Gone.
The magic beans are gone.
The evidence of them is clear as day-rotting, shriveled beanstalks, picked clean long ago, leaving nothing behind to get Mary back home-and to keep up her end of the bargain with the Dark One. Mary feels her heart sinking with every passing moment as she and Killian wander the deserted field, kicking at withered beanstalks and searching feebly for even the tiniest bean in the hopes that it might be enough to offer up to the Dark One...
"They're gone," Mary whispers. "All of them…they're…"
"I'm sorry, love," Killian says softly in reply, sounding defeated. Something prickles at the back of Mary's neck-it almost seems as if he knew this was going to happen.
Suddenly it's too much for her, the stench of decay and her own growing despair. All of this to try to get home, to try to keep Killian safe, and she had failed anyway. Mary sees dark spots swarming before her vision and she sways on her feet, barely hearing Killian's startled cry of "Mary!" before everything around her fades to black.
The next thing she knows, she's leaning up against Killian, her cloak wrapped tight around her shoulders and a fire crackling in front of her. She tries to ignore the sensation of his arms around her, tries to push back the feelings she is finding harder and harder to ignore, but she has to ignore them, because Rumpelstiltskin will kill them both if she's not careful and it's too dangerous-
"There's nothing to be done," she says briskly, trying to stand up, but his arms hold her tight and keep her anchored to his side. "We have to keep going. Or else we have to turn around...try to find them somewhere else on our own..."
"There is another way, love."
Her eyes widen, some of her usual steeliness seeping back into her gaze. "One that you didn't mention until now?"
"I wanted to make sure that we had no other options first. I didn't know if you'd like the idea."
"And what is it?"
He looks uncomfortable, reaching up to scratch behind his ear in that way that Mary somehow seems to find both irritating and utterly endearing. "It's been said that the Evil Queen has many items hidden away in her vault."
He can't be serious. "You want to go back to that woman's castle." Her voice is flat, resigned.
"It may be the only way, love." Blue eyes pierce her own. "You have to trust me."
"I do trust you."
"It's settled, then. We leave at dawn for Regina's castle." He gazes at her another long moment, biting his lip (Mary tries to squash the impulse to reach over and cover his mouth with hers) before leaning down to brush the softest of kisses across her forehead. The touch is so faint she might as well have imagined it, and yet it lights a fire beneath her skin all the same. She wants more, she needs more, even though she knows that this cannot last, that in order to keep her end of the deal she will have to return home and leave this land of magic, leave Killian, behind...
Damned if I do, damned if I don't.
And yet...
"How do you propose getting back to the Evil Queen's castle?" she demands suddenly. The idea of walking back into the place where she nearly lost her life the last time isn't exactly appealing, and neither is journeying miles on foot to get there. "It took us months to make it here. You can't expect us to turn around and go back."
A grin flickers across his face. "No, love. I have another venture in mind. But it'll take us a few days to get there."
She follows his gaze to the east, where she now knows lies the sea somewhere beyond the trees. "Your ship," she whispers, realization dawning. "We're going to take your ship?"
"Aye, love. We're going to find the Jolly Roger."