Once Upon a Dream:

Page 86: Practicing Magic:

Dream returned back to camp, wiping her tears when Regina was the only one to notice it. 

"I'm gonna kill him," Regina said, walking over to her daughter and pulling her to the side. "Pan. What did he threaten this time?" Regina asked, holding up Dream's face while she wiped the girl's cheek.

"It wasn't Pan. I haven't seen him since the fight with the Lost Boys." Dream said, sniffling as she used her sleeve to wipe her nose.

"Then who?" Regina asked when Dream sighed, looking down when Regina sighed to herself. "The pirate." She scoffed when Dream sighed to herself.

"I'm fine, Mom... I don't care." Dream muttered when she went to sit on a rock behind them.

"Those tears say otherwise, Dream. Tell me what happened. I promise to kill him slowly, depending on what you tell me." Regina said, sitting next to Dream when Dream let out a chuckle. "I'm serious, sweetie... Before the curse was broken and Emma came to town, you could tell me anything. And now... I feel like our bond is gone." Regina sighed when Dream and Regina looked at each other.

"Hook kissed Emma. Right when he got back with David... And when I went to look for him, and I kissed him... I saw it, and he didn't tell me." Dream confessed when Regina sighed, moving to hold Dream's hand.

"I hate to be like this, but Dream... He's a pirate. And it may be a good thing... Your father does hate him, and vice versa." Regina said, trying to comfort her daughter. 

"Yeah, you're right..." Dream sighed, looking down when she did not want to tell her mother the truth. 

She was in love with Hook, and she had been since they climbed down the beanstalk. She thought she saw a new side to him.

A little bit later, Regina focused on training Dream and Emma to use their magic. Emma had typical magic like Regina, but Dream's magic was different. She needed to learn to control it before it could control her.

"Focus," Regina said, trying to teach Emma how to use her magic while Dream was lying down, trying to use her power to see Henry. 

She shook Hook away from her thoughts, but her heart was still broken from learning what he and Emma were going to hide from the others. 

"Concentrate." Regina scoffed, getting up from her seat beside her daughter.

"It's kind of hard when you're talking in my ear." Emma scoffed while her parents sat across from them, watching.

"And when the wind blows, or it's raining, or someone's shooting arrows at you. Yes, concentration's hard. That's the point. Find your anger and use it to focus." Regina said, making Dream stop to look up at her while Emma was getting frustrated at her. 

"No. There has to be a way without going dark." Emma fought, making Regina scoff at her. 

"You're such a pathetic waste of ability." Regina scoffed, walking back over to her daughter.

"Mom..." Dream said, making Regina sigh. She knew that Regina was also taking out her anger on Emma because of her and Hook hurting Dream.

"And you're a monster." Emma scoffed, making Regina turn around.

"Smell that?" Regina asked her.

"What?" Emma asked as David, Mary Margaret, and Dream realized the campfire was lit now.

"Smoke," Regina smirked, pointing at the fire, before sitting down next to her daughter.

"This is a bad idea." David sighed quietly to his wife. 

"She has it in her. She should learn to use it. We just have to trust her." Mary Margaret said, watching Emma. 

"Yeah. It's not Emma I don't trust." David sighed as Hook walked back over to the group.

"She's perfect with her daughter. I don't think we have to worry about Regina." Mary Margaret said, making David look at her.

"We need to talk." Hook whispered to David and Mary Margaret. The two looked at him as he knelt down. "Pan paid me a visit." Hook said, making the two of them look at him with widened eyes. "He told me that Neal is alive. That he's on this very island." Hook continued to whisper to the Charmings.

"No, Emma saw him. He was shot. Dream couldn't see him. He fell through a portal. No one can survive that." Mary Margaret whispered.

"Well, he did. And now he's here. He said he took him from this very camp while we were off in his cave." Hook continued, glancing over at Dream.

"According to Pan. If he's telling the truth." Mary Margaret sighed.

"Why would he tell you? What does he hope to gain?" David asked Hook. 

"Who knows why he does anything? He has his reasons, but it's a sure bet they're not good ones." Hook continued to whisper, looking back at the married couple, while Mary Margaret looked around.

"He's telling the truth." Mary Margaret said, standing up as she looked behind them. 

David and Hook followed her over to a tree. There was a broken branch and tracks in the dirt. 

"The tracks. And a scuffle. Someone was here while we were gone. We have to tell her and Dream." Mary Margaret said, but she was stopped by David.

"No, no, no. They've already lost Neal once, and if this is a game, we can't put them through losing him again." David said to his wife.

"He's right." Hook sighed, agreeing with David. "Either way, telling them is what Pan wants. Which is why we shouldn't do it." Hook said, making Mary Margaret sigh.

"You want to find him without letting them know?" Mary Margaret asked, looking at the two of them.

"Why hurt them unnecessarily?" Hook asked the princess.

"I've never lied to them before." Mary Margaret said, not realizing what she had said. "I mean, her... I've never lied to her before." She stuttered. Mary Margaret sighed. 

Emma was her only daughter, and she missed watching her grow up. But Dream was like a daughter to her. Mary Margaret was there as Dream's teacher, but she was there watching Dream grow up. So, naturally, she saw Dream as another daughter.

"You're not lying. You're just keeping a secret until confirmation." Hook said to Mary Margaret, making her sigh.

"Secrets always seem to keep us from the people we really care about." She sighed, looking over at Regina. 

"And sometimes secrets protect the people we love." David sighed, making his wife look at him before she looked over at Emma and Dream.

~season 3, episode 6: "Ariel"~

~1075 words~