Chapter 3: Snow falls
"White, I know you think leaving the kingdom will solve all your problems, but believe me it won't." Said Rose, while looking at her sister chopping a tree near a road. "If you want this to end, you have to find another way. Running away doesn't make your problems disappear."
Snow huffed and looked at her little sister. It was easy for her to say that, she wasn't the one being hunted by the Queen. No, that was her Snow White. She knew her sister wasn't to blame for Regina's wrath against her, but she couldn't help feeling a bit dejected that she had to live on the run, while her sister could come and go as she pleased.
"Look Red. I know you mean well, but I'm wanted for killing father. You and I know it's not true. And I don't plan to stay here waiting for Regina to kill me. She already tried once and I don't plan on letting her get another chance." She kept hacking at the base of the tree, until it finally gave and feel on the road.
Rose sighed and watched her sister climb a tree to hide from the royal carriage that was bound to cross that road any moment. She understood that her sister was tired of running, but if she left, Rose knew that there was a very good possibility that they would never see each other again. Rose may have traveled to other kingdoms and realms, but she always came back to the Enchanted Forest. She had to uphold her part of the deal after all.
"White, please don't leave. If you really want to get away from the Enchanted Forest for a while, why don't you come with me?" She asked her sister while climbing the tree next to her. "You will be away from Regina, and get your mind off of everything that has happened in the last years. Plus, I wouldn't mind having my sister with me for more than a couple of days."
Snow sighed and looked at Rose. She knew that it was a tempting offer, and in any other circumstances she would have jumped at the opportunity, but she couldn't do that.
"Red, you know I can't do that. These travels of yours may be fantastic, but they are your personal journey. Father and I accepted it a long time ago; you have to do this on your own." She looked at Rose and saw the conflict clear on her face. "Come on. You know we didn't blame you for leaving. We knew that you needed to find out the truth, and that you could only find it by yourself. If I were to go with you now, we would draw too much attention and you wouldn't be able to find any information."
Rose raised her head and looked at her sister with a soft smile. Of course she knew that she had to travel alone to be able to find the truth about herself. But that didn't mean that she didn't feel awful every time she left her family behind.
"Yeah, yeah. You are right. So, tell me what are you planning to do with the information I gave you?" Rose asked her sister that got a mischievous look on her face.
"Well my dear Red. As you told me, a royal carriage is bound to come through here any moment. This means that they are bound to have something valuable. Hopefully, it will be enough to finally get a ticket out of here." She looked at her sister and grinned. "Any suggestion about where to go?"
Rose was about to answer when they heard horses approaching. She looked at her sister, sighed and smiled.
"Well, I'll leave you to it." She went to jump off the tree when she turned to Snow again. "Oh, and remember. If you need help, just whistle the tune I showed you."
Snow nodded with a smile. Rose took that as her cue and left her sister to her theft.
Rose and Emma were inside the yellow bug looking at the newspaper in their search for a place to stay. Both had slept in worse conditions than a car, but given the choice, they would prefer a bed.
Mary-Margaret approached the car and started talking to the two friends about their living arrangements and her awful date with Dr. Whale. And she offered her spare room to them. When Rose was going to accept, Emma quickly declined.
"Thanks, but it's not really my thing." She said not trying to sound rude.
"I don't know if I should feel flattered or offended." Rose said with a raised eyebrow. "Seeing as we have been friends for seven years and roommates for two." Emma looked at her friend and let out a groan of exasperation.
"You know I don't mean anything by it." Rose just answered with a ʽsureʼ.
Mary-Margaret understood that Emma wasn't going to take her offer, and she had a feeling that Rose wouldn't leave her friend alone. So, she just said goodbye and wished Emma luck with Henry.
The next day found Rose at Granny's typing away at her computer. She would stop from time to time to look at her travel journal. Ruby brought her a hot chocolate with hazelnut and sat on the opposite side of the booth.
"So, what are you writing?" She said curiously. Rose stopped typing and looked at her.
"I'm writing a first draft for my new paper." She smiled at Ruby and handed her her journal. "I'm an archeologist. This is the journal from my last expedition. Now I just have to pass the notes I took to the computer and make something that will get me funding for a new expedition."
Ruby was looking at the journal with wide eyes. It was full of notes and drawings, but she couldn't understand a word.
"Is this even a real language?" She asked, while trying to make sense of the scribbles. Rose chuckled and nodded.
"Yes it is, more or less. It's something I picked up from my dad. I made my own language to code my notes. This way, only I can read it. You wouldn't believe how competitive my field is." Ruby looked at her with a raise eyebrow and a smirk.
"What, are Nazis following you, trying to open the lost ark?" Both women laughed.
"You wouldn't believe how similar the life of an archeologist can be to the Indiana Jones movies. Obviously I don't have Nazis or Soviets after me, but there is a lot of glory and respect to be earned in our field if you find a lost city. And a lot of people would want to know their locations for profit." She grabbed her journal and showed Ruby the writing and some drawings. "That is why I write in a made up language and use the drawings as clues. I never draw a map of the location."
Ruby was fascinated. She had never left Storybrooke and now she had someone in front of her that not only was from Boston, but traveled the world having adventures. Rose saw the look Ruby had on her face and smiled.
"If you are interested, my papers are open to the public and the newspapers had always covered the story after I have published a new one." Ruby smiled and thanked her. She was going to look up some of the articles written about ʽRosalind Kingsley, Archeologistʼ.
The next day, Rose, Emma and Henry were having breakfast together. While Emma was in the bathroom changing shirts, Henry updated Rose on what was happening with Operation Cobra. Once Mary-Margaret arrived, all looked at her expectantly.
"He woke up." That got a different reaction from everyone. Emma was shocked as she expected nothing to come out of this mission. Henry was hopeful and Rose was thinking and pondering what would that mean.
While discussing what happened, Rose brought up something that she remembered.
"Sometimes people in comas move slight, like a twitch or a kick. Some doctors believe that some coma patients experience dreams and that makes them react. It could have been that…" Emma smiled thinking that that would be proof enough for Henry to let go of the curse idea. But Henry just smiled.
"Then we have to try again. If it happens again, then it's not just a dream. It will mean that he is remembering." And both, he and Mary-Margaret left in a hurry to the hospital with Emma and Rose trailing behind.
When they arrived at the hospital Graham informed them that John Doe had disappeared, and the three women offered to help while Regina took Henry home.
Investigating the security tapes, they found out that he left on his own. Through the back door. That led to the forest.
The group of four was walking through the woods in search of John Doe, when they lost the track and Graham went in search of it. While waiting, Mary-Margaret asked Emma about her job, and if she found her parents. Then Henry appeared behind them, and told them where the missing patient would be.
On their way to the Toll Bridge, Henry was trying to convince Mary-Margaret that John Doe was looking for her. That Prince Charming was looking for his wife Snow White. The discussion turned to Henry going back to Regina, when Graham called for them. He had found John Doe's hospital wristband with blood on it.
When they reached the river that went under the Toll Bridge, they found him unconscious. Between the four of them, they dragged him out of the river and Mary-Margaret started doing CPR. And John Doe woke up, just to realize that he didn't know who he was.
Back at the hospital, his wife appeared accompanied by Regina. And Emma and Rose knew that this was no coincidence. So long with no notice of the wife and when he wakes up, she suddenly appears? No, something else was going on here.
While Emma went to confront Regina, Rose stayed with Mary-Margaret. She put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed.
"Don't look so sad. Things tend to work themselves out. You will have your happy ending." Mary-Margaret smiled and hugged Rose.
For some reason she felt a deep connection to the younger woman, and couldn't help but believe her words.
Snow had just parted ways with Charming after all the Troll Bridge fiasco. She felt something different, something she hadn't felt before, but she couldn't place what that feeling was. Then she felt a tap on her shoulder.
"So… Who was that?" Snow turned around to see her sister grinning at her. "Has tall and handsome stolen your heart?" Snow scoffed and shook her head.
"Nah. He's not my type." Rose raised an eyebrow unbelievingly. She had seen the look on her sister's face. She had seen the same look before in the mirror.
"Yeah right, and I'm an ogre." Snow just glared at her sister and started walking.
"So, now that you have enough money, are you going to leave?" Rose asked catching up to Snow. The older sister sighed and turned to look at her little sister. Snow knew that Rose felt guilty every time she left on one of her journeys. And looking at her right now, she understood how hard it had to have been for Rose to leave her behind. She sighed and put a hand on her sister's shoulder.
"Maybe I'll wait for a little while." Rose looked at her sister and grinned. Snow returned it. "So, as we were interrupted before, any suggestions of where to go?"
Rose laughed and the two sisters started walking together while the redhead described everyplace she had been to.
"Come on Emma! We need a place to stay. She offered us one, and she is helping with Henry. Tell me one good reason why we shouldn't accept staying with Mary-Margaret." Rose said exasperated with her friend. "And she needs a friend too. You saw how affected she was with the appearance of Kathryn."
Emma sighed and gave up. Both friends went to Mary-Margaret's apartment and asked if they could stay. She smiled softly, nodded and guided them in.
Rose knew one thing for sure; things were sure going to get interesting in Storybrooke.