Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke
A Disney Fairies / Once Upon A Time Crossover
Season 1, Episode 12, Chapter 1

Note: The events in this and the following chapters occur before, during and after the events in the episode "Skin Deep" from season 1.

THE ENCHANTED FOREST

Sir Maurice was surrounded by his war council. The Ogre Wars were going poorly. News had arrived that another village under his rule had fallen to the monsters. He had been waiting for the one person who could save them, but that person never showed.

His daughter, Belle, who stood beside him through it all still held out hope that this person might still keep his word. No one else, however, shared her optimism. Sir Maurice and his council were preparing for the worst when they heard pounding from the chamber door. Everyone was startled. The Ogres couldn't have made it this far. Not yet.

Guards swung open the tall double doors, but no one was on the other side. The main hallway leading to this room was empty.

"Well now that was a letdown, wasn't it?" the voice came from behind them.

The occupants of the room turned to find seated in the throne the man they had summoned.

Rumpelstiltskin.

The practitioner of the dark arts was willing to end the war in Sir Maurice's favor in exchange for something. The landowner offered gold, but Rumpelstiltskin spun his own. More than all the kingdoms of the Enchanted Forest could possibly offer. No, what he wanted was Belle to be the caretaker of his large castle.

Both Sir Maurice and Gaston, Belle's husband to be, adamantly refused.

"Belle," her father demanded, "you can't go with this… beast."

Rumpelstiltskin's mouth fell open in mock offense. Belle, however, declared it was her decision and was willing to make the sacrifice.

"Congratulations on your war," Rumpelstiltskin said as he took the woman away from her father, perhaps for the last time.

~O~

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Mr. Gold listened to the empty threats of one Moe French, the owner of the local flower shop Game of Thorns. Mr. French was behind on his payments and Gold took his delivery van, which Mr. French had unwisely put up as collateral. The loss of the delivery truck was bad enough, but Mr. Gold chose to do it on the day before Valentine's Day costing the florist thousands in lost sales as much of his inventory was in the vehicle.

Mayor Regina Mills watched the scene with mild curiosity. If there was one person in this town who was more hated and reviled then her it was the pawn broker Mr. Gold. He refused to budge an inch when it came to his contracts. The mayor wanted a word with him, but he wasn't in the mood. When she pressed the issue he told her it would have to wait and then added the word "please."

Regina felt strangely compelled to let him go.

~O~

Mary Margaret and Emma were at Granny's, there they ran into Ashley Boyd who was tending to her baby girl Alexandra whom she was carrying in a baby bjorn. She was feeling particularly exhausted. It was difficult for her to find a babysitter or spend time with her boyfriend, Sean, who still had not proposed. Sean's wealthy and dictatorial father had effectively disowned him for not abandoning Ashley after getting her pregnant. This forced Sean to work long hours at the fish cannery to support Ashley and their infant girl.

While they spoke Claire Kensington arrived. She had come to Granny's for some hot coffee. She spotted the new mother with her infant child. "Oh she is so precious, Ashley," Claire said. "You have such a beautiful baby."

"Thank you," the young mother beamed.

"Did I hear you say you needed a sitter?" Claire asked.

"Yes, I do."

"Well, why don't you bring little Alexandra over to my place one of these days," Claire told her. "I'll be happy to watch this little cutie while you and Sean have some time together."

"You would do that?"

"Of course, I've got plenty of experience with baby girls," Mrs. Kensington said.

Mary Margaret was impressed by Claire's offer. "Well there you go, Ashley. When fate closes a door it opens a window."

Ruby the waitress with her tiny dress and long black hair with red highlights walked up. While tending to her customers she had overheard the conversation and offered a suggestion. "If you aren't doing anything tomorrow why don't we all have a girl's night out at The Rabbit Hole? We could pick up some cute guys."

Ashley balked at the idea, she was still with Sean. Ruby reminded her that they weren't married yet and he was stuck working double shifts at the cannery. "Okay, I'm in."

Emma declined, but Ms. Blanchard was more than up for it.

"Claire?"

"Sure," she replied. "But there is only one 'cute guy' I want to pick up."

"Who is that?" Ms. Blanchard asked.

"Hartley!"

Mary Margaret could only laugh at her own forgetfulness. "You are so lucky, Claire. I wish I had someone in my life like you do with Hartley." Though no one knew, Mary Margaret was peering out of the corner of her eyes towards another table where sat David Nolan. The man she was in love with, but could not have.

Emma received a buzz from the police station. The phones at the Sheriff's Office were set to forward calls to her beeper when she wasn't there. "Gotta go."

~O~

Mr. Gold's large, gothic Queen Anne style home had been broken into. Considering all the people who hated the pawn broker Emma wasn't surprised that it happened, only that it took this long. A number of expensive items had been taken. Gold had a suspect in mind. Moe French, the man whose delivery truck he claimed for non-payment.

"Alright, I'll look into it," she told him.

Mr. Gold, however, muttered that she had better get to him first. It sounded like a threat and she told him not to follow through. Gold's response to the break-in troubled Emma. Gold had plenty of money, yet the pawn broker acted as though something truly precious to his heart had been taken. Something he wasn't telling her.

That added an entirely new layer of complexity to this case.

~O~

PIXIE HOLLOW, NEVER LAND

It was coronation day. Queen Clarus had recently passed away following a devastating pirate attack on Pixie Hollow. This left the woefully underprepared Princess Clarion to take on the role of leader of the kingdom.

Ever since her mother's passing the young princess had greatly increased her study schedule trying to prepare for this day. Even her tutors explained that it would take many more seasons before she was properly educated for this role.

"You will have to rely more on your raw talent than experience," one told her in his forthright way. Raw talent was good, but education, wisdom and experience harnessed it to proper effectiveness. Clarion knew her first seasons were going to be rocky. She just didn't how bad it would be.

Thousands of fairies and sparrow men and their animal friends gathered at the Pixie Dust Tree. With the pixie dust falls behind her Princess Clarion stood where all could see the young woman. Accompanying the young monarch were the four ministers of the seasons and the princess' personal guard and summoner, a newcomer named Viola who replaced the young man who guarded Queen Clarus and died in his service to her.

"Do you, Clarion, Princess of Pixie Hollow this day take upon yourself the role of Queen, ruler of all fairydom?" Redleaf the Minister of Autumn asked. Redleaf was the eldest of the ministers and was thus tasked with the coronation.

"I do," she said, swearing upon an ancient text of fairy law. This book contained the original laws of Pixie Hollow, the pillars upon which the entire society had been founded.

"Do you, Clarion, Princess of Pixie Hollow swear to abide by and defend the laws of your kingdom? To enforce them equally and never to abuse or by your action or inaction allow others to abuse the law?"

"I do," she said.

"By what right do you claim the throne of this fairy kingdom?" Redleaf asked.

"By right of succession," she answered, "daughter of Prince Devon and Queen Clarus, whose lineage can be traced back to the first baby who laughed the first laugh."

Clarion was relieved. She had been practicing that all day and got through it without a single misstep.

She removed her hand from the ancient text and stood front and center. The Minister of Spring presented to Clarion a golden scepter which she took in her right hand. The Minister of Summer presented a sovereign's orb which was placed in her left palm and from behind the Minister of Winter placed upon Clarion's head the ornate Crown of the Monarch's. These three items were utilized only for the coronation of a new queen. Once the ceremony was finished they would be locked away and never be seen again until the next ceremony.

Redleaf turned to the crowd and announced, "I hereby present to you Clarion the First, Queen of all Pixie Hollow and The Winter Woods; defender of the law; ruler of all fairydom. Long live the queen!"

"LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!" That was what every fairy and sparrow man shouted and with absolute enthusiasm. "LONG LIVE THE QUEEN! LONG LIVE THE QUEEN!"

The many who had gathered were still bereft of the fallen Queen Clarus, but they accepted Clarion with open arms and open hearts. Now she would have to earn their trust and respect. A difficult task made more challenging by the long shadow cast by her beloved mother and her incomplete training.

"How will I ever manage?" she quietly asked herself.

~O~

STORYBROOKE, MAINE

Hartley had taken Claire into the woods just beyond town. He entertained her with a picnic lunch followed by a stroll among the trees. Here, beyond the sounds of the city, he took her hand in his as they walked. The couple marveled at the towering pines and the lush greenery of the forest floor.

Then Claire asked him a question. One that had been nagging at her for hours.

When Claire went to Granny's Diner this morning she ran into Mary Margaret Blanchard, among others. For the first time Claire wondered why Ms. Blanchard never seemed to have a boyfriend or wasn't married. It suddenly clicked that Hartley, despite being slightly older than herself, had been single his entire adult life.

This sudden revelation gave her pause. Their relationship was getting stronger and more intimate. Yet if he had never taken a wife before it called into question something about his character.

"Hartley," she began pleasantly enough, "why did you never marry?"

He was struck by this query. It was so out of the blue. "I-I'm not certain," he replied. "To be honest I've never given it much thought."

Now it was Claire's turn to be caught off guard. "Truly? You never once took a moment to consider it?"

"No. Though I suppose I simply never found the right woman."

"What about now? Am I the right woman?"

"Of course you are, my dear," he replied with a genuine tone to his voice. "What brought this on?"

"Oh nothing," she replied. Claire wasn't fully satisfied with his answer. There had to be a bigger reason than just "never found the right woman before." Was he being too picky? Was Hartley a textbook commitment-phobe? Did he prefer being single than married? Before things went any further between them she would have to find out.

Sir Maurice = Moe French

Belle = ?

In this episode Once Upon A Time tackles Disney's Beauty and the Beast with Rumpelstiltskin assuming the role of "The Beast." Throughout the episode Belle is shown wearing the same clothing worn in the animated film. The yellow and gold ball gown in the opening sequence described above and her blue and white plainclothes during the rest of the episode.

Moe French's business "Game of Thorns" is a nod by the producers of OUAT to the television series Game of Thorns.

Author's Note: As this story has reached over 125 chapters and may likely be perceived as intimidatingly large to newcomers I've decided to close this first half of season 1 with episode 12. The second half of season 1 will continue in a separate story titled Disney's Tinker Bell in Storybrooke Season 1, Pt 2.

Thanks for reading. Feedback is always appreciated.

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My fingers hurt from all this typing.