Chapter Twenty-Six: The Man from the Clouds

Emma knew that it was risky venturing out into a city that neither she nor Snow knew anything about. They wandered the streets, attracting many odd stares from the people around them, due mostly to their contemporary clothing. To add on to their troubles, they often found themselves in the same area as before, having traveled in a complete circle. All of the street corners looked the same to them; nothing distinctive to show that they were headed in the right direction. Of course, they didn't know what direction they were going in to begin with.

After hours of wandering, Emma and Snow stopped in the middle of one empty street corner. "We're never gonna find him by just walking around in circles," said an exhausted Emma. "Maybe it was a better idea sticking with Potato Head and the Lizard Lady?"

As Snow was about to respond to her unwise suggestion, she quickly spotted something odd. There was a woman in a nearby park that had leaped into the air, trying to grab at something; but Snow saw nothing there for the woman to grab. The woman fell onto the snow-covered ground; she got back up on her feet in frustration. While brushing the snow off of her long red dress, she noticed Snow and Emma near her and said, "Oy! You two!" With the woman calling to them, Emma had then noticed her as well. "Since you're just standing there, would you mind giving me a boost?"

Emma and Snow looked to each other in confusion, but they felt obligated in assisting the woman since they were the only ones on the street to help. Moving past the gates and into the park, the first thing that Emma and Snow had noticed was how much shorter the woman looked compared to them; it was no wonder a boost was necessary for her. Snow and Emma each cupped their hands to give the woman something to step onto to give her extra height, but the idea soon deemed discomforting once they felt the snow underneath her boots freeze their hands.

"Ah, god! That's cold!" Emma voiced her discomfort.

"May I ask what it is you're…?" Snow stopped as soon as she heard a series of metallic clicks.

The woman stepped off their cupped hands as she brought down what appeared to have been a steel ladder. Shocked by this, Emma and Snow looked up to see where it had come from, but they only saw the thin air. It was as if the ladder was connected to the thin air itself. The woman noted their surprise and smiled. "I had the same look as the both of you when I saw him go up there a little while ago."

"Him?" Emma questioned.

"The Doctor." The woman answered.

Again, Emma and Snow looked to each other. Surprise had been added onto surprise within seconds apart. Snow and Emma inadvertently accomplished their mission and all with the help of the woman in the red dress just by requesting their help.

A few moments later, after climbing the ladder, the three women found themselves walking up a spiral staircase that extended far out into the heavens. During their trek up the staircase, the woman swiftly told Emma and Snow, "Name's Clara. What're your names?"

Emma was caught off guard by her sudden question. "E-Emma and Snow."

Clara grinned. "Which of you is Snow?" When she saw Snow hesitantly point to herself, Clara nodded and chuckled. "Funny thing it is."

"What's that?" Snow asked.

"Because snow is the reason I'm going up to see this 'Doctor' fellow. Earlier, while I was working, I found this snowman in the middle of an alley. It looked peculiar, but what was really peculiar about it was that no one had made it. Then I find myself surrounded by living snowmen – all trying to eat me."

"Man-eating snowmen?" Emma uttered in surprise.

Clara nodded. "I wouldn't have survived if it hadn't been for the Doctor."

Clara's story amused Emma and Snow and even increased their curiosity of how and why the Doctor ended up in Victorian England. They figured that they would get their answers as soon as they reached the apex of the spiral staircase. As the three women continued to climb it, they each wondered how such a structure could exist without anything to keep it anchored down or anything to keep it up. Once they reached the clouds, Emma had a sense of déjà vu with her recent experience at the lair of the giant; the only difference being that there was not a giant's lair above these clouds but a familiar police box – the Doctor's TARDIS.

Emma, Snow, and Clara remained extremely cautious as they stepped off the staircase and onto the cloud cover that the TARDIS had been situated on. As her feet felt like they walked upon solid ground, Snow couldn't help but to ask out loud, "How did he manage all of this?"

"You ask that about a guy who lives in a blue box?" Emma said with a grin.

Snow noted her inquiry with a nod. "You've got a point."

The women approached the TARDIS. Clara did so with more caution than Emma and Snow had, not knowing what to expect from a man who live on the clouds. Even when she watched as Emma knocked on the door of the blue box, she grew so wary of what came out of the box that she dodged out of sight, hiding herself to the right side of the TARDIS. Her actions puzzled Emma and Snow; before either of them could question why she hid, the door to the TARDIS opened.

When the Doctor first stuck his head out through the open door, his face showed confusion. How often was it when he received a knock at the door of a strange blue box that sat on a cloud miles above the earth? But his face quickly dropped into shock once he realized who the two people standing before him were.

"Emma? Snow?"

Snow could no longer restrain herself from rushing up to him and giving him an enormous hug. Shock continued to register on the Doctor's face as he kept his eyes on Emma, who could only put on a disapproving smile. When he closed his eyes to take in what was happening, Emma looked to Clara, who seemed surprised that Emma and Snow knew the Doctor very well. Emma gestured for Clara to come out of hiding, but the woman in red had refused, shaking her head.

Snow and the Doctor finished their embrace, prompting Emma to return her focus on them and away from the shadowed Clara. "How…How did you both escape from the fairy tale world?" The Doctor inquired.

"We don't know." Snow answered. "That's what we're hoping you can tell us."

"And also why you left Storybrooke." Emma coldly added.

Noticing the displeased look on Emma's face and the tone of her voice made the Doctor feel guilty. "Let's all step inside…and talk."

Emma and Snow did as he recommended and stepped into the TARDIS. Immediately after she heard the TARDIS door close, Clara moved away from the blue box and headed back down the spiral staircase, letting the mystery of "The Doctor" remain as one for now.