But I promise I'll stop by during lunch." The way in which he made his promise made it sound as if he was referring to something else other than food, which threw Amy and Rory off a bit.

"Alright. Well, I'll see you later then."

"Bye, babe."

Smith and Ruby shared a brief, passionate kiss on the lips – an action that amazed and appalled Rory and Amy – before he left the diner and she went back to work. Amy and Rory looked out the window as Smith departed, seeing someone they were once well-acquainted with having turned into another man completely. "That can't be the Doctor," said Rory. "It has to be someone that looks like him, right?"

"It's the curse." Henry indicated, drawing Amy and Rory's attention back over to him. "The Doctor got himself and the TARDIS trapped in the storybook world in trying to help me break the curse, and now he's part of it like everyone else." He then brought the couple back over to their booth, taking the "Once Upon A Time" book out of his bag and setting it on the table to open it up. Amy and Rory looked on intently as they watched Henry flip through several pages of the oversized book, until he stopped on one and showed it to them. "See? This is a new part that I read this morning."

Amy and Rory saw a detailed illustration on the page that depicted the Doctor confronting a wolf with Granny, Snow White, and another familiar character. Pointing to that one familiar character on the page, Rory asked in wide-eyed disbelief, "Is that…River?"

"Who else do you know with hair that frizzy?" Amy jested.

"That means River's here, too." Rory deduced. "If the Doctor's been taken by the curse, then she must've been as well."

"Not exactly." Henry uttered. "I re-read some parts a few days ago to see what happened to her after she showed up in the story. She makes it out before the curse reaches…but the Doctor doesn't."

Amy and Rory exchanged a brief suspecting glance.

"She's still got to be here." Amy knowingly stated. "River loves the Doctor. She'd never give up searching for him, if she knew he was missing."

"But he's not missing." Rory said. "I mean, we've just found the Doctor."

"Yeah, despite the fact that he has no clue he is the Doctor, stupid-face." Amy quickly contradicted. "We've gotta break this curse and get back that raggedy man we know and love back to the land of the living."

Henry smirked. "The only way that'll happen is if we get one person to believe in the curse."

Rory nodded understandingly. "Good. Who is it?"

The bell above the entrance jingled again, encouraging Amy and Rory to turn and see Emma Swan walk in. Looking back to Henry, they saw a huge smile on the little boy's face as he stared at Emma; this clued the couple in on the fact that Emma was the "one person" that Henry was talking about.