Well now that the story is just about all setup, we are going to be getting into the good stuff starting with this chapter. Thanks for being patient and enjoy! :)
The Charmings have made their way to Mr. Gold's shop; if anybody can help bring Neal back, it's him. They bust through the door and yell out "GOLD!" He appears through the curtain from the back of his shop with a look of annoyance.
"What do you two want? I'm kind of busy here." Mr. Gold questions while approaching them from the other side of the counter.
Mary Margret steps in and speaks up – "We are trying to find Emma's true love and we need your help."
"What is this, help Emma Swan find Love Day? What makes you think I'm going to help? I'm a very busy man you know…" Mr. Gold lashes back at Mary Margret.
"For one very simple reason; what I need done and if we can achieve it is something YOU want as well." Mary Margret says in a pretentious way.
"Oh? And what might that be?" Mr. Gold asks inquisitively.
"Bringing Neal back." Mary Margret says while staring Mr. Gold in the eyes; you can almost smell the smugness. She knows he can't refuse now, and she won't even have to cash in that favor he owes.
"Very well, I will help you this time and only because it is indeed something I want. Let's also be clear, I'm not doing this for you." Mr. Gold begins walking to the back of his shop – "I have everything we need to attempt this in the back, let's get started." Mr. Gold says with a sense of urgency.
"What about Neal's body? And what do you think the chance of this actually working is?" Mary Margret asks, going from arrogant to clueless.
"I can port Neal's body here, since I know where it is; right where I buried him. As to the success of this ritual, it's one of the most forbidden types of magic. Not only does it go against the forces of nature, its success rate is very low." Mr. Gold responds with attitude. He is starting to get annoyed with all the questions.
"I guess we don't have anything to lose, let's get started." Charming eagerly pipes in. He just wants this to be over; he was never too fond of this idea.
Emma is just now arriving home; she goes inside, kicks her shoes off and plops down on the edge of her bed. She falls back on the bed and sighs – "Oh what a night!" She starts thinking to herself about everything going on. What her parents are up to now with trying to bring Neal back and the pendant that isn't working. She sits up, and looks at the pendant again.
Emma closes her eyes, and mumbles to herself "I'm ready, I'm ready, I'm ready to find my true love!" She then slowly and hesitantly opens her eyes to take a peek at the pendant and to her dread…nothing is happening.
She decides to give up for the night and go to bed. She takes off her red leather jacket and tosses it on the chair. Followed by her white tank top and jeans before crawling into bed. She is lost in her thoughts for a good 20 minutes before finally dozing off into a deep and much needed sleep.
Now in a dream like state, Emma wakes up in her bed and turns over to find Regina staring at her. Emma is slightly shocked and confused.
"Good morning dear." Regina whispers out while reaching over to brush the hair out of Emma's eyes.
"So are you hungry? You must be after last night. What do you want? Oh how about apple pancakes? Regina asks excitedly.
Emma doesn't know what to make of this, but she just figures it's all a weird dream and decides to go along with it – "Yeah…apple pancakes sound good." She responds to the eagerly waiting Regina.
"Splendid! I'm going to poof over to my tree for the apples. In the meantime, why don't you go to the kitchen and get everything else ready?" Regina says in an authoritative way before disappearing in a puff of purple smoke.
Emma slides out of bed, gets dressed and heads to the kitchen. She starts pulling out everything they will need for their breakfast of apple pancakes. Flour, eggs, milk, bowls, anything she thinks they might need she takes out…as well as a few things they won't need. She is moving kind of sluggish, this whole thing feels weird. It doesn't feel like a typical dream, it feels so real.
Emma starts a pot of coffee; while the coffee is brewing she rests on counter and stares at everything she took out; just waiting for Regina. After a few minutes, the coffee is done and the whole place is filled with the sweet aroma.
As Emma begins to pour the freshly brewed coffee, Regina appears in a cloud of purple smoke right beside her. She has a basket of fresh apples in hand, sets them on the counter and leans in to kiss Emma on the cheek.
"Miss me?" Regina asks in an enchanting way with a smirk. She already knew the answer, but wanted to hear Emma say it.
It was strange to Emma, and yet something felt right. As much as she found it hard to believe; she did actually miss her. She felt lonely and like a piece of her heart was missing during the brief moment she was gone. "Yes…" Emma replies with a little smile.
Regina kisses the air, while looking at Emma and then starts preparing the apples. She doesn't have the patience to do everything by hand, so with a little help from magic the apples are peeled and all heated up as if they were just boiled.
"Time to mash them up now, we need them in sauce form. You know the best way to do that right? With our hands! " Regina seems very excited by this part.
Regina tosses the apples in a big bowl and tells Emma to grab the cinnamon and put a little bit in the with the apples. Emma does as she's told, gets the cinnamon and sprinkles some in with the apples. Before putting it away, she dips her finger in the container and taps Regina on the nose with her cinnamon coated finger.
"There that should add a little spice to all your sweetness." Emma tells Regina with a big grin on her face, and almost a feeling of pride for coming up with something like that. She doesn't even know why she did it, but all she knows is it felt right.
"Very funny; and dear, if I gave you all my spice I'm sure you couldn't handle it. Now let's get back to making breakfast please." Regina quips back while wiping the cinnamon off her nose.
Emma chuckles and then they both stuff their hands in the bowl and begin squishing the apples. While squishing the apples their hands touch in the bowl, and Emma can't help but like the feeling. After about a minute the apples are now thoroughly mashed and their hands are buried deep in the bowl. They both go to scrape the bottom of the bowl with their hand, and they end up meeting. Emma is taken back with the feeling. Why does she like this so much? They interlock their fingers, and pull their hands out of the bowl. They are now holding hands, which are covered in apple.
They turn their attention to each other, and just get lost in the others' eyes. Suddenly it all goes away in a flash of darkness, and Emma is woken up…