𝔰𝔫𝔬𝔴 𝔣𝔞𝔩𝔩𝔰

―

Lydia let out a sigh as she pushed open the door of The Sewing Nook, smiling at her classmate on the other side of the counter.

"Hey Liz." The blonde said, giving her a tight smile.

"Hey Lydia." Elizabeth greeted her friend, "How can I help you today?"

"Uh, this jacket," Lydia started, placing the leather jacket that was in her hands onto the counter, "Has a big rip in it and I need it mended, please."

Elizabeth picked the jacket up, inspecting it with a laugh, "That is a big rip alright."

"Yeah." Lydia blushed, chuckling slightly, "I was playing tag with Henry and then it got caught in a tree. It's whole tree thing."

The pair laughed as the shop bell rang, making them turn to see a brunette standing in the doorway.

Lydia nodded awkwardly, "Hi."

Valeria looked her up and down, "Hi."

"Uh, come pick it up after school tomorrow." Elizabeth told Lydia, eyeing her best friend, "You won't even be able to tell there was a whole tree thing."

"Thanks, Liz." Lydia nodded with a tight smile, before exiting the shop, bumping shoulders with Valeria as she passed.

Valeria gave her best friend a look.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes as the pair walked into the backroom, and the former sat down at the sewing table, "Don't look at me like that. I'm not going to let some stupid feud you have with her lose me a customer."

"It's not a feud." Valeria denied.

Elizabeth let out a laugh as she started to sew up Lydia's jacket by hand, "You two can barely be in the same room as each other."

"I don't like her, she doesn't like me." Valeria shrugged as she fiddled with one of the stray buttons that had been cast aside, "That's how it's always been."

The seamstress sighed, "Well, maybe it's about time that changed."

―

At the hospital, the kids from Mary Margaret's class as well as the student helpers were hanging up decorations for the patients that the children had made.

Sticking a drawing to the wall, Marie raised an eyebrow at a bleary-eyed Elliot, "Rough night?" She asked, eyeing the dark circles under his eyes.

"You have no idea." The boy told her.

Marie gave him a knowing look, "Was it the nightmares again?"

"Nightmares?" Ben asked, looking over at Elliot with a worried look.

Elliot sighed, "Two or three nights a month, I get these really weird nightmares."

"What happens in them?" Ben wondered.

"I get chased by this creature," Elliot answered, "One with glowing gold eyes. It chases me around this forest - which is familiar, but I've never seen it before. And just as it lunges at me, I wake up."

Ben thought for a moment, "Have you gone to see Hopper about them?"

Elliot nodded with a small shrug, "He gave me some sleeping pills - but they only made the nightmares worse."

"And you get them two or three times a month?" Marie raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah." Elliot nodded, "But not scattered during the month. They happen for, like, three days in a row."

"Maybe it's just your time of the month." Ben smirked, making Elliot elbow him.

"That would mean you guys finally synced." Lydia smirked as she walked past the three, making Marie laugh.

The blonde girl walked over to an empty wall, a handmade paper bunting in her arms. Lydia dragged a chair over and hopped on top of it, letting out a huff when she still couldn't stick it high enough on the wall.

"Need some help?"

Lydia's head turned and she eyed Valeria sceptically, "Sure." She said, handing the taller girl the bunting as they traded places, "Thanks."

"I'll do the other end too." Valeria said, "Better to be done by someone who's taller than the kids."

"There it is." Lydia nodded as she walked back over to Marie.

The pair watched as Valeria continued to put up the bunting.

"Am I losing it, or did she just willingly help you with something?" Marie asked.

"Yep." Lydia nodded.

"Why?"

"I have two theories. Either she's dying and trying to atone for her bitchiness." Lydia started.

Marie raised an eyebrow, "Or?"

"Or Henry's telling the truth and someone's put a spell on her."

―

Henry, Lydia and Emma sat in Granny's diner, the older blonde sliding into the booth after having just changed her shirt.

"Thanks for the shirt." She said to Henry, "Hey, is this your mother's?"

"She'll never notice." The boy waved off.

"Where does she think you are, anyway?"

"At the arcade with Lydia." The boy said.

Lydia looked over at Emma with a small smirk, "We're currently playing Whac-A-Mole."

Emma raised an eyebrow, "And she bought that?"

"She wants to believe it." Henry shrugged, "So she does."

The woman rolled her eyes, "Oh, imagine that."

"You realise that if she finds out, I won't be paid for the day, right?" Lydia asked Henry with a small smile.

"I'll pay you back."

"With what?"

Henry grinned, "Cuteness."

This made Emma and Lydia chuckle and roll their eyes as Mary Margaret entered the diner.

Henry perked up, "She's here."

"Hey, don't get your hopes up." Emma reminded him, "We're just getting started, okay?"

"He woke up."

Emma and Lydia stared at the teacger, "What?"

Henry smiled, "I knew it."

"I mean, he didn't 'wake up' wake up, but he grabbed my hand." Mary Margaret rushed out.

"He's remembering!" Henry exclaimed in excitement.

"Take a breath." Lydia gently reminded the boy as she placed a hand on his arm.

"What did the doctor say?" Emma asked.

"That I imagined it." Mary Margaret sighed, "But I'm not crazy. I know it happened."

"We have to go back. You have to read to him again." Henry told her.

"Let's go." The woman nodded, making Henry jump up and begin to run out of Granny's.

Emma grabbed Mary Margaret's arm, "Wait, wait what?"

"If I got through to him," Mary Margaret smiled, "If we made a connection..."

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "You don't believe-?"

"That he's Prince Charming? Of course not." Mary Margaret shook her head, "But somehow -  some way - I touched him."

―

Emma, Henry, Lydia and Mary Margaret arrived at the hospital to see a lot of people standing outside of John Doe's room.

"You're right!" Henry grinned, "He's waking up."

Sheriff Graham rushed over to them, "Henry, you should stay back."

"What's going on?" Mary Margaret asked, "Is it John Doe? Is he okay?"

Graham let out a sigh, "He's missing."

Looking over at John Doe's room, Lydia cringed, letting out a groan.

"Oh no."

The other three then also noticed that Regina was in John Doe's room. And the woman had seen them, sending her storming over.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked the two women, before turning to Henry and Lydia, "And you two – I thought you were at the arcade. Now you're lying to me? Lydia, this will be taken out of your pay."

Lydia nodded with a frown, "Just don't pay me for the day at all. I shouldn't have let him lie."

"What happened to John Doe?" Mary Margaret asked, "Did someone take him?"

"We don't know yet." Sheriff Graham shrugged, "His IVs were ripped out but there's no sign for sure there's a struggle."

Henry glared at Regina, "What did you do?"

Regina raised an eyebrow, offended, "You think I had something to do with this?"

"It is curious that the Mayor is here." Emma pointed out.

Regina glared at her, "I'm here because I'm his emergency contact."

"You know him?" Mary Margaret asked.

"I found him." Regina said, "On the side of the road years ago with no ID. I brought him here."

"Mayor Mills saved his life." Valeria said, as she and Dr. Whale approached the group.

Lydia rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms, muttering, "Of course you're here."

"Will he be okay?" Mary Margaret asked the doctor.

"Okay?" Whale scoffed, "The man's been on feeding tubes for years on constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away or, quite honestly, 'okay' might be a pipe dream."

"Well then, let's quit yapping and start looking." Emma said.

"That's what we're doing?" Regina told her, "Just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son, I guess I'm just going to have to keep my son away from you. Enjoy my shirt, because that's all you're getting." She then turned to the staff around her, "Sheriff, find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious. Valeria, I trust you to monitor this little search party."

The woman then grabbed Henry and left.

Sheriff Graham turned to Whale, "Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?"

Dr. Whale shrugged, "Twelve hours or so."

"Then that's what we need to account for." Graham said as everyone, minus the doctor, made their way to the security room.

Before entering, someone called out Lydia's name making her turn around as the rest of the group went inside.

"What's going on?" Elliott asked her.

"You know that John Doe guy?"

"Yeah."

"He's missing." Lydia told the her friend.

Elliott's eyebrows raised in shock, "Missing?"

Lydia nodded, gesturing to the door to the security room, "We're looking for him now?"

"Can I help look?" Elliott asked, "My parents aren't home tonight and with the whole nightmare stuff, I won't be able to sleep anyway."

The blonde girl nodded, "The more help, the better."

The two teenagers entered the room, to see everyone talking to Walter and Leroy. Nods of acknowledgment were send Elliott's way once they noticed him.

"You two were the only employees on the floor last night. And you saw nothing." Sheriff Graham raised an eyebrow.

Walter shook his head, "Not a thing."

"Did anyone walk by?" Emma asked.

"I didn't see nothin'." Leroy told them.

Graham turned to Mary Margaret, "Miss Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your trip with your class?"

The woman shook her head, "I don't think so."

"Yeah." Elliott said as he and Lydia nodded in agreement, "Everything seemed pretty normal."

Emma's eyes narrowed at the security footage, "We're looking at the wrong tape. This is the ward where Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung."

Leroy scoffed at Walter, "You fell asleep again."

"You selling me out?"

"I ain't getting fired for this."

"At least I don't drink on the job."

"Gentlemen, enough." Graham silenced the pair's bickering, "Where's the real tape?"

Walter fumbled around, before he finally found the right tape, switching them, and group watched in shock as they saw John Doe get up and walk out the door.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "He just got up and left?"

"He walked out alone." Mary Margaret smiled in relief, "He's okay."

"Four hours ago." Emma noted, turning to the two men, "Where does this door lead?"

Leroy let out a sigh, "The woods."

―

Emma, Graham, Mary Margaret, Elliott, Lydia and Valeria were in the woods, searching for John Doe. For the first hour, everyone followed the Sheriff's lead until he stopped short.

"What is it?" Valeria asked.

"The trail runs out here." Graham sighed.

"You sure?" Emma asked, "Because I thought tracking was one of your skills."

"Just give me a second." Graham told her, "This is my world. I got it."

"Right. Sorry."

Valeria shivered as she wrapped her arms tightly around her, eyeing Elliot curiously, "You okay?" She asked the boy, who whipped his head around.

"Did you guys hear that just now?"

"Hear what?" Lydia wondered.

Elliott shook his head, looking up at the moon, "Never mind."

A crack then echoed behind them. They all turned around as Henry emerged from the treeline, running down a small hill.

"Henry!" Mary Margaret exclaimed.

"Do you ever just do as you're told?" Lydia groaned.

"You know the answer to that." Henry told his babysitter before turning to Emma, "Did you find him yet?"

"No, not yet.! Emma sighed, "You shouldn't be here."

"I can help!" Henry told them, "I know where he's going."

"And where's that?" His teacher asked, making Henry grin at her.

"He's looking for you."

―

As the group continued searching for John Doe, Emma and Mary Margaret continued to try and convince Henry to go home as Valeria moved to walk next to Lydia.

"Why is there a strong smell of iron?" Elliott muttered from the other side of the blonde girl, who looked up at him in worry.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Elliott nodded, clearing his throat, "Yeah, I think so."

"So why is Henry so adamant that he's looking for Miss Blanchard?" Valeria asked.

Lydia raised an eyebrow, "Why do you care?"

Valeria glanced at her, "Because Mayor Mills is trusting me to oversee all of this. And if John Doe is looking for Miss Blanchard, then I need you to tell me why."

Lydia looked over at the brunette girl with a small smirk, "It's on a need to know basis. And you don't need to know."

Valeria glared at her, opening her mouth to retort before Sheriff Graham's voice stopped her.

"Guys!"

They all rushed over to him, their eyes following the light of his torch that was shining on the ground.

"Oh my God." Elliot muttered.

Lying in a bush was John Doe's bloody hospital bracelet.

"Is that..."

"Blood." Emma confirmed, finishing Mary Margaret's sentence.

"Oh my God." Valeria repeated, sharing a look with Lydia.

―

The seven were still searching the woods as they came to the Toll Bridge.

"Where is he?" Mary Margaret asked as they all waved their flashlights around, "Can you see him?"

"The trail dies at the water line." Graham sighed.

Elliott narrowed his eyes as he walked closer to the water, "Guys!" He called out, gaining their attention, before shining his flashlight the water to see John Doe lying on his back unconcious, "Found him."

Mary Margaret gasped, "Oh my god! Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Graham grabbed the radio on his shoulder, "I need an ambulance! At the old Toll Bridge, as soon as possible."

Emma, Graham, Elliott and Mary Margaret ran over to John Doe, dragging the unconscious man to the shore, Lydia and Valeria staying with Henry.

"No, no, no, no, no! No, no, no! I found you!" Mary Margaret sobbed, holding the man's face in her hands.

"Henry, don't look." Lydia ordered the boy, turning him around and crouching down in front of him.

"She's right." Valeria nodded, also crouching down in front of him, "And you don't need to worry. He's going to be just fine."

"It's going to be okay." Emma told Mary Margaret.

Elliott nodded in agreement, "Yeah, Sheriff Graham called for help."

"Is he okay?" Henry called out, turning around, despite the two teenagers' best efforts to stop him.

"Henry..." Emma sighed as she ran over to him.

"Is he going to be okay?"

"Henry, don't look. Okay? Don't look." Emma told the boy, turning him away from the scene and holding him close to her as Lydia and Valeria stood up, glancing over at each other in fear.

"Come back to us. Come back to me." Mary Margaret told him.

"CPR!" Valeria called out, making the woman quickly glance back at her.

"She's right!" Lydia nodded, "Do CPR. Now. It'll save him!"

Mary Margaret nodded quickly, starting to perform CPR. When she put her mouth on his, he suddenly started breathing again, coughing and spluttering up water.

"You saved me." John Doe muttered with a dazed smile.

"Yes!" Lydia and Valeria grinned in excitement, pulling each other into a hug before they realised what they were doing and pulled away, awkwardly clearing their throats.

"She did it. She did it!" Henry exclaimed, "She woke him up."

"Yeah, kid." Emma breathed out, "She did."

"Thank you." John Doe said.

Mary Margaret Blanchard cupped his face in her hands, "Who are you?"

"I don't know."

"It's okay." The woman told him, "You're going to be okay."

―

John Doe was brought into the hospital as everyone tiredly watched him get wheeled away.

"Watch your back. Coming through!"

"We got it from here."

As the seven watched him be treated through the glass, a blonde woman suddenly burst into the hospital room and rushed to his side.

"David! David, is that you?"

Dr. Whale tried to hold her back, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

"Oh my god..." The woman breathed out in shock.

"Ma'am, you can't be in here. Please, you can't be here right now." Whale told her.

"David..."

"You can't be here, ma'am. Can you wait over here for a second, okay?"

"Who is that?" Mary Margaret asked.

Footsteps approached from behind them.

"His wife." Regina smirked.

―

Emma, Regina, Valeria, Henry, Lydia, Elliot and Mary Margaret were stood outside David's room, as they watched John Doe's supposed wife watch on worriedly as the doctors worked on him.

"His name is David Nolan." Regina told them, "And that's his wife, Kathryn. And the joy on her face, well, it's put me in quite the forgiving mood." She said, eyeing Henry, "We'll talk about your insubordination later. Do you know what insubordination means? It means you're grounded."

Henry let out a frustrated sigh, deflating in his seat and resting his head on Lydia's shoulder as Kathryn left David's room.

"Thank you. Thank you for finding my David." The woman smiled at the group.

""Um, I-I don't understand." Mary Margaret spoke up, her voice soft yet tight, "You didn't- You didn't know that he was here in a coma?"

Kathryn sighed softly, "A few years ago, David and I were not getting along. It was my fault, I know that now. I was difficult and unsupportive. I told him if he didn't like things, he could leave. And he did. And I didn't stop him. It was the worst mistake I ever made."

Emma raised an eyebrow, "You didn't go look for him?"

"I assumed he'd left town all this time. And now I know why I never heard from him. Now I get to do what I've wanted to do forever – say I'm sorry. Now we get a second chance." Kathryn smiled

Mary Margaret gave her a pained smile, "That's wonderful."

Dr. Whale then walked over to them, "Well, it's something of a miracle."

"He's okay?" Kathryn asked.

"Ah, physically, he's on the mend, um, his memory is another issue." Whale told them, "It may take time, if at all."

"What brought him back?" Lydia wondered.

Dr. Whale shrugged, "That's the thing. There's no explanation. Something just clicked in him."

"He just got up and decided to go for a stroll?" Emma scoffed.

Dr. Whale sighed, "He woke up and he was delirious and his first instinct was to go find something, I guess."

"Someone." Henry corrected him, earning warning looks from Emma and Lydia.

"Can I see him?" Kathryn asked.

"Yeah, of course." Whale nodded, before leading her back into David's room.

"Henry, let's go." Regina told her son, starting to lead him away, "Valeria, I'll drop you home on the way."

"Wait, my backpack." Henry said, making Regina sigh and wait for him. Henry went back to grab his backpack, whispering to Mary Margaret, "Don't believe them. You're the one he was looking for."

"Henry..." The woman sighed.

"He was going to the Troll Bridge. It's like the end of the story."

"Henry, he was going there because it's the last thing I read to him." Mary Margaret told him, gently.

"No, it's because you belong together." Henry stressed.

"Henry." Regina called the boy, making him sigh before he left the hospital with his mother and Valeria.

Elliott let out a heavy sigh and turning to Lydia, who was watching them leave with an odd look on her face.

"You okay, Lyds?"

The girl looked back over at her friend, sending him a small smile, "Uh, yeah, I'm fine. Long day."

Elliott let out a laugh, "Yeah, no kidding."

"Wanna stay at mine tonight?" Lydia proposed as they started to walk out of the building, "If you don't wanna go home."

"That would be great."

"Then you're paying for the pizza."

"I always pay for the pizza."

"Then that shouldn't come as a surprise to you."