Something wasn't right.

Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter was in Storybrooke, as had been foretold. The clock tower was moving, and people weren't doing exactly what they'd been for the past… well, he couldn't be sure how many years it had been. All he knew for sure it hadn't been twenty-eight. Emma had looked far, far too young. But it had to be her, he knew it.

His curse wouldn't have broken otherwise.

Then why? How?

Rumplestiltskin's fingers drummed unconsciously against his cane. There had been a woman with Emma. Old enough to be some sort of guardian, but that didn't explain exactly how someone from the Land Without Magic got into Storybrooke. His curse had ensured that. Even that odd father and son duo had been caught up in the curse as it had been forming the town, from what he'd been able to deduce. What unlucky souls.

Then what had prompted Emma to show up to Storybrooke so early? She was still rather young too, so perhaps it wouldn't hurt him to nudge her in her mother's direction and out of Regina's claws.

He would have to figure out what was going on with them though. How they got to Storybrooke, who they were working for (because surely, this couldn't be good), or what they knew about the curse. It really was the only explanation, that the older blonde with her was from The Enchanted Forest or one of the other realms instead of being from The Land Without Magic.

But for now, he would continue to pretend everything was as it should be, especially when it came to Regina. It would be one thing if Emma was an adult, she would be able to handle Regina with no magic, he was sure, but a teenager? A teenager stood no chance against Regina in any realm.

On the upside, Emma being here early meant there would be more time for him to figure out where his son was, and the less time apart he was from Baelfire, the better. Three-hundred years had already felt like an eternity.

Rumplestiltskin moved throughout the shop, making sure there was nothing he wouldn't want out. The curse had left little hints toward its victims, and Rumplestiltskin didn't want Regina to realize it. Many of the trinkets in his shop were from the ordinary citizens of Misthaven, but some, like the chess set that had belonged to Snow White's father or Jefferson's hat box, were tucked away in the back room Storybrooke's citizens knew never to go near. He was not going to tip his hand to Regina. Not now.

Once he made sure his shop was as conspicuous as ever, he moved to the box of all his clients, beginning to go through them for some sort of hint as to who could have gotten someone out of the Enchanted Forest before Regina's curse hit. Though there was the matter of how, he just wanted to know the who, for now.

Princess Jasmine? No - her husband had set their genie free only days before the curse. Surely there wouldn't have been time for them to escape.

King Stefan? Of course not. They would need Maleficent.

Alma Madrigal… her family had magic, that son of hers had prophetic abilities, so realistically, the family could see the curse coming but to find an escape route? He wasn't sure. Still, he turned the card sideways, just in case.

He continued to flip through the cards, and while it was tempting to stop on Blue or any of the fairies, Rumplestiltskin knew that they'd all been busy working on trying to mitigate the curse to the best of their abilities, It couldn't have been them.

Then who? How had this random person gotten the Savior into Storybrooke?

Or worse, why?

Rumplestiltskin didn't exactly care, but even though she was without magic, he knew Regina had a temper and enough control over the town that she could make things very difficult for the newcomers. As easy as it would be to just let her do what she wanted, Emma was here, and she was the key to all of this, so he couldn't just let anything happen to her. She'd be much less willing to work with him if her friend was dead.

So he would do what he did best if things got dicey - try to gain control from the shadows.

He shut the box when he saw the woman from last night approach the shop.

"Good morning," he greeted with a tight smile when she entered. "Is there anything I can help you find?"

"Answers, I hope," she replied. She was nervous, he could tell, and he could easily take advantage of that. A desperate soul was a desperate soul, no matter what realm they were in, after all. And if it helped him, well… he was all for it.

"I would be happy to provide those, if I can. But if it's a map of Storybrooke you're looking for, I'm afraid mine are all outdated and vintage," he quipped with a twitch of his lips. "I do believe the library or welcome center should have some up-to-date ones."

"Not a map… historical information about Storybrooke, like how it came to be and stuff like that."

Rumplestiltskin raised a brow. Ah. He knew what she was getting at now. Both of them were holding something back - their identities, for one - and he leaned against the counter with a small smirk on his face. "I see. And what makes you think I can help you with that?"

"Because I've heard stories. Stories that you like to make deals."

Ah… interesting. So this woman was perhaps from the Enchanted Forest instead.

"I do like to make deals, but it takes a specific sort of person to get me to make a deal."

"A desperate soul?"

He smirked a little. "Yes, exactly that. However, since I have questions for you, I am considering this to be a mutual favor instead. Now… what is your name?"

The woman leaned closer to him (careful. That was good, especially if she was going to be an asset). "My name is Tinkerbell."

Aha, a fairy. That made sense now. A fairy must have managed to make it out of the Enchanted Forest before the curse hit and cared for The Savior. But that didn't answer all of the questions.

"And why did you bring the Savior here a decade before the curse is due to break?"

Tinkerbell frowned, face showing genuine confusion. "What are you talking about? What curse?"

Well, that wasn't what he expected to hear. The fact that there were any fairies out there that didn't know about the curse was a bit of a surprise to him - those winged insects had been at the front of Snow and Charming's attempts to delay or stop the curse. So why hadn't this one been?

"Regina cast a curse on our world… were you not part of the fairy brigade that was trying to stop her?" he questioned.

"I was banished from the Enchanted Forest," she replied. "I don't know how long I was gone for but… clearly long enough for Regina to go completely out of her mind…"

Rumplestiltskin frowned. He didn't like the thought of working with a fairy to break the curse, but if she had also been scorned by Regina and was the only other person in the town who knew about the Enchanted Forest, it seemed he had little choice.

"Alright dearie, I believe you," he said, clasping his hands on top of the handle of his cane. "Why don't you tell me where you came from? Where were you banished to?"

"Neverland."

Ah… that made sense. Banished to a realm notoriously difficult to get to, that was hostile, and that had no sense of time. Even though she was a fairy, he felt a little sorry for her. "I understand now. So… what is it you wish to ask me?"

"Everyone here… they're from the Enchanted Forest? But how?"

He gestured for her to step behind the counter, not wanting Regina to pop in for a surprise inspection. If this fairy knew Regina had already run into her once here, there was no telling what she would think if she saw the two of them talking.

"Regina cast a curse. The Dark Curse," he said, leading her to the back room where he kept extra merchandise and his spinning wheel. "It was to get revenge on Snow White for being manipulated by Regina's mother." Sure, technically Snow had been the one to tell Cora about Daniel, but realistically, there'd have been no way for Regina and her stable boy to run away and live happily ever after. Not while Cora still breathed anyway.

Tragically, for all the known realms, Cora still did.

Or at least, as far as he knew. He didn't know what had become of the Enchanted Forest in the past fourteen years, but if anyone was still there, he had no doubt Cora had wormed her way in to take advantage of the situation.

Tinkerbell frowned a little. "I see… and how is the curse supposed to break?"

"The daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming, Emma, is the Savior. She is the girl you came here with, isn't she?"

Tinkerbell's eyes widened. "How - how could you possibly know that?"

He smirked. "I'm the Dark One, dearie. I saw this coming. Well, not precisely this, but I did know the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming was going to be the one to break the curse. And then last night when I heard her name, the curse on me broke."

"But just on you."

"Indeed. Too many of us who are freed from the curse before we truly know how to defeat Regina will only serve to make Regina angrier and more paranoid than she has a tendency to be," he explained. "But doing it all at once…"

"We could get her contained without worry. Even without magic."

He nodded.

Tinkerbell sighed. "But how do we even do this? Emma… she hasn't had the best start in life. She believes her parents abandoned her. She understands that Neverland is real but… I don't know, I think this might be too much for her."

Rumplestiltskin couldn't say he was surprised. He'd thought at least one of the Charmings had escaped, but knowing both of them were in town, it was a miracle that Emma had survived at all, and begged the question of what exactly happened to make her come to the Land Without Magic all alone.

"We should work together… to try and help the people here," Tinkerbell said.

That was a sentence Rumplestiltskin was hoping wouldn't come, but he knew, with things being so early, he would need help with this.

Even if it meant working with a fairy.

"Fine, fine. Where are you staying?"

"The Bed and Breakfast… Granny said we can stay as long as we earn our keep."

Hmm… he wasn't sure he trusted Granny, well, actually, his concern was more on Regina manipulating the poor plebs of the town into doing her bidding. On the other hand, if he jumped too far in helping to set Tinkerbell and Emma up in town, Regina would absolutely question what his goal was.

He tapped his fingers against an empty shelf as he pondered what to do, before he steeled his resolve and moved to the safe - Mr. Gold had more money than he knew what to do with, and subconsciously, Rumplestiltskin supposed that was because of the life he'd lived in the Enchanted Forest. He could part with some of it though, if it meant keeping the Savior safe until they figured out how to break the curse on the rest of the town. Swiftly, he placed the money in a little keepsake box that had come with the curse (it belonged to Snow White, if he remembered correctly), and handed it to the fairy.

"What's this?"

He smirked a little. "Consider it a nest egg. Save it for a rainy day."

Emma let out a sigh and took a seat behind the counter. The lunch rush was over, and now there was going to be a lull before the dinner rush began.

But something had been bothering Emma since she'd gotten here. It was nice to feel settled (even if they were living in a hotel and only had a few pieces of clothing each), but there had been so many kids like her that hadn't been so lucky. So many kids were still stuck in horrible places, unable to escape, or ready to be thrown out on their asses when they turned eighteen.

She repressed a shudder at the thought. No, her life wasn't exactly great, but at least she hadn't been tossed on her ass at eighteen. She had people she cared about now. People who would fight for her, and whom she would fight for… and even though they were in this small town where strangers looked at them like they were outsiders, she was not going to go back to Minnesota. Not for all the money in the world.

"Emma? Not that I'm upset that you're taking some of the load off here, but does Rosetta intend to enroll you in school? The year started a few weeks ago but I'm sure you'd be able to catch up no problem," Ruby said, breaking Emma from her thoughts by leaning against the counter next to her.

Emma blinked, unsure of what the answer was supposed to even be. Probably yes, right? Considering she was from the Land Without Magic (which was a joke since Peter Pan was able to infiltrate this place and take kids away), and had been to school in the past but… Tink wasn't technically her legal guardian, and she had no idea if her old school even had her records anymore. How was she supposed to start at a normal school after being in Neverland for months? This wasn't like when she had bounced from home to home… but on the other hand, she had liked school in the past. She had liked learning, for the most part, even if making friends had never been her priority (and how could it have been, when she'd lived in group homes for years and either bounced around or lived with too many other kids the last thing she wanted to do was be around more of them?).

Now that she had Bae and Tink though, Emma felt that she almost wanted to go to school.

How Bae was supposed to deal with school though… she had no idea.

"Oh - uh, yeah, maybe. I'll have to talk to her when she gets back, but since we've got plans to settle down here, I should probably be in school, right?" Emma laughed lightly and adjusted a haphazard napkin holder in front of her. "What's school even like here anyway?"

Ruby shrugged. "It's school. Gross food, gym class that teaches nothing except how annoying running is, boys who like to show off cars in the parking lot that they say are theirs, but totally belong to their dads, itchy uniforms…"

"Uniforms? I've never heard of a public school having uniforms before," Emma frowned. She'd gone to a Catholic school once - the uniforms were itchy and annoying then, and she doubted it'd be any better here. She'd seen kids walking around with uniforms here, but she had assumed they had been from a private school.

But if she was going to go to school here, she'd put up with the uniform if she had to.

"That was the worst part," Ruby continued. "I couldn't even have my red streaks. Can you imagine me without them?"

She giggled. "No, I really can't." Ruby with just plain black hair was a little strange of a mental image, she had to admit.

Ruby smiled a little. "But it's really not so bad. You don't have to spend money on a uniform at least, because they're free, and actually, you've seen a lot of the teachers come in here for their morning dose of caffeine. Most of them have been teaching there for as long as I can remember…"

There was something odd about her tone, wistful and far away, like Ruby couldn't exactly remember what she was talking about, so Emma cleared her throat before speaking again.

"Is Granny going to be okay with that? I mean, part of us staying here was that we worked to earn our keep," she said, biting her lip. "We don't have enough to get a place of our own yet."

Ruby waved her hand. "It'll be fine, I promise."

Emma gave her a weak smile and nodded. "Yeah, you're right. Thanks Ruby, I really appreciate it."

"Of course, any time," Ruby replied with a grin. "If you do end up at school and they give you any shit, don't be afraid to tell them who you're staying with. I'll deal with it."

Emma's eyes widened. She hadn't expected Ruby to be that friendly toward her, but she couldn't say she was mad. "Wow, thank you Ruby, that's really nice of you. I will, for sure."

People in this town were so friendly. Almost a little too friendly, if she was being honest with herself, but they were staying here, so she supposed this was something Emma was just going to have to get used to.

Emma wasn't sure if Storybrooke just wasn't used to new people or not, but getting enrolled in school had been unnervingly easy. Her records had been sent from her old school, the principal - Mr. Lafayette - had a uniform ready for her and had been willing to meet with them on a weekend, of all things.

But Emma was set for her first day of a proper high school, after managing to splurge on some back to school clearance supplies, and to her great surprise, they were better quality school supplies than she'd ever had, despite them being the last of the season. She even managed to score a pair of black shoes and some new, warm socks, as was part of the uniform for Storybrooke. Having all these new things was certainly a new experience for her, overwhelming, in a way. She couldn't remember the last time she had new clothes.

And now here she was, new uniform, backpack, and freshly showered, with food in her stomach and more in her backpack for lunch. The food was threatening to come back out though, because of how nervous she was as she stepped into her home room classroom.

"Ah! You must be Emma Swan, our new student," the teacher, Mrs. Haddad said with a bright smile. "Come in. Everyone, I know you like to blow this class off but I need you to listen! We have a new student joining us today. This is Emma Swan. I expect you all to be kind and make her feel welcome."

The grumbling from her classmates wasn't unexpected, so Emma didn't react to it, instead turning to Mrs. Haddad when she addressed her directly.

"Emma, you can have a seat next to Adeline, alright?" Mrs. Haddad said, gesturing to where a red-haired girl was sitting, who gave her a bored wave.

Emma shuffled her way over to the desk and took a seat, and the din of the classroom began again.

"So you're new, huh? We've never had a new kid before," Adeline said with a small grin. "Where are you from then?"

"Minnesota," Emma said with a small smile. "My cousin got me out of a bad situation and we ended up here."

Adeline rested her chin in her hand. "Really? That's super interesting. Where are you living then?"

"Oh - just at Granny's, for now. We're trying to find a cute apartment or something but we don't really know the layout of the town and let's face it, this place isn't exactly a real estate hub."

Adeline snorted. "This place isn't a hub for anything. But listen, I work for Sinclair Designs after school, just answering phones and whatever. Estella has a couple of properties around town that Mr. Gold hasn't been able to pry out of her hands yet. I could probably set your cousin up with her to talk, if you want. Oh, but if I manage to get that connection, there's something you should know."

"What's that?"

"If you have a dog, don't let Ms. SInclair see it. She gets a little squirrely about dogs."

Emma blinked. "Oh - we don't have a dog, no." A dog - or any pet - would just mean another mouth to feed, and they still couldn't afford that.

Adeline grinned. "Great, then you should be fine. I'll try to set something up. Give me your number so I can call you."

The meeting was set up, and Tink, having wanted to go alone, did so, leaving Emma alone in the hotel room to do homework while Bae was down at the diner working. The concept of having a place to call home - that wasn't a bed and breakfast room - was a tempting one, but Emma couldn't help but think about her old foster sister, the one that had been taken away and sent to a mental hospital.

She had the phone number… and she was alone in the room, so…

Emma grabbed the phone and dialed. "Hi, I'm Emma Swan, and I was hoping to speak to Miss Duval, please."

"One moment please, I'll see if she's available."

Emma bit her lip, pencil tapping against the table as she waited.

Finally, the line reconnected.

"Emma?"

Emma smiled in relief. "Hi Uma."