Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or Once Upon a Time.
"How may I help you?"
Henry looked at the librarian of the New York Public Library. She was a stereotypical librarian – graying hair, matronly gaze, and owl-rimmed glasses. She was everything a librarian should be, but somehow she wasn't.
Because librarians should have brown hair and blue eyes. They should speak with an Australian accent even tough they really come from a land far, far away. And most especially, they should be the ones who could soften the heart of Rumpelstiltskin…
A throat cleared. Henry realized he had been staring, lost in his own thoughts, and he shook his head a little. His mom was right – he spent too much time getting lost in daydreams.
"Could you show me where the fairy tales are?" Henry didn't miss the odd look she gave him; he knew it must be unusual for a boy his age to ask about fairy tales, but something inside him had been telling him that this book of fairy tales was important. And if Mom had taught him anything, it was to always trust his instincts.
"It's for a school report," he fibbed, and the look on the librarian's face disappeared.
She led him to the second floor of the library, and pointed out the row of shelves that housed the fairy tales. Then she left, and Henry spent the next and a half perusing all the books. Snow White, Cinderella, The Little Mermaid…the tiles repeated over and over again, but for some reason, none of the books seemed…right. He didn't know how he knew, but he just did.
He sat at one of the library tables, disappointed. He pillowed his head on his arms, and just sat there until a voice shocked him into looking up.
"Everything all right there, lad?" an accented voice asked.
Henry looked at the man standing in front of him. He was…well, the best way to describe him would be a pirate. He wore all leather, jewelry jangled around his neck and in his ears, and Henry was sure that he could see the man wearing a hook for a hand.
"Do you need any help?" the pirate continued.
Henry knew his mom would yell at him for talking to a complete stranger, but somehow Henry knew he could trust this stranger. Despite all the leather, he seemed like the type of person who would give up his very bed for a person who needed it.
The pirate was looking at him expectantly, waiting for an answer, and so Henry said, "Unless you happen to know where I can get a book of fairy tales that isn't one of the ones here, then I don't know how you can help. The book's for a school report," he added hastily, giving the exact same explanation he had given the librarian. The only difference was, he cared if this man saw him as strange or not. He just didn't know why.
The pirate looked thoughtful. 'That's a coincidence," he remarked. "I have a book of fairy tales that I've been meaning to give to someone. I just hadn't been able to find the right person yet."
He withdrew a leather-bound book from the satchel around his waist. Henry took the book from him, and he just knew that this book was the right one. It was an old book, with the words Once Upon a Time emblazoned across the front in gold leaf. Henry flipped though the pages, seeing beautifully painted pictures blur past.
"Where did you get this book?" Henry asked, looking back up to the pirate. He had a hopeful look on his face, like he was waiting for something good to happen, but it was quickly gone.
"It belonged to…someone I once knew," he told Henry. "It helped change his life. Maybe it can do the same for you."
"His life changed because of a book?" Henry looked doubtfully at the cover of the book. Sure, it was a cool book, but life changing? "How could a book change somebody's life?"
The man smiled, a mysterious smile with a hint of sadness behind it. He leaned in close, and whispered, "Never underestimate the power of happy endings, Henry."
Then he was gone, disappearing out the door before Henry could begin to wonder how the pirate knew his name.