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Just For Once

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THE DAY HAD COME AND SHE DREADED IT. Everyone gathered in black attire as they stood around Archie's tombstone. Melody had shrugged off anyone attempting to comfort her. Having to deal with Archie's death, her mother's "supposed" murdering of Archie, and her father having the shadow watch her like a hawk was all too much. Her head felt like it was about to explode.

It had taken a while for Melody to get Emma to stop bombarding her with the familiar phrase "Are you ok?" and other things revolving how the teen felt. It had taken all of her strength not to scream at the blonde, letting all of her thoughts escape her.

The casket had white flowers and Archie's tombstone read 'Archibald Hopper - Friend and Conscience'. Mary Margaret wanted to give the eulogy to the crowd so she stood in her black clothing while she looked at the casket.

"Some of us knew him as Archie. Others, as Jiminy. But we all knew him as a true friend. And though, he may now be gone, he will always live on inside of us. Reminding us to be our best selves, to do the right thing, to always fight for what we believe in," she said. A tear slipped down her cheek and she quickly wiped it. "So, we shouldn't think of today as a goodbye, just as a way of saying... Archie, we'll be listening."

Mary Margaret couldn't hold herself together anymore and she went over to David who embraced her. Melody refused to cry as she kept her teeth clenched. Marco walked over to the tombstone and laid Archie's umbrella down on it.

"I miss you so much, my friend. Well, at least... You are in a better place," Marco said sadly, tears leaving his eyes.

Melody felt a hand on her shoulder and looked over to see Henry. She sighed and hugged him, feeling her younger brother's tears hitting her shoulder.

---

Melody was walking back to David's truck with her hands in her pockets as she looked around at the trees, growing paranoid now that she knew the shadow was watching her.

"Melody!" Emma said, running the catch up with the teen.

The teen continued walking and it wasn't until Emma said her name again did she get mad.

"What?!" Melody yelled, spinning to look at the blonde.

Emma jumped slightly in shock but quickly composed herself as she walked over to the teen.

"Melody what's wrong?"

Melody rolled her eyes. "Nothing's wrong, Emma I've said that hundreds of times already."

"You're acting differently. You're normally happy, bubbly, and-"

"Happy?" Melody questioned with a scoff. "That's how everyone expects me to act. But the truth is? I'm not happy. And I'll never be truly happy. I let people in and all they do is hurt me. Wounds that never fully healed are being opened back up and it hurts." Melody's voice cracked as she spoke and Emma tried to form words but couldn't as she looked sympathetic. "Everyone thinks I'm strong and that I can do anything. I act like that, so everyone thinks I'm fine when I'm really not. And I just wish someone understood."

"I understand-"

"No, you don't," Melody interjected. "You're parents loved you!" Melody pointed to herself. "Mine? They didn't even care enough to stay with me or love me. My own brother hated me for years because of what my father did to us. He blamed me." Her voice cracked again as more tears streamed down her face. "I was broken from the start. And I'm never going to be fixed."

Melody turned and walked away and this time Emma didn't follow.

---

Neverland

One kick and the Lost Boy fell to the ground. Pan scoffed and rolled his eyes as he watched the Lost Boys train. Of course, they were losing their touch, it had been years since the pirates left, which meant it had been years since they've had an actual fight. Sure the mermaids were around but all it took was one idiot of a Lost Boy to go into the water and be drowned by the wicked creatures to ruin the fun.

"They're not doing so great," Felix observed from beside Pan.

"Well it's been years since the pirates left," Pan pointed out, crossing his arm over his chest.

All the waiting was boring him out. But the immortal boy knew he had to be patient. And it didn't help when he had found out that Cora had kidnapped his daughter. The shadow had convinced him to leave the older woman alone and that it would go and check on Melody. However, the shadow had not returned which made Pan nervous as to thinking Melody was in trouble or worse: dead.

"Look, Pan, I get that you're anxious to see Melody, but you just got to wait. It'll be worth it when she's finally here," Felix spoke up.

Pan turned to him. "You should be glad we're friends because anyone else would be dead by now."

Felix smirked, adjusting the club on his shoulders. "I know."

The familiar sound of creaking sounded through the training ground and all of the Lost Boys turned to see the shadow, hovering, its glowing eyes on Pan. It looked at him for a little more before flying away. Pan knew that the shadow had an update so he turned to the Lost Boys.

"Get back to training boys!" he ordered before following his shadow.

Pan had followed the shadow and found it by his Thinking Tree.

"Melody is safe and sound in StoryBrooke, but spotted me," the shadow revealed.

Pan clenched his teeth. "What?"

"She spotted me so I decided to visit her. I told her you told me to watch over her."

"You weren't supposed to let her see you."

"Well, she has good eyes."

Pan glared. "Anything else?"

"Yes. She told me to tell you that she doesn't need anyone watching over her. She said you can come to check on her yourself and see what a mess you made her. She called me a 'stupid message man' and that you aren't 'man enough' to see her yourself."

Pan eyes dropped. "She said that?"

Of course, he felt guilty, but he knew she remembered his promise from that day. And Melody couldn't remember that she saw him just before the curse broke. Pan wanted her to forgive him and he wanted to get a second chance with her. He knew she'd be happy on Neverland and that the boys would love her. But the immortal boy knew that he shouldn't have expected her to run into his arms and tell him that she loved him.

"But I will continue to watch over her, I'll just be more careful," the shadow told him.

Pan looked at the shadow, breaking from his thoughts, and nodded.

"Thank you shadow."

The shadow flew away, leaving Pan alone. He stood there for a moment before he clenched his jaw and turned on his heel, walking back to the training ground.

He really screwed up.

---

StoryBrooke

Henry was brooding on his bed at Mary Margaret's apartment when Emma entered the room with a pop tart on a plate.

"Hey, kid. You hungry? I managed to wrangle up a pop tart," she said.

"No, thanks," Henry replied.

Emma sighed and headed back into the living room, where Mary Margaret and the rest of the funeral attendees are gathered. Melody sat at the bar while she picked at her food. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about everything. She felt sick thinking about her mother killing Archie even when she knew she didn't. She felt sick thinking about the shadow watching her. She felt sick thinking about her father letting her hand go all of those years ago. She felt sick thinking about what he was doing now, probably not even sparing a thought about her or Gold, living the life he couldn't have because his children were "in the way".

"Well, that went well," Emma said as she entered the living room.

Melody didn't respond and Mary Margaret went over to her daughter comfortingly.

"Emma, you're doing all you can do," Mary Margaret spoke softly.

Melody fought the urge to roll her eyes. She loved Mary Margaret, but sometimes her optimism was infuriating. Especially since she wasn't in the mood.

"That's what makes me feel awful," Emma replied.

A familiar dwarf walked over and cleared his throat. "Ladies? The dwarves have been thinking. We have to ask - when do we go back?" Leroy asked.

Melody turned around at that and raised an eyebrow. "Back? Where?" she asked.

"The Enchanted Forest. Our home."

"You want to go back?"

"We fought really hard to get here," Emma pointed out.

"But with what Regina did to Archie, Storybrooke ain't as safe as we thought," Leroy said.

"We're going to find her. There's only so many places she can hide."

Melody glared and withheld a scoff.

"We've dealt with her before, we'll do it again," Mary Margaret said calmly.

"But it's not just her. The curse is broken. There's a whole world full of people beyond the town line that don't know who or what we are. Ever think of what might happen if one of them were to come pay us a visit?" Leroy asked.

Melody nodded in agreement about the town line despite her wanting to punch the dwarf in the face. "He's right. What if they see, you know, magic? Like a girl who can shoot fireballs, for example? People weren't exactly understanding back in our world and the probably aren't here either," she said.

"Okay, let's not worry about 'what ifs'. No one is here," Emma reminded.

"Yet. Maybe they come, maybe they don't. But that doesn't change the fact that while we might enjoy things like penicillin, we're a bit homesick," Leroy mentioned.

This time Melody didn't hold her scoff. "Well so am I. The problem is, I don't have a home. But you don't hear me complaining, do you? I keep it to myself," she said bitterly.

Leroy, Emma, and Mary Margaret looked at her shocked but the teen paid them no mind and walked away. Leaving them stunned.

---

A pirate looked through his telescope as he watched Gold and Belle inside the Pawn Shop, realizing that Hook now had the shawl Gold was going to use to find his son. Smee approached Hook with the shawl in hand.

"You have it, Mr. Smee?" Hook asked, lowering the telescope from his eye.

"What is it, Captain?" Smee questioned.

"It's the end of the crocodile's hope. Now he's trapped here."

"Why didn't you just use the young girl?"

Clearly, it was the wrong thing to say because Hook immediately became angry and pulled out his sword aiming at Smee's throat.

"Melody has nothing to do with this. And if I hear you suggest putting her in danger again, you'll die, simple as that."

Smee nodded fast, shocked by his captain's sudden protectiveness over the young girl. "Sorry Captain."

---

It seemed pointless but she was doing it anyway. Melody sat there staring at the phone in front of her while she sat on the bed Henry previously was sitting on before he resorted to laying on the couch. Archie may have been her so-called "shrink" but she loved him nonetheless and he was always there for her when she needed someone to talk to. And now he was gone, which meant she lost a part of herself just like she did when she had to leave Hook behind. David and Mary Margaret are washing dishes at the apartment when they hear the ringing of a phone. They both look over and see Melody dialing on the phone in front of her.

"Who's she calling?" David asked Mary Margaret confusedly as he washed a plate.

His wife was about to answer when an answering machine echoed through the apartment.

"You've reached the office of Archibald Hopper. I'm sorry I can't take your call right now. I'm either with a patient-"

"Or dead," Melody interrupted, slamming the phone down making it hang up.

David set the plate down and approached the teen, sitting down next to her and putting his hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay, Melody. Things will get better, I promise. You just... got to hang in there," he said softly.

"I've been "hanging in there" for years," she replied.

"And you're still here. You're strong Melody, you can get through this."

The teen was about to reply when a Dalmatian ran into the apartment followed by Emma. Pongo ran to her and jumped into her lap, making Melody laugh despite her feeling down.

"Pongo!" she exclaimed.

"I brought him. Marco and I had a chat. Archie knew how much Melody and Henry loves this dog. We decided she should have him. That is if you're up for taking care of him, guys," Emma said with a smile.

"Yeah, I am!" Henry said, nodding.

He ran over and petted Pongo along with Melody who was smiling wide. But the dog and taken some mud with him and it now littered the floor. Melody's grin faded slightly but then she turned to Henry.

"Come on Henry, let's go clean Pongo."

"Okay. Come on. Come on, boy! Come on! Let's go! Come on, boy," Henry cooed.

The two of them walked out of the apartment and Melody led her and Henry outside. They went over to where the hose was and Henry held Pongo by his collar.

"Okay. So we'll have to use the hose. Hold him?" she said to Henry.

The younger boy nodded and held Pongo by his collar while Melody turned the hose on and started washing Pongo off with the water. She felt herself forgetting about her pain. Even if it was just a little bit of time. It felt nice; acting as if she was normal for once. Acting like she had a normal life for once.

Just for once

---

Melody and Henry were playing with Pongo with the hose while Emma was watching with a smile. It was sudden - yet she still felt it. There was a sinking pit in her stomach and Melody's bright smile, dissolved. Henry and Emma didn't notice so Melody quickly put it back on and turned to Emma.

"I'm going to go inside for a minute," she told the blonde.

Emma nodded in acknowledgment and the teen hurried away before checking back to make sure no one was watching her, and then sprinted away.

The brunette followed her guts and ran toward the docks - a place she hardly visited. The dock was quiet besides the waves hitting the walls. She heard creaking a looked around with a look of confusion. There was a sound of footsteps and Melody turned to see her biological brother approaching her.

"Rumple? What're you doung here?" she asked.

Gold looked hesitant before replying, "Hook, he has Belle."

"What?"

Melody stood with shock and her heart sunk. Then it hit her. Had what she said mean nothing to Hook? He didn't care, did he? He had let his revenge get in the way of who he truly was. Even if Melody couldn't blame him, it still didn't justify this. She got it, Gold killed his love and he was distracting himself from that pain by going after Gold. But Belle was innocent and Melody knew that. Belle didn't deserve to get caught in the crossfire.

---

"Died? Like it was some kind of accident? Is that what he told you?" Hook asked as he and Belle stood inside the ship.

Belle stood rigid in her spot while Hook pointed a gun at her.

"He... Well, he... He didn't say," Belle replied.

"No, of course not. Of course, he'd leave out the most important detail of her passing."

"And, uh... What would that be?"

"He killed her. He ripped out her heart, and he crushed it right in front of me."

The brunette shook her head, not believing what Hook had said. "No..."

"Oh, yes."

"No!"

"Yes. He will do anything - anything - to hold on to his power. Why do you think anyone who's ever gotten close to him, has either run away or been killed? Now, what makes you think you're any different? Tell me something, darling. Why would you want to fight for a man like that?"

"Because I still see good in him. Because I believe he's changed. Because his heart? Is true. And yours? Yours is rotten."

Hook seemed to stop for a moment, remembering the charm that laid in his pocket, now weighing much more than he realized. He had done exactly what Melody said not to do. The certainty in her eyes that he would do the right thing, just for once.

When he is distracted, Belle slammed the oar that's hanging from the ceiling into Hook's head. He stumbled backward - not expecting it - and fell into the storage area where Archie was held. Belle grabbed the shawl from the counter and ran up the stairs quickly.

"You have no idea..." Hook whispered as she ran away.

Belle made her way above deck, where Hook jumped out in front of her, cutting her off.

"How the hell did you-" she started in shock.

"Oh, I know this ship like the back of my... Well, you know. I'd suggest you give that back to me now," he spoke angrily, gritting his teeth.

"Or what?" someone challenged asked from behind him.

Both Belle and Hook turned to see Melody and Gold. Melody wore a sad look on her face while Gold looked enraged. Hook's heart started to beat faster as guilt consumed him.

"Melody I can-" he tried.

"I told you not to let revenge dissolve the good in you. But it looks like it did," the teen said before she could even stop herself.

Gold went over to Hook and hit him upside the head with his cane, causing Hook to fall back. Then Gold raised his cane again and started beating Hook furiously.

"Rumple! Hey, let's go. Let's go. Let's go," Belle spoke urgently, pulling on his arm, trying to make him stop.

"No, not yet, Belle," Gold said, tearing her hold on him.

He hit Gold again and Melody ran over and blocked Hook from getting hit again. Gold stopped once he saw his sister in front of him and then Belle held up something.

"This - this is what you came for. This is what's going to get you back to Bae," she told him.

"Ah, you're wasting your breath, love. He can't resist. He has to prove that he's not a coward," Hook chuckled, standing up despite his wound body.

"Rumple please," Melody begged.

"He hurt you and he hurt Belle. He deserves it. You may want to turn away, Melody. This isn't going to be pretty," Gold noted.

Belle took the teen gently and pulled her away and forced the two of them to look away and out into the ocean. Then the sickening crunch of Gold's cane hitting Hook sounded through their ears. Melody shut her eyes as she kept the tears from flowing. She knew she shouldn't care, but she did.

She cared too much.

---

He was bruised and blood by the time Gold was done beating him. Gold and Belle walked off the deck while Melody stood idly, watching Hook struggle to get up.

"Melody-" Hook started when he saw her standing there. She shook her head, biting her lip to contain the tears. "I'm sorry-" Hook started again.

"I let you in," she whispered, "I let you in. I put my faith in you. That's the reason why I gave you that charm." Hook looked down in guilt, knowing he had indeed broken her trust. "I believed in you."

Hook looked back up and Melody turned around and walked away.

"The cricket," he interjected. Melody turned slightly yet not to look at him. "The cricket, he's alive. Cora kidnapped him so he could let me know of the Dark One's weakness. And when I asked, he said he had weaknesses. As in several. His dagger, Belle, and you." Melody looked away again and this time the tear were harder to fight. "He didn't know where the dagger was so it came down to you and Belle. I chose Belle."

"Why not me?" Melody asked.

"Because you believed in me."

Melody nodded, shaking her head while the tears escaped. "It is amazing how the people we love can hurt us the most. I know that more than I should." She turned to face him. "I did believe in you." Her voice broke as she saw Hook's guilt-ridden face. "I'm sorry but I don't - I can't. I've let too many people in and they've always abandoned me." She wiped her tears. "I'm sorry."

She turned and walked away. Melody knew deep down, she did believe in him. But she knew she couldn't tell him.

Hook stayed, watching her leave with glazed eyes. He had disappointed her. He had betrayed her. And it was all the Crocodile's fault. And he knew just what he was going to do to get his revenge.

---

"Oh, Belle, I so wish you were coming with me," Gold admitted.

Hook watched with a smug grin, holding the gun in his hand.

"As do I, but... It doesn't matter," Belle told Gold, smiling.

"And why not?" Gold asked.

"Because you'll find him. And, when you do, I'll be here waiting for you when you get back."

The two go to kiss but Hook comes out of the shadows and aims his gun, firing it at Belle. Belle fell over to the town line from impact and a surge of magic went through her.

"I wouldn't count on it," Hook spoke, glaring.

"Belle?! Belle? Belle!" Gold repeated as he lowered her to the ground, ignoring the pirate for just a moment.

She looked up at him confused. "W-Who's Belle?" she asked.

"Oh, no. No, no, no, no..." Gold stammered in horror.

"Oh, fear not. She'll live. She'll just have no idea who you are," Hook said smugly.

Gold stood up and looked furious. "What you've done cannot be undone."

"Well, now you finally know how it feels! Well, go ahead, crocodile. Do your worst!" Hook shouted, throwing his hands up.

"Oh, I intend to."

Gold magically produced a fireball in his hand with his anger but before he could throw it, a car barreled down the road toward them. Gold noticed first and grabbed Belle, rolling them away just as the car hit Hook. Hook toppled over the car and then fell on the cement with a loud thud. The car swerved and then crashed into a large boulder. But what none of them noticed was the license plate. That clearly read "Pennsylvania".

---

Neverland

Pan looked at his crystal ball and smirked. "Let the next phase begin."

---

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