↬Chapter Twenty Three-We Are Both↬

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I only own Jade/Camilla and my ideas.

The Seven Dwarves stood at the town line as Leroy sprayed a line over the Storybrooke border so they knew where not to pass.

"This, gentlemen, is our mission, the great barrier of our existence. Does it remain? We must investigate the line." Leroy said as he pulls out a small bag with straws inside, "I made straws. Short one crosses. Draw."

"With the curse broken, we can cross, right? Should be no problem yeah?" Happy asked as he took a straw.

"With magic back, it could be even worse now." Walter said as he took a straw from Leroy's palm.

"Like, vaporize us." Doc said.

"Let's go home." Bashful suggested.

"Guys! We are the royal guard! Dwarves loyal to Snow White! This is our chance to prove ourselves to the prince. We must do this. Show your hands." Leroy spoke as they all held out their hands before revealing the straws, Mr. Clark was holding onto the shortest straw.

Mr. Clark sneezed twice.

"You're up, Snotty." Leroy told as Clark released a deep exhale.

"You know, what if we found a turtle and sort of nudged it over first?" Mr Clark suggested, not wanting to do it.

"Oh, for the love of..." Leroy pushed Mr. Clark over the line. There was a whoosh, "Sneezy, you okay?" Leroy called out, "Sneezy!"

The people of Storybrooke were stood outside the town hall as they were trying to regain order after the breaking of the curse and the Wraith attack. Some townspeople were gathered in front of a wall of missing people. Marco puts up a picture of Pinocchio.

"My boy. My poor boy." Marco muttered.

"If you are looking for a family member, come to the front table. If you need counseling, Dr. Hopper has a signup sheet." Ruby called out as Archie held up the sheets, "If the wraith damaged your house, there are cots at the school."

Mother Superior let out a sigh as Ruby passed her blankets, "This is getting out of hand. People are in a panic. They don't know what to do."

"It's okay. It'll be fine. We just need everyone to remain calm. I have a feeling our prince is working on something right now." Ruby told.

David stood outside Regina Mills' House as he pounded on door. David entered the building straight afterwards.

"Tell me... about this." David said as he stood at the top of the stairs which led towards the front door.

"Surprised you don't have armed guards 'round the clock." Regina told as she looked up to him.

"Don't need 'em. We both know if you step outside, there's a line a mile long for your head." David spoke.

"Who's going to risk coming at me?" Regina asked, almost certain that no one would come after her.

"Take your chances then. But, I think that little wallpaper trick was an anomaly. If you had your abilities back, this town would be charcoal by now. You're having problems with magic, aren't you? Right now the only thing keeping you alive is that Henry wishes it. Now this." David harshly told.

"It's the hat that pulled your loved ones away." Regina told, though it was the obvious answer.

"Well, where did you get it?" David asked the woman.

"I've long since forgotten. You know what? Maybe you should be less concerned with hats and more concerned with taking care of my son." Regina spat.

"Oh, because you took such great care of him." David sarcastically retorted.

"I will not listen to child care lectures from a man who put his daughter in a box and shipped her to Maine." Regina harshly spoke.

"Okay. Listen. I need my family. There's magic here now. There have to be ways to follow them." David neared the woman.

"Follow them where? Into a sucking airless void? And good luck getting magic to work, because as you said, you'd be charcoal." Regina responded as frustration grew in her voice.

"Ah, frustrated, are we? Serves you right. You earned every bit of this." David said.

"Keep on baiting me, Charming. Right now I don't have magic and I don't have my son, but when I get one, I get the other, and you don't want to be around when that happens." Regina warned.

"If you have to use magic to keep your son, you don't really have him." David spoke.

The townspeople were still trying to figure everything out as David arrived at the town hall.

"Henry. Have you seen Blue? Mother Superior." David asked, correcting himself.

"No, but everyone is looking for you." Henry told him.

Ruby neared him asking, "Do we know where Rump... Mr. Gold is?"

Within this being asked, everyone neared the prince, as Archie asked, "Wait. Does the Queen still have power?"

"I thought I would find my boy. Are the lists complete." Marco said.

"He's got to be planning something!" Henry called out.

"Hey, let me ask you something. Are the nuns still nuns, or can they, you know, date?" Whale asked the male.

"Uh, I don't know. Blue!" David called out as he walked over to the fairy.

"Don't say it's me asking." Whale said.

"Could there be a tree on this side? The way we sent Emma through as a baby... maybe I could go after 'em that way." David asked her.

"It's possible, but without fairy dust to guide us here, uh, no, it's hopeless." Blue responded.

"You'll find another way. In the book, things always look worse right before there's good news." Henry said.

"Terrible news! Terrible news!" Leroy yelled as him and the dwarves came running over to them, "We were out at the town limits. Tell 'em who you think you are, Sneezy!"

"Will you stop calling me that? You know who I am. I'm Tom Clark. I own the Dark Star Pharmacy. What's going on here?" Mr Clark asked in confusion to why they kept calling him the wrong name.

"If you cross the border, you lose your memory all over again." Leroy told.

"And coming back doesn't fix it?" Archie asked.

"If it did, would I have come running in yelling "terrible news"?!" Leroy snapped, "If we leave, our cursed selves become our only selves."

"Do we know that anything's gotten out that way?" Ruby asked as the people of Storybrooke continued their loud commotion.

"I wonder if Mom knows." Henry spoke.

"Help! We need help." A man suggested.

"I can help!" Henry said.

"Don't leave us here!" A voice called out as David - along with everyone else - waked.

"We need something now!" Another voice called out.

"What do we do?" Leroy asked.

"People! Everybody! Everybody, meet back here in two hours. I'll tell you my plan to fix everything." David called out, which stopped everyone. The man walked away from the group.

Ruby followed the man asking, "What's the plan?"

"I don't know, but I got two hours to figure it out." David responded as he walked off Henry followed behind the man as he passed Ruby.

Within Regina's House, she was crouched down as she tried and attempted to magically light a candle.

"Come on." Regina muttered as the flame whooshed, "Light, damn you." With that she stood up and threw the candle across the room. She made her way out of her house, as she did, she ran into Dr. Hopper.

"Regina. I thought you might want to talk." Archie said as he came close to the woman.

"Oh, right, the conscience thing." Regina spoke as she rolled he eyes.

"It's what I do." Archie shrugged.

"I'm in no mood." Regina told he man.

"It's too bad, 'cause...'Cause I think talking about your pain might be very helpful, might help you learn who you truly are." Archie suggested.

"I know who I am." Regina spat as she walked off.

Within the four was of Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer, the door bells jingled, indicating that someone had just entered the shop. Regina had gone and looked into every book of which sat on the counters in hopes to find what she was looking for.

What stopped the woman's search was Gold's voice saying, "The library's beneath the clock tower. You closed it, remember? When you still had power."

"I need the book. I need to get my son back." Regina instantly said.

"Which book?" Golf asked, "Oh." He let out a small laugh, "So it's come down to that, eh? You need your mommy's help."

"Give me the book." Regina said in a harsh tone.

"Do you really need the smell of the written word to get the magic flowing again, love? Maybe if you relaxed, it would just happen." Gold suggested.

"I don't have time. It worked once. I know I can do it. I just... I just need a shortcut back." Regina told.

"Yeah, well, I don't have time either. Leave. Please." Gold pleaded the woman.

"Well... How about that? Your "pleases" have lost their punch." Regina smirked.

"Well, the fact remains jump-starting your magic is not in my best interests." Gold spoke.

"You know what else isn't in your best interest? Having everyone know the Enchanted Forest still exists. Knowing that you and I are keeping that little secret. You're up to something... And it doesn't involve going back home." Regina told as she attempted to open a box before Gold slammed it shut. He moved his hand as a book appeared in his hand before he handed it to Regina.

"Careful, dearie. These are straight-up spells. Rough on the system." Gold said.

"I don't care if they turn me green. I'm getting my son back." Regina responded as she went to walk off.

Mr. Gold released a chuckle, "Oh, my."

"What?" Regina harshly asked as she turned her attention back on Gold.

"It's just holding that... I told you once you didn't look like her, but now... Now I can see it." Gold told.

Regina gave him a look before leaving the shop.

David and Henry stood inside Mary Margaret's and Emma's apartment as David stood in front of a mirror, practicing the speak of which he would say in front of the townspeople.

"People of Storybrooke, I know we're trapped again and things look... bleak... But... they're not." David spoke into the mirror before giving up.

"No. Keep going. You were on to something." Henry said as the two of them neared the kitchen.

"No, I wasn't. I did the fighting. Snow did the talking." David told as he placed Jefferson's hat on the table.

Henry looked at the hat with wide eyes, "Can I see that?"

"Yeah." David nodded at the boy who simply took the hat, he got hold of his book and opened it to a page which revealed a picture of Jefferson.

"I think I know what this is. It's the Mad Hatter's hat. It's a portal between worlds." Henry explained to the older man.

"Mad Hatter." David repeated.

"You've heard of him?" Henry asked as he looked up at his grandfather.

"No. I mean, yeah. I mean, the prince-me doesn't know him, but David had memories of reading "Alice In Wonderland" in school. I need to get it to work again. Who is he? I mean, who is he here?" David asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he'll check in at the crisis center. You could check after the thing." Henry suggested.

"What thing?" David asked, clearly forgetting all about it.

"The meeting where you tell us all your plan? Remember the speech you were doing?" Henry told, trying to remind him of what he was doing just moments ago.

"Right. I'll be back for that." David said as he got his coat and left.

"Gramps, you gotta use me." Henry said though by this time David had made his way down he stairs, "Come on! The curse was broken 'cause of me! Let me help!" The door opened then closed, "Or not." Henry made his way back into the apartment.

David had entered Mr. Gold's shop as the door bells jingled to the way of which the door opened.

"It appears when I bought that "closed" sign, I was just throwing my money away." Gold simply said.

"Looks like it." David agreed though he simply shrugged not really caring.

"Sorry to hear about your wife and daughter. If you're looking for a retrieval, I'm afraid portal-jumping is just outside my purview." Gold spoke.

"Of course it is." David said before realising that he left out someone, "and I'm sorry that you've lost your daughter as well, it's a shame really."

Mr. Gold gave him a glare, still after the twenty eight years of the curse, he still couldn't come to love and care for his own daughter. He changed the subject by asking, "So what's the commotion outside?"

"A little stir at the border. A problem crossing the line." David responded.

Gold's eyes widened, "Do tell."

"Actually, I'm here to buy something... a way to find someone." David told, telling the man to why he arrived at the shop.

"What, like a map?" Gold asked the man in front of him.

"Something with a bit more kick, like the ring you gave me to find Snow." David told.

"Oh, yeah. Magic. Whom are you following?" Gold asked.

"Not telling." David simply responded.

"So do you have something of theirs, this missing person?" Gold asked.

"Yes."

"May I see it?"

"No."

Mr. Gold chuckled slightly before opening a small box and picking out a glass vile, he turned his attention back to the prince on front of him, "Pour this on the object and then follow it. So simple, even David Nolan could do it."

David reached for the vile though Gold simply retracted his hand with the vile. David asked the man, "What do you want?"

"Peace. Leave me alone." Gold demanded, "and, when Camilla arrived back into town, tell her that her father wants to see her."

"What do you care what David Nolan does?" David asked him in slight confusion, "and what do you want with Camilla?"

"No. No. It's... it's Charming I worry about. I'd like a little... non-interference guarantee." Gold responded, "as for my daughter, it's family business."

"Fine. If you give me the same. You and I... we stay out of each other's way. As for Camilla don't harm her in anyway." David told the man.

"Thank you for your business, and I wouldn't hurt my child," Gold said as David headed towards the door, "So, uh, what happens - when you try and cross the border?"

"You lose your memory of everything of our old lives. Looks like we're stuck here." David informed as he left the shop.

With Gold hearing what had been said, anger filled the man as he lifted his cane and smashed two of his counters before dropping the cane and releasing a sigh.

The Prince had placed the hat onto the truck before placing the potion of which he had just got onto he hat. He released a sigh due to it not working. His phone rang and as he was going to answer it, the hat began to shake before it flew up into the air.

The hat flew around a corner as David chased after it, it soon landed onto a car of which was on its side. David neared the car as he noticed a children's tea set.

Jefferson called out, "Hey!" Though his voice was muffled and began to pound on the door, "Hey! Hey!" David had managed to go onto the other side of the tipped over car and shoved everything into out of the way, he opened the door which revealed Jefferson laying there with a stuffed bunny rabbit in his hand, "Oh, thank you. No one heard me."

"You okay?" David asked as Jefferson nodded, "Good. That means we can talk." David pulled he man from the car.

The people of Storybrooke had gathered within the four walls of the town hall as they waited for David to arrive and tell them his plan.

"Come on, Gramps. Pick up. Come on. Come on." Henry muttered to himself with a phone to his ear.

"Please, everyone, just be patient. I'm sure he's gonna be here any second." Ruby called out as she noticed Granny wall passed with a cross bow in her hand, "Granny, do you really need that?"

"We got a lawless town, Ruby. Damn right I need it." Granny told the child.

Ruby walked over to the smaller child and said, "Try calling him again."

"He's not picking up." Henry responded.

"Just keep trying." Ruby told. The doors flung open which revealed Regina standing there with a smirk on her face. The townspeople released a gasp as they split up, making way for Regina to pass.

"My... What a nice turnout. No need for a fuss. It's just little old me." Regina said as she made her way to the front of the town hall.

"Regina, think about what you're doing." Archie told as he came closer to the mayor.

"Bug." Regina simply said as she flung her arm towards the man who fell back.

"Hey!" Leroy called out as Granny released an arrow from her crossbow.

Regina caught the arrow with a smirk, "How sweet." She lit the arrow before flinging the fire towards the towns people, the fire circled the hall.

"What do you want?!" Ruby asked in a yell as she stood between the two sides of the townspeople.

"Me. She wants me." Henry called out as he ran towards his adopted mother, "Okay, I'll come with you. Just... leave them alone."

Regina placed a hand under Henry's face, "That's my boy." The two of them walked out of the town hall as Henry held his head low.

Jefferson and David sat outside Granny's diner as David placed the hat onto the table.

"Can you get me through?" David asked the man.

"No." Jefferson shook his head.

"Can you get them back? Can you get it to work?" David questioned.

Jefferson let out a laugh, "If you only knew."

"Okay, you had a little girl's tea set in your car and a stuffed rabbit toy, so I'm thinking you have a daughter you love. Well, I do, too, and a wife, and they're out there somewhere, in the Enchanted Forest or a void. I don't even know, but I'm going to get them back." David pointed out.

"They're in the Enchanted Forest. That's for sure. I just can't get there." Jefferson told the man as he stared at the hat.

David sat their with wide eyes, "It still exists?"

"It exists. I don't know if that matters since we can't go there." Jefferson told.

"So you won't help me?" David asked.

"I'm a portal jumper, and you destroyed my portal, so you're out of luck." Jefferson responded.

David pulled Jefferson by the scarf, "Well, I'm the closest thing left to a sheriff here, so I could just throw you in a cell until you figure out a way." David retracted his hand from Jefferson's scarf.

"Then all we'll do is both sit, stuck..." Jefferson said, "Two lives in our heads, cursed worse than ever. Two lives forever at odds. Double the pain. Double the suffering." Jefferson got up and tipped the table before running away from David.

David got up and chased after Jefferson, who ran far away from the prince, David went to continue chasing after the Hatter but was stopped by Ruby.

"David, stop!" Ruby called out.

"Get out of my way!" David warned.

"Regina has Henry!" Ruby simply said.

"But he has the way!" David pointed out as he looked at the direction of which Jefferson left in.

"She has Henry. She's threatening everyone." Ruby told the man.

David caught on to what Ruby was saying, "She has Henry?"

"She showed up at your town meeting... the one you missed. Her magic's back. Everyone's panicking. They want to leave town. They're going to lose everything." Ruby explained.

"Okay. Okay, but I have to go after him first. He's my only hope of finding a way to get Emma, Camilla, and Snow back." David told the female.

"Okay, back to what? This town is about to come apart. You've got to do something." Ruby said.

Meanwhile Regina and Henry had walked into their home as Regina held a small smile on her face.

Regina let out a small sigh, "Now I don't want you to think that things are just going to go back to how they used to be. Henry." The said boy ran up the stairs and straight to his room, he dropped a rope made from bed sheets out of his window, he began to climb out of his window, in doing so, Henry was held by a barrier spell from the tree, "Don't fight it, honey. You'll get a splinter."

"How long am I in prison? Until I grow up?" Henry asked as the vines made Henry come back into his room.

"Henry, I rescued you because I love you." Regina responded to the small boy.

"So I'm a prisoner because you love me." Henry clarified.

"That's not fair. You know where I come from. That was really not fair. Of all the places I've seen, this is the fairest of them all." Regina told.

"You ruined lives. You sent away Mary Margaret, Emma and Camilla." Henry said.

"That was an accident." Regina told the small boy.

"The way you treated me wasn't an accident. You made it so no one believed me. You made me feel like I was crazy." Henry commented.

"But that's all gonna change now. Henry, you can know all the secrets. You can live in a house with magic. Look what I could do." Regina began as she held out her hand revealing a fire ball in her hand with a chuckle, "And I can teach you. You can do this and so much more. You can have all the friends you want come over any time, and you can show them everything in your book."

"No one's gonna want to come over here. They're scared of you." Henry pointed out.

"You can make them not be scared. You can make them love you." Regina stated.

"I don't want that. I don't want to be you." Henry snapped.

After the events of which took place at the town hall, the people of Storybrooke had gotten into their cars with all their stuff and headed towards the town line. In proceeding to cross the line, David had managed to drive his truck in front of the big group of cars and stopped them from getting any closer to the town line. Both David and Ruby got out of the truck and David stood on the roof of his truck.

"Get out of the way! We have a right to go!" Archie yelled as he got out of his car.

"Listen to me! Listen. If you cross that line, you're gonna be lost. Everyone who loves you will lose you. But there's something worse. You'll lose yourself." David yelled out, by this time, people from Storybrooke had gotten out of their car and went to see what was going on, "Look, I get wanting to leave here. I do. And I get that it's easier to let go of bad memories, but... even bad memories are part of us. David, Storybrooke David was... is ... weak... confused... and he hurt the woman I love. I wouldn't give up being Charming just to be him. But you know what? I wouldn't make the other trade either, because that David reminds me not only of whom I lost... But of who I want to be my weaknesses and my strengths. David and The Prince. I am both... Just like you. You are both. The town is both. We are both. Stay here, and every choice is open to you. Live in the woods if you want. Hell, live in a shoe if you want. Or eat frozen burritos and write software. Let's open Granny's and the school and get back to work. I will protect you. She won't be able to hurt any of us, not as long as I'm alive. Not as long as we all come together... As we did before... As we shall do again."

The front door of the Mill's household had bursted open and David walked into the building with a sword in his hand. Regina let out a small gasp.

"I want to see him." David stated.

"Henry, come down." Regina called up the stairs before turning her attention back to David, "You won't be using your sword."

"Whatever you conjure, I can fight." David told.

"I mean, you won't need your sword." Regina spoke before turning her attention to the small boy who had made his way down the stairs, "Henry, you're gonna go home with David."

"Really?"Henry questioned.

"Really. I shouldn't have brought you here. I was... I don't know how to love very well. I wasn't capable of it for a very long time. But I know... I remember... That if you hold on to someone too hard, that doesn't make them love you. I'm sorry I lied to you, that I made you feel like I didn't know who you are. But I want you to be here because you want to be here, not because I forced you... And not because of magic. I want to redeem myself. Go get your things." Regina explained to the small boy.

"Then prove it." David stated.

"How?" Regina asked.

"Answer one question." David told, "Does it exist?"

Regina's eyebrows knitted together, "What?"

"The Enchanted Forest, our land... does it still exist?" David reworded his question.

"Yes. But I have no idea how to get back there. I can see I just launched you on a heroic quest. Just also make sure you take care of my son." Regina told the male.

"That I can do." David responded with a nod.

The two walked out of the the Mills household and headed towards the Diner.

"What do you need those for?" Me Clark questioned as he noticed the six dwarfs walking out a shop with pick axes held over their shoulder.

"Don't worry, brother. You've lost something. It's gonna take fairy dust to get it back. So we're gonna do what we do best." Leroy told his friend, "Come on, boys. It's off to work we go."

David and Henry sat in Granny's Diner with drinks in their hand.

"Hey. It exists, Henry. The Enchanted Forest is still out there." David said to the small boy.

"And... so are they." Henry told.

"Yeah." David nodded.

"But how do we know they survived the trip there?" Henry asked as he shot him a look.

"Because I can feel it." David responded.

Within The Enchanted Forest, Camilla, Mary Margaret and Emma were being dragged along as Mulan and Aurora rode towards an island.

"Oh." Emma complained as she got dragged.

"What is this place?" Mary Margaret asked.

"Our home." Mulan responded.

"How lovely." Camilla muttered as the horse whined. They arrive at the safe haven as they did, people stop, stare and gasp at their arrival. Within the time of which they had spent within the safe haven have they seen new arrivals at the haven.

"It's like they're refugees." Emma said.

"We're survivors." Mulan corrected.

What happened next surprised both Camilla and Emma was when Mary Margaret kneed Aurora in the stomach.

"Emma, Camilla, run!" Mary Margaret yelled as the three of them ran away, but are stopped by Mulan when she managed to whip Mary Margaret causing her to fall, "Aah!"

"Snow!" Camilla called out as she ran back over to Mary Margaret.

"Mary Margaret!" Emma yelled as she ran back to her mother.

"Mulan! What did you do?!" Camilla asked as she shot her old friend a look.

"I don't know you." Mulan stated, "Take them to the pit."

"No." Emma growled as they get thrown into the pit.

"Be careful! Oh! Be careful!" Camilla yelled.

"Hey. Come on. Wake up. Hey. Can you hear me?" Emma said as she shook Mary Margaret.

Camilla knelt down beside Mary Margaret and yelled, "Mary Margaret, c'mon wake up!"

"Do you need help?" A woman asked within the shadows.

"Who are you?" Emma questioned as both females stood up straight.

"A friend." The woman told as she stepped into the light coming from above, "My name's Cora."

Camilla's eyes widened and almost on queue, a sharp and stinging pain flooded into the female's arm she dug her nails into her palm in order to help with the pain. It didn't seem to work. The pain only spread.

"Camilla, you okay?" Emma asked as she gave her a small concerned look.

Camilla nodded, "perfect." She kept her head down. Camilla thought back to the Enchanted Forest - the time when she came back - she remembered feeling a similar feeling though at that time it wasn't this bad. If Camilla had to be honest, it felt as if the pain had been sent into overdrive.

The pain stung as if her arm was getting electrocuted multiple times. It got to the point of which she couldn't take the pain anymore, Camilla dropped to the floor in pure pain.

Emma rushed to her side, "Camilla, you're not okay, obviously there's something wrong."

Camilla shot her a look, "if I knew what was wrong, then I would tell you. Now considering I don't, I can't tell you."

Cora stepped forward, "can I help?"

"No!" Camilla held out her hand as to say 'stop', "not from you."

Meanwhile within a distant land flew a shadow heading towards a young boy who sat round a fire as a group of boys danced round it. At the sight of his shadow he walked a few feet into the forest which covered most of the land.

"I thought you were looking after Jade, how is she?" Peter asked the shadow.

"Well, good news, she remembers everything. She remembers you, the lost boys, everything." The shadow responded.

A smirk grew on his face, "she remembers. It isn't long until she's here."

The shadow gave him a nod before flying away back to the darker area to the island of which shadows laid.

As Peter walked back into the camp, he felt a sharp pain going through his arm.

He grit his teeth in pain as Felix came over to him, "Pan, is everything okay?"

"I don't know. But it's bad, extremely bad. I think it's to do with Jade." Peter spoke.

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