In Storybrooke, Mr. Gold strives to be the man Bae used to love--until Belle is kidnapped to Neverland. If he resumes his Dark One powers to save her, can he control them? In the Enchanted Forest, Emma battles ogres, zombies and her ex to get back h...
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Snow White (Mary-Margaret Blanchard): But I'm rescuing you. (An Apple as Red as Blood)
Charming spotted the half-full bag of popcorn at the foot of the lamppost before Henry did. His grandson had already attacked a 32-ounce cola, popped five balloons, and squashed a box of cinnamon bites. Charming could understand grousing about leaving the fair early, but making a mess to protest bedtime was unacceptable. "If you kick one more thing, I'm volunteering you to—"
Butter-soaked puffs flew into the air. With a perfect about-face, his grandson began marching backwards. "Saturday morning, I'm supposed to muck out the stable. You'll volunteer me to collect trash instead? A bunch of my classmates are coming. Please?"
Charming shook his head, crunching gravel underfoot as he headed toward the far end of the parking lot and Emma's Volkswagen. "Don't think you can't do both. You'll have time after I drop your broadsword lesson."
As Charming intended, Henry's mouth fell open. But instead of responding Yes, sir, his grandson launched himself running and threw his arms around his grandpa's middle. "No! You've got to teach me to fight. What if Cora finds out how to get to Storybrooke?"
Charming's mouth twisted. "Has Regina been trying to scare—"
"No. Mom was trying to make me feel safe." Charming's leather jacket muffled Henry's voice. "When I told her what Aurora said about Cora, she looked like she wanted to puke. She said Cora was supposed to be dead. Then she said, don't be afraid. She'd die for me." He craned his neck to look up at his grandpa. "That scared me."
Charming kept up a reassuring smile. If Regina feared her mother that much, then broadswords would be inadequate. But that was no surprise. With practitioners of dark magic, the best defenses were the time-honored ones: flatter their vanity, play one against the other, and stay out of their way until they hoisted themselves on their own petards.
Before Henry could question his silence, Charming swung him into the air. "You know everything happens for a reason. Well, I think that's why Snow and Emma got sent to the Enchanted Forest—to stop that wicked sorceress from reaching Storybrooke." And as soon as Rumplestiltskin makes that true love portal, I'm joining them.
When Charming set his grandson back on his feet, optimism glowed in his young eyes. "They're heroes. And Peter Pan and Mulan and Tinker Bell are there to help them."
"That's right. With so much good in one place, how can evil possibly triumph?" As Charming reached into his jeans pocket for Emma's keys, the first drops of rain fell on his face. "Come on. Let's race."
Together, they pounded down the gravelly, lamp-lit lane toward the yellow VW.
"And the Lost Boys," Charming added, his voice bouncing with each step. "They never die."
