***

I was coming back from my lunch and I wasn't exactly happy. On my lunches, I usually go home, eat something, and then take a nap. I got sidetracked today though so I wasn't able to take a nap. I walked into the back entrance of the diner and put on my apron. As I walked through the kitchen, people greeted me like they usually did. I would smile and wave before continuing forward. I talked with one of the other waitresses as she pointed me to a table.

At the table sat a man in a pinstriped suit with converse and a girl with blonde hair. They were laughing at something the man said. I put on a smile, got out my notepad, and a pen then walked over to them. "Hi, what can I get you?" The two instantly froze and turned to me with shocked looks. I raised my eyebrows in confusion.

"Lux?" The blonde asked.

I turned to her and put my hands on my hips, "I'm sorry. Do I know you?"

The man quickly cut in, "Uh... No! No, you don't. And we're fine. We don't need anything."

Still being very confused by the whole conversation, I put on another smile, "Okay." I slowly turned and walked back behind the counter. I wonder what the hell that was about. That girl really seemed like she knew me, but that guy cut in saying that we've never met. There were always some weird people who came into this diner.

***

I walked inside the small bakery and ordered two cupcakes. It was my older sister's, Emma's, birthday today. We never really got baked goods because we were always trying to save up our money. It only made sense to get it today because of the special occasion. While the woman was getting the order, I felt someone walk up beside me. "Hey, you're the man from the diner, right?" I asked him. It was the same guy who was with that blonde girl.

"Yeah," He replied. He held his hand out for me to shake, "I'm the Doctor."

I shook his hand, "Lux, Lux Swan. Just the Doctor?"

He nodded. I doubt that 'the Doctor' is his real name. Unless his parents were some weird people. It doesn't matter much to think about it. I'm never going to meet him again so why dwell on it? The Doctor broke me out of my thoughts by asking, "So what did you come here for?"

"It's my older sister's birthday today. I decided to get some cupcakes for us to celebrate," I explained. "What are you here for?"

The Doctor shook his head, "Oh, I'm just looking around." I nodded and the woman gave me my order. I said goodbye to the strange Doctor and started walking home. When I got there, I realized that I got here before Emma. She might come back sooner or later. I set the cupcakes down on the counter and went to my room to change out of my work uniform.

***

I entertained myself with TV and games on my phone until Emma came home. The perfectly good cupcakes were sitting up on the counter and I laid on the couch. The front door opened and I sat up to see Emma with a red dress on and some heels. "Well, don't you look pretty," I commented. "Was it another job?"

Emma walked over to the counter, "Yeah," She responded. The bag with the cupcakes inside caught her attention, "What's this?" I get up off of the couch and walked over to the counter. I opened the bag, pulled out the two cupcakes, and one candle. Emma looked at me with a smile, "You didn't have to, Lux."

I nodded, "I know, but I wanted to. You better eat it too, it costs money."

Emma held up her hands in surrender and laughed, "Okay, okay," I placed the candle on her cupcake and she lit it. Emma crossed her arms on the counter and rested her chin on them, "Another banner year..," Emma closed her eyes and blew out the candle. Out of nowhere, the doorbell rang and Emma and I looked at each other shocked. Emma glanced back down at the cupcake and the two of us walk to the door. Emma's opened it, "Uh... can I help you?"

Standing there is a little boy with a backpack and a book, "Are you Emma and Lux Swan?"

Emma and I glanced at each other before Emma said, "Yeah, who are you?" How did this kid know our names? Better yet, why was he here without his parents? I looked around behind him, but I couldn't spot any man or woman. This was definitely odd.

"My name's Henry. I'm your son," The boy, Henry, smiled and then pointed at me, "And I'm your nephew." I stared at him shocked as he slipped under Emma's arm and into our apartment. I turned my head to look at Emma to see her already looking at me.

She turned around to face Henry, "Whoa, hey, kid! Kid," Emma called out. He continued to look around our apartment. "I don't have a son! Where are your parents?"

Henry finally turned to face us, "Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" Emma's look said it all. She did. I remember her calling me and telling me about it. She was crying and it made me cry too. "That was me."

"Give me a minute," Emma stated. She grabbed my wrist and dragged me into the bathroom with her. We got inside and closed the door behind us. "What are we going to do?"

I shook my head, "I have no idea." Why was she even asking me? It's not like I had any bright ideas. You think she would know that from the dumbfounded look on my face that hadn't left since he dropped that bomb on us.

Henry called out to us, "Hey, do you have any juice? Never mind, found some," After a few last words exchanged between us, we both go in the kitchen to see Henry with a bottle of juice. "You know, we should probably get going."

"And where would we be going?" I asked him.

"I want you to come home with me." Henry looked like an excited child on Christmas and he got everything he wanted. It was kind of adorable, to be honest. No, Lux! Focus! Kids were always your weakness!

"Okay, kid, I'm calling the cops." Emma crossed the room to grab the phone.

"And I'll tell them you kidnapped me," Henry said. Oh... This kid was good. He really was. Did he already think this through on the way here to our apartment? Also, where was his guardian? There was no way they would allow a little kid to travel by themselves to a stranger's apartment. If they did then that would be incredibly irresponsible of them.

"And they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother." Emma put the phone down.

"Yep," Henry stated.

I pointed at him, "He got you there."

Emma gave me a look. I shrugged back at her. It was true, I can't deny that. My sister continued to talk with Henry, "You're not gonna do that."

Henry had a smirk on his face, "Try me."

"You're pretty good, but here's the thing. There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill. It's called a 'superpower'. Lux has it too. We can tell when anyone is lying, and you, kid, are." Emma picked up the phone again and started punching in the numbers.

Henry's mood did a complete 180, "Wait. Please don't call the cops. Please come home with me." I swear this kid was getting to me bad. I always have a problem with saying no to kids. It wasn't making this any easier.

"And where is home?" I inquired. Emma gave me the, 'Are you serious?' look and I shrugged mouthing 'Sorry' to her. It's like she didn't expect me to fall apart at the sight of a cute kid like him. He was so adorable! There was no way that I stood a chance!

Henry turned to me, "Storybrooke, Maine."

"Storybrooke? Seriously?" Emma questioned, amused. To be fair, it didn't even sound like a real place. I don't think I have ever heard of it. Henry nodded and hummed in response. Emma let out a breath, "Alrighty, then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke."

***

The car was driving down New England Highway and it was mostly quiet. All you could hear was the sound of the tires on the road. We all glanced at each other, but then looked away quickly. Man... we were really weird. "I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?" Henry asked.

"This is not a road trip; we're not stopping for snacks," Emma replied and her eyes remained on the road.

Henry seemed confused, "Why not?"

"Quit complaining, kid," Emma said. "Remember, we could've put your butt on a bus; we still could." Even though Emma sounded like she was serious, I knew that she wouldn't. She would've been worried about the kid getting lost or kidnapped. She just said this to scare him so he could stop complaining.

"You know, I have a name? It's Henry." Henry told us.

I glanced back and eyed the book in his lap, "What's that book, Henry?" He had it with him whenever he walked into the apartment. It hasn't left his side at all in the short time we've known each other.

Henry looked up to meet my eyes before looking back at the book, "I'm not sure you're ready."

"Ready for some fairy tales?" Emma questioned as she glanced in the mirror hanging from the ceiling. This kid was definitely a weird one. He hadn't let go of that book since we first met him. Then when we ask him about it, he says that we're not ready to read fairy tales that we've read, and watched, multiple times in our childhood.

Henry looked at us again, "They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened." Huh? Maybe this was the kid's imagination? Although, he looked a bit old to still be believing in that stuff. But some kids are really sheltered and their parents don't really break the news about that stuff to them so that may be why he thinks that.

I looked back at him with furrowed eyebrows as Emma said, "Of course they did."

"Use your superpower. See if I'm lying." Henry stated. I looked at him for a moment, but couldn't find anything. Maybe he really does believe that all of it is true. Emma turned to glance at me and I shook my head.

"It doesn't matter how much you believe in something, it doesn't make it true," I said in denial. There was no way that a bunch of fairy tales actually happened. That would just be... Well, crazy. Imagine trying to tell that to someone you've never met before. They would probably call the mental hospital at the first chance they got.

"That's exactly what makes it true. You two should know more than anyone." Henry told us, leaning closer to us from the backseat.

"And why is that?" I asked him.

"Because you're in this book," Henry looked at Emma, "Both of you."

Emma sighed, "Oh, kid. You've got problems."

Henry nodded, "Yup. And you're going to fix them."

***

By the time we got to Storybrooke, it was raining and darker than before. There were a lot of shops on both sides of the street. No one else was out driving on the streets and no one was anywhere outside. It was like a ghost town, but it is night so everyone is most likely asleep. "Okay, kid, how about an address?" Emma asked.

Henry decided to get smart, "Forty-four, not-telling-you street." Emma slammed the breaks, opened the door, and got out of the car. Henry and I get out of the car as well.

Anyone can tell that Emma was frustrated, "Look, it's been a long night, and it's almost," Emma looked at the clock tower near us, "Eight-fifteen?"

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here." Henry informed us.

"Frozen? What do you mean?" I questioned him in confusion. I pushed my hair out of my face, but the wind only blew it back. The empty streets seemed to give me an eerie feeling. I wasn't used to seeing a place be so dead.

Henry crossed his arms over his chest, "The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here." Wow, he was really hanging on to this fairy tale come to life theory. I have to give him credit for thinking this through. I wouldn't have thought about it and fleshed it out this far.

Emma leaned against the car, "Hang on. The Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here?"

Henry nodded, "Yeah. And now they're trapped."

Emma gave him a certain look, "Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?" What does frozen in time mean? Does he mean that the clock is broken or every person outside of this town is aging, but none of the people here are? That just sounded impossible. There was no way that type of thing could happen.

"It's true!" Henry insisted.

"Okay, I'll humor you," I might as well seeing as he seemed so hell-bent on believing it. I pulled my jacket closer to my body to get warm. "Why can't they just leave?"

Henry shook his head, "They can't. If they try, bad things happen."

I sighed, "Well, that's unfortunate." It really did. I wouldn't want to think about being trapped in one place forever. I would die of boredom. Never being able to travel, even for a little bit, would be torture. Emma and I have traveled quite a bit, but that was only because we had to. I still didn't hate it.

We suddenly heard a man call out, "Henry," We turned to see a man with a dalmatian. He wore glasses and had an umbrella in his other hand. It looked like he was wearing a suit and he had on a scarf, "What are you doing here? Is everything all right?"

"I'm fine, Archie." Whenever they were closer to them, Henry pet the dog.

Archie looked at us with a smile, "Who're they?"

Emma smiled back, "Just two people trying to give him a ride home."

Henry had another answer, "She's my mom and that's my aunt, Archie."

Archie had a look of realization on his face, "Oh... I see." Hopefully, this guy would find something suspicious about a little kid traveling to find us by himself. Even better, he would be able to direct us to the boy's house.

"Yeah, anyways. Do you happen to know where," I pointed to Henry, "He lives?"

"Oh. Yeah, sure, just uh, right up on Mifflin Street; the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block." Archie told us. I froze immediately after hearing him say that. Henry... Was the mayor's kid? What if she thinks that we kidnapped him and called the cops on us? They would believe her because she's the mayor!

Emma seemed to be as shocked as me, "You're the mayor's kid?"

Henry didn't look at her as he said, "Uh, maybe."

"Hey. Where were you today, Henry? 'Cause you missed our session." Archie told him.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip." Henry nodded at his own lie. I have to admit, that was actually a pretty decent lie. The only thing he didn't take into account was why Emma and I were here. The lie was obviously not enough to convince Archie.

Archie crouched down to look at Henry, "Henry, what'd I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything." With how he was talking, he seemed like a fictional fairy tale character.

Emma finally cut into their conversation, "Okay! Well, I really should be getting him home."

Archie got back up, "Yeah. Sure. Well, listen— Have a good night, and uh, you be good, Henry." We smiled at him as he walked away.

Emma turned back to look at Henry, "So that's your shrink."

I hit her arm lightly, "Emma." She could be extremely rude sometimes. I've always been the one out of the two of us to talk with new people. I was the one that was the nicer one. Emma was the really blunt one. We balanced each other out perfectly.

"I'm not crazy," Henry said.

"Didn't say that. Just— He doesn't seem cursed to me," Emma had a point. He just seemed like a normal person. Although, looks can be deceiving.  "Maybe he's just trying to help you."

Henry wasn't letting this go though, "He's the one who needs help. Because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy tale character?" Emma questioned.

Henry shook his head, "None of them do. They don't remember who they are." Henry circled around the car to get in the backseat again.

Emma sighed and smirked, "Convenient. All right. I'll play," We all started to get back in the car, "Who's he supposed to be?"

"Jiminy Cricket!" Henry replied. How much time has he had to think all of this out? How long has he believed this narrative? It has to be quite a while if he had the time to think about which character certain people would be.

Emma smiled, "Right. The lying thing. Thought your nose grew a little bit."

"I'm not Pinocchio!" Henry said.

"'Course you're not. 'Cause, that would be ridiculous." I had to keep myself from laughing at the conversation as we drove off to the mayor's house. Their interactions had to be the best that I've listened to.

***

We pulled up to the mayor's house and it really was big. There were trees and bushes surrounding the house. We walked up the garden path that led to the house. We unhooked the latch to the gate in front of us and opened it. "Please don't take me back there." Henry pleaded. What could be so bad that he didn't want to come back?

"I have to. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." Emma said as we walked closer to the door.

"I don't have parents. I just have a mom, and she's evil." Henry voiced.

I turned to face him, "Isn't evil a bit harsh?"

We all stopped talking and Henry replied, "She is. She doesn't love me; she only pretends to." He genuinely seemed sad. I instantly felt bad for him and made me actually wonder if what he said was true. It's probably not. Kids tend to over exaggerate things a lot, this was probably one of those moments.

"Kid," Emma sighed and bent down to his height, "I'm sure that's not true."

The front door opened to reveal a black-haired woman, "Henry? Henry," The woman hugged him. The man behind her was obviously the Sheriff. You could tell by looking at his uniform. "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"

"I found my real family!" Henry then took off toward the house.

The woman seemed shocked as she looked at Emma, "You're Henry's birth mother?"

Emma smiled a little nervously, "Hi."

The woman turned to me, "And you are?"

"I'm apparently his aunt." I gave a small wave to her.

The Sheriff spoke with a British accent, "I'll... Just... Go check the lad, make sure he's okay." He turned around back into the house and left. If only I could leave this awkward situation like he could. I would have done so already.

The Mayor smiled at us, "How'd you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?"

"Got anything stronger?" Emma asked. We moved the conversation inside the house. The Mayor walked back to where we were with three glasses. "How did he find me?"

"No idea," She responded while getting our drinks. "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed, I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact."

Emma looked a little uncomfortable, "You were told right."

"And the father?" She questioned.

"There was one," Emma answered while looking around the big house. It was getting to be really awkward to be included in this conversation. I was just the aunt. I barely knew anything about the whole adoption thing. I only knew that Emma had a baby and she had given him away because she wouldn't be able to take care of him.

The Mayor looked up from the drinks, "Do I need to be worried about him?"

"Nope. Doesn't even know." Emma's gaze returned to the Mayor again.

She brought our drinks over, "Do I need to be worried about either of you, Miss Swan?" So this woman was the jealous type? That was good to know. I don't know why, but I had the feeling that will come into play during this conversation or a future one if there ever was one.

We grabbed our drinks from her and Emma said, "Absolutely not."

The Sheriff started walking down the staircase, "Madam Mayor, you can relax. Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's fine."

She smiled, "Thank you, Sheriff," The Sheriff exited the home and the Mayor led us to a different room, "I'm sorry he dragged you both out of your lives. I really don't know what's gotten into him."

"Kid's having a rough time," Emma stated.

"It happens a lot," I added on.

She closed the door behind us, "You have to understand, ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky," Emma and I sit down. "You have a job, I assume?"

I nodded while Emma replied, "Uh, I keep busy. Yeah."

The dark-haired woman sat down across from us, "Imagine having another one on top of it. That's being a single mom. So I push forward," She chuckled, "Am I strict? I suppose. But I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?"

Emma thought before saying, "I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairy tale thing."

"What fairy tale thing?" The Mayor inquired. She seemed confused, but there was also a small hint of worry in her eyes. Did she not know about the fairy tale thing? I thought she would have since Henry was pretty outspoken about it. It was surprising, to say the least.

I looked over to Emma before saying, "He has this book. He said that everyone in this town is a fairy tale character from it."

"Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket." Emma continued.

The Mayor shook her head in confusion, "I'm sorry, I--really have no idea what you're talking about." That's weird. I guess Henry really kept it under wraps when it came to his mother. Maybe she wouldn't have approved of his view so he kept it from her?

"You know what," Emma sighed, "It's none of our business. He's your kid. And we really should be heading back."

"Of course." She stood up and opened the door for us. We stopped up as well and exited the house. On the way back to the car, we both stopped and turned back to look at the house. We saw Henry watching us from the window before he left.

***

We were back in the car and driving out of the town. It was, again, mostly silent so I decided to speak up, "You know, I'm gonna miss him." Emma glanced over at me and smiled. I noticed something in the mirror so I turned to look in the backseat. Sitting there was the book that Henry had. I reached back and grabbed it then showed it to Emma.

Emma shook her head, "Sneaky bastard." We looked up to see a wolf in the middle of the road. Our eyes grew wide and Emma gasped. Emma turned the wheel, sharply, and I closed my eyes. The next thing I knew, we crashed into something and I saw black.

***

I groaned as I opened my eyes and adjusted to the light. I looked around to see Emma with me and we were locked in a cell. I heard whistling so I turned to see a short man in the cell beside us. Outside of the cell was an older guy who was repairing a cabinet. How did we get here? The last thing I remember was driving... And then we crashed because there was a wolf in the middle of the road. Where did the wolf even come from?

"What are you looking at, sister?" The short man asked someone behind me. I turned to see that Emma was also awake. I gave her a confused look and Emma shrugged. It seemed that she had no idea how we ended up here either.

The older man spoke and he had an Italian accent, "Hey, Leroy—manners! We have guests! So you are, eh, Henry's mother and aunt. How lovely for him to have you back in his life." This guy seemed a lot nicer than the other guy. He was like a breath of fresh air for me.

Emma reached up to rub her forehead, "Actually, we were just dropping him off."

Leroy scoffed, "Don't blame ya. They're all brats; who needs 'em."

The older man walked closer to the cells, "Well, I'd give anything for one. My wife and I, we tried for many years, but, uh... It was not meant to be." That really sucked. I didn't want to imagine how bad that would hurt. You tried so hard to get something you wanted, but it just never seemed to work out.

"Well, cry me a river," Leroy said rudely.

The Sheriff walked in and over to Leroy's cell, "Leroy! I'm going to let you out; you need to behave. Put on a smile, and stay out of trouble." Leroy faked a smile and walked out of sight.

"Seriously?" Emma and I asked him.

The Sheriff looked over at us, "Regina's," So that's what her name is. "Drinks; a little stronger than we thought."

I shook my head, "We weren't drunk." I know what being drunk feels like and I didn't feel drunk at all last night. I usually got really tired and sick when I got drunk. I felt neither of those feelings last night.

Emma was the one who responded, "There was a wolf, standing in the middle of the road."

The Sheriff nodded unconvincingly, "A wolf. Right."

We heard Regina call out, "Graham? Henry's run away again, we have to-" Regina cut herself off when she saw the two of us. "What are they doing here?" She spoke to us now, "Do you know where he is?"

Emma looked at her, "Lady, we haven't seen him since we dropped him at your house, and," Emma gestured to the iron bars keeping us in here, "Pretty good alibi."

"Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning," Regina argued.

"What about his friends?" I inquired.

Regina shook her head, "He doesn't really have any. Kind of a loner." Well, that's depressing. I knew the feeling all too well. Emma and I never really had the time for friends. We only had each other. But... Henry has no one. I didn't hear anything about him having siblings from the talk we had with Regina.

Emma had a faraway look on her face, "Every kid has friends," She must've been thinking the same thing I was. Emma looked back at Regina, "Did you check his computer? If he was close to someone he'd be emailing them."

"And you know this how?" Regina questioned.

"Finding people's what I do. Here's an idea; how 'bout you guys let us out, and we'll help you find him." Emma suggested.