***

Emma, Regina, Sheriff Graham, and I are all in Henry's room. Regina and the Sheriff had agreed to Emma's terms so now we were trying to find Henry. Emma sat in front of Henry's computer with the Sheriff beside her. I looked over her shoulder as she checked his inbox. It was empty, "Smart kid. Cleared his inbox. I'm smart too, a little hard disk recovery utility I like to use." Emma showed the small device to us.

"I'm a bit more old-fashioned, in my techniques. Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing." Sheriff Graham explained.

Emma sighed, "You're on salary; I get paid for delivery," Slowly all of the emails started to undelete themselves. Pounding pavement is not a luxury that I get. Ah, there's a receipt for a website, whosyourmomma.org," Emma looked at the email, "It's expensive. He has a credit card?"

Regina scoffed, "He's ten."

"Well, he used one somehow," I said while looking at the computer.

"Let's pull up a transaction record," Emma clicked it and it showed the card information, "Mary Margaret Blanchard, who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?"

Regina glared at the computer, "Henry's teacher."

***

I waited outside of the classroom while Regina and Emma talking to Mary-Margaret. After a while, Regina walked past in a huff. The conversation probably didn't go to her liking then. I walked into the room to see Emma helping a dark-haired woman pick up books. I rushed over and started to help them. "Sorry to bother you." Emma apologized. The books falling must have been Regina's doing.

"No, it's--it's okay, I fear this is partially my fault," Mary-Margaret said. She glanced over at me, "And you are?"

"Um, I'm her," I point over at Emma, "Sister."

Mary-Margaret nodded and Emma asked, "How's a book supposed to help?"

Mary-Margaret stood up, "What do you think stories are for? These stories? The classics?" She placed the books down and Emma and I stood up. "There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense. See, Henry hasn't had the easiest life." The three of us walked out of the classroom.

"Yeah, she's kind of a hard-ass," Emma said.

Mary-Margaret shook her head, "No, it's more than her. He's like any adopted child. He wrestles with that most basic question they all inevitably face: why would anyone give me away?" We stopped and Mary-Margaret realized what she said, "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean in any way to judge you..."

Emma slightly nodded, "It's okay."

Mary-Margaret took a deep breath, "Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have; hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing."

"You know where he is," I stated, crossing my arms.

"You might want to check his castle." She suggested.

***

We found Henry's castle and we climbed up it. It was a wooden playground that was on the beach. The scenery around us was definitely really pretty. I could see why he would like this place. Emma and I walked on either side of him and sat down. Emma had his storybook in her hands. "You left this in my car," Emma gave the book to Henry. She looked up at the clock tower, "Still hasn't moved, huh?"

"I was hoping that when I brought you two back, things would change here. That the final battle will begin." Henry expressed.

"I don't think that we will be fighting any battles, Henry," I said as Emma shook her head.

"Yes, you are," Henry insisted. "You're here because it's your destiny. You're going to bring back the happy endings."

Emma turned to look at him, "Can you cut it with the book crap?"

Henry smiled a little, "You don't have to be hostile. I know you like me, I can tell. You're just—pushing me away because I make you feel guilty. It's okay; I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance." This kid seemed almost unreal. Any other orphaned kid would be so mad at their parent, or parents, for giving them away. But... He is just so understanding of the whole thing.

Emma paused, "How do you know that?"

Henry continued to look at her even though she wasn't doing the same, "The same reason Snow White gave you both away." Now we're right back to the fairy tale thing.

Emma finally looked at him, "Listen to me, kid. We are not in any book. We're real people. And we're no saviors. You were right about one thing, though," Henry looked like he was about to cry, but Emma really was crying, "I wanted you to have your best chance. But it's not with me. C'mon, let's go." This whole scene made me tear up. Emma jumped down from the castle. I followed her as Henry went down the steps.

"Please don't take me back there!" Henry pleaded. I see why he's so persistent about this. It's a lot bigger than some curse... He's just a kid who wants to know his mom. "Just stay with me for one week, that's all I ask! One week, and you'll see I'm not crazy."

"I have to get you back to your mom," Emma told him.

"You don't know what it's like with her. My life sucks!" Henry said.

"Oh, you wanna know what sucking is?" Emma inquired. "Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway; our parents didn't even bother to drop us off at a hospital," Emma was beginning to break down and she wasn't the only one.

I was beginning to cry too, "Emma." I had always tried to just bury our past. Thinking about it was painful for me. We didn't really have the best life. We constantly kept getting put into different foster homes. I could never think of a time when we weren't moving. We never had much stuff because of the fact that we didn't stay somewhere long.

Emma didn't stop though. She just kept going. It was like she didn't even hear me, "We ended up in a foster system and we had a family until Lux was three and I was seven, but then they had their own kid so they sent us back-"

"Emma!" I yelled. Emma glanced back at me seeing the tears coming down my face.

She stopped and collected herself, "Look," She bent down to look him in the eyes. "Your mom is trying her best. I know it's hard. And I know sometimes you think she doesn't love you. But at least she wants you."

"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway; that's just where you came through!" Henry explained.

"What do you mean?" I asked him. How would he know anything about our past? We were a lot older than he was. There was no way that he was alive when we were kids. Yet he still acted like he knew exactly why we ended up where we did.

"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe you appeared on the side of the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the curse." Henry replied.

Emma shook her head with a smile, "Sure they were. C'mon, Henry."  We started walking away and Henry took her hand.

***

I sat in the car while Emma walked Henry to the door. I watched as Regina opened the door and Henry ran past her. Everything seemed normal in Regina and Emma's conversation... at first. Regina's expression turned into a darker one. I rolled down the window a little to overhear the conversation. Let me tell you, I was not liking what I was hearing. I rolled the window back up and leaned back in the seat. "Bitch."

***

Emma and I walked inside Granny's Bed & Breakfast. We were greeted by the sound of two people arguing. "You're out all night, and now you're going out again." An older voice said. This must've been Granny that was mentioned on the sign.

The second voice was younger, "I should've moved to Boston!" Trust me, they do not want to do that. The people there are just plain rude and it wasn't as pretty as it looked. Coming down the stairs was an older woman and a young woman with black hair and a red streak.

"I'm sorry that my heart attack interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the Eastern Seaboard!" Granny said loudly. My eyes widened at that last part. They really seemed to not like each other.

Emma cut in, "Excuse me? We'd like a room?" The younger woman now had a scarf in her hand and was looking at us.

"Really?" Granny asked. Emma and I nodded, "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally there's an upgrade fee for the square, but as the rent is due, I'll wave it."

"Square is fine, thanks," I stated.

Granny dropped a book down in front of her and opened it, "Now. What's the name?"

"Swan. Emma and Lux Swan." Emma told her.

A voice came out of nowhere, "Emma and Lux... What lovely names."  An older man stood there behind us. He wore a suit and tie and had a cane. He gave me this chill down my spine. He gave me one of those rich, bad guy vibes that the ones in the movie usually had.

"Thanks." Emma and I nodded.

Granny handed him a roll of cash, "It's all here."

The man accepted it without hesitation, "Yes, yes, of course it is, dear. Thank you," He turned to Emma and me. "Enjoy your stay, Emma, Lux." He then turned and left. The tense air inside the room suddenly vanished. I let out a deep breath. It was like I could finally breathe again.

When he was gone, Emma asked, "Who's that?"

The dark-haired woman watched him through the window, "Mr. Gold. He owns this place."

"The inn?" I questioned.

"No. The town," My eyes widened hearing Granny's response. Honestly, he did look a little on the rich side so it wasn't so hard to believe. "So how long will you be with us?"

"A week. Just a week." Emma replied.

Granny smiled, "Great," She reached behind her and grabbed a key. She handed it to us and I studied it. It was an older key and there was a swan on it. "Welcome to Storybrooke."