Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 6, Chapter 2

PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND (The Romano-British Period on the Mainland)

The young queen of Pixie Hollow, Clarion, recently crowned, sat alone in the garden where the gravestones of her parents stood. She stared at the stones wondering how they dealt with so many problems. Both of her parents lost their lives in service to Pixie Hollow. Now she felt alone and isolated.

"What am I to do?" she asked them. "So much has gone wrong, my subjects dislike me and they have no trust in the crown. Even the ministers look at me with suspicion."

The head stones were silent. They could say or do nothing to alleviate her pain and suffering.

"Mother, you told me that love is weakness," Clarion said, repeating one of the last things her mother said before death. "I try to live by that ideal, but I do not understand how it can be a weakness. You loved father so much. You loved Pixie Hollow and the fairies like they were your own children. It seems as though love gives us strength."

Silence again. Clarion wished that her parents could speak to her. That she could bring them back from the dead. She was not prepared for this. Not yet. The young queen felt overwhelmed by the difficult situation into which she had been thrust. The hollow had been devastated by pirates. Their accumulated treasury was gone and numerous artifacts of fairy magic had been taken. The Home Tree was destroyed.

Before, all the fairies of Pixie Hollow lived in the giant tree. Now they were forced to look elsewhere. Only the Pixie Dust Tree had been spared simply because whatever the pirates wanted was somewhere else. But most devastating, so many fairies had died defending their home. Recovery was taking time. Perhaps too much time. Clarion tried to remain cool, aloof and dispassionate, but it made her subjects think she did not care.

She did care. Her heart broke when she visited the large hole in the ground where The Home Tree once stood. She desperately fought back tears when visiting the summer gardens. Flowers had been stomped by the invaders. Wings could be seen sticking out of the ground. Garden and scout fairies had been stepped on, crushed like bugs under the boots of the merciless pirates.

But that wasn't the only place. Tinker fairies were given the horrid task of digging up the crushed bodies of their peers. Broken wings fluttering in the breeze acted as makeshift markers. These lost fairies had given their last full measure for their homeland. Clarion was resented for not being more emotional. She was called unfeeling and coldhearted. If she cried and blubbered like a human child would they respect her? Or would they only see her as weak and incapable of leading them?

This was the paradox which left young Queen Clarion so confused. She had no one to talk to, no one from whom to seek advice. No one to whom she could bare her soul and release the pain she kept pent up inside her. What she need was a shoulder to cry on. There was her good friend Mary, a member of the tinker guild. Clarion had not yet come to trust her enough for something as personal as this. She needed a parent, or a peer. She had neither.

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Claire and Hartley had their coffee date at Granny's Diner. They talked well into the night. The subject varied as the time passed. Surprisingly, very little was spoken about Charlie. Claire made it a point not to bring him up. She didn't want to give the impression of still being overly attached. It might scare this good man away. Letting go of Charlie was not something she could do in one day. Tonight, though, was a positive first step in moving on.

Granny kept her distance, but still acted like a watchful chaperone. She would bring coffee at intervals, offered dessert at opportune times and collected empty cups and plates. Evening turned into night, but Claire and Hartley were still at their table chatting away. Claire's hands, which sat on the table were held every so delicately by Hartley at this time.

She could sympathize with Claire. Granny, a widow with a granddaughter to raise, could see a younger version of herself in Mrs. Kensington. Sometimes she wished that a handsome man would come into her life the way Hartley had come into Claire's. It was all just a pipe dream, so she lived vicariously through her friend at the table. Ruby turned the neon "OPEN" sign off and locked the doors.

Granny didn't have the heart to ask Claire and Hartley to leave just yet. So she let them have the room for a few minutes more.

She and her staff cleaned up and put away vessels, plates, pots and pans even as Claire and her date kept talking, oblivious to the fact that the restaurant had closed long ago. At one point, Granny even turned on a radio, selecting a station that played slow, romantic music. Claire, a music lover, recognized the song and a smile came across her face. Hartley, ever the romantic, asked if she would like to dance.

The two stood from their table. Hartley put his arm around her waist and took her hand in his. Claire responded in kind and put her hand on his shoulder. Soon, they were dancing to the gentle sounds of The Glenn Miller Orchestra.

"Sorry, folks," Granny finally said. "But it's late and I have to close up." Claire and Hartley looked around and realized that the diner had been locked up for the night a good while ago.

"We're so sorry to keep you," Claire apologized.

"Think nothing of it," Granny answered with a smile. "Now you two young kids run along and have a good evening."

Claire smiled, she hadn't been called "young" or a "kid" in ages. After such a wonderful coffee date, it made her feel all giddy inside.

Hartley drove Claire to her home. He walked her to the doorway. "I enjoyed this evening with you," he said.

"So did I," Claire answered, a blushing smile on her face.

"Well then, perhaps we can do this again sometime," Hartley said, obliquely asking for a second date.

"I would love to," she answered.

Hartley took Claire's hand, lifted it to his lips and gently kissed it. "Goodnight, Claire. Sleep well."

"Yeah, you, too," was all she could manage. Hartley smiled back, amused by her answer. She was clearly enchanted. So was he.

When her date drove off, Claire went into the house and closed the door behind her. She slowly walked her way up the stairs and into her bedroom. There she kicked off her shoes and sighed. Tonight was perfect.

Claire had been too caught up in the moment and failed to check up on her two girls. She really should have.

~O~

Valerie sped across the paved highway outside of Storybrooke. With only the moonlight and her headlamp for illumination she was playing a dangerous game of chicken with the surrounding woods. One bad turn and she could end up in a crevasse, plow into a tree trunk or thrown into a boulder. She loved it so, it made her feel alive. Speed made her heart pound, her life seemed whole and her soul sang like a bird.

Tonight, though, her speed was for another reason. Hot on her tail was Graham, the town sheriff. Valerie had the more agile vehicle, but the Crown Victoria used by Sheriff Graham was a police interceptor. A specially modified vehicle for enduring long, hard chases.

Valerie had been caught speeding through the roads. She was recorded well above the posted speed limit and Graham gave chase when he saw her shoot by. Graham was working this evening because he had promised his new deputy, Emma Swan, no night shifts.

The young motorcycle rider led her pursuer through every highway and back road she could find. Then the chase went where it should not have. Into town. It was one thing for her to drive recklessly through the woods where only she could be hurt, but now she was inside of the city itself. She was putting every resident nearby in danger. A major crash could send her motorcycle into a house where people were eating, sleeping or watching television.

This had to end quickly. He called up his deputy and asked a favor. "Swan, I've got the Kensington girl on a motorcycle," he told her. Graham told her the situation and asked Emma to block her off using Emma's yellow VW Beetle. "Really? Now?"

"Yes, now, I need a hand."

Sheriff Graham kept Emma apprised of his location and moved her into position.

Valerie shot into an alleyway. The other side was open, an easy way out for her. Then a yellow VW Beetle pulled into view, blocking the exit. Valerie had no choice but come to a fast halt. Graham's police cruiser pulled up behind her. The young girl riding the motorcycle didn't put up a fight or try to run. She knew she had been caught.

~O~

The next morning Claire was frightened that her eldest girl hadn't come home. Her mind kept coming up with the worst case scenarios. She called the hospital, but Valerie wasn't there. Claire then called the Sheriff's office.

"Yes, Mrs. Kensington, she's here," Graham told her.

"Oh thank my lucky stars," Claire said, breathing a huge sigh of relief. "I'll be right over."

At the station Claire was greeted by Graham and Deputy Swan, who was arriving for her dayshift. Mrs. Kensington was told what happened.

Dr. Hopper had said it was a good idea for Valerie to ride her bike around after her work was done.

"Don't restrict her," Archie had told Claire during a session of family therapy. "The more you try and control her the more she thinks you don't understand her."

"What should I do?"

"Use an outing on the bike as a reward for completing her work and following house rules," Hopper advised.

Claire followed that advice and it seemed to be working. Valerie wasn't causing as many problems at home. Now Claire wondered if that advice was wrong headed.

"I can't believe what you did," she said ripping into her daughter. "I give you leniency and this is how you repay me? You…, you drive like a maniac and nearly get yourself killed."

"Leniency? What am I, a prisoner in my own home?"

"No, you are my daughter," Claire shouted.

"I'm also an adult," Valerie reminded her. "I don't need your permission to drive my bike. It's my property, I can do with it as I please."

"No you can't. If that were true you wouldn't be here," Claire said. "Why can't you be more like your little sister?"

"You mean that perfect little girl you didn't have to adopt?" Valerie said, holding back what she knew about Tina. "I'm just your big disappointment, aren't I? Your big adopted disappointment."

"Yes. I am disappointed in you," Claire replied.

"Then why didn't you just send me back?" Then Valerie flipped Claire the bird.

"Oh, that's it! You want to be the smart ass? Then let's see what a few days in jail does for your attitude, young lady."

Emma had to speak up. "Don't do that to your mother," she told Valerie. "I never had a mother. Or a father. You should be grateful to have someone who cares."

"Oh please," Valerie said. "Tell you what, let me out of this cage and you can have that one as your mother."

"You can stay here and rot, for all I care," Claire yelled back. She was done hand holding this arrogant young woman. Valerie was ruining her good mood. Claire was starting to let go of her dead husband's memory. Her coffee date with Hartley went wonderfully last night. Things were going so right for her.

Now this.

Claire stormed out of the station. She was stopped in the hallway by Deputy Swan. "Wait!"

"Yes, Deputy," Claire answered, exasperated. "I'm late for work."

"I want to talk with you for a moment." Emma sat down on a bench. Claire joined her. "I know what it's like to be her."

"You were a hell raiser who gave your mother fits?" Claire asked rather petulantly.

"I never had real parents," Emma admitted. Ms. Swan related her past, how she was abandoned on the side of the road. How she was left in the hands of the system where she was moved around from family to family her entire childhood.

"So how do you know what it's like to be her?"

"I had a foster mother and a father until I was three," Emma told Claire. "When they had a child of their own they gave me up, sent me back into the system. At the time, I honestly thought that my foster parents were my real mother and father. Being sent back hurt. I couldn't understand why Mom and Dad gave me away. Why did they stop loving me, was the question I kept asking myself. One thing I considered was that they couldn't love me anymore because they had a new baby of their own."

"Everything is just fine at home," Claire said.

"Mrs. Kensington, Valerie might truly believe you don't love her like a daughter because you have a girl of your own," Emma said. "She could feel squeezed out. It is possible that you do think of Tina differently than Valerie and that you treat her differently without even being aware of it. But Valerie is keenly aware of it. She feels it every time you make a comparison between her and Tina. Maybe what Valerie feels is that she has been abandoned by her own mother."

"I am not treating her differently. She is just acting out."

"Okay, so why is she acting out?"

"She just wants attention," Claire answered.

"And if you are not treating her differently, why would she need attention?"

"I don't know? She's just a bad girl."

"If that were true then you should have sent her back a long time ago," Emma replied, rather angrily.

"She's my daughter," Claire answered.

"Are you treating her like one?"

"Yes!"

"Then why is she acting out? Why does she want your attention?"

There was a pause. "I don't know." For the first time Claire began to consider what was going on inside Valerie's head, rather than just making assumptions. "Do you really think she feels I abandoned her?" she asked rather contritely.

"I don't know, ask her yourself and find out." Emma went back inside and relieved Graham. She took over as the day shift, while Graham went home for some rest.

"Are you okay, Mrs. Kensington?" Graham asked on the way out of the station house.

Claire was sitting on the bench seat in the hallway, completely lost in thought. "Hunh? Oh yes, I'm fine, Sheriff. Thank you." Moments later she stood and walked back into the station room. She paid the bail to release her daughter. The money came from an envelope marked "house payment." This money was for Mr. Gold. Claire had submitted her bid to the town council for repairs on the town hall building. But without a place to live or tools to work with it would be impossible for her to honor the contract were she awarded it.

The contract represented much needed money. It could pay for a year's worth of payments to Mr. Gold and then some. This complication put her long term future in jeopardy once again. She barely made it last month and the month before that. Suddenly, life that seemed so full of possibilities was once again clouded in doubt. This was her daughter's fault. And maybe her own, as well. She dare not say anything to either Valerie or Tina about it. Instead she chose a different route to keep her home and family together. One that would eat at her very soul.

"You're bailing me out?" Valerie asked, confused.

"Yes, dear," Claire answered in calm and motherly tones.

"Why? I thought you wanted me to rot in jail?"

"Leaving you here will solve nothing," Claire answered softly. She could not bring herself to say that this might indeed be her fault. But maybe if she tried harder, Claire wouldn't have to.

Congratulations to CommonSwift who correctly deduced that Blake and Chester are Blaze the Firefly and Cheese the Mouse, respectively.

I hope you enjoy this new chapter. Thank you for reading.