The war with Regina was finally over, and King George was defeated as well, which was a huge weight off David's shoulders. Though Snow knew the truth of who he was, it was nice to know that the one person would could - and would relish in - ruin it for the rest of the kingdom was no longer an issue, having been locked in a dungeon and guarded by residents of the kingdom who were more than happy to see him rot. Even if George did spill the beans, David couldn't help but wonder who would actually look worse: The man who who had been pulled from poverty and whose mother was slain in order to keep up the charade up, or the man who had run his kingdom into poverty and had pulled wool over the eyes of his kingdom for years with senseless wars and violence?

David sighed and gazed out at the forest as dawn broke over the horizon, and leaned against the balcony railing. His mother would have loved it here, with the large pastures and the availability of food, and Snow, of course. He would have loved being able to get to know Snow and everyone else they'd fought with.

Ruth could have been the mother Snow never had.

David's heart ached at the thought.

"CHARMING!" Snow shouted, breaking him of his thoughts.

He raced back into their bedroom, the balcony doors slamming shut behind him as he looked at his wife, who was tangled up in the bedsheets. "Snow! My God, what happened? Was it another nightmare in the Netherworld?"

Snow placed a hand on her chest, taking deep breaths to try to steady her panicked heart. "Sort of… I met someone else there. Charming, he said his name was James, that he was George's son and… and he looked just like you."

David felt the color drain from his face. "What? How could that be possible? James died! That's why I was dragged into this whole mess to begin with!"

"Well apparently he didn't, David! Apparently he's still in a sleeping curse!"

"We have to find him. Did he say where he was?"

"His best guess was somewhere in the palace. He said he remembered his guards grabbing him as he fell."

"Then that's where we search," David said, light on his feet as he moved toward the door. "We'll tear this castle apart until he's found."

His brother was alive… there would be issues they had to deal with in the aftermath of James waking up, but David couldn't think of that right now.

He needed to save him first.

"Well, I guess I can't deny you being my brother, can I?" David - because apparently that was his name - laughed as he looked at the identical man in the chair next to his hospital bed. "Can I ask where my scar came from though?"

"Oh, you wiped out on a bike," Elijah Nolan replied with a shrug. "We were teenagers, just graduated from high school and we were excited and started our celebration early. It wasn't a big deal but Mom thought you were going to bleed out." There was a fondness in Elijah's voice and eyes that suggested their mother was no longer alive, but still, he wanted to know.

"What happened to her? Mom?"

Elijah sighed. "Cancer. She fought like a champ but…"

David nodded. "I figured it was something like that. Was she a good mother?"

"The best. She was a single mother to identical twins who ran her ragged," Elijah said with a laugh. "We didn't have much, but she made sure we never felt like we were missing anything growing up, you know?"

David nodded and smiled weakly. "Sounds like we were quite the pair." A noise from the doorway had him glancing up. "Ah, Kathryn."

"Morning David. Elijah."

Something weird flickered between the two of them, but both quickly masked it as Kathryn approached the bed, a small box in her hand.

"I found this at Mr. Gold's. He said it belonged to your mother, so I'm hoping it might trigger something."

"Our mom?" Elijah questioned. "Wait, you don't mean - "

David opened the box, revealing a necklace inside. Oh, yes, he did remember this! It was one of his mother's most prized possessions, one she never took off, except to give to Snow -

Wait, Snow? Who was -

Searing pain suddenly flooded his head as memories burst through his mind. Two sets of them - one of a fantastic, magical forest that had him married to the love of his life with a child on the way, and ending with a sword fight in front of a wooden, magical wardrobe, and he heard himself whisper "find us" before everything went dark. Those memories faded into ones from a much more mundane world. The life of a man who worked at a vet office as a technician, who was married to a lawyer (but not the same woman from the magical world, not the wife that had felt familiar…), but the memories soured quickly with the reveal of an affair, of shattered dreams and broken promises and then once again, everything went dark.

Prince Charming and David Nolan both gasped and clutched at his head as everything settled like water after a ship had gone through it.

"David?" Abigail - Kathryn - asked. "Are you okay?"

No, he wasn't okay, and it was obvious as he lifted his head from his hands. "You two slept together. That's why I got into the accident."

James - Elijah - winced and stood up, going to the door. "Yeah. We did. I'm just uh, gonna go get Dr. Whale and see if he can get you anything for your headache."

The Charming side of him knew he couldn't be mad because none of this was real - hell, he didn't even know if James and Abigail had even met before James had fallen under the sleeping curse, but the David Nolan side of him was fuming and wanted to be left alone.

"Yes, I slept with your brother. David, I'm so sorry. Can we - can't we work through this? After all, you almost died!"

"How can I look past you sleeping with my identical twin, Kathryn?" He hated that he felt like he needed to be angry here, but pressed on. "I'm sorry, but when I'm cleared, I want to continue the divorce. Please leave."

And she did, tears in her eyes as she left the room with her things.

David sighed and dropped his head in his hands. Clearly, this was the Land Without Magic that the curse brought them to. Clearly, someone had wanted him awake and remembering the Enchanted Forest.

But who was it? And why did they want him aware?

Neal looked up at the loud thud that suddenly hit the table. Rather than a textbook, he saw Henry sitting in front of a large storybook, with "Once Upon a Time" written in gold lettering.

Well now, this couldn't possibly be good.

"Hey kid, what's that you've got there?" he asked casually, setting his camera down.

"It's a book. Roxana asked me to keep it safe for her."

Neal raised a brow. "Safe? From who?"

"Her mom."

"Uh-huh, and why would her mom not want her reading fairy tales?"

"These aren't just fairy tales, dad. Every story in this book actually happened. See? Look." Henry paused to flip through the book, stopping at the end. On the page was Emma as a baby, wrapped in the purple blanket she'd had her whole life. "Mom's the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. She's the one meant to break the curse on the town!"

Neal sighed and put his hand on Henry's shoulder. "I know bud. I know all about the curse. I just didn't know it left such a big clue as to how to break it." A very big, very obvious clue that could very easily end up in the wrong hands if they weren't careful.

Henry nodded. "It's cool, right? Roxana doesn't trust her mom though, so she gave the book to me to keep it safe."

"And Roxana's mom is the Evil Queen who sent everyone here."

Henry nodded. "Yeah! How did you know?"

Neal exhaled through his nose and flipped through the book, finally landing on his story. "Your grandfather and I have talked about it before. We've been trying to think of ways for your mom to start believing in the curse."

"What have you come up with so far?"

"Be watchful of the things happening in town, try to invoke change slowly."

"That's not going to help break the curse!"

Neal raised a brow. "No? Then what will?"

"We have to force change to happen. We have to make people see that something is wrong here! Dad, these people are cursed, we can't just force them to keep living that way!"

Neal shook his head. "Henry, you know Roxana's mom is the Evil Queen. Doing anything too flashy will catch her attention. And she has the power to ground Roxana and make it so you can't see her anymore."

Henry seemed to understand that, at least, and frowned a little. "Yeah… I guess you're right. But then how can we make mom understand that the curse is real?"

"Little details that… maybe don't add up. There could be people around here besides her parents that might have stories that mirror the Enchanted Forest, or - "

"Hey guys, I'm home!" Emma suddenly called, the door slamming shut behind her. Neal could tell there was a groan in her voice.

He closed Henry's book and glanced in the direction of the front door. "Hey Emma. Everything okay?"

"Yeah, just a long day," she replied. Neal didn't miss the way she wrinkled her nose at the sight of Roxana's book. "I - ah, had to help track down a pregnant girl. Apparently she'd made a deal with your dad to adopt the baby out and she changed her mind and was afraid to tell him, so she was going to run. Poor kid has it rough. Her stepmother and stepsister hate her, and I guess she works overtime at the laundromat to try to make ends meet. Turns out her other stepsister is Parrish's wife, so I left when she got there. On the upside, Graham offered me a job as a deputy."

"Did you take it?"

Emma sighed. "Yeah, I figured if I'm going to track down people in Storybrooke, I might as well get paid for it."

Neal laughed. "Yeah, I hear you. I was thinking of getting some of my pictures printed to sell at the Miner's Day festival. Maybe one day I can get a storefront in town." Not that it would be hard given who his father was, but given no one knew their relation, he planned to do things on his own.

Emma smiled, looking more genuine than she did when they had to deal with curious neighbors or the people of Storybrooke in general. "That'll be good. I'm sure you'll sell out without issue. Especially your pictures of the city."

"Hopefully. What happened with Papa and the girl?"

"He let Ashley out of her contract… though he may have had some influence from me. The best part is, her boyfriend stepped up. I told them they could come to us if they needed anything, since we were their age when Henry was born," Emma explained, ruffling Henry's hair with a smile. "Oh, and David Nolan apparently got his memories back. He said it was thanks to something at your dad's shop. Pretty wild how fast it happened."

Neal let out a nervous chuckle. "Almost like magic, huh?"

She snorted. "Yeah. Just like magic. Too bad we can't use it to finish painting the house, huh?"

"Ah, we'll be finished tomorrow. C'mon, we wanted breakfast for dinner, right? I'll get it started."

When Emma's back turned, he gave a thumbs up to Henry, who looked over the moon at the mention of David's memories coming back.

The change would be slow, but it would be worth it.

Right?

"How long has it been since you've been here?" Will asked as the carriage rolled down the winding roads of the kingdom of Senaela.

"Not since Thomas' ball," Ana replied with a sigh. "I doubt Ella even knows anything that happened after Thomas tracked her down with that shoe."

A shoe. A simple, non-magical shoe had been the reason her mother's plans had come crashing down. Now that she was out of her mother's terrible grasp and free to make her own way in the world, the thought of it having been a glass slipper to shatter her mother's hopes and dreams made her laugh.

"I think Ella'll be surprised to see that you became the Queen of Wonderland," Will said. "Funny that the two daughters Beatrice hated the most ended up becoming royalty."

"It is. Honestly, I should have known she hated me when she named me Clorinda of all things," Ana sighed, slipping a silver mask on as the carriage slowed to a stop. Wonderland royals always wore them while meeting with royals from the Enchanted Forest. Ana had no idea why that was, but she was already on shaky ground with the Wonderland subjects, so she didn't want to risk them finding out they hadn't worn the masks and trying to overthrow them.

"Your majesties, welcome to Senaela. We are thrilled you accepted our invitation to the ball. It has been many years since we've had anyone from Wonderland here," King Herman said when they were led into the palace.

"Thank you for the invitation. We are honored to be here," Ana replied. "Tell me, where is the happy mother-to-be? I would like to give her my gift in private."

"Ah, I believe she's still getting ready. One of our guards will take you to her," Herman said, gesturing for a guard to do just that.

"Princess Ella? The White Queen wishes to speak with you."

"Send her in. Thank you."

Ana stepped into the room, gift in hand and smiling as she gazed at her stepsister. "I see life has been most fair to you, Ella."

Ella seemed a little troubled if she was being honest, but said nothing about it. "Thank you. What did you want to see me about?"

"Can't a sister want her gift opened privately?"

Ella froze, eyes wide. "Sister? You can't be - "

"Tell me, how did my mother and Tisby react to my escape from this realm? I hope Mother was terrified."

"Cl-Clorinda?"

Ana removed the mask with a smile. "It's Anastasia now, darling."

Tears filled Ella's eyes as she rushed to hug her. "Anastasia, oh gods, we thought you were dead! What happened to you? How did you end up in Wonderland?"

"Do you remember Will Scarlet? The rogue who ran around with the Merry Men?"

Ella nodded.

"After you left, Mother turned her ire toward me instead, so I ran away with Will. We had a little cottage together, just the two of us, but Mother made it difficult for us to live a normal life. She kept trying to drag us into everything that happened with you. So Will, he - he stole a looking glass from a witch named Maleficent. It brought us to Wonderland, and I… did some things I'm not exactly proud of to end up on the throne. But Will brought me back from the edge, before I lost myself completely, and here we are," she shrugged. Probably best not to tell Ella that she had, in fact, died. "But you don't have to worry now, I'm here and I'm fine. And I have a gift for your new bundle of joy."

Ella smiled, pulling the wrapping off the box. "Well, thank you Anastasia. Wait - is this…?"

"Yeah. The little dancer statue your mother made for you."

Ella held it like it was the most precious thing in the world. "Where did - where did you find it? I thought your mother got rid of it years ago!"

"Having an ex-thief as a husband comes in handy sometimes," Ana replied. "He found it on one of his raids with the Merry Men and brought it to me, but I knew you should be the one to have it, not me."

"This is the best gift we've gotten for the baby. Thank you so much."

"Think nothing of it, darling. I'm just sorry I couldn't do more to stop my mother from treating you as a maid."

Ella shook her head. "Don't be. You were kind to me despite her twisted teachings. I don't know what happened to them, by the way. King Herman banished them from the kingdom after everything came to light. He made sure they weren't welcome in Misthaven either, so I don't know where they went. Maybe east to Maldonia?"

Ana's lips pressed together. Hopefully her mother wouldn't be able to sink her claws into any of King Anthony's officials. "Right, well, that's a shame. Are you ready to go downstairs? I'm sure Will has talked Herman and Thomas' ears off by now."

Ella smiled and set the dancer down on a shelf. "Of course. And Anastasia?"

"Hm?"

"I'm really glad you're here."

Ana smiled. "Me too."

The two stepsisters, once bitter rivals, stepped out of the nursery with their arms linked, a force of solidarity between the two that made King Herman even more delighted with his daughter-in-law. All was well, until a few days after the ball…

The White King had vanished while they'd been hosting their old friends Alice and Cyrus, leading to a frantic search among the group. The search had felt hopeless, until a mysterious looking glass appeared in the throne room.

"I hear you're looking for a knave," the woman dressed in black said.

In the background, Will struggled in the grip of a woman with short dark hair. "Anastasia, don't - argh!"

"WILL!"

"If you don't want your knave hurt, you'll come here, dear White Queen," the first woman said with a smirk. "I trust you know how a looking glass works."

And Anastasia didn't hesitate, even as Alice and Cyrus tried to pull her back.

She stepped through the glass and glanced around at the group of women surrounding a large bonfire. Will was on the ground, injured, but conscious. That was good, at least.

"What do you want? Who even are you?" she asked, looking at the woman in the black dress who had spoken to her.

"My name is Regina. My… friends and I are planning something wonderful," Regina said with a small, twisted smile. "But we need your help. You are someone who has been brought back from death, aren't you?"

"Wh - how would you have known that?"

"You would be amazed what news travels between the realms," Regina replied with a shrug. "All we need is just a drop of your blood for our curse, and your knave will be released to you so you can be together in our final moments in this land."

"Curse?" she heard Alice ask from behind them. "What sort of curse are you talking about?"

"It will take us to the Land Without Magic, and no, Alice Liddell, I do not mean yours," another woman - that Ana recognized as Queen Nerissa of Andalasia - said. "This land has no connection to looking glasses, no magic beans, no hats. Magic there is merely a story parents tell their children at night."

"And if you don't willingly give us your blood, Anastasia, we'll just kill all of you and take it anyway," another woman that Anastasia didn't recognize, said with a shrug.

Nerissa scoffed. "Madalena! There is a child present!"

Gods, Alice and Cyrus had done a lot of dumb things since she'd known them, but bringing their daughter here had to be the dumbest.

"If I give you my blood, I want something in exchange," she said, looking at Regina. She seemed to be the ringleader here, so she must have been the one she needed to appeal to. "I want your word that in this world, Will and I, and Alice, Cyrus, and Amara, are happy and safe from those who might wish us harm. My mother is the former Lady Tremaine - " She ignored the look of alarm from the other woman she didn't recognize. "- I do not want anything to do with her in any world. Can you guarantee our happiness in the Land Without Magic?"

"I can," Regina said. "Rest assured, you will be safe and happy in that world."

Anastasia withdrew the small knife she kept holstered to her thigh. "Then fine, darling. You win." She made a small cut on her palm, letting the blood drip onto the raging fire, watching in horror as it turned a sickening mixture of black, green, and purple, a tower of smoke lifting high into the air and billowing around them, before they were swallowed by it, dragged from everything they knew and loved.

When she awoke the next morning, The White Queen was Bridget Parrish, co-owner of Storybrooke Books with Jonah Anderson, and the wife of Storybrooke's co-sheriff.