𝙁𝙪𝙜𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙫𝙚 [𝙋𝙚𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙋𝙖𝙣]

③:⑧

Emma and The Beanstalk
Present day
Enchanted Forest  

Just then, Aurora begins to thrash and yell in her sleep. Snow rushes over to her as Mulan wakes up and quickly stands. I stay in place as I watch the scene take place.

"Hey. Aurora?" Snow wakes the crying girl up, "It was just a dream. It was just a dream."

Aurora continues to sob, "It was horrible."

"Why don't you tell me about it? Do you want to tell me about it?" Snow sweetly asks. Arora nods and Snow helps her to her feet, "Come on, let's stand. Tell me."

Aurora begins to explain her dream, but I block it out. I didn't want to listen to other people's problems at the moment. I had just accepted that I had fallen for Pan, and what's worse is that I admitted it to someone else.

Don't get me wrong, Snow is a great friend, but love was weakness. Luna Woods didn't have a weakness, she was ferocious and powerful. Brooklyn Smith, on the other hand, was just a sad orphan who was lost.

The curse may have been broken, but so was I. I was no longer Luna Woods nor Brooklyn Smith, but a mixture between the two.

Deep down I could feel the anger and power rising, but my subconscious never let it out. It would take something huge for the old Luna to return again, and I felt that it was just a matter of time. The uncontrollable darkness deep inside would eventually spill out and soil everything in its path.

I turned to look at Snow, who now had a sleeping Aurora on her lap.

I couldn't let the darkness out because I was no longer an orphan. I had family and friends to take care of. I had Henry to look after. I couldn't turn to the darkness because of him. He had already lost Regina.

Mulan walks behind me and stares down at the sundial. The stick's shadow had reached the last marking in the sand. I gave her a questioning look before she turned around and began walking to the base of the beanstalk. She pulled out her sword, causing Snow to freak out.

"Whoa, wait! What are you doing?" Snow says as she runs over to Mulan.

Mulan points her sword at Snow, causing me to walk over to Snow, "Just stay back. Emma gave me ten hours."

"No, no, no!" Snow yells.

"Mulan, I wouldn't do that if I were you," I warn as I rest my hand on the handle of my sword.

Aurora throws her hands up in the air, "What, you're just going to leave her to die?"

"Ten hours," Mulan repeats, "She may already be dead."

Before anyone else could say anything, Mulan drew back her sword and hit the beanstalk with a force. A strong wind almost knocked me down as I stared at the warrior in shock.

"No!" Snow yelled as she ran toward Mulan

"No, stop!" Aurora yelled at the two.

Once Snow got close enough to Mulan, she pounced on her and the two fell to the ground.

"This was your daughter's wish!" Mulan yells at her.

Snow looked like she was about to kill the girl, "I don't care what you say! You do not put my daughter in danger!"

I ran up to the two and grabbed onto Snow's shoulders, trying to pull her back.

"Stop!" I heard Emma's voice ring out.

We all turn around to see the blonde fall to the ground and brush herself off,

"Emma!" Snow said and ran up to her daughter, "You okay?"

Emma scoffed, "Two earthquakes and a jump from a beanstalk. I think my brain's still rattling around a little."

"I did what she ordered, nothing more than that," Mulan explained to Snow. She turned to Emma, "Did you get it?"

"Yep," Emma held out her hand to show us a golden compass.

I look around to see that we were missing someone, "Where's Hook?

"He's detained. Let's go. Get your stuff. We got ten hours before he follows us," Emma informs.

Mulan and Aurora walk off to gather their things as Snow and I stay with Emma.

Snow looks at her daughter in confusion, "What? How?"

"I got a friend looking after him till then," Emma mysteriously says.

The blonde begins to walk off but Snow stops her, "You told her to cut it down?"

Emma sighs, "Yes. I couldn't risk-"

"We go back together," Snow slightly raises her voice, "That is the only way. Do you understand?"

Emma nods and Snow brings her in for a bone crushing hug.

"Good," Snow says calmly, "Now, let's go get that dust from Cora."

Emma hums, "Yeah, and go home."

☾♥︎☽

By nightfall we settled down to make camp. I watched Aurora as she slept while the others talked about where Cora could be. It was a good hour until Aurora woke up screaming.

"Hey. I'm here," I rush over to her, "It's okay, it's okay. It was just another nightmare."

Snow, Emma, and Mulan walk up behind me to make sure everything is okay.

Aurora shook her head, "No, this time was different. There was a little boy. He... He put out the fire. He talked to me."

"A little boy?" Snow asked and Aurora nodded.

Emma kneeled down next to me, "What'd he say?"

"He said..." Aurora paused, "He said his name was Henry."

I backed away from the girl and turned to Emma. She stared back at me with a sorrow yet hopeful expression.