The Mischievous of Them All {OUAT/Henry Mills} [1]

Child of the Moon

We were walking through the mines with flashlights when Happy came up to us. Apparently, Leroy got stuck in a hole and found something, so they called us here.

"Where is he?" David asked. Happy guided us to where Leroy fell through the wall. Below, we see Leroy and several of the other dwarves, along with hundreds of diamonds lining the walls and ceiling of the mine. They're so shiny.

"Are those..." Henry said, speechless. We came down the hole and looked up at the diamonds.

"Diamonds. They're back. The magic brought them back." Blue said, smiling.

"You mean, the kind that become fairy dust?" Henry asked her.

"Indeed. We just need to refine them – grind them up. Do you still have what remains of Jefferson's hat?" Blue asked David. David took off his bag and reached into it taking out Jefferson's hat and giving it to her. "You lock this up. Keep it safe. Because, by this time tomorrow, we'll have enough magic dust to make it work again."

"So, Mary Margaret and Emma..." I trailed off, smiling.

"That's right, kids. We're bringing 'em home." David said, looking down at the two of us.

———–

Everybody was at Granny's Diner and they were all cheering and toasting to the dwarves. I had gotten a coffee to keep me up the night. After I had gotten the coffee and taking a sip of it, I remembered I didn't like coffee. Guess I'm gonna have to suffer the bad taste. Henry was sitting beside of me, reading the book and David walked over to us.

"Is that coffee?" David asked me.

I grimaced at the bitter taste, "No."

David took off his jacket and sat down on the other side of us, "Trying to stay up, huh?" I nodded. "Still worried about those nightmares?" I nodded again and I felt Henry grab my hand from under the table. I looked at my hand to see it was shaking, I have never felt this scared in my life. "Well, don't be. Cause, when you go to sleep tonight, I'm going to be right in the next room. Now maybe, lose the java, and go grab a cocoa."

I threw my hands up, "Finally! I don't like coffee at all." I said as Henry and I go and get a cocoa.

–[Nightmare]–

I open my eyes because I felt heat on them, I look around and I see that I'm in the room again. I stand up quickly and try to shoo away the flames with no result. I look around the room urgently, wanting somebody, anybody, to help me.

"Help! Help! Anybody!" I yelled. Suddenly, somebody appeared across the room. I look over at them and shouted, "Hey! Hey! Who are you? Where are we?"

–[Storybrooke]–

"Aria, wake up." I heard somebody say. I shot up and I breathed heavily, I saw Regina in front of me and Henry beside of her, "It's okay. It's okay. You're okay."

"Wh-what are you doing here? Where's David?" I said, shifting around.

"He got an emergency call this morning, and he asked me to look after you and Henry. He told me you've been having nightmares. It's okay. You can-" She reached out and touched my hand causing me to jerk away in pain. 

"Aria, what's wrong?" Henry asked me. Regina grabbed my hand and saw it had a burn on the side of it.

"Is that a burn?" Regina asked.

———–

Regina had called Mr. Gold and he is over at the apartment and Regina told me to show him my hand. Regina looked at the man with a hard expression while he looked at my hand.

"Oh, yes. You were quite right to call me." Mr. Gold said and I put my hand down.

"It was just a dream." I said to him.

"Well, what you're describing's certainly not a dream." Mr. Gold said. There was a moment of silence.

"Then, what was it?" Regina asked.

"A side effect. You know, it's remarkable you'd cast a curse you know so little about." Mr. Gold taunted.

"My victims are not supposed to wake up. That's why I certainly never cared what happened to them after. ...Until now." Regina said, looking down at me. Mr. Gold reached into the kit of potions he brought along with him and he began to prepare a potion. He carefully dripped the various liquids into a pendant attached to a chain.

"When people fall under a sleeping curse, the soul travels to a Netherworld, where it resides until awoken. Now, this world is between life and death, and it's very real. However, even when the curse is broken, sometimes, in sleep, the victims find their way back to that world. Victims like you." Mr. Gold said, pointing at me as I walked in front of him.

Regina walked over to us, "This other world is tormenting my son's friend, someone I consider my own daughter, every time she sleeps. I want you to give her something that will keep her from going there." She thinks of me as her daughter? I would be lying if I said I didn't tear up a little.

"Well, I'm afraid that's not possible. I can, however, provide you with something that will allow her to control her actions whilst in that world. And once one controls something, one no longer need fear it." Mr. Gold held up the finished product – a necklace.

"A necklace? What's a necklace gonna do?" I asked him, confused.

"You wear this while you're sleeping. Once you control the journey, fear will stop. And then, you can come and go as you please." Mr. Gold extended the necklace to me and I reach out for it hesitantly, but Regina stopped me from taking it.

"Everything comes at a price with you. What do you want for this?" Regina asked.

"For a house call? You couldn't afford it. But this is for Aria. This one's on me." Mr. Gold said, handing me the necklace. I grabbed it and looked at it in my hands.

-[Nightmare]-

I open my eyes to see I'm in the same room again. The flames raging on, but this time I wasn't scared. I guess the necklace really does work. I stood up and some of the flames reach out for me and I saw the person from before. I close my eyes and opened them again to see the flames were not as bad anymore.

"Wait. Don't be scared. Everything is going to be fine. My name is Aria." I said to the woman. Then, she somehow disappeared from the room.

–[End]–