The Girl and the Nutcracker ~ A Once Upon a Time Story

Quickly after Neal and Emma had left, they got the car and drove with Clara, Gold and Henry in the back towards the Jolly Roger. Emma carried Gold below deck, and Neal, Clara and Henry were on deck standing at the steering wheel Neal was steering.

"Remember when you were living on here?" Clara asked as she stood next to Neal, "Pan had us search the whole ship for you."

Neal nodded, "Hook had put me in a hidden spot only he knew about when the Lost Boys looked around. Then I found out about my mom and I got off of here as fast as I could."

Aurelia gave him a sad smile, "I remember that... She was kind to me in the short moment that we met. To be honest, it was good she left your father all those years ago. It may have hurt, but as we can see now it was the best choice for everyone."

"Maybe." Neal answered as he kept sailing towards Storybrooke, and he looked over to Henry, "Hey, kid. Let me teach you something. Come here."

Henry walked over to him and Neal put him in front of the steering wheel, "See the markings here? Left is port, and right is starboard. Got it? Now try to keep the wheel steady, sometimes the waves can be a bit rough."

Clara observed the father and son duo with a smile on her face. She was happy she could finally see them together after keeping the secret from both of them for so long. Soon enough, they were approaching the Storybrooke Harbour.

Emma and Neal helped Gold get off the ship, and in Mary Margaret's car, who was waiting for them at the harbour. Clara and Henry got off after, and Henry ran over to David, "I drove a ship!"

David smiled at his grandson, "Did you, now?" Henry gave him a nod, "My dad showed me how."

"That's me." Neal said as he looked at David with a small smile. Clara looked over to Gold, who was looking worse as time went on. Clara walked up to him, "Are you sure magic will help this? You know what happens when someone gets attacked with dreamshade."

"Do you doubt my magic, Miss Stahlbaum?" Gold asked and Clara shook her head, "No, I don't doubt your magic. I doubt the magic in Storybrooke in general. It can't possibly be strong enough to save you."

"We'll see about that." Gold answered and he got in the car. Together, with David, Mary Margaret, Neal and Emma, they headed towards the shop. Meanwhile, Henry had to go and hang out with Ruby.

_____

After everyone had settled in the shop, Emma was drawing an invisible line of protection at the front door in case Cora would come after Gold. David and Clara were looking around the shop to see if there was anything out of the ordinary.

Clara sighed, "I don't see anything. No parked cars, no conveniently placed cameras..."

"To be fair, I don't think Cora knows what a camera is." David mentioned and Clara chuckled, "You might be right... So, what happened here in Storybrooke while we were in New York?"

David shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing out of the ordinary for Storybrooke. Just a giant almost destroying the town, but we solved that. He's now part time dwarf."

"A regular Tuesday, then? Got it." Clara said with a smile as she headed back inside with David. He saw Emma and Neal standing at the front door, "We're all clear outside. Everything okay?"

Emma and Neal nodded their heads and David headed to the back room with Emma to talk with Gold. Clara approached Neal, "What did you guys talk about?"

"The thing I wanted to tell you." Neal answered, "I met someone in New York. Her name is Tamara, she's the one who got us the car to the ship."