“…when the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies…
It was one of those things that everyone knew, but didn’t really think about; even the fairies didn’t think there was much truth in the tale. The bit of folklore had even made its way into the Land Without Magic, recorded forever in this realm’s misleading version of Peter Pan. The residents of Storybrooke had cause to reconsider the truth of the legend when the baby daughter of Rumplestiltskin and Belle laughed for the first time.
Hope Gold was three months old when it happened. Rumple had just met Belle outside the library and their daughter reached her little chubby hands out to him and laughed. Rumple felt the shimmer of magic as his little girl’s laugh manifested into the air as a shimmering orb of light. Belle wrapped her arms protectively around Hope, her voice quivered as she said: “Rumple?”
“I see it Belle, and I have no idea what is happening.”
Rumple stood with his back to Belle and Hope, putting himself between the strange magic and his family.
“They are new fairies. Or they will be if we let them break free.”
The voice of the Blue Fairy had Rumple spinning on his heel, his arm thrown behind him to protect Belle and Hope as he spat; “That’s only a legend.”
Blue moved to take a step towards them and then thought better of it. The look on Rumple’s face was enough to stop her in her tracks, but when it was reinforced by Belle’s and little Hope’s scowl she had to consider her safety.
“The legend of the First Laugh has a grain of truth in it. It hasn’t happened in a millennium or more and it this case I suggest it is stopped before it can come to fruition.”
“Why? Do you really think the fairies my aunt brings forth will be evil?”
Rumple shifted on the balls of his feet again, still trying to protect Belle and Hope, this time the new comers were Henry and Violet, they stepped up beside Belle and Hope, and Henry bopped Hope on the nose apparently indifferent to the fact he’d just poured oil on the troubled waters of the standoff that was happening around him. Violet stomped forward and stopped inches away from Blue’s face.
“Do you have a problem with the fact my aunt is the genesis for a new generation of fairies?”
Blue gave a haughty sniff and sneered; “That baby is the spawn of the Dark One, whatever it brings forth will be vile and evil.”
Violet nodded slowly and for an instant both Rumple and Belle thought she was going to agree with Blue, but then Henry grinned at the pair of them and casually tipped his head towards Violet. The Author’s True Love took a deep breath and said loud and clear for the townsfolk on Main Street that were pretending not to listen to hear; “Hope, for that is her name, has more goodness in her little finger than you have in your whole body. I look forward to the fairies that her first laughter has brought forth, because they will undoubtedly be a hell of a lot better than you.”
Blue leaned around Violet and asked Henry; “And what has the Author to say about the evil brewing above our heads?”
Henry slowly twisted on the ball of his foot, a move that made Belle smile because she recognized it as one directly from Rumple’s playbook. Henry’s little strut placed him directly under the shimmering ball of magic, he made a show of bending backwards to look at it and then let his eyes drift to Hope before coming to rest on Blue. The moment of silence he had created spun out to the point of painfulness, then and only then did Henry speak.
“I am Henry Mills of Storybrooke, I carry the heart of the Truest Believer and am the current guardian of the Quill of the Author, and I declare that the next generation of Fairies are to be born from the First Laugh of Hope, daughter of Belle of Avonlea and Rumplestiltskin, and they will be terrific.”
The ball of magic above him shattered, the shards skipped away leaving the echo of a child’s laughter in their wake. Hope smiled and waved her chubby hands at the disappearing glimmers. The Blue Fairy frowned and vanished in a puff of smoke. Rumple finally let out the breath he’d been holding and after checking his wife and daughter were okay, crossed to Henry. For a while the two men stood shoulder to shoulder in silence, and then Rumple cleared his throat and said; “Terrific. That’s the word you chose.”
Henry gave his grandfather a small shrug; “Yeah, best not to limit their options don’t you think?”
Rumple rocked on his heels for a moment, before he cast a pointed glance over his shoulder to where Violet was making a fuss of Belle and Hope.
“I didn’t miss that by the way, Violet calling Hope her aunt, she’s no relation until…”
Rumple let his words trail off as he watched Henry’s blush grow, he relented and slung his arm around his grandson’s shoulders.
“Violet has just stood up for Hope, she is family Henry.”
