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whimsicallyenchantedrose · 6 months

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Girls' Trip Fairy Tale Ending--Chapter 5 of 6

Summary: This is my combined birthday gift for Joni ( @jrob64 ), Marta ( @snowbellewells ) and Krystal ( @kmomof4 ). Happy birthday ladies! Four fandom friends are nearing the end of their annual girls’ trip when they’re suddenly visited by Isaac, the author before Henry. He gives them an each a gift–an opportunity to jump into any scene in the storybook they want and fix it. Large focus on CS, although other characters and relationships will be explored. A big shoutout to @hollyethecurious and @winterbaby89 for betaing!

Word Count: 2420

Tagging a few people who may be interested (Let me know if you want to be added or taken off the list): @sailormew @annaamelll @flslp87 @emmateo26 @bethacaciakay @ultraluckycatnd @effulgent-mind @ilovemesomekillianjones @kat2609 @brooke-to-broch @missgymgirl @galadriel26 @the-lady-of-misthaven @charmingturkeysandwich @jennjenn615 @laschatzi @kimmy46 @snowbellewells @iamanneenigma @daxx04 @nickillian @gillie @britishguyslover @ginnyjinxedandhanshotritafirst @kmomof4 @linda8084 @golfgirld @captain-swan-coffee @searchingwardrobes @hollyethecurious @laughswaytoomuch @allyourdarlingswans @winterbaby89 @facesiousbutton82 @therooksshiningknight, @lfh1226-linda @tiganasummertree @jrob64 @anmylica @booksteaandtoomuchtv @elfiola

Other chapters: (1) (2) (3) (4)

Can also be found on: (ao3) (ff.net)

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jen didn’t know what she expected transportation via storybook to be like, but she was delighted to discover it was something like entering a snowglobe. Snowflakes swirled around her, and she watched with delight as they landed on her arms, her shoulders, the ends of her hair. Each one was different, but each was thoroughly exquisite in its own way. She knew that most people didn’t get her love of winter and snow but it was beautiful and fascinating, and she would go on loving it despite what anyone else might say.

So engrossed was Jen in the snow swirling around her, that she barely noticed moving from her place in the cabin until the air cleared and she found herself just inside the Charming’s flat. Her eyes fell first on the tremendous, festively decorated Christmas tree in the sitting area and then the simpler evergreen wreath hanging on the inside of the door.

So it was Christmastime in her version of events? Well, why not? Wasn’t Christmas the time for magic? And she would need some heavy duty, industrial strength magic to fix the mess Isaac had made of the latter part of season 6.

“So Hook….he killed my father? Okay, that’s a little tough to process.” she heard David say from the kitchen area, and suddenly she knew just exactly where they were in the story. She hung back for a moment, trying to figure out just the right time and the right way to intervene.

“I was hoping I didn’t have to tell you,” Emma said, sounding defeated from her perch on the breakfast bar.

“Where the hell is Hook anyway?” David asked, aggressively pacing the kitchen. “He didn’t have the guts to come tell me himself?”

If anything, Emma looked even more dejected. “There’s more. Hook, he … he left town.”

“What?” David exclaimed, finally coming to a stop and staring at his daughter in disbelief.

“We had a big fight about him hiding this, and I told him if he wasn’t ready to trust me that, that we shouldn’t talk for a while,” Emma said, “so I guess he wasn’t ready, because Leroy saw him on the docks, and he got on the Nautilus and just…sailed away.”

At this, Jen found herself shaking her head, hurrying forward to intervene.

“Emma,” she said gently, “are you sure? Are you absolutely SURE that’s what happened?”

Emma looked up, anger and pain written all over her face. She spread her hands wide. “He’s not here, is he? What am I supposed to think?”

“I know how hurt you are by all that happened,” Jen said, “but hasn’t he shown you yet that you don’t need to put up your walls to protect yourself from him? Hasn’t he proven how much he loves you?”

“Not enough to keep from hiding things from me,” she muttered.

“Kind of like how you hid the truth about the shears and your destiny as savior from him?” Jen asked, being careful to keep any hint of accusation from her tone.

“That’s….that’s different!” Emma spluttered, jumping from the counter and striding purposely toward the coat rack. “I’ve gotta get to the station. Look, whatever you or I or anyone else might think of him, the facts are the facts, and the fact is that Leroy saw him leave me. End of discussion.”

As though to punctuate her sentence, she stepped out the door and slammed it behind her. The Christmas wreath on the door fell to the floor with the violence of the action. David moved forward to replace the decoration on its perch.

“You know I’m right, don’t you David?” Jen asked.

He didn’t look at her, instead taking long moments to adjust the wreath just so on the door. Finally he turned back to face her. “She’s my daughter, Jen, and she’s hurting, and he’s the cause of it, whatever led to it. My focus has to be on helping her heal”

“But if things aren’t exactly the way they look…if maybe this is the work of a villain or something,” Jen said, “wouldn’t the ideal way to help her be to figure out the truth? And you know Killian. You know how much he loves Emma. Doesn’t he deserve the benefit of the doubt?”

David frowned, and Jen could tell her words struck a chord in him. “I suppose you’re right.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With another delightful swirl of snow, Jen found herself transported to the sheriff’s station where David and Emma were discussing digitizing files and the merits of busywork to help dull the pain. She decided to hang back in the shadows, watching to see how this scene played out.

“I’ve got just the thing to mend a broken heart,” Regina said happily, brushing snow off of her coat as she breezed into the station and held up a small piece of paper rolled into a scroll.

Emma eyed it warily. “Whatever spell that is, I don’t want it. I’m seriously not in the mood for magic.”

“Who said anything about magic?” Regina said unfurling the scroll which was covered in so many images of the season, it looked like Christmas had thrown up all over it. “It’s a two for one drink coupon for that new club, Aesop’s Tables. Seems they’re having a big Christmas sale. It’d be a shame to waste it!”

David stepped up, looking at the coupon and shaking his head. “Really? You think half priced liquor is the way to go.”

“I certainly do,” Regina said. “We need a ladies night out, me, Emma and Snow. We go early enough, we can get back in time for Christmas eve with the family.”

Emma looked unimpressed at the suggestion. “Remember she’s in a sleeping curse? She’s at home. Asleep.”

“Well, she doesn’t have to be asleep,” Regina said with a meaningful look at David.

“Oh come on! I just woke up!” he said. Regina gave him a look, and he rolled his eyes. “I guess she doesn’t have to be asleep.”

Emma got to her feet, clearly in no mood for any of this. “I can’t. I’m about to go on patrol, and shouldn’t you be trying to break that curse?”

Regina blew out an exasperated breath. “Well, I’m working on it, but I could use a break. We all could. I know you’re hurting, and I know you’re trying to hide it because, well, you’re Emma, but you can’t just run from this.”

Emma gave her a hard look. “I didn’t run. Hook ran, so, there’s nothing more to say.” She placed the last file on the pile in front of her with rather more force than strictly necessary, and then headed toward the door. It was abundantly clear that she was running from the conversation as much as she was heading out on rounds.

“You know,” David said speculatively as she walked out, “I’ve been thinking.”

Regina snorted, “a dangerous pastime.”

He glared at her and then went back to the topic at hand. “I’m not sure it’s true. I’m not sure Hook really DID run,” he finished.

“Well he’s not here, is he?” she asked, gesturing around the office to make her point. “Seems your daughter has some reason to think he skipped town.”

“Leroy,” David said.

“I beg your pardon?” Regina said.

“Leroy’s her reason,” David said. “He apparently saw Hook on the docks, told Emma something about Hook getting on the Nautilus and sailing away.”

Regina tutted derisively. “Leroy? Emma’s just going on the word of that gossip girl?”

David shrugged. “You know how hard it is for Emma to trust, how closely she guards her heart. She’s hurting, but you and I both know Hook. That man isn’t capable of loving by half measures. It doesn’t make sense that he’d decide he doesn’t trust her and just….cut his losses and skip town.”

Jen nodded in satisfaction. That’s the David she knew, rather than the clueless one Isaac wrote, the one who was ready to believe the worst of Killian at the slightest provocation.

“I guess you have a point there,” Regina conceded, “and we do have a psychopath running around trying to separate Emma from all her sources of support. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but maybe it’s time to give the pirate the benefit of the doubt.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

With another swirl of snow, Jen found herself in the sitting room of Emma’s house. She smiled as she saw the tall Christmas tree in the corner, bedecked with lights and garland and all manner of hook, swan, storybook and Disney character ornaments.

The smile slid from her face as she spied Emma and Henry sitting together at opposite ends of the sofa. Henry played on his phone, earbuds in place while Emma slowly, gently placed Hook’s possessions in his chest. She hesitated as she reached Liam’s ring hanging from its chain. She held it close, looking down at it, the tears coming to her eyes in spite of herself.

Beside her, Henry seemed to notice her distress. He pulled the earbuds from his ears. “Mom, you okay?”

Emma took a deep breath and decisively placed the ring in the trunk and closed the lid. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she answered. “I have to be,” she added under her breath. “Henry, can you take this out to the shed later?”

Henry nodded. “Yeah, whatever you want.”

That was it? That was all Henry had to say on the matter? Clearly it was time for Jen to intervene again.

“Take a moment to think about this Emma, Henry,” Jen said. “Look at what’s sitting before you. Hook’s chest, filled with all his most prized possessions. If he was going to leave you, why would he leave all of that behind?”

Jen saw a small glimmer of hope dawn in Emma’s eye, but just as quickly it disappeared. “I don’t know, but I’ve already told you. I have to face the facts. Holding on to false hope only hurts worse.”

Beside her, Henry furled his brow. “Jen’s got a point, mom,” he said, Jen nodded in satisfaction. Maybe the Truest Believer was ready to work his (metaphorical) magic once more. “Killian spent two hundred years trying to avenge my grandma Milah. Once he loves someone, he loves them forever.”

There was that tiny spark of hope in her eyes once more. It lasted longer this time before it faded. “But sometimes love is not enough. Seems that’s the case with Hook.”

“Mom, he literally went to hell for you,” Henry said. “You two were proven True Love. When Zeus wanted to send Killian to his ultimate reward–to the place he truly belonged–he sent him back to you. You really think he gave all of that up over an argument?”

Emma took a moment to think this over and seemed to be on the verge of responding when there was a brisk knock on the door, and a moment later David and Regina strolled in.

“Regina…what the hell?” Emma asked, getting to her feet.

“Your Charming father and I have been talking,” Regina said, “and we’ve come to the conclusion that you’re being an idiot.”

“I’d like to point out for the record, that that is not the conclusion I came to,” David said with an exasperated glare in the direction of his step-mother-in-law. “I said that I thought your pain might be clouding your judgment.”

“Technicalities,” Regina said with a wave of the hand.

Emma rolled her eyes. “As much as I’m enjoying the bickering at my expense,” she drawled, “is there a point to your visit?”

“We were thinking,” David said, stepping forward. “How many times in this town has a villain screwed with things and made circumstances seem different than they are in order to despirit the heroes and further their plan? How can we be sure Gideon didn’t, I don’t know, do something to make Killian leave?”

There was that hope in Emma’s eyes once more, and this time it stubbornly refused to fade. “Do you really think that could be the case?” she asked.

“Of course!” Henry said, “and we know what Gideon’s trying to do! He’s trying to separate Emma from all her sources of support before the final battle! It would be just like him to get rid of Killian, her true love.”

“But…” Emma said, starting to protest once more, but far more weakly this time.

“Emma he’s your True Love, and that’s a special kind of magic,” David said, placing his hands on her arms. “Don’t you at least owe him–and yourself–trying to figure out for sure?”

“I suppose you’re right,” Emma said, “but how? Forget why he left. We don’t even know where he went.”

Jen stepped up, looking at Regina. “It’s Christmas time. Surely there’s some sort of…I don’t know…enchanted Christmas ornament ro something that can help us out.”

“I don’t know about an ornament,” Regina said slowly, “but there is the legend of the Christmas wreath.”

“What legend is that, mom?” Henry asked.

“Well the evergreen wreath is a symbol of everlasting love, right?” Regina asked. “You know, evergreens never shedding their green needles, the circle the symbol of that with no beginning or end, all of that?”

Emma shrugged.

“Well, apparently, at Christmastime, the wreath has a special, even greater magic,” Regina says. “The magic of the season enhances its True Love properties, and, in short, if someone is True Love, it’s said they will be able to see their True Love in it, assuming they adorn it with something meaningful belonging to said True Love.”

“One problem,” Emma said. “I don’t have a wreath.”

“But Grandma and Grandpa do!” Henry said excitedly. “They made it together and it’s on their door! That could work, couldn’t it?”

Regina groaned. “Given how utterly sickening their True Love is, I’d say a wreath they lovingly made together might be the perfect option.”

“And as for something meaningful to Killian,” Emma said, reaching into the trunk and grasping Liam’s ring, “I’ve got the perfect thing.”

“Well, what are we waiting for?” David asked with a broad smile. “Let’s get back to the loft!”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

“I don’t see anything,” Emma said dejectedly several minutes later.

Regina had poofed them directly to the loft, and Emma had wasted no time in draping Liam’s ring over her parents’ wreath before staring into the center of it.

“You have to believe, Emma,” Regina said, “truly believe in the strength and everlasting nature of your love. You need to put all doubts from your mind.”

Emma took a deep breath, closed her eyes for a moment, and then looked back through the center of the wreath. She gasped, hearing him before she saw him.

“Emma? Emma are you there? I didn’t mean to leave. I was on my way back to you and Gideon, he sent me away.”

Slowly the picture began to emerge from within the wreath. Killian seemed to be in some exotic place, a place in the desert. If Emma wasn’t mistaken, he was standing beside…was that Ariel?...and he was speaking into what looked like a seashell.

“Seems he’s trying to communicate via ‘shell’ phone,” David grinned. Regina groaned and Emma shushed them both, concentrating on what she was hearing from the wreath…or shell…or whatever the hell was happening.

“I would never leave you. Emma. He wanted me out of the way, and I love you. I don’t know if you can hear me but I’m trying to get home to you, and I won’t ever stop until I do.”

Tears of relief filled Emma’s eyes and spilled down over her cheeks. “Killian?” she answered.

Through the wreath, she saw him start and look down in wonder at the shell in his hand. “Emma? You’re there?”

“I’m here,” she said tearfully. “I hear you. I love you too!”

“I’m trying desperately to get home to you,” he said. “Christmas is tomorrow, and I couldn’t bear to spend it without you. Do you have any suggestions?”

Emma looked around at Regina. “Anything more to that wreath legend?” she asked. “Can it, like, transport someone?”

“Well,” Regina said slowly, “I suppose it’s possible, if he could find a wreath of his own and something of yours to tether them together. Maybe the wreath could bring him home.”

“Are you there, love?” Killian asked.

“He can’t hear you?” Emma asked Regina.

She shrugged. “Well he’s not my True Love.”

Emma rolled her eyes before telling Killian what Regina had just conveyed to her. It was a matter of just a moment to get everything arranged. As luck would have it, Ariel had, among her tremendous collection of random things, a Christmas wreath, and Killian was able to tether it to Emma’s by adding her engagement ring to its boughs.

There was a flash of Christmas lights, and then he was there, back in the room with them.

Jen held her breath, knowing what was coming, thrilled at the prospect of being a witness to it. She pulled back to give them a bit of privacy, even if she had no intention of withdrawing entirely from a scene of such great importance to her very favorite fictional couple.

“I’m sorry, Emma,” Killian said, taking her hand. “I should have told you what I did to your grandfather all those years ago, and I should never, never have even considered running away.

Jen noticed the tears in Emma’s eyes, her watery smile as she looked up at him. “It’s okay. I didn’t exactly make it easy for you to tell me the truth. Come on. Let’s get you cleaned up.”

She turned away, trying to pull him with her, but he held his ground. “No,” he said, “no, there’s something I have to do before I get pushed into another portal and this time, I’m gonna do it the right way.”

Killian reached into his jacket pocket, wincing with the pain the movement caused his bruised body. He pulled out the engagement ring and Jen noticed how brilliantly it shown in the light of the Christmas tree behind them.

“Swan,” he continued "I know that you face an uncertain future, but there’s one thing I want you to be certain of–that I will always, always be by your side.” He sunk to one knee gazing up at her with every ounce of the love and adoration he felt for her. “So, Emma Swan, what do you say? Will you marry me?”

While normally not nearly as exuberant as Krystal, it was only with great difficulty that Jen restrained herself from squealing. The scene had been beautiful and romantic when she’d watched it on her TV screen–multiple times–but being there, in person–there were no words.

And then when Emma got to her knees beside him, took his face in her hands, gave him her yes and then kissed him tenderly, there was no way Jen could have held back her ecstatic sigh.

Neither Emma nor Killian, who were thoroughly engrossed with each other and cocooned in their love nor anyone else in the room heard or noticed as the snow swirled one last time to transport Jen back to the cabin.

#ouat fanfiction #girls' trip fanfiction #fandom friends' birthday fics #cs christmas fics #6x15 a wondrous place #my fanfiction

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likehandlingroses · 11 months

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OUAT Rewatch 6x15 - A Wondrous Place

My father used to tell me that duty had to come before love. So I told myself that losing Agrabah meant I could never have love until I won it back [...] I finally realized that the way to get Agrabah back is with the kind of magic that can break any curse.

#ouat #once upon a time #ouatedit #onceuponatimeeedit #jasmine #aladdin #emma swan #ariel #snow white #mary margaret blanchard #regina mills #ouat rewatch 2022

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lacebird · 1 year

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ONCE UPON A TIME — 6x15: A Wondrous Place

#mine #gifs #💜#gideon gold #once upon a time #userthing #usersource #userstorybrooke #userblorbo #tuserpurple #usertelevision #ouatedit #did these gifs need to be this big? no #extra big gifs because he's literally SO pretty 😭

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intothewickedwood · 2 years

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Once Upon A Time Rewatch: Links to My Recaps

So, I finished 3 year long rewatch of ouat & ouatiw a few weeks ago and I thought I’d post links to my live reaction posts of each episode. If anyone’s interested in anything specific you can find it here. It’s also just to have them all in one place. I would love to see your comments about the episodes or in regards to any questions I raised, or anything really if you would like to add anything! I’d love to talk Ouat with you!

All Episodes Tag

Chronological Order | Last To First Order

Season One

Season Two

Season Three

Season Four

Season Five

Season Six

Season Seven

Once Upon A Time In Wonderland

#ouat #once upon a time #captain swan #rumbelle #snowing #emma swan #regina mills #killian jones #curious archer #knightrook #alice jones #mary margaret blanchard #david nolan #henry mills #ouatiw #ouat rewatch #ouat rewatch 2019

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wicked-storybrooke · 1 year

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#ouat best episode bracket #ouat #once upon a time

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snowbellewells · 2 years

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Self Promo Sunday: “Find My Way Back to You”

(I started this one shot before 6x15 "A Wondrous Place" aired, and therefore it picks up right where "Page 23" (6x14) ended. It allows for Snow to do more what I would have loved to have seen from her in 6x15 – encourage Emma that there is no way her True Love would leave her, and take action to help her daughter find out what is wrong. In general, I wanted the Charmings to be more concerned about Killian and know that his just vanishing after a fight didn't add up, so I wrote it. (I even wrote a separate short fic, a divergent/missing scene from 6x15 for Henry, for the same reason!) Also, my first thought at Gideon not wanting Killian around was that he had a curse planned for Emma. I still want them have an actual, magical whoosh of air, rainbow-tinged TLK as well, so this is what happened in response to all of that going on in my mind.

Can also be found on AO3 and ff.net

Summary: When Gideon strikes at Emma in her weakest moment, it will take her family's support and the return of her True Love to put things to rights.

by: @snowbellewells

Three a.m. and still no sign of her pirate. Their huge two story house feels as cold and empty in the silent dark of late night turned early morning as it had during those nightmarish days when she had ensconced herself in it as the Dark One in her solitary lair. Just as those ghastly memories have begun to vanish for good, the foreboding tendrils wind their way back in Killian's absence. She did this; her eyes close as she once more stares out the window into the dark, deserted yard, forehead resting against the frigid glass, chilling her skin along with the cold she feels spreading through her chest. Unbidden, Killian's pointed, angry words as the Dark One himself ring in her mind – cutting like tiny knives – "you push away anyone who gets close to you…that's why you'll always be an orphan…"

Knowing now that he does not truly feel that way, that he hates the fact she ever heard those words from his lips, does little to comfort her alone in the still watch of the night. The remembrance of cold winter nights curled up together under heaps of cozy blankets as he whispered and kissed the very opposite into her skin – how bloody brilliant she is, how she is his match, his other half, how they will always have each other and never be alone again, how he will never leave her – is cold comfort now that she fears she has driven him away.

Listlessness overtakes the Savior as she paces a sleepless route from window to sink to the living room couch and back again, peace and rest as far from her as they have ever been. At last, she curls into the oversized armchair in the corner, the one which has become Killian's favorite place to read the piles of books that both Belle and Henry recommend and loan him, her eyes glazing over until she barely notices the dark lightening to grey, then streaking the sky with pinks and golds as the sun rises again. The new day dawns with her True Love missing, and though she still believes in him and clings to her faith that he wouldn't desert her, he isn't here. She had been justified in what she'd said to him – he does have to trust her, just as she must have faith in him – but the fact that he is out there alone somewhere hurting and drowning in self-hatred, that he didn't feel welcome in their home, makes the words, warranted or not, feel hollow.

When the door creaks open and her mother enters, there to pick Emma up for their near-weekly breakfast at Granny's, Emma barely flinches or even looks up at Snow's chipper greeting. It doesn't take long for her mother to gather that something isn't right when Emma gives no answer, and when she rounds the corner into the living room to find her grown daughter curled up as small as she can make herself in the chair, arms around her legs and chin resting on her knees, Snow's happily excited face falls rapidly.

She comes to kneel in front of her child, resting her hands over Emma's clenched ones soothingly, and looking up into her blank, unfocused face. "Honey?... Emma?" She chafes her hands up and down her daughter's forearms until Emma finally startles slightly and seems to register her mother's presence. "What is it? Are you alright? …Where's Killian?"

It is this last question which finally seems to snap her daughter back into the present, and as she turns to really focus on Snow, her stoic façade truly crumbles. Shaking her head, she finally clasps her mother's hand in return, and whispers in as fragile a voice as her mother has ever heard her use, "I don't know, Mom… I don't know."

"Well, come then," Snow soothes, pulling Emma to her in a hug, and holding her as she rocks back and forth slightly, comforting her princess as she aches to have done all those missed years Emma had been growing up. When she sits back slightly, gently brushing back the loose strands of hair that have escaped Emma's braid with maternal tenderness, "We need to go find him," she urges. "The way that man loves you? Whatever happened with the two of you, you'll work it out. He's probably on his way to you as we speak."

Emma knows her mother doesn't have the whole story, but despite all that, Snow's patent hope and optimism bolster her spirits enough to urge her to her feet as her mother pulls her up. Soon, she is leading the way down to the docks in search of her pirate.

So it is a sleep-deprived, fuzzy and anxiety-distracted version of herself who stands on the wooden planks, frozen in unprepared surprise and vulnerability when Gideon materializes behind them, malicious grin on his face and a taunt on his cruelly curved lips. "Looking for someone, 'Savior'?"

Emma scowls, feeling the heat in her blood rising angrily at the look on his face – just knowing without a doubt that this freak has done something to keep Killian from her, to keep him from coming back home. "You know that I am. What have you done with him?" she growls.

"Nothing really," Gideon shrugs nonchalantly, gloating at his power over the situation, much in the way his father always has. "He'll be quite alright, I'm sure. He's just several thousand leagues under the sea – well away from here and unable to disrupt my plans."

"Your plans?!" Emma spits. "Just what are you planning anyway, you sick little – "

But before she can finish, Gideon flings out a glowing hand, magic shooting toward her from it at top speed. Emma reacts quickly to throw up a defensive shield, but it isn’t quite fast enough. She has been fighting nonstop for so long, one villain, realm, and catastrophe after another, to save everyone but herself, and she is just too tired. Her sleepless night, distress, and the lackluster concern for her own safety all work against her to let Gideon gain the edge, and she freezes for a second as what he has thrown at her makes impact. Then, her eyes glass over, fall closed, and she crumples senseless to the surface of the pier.

Snow is stock-still and speechless at her side, too shocked to move at their robed attacker's sudden appearance, at least until Emma falls. On her knees beside her daughter instantly, a cry of distress escapes the Enchanted Forest's monarch as she shakes Emma's shoulder in futile hope of rousing her.

"That won't work," Gideon intones confidently as he watches her efforts. "You of all people ought to recognize the spell, ‘Snow White’. But I've tweaked it a bit for my own purposes. Take it from someone who – like your daughter – grew up painfully without a mother, whatever the reasons, I'm not sure you could waken her, even without my refinements. All the same, I've guarded against it, just in case. You will keep her safe though, until I decide what to do with her, won't you?" And with a sickeningly self-satisfied smile, he vanishes in a red column of magical smoke.

~ CS ~ CS ~ CS ~

Killian Jones is beside himself as the Nautilus finally resurfaces in Storybrooke's harbor once more. If it weren't for Nemo, Liam, and the once again fortuitously met Ariel, he would probably have pulled all his hair out or maimed his one good hand from punching walls in frustration. As is, it has been nearly a week since their ship had been sent forcibly from the Land Without Magic. In every waking moment since – and they've all been waking; he cannot sleep, only pace his quarters, stomach churning at the thought that he will have appeared to abandon Emma like so many before him – he has been struggling, racing against time, desperate to get back to his Love. Not only can he not bear the thought of her hurting because of him, of it seeming for even a second that he would desert her, but the more time that passes, and the more complicated it proves to get home, the more frighteningly sure Killian becomes that Gideon needed him specifically out of the picture. Whatever the Dark One's spawn has in mind, it means danger for Emma, and he isn't there to fight at her side.

With hardly a backward glance, he tears from the hold and clamors up onto the docks the moment the ship settles in a berth. Running toward their shared home as if that wretched hell hound from the Underworld is on his heels once more, Killian barely calls a 'thank you' over his shoulder to his comrades before he is halfway up the street.

Bursting through the front door after clattering up the steps of their porch, Killian calls out Emma's name, hoarse with panic, even as he can clearly see that the lights are dim and the place is eerily still. When searching every room on the first floor in rapid succession yields nothing, he bounds up the stairs to their bedroom, still crying out for his Swan; still hoping against hope that she will rise from their bed to welcome him, arms outstretched and both of their sins ready to be forgiven with love.

Finding that room empty and cold as well is the battering ram which almost breaks him. 'Where is she?' 'What's happened to her?' repeats round and round in his head, as his adrenaline flees and he sinks on suddenly weak, shaking legs to the edge of the bed, praying she is alright, that she hasn't given up on him and left this home they dreamed of for so long – that he isn't too late. For a moment, he buries his face in his hand, a few tears leaking from his eyes here in this dusky quiet where no one else can see.

His despair does not last though – whether it is the small kernel of undefeatable hope, purpose, love for Emma – for his family – or just plain stubbornness; whatever it is that has kept him pressing on throughout lonely centuries, it pulls Killian Jones to his feet again. Soon he is back down the stairs, across the porch and moving down the street, instinct and his heart guiding him where he needs to go, and urging him forward as quickly as he can get there.

At Emma's parents' loft apartment, he hesitates only briefly, steeling himself with a deep breath for the anger and betrayal he may face, and the fist to the nose Dave may greet him with. But he doesn't have time to waste; he has already been gone too long. With every moment he is apart from his Swan, his desperation and fear for her grows, and he cannot help imagining worse and worse reasons why Gideon might have wanted him far away.

Knocking on the door, mouth dry, heart pounding, Killian has only moments to contemplate what to say, if he will have to push them aside to gain entrance, if he will be able to stand the harsh words he is bound to hear and the disappointment in eyes which had finally begun to regard him as a part of their family, when he hears the lock turn and the door swings open to reveal a rumpled-looking and red-eyed Snow White. To his shock, and throwing him completely off balance, Snow reaches for his arm and pulls him into the apartment, hugging him tightly with her voice muffled against his jacket as she says, "Thank goodness you're here, Killian! It was starting to look like something awful had happened to you…"

Killian sputters disbelievingly even as Snow pulls away, wiping her cheeks and sniffling a bit, and allows her to drag him further into the main room, even as he stumbles over his own feet. "But…I…You are? Did Emma not tell you what I've done?"

Snow shakes her head, dithering and waving her hand as if to bat his qualms away. "She didn't explain…just that she didn't know where you were." And here the rightful ruler of the Enchanted Forest gives him the smallest of sad little smiles, "None of that matters right now. We need you… Emma needs you."

"Doesn't matter?" Killian repeats, blinking and completely nonplussed.

Snow dips her head, hiding her expression from him as she leads him on by the hand, up the steps to the room Killian knows was Emma's for a short time.

However, if he had thought himself confused and troubled already, it is nothing compared to the sight which overwhelms him upon entering Emma's small boudoir. There, lying as if in peaceful, permanent slumber, is his Emma, stretched out upon the bed, eyes closed in seeming rest with her golden hair arrayed across the pillow in a spill of light and hands folded over each other on her stomach. Yet, having felt her curled against him many times in the tiniest possible ball, as if protecting herself even in sleep, and knowing how often she tosses and turns, tangling her long legs in the sheets, Killian realizes immediately something is not right – Emma is never so still.

Even if that had not alerted him, the appearance of David, Henry, and Belle around the bed would have. Dave is slumped in a chair by the nightstand, looking devastated and lost as he watches over his daughter, and Henry, head bowed and silent, seated on the bed by his mother's feet, while Belle stands near him, worried and torn, her hand on her grandson's shoulder. It flashes through his head that they resemble the mournful tableau around a glass coffin in the cartoon Emma and Henry had gleefully shown him some weeks ago, the one that supposedly told her parents' story. Except these were not somewhat cutesy hand drawn dwarves; these were the members of his family, and he had no such illusions that things could be righted as instantaneously. Surely if the immediately obvious solution could work, they would have done it already?

Slow, hesitant steps bring him closer to the bed where his princess, his True Love, lies. And though he wants to fall to his knees, rail and scream at the universe and the unfairness of her loss, he finds that he can only stare dazedly until he finally reaches her other side, and runs a tender, aching finger along a strand of her hair.

David looks up at his entrance, and though his mouth tightens in a hard, thin line, he says nothing, spews none of the accusations Killian had expected from him, nor does he order the pirate from his home.

"Dave…I…" Killian starts, swallowing hard and trying to offer any kind of apology that could possibly seem like enough. Even if the other man doesn't know the horrible discovery about his father's long ago murder, Prince Charming may well believe that Killian left his daughter without a word when she was in grave danger and needing his support.

But the prince shakes his head slowly, dismissing the need. "All of that can wait for later," he sighs, voice low and ragged. "I knew something wasn't right with your disappearance anyway. Just… please … wake my daughter."

Killian is taken aback, jerking upright in surprise. "How can I?" he asks, reaching to twine his fingers with Emma's limp, cool ones, needing the contact whether she can press his in return or not. "If you or Henry couldn't wake her, why would I be able to, after how I've ruined what was between us?'

Belle speaks up then, her voice shaky with a clear mix of concern and guilt. "The best we can figure is that… G-Gideon altered the Sleeping Curse. Possibly because Henry has shared a True Love's Kiss with her before, he is unable to repeat the action? And…" she trails off hesitantly, as David picks up the explanation.

"…And because Snow and I weren't there for her all those years, despite my best intentions, in some way I did fail her. At any rate, what we have with our own daughter must not be strong enough to be True Love either." His head bows again to rest on Emma's shoulder, the agonized emotion in her father's voice and the defeated curve of his strong shoulders unravelling. Killian that much more.

Then Snow speaks up just behind him, her voice soft yet full of hope as she prods him with a hand at his back. "You're the only one who can bring her back, Killian. I know it! I've never seen her look at anyone else the way she does at you. She wasn't herself without you, even before Gideon did this, and she needs to know you're here."

Shaking his head, Killian licks his lips nervously, going down on his knees at Emma's side, pulling her hand to his chest and looking at her son. Henry meets his gaze and gives his mom's other True Love a nod of urging encouragement, a tiny, watery grin lifting one corner of his mouth.

Bending his head to the pillow beside hers, Killian closes his eyes for a moment, gathering his courage and praying that the bond they have shared is still alive; for she does not deserve this fate. "Swan, I love you… more than I can ever express, despite how I must have hurt you unwillingly. Please… come back to us. Come back to me."

Then, with infinite adoration he leans forward, pressing his lips to hers once more in a sweet kiss. He has missed her so much in the last few days and nights that it feels instantly as if he is once more whole – like he has finally, truly, come home. In the following second, a whoosh of air and light sweeps through the room, ruffling their hair and clothes, sweeping up and invigorating them all. Rainbow color seems to radiate out in a wave of electric power from where their lips meet, and it steals Killian's breath. His heart near ceases to beat as he stares in awe at his princess' face.

Emma's lashes flutter, then she blinks rapidly, sucking in a huge gasp of air as she stirs, and finally Killian feels as if he can breathe again. She sits up quickly, a smile lighting her face as she reaches out for him and pulls him close desperately. "Killian," she exclaims, "you came back!"

Tears threaten, and he has to swallow several times to answer in a rough murmur, "Emma…Love…of course I did. I never wanted to leave you."

She nods against his shoulder, burrowing closer in his embrace, and neither of them even budge when first Henry, and then the rest, pile on in relief and joy, making it a chaotic, clumsy six-person hug. The warmth and belonging spread through his veins and push out the chill loneliness Killian had feared taking over him once more. Laughing and breathing in the warm cinnamon scent of her, he buries his nose in Emma's hair, feels Henry and Belle at his back, and lets Snow's hope fill the last empty cracks hidden away in his soul. No more fear of being lost at sea. He has his harbor, and he means to stay.

Tagging: @kmomof4 @searchingwardrobes @jennjenn615 @whimsicallyenchantedrose @jrob64 @apiratewhopines @cosette141 @optomisticgirl @tiganasummertree @spartanguard @therooksshiningknight @laschatzi @donteattheappleshook @elizabeethan @the-darkdragonfly @xsajx @gingerchangeling @kday426 @ineffablecolors @let-it-raines @drowned-dreamer @teamhook @revanmeetra87 @winterbaby89 @ilovemesomekillianjones @sotangledupinit @justanother-unluckysoul @xhookswenchx @thislassishooked @linda8084 @lfh1226-linda @wefoundloveunderthelight

#self promo sunday #cs canon divergent ff #ouat s6 missing moment one shot #find my way back to you #cs ff #cs one shot #cs flangst #TLK

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onceuponaseriesrewatch · 4 years

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Join us this Sunday, January 19 at 8:00 pm EST for 6x15 A Wondrous Place!

If you’d like to be added to the hangout chat, just send us your email address!

#ouasr #once upon a series rewatch #ouasr episode stills #6x15 a wondrous place

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onceuponatime-confessions-blog · 7 years

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Just that moment, that little moment, where Emma is slightly annoyed at Henry for not doing something she asked him to do was brilliant. We don’t see anywhere near as much actual Mother/son daily life scenes as we should...with either Emma or Regina anymore so that was brilliant. I celebrate the small, simple things writers. It doesn’t have to be 0-100 every episode

#onceuponatime confessions #ouat 6x15 #6x15 a wondrous place #ouat spoilers #a wondrous place

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allaboutjmo · 5 years

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Forever a mood!

‪📸 Jen as Emma Swan from “Once Upon A Time” episode 6x15 “A Wondrous Place” ‬

‪

#jennifer morrison #jmo #emma swan #once upon a time #ouat #swanday #6x15: a wondrous place #mood

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besselfunctions · 7 years

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"But I just woke up!”

oh Charmz

#ouat spoilers #ouat live blog #6x15 a wondrous place

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dinneratgrannys · 23 days

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ONCE UPON A TIME 6.15, A Wondrous Place

#ouatedit #onceuponatimeedit #captainswanedit #ouat #once upon a time #captain swan #s6 #6x15 a wondrous place #dynamic: captain swan #event: rewatch 22

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whimsicallyenchantedrose · 7 years

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She hears him! Yay! @flslp87 You were right!

#ouat spoilers #6x15 a wondrous place #jennifer watches ouat #it's once night!

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lifeincolorblog · 7 years

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The good kind

“...that no good pirate...”

Actually, Regina, he is the good kind of pirate.

#ouat spoilers #ouat sneak peek #6x15 A Wondrous Place #ouat 6x15 #Regina Mills #Hook #Killian Jones #Captain Swan #ouat S6 #ouat #I don't believe Emma would bash him even if she was angry #she certainly shouldn't be angry #she's probably just dissappointed

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32variations · 7 years

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no but really i wanted more of Snow drunk in a bar challenging Vikings to knife throwing contests??? drunk snow was amazing

#ouat spoilers #6x15 a wondrous place

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intothewickedwood · 3 years

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Once Upon A Time Rewatch: 6x15 A Wondrous Place

Just moved yesterday so bear with me. Lifted so many bags. If my arms aren’t like Emma’s after that I am suing! 

What episode do we have today?

A Wondrous Place. Okay, I don’t really remember that one. Do they go to Agrabah? Guess we’ll find out.

I wonder if Wonderland and Agrabah are right next to each other. It seemed to be the case in Ouat in Wonderland but maybe there’s a set portal between them or something. Either that or they’re in the same realm.

Agrabah is apparently across the desert from Eric’s Kingdom. So, in the same realm as the Enchanted Forest? 

Did you know, Snow’s nightmare prison realm in 7x22 was Agrabah? 

Let David be angry about what happened, dammit. I wish they would make it more about David’s feelings as opposed to being about trust in Emma and Hook’s relationship. What’s the point in adding this Storyline if there’s not going to be conflict between the people involved? 

Okay, I get that they wanted conflict in Emma and Hook’s relationship, but she’s not even upset about the actual murder. They could have made it about him not trusting her with the secret of him being a furry or something if that’s what they were going for. Basically, why write in the murder of David’s father if there is not going to be consequences for that or conflict about that specifically? Don’t get me wrong, I like the idea and potential of Hook killing David’s father. We get one scene of David pacing before making it all about CS trust issues and that’s it?? I just want David to be as upset as he was at George when he found out his dad was murdered. I want Emma to question her stance on forgiveness, even for a loved one, when those close to her are hurt irreparably right in front of her. Where is the internal and external conflict? I don’t want it to be about rehashed trust issues. I want it to be about how characters come to terms and move forward in an angst-ridden impossible situation.

Kraken’s blood allows you to travel between realms? Rumple is tearing out his hair right now. Oh! I guess that’s how it got shorter!

Chill, Killian. I’mma make you some camomile tea.

He’s so desperate to see his Kraken lover again. Get some of that tentacle, Hook! 

No one remembers Achmed. He f***ed a tiger!!

If you know that reference, you know xD.

Aladdin: “Jasmine, duck.” Jasmine (petrified): “Where?!” Jasmine has an intense phobia of ducks, confirmed. 

Don’t hit Kracky. He just wants his Killy.

Killian, how could you hurt your lover like that! The betrayal!

Hook, honey, I don’t know why you're so moody with everyone today but I'mma get you some cbd gummies. You’ll be fine. 

No one’s gonna help you if you talk to them like that, my dude. 

Jasmine “So forgive me for-” Me: “-doing what’s best for you! So forgive me for try-y-y-ying to make things easier.” Listen, I rewatched We Are the Tigers musical last week and I may suddenly be a little bit obsessed. Go watch/listen to it so we can geek out! 

Back to the rewatch.

Where’s Nemo and Liam? 

Jafar is quite handy at travelling between realms according to Killian. Maybe that’s how he went from Agrabah to Wonderland so easily in Ouatiw. But I’m sure we saw him use the white rabbit, so surely he can’t have another method. Unless... His magic carpet??

Emma is so blasé about Hook running off. She just seems like she wants to sleep. But she seems like she wants to sleep this whole damn season. Girl’s so done with everything. Completely checked out, bless her. Though it is sad to see a favourite character change so dramatically. Compare her to s1 or even s4 Emma and goodness gracious I just think s6 Emma might benefit from a heavy dose of sleeping curse or something. Let. Her. Sleep. Someone could just run Henry through in front of her and she’d take about 10 minutes to even realise and be like “Oh. Okay.” in slow motion when she finally notices and then she’d make out with Hook. Bonus points if Hook is the one to run Henry through.

Friends? That’s her mama. But hey, my mum’s my buddy too.

Lol. She stole a fork?

If you had to be a human hybrid, what would you be? Maybe I’d be a manticore or a womanticore.

Jasmine is being awfully nice to someone who just stole something. Some might say she has a thing for thieves. Wink. Wink.

Wow. This magical carpet ride is super gay. Love it.

Oh my God, she’s right. It is a rug!

Why is Hook being so rude today? 

Regina is just staring at Emma like “wtf happened to you?”

I just realised, Regina basically invited Emma on a date and invited her mother lol.

Snow lol.

Omg Emma needs a freaking lucozade. Someone get her a lucozade. Wake up Emma! *shakes her aggressively* Wake the hell up! Come back to us! 

Don’t the Jones brothers wanna hang out more?

That girl really loves her forks. 

Woah. She chased Eric all the way to Agrabah after one dance. 

Eric: “I have a great love for your people, especially poached with lemon and capers” lmao!!

“Son of a fish.”

What?! How’d he free himself?!

Ouat please explain. Are they suggesting the Well of Wonders Woman didn’t curse him to be a genie but just cursed him to stay in the bottle. They’ve gotta explain these things or they just look like inconsistencies.

Oh. Hang on. Ariel was supposed to have lost her voice. Okay but she had a necklace that allowed her to speak. I’m guessing Jafar destroyed it when he banished her to the sea.

Lol. He really hates being called bastard?

So, these events occur before present day events of Ouatiw. Agrabah was trapped in a ring all throughout Ouatiw? I feel like we saw it still standing in the present day in Ouatiw, no? I need to rewatch. 

Are the people of Agrabah still living their best lives inside that ring? Do they even know they’re trapped?

Ha! Turned into a staff. He freaking deserves that after doing exactly that to Amara. But then and again she probably deserved it. 

All they had to do was kiss to get Agrabah out of that ring. What?! Oh, and he’s free from the genie curse too. This is getting ridiculous. Can we please have some consistency with the limitations of magic? Genie curses cannot be flipping broken with true loves kiss. That would have saved Cyrus and Alice a hell of a lot of trouble!

“I’m an oyster head!” 

Emma, please, take a 10-hour nap. You’re making me tired. 

Ther will be no portals between Emma and Killian so long as Gideon has her tears. These rules make no sense!

It felt like ridiculous solutions were thrown into that episode. How do these tears of the saviour rules work? Could Cora have taken Emma’s tears to stop her taking a portal to Henry in 2a or does it just prevent her taking a portal to her romantic love and vice versa? What?!

#ouat 6x15 #6x15 a wondrous place #ouat #once upon a time #ouat rewatch #ouat rewatch 2019

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