A small seaside village, approximately 220 years ago

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This was Alice's last day on this earth.

She knew it from the moment she opened her eyes this morning.

She wasn't scared; not for her at least. What she was worried about was her family. She didn't know how Brennan would cope with her death and how he'd manage with...

With their kids.

Their little miracle kids...

She knew them so well, she already knew how'd they react.

Well, mostly.

Liam, her first child, the one that changed her life...He would try and appear strong to his younger siblings and help his father as much as he could, but Alice knew he'd cry when the others couldn't see him. She knew his pain would be the quiet kind.

Killian, her little troublemaker...His would be a loud pain. Like the sea during a storm. It would swallow him whole and he would lash out because he never quite learned how to manage through those kinds of storms.

But she knew they'd make it through. One day, the pain would be little more than a memory.

Amelia however...Little Meli was always unpredictable, ever since she came into this world.

And she was just a small child, unable to explain the weird things that always seem to happen to her. Alice was always scared she'd die before she got to explain them to her, before her little girl was able to comprehend the gravity of their situation.

But she was left with no choice. She didn't have much time left; she had to tell her now, even if Amelia couldn't quite understand yet. She would, one day.

And then she would know what to do.

With greater difficulty that usual, she got up and went outside and found her little girl gazing out into the sea.

She did that a lot, Alice had noticed. The sea seemed to calm her down.

"Meli," she called out.

Amelia turned around, a smile adorning her face.

I can't do this to her, she thought.

But she had to.

"Come here."

Her daughter run up to her, immediately trying to reach up and hug her.

Alice kneeled down and smiled at her. "Do you want to hear a story?" she asked.

"Yes," said Amelia excitedly, always happy to spend more time with her mother.

Alice guided them inside and they sat together near the fireplace.

"What's this story about, mama?"

Alice looked at her, at those blue eyes identical to hers, and her heart ached.

My beautiful girl, I'm sorry...

She cleared her throat and held back the tears that were threatening to spill over before she said, "This story is about a knight."

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Boston, 2011

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"I'm hungry. Wanna stop somewhere?" he asked, from the back seat.

Amy was thinking about the cupcake she spent all afternoon making, freezing in the fridge, all alone, uneaten.

She sighed. By the time she and Emma went back home, it'd probably be too late to eat it.

If they ever went back home.

"It's not a roadtrip, we're not stopping for snacks."

Henry, the little devil, looked offended. "Why not?"

"Quit complaining, kid. Remember, I could've put your butt on a bus. Still could."

"You know, I have a name. It's Henry," he said, a bit annoyed, taking out a book from his backpack.

The two women sighed, although for different reasons.

Emma, because her life was turned upside down, and Amy, because she put a lot of work in that cupcake, goddammit.

Okay, being that upset for a cupcake sounded crazy, but it was easier thinking about that than anything else going on in her life right now.

And by anything else she meant the little devil and everything that came with him.

"What's that?" Emma changed the subject, looking at the little devil in question through the rearview mirror.

"I'm not sure you're ready."

"Ready for some fairytales?"

Amy's eyebrows furrowed. Fairytales?

She turned a bit in her seat, looking back at Henry, when her eyes caught a glimpse of the title of the book.

Once Upon A Time

Her breath hitched. No fucking way was this kid holding the book.

How the fuck did a ten year old end up with what is probably the most powerful book in all the realms? Shouldn't the Author have that?

"Where'd you get that?" she asked, sounding a little more nervous than she had intended to.

Emma glanced at her, clearly picking up on the underlying tone of her voice.

The little shit shrugged his shoulders. "My teacher gave it to me."

Amy quirked an eyebrow. "Your teacher?" she repeated. "Who's your teacher?"

It would be just her luck if this teacher turned out to be Rumple-fucking-stil-

"Mary Margaret Blanchard," he narrowed his eyes. He seemed to be doing that a lot. "Why? You know her?"

"Yes," she lied.

She had no idea who this Mary Margaret was, but it sounded like a very Snow White-y name, so she took her chances.

"Of course I know Mary Margaret," she said, avoiding her friend's gaze, because Emma was one of the few people that could see right through her.

"Hm..."

"What, you don't believe me?"

"No," he replied.

"Why would she lie about knowing your teacher, kid?" Emma chimed in.

Henry narrowed his eyes. Again. "I don't know."

He sure as hell has inherited her skepticism, she thought.

"Well, go on then. Ask me something about her. See if I'm lying."

"What's the color of her eyes?"

The same as Emma's.

"Blue."

"That was just a lucky guess," he said.

"No, it wasn't."

"Are we really doing this right now?" Emma asked, tired of their bickering.

Honestly it was as if she was dealing not with one, but with two children.

They both ignored her.

"Alright. I will ask you one more answer, and if you answer correctly I'll stop."

It was Amy's time to narrow her eyes. He did not look like the type of person to surrender easily, and the genes he's inherited make him even more stubborn than the norm. Frankly, she was a little nervous for whatever question he'd come up with. She needed to convince him of the fact that she knew people on that town, in order for her plan to go smoothly.

"Okay. Ask."

Henry regarded her for a moment, a little scrunch on his nose that made her heart ache and her head hurt with memories of good times long gone, before he finally said, "Who is the one person she dislikes the most?"

"What kind of question is that?" Emma asked, confused.

But Amy simply smiled. Because she knew the answer to that all too well.

"Is Regina still in town?" she asked, knowing she'd just won their little battle and hopefully his trust, too.

Henry's eyes widened for a moment before he said, and he smiled the little shit, "I sure hope she is, seeing as she's my mom."

His what?

Emma turned to her curious about this Regina and Amy cursed Rumple because, as always, this was his fault.

She didn't know how, or why, but it was.

It definitely was.

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