Dreams Come True:

Page 32: Stolen Heart:

Dream and Aurora stopped at a stream when Dream asked the frogs to help her find Emma, Mary Margaret, and Mulan, so they weren't running around clueless in the big, scary forest.

"So, how long have you been talking to frogs?" Aurora asked while they were following the small frog that was leading the way. 

"Um... A week, at most." Dream shrugged when Aurora raised her brow. "Once the curse broke, many things did not make sense in my life. But if talking to frogs will help us find the others, then I'm all for it. As long as I don't have to kiss one." Dream chuckled when Aurora nodded, following her.

"Henry... Is your little brother, isn't he?" Aurora asked, making Dream look at her.

"Yeah... Why do you--"

"Before Cora kidnapped me, we tried to contact him to find a way to defeat her with Rumpelstiltskin's help. Where we were both under the--" Aurora went to say as Dream sighed, remembering the day the curse broke when she was so scared to lose Henry. "Sleeping curse... Right..." Dream said, nodding when Aurora nodded.

"So, he's your brother and Emma's son?" 

"Yeah. It's this thing called adoption in my land. Emma gave him up when he was a baby, and my mom adopted him when I wanted a baby sibling. And I was actually born from a rose... Like an enchanted rose." Dream said as Aurora nodded, making Dream chuckle. "So, the adoption part stumped you... But you understand the rose part." Dream mumbled to herself, walking forward when she realized that she kept feeling more like an outsider as the days went on.

*Meanwhile*

Cora returned to check on Dream and Aurora; however, she entered an empty cell. She looked around, moving around the bird cage when she saw the stew that Dream kicked onto the ground. 

"Looking for someone?"

Cora turned around at the sound of the familiar voice. Hook. "Oh... Oh, don't tell me you were dumb enough to let her go... Both of them go..." Cora scoffed softly when Hook shrugged, smirking at Cora. "She was never gonna give you what you wanted anyway. And she won't have left the princess." Hook shrugged, making Cora scoff again.

"So, you freed her and stuck around for the petty satisfaction... of seeing me suffer?" Cora asked, mocking what she thought the pirate's plan was.

"Oh, watching you suffer is a tempting motivation, but it wasn't that." Hook corrected her when Cora continued to smile as if she did not just lose her granddaughter and prisoner. "Well, then you must have a death wish." Cora smiled before raising her hand to use her magic to sling Hook up against the stone wall while the wall wrapped around his hand, feet, and hook. Cora walked closer, taking off his hook, when she moved his vest, revealing his chest, looking up at him. "You know I have to kill you." She said, but Hook did not look nervous.

"You should try thanking me." Hook said, making Cora furrow her brows.

"Oh, really? Why is that?" She asked him, still holding the hook to his chest. "Because I've brought you a gift. The one thing you wanted... It's in the satchel." Hook said, motioning to the brown satchel that was by his hip. "What is it?" Cora asked, sounding skeptical, unsure whether she could trust the pirate.

"Customarily, surprise is part of the fun of gift giving. Open it." He insisted when she grabbed his satchel, opening it to find a glowing heart. 

"Is that--" She went to ask as he nodded.

"Indeed, it is. The heart of your dear, mistrusting, naive granddaughter... And with it, you'll get everything you want." Hook said, making Cora smirk when she looked at him. "How did you get it? I would be sure that my daughter wouldn't let her own just carry around without it being protected." Cora said, making Hook scoff. "The girl doesn't trust her mother... It was easy to tell that her heart was, indeed, intact. Without a drop of darkness in it." Hook said as Cora picked it up to see it was pure red. 

*In the Forest*

Aurora and Dream stopped when they saw Mulan and Mary Margaret fighting while Emma stood around. "Stop!" Aurora yelled when Dream rushed behind, picking up the little frog, who couldn't keep up with them.

"Okay, don't take this the wrong way, but how did you both get here?" Emma asked, looking at Aurora and Dream.

"Let Mulan go," Aurora said to Mary Margaret, ignoring Emma's question, while Dream sat the frog back on the ground, thanking him. "I said, let her go," Aurora repeated when Mary Margaret got up.

Aurora moved to help Mulan up when Dream walked over to them. "Were you followed?" Mulan asked the girls who had just escaped. "I don't think so..." Aurora shook her head before looking at Dream. "Cora may know we're gone, but she didn't see us escape." Dream added when Aurora agreed.

"How did you escape?" Emma asked, making Dream turn to look at her. 

"It was Hook. He let us go." Dream said as the group, except Aurora, looked shocked. "Why?" Emma asked Dream. "Because of you. He said he wanted to prove to you that you should have trusted him as I did. That if you had trusted him..." Dream started to say, while in the pit at the haven, Cora was repeating the same words into Dream's heart. 

"...we could have defeated Cora together. That the three of us could've gotten the remains..." Cora said into the glowing heart while Dream continued to say them to the others.

"...of the wardrobe. Without him, we'll have to go up against her all by ourselves." Dream said, making Emma and Mary Margaret look at each other while Mulan and Aurora looked at each other.

"...He only wants to help," Cora said when Aurora looked at Dream.

"I think he may care for you... If he said all of that." Aurora said to Dream, who shrugged it off, while Emma looked at Dream in disbelief and confusion.

"The princess added a nice touch..." Hook said to Cora, having heard what Aurora said through the heart. He was cleaning off his hook, making Cora turn to look at him. "But you know she won't trust you," Cora said when Hook shrugged like it was not a big deal. "Well, Swan doesn't have to... All I need is for her to believe that I was genuine in letting the girls go, which I'd wager she does now. And as for Dream... she won't have the choice to trust us when we have her heart." Hook said, walking over to Cora. "You're welcome." He added, making Cora smirk at him.

"Impressive. You took her heart." Cora said when Hook shrugged it off again.

"And now you have your granddaughter." He said as she nodded. "Indeed, I do." She nodded, glancing at how pure Dream's heart was. "Now, can we get on with the business of going to Storybrooke? Together?" Hook asked as Cora smirked again.

"Why not? I hate to travel alone. All we need is the compass." 

"Which will soon be delivered." Hook said, walking out of the pit, pointing to Dream's heart.

*Meanwhile*

"Did you find a way to stop Cora?" Aurora asked Emma when Mulan handed Emma back the compass.

"Yes." Emma nodded, looking at her mother.

"Where are we going?" Dream asked when Emma sighed. "Rumpelstiltskin's cell." Emma answered, making Dream nod. "Great. Then lead the way." Dream said as they started to walk toward Mary Margaret's castle again.

~season 2, episode 8: "Into the Deep"~

~1253 words~