Chapter Thirty-One: The Magic Touch

"What do we say when he comes back?" Emma anxiously quizzed.

"Nothing," answered Snow, who tried her best to remain calm and collected. "We say nothing."

The two women stood by the console within the TARDIS as they waited for the return of the Doctor, who paid his respects for the deceased Clara in the cemetery where the TARDIS had been parked. The doors were open, allowing them to see the Doctor, Vastra, and Jenny stand a short distance from Captain Latimer and his children as they stood near Clara's grave sadly. Shortly after they departed was when the Doctor stepped forward with Vastra and Jenny.

"She was the one person who could bring him out of his funk." Emma noted upon watching the Doctor crouch beside the gravestone and leave some flowers. "What if losing her brings him back into it? Before she died, he promised to get us back to Storybrooke. What if he now changes his mind?"

Snow wanted to give Emma a direct answer to ease her concern, but she herself wondered the same thing. "I don't know. What I do know is that what we went through here has definitely influenced him. When I saw him confront the Ice Governess, there was a zealous feeling in him – as if he missed the excitement of being in danger. I hadn't seen that look in so long."

"You two had really been through a lot together before the curse hit, hadn't you?"

Snow nodded with a smile. "He saved my life more times than I can count. When I'd fallen victim to the poison apple that Regina gave me, she took away his Time Lord identity and left him with no idea who he was or where he came from. He didn't even remember me for a while. Red was the only one who could've helped him by giving him the new identity of John Smith, so that he could survive our world. I still believe that if the Doctor didn't have his memories and identity taken away by Regina, he would've prevented the curse from happening."

"And we would've been a family." Emma saw a tear fall from Snow's eye and realized how much the notion saddened her. "Hey, it's alright. We still have that chance in becoming one again. Regardless of whatever attitude the Doc has when he comes through those doors, we will get back home."

Just as soon as Emma assured her mother of her beliefs, they heard footsteps rush into the TARDIS and the doors slam shut. They found themselves watching a heavily giddy Doctor running about the console room, throwing his top hat and coat into the air and giggling like a happy child. As much as Emma and Snow were thankful to see him in a pleasant mood, they realized how out of place it felt considering that he just returned from the funeral of someone he grew to care about.

When he finally made it back to the console platform, he shouted the name "Clara Oswin Oswald" while flipping switches and levers on the console before stopping to look at one of the screens on the console that displayed Clara's face. Emma and Snow glanced between the image of Clara on the screen and the Doctor's delighted face and were beyond confused.

"O.K., what's up with you?" Emma finally asked.

"Just discovered something astounding – something that could change my life forever – something big!"

Intrigued from his buildup, Snow asked, "What is it?"

He looked at her and answered, "I don't know." With that puzzling response, he chuckled again while moving to another part of the console.

Unbeknownst to him, Emma had become a bit frustrated. "Alright. Enough of the mysteries and secrets. What do you know that you're not tellin' us, Doc?"

"It was her!" The Doctor exclaimed. "It was Clara! She was Soufflé Girl!"

"Who the hell's Soufflé Girl?" Emma questioned.

Finally taking notice of her frustration and confusion, the Doctor explained: "During one expedition I took with Amy and Rory in this Dalek asylum, this woman named Oswin Oswald helped us to survive. She made me promise to take her with us, but when I finally found where she was in the asylum, I saw that she had been fully converted into a Dalek. She sacrificed herself to let us escape. I never saw her face – only heard her voice and name."

"So what does this have to do with Clara?" Snow asked.

"Clara's full name is Clara Oswin Oswald. She loved making soufflés, just like Oswin did, and her last words to me before she died were 'Run, you clever boy, and remember me' – the same words Oswin said to me before she died!"

Emma tried her best to understand the mystery. "So…it was the same woman who died twice in two completely different lives?"

"I believe so." The Doctor happily acknowledged. "That's why I'm going to find her. Find Clara in whatever life she's living now."

Emma began to see how distracted the Doctor was from this new mission of his, and it upset her that he had completely forgotten what he promised to her back in Latimer's mansion. Not even the presence of her and her mother in his TARDIS was enough to remind him of that promise.

He didn't help make himself look any more innocent in the eyes of Emma when he requested, "Emma, do me a favor and pull that lever." He pointed to one particular lever that hadn't yet been pulled, which was the one that dematerialize the TARDIS.

Emma wanted to pull the Doctor's head off his shoulders more than she wanted to pull that lever. She glanced over to Snow, who didn't appear very pleased herself to see the Doctor neglecting his promise to her daughter. In the end, Emma decided to pull the lever and then afterward tell the Doctor off for forgetting to take them back to Storybrooke. She pulled it with so much force driven from anger that she could've torn it off its hinges.

Just as the lever was pulled, an enormous tremor came over the TARDIS that briefly knocked Emma, Snow, and the Doctor off their feet. While Snow and especially Emma grew concerned of what had happened, the Doctor laughed maniacally, much to their uncertainty. "What is so funny?" Emma questioned the madman. "What did you make me do?"

Once the Doctor calmed down from his maniacal laughter, he told Emma, "I helped you to help us kick-start the TARDIS on its next destination."

After a short moment, Emma and Snow ultimately realized what he was doing.

"Wait." Emma said. "You mean…?"

"We're going back to Storybrooke?" Snow excitedly finished Emma's question.

The Doctor largely smiled, looking directly at Emma, who began to figure him out just from his smile. "You knew. You knew that I was the key to getting back this whole time. But, if you knew that, why didn't you want to go back? Want us to go back?"

"I'd lost so much hope before Clara came to me for help, and I wanted to make you two lose hope as well…get you to see that going back to Storybrooke – to a place that wasn't your real home – was fruitless. I was wrong for that. I want to help you get your real home back…because it's my home now, too."

Emma and Snow both smiled; they felt incredibly proud of the Doctor for being fully restored back to the man he once was. Of course, that didn't stop Snow from asking, "What about Clara?"

"I'll find her." He looked to the image of Clara Oswin Oswald projected on the screen. "She's out there…somewhere."