"Wanna see some magic?" I asked Grace catching her just getting off the bus. So I wasn't that late after all.

"What kind of magic…?" she narrowed her eyes distrustfully. Passing my test. If only everyone had this attitude to it, none of us would be here, breathing polluted air and driving around in metal boxes that looked like they might withstand a werewolf attack. But then she did come to it the hard way.

Without adding unnecessary details, I tied my hair back, watching the expression of wonder lighting up her face. The tangled mess of my hair being turned into perfect ringlets could have that effect.

"That was cool," she admitted.

"It was, wasn't it?" I grinned and took her hand. "So tell me – why am I picking you up today?"

"Because Will was busy," she said. Looking anywhere but at me.

"I see."

I didn't, but I didn't push it. Which was a good move as it turned out, because by the time we reached the end of the street I heard her say, "Papa is laying low. The sheriff is back in town…"

"I heard something about that," I said. And I did. Though I was having a feeling that someone left out some interesting details.

"And Captain Hook too," she added. Which sounded vaguely familiar. Like someone mother warned me about…

"Who?"

"The man in black watching you from across the road."

I looked in the direction she indicated and indeed found a man standing there. Missing a hand and suffering from a very unoriginal nickname. And looking at me very strangely.

Very strangely. There were several types and degrees of strange looks I was used to, but this was something new.

"You didn't recognize him. That's interesting."

"Is it?" I said, busy looking for an escape route.

"That means you must have met him last year. Because you don't remember," she explained, when she caught my confused expression.

"How did you figure that out…?"

"Eliminated the impossible," she shrugged her shoulders.

"Wait just a moment. Isn't that one of the things I'm not supposed to let you do?"

"No. You're just supposed to keep me from the creepy lady's ice cream truck and get me home as quickly as you can.," she said with mischievous smile, "I'm definitely not forbidden to talk to pirates, you know."

"I don't think that's a good idea," I said. In truth I was really glad that this so-called captain was keeping his distance.

"Aren't you curious what were you doing the past year?"

I said nothing, because I couldn't very well deny that. I was beyond curious. But I was also pretty certain that whatever I was up to was not suitable for the years of twelve-year-old. Too bad I underestimated how much she wanted to know, because before I could stop her she headed for the man in black, dragging me behind.

"Tremaine," said Hook, proving to me beyond any doubt that we did meet at some point. Not even trying to use my title.

"Stranger," I said because that was really the only appropriate way of addressing him. "So let's hear it. What have I done?"

"Ah, yes, you don't remember."

"The question is how do you," pointed out Grace.

"I escaped the curse," he said in a way of explanation and gave me yet another strange look. Stranger even. Not used to seeing me around children, probably – and he had a point there. One would have to be mad… oh, well.

"Escaped the curse how?" I asked. "Did I help?"

"How would you help?" asked Grace. Starting to suspect me from being a witch, I was sure. Luckily the pirate replied before that train of thought left the station. Or so I hoped.

"You offered to, yes," he said. "If I helped you. Which I failed to do," he said.

Well that did sound like me, I had to admit. Making deals with people that so obviously could not be trusted. Since there was this voice in my head reminding me that they always worked out for me in the past…

Right. Now just figure out what kind of help could I possibly want from a pirate.

"You wanted passage on my ship," he explained, seeing the question in my eyes.

And things stopped making sense from there. Traveling into faraway places was something I never needed any help with. Unless…

"Where?"

"Arendelle."

Of course. The one place that just had to be separated from out land by ocean.

"Why would I want to go there?"

"I have no idea. To tell the truth, my lady, I had the feeling your name was the only truth you told me that day. That and the portal-maker whose help you could procure for me."

"A portal-maker?" said Grace, her eyes growing big with surprise.

"You better eliminate the impossible before jumping to conclusions," I told her.

"Oh… you meant the white rabbit."

I shrugged my shoulders. That was the most logical explanation to this part of the mystery the last year of my life appeared to be. Which made me think I was pretty desperate at that point, because contacting that furry piece of magic would require going through my sister, something I was opposed to on principle.

"I wish I could help more, but we really only known each other for a short time. Too short," said the captain.

Only appropriate reaction to that was to stare at him, since I had no idea if I did or didn't hear an innuendo there. Though I had the feeling that there was nothing he couldn't turn into one. And with a minor present I of course couldn't say the things I had at the tip of my tongue.

"You looked shocked to see her here," reminded Grace. "Why?"

"I understood she had a way to escape the curse. I… had the impression you would need a very good reason not to do so this time," he told me.

"I would," I nodded, because that was true enough.

I thanked him for telling me, doing my best to hide how the information he gave did more to confuse me than to explain things. He got the hint and got moving before my inquisitive companion could ask any further questions.

"What do you think it means?" she said, clearly not intending to stop asking just because we were one pirate shorter at the moment. There was still me after all. Mystery if ever there was one…

"I can't make educated guess from that," I pointed out, since the pirate gave us pretty much nothing.

"I don't expect that. Educated guess, i mean. You told me all anyone ever tried to teach you was how to look pretty in dress," she said, grinning.

I gave her a look, but in the end I said.

"I used to like to travel… maybe I missed it."

She gave me a look telling me, that that won't do, as far as explanations go.

"And why would you be secretive about it?"

Because that was my thing. But I couldn't tell her that. I couldn't even properly explain to her how I wasn't a princess, but only a pretty low-level countess, no matter how big were the countries my sisters owned. Children had this kind of logic that was very hard to deal with. And I could see she was employing it right now, trying to think of an explanation.

Too late I realized that her silence gave my own mind space to wander – and of course I too ended up thinking about it. About that mysterious year missing from my memory. Which I've done before, true, but usually in terms of what I'll do to the person responsible.

"I know a shortcut through the woods. We better go that way," she said, leading me from the main road.

"Why…?"

"Because you have to hurry back to catch the pirate and ask him the rest. The things he wouldn't say in from of me…" she explained, when I only gave her look of confusion.

"Why?" I said again.

"Don't you want to know?"

I didn't know how to answer that simple question, and it had nothing to do with the fact, that we entered the wood and my instincts overwrote everything, making me watch every shadow and listen to every tiniest sound.

"You don't…" she realized. "Why?"

"Because I remember leaving the dark forest after the time started moving again. Where I went. What I did… What kind of people I was around. Thieves," I explained. "So I'm not all that surprised that I moved onto pirates."

Too late I realized who I was talking to. If I wasn't considered dangerously cool by now, that definitely changed after that little fact.

So I resigned myself to being questioned. And I was…

"So how did you kill that bear?" she asked after a while.

"What bear? Oh," I smiled when she pointed to my necklace. "I don't think I should be telling you…"

But I did, of course. There was that very obvious reason not to share stories of my so-called adventures with people of any age, but all things considered, this one was pretty harmless. She probably deduced most of it anyway. She didn't look one bit surprised that I knew how to use a sword, even though as she pointed out all anyone ever bothered to give me lessons in were things that might help me to become a trophy wife – the kind wearing a crown, preferably.

Before I knew it, we were at the house near the edge of town.

"That really is a shortcut," I had to admit.

"Are you taking me home tomorrow?" she asked me, when we found ourselves almost at our destination. Proving that kids could survive my company without getting thoroughly traumatized… "So you can tell me what the pirate said."

"We'll see," I said, hurrying her towards the door.

I said my goodbyes, feeling like I just did something serious about my wicked stepsister status, and hurried back to town.

Where I found myself unsurprised finding a pirate just where I left him. Of course. Because there just had to be more to his story…

And I didn't want to know what mischief I was up to during an entire year in a land suddenly full of people once again. I really didn't. I found myself walking towards him anyway, because if there was an explanation of the new set of scars I now had running down my ribs I couldn't just walk away from it.

"I've got somewhere to be. Walk with me," I said before he could start explaining what he left out and why.

He gave me almost sincere bow and did just that.

"I said I didn't know why you wanted to go to Arendelle and that's the truth. But there is something that might help you understand."

"Let's hear it then."

"You were one of the very few people that could. Go anywhere outside of the enchanted forest that is… There was a side effect to whatever Regina did to bring us all back. There were barriers dividing the lands. For anyone who was part of the original curse."

"That's interesting…" I said.

But when I eliminated the impossible there was one scary thought I couldn't shake. "Do you think… did I give you the impression I was," I said, hesitating, "following orders?"

He considered it, and gave me the worst possible answer there was. "Maybe. Why? Did you remember something?"

"No. Deduced something, and I'm really hoping I'm wrong," I sighed. But deep down I knew I wasn't.

If the travel between the realms, complicated to begin with, suddenly had new set of problems… I doubted there were many people they could ask to cross the lands and look for information. Which was something of a hobby for me for some time. I used to find any excuse to use those seven mile boots of mine.

"Thank you," I said to the captain as we reached my destination.

Not adding that what I was really thanking him for was letting me know that nothing serious changed last year.

I was still the doing whatever self-destructive came my way. This time I was just doing it to help people. Hopefully. Though there was still the scary option that Regina played the family card and made me help her. If what I saw her doing in this town – mainly hanging out with the royal family a lot – was also true in the Enchanted forest, who knew what they might have talked me into, joining forces.

But that was the one thing I really shouldn't be thinking about on such a nice day… Besides, with the savior back in town, it was just a matter of time before I had my memories back. Good thing I had places to go and people to see to distract me from that thought, because it seemed a lot scarier today.

"Drusilla…" called to me familiar voice as I entered the school.

A distraction, I smiled wickedly. Perfect.

"It's Dru. Not Drusilla, not Lady Tremaine – as you might know that was my sociopath of a mother – and don't even think about pointing out the whole countess thing. Just Dru. Anything else makes me… hostile. "

"I see," said Frederick taken aback a little.

"Good. Now where are the problem kids that needed pacifying?"