"Don't even think about it. I have band of armed teenagers and I'm not afraid to use them," I told Archie, when I saw him casually walking my way. Too casually. And I just knew he was about to give me a free psychiatric advice no one asked him for.

"I didn't mean to," he started apologetically, remembering who he was talking to.

"Yes you did. So what's the diagnosis?" I sighed. Because if I got rid of him before he told me, he would just come back some other time.

"I was just going to remark on your pattern of behavior in last few weeks."

"Aggressive yet not quite self-destructive," I forced a smile. "You're not the first person who's calling it a progress, if you have to know…"

"But," added Archie in tone that made me remember that I actually could get my lost boys to teach him a lesson about giving free advice. Might help a lot of people that way – making him realize that he really needed a new hobby.

"But what?"

"You do realize what the difference is, don't you? In the enchanted forest you had something to fight for, even if the fight wasn't yours. Here, you're just taking it one day at the time. Not thinking about the future. Not making plans…" he said with that well meaning tone that only made me want to punch him in the face.

All the more for being right about it.

"So? It's good for me."

"Is it?" he said. I gave him a look.

"Of course. The fact I don't have to make plans means there is nothing evil is making them for me. That's a good thing," I tried to explain.

His expression turned very confused. Taking advantage of it I ran before he could overanalyze that.

"Sorry I'm late, I've been attacked with psychological advice," I said walking into the bar. "We definitely have to put a bell on him…"

"No. We're not making any sudden movements today," said Victor not even managing to raise his head from the surface of the table where he was resting it. He looked pretty okay considering he refused to leave the hospital for four days because no one was sure when he'll have to deliver a member of royal family – and he spent those days running only on caffeine and nervous energy.

"Just go home," said Blue in tone that told me this was not the first time she was making this suggestion.

"You look like you could sleep for a week," I added my opinion.

"I remember very little about what actually happened," he admitted. I didn't even try to hide my grin at that, since I was pretty sure he wasn't able to focus on objects too far away from him. I exchanged looks with Blue and just like that, this Friday was officially cancelled.

"I'll get him home if you'll promise me you'll stay out of trouble."

"Trouble? Blue, you're talking to a lady," I said, scandalized.

"Of course I am. Just go to that royal thing and then straight home. And try not to lose a shoe along the way," she said in her best serious tone.

"Not going to the royal thing. There is no mystery about how they'll name him and we all know that… If there are two people who can appreciate a nice, normal name like, say, Neal, it's definitely Snow White and Prince Charming," I grinned.

"You're not going home either, are you?" said Victor giving me a knowing look. That was ruined by the fact I was standing two meters to the left of the place he was aiming it at.

"No I'm not," I said calmly. He was going to misread this no matter what I did, so I just let him. He was not looking like someone who could be hold responsible for his comments right now.

"See you next week," I said, opening doors for them and watching them disappearing in the streets of darkening town.

And then I headed for the woods.

"What are you doing here?" was the greeting I got from Jefferson when I knocked on his door.

"What do you think?"

I slipped in before he could decide he wasn't in the mood for me tonight. Not that there was much of a chance of that happening, now that we had our memories back. Because that little detail changed everything…

"Dru, come on, it's Friday night. You should be out there…"

"Doing something inadvisable and dangerous? Why do you think I'm here?"

"Because Granny is busy and Victor comatose and you couldn't find Will anywhere?" he suggested.

"And maybe I'm exactly where I want to be," I said with my brightest smile and without wasting any more time headed for the room filled with hats where I was spending most of my nights ever since my missing year stopped being a mystery. Thinking of Archie suspecting me from having no life and improvising my way through my days I had to smile. He had no idea how long term my plans really were – and neither did anyone else, which was exactly how I wanted to keep it.

"Did you ever consider you're trying too hard?" he asked from the doorway, finding me already seated and doing my best not to stab myself with a needle. Which was something I happened to be very good at. Good thing I never pissed off Maleficent – putting me under a sleeping curse would be ridiculously easy.

"No. You said I can make it work," I reminded gesturing at the hat in my hands. "And that's exactly what I'm going to do… soon… I got some extra motivation today."

"Did you?"

"I saw Lucifer. My mother's demon cat," I said with smile that was a little too wicked. "I don't know how he got into town, but… guess who's going through the first portal…?"

He sighed and took a seat, looking at me in nearly disapproving way. But there was nothing he could really say, since this was all his fault. I would never even consider getting involved in something as dangerously close to magic as portal jumping appeared to be, if he didn't mention that there might be just the slightest chance that I could. Make it work that is.

Which was not his only mistake. Mentioning it to me while I was still mostly immobile, recovering and not happy about it was the second one. Giving me something to do with my free time besides driving everyone mad with my constant attempts to sneak myself out of bed and go for a stroll in the woods must have seem such a good idea at the time.

The worst of it was that he was right. I did have it in me – that mysterious ingredient that could make turn an ordinary piece of headgear into something spinning inexplicably and producing scary amounts of purple mist. I might have been short on the ability to focus it properly, true, but I was trying. There was no chance I was going to give up…

"There is no chance you're going to…"

"No. I told you… I have a demon cat to get rid of," I said, almost seriously. "Not to mention that we have about a day before some new villain shows up. Wouldn't you prefer to have a plan B, in case it will be too much for Charmings to handle?"

"Do we really call them Charmings now?"

"We do," I confirmed. And went back to work, knowing he was just trying to distract me.

"Just tell me," he said in the end, trying the direct approach. "Why does it matter so much now that there is no witch around?"

"Because I need it to work. I need it," I said, letting a small smile slip on my face as I heard footsteps near the door. "To find my true love."

"To find what…?"

"Who is it?" asked Grace crossing the distance between us in record time. "No wait, let me guess… You need portal so he's from some faraway land…"

"He is," I admitted, keeping my expression very serious. "It's called… Gotham."

There was an endless second of silence that ended in giggles. The kind only twelve-year-old can produce.

"Isn't it past your bedtime?" I asked when she quieted.

"You're the one to talk…"

"I'm a grown-up," I reminded. Secretly hoping she didn't hear the part where I said I was doing it because a cat kept looking at me in a waz that made me positive it was planning to murder me.

I let her stay, though. Looking at me unblinkingly while waiting for something magic to happen was something that would bore her eventually… especially since there was a pretty big pile of perfectly ordinary hats next to my chair.

I could blame that on how the magic didn't work quite as well in this world, but… actually I couldn't. This wasn't about magic and I knew it.

Magic is what you use when you can't get the real thing, as it was explained to me. What made the whole thing all the more frustrating because I did. I had a terminal case of wanderlust long before I first heard of seven league boots or magical mirrors that led into a certain land of nightmares. And that should be enough. It was enough, back home. The first few hats I made might not have been quite functional, but they did spin on their own. And I was getting better, judging by the amounts of purple mist and other special effects.

And then the curse hit…

"Would you mind very much if I said it out loud?" he asked after Grace finally left.

"I would," I said, not raising my eyes. I threw another hat on the pile, starting a minor avalanche.

"You can try for the next thousand nights and you still won't make it work," he said anyway. I ignored him too busy trying to stop the bleeding from my pricked finger. "Not here."

"What do you mean not here? It's not like Ella will let me get a hat room of my own."

"Not in Storybrooke. Because you don't want to leave…"

I dropped everything after that little remark and just looked at him.

"Not even trying to deny it. Interesting."

"I can't leave, so what does it matter what I want?" I said, picking my words most carefully.

"So if we woke up back in enchanted forest tomorrow, you wouldn't be disappointed," he said, not buying it for a second.

"Not much. I do miss having a butler…" I sighed.

"Of course you do…"

"If you want to get rid of me," I said, just in case that was what all of this was about.

"I don't."

"Good. Because I need this," I said, dropping my eyes and picking up the unfinished hat again. "It helps me think. No, that's not right… it helps me not to think about the wrong things. It helps me forget that all I really do in this town is killing time waiting for something horrible happen, giving me some purpose again. Helps me forget that I should have things figured out by now and I really, really don't…"

"Welcome to the club," he said, picking one of the half-finished hats himself.

"And let's never admit it in front of Will. I have to be grow-up around him," I sighed. "Though, maybe that's what it means. Knowing you're supposed to pretend you have things figured out, especially when you don't."

"That sounded like Wonderland logic."

"I know," I nodded, realizing it myself only seconds later. "I was thinking about that. Maybe I should go and take a look…"

"You really shouldn't," he said, meaning it. And that was that.

"Fine, not Wonderland. But we are getting out of here eventually. And then," I smiled dreamily, "I'm going to go places."

"Like Gotham?"

"Like… Agrabah. I always wanted to see Agrabah."

"That's only slightly better. And the sand gets everywhere."

That made me stop what I was doing. Because I remembered something.

"Tell me a story," I said.

"What?"

"Oh, you know what I mean. Tell me about somewhere magical and strange. That used to help."

"It still won't make you want to leave Storybrooke," he pointed out.

"I know. Tell me anyway."

He did. Making me realize that Blue was completely wrong about magic. It did work here. At least some kinds did.

"Maybe you should try it again," he said after a moment. "Your eyes went all sparkly."

"I thought we only used that word on fairies… and vampires," I grinned. But I did pick up a needle with my swollen, slightly bloody fingers and gave it another try. And it did seem to be going a little better. My thoughts were running in all the right directions for a while, and when I tried the finished product it did spin a little longer than seemed normal.

"Interesting," Jefferson said, examining it.

"I am so getting rid of that cat," I smiled, pleased with myself.

"First we're getting rid of Ingrid."

"Who's Ingrid. No, let me guess… evil ex?"

"The ice-cream lady," he explained. And for some reason I felt a sudden chill remembering her with her bit too friendly smile. "I don't know what she wants, but it can't be anything good. She's a proper psycho…"

I really tried, but there was no way I could not start laughing at that.

"Sorry. It's just…" I said, trying to keep it down, since I was pretty sure Grace was asleep by now. "Coming from you, that's a bit…"

"Try again," he told me, when I mostly recovered from my outburst. "Make it work."

So I did. Forgetting that I was slightly sleepy myself and that I did not really want to leave this town. Forgetting everything around me, including the fact that this was not magic. It felt like it, though. It must have been, at least a little bit, since nothing else could make me forget the pain in my fingers… this messy fairytale I was living… and whatever was that bright light coming from the direction of Zelena's house…

"Did you sleep at all?" surprised me question from the doorway what felt like minutes later. Though it might have been a little longer…

I looked at Grace over my shoulder and then, checked my phone and found out that it was few minutes after seven. And I had about hundred missed calls.

"There is something weird happening at the edge of town. You better not be there, poking it with a stick," I read the message I got from Will. "What did I miss?" I frowned.

But that was only a rhetorical question, since I found myself not really caring. Let Charmings deal with that kind of things, I had better things to do.

"What do you think you're doing…?"

"Just one more. Come on, I almost had it this time," I begged, trying to reach the hat he took from me. In the end I had to jump over table, and thanks to my sleepless night I was not coordinated enough to make that element of surprise count.

"Don't even think about it. You look ready to drop."

"I'm fine," I said, making another launch for the hat.

In the end I lost, though. I was sent home, to be interrogated over breakfast by Ella most likely, and I was pretty sure certain furry sociopath would follow me through the woods.

"I'll be back," I promised when I was showed to the door. Not managing to sound as sinister as I planned to, since I pretty much yawned it.

"I know," was the answer I got. And it did not sound half as annoyed as it should.

"Tonight," I added.

"Can't wait."

I grinned and turned to leave, feeling anything but sleepy. Feeling like stopping by Archie's place on my way back, to tell him his services were no longer required. I felt incredibly sane today.

"Even you can't ruin my day," I said to the feral noises making Lucifer that jumped from behind a tree and started following me. "Not today. Today I'm going places…"

… or so I thought.

And then, after I woke up from my much needed nap, there was suddenly an ice-wall surrounding the town. Not the worst of it. The worst was the look certain cat sitting right outside my window gave me, after seeing my half-amused, half-resigned expression.

"One of those days, isn't it?" said Ella, when she found me starring daggers at Lucifer.

"Why do you sound so calm about it?" I said, studying her expression curiously. She only smiled at me and summed it all up in one word.

"Storybrooke…"

And just like that, I was ready to admit that staying here seemed like a good idea even before it became mandatory. Not out loud, though. Out loud I only started threatening the cat. Because it was one of those days…

And fact that there were more just behind the corner made me smile and keep smiling until my face hurt.

"This town…" I said, shaking my head. This town was mess and not good for me, but… But I was certain I could make it work.