Yes new story, this one is most likely going to be short so yea. I just need to vent out some stress so this is where this is coming from. And just a bit of background, this is after the events of Selfless, Brave, and True.

Summary- He knew he should have kept it closed. He knew that he should not have opened the box that she told him to leave shut, but he couldn't help it. After all she did promise no more secrets…however there was still so much she did not tell him and probably never would. He opened what he deemed as Pandora's Box, so was he ready to face what was inside it?

Pandora's Box

"Henry I am so sorry, I don't want there being any more secrets. I promise I will always be truthful," she had told him on the stairs after the events of that day when August was rewarded once more for his selfless, brave, and truthful actions.

Henry sighed as he looked at the closet in the room that he had shared with his mother in the apartment. He couldn't help but think back to Manhattan after he discovered that Neal aka Baelfire was his father:

"He was a thief, Henry. A liar, a bad guy, and he… He broke my heart." She had explained. He knew that his mother was always guarded. He had thought that it was just her time in the system with bad people, but she had still lied to him.

"I could have taken it, you know. The truth." He had told her. That was all he had wanted after all, the truth…

He could still see the hurt in her eyes even though she could not look at him. Her voice was soft as she responded, "I know. He was just a part of my life I wanted to forget. That's why I didn't tell you. I was thinking of me, not you."

Internally he flinched as he remembered what he had said to her, "I thought you were different, but you're just like her. Regina. She always lied to me, too."

"I'm sorry…" Her voice was so broken and so upset that he never thought he could ever see his strong and brave mother so broken…almost like her world shattered in front of her.

Shaking his head he looked back at the closet. Many times he had come into the room to find her sitting with a box opened and her hunched over writing on something. Of those times his curiosity was always peaked, until he remembered that he was supposed to be mad at her and he would walk right out before she could turn and see him watching her.

Once he started talking with her again and getting 'reacquainted' he eventually asked, "What is that box that you always take out and look at?"

"Just some things," Was the response he received, "old stuff of mine that did not make it to storage."

"So what is in it?" He asked again, "Toys? Clothes?"

"Stuff," Emma responded as she had put her mug in the sink.

"I thought we said no more secrets." He stated and he watched as she flinched.

Her face fell drastically and she sighed, "I did say that didn't I?" He saw her eyes focus on the wall in front of them in the kitchen. For once he was thankful that his grandparents were out for the time being as she sighed, "Henry sometimes things like this are best forgotten."

"So why did you keep opening it when we got home?" He asked again trying to get information.

"What did you see?" She asked quickly as her gaze snapped to him.

He held his hands up and said, "Nothing, when I saw you in the room I walked back out. I was just curious."

Emma sighed as the front door opened and his grandparents walked, "Just please Henry ok. Stay out of it."

Once she left for work he claimed that he had homework that he still needed to do, so he went back upstairs and this is where he stayed…just sitting on the bed looking at the closet door. She promised no more secrets, yet she was still keeping them. He took a deep breath, got up, and opened the door to the closet.

Looking inside he saw nothing out of place. His mother's stuff was on her side and his stuff was on his side. Pulling the clothes apart he looked in the back and saw a guitar case in the back corner, which he found odd and looking toward the other side he saw it.

Taking another deep breath he pulled it out with slight difficulty as it was heavy. Once he had it out he sat on the floor. Was he really going to do this? He asked himself as he recognized his mother's cursive writing which read 'Pandora's Box'. He shook his head in amusement, she did not like fairytales but yet here was a Greek myth written in her hand.

Once he was done debating and the decision made, with shaky hands, he opened it. It was time, he thought before he looked in, to learn more about his mother.