Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 2, Chapter 2

FYI:

For those unfamiliar with the TV series Once Upon a Time, the show tells two concurrent stories in every episode. One story is set in Storybrooke, the second is a flashback to the Enchanted Forest. The Storybrooke portions are, generally speaking, in chronological order from episode to episode. The flashback sequences, however, are not. They bounce around the timeline highlighting a particular character in each episode, adding depth and texture to that individual.

I'll be using that same format with flashback sequences to Pixie Hollow's past.

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

All she had left was revenge. An explosion of purple smoke signaled Queen Regina's return to her castle. A sword impaled itself into the masonry. That was Prince Charming's feeble attempt to do her in. Regina had just disrupted the wedding of Snow White to David, her Prince Charming. She promised everyone in attendance that beginning tomorrow she was going to take away all of their happy endings. Everyone and everything they cared about would be gone.

Ever since David woke Snow White from the sleeping curse, Regina's life had been one misery after another. Together, Snow and Charming established their own kingdom, raised an army, neutralized her dark powers against them and freed the Enchanted Forest from her rule. She had lost everything that mattered to her.

The face in the magic mirror needlessly informed Regina that her threat was an empty one. She had no power to do what she said. Her manservant offered some advice, to give up her quest for revenge. The man was also her father. She loved him, but Snow had taken away Regina's last hope for a happy life and she was going to pay. But how?

The Dark Curse.

When the queen first received the dark curse she found it shockingly despicable. A weapon of such terrifying evil that even she was afraid of it. To ensure it would never be cast, Regina traded it to someone she trusted to hide away from those who might misuse it. Now Regina wanted it back.

She ventured to the castle of Maleficent, the sorceress who gave Regina the sleeping spell in exchange for the curse. Maleficent reminded Regina of why she gave it up in the first place. Whoever devised it in the first place made the two of them "look positively moral" by comparison. It didn't sway the queen's blackened heart. After a duel of magic and wits, Regina won and claimed her prize.

OFF THE COAST OF NEVER LAND ISLAND (Early Edwardian Period)

A winter scout returned to the lead balloon carrier.

"Report," Snowflake demanded. Ever since the purple clouds swallowed up the Lord of Winter and the remaining winter fairies, The Minister of Winter had stopped the entire convoy and initiated search and rescue operation. That was twenty four long hours ago.

"No sign of Lord Milori or the others," he said. His voice was weak, almost afraid to deliver the news.

"Well keep looking, we have to find them," Snowflake replied.

"Minister," Dewey said, "We cannot wait any longer. Our dust won't last forever."

"Keeper, mind your place," Snowflake answered defiantly. "We can always replenish at the falls…" Her defiance faded. "No, we can't, can we."

The Keeper shook his head.

Another winter scout approached. He was carrying something.

"What is it? What do you have?" Snowflake asked, anxious for some good news.

The scout, looking dejected, held up a beaded necklace. Both Snowflake and Dewey recognized it immediately.

"The owl? What happened to it?" Snowflake asked.

"I'm sorry, Minister," was all the scout could say.

"Then he's…, he's really gone," Dewey said, choking up. "Lord Milori is no more."

Snowflake bowed her head. She didn't want to believe it. "Keep looking."

"Minister, we can't stay any longer," Dewey advised. "Our dust won't hold out. You have to give the order."

She knew he was right. Milori was dead. No matter how much she wanted to deny that fact. No trace of him or the others had been found for a whole day. She had held out hope that if the Lord Milori had indeed perished, a new Lord or Lady would have arrived to take his place. Since none had she reasoned that he must still be alive. However, given the current circumstances, no new leader could arrive to take his place. Not knowing was the worst for the Minister. It created so much doubt in her mind. She hated doubt, it clouded her judgment. Right or wrong, the Minister of Winter had to make a decision.

"All right. Let's go," she said, forcing herself to say those words.

Dewey, The Keeper of All Fairy Knowledge, bowed to her. With this unspoken declaration of Lord Milori's passing, Snowflake the Minister of Winter had become Snowflake the Lady of Winter and the new leader of the Winter Never Fairies.

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Tina sat in homeroom, anxious to get to her favorite class: metal shop. First she had to endure English, US History (Colonization to the Civil War) and Geometry. Last year she had enrolled in wood-shop and enjoyed it so thoroughly that she enrolled in its companion class this year. Today, the metal shop class was going to use spot welders to make tool caddies. She couldn't wait.

At the moment, though, she had endure the drudgery of her homeroom. Fifteen minutes of pure torture. Tina hated her homeroom teacher, an old woman with such a sour attitude that Tina nicknamed her Mrs. Ugly Old Bat. That awful old lady treated every student in the room like they were a bunch of good-for-nothings.

On the first day of the school year, Mrs. Ugly Old Bat sized up everyone declaring who was going to succeed and who was going to fail. When she got to Tina, the woman said, "I remember your sister. You're going to flame out just like she did. You should just drop out now and spare us all your theatrics."

Tina was crushed. Claire took umbrage and vehemently complained to the principal and the school board. The horrible woman couldn't get fired. She had tenure and the powerful local teacher's union refused to let the school discharge her.

When the bell rang this morning to signal the beginning of the school day, Mrs. Ugly Old Bat told everyone to, "Shut up and sit down." She glared at the students through her horned rimmed glasses with beady eyes and a permanent scowl. The wrinkled old hag took roll and then declared she could not understand why they even bothered to show up. "It's not like any of you are going to amount to anything, anyway."

An audio speaker mounted on the wall came to life. The elegant baritone of the Vice Principal came through loud and clear.

"Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance," the disembodied voice ordered. Every one, Tina included, stood and followed his lead:

I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America. And to the republic for which it stands: one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Then came a moment of silent reflection. She heard the student behind her quietly reciting the Lord's Prayer. Apparently he hadn't studied for a test and wanted Divine Intervention to help him get an "A."

Not gonna happen, Tina thought wryly.

Following the moment of silence were some announcements and then came the bell for first period. Tina couldn't get out of homeroom fast enough.

PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND (Approx. 900 A.D.)

Several scouts were positioned around the root bridge. No one was allowed inside their perimeter. The sun was setting and her majesty, the queen, had come here as she had every evening to meet him.

Clarion and Milori sat on the bridge that straddled the line between Spring and Winter. She was the queen of all Pixie Hollow and a warm fairy. He was the Lord of Winter and a cold weather fairy. Neither could cross over into the other season without the threat of losing a wing. So they met here, every sunset at the border. Always together, forever apart. They didn't care.

"How did you do that?" she asked him.

"Simple," he replied, demonstrating again. "First, gather the water from the air and freeze it into ice crystals creating a blank. Then get an image in your mind of what you want to create. Once you have that, spin the blank on the tip of your finger and with the other hand sculpt away the excess snow until you have a snowflake."

A perfect snowflake appeared, perched on the tip of his finger.

"It's beautiful," she gasped.

"Don't you know how to make snowflakes?" he asked her. "I thought the queen possessed every talent from all four seasons."

"I do," her highness replied. "The minister of winter has been too busy to teach me."

"I see, would you like a little 'private' instruction?" he asked, with a sly glint in his eye.

She giggled. "I would like that very much."

Milori put his arm around the queen's waist pulling her in close. He then kissed her.

"I thought you were going to teach me how to make snowflakes?" she asked him, a mocking suspicious tone to her lovely voice.

"A snowflake fairy needs a happy disposition to sculpt," he answered. "I'm just preparing the student properly."

"Well in that case," she said edging up next to him, "you may continue."

He kissed her again.

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Emma joined Henry as he was walking to school. While they talked, he informed her about "Operation Cobra." She was about to take a bite of a Honey Crisp apple when he asked where she got.

"From the mayor," she answered.

"DON'T EAT THAT!" he cried, stripping the apple from her hand and tossing into the garbage. Earlier that day, Emma had a rather unpleasant visit from Mayor Mills in which she made several veiled threats against her. Ms. Swan, however, refused to back down.

"Okay, so what's 'Operation Cobra?'" she asked him.

It was Henry's plan to help Emma break the curse. The first step was to associate the characters in the book of fairy tales with their corresponding identities in Storybrooke. None of the residents could remember who they really were because their memories were being masked by a haze spell. Emma wasn't swayed. He then handed her the missing pages from the fairy tale book and told her that she was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. Then went further and said that Mary Margaret Blanchard, his elementary school teacher, was Snow White. He insisted that she not show those pages to his adopted mother and encouraged Emma to read them.

The conversation leaves Emma very concerned about Henry's mental state and pays a visit to his therapist, Dr. Archie Hopper. She asks for the boy's medical files and he graciously provides them to her. It was Emma's first big mistake as she forgot about doctor patient confidentiality. If she had remembered, Ms. Swan would have realized she was being set up. Moments after she left, Dr. Hopper phoned the mayor.

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Queen Regina had gathered several creatures both dark and sinister around a caldron. She revealed her plan to gain revenge on Snow White and the residents of the Enchanted Forest. She offered these sinister creatures a part in her vengeance. They would be taken to this world, but would be spared the curse. All she needed from them was a lock of hair.

Each one placed a few strands in the caldron where inside sat something else. The curse required Regina to take the heart of the thing she loved most and use it make the spell work. Inside was the heart of her prized stallion which she had ripped out of its chest with her bare hands. She cast the spell and purple smoke began to billow. It swirled and thundered as the assembled shrunk in fear. Then it fizzled.

A gnome jumped onto a rock and laughed at Regina. He reveled in her failure. Regina cast her dark magic and turned him to stone. He would follow her to Storybrooke, as an ornament in her garden.

~O~

Perplexed by her failure, Regina retreated to the castle and consulted with her father. He tried to talk her out of this mad desire for vengeance. They could move away, start a new life and find true happiness somewhere else.

Regina, however, fixated on the fact that Snow White had cost Regina her one chance at true happiness and would not give up until she had taken Snow White's happy ending away from her. Yet she still could not understand why the curse failed. Her father suggested talking to the person who gave it to her in the first place. Rumpelstiltskin.

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Claire had been distracted, so distracted by Valerie this morning that she had forgotten to bring along the lunches she had packed for them. Rather than go all the way home Claire opted to eat at Granny's Diner nearby. Valerie sat at a table while Claire went into the bathroom to clean up a bit. She washed her face and neck, clearing both of sweat, dirt and sawdust. Then she opened her flannel shirt and wiped down her underarms with the wet towels.

The middle aged woman stared into the mirror and wondered exactly how her life ended up this way. She had a Bachelor's degree in music and once held aspirations of being a concert pianist playing major venues in cities like New York, London and Paris. All of that changed when she met and later married Charles Valentine Kensington, a high school dropout who had started his own contractor business with a little bit of money and whole lot of persistence.

Claire didn't think much of him when they first met. She pegged him as an uneducated simpleton beneath her status as a college graduate. He wouldn't take no for an answer and kept pressing her for a date. She finally agreed. Charlie, it turned out, was whip smart with an agile intellect and a knack for making anyone feel totally comfortable around him. His poor grades in school came about because he learned best by watching and doing, rather than reading about it.

He was a tall and powerfully built man, yet Claire never felt intimated by him. He always had a big smile on his face and a genuinely upbeat disposition. She fell in love and they married. When it was discovered Claire most likely could not bear children, she was devastated. Charlie, though, kept her spirits up and suggested adoption. They found the most beautiful baby girl and named her Valerie, in honor of her new father. From that day on, he tended to the business while she was a stay at home mom. As Valerie got a little older, Claire put her music degree to use by offering piano lessons.

When Charlie died, Claire was forced to take over his company. She had no idea how to be a contractor and had been struggling with it ever since. She was a musician and a mother, not a carpenter, plumber or brick layer. Yet that was exactly what she had to do to survive. Valerie and Tina were depending on her. What made everything more difficult for Claire was that Charlie had a way with people that she lacked. He could foster lifetime friendships and solid business partnerships over a beer and baseball game. She would sometimes get flustered negotiating pay for the day laborers.

Staring into that mirror, Claire wondered what her life might have been like if she had never married Charles Kensington. She might be a highly paid musician by now. Flying first class to Europe or Asia, playing for heads of state and staying at the finest hotels. It was an intoxicating fantasy. Valerie's little tirade this morning only made Claire want it even more. Then she thought of Tina, her flesh and blood. How could she turn her back on that perfect little angel?

Claire buttoned up her shirt and went back into the diner, certain that Val would have run off by now. She was still at the table, though, gulping down a glass of iced tea. Claire was thankful for small favors.

I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Reviews are always welcome.

P.S. Don't worry, Lord Milori will show up soon enough.