The Girl With a Rose on Her Forehead -Once Upon a Time Fanfiction-

Season 2: Episode 11: The Outsider

Everyone stood in the graveyard. The day was chilled with the autumn air as everyone gathered around the newest tombstone in the cemetery. "Some of us knew him as Archie, others as Jiminy. But we all knew him as a true friend." Mary Margret said standing beside the casket, everyone else in the group stood by the other side. A sea of black clothes, frowns, and tears as Mary spoke kind words about their lost friend. Pongo whimpered from where he was sitting beside Henry. "And though Archie is gone he will not be forgotten. He will live on inside of us...reminding us to be our best selves. To do the right thing and to fight for what we believe in." Mary quickly wiped a tear from her cheek, pausing as everyone let the words sink in before continuing. "So we should not think of this as goodbye, just as a way of saying...'Archie we'll be listening.' Always listening." David walked up and hugged Mary tightly as Geppetto walked up to the grave with Pongo. In his hands he held Archie's umbrella. His voice broke as he spoke. "I miss you so much my dear friend. You are at least...you are in a better place." Emma and Henry put a bundle of flowers from Azalea's shop onto the casket. A silent reminder to everyone that even though they were hurting, there wasn't a lot of time to stop and grief. They had to find their friend...before they were forced to grief more than one lost soul.

-Hook's Ship-

Azalea shouted from behind the binding around her mouth at the pirate as she pulled on the ropes holding her to the wall. Her body was weak from being stuck in the room, but she had enough energy to try and help Archie. Her wrists were covered in blood as was part of her face from Cora's attack. Azalea couldn't look away as the pirate ignored her shouting. "Wait! No please don't! Please!" Archie shouted as Hook grabbed his tie with his hook. "Hey shhhhh." The man said. "As your patient the Dark One must have all manner of secrets. Where is his Dagger?" Hook asked Archie. "I don't know anything about a dagger." Archie said shaking his head back and forth. It was brutally silent as the ships creaking from the water could be heard. "No. You don't, do you." Hook said, stepping away from Archie. Azalea took a deep breath as his hook left Archie's neck. "His Dagger is his biggest weakness. Now tell me, does he have any others?" He asked. Archie looked away from him, refusing to answer. "Very well then." The pirate said, walking over to Azalea. She gasped as he removed the binding from her mouth, and pulled the girl up by her hair. Azalea cried out in pain. "No!" Archie shouted as the pirate put his hook up to her neck. "I've removed your binding so that you can tell the cricket your last words...unless he tells me what I want to know." Hook threatened, Azalea could feel the cold metal of the hook digging into her skin. She closed my eyes tightly in fear as Archie shouted. "No! Wait! Wait please!" He said pulling at his own ropes now. "There we go..." The pirate said letting Azalea go, she fell back as he walked over to Archie. "D-dont hurt him!" She begged the pirate. "Oh I wont...not at long as he tells me what I want to know. Now tell me cricket, what is Rumpelstiltskin's weakness?" Azalea looked down at the floor of our cell as Archie told him about Belle. Azalea felt a chill run up her spine and coughed harshly. One cough turned into many and the teen struggled to breath. After her coughing fit she noticed how silent it was in the boat, she looked up through her blurry vision at the two men across from her. Archie looked at her with pity, while Hook looked amused. "Please, let her go...If she stays here she will get weaker and her magic will fade, she could die!" Archie said looking to Hook. The pirate only smirked. "Only better for me. The Dark One has had his eyes set on this girl for a loooong time. She is a key part of my revenge. She will die, but not until Rumpelstiltskin can watch me kill her myself. " Hook said with a smirk looking at her. Azalea felt tears gather in her eyes as Hook swung his fist at Archie's head, knocking him out. Hook left shortly after, but not before running the point of his hook over the girls neck.

-Mary's Apartment-

"Hey kid, you hungry?" Emma asked walking over to Henry as he sat on his bed. Emma was looking over video footage from the streets around Dr.Hoppers office the night that Regina attacked him and Azalea, hoping to find some clues...so far it hadn't been any help. Her eyes were starting to blur from looking at the screen, so she decided to take a break and check up on her son. "I managed to wrangle up a pop-tart." Emma said as a joke, holding out a pop-tart on a plate to him. "No thanks." Henry said, before looking out the window again. Emma put the plate on his bed, then walked back over to the living room where Mary and a few others from the funeral were hanging out. The group were all working on trying to find any clues to where Regina would have hidden Azalea. "Well that went well." Emma said with sarcasm as Mary put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Emma your doing all you can, we all are." She said. "That's what makes me feel awful." Emma admitted. "Ladies." Leroy said walking up to us. "The dwarfs have been thinking. We have to ask, when do we go back?" We looked at each other. "Back?" Emma asked. "To the Enchanted forest, our home." Leroy explained. "You want to go back?" Mary asked. "We fought really hard to get here." Emma said with confusion. "But what Regina did with Archie and Azalea-" Mary took a step forward. "We don't know if Azalea is dea- if she isn't here anymore." She said with anger, not even able to say the word dead. Leroy looked down. "Storybrooke isn't as safe as we though." He admitted. "We are going to find Azalea, as we have done before." Mary said. "But it's not just her. The curse is broken! There's a whole world of people beyond the town line that don't know who or what we are. Ever think of what might happen if one of them come and visit us?" Leroy asked very seriously. "He's right. What if they see magic? Like a girl turning into a wolf for example." Ruby said. "Folks weren't exactly understanding in our world. I would hate to see what they do to me here!" Emma stepped up. "Okay, let's not worry about what if's, no one is here." Emma said. "Yet. Maybe they come maybe they don't. That doesn't change the fact that we may enjoy thinks like medicine, but we're a bit homesick." Leroy admitted for the whole group. Everyone was silent as Mary and Emma looked to each other. David looked over at the vase of flowers on the table Azalea had given them only days ago. He noticed a few of the petals had fallen from the stems, and the flowers were drying up. "Guys." He said walking over to it. "What is it?" Mary asked walking up behind him. "It's the flowers Azalea gave us...their dying." He said, his voice cracking. "No," Henry said standing from the bed an running over beside Emma, looking at the flowers with dread. "What? What does that mean?" Emma asked looking around at everyone's devastated faces. "Azalea has powerful magic, any flowers that she grows live as long as she does." The blue fairy explained walking over to the vase. Emma looked at the petals laying on the table that had fallen from the flowers. A dreadful silence filled the room. Ruby hiding her sobs into her grandmothers shoulder. "That-that doesn't mean she's dead." David said looking around. "She-she isn't dead." He said tears forming in his eyes. Mary ran out of the apartment and he ran after her. Henry hugged Emma and she pulled him into her arms. Emma couldn't move her eyes from the dying flowers. First Archie, now Azalea. Maybe Leroy and everyone else had a point, maybe it was time to think about the safety of the townspeople. Because they clearly weren't safe here.