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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
STORYBROOKE
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TERESA LANDED HARSHLY ON THE GROUND AND ROLLED SEVERAL TIMES BEFORE COMING TO A STOP. She groaned and turned onto her back; her eyes found the sky. She tore her eyes away from the sky to get a look at her surroundings. She found herself in the woods, and hoped that the magic bean had worked and it was the correct woods she had been meaning to go to.
She stood up and brushed the dirt off of her clothing. After fixing the strap of her bag that was over her body, she began walking through the woods, hoping to soon find a road.
A smile pulled onto her lips as she indeed found a road. But not just any road; a road with a yellow stripe down the middle, meaning she was indeed in Storybrooke. The magic bean had worked.
She began walking down the road, and it was no much later that she found herself in the town. She wore a smile as she walked down the sidewalk, and soon she heard a voice.
"Teresa?" She turned around and found non other than Regina Mills herself. The former Evil Queen was staring at her with wide, shock-filled eyes. "How the hell are you here? Aren't you supposed to be in Arendelle?"
"What a greeting," Teresa replied. "As you must know, I have finished my magic training with Elsa and have returned."
"Well, I suppose a welcome back is in order then..."
"Indeed."
"Nice to see you, Holmes." Regina offered the archer a small smile before moving back down the sidewalk to continue what she had been doing.
"Any idea where I can find Snow?!" she called after the former Evil Queen.
Regina turned on her heel to face Teresa once more as she replied to her question. "She's teaching at the school, though school should be out soon. I suggest heading to the station, I can only assume that's where you'll find the rest of the Charmings."
Teresa thanked her before making her way toward the sheriff's station. After entering the building, Teresa could hear voices inside. She made her way down the hall and turn ed the corner to find Emma and David eating together at one of the desks, their backs facing her.
She smirked and sneakily made her way over to them. When she was standing a few feet behind them, she crossed her arms over her chest and spoke a greeting, "How rude of you to not get anything for me."
Emma and David whipped around and their eyes widened at the sight of Teresa Holmes, who stood wearing a smirk with her arms crossed over her chest.
"Teresa?"
"Miss me?"
Emma was the first one to hug her. "It's good to see you and all, but how exactly did you get here?"
"To save myself from having to re-tell this story multiple times to all of you, I'd rather just wait until you're all together."
"Understandable."
"So," Teresa said, plopping down onto one of the empty chairs. "What have I missed? Anymore chaos?"
Emma shook her head, a slight laugh escaping past her lips. "No, everything's been quiet, thankfully."
"Are you hungry? How long have you been back in Storybrooke?" David asked.
"Starving," Teresa replied. "And only an hour or so."
"Here," Emma slid her burger across the table. "Eat up, kid." Teresa gave her a look, but before she could say what she usually said when Emma called her that, Emma smirked. "Don't call you kid, I know."
"And yet you keep calling me it," Teresa said with her own smirk. She then hungrily took the burger and began to eat. "Thanks for the ummm..."
"Hamburger."
"Right, yes. Thank you for the hamburger."
"You're welcome," Emma replied. "When was the last time you ate anyway?"
"A couple hours ago, at breakfast."
"Well if you're still hungry we can go to Granny's," David said.
"I should be fine, really. So when does this school end so I can see Snow?" Teresa asked, her mouth full of the hamburger she was eating.
David's eyebrows furrowed. "How'd you know Snow was at the school?"
"I ran into Regina. I asked where I could find Snow and she said she was teaching at the school, so she told me to come here, where and I quote, she assumed I'll find the rest of the Charmings."
Emma and David shook their heads, a slight smile on their lips at the name Regina has given their family.
"School shouldn't be much longer, maybe another hour or so," David replied.
"Well then, it looks like you two get to hang out with me. Unless you've got better things to do?"
"I actually do have to make my run around town, make sure everyone's calm and no chaos is being caused," Emma said.
"That's fine," Teresa replied. She rose from her chair and tossed her dirty napkin into the nearby trash bin. "I'll just head to the apartment."
"Alright, we'll be there soon," Emma replied. "With Snow and I think I've got Henry tonight, so him as well."
➳
It wasn't long before the door to the apartment opened. In walked Snow, who was carrying baby Neal, David and Henry. Emma, Teresa assumed, was mostly likely still working.
From where she sat on the sofa, Teresa slammed her novel shut. Snow and Henry jumped in fright and whipped around to investigate the noise. Their eyes landed on Teresa, which then caused them to widen in shock. Teresa gave them a smile and little wave, "Hi."
"Teri!" Excitedly, Snow passed her son off to her husband before moving across the room. Teresa jumped up from the sofa and met her halfway in a hug.
As they pulled apart, Snow was ecstatic and began rambling off a thousand questions. "I missed you so much! How long have you been here? How did you get here? How are Elsa and Anna? Did you enjoy Arendelle?"
"Woah," Teresa laughed. "Slow down! First off, it's good to see you too."
"Sorry," Snow apologized. "I'm just so happy to see you. I honestly didn't expect you back so soon. When you left I thought it would be for longer than a month. Why did you come back so early?"
Teresa shrugged. "I finished training with Elsa and missed the town to much, I suppose. Don't get me wrong though, Arendelle was loads of fun. It must wasn't the same without you and Ruby."
Snow frowned at the mention of Ruby. "About that..."
"What?" Teresa then tensed up in worry. "Did something happen to Ruby?"
"She left town. Apparently she's had a magic bean kept from the when we were growing them here -- "
"You were growing magic beans in Storybrooke?"
"A long time ago," Snow replied. "But Ruby had the last one. She used it to go back to home to the Enchanted Forest. She felt out of place here in Storybrooke."
Teresa frowned. "Oh...well as long as she's happy. How long ago did she leave?"
"About two weeks now," Snow replied. Baby Neal then began to cry. Snow sighed and glanced over at her son. "He's hungry..."
"Go feed your baby, Snow," Teresa said, noticing her hesitance. Snow walked away from her and to David to retrieve her crying son. This left Teresa with Henry, who gave her a large smile.
Teresa returned his large smile with one of her own, and took a couple steps forward to hug him.
➳
Around the dinner table in the apartment was Teresa, Henry, Emma, Hook, Snow and David; baby Neal was nearby in his bassinet.
"So, how exactly did you get back to Storybrooke?" Hook asked.
"Anna, Kristoff and myself traveled on a ship to the Enchanted Forest, where we then went to the Dark One's castle."
"What?" Snow's eyes widened. "Why would you go there?"
"When I woke up in the hospital here in Storybrooke, I remembered Emma saying that she used a wand to create a portal, so we went looking for it."
"And you found it," Hook assumed.
"Nope." Teresa stood from the table and walked over to where her bag was resting on the sofa. She rummaged through it and soon found the black pouch. She then walked back over to the table and opened the bag, allowing the remaining magic beans to fall into the center of the table. "Even better, I used one of these."
Snow gasped. "A magic bean?"
"You found these in the Gold's castle?" Emma asked.
Teresa nodded. "Yep, and I used one to travel here. I landed in the forest, and for a moment I actually thought it hadn't worked. But when I found the road, I knew I had arrived back in Storybrooke."
"Well, I'm happy you're here," Snow told her with a smile. "How did the training go? Are you able to control your powers now?"
Without answering her question, Teresa lifted her palms. She felt a wave of coldness in her veins as she used her magic to conjure a snowflake in her palm.
Henry, who was sitting beside her, grinned. "That's so cool."
Teresa lowered her palms and then frowned. "Though I will admit, I do sometimes spiral out of control, mainly only when having a nightmare. Which I've been having some nights ever since -- " Teresa paused, her eyes lowering to her plate of food. "Since my mom died."
The room was silent, non of them knowing what to say.
"So I apologize in advance for any nightmares I may have. I may or may not freeze the entire room and make it snow."
"Don't apologize," Snow murmured. "Grief is normal, we all go through it at some point in life. You just happen to carry a magical gift."
"Perhaps I shouldn't stay here," Teresa then said. "I wouldn't want to make the baby cold."
"You could always stay at Granny's," Emma suggested. "That's where Killian is staying."
Teresa nodded. "I might just have to do that."
A/N: The next chapter will begin Part B of Season 4, so there will be a time jump of three weeks.