"Oh, Dru… I didn't expect you."

I was too preoccupied trying to untangle my shoelaces to get a good look on her face, but her tone clearly indicated, that this was not I did not expect you before midnight kind of private joke.

"What…?" I said. "I was just getting Will away from the convent. That's not a whole night kind of thing."

"Oh… Is that what you were doing?" she said. Sounding just a little distrustfully. So it was here. Our long overdue talk about my drinking problem. Or, even better, one about the company I kept.

"Ella… What is this about?"

"Would you like some tea? I think I should make some tea…"

I left the obvious comment about tea to myself and followed her to the kitchen. And started waiting, with the patience of a hunter I used to be, before I became the best armed teacher in local school.

"You are going to have to tell me at some point, you know…" I said as the time passed, and she kept her silence.

"Milk…?"

"You know how I take my tea," I said.

"That's right. I do. And I know how you hate high heels. And… Lady Tremaine," she said, not meeting my eyes. "And how are some days much worse than others for you."

"Was today suppose to be one of them?" I asked, genuinely curious. This land did something to my sense of time. I wasn't even sure how old I was… but hey, as long as I was sure that I was elder to the hyperactive, hormone-filled psycho's in my charge, it wasn't such a big deal.

Though, maybe it was, I realized, seeing the look on her face.

"You really don't know do you?" she said, putting her teacup down.

I shook my head. I really didn't. Today just didn't feel any different, if I didn't count the fact that Will's thing for fairies interfered with evening I planned to spent sneaking through the woods, thinking about good old times…

"Did I ever tell you what the curse did to me?" she said hesitantly.

"Made your pregnancy last twenty-eight years, you mean?" I asked. That actually got me a smile. Something I did not expect at this point, with her being all serious.

"I mean what I… what Ashley, thought about why you were both gone."

"Oh…"

I never even considered that. Of course I knew there was some kind of explanation, but I was too preoccupied trying to learn things about this world to spend my time looking for it too hard. There were too many other mysteries here – and I did such a great job ignoring those, that I just kept that attitude about most other things…

"I thought Anastasia was in Europe. Having the time of her life and spending it not calling home… She'd send a postcard every now and then. To me of all people…" she smiled. "I still have them somewhere. But you… I had a cursed memories of you calling me every couple of days. From Africa…"

"Where now?"

"It's a place… The kind of place your father would have liked. Lots of big game…" she explained. Big game… probably not dragons, I realized. And thinking about that was of course easier than thinking about just what day was it today.

"It's the anniversary, isn't it…?" I barely whispered as she covered my suddenly cold hand with hers.

"I know how much you miss him around this time."

"It's not that. It wasn't that for a very long time, actually. I can't remember what his face looked like. That was the first thing that faded. But… I remembered how silent he could go sometimes, and how he always wore furs, no matter how often she pointed out how inappropriate it was in polite society…" I said, not surprised that I did not have that heavy, painful feeling crushing my heart. I was getting much better at dealing with these things. "I remember this… giant pelt of a white bear from somewhere beyond Arendelle. He told me it was a loan – until I got one of my own."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but I am having trouble understanding how you turned out so good with parents so…"

"Bloodthirsty?" I said, since she clearly had some trouble with that word. "That's another story… The thing is, what made me sad on this day all these years had very little to do with my father being dead. It always was about… how I would never know how things would have gone if he lived just a little longer. If I wasn't conditioned to be a lady from such a young age. I would be this…"

"Wild thing…" she smiled at me. "Always running through the woods, always chasing after something."

"Fine, so maybe I turned out to be my father's daughter after all," I said smiling myself. And I really couldn't remember why this used to be one of the bad days for me.

Days like the one when I last saw Duchess, or learned Anastasia left for that land of madness too, days like the one I found myself walking home still dripping blood and holding a golden key in my hand so hard I thought the imprint will last forever – those were still the bad ones. Ones that made me want to stay in bed and feel sorry for myself all day long.

This one, though, somehow got better when I wasn't looking. Which was pretty strange considering that not even joined efforts of my so called support group could not get it out of me. This wasn't something to tell them. This was… a family thing.

"You know… I miss your father sometimes too. He was really nice to us, considering."

"Considering…?" she said, raising her eyebrows in question.

"That we were both such brats," I said. She would not put it this way, before or after finding out how I was all over arranging her happily ever after. I was much less forgiving about the things of past, especially if the case was mine.

"You weren't so bad…" she said.

"Very diplomatic. You would be a great queen, if you ever got to spend more than few months in your kingdom, before some curse spirited you away into another world…"

We went quiet after that. The kind of silence I liked best… not tense, not threatening there will be another revelation about dark deeds of the past the second it ended, not one that is obviously going to end in violence.

"So… Will was trying to sneak into convent?" she said after some time.

"He has this thing for fairies. I'm not really trying to understand, since from where I stand they're just really scary… You know that in this world they would be probably considered a group of mercenaries – and no one can tell what their agenda is. I mean no one. I asked Blue once… she just laughed."

Or something like it. Going Joker again was how Victor described it, just before starting to consider putting her on psych ward for observation.

Ella just shook her head and her expression turned thoughtful for a moment. "Did he look drunk? Will…?"

"Oh no – he doesn't have to be drunk to act like…"

"That's perfect," she said, cutting me off. And her eyes looked suspiciously shiny.

"Why?" I asked, having a very bad suspicion about this.

"That means he can come babysitting," she said. And took her phone out of her pocket. Nothing I could do to stop her.

Still, I had to try.

"You know the only other person that lets him do that is called the Mad Hatter, right?"

"I believe that's the word you used to described me once."

"Those shoes were insane, Ella," I said, still standing by that initial assessment after all the years.

Next thing I knew, we were waiting for Will to show up. To be responsible for a toddler for an evening – the same evening when he gave me the definite proof he could act like one…

"Why did you call him?" I asked, well aware that I could not change her mind at this point.

"Because we're going to the Rabbit Hole."

I paled at that, thinking up ways how I'll get the bartender to keep to himself how I normally spent my evenings in his establishment. All I could do was hope that he considered me scary enough… oh, who I was kidding? The sheriff of Nottingham turned around at the door when he saw me last Friday. And I wasn't even trying to look scary then…

"That… might not be your worst idea," I admitted out loud.

"I really wish you didn't compare everything to my choice of footwear."

Before I could come up with witty reply, there was a knock on the door. I put on my leather jacket and got ready to run before Will could decide this was a little too much responsibility for him after all.

"Ladies…" he said, with that smile he probably thought everyone finds irresistible. Ella started to give him instructions and I was not surprised to find that his smile did not survive that – he looked pretty close to a panic attack by the time we left.

"We're going to Rabbit Hole just because it's the closest, right? Nothing to do with me spending too much time there and not giving you any details…?" I said walking down the street next to her.

"Of course not," she said. With a smile that made it impossible to tell whether she was serious.

"Because I'm behaving. I really am," I said. Not sure if I myself was buying it.

Well, it was not as if I remembered everything that went down on Fridays. After the clock struck twelve things became all blurry… not to mention that once I lost a shoe, too…

"I would be lying if I said I wasn't curious. I mean – I can see it's helping. Whatever it is…" she said, not bothering to hide her curiosity.

"Oh we're just… talking. The kind of talking one can't really do without a few drinks," I felt required to add.

"That's what I thought," she nodded. Meaning it. I studied her expression, trying to figure out what was the problem if my drinking wasn't.

I was still studying it minutes after we reached the bar.

"The regular?" asked one of the waitresses. Wisely not making any comment about my missing my usual drinking buddies.

I nodded in answer and went back to staring at Ella.

"Why are we here?" I asked in the end.

"So I can get drunk. It might help me feel better about being way too supportive about your bad habits."

"You can never be too supportive about my bad habits. I have so many…" I smiled. Though I knew that was so not the reason she dragged me out tonight. "I know you don't mind my sad days. Or the drinking. Or spending too much time keeping eye on Will," I started to eliminate, counting it down on my fingers.

"It's how you don't spend your time."

I stared at her for a while before admitting defeat. "No idea what you mean…"

"You really don't do you? Let me just start by saying that it's amazing to watch you not spending all your time with wild animals…"

"But…?" I said, after I swallowed the obvious werewolf comment some part of me wanted to make.

"But… You're not really… oh, how do I put it…"

And just like that I knew. To my credit I only laughed for about a minute.

"Ella, you're my sister, and I love you, but if I find out you made me a dating profile I'll murder you… slowly," I said, still trying to catch my breath after that outburst.

"I didn't… yet," she said, obviously fighting laughter herself.

"Good. Because… oh, I should have told you this before. What do you know about the people I've been meeting for group therapy?" I asked.

A question that could be so very easily misinterpreted, as I realized almost immediately by the change in her expression.

"Let me just rephrase that. One of them is the most manipulative Fairy there're is. And she thinks I should start looking for happy ending yesterday… As if looking helps."

„It doesn't hurt," she pointed out.

"Right. And it might work for most people, but… I'm a different case."

"Are you?"

I knew that the only way to get this through to her was to show her. So I got up. Abruptly.

Three people jumped over the bar for cover, dozen more ran for the door and the bartender would be calling the sheriff's office by now, I was certain, if he only didn't faint.

"Not even armed or doing threatening motions."

"So it will be a little tougher to…"

"Do you feel like you owe me?" I asked outright, feeling that that was what it boiled down to. No matter how well I kept that secret, she always had some suspicions about how conveniently that Fairy appeared just when she needed her. Maybe it was my fault, promising her things will get better just before leaving for the palace that night…

"A little. I feel… that if the situations were reversed, you wouldn't be talking to me, just got Tinkerbelle on my case…"

"What has Tinkerbelle to do with anything?" I said, seriously confused by that.

"Oh, she knows this spell…"

When she was done explaining I was really glad we lived in a world where pixie dust was impossible to get. She was right, though. If things were reversed, that would be exactly what I would have done. Which made me feel just as manipulative as Blue for a moment.

And then a distraction arrived.

"Will called me five times in last half hour. About dealing with kids. The really tiny kind. What's going on…?" said Jefferson, sitting down by our table and reaching for my untouched drink.

"And good evening to you too," I said taking it right back.

"What did the poor princess do to be punished by spending time with Will Scarlet?" he asked Ella. Who was too shocked by the sight of his scar to react.

"He was sneaking into the convent. We had to give him something to keep him occupied," I answered for her. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the week…"

"I could ask you the same thing. And I don't have class to teach tomorrow."

I gave him a look and waved the waitress over. This was turning into one of those evenings after all…

"It's my fault," said Ella. "I needed to get her to familiar environment, so she'll let her defenses down and I can talk to her about… stuff…"

"And now that we did," I started, knowing I was not going to get out of this so easily. It was worth a shot, though.

"Maybe we skip Tinkerbelle. But really, Dru, you should think about it, at least…"

"Think about what?" asked Jefferson, though I could tell he had a pretty good idea what this was about. Was I not the only person that was being threatened with Tinkerbelle…? That was almost reassuring thought.

"She wants me to start looking…"

"For a happy ending? Looking doesn't help."

"I know. I told her…" I grinned turning to Ella with see, it's not just me expression.

"Cynics," said Ella shaking her head in disappointed. "You know with talk like that you're just asking for it…"

"For what? Tinkerbelle sneak-attacking us with pixie dust," I started laughing.

"Oh, you'll get a happy ending, you'll see."

"Sure she will," said Hatter, joining the opposition. "You just better hope it doesn't involve her owning a kingdom…"

"Or pair of uncomfortable shoes…" I added.

"You have a whole list, don't you?" said Ella.

"Of things I can't handle? You bet I do. Not that I'm telling you – it might find its way to certain Fairy."

Turned out I was only to suffer comments like that for another half hour. She told me what she wanted and was satisfied with that – not to mention she had hard time forgetting who she left in charge at home. So she gave me a hug and disappeared long before midnight and I was left with the kind of thoughts I was just not well adjusted to have.

"She's not really going to get Tinkerbelle on your case," reassured me Hatter.

"I know that. It's just that… She really cares about this. Way more than I do. It's not going to end well…" I sighed, seeing no charming prince in my future – or at least not one that would not make me want to start running in the opposite direction.

"She's still going to hope it will. That's her job. Nothing you can do about it."

I sighed. Was it so easy to read my intention to run off into the woods and become forgotten again…?

"It's not her job."

"And arranging she meets the prince wasn't yours."

"You don't really think she's going to try to arrange something, are you?" I asked, getting really worried.

He only gave me a mysterious smile and got up, obviously planning to leave without answering me. Tonight I really wasn't in the mood for this. I got my jacket and ran after him.

"You think she will don't you?"

"I think she'll wait until we're back home. If I were you I would consider it good news, since last time it took… Actually I don't even know what really happened the last time. Someone mentioned Peter Pan…"

"You're not changing the subject. How do I stop her?"

"Stop her from what?"

"Wasting her energy fighting a lost battle…" I said, since I clearly had to spell it out for him. He actually laughed at that.

"You're not. Fighting lost battles is a family thing with you, isn't it? Fighting them – and winning them…"

That little observation left me speechless. Because he was right.

"Oh no. I'm going to end up happy…"

"It won't be that bad."

"Of course it will. And it better not involve true love, because that thing is a magnet for opposition. Makes you a target for every evil thing in the neighborhood…" I said, getting a headache. "Oh this is so not good…"

"Right. Let's get you home before you faint."

Which is how things went. I was incapable of resisting. A bit too preoccupied with being scared of the future, which is something I never did – not even when I was five and being promised my future will involve hunting things twice my size and armed with magic. But tonight it seemed, my mind decided I was going to make up for the lost time.

And I did. Until I got home… The one place where I just couldn't stay worried. Not even with a thief sleeping on the couch and glass slippers someone put on my night table, with the message simply saying Soon.

Because home was the place where people made you mad. And you didn't care…