Finding You Always

Ill-Boding Patterns

"I've never heard about this social worker," Leo said.

"Because I never told Mom and Dad about her. It was just too painful and I think part of me wanted to protect them from what I went through," she admitted.

"Em..." Leo started to chide.

"I know...I know they want to know everything. But honestly, I really thought she was part of my past and once I came here, I'd never see her again," Emma replied.

"What did she do?" Killian asked, with a protective edge in his voice.

"She...she almost destroyed my belief. She took the book and threw it away. I started to question everything and might have never gone to find Dad if I didn't wake up the next morning to find the book back under my pillow," she confessed. Leo smiled slightly.

"Like magic," he said. She nodded.

"Well...it stands to reason, since we know Merlin took measures to nurture your belief," Killian replied.

"Yeah...except that if she's coming here, she's going to see magic and what could Fiona want with her?" Emma wondered.

"Well, perhaps this woman already knows about magic," Killian suggested. She looked at him.

"You think she might be from there?" she asked. He shrugged.

"I'm not sure, but it might stand to reason. We know Merlin nurtured your belief. What if Fiona sent someone to destroy it?" he countered. Realization dawned in her eyes.

"So I'd never find my parents," she realized.

"And never come into the magic that can destroy her," Leo added, as they all exchanged looks.

"It would seem the Black Fairy seeks to destroy your belief again," Hyde chimed in. She shook her head.

"But that's not possible now. I mean, how could she? I found my parents...my home. I have two brothers and two sisters and a life here," Emma refuted. Leo's eyes widened.

"But you might forget all that if the Black Fairy succeeds in casting the curse again!" Leo realized.

"That's what she's doing," Killian said.

"We need to speak to Aphrodite and tell her what's going on," Emma said urgently, before turning to Hyde.

"I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt, because it's what my parents would do and not lock you up. Don't make me regret it," Emma told him, as they hurried out.

Nick and Angela rounded the bend and the "Entering Storybrooke" sign came into view.

"Storybrooke...you weren't kidding about the name," Yzma wheezed.

"Yeah, it should be named crazy town," Angela quipped, as they pulled off to the side of the road and the Black Fairy appeared just behind the town line. The dwarf detail on the town line had already been effectively knocked out by her. Honestly, Nick wasn't sure why they bothered with dwarf patrol at all. Yzma got out and approached her old friend.

"Well...you haven't aged a day," Yzma commented.

"Oh dear...yes and you certainly have seen better days," Fiona replied.

"There's a barrier, I assume?" Yzma asked, examining the town line.

"Yes, but not for long," Fiona said, as she produced a piece of silver crystal.

"Is...that what I think it is?" she asked with intrigue. Fiona smirked.

"It is, though I've only found three now and I need your help to find the rest," she replied, as the silver shard glowed and nullified the shield around town, allowing Yzma to cross the town line.

"Ah...how invigorating!" she exclaimed, as she felt the magic around her.

"I haven't felt this good in a very long time," she added, as she used magic to take a few years away. But it didn't help much though and only softened her wrinkles, making her slightly more bearable to look at. But Yzma, even when she looked young, had never been attractive. She had always been skeleton thin, with sunken eyes and cheeks, with overdone makeup. Her stringy once black hair was still gray and Fiona knew there was some things that not even magic could fix. And one of them was Yzma's unattractiveness.

"Still reminds me of a dinosaur," Nick muttered and Angela snorted in amusement.

"We held up our end of the bargain. Now you hold up yours. Let us go," Angela demanded.

"Oh right..." Fiona said, as the threatening bands on their wrists disappeared.

"What about our hearts?" Nick asked.

"What about them?" Fiona countered.

"We need our hearts!" Angela cried.

"Oh yes...well, I don't have them. The Queen had them and she's been turned into a snake. I guess you'll have to ask the heroes, though I would do so soon, because I doubt any of them are going to exist much longer," Fiona hissed, as she and Yzma disappeared in twin puffs of smoke. Nick threw up his arms.

"Great...just great!" he growled.

"Easy...we'll just go find Snow White and her family. They'll help us," she reasoned.

"Maybe they won't when they find out we worked against them!" Nick shouted.

"Relax! They're the good guys. That means they have to help us," she said, trying to convince herself just as much as she was trying to convince him. With that, they trekked over the town line and headed for town.