Beane Odette - Reawakened - A Once Upon A Time Tale

— I was wrong.

Mary Margaret stopped. She looked back at him and sighed. She couldn’t stay away. No matter how hard she tried.

— About you, — he said. — About me. About everything.

— I’m listening, — she said.

— I didn’t believe in you, — David said. — And I wish I had a good reason why — but — well, it’s like I keep making the wrong decisions, and I don’t understand how it keeps happening. — He shook his head, frustrated. She didn’t say it, but she could relate. — Ever since I woke up from that coma… my life hasn’t made any sense. Except for you. And what I’m feeling — it’s love, Mary Margaret. And it keeps pulling me back to you.

She tried to imagine a version of David, one that had been driven by love all these months. Through every bumbling decision. It wasn’t easy, but she supposed she could see it. In a way.

— That may be, — she said. — But I’ll tell you what I’ve felt since you came into my life. Pain.

— I know, — he said. — I’m sorry.

— Why are you here, David?

— Because Kathryn put a down payment on an apartment in Boston, — he said. — She’s not going to use it. But I am. — He looked at her sadly. — Unless you can give me a reason to stay here.

She looked at David for a long time.

— I can’t, — she said finally. — I’m sorry.

She walked to her car and got in, not wanting him to see her face. How many times had that happened? Too many.

Her phone buzzed again, as it had several times this morning. She had ignored it up until now, but she looked this time, mostly to distract herself. Eight missed calls. All from Emma. She called up her voicemail and put the phone to her ear.

— Mary Margaret, — came Emma’s frantic voice. — It’s Henry. It’s Henry, I don’t — Something is wrong. Something is wrong.

It was true that Emma hadn’t known what the day would bring once she decided to leave Storybrooke. In her wildest imagination, however, she hadn’t come up with this: working together with Regina. The two of them were on the way to Gold’s shop. They hadn’t spoken since they’d left the hospital, and Emma had no plans to say anything to Regina now. She hated her, of course. But she had to work with her.

— Do my eyes deceive me, — said Gold, once they were both at his counter, — or is that the look of a believer?

He could tell, apparently. Something about her had changed.

— We need your help, — said Emma.

— Indeed you do, — he said immediately. — It seems quite the tragic ailment has befallen our young friend. — He pointed to Regina. — I told you magic comes with a price. Always.

— Henry shouldn’t have to pay it, — Regina said.

— No, you should, — said Gold. — And you will, no doubt. But alas, for now, we are where we are.

He smiled politely and folded his hands.

— Can you help us? — Emma said.

— Of course I can, — he said. — True love, my dear. That’s the only magic powerful enough to transcend realms and break any curse. Luckily for you, I happen to have bottled some.

Regina looked incredulous, Emma saw. «You did?» Emma asked Gold. Apparently this wasn’t a joke. Gold had a bottle of love somewhere.

This new world, Emma thought, is going to take some getting used to.

— Indeed, — said Gold. He looked toward Emma. — From strands of your parents’ hair, I made the most powerful potion in all the realms. So powerful that when I constructed the dark curse, I put one drop on the parchment. As a little safety valve.

This made sense to Emma, actually. She didn’t know much about magic, but she knew a back door when she saw one.

— That’s why I’m the savior, — she said, almost relieved that it wasn’t about religion, or a prophecy, and was simply about the manner in which a lonely old man had constructed a spell. — That’s why I can break it, too.

— Now she’s getting it, — Gold said.

— I don’t care about breaking the curse, — said Emma. — I just want to save Henry.

— Which is why it’s your lucky day, — Gold said. — I didn’t use all of the potion. I saved a little. For a rainy day.

— Well, it’s storming like a bitch. Where is it?

— Where it is not the problem, — Gold said. — Getting it is what should worry you. It’s not gonna be easy.

— Enough riddles, Rumple, — said Regina, and Emma was startled, for a moment, hearing her refer to him by his «real» name. — What do we do?

— You do nothing, — Gold said. — It has to be Ms. Swan.

— He’s my son, it should be me, — insisted Regina.

— All due respect, but it’s her son and it has to be her, — Gold said. — She’s the product of the magic, so she must be the one to find it.

— I can do it, — Emma said. She knew it was true. If it was about saving Henry, she’d be able to do it. Everything that had happened had led to this.

— Don’t trust him, Emma, — Regina said, turning to her. She put her hand on Emma’s arm. Hearing her own name in Regina’s mouth was also disorienting, but the hand on the arm — a brief compassionate touch — was totally surreal.

Emma pulled her arm away.

— What choice do we have? — she said.

— You expect me to believe that you saved a dollop of the most powerful magic in the realms, which also happens to be the only magic left in this place, and you’re just going to give it to us to save Henry? — Regina shook her head. — No. He’s up to something.

— Maybe I’m fond of the boy, — said Gold.

— Why would you be?

— Why? Why? You didn’t come to me for a why, Regina. You came to me for a how. And that’s what I’m providing. Now then, if you’d be kind enough to stop wasting what little time your boy has left, we might accomplish something.

Emma knew he was right.

— Okay, — she said. — Where is it?

— With an old acquaintance, — Gold said, looking at Regina. — Someone quite nasty.

Regina and Emma both waited for him to spit it out. Instead, he knelt down and retrieved a long wooden box from down at his feet. He brought it up and set it on the counter in front of the women.

— Tell me, Regina, — said Gold. — Is your old friend still in the basement?

— No, — Regina said. — You twisted little imp. You hid it with her?

Emma looked from one to the other. None of it made sense.

— Not with her, — Gold said. — In her. I knew you couldn’t resist bringing her over. The perfect hiding place!

He cackled.

— Who is «her»? — Emma said

— Someone you should be prepared for, — Gold said. He opened the box. Emma looked down and saw a long, gorgeous, golden sword. — Where you’re going, you will need this.

— What is that? — she said, looking at the gleaming weapon.

— Your father’s sword, — said Gold.

Emma needed to have two final conversations: one with her son, who wouldn’t be able to talk back, and another with a man made of wood.

Henry had stabilized, and she was allowed to be at his bedside. The many machines around him beeped and clicked as they monitored his vital signs. Emma held his hand.

— You were right, Henry, — she said after a few moments of sitting with him. — About the curse. This town. All of it. I should have believed you. I’m sorry.

She stared at him. His eyes were closed. She listened to the sound of the machines humming.

Henry’s book was in her lap, and she picked it up and set it on his bedside table.

— For when you wake up, — she whispered.

Storybrooke was dark and quiet as she made her way back downtown, to Granny’s B&B. She knocked at August’s door for a long time, wondering if he had skipped town, before she heard a faint moan coming from within. It was all she needed to hear. She launched herself at the door once, twice. After hurling her shoulder against it for the third time, she heard a crack, and the lock gave. She entered the room.