Chapter Text
It is never easy to leave everything you know and love and start over somewhere new. There are travel arrangements to sort out, suitcases to be packed, and tearful farewells to be made. For two heartbroken little girls, to make the journey from their home in LA to the tiny coastal town of Storybrooke, Maine, without their beloved parents to soothe their worries and guide their thoughts to happier things, the prospect of this new life was all the more daunting. Not to mention that despite never having set foot in town, they had already been delegated to the roles of town outcasts by virtue of bearing the name ‘Swan’. Well that, and the fact that every Swan woman of Storybrooke for the last three hundred years has been a potion-making, spell-casting, man-luring witch.
“Now, Emma and Elsa,” Aunt Ruby turned away from the beautiful blue Victorian mansion - the Swan family home for so many generations in this strange seaside town - to face them, her face a mask of stern seriousness that wasn’t fooling anyone. “We do have some rules that we take very seriously in this house. First rule: we eat breakfast at seven every morning, and I am an absolute stickler for ensuring you have a good meal to start the day, so hot chocolate and some variation of chocolate dessert-“
“Ruby!” Aunt Belle interjected as she finished pulling out the last of the suitcases from the battered Jeep that had definitely seen better days. The little girls giggled behind their hands, the effect causing their aunts to smile indulgently.
“Rule number two: all forms of homework are banished from this house. I don’t want to see a math worksheet or English vocabulary book anywhere. If your teacher insists you bring some home, I will write you a note.”
“Do not listen to your Aunt Ruby girls - she was never very good at doing her homework, your mother and I always had to help her! As soon as you come home from school, we will do it together - it will be fun, I promise.”
Aunt Ruby continued on as though her older sister had not spoken. “And finally, rule number three: we do not believe in silly little things like bedtimes and brushing our teeth. Not when there are more interesting things to see and learn… like magic!”
As soon as they had heard of the death of their eldest sister and her husband, Belle and Ruby Swan immediately rushed to the other side of the country to offer comfort and take over guardianship of their young nieces. The trip back to Maine, however, was slow and meandering - an effort on the part of the adults to help the children become as comfortable as possible with the abrupt upheaval of their lives.
Emma and Elsa at the tender ages of five and seven, had had very little exposure to their birthright of learning magic - their mother only just beginning to gently introduce them early on in the summer. A teaspoon slowly stirring a hot cup of tea with no assistance, a single breath to ignite a flame - parlor tricks to an experienced witch, but to a child it was exciting and opened their minds and imaginations to the world beyond the mundane.
Looking across the expansive yard that surrounded the house, Emma could spot the cresting foam of the waves as they crashed upon the rocky shoreline, the water ever changing in its color and mood. The ocean didn’t seem like the one she was used to back home where the water was the clearest blue and white sands dominated the shore, where Mommy and Daddy used to build fairytale sandcastles with her and Elsa until dinner time when the sand became chilly and the sun looked like it was tucking itself in under the water ready for sleep.
Blinking back tears, she turned to look at her sister who was still giggling at their aunts bickering as to whether chocolate of any kind for breakfast was suitable and how all the books say children need to have at least nine hours of sleep at night to stay healthy and focused throughout the day. They really were very strange ladies, Emma thought, but they were also just like her mother, and she supposed that if she couldn’t be with her and daddy, then she and Elsa were very lucky to be able to live with Aunt Belle and Aunt Ruby. She joined in with Elsa’s giggles, which were loud enough to halt any further argument. The aunts smiled once more and each took hold of one of their nieces’ hands and began to lead them through the front gate and into their new life.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Life continued on, and the Swan sisters did the best they could to adjust to their new environment; their aunts’ kind hearts and uniquely chaotic parenting skills doing much to ease their way. It wasn’t long before the town of Storybrooke found out that they were to be invaded by even more Swan women - no matter how tiny - and they were quick to show their feelings on the subject. Within a week of starting at Storybrooke elementary, the girls already knew every taunt regarding them being witches by heart, every rumor about dancing naked under the full moon and how the jelly in their PB&J was actually squished up frog hearts. The most hurtful accusation, however, had to be the one about how their parents died.
Both Belle and Ruby raced to the school and to their nieces' sides. Emma had locked herself away in a cubicle in the girls bathroom and not even the pleas of her sister could induce her to come out. Nor would it seem that the janitor or even the local locksmith were able to unlock the door. The one time they appeared close to succeeding, a sudden jolt shocked both men so hard they stumbled back into one another, landing on one of the sinks which then shattered under their combined weight and caused a flood of water to sweep through the room drenching everyone within.
Belle paused at the entry where the stern headmistress, Mrs Mills stood - barking orders to anyone within the vicinity and threatening all manner of punishment upon Emma if she kept refusing to come out and face the consequences for fighting with the other children. Her wide blue eyes took in the scene before her; however, Ruby, simply strode in, her six inch heels providing temporary protection against the still-gushing water.
Picking up Elsa, who immediately held on tight in her distress, Ruby knocked on the cubicle door housing Emma.
“My sweet girl, Aunt Belle and I are here to take you and Elsa home, but we need you to unlock the door. Take a deep breath in and then let it out. Can you do that for me?”
A muffled sob sounded from the cubicle, followed by a deep shuddering breath in. At the sound of the lock unlatching, Belle pushed the door open and scooped Emma up into her arms, shushing the little girl as she did so. Unconcerned with the water sloshing around their stacked heels, both women stalked out the bathroom, ignoring the crowd that had gathered around the doorway.
“And just who is going to pay for all of this damage?” Mrs Mills shrieked at the women’s retreating backs.
Ruby turned back and leveled the beleaguered headmistress with a steely gaze. “Seems to me that your incompetence to get a child out of a toilet cubicle led to this. Not to mention that I told you not to do anything until we got here. So I guess that means you’re shit outta luck!” And with that, the Swan women walked out of the school and into the crisp fall air.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Bundled up in front of the fire with their hot chocolates cooling slightly on the coffee table in front of them, Emma and Elsa quietly listened to the storm raging outside. The howl of the wind as it tore across the darkened sea was mournful even in its rage - a mirror reflection of the inhabitants inside the Swan house.
When they returned home, the aunts had thought it best to calm down their nieces' upset moods by way of distraction. Belle had ushered Elsa into the kitchen for an afternoon of baking all manner of cookies and cakes, while Ruby dragged Emma down to their private beach to search for pretty seashells and other interesting artifacts that could be found along the shoreline.
However, now had come the time to talk about what had happened earlier in the day.
Lifting each girl into their arms before seating themselves on the worn loveseat, the aunts settled the girls into their laps with their hot chocolates in hand - now cool enough to drink.
In addition to her hurt at the cruel words from children influenced by their carelessly gossiping parents, Elsa felt even more guilt that she was too late to come to the aid of her baby sister. From the moment her father helped her to cradle Emma in her arms at the hospital hours after she was born, Elsa had loved her sister. It would be a love that would be reciprocated completely by Emma as soon she had felt the ability to do so.
Swallowing back tears, Elsa was the first to speak. “Are we in a lot of trouble?”
“Of course not, Sweetheart!” Aunt Belle exclaimed, squeezing Elsa tight, pushing back her ice blonde hair in comfort.
“But we do need to understand what happened,” Aunt Ruby added seriously, ducking her head to meet Emma’s anxious gaze.
“Jefferson said that Regina told him that her older sister Zelena heard that Mommy cast an evil spell, and that’s how Daddy died, but she made a mistake so she died too.” Emma’s words came out in a rush, barely taking a breath as she tried not to burst into tears.
Taking a deep breath, Emma continued. “I got really mad and told him it wasn’t true. But he just said that anyone who is a Swan is a witch, and witches are evil, and that me and Elsa are going to be evil too! So I punched him.”
It took all of the strength that Ruby had not to carefully set her niece down and drive over to the Hatterson’s and put the fear of Hecate into Jefferson’s idiot parents before paying Cora Mills a visit and doing the same. If only she knew how to fly on a broomstick like all the dumbass townsfolk seemed to think she could.
Looking into the wide (and fractionally guilty) eyes of her youngest niece, Ruby was once more reminded of how much the girls resembled their mother Snow. Emma in particular bore a striking resemblance to her, and, were it not for the golden hair that hung in beautiful ringlets down her back, one could almost mistake her for their beloved Snow at the same age. Elsa favored her father’s Nordic coloring, with her bright blue eyes and almost white blonde hair, yet her demeanor was all her mother - kindness and care, even to those who may not be so deserving of it.
Ruby sank further into her seat, nestling Emma against her while Belle did the same with Elsa. “Did Mommy ever tell you the story of the first Swan witch?” Ruby asked in a voice she reserved only for the most exciting of bedtime stories.
Emma and Elsa shook their heads in response, their eyes alight with curiosity. In the time that they had spent with their aunts, the girls had been introduced to all sorts of wonders that made up their world of witchcraft. Any opportunity to learn about their heritage and the things that they had the potential to master was met with enthusiastic attentiveness. Already, their natural talents were beginning to make themselves known. Elsa, a keen baker, was now creating her own recipe infusions under the tutelage of Aunt Belle, while Emma was already mastering spells that witches three times her age have difficulty performing as Aunt Ruby beamed with pride. Learning about their family and its history with the Craft was something that the girls loved to do together therefore, they stayed silent, waiting for the story to begin.
“We Swan women have been blamed for just about everything that goes wrong in Storybrooke, ever since the first Swans moved here over 300 years ago.”
“Is that why everyone hates us?” Emma asked, looking between her aunts, uncertainty and sadness coloring her voice.
“They don’t hate us, Dearest, we just make them a little nervous,” Aunt Belle soothed, smiling gently down at her brave nieces before nodding at Ruby to continue.
“Let’s be honest, Belle. Swan women have always created a stir ever since Eva Swan; the eldest daughter of the original Swans and the first known witch.” Ruby paused for a moment, wondering how young was too young to understand the tumultuous time of the Witch Trials that had taken place in New England at the time. Deciding to skip over the more scary and frankly murderous history of their kind, Ruby continued.
“Eva was extremely beautiful, as she had long dark hair that she liked to wear wild and free - which was very much not the fashion nor acceptable by the town’s stuffy society - and bright blue eyes that would make all the men fall hopelessly in love with her. And I think that was the problem; the young women knew they were no match for Eva. I certainly know what that feels like,” Ruby added with a sigh and wink.
The little girls giggled while Belle rolled her eyes at her sister before interjecting with an affectionately teasing “Of course you do, Ruby.”
Before Ruby could respond in dramatic fashion, Belle continued the story. “There is likely some truth to Eva’s beauty being the envy of every female in our small town, but there was more to it than that. She was different. Being different and being brave enough to show it, no matter what others thought, was a very dangerous thing to do.”
It was a lesson that Emma and Elsa had truly learnt today and would likely be reminded of many times over; however, sitting by the fire within the walls of their ancient home as the storm continued its rampage outside, all they felt was safety and warmth. It was a lesson that was just as important; that no matter where they went or what they were doing, they could always come home.
“Besides, none of those men stood a chance of winning her heart, it already belonged to another.” Ruby’s smile was without the exaggerated bravado from before. It now held a genuine admiration for their long departed ancestor.
“Eva was in love with a sailor of a successful merchant ship who often traveled to England and returned with much needed supplies and sought after luxuries. So much so, that plans were made for their marriage upon his next return to port.”
“When the date of his expected return neared, Eva would make her way up to the very same bluff that we can now see just beyond the back garden, to wait for her love. It was during this time that a cruel winter storm came in from the North Atlantic (a strange occurrence, as it was still much too early for such storms to appear), destroying everything in its path. When morning came and the depth of destruction was truly known, the townspeople immediately blamed poor Eva. Never mind that Eva was the one who, with her gifts, helped their crops to multiply, cajoled predators to stay away from the town, and brewed herbal teas and other tinctures to keep everyone healthy and happy.”
“She and her family were accused of witchcraft and were to receive their punishment on this very spot where our house now is. It probably didn’t help that the men whose hearts had been broken by Eva’s dismissal of them all had wives or betrotheds on the hanging committee,” Ruby added, as an afterthought.
“They killed Eva?” Elsa asked in a trembling voice, her eyes wide and fearful.
Ruby cursed under her breath for frightening her young yet intelligent niece. “Oh no, sweet girl, no. You see, when you are the kind of witches that we are, you have a very special bond with nature. Our magic is entwined with nature; we work with it, and it does the same to us. The townsfolk attempted to use one of the red oak trees to exact their punishment on Eva, but that old oak held a lot of power and Eva was able to snap the rope about her neck. The townsfolk were so frightened and feared that she would seek revenge that they fled, leaving the family alone to claim this land for themselves.”
The girls smiled in relief even as a loud crack of thunder boomed and rattled throughout the house. Pulling a large fluffy blanket over everyone, but tucking it around Emma and Elsa, Ruby continued her story.
“It wasn’t long after that fateful day that Eva found out she was pregnant with her beloved’s child. Eager to share this wonderful news, she would make her way to the bluff everyday to keep a lookout for his ship so she would have the earliest knowledge of his arrival. However, the days turned into weeks and those weeks into months, and still there was no sign of him. It wasn’t until her mother had returned from one of her rare trips into town that she had heard of the possible fate of her sailor. The talk among the workers on the docks had been that wreckage from a ship had been found along with the remnants of cargo carrying supplies that were usually delivered to their little harbor.”
Eva was heartbroken. There was no other explanation as to why her beloved had not returned to her when he promised to. She knew he would never leave her willingly. The night of the storm must have been when the ship sank, taking everyone with her. So, making her way to the bluff for the last time, Eva cast a spell for herself - that she would never fall in love again.”
Emma and Elsa, were completely captivated by the story their aunt was weaving. Impatient as always to know the ending of any story, Emma spoke up first. “What happened then, Aunt Ruby? Did the spell work?”
Ruby nodded solemnly. “It worked very well, Sweetheart. Eva loved her child and her family with all her heart, but never again did she fall in love, nor did she ever have a wish to. But what Eva didn’t know was that the spell she cast was not intended just for herself. She was so caught up in her grief and despair, that when she cast her spell, she wasn’t as careful as she should have been and instead, she cast a curse. A curse that has now been passed down through our very long and distinguished line: should someone fall in love with a Swan woman and receive that love in return, the relationship will flourish for a time, until the Deathwatch Beetle makes its presence known, and then the one they love will be doomed to die.”
“Is that how Daddy died?” Emma asked quietly, her eyes fixed on the pattern she was tracing with her finger on the blanket.
“Yes, my darling girl it is.” Ruby squeezed Emma a little tighter in an effort to hold both of their emotions together.
“But you must know,” Ruby continued, “That your mommy did everything that she could to keep your daddy here. She was such a clever witch that she managed to figure out how to split her heart in two so she could share it with him and try to keep the curse at bay.”
“Why didn’t it work then?” asked Elsa, the grip she held on Belle’s arm tightening as she attempted to hold back her tears.
“Because Sweetheart,” Belle answered, “when you love someone the way your daddy did, you love them not just with your beating heart, but with your entire soul. Splitting a heart in two means not only sharing the ability to live, but sharing everything that makes a person who they are. The curse was too strong for your mother to overcome with her power, and your father could no sooner stop loving her than he could his treasured little girls. Sharing a heart only further strengthened the bond of love that was between them and that in turn, strengthened the curse itself. Instead of taking just your father away, the curse saw fit to take your mother too.”
Silence descended over the little family; the only sounds to be heard now was the steady thrum of rain as it hit the roof, and the discordant murmur of the wind as its fury began to die out.
“Hey,” Belle whispered, bending her head down next to Elsa's, as her eyes caught Emma’s. “The only curse you need to be worried about in this house is sitting right there - your Aunt Ruby!”
Ruby snorted with indignation as Belle tickled the little girls, causing a cascade of giggles to spill forth that echoed throughout the house.
“Very funny, Belle,” Ruby huffed, even as she tried to hide the infectious laughter brought on by her nieces.
“Don’t go blaming me if you suddenly find yourself sharing your bed with a family of skunks tonight - just saying.”
This threat only made the girls laugh even harder as their aunts once again turned to their favorite pastime of bickering with one another.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
They were just finishing up their second cup of hot chocolate in the kitchen when there was a frantic knock at the back door. It wasn’t often that the Swans entertained guests in their home - the whole witch stigma thing really did put a damper on their local social circle. Granny, the owner of Storybrooke’s one and only diner and who also proudly held the title of the town’s most cantankerous woman, was usually the only one who ever visited aside from their friends who lived either further down the coast or out of state. However, it was unusual for the older woman to pay them a visit at this time of the evening unannounced and with the weather being so terrible, it could only mean it was a paying customer - a desperate one, given that the storm hadn’t completely abated in its fury.
Belle and Ruby had no real need to earn a living. Generations of careful investment in both real estate and stocks ensured that every living Swan would be able to have an extremely comfortable life provided that they didn’t try to live as though they were royalty. Belle had chosen a life of academia and was working towards a PhD in Renaissance Art and Literature while also becoming an online Teaching Assistant within the Religion and Philosophy department with the University of New England - namely on the subject of witchcraft and its connection with nature. Ruby on the other hand, was capitalising on the family’s real estate portfolio and buying up old warehouses in places such as Portland and Bar Harbor and turning them into trendy, six month waitlisted, bars and restaurants.
Late night visitors weren’t uncommon. In fact, it was oddly one of the best kept secrets of the ladies (and some men) of Storybrooke. Whether it be remedies for embarrassing or unsightly lumps and bumps, talismans for warding off the common cold, or more complex cures such as mending a broken heart, Belle and Ruby happily cast their spells or brewed their potions in exchange for a hefty wad of cash (which they then promptly donated to a rotating roster of charities) and a promise that if their transactions were taken for granted, they would find themselves with whatever malady they came to them with returned - tenfold. Of course, they would never do such a thing, but the threat was enough for silence to be deemed golden; although clearly not enough for them to not be seen as outcasts or for the town’s feral children to quit their long outdated teasing and chants of “Witch, witch, you’re a bitch!”
Ruby answered the door as Belle ushered the girls up the backstairs telling them that they would be up soon to tuck them into bed properly. Not willing to ignore their aunt’s request that they stay upstairs but too curious about why they were being sent away, Emma and Elsa found a happy medium by staying on the small mezzanine that gave them a perfect view of the large kitchen below.
“Why are you here this time Cruella? We don’t cast curses and we don’t brew poisons, so-”
“Oh Ruby darling, it’s always a pleasure to see you, but is it really necessary to wear that much red? Having a signature color is all well and good, but a little change now and again never hurt anyone!”
Cruella DeVille-Feinberg swept in, thrusting her still dripping umbrella into Belle who had just returned and removed her long fur trimmed coat before dropping it carelessly onto the bar stool before her. Ruby and Belle glanced at one another, already exasperated at this interruption to their lovely evening with the girls. Cruella was one of their most frequent and well paying customers however, there was not enough money in the world to make dealing with her any easier.
“What can we do for you Cruella? It’s not really the right kind of weather for an impromptu social call.” Belle advised, placing Cruella’s umbrella in a corner and pulling out a mop to clean away the small puddles that had appeared with every step that their visitor had taken.
“Darling, I would not be here if it were not absolutely imperative; my life is at stake here!” Cruella declared, her crimson mouth pulled down in dramatic fashion. Ruby rolled her eyes, not trusting that there was anything wrong with the woman, while Belle - ever the more sympathetic of the two - immediately began looking for ways in which she could help.
“How do you think we can help Cruella? Are you sure there are no medical options available to you? We will do what we can of course but-”
“No, no, no, darling! My husband is planning to leave me! He hasn’t said anything yet, but I’m sure he is going to soon. I bet it’s for that Barbie he calls his secretary. If he leaves me, how will I ever be able to show my face in public again? How will I maintain my lifestyle? It takes a lot of work and money to enhance my natural beauty, you know!”
“Oh for crying out loud, Cruella! You drove out here in the pouring rain, literally risking your life given how you drive, because of a suspicion? You couldn’t have waited until tomorrow?” Ruby’s patience was already thin the moment she opened the back door, but now it was hanging on by a thread. It didn’t matter that this woman paid well for their services, Ruby was ready to kick Mrs DeVille-Feinberg out of her house while issuing a threat of breaking their rule on casting curses if she ever comes back with such unnecessary drama.
Cruella ignored Ruby’s outrage and turned to Belle. “Can you make my husband love me again? Can you make it so that he wants me so much that it hurts? Please, whatever the cost I can pay for it! Is there a ritual I need to do? Slaughter a pig or a chicken? Or do I need to get a lock of that bitch’s hair so you can make a voodoo doll?” Cruella’s questions came out in a rush and the two young witches struggled to keep up with her.
Eventually, Belle managed to get a word in. “Cruella, there is no ritual animal slaughter in our craft, nor do we practice voodoo - that is a different type of magic altogether that we do not possess. Despite what everyone thinks, we do not cast curses and we do not seek to hurt others - that is not how our gift works.”
Listening to the words of their Aunt Belle, the two little girls sighed in relief. Of course they knew they weren’t evil, but it was still comforting to know that they didn’t have to hurt any animals in their craft.
“What we will do is look into the heart of the matter and tell you if there is anything you should be worried about. Take it or leave it.” Ruby wanted nothing more than to have one of the most selfish, self-obsessed, gold digging women on the eastern seaboard gone so she could start researching what she will need to create an alarm system for irritating people that come to call. ‘ Something we should have done ages ago’, she thought with a shake of her head.
Cruella opened her mouth once more (likely to begin another round of self-pitying complaining) when Belle quickly asked, “Do you have something belonging to your husband with you right now? Searching into his heart to see how he feels about you really is the best way. If it turns out he no longer loves you, perhaps we can look at how we can rekindle those feelings once again.”
The woman who had caused so much disruption in such a short period of time, was finally silent as she produced a platinum money clip, engraved with the name ‘Feinberg’. Seeing the bewildered looks on the sisters’ faces, Cruella defensively asked, “What? Was I supposed to pay your exorbitant fee myself? I don’t think so! Take the money that is on it and use the clip for whatever little spell you need to perform.’
Emma and Elsa leaned as far over the railing as they dared taking in everything that was happening before them. They had never seen their aunt’s work this type of magic before and they were excited to see what would happen next.
Ruby had quickly made her way into the little greenhouse attached to the house to gather the ingredients that they would need to perform their spell, while Belle set about inscribing strange symbols and patterns onto a sheet of wax paper where Mr Feinberg’s money clip now lay. Returning with a mortar and pestle and what appeared to be an assortment of dried and fresh flower petals, Ruby sat down at the island bench and began to crush everything within, allowing a sweet aroma to penetrate the air around them.
“Okay, so I have carnations for perspective and heart healing, citrus blossoms for clarity and assistance, primrose for feelings to be made known, yarrow to release negativity - am I missing something?” Ruby looked over to Belle who had just completed a final flourish to the last symbol she had created. “We need rosemary to stabilize the spell, I’ll grab some, just a second,” Belle replied, as she made her way to the kitchen window sill and plucked a few twigs from the rosemary plant that was housed there. Returning to Ruby side, Belle removed the leaves from each stem and sprinkled them onto the crushed petals.
Once a fine powder was formed, Ruby poured the contents directly onto the symbols, careful to ensure that none of the powder landed on the money clip or any other surface. Finally, the witches were ready, and after each taking a hand of their client, and joining hands themselves, they began to chant.
Emma looked at Elsa, wondering if she had any idea of what they were saying but Elsa looked just as confused, so she turned back to the scene below, contenting herself with listening to the melodic lilt of whatever long forgotten language that their aunts were speaking in.
After a few moments of chanting, the powder began to lift itself from the paper, a glittering swirl of pinks and golds that seemed to brighten and then dull again with every word that was spoken. The symbols seemed to glow and as the spell went on to reach its zenith, an intense light filled the space where the three women stood. Emma gasped in delight at the light show display before quickly pressing her hands to her mouth, worried that she had drawn attention to her and Elsa’s presence. Aunt Ruby’s eyes flicked up towards them, her eyebrow raised slightly, although she didn’t seem surprised to see them there. Returning her focus back on the answers that had been provided by their spell, Emma and Elsa figured they would be permitted to stay a bit longer to see how it all played out, so they remained where they were.
“Well? What does it say?” Cruella demanded, her voice sending a grating shudder down everyone’s spine - even the house seemed to creak in displeasure.
Ruby’s hazel eyes flashed, sending a warning that any more demands would be met with no answers and no refunds. After a few more minutes of studying the remnants of their spell, Belle leaned back in her chair, exasperation written all over her usually kind face.
“Cruella, your husband is not going to leave you. He isn’t even cheating on you. You may want to have someone look at your finances though - seems like he has quite a few bank accounts that he would rather were not audited for tax purposes. It also looks like he has some kind of surprise waiting for you, although I couldn’t exactly see what it was-”
“Are you telling me that my good for nothing husband is hiding multiple bank accounts from me? Multiple? And he told me that I couldn’t have that diamond Cartier tennis bracelet only two weeks ago - I cannot believe this!”
“Pretty sure that’s the surprise,” Ruby muttered, looking down again at the symbols thoughtfully.
“Cruella, aren’t you concerned that the bank accounts may be illegal?” Belle asked worriedly.
“Why would I be, Darling? The government only threatens those kinds of things to the masses to keep them in line, not to people like the Feinbergs - we are above that kind of thing.” Cruella answered dismissively, already standing and draping her coat around herself.
“But-” Belle began, only to be halted from any further comment by Ruby.
“Well there you go. Your husband isn’t leaving you. In fact, he still loves you for some reason. And now you get a shiny new bracelet for no other reason than because your husband is a rich asshole who can afford it and can probably get away with having as many offshore accounts as he pleases. All’s well that ends well right?”
“Exactly, Darling. Well now that everything's out in the open, I must be off. Ta-ta for now, I will of course be as discreet with our little meeting here tonight as I trust that you will be as well.” And with that, Cruella took the umbrella that Belle had helpfully fetched for her and ducked back out into the now drizzling rain and darkness of the night.
Emma and Elsa had taken themselves upstairs to ready themselves for bed as soon as Cruella began to make her way to the door. As they lay in wait for the aunts to tuck them in properly and hopefully to hear another story, the two girls discussed what they had witnessed.
“That Cruella lady was kinda awful wasn’t she?” Emma said, turning on her side to face Elsa who had done the same.
“She did seem pretty rude to Aunt Belle and Aunt Ruby, but I couldn’t stop staring at her hair. It was half black and half white! If having lots of money means you have to have weird hairstyles like that, then I don’t think I want lots of money.” Elsa shuddered as she spoke, making both girls giggle loudly as they thought about the style choices their strange visitor had.
After they had settled down some, Emma spoke up again. “I’m not sure I want to fall in love. It looks like it causes lots of hurt.”
“What do you mean?” Elsa asked, curious as to why her sister would make such an observation.
“Because that Cruella lady came all this way to make Aunt Belle and Aunt Ruby cast a spell so her husband would stay with her all the time. And then there is Mommy and Daddy. Mommy split up her heart so Daddy could stay alive. That must have hurt lots, but it didn’t even work in the end…”
Getting out of bed and crawling into her little sister’s, Elsa hugged Emma tight. “I don’t think I understood everything, but I think Cruella wanted her husband to stay because he had lots of money. She seemed pretty upset that he had lots of bank accounts she didn’t know about.”
“But what about Mommy and Daddy and the curse with the beetle?”
Elsa fell silent for a moment. It was a little hard to understand, their mother and father worked so hard to be together and then they died. Maybe it was something they would have to learn more about as they grew older. That was something adults always liked to say - ‘ you will understand when you’re older .’
Eventually, Elsa spoke again. “I don’t know Emma, maybe that is something that will happen to us. Maybe by the time we are ready to be in love the curse will be broken, or maybe we will find a better spell to make sure that we keep whoever we love safe. All I know is that Mommy and Daddy loved each other very much and that they loved us lots too.”
“I miss them.” Emma sighed, snuggling in closer to her sister, her eyes beginning to fall shut.
“Me too.” agreed Elsa, as she too succumbed to the call of sleep.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
It was only a few short hours later that Elsa was rudely awoken by small hands shaking her whole body with a whispered “Elsa wake up!” Cracking open one eyelid, she waited for Emma to come into focus, her face still shadowed, however the small night light that they had on had lit up Emma’s hair to a burnished gold.
“What is it Emma? Did you have a nightmare?” Elsa asked, beginning to sit up so she could try and offer whatever comfort she could.
“No! I have an idea, c’mon!” Emma whispered excitedly.
Emma climbed over the top of Elsa, landing on the hardwood floors with a slight thump. Staying still for a moment in case the aunts came rushing in to find the source of the noise, Emma then began pulling on Elsa’s hand, urging her to get out of bed and accompany her on her midnight adventure.
Pushing their feet into their brand new fuzzy slippers, the girls made their way down the stairs as quietly as they could, skirting around areas they had already learned would give a loud groan when stepped on. Finally though, Emma was leading Elsa into the greenhouse.
Switching on the lights, their world of shadows and muted gray became awash in vibrant color. Veridian, jade, forest green, and all the shades in between, lined the ceiling and walls, benchtops, and even some parts of the old stone flooring. Nestled in amongst the leaves, budding stems, and curling vines, as well as spilling over just about every pot, was every other color of the rainbow and many others besides. It was a magnificent sight and one that the girls had still not overcome their awe of.
Reaching for a bowl from under one of the benchtops, Emma began making her way around the space, seemingly picking petals at random as she did so - oftentimes pushing a small step ladder around with her so she had access to anything out of her reach. Elsa watched her move about for a moment, still a little sleepy but mostly completely confused, wondering what on her earth had her sister trying to create a spell at this time of night when there was a warm bed upstairs and the real possibility that their aunts will find them out of it at any moment.
“Emma, can you please tell me what you’re doing now?” Elsa asked, trying to keep the whining tone out of her voice and act like the older sister she was.
Emma paused, her hand poised to pluck a pink middlemist rose. She was so consumed in her task that she had forgotten that she had dragged Elsa downstairs with her. “Oops, sorry! I know how I can make it so I never fall in love and die of a broken heart!”
“What?”
“Yeah, I’m going to create an imaginary person that I can fall in love with. If he’s not real, then that nasty beetle can’t get him, and I won’t have a broken heart.” Emma turned back to the rose bud she had planned to pluck and place in her bowl, before moving on to the row of jars on a shelf holding a myriad of items. Elsa again watched as Emma became focused on her task once more. Creating someone imaginary to fall in love with seemed like such a silly idea at first, but the more Elsa’s young mind thought about it, the more it made sense - she just wasn’t sure it would actually work. However, if this would help Emma feel better about not ever having a broken heart, then she would believe it would work. After all, as Aunt Belle had told her that afternoon, ‘even the smallest of beliefs can provide a lot of power to a spell.’
Seeing Emma struggle to reach one of the jars high up on the shelf, Elsa climbed up the ladder as well to reach it for her. Settling it on the table, where the bowl now brimming petals was placed, she asked, “What do you need these for?”
Opening the jars one by one, Emma replied, “I found a raven feather with Aunt Ruby at the beach. It's such a pretty color, it even shows bits of red in it if the sun shines on it when you hold it a special way. Placing the feather in her bowl, Emma began to explain her seemingly random assortment of items.
“The raven feather is for his hair and also because ravens are really smart and I don’t want to be in love with a dummy. Forget-me-nots are for eyes that will be even bluer than yours Elsa! Clover for protection, foxglove for bravery, oak for wisdom and loyal stuff - which sounds like a good thing to have, sunflower for fun and happiness, middlemist rose for love and all that adult stuff everyone always says we’ll understand when we’re older, iris for truth telling, and oh! A conch shell so he can hear my call from miles away and also because I really love the smell of the sea!”
Elsa stared at her sister in wide eyed amazement. She knew Emma was intelligent far beyond her age of five years, but the confident way in which she went about gathering her ingredients and her self-assuredness that what she was about to do would work, was enough for Elsa to see that her baby sister will be capable of a great many things as she grew up.
“All of these items are creating your imaginary person that will never break your heart?”
“Yep. He will love to make pancakes and be really, really good at it. And he will give the best hugs ever - you know, where you feel all safe and warm? Yeah, and he will be really kind and help people, maybe even save them!” Emma smiled as she added the final touches to her spell, pleased at what she was creating.
“Okay, so now what?” Elsa asked, as Emma picked up the bowl again and began making her way out the greenhouse and back up the stairs.
“Now, I send my wish to the divine goddess lady people and give them my ingredients,” Emma whispered, carefully avoiding the creaky step on the first flight of stairs.
When they returned to their bedroom, Emma opened the narrow french doors that led to the small balcony off to the side of the house facing the ocean beyond. Stepping out into the cold night air while holding the bowl in front of her, Emma closed her eyes and began to send her wish out to the goddesses of nature, using her natural abilities that she had not truly begun to discover nor had complete control over, to power her spell. The storm from earlier that evening had now died out, leaving only a slight breeze off the water, but that was not causing the contents of the bowl to slowly rise and swirl in intricate patterns above it. That was Emma’s magic, slowly working its way through and connecting its power with that of nature, trying to direct Emma’s wish as she had intended.
A few minutes passed, before the wind carefully gathered up everything and sent it floating over the sea and into the deep blue.
The two little girls watched the spell continue to swirl in harmony with the wind, until they could no longer locate its position over the water before Emma sighed and then let out a huge yawn. “I’m really sleepy now, I think we should go to bed.”
Elsa rolled her eyes and smiled, gently leading her little sister back under the warmth of her covers and hoped that her dreams would now be restful rather than filled with how on earth she could avoid the heartbreak of falling in love.
*~~~*~~~*~~~*~~~*
Over an ocean, and across a rocky beach, a little boy was sitting on a weathered log looking up into the approaching morning sky as the waves crashed heavily along the shore. He was ignoring the yells of his older brother telling him it was time to come inside out of the cold and to get ready for breakfast. Knowing it was only a matter of time before said brother would come out to haul him in himself, Killian Jones took one last look at the waves before standing to make his way back home. It was as he was heading along the shoreline that he was hit with a strong gust of wind and the smell of roses and was that sweet cinnamon? Looking around to see what could have caused such a lovely smell, Killian noticed a collection of dried looking petals and a perfectly preserved raven feather. Picking up the feather, he could already see the sheen of colors it reflected in the early morning light. It also seemed to be the source of the wonderful smell. Pocketing his new found treasure, Killian continued on his way home, wondering what concoction his brother had come up with for breakfast this time and whether he should try and take over kitchen duties instead.