ACT 1
"Things will get better if you just hold on to hope"
Enchanted Forest, many years ago.
A five year old girl was staring at her reflection. She had emerald eyes and golden hair, which was combed into perfect waves.
"Mommy, what's this?" she asked, looking at something on her shoulder through the mirror. Her mother, Elizabeth, approached her and saw that she was staring at her birthmark, a star, with a frown.
"That is called a star" replied the woman, kneeling down beside her "Do you know what a star is?" Yazi Scarlett shook her little head softly "Do you remember all those twinkling lights you see through your window during the night?" she nodded "Those are stars"
"So, I'm a star?" asked the girl trying to understand, and her mother chuckled softly.
"Yes, you are" she nodded "But you are a different kind of star" upon seeing her daughter's curious glance, she kept talking "Each one of the tips represent something about you" Elizabeth didn't want her daughter to be ashamed of the birthmark, she wanted her to embrace it. That mark symbolized that she was meant to do extraordinary deeds. Thanks to that and some other things, she would soon be known as the Golden Child; a child capable of doing what others couldn't, and the most wanted girl in the entire Enchanted Forest, but nor her parents or her knew about it.
At least, not yet.
A couple of more years needed to pass 'till they figured out what the star meant exactly "You will have to find out those things on your own, but I'll help you with the first one" she touched the first tip of the star "This one represents kindness. Always be helpful towards others, and treat them nicely. Don't ever lose that, Yazi"
Present Time
A blonde girl was sitting on a couch in an apartment on a little town called Storybrooke. Even though she had recently moved in, she knew that loft like she knew her name. She knew every single object in there; she knew every squeaking wooden board, every picture.
Afterall, she considered it home. And everyone should know their home.
She didn't have the memory of any other home. As far as she knew, she had lived in the Blanchard Loft with Mary Margaret Blanchard all her life, since her parents abandoned her when she was barely a toddler.
Aria Griffin liked the teacher. She was a kind person whom she had grown to love; and Mary Margaret loved the blonde girl, too. Loved her so much, that couldn't stand the thought of Aria living in an orphanage her whole life, not really knowing what it was like to have a family.
"Aria, have you seen my book?" asked Mary Margaret to the girl, who was reading peacefully on the couch. Upon hearing her voice, she looked up at her.
"Which one?" there were lots of books in the apartment, 50% of them belonged to Aria, and the other half to the woman. She had to be more specific.
"It's a big one with a brown cover and golden letters" the blonde immediately realized which she was talking about.
"Once Upon A Time?" it was the only one she could think of at the moment, and she was right, because the woman nodded "It's in my room, let me fetch it for you" she left the book in the small table and went upstairs, coming back with the other one in a few seconds. With a smile, she handed it to the woman.
"Thank you"
"What do you need it for?" asked the girl as the woman grabbed her purse and keys.
They had discovered that book hiding in a box in the closet two months ago, around the same time Aria moved in. Mary Margaret had no memory of ever seeing it there before that.
"A boy in the class it's going through a rough time, and I believe that this book could help him overcome it. Fairytales are a really powerful thing" Aria nodded in agreement. Fairytales always had happy endings, and that could make anyone believe in hope.
"Who is he?"
"Henry"
"The mayor's son?" Mary Margaret had told her about him a couple weeks ago, she remembered he was twelve years old, like her, and he was adopted.
"He has recently found out that he is adopted, and you know how that is" indeed she knew. Things like that could really someone.
"Poor thing…" she shook her head, he seemed like a really nice and sweet boy.
An idea then occurred to her.
"Do you want me to give it to him?" the woman looked at her surprised. That was actually a good idea, if there was someone who knew what the boy was going through, was Aria. She had gone through a rough time too; she was still going through it even if she didn't say anything. Mary Margaret knew; it's not easy to come to terms with the fact that you were abandoned, or that your parents didn't want you.
"That is a great idea!" she agreed, handing the book to her.
First, there was the thundering of hooves galloping. Second, the whispering of the crowd as a black and white carriage pulled over in front of the village. Thirdly, the Evil Queen came out, wearing an all-black dress. The villagers all took some steps back, as the queen pierced them with her smouldering gaze.
"I'm looking for someone" she spoke up, her voice firm "Someone that I know is hidden somewhere here. So who will be the hero and tell me where she is?" there was a deadly silence, and Regina wasn't an especially patient person "Nobody?" she scanned the crowd of people, nobody dared to look back.
"Yazi, come here" the eleven year old girl's mother called, almost in a whisper as her father stood by the window, curtain slightly opened, keeping watch.
"What-what's going on?" the young one questioned, her heart pounding rapidly as she approached her mother by the backdoor. There was something wrong, she could tell by the faces of her parents. And she assumed it probably had to do with the woman outside of the house, terrorizing the village. Everyone knew who she was.
"Listen, sweetie" Elizabeth stated, grabbing her daughter's hands tightly "You're no longer safe here" the girl frowned, as she gave the window a brief look. She immediately gazed away when she saw Regina holding a shiny red thing in her hand. Her stomach stirred.
"Is-is she looking for me?" her voice was trembling. Her parents had always told her how beautiful, but dangerous her powers were. They had warned her that people sooner or later would come looking for her, she didn't understand what they meant as a child, but now she finally did.
"Yes" her mother said almost in a breath, and the girl felt tears springing her eyes "Yazi, look at me" she ordered, firmly but softly, and her daughter obeyed "Remember your birthmark?" the girl couldn't bring herself to speak, there was a lump in her throat, so she just nodded "The five values, recite them to me now" pounding was heard in the door, and as Yazi's father went to open it, Elizabeth grabbed the girl's cloak from the hanger and they stepped outside, hidden from the other side of the house.
"Kindness" she began saying, her breath shaking as screams were heard from the front door.
"Don't listen to it, keep going" Elizabeth ushered, placing her daughter's face between her hands.
"Compassion" her father's angry voice came from the other side, he was talking to someone "Fairness" more screaming, a woman's, and she sounded angry "L-love"
"One more, keep going" Elizabeth said, as a bright orange light was seen behind her, back in the house, but Yazi kept her gaze nailed on her.
"Intelligence" she finished, and her mother nodded.
"The world will not be kind to you, Yazi" she stated solemnly, her eyes serious as she knelt down and placed the grey cloak around her shoulder, tying the golden strings into a small bow "You will meet people who will want to extinguish your flame, your light. You mustn't let them" the tears in the girl's eyes began to fall softly, as she came to the realization of what was about to happen "You cannot let them keep you down, you cannot allow them to tell you who you are" behind her, the girl spotted Regina approaching the backdoor, approaching them, but she forced herself to ignore her, and look only at her mother's eyes "You must always remain true to yourself, no matter what anyone thinks. Promise me you'll do that"
"I-I promise, mom" she said, between sobs. The woman smiled sadly at her, placing the hood over her head. Her thumb caressed her cheek, sweeping some of her tears away.
"I love you, Yazi" she breathed out, her own voice trembling as she pulled her only daughter into a tight hug.
"I-I love you too"
"Now go!" she ordered, and just as the girl began running away, the back door was opened. Looking back, the last thing Yazi saw was the wicked smirk planted on Regina's face, a smirk that would not let her sleep for a very long time. The smirk she would remember for years to come.
After classes were over, Aria spotted Henry sitting at one of the tables, far from everyone else. She began to approach him, with the book safe in her backpack.
"Hey" she greeted, taking a few steps forward. The boy turned to look at her curiously, probably not knowing exactly who she was. They were in the same class, but they only knew each other by name.
"Hey" he replied simply.
"You are Henry, right?" she knew it was him, but she wasn't just going to sit with him as if they were old friends. They had to introduce themselves properly before anything. The boy nodded "I'm Aria, Miss Blanchard's foster daughter" now it had to ring a bell.
The blonde girl sat across from him, and took the book out of her backpack "She wanted me to give you this" she slid the book across the table so Henry could grab it "She knows, and I do, too, that you've been going through a hard time lately, and this could really help you" the boy opened the book in the first page, which showed the tale of Pinocchio. He stared at it for a few minutes, before raising his gaze.
"Looks like fairytales to me" he said, and the girl leaned closer.
"And what exactly do you think fairytales are?" they were hope. She had read that book everyday since she had moved in with Miss Blanchard, she loved fairy tales. It reminded her that things could get better, which for her they had.
They smiled at each other.
"They are a reminder that our lives will get better if you just hold on to hope" Henry looked back at the pages in the book "Your happy ending may not be what you expect, it could be better. It's unique for everyone, and that is exactly what makes it so special" Aria had always been wise beyond her age "You can have that" she motioned to the book "It helped me, now it will help you" Henry turned a few more pages and found the fairytale of the Golden Child, and the protagonist seemed familiar.
"Aria" he looked up, and it didn't take too much imagination to picture her in the outfit of the book. The brown dress and grey cloak, the wavy hair. They could practically be the same person "Thank you" the girl smiled.
"You're very welcome" Henry kept flipping through the pages of the book, while the girl tried to figure out what to say. She finally did "Hey, I kind of know what you are going through" the boy raised his gaze and looked at her with curiosity "My parents abandoned me when I was little, I never really knew them. We may not know each other much, but I'm here if you want to talk, or if you ever want to get an ice cream" Henry smiled, making the girl smile, too. With nothing left to say, she stood up, walked a couple of meters, but then turned back to him, an idea emerging "In fact, I was about to get an ice cream right now, do you want to come?"
"Sure!" he closed the book and followed the girl, as Mary Margaret Blanchard watched in the distance with a bright smile on her face.
That was the beginning of everything.
Okay, so a little backstory like I do at the beginning of every fanfiction I write. This story has been in my drafts for around three years now, back then I was obsessed with Once Upon A Time, I think season 4B had just began airing when I began getting ideas for a possible fanfiction. Then, I stopped watching OUAT for a while since it didn't seem that appealing to me, but now that it's done I recently began catching up with all the seasons and fell in love with it all over again. At least seasons 1-5A, as I publish this I am still watching 5B, have around five episodes left to finish it.
So, this is how the organization of this story will work: for seasons one and two, I will not write all episodes, just some that are relevant to my character. Maybe it'll be like 5-6 chapters per season, some that have nothing to do with the plot of the story but to the development of Yazi and her relationship with Henry, and while there will be romance, they're still kids in the first three seasons so it won't happen just like that. Patience is key here. Season three and forward, most of the episodes will be written, with my own twists of course, otherwise it's just another rewrite.
And as you might have noticed, I raised up their ages slightly, instead of ten they're both twelve, which I need for the development of the future relationship.
Woah, that was long. Sorry about it, but I wanted to clear many things up.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the first chapter of Golden Child! I can't promise I'll update regularly because I have college to worry about as well, but at least two chapters per month you will get. I'm always open to receive constructive criticism and feedback, so don't be afraid to suggest things or ask questions about plot points that might not seem clear, I'm not an expert in writing at all, and my first language is not english, so I do believe I have a lot to learn.
Now, yes, I'm leaving, have a wonderful week everyone!