#((so true nolan keep slaying king))

[golden-gear-guy]

*It was probably for the best if they stopped this conversation for now. Midas peered out the window and saw some of the grass outside having been turned to gold as well. The whole house was a complete mess and Gear was doing even worse. It wouldn’t be too long till Montague and Brutus got home from their grocery store trip as well, and he had no idea how to even begin cleaning any of this up. It’s not like he wanted to anyways. All he wanted to do was to just lay down in bed and sob his heart out.*

“Yeah.. I think I’ll go take a bath first..”

*He wasn’t really sure if Nolan should even stay here based on everything that just went down. He didn’t know how his housemates would potentially react to it. Monty would probably make a frustrated face then go back to his game, while Brutus might just try to strangle Nolan to death. Gear didn’t have the brain capacity to wonder about it any further, his head already throbbed bluntly from crying so much. Either way, taking a bath would be synonymous with getting wasted and probably even more crying, but he felt like that was the only thing that could numb him enough to be able to cope with the situation. Being heartbroken was one thing, but he also felt used, and worthless and now he was still planning on housing the guy who made him feel like absolute shit. He should have just sent him to crash at Kado’s, but those soft words pulled at Gear’s heartstrings enough for him to give in. Things could hardly get any worse..*

*Gear rubbed the tears out of his eyes and sighed, before walking over to one of the kitchen cabinets and grabbing a bottle of wine, the glass now gold, the liquid inside seemingly still good. This should calm him for a while at least.. He shot one last glance at Nolan before he walked up the stairs and disappeared out of his sight.*

*Gear bursted through the front door, visibly distressed, hiding something behind his back. He seemed to stand there for a bit, thinking over what he should do next before he took a deep breath and walking up to Nolan in the kitchen.*

“Yo. Went to the shop to get Monty something and.. uhh..”

*He finally revealed what he was hiding behind his back, it was a bouquet of light pink camellias and seven dark pink roses, the colours of the flowers popped from the dark leaves and white baby’s breaths that surround them, leaving the composition very pleasant on the eyes. He thought about what Pinkie said, how it symbolised longing, infatuation and wanting to be someone’s. A light flush crept across his face just from the idea of it. He really hoped Nolan knew nothing about flower language, it would most likely come off as insanely desperate.”

“Got everyone something nice so don’t think you’re special.”

*He shook his head. That came off terribly different from what he meant.*

“Or.. No, you should think that, cuz you are.. Anyways yeah, have this.”

@nolan-chance-fortnite

[stahlop]

Once Upon a Time  1x06 “The Shepherd” Review

Reviews 1x01 1x02 1x03 1x04 1x05

Yes!  Finally, another great episode!  Tonight we have the backstory of Charming! Who isn’t really a prince!  And we get to see more of David and Mary Margaret, and David’s stupid memories coming back.  And because of that, a heartbroken Mary Margaret.  Regina is really evil. This episode basically comes down to the choices we make and how they affect the characters. Also, for the purposes of not confusing anyone, I will be referring to King George’s son as James, and the shepherd as David.

Synopsis:

David struggles with his feelings for Mary Margaret, even though he doesn’t remember his life with his wife, Kathryn. In the Enchanted Forest James must defeat a dragon to help his kingdom.

Opening: 

A dragon flying in the woods.

New Characters:

King Midas: So the nag with the bad attitude from 1x03 has a father and he is King Midas.  Midas is known from Greek Mythology as the king with the golden touch.  He seems to have a glove that won’t turn to gold to help him live with this. In most versions of the story, he has to ask the god that gave him the power to take it away because anything he touches turns to gold, including, in some versions, his daughter. But here he seems to have things under control.  There is a dragon raveging his kingdom and apparently his knights aren’t able to handle it, so he has called upon King George’s kingdom to help out. And, in true royal fashion, gives his daughter’s hand in marriage once the deed is done to help unite their kingdoms.  There really isn’t too much to say about Midas, he’s basically doing what any king would do, and he genuinely seems to love his daughter and just wants what’s best for the kingdoms.

King George:  Prince James’s father who is the biggest asshole. I’m not surprised that their kingdom has no money, he seems like the type who likes extravagance and will do whatever it takes to keep himself in it.  Although, he does truly seem to love his son.  At least, I hope he did, considering he brokered a deal with Rumplestiltskin to get him. Actually, I’m a little torn on this, did he truly love James, or was James just a means to an end for him? The way Rumplestiltskin talks, he just needed an heir and then he barely even mourned James, he just needed him alive to get help from Midas’s kingdom. So maybe he didn’t really love him. Either way, George is an asshole who is used to getting his way and will use any means to get it.

Prince James: Well, he that was a shock!  Was anyone else shocked that Prince James was not actually David? He was an amazing swordsman who didn’t seem to follow his own advice.  He told the other guy to make sure he was really dead, and then he didn’t do the same thing which resulted in his own death.  He also seems to do exactly what his father tells him to do, but he’s not cowardly about it, he enjoys playing the royalty game.  I’m sure, had he slayed the dragon, he would’ve seen Abigail as a prize he had won instead of the woman who was to become his wife.

Character Observations:

David: He’s a poor shepherd in the EF. And the hair, the hair!  Can we just forget about the awfulness that was his hair? He lives with his mother as his father died years ago.  He is determined to marry for love and not just to save his farm. As he tells his mother, marrying for love is the one thing he can afford. Unfortunately, the choices he has to make don’t allow him to marry for love. After finding out the prince was his twin, he makes the choice to pretend to be James to save his farm, but then he must also make the choice to save his mother’s life by marrying Abigail.  As Rumplestiltskin says to him earlier in the episode, ‘Oh, everyone has a choice dearie. Just make sure it’s the right one.’ Thank goodness he knew how to slay a dragon or we’d have two dead brothers.

David Nolan also has a choice to make. He seems to be in a love triangle between his wife, Kathryn, and Mary Margaret. Although, it seems to be pretty one-sided.  David is not the man who married Kathryn, he doesn’t know who that was, he can’t remember him.  All he knows is that he has feelings for Mary Margaret. He does leave Kathryn and goes to meet Mary Margaret by the toll bridge because that is where she found him.  Unfortunately, Regina and Gold seem to have other plans; plans that somehow give him his memories of Kathryn and their life together.  And David, being the nice guy that he is, chooses to try to work with Kathryn.  He claims he never meant to leave her the night he went into a coma; that he was just wanting to work things out on his own. So now they can work things out together.

Mary Margaret: Poor Mary Margaret.  She just gets beat down this episode.  She spends most of her time trying to stay away from David, then he actually leaves his wife for her, only to get his memories back right before they were to be together. She really should’ve waited a little longer than, what, a week or two, and maybe seeing if his memories were to come back before they tried their little rendezvous.  It would have saved a lot of heartache for both of them. Especially, since she seemed pretty convinced his feelings for her were only because she ‘saved’ him. And it looks like Mary Margaret is going to go into rebound mode with Dr. Whale, which, ew.  Just no.  They tried to make him backtrack from his lecherous behavior last time he went on a date with Mary Margaret, but no way do I believe she is that heartbroken enough to let anything happen with Whale. 

Rumplestiltskin/Gold: We find out that George made a deal with him years ago for his son.  Rumplestiltskin calls him a gift whereas George says it was a deal. I get what Rumplestiltskin is going for here.  Children should be considered gifts, but all George is seeing is that he had to make a deal in order to get an heir. George proposes another deal to bring his son back, but Rumple says ‘dead is dead’. Instead, he reveals that James happened to be a twin and that is how ‘his son’ will slay the dragon. Rumplestiltskin comes to David to give him a choice, basically, save your mother and your farm or get yourselves all killed.

Gold is not in this episode very much.  He happens to cross paths with David right when he’s about to make his choice to be with Mary Margaret. He somehow has the windmill in his shop that Kathryn was talking about earlier and that ‘jogs’ David’s memories.

Emma: She doesn’t do a lot this episode.  She’s basically Mary Margaret’s sounding board for her ‘relationship’ with David. She gives Mary Margaret some really bad advice by telling her to be with David since he’s left Kathryn.  I get that she wants Mary Margaret to be happy, but let the guy breath for a little bit.  He literally just woke up from a coma. She also discovers Graham and Regina’s little secret. I’m surprised that Emma’s superpower didn’t detect he was lying earlier when Graham asked her to cover the night shift.  She had every right to tell him to finish her shift.

Abigail/Kathryn: We still don’t get much from Abigail, except that she seems to not want to marry Prince James and is being forced to per royal marriage. She’s still pretty aloof and distant. Kathryn, on the other hand, is nice and warm, and trying everything she can to save her marriage, despite the fact that David clearly doesn’t want to be with her. She’s pretty ecstatic when he remembers and comes back to her.

Regina: God she is getting annoying!  She is so one note.  I get everyone putting up with her over the years because it’s technically the same day over and over, but why does anyone put up with her now that they see how she acts on a daily basis?  She’s just awful to everyone. Is it part of the curse that no one can see how awful she is unless she is personally being a bitch to you? But, it was nice to see her actually trying to be friendly with Kathryn.  I know she has ulterior motives for wanting David and Kathryn to work out, but she seemed genuinely touched at Kathryn’s words.

Dr. Whale: I mean, we’ve barely seen him outside of the hospital. The first time we saw him he was on a date with Mary Margaret but eyeing Ruby in the background.  This time he is hitting on Mary Margaret again, but with an apology and basically telling her to do the unexpected so that you’re not disappointed.  And then she asks him to buy her two drinks.  Yikes!

Questions:

Who is this Frederick King Midas mentioned?

Is there anyone Rumplestiltskin isn’t involved with?  We’ve seen him with Snow and Charming, Regina, Cinderella, Jiminy, and now King George, and at one time, David’s mother.

Where did James’s body go when Rumplestiltskin and King George are talking?  King George is seen mourning over the body with his knights, then Rumplestiltskin comes, then the knights leave and the table James was laying on is now empty, but no one took the body with them.

Have commoners never seen Prince James? Has no one ever seen that James and David look even similar?  I know David’s hair was awful, but is this like a Superman situation where people just ignore that they look identical?

How did David become such a good swordsman as a shepherd?

I know Storybrooke is lax about a lot of things, but could David really get to Mary Margaret’s classroom without having to go through the front office and a phone call to her first?  I’m a teacher and there is no way that would be allowed to happen.

I get that David is being sentimental, but why would he want to meet Mary Margaret out in the middle of the woods? Especially a place he almost died.

There is a lot riding on circumstance with David, Regina, and Gold.  How did Regina know David would get lost trying to find the toll bridge, or was she just in the right place at the right time? How did Regina know Gold would help her with her plan? How did Regina and Gold know that David would even come in the shop when Regina gave him the wrong directions? How did Gold know that David would recognize the windmill? He wasn’t even there when Kathryn mentioned it?.  Is all this subliminally planted in David’s mind somehow?

Who was Dr. Whale in the EF? Maybe he’s really the whale from Pinocchio? Or are there any doctor characters in fairy tales?

 Observations:

Regina mentions her lost love again to Kathryn.

Take your own advice James, make sure the guy is really dead.

The round table in King George’s castle is the same table that Snow and Charming had their war council meeting with the Blue Fairy in the Pilot.

Rumplestiltskin’s price for bringing David to King George is the whereabouts of a certain fairy godmother whose wand he wants.  

The headline in the Storybrooke Daily Mirror is “Welcome Home, John Doe”.  Slow news day, I guess.

King George’s knights are pretty bad at their job.  First they let James get killed, and then most of them die fighting the dragon.

David rents a room at Granny’s when he leaves Kathryn.

Items in Gold’s shop that we see: Beer Steins, a lamp (I’m assuming Aladdin’s), a tea set, the ugly puppets, the unicorn mobile.

Gold refers to David as Charming when he comes into the shop, and then covers it by saying the mobile is charming.

David’s mother’s ring has true love follow it wherever it goes.  

Graham does volunteer at an animal shelter.

David and Abigail’s scene ends right at the beginning of where ‘Snow Falls’ began!

Timeline Issues:

Rumplestiltskin requests from King George the whereabouts of a fairy godmother in order to procure her wand.  This is obviously the same fairy godmother he kills in “The Price of Gold”. We know that George would have had to give Rumplestiltskin this information sometime before David and Abigail separated (we know they did because we have seen Snow and Charming’s wedding) because otherwise he probably would’ve felt the deal with invalid. So, let’s say that Cinderella and the fairy godmother happened pretty soon after this. We don’t know how long it took for Snow and Charming to actually find each other again, fall in love, and for Snow to defeat the Evil Queen, so I’ll say that Cinderella and Thomas courted for a year before they got married.  Hopefully, that would be enough time for all the Snow and Charming stuff to happen. Basically, this is a lot to say that, while it was a fun throwback for us to get Rumplestiltskin asking George about the fairy godmother, it makes some plotlines a little hard to follow.

Once Upon a Time Firsts:

You can’t resurrect the dead.

Emma and bear claw pastries.

Names:

Abigail - Technically, this means my father is joy, but most people translate it to father’s joy.  So this works because Midas obviously adores his daughter.

George - was most likely named because of the legend of George and the Dragon, even if George didn’t slay this dragon.

I really like the backstory of this episode.  Everything with David actually being a shepherd and not an actual prince makes it easier to understand why he falls for Snow’s spunkiness. Also, on a personal note, I hated Mary Margaret’s hair in this episode.  I love her bangs, keep the bangs!

@searchingwardrobes@thisonesatellite@justbecauseyoubelievesomething

@laschatzi @profdanglaisstuff @mariakov81

[forgcdstrength]

Abigail/Kathryn Nolan

Face-claim: Anastasia Griffith

Status: semi-active

Orientation: biromantic bisexual

Biography:

Abigail is the daughter of King Midas who falls in love with a knight named Frederick and they become engaged. However, the lovers become forever separated when Frederick is accidentally turned to gold by Midas’ golden touch while protecting him from an attempted robbery. She tries everything, including true love’s kiss, to break the curse on Frederick, with no success.

With little hope of bringing Frederick back, she reverts to an eligible status for marriage. Her father strikes a deal with the neighboring kingdom of King George to reward him with gold if he can get rid of a terrorizing dragon. George’s faux son Prince Charming, masquerading as the already deceased James, slays the beast. Midas is greatly impressed by the prince’s skills and offers Abigail to him as a bride. Abigail has little quarrel with the arrangement and goes along with it, commenting that he will do as her future husband. Through the woods, the future couple ride in a carriage together towards their engagement party at King Midas’ castle.

During the journey, Abigail is displeased by the bumpy carriage ride and openly complains about it to Prince Charming, telling him they should have used the Troll Bridge instead. They come to a halt when a fallen tree is blocking the road, so he goes out to assess the situation. Suddenly, Abigail hears a thumping noise from atop the carriage as if something just dropped down. A thief reaches into the carriage to steal Prince Charming’s jewels and rides off. Abigail screams in fright, alerting her fiancé to the robber, and he chases after the bandit on horseback.

After the engagement party goes off without a hitch, Abigail arrives in King George’s kingdom for the actual wedding ceremony. Though George hides the truth from her, she secretly knows that Prince Charming has run away. She has her father’s soldiers capture Charming while he is on the run, and gives him supplies for his journey. He is suspicious over why she is helping him, so Abigail admits that she, like him, is in love with someone else. Abigail takes him to see the golden statue of Frederick. She is desperate for a cure and brings up rumors of the magic waters of Lake Nostos, which can restore something that was once lost. Charming offers to fetch it for her, though she strongly opposes his sacrifice. She fears his valiant bravery will end in failure, and then both of them will be miserable. Instead, Charming states that if he succeeds, her misery will be gone, and, if not, the misery will be his own in death. Abigail accompanies to the entrance of the lake, but he goes in alone. She anxiously waits for his return at the golden statue of Frederick. Finally, he returns with the magic water, which she pours over Frederick’s head. The gold melts off and her beloved returns to human. As thanks to Prince Charming’s for his selfless act, they provide him with provisions for his journey to find Snow White. However, Abigail warns him of King George’s wrath before they part ways.

On the day the Dark Curse is cast by the Evil Queen, Abigail, along with the other inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest, are taken away to another land.

After the casting of the Dark Curse, Abigail becomes Kathryn, the wife of David Nolan. Though false memories implanted by the curse, she remembers having a heated argument with her husband, which ended once he stormed out of the house and never returned since. One fateful day, she learns from mayor Regina that David has been a patient in the hospital and was rescued after wandering into the woods since waking up from a coma. She hastens to the hospital and reunites with him. She thanks the efforts of a schoolteacher, Mary Margaret, who saved her husband’s life.

While David is still in recovery, Kathryn brings along old photos from their life together in an attempt to help him remember. She shows him a photo of their dog, Ajax, who he pretends to remember although he actually recalls nothing from his life with Kathryn. Though Kathryn is not supposed to see him outside of visiting hours, she can’t help but approach David while he is out on doctor ordered walking exercise to hand him his favorite baked muffins.

Following her husband being discharged from the hospital, she brings David home and surprises him with a party filled with their close friends, though he doesn’t recognize anyone. They briefly converse with Dr. Whale, who took care of David while he was recovering in the hospital. Despite the happy front, Kathryn senses that her husband is drifting farther away. She hides out in the kitchen, busying herself with supplying snacks to the partygoers, while Regina sympathizes with what it’s like to lose someone she loved due to her own unwillingness to fight for him. With encouragement from Regina, Kathryn goes to look for David and asks around, but cannot find him, as he has secretly left to meet with Mary Margaret. After the party is over, Kathryn attempts to get closer to David by kissing him, but he pulls away and states that it doesn’t feel right. Later, Kathryn is bombarded with David’s decision to leave her. Devastated, she confides in Regina about this, and Regina, in turn, suspecting Mary Margaret is the reason for David’s choice, warns the schoolteacher to not get in the way of Kathryn’s marriage. Later, Regina instigates David into recalling cursed memories of the life he had with Kathryn, causing him to break Mary Margaret’s heart in favor of returning to his wife. After David arrives home, Kathryn opens the door as David tells her he wants to give their marriage a try.

In an effort to reconnect, David drives his wife to the diner during the mornings. While Kathryn waits in the car, David goes to pick up coffee for them. During one upcoming storm in town, she goes with Regina to the pharmacy to grab supplies. One of these things is a pregnancy test, which spills out from her shopping cart when she bumps into Mary Margaret. As she picks everything up, Mary Margaret hands back the test and wishes her luck. The pregnancy test turns up negative, and she only tells David after finding out. In a discussion with him, she is still unhappy with the state of their marriage. David promises to try harder and suggests they attend therapy sessions together.

During dinner with her husband, Kathryn shows David an acceptance letter she got from a law school in Boston and prompts him about moving there to start afresh with him. She suggests that, rather than recreating their past together, they should make new memories in a different setting, which is perhaps something their marriage needs. While she is looking up possible housing options in Boston, David apologetically rejects the notion of moving away with her. He breaks it to Kathryn gently that they can’t be together due to not connecting, but this shouldn’t keep her from her dream of law school. Heartbroken, she runs to Regina in tears and informs her of what happened. Regina has a strange reaction and mutters something about a home wrecker. Kathryn pushes her for the truth, with Regina feigning reluctance to share the information before handing her some photos Sidney secretly took of David and Mary Margaret having an affair. Kathryn is furious that Regina, who she considered a friend, kept all this from her. She leaves to march right into the school hallway, roughly brushing past the gym teacher, Jim, to confront Mary Margaret with a resounding slap across the face that leaves bystanders and the schoolteacher herself stunned. As Mary Margaret starts to apologize, Kathryn unleashes anger towards her for David’s flimsy excuse that they weren’t connecting in the marriage rather than admitting the truth. Shaken, Mary Margaret is surprised to learn David did not tell Kathryn about the affair. Kathryn confirms he did not and it would’ve been the honorable thing to do, and then vehemently declares the two of them deserve each other before leaving. After having time to cool down, she comes to terms with the affair and realizes what David and Mary Margaret have is real love, and writes a letter to her ex-husband encouraging them to stay together. Later, Kathryn apologizes to Regina for her earlier actions. She is still planning to move to Boston and tells her about the letter for David. Kathryn voices the fears she’s always had of leaving town, which indirectly hints at the Dark Curse’s effects. That night, she packs everything up and begins driving out of town.

Unbeknownst to Kathryn, Regina and Mr. Gold have conspired to make her disappear so Mary Margaret will be blamed for murdering her. On the drive out of Storybrooke, Kathryn crashes her car. She is kidnapped and held as a prisoner in a room, where food and water are always provided for her, though she never sees anyone. After some time, Kathryn is drugged and wakes up in a field outside of town. She manages to crawl the entire way to the alley behind the diner where Ruby, in disbelief of who she is seeing, alerts Sheriff Emma to her presence.

After Kathryn is taken to the hospital to undergo a detox and filter out the drugs in her system, Emma comes to take a statement from her. Kathryn recounts everything from the car crash to how she ended up in the alley. She is genuinely confused and shocked when Emma alludes that Mary Margaret was set up for her murder. Later in the day, while resting up, she is startled awake by David’s presence in her hospital room. He apologizes for everything that occurred between them, which she accepts and sadly admits perhaps they were not meant to be.

After the breaking of the Dark Curse, Kathryn reunites with her true love, Frederick – whose cursed name is Jim – and they begin living together in her house.

To stop Peter Pan’s curse from overtaking Storybrooke, Regina undoes the curse she once cast, but as the price of magic, the town will be wiped out and all residents will be forced to return to the Enchanted Forest. Kathryn, because she was originally from the Enchanted Forest, is also taken back to that realm.

After Regina takes magical preventive measures to undo Pan’s casting of the Dark Curse, all the inhabitants of Storybrooke who were originally from the Enchanted Forest, including Kathryn, pay the price by returning to this realm and reverting to their prior personas.

A new curse is cast by none other than Snow White, returning the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to Storybrooke, with Kathryn as one of the many who are brought back. However, as a result of Zelena’s interference, everyone’s last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Regina stopped Pan’s curse.

Regina, after bestowing Henry with a kiss of true love, breaks the second curse. Like everyone else, Kathryn regains her lost memories of the missing year in the Enchanted Forest.

In a diner celebration welcoming David and Mary Margaret’s newborn son, Kathryn attends the party and engages in conversation with Granny. As Henry is looking over his storybook about the tale of how his grandparents met each other, David references how he was at the time engaged to Kathryn, who was known as Princess Abigail then. Hook expresses surprise he gave up that opportunity since Abigail is the daughter of Midas, the king who could turn anything into gold.

Verses:

FROM THIS MOMENT ON: follows canon Once Upon A Time up to season three

ROAD LESS TRAVELED: any other AU threads

AUs:

BOLDLY GO: (Star Trek) a Star Fleet captain

Starter Call

[evcrafter]

Princess Abigail/Kathryn Nolan

Face-claim: Anastasia Griffith

Status: semi-active

Main verse: canon; season three

Biography:

Abigail is the daughter of King Midas who falls in love with a knight named Frederick and they become engaged. However, the lovers become forever separated when Frederick is accidentally turned to gold by Midas’ golden touch while protecting him from an attempted robbery. She tries everything, including true love’s kiss, to break the curse on Frederick, with no success.

With little hope of bringing Frederick back, she reverts to an eligible status for marriage. Her father strikes a deal with the neighboring kingdom of King George to reward him with gold if he can get rid of a terrorizing dragon. George’s faux son Prince Charming, masquerading as the already deceased James, slays the beast. Midas is greatly impressed by the prince’s skills and offers Abigail to him as a bride. Abigail has little quarrel with the arrangement and goes along with it, commenting that he will do as her future husband. Through the woods, the future couple ride in a carriage together towards their engagement party at King Midas’ castle.

During the journey, Abigail is displeased by the bumpy carriage ride and openly complains about it to Prince Charming, telling him they should have used the Troll Bridge instead. They come to a halt when a fallen tree is blocking the road, so he goes out to assess the situation. Suddenly, Abigail hears a thumping noise from atop the carriage as if something just dropped down. A thief reaches into the carriage to steal Prince Charming’s jewels and rides off. Abigail screams in fright, alerting her fiancé to the robber, and he chases after the bandit on horseback.

After the engagement party goes off without a hitch, Abigail arrives in King George’s kingdom for the actual wedding ceremony. Though George hides the truth from her, she secretly knows that Prince Charming has run away. She has her father’s soldiers capture Charming while he is on the run, and gives him supplies for his journey. He is suspicious over why she is helping him, so Abigail admits that she, like him, is in love with someone else. Abigail takes him to see the golden statue of Frederick. She is desperate for a cure and brings up rumors of the magic waters of Lake Nostos, which can restore something that was once lost. Charming offers to fetch it for her, though she strongly opposes his sacrifice. She fears his valiant bravery will end in failure, and then both of them will be miserable. Instead, Charming states that if he succeeds, her misery will be gone, and, if not, the misery will be his own in death. Abigail accompanies to the entrance of the lake, but he goes in alone. She anxiously waits for his return at the golden statue of Frederick. Finally, he returns with the magic water, which she pours over Frederick’s head. The gold melts off and her beloved returns to human. As thanks to Prince Charming’s for his selfless act, they provide him with provisions for his journey to find Snow White. However, Abigail warns him of King George’s wrath before they part ways.

On the day the Dark Curse is cast by the Evil Queen, Abigail, along with the other inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest, are taken away to another land.

After the casting of the Dark Curse, Abigail becomes Kathryn, the wife of David Nolan. Though false memories implanted by the curse, she remembers having a heated argument with her husband, which ended once he stormed out of the house and never returned since. One fateful day, she learns from mayor Regina that David has been a patient in the hospital and was rescued after wandering into the woods since waking up from a coma. She hastens to the hospital and reunites with him. She thanks the efforts of a schoolteacher, Mary Margaret, who saved her husband’s life.

While David is still in recovery, Kathryn brings along old photos from their life together in an attempt to help him remember. She shows him a photo of their dog, Ajax, who he pretends to remember although he actually recalls nothing from his life with Kathryn. Though Kathryn is not supposed to see him outside of visiting hours, she can’t help but approach David while he is out on doctor ordered walking exercise to hand him his favorite baked muffins.

Following her husband being discharged from the hospital, she brings David home and surprises him with a party filled with their close friends, though he doesn’t recognize anyone. They briefly converse with Dr. Whale, who took care of David while he was recovering in the hospital. Despite the happy front, Kathryn senses that her husband is drifting farther away. She hides out in the kitchen, busying herself with supplying snacks to the partygoers, while Regina sympathizes with what it’s like to lose someone she loved due to her own unwillingness to fight for him. With encouragement from Regina, Kathryn goes to look for David and asks around, but cannot find him, as he has secretly left to meet with Mary Margaret. After the party is over, Kathryn attempts to get closer to David by kissing him, but he pulls away and states that it doesn’t feel right. Later, Kathryn is bombarded with David’s decision to leave her. Devastated, she confides in Regina about this, and Regina, in turn, suspecting Mary Margaret is the reason for David’s choice, warns the schoolteacher to not get in the way of Kathryn’s marriage. Later, Regina instigates David into recalling cursed memories of the life he had with Kathryn, causing him to break Mary Margaret’s heart in favor of returning to his wife. After David arrives home, Kathryn opens the door as David tells her he wants to give their marriage a try.

In an effort to reconnect, David drives his wife to the diner during the mornings. While Kathryn waits in the car, David goes to pick up coffee for them. During one upcoming storm in town, she goes with Regina to the pharmacy to grab supplies. One of these things is a pregnancy test, which spills out from her shopping cart when she bumps into Mary Margaret. As she picks everything up, Mary Margaret hands back the test and wishes her luck. The pregnancy test turns up negative, and she only tells David after finding out. In a discussion with him, she is still unhappy with the state of their marriage. David promises to try harder and suggests they attend therapy sessions together.

During dinner with her husband, Kathryn shows David an acceptance letter she got from a law school in Boston and prompts him about moving there to start afresh with him. She suggests that, rather than recreating their past together, they should make new memories in a different setting, which is perhaps something their marriage needs. While she is looking up possible housing options in Boston, David apologetically rejects the notion of moving away with her. He breaks it to Kathryn gently that they can’t be together due to not connecting, but this shouldn’t keep her from her dream of law school. Heartbroken, she runs to Regina in tears and informs her of what happened. Regina has a strange reaction and mutters something about a home wrecker. Kathryn pushes her for the truth, with Regina feigning reluctance to share the information before handing her some photos Sidney secretly took of David and Mary Margaret having an affair. Kathryn is furious that Regina, who she considered a friend, kept all this from her. She leaves to march right into the school hallway, roughly brushing past the gym teacher, Jim, to confront Mary Margaret with a resounding slap across the face that leaves bystanders and the schoolteacher herself stunned. As Mary Margaret starts to apologize, Kathryn unleashes anger towards her for David’s flimsy excuse that they weren’t connecting in the marriage rather than admitting the truth. Shaken, Mary Margaret is surprised to learn David did not tell Kathryn about the affair. Kathryn confirms he did not and it would’ve been the honorable thing to do, and then vehemently declares the two of them deserve each other before leaving. After having time to cool down, she comes to terms with the affair and realizes what David and Mary Margaret have is real love, and writes a letter to her ex-husband encouraging them to stay together. Later, Kathryn apologizes to Regina for her earlier actions. She is still planning to move to Boston and tells her about the letter for David. Kathryn voices the fears she’s always had of leaving town, which indirectly hints at the Dark Curse’s effects. That night, she packs everything up and begins driving out of town.

Unbeknownst to Kathryn, Regina and Mr. Gold have conspired to make her disappear so Mary Margaret will be blamed for murdering her. On the drive out of Storybrooke, Kathryn crashes her car. She is kidnapped and held as a prisoner in a room, where food and water are always provided for her, though she never sees anyone. After some time, Kathryn is drugged and wakes up in a field outside of town. She manages to crawl the entire way to the alley behind the diner where Ruby, in disbelief of who she is seeing, alerts Sheriff Emma to her presence.

After Kathryn is taken to the hospital to undergo a detox and filter out the drugs in her system, Emma comes to take a statement from her. Kathryn recounts everything from the car crash to how she ended up in the alley. She is genuinely confused and shocked when Emma alludes that Mary Margaret was set up for her murder. Later in the day, while resting up, she is startled awake by David’s presence in her hospital room. He apologizes for everything that occurred between them, which she accepts and sadly admits perhaps they were not meant to be.

After the breaking of the Dark Curse, Kathryn reunites with her true love, Frederick – whose cursed name is Jim – and they begin living together in her house.

To stop Peter Pan’s curse from overtaking Storybrooke, Regina undoes the curse she once cast, but as the price of magic, the town will be wiped out and all residents will be forced to return to the Enchanted Forest. Kathryn, because she was originally from the Enchanted Forest, is also taken back to that realm.

After Regina takes magical preventive measures to undo Pan’s casting of the Dark Curse, all the inhabitants of Storybrooke who were originally from the Enchanted Forest, including Kathryn, pay the price by returning to this realm and reverting to their prior personas.

A new curse is cast by none other than Snow White, returning the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to Storybrooke, with Kathryn as one of the many who are brought back. However, as a result of Zelena’s interference, everyone’s last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Regina stopped Pan’s curse.

Regina, after bestowing Henry with a kiss of true love, breaks the second curse. Like everyone else, Kathryn regains her lost memories of the missing year in the Enchanted Forest.

In a diner celebration welcoming David and Mary Margaret’s newborn son, Kathryn attends the party and engages in conversation with Granny. As Henry is looking over his storybook about the tale of how his grandparents met each other, David references how he was at the time engaged to Kathryn, who was known as Princess Abigail then. Hook expresses surprise he gave up that opportunity since Abigail is the daughter of Midas, the king who could turn anything into gold.

Verses:

FROM THIS MOMENT ON: follows canon Once Upon A Time up to season three

ROAD LESS TRAVELED: any other AU threads

[fcrgedstrcngth]

Princess Abigail/Kathryn Nolan

Face-claim: Anastasia Griffith

Status: semi-active

Main verse: canon; season three

Biography:

Abigail is the daughter of King Midas who falls in love with a knight named Frederick and they become engaged. However, the lovers become forever separated when Frederick is accidentally turned to gold by Midas' golden touch while protecting him from an attempted robbery. She tries everything, including true love's kiss, to break the curse on Frederick, with no success.

With little hope of bringing Frederick back, she reverts to an eligible status for marriage. Her father strikes a deal with the neighboring kingdom of King George to reward him with gold if he can get rid of a terrorizing dragon. George's faux son Prince Charming, masquerading as the already deceased James, slays the beast. Midas is greatly impressed by the prince's skills and offers Abigail to him as a bride. Abigail has little quarrel with the arrangement and goes along with it, commenting that he will do as her future husband. Through the woods, the future couple ride in a carriage together towards their engagement party at King Midas' castle.

During the journey, Abigail is displeased by the bumpy carriage ride and openly complains about it to Prince Charming, telling him they should have used the Troll Bridge instead. They come to a halt when a fallen tree is blocking the road, so he goes out to assess the situation. Suddenly, Abigail hears a thumping noise from atop the carriage as if something just dropped down. A thief reaches into the carriage to steal Prince Charming's jewels and rides off. Abigail screams in fright, alerting her fiancé to the robber, and he chases after the bandit on horseback.

After the engagement party goes off without a hitch, Abigail arrives in King George's kingdom for the actual wedding ceremony. Though George hides the truth from her, she secretly knows that Prince Charming has run away. She has her father's soldiers capture Charming while he is on the run, and gives him supplies for his journey. He is suspicious over why she is helping him, so Abigail admits that she, like him, is in love with someone else. Abigail takes him to see the golden statue of Frederick. She is desperate for a cure and brings up rumors of the magic waters of Lake Nostos, which can restore something that was once lost. Charming offers to fetch it for her, though she strongly opposes his sacrifice. She fears his valiant bravery will end in failure, and then both of them will be miserable. Instead, Charming states that if he succeeds, her misery will be gone, and, if not, the misery will be his own in death. Abigail accompanies to the entrance of the lake, but he goes in alone. She anxiously waits for his return at the golden statue of Frederick. Finally, he returns with the magic water, which she pours over Frederick's head. The gold melts off and her beloved returns to human. As thanks to Prince Charming's for his selfless act, they provide him with provisions for his journey to find Snow White. However, Abigail warns him of King George's wrath before they part ways.

On the day the Dark Curse is cast by the Evil Queen, Abigail, along with the other inhabitants of the Enchanted Forest, are taken away to another land.

After the casting of the Dark Curse, Abigail becomes Kathryn, the wife of David Nolan. Though false memories implanted by the curse, she remembers having a heated argument with her husband, which ended once he stormed out of the house and never returned since. One fateful day, she learns from mayor Regina that David has been a patient in the hospital and was rescued after wandering into the woods since waking up from a coma. She hastens to the hospital and reunites with him. She thanks the efforts of a schoolteacher, Mary Margaret, who saved her husband's life.

While David is still in recovery, Kathryn brings along old photos from their life together in an attempt to help him remember. She shows him a photo of their dog, Ajax, who he pretends to remember although he actually recalls nothing from his life with Kathryn. Though Kathryn is not supposed to see him outside of visiting hours, she can't help but approach David while he is out on doctor ordered walking exercise to hand him his favorite baked muffins.

Following her husband being discharged from the hospital, she brings David home and surprises him with a party filled with their close friends, though he doesn't recognize anyone. They briefly converse with Dr. Whale, who took care of David while he was recovering in the hospital. Despite the happy front, Kathryn senses that her husband is drifting farther away. She hides out in the kitchen, busying herself with supplying snacks to the partygoers, while Regina sympathizes with what it's like to lose someone she loved due to her own unwillingness to fight for him. With encouragement from Regina, Kathryn goes to look for David and asks around, but cannot find him, as he has secretly left to meet with Mary Margaret. After the party is over, Kathryn attempts to get closer to David by kissing him, but he pulls away and states that it doesn't feel right. Later, Kathryn is bombarded with David's decision to leave her. Devastated, she confides in Regina about this, and Regina, in turn, suspecting Mary Margaret is the reason for David's choice, warns the schoolteacher to not get in the way of Kathryn's marriage. Later, Regina instigates David into recalling cursed memories of the life he had with Kathryn, causing him to break Mary Margaret's heart in favor of returning to his wife. After David arrives home, Kathryn opens the door as David tells her he wants to give their marriage a try.

In an effort to reconnect, David drives his wife to the diner during the mornings. While Kathryn waits in the car, David goes to pick up coffee for them. During one upcoming storm in town, she goes with Regina to the pharmacy to grab supplies. One of these things is a pregnancy test, which spills out from her shopping cart when she bumps into Mary Margaret. As she picks everything up, Mary Margaret hands back the test and wishes her luck. The pregnancy test turns up negative, and she only tells David after finding out. In a discussion with him, she is still unhappy with the state of their marriage. David promises to try harder and suggests they attend therapy sessions together.

During dinner with her husband, Kathryn shows David an acceptance letter she got from a law school in Boston and prompts him about moving there to start afresh with him. She suggests that, rather than recreating their past together, they should make new memories in a different setting, which is perhaps something their marriage needs. While she is looking up possible housing options in Boston, David apologetically rejects the notion of moving away with her. He breaks it to Kathryn gently that they can't be together due to not connecting, but this shouldn't keep her from her dream of law school. Heartbroken, she runs to Regina in tears and informs her of what happened. Regina has a strange reaction and mutters something about a home wrecker. Kathryn pushes her for the truth, with Regina feigning reluctance to share the information before handing her some photos Sidney secretly took of David and Mary Margaret having an affair. Kathryn is furious that Regina, who she considered a friend, kept all this from her. She leaves to march right into the school hallway, roughly brushing past the gym teacher, Jim, to confront Mary Margaret with a resounding slap across the face that leaves bystanders and the schoolteacher herself stunned. As Mary Margaret starts to apologize, Kathryn unleashes anger towards her for David's flimsy excuse that they weren't connecting in the marriage rather than admitting the truth. Shaken, Mary Margaret is surprised to learn David did not tell Kathryn about the affair. Kathryn confirms he did not and it would've been the honorable thing to do, and then vehemently declares the two of them deserve each other before leaving. After having time to cool down, she comes to terms with the affair and realizes what David and Mary Margaret have is real love, and writes a letter to her ex-husband encouraging them to stay together. Later, Kathryn apologizes to Regina for her earlier actions. She is still planning to move to Boston and tells her about the letter for David. Kathryn voices the fears she's always had of leaving town, which indirectly hints at the Dark Curse's effects. That night, she packs everything up and begins driving out of town.

Unbeknownst to Kathryn, Regina and Mr. Gold have conspired to make her disappear so Mary Margaret will be blamed for murdering her. On the drive out of Storybrooke, Kathryn crashes her car. She is kidnapped and held as a prisoner in a room, where food and water are always provided for her, though she never sees anyone. After some time, Kathryn is drugged and wakes up in a field outside of town. She manages to crawl the entire way to the alley behind the diner where Ruby, in disbelief of who she is seeing, alerts Sheriff Emma to her presence.

After Kathryn is taken to the hospital to undergo a detox and filter out the drugs in her system, Emma comes to take a statement from her. Kathryn recounts everything from the car crash to how she ended up in the alley. She is genuinely confused and shocked when Emma alludes that Mary Margaret was set up for her murder. Later in the day, while resting up, she is startled awake by David's presence in her hospital room. He apologizes for everything that occurred between them, which she accepts and sadly admits perhaps they were not meant to be.

After the breaking of the Dark Curse, Kathryn reunites with her true love, Frederick – whose cursed name is Jim – and they begin living together in her house.

To stop Peter Pan's curse from overtaking Storybrooke, Regina undoes the curse she once cast, but as the price of magic, the town will be wiped out and all residents will be forced to return to the Enchanted Forest. Kathryn, because she was originally from the Enchanted Forest, is also taken back to that realm.

After Regina takes magical preventive measures to undo Pan's casting of the Dark Curse, all the inhabitants of Storybrooke who were originally from the Enchanted Forest, including Kathryn, pay the price by returning to this realm and reverting to their prior personas.

A new curse is cast by none other than Snow White, returning the Enchanted Forest inhabitants to Storybrooke, with Kathryn as one of the many who are brought back. However, as a result of Zelena's interference, everyone's last recollection is the final day in Storybrooke when Regina stopped Pan's curse.

Regina, after bestowing Henry with a kiss of true love, breaks the second curse. Like everyone else, Kathryn regains her lost memories of the missing year in the Enchanted Forest.

In a diner celebration welcoming David and Mary Margaret's newborn son, Kathryn attends the party and engages in conversation with Granny. As Henry is looking over his storybook about the tale of how his grandparents met each other, David references how he was at the time engaged to Kathryn, who was known as Princess Abigail then. Hook expresses surprise he gave up that opportunity since Abigail is the daughter of Midas, the king who could turn anything into gold.

Verses:

FROM THIS MOMENT ON: follows canon Once Upon A Time up to season three

ROAD LESS TRAVELED: any other AU threads

Starter Call

[swanqueeneverafter]

11. What Happened to Frederick, Pt.3

Storybrooke. Street. (David Nolan is washing the word ‘tramp’, written in large red spray paint, off of Mary Margaret Blanchard's car. Mary Margaret approaches.) Mary Margaret: “Who did this?” David: “I don't know. I'm sorry, I don't know how any of this happened.” Mary Margaret: “You don't know? Really?” David: “Mary Margaret, I can't control what other people do.” Mary Margaret: “No, but you can control what you do, and you lied. And now everyone is calling me a tramp.” David: “Who told her?” Mary Margaret: “That is exactly the wrong question. The real question is why didn't you do what we discussed? Why didn't you tell her?” David: “I thought we could spare her feelings.” Mary Margaret: “Right. You thought. Not we. You. And we discussed this.” David: “I didn't want anyone to get hurt.” Mary Margaret: “Now everyone is hurt. We had an understanding. We had an agreement. But you not only lied to her, you lied to me.” David: “Mary Margaret, please. Listen to me. If we want to if- if this- if what we have is love, we have to do what you said. We have to pick up the pieces, and we gotta move on.” Mary Margaret: “David, this isn't love. What we have is something else entirely. What we have is destructive, and it has to stop.” David: “Come on- (He tries to reach out to her but she turns away:) What are you saying?” Mary Margaret: “That we shouldn't be together.” Storybrooke. Mayor’s Office. (Regina is watering the plants in her office when Kathryn enters.) Kathryn: “It’s beautiful. I had no idea you were so good with plants.” Regina: “Well, better than with people, it would seem. What are you doing here? I thought after what happened yesterday, I’d be the last person you’d want to see.” Kathryn: “So did I. And then I thought about it, and I realized I owed you an apology.” Regina: “Kathryn, you don’t-” Kathryn: “I know you’d never do anything to hurt me. I was just so angry, and confused, and I snapped. I’m sorry. I’ve just been fighting so hard to hold on to David, I’ve never stopped to ask myself why.” Regina: “He’s your husband. You love each other. You always have.” Kathryn: “No, we haven’t.” Regina: “Kathryn, relationships take work. You can’t give up so easily.” Kathryn: “Have you ever been in love?” Regina: “Yes. Once.” Kathryn: “Then, you’re lucky. Because what I’m coming to understand is… Is that I haven’t. What they have is real. It’s true. My marriage to David, it… It just was like an illusion. I don’t know how it happened, but it was never real. I know that now. The way David looks at Mary Margaret – that’s what I want for me. And I’m going to go out there, and I’m going to find it.” Regina: “What are you talking about?” Kathryn: “I’m sticking to my plan. I’m moving to Boston. Alone. If I stay here, I’ll never be happy.” Regina: “And what about David?” Kathryn: “I wrote him a letter – him and Mary Margaret. I told them they should be together.” Regina: “Uh, I’m sorry. You did what?” Kathryn: “I can’t see him. Not now. It’s just too painful.” (Kathryn hugs Regina, causing Regina to awkwardly hug her back.) Kathryn: “I’m going to miss you, Regina. You’ve been a good friend to me.” Regina: “You’re really going?” Kathryn: “You know, it’s funny. I’ve always had this irrational fear of leaving Storybrooke, like something’s just holding me back. Is that crazy?” Regina: “No. Change is always frightening. But you know what, Kathryn? This just may be what you need. Maybe you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

Enchanted Forest. Past. (Prince Charming returns to Frederick’s shrine, where Abigail is waiting.) Prince Charming: “Water from Lake Nostos, as requested.” (He hands her the canteen of water.) Abigail: “Remarkable. But how did you manage to slay the beast?” Prince Charming: “Well, the fate of your true love was at stake, I knew it was a battle I couldn’t afford to lose.” (Abigail pours the water over Frederick’s statue. The golden statue transforms into a human, Frederick. The two of them hug, then kiss.) Frederick: “Abigail, what happened to me?” Abigail: “You were trapped, but now you’re free. This is James. He’s the one who freed you.” (Frederick shakes Prince Charming’s hand.) Frederick: “I am forever indebted to you.” Prince Charming: “Well, pay me back by walking down the aisle with someone you truly belong with. And, perhaps, giving me a horse and supplies for a journey as well?” Frederick: “Done.” Abigail: “Thank you. So much. Where will you go?” Prince Charming: “To find Snow White.” Abigail: “You are going after her.” Prince Charming: “True love isn’t easy, but it must be fought for. Because once you find it, it can never be replaced.” Abigail: “How will you know where to find her?” Prince Charming: “Well, a bird helped me track her down once. Hopefully, it can again.” Abigail: “Well, then, good luck. Oh, and, James – please, make haste. When King George discovers that the union of the kingdoms has been ruined, he will come after you. Some people will stop at nothing to destroy the happiness of others.” Storybrooke. Present. (Regina opens the front door to the Nolan’s house using her skull keys. Inside, she sees Kathryn’s letter to David on the counter. She takes it and leaves.)

Storybrooke. Castle Playground. (Henry rides up on his bike and Emma exits her squad car.) Emma: “Hey, kid. (He rides right by her:) Good to see you, too!” Henry: “The storm!” (Hops off his bike and approaches the severely damaged castle.) Emma: “It's okay, we can fix it! I'll talk to Marco.” Henry: (Digging in the ground at the base of the structure:) “I think it's still here!” Emma: (Looks behind her and waves to someone unseen:) “What are you looking for?” Henry: “My book!” Emma: “Why'd you bury it here?” Henry: “So my mom doesn't find it.” Emma: “Henry...” Henry: “I couldn’t hide it at home or with you ‘cause that’s where she’d look.” Emma: “So your mom doesn't know about the castle?” Henry: “No, this is our secret. (He keeps digging a little longer then groans in frustration:) My book! I-It's gone!” Regina: (Approaching from the squad car:) “Henry? Henry what is it?” Henry: (To Emma:) “You told her about this place?” Emma: (Guiltily:) “I didn’t realise it was a secret.” Regina: “Henry get away from there, it’s not safe. Wait in the car, please. (Henry gives Emma a disappointed look then heads toward the squad car:) You let him play here?” Emma: “The storm hit it pretty hard, but we can fix it.” Regina: “Well, can you fix a cracked cranium? 'Cause that's what you'll have on your hands if one of these boards collapses under his weight.” Emma: "Regina, relax. Of course I'm not gonna let Henry play around here now." Regina: "Well good. (Glances back towards Henry:) He didn't look too pleased to see me out here." Emma: "He's just upset 'cause his book's missing." Regina: (Turns to face her:) "His book?" Emma: "Yeah, he hid it out here. (With a raised eyebrow:) Away from the Evil Queen's clutches." Regina: (Flatly:) "I see." Emma: "Hey, I'm sure he doesn't mean anything by it. It's all part of the kid's imagination." Regina: "The same imagination which leads him to believe I'm the villain?" Emma: "Look, I'm not saying it's right but... just be nice to him today OK? That book meant a lot to him and he's pretty worried about it. (Emma's phone rings and she answers:) Hello? Yeah, yeah, I'll be right over. (Hangs up:) That was Mary Margaret." Regina: (Rolling her eyes:) "Of course it was." Emma: "She's pretty cut up about the whole David thing and needs someone to talk to." Regina: "That woman should've left well enough alone. Now she's ruined a marriage." Emma: (Putting her hands up placating:) "Hey, you've made your feelings about my friend pretty obvious. I don't want to get into it, I just need to go and be there for her, all right? Besides, (Putting her hand on the Mayor's shoulder and gently turning her around as they walk back to the car:) this'll be the perfect opportunity for you to be there for Henry. Help take his mind off his book for awhile." Regina: (Nods:) "I never liked that book, but it's not like I wanted him to lose it." Emma: (Pats her shoulder:) "I know, I know."

Storybrooke. Granny’s Diner. (Leroy is eating breakfast at the counter in Granny’s Diner. Mr. Clark and Walter enter.) Mr. Clark: “Uh, excuse me, Leroy. Uh, do you mind scooting over a seat so Walter and I could sit together?” Leroy: “If I wanted to sit there, I would’ve sat there. You want this seat? Try dragging your sorry asses out of bed a little earlier.” Mr. Clark: “You’re a real ray of sunshine as-” (Mr. Clark sneezes.) Leroy: “Congrats – just lost my appetite. Seat’s all yours.” (Leroy gets up to leave as Mary Margaret walks in.) Mary Margaret: “Excuse me. Can I have everyone’s attention, please? (The diner goes silent:) I’m sorry to interrupt your morning, but I just wanted to remind everyone that a very special occasion is upon us – Miner’s Day. As always, the nuns of Storybrooke are hoping that everyone will get involved, and will help sell their exquisite candles. All we need are a few energetic volunteers. So, who wants to join me? (Everyone ignores her and goes back to what they were doing. Leroy heads to the door, which Mary Margaret is still standing in front of:)  Leroy, you want to volunteer?” Leroy: “I want to leave, sister. You’re blocking the door.” Mary Margaret: “Of course. Uh, you know, if you wanted to help, it could really be a-” Leroy: “Oh, yeah. Right. Quite a team we’d make – town harlot, town drunk. The only person in this town that people like less than me, is you. If you’re coming to me, you’re screwed.” (Leroy leaves. A moment later, Mary Margaret also leaves. Emma catches up to her outside and walks along with her.) Emma: “Hey I got your message, what the hell is Miner’s Day, and why are you beating yourself up over it?” Mary Margaret: “It’s an annual holiday celebrating an old tradition. The nuns used to make candles and trade them with the miners for coal.” Emma: “Coal? In Maine? If they were mining for lobster, I’d understand.” Mary Margaret: “Look, I don’t know. Now, they use it as a fundraiser. It’s an amazing party – everyone loves it.” Emma: “It doesn’t seem like everyone loves it.” Mary Margaret: “It’s not Miner’s Day – it’s me. Last week, I had ten volunteers. Today, they all dropped out.” Emma: “You think this is about what happened with David?” Mary Margaret: “Oh, I know it is. A few of them told me as much. I’ve never… been a home wrecker before.” Emma: “It’s going to blow over. You made a mistake with David – it happens. But, you don’t have to do charity to try to win people’s hearts back.” Mary Margaret: “I have to do something, and this is the best I can do. Love ruined my life.” (Emma’s phone rings.) Emma: “Sheriff Swan. Yeah. I’ll be right down. (Emma hangs up:) Well, apparently, duty calls. Hang in there. And, if there’s anything I can do to help, I will.” Mary Margaret: “I know. Thank you.” Elsewhere... (The citizens of Storybrooke are setting up for Miner’s day. Leroy walks past a ladder, where what looks to be ‘fairy dust’ falls on his head. He looks up and sees Astrid.) Astrid: “Oh, I’m so sorry. It just slipped out of my hand. I…” Leroy: “No problem at all.” (She climbs down the ladder.) Astrid: “I really am so sorry. I… I was so busy trying to get the lights to work, that I didn’t realize I was about to knock it off the ladder.” Leroy: “Let me take a look at those lights for you.” (Leroy climbs up the ladder.) Leroy: “Here’s your problem – you’re overloading the transformer. You kept messing around with these lights, the whole thing could’ve blown up on you.” Astrid: “Oh. Then I guess that makes you my hero.” Leroy: “I’m nobody’s hero, sister.” Astrid: “Oh. You can just call me Astrid.” Leroy: “I call everybody sister. I’m Leroy.” (Leroy tinkers with the lights, which then turn on.) Astrid: “How did you do that? Are you an electrician?” Leroy: “I’m in the custodial services game.” (Leroy climbs down the ladder.) Astrid: “That’s… Wonderful.” Leroy: “No, it’s not. What I really wanted to do, was sail. I even bought a boat. It’s a real clunker. I was going to fix it up, sail around the world, say good-bye to this hellhole. I’m… I’m sorry, sister.” Astrid: “It’s okay. You know, someone once told me, you can do anything as long as you can dream it.” Leroy: “You really think so? Astrid: “Sure. Look how easily you fixed those lights. I bet you could do anything. I should, uh, get back to the Volunteer Center. Nice to meet you, Leroy.”