Storybrooke

Callie stares at her nephew with unfocused eyes as she processes the pieces of Calypso's tale that Henry had shared. There's no way to stop her mind from spinning over every little detail he had just read. Questions form in the swirls of pirates and fuzzy childhood memories in Callie's head.

"Okay, okay. Wait. Let me try to get this straight, lad. In your book you believe that I'm this Calypso Stiltskin?"

A heavy breath fills Callie's lungs as she meets his wide doe eyes that are full to the brim with excitement.

"Yeah!" Henry grins, turning a couple pages in his book, "see, so later on the book says that your nickname was "Cali". I think your name now is so close to your nickname because towards the end the book says you were close to Mom."

"Who is the Evil Queen?"

Henry nods quickly, and gently passess his aunt the book. And Callie looks down at the image painted in oils of the handsome pirate captain kissing Calypso's hand. Her fingers gently brush over the image of the man, looking exactly like the one who haunts her dreams. So many things twist in her mind connecting to her life and memories now, and Callie can't help but feel that all of this makes sense.

"So, I'm the daughter of Rumplestiltskin and Milah?"

"Yep, see Rumplestiltskin is Mr. Gold, and your mom is does later on in the story. And you had a brother, but I think it says that he dies too."

And Callie's heart plunges into her gut, aching for the family she doesn't have. She doesn't remember her dad, she knows nothing about him and panic flutters in time with the beats of her heart at the mere idea of Gold being her father. What it says about Milah and her own mom connect as well. And the fact that Calypso and Callie share a dead little brother too. Except her little brother's death is what ruined her life.

"How did my brother die?" Callie questions, eyes still fixating on the image of Killian Jones.

"Once Rumplestiltskin became the Dark One the book says his heart changed. Baelfire didn't like your "new" father and found a way to a world without magic like this one. The world would get rid of the dark powers but..."

"He failed him," Callie whispers, pain rushing through her at the familiarity that she hates with a new passion.

"Yeah," Henry continues, not noticing the suffocating darkness filling his aunt's eyes, "then he tried to find Milah and you again."

Callie's brow raises, fighting the praises tumbling on her tongue to assure Henry that this makes sense.

"Time for bed," she decides on moving past the tale for now, "we have to be up early if you want to practice sailing again."

"Okay," Henry agrees, sleep already nudging his eyes towards fluttering shut, "but keep the book, there's a lot I didn't get to tell you."

"Okay, lad," Callie amends, pulling the book closer to her before ruffling his hair, "go. Get to your room and sleep, Henry."

Henry bends down and hugs Callie quickly before turning and running back inside the house. But for reasons she doesn't know, Callie stays seated by the fire gazing down at the glossy page. 'Captain Killian Jones. The man stuck in my head finally has a name,' Callie grins, gently rubbing a thumb over the man's cheek. That's what makes her heart thump with a new excitement, a new found belief. The raging hurricane tearing through her soul calms at peace because no one knows of the man in her dreams. Killian Jones is Callie's secret and Callie's burden alone. And this book? This book dares to peer into her soul and show her the exact thing that would make her blindly trust Henry's theories. She shakes her head, eyes fluttering closed as she tries to rid herself of the dull, nabbing pain crushing her heart.

Callie wakes early in the morning, sending a quick text to Graham to remind him that she won't be at the shelter for the day. She starts breakfast, knowing when Henry's alarm clock is set. Bacon sizzles in a skillet, and Callie gets hot chocolate going too. When Henry stumbles into the kitchen twenty minutes behind Callie, she merely grins and passes him his plate and hot chocolate with cinnamon sprinkled across. The pair eat in silence, a blaring difference from the night before. Soon though, Callie can see the excited lad beside her practically vibrating on his barstool.

She sends Henry off to find his life vest in her garage as she changes clothes and grabs an extra bag for herself. Double checking that Henry has his things, Callie let's him lead the way down the dock to the Ancient Dream. Callie's smile is wide, and her eyes match Henry's own as they glow with the excitement of being in the sea. She waits until Henry has taken his seat at the bow before going back to the stern and directing them away from the dock and out into deeper waters.

Time passes far too quickly for the two, their hearts both sinking in farewell as Callie helps Henry guide the Dream up to the pier to dock. Henry grabs his things and Callie pulls on her usual leather jacket? and the two make their way down to the brunch place that Regina picked.

Once the three finish brunch, Regina tells Henry to go get in the car. The lad gives Callie a hurried and tight hug goodbye before heading for the car. Callie and Regina turn to face each other the moment he's out of earshot for there are incredibly important things to discuss now.

"I don't approve of what you did the other day."

"I did what had to be done."

"Hurt, Henry. Really? Well, you should know. Things have started to come up. I'll be able to take Henry almost every time, but I won't be able to stay for brunch often."

"Are you really leaving me?"

Callie scoffs, irritation rising towards her friend, "it's not like you're the air I breathe, Regina. And you may be the only person who knows what you did to go too far yesterday. Waste your life getting rid of Swan, but I'm not standing beside either of you as long as it's hurting Henry."

Callie then shoulders her bag and leaves Regina standing where she is, because for now Callie has no interest in hearing her friend make petty excuses and terrible plans.

The walk to Gold's pawn shop is short from the docks, and Callie doesn't mind the extra time to think. From what Henry had explained, Mr. Gold could very well be her "fairytale" father. Except Callie hasn't thought much of the man, only knowing that most of the town fears him and that a majority of the town is owned by him, including her shop. That's the only reason that Callie is making her way to Gold's shop now.

Only now that Callie truly thinks on it, Gold has come into the shop often the last week looking at the clothes. But that has to mean nothing, right?

'Get yourself together, Rivers. This man is not your father. You are just paying rent.'

Her heart still flutters when she opens the door, and panic strikes through her as the bell chimes through the shop.

"Mr. Gold?" Callie calls, and the man's head pokes out from the back room. His face shifting into a smile at the sight of her, "Miss Rivers."

"Here's the rent. Sorry if you've gone over to the boutique already, we're taking an employee weekend."

"Oh no, I hadn't even thought about it yet."

And Callie hands him the money with an unsure smile dancing across her lips. 'Gold, forgetting and not caring about a payment?' The thought even feels weird as the exchange hangs in the air around Callie.

Getting home, Callie's attention strays, lost to new thoughts and old mysteries, and stumbles upon Henry's storybook on the counter. She takes the book over to her couch and settles in between the cushions and a soft blanket before flipping through the pages to land onto the same image of Killian Jones, again. Her eyes don't shine and her smile is saddened as she looks at the man in her dreams that she know too well.

"Killian Jones... the mystery man's name. Why are you stuck in my head? I, I definitely can't believe in a true, true love. Or that I could ever find my true love. I doubt I could even fall in love, much less have ever been in love at all... especially with a pirate."

old authors notes /
[ ➤𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐮𝐩, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐚𝐦 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡... 𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬.➤. 𝐁𝐢𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠! 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲'𝐚𝐥𝐥!➤𝟗-𝟐𝟗-𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟎➤ ]

and some small promo!! i decided to start wiring an original book on a different account ( vxllaxnly ) it would mean the world to me if you could check it out!! it's not much right now, but I want it to be as big as this fic <333

author's note!!

okay so this chapter is truly for the benefit of Callie and Henry's relationship early on AND Callie beginning to see the holes in Storybrooke. but why? because of how close she was to Regina before the curse hit and because of how close Regina kept Callie and how similar Regina left Callie during the curse.

I also gift y'all Callie's first Storybrooke interaction with her father which is kinda fun.

the biggest part of this chapter to grasp is that Callie secretly does believe Henry the moment she see's Killian on the book's page. although she's though about it, Callie hasn't gone to see anyone about her dreams or memories of a past life with the dark haired stranger. She hasn't even told Regina about her dreams of Killian, which solidifies Callie's belief but we'll get to more of that later...

the second part of this chapter is an important part of Callie because she's always been affected by her past and always will be. the curse doesn't change the past, Callie still went through so much pain and those traumatic memories are stuck to her. they're a part of her that she can not deny.

love you all so much!! katie<3
05/26/2022