We Can Love Again

The Hollow

The man that stood before them wasn't at all what either of them had expected. This man seemed so old and frail; Neal wondered how on earth he was still alive. Nevertheless, Merlin was said to be the smartest magician that remained in the Enchanted Forest, so both Robin and Neal decided to give him a shot. Neal wanted a way to get to Neverland as fast as possible- having an angry father as a traveling companion wasn't fun to the slightest.

"Is there any way to create a portal to another realm?" Robin asked, haste in his voice.

The man, Merlin, gave him a small smile, trying to convey at least some hope in the situation.

"There is a way, yes, but it is... Difficult." He said, sounding extremely frail as he spoke.

"My little boy is out there. I'll do anything to get him back." Robin impatiently said, "just tell us what we need to do."

"There's a rare talisman that can be used to generate enough power for a portal." He explained, "lucky for you, I happen to have one with me."

Neal narrowed his eyes. "What's your price?"
Merlin let out a small chuckle. "I would expect nothing less from the son of Rumplestiltskin."

"How did you know?" He asked, surprised he had guessed it so quickly.

"You look like him, that's why." Merlin said matter of factly, "and I can't think of one other person in this realm that would want to go to Neverland. It's an awful place,"

Neal sighed. "So it's that easy then- just a talisman and boom, a portal?"

"When a talisman is used, it creates a channel between both realms. Sometimes they don't always work... I don't know how strong the magic is of the people in Neverland." He said, disheartedly. "I'm sorry, that's the only advice I can give you."

"It's okay, thank you so much for the help." Robin let out a small smile towards the older man.

With a poof of purple magic, a small, circular object appearing in the palm of his hand.

"I really do hope you get your son back," Merlin said as he handed Robin the object. "You might end up getting more than you bargained for on this journey of yours."
Robin was confused at his statement, but he simply nodded another thank you and started off towards the door with Neal at his side.

"Are you prepared for all of this?" Neal asked anxiously, "Neverland isn't exactly a place you look forward to visiting."

Robin didn't bother shifting his eyes as he spoke. "My son means more to me than anything else in the world. If saving him means going through hell and back, so be it."

"Do we have to leave right now?"

With a wave of her hand, the whole camp cleared away as if it hadn't been there at all.

"Saving Henry is pretty important, remember?" Regina answered, taking one final look around before turning towards the others.

"I can use a tracking spell to find the tree hollow," she told them, "shouldn't be that much of a journey considering it only took him a couple hours to get here."

"But he was running," Snow objected, "we're not sprinting all the way there are we?"

Regina gave her a look with her brown eyes. "Not unless you want to."
Roland stamped his foot against the ground impatiently. "I want to meet Henry!"

"Okay kid, we're going," Emma smirked, following Hook towards the direction of the glowing yellow footprints that emitted off the jungle floor, heading due west.

Regina looked down at the boy. "Do you think you can walk or will I have to carry you the whole way there?"

Roland responded by looking up at her with his huge brown eyes, his mouth forming a pout; he knew it worked every time with his daddy.