Emma had just finished an all night shift when she got the call. She tossed the night log to David and, instead of heading home for some well-earned rest, she headed over to the convent. It looked like they were close to finishing "Project: Free the Fairies" at last.

Sister Astrid was the one who'd named it. Unlike Henry, the nuns had a habit of giving stuff practical, descriptive names (like "The Candle Fundraiser" where they sold candles to raise funds). Emma didn't know if it was a nun thing or a fairy thing. Either way, Henry had protested, trying to talk them into something cooler. He'd wanted to call it "Operation Hammerhead" (there'd been a shark show on TV when he'd heard about it). Astrid, however, had pointed out they weren't trying to keep people from knowing what they were doing. In fact, the less confusion, the better. Emma was pretty sure Henry still had a code book somewhere, but she'd decided not to ask.

When Emma arrived at the convent, Belle was just finishing explaining what needed to be done to Regina. Belle had been up all night in the Nuns' common room marking the floor with different colored chalks and setting up various, spell-y looking things from arrangements of flowers to the skull of something that might have been a giant crocodile if crocodile's came with ram's horns. Astrid had helped, naturally. The part they were doing wasn't magic, per se, Belle said, so Astrid's skill—or legendary lack of it—was a nonissue.

Archie, August, and Marco, who all had their reasons for wanting Blue and her friends out of the hat, had also lent a hand. Will Scarlet, who seemed to be following Belle around like a cross between a lost puppy and a pit bull since the night with Keith, was there, too. So was Professor Longneaux, although Emma wasn't sure how she had gotten involved. Maybe something to do with providing magic plant stuff. That seemed to be the only reason for Aurora and Philip to show up. They'd brought a bag of really big thorns (Grace Jefferson was babysitting baby Philip).

Aurora and Philip had come just before Emma. Granny and Ruby came just after with platters of food. Aurora and Philip were quickly recruited to help lay out sandwiches. As Granny said, after weeks in the hat, the fairies were bound to be hungry. As Belle had said (back in the early stage when Emma was still trying to follow Belle's explanations of what this spell would be doing before admitting she didn't understand any of it) food should help anchor them back in this world, "Just in case." Emma still wasn't sure what, "Just in case" covered but figured they were all better off not finding out.

Aurora was probably thinking the same thing. She kept looking uneasily at Belle's work, glancing from Astrid (who, if Emma had understood any of this, had a big part to play) and the professor (who didn't). Emma looked at the professor, too. She seemed tough and maybe a bit intimidating—being around her made Emma grateful she'd never gone to college—but she also looked around a century old. Maybe Aurora was worried about her keeling over from a heart attack if the stress got to be too much for her.

Meanwhile, Belle and Regina were having an argument. Regina wanted to use Gold's dagger for whatever it was she was supposed to be doing—Belle might have set everything up, but it was going to take an actual witch to cast the spell to get the fairies out—and Regina seemed to think that put her in charge.

Emma tried to intervene. "Belle, we all want to get the fairies out. If the dagger would make things easier—"

"No," Belle said.

"It's not like he's going to notice. It's not like he could even complain if he did."

Belle gave Emma an icy look even Ingrid would have felt. "That is exactly the point," Belle said. "He couldn't complain. You could take the dagger and tell him to murder Henry and laugh while he did it, and he wouldn't be able tocomplain—or protest or even hesitate. You might be all right with doing that to him. I'm not."

"You did it before. Anyhow, I thought you were over him." Emma knew it was a stupid thing to say as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Sleep deprivation did that to her.

Belle looked stricken. Then, she pulled her icy reserve back together. "That's correct," she said. Emma hadn't known Belle could do lethal calm like that. "I did it before. I judged a man without even listening to his side of the story. I condemned him without giving him a chance to defend himself, and I did it using a power I wouldn't want over my worst enemy." Belle turned away from Emma and focused on Regina. "So, no, your majesty, we are not using the dagger. Ever." Then, she turned her back on both of them and stalked off to talk to Astrid. A grinning Will Scarlet joined her.

Archie came up beside Emma. He cleared his throat. "You really shouldn't have said that," he said.

"I'm tired," Emma said. "I was up all night—" Things had been tense since the night of Keith's arrest. Hook had gone missing, and some of the roughs who hung out at The Rabbit Hole, mostly friends of Hook or Keith, had been jumpy. Just this morning, she'd gotten a panicked call at 3 a.m. from a drunk who insisted whoever got Hook was coming to get him. Instead, Emma found a tom cat yowling after a female among the garbage cans. If Hook really had been taken by something instead of slipping his hand out of a pretty makeshift trap and going to ground somewhere, the thing that took him was lying low—or maybe it was standing on the sidelines getting a good laugh at drunks hiding under their beds from alley cats.

"That's not the point," Archie said. "Emma, Belle loved Gold. She still loves him. When she exiled him, she was acting in anger and she's regretted it."

"Gold tried to kill Hook," Emma said.

"When you thought Regina had murdered me, you still insisted she deserved due process and a trial—a fair trial. Belle didn't give that to Gold, and it's been eating her up. But, even if she had, it doesn't change what she felt for him—what she still feels for him. It doesn't help when other people—people she thought of as friends—dismiss those feelings."

"Are you her shrink, now?"

"I'm not breaking any professional confidences, if that's what you mean," Archie said. "But, if you're really trying to help Belle, remember that she didn't tell anyone about Keith because she thought they wouldn't listen. If you want to be her friend, try hearing what she has to say instead of telling her what you think she should feel."

From Archie, that was as close to screaming outrage as he got. Emma had a sudden, sharp memory of being a teenage-mom-to-be in lockup. There'd been plenty of people willing to tell her what a complete jerk Neal was, and she'd agreed with them—oh, boy, had she agreed with them, in words she hoped Henry never learned.

But, she hadn't wanted someone to tell her Neal was a jerk. Or not just that. She wanted someone to tell her it was OK to cry for hours over a guy who'd been a jerk and left her to take the fall and who she still missed every day. She'd known, if she'd looked at Henry when he was born and seen his father's eyes, she wouldn't have been able to give him.

"All right, everyone, we're ready," Belle said. "Astrid, you stand over here. Regina, you're over there. Everyone else, behind the lines on that side. We don't want to mess this up."

Belle placed the hat carefully between Regina and Astrid. Then, she exited the chalk lines, careful not to step on any of them, and came to stand by Emma and Will. "If anything goes wrong, you two get to stop it," she told them. Will grinned. He seemed to do that a lot, as though he were enjoying a private joke with Belle. Belle called out to the others. "You might want to wait outside. It should be safe. But, if it isn't. . . ."

"We can tell everyone else to run for the town line," Granny said. "Works for me." She and Ruby left. Marco and August followed them. Philip tried to guide Aurora towards the door, but she stayed where she was. "Professor?" she asked. "Aren't you coming?"

"Oh, don't worry about me," the professor said. "I'm an old woman. Besides, I want to see this." She smiled brightly. "It's a once in lifetime event, getting to see Blue rescued from her own incompetence by her worst enemies. Don't worry, I wouldn't dream of interfering."

Aurora looked uncertain. Her eyes drifted to Astrid. "No, I suppose you wouldn't. Just be careful." Then, she and Philip left.

Emma shook her head, trying to shake off her tiredness. She had a feeling she'd missed something important.

"I've got magic," Emma said, turning her attention to Will and Belle. "But, why are you two sticking around?"

Will rolled his eyes. "It's not that dangerous. Anyway, remember who I am? Who else do you know who's survived being a genie and taking on a wizard who wanted to change the laws of magic and raise a zombie army? If anything goes wrong, I'm the best bet you've got."

"Actually," Belle said, "I was hoping he'd learn some humility when he has to let you handle it. I'm here because I know this spell. If anything goes wrong, I ought to be able to figure out what."

Will rolled his eyes again. "Not that anything's going wrong. Just sit back and enjoy the show."

Astrid was standing in the middle of one of the chalk circles Belle had drawn. The hat was inside another. Belle watched Regina as she went from one point around the Astrid's circle to another, making certain gestures and saying what Emma could only suppose were magic spell words. Then, she went around the hat's circle, doing more of the same. Emma saw Belle's fingers twitch as Regina made the gestures, following along with what she was doing, and mouthing the spells along with her. Belle kept nodding as she did it, which Emma supposed meant Regina was doing it right.

Then came the big moment. Regina had completed the circuit and was back to where she'd started, the hat between her and Astrid.

Emma wasn't really sure about what happened next. The explosions made it hard to see. There were lots of fireworks and light shows that seemed to dance from one end of the chalk drawings to another, kind of like a cross between dominos and the Fourth of July. This was followed by more lights pouring out of the hat towards Astrid.

Emma raised her hands, hoping she could stop it. But, Belle put a hand on her arm. "It's all right," she said. "This is supposed to happen."

Emma wasn't so sure. But, before she could say anything, even more lights showed up—these came out of the hat. They began to spill around Astrid—and they grew (Belle still didn't look panicked). They were different colors, blue, green, pinks, yellow, all of them glittering like stars. For a moment, Emma saw strange, glowing creatures, as if a bunch of jellyfish were trying to disguise themselves as Christmas tree lights. Then, the lights faded into the grays, blacks, and dark navy uniforms of St. Melissa's nuns.

The sisters looked around, their faces breaking out into huge smiles amazed relief. There was cheering and a spontaneous group hug that looked like it might threaten the nuns in the center with suffocation. Will, with his third eye roll of the day, opened the back door and yelled, "Hey! C'mon back. No apocalypse today!"

Meanwhile, Emma headed over to the nuns. Spotting Blue, Emma shoved her way through to the Mother Superior. Most of the fairies just looked happy and relieved. Blue looked different, almost . . . afraid. "You all right?" Emma asked her.

"I'm . . . not sure," she said. "Hook," she added, the fear back in her eyes. "Hook put us in there."

"Uh, yeah, we know about that. He was being controlled, and. . . . Uh, it's a long story. Wait a bit. Eat something." Emma pointed to the table Granny and the others had set up. "We've got food. Just in case." And you look like you're the 'in case' they were talking about. "I think you could use some."

Blue nodded. "Yes, food will . . . help." Emma might not understand magic as much as she should, but she got that pause. Belle had been right. Whatever being in the hat did, food would . . . help. Whether that meant help settle the nuns and make them feel a bit anchored in the real world or help keep them from turning into shadow monsters who attacked the town probably didn't matter right now, just that it would help keep it from happening.

"And thank you," Blue said. "For getting us out of there."

"Don't thank me," Emma said. She noticed Regina standing to the side and looking uncertain the way only an Evil Queen who'd had a war or two with every fairy in the room could look. "Thank the—" her tired brain managed to catch 'Evil Queen' and toss it aside before she said it, "—mayor. She got you out of there."

Suddenly, Will was standing by her side giving eye roll number four. "Yeah, Regina did the spell after Belle helped by researching it, translating ten different languages, bullying an Oxford don into helping her, and figuring out all the diagrams and magic stuff the spell needed. Then, she spent the last three days setting it up before coaching Regina through the five minutes of hand-waving she did to get you out. Oh, and Astrid helped, too. She was the anchor the spell needed to pull you out of there."

Emma shot him a glare, pulling him aside, she said, "You mind? I'm trying to encourage Regina when she does good magic. You're not helping."

"I'm trying to encourage Belle when she wears herself out trying to help people who treat her like a doormat and seem to think they're entitled to make her do whatever they want, morning, noon, and night." His eyes widened. "Hey, you're right! I'm not helping."

"Giving Regina a little credit doesn't mean I'm ignoring Belle—"

"Yeah, it does. Look, I get it. Her majesty isn't killing people every time she has a snit fit. Yay. Good for her. Help keep up the good work. But, Belle gives and gives to you people, and you don't even see it. If you're treating her like dirt because you think Regina's going to go back to ripping hearts out as soon as someone else gets a thank you, you've got bigger problems."

Emma opened her mouth to argue. Then, she thought of finding Belle, bruises on her wrists where Keith had tied her up and blood on her throat where he'd cut her—all because the street smart, cynical, big city sheriff couldn't see trouble when it was dancing in front of her. "Yeah," she finally said. "You're right. I owe you an apology."

"Nah, you don't. But, you owe Belle one. Go talk to her."

X

Rumplestiltskin watched as the sheriff went over to talk to Belle. He'd exaggerated a little. Belle hadn't been wearing herself out lately. For the past week, she'd been careful about eating and almost always got enough rest. But, she'd pushed herself close enough to the edge before that he didn't feel any guilt letting the sheriff know about it.

Over across the way, Astrid was having a discussion with Reul Ghorm. The young sister had a look of firm resolve. He caught the word, "parents," and saw Reul Ghorm flinch before giving a quick, pale-faced nod. Then, Astrid lifted her hand towards her back. Ah, asking about the wings Jaunice had stolen from her as a baby, the ones Reul Ghorm had returned to her as if they were some kind of prize.

Rumplestiltskin, remembering times men had kicked him down in the dirt and thrown his walking staff into the trees, thought he could imagine what it felt like to be a wingless fairy. The men who'd thrown his staff away stood by and laughed as Rumplestiltskin hobbled after it—but, unlike Reul Ghorm, they hadn't expected him to be grateful to them when he got it back.

Astrid seemed to feel the same way about it, although she heard Reul Ghorm out. She also managed not to get angry or rant and scream or swear vengeance. Instead, she mumbled something polite and walked away, finding Professor Longneaux. Rumplestiltskin didn't know what Maleficent had told her—he was almost certain the half-fairy didn't know it was her mother or the legendary dark fairy she was staying with—but she let the Mistress of All Evil put a comforting, motherly arm around her. Aurora looked on, an egg salad sandwich held a few inches from her mouth, uncertain what she should do (and how long before the princess realized freeing the half-fairy had taken a drop of blood from Astrid's fairy mother and a drop of blood from her human father—or, her father being unavailable, a drop from her father's human child?).

There was a short, whispered conversation. The professor nodded and went to grab her things, the knapsack she seemed to prefer to a purse and her tweed jacket. However, instead of heading straight back to Astrid, she went over to her old commander-in-chief. "Here," Maleficent said, loud enough for everyone in the room to hear her, including Emma. Pulling the glass paperweight out of her knapsack, she dropped it into Reul Ghorm's hands. "This is your problem. Do what you like with him. Just remember to give him to the sheriff if you let him out. He's a wanted man."

With that, she walked out, a confused Astrid following after. Aurora, who was in the middle of biting down on one of Granny's sandwiches, looked like she was thinking about running out, too, before anyone could ask her any questions. After a moment, she shrugged and went back to eating.

"You didn't put her up to that, did you?" Archie asked.

Rumplestiltskin shook his head. So far, the cricket had kept his patient confidentiality, but the psychiatrist would have had to lose his mind not to worry what Rumplestiltskin might get up to. "Nope, just enjoying the show," he told him.

Archie didn't look wholly relieved but he wasn't running over to the fairies and telling them to attack, either. Rumplestiltskin had once thought trust was as simple as handing a blade back to Belle, but it wasn't. It was built slowly, one step at a time, one moment of not screaming for help in a crowded room at a time.

Rumple went over to get some sandwiches and talk to Belle. He nodded to the two wolves. The mask's magic was good. Even to a pair of werewolves, he knew he smelled like Will Scarlet.

Of course, he also knew, when the mask was off, he smelled like himself. He'd be surprised if Granny hadn't caught of whiff of him, clinging to Belle. He and Belle were still awkward around each other in some ways, but Belle slept better knowing he was beside her at night. He slept better holding onto his wife and child—but not with another man's face.

So far, Granny gave him a watchful civility, whatever her suspicions, and Ruby followed her grandmother's lead. So far, the fact that he was taking care of Belle seemed to be enough for the old wolf.

Two wolves, a dragon, a cricket. Rumplestiltskin knew it was just a matter of time before more people knew he was back. He and Belle had discussed it but they hadn't made any decisions. They could run back home or to another world, like Wonderland. Or there was a clan of vampires in Whale's world who owed him some favors and could probably point him to a decent castle.

Or maybe—maybe there was a way he could still fit in here, a way he could live in the same world as his grandson, a world where he could visit his son's grave.

Happy endings, he mused. He'd heard a saying about them once. Don't say anyone has had a happy ending before they've ended—before they've died. You never know what can wrong before that.

They were a really cheery bunch, the ones who'd come up with that. Though, Rumplestiltskin supposed, they had a point.

But, there were happy moments, times between one crisis and the next. Belle and he were like plants that had been wounded by a cold winter, but they were beginning to put down new roots and grow.

Winter would come again—winter always came again. But, so did summer, he told himself, and he would enjoy whatever time he had Belle had to share in the sun.

End