Once We are Descendants

Chapter 44: Late Night Visit

"How long do you think the sleeping spell will last?" Killian asks as he, Crystal, David, and Rumple stare at an unconscious Uma, as she's on one of the cots in the holding cells at the Sheriff's station.

"Decent 8 hours, she won't wake up until you and Miss Swan come in the morning," Rumple answers.

"At least it's not a sleeping curse," Crystal says, with her arms folded.

"Should we worry about the possibility of magic?" David questions as he places a blanket over the sleeping teenager, a sign of kindness from the prince.

"Or how about the eight-tentacles thing," Crystal asks as she hands David a glass of water to be placed on the floor next to the girl. Once Uma has her water, David shuts the cell door and allows his son-in-law to lock it.

"According to Mallory, daughter of Maleficent, magic works differently here. The violet-haired girl said herself that she has trouble using magic, and hers is far more powerful than the cecaelia here...plus..." Rumple says. He holds out the enchanted shell that had been around the girl's neck. "I assume this is the source of her shifting from a bipedal creature and back again."

"Put it in Emma's desk," Killian says. "We'll deal with her stealing in the morning."

"The child has the fire, I will give her that. However, that fire often burns too brightly and she's unable to extinguish it when she needs to," the Dark One murmurs, placing the shell in the sheriff's desk.

Crystal then puts an enchantment on the lock to ensure that the daughter of Ursula is not going anywhere. If these kids had a childhood that was similar to hers, they would know how to pick locks in order to get in or out of certain situations. The daughter of Rumpelstiltskin gazes at the turquoise-haired girl for a long moment.

"What happened to you to make you hate the world so much?" she asks herself before joining the rest of her family.

The four of them then walk out, allowing Killian to lock up the station for the night.

"Well, I'm beat, I'll see you guys in the morning to fix this portal problem," Crystal vows. "I'm sorry for what happened, but I will get these kids home."

David and Killian nod and the farmer prince heads towards his truck, ready to go home. Killian begins walking towards his home, where his wife was likely passed out on the couch due to exhaustion. Rumple is about to poof himself home to his family, but not before Crystal gives him a long hug.

"I'm sorry for the way I treated you tonight," she says earnestly, wrapping her arms around her father's shoulders. "I tend to get carried away sometimes."

Rumple pats his daughter on the back. "It's all right, I too tend to give into the darkness."

"It's something we share," his daughter sighs. "Makes us more alike than we'd prefer."

"Indeed," he mutters, rubbing the back of his beloved Crystal. "Good night darling, I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight Dad," she says. "Tell Belle and Gideon good night too."

"I will."

"I love you."

It's a long moment before the man known as the Dark One speaks. "I love you too."

He then vanishes in a puff of gray smoke, leaving his daughter to begin walking home by herself.

She enjoys the quiet nights that this tiny town brought with it. The only sounds she can hear are the crickets, a few birds, and the sound of a dog barking in the distance. The only reason she'd miss New York is that of her best friend Alisa still living there; everything else, especially the noise of the big city would not. She'd fallen in love with this tiny town the moment she'd step foot in it. It was where she truly belonged, where she had found the family she'd always longed for and was finally able to put the past behind her. The death of her mother always haunted her mind whenever she gazed out at the brightly lit cityscape... and her break-up with Mason was the second reason she'd left. He broke her heart and she had thought that they were soulmates, he even knew and accepted her past and her magic. Apparently, he was from the Enchanted Forest as well, but then one day, he texted her to say they were over and completely dropped off the map. It almost eerily mirrored what happened to Emma with Neal, with the exception of ending up in jail.