Sorry to Burst your Bubble
 

Coral grinned a bit at Henry as she swung her legs idly over the dock. "You sick of us yet?" she asked playfully. They'd been sitting with him for a while telling him stories, and she was kind of surprised he hadn't gotten tired yet or accused them of making stuff up.

Hook was nearby leaning on the railing of his ship, listening with half his attention, but mostly just making sure Henry didn't do anything to get either of them in trouble.

"Are you kidding?" Henry asked, grinning. "This is awesome!"

Lotus couldn't help but smile. Henry was so easily amused, sometimes. Although she also didn't mind that he enjoyed hearing about their home.

Coral chuckled quietly. "Have I told you about the sharks yet?" she asked with a bit of a grin. She figured that would keep him entertained, at least.

"No," Henry said. "What sharks?"

Lotus grinned.

"Oh, you're going to tell him THAT story," she said. "That one's good."

Coral grinned. "Of course I am," she said. "Okay, so, sharks. Most of the time they leave us alone, they know better. But this one just wouldn't leave us alone, it was a stupid young male, of course." She paused. "No offense, Henry."

Henry made a face, but didn't interrupt the story. He wanted to know what happened.

"So I swam out to go see if I could get him to leave us alone. He wouldn't. He really was a stubborn thing." Coral grinned. "So I smacked him about a bit and ordered him on his way. Instead he started following me around."

"Sounds like a giant toothy puppy," Henry said, grinning. Lotus laughed.

"Yeah, that's pretty much what it was," she agreed.

"It took me weeks to convince him to go on his way," Coral grumbled. "Weeks!" She paused and then shifted to look around. Someone was approaching them, someone with a feeling of magic.

Lotus looked around when she felt the same presence. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was, especially once she heard the cane rapping on the docks.

"Ah, there you are, Henry," Gold said as he approached.

"Am I late?" Henry asked, getting to his feet with a little reluctance. "Sorry, guess I lost track of time."

Coral stood as well, watching Gold. She knew of him, of course, but she hadn't yet ever actually spoken to him herself.

"Indeed," Gold said evenly. "Come along, Henry. Storytime is over for now."

Lotus gave Henry a small smile.

"It's alright," she said. "We'll finish the story another time."

Henry pouted a bit. He wanted to see and hear more about Atlantis! But Gold was probably right.

Except then something happened. He could feel the magic rising, but he couldn't do anything about it. There was a sharp pop of magic, and they were somewhere else.

"What just happened?" Coral asked cautiously as she got to her feet. She'd landed on her butt in an alleyway. An alleyway she thought she recognized. But that was impossible.

Hook swore to himself as he stood as well, grimacing. This was why he didn't like magic.

Lotus grumbled under her breath as she got up. When she got to her feet, she paused, looking around.

"The shopping district," she murmured. She glanced at her sister.

Gold managed to land mostly on his feet, and was already looking around with interest. He'd never been here before, and something about the place made him certain that he would have come before if he could have. And there were very few places he couldn't go, before the curse.

"Yes," Coral breathed. "Yes, it is." She turned to Lotus, eyes wide. "We're home."

Henry blinked as he looked around. "This is your home?" He peered around the corner of the alleyway.

"We're home," Lotus echoed. She'd honestly begun to think they would never see Atlantis again. She took one step, and then another, and then cautiously walked out of the alley and into the market. A couple of tears rolled down her face as she looked around.

Gold hung back for a moment. Atlantis? Well, this was a fortuitous turn of events, indeed. He could get a lot out of a visit to Atlantis, and he intended to do so.

Coral was grinning hugely, even as moisture gathered in her eyes as well. Oh, it was good to be home again.

"I suppose we should let someone know," she mused, looking around the market. Everything seemed much the same, actually.

Hook, on the other hand, looked vaguely curious but also a little unnerved.

"Yeah," Lotus said, still looking around. "Yeah, come on, everyone must be worried sick..." She started to drift through the market in the general direction of the castle that could be seen a ways off.

Coral glanced back to make sure the guys were with them, giving Gold a stern look when it looked like he might wander off, before she turned her attention towards her home again.

"Look at it," Lotus murmured to Coral. "Nothing has changed, it's exactly as we left it."

Gold stayed with them for now, but he was already looking for the first opportunity to slip away and explore on his own.

"It really is." Coral smiled a little. "This is incredible. I didn't think we'd be able to get back here." She turned in a slow circle, still just looking.

Lotus took a deep breath and smiled.

"Tastes the same," she said.

Coral grinned. "Home sweet home," she said. People around them started murmuring, and it didn't take long for a few of the royal guards to come investigate.

Lotus couldn't help but smile when she saw the royal guard. It was just like she remembered.

Gold saw the guards and took that moment to slip away. It would be inconvenient to be watched by the royal guard if he wanted to take a look around.

Hook didn't slip away, but that was at least half because he had Henry to keep track of and, hopefully, keep out of trouble.

The head guard approached and bowed his head to the two girls. "Miladies," he greeted. "We feared you were lost. Welcome home."