I do not own Once Upon a Time.
This is much needed girl talk between Amelia and Marian. And then some sweet family time.
Marian walked out of her room the next morning. She had the strangest dream ever. First she was in a dungeon in the Evil Queen's castle and sentenced to die. Then she was offered to be saved by Princess Leia and Prince Charles. Next thing she knew, Marian was in a strange land with Robin and Roland. Not to mention a very confused Bernadette.
Maybe Marian was too harsh last night, with her comment about Derek. But there was no way that the Evil Queen was any different. Bernadette had to see that, right?
She followed the voices into the kitchen where she found Bernadette with Neal and Roland, who was sitting at a counter shoving food into his mouth.
"Slow down there, buddy; you're get a stomach ache." Neal said from the stove.
"But you make the best banana pancakes ever, Uncle Neal." Roland said between bites.
"Uncle Neal?" Marian said from the doorway. She got three pairs of eyes on her. "Good Morning."
"Morning. Hungry?" Neal asked, placing a plate down on the counter.
Amelia sat down, at least she looked a million times better than the previous night. "How did you sleep?" She asked.
"It was odd; it's been a while since I slept in a real bed. Uncle Neal?" Marian asked again, she was curious about that title.
"Yeah, Uncle Neal and Aunt Mia. It's easier for Roland to pretend we are all just family. We are anyway, in a sense. Eat up, Neal makes amazing pancakes."
"Syrup!" Roland said loudly.
"Roland, what's the magic word?" Amelia gently scolded.
"Please." That word earned him more syrup on his dish.
Marian looked at Amelia quite impressed. "Wow, you are going to be an amazing mother, Bernadette."
Amelia nodded with a tiny smile on her face. She pushed her sadness down and knew she had to correct her friend. "It's Amelia Hunter here in Storybrooke. Most people got name changes when the course brought us here."
Marian nodded, it would take some getting used to this new world. She sat down and cautiously took a bite of the… pancake on her plate. They were very good and she tried not to shove them into her mouth at record speed.
A knock at the door made Amelia leave the room. She returned with Robin in tow.
"Papa! I'm eating pancakes. Can we make pancakes at camp?" Roland asked.
"Of course we can. Morning." He said to the room, then his eyes fell on Marian. "How did you sleep?" He sounded polite.
"Best sleep in a while. How are you, how is… she?" Marian couldn't bring herself to admit the Evil Queen had a real name.
"Regina is… not speaking to me. The Merry Men and I have set up a camp in the forest. We aren't going soft like some people. Do you want to come there?"
She smiled. "Yes, I would."
"Actually, I think Marian should stay here." Neal cut in and everyone turned to look at him confused. "She and Amelia have a lot to catch up on."
Amelia seemed unsure but did nod. "Catching up with you would be nice. Last night was a little rough." She gave Marian a smile.
"Alright. The camp can wait a few hours." Marian said.
"Okay, Roland, get your shoes. The men are heading out." Neal told the child.
Roland jumped off the chair and grabbed his mother's hand. "Mama, did you see my shoes? They light up!" He asked cheerily, dragging her to the guest room.
Neal handed Robin a mug of coffee. "You look like hell."
Robin took it gratefully. "I barely slept. This whole thing is so… wrong. I'm happy to see Marian but she was dead. I was finally moving on and found someone new who had been hurt in love." He paused and took a sip. "She's my wife, what am I supposed to do? Amelia, this is like if Benjamin came back…"
Amelia held up hand. "Wait, this is nothing like if Benjamin came back. I killed him, we were not married…"
"You could have been." Robin said quietly.
Neal looked up at Amelia confused, but before he could open his mouth, she shot him a stern look. "Not the time for that conversation." Then she turned back to the former king of thieves. "Robin, you just have to do what is right for everyone involved. Whatever that may be." Amelia squeezed his hand.
"Right, thank you for looking out for Marian last night."
"Not a problem, she's a friend. I do everything and anything for friends."
Marian appeared in the doorway with Roland. "Papa, you ready?" Roland asked.
"Yes, I am. Let's go." Robin picked up Roland and headed to the door. "I'll be back in a few hours and we can go to the camp." He told Marian.
Neal kissed Amelia before following Robin out the door. This left Marian and Amelia alone in the kitchen.
"So… the Dark One's son? I need to hear how this happened." Marian started with an easy story, and it was the one she really wanted to hear.
Amelia smiled. "When we first came to this realm, we were all supposed to lose our memories. But I felt that I couldn't protect Derek without them, so I made a deal with Rumplestiltskin, he would let me keep my memories and I would find someone for him. I had no idea it was his son. I hatched a plan to trick him to coming here and we met. It was slow with me denying that I was having feelings for him. I had to keep it professional. But I eventually let him in and admitted that I cared about it. Next thing I knew; he was down on one knee proposing to me with his grandmother's ring."
"Can I see?" Marian asked. Amelia held out her hand. "It's beautiful."
"Then I found out I was pregnant but Neal went through a portal after an old flame of his shot him and then we all went to Neverland to save Henry. I lost the child during that trip."
"Oh Bernadette, I am so sorry." Marian went to stand next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.
"I had a good support system during that time. Then Neal showed up and we all saved Henry."
"Who's Henry?" Marian asked.
Amelia looked shook her head, now she had to explain the crazy huge family tree. She took a deep breath before starting that mess. "Henry is Neal and Emma's son. Up until a few months ago, either of them were in Henry's life, Emma was in jail and never told Neal, who was somewhere. So Henry was adopted by Regina. Emma, you met her last night, is the daughter of Snow White and Prince David…"
"I met Leia last night…" Marian told her.
"Leia? The blonde? That's Emma. And the guy is Killian…."
"Killian, your Killian? The pirate you ran off with?"
Amelia snorted. "He hasn't been "my Killian" in years. But yes, that's who he is. Before you ask, I'll give you the short version of that failed relationship. I betrayed and robbed him so I could get back to Derek. Killian was quite mad and abandoned me on some island. But now we are good together, he was so supportive during my pregnancy and then the miscarriage."
"You're friends with a pirate? What is this world coming to? And Henry… your step son is the adopted son of the Evil Queen? And your father in law to be is the Dark One." Marian was having issues wrapping her mind around all this news
"One big happy family. I'm actually shocked we haven't killed each other yet." She smiled at her friend, a real smile for the first time. "This was nice, catching up, like old times in the tavern with Julia and Derek and Benjamin… We should stop by Michael and Helen soon, maybe tonight." She had to correct herself. "Charles and Eleanor. I should write you a chart of everyone."
"That would be nice." Marian returned the smile.
The rest of the day was filled with laughs and food and it ended too soon. Robin and Neal returned with a tuckered out Roland. Marian then left with Robin and Roland, promising to come back soon.
"You seem so much better now." Neal wrapped his arms around Amelia.
"I guess after I got over the initial shock of seeing someone who I thought was dead standing in front of me, I accepted it. But we still have to deal with an upset Regina." She snuggled closer. "It's nice to have someone from my past, before my fall."
"About your past, what did Robin mean that you could have been married?" Neal ventured into that territory. Robin had been silent when Neal asked about it earlier.
"I said it's not the time for that conversation."
"Saving it for a rainy day?"
"No, this is a different story. And it will come before the rainy day." Amelia told him. The rainy day story was a tragedy, one Amelia liked to pretend never happened.
I am really looking forward to the rainy day adventure, new villain and off script stuff. It will make whatever the Queens of Darkness (I have my own nickname for them) have planned.
Reviews?