Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Ignorance is Bliss	By : Khaleesi-Of-Dragons Category: M through R > Once Upon A Time Views: 2313 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story. Any and all songs used belong to their respective owners.

Chapter List
- 1-Ignorance is Bliss
- 2-2
- 3-3
- 4-4
- 5-5
- 6-6
- 7-7
- 8-8
- 9-9
- 10-10
- 11-Season Two: Knowledge is Power
- 12-12
- 13-13
- 14-14
- 15-15
- 16-16
- 17-17
- 18-18
- 19-19
- 20-20
- 21-21
- 22-22
- 23-23
- 24-24
- 25-25
- 26-26
- 27-27
- 28-28
- 29-29
- 30-30
- 31-31
- 32-32
- 33-Season Three: All Good Things
- 34-34
- 35-35
- 36-36
- 37-37
- 38-38
- 39-39
- 40-40
- 41-41
- 42-42
- 43-43
- 44-44
- 45-45
- 46-46
- 47-47
- 48-48
- 49-49
- 50-50
- 51-51
- 52-52
- 53-53
- 54-54
- 55-55
- 56-56
- 57-57
- 58-Season Four: To Those who Wait
- 59-59
- 60-60
- 61-61
- 62-62
- 63-63
- 64-64
- 65-65
- 66-66
- 67-67
- 68-68
- 69-69
- 70-70
- 71-71
- 72-72
- 73-73
- 74-74
- 75-75
- 76-76
- 77-77
- 78-78
- 79-80
- 80-81
- 81-82
- 63
- 64
- 65
"Have you seen my phone," I ask no one in particular as I walk into the front room of the shop," I need it today so I can record the rehearsal for Micah to look over." Papa looks up from what he's doing, shaking his head.
"Last I saw, it was in your backpack," he shrugs. Picking up a weird round thing and stuffing it in his safe. "Maybe you should slow down a little, Morgan, you look frazzled and your hair is all over the place."
"I'm running late." With a quick use of magic, I organize my appearance, hair tucked neatly into a French braid. "I don't have time to take a break since our deadline is coming up fast and we just now cast our leading people!" I rush past Papa to my Lilo and Stitch backpack, opening it and rummaging around in it until I find my phone. I have an extra set of clothes in there for later, plus the script Micah finished last night and my iPod that held the Sweeney Todd soundtrack on it that needed to be edited to remove the voices from it for opening night.
Papa places his hands on my shoulders, making me stop moving for a moment as he looks me over. "You're going to make yourself sick if you keep going like this."
"So I get sick, Whale will have a reason to talk to someone that shares his weird sense of humor." I try to move again only to have Papa tighten his hold on me. "Papa, I really don't have time to stand around here and debate my well-being. What does it matter anyway, don't you need to go bond with Dad or whatever it is you two are doing together?" That catches him by surprise, the corners of his mouth twitching down in a frown.
"Sweetheart—" And in that moment I knew I was completely screwed, his eyes darkening in anger and making me afraid. He had moved to grip my hands and in doing so, he spotted the bandage covering my right wrist. "Please tell me that's not what I think it is."
"It's not what you think it is?" It came out as a question, only dooming me further at the pathetic attempt at a lie. The other rule in the shop is that, if you're going to lie, do it well enough that Papa will at least respect the attempt.
"Morgan Elizabeth Gold, you are grounded until I say otherwise! I specifically told you not to get a tattoo and you do it anyway! Who even took you? You need a parent's permission…." His eyes narrow slightly, his next words coming out more as a growl. "Hook." I tug my arms out of his grasp, taking a step back and grabbing my backpack. "Oh no, you're not leaving the shop, get back over here." With my head bowed, I move back over to him, knowing my punishment would be bad since I went behind his back to the man he hates most in Storybrooke.
"I'm sorry, Papa." I look up at him, feeling the guilt gnawing at me and only increasing my stomach ache. He opens his mouth, ready to commence his pre-punishment speech when Belle walks in with a smile that quickly fades away.
"What's going on," she asks, moving to stand between Papa and me and wrapping a protective arm around my shoulders. "Why are you yelling at her when she's already got enough to be stressed about?"
"She got a tattoo when I specifically told her she wasn't allowed to," Papa informs her with a stern look sent my way.
"What's wrong with that?"
"What's…?" He looks genuinely shocked that Belle found nothing wrong with my treason. "What's wrong with that? What's wrong is that she disobeyed me and didn't even care enough to avoid getting caught!"
"After what she's gone through, I think she's earned the right to do one thing without other people's permission or judgment, Rumple. And besides, she's technically an adult in about…." She glances down at the watch on her wrist, tilting her head to the side. "Well, a few hours, really. Tomorrow night at nine she turns eighteen and she'll be a big girl, and she can get as many tattoos as she wants. Plus, she probably wanted one because Hook has one." Belle shrugs, resting her cheek on my head since she's taller than me especially in heels. "Now, apologize for making her later than she already is."
"I'm….Sorry."
"And you get to apologize for doing this behind Rumple's back."
"I'm sorry," I mumble, gripping my backpack tighter. "You don't have to worry, Papa, this one hurt bad enough, so I don't want another."
"Can we see what made your papa almost have a heart attack?" I grin a little, pulling the bandage back carefully to reveal the tiny blue Stitch tattooed on the inside of my wrist with Ohanatattooed beside it in pale purple. Papa smiles at it, no longer looking quite so angry with me. "What, now you're all smiles? What does it mean?"
"Ohana means family," I recite with my own small smile," and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten."
"It's the first movie in this world that we watched together," Papa adds, allowing me to recover the tattoo. "Alright, go on to rehearsal, I don't need Nicky breaking my door down and dragging you out."
"I really am sorry, Papa."
"I know, dear." With one last smile at the couple, I make my way outside and to my job of director's assistant—also known as the only person in the entire theater, including Nicky, that Micah trusts not to screw up his coffee and take charge when need be. Nicky's too soft-hearted to be hard on our actors and Bryland hates life in general, so he trusts me to remain neutral throughout it all.
Gold
"You can show yourself, Dearie," Gold calls out, hands clasped behind his back as Ingrid's presence makes itself known. He really was beginning to grow tired of these meetings in the woods, the stench never left his suits and he always brought bits of moss and leaves back to his house without realizing until it's too late. "I'm not the one you're hiding from."
"No," Ingrid finally speaks, her voice coming from his left," you're not." He smiles slightly, forcing a good mood and unaffected attitude. He doesn't turn to face her, just looking at her out of his peripheral vision. "To what do I owe this intrusion?"
"A warning. Emma Swan is onto you." Ingrid keeps smiling as well, leaning against a tree as Gold begins to pace. "She knows your history began long before you came to Storybrooke."
"I'm aware." She moves from her spot, beginning to walk. "Do you really think she would have discovered that if I hadn't wanted her to?" She's unafraid—either too confident in her so-called plan or just plain stupid to doubt the Savior. "It's all part of my plan—a plan you thankfully know little about."
"You're being awfully secretive."
"You didn't come to warn me." She continues walking, moving past him as he stands still in the center of the clearing. "You came to find out my secrets."
"Or offer up a deal." He turns, keeping her in his line of sight. "Whatever suits you best, but if you decline, I'd be careful." He faces front again, not worried about a woman that can only control ice magic. What's she going to do, order a snowman to step on him?
"There it is. There's the warning." She stops just behind him on his left and he can feel the heat coming off her. "You want something from me? Why don't you just ask for it?"
"If I wanted something out of you, Dearie, believe me, I'd take it." His false attitude was beginning to slip to show his frustration underneath. He's so close to his goal and he won't let some ice queen stop him from achieving it.
"But you can't, can you? Otherwise you would. You and I both know—to get what you want, you need one thing that I have and you are sorely lacking—leverage." He faces her again, staring her down and silently daring her to continue pushing his buttons. He won't take much more from this woman, he will kill her if she doesn't stop these foolish games. "And until you get that….I have a warning for you. Stay out of my way."
Micah
Pan pushes the front door of Gold's house open, moving inside without any hint of fear of being caught. Micah's never been in here, always meeting Morgan either at the shop, the theater, or some other public place. Inside looks as antique as the outside, filled with a mix of old and modern furnishings—the house seeming too tidy for Morgan to live here. "Are you sure it's in Storybrooke," he asks, making his way into the living room while Pan heads into the kitchen.
"I'm sure," he responds," it's part of Neverland and I can sense it's magic, though it seems to grow fainter everyday as I grow weaker." Micah lets out a sigh, lifting and replacing couch cushions and magazines. The coffee table in front of the couch is littered with teen magazines and several different novels, the small bit of controlled chaos letting him know that this is the room Morgan spends a lot of time in.
He moves over to the shelves lining the walls on either side of the TV, the shelves on the right side filled with different movies. He runs his hands across the titles, finding no gaps large enough to suggest the pendant was stashed there. He moves to the left bookcase, repeating the same process until he comes across the well-worn copy of The Hobbit. This is the book that Micah found the day he ran into Morgan in this world, leading to the both of them arguing over it. It was the only copy left in the bookstore and both of them were determined to have it for themselves.
It ended with them splitting the fee of it and sharing it—she would keep it for two weeks and then it would go to him for two weeks until the new shipment arrived. By that time, though, Micah and Morgan had grown close and didn't mind sharing it just to talk with each other about other books and topics.
He smiles, walking across the hall to the small storage closet settled just under the staircase. Inside is extra blankets and pillows stacked on shelves against the far wall with a broom and mop leaning against the right wall and the vacuum situated in the middle. He feels around in the blankets and pillows, coming away with only dust bunnies to show for his work. Wherever this pendant is, he doubts that Gold would keep it in his own house if he had it. "Have you found it?" He closes the closet door, joining Pan in the downstairs guest bedroom.
"No," Pan sighs, remaking the bed the way it had been before Pan had messed it up. "Rehearsals will be over soon and I don't need my girlfriend becoming suspicious."
"Why do you care, she's just a girl to you." Pan furrows his brow, staring at Micah like the Necromancer had said some complicated science equation he could understand.
"Contrary to popular belief, I do love Morgan. If I didn't I would have killed her on Neverland in front of the good Captain and Rumpelstiltskin."
"You'll still kill her if she comes between you and that crystal."
"Of course I will, I need power more than I need a girl to dote on me."
Neverland—Past
Newly in charge, Pan was still trying to learn how Neverland worked and how much his imagination could make the dark island flourish. After the massacre of the tribes and sending his best friend back to their realm, Pan was left with only Felix and the Shadow to talk to. The boys would take walks every day to assess what the island needed to further their survivals. On one such walk, Pan felt something tugging him off the path towards the Dark Jungle, Felix following behind obediently, ready to explain. Pan followed the strange feeling, the tugging becoming more noticeable the further in the jungle he went until he came upon a clearing.
It's the darkest part of the jungle, a huge tree growing in the center with several dead trees surrounding the clearing, their branches twined together like a protective barrier. He could see a strange red light just beyond the tangle of the branches. "This is Dark Hollow," Felix informs him, looking as though none of this shocked him. "It's the darkest place on the island." Pan gives a nod to show that he was listening, moving to kneel at the base of the large tree. The tree's roots are exposed, a twisted mass that stretched out to the other trees in the clearing.
Something, Pan wasn't sure what it was, told him to stick his hand in the tangle. Hesitantly, he reaches out, past the roots, until he could feel something cold and pulsing under his fingers. He pulls the object out, finding a large crystal, the stone an unnatural gray color. "What is this," he asks, looking at the taller boy over his shoulder.
"The Nevergem," Felix responds, taking it from him and closing his fingers around it to hide it from Pan's view. "It's enchanted by dark magic to allow the ruler of Neverland to stay in other lands for longer than a few days. Neverland's creator hid it away before he allowed himself to be consumed by his Shadow. His ashes reside inside the stone—they're what's causing the pulsing, and they're what will give you more power, but you have to break the crystal and inhale the fumes."
"Give it to me, then." Pan was desperate, unable to stay in other lands while he was tied to Neverland for more than a few days without a searing pain in his chest. Felix opens his hand again, the stone nowhere in sight. "What happened? Where did you send it?!" Felix smirks, turning his back and beginning to walk back the way they'd come.
"I sent it to a land without magic."
Gold
The last thing Gold expected to find upon entering the shop was Belle getting ready to leave, let alone her looking ready to leave while upset. "Belle," he asks in surprise, shutting the door behind him. "Where are you headed?" She clutches the ice pick tightly in both hands, giving Gold a small clue as to where she was planning on running off to.
"To the north woods," she answers, close to tears," where the Snow Queen has been hiding." And here he thought he's been lucky that the women in his life have steered clear of Ingrid and now he has one of them ready to charge at her head first. Honestly, he never would have guessed Belle would be the one to do something so foolish, but he supposed that Morgan had enough to worry about before going up against Ingrid.
"And what business do you have with her?"
"I have to fix a mistake that I made a long time ago."
"What are you talking about?" He takes a few steps closer to his anxious wife, wondering whether or not she would hit him with the pick if he said something wrong.
"I'm afraid I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand." That actually hurt him, unused to Belle hiding things from him when she was usually so open.
"Whether or not that's true, the fact remains that she defeated both Regina and Emma." Can't she see how stupid her plan is? She won't cause any harm against Ingrid—her weapon might as well be a tooth pick for all the good it would do. "She is far more dangerous than you realize."
"I know." Belle closes the space between them, looking up at him with wide blue eyes and a hopeful look he would have trouble saying no to. "That's why I was—I was hoping you'd come with me." Gold scoffs, walking around her to the counter that held his cash register.
"I'm sorry, Belle, that's out of the question. I won't let you anywhere near her." He keeps his back to her, still unused to displaying genuine emotion even to the love of his life.
"I was afraid you were going to say that." Dread rolls over him at her words, like a wave that meant to drown him. "Because….I really, really didn't want to do this." He could hear her moving around behind him, swallowing hard as he guessed what was about to happen to him. He turns to face her again, hurt when he finds her clutching the fake dagger.
"Belle, I gave you that dagger because I trusted you….Because I thought you would never want to control me."
"I know. I know and I'm so, so sorry, Rumple." Her blue eyes are tear-filled, the steely determination in them making her seem more desperate than anything. "But if you won't come with me willingly, what choice do I have?" He desperately hoped Morgan would walk in and give him some excuse to leave or make Belle put away the dagger for now, but he had no such luck. Belle steps closer to him, seeing the betrayal plain on his face as she raises the dagger. "Take me to the Snow Queen."
Morgan
I stretch in my seat as well as I can without disrupting the actors on stage, my phone in the center of the isle, magic keeping it floating and recording the rehearsal while blocking out unneeded noise, like me and Nicky talking. "How much longer," I ask, laying my head on my arms and closing my eyes. I hear rustling paper, meaning that Nicky is shuffling through the papers scattered across the table in an attempt to find the schedule Micah printed out yesterday.
"Ten minutes," he sighs. Bryland wisely stays quiet, sticking more to her divorce papers instead of our business. She's finally realized that I've had enough, she's stayed pretty quiet when I'm around ever since I blinded her soon-to-be-ex-husband. "Have you noticed how weird Mike's been acting since Pan started healing his knee?" I prop my chin on my arms, watching our Lovett and Sweeney as they ran through A Little Priest. "I mean, weirder than normal—like Jack Sparrow being chased by the Kraken, weird."
"There should be a Captain in there somewhere, but yes, I have. Pan's been acting weird too, rummaging through stuff when he thought I was distracted or sleeping. He's mainly been looking through stuff downstairs, but I know he's working his way up. I just don't know what he's looking for yet."
"Whatever it is, he's roped Micah into helping him with it."
"I'm sure he's threatening Micah somehow. Don't worry, I'll keep a closer eye on Pan and make sure he doesn't try anything."
Gold
The couple stops at the opening of a cave, the ice coating the inside and outside of the cave stopping after a few feet and giving way to dirt. "That's it," Belle asks, looking at Gold," That's where she's hiding?"
"Indeed," Gold says, displeased with having to bring Belle here when there's a chance that Ingrid could return at any moment and say something he didn't want Belle to know. "But she's not at home. I don't sense her magic." Belle stares up at the cave with some apprehension that wasn't there when they started their hike.
"Good." She takes a couple of steps up the incline leading to the entrance before facing him again. "You stay here as lookout. I'm going in." He follows her up the incline, grasping her wrist gently in one hand.
"No, Belle, y-you're not going in there alone." She stops to face him again, giving Gold a look that a parent might give an annoying child.
"Look, I won't be in there long. I just need to find something." They begin to walk again, Gold not letting the subject drop just yet. If she found something dangerous in that cave while he was forced to stay out here, then his life would fall apart.
"What could you possibly want from the Snow Queen's cave?"
"A hat." They stops again, Gold's smile beginning to fade as he thinks back to his newly acquired artifact that's tucked safely away in his shop. She couldn't possibly know about it, can she? "One that can strip a magical being of their powers." Apparently she does, but where did she learn about it? Realizing she would expect some kind of response, Gold says the first not-lie that pops up in his head.
"Sounds like quite a remarkable object—almost too good to be true, which means it probably is." Why can't there be one woman in his life that doesn't put their nose where it doesn't belong?
"It isn't, and I know she has it, and I need to get it from her. It's the only way to force her to tell us where Anna is." He could tell her that if he didn't think it would unravel all of his planning. She's in Arendelle, where she's been for the past thirty years or so, frozen solid with her fiancé.
"So this is about Elsa's sister? Why are you so invested in a girl you've never even met?" And, more importantly, how does she know of the sorcerer's hat?
"Because a hero always helps strangers." She raises the dagger again, making him tilt away from it to avoid its sharp edge. "Now keep watch, I'll call out to you if I need your help." He watches her disappear into the cave, feeling around with his magic so he'd know if someone came close to him. The last thing he needs at his point is for Belle to find out she has the fake dagger because he wasn't there to do what she wanted.
He continues standing outside a few minutes later, his resolve beginning to crumble as he hears Belle shouting at nothing inside the cave. Finally having enough, he walks inside, surprised at how large the inside of the cave is compared to the outside. Time Lord technology, his inner geek whispers, sounding suspiciously like Morgan. "Belle," he asks softly, spotting his wife standing in front of a mirror with his dagger raised. "Belle!" He walks over to her, resting one hand on her lower back. "The Snow Queen's approaching that cave."
When she doesn't acknowledge him, he looks to the mirror, finding her reflection looking slightly distorted from the magic rolling off of it. He stands in front of her, blocking her gaze and forcing her to stare at him instead of the mirror. "Look at me," he instructs," don't look at the mirror. Look at me." She looks terrified, holding the dagger with a shaky hand. "We have to leave." It's like she can't see the real him, striking out with the dagger. He feels the edge of it bite his throat, a shallow cut that draws blood. He grabs a hold of her, trying to keep her from hurting him and herself.
"Let me go," she screams, sounding as though she thought he was going to hurt her.
"You don't know what you're doing."
"No!" Struggling to hold her in place, he uses his magic to transport them back to his shop. "Please, let me go!"
"It's okay," he promises her, having a hard time holding the surprisingly strong woman.
"Let—let me go!"
"It's okay, we're back in the shop. We're back in the shop. It's okay." Her eyes are filled with tears again, glassy from the mirror's enchantment. "It's okay." She pause now, her eyes regaining some focus.
"Wait, no. You were outside the cave. I commanded that you wait there."
"You commanded me to keep watch." He tightens his hold on her arms enough to cause some pin, hoping the sensation would bring her back completely. "I sensed she was coming back, I came to find you, and I'm glad I did." He raises her hand that's clutching the dagger, making her look at it finally instead of attacking him. She relaxes in his arms, looking as though she'd committed the worst sin imaginable.
"I hurt you," she says breathlessly, dropping the dagger when she spots the cut on his neck. "I hurt you…I…." She drops, Gold going to the floor with her to cushion the fall. "I'm so sorry, Rumple."
"It's okay."
"When I f-found that mirror, something came over me, like a—like a spell. A-and it spoke to me, and it made me believe all these horrible things, and it said to me that the dagger you gave me is fake." Great, now a mirror was spouting out his secrets. He looks down, realizing now that things were calm, that he had come very close to being murdered today.
"I can assure you that nothing that mirror said is true. It was imbued with the darkest of magic. I-I know you would never wrong me." He brushes the backs of his knuckles across her cheek, staring into her eyes and hoping she would believe his half-lie.
"I have wronged you. I've kept a terrible secret from you." She takes a deep breath before speaking again. "I'm the reason….That Anna is missing." Well, that's a curve ball if he's ever experienced one. "I didn't want anyone to know until I could make things right and save Anna. But I couldn't, I failed, and all I managed to do was abuse the dagger, and take advantage of you, my true love. I-I don't even know if I deserve to be with you anymore."
"No, no, no. You were only doing what you thought was right."
"You forgive me?"
"Of course I forgive you." The couple hugs each other tightly, the guilt beginning to set in and almost making Gold regret his planning. "Thank you for telling me everything."
"Thank you for understanding. I never should have kept a secret from you, especially 'cause I know that you'd never keep one from me." Was there some god out there laughing at Gold right now because it certainly feels that way. "I love you, Rumple."
"And I love you too." Morgan and Pan chose then of all times to enter the shop, their silence strange after weeks of hearing them laughing.
"Sorry," his daughter apologizes," are we interrupting a moment?"
"No, come here, sweetheart." She kneels down next to him and Belle, only partially shocked when Belle and Gold pull her in for a hug. The silence between Pan and Morgan didn't escape him, and he plans to look in on it later.
- 63
- 64
- 65
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Ignorance is Bliss