Once upon a time there was a King and a Queen who had longed wished for a child for many years but failed to conceive until one day their prayers had finally been answered and the Queen was expecting a child and the whole kingdom rejoined and looks forward to the arrival of their future king of queen. Things looked prosperous for the Kingdom of Corona until one night, many months into the pregnancy Queen was suddenly taken ill and no doctor in the kingdom could figure out how to help the queen. As the days went past many wondered about the life of the queen and her unborn child, wondering if either would survive. The King growing more and more in despair with every passing day offered a handsome reward for anyone who knew of a way to save his wife and child. No one knew of a way until a passing healer passed through Corona and upon hearing about the king's dilemma headed to the palace to offer some advice. It was rumored that there was a plant on growing on the far side of the east mountains that contained great healing properties that could potentially save the life if the queen if it was brought to the him, but there was a catch. This particular plant grew near the Forbidden Fortress which was home to a witch named Gothel who had great power and was feared across all kingdoms. The healer warned the king that there would be a price to pay if he was to go and seek out this flower for his sick wife and was caught.
Despite the risk the King loved his wife so very much that he sent his best men to the Forbidden Fortress to retrieve this mystical plant and off went five of the royal guard. They rode fast and furious, knowing full well that time was of the essence if they were to be successful in saving the life if the queen. Eventually the guards reached the Forbidden Fortress and it took a while but they found the plant that they were sent for. It was a plant called Rapunzel, that was green with purple flowers and emitted a soft golden glow. The guards delicately unearthed the plants as fled from the Forbidden a Fortress as quick as they could, unaware that they had been watched the entire time by a cloaked figure. The plant was quickly brought back to the kingdom of Corona where the healer extracted the flowers from the plant to heal the queen before taking his leave, warning the king that there would be a price to pay. The King, overjoyed at his wife's recovery took no heed of the healers warning and soon forgot about it... Months later the Queen gave birth to a beautiful baby girl who was named Rapunzel and there was joy through out the kingdom with many coming from across the lands to celebrate the young princess brith. However the peaceful times were not to last as the old witch who the healer had warned the king about, came and interrupted the festivities. The old witch Gothel, had announced that she had come to collect what was rightfully her; Rapunzel as since the King has taken what had belonged to her, she would take what belonged to him; his only daughter. Before anyone could react, the old witch had disappeared in a cloud of smoke taking the young princess with her. The kingdom was searched up and down but there was not a trace of the young princess or the witch as Rapunzel had been hidden, deep into the forest where no one would venture to look as it was carefully hidden, there was a high tower that stood alone in the middle of the forest with neither a door nor a stairway but only a window at the very top of the tower. And since then Rapunzel has remained there…
Yawn. Prudence Van Garrett couldn't help but let out a loud yawn as she cycled through the sleepy town of Storybrooke, a small and sleepy town in Maine where everyone knew each other and nothing ever really tended to happen. It was one of those quaint little towns that you read about books, it had also been home to Prudence or Prue as she preferred to be called for as long as she could remember. The town seemed awfully quiet today with barely anyone walking around town at the moment but since the schools were going to be letting out soon and no doubt, the streets would be filled with laughing children making their way home. Finally arriving at her destination, Prue dismounted her bike and glanced down at her watch. She still had a couple of minutes to spare before the bell went and Prue couldn't help but glance at the old school building, it seemed like a lifetime ago that she was in elementary school and even then she couldn't remember that time of her life. There was probably a good reason why Prudence couldn't remember that time in her life so she never really questioned why she didn't really recall any of her childhood she had read somewhere that memories were often repressed in order to protect the mind. Anyway she wasn't here to take a stroll down memory lane, she was here to pick up a rather adorable boy from school; Henry Mills. The mayor's son and her favorite not to mention her only babysitting charge, which didn't bother Prue in the slightest as if she wasn't with Henry then she was stuck at home all day. Minutes after idly waiting around with only her thoughts for company, Prue heard the sound of the bell going, signaling the end of the day and less than thirty seconds the front doors burst open and out came dozens of kids. But Prue was only looking for one particular kid.
"Hi Prue!"
It took. Prue a moment to spot him but after a moment she noticed a dark haired Henry make his way out from behind a huge gaggle of kids and ran over to her, watching him couldn't help but make her smile as this little boy was the sweetest person that she knew. Truthfully Henry was the only person who Prue really knew as her mom was a bit of a control freak and tended to bubble wrap Prue from the rest of the town, not to mention the world. Prue simply put it down to her mother being simply overprotective of her only child and way too paranoid that something would happen despite the fact that they lived in Storybrooke where nothing ever happened. It was probably the world's most boring town.
"Hello Henry, good day at school?" Prue began making conversation with the first real person she had any real type of contact and conversation with apart from her cat and whilst Prue loved Moxie, he was a cat and couldn't exactly respond or keep a conversation goin so with him it was pretty much a one sided conversation for Prue. Sometimes she wondered whether she was losing her mind because she talked to Moxie like he was a real person, keeping a conversation with him going on at times for at least an hour. It wasn't really normal but when she was at home, Moxie was the only company that Prue had.
"Okay I guess, but Ms. Blanchard did give me this book of fairytales that was just for me and not anyone else in my class so I guess that's pretty cool." Henry began as he glanced down to the rather big leather bound book in his hands
"That was very nice of her, did you say thank you?" Prudence asked, feeling somewhat nostalgic as she looked at the book that Henry was carrying. It seemed like forever that she had read a fairy tale, no doubt she was pretty rusty when it came to the stories, characters and the supposed morals that fairy tales were supposed to teach you. Prue had read fairy tales behind her mother's back as Old Mother Garrett referred to them as whimsical nonsense that teach children nonsense. For some reason which Prue had never really understood her mother simply hated fairy tales.
"I thought you were my babysitter not my mom Prue and of course I said thank you." Henry stated as he narrowed his eyes at his teenage companion which caused Prue to laugh in amusement. "But enough about me, what did you do today Prue? Anything exciting?"
"Every time I pick you up Henry' you ask me the same question and every time I give you the exact same answer; I did nothing new, after I finished my school work, I did some housework, played with Moxie for a while and then I spent most of my time staring out my window."
"Waiting for your prince to come and rescue you?" Henry joked and Prue wearily laughed, the whole prince rescuing a damask in distress was a bit of a cliche but Prue wouldn't complain as that cliche came her way. As she wanted someone to rescue her from being cooped up in her apartment all day long and it didn't even have to be a prince, anyone would do. Prince, thief or beggar would do. Just anyone to get her out of that damn tower and out into the world to live a real and meaningful life. Have some real independence instead of dreaming about it from her window.
"Something like that… You know we should probably get a move on buddy, your mom wants me to drop you off at her office today and you know what my mom is like, freaking out if I'm even a minute late home from picking you up."
"If we must." Henry quietly grumbled, not too thrilled by this news and Prue couldn't help but share his sentiment as they began to make their way from Storybrooke Elementary and start their journey to the mayor's office. "Prue can I ask you something?"
"Shoot Henry, you know you can ask me anything." Prue quipped in response as she wheeled her bike along as she walked beside Henry. It was a beautiful day so the walk would do them both some good and by them a little more time together before they were forced to go their separate ways for the rest of the day. After she dropped Henry off with his mom, Prue had no idea of the next time she would be allowed to leave the apartment so she was savoring all of this freedom whilst she could,
"Your adopted like me right?"
"Yeah you know that Henry, as does everyone in town as it's not exactly a secret around here that Constance Van Garrett isn't my birth mother and that I was abandoned outside the hospital by my biological parents as they didn't want me. I've always known about it and it's no big deal as people leave unwanted babies at hospital and fire stations as there is something now called the Safe Haven law. Hey didn't have it in my day but it just means that a baby can be left at a hospital and there won't be any questions asked." Prue casually replied as her adoption was no secret, she had always known about it and it was sort of obvious as her and her mother Constance looked nothing alike. Being adopted was something that was apart of who Prue was and it was also something that her and Henry had in common as well as being raised by single mothers and not really having any friends apart from each other.
"Do you ever wonder about your birth parents?"
"No, can't honestly say that I have." Prue replied honestly off the bat without even having to think about it, the whole biological parents thing was not something that she had ever really given much thought. There was never really a need to as she had a family regardless of whether they were related to her or now.
"You don't ever wonder where you came from in the slightest?" Henry asked skeptically and Prue shook her head, she was telling Henry the truth when she said that had honestly never wondered about her birth parents or where they might have come from.
"I know where I came from Henry and that's here, I was dropped off at the hospital the day I was born because my parents couldn't take care of me or just didn't want me. That's all I really need to know. The rest of it doesn't really matter to me because I have a mom who loves me and has always been there for me no matter what and I have a nice home."
"You don't even live with your mom Prue." Henry pointed out.
"Well yes, but you get my point." Prudence began but she had to admit that Henry had her there and she lived alone in top floor apartment of the building that her mother owned because she hated her cat Moxie and couldn't bear to be in the same room as it. So Prue's mother lived in the family house whilst Prue lived by herself and it was a situation that suited mother and daughter fine. "But why are you so interested about whether I've wondered about my birth parents? You wondering about yours?"
"Maybe. I don't really know because my mom will be all weird about it and she really doesn't like talking about it much." Henry admitted and Prudence felt the need to change the subject, as the conversation was getting rather depressing, not to mention rather uncomfortable as it was clear, without so many words that her and Henry had a huge difference of opinion on the whole biological parents thing.
"I like wondering about what's outside of Storybrooke though, there's an entire world outside of this town and I've always wanted to see it. My mom doesn't want me to, she wants me to stay here but I want to go out into the world and explore and see what's out there."
"Then why don't you? Your eighteen Prue."
Prue realized that Henry had a point, she was eighteen which made her legally an adult and there was nothing really stopping her from leaving and boy did she want to leave this town and no longer spend her days in her apartment gazing out her window as life passed her by. But for some reason the idea of actually leaving was incomprehensible. "I don't know why Henry, I honestly don't."
The two of them walked for a further ten minutes idly talking about cartoons, books and whether or not Henry could go to his castle the next time Prue picked him up from school and then there was the strange request that she not tell the Mayor about the story book, when Prue questioned Henry about it he said that his mother would say that fairytales were for babies and he was most certainly not one. Prue couldn't help but see his logic as her mother was like that as week so she agreed to keep his secret. A few minutes later they finally arrived at the Mayor's office. Usually Prue would pick Henry and they'd play together for a while before going back to her apartment but for some reason his mother had specifically wanted him here today. "Thank you for bringing Henry here Prudence."
Prue smiled at Henry's mother Regina who was sitting behind her fancy desk and filling out some paperwork of some kind. "It's no problem Madam Mayor, I'll see you soon Henry."
"Bye Prue!"
"Please tell your mother that I say hello when you see her." Regina said and Prue forced a smile into her face in response.
"I will." Prue replied as she made her way out of the office, she was always disappointed when her time with Henry came to an end as the only reason why she was allowed to leave the apartment at all was to pick up Henry was because her mother was friends with Henry's mother who just so happened to be the Mayor of Storybrooke. Her mother was one of those overprotective parents who smothered their children in a protective bubble and insisted that she stay inside at all times, whilst Prue loved her mother it was rather annoying. But the Mayor needed a babysitter and somehow Constance Van Garrett couldn't refuse her old friend when asked if her daughter could do the job.
When she left the Mayor's office Prue picked up her bike and being to ride the short distance home. The building that she lived in was completely empty for the top floor apartment that Prue lived in with Moxie. Her mother chose not to rent it out as she said that if people needed somewhere to stay then they could go to the inn. Prue didn't really understand it but who was she to question her mother? Because as they said, mother knew best or something along those lines... Minutes later Prue arrived back at 'The Tower' or home as it was more commonly called, her and Henry called it the Tower because the roof at the top of the house was a cone shape like the ones you saw in fairytale castles not to mention all the window except one in Prue's apartment had bars on it and the front door often had a mind of it's own, refusing to open and leaving Prue often stuck in the apartment for days on end with no real way out of the apartment. Prue had been telling her mother to fix that door for years but her request fell on deaf ears making her sometimes wonder whether her mother wanted her to be locked in the apartment all day. It was a rather scary thought but sometimes Constance Van Garrett made Prue wonder whether her mother would actually try and keep her locked up in the tower if she could.
Sighing to herself as she arrived back at her building, Prue unlocked the front door and hoisted her bike up several flights of stairs until she reached the top floor. Opening yet another door Prue wheeled her bike into the apartment, placing it on the floor as she couldn't be bothered to store it away correctly before proceeding to shut the door. Looking around her surrounding Prue couldn't help but let out a rather depressed sigh.
She was home. The not so home sweet home.