A/N: Hi all! I'm back to this story now, since I was re-inspired lately. I swear I have a plan here; just working out all the details. Fyi I'm taking some creative liberties (as plausibly as possible) regarding the OUAT Magic Logic, so just go with it. Also, I'm having way too much fun with the dialogue (freaking love Dez). I hope this captures everyone's tone well.
PART 1, CHAPTER 2
"I believe in you. Together we can go farther than the moon."
"Dez, I thought you said you saw a jewelry shop," Austin complained to his friend once they arrived at their destination. "This is a pawn shop."
Dez tilted his head at the sign above the door looking dumbfounded. "Huh," he replied vacantly. "I guess I saw the name Gold and assumed they had, you know, gold." The redhead peered into the window, where there were piles of antiques on shelves. He pointed at something excitedly. "I see some shiny things in there! Come on, we can at least look."
Austin huffed and shifted on his feet impatiently. "I don't know, Dez, maybe this isn't such a good idea," he took a step back. "Shouldn't we wait until we're at a normal jewelry store?"
"But I do need a gift for Carrie," Dez argued. "She loves shiny things!"
Austin ignored him, and paced back and forth for a moment along the sidewalk. "We'll be in Europe in a few months," he continued his thoughts aloud, "I'll just wait and buy a ring there. I have plenty of time," Austin tried to convince himself with a shrug. "What's the rush, right?"
"What's the rush?" Dez whipped around to face him. "Austin, you've literally been thinking about nothing else for the past six months. You've proposed to me twenty-six times! With an empty ring box —" the redhead scoffed loudly and held out his palm with pointed attitude. "Insulting," he declared. Before Austin could come up with a defense, Dez put an apologetic hand on the blond's shoulder. "As much as I love you, buddy," he said regretfully, "I'm sorry to say that I don't want to marry you."
Austin raised an eyebrow trying to hide his amusement. Maybe his friend had a point. He'd been talking for months about getting a ring, and he still hadn't done it yet. He told himself it was because he didn't want to rush it, but perhaps there was more to it than that. Maybe his nerves were getting the better of him. Everything with Ally was perfect right now — and just like always, Austin feared messing it up. He was afraid that if he tried to shake the boat, he'd lose the best thing that ever happened to him.
"Austin, just get the ring," Dez insisted earnestly. "Trust me. You'll feel better."
Austin sighed. Dez was right. It was time to put his fears aside, stop procrastinating, and just go for it. "Okay," he grinned. "I'll do it. What's the harm in looking, right?"
"Right!" Dez agreed victoriously. "Let's go!"
The two boys entered the dark shop and a bell jingled above the door as it opened. It was musty inside, with loads of old museum pieces lining the shelves, walls, and glass cases. There were all sorts of bizarre objects that Austin had never seen before. A full-sized golden harp sat in the corner, decorated with a fairy statue that looked like it was about to fly out from the musical instrument. Next to it, two creepy-looking dolls sat on an old wooden chair, making Austin shiver uncomfortably.
"I'm not sure this place is going to have the kind of ring we had in mind..." Austin muttered under his breath.
But Dez was no longer listening. He already half way across the room, pulling random things out of a cupboard against the wall. "Check it out!" Dez exclaimed, holding out a small bronze trunk for Austin to see. "A treasure chest. Can you imagine giving Ally a ring from an actual treasure chest? Maybe it has real dragon treasure inside!" He opened it excitedly, and colorful beads fell onto the floor. Dez stumbled backwards into a shelf, which immediately broke from the impact. Items slid to the ground with a loud clatter, causing Austin to wince.
A dark brown curtain in the back of the shop rustled silently, and an older man with short silver hair appeared behind the glass counter. Austin raced over to his friend anxiously and they both scrambled to clean up the mess Dez had created.
"Searching for something in particular?" The man spoke casually.
Austin and Dez froze awkwardly. The shopkeeper eyed them curiously with a calculating gaze. Something about the old man immediately put Austin on edge and he felt the hairs on his arms stand on end.
"We're very sorry, sir," the blond attempted to apologize. He shoved the chest back into the cupboard from which it came. "Nothing broke, I swear!"
"Oh, I don't keep anything of high value there," the shopkeeper waved it off nonchalantly. "Merely old keepsakes. You never know when someone may come looking for them."
Dez let out a loud breath. "Well that's a relief!" He exclaimed. Then he stepped towards Austin and dropped his voice to a whisper. "If he'd wanted us to pay for it, I'm afraid all I've got is some awesome Austin-and-Ally merch in my backpack," he whipped out a couple of CDs of their latest album. "Which, let's face it, is definitely worth equal value, don't you think?"
Austin turned towards the shopkeeper. "We actually are looking for something," Austin said, walking up to the counter. "You wouldn't happen to sell any nice rings? Or maybe you could point us in the direction of a nearby jeweler?"
The silver-haired shopkeeper smirked, his eyes dancing with amusement. "A bit lost, I see," he replied. "Visiting from out of town?"
"More like an unexpected stop," Austin explained. "Our bus broke down on our way to Canada."
"What my friend means to say," Dez intervened, leaning up against the counter, "is that he's Austin Moon. He and his girlfriend, Ally Dawson, are a famous musical duo on a grand tour across the country," he bragged. "And they are about to get engaged."
"Dez," Austin complained. His friend always had a tendency to overshare information, especially when he was proud. "But, yeah," Austin admitted to the shopkeeper with a shrug. "What he said."
The old man squinted, studying Austin for a moment. Maybe he was trying to recall if he'd ever seen the pop star's face before. Austin doubted he and Ally were very well known in a sleepy town like this.
"That's a rather intriguing name," the man finally spoke. Austin could practically see the wheels turning in the back of his head. "Perhaps I do have something in my shop that would interest you."
He used a bronze key to open the glass case in front of them, and pulled out a square grey box from the bottom shelf. He gently placed it on top of the counter, and Austin and Dez both leaned closer to see what was inside.
When the shopkeeper opened the box, a set of two gold rings sparkled up at them. At the center of each was a beautiful gem — the first held a shimmering oval-shaped blue stone, while the second featured a circular jewel in a brilliant shade of orange.
"The sapphire and the garnet," the old man explained. "Embedded with magic from the legendary Twin Stars, Castor and Pollux. One represents the power of the moon," he pointed to the blue sapphire, "and one represents the power of the sun," he pointed to the fiery garnet. "It is believed in ancient fairylore that only those who are worthy can access the magic they possess."
"Wow!" Dez breathed in awe. "That sounds like something out of a superhero movie!"
Austin gently reached for the moon ring, and slid it onto his pinky finger to admire the stone. It was too small to fit perfectly, which meant he would need to get it sized up for Ally's finger. It was cool that it came with a myth about the Sun and Moon — Ally would probably know the details of whoever Castor and Pollux were. But something about it still didn't feel quite right to Austin. Both the sapphire and the garnet were lovely, but he'd always pictured a traditional diamond ring for their engagement.
Austin shook his head and handed the ring back to the shopkeeper. "It's beautiful, but I don't think it's exactly what I'm looking for," he told him.
The man nodded in understanding. "What a shame. Perhaps these rings are simply meant for... a different time," he smiled, his eyes glinting for a moment with secrets. He closed the box and put it back in the glass case. "If it's diamond you're hoping to find, I may be able to point you in the right direction," he held up a finger and turned to open a drawer in one of the cabinets behind him. He pulled out a small flyer and handed it to Austin. "I suggest you try the Fairy Festival down by the convent. I believe someone there will be able to assist you."
It was a simple flyer, detailing an annual event for the small town. Someone called Mother Superior was hosting a weekend-long festival funded by the town's Mayor to 'celebrate Storybrooke's happy endings.'
Whatever that meant. This really was a weird town.
"Thank you," Austin said to the shopkeeper. "We'll check it out. Dez?"
But Dez was distracted again, this time by a bucket of what appeared to be swords. He dramatically unsheathed one and held it out like a knight. "I'll catch up. This place has got to have something I can get Carrie. Do you think she'd like a sword?" He began to jab the weapon in the air, pretending to joust.
"Maybe go for something a bit less lethal," Austin chuckled at his friend's antics. "Meet me at the festival when you're finished," he said. And with the flyer in hand, he headed back out the door.
Ally and Trish were not having much luck finding a mechanic.
"It's closed?!" Trish exclaimed when they arrived outside the shop. "It can't be closed! We have to get back on the road today!"
She shook the locked gate angrily, then noticed a piece of paper taped to one of the metal bars. Trish snatched it up and read the note. "Closed for the Fairy Festival?" Trish read aloud. "What the heck is a Fairy Festival?"
Ally let out a long sigh. She was beginning to feel her own positive energy draining. Across the street, the old fashioned clock tower above the library rung three times, indicating a quarter to the hour. That meant it was already almost one-o-clock. At this rate, they would never get to their Montreal concert in time. "If the mechanic is at a town festival, we could try to find him," Ally suggested to her friend half-heartedly. "Maybe he'd make an exception."
"Right," Trish replied sarcastically. "Because if I had taken the day off work, I'd totally want to do more work during my vacation hours," she rolled her eyes. "Ugh," she groaned. "What are we going to do?"
Just then, the double doors of the library opened, and two young women dressed in sparkly fairy costumes stepped outside rolling a small cart of books. They must have been heading to the festival.
"Excuse me!" Ally called to them, stepping off the sidewalk into the street. The women paused to look up as Ally and Trish approached. "Can either of you tell us where we could find a mechanic?"
One of the women, who wore an elegant blue princess gown, gave Ally a curious look. "I'm afraid he is unavailable today. Most of the town is at the festival by the park."
"Yes, we saw," Ally said. "But it's really quite urgent. See, our bus broke down on the way to Canada, and it's important that we get there by tomorrow—"
"Canada?" The woman in blue frowned in concern. The way she said the name made Ally think that the country was somewhat foreign to her. "You are not from Storybrooke?"
"Uh, no..." Ally replied to the odd question. It occurred to her that perhaps this small town was unused to having visitors since they were so far away from, well, anywhere. "We're from Miami, actually, but I've got a concert I need to get to in Montreal—"
"Blue," the other woman spoke up. She wore a shorter green-leaf fairy costume, and her eyes swept across Ally with an intelligent and somewhat intimidating gaze. "I think I may be able to help," she said in a heavy accent of some sort. (New Zealand, maybe?) "I've got a bit of a knack for mechanical things," she smiled kindly at both Ally and Trish.
"Oh that would be amazing! Thank you!" Trish breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm Trish, by the way," she introduced herself. "And this is Ally. Ally Dawson. She's a famous singer, you may have heard of her," the shorter girl said proudly.
"Oh really? I love music," the woman in green replied with a grin. "I'm—" she exchanged a quick look with her friend, "Well, today you can call me Tinkerbell," she told them light-heartedly, gesturing to her outfit.
Ally laughed at the joke. "Nice to meet you, Tinkerbell. You really take your Fairy Festivals seriously in this town, don't you?" she said.
"Certainly," the one called Blue replied earnestly. "Stories of magic are what make up this town's history. You will likely find a lot of people in Storybrooke who believe in fairies."
Ally exchanged a skeptically look with Trish, who simply shrugged. Small towns were bizarre.
Blue turned to her friend. "I'll get these to Belle," she gestured to the books on the cart. "And Green," she addressed Tinkerbell, "please don't do anything... reckless," she warned, eyeing Ally and Trish warily.
Once the blue fairy had left, Trish and Ally led Tinkerbell down the road towards where their bus had broken down. As they walked, the green fairy studied the two of them with particular interest. "This may seem a bit forward," she spoke to Ally after a moment, "but where did you get that necklace?" she asked.
Ally was taken aback by the question. She reached instinctively for the pendant sitting against her chest. It was the sun-and-moon necklace that Austin had gotten her years ago. Ally cherished it, and wore it so often that it had almost become a part of her.
"My boyfriend gave it me," Ally answered, thinking on the memory fondly. "It was a gift."
Tinkerbell nodded. "It's an odd coincidence that you happen to be wearing that on the day of the Fairy Festival. The sun-and-moon is an important symbol in fairylore," she told her. "It has a variety of meanings, but most often it is a sign that great change is coming."
Ally looked down at the pendant thoughtfully. "What kind of change?" she asked.
The green fairy squinted at her curiously, clearly trying to figure out the answer to that question herself. "I don't know," she admitted.
Trish began blabbing to the fairy woman as they made their way to the edge of town. She was more than happy to brag to a random stranger about how awesome Austin and Ally were, and how important she was as their manager. Tinkerbell didn't seem to mind though, and listened attentively. Ally rolled her eyes when her friend launched into a story about a funny mishap that happened during their time in Chicago. It was amazing how easily Trish was able to twist stories to make it sound like she had single-handedly saved the day.
They finally reached the bus, and checked under the hood again. It was no longer steaming as much as it had been. After opening a few valves, Tinkerbell gave her assessment.
"I think you're out of coolant, which is why the engine overheated," she diagnosed. "That shouldn't be too hard to solve. I think I can fix this pretty quickly."
Ally breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you very much for your help," she said gratefully.
"Then again, I'm no expert," Tinkerbell added with a frown.
"That's okay," Ally told her kindly. "I believe in you."
A small pouch on the belt of Tinkerbell's costume began to glow suddenly, like a green-tinted nightlight. Ally hadn't noticed it before, but now the fairy woman hastily placed a protective hand on the accessory.
"What is that?" Ally asked curiously.
"Nothing," Tinkerbell quickly answered.
"But it was sparkling," Trish chimed in, with a similar reaction to Ally. She eyed the pouch suspiciously and reached out a hand to get a closer look.
"It's nothing. Really," Tinkerbell stepped away from her. "Just a prop for the festival," she told them. "There's an appliance store in town. Let's find what we need to get your vehicle back on the road."
A/N: I hope my Oncers enjoyed the familiar character appearances! I'm making up some of the fairylore in order to connect Austin and Ally to the OUAT world. I'll try to give a full Oncer explanation in a later chapter. I've got one rule when writing OUAT fanfiction: Everyone is Someone in Storybrooke. Just know that Austin and Ally being here cannot be a coincidence!
Please leave a review with any thoughts!