A/N: Next chapter is here (finally)! This one took forever to write. The fact that I can make these two fandoms work together is making me really happy. Thank you OUAT for making anything possible!


PART 1, CHAPTER 4

"There's no way I could make it without you."

After setting up their new fairy friend with the parts she needed to fix the bus, Ally and Trish decided to head over to the Fairy Festival to see what everyone in town was so excited about.

"Wow," Trish grinned, looking around at all the dressed up characters. "People really go all out here," she nodded enthusiastically in approval as a woman in an authentic-style Maleficent costume wandered by with a staff. "It's like a fairytale-themed comicon," she laughed. A cart rolled past them with floral crowns and Trish quickly snagged one, placing it elegantly on her head. "How do I look?" she asked Ally playfully.

"Just like a fairy princess," Ally declared as her friend posed.

"I know," she bragged nonchalantly.

Ally hummed quietly to herself the melody she had written for their newest Austin-and-Ally song. The catchy tune had come to her about a week ago, and she had a feeling it could be a real hit. Austin had loved it. It had been bugging her for days, though, that she hadn't figured out lyrics for it yet. Maybe she would be able to find some inspiration here at the festival.

A nearby booth caught Ally's eye that had several stacks of thick books. A woman dressed up in a regal black and red ballgown sat next to the booth, reading to a group of children on the grass. "Hey look!" Ally pointed. "That must be a library kiosk. Let's go see what they are reading!" she insisted, tugging on Trish's arm.

Trish rolled her eyes. "A festival full of cool things, and you want to look at the books."

"Come on!" Ally yanked on her hand. "I need some new ones to read on the bus."

As soon as they arrived, Trish found a nearby kiosk with fun hats to keep her entertained. Ally, meanwhile, went to take a look at the book selection. Unfortunately, there were no adult novels at the booth, as Ally had hoped. The books being displayed were right on-theme with the festival, full of children's fairytales and magic. Every one of them was titled Once Upon a Time.

Ally casually flipped through some of the pages, admiring the beautiful illustrations. She used to love fairytales when she was little. She'd dreamed of becoming a princess for years, and wished upon stars almost every night. As Ally got older, she had eventually stopped believing in magic — well, at least until she met Austin. Falling in love was a bit like discovering magic all over again.

That thought made Ally smile to herself. Of all the fairytales she knew, her own love story was by far her favorite.

A young mother dressed in maid rags approached the booth next to Ally. She held a small blonde girl against her hip, who wore a blue Cinderella dress and a sparkly crown. The girl couldn't have been older than three-years-old.

The mother opened one of the books on display and pointed to one of the pictures, speaking softly to her daughter. "Look Alexandra," she said, "That's Mommy."

Ally smirked and glanced at the picture in the book. It showed Cinderella in rags, just like the ones the woman was wearing. Her daughter stared down at the book wide-eyed.

The mother turned the book page and adjusted little Alexandra in her arms. "In this story, I helped my step-sister escape from her mean and wicked mother," she told the girl.

"Why?" Alexandra asked, tilting her head.

"So that she could be with her true love," she answered.

Ally's grin fell as she listened to the story, and she scrunched her brow. That was not how she remembered Cinderella's story going. The step-sisters had always been wicked in the stories Ally knew, just like the stepmother.

This woman continued her highly modified story. "Mommy made a mistake the first time," she gestured to the book again. "I was selfish, and told Aunt Clorinda's secret so I could go marry Daddy. But then I got a second chance here in Storybrooke," the mother explained. "I defended Aunt Clorinda, and stopped my evil stepmother from hurting her and Uncle Jacob."

"You got hurt," Alexandra frowned, tugging on her mother's neck with concern.

The woman nodded. "I did. My stepmother hurt me, right here," she pointed to a spot on her lower abdomen. "But then my friend healed me with magic and I got better. And no one is going to hurt me or Aunt Clorinda anymore," she assured the girl. "That's what makes Storybrooke so special, Alex," the mother concluded. "It's a place where everyone gets a second chance at a happy ending."

For some reason, the woman's story gave Ally goosebumps. She took a closer look at the book. Apparently these weren't the traditional fairytales that Ally had read growing up. The story the mother was telling was in fact the one written beside the image. But the way she told it made it sound like it was personal story; like Clorinda was a real person, and she was the Cinderella who had done these things.

A second chance, the words echoed in Ally's head. Something about that really resonated with her. It reminded her of how incredibly lucky she had gotten.

Real life was no fairytale, and truthfully, Ally had not always believed she would get such a happy ending. Her time away at Harvard had been the most emotionally-taxing four years of her entire life, beyond anything she could have expected. She and Austin had technically been broken up once before, early on in their relationship — but even then, they had still been together. They had still spent almost every night making music together. They had still been best friends.

But those four years during college had been a real break; no relationship, no friendship, no communication. At the time, Ally had convinced herself that she could get over it and that she would be fine. But honestly, she really hadn't been. Missing him didn't even qualify for what Ally had felt during those four years apart. It had been more like missing a piece of herself. With Austin, Ally's dreams had always felt possible. He'd given her the hope and confidence to make those dreams a reality. Once he was no longer in her life, that reality had faded into the past like a lost fantasy. Only after he was truly gone had Ally realized just how much she still needed him.

By the time she'd finished school and gone back home to Miami, Ally had pretty much given up all hope of recovering what she had lost. She'd thought it was too late, and that he had moved on. But then, by some miracle (aided heavily by Trish and Dez, admittedly), she and Austin had been brought together again.

They had gotten their second chance.

"Whoa," Trish's voice brought Ally out of her daydreaming. "This glowing stuff is actually really cool," she said.

Ally blinked. Trish stood beside her holding a small cloth pouch, just like the one they had seen Tinkerbell wearing on her belt earlier. It was sparkling again, this time in a golden yellow.

"Trish," Ally said to her friend. "Where did you get that?"

"A cart passed by that was full of these fun fairy props," Trish answered. "A very in-character 'Grumpy' told me it was for 'fairies only,' and then he rudely accused me of not being a fairy." She pointed to the flower tiara on her head. "Do I not qualify as a fairy in this crown?" She insisted defensively. Trish huffed, and held the pouch out towards Ally. As if in response, the little bag glowed brighter. "Anyway, I think this stuff likes you," she teased.

Ally took the warm pouch and peeked inside. The glow faded. "It's just white sand," Ally told her. "Probably has bioluminescent algae mixed in or something."

Trish scowled. "Way to take all the fun out of it with the scientific nerd talk," she complained. "The guy pushing the cart said that it was fairy dust."

Ally looked into the pouch again. Perhaps it was just the fairytales talking, but for a moment she wanted to believe that. The substance was pretty cool. It shimmered beautifully like finely broken down crystals. Ally gently placed her hand inside the pouch and ran her fingers through the sand to feel its soft texture. The dust glowed golden where her skin touched it.

Something strange happened then. A vivid image flashed before Ally's eyes of a dark night sky. Two stars twinkled brightly next to one another — one glowing orange like the sun, and the other tinted hot blue. Below the stars, the old Storybrooke clocktower struck midnight.

"Ah!" Ally jumped. The vision disappeared as quickly as it had come, and she found herself still at the book booth, her fingers tingling from the golden dust.

"You okay?" Trish asked, her face etched with concern. "What just happened?"

"I—just—it—" Ally took a deep breath. "It felt...weird," she lied lamely.

Honestly, Ally didn't know what to think. She must be super overtired, and it was making her delusional. The logical part of her mind told her she should be freaking out over the strange hallucination. And yet for some reason, the vision had had almost a calming effect on her. It had felt... good. Magical, even. There was a familiarity about those two stars, as if Ally had been seeing them her whole life. It had felt like pulling an all-nighter with Austin; it had felt like coming home.

Ally reeled in confusion and abruptly shook herself. All these magical fairytale stories were clearly getting to her. Magic isn't real, she reminded herself forcefully.

"You sure?" Trish asked, carefully taking the bag of fairy dust away. "You look a little flushed."

"I'm fine," Ally said. The look of doubt on her friend's face caused Ally to straighten up. "Really," she said more convincingly. "I just got dizzy for a second."

She gave a reassuring smile and began walking away from the booth towards the park. "Let's go see where the boys disappeared to," Ally changed the subject, brushing her hair back from her face. "And call that Tinkerbell woman to see how the repairs are coming. We really should be getting back on the road soon."


Austin had always been more of a city guy, but there was definitely something magical and quaint about a small town like this. When Storybrooke holds a festival, they don't mess around.

The entire block around the convent was bustling with people. The fog had begun to let up a little bit, and booths lined the streets with food vendors, artisans, and musicians. It felt a bit like a mish-mosh of all the fairytale stories Austin had heard as as kid. Women dressed up in medieval garb were giving out cupcakes at a bake sale, an old man in trousers stood by a large cart selling wooden clocks and trinkets, and a group of children played with plastic swords inside the park. Austin even saw seven bearded men walking through the crowd with pick axes, whistling (and yes, he actually counted seven of them).

Austin was no stranger to fairytales. His parents had always insisted that magic was real. There was an old family myth that Austin's great-grandma Monica had come from a magical kingdom in a faraway land, which is why the Moons treated their mattress store like a real-life castle. Austin had bought into the fantasy for a while, and had lots of memories from his childhood of playing make-believe games involving sword-fights, kings, queens, and dragons. He'd believed in Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy for way longer than most kids. Dreams, birthday wishes, psychics — they were all magic, and the Moons took those kinds of superstitions seriously.

Austin eventually outgrew the fairytale dream though, as soon as he'd learned what being 'Prince of the Mattress Kingdom' actually involved — selling mattresses was the last thing he wanted to be doing for the rest of his life. Instead, Austin had fallen in love with music. To him, performing on stage was far more magical than even the comfiest bed in the world. And just like a real fairytale, that dream had come true.

He turned the corner at the town's clocktower, and spotted a small kiosk with jewelry. A smiley woman dressed in a glittery pink fairy costume flittered around behind the table excitedly, eagerly awaiting customers. Austin paused to look at what she was selling.

"Hello there!" The fairy woman greeted Austin in a high-pitched voice. "I'm Nova, welcome to the Fairy Festival! What can I help you with today?"

Austin approached the energetic saleswoman and put his hands into his pockets. "Do you have any diamond rings?" he asked her.

Nova gasped in a child-like fashion with a giant smile on her face. "An engagement ring?! Oh congratulations! You found true love!"

Austin nodded, blushing slightly. "Yeah, I did," he couldn't help but grin as well. "Can you help me?"

"Yes yes of course!" She squealed happily. "We have some very unique rings here in Storybrooke. These here," she gestured to a black velvet case with a variety of rings, "are made of real fairy crystals mined from the dwarf tunnels."

Austin wasn't sure if he was supposed to laugh. Part of him really wanted to ask what in the world a 'dwarf tunnel' was. "Don't you have any ordinary diamonds?" he half-joked.

"Why, you don't want an ordinary diamond," Nova frowned earnestly. "True love is the most powerful magic of all! You must celebrate it with something magical. Here," she pulled out a different case that was lined with royal purple cloth. Inside were three rows of silver diamond rings. "Simply hold out your hand, and think about your beloved," she instructed. "Then, let the ring choose you."

They all looked so amazing. Austin hated making decisions, especially big ones like this. So he went along with the saleswoman's game, and held his palm out over the rings. He closed his eyes, and let his mind wander to thoughts of Ally.

Austin wasn't sure exactly when it was that he'd fallen in love with Ally. As far as he knew, he'd always loved her. He was so young when they met. At fifteen, Austin had known next to nothing about romance. He had only just started developing crushes and learning how to flirt; he'd hardly been on a date with a girl. And yet somehow, actual love had snuck up on him out of nowhere. Before Austin could even take a breath, Ally had become the most important person in his life, and no amount of time or distance had ever been able to change that. She was a part of him, as naturally as any limb on his body. When they wrote songs together, he cherished the way the music and words would flow from her heart into his as if they had been doing it forever. She made him feel like he could do anything.

There was a low buzzing sound in his ear that pulled Austin from his thoughts. A strange warmth quickly flooded up his entire arm and surged through him like a jolt of electricity. His eyes flew open. Below his out-stretched hand, one of the diamond rings shone up at him, glowing with a bright white light.

"Whoa," Austin jumped back in surprise. He stared wide-eyed at the chosen ring.

"Ooh, what a lovely pick!" Nova exclaimed cheerfully. "Two-carat, princess-cut, and one of the purest diamonds of the bunch," she told him, pulling it out of the box. "It's very old, too. Mother Superior says that this one was formed in the Enchanted Forest during the world's very first eclipse," Nova looked up at the sky dreamily. "Underneath the Sun and Moon's loving embrace," she sighed.

Austin wiped his shirt with his hand, which still tingled with electricity. All the fantasy stories he had ever heard as a child surfaced in his mind in that moment. It actually felt like something magical had just happened. He stared at the woman in pink. What if Nova legitimately was a fairy?

"Is it... really magic?" Austin asked her hesitantly.

"Oh yes," Nova assured him. She handed him the ring, and it grew warm in Austin's palm. "It's full of love, just like your heart," she giggled.

Austin had to admit, the diamond was beautiful. Magic or no magic, it was just like what he had pictured for his proposal. He slipped it carefully onto his pinky finger, and it fit flawlessly. All his fears about taking those next steps with Ally suddenly vanished. Something about this ring just felt... right.

"It's perfect," Austin told Nova with a smile. "I'll take it."

"Wonderful!" The fairy woman clapped her hands gleefully.

Austin pulled out his wallet and then paused. "Wait," he remembered. "Can you add an engraving?"

-0-0-0-

A while later, Austin spotted Ally and Trish inside the park, and Ally waved him over. He wrapped his fingers tightly around his new engagement ring and stuffed it safely into his jacket's zipper pocket. Dez had been right. Austin did feel significantly better now that he had the ring. It gave him a feeling of security, like his future was no longer in question. He still had to ask her, obviously, but at least now he had a ring that he knew would be perfect for her.

"There you are," Ally greeted him with a hug. Austin melted happily into her arms out of pure instinct. He never, ever got tired of Ally's hugs. "Good news," she told him. "We found someone to help fix the bus. We should be ready to go in about a half hour."

"That's great!" Austin responded.

Trish, who was sporting a fairy-like flower crown on her head, scanned the festival crowd. "Where's Dez?" She asked. "Did he find a present for Carrie?"

Austin fidgeted with the new ring in his pocket and shrugged casually. "Not sure," he realized with a frown. "I left him in a shop down the street a little while ago."

Ally glanced behind him and grinned in amusement. "Actually, I think he may have gotten a bit distracted," she pointed. Austin turned to see his best friend engaged in battle with a group of children, swinging plastic swords through the air.

Austin laughed. "Dez!" He called. The redhead looked up from his sword fight and smiled widely when he saw his friends.

"Hey guys!" He waved. He immediately got bombarded by a group of seven-year-olds jabbing their swords into his chest. "Aw man!" he cried, falling to the ground. "You all just got me killed!"

Dez dramatically put on a show of dying, with lots of gory sounds. He threw away his sword and stuck his tongue out to make the kids laugh. Then, he crawled away in defeat over to where Austin, Ally, and Trish were watching.

"Look on the bright side, buddy," Austin pulled his friend up off the ground. "At least it wasn't a real sword."

"I thought you were getting an anniversary gift," Trish said impatiently. "Or have you just been playing with children all afternoon?"

"Have no fear, my hateful friend," Dez responded. "I have the perfect gift. Check it out!" He held up his fingers. On each of his pinkies was a golden ring, one with a blue sapphire and one with an orange garnet.

"Dez, you actually bought those?" Austin asked in surprise, recognizing the rings from the pawn shop. They were the ones he had considered earlier, with the story about the magic stars.

"Yeah!" He replied enthusiastically. "Carrie loves rings! They supposedly give you super powers. Let's see!" He raised his hands and squeezed his eyes closed in concentration. Austin watched in anticipation, hoping the rings might actually do something magical.

When nothing happened, Dez dropped his arms in disappointment. "Hm. I guess not," he shrugged.

Austin was also a bit disappointed he didn't get to see more magic in this fairytale town. "What a rip-off," he commented.

"Not really," Dez told him. "The guy didn't even ask for money. He just wanted a strand of yours and Ally's hair. So I gave him some of these," he pulled out two small glass vials from his backpack. One had a clump of Austin's blond hair, and the other had a clump of Ally's chestnut-colored hair.

All three of them gave Dez baffled and mildly-disgusted looks. "I can't believe I have to ask this," Ally began slowly, "but why do you carry around bottles of our hair?"

"Uh, why wouldn't I?" Dez shot back, as if the answer was obvious. "You're famous. Famous people's hair is valuable."

The musical duo stared at him blankly, neither of them finding that explanation helpful.

"Well apparently only cool people, like me and the Pawn Shop Guy, can appreciate its value," Dez said, crossing his arms. "Sheesh," he grumbled to himself.

"You are a lot of things Dez, and cool is not one of them," Trish declared in a patronizing tone as she patted him on the back. "But you are weird," she qualified with a smile.

Dez gave her a dirty look and then shrugged, deciding to accept her statement as a compliment.

Ally laughed lightly, and reached for Austin's hand. An electric, magical warmth jolted up his arm for a second time that day. When she met his eyes, Austin recalled what Nova the Fairy had said to him earlier — that true love is the most powerful magic of all.

She grinned at him, and Austin felt the new engagement ring in his pocket suddenly grow warm between his fingers again. He snuck another peek at the magical diamond. His heart thudded happily in his chest when he read the engraving now written into the inside of the smooth silver band.

There's no way I could make it without you.


A/N: Hope you liked this one! I really enjoyed giving Austin and Ally some experiences with OUAT magic, and pulling in some key themes from both shows. Thanks for reading. Please leave a review to let me know what you think!