–[Real World]–

(Leroy and the rest of the ‘dwarves’ are gathered by the Storybrooke sign at the edge of the forest. Leroy spray paints an orange line, indicating the border of the town, while he lectures.)

Leroy: This, gentlemen, is our mission. The great barrier of our existence – does it remain? We must investigate the line.

(He pulls out a handful of straws.)

Leroy: I made straws. Short one crosses. Draw.

(The dwarves each pick a straw, one by one.)

Happy: With the curse broken, we can cross, right? It should be no problem.

Walter: With magic back, it could be even worse now.

Doc: Like, vapourize us.

Bashful: Let’s go home.

Leroy: Guys! We are the Royal Guard. Towards loyalty to Snow White. This is our chance to prove ourselves to the Prince. We must do this.

(Everyone finishes picking straws.)

Leroy: Show your hands.

(They reveal their straws. Mr. Clark ends up with the short straw.)

Leroy: You’re up, snotty.

(Leroy leads Mr. Clark to the border. However, he hesitates to step over it.)

Mr. Clark: You know, what if we found a turtle and sort of nudged it over first?

Leroy: Oh, for the love of…

(Leroy pushes Mr. Clark over the line. The second he crosses, a magical force begins to act on him.)

Leroy: Sneezy, you okay? Sneezy!

———–

(On the main street, a few townspeople are attempting to clear away the damage caused by the wraith. Meanwhile, at August’s room at Granny’s, August’s wooden form is still lying on the bed. He blinks. Outside of the town hall, the citizens of Storybrooke have set up a Crisis Center. Marco is putting up ‘missing’ posters of Pinocchio.)

Marco: My boy… My poor boy.

(Ruby appears to be one of the coordinators.)

Ruby: If you are looking for a family member, come to the front table. If you need counseling, Dr. Hopper has a signup sheet. If the wraith damaged your house, there are cots at the school.

Mother Superior: This is getting out of hand. People are in a panic. They don’t know what to do.

Ruby: It’s okay. It’ll be fine. We just need everyone to remain calm. I have a feeling our Prince is working on something right now.

———–

(David knocks on Regina’s door. When she answers, he lets himself in.)

David: Tell me…about this.

(He holds up Jefferson’s crushed hat.)

Regina: Surprised you don’t have armed guards ’round the clock.

David: Don’t need ‘em. We both know if you step outside, there’s a line a mile long for your head.

Regina: Who’s going to risk coming at me?

David: Take your chances, then. But I think that little wallpaper trick? Was an anomaly. If you had your abilities back, this town would be charcoal by now. You’re having problems with magic, aren’t you? Right now, the only thing keeping you alive? Is that Henry wishes it. Now, this.

Regina: It’s the hat that pulled your loved ones away.

David: Well, where did you get it?

Regina: I’ve long since forgotten. You know what? Maybe, you should be less concerned with hats, and more concerned with taking care of my son.

David: Oh, because you took such great care of him.

Regina: I will not listen to child care lectures from a man who put his daughter in a box and shipped her to Maine.

David: Okay, listen. I need my family. There’s magic here now. There will have to be ways to follow them.

Regina: Follow them where? Into a sucking airless void? And good luck getting magic to work. Because, as you said, you’d be charcoal.

David: Oh, frustrated, are we? Serves you right. You’ve earned every bit of this.

Regina: Keep on baiting me, Charming. Right now, I don’t have magic and I don’t have my son. But, when I get one, I get the other. And you don’t want to be around when that happens.

David: If you have to use magic to keep your son, you don’t really have him.

–[Fairy Tale World]–

(A young Evil Queen rides along a road in the woods on horseback.)

Evil Queen: We’re almost free!

(Suddenly, several vines magically appear and pluck her from her horse, suspending her in the air. Cora appears with a book opened in her hands.)

Cora: And I thought we were done with all this nonsense.

Evil Queen: Hello, Mother. What evil have you conjured?

Cora: Not evil, darling. A barrier spell.

(Cora gently blows across the pages of the book, causing a black dust to lift off the pages. The vines release the Evil Queen.)

Cora: Designed to keep you where you belong.

Evil Queen: I can’t leave?

Cora: Not alone. Not without the King. We’ve been through this. In two days, you’ll be married – you’ll be Queen. After that, you’re free to go – whenever you’re with him.

Evil Queen: Momma, I don’t want to marry the King. I don’t want this life!

Cora: You’re just frightened of having all that power.

Evil Queen: I don’t want power. I want to be free.

Cora: Power is freedom. Don’t worry. I’m here to show you.

–[Real World]–

(David arrives at the Crisis Center, where he spots Henry.)

David: Henry! Have you seen Blue? Uh, Mother Superior?

Henry: No. But everyone is looking for you.

(Several people begin harassing David with questions.)

Ruby: Do we know where Rump- Mr. Gold is?

Archie: Wait! Does the Queen still have power?

Marco: I thought I would find my boy.

Henry: Please! We’ve got to be planning something!

Dr. Whale: Hey, let me ask you something? Are the nuns still nuns? Or can they, you know, date?

David: Uh, I don’t know.

Dr. Whale: Don’t say it’s me asking…

David: Blue!

(He spots Mother Superior.)

David: Could there be a tree on this side? The way we sent Emma through as a baby. Maybe I could go after them that way.

Mother Superior: It’s possible, but without fairy dust to guide us here… No, it’s hopeless.

Henry: You’ll find another way. In the book, things always look worse right before there’s good news.

(Leroy, along with the rest of the group, comes rushing in.)

Leroy: Terrible news! Terrible news! We were out at the town limits. Tell them who you think you are, Sneezy.

Mr. Clark: Oh, will you stop calling me that. You know who I am. I’m Tom Clark. I own the Dark Star(?) Pharmacy. What’s going on here?

Leroy: If you cross the border, you lose your memory all over again.

Archie: A-And coming back doesn’t fix it?

Leroy: If it did, would I have come running in yelling ‘terrible news’?! If we leave, our curse selves become our only selves.

(The crowd begins to panic.)

Henry: I wonder if my mom knows?

(David separates himself from the crowd and attempts to leave, while Henry and the rest of them follow.)

Henry: I can help!

David: People! Everybody! Everybody meet back here in two hours. I’ll tell you my plan to fix everything.

(Ruby talks to David alone.)

Ruby: What’s the plan?

David: I don’t know. But I got two hours to figure it out.

———–

(In her living room, Regina attempts to magically light a candle.)

Regina: Come on…

(The candle briefly flickers, and then goes out.)

Regina: Light, damn you!

(She picks up the candle and throws it in the fireplace in frustration. She heads to the front door, where she tentatively surveys the area outside her house. Seeing that the coast is clear, she starts to walk to her car, when she is approached by Archie.)

Archie: Regina! I thought you might want to talk.

Regina: Oh, right. The conscience thing.

Archie: It’s what I do.

Regina: I’m in no mood.

Archie: That’s too bad, cause… Cause I think talking about your pain might be very helpful. Might help you learn who you truly are.

Regina: I know who I am.

–[Fairy Tale World]–

(At the castle, the Evil Queen is doing a young Snow White’s hair.)

Evil Queen: What do you think, Snow?

Snow White: It looks beautiful.

Evil Queen: No, dear. You look beautiful.

(Snow White looks in the jewelry box on the table next to her, and pulls out Daniel’s ring. It is attached to a chain.)

Snow White: What’s this?

Evil Queen: What? That’s mine.

(Snow White puts the ring around her neck.)

Snow White: It’s pretty. Where did you get it?

Evil Queen: Daniel gave it to me.

Snow White: The s*ab boy. The one who left you.

Evil Queen: He didn’t leave me.

Snow White: What?

Evil Queen: He was k*lled.

Snow White: Oh, no…

Evil Queen: He was k*lled because you couldn’t keep a secret from my mother.

Snow White: By… But she said… She told me she was going to help you.

(The Evil Queen pulls on the chain around Snow White’s neck and begins to strangle her.)

Evil Queen: My mother corrupts young souls. If you were stronger, none of this would have happened.

(The scene cuts to reality. The Evil Queen and Snow White are in the same setting.)

Snow White: It’s pretty. Where did you get it?

Evil Queen: I don’t remember.

———–

(The Evil Queen and Henry I are walking outside the castle.)

Evil Queen: Daddy, you don’t know what Mother’s doing to me. It’s like she’s turning me into her. I have to get away.

Henry I: Get away? But tomorrow’s the wedding, child.

Evil Queen: I don’t want to marry the King. I’ve told you that.

Henry I: Well, you’re certain it isn’t just cold feet?

Evil Queen: Daddy, this is not cold feet. This… This is… This is insanity. I’m angry all the time. She’s making me crazy.

Henry I: She wants to give you everything she never got for herself.

Evil Queen: I don’t want her life. I want a life of my own. How did she get like this?

Henry I: There was a man. Well, not quite a man. Someone Cora knew before I met her. He brought magic to her. Gave her that book of spells. He made her like she is.

Evil Queen: What was his name?

Henry I: I don’t know. Cora won’t even say it.

Evil Queen: But the book is his?

–[Real World]–

(Regina enters Mr. Gold’s Pawn Shop. Seeing that he’s not there, she begins to rummage through his books. Mr. Gold enters.)

Mr. Gold: The library’s beneath the clock tower. You closed it, remember? When you still had power.

Regina: I need the book. I need to get my son back.

Mr. Gold: Which book? Ah. So, it’s come down to that, eh? You need your mommy’s help?

Regina: Give me the book.

Mr. Gold: Do you really need the smell of the written word to get the magic flowing again, love? Maybe if you relaxed, it would just happen.

Regina: I don’t have time. It worked once, I know I can do it. I just… I just need a shortcut back.

Mr. Gold: Yeah, well, I don’t have time, either. Leave. Please.

(Nothing happens.)

Regina: Well, how about that. Your ‘pleases’ have lost their punch.

Mr. Gold: Well, the fact remains, jumpstarting your magic is not in my best interest.

Regina: You know what else isn’t in your best interest? Having everyone know the Enchanted Forest still exists. Knowing that, you and I, are keeping that little secret. You’re up to something. And it doesn’t involve going back home.

(Regina goes to look in a chest on the counter, but Mr. Gold stops her. He magically produces the book.)

Mr. Gold: Careful, dearie. These are straight up spells. Rough in the system.

Regina: I don’t care if they turn me green. I’m getting my son back.

(She grabs the book from him and heads to the door.)

Mr. Gold: Oh my…

Regina: What?

Mr. Gold: It’s just, holding that… I told you once you didn’t look like her, but now… Now I can see it.

–[Fairy Tale World]–

(The Evil Queen attempts to summon Rumpelstiltskin in her chambers. She has difficulty pronouncing his name.)

Evil Queen: Rumpelshtil- Rumpelshtilshin, I summon thee.

(Rumpelstiltskin appears.)

Rumpelstiltskin: That’s not how you say it, dearie. But then, you didn’t have to say anything.

Evil Queen: What are you?

Rumpelstiltskin: What, what, what. My, my. What a rude question. I am not a ‘what’.

Evil Queen: I’m sorry. I… I don’t really know what I’m doing.

Rumpelstiltskin: That much is clear. Allow me to introduce myself – Rumpelstiltskin.

Evil Queen: And I’m-

Rumpelstiltskin: Regina. I know.

Evil Queen: You do?

Rumpelstiltskin: But of course.

Evil Queen: Because of my mother, Cora. You taught her?

Rumpelstiltskin: My legend precedes me.

Evil Queen: People say I look like her when she was younger.

Rumpelstiltskin: Really?

(He takes a closer look at her.)

Rumpelstiltskin: I don’t see it. No, that’s not how I know you.

Evil Queen: Oh? How then?

Rumpelstiltskin: I knew you long ago, dearie. It’s been some time, but I knew this day would come. I’ve been waiting for it. And I’m so happy, we’re back where we belong.

Evil Queen: And where’s that?

Rumpelstiltskin: Together.

–[Real World]–

(Regina is sitting under her apple tree, tightly grasping the book she received from Mr. Gold.)

———–

(At Mary Margaret’s apartment, David practices a speech in front of the mirror while Henry watches.)

David: People of Storybrooke. I know we’re trapped together again, and things look bleak. But… They’re not.

Henry: No, keep going. You were on to something.

David: No, I wasn’t. I did the fighting, Snow did the talking.

(David pulls the hat out of his bag.)

Henry: Can I see that?

David: Yeah.

Henry: I think I know what this is.

(Henry flips through the pages in his book until he finds the story about the Mad Hatter.)

Henry: It’s the Mad Hatter’s hat. It’s a portal between worlds.

David: The Mad Matter…

Henry: You’ve heard of him?

David: No. I-I mean, yeah. I mean, the prince me doesn’t know him, but David had memories of reading Alice in Wonderland in school. I need to get it to work again. Who is he? I-I mean, who is he here?

Henry: I don’t know. Maybe he’ll check in at the Crisis Center. You could check after the thing.

David: What thing?

Henry: The meeting? Where you tell us about your plan, remember? The speech you were doing?

David: Right. I’ll be back for that.

(David leaves while Henry tries to come with him.)

Henry: Gramps, you got to use me. Come on! The curse was broken cause of me. Let me help!

(He hears the door shut.)

Henry: Or…not.

———–

(Mr. Gold is packing a bag with several brochures and maps, when David barges in.)

Mr. Gold: It appears when I bought that closed sign, I was just throwing my money away.

David: Looks like it.

Mr. Gold: Sorry to hear about your wife and daughter. If you’re looking for a retrieval, I’m afraid portal jumping is just outside my purview.

David: Of course it is.

Mr. Gold: So, what’s the commotion outside?

David: Oh, a little stir at the border. Problem crossing the line.

Mr. Gold: Do tell.

David: Actually, I’m here to buy something. A way to find someone.

Mr. Gold: Well, like a map?

David: Something with a bit more kick. Like the ring you gave me to find Snow.

Mr. Gold: Ah, yeah, magic. Whom are you following?

David: Not telling.

Mr. Gold: So, do you have something of theirs, this missing person?

David: Yes.

Mr. Gold: May I see it?

David: No.

(Mr. Gold pulls a vial out of the box behind him.)

Mr. Gold: Pour this on the object, and then follow it. So simple, even David Nolan could do it.

(He holds it in front of him, but pulls away when David goes to take it.)

David: What do you want?

Mr. Gold: Peace. Leave me alone.

David: What do you care what David Nolan does?

Mr. Gold: Oh, no. It’s Charming I worry about. I’d like a little non-interference guarantee.

David: Fine. If, you give me the same. You and I – we stay out of each other’s way.

(He hands the potion over.)

Mr. Gold: Thank you for your business.

(David starts to leave, but Mr. Gold interrupts him.)

Mr. Gold: So, uh, what happens when you try and cross the border?

David: You lose your memory of everything of our old lives. Looks like we’re stuck here.

(David exits. Mr. Gold smashes two of his display cases with his cane.)

–[Fairy Tale World]–

(The Evil Queen and Rumpelstiltskin are still talking at the castle.)

Rumpelstiltskin: Oh, yes. I know everything about you, my dear. I held you in my arms. You were younger. More… Portable. There is much history between your family and me. History both in the past, and in the future.

Evil Queen: Then, can you help me?

Rumpelstiltskin: Possibly, yes. You seek power. The death of your enemies… The death of your friends?

Evil Queen: No! I don’t want to hurt anyone.

Rumpelstiltskin: Hard to believe you’re from the same family.

(He starts to stroke the sides of her face.)

Rumpelstiltskin: So… Kind. So… Gentle. So… Powerful. You could do so much, if you just let yourself.

Evil Queen: But, I don’t know how.

Rumpelstiltskin: Well, let me show you the way.

(A large, wrapped object appears.)

Evil Queen: How did-

Rumpelstiltskin: Magic. It can set you free.

Evil Queen: I don’t want to do that – use magic. That’s what she does. I don’t want to end up like her.

Rumpelstiltskin: No, no, of course not. But that’s the beauty of my gift. You don’t have to. ‘It’ will do it for you.

Evil Queen: What is it?

Rumpelstiltskin: A portal. A passage between lands. This is a portal to a specific, annoying little world. Use to me, but, for your purposes, a perfect. You’re unlikely ever to see her again. All she needs is a little push. The question is, can you do it?

–[Real World]–

(Regina is still sitting under her apple tree with the book. She opens it to a page depicting a tree. She gently blows across the pages, causing a black dust to lift from the pages. She inhales the dust, causing her eyes to faintly glow for a moment. The black rotten apples on the tree turn ripe once again.)

———–

(On the main street, David pours the potion on top of the hat. Nothing happens for a second, then the hat lifts up and flies through the air. David follows the hat to a flipped car, where there is a voice calling out from the inside. He pries open the door, revealing Jefferson.)

Jefferson: Ah, thank you. No one heard me.

David: You okay?

(Jefferson nods.)

David: Good. That means we can talk.

(David drags Jefferson out of the car.)

———–

(The entire town is gathered at the town hall for the meeting. Henry is attempting to call David, who still hasn’t arrived.)

Henry: Come on, Gramps. Pick up. Come on…

Ruby: Please, everyone. Just be patient. I’m sure he’s going to be here any second.

(Granny is wandering around with her crossbow.)

Ruby: Granny, do you really need that?

Granny: We’ve got a lawless town, Ruby. Damn right I need it.

Ruby: Try calling him again.

Henry: He’s not picking up.

Ruby: Just keep trying.

(Regina makes a grand entrance into the room and casually walks to the front.)

Regina: My, what a nice turnout. No need for a fuss. It’s just little old me.

Archie: Regina. Think about what you’re doing.

Regina: Bug.

(She magically throws Archie across the room.)

Leroy: Hey!

(She does the same to Leroy. Granny then fires an arrow at Regina, but Regina simply catches it.)

Regina: How sweet.

(She sets the arrow on f*re, transforming it into a fireball. She flings it into the crowd, ultimately catching part of the wall on f*re.)

Ruby: What do you want?

Henry: Me. She wants me. Okay, I’ll come with you. Just leave them alone.

Regina: That’s my boy.

(Regina puts her arm around Henry’s shoulder and leads him out.)

———–

(David and Jefferson are sitting at a table outside. The hat is in between them.)

David: Can you get me through?

Jefferson: No.

David: Can you get them back?

(Jefferson rolls his eyes.)

David: Can you get it to work?

Jefferson: If you only knew.

David: Okay. You had a little girl’s tea set in your car and a stuffed rabbit toy, so I’m thinking you have a daughter you love. Well, I do, too. And a wife. And they’re out there somewhere. In the Enchanted Forest, or a void, I don’t even know. But I’m going to get them back.

Jefferson: They’re in the Enchanted Forest, that’s for sure. I just can’t get there.

David: It still exists?

Jefferson: It exists. I don’t know if that matters, since we can’t go there.

David: So, you won’t help me?

Jefferson: I’m a portal jumper, and you destroyed my portal, so you’re out of luck.

(David grabs Jefferson by his shirt collar.)

David: Well, I’m the closest thing left to a sheriff here, so I can just throw you in a cell until you figure out a way.

Jefferson: Then all we’ll do is both sit. Stuck. Two lives in our heads, cursed worse than ever. Two lives, forever at odds. Double the pain, double the suffering.

(Jefferson suddenly bolts from the table and begins running down the main street. While chasing after him, David is stopped by Ruby.)

Ruby: David, stop!

David: Get out of my way!

Ruby: Regina has Henry.

David: But he has the way!

Ruby: She has Henry! She’s thr*at everyone.

David: She has Henry?

Ruby: She showed up at your town meeting – the one you missed. Her magic’s back. Everyone’s panicking. They want to leave town – they’re going to lose everything.

David: Okay. Okay, but I have to go after him first. He’s my only hope of finding a way to get Emma and Snow back.

Ruby: Back to what? This town is about to come apart. You’ve got to do something.

———–

(Regina and Henry arrive home. The first thing Henry does is run upstairs.)

Regina: Now, I don’t want you to think that things are just going to go back to how they used to be. Henry!

(In the his room, Henry pulls out a preprepared rope made of blankets and throws it out the window. He doesn’t get very far until Regina stops him with magical vines.)

Regina: Don’t fight it, honey. You’ll get a splinter.

(The two of them are sitting in Henry’s room.)

Henry: How long am I in prison? Till I grow up?

Regina: Henry, I rescued you because I love you.

Henry: So, I’m a prisoner because you love me. That’s not fair.

Regina: You know where I come from. That was really not fair. Of all the places I’ve seen, this is the fairest of them all.

Henry: You ruined lives. You sent away Mary Margaret and Emma.

Regina: That was an accident.

Henry: The way you treated me wasn’t an accident. You made it so no one believed me. You made me feel like I was crazy.

Regina: But that’s all going to change, now. Henry, you can know all the secrets. You can live in a house with magic. Look what I could do.

(Regina magically conjures a giant cupcake.)

Regina: And I can teach you. You can do this and so much more. You can have all the friends you want come over any time, and you can show them everything in your book.

Henry: No one’s going to want to come over here. They’re scared of you.

Regina: You can make them not be scared. You can make them love you.

Henry: I don’t want that. I don’t want to be you.

–[Fairy Tale World]–

(The Evil Queen is dressed for her wedding. Cora enters and sees Rumpelstiltskin’s ‘gift’.)

Cora: What’s this?

Evil Queen: I don’t know. A gift?

Cora: Maybe it’s a portrait.

(Cora magically removes the covering, revealing the portal, which is a looking glass.)

Cora: Oh, a looking glass. Not nearly as personal. I wonder, sometimes, if the people really love you.

Evil Queen: I’m doing my best, Mother.

Cora: Oh, honey. I’m sorry. Come here.

(The two of the them stand in front of the looking glass.)

Cora: Look at you with your whole life ahead of you. And it’s going to be better than you can imagine. The King’s not a strong man. The kingdom will be yours. Raise the tributes, form a personal guard, let everyone know where the new power lies, and you’ll hold the hearts of your people in your hands.

Evil Queen: Is that what you would do, Mother?

Cora: That’s exactly what I would do.

Evil Queen: Well, the thing is, I don’t want to be you.

(The Evil Queen lunges at Cora, but is stopped by her magic.)

Cora: What are you doing? You think it’s that easy to get rid of me? You’re stuck with me forever, darling. Because I’m your mother, and I know best.

(Rumpelstiltskin appears in the looking glass behind Cora, making a pushing gesture. The Evil Queen’s anger appears to build, and then is released as magic. Cora is thrown backwards through the portal, which then shatters.)

–[Real World]–

(The citizens of Storybrooke have all packed up their cars and are heading along the road leading to the border of the town. David and Ruby are in the car ahead of them. They stop, angling the car sideways in order to block the way. Everyone angrily gets out of their cars, while David and Ruby get out to confront them.)

Archie: Get out of the way! We have a right to go!

David: Listen to me! Listen!

(The mob goes quiet.)

David: If you cross that line, you’re going to be lost. Everyone who loves you will lose you. But there’s something worse – you’ll lose yourself. Look, I get wanting to leave here, I do. And I get that it’s easier to let go of bad memories, but… Even bad memories are part of us. David, Storybrooke David, was – is – weak, confused. And he hurt the woman I love. I wouldn’t give up being Charming just to be him, but, you know what? I wouldn’t make the other trade, either. Because that David reminds me, not only of who I lost, but of who I want to be. My weaknesses, and my strengths. David, and the Prince. I am both – just like you. You are both. The town is both. We are both. Stay here, and every choice is open to you. Live in the woods if you want. Hell, live in a shoe if you want. Or eat frozen burritos and write software. Let’s open Granny’s and the school. And get back to work. I will protect you. She won’t be able to hurt any of us. Not as long as I’m alive. Not as long as we all come together. As we did before. As we shall do again.

(Everyone is silent. Finally, everyone starts back to their cars.)

–[Fairy Tale World]–

(The Evil Queen is heading along the path leading from the castle on horseback. She encounters Rumpelstiltskin.)

Rumpelstiltskin: Leaving, are we?

Evil Queen: That was always the plan.

(The Evil Queen gets off her horse and hands him the spell book.)

Evil Queen: Here. A gift. I don’t want it.

Rumpelstiltskin: Uh, can’t be a gift. It was mine to start with.

(She turns to get back on her horse.)

Rumpelstiltskin: Before you go… Answer me this – how did it feel?

Evil Queen: I loved my mother.

Rumpelstiltskin: B-But that’s not what I asked, dearie. How did it feel to use magic?

Evil Queen: It doesn’t matter. I-I’ll never use it again.

Rumpelstiltskin: Why not?

Evil Queen: Because I loved it.

Rumpelstiltskin: You’ve discovered who you are. You could do so much now, if you let me show you how.

Evil Queen: Through magic?

Rumpelstiltskin: Through many things.

Evil Queen: And what do you get out of it?

Rumpelstiltskin: Someday, you’ll do something for me. Let me guide you.

Evil Queen: And I won’t become like her?

Rumpelstiltskin: That, dearie, is entirely up to you.

–[Real World]–

(David barges into Regina’s house, equipped with his sword.)

David: I want to see him.

(David brings the sword up to Regina’s neck.)

Regina: Henry, come down! You won’t be using your sword.

David: Whatever you conjure, I can fight.

Regina: I mean, you won’t need your sword.

(She gently pushes the blade away. Henry comes down the stairs.)

Regina: Henry, you’re going to go home with David.

Henry: Really?

Regina: Really. I shouldn’t have brought you here. I was… I don’t know how to love very well. I wasn’t capable of it for a very long time, but I know I remember… If you hold onto someone too hard, that doesn’t make them love you. I’m sorry I lied to you. And that I made you feel like I didn’t know who you are. But I want you to be here, because you want to be here. Not because I forced you, and not because of magic. I want to redeem myself. Go get your things.

(Henry runs back upstairs, leaving Regina and David alone.)

David: Then prove it.

Regina: How?

David: Answer one question – does it exist?

Regina: What?

David: The Enchanted Forest – our land. Does it still exist?

Regina: Yes. But I have no idea how to get back there. I can see I just launched you on a heroic quest. Just also make sure you take care of my son?

David: That, I can do.

(Henry returns with his things. The two of them leave the house.)

———–

(On the main street of Storybrooke, all of the businesses are reopening. The dwarves, armed with their pick axes, file out of a building. They cross paths with Mr. Clark.)

Mr. Clark: What do you need those for?

Leroy: Don’t worry, brother. You’ve lost something. It’s going to take fairy dust to get it back. So, we’re going to do what we do best. Come on, boys. It’s off to work we go.

(Elsewhere, in Granny’s Diner, Marco is sitting at a table having coffee. Henry and David enter. Henry whispers something in Marco’s ear. Marco arrives at August’s room at the inn, which he discovers unoccupied. He finds Pinocchio’s childhood hat on the desk. At the town border in the forest, Mr. Gold stands in front of the spray painted line. Meanwhile, Regina goes to burn the spell book, but hesitates. She ends up keeping the book and locking it in a cabinet.)

———–

(Henry and David are eating at the counter in Granny’s Diner.)

David: Hey. It exists, Henry. The Enchanted Forest is still out there.

Henry: And… So are they.

David: Yeah.

Henry: But, how do we know they survived the trip there?

David: Because I can feel it.

–[Present Fairy Tale World]–

(As they travel across the deserted Fairy Tale World, Mulan and Aurora have bound Emma and Mary Margaret’s wrists and are pulling them along behind their horses.)

MMB: What is this place?

Mulan: Our home.

(They arrive at an island, which is populated by the remaining Enchanted Forest inhabitants. They have set up a village-like encampment.)

Emma: It’s like they’re refuges.

Mulan: We’re survivors.

(Mary Margaret knees Aurora in the gut and makes a run for it.)

MMB: Emma, run!

(Emma follows, but Mary Margaret is struck down by Mulan and knocked unconscious. Emma tries to wake her.)

Emma: Mary Margaret! Mary Margaret! What did you do?!

Mulan: Take them to the pit.

(Emma and Mary Margaret are literally thrown in the dungeon by the guards.)

Emma: Be careful! Come on… Wake up. Can you hear me?

(A voice speaks, but the person is obscured by the shadows.)

Voice: Do you need help?

Emma: Who are you?

Voice: A friend.

(The person emerges from the shadows, and turns out to be Cora.)

Cora: My name’s Cora.

–[End]–
{"type": "series", "show": "Once Upon A Time", "episode": "02x02 - We are Both"}