Stage 1 - Part 2

"Let me get this straight," Hook said, thoroughly annoyed. "There's someone in Storybrooke who can now control a dragon's heart?" Emma shrugged and nodded.

"That's what it looked like. Belle said that it was a woman. But that she was wearing a cape of some sort."

"We really gotta install cameras everywhere in Storybrooke," Hook muttered.

"You don't even know what the internet is," Emma quipped, turning to Regina and Rachel.

"We need to find out who is controlling Lily," Regina said. "That's priority number one." Emma nodded in agreement.

"Snow and Charming are with Belle and Henry searching in the woods." Emma glanced around the small group. "Where's Zelena?" she asked.

"Robin got a cough. Zelena's taking care of her," Regina explained. "Don't worry." Emma nodded.

"We can try and track this person with magic," Hook suggested. Regina gave the pirate an annoyed look.

"Well the odds of that are about as slim as you wearing something other than guyliner," she muttered. She ran her hands through her hair, apologizing almost immediately.

"I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. Please don't take offense"

"None taken," Hook said. "I already know you love my outfit choices." Regina wrinkled her nose in disgust, but let it go.

"So, what's the plan?" Rachel asked, beginning to feel uncomfortable being the only child. Henry get back here, she thought to herself.

"We need to train you some more," Regina said, giving Rachel a look.

"I shouldn't have asked," Rachel said grumpily. But she smiled good naturedly.

"So, I hate to bring this up again, but why can't we just find this mystery woman?" Hook asked.

"Magic does have it's limits. One of those is that if often has to be based off emotion, and previous knowledge. It's hard to have strong feelings for a total stranger."

"Well, in that case, why are you making me lift rocks?" Rachel asked, a gleam in her eyes. "Except for the fact that I hate them now, I don't have strong feelings for them."

"Oh I know, you save the strong feelings for Henry," Regina said, looking at her nails. Emma rather enjoyed seeing Rachel go beet red. She opened her mouth a few times to speak, but no words came out.

"Henry? As in your son?" Rachel asked, her voice unnaturally high. "Me with him? That's… totally ridiculous." Rachel glared at the three adults, obviously trying to hold back laughter.

"Shut up," she muttered, turning away. The three adults bit back smiles, as Regina led Rachel out of the room.

"I'm gonna take the lovesick tomato face back to my vault," she called out. Rachel shot her an indignant look, but didn;t even bother trying to talk.

"This is going to be a long training session," she muttered to herself. The minute they were both gone, Hook and Emma broke into laughter.

"I can still hear you!"

Henry glanced around the half charred forest around him. It was hard to believe this had once been a pure green sea of green.

"Here, look!" Charming called out a few yards ahead. Henry followed Snow and Belle to where David was crouching.

"Scales," Snow said, picking one up. She examined a little closer, becoming a bit more white when she did.

"David," she said, showing him the scale. Henry crouched beside them, looking at the scale. It was splashed with blood.

"Who's blood is that?" Belle asked, nervousness creeping into her voice.

"If I had to take a guess," David began. I'd go with Lily."

"I'm gonna call Emma," Snow announced, "find out what she's gotten so far." She pulled out her phone, making an annoyed sound at the reduced reception in the woods.

"Hello? Emma? Have you guys made an progress on the mystery woman?" Snow and Emma talked for a few minutes, before Snow burst out laughing.

"She did what? About him? And what was her reaction?" Henry glanced up, wondering what exactly his mother and grandmother were talking about. Snow caught him looking, and turned away.

"Grandma?" Henry asked, giving her a suspicious look.

"Alright, I gotta go. We're tracking Lily. Yeah I know. I would've given anything to see that."

"See what?" both Henry and David questioned when Snow hung up. Snow gave him a look, before whispering something in David's ear. They both turned to Henry, smiles on their faces. Henry opened his mouth, but decided it was useless. He half stomped over to an apple tree, grabbing an apple from the branches.

"I thought you didn't like apples," Snow teased.

"I like them better than my family right now," Henry called back. He took a bite, savoring the crunchy taste. But then the ground seemed to open up under his feet, and he was thrown clear. His eyes widened as Lily came crashing through the trees, barreling at him at full speed.

"Ow," Henry muttered as Rachel dabbed on antibiotic. "It's just a cut. It doesn't have half the germs in the world." Rachel gave him a look, and continued applying it. As she turned to dispose of the cotton ball, Henry glimpsed a moon shaped crescent on her neck. It looked like some sort of sword wound or something.

"What's that?" he asked. Rachel gingerly touched the mark on her neck.

"I was born with it. I used to think it made me a hero of some sort. Like it was a symbol of power." She laughed sheepishly. "It's stupid really." Henry smiled, tilting his head slightly.

"I don't think it's stupid," he said honestly.

"Thanks," Rachel said, grabbing a bandage from the table.

"Zelena, do you have any bigger band aids in this house?" Rachel asked, realizing that the cut was too large for just a tiny one.

"In the second drawer," Zelena called from the other room. Rachel rummaged around the kitchen drawers. Before finding a band aid that was suitable.

"Okay, this should work," she said, peeling off the wrapping. "You should really pay attention-"

Suddenly, the world seemed to explode around them. The glass window shattered, and fire erupted around the room. Lily barreled into the room, heading right to Rachel. Rachel just barely managed to dodge the piercing claw, and slid to the other side of the kitchen. Regina and Emma ran into the room, followed closely by the Golds, and the Charmings.

"Zelena, stay with Robin," Snow said as she ran. Regina created a fireball, throwing it the black dragon. Lily didn't even flinch. She continued cornering Rachel, forcing the young savior up against the wall. Rachel flinched away, as Lily's claw came within inches of her head.

"Lily, over here," Emma called, trying to distract the dragon. Lily didn't even look her way. She remained fixed on Rachel, nostrils flaring, smoke blowing from her mouth. But, she wasn't attacking. Rachel glanced around, still pinned to the wall by the claw.

Suddenly, a figure appeared in the window. It was the woman that Belle had seen before.

"Kill her," she commanded. Lily reared up, channeling energy for a fire blast.

"No!" Henry shouted, trying to attack the mysterious woman in the room. A blast of magic sent him reeling back.

"Now, kill the savior," he woman commanded, revealing Lily's heart. Lily reared up again, fire swirling in her closed her eyes, waiting for the blast. It never came. Another figure came through the remnants of the window, crashing into the mystery woman. The sword hilt came crashing on the cloaked woman's wrist, making her drop the heart. She grabbed the heart, and struck the woman with the butt of the sword.

"Don't think you've won," the woman hissed. "This will never be over Mulan. Not until I kill her." With that, the woman vanished in a puff of gray smoke. Mulan pulled off her own hodd, surveying the damage. Regina, Emma, and Belle all rushed over to help Rachel up.

"Where'd Lily go?" Henry asked.

"She vanished with her," Regina said.

"Mulan what are you doing here?" Snow asked, looking at the warrior with confusion.

"I heard that a certain person from my past was here. I came to see what was happening."

"Well thank god you showed up in time. Was that her?" Emma asked, leading Rachel over.

"Yes," Mulan said, turning her attention to Rachel.

"Are you okay?" Rachel nodded shakily. She rubbed at her neck, where there was a cut, with blood dripping over her scar.

"Here," Mulan said, wiping up the blood. But she stopped dead when she saw the scar. She brushed her fingers over it, terror and confusion in her eyes.

"Are you Rachel?" she asked, backing up.

"Umm, yes?" Rachel said, worry in her voice.

"You… you… you died. But you didn't. You survived…" A look of utter horror spread across Mulan's face when she put the pieces together.

"Oh God no."

And done. That took a really long time. I'm really sorry. But I think that this is a great chapter personally. Don't worry, everything will be explained in due time. I am actually super excited for what's coming in this plot.

Next Time… Mulan struggled with what happens now what Rachel's alive. Dark secrets from her past are dug up. Secrets she desperately wanted to bury