Belle was making tea when Rumplestiltskin, who was still holding Henry, suddenly appeared right next to her in the kitchen of their home. Belle jumped away out of fright, startled by their sudden appearance, and clutched her fast beating heart.

"Rumple!" shouted Belle in alarm.

"I'm so sorry Belle. Henry… was in a very unpleasant place and needed to get picked up."

"Where were you two?" questioned Belle. Rumple released Henry from his bear-tight hug and Henry immediately proceeded to exit the house.

"Henry, where are you going?" asked Rumplestiltskin following after Henry.

"I'm going to go help Hercules. I left him to fight off that monster by himself," justified Henry.

"Stop! Stop," said Rumple racing to place himself between Henry and the front door. "Slow down. Nobody is fighting any monster. We're all going to stay safe here. I'm pretty sure one or both of your mothers are already taking care of the situation as we speak."

Just then a knock came from the front door.

"Now who on Earth could that be?" said Rumple. He turned and opened the door and discovered Regina waiting anxiously. "Regina," Rumple said with surprise. "I guess this one belongs to you," he said turning his body to Henry.

Rumple stepped further back, granting passage for Regina inside his home and she ran directly for Henry giving him a hug. "Henry!" Regina exclaimed, "Where have you been?"

Belle approached the reunion and added, "I was wondering the very same thing."

"I'm sorry," Henry said guiltily, "Operation Golden Retriever was a complete disaster."

"Honey, what are you talking about?" his mother asked, pulling away from her embrace.

"This is all my fault. I brought that monster into town. I should have never gone off."

"Where did you go? And why didn't you tell me you could do magic?"

"I borrowed a few books from the library. In one of the book's I borrowed, the story contained spells. Spells that… I thought… I could try out… for pretend. Only, when I used one of the spells, it actually worked."

"You know, I did think it was odd for a person to check out the same book for eight months. But now that we know why, I suppose that makes sense," deduced Belle.

"The other book," Henry continued, "was about the story of Hercules. His story spoke of heroism so I had to check it out. In it, he battles a god, Hades. Hades is king of the Underworld. In the end of the book Hercules defeats Hades by becoming a god himself. And since he had already dealt with him before in the book I wanted to know more about Hades before talking with him."

"And why did you want to talk to Hades, Henry?" Rumple asked.

Henry hesitated before responding, "I… I wanted to bring my father back."

"Neal?" Belle asked in disbelief. "How were you even able to get there? There aren't any magical beans left in this world."

"In the first book, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, there's a Traveling Spell. In the story, the witch enchants a bedknob to travel around. I enchanted an old pocket-watch."

"Henry, why did you want to bring back your father?" Regina asked still confused.

"Why? Because I love him! I love my family. I told you that before. I thought you would understand! All of you!" Henry exclaimed, frustrated and insulted that his family wasn't understanding him.

"Henry, dealing with the dead is magic beyond even my powers and comprehension," Rumple stated.

"Henry I do understand!" Regina said contradicting her upset son. "I had tried to bring back my Daniel but… he wasn't the same afterwards. Remember?"

"None of you understand. I… I can't be here right now," Henry said shrugging off his mother's hands that were on his arms. Henry bolted for the front door and started running towards the woods.

"Henry!" called Regina after her son. She ran after Henry outside the Gold residence, skipping a few porch steps as she stepped out into the neighborhood street. "Henry, come back here this instant!"

Henry turned to face his mother from a distance and said back to her, "I need time to think, mom. I… I need some space."

And in a blink of an eye, Henry vanished.

"Great," Regina said flustered. She turned to see Gold and Belle observing her from their front porch. "I'm assuming you taught him how to vanish into thin air too?" she said, directing her comment at Gold.

"Where are you going?" asked Belle, noticing Regina walking toward her car.

"Henry was heading towards the woods. If there's anybody that knows these woods, it's Robin. Perhaps he can help me find Henry," Regina reasoned out loud.

"It's a fool's errand, Regina. He'll come around. Do what he asks, give the boy some time," suggested Rumplestiltskin.

"So now you're giving me parenting advice? This, coming from the man, who taught my teenage son how to vanish into thin air and travel to different realms. What's to stop him from going back to the Enchanted Forest and bringing back ogres?"

Regina slammed her car door shut and peeled out of their driveway. Belle looked over at her husband in annoyed silence. Rumple turned and found her staring at him angrily.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"Henry went to Hercules' world through a pocket-watch, but that doesn't explain how you were able to get to him out from that world."

"I used our enchanted rings and that's how we came hom-"

"No! Where have you been going? I knew it wasn't just me. I've felt it in my heart. You've found Henry's Traveling Spell too, haven't you?"

Rumple opened his mouth and attempted to explain himself, but before he was even able to speak Belle had cut him off, "Rumplestiltskin, so help me, I'm pregnant and hormonal so you would be wise to not lie to me right now."

"I'm not-" he began to say as he looked up at his wife glaring irritably at him. "Alright! Alright. Yes, I found Henry's traveling spell. And yes, I've been traveling to different worlds. I enchanted my walking cane and for the past seven months or so I've been… going to the Enchanted Forest."

"You were going back to our land… our home? What were you doing there? Why didn't you say anything to me about it?"

"Belle…" Rumple wavered in his truthful explanation. "Can we at least go inside and finish this conversation?"

Belle consented to his request and he followed after his wife through the front door of their house. When he shut the door he continued explaining, "Belle, I've been going back to the Enchanted forest to gather magic… totems, relics, collecting past debts that were due to me. I suppose you can say that I've been traveling on business trips."

"Yes, but why didn't you let me know. I would have loved to have come back home with you."

"Belle, I've been using magic."

"That's never stopped you before."

"Dangerous… magic. Look, the point is, I'm… addicted to it."

"You were able to survive twenty-eight years without it and then four years ago you brought magic back into Storybrooke. Why did you have to leave Storybrooke to practice this dark magic?"

"I survived twenty-eight years because I was cursed and I left Storybrooke because I didn't want what I was doing to endanger you or our child. I didn't want you to find out how dependent I actually am on it. I never told you because... magic prevented me from having a relationship with my own son. I don't want the same thing to happen to our family."

"Ok, but why do you still need it?"

"I need it because magic has been part of me for so long… I don't know how to live without it. Without magic, I'm weak. Weak like the powerless cripple I once was. Belle," he walked to the living room and sat on the edge of the couch. She followed him to the couch and watched as he stared at the floor with open hands. He could barely look at his wife in the face as he continued, "my constant fear is not being the man you see me to be. I'm afraid of the day when I can't protect you and our child."

Before Belle could say something to ease his fears and anxieties, Belle's cell phone suddenly chirped in another room. She walked away from Rumple to check her phone. It was a text from Emma.

… …

The hooded figure ran haphazardly through the forest, stumbling over rocks and fallen limbs. Emma was slowly catching up to her rescuer, constantly keeping the person within eyesight. The hooded person dodged to avoid a tree when Henry magically appeared suddenly before the runner. The runner collided with Henry and they both fell over each other to the ground completely stunned.

Henry was immediately pummeled to the ground and had the wind knocked out of him. He was so dazed that he took a few extra moments to lie on his back while on the ground to catch his breath again. Emma ran over to the two fallen individuals, recognizing one of them, "Henry?! Where have you been?"

Henry came to, sitting up in place, a bit dazed and confused and looked over at the person who ran into him. The mysterious hooded man began to groan as he lifted himself up from the forest ground. The person stood tall and lifted his hood, finally revealing himself.

"Neal?" cried Emma in disbelief.

"Dad?"

"Emma? Henry?" Neal said with a glazed confused look over his face, "What's going on?! Where am I? How am I alive? How did I get here?"

"No! No. You're dead. We buried you," Emma said, shocked and confused. Tears were welling up in her eyes, frightened by the ghost she was seeing, "You're father and I watched you die in my arms."

"My father? Where is he? Do you think he had something to deal with this?"

"He had nothing to do with it. It was me," Henry voiced. Both of his parents stood dumbfounded staring at their son.

"Henry, I'm not meant to be here. What did you do?" Neal said kneeling before his son. Emma stood away from father and son as she clutched her face in shock.

"I traveled to Hercules' world."

"You can travel to different worlds now?" Neal asked looking back and forth between Henry and Emma.

"Believe me, this is news to me as well," Emma stated still shocked.

"How?" asked Henry's father. He held on dearly to both of Henry's arms, his eyes pleading for answers.

"I'm… magical Dad. I can read books with spells from this world and they all work for me," Henry paused looking at his parents together, upset and bewildered. "In one of the books I found at the library, there was a traveling spell. I used it to go to Hercules' world so that I could get pointers on how to deal with Hades."

"Oh… no, Henry. Please tell me you didn't," Neal said disappointedly, wiping the dry corners of his mouth.

"What?! What does that mean?" Emma implored.

Neal raked his fingers stressfully through his hair as he did his best to explain to Emma, "Hades is a Greek god. He's lord of the Underworld and monitors the trafficking of souls. He deals with the dead."

"Henry…" said Emma disappointedly.

Neal looked back up at his son with desperate concern. A thought occurred to him, "If I'm here, there had to be a cost. There's always a steep price when bartering for lives. I know this from personal experience. Henry, what did you trade with Hades for my life?"

"I didn't… well… he wanted me to find out Hercules' weakness and that if don't find it by tomorrow you'll disappear forever. It's because he knows I have magic."

"We need to talk to my father," Neal decided, "My only knowledge on gods is based off of a few movies I rented while in New York. I'm sure he'll know more. He'll know what to do. Where is he?"

"He's with Belle they're… nesting."

Neal turned to look at Emma still confused, "What?"

"They're expecting."

"A baby? Woah. I mean, wow," Neal replied with a grin which was slowly forming on his face. He genuinely felt happy for his father, "a little brother or sister… cool."

"Sister," corrected Henry, "A lot has happened while you were gone."

Neal continued smiling as he ruffled Henry's hair, "Obviously. And you… have certainly grown a few inches while I was gone and your voice… My god, you're growing up so fast," Neal said with a pang of sadness, "and no longer the little boy I once knew, as things should be." Neal looked at his son and reflected sadly. As much as he wanted to cherish these moments, he knew somewhere deep down that they wouldn't last. "Emma… you should probably call-"

"Yeah… I just got done texting Belle. We should head on over now."

Thank you BreathingintheSun, OUATgirl17, Montreat11 and Katelynberg for your reviews! Hopefully as I post these chapters, a lot of your questions will be answered. As I mentioned before, a lot is happening in different areas of Storybrooke and I'm doing my best to explain everything chronologically. ::crossing fingers:: Hopefully it's coming across clearly and makes sense on your end as you read it. As to what Rumple was doing exactly in the Enchanted Forest, I'm leaving it open to interpretation. Mostly, so that when I'm done with this story I can fill the gaps later with fluff chapters. Don't worry, I'll put on my Thinking Cap for that and think of something good to write there. But for now, I'm moving on with the story. Getting this story completed is my goal. Thank you again for reading and writing reviews! You all are the best. Seriously. Lots of love. See you next chapter!