"Storybrooke… you know that sounds awfully similar to storybook," pointed out Hercules as they were rounding onto main street. The sun was setting and dusk was quickly approaching.
"Yeah, according to Emma we're all fairy tale characters of stories from this world," said Elsa.
"While Henry was telling me about his place, he told me I was a hero from this book he was carrying around with him. I guess I… kind of belong here too," he said looking fondly over at Elsa. "…which is strange because I've never felt that way before."
He felt cold as a shiver crept up his spine. Hercules looked over at Elsa and figured she was cold too.
"Aren't you cold?" he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders to warm her.
"I've never had issues with the cold."
"Oh, yeah. Right, I forgot. The ice thing," he remembered, lifting his arm and retracting it smoothly to avoid an awkward moment.
"But it is quite refreshing to be comforted by someone who isn't afraid of my powers. Even if it is just for moment," she said reaching for his arm and placing it back around her shoulders again, "I'm glad that you see me first as a person and not a monster."
"I never thought once that you were a monster. And believe me, I've fought my fair share of them to know the difference," he said smiling at her. "What's that building?"
"That's… the town's tavern. The Rabbit Hole."
"Ah," he said while looking up at the street lamps. The one they were approaching was flickering on. "What are these torches? They look magical."
"They're not torches. They're called street lights and from what I'm told it's not magic, they get their power from what's called electricity."
They both stopped walking and stood underneath one, looking up at the lamp's light. Hercules looked down and away from the light to look at Elsa who was still looking up. He couldn't help but admire the way the light made her face glow. The way she looked captured his gaze and enchanted him again, and he couldn't help but remark, "Well, I think it's magical."
She looked down from the light and suddenly found herself face to face with his kind sky-blue eyes. It was like she was in his tractor beam and she felt herself slowly drawing closer to his lips. She looked at his lips and then up at his loving eyes and before she could think of anything else, her eyes closed and their lips locked in place.
The cold he was feeling earlier completely melted away and although the sun had set, their intimate bubble felt like a warm summer day. When their lips separated, he opened his eyes slowly and discovered hers still closed; still reveling in the moment. He looked around them and chuckled.
"What's so funny?" Elsa asked softly as she slowly opened her eyes.
"Look," he said, looking all around her. A light snow fall had precipitated, which dusted the entire street with snow except the little spot of ground they were both standing in under the street lamp.
"Oh," she said smiling bashfully. She waved her hands over the snow dusted streets and in an instant the snow dissolved before their eyes. "I'm sorry… that, um… doesn't normally happen here," Elsa said trying to recover herself by pretending to act natural.
"What doesn't normally happen here?"
Right when Hercules finished his question a terrifying shriek from a foreign beast erupted at the opposite end of town. With each thunderous step, the new monster could be heard drawing closer to the town.
The door to The Rabbit Hole flew open and Robin and Regina ran out to the street. Regina spoke out loud into the darkness, "What was that?"
"That… sounds like trouble," remarked Hercules.
Regina turned to the couple. She didn't even notice that there were already people out in the streets. "I'm sorry, and who are you?" said Regina not recognizing Hercules.
"Oh, hi! I'm Hercules," said Hercules extending his hand to shake, "I was the one who helped take down the previous monster that bothered this town."
Regina looked down at Hercules' hand in disgust, "Great, another hero. What do you want? A key to the city? This town has seen its fair share of monsters before. I think we can handle this one too."
"I think a simple 'thank you' would have been sufficient," said Hercules affronted.
"Don't mind her. This is Regina, one of Henry's mothers," Elsa said, introducing Regina on her behalf.
Regina looked over at Elsa and questioned, "And speaking of one of the monsters… what are you doing here?"
"Hey!" called out Hercules, irritated and offended.
"Regina," Robin said holding Regina back, "There's no need to be harsh."
"Sorry," said Regina dryly and almost non-apologetically. "I don't suppose you have any idea who keeps bringing in these monsters."
"No," Elsa said defiantly. Anger brewed within her. She didn't like being antagonized by Regina and defended herself, "In fact, I was the other person who helped Hercules bring down the monster from earlier."
"Elsa froze her heart months ago, nearly killing Regina," said Robin reasoning with Hercules who didn't seem to take Regina's apology too well. Hercules didn't understand the source of bitterness in their interaction, so Robin felt the need to explain and briefly filled him in on Regina and Elsa's history. "Obviously she's better now and we've moved on since then, right?" said Robin looking questionably at Regina.
"Yeah," acknowledged Regina more earnestly, remembering that if it wasn't for her True Love's Kiss with Robin, she would have been dead a long time ago.
Hercules instinctively decided it best to overlook Regina's hostility for the time being, given that the current crisis took more precedence over their minor squabble. "That first monster came from my land," claimed Hercules. "And according to Henry, Hades is trying to destroy me. I'm not entirely sure why, but… I'm guessing those monsters are for me… from Hades."
Another shriek followed by the sound of falling trees threatened the town again. The heavy stomps of the beast caused the ground to tremor, shaking the light poles in the street with each step. Something moved out of the corner of Regina's eye from above one of the rooftops of the town's building. She squinted in the direction of her peripheral vision and noticed a dark figure with brilliant blue hair retreating from sight.
A plan was forming in Regina's head. They needed to move quickly. Regina waved her hands before them and a cloud of red came into view. When the cloud faded away, floodlights appeared in its stead.
"What are those?" Hercules asked curiously.
"Those are floodlights from the town's electrical engineering building," Regina replied concisely. "Robin, spread the word and tell everyone to remain indoors. Elsa, I don't know what you both did last time to protect this town from the first monster, but if you could do it again…" She saw the offended faces of Elsa and Hercules being directed by the same person who was hostile to them literally minutes ago. So she thought it best to show humility and finished her sentence, "…please and… thank you."
Hercules smirked a little and replied, "There… now was that really so hard?"
Regina continued, "When you go to confront the monster you're going to need to see. Those floodlights should help, but be careful they're extremely heavy. You might need help to… bring them over…" But before Regina could complete her sentence, Hercules went over to the heavy equipment and lifted them up like tiny flashlights.
"Come on! Let's go!" called Hercules to Elsa and they both jogged over together to confront this new monster.
"What are you going to do?" asked Robin. Regina looked back up at the rooftop where she saw the foreigner.
"I'm going to call Emma, she has Henry, and tell her what's happening here and to have her keep Henry safe. And then… I'm going to go check something out."
… …
Gold sat at the very end of the long table when they ate dinner. To his right sat Belle and next to her sat Henry and to Gold's left sat Neal and next to him sat Emma at the farthest end. Everyone at the table was almost done with their meals except for Emma and Gold, who were basically moving food around on their plates. Although Emma and Gold knew from their cursed lives that eating meals with family should be and is typically normal for most families, they felt that the situation they were currently in was most unusual and extremely untypical which for them, made for a very awkward and very uncomfortable meal. But because they both loved Neal, they both were able to sit there amicably. And if by pretending to be happy was all they needed to do to ensure Neal's one evening of happiness, then this one rare interaction wouldn't hurt anybody. For the majority of the meal, everyone pretty much sat in silence.
"So, when are you due?" asked Neal, breaking the silence by making small conversation. He looked at Belle from across the table expectantly, knowing that she of all people there would be willing to help him break the ice.
"In about a month or so," replied Belle smiling at Neal.
Neal looked over at his father who sat silent in his chair, pushing food slowly from one side of his plate to the other. Upon seeing that he wasn't in the talkative mood, he looked over at Belle again and asked her another question, "Do you have any names picked out? I'm pretty sure my father already has a name picked out. Names are kind of his thing."
Gold's ears seemed to perk at the question and he looked up from his plate to hear Belle's response. Belle glanced briefly at her husband then back at Neal and replied, "We've… thought of some names, but um… none of them seem to speak to us, really."
"Oh," Neal politely replied as he resumed finishing his meal. Silence had fallen at the dinner table once again and the only thing that could be heard was the occasional clang or ding of silverware making contact with the china.
Belle looked over at Gold who remained quiet and still. In a hushed voice, she called to him, "Rumple." Gold looked up at Belle and noticed her eyebrows were furrowed with concern. "Say something. Your son is waiting for you to say something to him."
"What would you like me to say?" he said almost irritatedly.
"I don't know? How about, 'I have missed you' or 'I love you' or… tell him about the things he's missed in the past year."
"It's not going to matter."
"Why?" asked Emma, who was eavesdropping from the opposite end of the table. Everyone turned to look at Emma who spoke up finally, alerting everyone there of her presence. "Why doesn't it matter? Could you not find a cure or remedy to extend his life?"
"No Miss Swan. I could not," Gold said with disappointment as he tossed the napkin that was on his lap onto his plate, "Neal's existence is the result of deity magic and deities get their magic by harnessing the power of love. Love, as we all know, is the strongest magic out there and can break any curse. And gods are creatures who know how to manipulate this power. I've only used this kind of magic to my advantage on occasion, but only because I knew of the price when dealing with this level of magic. You see, the alchemy of spells and curses comes from understanding and balancing opposite forces. Deity magic is very tricky because the antithesis of love is hate and finding that balance between the two all while coming out unscathed can be very complicated. If this power isn't handled with care, it could do more harm than good. There's no telling what might happen to Neal if I personally alter Hades' magic. And I know, at least when I make a deal, there's more to it than what meets the eye. I just don't know all the details to the spell he used, otherwise I would engineer one that would yield in our favor. To put it in layman's terms… I'm stuck."
Gold stood up from the table, disgusted with his fruitless efforts and walked away to another room frustrated. He needed some more time to think more privately. Belle heaved a heavy sigh as she too threw her napkin down on the table. She began to push herself away from the table to collect the dishes when Neal beat her to the punch by collecting all the dinner dishes first.
"Neal… what are you doing? Let me get the dishes. You're our guest! Please!" exclaimed Belle.
"Look, I may be a dead man, but I'm not dead yet. You cooked for us, the least I can do is clean up afterwards. Besides, it'll keep me distracted and my hands busy," he said as he walked to greet her on the other side of the table. He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek as he praised, "Dinner was delicious. Thank you."
"Neal, you are always welcome," replied Belle with a gracious smile. "And your father really is trying. It's just painful for him to be helpless like this."
"I know," Neal admitted sadly, as he slowly piled the dinner plates on top of each other. He looked over at his son, who was sitting and listening, trying not to think of how sad their situation actually is. "Hey Henry," said Neal. At the sound of his name being called by his father, Henry looked up at him giving him a half-smile. "D'you mind helping me with the dishes?"
"Not at all," Henry said enthusiastically, brightening up his mood. He immediately got up to help his father and started collecting the leftovers transporting the pots and pans to the kitchen. Belle slowly got up from the dinner table and left the dining room in search for her husband to comfort him. Emma left her dining seat and sat down at one of the bar stools that overlooked the kitchen area. She watched as Neal and Henry found their way around the kitchen dividing up the cleaning tasks.
"I don't think I've ever seen you this happy while doing dishes," Emma observed, noticing Henry's happy disposition as he filled up one of the sinks with hot water. She looked up at Neal and stated, "And I still can't believe how incredibly calm you are about all of this."
"Emma…" Neal said with a sigh. He didn't want to argue with her. He threw the drying towel over his shoulder and faced Emma where she sat at the bar. And just when Emma thought he was about to explain himself, he asked, "Do you mind putting away the clean dishes? I honestly don't know where anything goes. Henry's washing, I'm drying, and you can put the clean dishes away."
"I don't know how I'll be of any help. I've only been in this house once and I've never even been beyond the hallway, let alone the kitchen," Emma said getting up from her stool. She rounded the corner of the counter and got closer to Neal.
"Technically, I've never been in this house before either. C'mon, let's do this together. Go with the flow. Clean some dishes with us."
"Clean some dishes… Isn't that what a dishwasher is for?" Emma said cynically pointing to the dishwasher machine.
"You're missing the point," said Neal turning to Emma who was now face to face with him.
"And what point is that?"
Without hesitation, Neal bent down and kissed Emma passionately on the lips. Emma closed her eyes and relished in the spontaneity. For those few moments, she forgot where she was and kissed Neal back. Her ears turned red and her cheeks flushed. Suddenly, she remembered Killian. She remembered that she also loves Killian. When their lips fell away from each other, she asked in a stunned whisper, "What… what was that?"
"Something I should have done before I had died. I should have kissed you. I'll never stop loving you Emma. I hope you know that, even when you find your Tallahassee without me… And now that I know what's in my future, I officially have no regrets. Besides," Neal said as he turned around to Henry who handed him a wet dish to dry, "You just exercised my point. And the point that I was trying to make… about the whole cleaning-dishes-thing, was so that you could spend time with us… with me."
"And kissing me… Was that all part of your plan?"
Neal shrugged his shoulders and smiled blithely at her. He took the towel off from his shoulder and dried the dish that was in his hand.
"Really? C'mon, now that's not fair."
"To be fair, you did kiss me back," he grinned as he handed Emma a clean, dry dish to put away. Emma couldn't hide her smile any longer as it spread happily across her face. She took the dish and began opening all the cabinets, orienting herself in the foreign kitchen.