Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 4, Chapter 7

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

With no work scheduled today, Claire drove around the neighborhoods looking for jobs to pick up for today or Sunday. Anything that would bring in a little extra cash. She kept answering her cell phone receiving apologies, re-appointments and the occasional new work order even as she drove. Nothing she could schedule immediately, but at least it was progress. Both of her girls were with her, but Tina was actively helping by writing down each new job with the time, date, location and approximate cost.

Then Claire got a call that floored her. The work that was being done at the renovation house had been put on hold until the incident with the iPad was concluded. She had been trying to get the job restarted, but was unable to contact the home's owner. Now he was calling.

"I'm sorry, Claire. I got the notice last night and I had to apologize for not trusting you," he told her. "You've always been the trustworthy type, with great attention to detail. I should have supported you."

Yes, you should have, Claire thought. As much as she enjoyed the outpouring of support, she learned the awful truth of just how many people were willing to turn against her. She was getting irritated by this "we should have trusted you more" stuff hitting her all day long. At least Hartley Winter had the decency to wait rather than condemn her off hand.

"I also wanted you to know that I've already hired another contractor to finish the job." That hit her like a ton of bricks.

"But you said…,"

"I know that I said, but I couldn't wait indefinitely for this to be resolved. The house had to be finished on time, so I hired someone else."

"Well un-hire them," she demanded.

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Claire. Your contract was terminated the instant I hired the new contractor."

She slammed the brakes on her truck. Then she pulled over out of the traffic lanes. "Why didn't you call me!?" she yelled into the receiver. Looking over at her two girls, Claire composed herself and spoke again more calmly. "Why didn't you call me to let me know?"

"Uh…, I'm…, I'm sorry. But that's just the way it is."

"You didn't even have the guts to call me and let me know I was fired?" her face started turning red.

"She looks just like you when you get totally pissed," Valerie whispered to Tina. Tina gave her older sister a "you can't be serious" expression.

"I know you're angry, but I was expecting…."

"Expecting what?" she said, yelling again into the receiver. "That I would go to jail?! Go away and hide under a rock so you wouldn't have to get your hands dirty? You said you should have trusted me more. Well I trusted you, but I'm the one getting screwed here!"

"Claire, look, it is obvious you are upset. Why don't I call back when you're in a better mood?"

"You stabbed me in the back and then expect me to be in a better mood? Are you insane?!" Claire then jammed her finger into the cellphone's "off" button to hang up the call. "Ow!" She shook that same finger, the pain was sharp, but quick.

This completely messed up her calculations for the month. She had figured into her budget the money for completion of the project. Now the project had been taken away from her.

Claire dialed the phone. She called up the same homeowner. "You better not screw me out of the money you owe me," she yelled. "I worked my ass off to try and finish your home's renovation and you had better pay me for all the days I put in on that eyesore!"

She listened for a moment. "Damn right it had better be in the mail! And if it isn't you had better pray I don't sue your sorry ass into the poorhouse!" Claire smashed her finger into the phone again to end the call. Again she had to shake the sharp pain out of her hand. "Damn phones, why can't they make these stupid buttons softer?"

Tina and Valerie were both looking at their mother with startled if not frightened looks. They had rarely ever seen her this way. Forceful, strong willed and steadfast. Often she would lose her backbone and acquiesce to whatever demand was being made of her. This was a very different person than they were used to.

"Okay, who are you and what have you done with our mother?" Valerie asked with a snide tenor to her voice.

Claire just sighed and all of her willfulness seemed to just drain out of her. "Oh I'm sorry, sweethearts. I'm just a little upset."

"Upset? I thought you were going to reach through that phone and rip that guy's throat out," Valerie added. "Sort of like in The Jetsons."

"I wish I could," Claire grumbled. "I would rip his freaking head off and crap down his throat so fast he wouldn't know what him." Then she remembered who was in the truck with her. "Forget I said that. And don't use that kind of language. I shouldn't be using it, either."

Tina then spoke up, offering to ask for small jobs from Marco at his shop, Standard Clocks. In the past, Tina had done occasional work for him as she learned the joys of using precision tools. Back then he paid her a small wage and gave her small projects to work out on her own. Marco was taken by her bright eyed enthusiasm.

"Oh, I wish my wife and I had a child just like you," he had told her on more than one occasion. "It would make our lives that much sweeter. Yes? But it was not to be. I think if we had a daughter she might be just like you." Typical Marco. Wistful for what he didn't have, but always grateful what he did.

Claire just looked at her youngest, surprised by her maturity and marveling at the little one's growing sense of responsibility. "Oh, honey, you don't need to do that," she told her.

"I don't mind," Tina replied. "It's kind of fun to work at his shop."

After a moment of thought Claire agreed. "Okay, but make sure all of your homework is done every night."

"I promise," Tina assured her.

"And you get your chores done, too."

"I will."

Claire embraced her youngest and held her tight. She smiled warmly and whispered "thank you" to her sweet little girl who was growing up right before her very eyes.

Both women then turned to Valerie. She just harrumphed, crossed her arms and turned her backs to them. Valerie could feel their eyes boring into her soul. "Okay, fine." Valerie dug into her pockets and handed over some money. "Here, take it."

Claire looked into her hands and saw four fifty dollar bills. "How did you-?"

"I've been saving it up," Val answered before Claire could finish.

The mother of two reached across the cab of the truck and hugged Valerie tightly. "Hey, enough!" Val complained.

Tina, who was caught in the middle, started yelling. "Mom! You're crushing me!"

"I'm sorry, sweetheart," Claire apologized.

At about that moment, an old, red Pontiac Firebird drove by. Tina was the first to notice. "Hey, isn't that Ruby's car?"

"Yeah, but that wasn't Ruby," Valerie said. "Who is that?"

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Claire dialed her cell phone, calling Granny's Diner and spoke with Ruby. The waitress answered that she had loaned her car to a friend. "Thanks for having my back, Mrs. Kensington," she said.

~O~

The house of Sean Herman was a spacious newer home in a wealthy district. Emma spoke directly to Sean, asking him about Ashley and the baby. Emma got the impression he didn't leave Ashley willingly and that he cared for her, but something was holding him back.

An expensive, green Jaguar pulled into the driveway while they spoke. The man who got out interrupted their conversation telling Sean to go into the house so he could talk with Ms. Swan alone. The man was Sean's father, and it didn't take a degree in logic to conclude that he was the reason for Sean giving up on Ashley.

Mr. Herman wanted nothing to do with Ashley or the baby. He saw her as she was, not as she could be. Sean's father couldn't believe that Ashley could ever raise the child on her own and Emma got the distinct impression that he didn't want that maid in his family. Then Emma was blindsided with a bombshell. Mr. Herman had paid Ashley a healthy sum to give up the child so it could adopted by someone with better means to care for it. That is when Emma realized that Mr. Gold's "merchandise" wasn't some trinket, but the baby Ashley was carrying. That was why she had been hired in the first place.

Before she left, Ms. Swan was able to talk with Sean again, this time without his father hovering nearby. She could sense Sean truly loved and cared for Ashley, but his father would most likely cut him off if Sean tried to marry the girl. After living a life of easy privilege, willingly giving it up for hard working poverty was difficult to do. Even for true love. But Emma thought she could foster his sympathies enough for him to do the right thing. She told Sean that Ashley was running away with the baby. HIS baby.

Maybe that would get through to him.

PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND (The Evacuation)

Rosetta had been coaxed out of her hiding place by Chloe, her garden fairy friend. Ro joined in and kept working, but it was readily apparent to everyone that her mind was somewhere else. Just thinking about the winter season made Rosetta focus on Sled and the awful things he had said to her. They kept repeating in her head. The same painful refrain echoing non-stop all day long and into the night. On that second day, she and her guild mates were gathering all the seeds and sproutlings for transport to the Mainland. With just hours before the curse was to arrive, it all boiled over.

"Do you think I'm a Jezebel, Chloe?!" she asked.

"What?"

"Do you think I'm a Jezebel?! A charlatan? A liar? A deceiver?"

"No. I don't think so, but I haven't known you long enough to say different, Rosetta," Chloe admitted. "Maybe one of your friends could tell you." Chloe giggled nervously, a habit of hers when stressed.

Rosetta looked around at the other garden fairies, many of whom did know her well enough. "Well, does anyone here think I'm a deceiver?"

They all just looked at her strangely.

"You actually think that, don't you?" Ro said, fearful of the answer. Her body trembled. Her wings twitched uncontrollably. Rosetta's eyes swelled with tears. "Oh my gosh! You do think that."

"Uh, Rosetta, what brought this on?" Fern asked.

"Yeah, you've been acting strangely since yesterday afternoon," Lilac added.

Rosetta broke down crying. She spilled every word spoken between her and Sled yesterday. What was said, all the terrible things he called her. Why he wouldn't marry her and chased her off. It spilled out like someone opening up a damn and releasing all the water.

"Oh, Rosetta," Ivy consoled. She began to tear up and wept alongside Rosetta. "You must feel awfu-ul."

"Not helping, Ivy," Lilac stated.

Ivy was prone to weeping and crying over almost anything at the drop of a hat. Or a flower petal. "I'm sorry," she said through her weeping. "I just can't…, I just can't… can't help myse-elf!"

Chloe pulled Rosetta away from the blubbering Ivy and asked what she though made Sled say those awful things. Rosetta had no idea. As far as she knew, she and Sled had been a great couple up until recently when he started losing interest in her.

"He said I…, I wouldn't listen to him," she whimpered. "That I made him do only what I wanted. That's not true. Is it?"

"I don't know, Rosetta. Is it?" Chloe asked, turning the question back around.

"Why ask me?"

"You were there, remember? Did you want him to only do 'you' things? Or were you willing to concede and do the things he wanted, as well?"

"Of course I went along with his silly ideas," she said.

"Went along? Silly?" Lilac repeated. "Sounds like you were just humoring him."

"Yeah," Fern added, "you can't be in love with someone and treat them like they don't matter. No wonder he left you."

"But he does matter!" Rosetta countered. "He always mattered to me. I can't stop thinking about him."

"It sounds like you want him to be a fantasy husband," Chloe told her. "Not a real flesh and blood husband."

"Yeah!" Ivy screamed. "You're so me-ean!" She started crying again.

"I bet that is why you have so many ex-boyfriends, Rosetta," Fern said. "You want a fantasy, not the person. You order them around so you can live that idealized life you want and end up pushing them away."

"But he's perfect for me!" Rosetta yelled. "He's always been perfect."

"Maybe it's time to remember you have to be perfect for him, too," Lilac advised.

"Yeah, Rosetta. He's giving and you're taking. It's time you started giving in return," Chloe said. "You can't just humor him. It needs to be genuine, just like with best friends."

"Relationships are a two way street, Ro," Fern added. "Remember, a one way street will always come to a dead end."

The look on Rosetta's face changed drastically. At first, she looked horrified by what she had done. Then she seemed almost reborn. "You're right. I have been selfish and unyielding. Well no more of that. I'm a brand new Rosetta. It's time for me to make up with my man. Girls, it's been an honor gardening with you."

"Are you leaving us?" Chloe asked.

"I am," she answered. "I know what I have to do now. He made wonderful sacrifices for me and I took them for granted. Now it's time for me to make a wonderful sacrifice for him. I'm going north with the Winter Fairies."

"What?"

"Rosetta, you can't!"

"Yeah, you'll freeze."

"You girls can't talk me out of it. I'm going home to gather up all my winter clothes," she told them. "Then I'm heading for the border and I won't look back. No offense, but for the first time in my life, I finally understand true love. And its name is Sled!"

The garden fairies hugged Rosetta one at a time. They said their tearful goodbyes and then watched as she flitted off into the housing district to collect her things.

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

"Why didn't you tell me she sold the baby?" Emma asked of Ruby back at the diner. She was quite angry that critical information had been withheld from her in this investigation.

Ruby, however, refused to talk in front of Henry. He was the mayor's boy and saw him as a threat.

"Hey, I'm on your side," he pleaded, but to no avail. Emma told Henry to go home and he dejectedly left the diner.

Ruby told her that Ashley had changed her mind and wanted to keep the baby. As they two women talked, Emma noticed Ruby's wolf charm sitting on the counter. A quick glance outside revealed that the red Firebird was missing. The waitress didn't send Emma to Sean's for information, but to give Ashley a head start. The woman with child was trying to make a run for it to Boston.

Emma dashed back into her yellow VW Beetle and drove after the girl. In the rear seat Henry suddenly popped up wanting to know where they were going next. Emma was at first frightened by the surprise then angered by his disobedience. She told him about the maid, but first she was going to take Henry home.

He correctly concluded that if she did that, she wouldn't be able to catch up to Ashley. Emma knew he was right and kept going. When he found out the girl was trying to leave town, Henry said she couldn't.

"Bad things happen to anyone who tries to leave," he said with desperation. Sure enough, when the yellow bug reached the town limits the red Firebird was found crashed on the side of the road. Ashley was sitting in a nearby field. She was going into labor.

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Thomas' plan was simple. Rumpelstiltskin would be lured by the promise of a new contract. Cinderella would tell him she was expecting twins and wanted to strike a new bargain for the second child. His desire to strike deals was his one weakness, Grumpy informed her. Once properly enticed, Ella was to get him sign with a red quill pen Thomas provided. The pen had been enchanted with fairy magic and would render him paralyzed and unable to use his dark magic against her.

Grumpy then added that the old mines he and his brother dwarves used to work were now converted into a special prison just to hold Rumpelstiltskin. She was shown the cell where he would be held for the rest of his immortal life. Ella was uncertain about this. Magic had gotten her into this bad situation.

"All magic comes with a price," she said. "What if there is price for this magic?"

"Then I will pay it," Thomas reassured her. Ella was still apprehensive, but went along with the plan. It was the only way to get out of losing her unborn child to that evil imp.

PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND (The Evacuation)

"Sled, Sled, I want to apologize," she yelled to her beau.

"Not now, Ro," he yelled, irritated. "I've too much work to play your stupid, little mind games."

"But this isn't a mind game," she answered. "I understand what I did wrong. And why you were right."

"Sure, tell me another one. Get lost!"

"I'm not getting lost!" she screamed, stomping her foot for emphasis. "I'm not leaving until you listen to me. I want to marry you right this instant."

"And what makes now any different than the other times you lied," he growled.

"Because this time I'm coming with you!" she screamed back into his face.

He looked befuddled. "You're what?" Sled craned his head around and saw a stack of luggage piled high. "Is that all yours?"

"Yes it is, Sled," she cooed. "I know now that I was being selfish. I wanted to live a fantasy, but I wanted my boyfriend to be a fantasy, too. That was wrong. I have to accept you for who you are. And when I stepped back to see the real you, not the fantasy you, I couldn't believe my eyes. You were everything I ever wanted. I was just too stupid to see it. Please take me with you. Please marry me."

Sled was concerned at first, but as she spoke he heard not contempt, nor deception, but sincerity. Full throated sincerity like he had never known since she first agreed to marry him that winsome evening. His winter heart melted and he grabbed her into his big arms.

"Ooh," she giggled. Then he kissed her so hard she thought her boots were going to fly off. "OH MY!"

He warned her about the cold weather environment the winter fairies were heading towards. She would need to wear warm clothing at all times and protect her wings constantly. Sled also would not be able to provide Rosetta with a proper honeymoon until after the winter fairies had settled in and were functional. Which could be months. Rosetta didn't care, she would lose both of her wings and wait an eternity for him if need be. With that, he scooped her up in his arms and the two sought out The Keeper of All Fairy Knowledge to perform a wedding ceremony.

After the abbreviated ceremony was ended and the Keeper declared them man and wife, he said they could take ten minutes to kiss and hug before getting back to work. But when he saw how much they looked ever so longingly into each other's eyes, he changed his mind. "Eh, go ahead and take twenty minutes, instead."

"Twenty minutes enough for you, Ro?"

"It will feel like twenty years of ecstasy as long as it's with you, Sugarpie" she told him. The two promptly found a closet and locked the door behind them.

The Keeper laughed. "Ha, lovebirds."

I do hope this chapter is as interesting and enjoyable as the others. Thank you for reading and please leave a review.

Scorecard

Sean Herman = Prince Thomas

Sean's Father = The King, Thomas' Father

Leroy = Grumpy

Marco = Geppetto

Ruby = Red Riding Hood