Tinker Bell led the way after they got Dream back to her feet. "I'm gonna ask Tink how close we are to Pan's compound. I don't wanna be surprised by any Lost Boys on patrol." David said, letting go of his wife's hand. "Good idea." Mary Margaret said as Emma caught up to her mother while David walked up to Dream, stopping before he got to Tinker Bell.
"Looks like you two buried the hatchet," Emma said to her mother, who was watching Dream and David talk.
"Buried? Uh... I don't know. We've at least put it away for now." Mary Margaret sighed, looking at her daughter. "So, you're really gonna stay here with him?" Emma asked, making her mother sigh. "The thought of leaving you, Emma; it kills me, but there's nothing we can do. If David leaves the island, he'll die." She sighed.
"So, you're just giving up? Family means being together. All of us."
"But there's no other way." Mary Margaret sighed when she looked at her daughter.
"Maybe this is just you rubbing off on me, but I don't believe that. There's always a way." Emma stopped when everyone else stopped, getting their weapons out. Dream smiled, seeing her mom and dad walk over. "Well, if this is your version of a rescue party, we got here just in time." Regina smiled as she walked over to Dream.
"What are you two doing here?" Mary Margaret asked them.
"The same as you. Except, we actually have a chance." Regina said, motioning to the box that Gold was holding. "Pandora's Box. It can trap Pan for eternity simply by opening the lid." Regina explained when Neal leaned over to Emma.
"You didn't tell me my father was with her," Neal whispered loud enough for the others to hear.
"I didn't know." Emma shrugged.
"Wait, your father is the Dark One?" Tinker Bell asked Neal.
"Yeah, mine and Dream's, and he's not going anywhere near Henry," Neal said, making Tinker Bell look at Regina.
"You had a child with the Dark One?" Tinker Bell asked as Regina sighed. "Not my finest decision." Regina sighed, looking at her daughter.
"Bae..." Gold said, interrupting the conversation.
"Why? What are you talking about?" Dream asked her older brother. "There's a prophecy that says that Henry will be his undoing. He didn't come here to protect him. He came here to kill him." Neal said as everyone looked at Gold, keeping their defenses up.
"That's why you didn't want to find Neal before you got Henry back? Because you knew he'd spill your secret." Regina scoffed, moving Dream behind her.
"Everything I did was to protect Henry. To rescue him from Pan." Gold said, looking at everyone.
"It all makes sense," Emma spoke up.
"You left before we even made shore." Dream said as she made her dad look at her. "You wanted to get to Henry first." Mary Margaret said, aiming her arrow at Gold.
"To be on his own," David added.
"So, no one could stop you." Hook said, holding his sword out. "That's not gonna happen. Not unless you go through all of us first." Emma continued when Gold looked at his daughter, who looked at him in disbelief.
"You're making a mistake." Gold said, looking at the others. "I don't care if the boy is destined to be my undoing. I won't hurt him." He continued to plead his case with the others.
"Because that sounds just like you." Regina scoffed at him, knowing him too well.
"Without me, you will fail. I'm the most powerful amongst us--"
"Not anymore," Neal spoke up, making Dream raise her brow. "She is." He said, pointing at his sister. "We can't trust you." He added, looking back to his father.
"If I could give you my dagger, I would. But I can't." Gold said, looking at his son. "But you can give me Pandora's Box. I don't have to trust you if I can stop you." Neal continued, making Gold sigh. "Son..." Gold sighed before giving up and handing Dream the box.
Dream looked at him before looking at the box. Gold hoped that Dream had less anger towards him than Neal did. Dream looked at Neal, who held his hand out, then she looked at her mother. Dream gave Neal the box, looking at her dad. "Look at me," Neal demanded. "If you so much as lift a finger to perform magic, you're gonna spend an eternity in this box." He continued as Gold sighed, looking between his kids, who didn't trust him.
"Let's go," Emma said as everyone started to walk off, but Gold stopped Neal and Dream.
"Look, you may think you know who you're up against, but you don't." Gold said as Neal looked at Dream, then back to their dad.
"Then tell us." Neal paused, "What really happened between you two?" He continued to ask him while Dream crossed her arms over her chest.
"Peter Pan destroyed my father." Gold sighed as Dream looked at Neal.
"Then we'll get him back. We will win, Dad." Dream smiled at him as Gold nodded, smiling at his daughter. She called him "dad," and that just made his day. At least he knew that she loved him still.
The group continued walking when Emma walked up to Hook. "We need to talk," Emma said as Dream scoffed to herself when she watched them in front of her. "I've found when a woman says that, I'm rarely in for a pleasant conversation." Hook sighed when Neal watched his sister watch the two.
"There has to be a way for David to leave the island."
"Well, there isn't." Hook sighed, looking at Emma. "He told me about your brother, what happened. I know it can't be easy to talk about--" Emma kept trying to say when Hook cut her off. "Then let's not, shall we? The water that cured David from Dreamshade connected him to the island. If he leaves, the connection is broken, and the poison will kill him." Hook explained to Emma.
"What if we take some of the water with us?" Emma asked him. "That way, he stays connected. He can stay alive in Storybrooke." She continued.
Hook stopped, making her look at him. "For how long? Once the water runs out, the Dreamshade will take his life." Hook said to Emma when Dream, Gold, and Neal looked at the two. "Unless there was another cure." Gold spoke up, making Emma look at them. "You're suddenly interested in what I have to say? Thought I wasn't to be trusted." Gold said as they looked at him.
"You're not. But I'll take my chances." Emma scoffed as Gold walked in between Emma and Hook.
"Well, if you remember, I, too, was poisoned with Dreamshade by a cowardly pirate, and yet..." Gold said, motioning to Hook, who smiled, remembering the day. "Yes, and we know how you cured yourself. With a candle that takes another person's life." Dream spoke up, looking at her dad.
"David is not that selfish," Emma added.
"Oh, how noble. The point is, after my near-death experience, I discovered much about the poison. I believe I could create an elixir back in my shop... Fortunately, the water that gave your rose life is part of the elixir." Gold explained, looking at Dream. "You still have that?" Dream asked, furrowing her brows. "Yes, well, your mother kept it as a sentimental piece since your life was tethered to the rose." Gold continued to explain when Hook looked between them.
"That's what was written on the walls." Hook said, making the others look confused. "The waterfall with the water. There was something sketched on the rock walls." Hook continued to say, looking at Dream.
"What did it say, Hook?" Neal asked when Hook tried to recall what he had read.
"Slowly fall to the tray; the more it grows..." Hook went to say it until Dream started to say it too. "The more thorns come out to play... Dream, dream, dream... The light of the glow will gleam. Yeah, I know it. It was on parchment in your cell." Dream said, turning to her father.
"Seeing the future is our burden, dearie." Gold said to his daughter.
"But there was more on the rock wall... Dream, dream, dream... Soon there will be none to redeem." Hook added, making Dream look at him.
"Did you know that part?" Dream asked, looking back at her father.
"Afraid not. It's a riddle, dearie. One that had no meaning besides the fact that you were born from a rose. That's all it is. A riddle." Gold said, when Emma wanted to get back to the subject at hand. "What's your price? For the elixir." Emma asked Gold, getting the five of them back to the main reason why this conversation started. "Well, this is quite the favor. I'd expect one of equal weight in return." Gold said, bargaining a deal.
"No." Dream spoke up, making her dad stop. "When we get back to Storybrooke, you're gonna save David because it's the right thing to do." Dream said, walking over to her dad.
"I agree with Dream. No deals. No favors. Understand?" Neal asked, making Gold look between his kids.
"Fine. I'll do as you ask. For my little girl." Gold said as Dream smiled, looking over at Emma and Hook. Neal looked between his sister and father, but he knew that Gold wanted his children to love him as he loved them. Maybe restarting with Dream was he way of getting that.
"I'll go tell David." Emma smiled, not believing her ears.
The others started to meet the others when Tinker Bell and David came back to them. "We're here. Pan's perimeter." Tinker Bell said as Mary Margaret and Regina joined them. "It's time. Tink will sneak us in the back like we planned. We grab Henry. In and out. Simple. You good with Pan patrol?" Emma asked Neal.
"Locked and loaded," Neal said, patting his bag that had the coconut and Pandora's Box.
"You mind if I, uh, borrow this?" Gold said, taking Hook's sword. "You said no magic. I agreed. But I'm not walking in there with nothing but my good looks." Gold said as he started to walk over to the path.
"Now, I, on the other hand--"
"Here." Dream said, taking her sword out and handing it to him. "In case your good looks fail you." Dream said, patting his chest, still upset with him over kissing Emma.
"Thanks, love." Hook said as she walked over to her mom.
"I'll say it again... Sometimes, you can really tell you're Regina's daughter." David chuckled, making Regina smile at her daughter. "Let's get Henry." Dream smiled at them, holding her mother's hand.
The group hid in the trees and the bushes as they watched the Lost Boys. Dream couldn't see Pan or Henry, so she got nervous. "Can I at least use magic on these boys?" Gold asked as he stood next to Dream. "No," Neal said, standing beside Regina.
"I'll do it," Regina said, standing in between Neal and Dream.
"You remember the spell?" Gold asked Regina, causing Regina to just look at him. She looked back at the boys, waving her hand as all of the boys fell to the ground, unconscious. The group walked out of hiding, looking at the boys.
"Where's Pan?" Neal asked, not seeing Pan.
"I don't know." Emma sighed, looking at Dream.
"Henry?" Dream asked as the others looked around.
"He's gotta be somewhere," David said, looking at Emma.
"Where?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Help!"
Dream quickly turned when she heard a little girl's voice. She ran towards the sound when she saw a little girl in a cage. Emma followed her, stopping when she saw Dream bend down to the cage. "You're an... An adult." The little girl said to Dream. "Hi... My name's Dream. I'm looking for my baby brother." Dream said when Neal ran over, but Emma stopped him.
"Wendy?" Neal asked, noticing the girl.
"Do I know you?" 'Wendy' asked Neal as Gold walked over.
"It's Baelfire." Neal smiled at her.
"You two know each other?" Emma asked him.
"Bae?" Wendy smiled when Neal bent down beside Dream, looking at Wendy. "Yeah. Yeah, we do." Neal answered Emma.
"Can it really be you?" Wendy asked him while Neal grabbed a rock, breaking the lock on the cage. He broke the lock, letting Wendy out when she hugged him. "I thought I'd never see you again." She said, hugging him as Emma helped Dream stand.
"What are you... What are you doing here?" Neal asked, pulling out of the hug.
"Well, I came back to save you," Wendy explained, making Neal look at her in disbelief.
"You did that for me?" He asked her.
"Well, I couldn't bear for you to be without a family. Not after you told us that your mother and father were both dead." Wendy continued, making Emma and Dream exchange a look. "You told her I was dead?" Gold asked, making Wendy and Neal look at him. "It's easier than telling the truth. My own father abandoned me. And ended up having another kid." Neal shrugged, making Gold sigh as he looked to the ground.
~season 3, episode 8: "Think Lovely Thoughts"~
~2169 words~