We form a circle in the middle of the apartment after Mary Margaret and I share the news about Henry skipping school. And, like us, they're not happy.

"How is that possible?" Emma says with her usual monotonous way of speaking.

"You tell me. He managed to sneak past the Sheriff and Mayor, and they're both his moms," I say.

"We're aware," Regina chides.

"If he's not in school, where is he?" David asks.

"You guys don't think Pan's behind this, do you?" Emma says, making me want to roll my eyes.

"Of course not. He's trapped," Regina says, a flicker of irritation and impatience shining in her eyes.

Mary Margaret's forehead puckers in thought. "Why would he miss school? Where has he been going?"

"What has he been doing?" I say.

"It's not like Henry to miss school. He loves school," Regina says with a pained gaze, her posture stooped. This is the first time I've seen her worry about someone who's not herself.

"Wherever he is, we'll find him," David says, hands on his waist. "Emma and I will take my truck and check the North Woods. He might be hiding out there."

"I'm going with you," I say, firm.

"Bella—" Emma says.

"I need Henry to help me find my parents."

Emma shares glances with hers.

"Who? Aurora and Phillip?" Regina chuckles. "That's why she's still here? You haven't—"

"Enough, Regina," Emma says.

"Haven't what?" I ask.

"I'd love to hear this." Regina crosses her arms.

"Helped. We haven't helped you much, have we?" Emma says with an apologetic gentleness in her voice.

Regina smirks and turns her head toward the living room.

"No," I murmur. "Just Henry and Belle."

"You can come with us. Just don't get in the way."

"I'll stay in case he comes here," Mary Margaret says.

"I guess that means I'm going home in case he goes there instead," Regina says, heading to the door one step at a time with her arms folded over her chest. As she passes, I get a whiff of her sweet perfume, which smells like fresh-picked apples.

"Neal, what about you?" Emma asks the other man in the apartment. He was here the day I dropped off Henry. He has dark hair spiked with the help of gel, brown eyes, a light mustache, and a tuft of a beard—both of which have sparse grey hairs.

"I'll go with you," he says. "But we have to find him before those flying creatures do."

"Regina? How long is that—" Emma looks at me, "solution gonna take?"

Regina opens the door. "Until I've finished it." She walks out, slamming it shut.

I could let them go on their own, but I've been through too much. I deserve to know where Henry's been instead of helping me. Furthermore, Storybrooke has secrets. I deserve to know those, too. There has been nothing but mysteries and withheld information ever since I stepped foot in this town. If I'm going to live here with my family, the truth must be told. Otherwise, how can I trust anything or anyone?

* * *

The four of us walk through the forest by the edge of town. Brown and orange leaves blow over our feet while we crunch the others beneath our boots. Crows and larks ca-caw, calling each other in the trees, whose remaining foliage rustles with the strong breeze. The air is crisp and smells of pine. Or is it balsam? I'm not good with tree scents. And, yes, I believe it has to do with not being allowed to own a scented candle.

The chill wind fills my cardigan, and I cover myself, folding my arms over my chest to prevent it from happening again.

"Stay close, Bella," Emma says, stepping with caution. "We don't know where those monsters could be hiding."

"I feel like we should have a rifle."

"Let's hope we don't regret not having one." She walks off to the front with David, leaving me with Neal.

"I hope he's okay," he tells me. I now notice how he has a bit of an Arizonian accent. "I don't know why he would be in the woods."

"And you are..."

"Henry's dad. Name's Neal."

"You're his dad?" I chuckle. "And I thought Emma and Regina were—" I stop before I can say anything else.

"Oh—Uh—Yeah." He knows what I mean. "Emma's his birth mother, and Regina's his adoptive mother."

"That makes so much more sense, considering how they hate each other. So, are you his birth or adoptive father?"

"Birth. I was Emma's boyfriend at the time, but we lost touch with one another."

"And now you guys are back together or something?"

"No, not quite. There's this other guy who has feelings for her, but I'm not sure who she wants." Wow, another love triangle going on. What? I don't love the drama. It loves me.

"I'm Bella," I say, lifting my foot over a root.

"The queen from Arendelle Emma was talking about?" He has a puzzled expression on his face.

"Yes. And it's usually Henry telling people."

"She told me first. I got here after he found out about you."

"Aha. Listen. You don't believe in all this magic talk, do you?"

"Of course. Yes, it's what tore my family apart, but it can help people, too. It's what brought me to this world, a Land Without Magic. But Storybrooke is the exception. It's a realm of its own."

"Just when I thought I found one normal human being in Storybrooke."

"Hey, magic is real. You just have to believe."

"Right, and then a magical unicorn is going to fly through the air asking me, in words, to ride it over a rainbow. Huh? A magical, talking unicorn. Wouldn't that be neat?"

"You'll see soon."

"We've got movement," Emma says, whipping out her gun. She and David get into stealth mode.

Neal and I follow close behind, and a well comes into view between the trees. When we approach closer, a black coat with its wearer's back faces us.

"Henry?" Emma says.

He spins around.

"What are you doing here?" Emma says, putting her gun away.

"Making a wish."

"That we wouldn't notice you've been skipping school?"

"That was the hope."

"What's gotten into you?" Emma steps closer to him. "You're not acting like yourself lately."

"I guess I'm scared Pan will come back and get me," he says in a weary tone.

"We won't let him, Henry," David says.

"As long as we're around, you're safe," Neal says.

"But he got me last time."

"And we trapped him," Emma says, then sighs. "You know I have to call Regina and Principal McFables."

Henry shrugs. "Why Principal McFables?"

"To apologize and give him a reason why you weren't in school."

"Sounds fair, I guess."

As they talk, I catch sight of a plague on the moldy well. It says:

𝐖𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐍𝐆

𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐋

𝐅𝐨𝐫 𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝

𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭

𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬𝐬

𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐢𝐭𝐬

𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝

𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬

𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝.

Anyone got a cup?

"Come on. Let's go," David says.

"What the hell, Henry?" I whisper as we walk through the woods.

"What?"

"I needed you to help me find my parents. If you were going to skip school, you could've at least done it to help me."

"Are you encouraging me missing school?" he asks, a hint of mischief in his voice.

"No—I... I meant that if you were going to do it anyway, you could've spent the time helping me instead of doing whatever it was you were doing back there... What were you doing?"

"Nothing. It's personal."

"Fine. Don't tell me. Even though I told you so many personal things while we've known each other. And all you shared were wild fantasies from your equally wild imagination."

"I like to go to the well to think," he says, watching where he's going.

"You missed school to think? Isn't that what school is for?"

"Only if you want to fry your brain with algebra."

I smirk. Mental Abuse To Humans. "I'm still mad at you."

"That's okay." He grins. "I'm still mad at Pan."

"Who doesn't exist."

"You'd be surprised by what and who does."

This kid is wise beyond his years. Or so he acts. But then again, he believes magic and fairytales are real. It's odd how one minute Henry says something that's thought-provoking, and the next, he says something idiotic. Let's blame it on the bitch who's screwed us all over—Puberty.

Behind us, there's a swooshing sound, and leaves rustle on the ground.

"What's going on here?"

Henry and I whirl around to find Regina behind us.

"Where did you come from?" I say, perplexed.

"I've been here the whole time."

"What? No, you weren't."

"How are you still here?"

"Regina." Emma sprints over, coming between me and Henry.

"What's going on?" Regina demands.

"We found Henry by the well."

Regina looks down at him.

"I had a good reason."

"To miss school? I'd love to hear it," she says with that scornful voice I've unfortunately come to know.

"I—Well..." He turns his head to me. "I guess there is no reason."

"Of course, there isn't." Regina puts her hands on her hips and leans to meet his eyes. "You're grounded, young man. No video games or TV for a whole week."

Grounded? Did she just ground him?

No! I need him. He can't be grounded. How am I supposed to find my parents? Henry's my guide. She can't ground him. Take away the games and TV, but don't ground him.

If Henry's grounded, that means I'm stuck here. For a week! Regina's going to trap me in this town for a week. Storybrooke's great and all, but I can't do nothing for a week. I've tried searching by myself, and I went nowhere. Just random bits of information that lend themselves to more questions—ones only Henry can answer if he stayed around long enough to do so. But no. Instead, he goes off to his friend's house and skips school to go to a wishing well in the middle of the woods. Does he want to help me or not? Surely, he didn't think he could disappear after bringing me here. He said he brought me to Storybrooke for a reason—to help me find my parents. I'm here, and what have we been doing? Reading library books that have nothing to do with them. And when I severely need him, he gets grounded. I have no luck in this world.

"Regina—" Emma says.

"What?"

"What he did was wrong, but he should, at least, be able to watch TV." That's what you're focused on? Get her to unground him.

"Excuse me? Are you questioning my parenting skills?" she thunders.

"This is Storybrooke. A kid his age has nothing for entertainment but TV."

"It's not like I'm taking away his comic books." Henry has comic books? Then how come he didn't know who the Avengers are? Does he read his comics, or is he one of those kids who stores them in a box, hoping their value will increase? But still. He should know who the Avengers are. They're all over the news and social media.

"He knows his mistake," Emma says.

"I can't believe, after all this time, you think you're the better parent. Let's not forget who swiped him in the middle of the night to escape town and almost crashed the car while doing it," Regina says, dropping an arm from her hip.

"He grabbed the wheel."

"That's your excuse?"

"If I can just bud in here," Neal says, approaching. "Henry's going to be disciplined, don't you worry. But let's compromise here. Henry can watch TV for an hour each day for a week. How's that?"

"Sounds fair," David says, bowing his head.

"I am not taking parenting advice from Mr. Ditched His Pregnant Girlfriend and Mr. Sent His Baby Through An Enchanted Wardrobe," Regina says, gesturing at Neal and David.

"Ouch," David says.

"It's fine, Mom. I'll take her punishment," Henry says to Emma.

"Then you're grounded for a week."

"I deserve that."

"You're lucky I don't take away your storybook."

"Whoa," Neal says. Emma and David are astonished, too. "Not the storybook."

"Well? It's the only thing he clings to." I'm glad I'm not the only one who realizes that. "Let's get out of here, Henry." Regina puts a hand on his shoulder. She looks up at the sky with a twisted expression. "While we still can."

A flying monkey shrieks in the distance.