August had been driving for over four hours before they reached the place where Lily lived, at least according to Maleficent. The door was unlocked, which August thought was a little odd. He didn't know the whole story of how Emma and Regina had found Lily, but he guessed it was possible everyone was in too much of a rush to make sure the door was properly locked. Mulan entered first, Aurora and August trailing behind her.

The house was empty, and it was sort of eerie. If there was magic across the town line, Aurora would have guessed there was a ghost inside - or worse, a wraith.

August turned on the TV, making both Mulan and Aurora jump.

"Sorry!" August apologized.

Mulan glared at him, but Aurora shrugged it off. It wasn't worth it to hold a grudge for something so insignificant.

"Earlier today, there were reports of a gigantic, three-headed dog sitting in the highway, blocking traffic. According to witnesses, a woman got out of her car and approached the dog. She appeared to be talking to someone, but no one else was there. A few minutes later, the woman and dog both disappeared.

"Witnesses seem to be forgetting the event already, and some can't remember it happening at all. If anyone has seen the woman or the dog, contact authorities immediately. Here is a picture taken by a bystander."

All three pairs of eyes stared at the TV as a poor quality picture of Lily standing next to a giant three-headed dog that August recognized as Cerberus - or, at least that's what it looked like. She looked like she was speaking to someone else, but no one was there. However, when August looked closer at the picture he realized it was slightly off in the place where a person should have been. As if Lily had been talking to a ghost that the camera couldn't pick up.

"I think we've found our first lead on where Lily is," Mulan muttered.

"You think?" August muttered sarcastically.

~

"So what's it like to know your birth mother?" Nicole asked out of nowhere. "Is it nice?"

"Honestly?" Lily sighed. "I just met her a week ago for the first time. And it felt..." Lily didn't know how to put it into words. It was awkward, it was nothing like she had expected, it was tense, it was surprising, but above all...

"It... it was like I had finally found a home." When she said that, Lily realized that when she had ran from Storybrooke, she hadn't just left her magic behind. She had also left her mom - the only family she felt had ever cared - and had left the entire town to its fate. It was possible Hades was on his way there at this moment, and Merlin would be no help.

Then Lily realized that Nicole had never met her birth mom. That meant she either had adoptive parents or she was bouncing around from one foster home to the next - something no kid should have to go through.

So Lily decided two things in that moment. The first was that Storybrooke had become her home, whether she liked it or not. And the second was that if Nicole wanted, Lily would take her back to Storybrooke. Surely someone would give her a home. And if Lily's suspicion was right, well... it wouldn't be too difficult.