Chapter Text
The sun shone brightly in the sky, casting sharp shadows on the village pavements. It must have been around three in the afternoon. Still, Granny's seemed strangely quiet—not from lack of people, as almost all the tables were occupied, but from the absence of one specific person.
Granny paced back and forth behind the counter, keeping her hands busy and her thoughts at bay. If she allowed herself to feel too much, she risked falling apart. And this was definitely not the moment for that.
Snow and David had begun frequenting Granny's more often—a subtle form of support. With them came Emma, Regina and Henry, creating a comforting routine, albeit a tense one. Belle, on the other hand, had started appearing less frequently. Without the company, even the iced tea had lost its flavour.
"The dishes won't run away if you sit down for a bit, Granny," David joked, as he observed the lady with a gentle smile.
"I've got better things to do than stare at your symmetrical face all day, boy," Granny scolded from somewhere in the kitchen.
Emma and Henry laughed quietly.
"She's sharp today!" David exclaimed in a whisper.
"She misses her," Snow corrected him, caressing his arm affectionately. "But, if it consoles you, I'd be happy to look at your symmetrical face all day," she added, giving her husband a quick peck.
Regina made a disgusted face, rolling her eyes. "I'd be happy not to see you two devouring each other at the table."
"You're here because you want to face Hurricane Granny, eh?" David looked at her, raising his eyebrows.
"My son is here. It's not exactly a choice."
Granny returned from the kitchen with her hands on her hips and a rather unfriendly look.
"I may be old, but I still have good hearing... and an even better sense of smell. If that girl sent you lot to babysit me, you can leave."
"Granny! We like it here. The atmosphere," Snow softened, her brow furrowed and a sweet smile on her face.
"You improve my day every time you cut those two down to size," Regina said calmly.
"It's been a month. You can stop this," Granny said, serious. "I've dealt with three werewolves in my life. I've been uprooted from my land twice, lived through three curses, raised Ruby's mother and then her, alone, in a village in the middle of nowhere. I can survive a diner that's three blocks from a hospital. I don't need four sentinels watching my every move."
Silence fell over the place. The Charmings exchanged glances; Emma lowered her eyes, Regina kept her chin up. Henry, with a furrowed brow, stared at his own table.
"We're five, actually. I'm keeping an eye on you too," he corrected her.
Granny turned to the eleven-year-old boy with a sweeter smile than anyone would have expected.
"Ah, you're the exception, my dear. I was scolding the adults. You don't bother me at all."
Henry smiled victoriously and looked at his younger mother, displaying his triumph.
The door bell rang, and everyone turned at once.
Belle appeared with a book in hand, her eyes still fixed on the pages. She wore a tight button-up blouse, a grey skirt and black tights—the librarian style suited her naturally well. When she noticed the silence and the stares, she raised her eyes, confused.
"Have I come at a bad time?"
"No," Granny sighed, surrendering to a much softer expression. "An iced tea, dear?"
"Oh, she's 'dear' now?" David teased.
The lady swatted him with a tea towel on the shoulder and returned behind the counter.
Belle laughed at the scene and approached the counter.
"A coffee, please."
She tried to maintain her composure, but her fidgeting fingers betrayed her anxiety. Granny observed her for a moment before responding, in a lower but still firm tone:
"We don't have any news of the delinquent."
Belle let out a heavier sigh than she intended. The void Ruby left was strange. She missed the sharp conversations, the quick jokes, and especially the raw sincerity of the brunette—Ruby never said what she wanted to hear, but always what she needed to.
"Well... there's no internet in the Enchanted Forest," Belle joked, trying to force a smile.
"She's fine. Ruby said she would meet Mulan," Snow said in a reassuring tone.
"Not even the most powerful soldier could keep that girl away from trouble. I've tried that my entire life," Granny said ironically, placing the librarian's coffee in front of her.
"I hope you're wrong..." Belle murmured, just to herself. She turned slightly at the counter and looked at the booth in the corner of the restaurant.
________________________________________
{1 month and 3 weeks earlier}
The soft rays of the late afternoon streamed through the windows of Granny's, tinting the interior of the diner with golden hues. Ruby was leaning on the counter, distracted, her eyes fixed on the figure seated in one of the booths. Belle had been leafing through a book for more than two hours, so immersed that she seemed oblivious to the world around her.
"Girl, your arm's going to fall off if you keep wiping the counter that way," Granny's voice sounded behind her, accompanied by the soft tinkling of freshly washed cups.
Ruby jumped, turning quickly.
"Heavens, Granny! Giving me a fright like that..."
Granny interrupted her movement of putting away the cups, arching an eyebrow.
"You were only startled because you were off in your own world."
Ruby huffed and closed the cupboard door with a light snap.
"I'm fine, Granny."
The smile that accompanied the response was small, almost automatic. It didn't fool anyone, least of all Granny. She had known that look since Ruby was a girl: a contained sadness, hidden with effort.
But the older woman didn't press. Ruby was tough as nails. Always had been. She kept everything to herself as if sharing a burden were a weakness.
Without saying anything more, Ruby moved away with a fresh glass of iced tea and walked to Belle's booth. She stopped in front of the table and set down the drink gently.
Belle raised her eyes and smiled, surprised.
"Another tea? How did you...?"
"The two empty glasses on the table made me suspect a third was coming," Ruby shrugged, with a half-smile. "If you continue at this rate, I'll have to call an ambulance."
Belle laughed, leaning a bit over the table.
"Okay, message received. This is the last one, I promise."
Ruby arched an eyebrow, satisfied.
"Great. You've earned a biscuit for good behaviour."
Belle smiled, amused.
"Literally?"
"Don't joke about such things. I might appear with an oatmeal one and ruin your afternoon," Ruby winked at her before returning to the counter, taking with her a lightness she hadn't felt in days—though Belle didn't even suspect this.
________________________________________
Belle returned to the library holding the paper cup from Granny's with the now lukewarm coffee half-drunk. The familiar aroma was no longer comforting—just a bittersweet reminder of what was missing. The place, once her refuge, seemed too big, too empty. Not even the books could fill the hole in her chest.
She ran her fingers over the spines on the shelves, organising titles she knew by heart. The attempt at distraction was interrupted by a sudden tremor in the ground. Belle stopped, her eyes narrowing. The lights flickered, blinking once, twice before stabilising.
She didn't need anything more. After living through so many curses, she recognised when magic crossed the barrier between worlds.
Belle set the cup on the counter and hurried out of the library. She found the others in the central square—Snow, David, Emma, Regina, even Leroy, all with their eyes turned to the sky, where a purple and bluish spiral was beginning to close. The portal.
"Portal!" Leroy shouted, out of breath, running to them as if no one else had noticed.
"Really? And what led you to that conclusion? The flickering lights or the glowing vortex in the middle of the sky?" Regina retorted with a dry look.
"Regina," Emma murmured, furrowing her brow and crossing her arms.
"Someone had to say it," she replied, but her tone lost some of its acidity when she noticed the real concern stamped on everyone's face there.
The vortex glowed once more, and from within, Mulan emerged. She staggered as she stepped onto the ground, her face marked by dust, sweat and the kind of tension that only accompanies bad news. She carried part of the weight on her shoulders and the rest in her eyes.
"I need help," she said, firmly, but with a hoarse voice.
Emma stepped forward, alert.
"What happened?"
"Ruby," Mulan answered, approaching with determined steps. "She's... different. Beside herself."
Belle moved forward before even processing.
"Is she all right?" Her voice came out more anxious than she intended.
Mulan hesitated. She looked at Belle for a moment too long before answering.
"No. She's not. It's been three days since she changed and now two since she disappeared."
The warrior took a small vial from inside her armour. There was a trace of amber liquid at the bottom.
"She took this. We don't know what it is. Since then, she... She's not herself anymore, she's cruel and apathetic."
Snow brought her hand to her mouth, shocked.
"That doesn't sound anything like Ruby," Her voice was low, overcome with concern. "She... she is pure empathy."
"That's why I came," Mulan replied. Her tone was irritated—not with them, but with the situation. "She already had this vial when we met in the forest a month ago. She was sad but said she would be fine in a few days."
Regina took the vial carefully, turning the glass before her eyes as she analysed the colour and texture of the liquid.
"I can find out what this is in the crypt," she said, concentrating. "But it will take some time."
"How long?" Belle asked, moving closer. Her eyes were fixed on the vial as if they could find an answer there.
"With luck, a few hours," Regina replied, and her expression softened just a bit as she looked at Belle. "I'll do my best."
"I'm coming with you," Belle said immediately.
Regina nodded without protesting, surprised by the firmness in the other woman's voice.
Emma turned to Mulan.
"You said sad?"
"She didn't tell me anything. But she was distant, dispersed and... said she would sort it out soon. That I shouldn't worry," Mulan closed her eyes for a second. "Now she just doesn't feel anything anymore."
Everyone exchanged glances. Belle said nothing—but her jaw tightened, the silent pain showing through in her eyes.
"Let's go to the crypt," Regina said finally.
"Regina is right," David spoke calmly, the atmosphere was heavy, "The sooner we understand what happened to her, the quicker we'll reverse it."
But the heroes were far from understanding what had actually happened.