Broken: The Second Book of the A Tale of Two Sisters Series

Making Plans

"These are all the places you saw it?" Tamara asked as Greg showed her a map of Storybrooke that he had marked up.

"Yeah. This town's lousy with magic. Now you should go. If Neal suspects anything, it's gonna make everything we have to do that much harder."

"Don't worry, he won't. Greg, have you had any luck . . . Finding him?"

"My dad? No. But he's here. I'm sure of it."

"We will find him."

"I know. But one thing at a time. Now, you were able to get the package here, right?"

"It's right outside town. Couldn't just drive in with it."

"And it's . . . It's stable?"

"Very. I'll bring the package in tonight. Be ready."

*  *  *  *  *

"Why are we in the middle of nowhere?" Serenity asked as she got out of David's truck in the middle of a field. "Why aren't you guys telling us what's going on? Why the secrecy?"

"Because you need to see it," Reagan said.

"Great. That always goes well for me," Emma said. "Listen, whatever it is, it can wait. August was trying to warn me about something—someone dangerous."

"Doesn't matter," David said.

"Why not?" Serenity asked.

"Because of this," Mary Margaret said with a smile, leading the way into the field.

They walked through a protection spell, finding multiple stalks of magic beans and the dwarves working.

Anton looked over and smiled when he saw the older Savior, "Emma."

"Hey," she said.

"Are you here to help? It's not quite harvest time yet."

"Beans," Serenity breathed before turning to the Charmings and Reagan. "You're growing magic beans. That's what you were up to when we were in New York? Why didn't you tell us?"

"We are telling you," Reagan said. "We kept it a secret to protect the crop. I cloaked the area. That way Anton can do what he does best."

"Actually, you haven't seen me playing darts," Anton said. "But, yeah, I do this pretty good."

"Uh, Anton, don't take this the wrong way, but w-Why-Why are you s—"

"Small?" he interrupted the blonde. "Cora. She and Regina brought some magic to make me human-sized. Kind of like it."

"Enough lollygagging!" Leroy said. "Back to it."

"Wow. Dwarves really like to work. It's great to see you, Emma," Anton said before getting back at it.

"You too," she said before turning to her parents. "You want to use the beans to make a portal, to go back to The Enchanted Forest. That's the real reason you didn't tell me. What about the ogres and destruction and danger?"

"We can fix all that," David said. "We did it before, we can do it again."

"We can start over, Emma," Mary Margaret said.

"So, you've changed your mind. You wanna go now, too."

"Not my mind. My heart. After what I did to Cora, I think restoring our land is the best way to mend it."

"It'll be good for all of us, the whole family. Henry, you, Reagan, and Serenity," David said.

Reagan took her sister's hands, "I will be Queen of Western, and I—"

"We're not bringing Mom?"

"I don't know, but I think it would be best if she wasn't Queen for a while. Look, I can restore Western back to how it was during your father's reign, and I can't think of a better confidante than you."

"Reagan, we're kids."

"Say that to Mary Queen of Scots," Reagan turned to Emma. "This will be best for all of us. We're from there. You're from there."

"No, this world is . . . My home."

"And it's been nothing but cruel to you. If we go back, I think you might be able to have your happy ending."

*  *  *  *  *

Reagan sat next to Emma reading Outlander on a bench at the harbor as the blonde was reading the storybook. The Saviors were sitting in silence, until the younger one's mother joined them.

"Reading up on Henry's father?" Regina asked, making them look up at her. "Or maybe his grandfather. How long did you think you could keep that from me?"

"Well, I was going to tell you," the blonde replied. "But I was kinda busy trying to stop you and your mother from killing me and my entire family."

"What is he doing here?"

"Neal? Relax. He just wants to spend a little time with his son."

"Funny. He didn't seem to want to spend time with him the first ten years of his life. But then again, neither did you."

"You know what, Regina? How about instead of worrying about everyone else, you start focusing on trying to be the best person your kids want you to be, before you lose them for good?"

"What does that mean?" Regina asked.

"Nothing," Emma replied. "Unlike you, the rest of the world isn't always scheming to get what they want."

"No. You're hiding something. Well, whatever it is, I can assure you of one thing. I'm going to find out," Regina said before walking away.

Once she knew her mother was out of earshot, Reagan sighed and put her head in her hands, "I have no idea what I'm going to do with her when we return home."

"Are you sure you really want all of this, Regs?" Emma asked. "I mean, you're only going to be sixteen next summer. That's awfully young for someone to rule over a kingdom, especially one that fell apart over thirty years ago."

"My mom became Queen when she was sixteen."

"Wasn't she Queen Consort or whatever?"

"Yeah," the teen sighed. "I don't know. I mean, I think I can do it. As soon as my mom became Queen Reigning, I was schooled on all things political, economical, domestic and foreign policies . . . But no one ever taught me what to do with my mother if I had to take her place before her death. I mean, I have my ideas of what to do wit her."

"And those are?"

"One, imprison her for a little bit until we know she's trustworthy, two, hand her over to your parents, or three, place her under house arrest in Western. I'm trying to figure out what's best. Me and Serenity are trying to figure out what's best."

"What does she think?"

"She's conflicted on a lot of things. When we go home she's more concerned about restoring her image and getting away from being The Evil Princess. I think she can. There's just a lot to figure out that we shouldn't have thrust upon us."

*  *  *  *  *

"Hey, beautiful," Greg said as he met Tamara at the town line. "We all good?"

"Better than good. Now should we unwrap the package?"

"You think he'll cooperate?"

"Wouldn't worry about that. From what I know of him, I don't think he'll need much convincing to help us."

"What makes you say that?"

"Because if there's one person you can always count on to do your dirty work . . ." She opened the trunk of her car. "It's a pirate."