Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 7, Chapter 5
PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND (The Late Restoration Period on the Mainland)
After her conversation with Festus, Vidia decided to wait before setting a new meeting date. It was her conclusion that with the queen watching things so closely, moving too fast could expose them. She went around and contacted those who had been at the meeting in the fast flyer's club earlier. It was explained to them what had happened and that they should lay low until the monarchy wasn't so interested in them.
While she was engaged in moving from one loyalist to another, Vidia was stopped by a scout talent and told she was being confined to quarters until Fairy Morrison had a chance to perform an exit interview with her. This turned her stomach in knots. If she were accused as Swift and Festus had been then their cause might fall apart. She surmised that this may have been Fairy Morrison's plan to begin with. Get every participating member to incriminate him or herself and thus be done with it.
Vidia was escorted by a scout talent to her apartment in The Nest and told to wait. The scout then stood by the door to prevent her from leaving. With nothing to do, her mind began to swirl upon itself with worst case scenarios and likely outcomes. None of which were very good for her. Soon, Vidia became so afraid that she might be arrested and convicted that she wished she had never been involved with either Swift or Festus.
"No, that's what they want," Vidia reminded herself. "Fairy Morrison and the queen want me to sweat it out. To break under the weight of my own guilt. Well, I have no guilt. I'm proud of what I've done."
She kept telling herself this to soothe her nerves. She tried to feel stronger with each refrain, but in truth it only made her more nervous. It kept reminding her just how much Fairy Morrison and Queen Clarion knew about them. This made her think about what might happen to her. She started to imagine those worst case scenarios again and soon her stomach was twisted in knots so badly Vidia could scarcely hold down her own bile.
STORYBOOKE, MAINE
"What are you doing here?"
Emma and Graham turned and saw Mayor Regina Mills standing in the doorway. It was late out, she was dressed for the chill and carried a bouquet of flowers. Emma asked her the same thing in return. Regina had come to place flowers on the grave of her dead father, which she did every Wednesday evening.
She looked at the two and became enraged. Not only had they violated the sanctity of her father's grave, but it looked to Regina that they were carrying on an affair. She thus accused Emma of stealing everything that was important to her. First Henry and now Graham.
Graham told Regina that this wasn't the case. He felt nothing when he was with her. And he decided it was better to have nothing then to have less than nothing, which was what he had with the Mayor.
"I'm not leaving you for Emma," Graham said. "I'm leaving you for me." This was Graham's declaration of independence. He had his fill of being at her beck and call, of being treated as a pet. There would be no more booty calls. No longer would he be her enforcer in the Sheriff's office. He finally decided to be his own man, live his own life and make his own decisions.
Regina glared at Emma, the newcomer. None of this started happening until she showed up. She was the one putting these dangerous ideas into Graham's head. She was the thief in the night who took everything precious. Emma replied that she wasn't there to steal anyone or anything and that perhaps Regina was pushing others away from her. A few more words were exchanged between the two women. Then they came to blows. Each delivering withering shots to the other. Graham got between the two women and ordered them to stop, which they did. The two women were bloodied by the altercation.
"Not worth it," Emma mumbled while walking past Regina and out of the cemetery. The mayor invited Graham to come home with her, but instead he chose to go his own way. Regina was left standing alone in front of her family mausoleum.
PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND (The Late Restoration Period on the Mainland)
When Fairy Morrison finally arrived, Vidia nearly hit the ceiling she was so wound up. The door opened and the tall guild overseer and his assistant Kelly entered the room. Kelly was regarded by Swift and Festus as a wing kisser. He was being groomed by Morrison to replace him upon the overseer's retirement. No specific date had been given, but Morrison wanted a well-trained person to be ready when he did hang up his clipboard.
The interview with Vidia did not go particularly well for her. Fairy Morrison asked direct questions and Vidia gave half-truths or deflecting comments as answers.
"You were seen by scouts speaking with Festus at the stockades," Morrison told her. "What did he tell you?"
"He wanted me to keep everyone's spirits up," Vidia said, half lying.
"Is that all?"
"That was all," Vidia replied. Then she added, "Why can't you see that we are the superior talent guild?"
Fairy Morrison gave an answer the queen would have been proud of. "We are all equal in the eyes of the law."
"Why is that so important to you?" she asked.
Morrison glared at Vidia. She nearly crumbled under his gaze. "We may be the better guild," he confessed, "but that doesn't give us the right to strip away the guarantees of other talent guilds and reduce them to servants."
Vidia looked absolutely puzzled. "What are you talking about?"
Her sincerity was clear in her voice. Morrison understood now that she had not been told of their plans. So he explained it to her in excruciating detail. How they intended to force the queen to give the fast flyers a favored status in the Pixie Hollow. Then they wanted her to subjugate the "lesser" talent guilds. Strip them of their rights under fairy law. Make them servants or slaves.
Vidia didn't like the sound of that one bit. Her mind swirled with questions. She became unsure of her own commitment to the cause. Yet she refused to back down to Fairy Morrison. Vidia could not be certain if what he was telling her was the truth or a carefully constructed lie to divide and conquer the remaining members of Swift's underground movement.
"Well, what's so bad about that?" she asked him. "Maybe they deserve it." Vidia hated herself for saying this.
"Now you listen here and listen good, Vidia," Fairy Morrison roared. "If they can strip an entire talent guild of their protected rights, then what is stop them from stripping those rights of specific fairies and sparrow men they don't like or who disagree with them? If you challenge their authority they might just decide you aren't superior enough and turn you into a servant."
It was a solid and shocking enough argument for which Vidia had no real answer. She could only say that Swift and Festus would never do such a thing, though she had no conviction in those words. That lack of conviction came through loud and clear to Fairy Morrison. What she was saying now had more to do with anger and frustration than conviction. He began to understand just how much of a pawn she was to them.
"Look, Vidia," he said, now with a more caring tone. "They used you to their own ends. Neither one of them told you their real intentions. They couldn't afford to let you find out. Deep down inside I know you are still loyal to Pixie Hollow and the queen. Now please tell me, what did Festus tell you at the stockade?"
"It was just what I told you earlier," Vidia replied with a harrumph. "He just wanted us to keep the faith. Not to give up hope."
"Vidia, don't you understand how they've manipulated you?"
"They never manipulated me!" she yelled, infuriated with him. "They care about me! They trained me, made me believe in myself and to realize the full potential of my talent!"
"Swift and Festus wanted your loyalty because it let them treat you like a trained pet," he countered.
"No! They were invested in my future, they trust me. If what you say is true then why would they have even bothered to help me earn these feathers?"
Vidia clapped her hands over her mouth. Now she had done it. She had become so irate with Fairy Morrison that she had breached the secretive nature of the feathers. Vidia hard worked hard to earn each of these. She had endured horrible tasks. They pushed her beyond herself, in earning each one.
Fairy Morrison laughed. Hard. "Those feathers aren't earned," he informed her. "Anyone can pick those up from the dressmaking talents."
"No, I worked very hard for these, they come from a rare bird that lives here on Never Land," she shot back.
"Those are feathers from a dove," he replied. "Collected after a molt. The dressmakers dye them into whatever color you want."
To prove his point he yanked one from her clothing and snapped it in half. The inside of the feather was all white, but the dye was visibly invading the shaft of the feather. Vidia's heart sunk. Suddenly there was hard to deny proof that Swift and Festus were lying. She couldn't defend them any longer.
Feeling betrayed Vidia lowered her head and confessed to what Festus had told her at the stockade.
"They wanted me to schedule another meeting," she said. "They were going to tell me what to do and I was put their plans into action."
"And I'm sure they would have let you take the fall if your meetings were found out," Morrison concluded. "Thank you, Vidia. And I'm sorry for what happened. The queen will be told of what they did to you. They'll be punished severely for what they've done." Then he added, "I'll get you another feather."
"Don't bother," she said, pulling the ones from her clothing and throwing them on to the floor. "They're worthless."
Morrison gently asked what she had been asked to do to earn these feathers. Vidia described to him all of the things Swift and Festus had asked of her. Morrison realized just how badly she had been manipulated and lied to. He had the difficult task of correcting all of the misinformation she had been told.
For instance, the wild lands where she had first spent an entire day picking wild blueberries were not dangerous at all. The only wild part about it was that no fairies actively cared for any animal or plant there. Every danger she had endured was manufactured in her mind. Swift and Festus had implanted the idea in her head and allowed her own imagination to run amuck and complete the effect.
The guild overseer picked up the remaining feathers and handed them back to her. "Go ahead and keep these. I'll get you more. You've earned every single one of them."
STORYBOOKE, MAINE
"Where were you today?" Claire asked Valerie as she came up the stairs and to her bedroom.
"I was out driving around," she answered.
In truth, Valerie had been at Kyle's place again. They kept adding necessary details to their plans. These including the best place to set up their new residence, where Valerie could enroll in flight school, how much it would cost and how long. Then Kyle suggested she take a job as a regular pilot so that flying could become second nature to her.
"It's like driving a car," he told her. "Just because you've earned a driver's license doesn't mean you can start racing at Daytona." He suggested she try something like crop dusting or flying for a small outfit for a year or two until operating an aircraft became second nature to her. It would also serve to give him the time he needed to find a proper racing plane for her to practice in and a trainer to help her become proficient with it.
Valerie was feeling a bit frustrated. He was asking her to be patient, but she didn't want to wait anymore. Her current life in Storybrooke was unfulfilling. She wanted to get her new life started as quick as possible.
"You'll be fine," he told her. "This is going to work, but we can't rush into it. We're talking about flying a high performance aircraft. One wrong move could end your life."
Then he put his arms around her and give Valerie a long and deep kiss. It sent shivers down to her toes.
"I needed you today," Claire told her, irritated. "I had that large turkey dinner to bring in and you were not here to help me."
"You never asked me to stay and wait," Val replied.
Claire knew she was right. "Okay, fine. But tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I had hoped you would have stayed in the house to help out with preparations. Tina and I spent most of the evening alone making cornbread for tomorrow. I would have liked for you to have joined us. For us to be together like a family again."
"Well then, I suggest that next year you ask," Valerie said with a disdainful tone of voice.
"I shouldn't have to ask," Claire replied sharply. "You should have the family attitude to stay here and help. Why do you keep putting yourself above the rest of us all the time?"
Val didn't answer. She looked hurt and insulted. The young woman went into her bedroom and locked the door.
Claire just threw up her arms in disgust and went to bed. Tomorrow was supposed to be a good day for the three of them. Already it was looking like it would be disaster.
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