A/N: Okay, Pilot time! Since this is the first oneshot, let me break this one down for you:
I started writing oneshots for the episodes after Skin Deep to sustain my OUaT fix, but by the time I actually got around to publishing them, it was way too late and I thought no one would read them. So I decided to write a oneshot for every episode and put them all in one story. Good idea? I thought so. Anyway, here's my oneshot for the pilot, it's sort of the events that led up to Henry going to find Emma. Sorry if the end if suckish, it was one when I finally finished it. Also, read and review which oneshots you liked, please, don't be afraid to give long reviews, I crave for them. Now, long Author's Note aside, here's your OUaT goodness!
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the epic characters (or David/Charming) in the television series Once Upon a Time, those belong to the creators, writers, and ABC. these characters were brought to life by the amazing actors that play them (and Josh Dallas; just kidding) :)
Henry Mills. That was the name he was given when he was just a baby, but he knew it wasn't really his. Whenever he explained that to his mother, the mayor of the town he lived in, she simply chalked the comment up as him thinking it's because he was named after someone, but that wasn't what he meant. He wasn't sure what he meant, but Henry always had a certain feeling about who he was, like there was something missing.
At a very young age, Henry had been a very studious boy, always paying attention in classes, doing as he was told, always attentive at the things around him. Sometimes he was too attentive, though.
Henry had spent his childhood studying people in the town, not spying really, just observing. Henry always had this feeling in his gut, a constant nagging, like a tugging at the back of his mind, trying to see something that seemed to be right in front of him, but it always evaded his grasp.
Everything about the town was strange to little Henry. How orderly and well run it was, and how nothing in the town ever changed. From the instant Henry learned how to read in kindergarten, he spent his time reading book after book, reading things that were extremely advanced for someone his age. He knew what life was like, or at least how it seemed to the multitude of books he read.
Storybrooke was never like that. Everything went the exact same, year after year. Henry seemed to be the only one that noticed this, though, and the thought often perturbed the small child.
He began to really question what happened in Storybrooke when he was nine. He never understood what was wrong with the town, the perfectness of it often made him unsettled, but whenever he asked his mother about it, she just brushed it off.
"There is nothing wrong with a harmonized town, Henry. A happy town is a happy mayor besides," Regina would say in her clipped voice, before ruffling him on the head and resuming her mayoral duties. That was the other thing that plagued Henry's mind. He loved his mother, she was the one who raised him and fed him, and in her own controlling way, loved him. But recently, Henry began to distant himself from his mother. Whenever she touched him, he would get a cold shiver and some strange fear would rise in him, but he couldn't tell for the life of him what it was.
The town, his mother, everything was so strange, so not right, and he hated that he, a mere child could see it while others were blind. But then, something happened that changed his life.
It was a few months after Henry began to be scared of his mother, when it happened. He was in Miss Blanchard's classroom and she was teaching math. It was a normal day in Storybrooke, exactly the same as any other, but as they were all packing up his teacher walked over to him. "Henry, would you mind staying for a bit?" Miss Blanchard asked as the school day came to an end. Henry nodded meekly, walking over to her desk as the other kids filed out, waving to a few of them as they passed.
As he propped up on Miss Blanchard's desk, he looked at her. "What did I do wrong?" was his immediate response. Miss Blanchard let out an amused laugh, a sweet smile forming on her lips. "Aw, Henry, you haven't done anything wrong," she said, shaking her head good-naturedly. "I just wanted to give you something, a gift perhaps."
Henry perked up at the comment, the prospect of a gift pleasing the child. "What is it?" Henry asked, almost letting the whims of childishness get to him. Beaming, Mary Margaret pulled out a large box with shiny green wrapping paper.
"I know your birthday was a few weeks ago and I never got you anything, but I found this in Mr. Gold's pawn shop and it just seemed so special, I wanted you to have it," she said, handing him the box and watching as he turned the pretty paper into shred.
As he unwrapped it he said, "Thank you, Miss Blanchard, that was very nice of you." As he removed the last of the paper, a plain white box was exposed, and Henry paused, the gut feeling tugging at him even more so then it had ever before. Whatever it was that Henry needed to see, it was so close, but just out of reach.
"Well, go on then, open it," Mary Margaret encouraged. Giving a small nod, Henry opened the box to find a very large object, a book. "It's called Once Upon a Time, it seemed so sweet, I thought you might enjoy the stories," Miss Blanchard explained, not paying attention to Henry's completely shocked expression.
When Henry's fingers touch the smooth cover, he was hit with a giant realization, all the air in his body being sucked away.
Once Upon a Time. Fairytale Land. His mother. In a complete state of unreality, Henry ripped open the book, looking at the colorful pages, illustrations invading one side and the story the other. The picture he first saw was of a tall, dark woman. She was standing around multiple colorful people and her dark dress seemed to plague the others. A sword was being thrown in her direction. Henry recognized the face of the evil woman, he saw it everyday.
This was the face he said good morning to, the one that made him breakfast, the one that tucked him in at night. This was his mother, Regina Mills, and she was in this book of fairy tales.
Henry wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at the page. Mary Margaret was saying something, but Henry just gathered the book in his small arms and shouted a quick, "Gotta go," and ran out the door.
He rushed out of the school, clutching the book for dear life. Henry knew he couldn't go home, fear griping at his insides at the thought of that monster asking how school was, sitting across from him while he ate, kissing him good night. Henry still didn't fully understand what was happening to him, but he knew that his mother was something far more sinister then she seemed. He knew just the place to go.
It was a small, dilapidated playhouse, designed like a castle on the outskirts of Storybrooke near a small body of water. Henry climbed up on the castle, finally noting the irony in the small construction.
Sitting down, Henry began poring through the book, immediately immersing himself in the stories. Snow White. Jiminy Cricket. Red Riding Hood. As he read the storybook from beginning to end, things began to click in Henry's brain. The curse, this town, it all made perfect sense.
Then there was the part about Snow White and Charming's child, Emma, the savior of everyone here. But she was brought here through the cabinet, so where was she? And who was Henry? How could he be the only one that ever questioned Storybrooke, thought there was something wrong with it, and understood this curse so perfectly, what was his part in this story. Slamming the book, he began his small trek home, apprehension and fear wrapped around him like a blanket.
For the next few months, Henry tried to talk to his mother about it, thinking that if there was one person who knew about the curse, it would be the one who had casted it, but she never responded. Henry wasn't sure what he was hoping for, a glare, and growl that he should shut up or she would end him? A threat, an admittance, anything then the concerned look he could see right through.
He tried talking to the others in the town, but no dice, no one believed him, and just to make sure no one did, Regina began putting him in therapy, telling people her son was a nut job, a whacko, and everyone looked at him differently now.
He wasn't that quiet, obedient little boy anymore, he was loud, opinionated and apparently rude towards his mother, not that anyone blamed him on the latter. Archie never listened to him, believing that he had created this alternate world in order to escape reality, an overactive imagination, and it always infuriated Henry.
One day after a particularly hard session with Archie, Henry began walking home, his head bent down in concentration, when he bumped into someone. "I'm sorry," the boy muttered softly, looking up to see who he had bumped into. His blood went cold when he noticed it was none other than Mr. Gold.
Mr. Gold was the most powerful person in Storybrooke, more powerful then Regina, and a very very scary man. Henry still hadn't figured out who his fairytale counterpart was, but understood that he was not to be trusted. Gold just gave a slight laugh, backing up a few steps.
"It's quite all right, my boy. You seem to be a bit distracted today, may I ask what it is?" His voice seemed concerned, but Henry knew not to trust the man, an ulterior motive in everything he did and said.
"What do you care?" Henry asked in that brash tone he had been using quite a bit lately. Gold gave a look of exaggerated hurt. "I am insulted," he said, a smile twitching at the edge of him mouth. "Just because your mother doesn't like me, doesn't make me as horrible a person as she leads you to believe."
"No, what other people say about you and the things you've done makes you as horrible as I've been lead to believe," Henry retaliated, Gold's face giving a note of something. Respect?
"Touché," Gold remarked, the smile back on his face. "A rather feisty one nowadays, aren't you? Well I suppose that is expected from people in your position, learning they're life is a lie and whatnot."
Henry's ears perked up, his eyes gleaming. Did Gold know about the curse? Would he help Henry stop it? "Well, yea, I suppose living my entire childhood believing I was of this world does give me some reason to lash out I suppose," Henry said, resuming walking, noting that Gold was walking in step with him.
"Well, I'm sure all orphans feel like this at first when their parents tell them they aren't actually their's, but cheer up, it will get better. Regina loves you, and that should be enough despite she didn't actually give birth to you," Gold said.
Henry halted, frozen by the man's words. Gold noticed this and turned to look at the boy, a puzzled look on his face. Henry looked up at Gold, complete confusion in his eyes.
"Regina- I mean my mom...isn't my mom?" Henry asked, his brown eyes boring into the other's. Gold gave an exasperated sigh, looking down at the ground and up at the sky, trying not to look Henry in the eye.
"Regina never told you," he said, pity in his voice. "I just assumed that's why you were acting out, anger at the fact that your parents, or parent, isn't your real parent. It is quite common-"
"Regina isn't my actual mother," Henry repeated, interrupting Gold. He looked down at the little boy, regret in his eyes. Letting out another sigh, Gold bent down till his eyes were level with Henry's.
"No, Henry, I'm afraid she isn't. I am so sorry that you had to find out about it like this, I truly believed she had told you." Gold stood back up, looking down at the boy expectantly, unsure of how he was going to act. Henry just stood there for a few moments, trying to analyze this new information.
After another second, he looked up at Mr. Gold with a smile on his face. "Are you alright, then, boy?" Gold asked. "I am better than fine. This is the best thing I have ever heard. Thank you, Mr. Gold!" Henry crowed, brushing past the pawnbroker in a full out run.
As soon as he opened the door to his house, Henry dumped his bag on the floor and rushed into Regina's small office, finding her on the phone talking to someone.
Henry walked right up to his mother, her attention still on the caller.
She looked up when he came in, a smile on her face. The smile vanished quickly, however, when Henry took the phone from her and slammed it back into the receiver.
"Henry Mills, what was that for!" Regina scolded, about to get out of her seat to move to the other side of her desk, but Henry didn't give her the chance to clamp her long nailed fingers onto his shoulder. "What happened to my mother?" Henry commanded, his voice ringing throughout the room. Regina's eyes darkened, her mouth turning into a thin line.
"I don't understand what you mean, Henry, I'm your mother-"
"No, what happened to my real mother, the one who gave birth to me? What did you do to her?" Henry began to shout, anger clouding his better judgement. Regina realized that he knew what she had tried to hide from him for so long.
Sighing, Regina leaned back in her desk chair, seeming very tired. "I see you learned that particular secret," she said, "very well. I have no idea who your mother was. I wanted a child so badly, so I chose to adopt. The extent of your biological mother's relationship with you was the fact that she gave birth to you, nothing more. It was a closed adoption, one that Mr. Gold had arranged. I was hoping that you wouldn't learn about this until you were older, but I see I had expected too much." She finished, looking at Henry with tired eyes.
Henry's face was serious, trying to connect the dots that had been forming in his mind ever since he had gotten that book. Regina took his quietness as confusion. Leaning forward, leveling her gaze in his, Regina gave him a smile, his skin crawling at the expression. "Henry, I may not have given birth to you, but I am your mother and I love you. Do you understand?"
Henry nodded, the full realization of who he was taking him by surprise. "I understand," he said, leaving her office and going to his bedroom, his mind reeling with the newfound information. As soon as he shut his door, Henry threw himself on his bed, closing his eyes as he whispered his discovery. "I'm Emma's son," he said.
The next few weeks were the same as any others. Regina began to get more and more angrier towards him, his attempts at trying to tell people about the curse and disobeying her orders infuriating her.
He began to spend more and more time at school, using the computers after school while Mary Margaret graded papers. Little did Snow White know, though, that Henry began to form a plan.
Using her credit card, Henry began a search for his mother, trying to find the one that would break this curse and set them all free.
He had finally found it, her address, her name, everything. He was ready. Stealing Mary Margaret's credit card, Henry waited until after school to do it.
He ran for the woods near the road, growing eager as he got closer to the leaving Storybrooke sign. Bad things had happened to people who had tried to leave the town, people never leaving the town, an anomaly no one else but Henry had noticed. He approached the sign, his breathing heavy, curiosity making his mind wonder. A foot. An inch.
He was so close to the edge, yet so much changed in that inch of space. Taking a deep breath, Henry bounded head on, running past the sign and away from Storybrooke. Now the adventure will begin, Henry thought, racing until he managed to find another town. never looking back ay his cage for the past ten years.
A/N: Okay, first episode down, twenty-one more to go! Hoped you liked the first one, sorry for the sucky titles for the oneshots, I kind of suck at names. Read and review please!