Once Upon A Time, Season 2, Fanfiction episode "Splitting Heirs"

Since there was no episode for November 19th, I wrote my own. Enjoy!

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Ruby takes on her wolf form and runs through the darkened woods of Storybrooke, relishing the feeling of the wind through her fur and the moss under her paws.

She stops, tilts back her massive head, and fills her animal lungs, but before she can yelp out her own orchestra of yowls into the night air, a howl breaks the silence. Ruby whips her head around—she's not the only wolf in the forest tonight.

Her nose picks up an unfamiliar scent, this is someone or something she's never met in Storybrooke. She begins to track down the mysterious beast. The camera focuses on her wolf eye.

The camera pans back and we see Red snarling at Snow White and Granny. They quickly put the magical cloak over Red, bringing her back to her fully clothed human form. Snow White leads her away from the tree where Peter was chained just moments ago.



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Devastated, Granny explains Red's true identity. As the mob of villagers grows closer, Snow White takes Red and they disappear into the thick darkness. Granny faces the men and tells them the beast escaped. She points to the tree where Peter's ripped clothes lay strewn about.

“See?” she says. “It was Peter all along. I had him trapped, but he turned under the full moon and fled. You'll never catch him now, he's probably half way across the valley.”

The group scratches their heads, upset the hunt ended in such an unspectacular fashion. Granny urges everyone to the pub, promising that drinks are on her.

God love that Granny, she knows how to work a crowd.

Once the mob and their flickering torches disappear into the trees, Granny searches the ground around Peter's belongings. Her fingers curl around something cold. She picks up a slim silver whistle and tucks it into her fist.

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A woman enters Mr. Gold's shop. A crooked smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. “Well, this is a pleasure,” he says. “It's been a long time, Val. How's the salon doing these days?”

She ignores his question and turns her head to the side scanning the rest of the shop, making sure they're alone. Her long blond braid snakes over her shoulder reaching the crook of her elbow. “I've been checking the lists of missing persons,” she says, her voice shaking. “But he's not there.” She tucks in her chin and demurely scans the glass counter, but her desperate eyes search in vain.

“What you're looking for is not for sale,” Mr. Gold says. “But I might be willing to trade.”

Her gaze snaps up. “Anything,” she offers.

Mr. Gold leans in close, “I want the most powerful thing you possess.”

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A little girl sits in an elegant castle room as her mother stands behind, combing her hair. “Now, Valerie Ann Ella,” her mother begins. “You are a princess and must act accordingly.”

Valerie makes a face and squirms on the velvet cushion. “It's not fair,” she pouts. “Fridolf gets to run and play outdoors while I'm stuck inside having my stupid hair pulled.”

“It will not do you any good to compare yourself to your twin brother,” she orders, pinning an elaborate braid in place. “Besides, you should be grateful for the beautiful golden comb your father gave you.”

“Fridolf got the better gift,” she rebuts. “Father said it can tame any beast and summon help no matter where you are.” She crosses her arms. “He's father's heir. Why isn't he the one suffering with lessons on how to be proper?”

She pushes off the chair and goes to the window overlooking a grassy courtyard. A young boy with shaggy brown hair tumbles and plays with several dogs. He puts a small silver whistle to his lips, and the dogs immediately sit down at his feet.

As if he can feel her stare, he looks up and a grin spreads across his face. “Vee!” she shouts. “Come down, I've found a new trail in the forest for us to explore!”

With her mother shouting protests, Princess Valerie scampers down the stone steps and races off with her brother and their dogs.

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Granny sits inside her log cabin, rocking in her chair, missing Red. A knock at the door breaks her train of thought. Rumpelstiltskin waltzes in and waves his hand at the meagre fireplace making it roar to life.

“Enjoying the quiet life? Must be a real change from locking up your grand daughter every month,” he chuckles.

Granny's mouth is a tight line. “What do you want?”

“I've come to collect of course!” He spins around and puts his arms out to the sides in a grand gesture. “I don't give out those magical cloaks for nothing. Thanks to me your Red can run around the countryside hiding her true self.”

Granny hits him with a hard stare. “All I want is for her to be safe and happy. Thanks to you, she's on the run and away from her family...not exactly what you promised.”

He cocks an eyebrow and holds out his hand, letting her know he's only here for one thing.

Granny stomps her foot, making one of the floor boards lift up. She eases it back, and puts her hand inside. She pulls out a tiny box and hands it over. Rumpelstiltskin smiles and lifts the slim silver tube.

“Pleasure doing business,” he bows. He pauses at the door, and takes in her lonely little room with it's tiny fire.

“I feel as if she took my heart when she left,” Granny confesses.

“The heart is irrelevant, Dearie. It's the soul that matters.”

Valerie races ahead of Fridolf, her dress covered in mud. She laughs as he slips and trips with the dogs. She sprints to the garden where her parents, the King and Queen are waiting. Breathless, she collapses on the grass laughing and ignoring her mother's disapproving stare.

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Suddenly, Cora erupts into the garden in a swirl of purple smoke. Her eyes sweep across the garden, then zero in on Princess Valerie's mother. “Rapunzel! How dare you wear a Queen's crown!” she shrieks. “You are no more royalty than a toad in a well. It is my young daughter who is destined to be the great King's next bride someday, not your snivelling ragamuffin.”

Valerie's father stands boldly in front of his family. “Your powers are useless here, witch,” he defies. “You locked her up once in a tower, but we outsmarted you. Blinded by the thorns, I still found her, and my newborn children. Her tears of joy healed my eyesight. Be gone,” he commands. “Your evil power will never be enough to break our hearts again.”

Cora smiles, “How foolish of you to think it's your hearts I'm after.” Her gaze locks on Valerie. With a wave of her gloved hand, Cora sets the garden on fire. The castle explodes behind them. The Queen huddles over Valerie, trying to protect her. Another blast of wind and Valerie feels her mother's lifeless body fall away from and crumble to the ground beside her already dead father.

Cora laughs and snatches up Valerie. “Your heart and soul with suffer with every breath you take,” she promises the young princess. Valerie lunges for her parents bodies, but Cora's hold is strong. She gallops away with Valerie over her lap.

The last thing Valerie sees is Fridolf standing at the edge of the forest with his dogs, tears streaming down his face. She stares at him and knows he can read her face. Run, she tries to tell him, run back into the forest and hide...forever.

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Val returns to her shop—"Split Ends", Storybrooke's only beauty parlor. Ruby is waiting by the counter, pretending to check out the nail polish and asks for a trim. Valerie bites her lower lip, sensing that Ruby is lying. Ruby gets frustrated with Val's hesitation and blurts about her little run through the woods. She smiles widely and says. “I found him. He's alive!”

From the street, Mr. Gold watches Val hug Ruby.

A hooded figure enters a pub full of unsavory characters. A teen aged Valerie wipes her sweaty brow while evading the customers grimy hands. A toothless man behind the bar slaps down a bowl for her. She frantically spoons the mush into her mouth. He barks out an order, and nods to a table of leather clad thugs.

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“The Queen's guards,” he sneers in her face. “They show no mercy for scullery girls.”

Valerie swallows the last of her pathetic supper and takes pewter cups of ale to the guards. One grabs her long blond hair and yanks her back. Suddenly, all their hands are pulling her closer, groping the tattered skirt and apron. She lets her arms go slack, pretending to give up, but before she can reach into the secret fold of her skirt, the hooded figure thrusts a knife into the air between the guards.

Valerie takes her golden comb and swipes it along one of the guard's chin. A waterfall of hair grows like an unstoppable beard. The others are stunned as stumble and trip in the messy trap. But each time Valerie's comb touches them, hair springs forth, out of control. The hooded figure grabs Valerie. They race out of the pub, where a horse is waiting.

“Who are you?” she asks breathlessly, tucking the golden comb back in her pocket. “Why did you save me?”

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He pulls back his hood and gives her a genuine smile, “My name is Peter,” he tells her.

Val storms into Mr. Gold's shop and slams her golden comb down on his glass counter so hard the crystal mobile of unicorns hanging from the ceiling shakes. “Take this as a trade,” she starts. “Please, I'm begging you. Ruby says we're so close.” Her voice catches and the tears start to fall.

Mr. Gold tilts his head. “We both know there is no magic left in that comb, Val.” He reaches under the glass and places a delicate bottle on the glass counter.

“What's this?” she sniffs.

“I need you to fill this for me...with your tears.” She reaches for the bottle, but he puts up a hand, stopping her. “Not tears of sadness...tears of joy.” He reads her expression and begins to explain. “People in this town are in a race to find magic. And the most powerful of all is love. Your father's blindness was cured by your mother's tears when she saw him stumble out of the forest, desperately looking for her.”

Valerie sniffed again. “How do I know you won't create another horrible spell?”

Mr. Gold holds up the bottle, “I know how it feels to be ripped apart from someone you love.”

“And I'll cry tears of joy?” she asks guardedly.

He reaches under the counter again, bringing out the small wooden box Granny hid under her floor. He opens it and hands her the small silver whistle.

Val's eyes grow wide. She races out of the shop, her blond braid swinging from side to side. “You'll need a shovel,” he yells at her back.

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Peter and Valerie make a camp in the forest. He tells a fantastic tale of being lost in the woods last winter. He came upon a wolf, caught in a crude trap. Unable to let the magnificent beast suffer, he freed him and their shared body heat allowed them to survive the bitter night.

In the morning, the wolf led him out of the forest. Peter felt badly for the creature who had a leather collar that was digging into it's flesh. When he cut away the binding, a silver whistle fell at his feet. The wolf then simply loped back into the forest.

When Valerie gives him a sceptical look, he further explains about the night Red turned on him, but when he blew the silver whistle, it stopped her from attacking him. He barely managed to escape with only a few scratches, but dropped the whistle as he fled. When he finally returned, Granny told him that Red had run away for good.

Since then, Peter's been searching for her. He's heard of a man who can grant any wish and he wants to find a cure. Valerie tells him about Cora destroying her family, and selling her off as a slave at the nearest village. She's tried to escape, but the woods are full of Ogres and ruthless renegades. Her only hope is that her twin brother is still alive.

The Huntsman lets Snow White escape. He makes her a whistle out a stick and tells her to run deeper in to the forest. With his red eyed wolf by his side, he returns to the castle knowing he has to give the Evil Queen a fake heart.

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He kneels at the castle wall and stares into the red eye of the wolf, his only family since his own went up in flames. He ties the silver whistle around it's leather collar, “You have my soul,” he tells the wolf. “As long as you run free, so will I.”

Val and Ruby stand at the edge of the forest as the full moon to comes out from behind the clouds. Val blows the silver whistle. Through the darkness the wolf with the red eye limps toward them. Ruby changes into her wolf form and joins the wolf as he leads them deeper into the forest.

Peter and Valarie stand in front of a massive castle. The door opens and Belle lets them in. Rumpelstiltskin sits sideways on his chair letting one leg dangle over the golden armrest. Peter explains what they've come looking for.

Rumpelstiltskin gives them a quest—locate a golden ball at the bottom of a well on the other side of the enchanted forest. If they return successful, he will give them their hearts content.

Val finds the red eyed wolf lying on his side, his breathing is labored. Ruby begins to paw at the dirt, showing Val where to dig. The shovel breaks through the moist earth easily and Val soon feels the shovel hit something solid. She wipes away the dirt off the surface of the glass casket. Ruby yelps from above and jumps down into the grave in human form. She helps Val raise the lid.

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After months of searching, Peter and Valerie break through thick vines and find the well. It is a dark bottomless pit. Peter volunteers to go down. His voice echoes back up to her, then finally he yells out that he's found it. But before Valarie can pull him back up, a massive cloud engulfs the land, sending all the characters to Storybrooke.

Mr. Gold finishes the shallow grave and wipes the dirt on his green apron. The glass coffin fits perfectly. He isn't sure the plan will work or if he even needs this to fulfil his master plan, but the unique casket will preserve the body for as long as he intends.

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He grabs his cane and hobbles out of the forest. He's almost run over by Sheriff Graham, looking wild and talking about a wolf he's seen in his dreams. Mr. Gold's eyes flick back to the secret grave and he says, “Don't you know that dreams are a memories of a previous life?”

The red eyed wolf stumbles into Ruby's arms as she helps him lay over the body. “He's dying,” she tells Val. “This is his last promise, as the lone wolf from his pack...this is his duty.” She fixes Val with a steady gaze. “They share the same soul, their bond is stronger than Regina's magic. His heart was crushed, but it can beat again.”

“He looks like he's sleeping,” Val cries, looking into the face of her long lost twin.

Both women crouch down. The wolf instinctively crawls forward until his breath washes over Sheriff Graham's still face. “Blow the whistle again,” Ruby tells Val.

With one last breath, the wolf closes it's red eye and slumps to the side. A second later, Sheriff Graham takes in a sharp breath and opens his eyes.

The bell above the door to Mr. Gold's shop tinkles. Ruby walks in and puts a full jar of Val's joyful tears on the glass counter.

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“Does Storybrooke have a new Sheriff?” he asks, not looking up from his polishing.

“He and Val have a lot of catching up to do,” she says, leaning on her hip. “Regina won't be so happy to know you've resurrected someone.”

Mr. Gold only chuckles, “But it wasn't me, was it? I believe you and Val, and a certain loyal wolf can take credit for that.”

Ruby starts to leave, but then she pauses.

Mr. Gold finally looks up and meets her gaze. “Anything I can do for you?”

“No,” Ruby switches weight between her feet a few times. “I just wanted to say it's cool how you helped Belle get the job at the library.”

“Love is capable of many things, Ruby,” he says. “As long as the heart and soul are willing.”

She frowns uncertain, and then leaves the shop.

Mr. Gold looks down at the golden ball inside the polishing rag. He gently places it beside the spot where the whistle used to lay.