It was a beautiful day in the kingdom of Avalor, as it had been for months. The sun was shining, the water ran clear, and he hadn't had any horrifying visions of the future (just some boring, mundane ones about what dress Isabella should buy, or what the weather would be the day of the festival celebrating Elena's return to the throne - and he was not going to make the mistake of joking about the weather forecast again). For once in his life, Bruno Madrigal felt calm as he walked through the town of Encanto and into the nearby bar.

He spotted the woman in question right away. Blonde hair, dressed in an elaborate, all black gown with a stiff, spiked collar in the back. It was a far cry from anything anyone in Encanto wore, and he understood now why he'd been called to figure out what was going on. This woman had an aura about her, powerful and magical, just like Shuriki had long ago - and no one wanted her to ever rise to power again. He needed to figure out what this woman wanted, to keep everyone safe.

"We don't often get visitors from other kingdoms," Bruno said as he took a seat next to the woman and gestured to the bartender to bring him a mug of beer, which the nervous man did in an instant before shuffling away to the end of the bar again. "What brought you out this way?"

The woman chuckled, long fingers wrapping around her glass and bringing it to her lips. "A change of pace, shall we say? My… friends have been all but demanding I meet new people and others in Provia and Misthaven can be rather… frightened of me. But honestly, I've no plans to harm anyone in your town, or your kingdom at large." Her voice was raised just slightly, reaching the bartender at the other end of the bar, who had been counting the bottles of booze on the wall over and over again. The man suddenly stopped at her words and picked up a tray, leaving the bar to collect some empty dishes from the tables instead.

Bruno laughed, wondering if she'd realized the town she'd picked was also rather frightened of her. "Hey, yeah, I get it. My family has been trying to get me to meet new people too." This was not the way Mama and his sisters had implied, but Bruno didn't mind. She was a new face in Encanto, and he wanted to take the chance of meeting someone from outside Avalor's walls. "I guess they think I'm spending too much time with my rats, so I'm not great at talking to humans." Maybe he would have been if he hadn't felt the need to spend years hiding away in the walls of Casita, but even so…

"Rats? A fan of animals, are you?"

"You could say that." It was the easiest way to explain it to people who weren't from Encanto, after all. "My nephew has… a way with them so they're around our house all the time."

The woman smiled. "I like animals too. And if you're a local, perhaps you'd like to show me around? The Kingdom of Avalor is new territory for me."

He grinned. "Sure, I'd be happy to, if you tell me your name."

"Maleficent. My name is Maleficent."

"Welcome one and all to the Miner's Day Festival!" Paula Mendez said into the microphone with a beaming smile on her face. "Today we gather to remember and honor the brave men and women who worked in these mines and made Storybrooke the thriving community we know it to be."

Neal glanced around the park. It really seemed like the whole town came out for this, just like Mei and Renata had said. Some rides were set up (and Neal had to wonder if this was part of the curse because he knew there were actual companies that did this and there was nowhere in Storybrooke to store them all), there was a face painting booth, games, and of course rows of food trucks and food tents. It all seemed perfectly ordinary for a town full of cursed fairytale characters.

And the fact that it was perfectly ordinary had goosebumps breaking out on his arms, not from the cold.

"Our first performance of the day comes from the Rogers School of Dance's 14-18 Class. They will be performing a routine set to the music of Disney classics."

Neal adjusted the camera in his hand as Audrey's dance class took to the stage, snapping away. They'd made a deal with Mei and Renata when it came to Audrey, to exchange videos and still shots, and since Neal was a professional photographer, it only seemed fair to do so, since there was a lot about her life both pairs were missing, even if Audrey was never really theirs to begin with. How strange it was to think that she was a literal princess, the apparent heir to Arendelle.

He shook himself out of his thoughts when the movement of the dancers caught his attention instead, and forced himself to actually pay attention, beginning to snap photos.

She looked so at ease on the stage as she moved with the group, gracefully carrying herself like, well, a princess. He wondered how much of it was strictly hard work during the curse and how much of it was her body remembering the princess lessons she must have had before the curse had been cast. It was nice to see her happy, whatever the reason, and he grinned until one of the boys in the class caught his eye.

Harry.

His half-brother, born after his mother had run away with Hook. Had he somehow managed to escape Neverland too? If so… how? And did that mean Killian had also escaped? Was he here in Storybrooke?

Neal scanned the crowd of parents again until he found a man who looked just like Killian, except for one little detail.

He had both of his hands, which meant it was Killian's brother, Adam. So Adam and Harry had managed to escape Neverland? How odd. What could have happened? He'd have to ask Henry later on if that story was in his book, as much as he didn't like thinking of his time in Neverland.

For now, he gave Emma a grin when he saw the odd look she was giving him, and focused back on Audrey, applauding when the routine ended.

"You okay?" Emma asked quietly.

He nodded. "Yeah, I just thought I saw someone from my past. But it wasn't him."

Emma gave him a look that said she didn't quite believe him (and he couldn't blame her since she was under the impression that he was from Storybrooke and therefore, most of the town would have been from his past. Dammit, he really needed to figure out a better way to phrase things around here).

"Ah! Mei, Renata! I thought that was you!" a woman's voice called from behind them.

"Sara, Carlos! I was wondering where you two were!" Mei grinned. "Who did you get to watch your stall?"

"I left it in Tomas' hands. He and his mother offered while we were here watching Carolina," Sara said, before she turned to the Cassidy's. "You must be Audrey's former foster parents, right?"

The word 'former' was a gut punch.

"That's right. I'm Emma, and this is my husband Neal and our son Henry," Emma said with a calm smile. Neal could only offer a nod of his head in greeting as he took more photos of the kids dancing.

"It's so nice to meet you. I'm Carlos and this is my wife Sara. Our daughter Carolina is in dance with Audrey," Carlos said with a wide smile, gesturing to a girl with glasses who was dancing in a patterned blue skirt and white shirt. "She gets all her grace from her mother. I have two left feet."

Neal laughed. "I get what you mean. The only dancing I'm able to do is slow dancing with Emma because it doesn't take much work."

"Exactly! You get it!"

"I really do."

The dancers came to a stop and the crowd roared with applause as the students bowed and left the stage. Paula returned to introduce a younger set of dancers as Neal tucked his camera away in his bag.

"I can have these printed in the afternoon," he said, looking at Mei and Renata with a smile. "Come over to my stall later tonight and I'll have them loaded on my computer and you guys can pick the ones you like the most."

"That would be great, thanks Neal," Mei said with a relieved smile. "And I can send you the video tonight."

Neal nodded and watched as some of the students began to meet up with their families. He saw Harry, Adam, and a blonde woman and younger girl he didn't recognize at all hugging and laughing.

He'd have to ask Henry to look at that book one more time to see if that story was in it too. Just how or why had Adam and Harry fled from Neverland?

"Oh hey, Audrey! We're over here!" Henry suddenly called, waving his arms and breaking Neal from his thoughts.

Audrey's face was still pink with exertion as she skipped over to the group with another girl. "You all made it!" Her eyes were full of wonder, like she hadn't quite thought it would be possible that they'd make it.

He hated that she would ever feel that way, but he reached out for a hug and she rushed into his arms with a squeak of joy. "We wouldn't miss it for the world, Audrey."

"Yeah, I know," Audrey said, giving the others quick hugs. Neal didn't miss the way Renata flinched a little at her words. "Carolina, you have to see Neal's pictures, they're so good! Especially the ones of the city at night. You said your sister's birthday was coming up, right? I think she'd love a photo of the Boston skyline!"

"That's a great idea! Mom, dad, can I go check them out?" Carolina asked with a wide smile and bright eyes.

"Get changed out of your costume and say hello to your abuela first," Sara said, and Carlos nodded in agreement. "You know she's waiting for you."

Carolina's eyes widened and she flushed bright red. "Oops."

Neal laughed a little. "Hey, no rush. I'll be at my booth all night. And she's always welcome to stop by our house to check the pictures out too."

"Thank you Neal," Sara said. "I should get back to my booth as well, I'm sure they're swamped. It was so nice to meet you all. I'm sure we'll run into each other again soon!"

"Yes, absolutely!" Neal replied with a wave.

With a wave in return, she and Carlos started heading back in the direction of the food stalls.

"I'm going to head back to my stall too Emma. Are you and Henry good without me?"

"Yeah of course. You go have fun selling your photos," Emma replied, kissing his cheek. "We'll meet you later for the fireworks show."

Neal couldn't help but wonder why this place had a fireworks show considering today was supposed to be about remembering miners who had died very brutal deaths, but maybe the curse just didn't understand that holidays were generally supposed to be fun for people, and fireworks were indications of that.

Neal pulled the sheet back from the pictures, displaying them once again and unlocked the cashbox he'd hidden under the table while he'd been watching Audrey perform. He counted the money again, making sure nothing had been taken, and sighed a little in relief when he realized it was all there. Good. The curse couldn't take that away from him. Though it had been years since they'd struggled with money, there was always a bit of nervousness inside him when it came to finances.

"Hi Neal!"

He glanced up in surprise, shaken from his thoughts at the sound of his name, and came face to face with Roxana. Standing behind her and looking extremely uncomfortable was a woman he didn't recognize but had heard more than enough about from the gossip around town. The woman had to be Lily, Roxana's biological mother.

"Roxana," he greeted with a smile. "If you're looking for Henry, he and Emma went to ride some of the rides."

"Oh that's okay. I'm here because I thought Lily would want one of your pictures!" Roxana replied with a wide smile. "She's going to stay in Storybrooke for a while, so I thought a picture of Boston might cheer her up!"

Neal raised an eyebrow as he glanced over at the newcomer. Was it really a good idea to have someone not from one of the realms cursed in Storybrooke? Then again, maybe she was from here - otherwise she probably wouldn't have been able to get inside the town… right?

This curse shit made his head hurt. He needed to get more information from Papa. The man seemed to be jumpy and paranoid whenever it seemed like they were getting to the good stuff in terms of explanation, and how was he supposed to help break the curse if he didn't know what they were supposed to be doing?

"Right, uh, you're from Boston too aren't you? I've got a bunch of photos of the Boston skyline if you're interested," Neal suggested.

Lily shuffled up to the table, arms crossed over her chest like she was trying to defend herself from something. "Yeah, that's right, I am."

"Well, if you see something you like I'd be happy to give it to you on the house, one Storybrooke transplant to another."

"You don't have to give me one for free - "

"I know, I insist though. I know how hard it is to be in a new place, especially all by yourself. Don't worry about it, really."

Lily had a familiar, distrusting look of disbelief and mistrust on her face - the look that said trusting people, strangers especially, was extraordinarily difficult. Whatever Lily had gone through in her life must have been rough like his and Emma's lives before they'd gone straight.

"Thanks. This one of the harbor is nice," Lily said, lifting a frame into her hand. "I spent a lot of time down there when I was - well, never mind. You wouldn't happen to know Emma Swan, would you?"

Neal blinked in surprise. He hadn't heard Emma's maiden name in so long it was a wonder he hadn't forgotten it.

"Who wants to know?" he replied with a frown.

"Someone who wants to break the curse."

Neal startled and looked to Roxana for any sort of help, but instead found the kid making a beeline for Regina. Great. They were going to have to make this quick.

"I'm married to Emma Swan. I'm trying to get her to believe something isn't right about Storybrooke but… who are you? How do you know about this?"

Lily too glanced over at Regina and Roxana, who now had their backs to them and were at one of the game stalls, before she turned back to him. "My mother sent me away to escape the curse. The people I was supposed to be with were trapped too. I just… I want to know who my family is."

Neal pressed his lips together. "Yeah, I get it. I want Emma to know the truth about her parents too. That they weren't some horrible people who abandoned her on the side of the road for no reason."

He didn't know Mary-Margaret all that well, and he'd only met David very briefly in passing, but they seemed like good people. Papa hadn't said a bad word about them anyway, but maybe that was because Papa was trying to be nice since he knew they were Neal's in-law's.

"Now, who are you and how do you know my wife?"

"We ran together for a few months when we were teenagers. It didn't end well," Lily said simply, and glanced over at the sound of Carolina and Audrey approaching the stall. "Look, thanks for the picture but I've gotta get something to eat, I'm starving."

Neal only nodded once in understanding as Lily left the stall and went over to the food stalls. Odd. Emma never mentioned running with anyone else before him.

"Hey, Neal! Is everything alright?" Audrey asked. "You look a little rattled."

"I'm alright Audrey," he assured with a smile as he turned to Carolina. "Now, what size picture were you hoping to get for your sister?"

He was free from the hospital, which was great.

The down side was he now had no brother and no wife to speak of. He had, of course, refused to speak to either of them after his memories had come back, which was leaving him rather lonely in this strange, cursed world. He'd gone to the Miner's Day festival (as his cursed self had told him he'd loved to do), trying to feel normal and fit in with the other, still cursed residents of the Enchanted Forest but… nothing was right and no one was acting the way they should. He didn't even feel like he could get close to his own wife, even if she was acting somewhat okay by being friendly with Grumpy.

He hated it. He hated every moment of this lying, pretending, and watching Regina stalk around smirking like she'd won.

But David would not let Regina win. Not now, and not ever.

"Good evening, Mr. Nolan. Lovely night to be outside, isn't it?" he heard a very familiar voice say alongside the slam of a car door.

"R - Mr. Gold. Hello. Thank you for returning my mother's ring to me," he replied. He had no idea if Rumplestiltskin had his memories, but knowing who he was, and how he was a trickster, the chances were high. He just needed a little more proof…

"Of course. Why don't you come inside and take a look around for anything else you might want. On the house, of course."

That didn't sound like the Rumplestiltskin he'd known, but still, he nodded. "Thank you."

Stepping inside the pawn shop, David could see so many familiar objects. Kristoff's sled (shrunken to fit a child or two), Red's cloak, the instruments from the traveling Orleans brothers (one of whom had become the groom of Princess Eudora of Ruviel, he recalled), various swords (he couldn't see his though, which made him wonder where it was). So many things were stolen from his friends with the curse, and he wondered how many deals would have to be made in order to return them to their rightful owners.

Then something caught his eye in the dim light of the shop. A baby mobile, with dangling unicorns. It had been a gift from Ella and Thomas for - for Emma.

He couldn't stop himself as he reached up to take one of the unicorns between his fingers. "Emma…"

"She's fine, Charming. I assure you of that."

He looked over in surprise at the nickname. "You do remember…"

"Rumplestiltskin leaned against the counter and nodded. "I do. I installed a… fail-safe, shall we say, to make sure my memories returned to me at the right moment."

"And that was?"

"Your daughter's name. Weren't you at all curious as to why I needed her name that badly?"

The truth was, David had only been concerned with trying to stop the curse. At that time, Rumplestiltskin had been locked up. He hadn't been the primary threat.

He opened his mouth to speak, but before he could speak, the ground began to shake, at first just a little, as if a truck were passing by, but then the tremors got so bad he had to hang onto the counter next to him, and fragile objects rattled dangerously in the case below him. The unicorn mobile swayed, horses clinking together as the earthquake continued for a moment more, then finally, things stopped.

"What the hell was that?"

Rumplestiltskin stumbled to his feet. "That… I believe was an old mutual friend of ours. I've heard her daughter managed to make her way to Storybrooke as well."

David stared at Rumplestiltskin in horror. "Maleficent? But I thought she was sending her daughter away with Cruella and Ursula?"

"Only the daughter made it to this land. The others were caught up in the curse," Rumplestiltskin replied, moving in front of the counter and to the window as emergency vehicles sped by. "Oh dear."

"The festival. Snow and Emma are there."

"As is my son. And our grandson."

"Our - "

Rumplestiltskin swept past him and pushed the door open. "I guess that makes us family, doesn't it, your majesty?"