Chapter Five - 7:15 a.m.
Season 1 - Episode 10
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
A few days after the newcomer comes riding into town, August, the stranger, tinkers with his motorcycle outside the Mayor's house, getting spotted by Henry as he walks up to him. "What are you doing here?" Henry questions, looking at the man.
"Fixing my bike," August answers, and Octavia walks out the door, spotting the stranger talking to her nephew.
"No, I mean in Storybrooke." He corrects his question.
"Just visiting." The man answers and spots Octavia walking toward them.
"What's that?" The boy asks, pointing at the box on the back of his bike.
"A box." Octavia jokes, making August laugh.
"What's inside it?" Henry asks, looking at the man.
"Just something I need to do what I came here for," August replies, and Regina opens the front door, spotting her sister and son talking to the strange newcomer.
"Well, I thought you were just visiting?" Octavia questions, looking at him.
"Doesn't mean I don't have something to do." He argues, getting on his motorcycle and starting it up as Regina yells for her son, stepping toward them.
"Henry! Octavia!" Regina calls for them.
"Better get to school. Looks like a storm's coming." August comments before driving off just as Regina reaches them.
"Henry. Who was that?" She asks, looking at her son, who shrugs and looks at her sister. "Octavia?" She shrugs too.
Mary Margaret arrives at Granny's Diner, quickly sitting at one of the tables, unaware she has company. She takes out a book and fixes her hair in a spoon's reflection when David walks through the door at exactly seven-fifteen. He steps up to the counter, and Ruby serves him his usual two coffees. "One cream and sugar, one black." Ruby says, smiling, handing him the cups.
"Thank you." David replies, taking the two coffees and notices Mary Margaret sitting behind him with company. "Good morning." He looks at her, not even paying attention to anything else, as they smile at each other.
"Morning!" Mary Margaret exclaims, surprising everyone at the table.
"Morning," Octavia says, startling the two, and they see the doctor sitting opposite Mary Margaret.
"I-I… I should go. I'm going to be late for work." David stutters, looking awkwardly at Octavia.
"Oh, the animal shelter, right? How's that going?" She asks, glancing at Mary Margaret.
"Well, the apes haven't taken over." He jokes, making the sweet teacher giggle.
"Yet." Mary Margaret teases.
"Not on my watch." David laughs before leaving to meet with his fire in their car outside.
"That was almost sad." Octavia mutters, looking at her friend, and Emma comes out of the back room, spotting her roommate and Octavia.
"This is making a volcano?" Emma questions, looking at them, having seen the awkward heart eyes David and Mary Margaret were making at each other.
"I was -." Mary Margaret stutters and Emma joins them at the table.
"I get it." She sighs, looking at the doctor.
"He comes here every morning at seven fifteen a.m. to get coffee." The dark-haired woman replies, looking between them.
"For him and his wife." Octavia reminds the poor lovesick woman.
"I know, I know, I know. I just like to…come here to see him." Mary Margaret sighs, knowing how deep she is in.
"So you're a stalker?" Emma lightly jokes but is slightly serious.
"No, not really… Maybe a little bit. I mean, it's not like I'm following him. I just know that he spends his mornings with Kathryn, gets coffee, then drives to the animal shelter to start work at seven-thirty, and then he's home around five." She tells them, and Octavia can't help but cringe a little.
"Oh, is that all?" Octavia questions.
"Thursdays, they pick up Chinese for dinner. I can't get him out of my head." Mary Margaret sighs in defeat, looking at her friends.
"I know. Maybe the first step is not showing up here tomorrow." Emma suggests, trying to help.
"Love's the worst. I wish there was a magic cure." She groans, banging her head on the table.
"If only it were that simple," Octavia sighs and finishes her tea before heading to work.
Chapter Five - Fruit of the Poisonous Tree
Season 1 - Episode 11
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
The two armbands around the Genie's wrists release themselves after King Leopold makes his wish to free the Magical being. "Can it be? Am I truly free?" The Genie wonders, looking at his bare arms in amazement.
You're the Genie – you tell me." King Leopold retorts, smiling fondly at the man.
"There are two more wishes left in the lamp. What will you do with them?" He asks, looking at the King, who seems to have everything.
"For my second wish, I wish to give my third and final wish to you." The King requests and hands the lamp to the Magical being, who takes it in shock.
"In my time, I have granted a thousand and one wishes, and I have seen them end poorly a thousand and one times. Making a wish comes with a price. And that is why I will never use this wish." The Genie announces, looking at the lamp cradled in his hands.
"You are a man of wisdom, Genie. Now tell me – what will you do with your freedom?" Leopold questions, looking at his new friend.
"Find the one thing I've always desired that my prison has kept from me – true love." He declares, feeling his heart hurt a little.
"Then you must come join me at my palace. I am certain you will find it there. Come – meet my family." The King requests, and the two leave together, heading for the royal palace.
Genie and King Leopold walk through the palace gardens together as the King shows his new friend around. "Your palace is as lovely as you are kind." Genie compliments him, looking around at the beautiful flora.
"Oh, it's more than kindness, my friend." Leopold remarks, and they come across his daughter, Snow White, who is picking flowers. "This is my beautiful daughter - Snow." He introduces her, smiling fondly at his dear only child, who turns around to see them, smiling happily at her father and his new friend.
"How do you do?" Snow White smiles at the man, and they walk further into the garden, seeing the Cruel Princess using her Magic to grow flowers as the young Princess plucks them.
"My sister-in-law. Octavia," Leopold introduces her, making her turn to see them.
"Good morning," Octavia greets them with a fake smile, and they go further into the garden's centre, where the Evil Queen picks an apple from the tree.
And Regina – my wife. The Queen." The King announces, and Regina turns around to meet Genie, who can't take his eyes off her.
"Hello." The Evil Queen smiles as a plan swirls around her head.
A small crowd gathers inside the castle for King Leopold's birthday with his family and friends around, and halfway through the party, the King gets up from his seat and stands before everyone for his speech. "No gifts are required to mark this special day, for they all pale in comparison to the greatest gift of all – my daughter, Snow." Leopold says, making some gush, but several are hardened with his words.
"Father…" Snow White blushes and joins her father before the guests as everyone claps for them. "Father, you make me blush."
"You make me vomit," Octavia mutters and hears her older sister hold in a giggle.
"Every day I look upon your face, and I am reminded of your dearly departed mother. Who, like you, truly was the fairest in all the land." King Leopold tells Snow, who hugs her father, and the crowd claps again, happy for them, while the Genie sees the Evil Queen get up from the back table with her sister, who tries to stop her but leaves the room anyway and the father and daughter sit in front at the two thrones unaware of the Queen's absence.
Outside, the Evil Queen stands near her apple tree as she stares up at the moon with sorrow, and the Genie steps over to her, trying to comfort her. "Not in a festive mood?" Genie asks her, joining her.
"No one seems to notice my absence but my sister." The Evil Queen mutters, batting her eyes.
"I noticed. Such a lovely tree." He compliments, looking at the beautifully cared-for apple tree.
"Yes, it's from my childhood garden. Well, the tree and I share something in common – neither of us can leave the palace, and neither of us truly belongs. No matter how hard I try to please the King, he will never love me the way he loved his first wife. I'm trapped by the memory of a life they used to share." She sighs miserably, not faking at all.
"I know about being trapped more than anyone. Maybe this will lift your spirits." The Magical being replies takes out a hand mirror he always keeps with him, and gives it to her. "So you can see yourself the way I see you."
"And how do you see me?" Regina asks, looking into the mirror, and then she looks up, a plot spinning in her mind.
"As the fairest in all the land." Genie tells her honestly.
The Genie cuts an apple off the Evil Queen's apple tree sometime after his talk with her in the royal garden at the King's birthday party and hears footsteps behind him. "I was beginning to worry you wouldn't come." Genie says, not looking behind him.
"You were expecting the Queen?" Henry questions, and the Magical being turns around, seeing the Mills sisters' father, Henry, and he's holding a black box with holes in the side.
"Who are you? What have you done with her?" He demands, looking at the older man.
"The King has locked her away in her chambers. My daughter is a prisoner in her own kingdom." The sisters' father informs him and looks to see Octavia sitting alone, reading a book while listening to them.
"You are the Queen's father?" The Magical being questions, looking at him, seeing the resemblance between the sisters and the man.
"Please, take this to her. The palace guards won't allow her sister or me into her chambers. They know we'd die for her." Henry informs him.
"But you…" Genie mutters, and the father hands the box to him.
"The King trusts you. He doesn't know that you have my daughter's heart. The guards will allow you in. Give her this box." He tells him, trying to get him to take the box.
"Wait – I don't understand. What is in it?" The Magical being asks, looking at the box in his hands.
"This is the only thing that can free her from this wretched life. If you truly care for my daughter, I know you'll do whatever it takes to set her free." Henry lies under the spell of his youngest daughter, unaware and leaves the Genie, who looks down at the box in his hand, noticing a key sitting atop. He holds it up, seeing the key with a skull engraved on the top.
The Evil Queen sits at her vanity in her chambers when the Genie enters the room with the box in hand. "It's you!" She exclaims as he sets the box on the table before they hug. "My love for you grows stronger with every beat of my heart. But the King has read my diary – found my mirror. Soon, he will discover the truth about us. There is no escape."
"There is always an escape. Your father said what's in this box would give you your freedom." Genie tells her, handing over the key.
"Yes, I believe it will." The Evil Queen replies, unlocking the box with the key and opening the lid to reveal two hissing snakes. "The Agrabahn viper. A snake so deadly, it can kill anything."
"With a single bite. This serpent is from my homeland – I know all too well of its poison. But why would you have it brought here?" He demands, looking at her in shock.
"There is no happiness left for me in this life. One small bite and I shall be free from this prison forever. I'm sorry we couldn't be together, my love. Perhaps, in another life, we will find each other again." Regina mutters, slowly extending her hand toward the box, but Genie grabs her wrist just as her hand nears the snakes.
"There is another way. What if the King… didn't live?" He suggests, looking into her eyes.
"You would do that for me?" She asks him, her plan working perfectly.
"For you, I would do anything." The Magical being assures her, and they hug once again.
"I don't know what I'd do without you." The Evil Queen smirks into his shoulder.
"You will never have to find out." Genie promises her and closes the lid back up.
Octavia sits with Henry at Granny's Diner at the counter as her nephew recreates the Storybook he lost, and his aunt feeds him as she's on her lunch break when August enters and sits next to him. "Whatcha working on?" August asks, looking at the kid as he frantically draws.
"Uh, no time to talk. I got to write it all down before I forget." Henry tells him and takes a bite of his fries as Octavia tries feeling him again.
"Yeah, I hate it when great ideas slip away from me." He comments and looks at the boy's aunt.
"They're not my ideas. They're stories from a book that I lost." The kid answers, not looking up from the pages.
"Must be a hell of a book. What's it about?" The stranger questions, trying to sneak a peak at the pages.
"Stuff." Henry answers, making Octavia snort.
"Sounds exciting." August and Octavia joke, looking at each other in surprise.
"You seem awfully interested in me and my book." He remarks, looking at the newcomer.
"No, I'm just being neighbourly." August replies, getting up.
"What are you doing in Storybrooke?" Octavia asks him.
"I'm a writer." He answers.
"You can write anywhere. What are you really doing here?" Henry asks, looking at the man.
"Stuff. Good luck with the stories." August replies, leaving the diner, and Henry looks at his aunt, who shrugs.
The Evil Queen sits in her chamber as the Genie kills the King, and she sits at her vanity looking into the hand mirror when the Genie enters the room, rushing over to her. "It is done. You're free, my love. We are free to be together at last. D-Did you not hear me? Our days of imprisonment are over." Genie stands by her side as she looks into the mirror.
"You haven't heard the news? The palace guards found the snake. They know it's from your country. They know it was you who killed the King. It's only a matter of time before they catch you. You will be executed. I'm sorry, but we will never be together." The Evil Queen informs him, not looking at him and stands, walking away. "Come – I've arranged for a boat to provide you safe passage out of the kingdom. You must leave at once."
"The Agrabahn viper. Of all the snakes in all the world, that is what you chose. You wanted the m*rder to be traced back to me. You… You fooled me. You never loved me." He finally realises, and his heart breaks inside his chest.
"Loved you? I wanted the King killed, and you killed him. You are no longer of any use to me. Be grateful I'm offering you an escape. Now, flee the kingdom and never turn back." She orders him, looking at him.
"I can't live without you. I won't live without you." The Magical being announces, looking at her pleadingly.
"Did you not understand me? I don't love you. There is no way we will ever be together." Regina tells him, looking at him uncaringly.
"There is one way," Genie announces, taking out the lamp from his pocket. "There is still one wish remaining. I wish to be with you forever. To look upon your face always. To never leave your side." Before disappearing in a puff of blue smoke, he wishes, and the Evil Queen looks around when her sister storms into the room.
"Regina? What is it? Has he gone?" Octavia asks, seeing the panic on her sister's face and the sisters hear a tapping noise. The Evil Queen looks in the mirror to see the Genie, who bangs on the glass now trapped in the hand mirror.
"No! No! No!" Mirror shouts as he bangs on the glass, trying to escape.
"Well, it looks like you got your wish. You will be with me – forever." Regina smiles, looking at the mirror and then at her sister.
"I feel like I'm missing something." Octavia mutters, and her sister shows her the object. "Interesting."
Chapter Five - Skin Deep
Season 1 - Episode 12
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
Mary Margaret and David sit at separate tables at Granny's Diner reading books and drinking coffee. "Oh, you got the book." Mary Margaret comments, looking at the book in his hand.
"Yeah. Yeah, I just started it. It's great. Can't wait to see how it ends." David replies, smiling at her, and Ruby comes over to refill Mary Margaret's coffee, and Octavia walks in, takes off her coat and sits with the teacher.
"Uh, I can push the tables together if you guys -." Ruby jokes, looking between them.
"Oh, no. We're not together." Mary Margaret argues. "I have my company." She looks at Octavia, who smirks at her.
"Aw, thanks. I feel special," Octavia jokes.
"No. No, that's -." David adds, and Ruby leaves while Emma enters from the back room and sits across from Mary Margaret and next to Octavia.
"Hey, David." Emma greets him.
"Hey." He replies, smiling fondly at her.
"Mary Margaret." She greets her, looking at her. "So. How are your days going?"
"Henry's fine." Mary Margaret answers, seeing through her.
"He's his usual self, I promise," Octavia assures her.
"That's not what I asked you…You sure?" Emma questions, looking at them.
"Really – he's his normal self. Regina won't keep you separated forever. When people are supposed to be together, they find a way." She promises her, looking between Mary Margaret and David.
"Yeah. So, he's his normal self? He's fine? He's happy?" The blond woman questions, looking at them.
"Yes. No! He misses you – a lot. Trust me – I'm with him, like, six hours a day." Mary Margaret tells him, and Ashley enters the diner with her baby, handing Alexandria to Granny before joining the girls at their table.
"Six hours? You take newborns? Cause I'd love six hours off." Ashley questions, sitting in the only empty seat at the small table.
"Ashley! I didn't… I didn't even recognise you." Mary Margaret replies, looking at her, seeing the massive difference in the young woman's appearance.
"Baby on the outside?" She jokes, looking at them.
"How's it going?" Emma asks her.
"It's, uh… It's, uh… I mean, baby's great, but we really haven't had time to do the whole getting married thing. So, that's been rough. And Sean's been working double shifts at the cannery." The young blond woman tells them.
"Well, he has to work." Octavia lightly argues, and Ruby walks over, giving Ashley and Octavia their drinks.
"On Valentine's Day? Yeah. He couldn't get out of it." Ashley sighs, wishing she could see her boyfriend more often.
"I'm sorry. That sucks." Emma groans, feeling her pain a little.
"It doesn't have to. Come out with me. Let's have a girl's night. We can all go. Mary Margaret – Octavia - Emma, too. If you leave the badge at home." Ruby suggests, looking at them.
"I'm down. I need a night away considering last Valentine's I spent it at the hospital. That was an interesting night." Octavia agrees.
"I'm not really in the party mood, but you guys can all go and have fun," Emma replies, and her phone vibrates, and she looks at it.
"What's that?" Mary Margaret asks her.
"It's the station – something's up." She replies and leaves the group.
Valentine's Day arrives, and the girls are at the local bar, enjoying their drinks and getting attention from most of the guys there. "Pace yourself, Ashley." Mary Margaret warns her as Ashley keeps downing shot after shot.
"I am! This is the first night out since I've had the baby – I am making up for lost time." Ashley replies, downing another shot.
"Ooh, Ash – check out those guys." Ruby points at a group of guys standing by the bar.
"Oh, honey, I'm still with Sean." She replies, shaking her head.
"You're not married, and he's not here," Octavia replies, drinking her cocktail.
"He's working." The young blond argues.
"He's always working. Have fun moping." Ruby replies and jumps from their table, strolling over to talk to the guys, leaving the others alone.
"She's right – he is always working. I thought love would be different." Ashley comments, wishing she could see her boyfriend.
"Me, too." Mary Margaret sighs.
"Me, three." Octavia groans, taking a large gulp.
Belle, sometime after staying with Rumplestilskin, walks along a path through the forest toward the nearest town when suddenly a horse and rider come from behind her and pass the young girl, nearly splashing Belle and the black mare comes to a stop, turning around to stand in front of the Dark One's maid. "Did my horse splash you?" Octavia asks her, looking at the younger girl in a blue dress.
"Oh. Oh, no, um… I'm fine." Belle assures her, looking at her spotless dress.
"You know, I'm tired of riding – let me stretch my legs and walk with you for a spell." She suggests, jumping from her horse and standing on the path, and the pair of brunettes walk along together. "You carry very little." She comments, looking at the basket.
"I don't want to be slowed down." The beauty replies, looking at the woman, seeing her outfit; she doesn't fit the dark colours.
"Mm. You're running from someone. The question is, master or lover?" The Cruel Princess wonders and looks at the blush on the girl's face. "Oh. Master and lover. How enviable."
"I might take a rest. You… You go on ahead." Belle tells her, and the Princess puts her arm around her shoulder, continuing their walk.
"So, if I'm right, you love your employer, but you're leaving him." Octavia questions, looking at her, knowing who she is already.
"I might love him. I mean, I could, except… Something evil has taken root in him." She replies, dodging her confession.
"Sounds like a curse to me. And all curses can be broken. A kiss born of true love would do it. Oh, child, no. I would never suggest a young woman to kiss a man who held her c*ptive. What kind of message is that?" The Princess suggests, having ideas running through her mind.
"Right." The girl answers.
"Besides, if he loves you, he would've let you go. And if he doesn't love you, well, then the kiss won't even work." Octavia argues.
"Well, he did let me go," Belle tells her.
"Yes, but no kiss happened." The Cruel Princess adds.
"And a kiss… A kiss is enough? He'd be a man again?" She questions, looking at her.
"An ordinary man. True love's kiss will break any curse." Octavia assures her.
Mary Margaret returns to the table at the bar with Ashley and Octavia sitting alone, drinking their cocktails. "Girls' night's really working out for you." Mary Margaret comments, looking at them.
"I thought it would make me feel better. But the truth is, I need a 'be with my guy night'. But he's never around, and I'm at home with the baby all day. I mean, what's the point of being together if we're not together?" Ashley replies, looking at the others.
"I get it. Loving someone you can't be with – it's a terrible, terrible burden." She remarks, sighing.
"You know, this was a bad idea. I should… I should go home." The young blond mutters but stops when Sean arrives at the bar with a bouquet of flowers.
"Ashley?" Sean calls her, and she looks at him in shock.
"Sean?" Ashley questions.
"Hey." He greets her, smiling lovingly at him.
"I thought that you were working tonight?" She asks him, walking over to him.
"I am – it's my break. And I… I had to see you. And ask you something." The man tells her and gives the flowers to his girlfriend before kneeling and taking out a ring. "Will you marry me? I only have a twenty-minute break, so, um, anytime now."
"Yes!" Ashley squeals and Octavia covers her ears but is happy for the young woman.
"My truck's outside if you want to take a ride before I head back to work. It's not much of a date -." Sean tells her, smiling, hugging her and puts the ring on her finger.
"It's the best date." She assures him.
"Then, your carriage awaits." He tells her, and they leave out the door, leaving Mary Margaret and Octavia alone at the table before they also leave, having a worst Valentine's Day than before.
Rumpelstiltskin sits in his castle at his wheel spinning straw, and the Cruel Princess enters, going straight for the tea set, making herself a cup. "Flimsy locks. I have a deal to discuss. A certain…mermaid my sister wishes to sort out." Octavia informs him.
"I'm not dealing today." He replies, needing a distraction.
"Are you angry with me? What is it this time?" She asks him, knowing they don't get along.
"Your little deception failed. You and your sister'll never be more powerful than me. You can keep trying, dearie, but you're never going to beat me." Rumpelstiltskin replies and she sighs.
"Is this about that girl I met on the road? Hm? What was her name? Margie? …Verna?" The Princess jokes, walking over to him.
"Belle," He answers, stopping his spinning.
"Right. Well, you can rest assured I had nothing to do with that tragedy." The Cruel Princess tells him, and he stops spinning, looking at her.
"What tragedy?" The Dark One asks her.
"You don't know? Well, after she got home, her fiancé had gone missing. And after her stay here – her association with you – no one would want her, of course. Her father shunned her, cut her off, and shut her out." Octavia tells him what her sister told her.
"So, she needs…a home." He mutters, hope fluttering in his heart.
"He was cruel to her. He locked her in a tower and sent clerics to cleanse her soul with scourges and flaying. After a while, she threw herself off the tower. She died." She informs him.
"You're lying." Rumpelstiltskin growls, looking at her and steps in front of the Princess.
"Am I? I'm only telling you what I heard." The Cruel Princess replies, setting down the teacup.
"We're done." The Dark One tells her.
"Of course. It's good to see you, Rumpel. I'm sorry." She mutters and walks out, leaving him alone. He opens his armoire, takes out the chipped cup and then walks over to a pedestal with a goblet on top, replacing it with the cup.
Chapter Five - What Happened to Fredrick?
Season 1 - Episode 13
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
Henry sits outside the school on the bench with Octavia, wondering why they're waiting, and he plays the video game she bought him for his birthday when Emma suddenly walks up to him with a bag, sitting next to him. "Wow, I love that game. Space Paranoids, right?" Emma questions, looking at the screen.
"Yeah, Aunt Octavia got it for me," Henry replies.
"I used to play that all the time when I was a kid. Relax – it's all in the wrists." She adds, smiling at her friend.
"We're leaving soon," Octavia warns her.
"Alright. I'll be quick, then. I just have something I'd like to give you." The blond woman says and takes a book from her bag, giving it to him.
"You found it! Where'd you get it?" Henry asks her, looking at it in awe.
"I found it in a gutter. It must have fallen off the dump truck on the way to the junkyard and got tossed around in the rain. And, somehow, made its way back to me." Emma tells him.
"Wow. That's crazy." He marvels, looking at it.
"What other explanation could there be?" Octavia smiles.
"I don't know." The boy replies.
"Well, whatever happened, it came back to me," Emma comments.
"Maybe, it means our luck is changing. Operation Cobra is back on. It's a sign. Things are going to be better." Henry replies and looks at his biological mother.
"I hope you're right, kid. I got to go." She replies and leaves.
"Very curious." Octavia remarks and looks at her nephew. "What now?"
Chapter Five - Dreamy
Season 1 - Episode 14
There was an Enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know.
Or think we know.
One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen.
Our World.
This is how it happened…
Octavia sits for her breakfast, needing to be away from the hospital for the day and sees Mr Clark and Walter walking inside Granny's Diner and coming up to the counter to join Leory. "Uh, excuse me, Leroy. Uh, do you mind scooting over a seat so Walter and I could sit together?" Mr Clark asks him.
"If I wanted to sit there, I would've sat there. You want this seat? Try dragging your sorry asses out of bed a little earlier." Leory snaps at them.
"You're a real ray of sunshine as -." He replies and sneezes all over the grumpy man's food.
"Congrats – just lost my appetite. Seat's all yours." The grump sneers, throwing his tissue on his plate after cleaning himself up and gets up to leave when Mary Margaret walks inside.
"Excuse me. Can I have everyone's attention, please?" Mary Margaret asks the room, but everyone ignores her, apart from Octavia, after the reveal of the affair between the teacher and David. "I'm sorry to interrupt your morning, but I just wanted to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us – Miner's Day. As always, the nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved and will help sell their exquisite candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So, who wants to join me?" Everyone ignores her and goes back to what they're doing, and Octavia walks over, needing something to do on her days off. Leroy heads to the door, where Mary Margaret stands in front, blocking the exit. "Leroy, you want to volunteer?"
"I want to leave, sister. You're blocking the door." Leroy replies, getting annoyed at her.
"Of course. Uh, you know, if you wanted to help, it could really be a -." She stutters, moving out of the way.
"Oh, yeah. Right. Quite a team we'd make – town harlot, town drunk. The only person in this town that people like less than me is you. If you're coming to me, you're screwed." He comments and leaves.
"Which isn't true. I like you more than him." Octavia tells her. "Come on." She leads her out of the diner.
Emma follows Octavia and Mary Margaret outside and walks alongside them. "Hey. Mind if I join you? So, what the hell is Miner's Day, and why are you beating yourself up over it?" Emma asks her roommate.
"It's an annual holiday celebrating an old tradition. The nuns used to make candles and trade them with the miners for coal." Mary Margaret informs her.
"Coal? In Maine? If they were mining for lobster, I'd understand." She ponders, finding it strange.
"Look, I don't know. Now, they use it as a fundraiser. It's an amazing party – everyone loves it." Octavia tells her.
"It doesn't seem like everyone loves it." The blond woman comments, looking around.
"It's not Miner's Day – it's me. Last week, I had ten volunteers. This week, they all dropped out." Mary Margaret tells her.
"You think this is about what happened with David?" Emma asks her.
"Oh, I know it is. A few of them told me as much. I've never…been a home wrecker before." She agrees, sighing, hating herself.
"It's going to blow over. You made a mistake with David – it happens. But you don't have to do charity to try to win people's hearts back." Octavia assures her.
"I have to do something, and this is the best I can do. Love ruined my life." The kind teacher tells them, and Emma's phone rings.
"Sheriff Swan. Yeah. I'll be right down." Emma answers the phone and hangs up. "Well, apparently, duty calls. Hang in there. And, if there's anything I can do to help, I will."
"I know. Thank you." Mary Margaret smiles, and Octavia looks at her.
"So? Where do we go next?" Octavia asks her, surprising the dark-haired woman.
"Your volunteering?" She asks.
"Course. I need something to do." The doctor replies.
Mary Margaret fills out forms at a table at the Volunteer Center with Octavia when Leory enters. "Where can I sign up?" Leory asks them, but the women ignore him. "What? I want to volunteer to sell candles."
"No, you don't. You made that very clear this morning at Granny's." Mary Margaret snaps at him.
"Well… Maybe, I saw the light. I mean, maybe somebody showed it to me. What difference does it make, sister? It looks like you can use all the help you can get." He replies, having other ideas than helping.
"Okay, we need help manning the candle booth. No swearing, no drinking, and Mary Margaret get to call all the shots." Octavia tells him, and Astrid and Mother Superior are talking a little too loudly on the other side of the room.
"You ordered how many tanks of helium?" Mother Superior questions the sister.
"I-I meant to order twelve," Astrid replies.
"You ordered twelve dozen. Return them." She corrects her.
"There are no refunds." The Sister informs her.
"We needed that money – you knew that. You know how he feels about us. You fix this, Sister Astrid. You fix it now." The woman demands before leaving, and Leroy overhearing the exchange, walks over to Astrid.
"Hey. What's the problem?" Leroy asks her, surprising Octavia and Mary Margaret.
"The problem is, I'm an idiot. We get a stipend each year for expenses, and it's all carefully budgeted except for the part where I spent it all. On helium. And now we can't pay our rent." Astrid mutters, feeling upset at her mistake.
"So, you'll make it up when you get your next stipend." He suggests, seeming to like her.
"Which isn't till next month. The rent is due next week. And the only income we have are these candles." She explains.
"Well, so how many do you need to sell?" The grumpy man asks her.
"Like, a thousand." The Sister answers, devastated.
"How many did you sell last year?" Leroy questions.
"Forty-two." Astrid tells him.
"Ask your landlord to cut you a break." He suggests, seeing there's no way they can sell that many.
"Mr Gold doesn't offer much leeway." She reminds him.
"Mr Gold's your landlord?" The grump exclaims in surprise.
"If we miss a payment, we're out. And then they'll reassign us, and we'll have to leave Storybrooke." She tells him, hanging her head.
"No, you won't. You know why you only sold forty-two last year? Because you didn't have me. This year, we're going to sell all of them." Leroy promises her.
"Wow! Leroy, I guess you really are my hero." Astrid smiles, and he smiles back at her.
"There really are miracles," Octavia mutters, looking between them in shock.
Later that day, at the Miner's Day festival, Mary Margaret, Octavia and Leroy try selling the candles at their booth. "Buy your Miner's Day candles here! Handmade by Storybrooke's very own nuns! Light your way to a good cause! By buying a candle… This isn't working." Mary Margaret sighs, looking around.
"You're right. We should pack it up." Leroy suggests.
"Now you're quitting?" Octavia asks him.
"If the customers won't come to us, we got to go to them – door to door." He corrects his suggestion.
"If they hate us here, what makes you think they'll like us in their homes?" Mary Margaret questions, looking at him.
"Exactly. They'll pay us just to leave." The town drunk argues, and they rush past, but Mary Margaret stops when she sees Emma.
"Oh, Emma! Help me out! What's more sympathetic. Um, scarf or no scarf?" She asks him.
"Sc-Scarf." Emma replies, confused.
"Okay." The teacher smiles.
"Come on – we're on a schedule." Leroy tells them.
"Oh, uh, thank you. Got to go." Mary Margaret replies, and they run to sell some candles.
The candle sellers go to their first house with a man, eating a carrot, answers, and a woman appears beside him. "Hi. We're selling candles for Miners Day." Mary Margaret informs them.
"We're not interested." The woman answers, slamming the door, and they continue to try and sell the candles, but every house owner slams the door in their faces.
Astrid picks up the plums she dropped when Leroy enters the Volunteer Center, and Mary Margaret and Octavia watch from the other side of the room when they come back from trying to sell the candles. "Sister Astrid?" Leroy greets her.
"Hi." Astrid smiles at him.
"I have to talk to you. See, I have some bad news." He tells her.
"Oh, no. What is it?" She asks.
"The bad news is that… That… You nuns are going to be real busy making candles cause me, Octavia, and Mary Margaret just sold them all. You're not losing the convent. You're not going anywhere." The grump lies, and the nun hugs him afterwards; the women pull him aside.
"How could you tell Astrid that we sold all those candles? That is five thousand dollars, Leroy. Five thousand dollars that we don't have." Octavia demands, sneering at him.
"Don't worry about it, alright? I got a plan." Leroy assures them.
"What plan? A plan like going door to door and having everyone in town laugh in our faces?" Mary Margaret questions, looking at him.
"Just give me till the end of the day. I'll figure something out." He promises them.
"And why is this so important to you?" Octavia asks him, though she has some idea.
"The nuns… They're going to have to leave." The town drunk replies.
"Oh, my God. You like her! She is a nun, Leroy. Could you possibly pick anyone any less available?" Mary Margaret marvels at him.
"Says the girl who went after a married guy? At the end of the day, you're no better than I am. You got your reasons for being here, I got mine. And when I say I'm going to get that five thousand dollars, I'm going to get that five thousand dollars." Leroy snaps back at her.
After the lights are suddenly turned, everyone flocks to buy candles from Mary Margaret, Leroy and Octavia at the Miner's Day festival, and they soon notice all the boxes are empty. "Leroy. We sold out." Mary Margaret announces, and the three hug before spotting Astrid standing with the other nuns.
"Well, go on – give her the news. Have your moment." Octavia encourages him, and Leroy happily brings the box of money over to the group of nuns.
"Excuse me," Astrid says, leaving the others and walking over to Leroy alone.
"Five thousand bucks. Piece of cake." Leroy tells her, giving her the money.
"You sold them all?" She marvels, looking at the large amount of money in her hands.
"I had a little help." He tells her, looking back at Mary Margaret and Octavia, who give him a thumbs up.
"You made it happen." The Sister smiles.
"You have no idea." The town drunk grins.
"I don't know what to say," Astrid says, looking at him.
"You're welcome. Listen – that boat of mine? I'm going to fix it up. And, well, maybe you could be my first passenger." Leroy suggests.
"I'd like that." She replies.
"Well, then, that's what we'll do, sister." He adds.
"Oh. It's beautiful, isn't it?" The nun comments, looking around at the festival as everyone holds the lit candles.
Mary Margaret makes a 'sold out' sign and puts it at the front of the candle booth before hugging Octavia goodbye and walking to her car, which still has the word 'tramp' spray painted on it. She stares at it momentarily and decides to return to the festival, getting stopped by Granny, who relights her candle, and Octavia joins her. David watches Mary Margaret walks past as Emma arrives, approaching him. "Emma." David greets her.
"David, we need to talk." Emma informs him.
"Did you get a hold of Kathryn?" He asks her, worried about his missing wife.
"No, I'm afraid not." She tells him.
"Then, what is it?" The blond man wonders.
"I need you to come to the sheriff's station with me and tell me everything." The Sheriff tells him.
"I'm sorry. I thought I already did." Davia argues lightly.
"So did I." Emma sighs, leading him back to her squad car into the back seat, and Mary Margaret watches on worriedly.