CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
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i. bad moon rising !

storybrooke maine .

— A BELL WRANG ABOVE THE DOOR AS WINNIE STEPPED INTO THE DINER CARRYING TWO LARGE CONTAINERS, her smile brightening at all the happy, cheering faces of the few folks that had showed up to share in the joy celebration.

The dwarves had been working for days in the mines, looking for magic-infused diamonds that they could refine into fairy dust- and, finally, their search had brought success.

Even Grumpy was laughing loud and grinning wide.

Only Ruby noticed Winnie enter, with Pooh at her heels, his collar clinking lightly against the floor.

Ruby pulled herself out from behind the counter to bring the woman into a half-hug, partially blocked by the tupperware in Winnie's hands.

"Hey, Winnie, Pooh." She smiled sadly, wishing she didn't notice the boy who was very clearly missing from their sides.

"Hello, love." Winnie returned the look, glancing briefly at the crowd of people in the diner.

"How are you holding up?" Ruby asked, lowering her voice so as not to be caught by any eavesdroppers.

"Oh, we're alright. I just heard about the dwarves and thought I'd bring some cookies by for everyone— and possibly speak with David and yourself." Winnie held up the containers as an offering, and Ruby's eyes sparkled as she pulled them into her own hands.

"Of course— I'll set them up for you! Just go ahead and grab a booth, they're all open." Ruby nodded towards the row of comfortable retro-style tables.

Winnie nodded, helping Pooh up onto one of the seats so he could be out from under foot, "I understand that you wanted to talk to me about something?"

"Granny called?" Ruby asked, delicately prying off the lids to the cookie containers, and taking a plate of them for herself.

"She did, though she didn't quite get to the purpose of her call." Winnie chuckled before further explaining, "David and the dwarves interrupted her."

Ruby took a bite of one of her assorted cookies as she sat down across from Winnie and Pooh, the bench squishing comfortably under her weight.

"Mhmm," She hummed, a mouth full of oatmeal raisin. "They were quite loud, weren't they?"

"Indeed." Winnie agreed, glancing softly at the gathering a few feet away, before turning back to Ruby, a concerned shine in her eyes. "Now, what is it you wished to ask of me?"

Ruby sighed into her cookie, looking down at the table and seemingly deflating, "The full moon is tonight..." She threw the rest of her cookie onto her plate, as if she had lost her appetite. "Granny and I are worried that I won't be able to- control it anymore."

Ruby looked up with a sheepish smile, "I'm a little rusty."

Winnie smiled understandingly, "What do you need from me, darling?"

"Well... You can talk to wolves, can't you?" Ruby asked hopefully.

"Yes..." The mother bear frowned, letting one arm fall to her side so she could absentmindedly pat Pooh's fur.

"So- I hate to ask, but is there any chance you could stay with me during the full moon? As a- a fail safe of sorts?" Ruby's eyes cast to the table, memorizing the patterns along the surface.

Winnie hesitated, "I've never spoken to a werewolf in their form before..." She sighed.

Ruby nodded, "Of course, I'm sorry, I didn't-"

"But it's worth a try... I'll be here." Winnie assured, her lips twisting into a small smile.

Ruby grinned and stood to shuffle around the table and hug the woman around the shoulders, "Thanks, Winnie."

"Of course, dear." Winnie patted Ruby's arm kindly as she pulled it away.

"I should get back to work..." Ruby finished off her cookie, "I'll see you later. Thank you, again."

Winnie shook her head with a chuckle, watching as Ruby went back behind the counter.

Her gaze then turned to David, who was still celebrating with the dwarves. It was nice to see everyone so happy- she wished her mind wasn't so occupied, so she could truly enjoy the ambiance.

But alas, David turned and his eyes met Winnie's, seeing the torment deep behind her kind face.

He made his way over to her, laying his pint down on the table and sitting across from her, where Ruby sat only moments before.

They sat in silence for a moment, David feeling a developing guilt in his subconscious for having been celebrating while one of his close friend's sons, his wife, and his daughter, were all trapped in another realm.

"We're one step closer..." David sighed. "I'm gonna get them back to us. I promise, Winnifred."

Winnie tried to force her usual bright smile, but the ends of her lips quivered ever so slightly, giving away to her sadness as she occupied her mind by running her fingers along Pooh's fur.

The guilt built up in David's throat, and he tried to swallow it down as his heart broke just a bit more. He stood from his seat and moved around the table, sitting next to Winnie and wrapping an arm around her shoulder, trying everything in his power to comfort the woman.

She shakily let out a breath, leaning into his side and wiping at her sniffly nose with her free hand.

They sat there for minutes- possibly even an hour as the crowd thinned and people went home for the night. It got quieter, as those who remained spoke softly or passed out at the counter.

Henry, who'd been sitting at the counter, chattering with Ruby, slid off his seat with a mug in his hand, choosing to join Winnie and David at their table.

David's arm was sore- stiff from the angle he'd held it in for so long, but he didn't dare move it while Winnie was still tucked into his side.

"Is that coffee?" David asked as he watched Henry push his mug along the table to where he sat.

"No..." Henry lied.

Both Winnie and David saw right through it, "Trying to stay up, huh?"

Henry had been having horrible nightmares as a side effect of the sleeping curse he'd broken from. It seemed that these terrors he faced had scared him to the point of which he no longer wanted the opportunity to dream- for the fear that it would sooner turn sour.

David reassured the boy quietly, at the same time as he tightened his arm around Winnie's shoulders, trying to look out for everyone the way he believed he should.

"Maybe lose the Java and go grab a cocoa." David suggested, once he'd slightly quenched that fear that had stirred in Henry's mind.

Henry agreed sheepishly, standing and taking his mug away.

Winnie was quiet. Her tongue felt as if it was tied up in her emotions. She was missing such large parts of her very soul. Her sons, her friends. She had lost one too many people before, and she was scared all of this would end the same way it always had for her. She was terrified she'd never see them again.

The thoughts plagued her mind so constantly- it was difficult to speak without giving into her bothersome nature. So she stayed silent, finding the slightest bit of comfort in David's warmth at her side.

David didn't mind. He never would.

The air around the diner was almost comfortable, forgiving even... before a hint of malice entered their midst.

"Congratulations, Sheriff. Quite a celebration." A voice called, sitting themselves down in Henry's seat.

Winnie recognized the man briefly from around town- though wasn't sure if she could say the same for his fairytale counterpart. He seemed familiar, but only in passing.

David, however, seemed to recognize him all too well, "What are you doing here?" He asked in an aggressive tone, tightening his arm even more around Winnie- in a protective action, or a tensing, fearful action, Winnie wasn't quite sure.

"You may have taken care of me in the old world, but in this one? We get another go at each other." The man threatened smugly.

"Whenever you're ready." David agreed, ignoring when Winnie glanced up at him, confusion written clear on her face.

The man looked around, "It's a big moment for you, isn't it? On your way to getting your family back."

David sat back, puffing out his chest a bit, "Yeah. Yeah, it must be hard for you. Y'know, watching good win."

"Good? So sure of yourself." The man laughed mockingly. "But I know the truth. You're still just a shepherd pretending to be a prince. You weren't fit to run the kingdom, and you sure as hell aren't fit to run this town."

Winnie finally spoke, finding whatever energy she could to unravel her knotted-up emotions and defend her friend, "The people of Storybrooke disagree."

The man hummed, glaring at David, "Today. But I'm gonna see to it that they see things my way. That they see you for who you really are. By the time I'm done with you, you'll wish you killed me while you had the chance."

David stood, pulling his arm away and offering it to Winnie, helping her from her seat, "The people of this town know who I really am. And they've seen me defeat you before." He uttered, putting on his coat and gently picking up Pooh, who stared down the man across from them.

"So if you wanna try and take me down, they'll see it happen again." David stated firmly, before ushering Winnie away and over to Henry, who had traded his coffee for a warm hot chocolate.

The fallen King they'd left behind watched as they greeted Henry quietly, watched as Winnie tended to Grumpy, who was snoring against the counter top, watched as Ruby and Granny came out from the kitchen to ask for the kind woman's help.

Winnie was well known around town. This, he knew. She was a beloved friend, a brilliant mother, and an all around forgiving and wonderful person.

What a shame, he thought, if something were to happen to her.

He didn't let on these innermost thoughts of his. Instead, he swept quickly and silently as he could out the door, leaving only a cold breeze in his wake.

Unbeknownst to any of King George's plotting, Winnie tugged another stack of lasagnas out of the freezer in an attempt to help Ruby and Granny in their creation of a makeshift cell.

"I'll leave you some tranquilizer bolts, just in case." Granny offered Winnie.

"How many would it take?" Winnie asked, shuffling to hand off the lasagnas to the older woman.

"Just one."

"Alright." Winnie hummed before calling out, "David, darling, could you come here for a moment?"

David entered the room, stepping over some frozen lasagna and chuckling, her phrasing reminding him of a mother calling out to her child.

He supposed it's just the sort of language she was most accustomed to using.

"Could you possibly take Pooh home with you? I hardly think he should be left alone, and-"

David interrupted her, placing a kind hand on her arm, "Of course, Winnie, he's safe with me."

"Thank you." Winnie smiled.

She was thankful to have something to distract her from her rattled up emotions, and kept herself consistently busy as they readied for the full moon to rise.

Ruby was locked away in the freezer, which was then chained shut. David, Henry, and Pooh disappeared into the night, making their way back to Mary Margaret's loft for some well-earned shuteye— and any other diner dwellers followed suit.

All apart from Leroy, who was still drunkenly passed out over the counter.

Winnie laughed slightly as she nudged the slumbering man, who woke after a few tries, his eyes glazed over in a drunk haze, still slurring his words as he spoke, "Whaddya want, sister?"

"C'mon, Grumpy, we're gonna get you home." Winnie urged him to stand and awkwardly supported his weight as she guided him out the door, speaking to Granny over her shoulder, "I'll grab my crossbow and be right on back."

"I'll leave the door unlocked for you." Granny assured. "Thank you for this, Winnifred."

Winnie managed to get her crossbow- and Grumpy safety to his home in a surprisingly short amount of time, considering they had to stop and let him vomit into a public trashcan.

At least the action of doing so sobered the man up slightly. Enough to remember his manners, and thank Winnie before shutting the door in her face.

She paid no mind to his gruff nature, and simply chuckled and followed the familiar sidewalk back to Granny's diner, crossbow hanging limp at her side.

She entered the diner front with a dinging bell above her head, ignoring it in favour of grabbing some of the tranquilizing bolts that Granny had left behind, and a chair from the centre of the room.

Winnie stepped in and turned on the light in the back room where they'd left Ruby locked in the freezer, hearing shuffling and scraping from the other side of the metal, the chains clicking together and clanging against the door.

Situating herself, she placed her chair down just next to the doorway, calling out into the room, "I'm here now, dear."

The scraping became even more aggressive, and a vicious snarl came from within the locked freezer.

This didn't stutter Winnie for a moment. She sat in her chair dutifully, loading a bolt into her crossbow and holding it readily in her lap as she nodded towards the metal freezer.

"I'm not going anywhere."

author's note

omg hello lovelies, how
have you all been, i'm sorry it's been literally so long-
I got so busy so quickly 😭

in true Luna fashion, I haven't re read this, and it's like 2:30 am so if there are any mistakes I greatly apologize

I'm also sorry this is kind of a lame chapter, plot wise, like not much actually happened, so I'm gonna update again as soon as I possibly can to make up for it 😭

anyway I'm probably gonna go to sleep soon so I'll respond to comments in the morning- but I love you all so so much, thank you for sticking with Winnie and I, it means the absolute world and you guys are just the best ahh thank u 💕