The Return (Once Upon a Time sequel)

Chapter 60

°JADE°

A big groan left my lips as my legs pushed up into a standing position from my previous kneeling one. My eyes narrowed and my breath hitched in my throat as I pushed the big pole upwards.

"Hold it!" Regina's voice ordered, sounding loud above the groans of my fellow citizens.

"Alright, it's up." She added after a while.

While inhaling deeply, a smile found it's way to my lips as I stared at the construction of one of the last houses that needed to be fixed in town.

Luckily, the damage wasn't as big as you would've expected from a town that had previously been under attack by a shadow and it's army of nightmarish creatures. It was only the crater that needed more work, other than that, the rest of Storybrooke was as good as new.

"Unbelievable." I heard Charming speak up from behind me.

"What is?" I asked, looking at my young grandfather.

"This town. I mean, it's amazing how well we all worked together to fix this in just two days. It makes you forget some of these people are supposed to be enemies with others." Charming chuckled.

I nodded my head in agreement. The connection between Lost Boys and pirates, members of Storybrooke with others had gotten stronger. Even Peter and Hook got along quite nicely for the passed two days.

"I wish it was like this all year round." I said.

"Nah, that would be....unnatural. Of course it's nice, but I'd prefer the occassional commotion." Charming said.

"It's entertaining." He whispered as he looked down at me and I laughed in response.

"Come on, I'll buy you something to drink before I drop you off at home."

Charming and I walked over to Granny's Diner which was the closest to our location. We entered the diner, greeted Red and sat down in a booth before ordering.

"So, how does it feel to be back?" Charming spoke up once our coffee and milkshake had arrived.

"I haven't really had some time to adjust. Everything happened so fast that it's still a little hard to process, but I sure have missed this town." I laughed.

Charming nodded his head.

"It must've been a hectic year for you." He said.

I looked up at him in confusion.

"Year? I was gone for a little while. About two months or something." I replied, furrowing an eyebrow at my grandfather who bit his bottom lip.

"So no one explained the time tables between the two worlds to you?" Charming asked, but it came out more like a statement.

"What time table?" I was really confused.

What did Charming mean? I was only gone for two months, how could it have been a year?

"Look Jade, I'm assuming you know that there's no time in Neverland." Charming stopped for a second and looked at me expectantly.

I nodded my head, signaling that I was aware of that fact, urging him to continue.

"Well, you were gone for two months you say. And one week on Neverland equals one month in the real world." Charming explained.

"So one week is one month, two months is eight months in the real world. You were gone for almost a year." My eyes widened in shock at the news.

I was gone for eight months?  I missed almost an entire year at school? Away from my family and friends? Away from life in the real world? This was surreal!