A/N: Inspired by that lovely picture of Emma and the two Regina's that's floating around. Because another corny scifi-plot fic to keep up with was what I needed. *sigh*
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"Good I guess. I just... I want everyone to be happy. Together. I want her to be happy. I want my mom back. Before all the evil." Henry knew that technically there hadn't been a before, she had always been evil he just hadn't always know that she was, but it still felt like there had been two separate people in his life. The woman who had taught him how to tie his shoes, kissed every single cut, sung him to sleep at night and then the Queen, the woman who lied, cursed an entire world and made him feel crazy. He loved her still, both ways, but the second bore far more complexities. It was hard to trust her. It was hard not to. And it was hard to see how miserable and alone she was. He remembered that feeling well; Not having any friends, watching all the other kids play and be happy.
Henry sighed into his soda, using the straw to blow bubbles in the fizzy brown liquid. He hadn't meant to drag out his answer to such a simple question -'And how have you been doing, young master Henry?'- but it felt good to get it out there. Even if it was just to Mr. Gold.
He couldn't bring it up with Emma; She was trying so hard already to make sure she was everything he needed. Couldn't dare mention it to his grandparents; Snow's quiet rage that surfaced any time Regina's name came up bordered on scary. And his mother... He didn't even know how to talk to her anymore. When he visited they were like two strangers, shy and uncertain.
Granny scowled as she unceremoniously plopped a steaming to-go cup on the counter before the pawnbroker, a dark glint in her eye as she declared that they'd recently started charging extra for lids.
"Just this morning I expect, eh Eugenia?" Gold said, sticky sweet tone voided by the snarling twist of his lips as he forked over the extra coins.
Henry ducked his head to hide his smile as Granny merely shrugged, stern expression never lifting though there was obvious glee in the eyes behind her spectacles as she palmed the man's money. "Maybe next time I'll charge you for the cup."
After she had gone Gold pulled the cup towards himself, lifting the lid and inspecting the black coffee within with a wrinkled nose, as though he half expected it to be poisoned. It seemed to pass his scrutiny and he covered it again, long fingers running around the lip to ensure it was secure. "You know, I may just have a solution to your little problem."
Henry glanced at him sideways, churning his straw through the ice in his glass. "Really?"
He hadn't been looking for one and he couldn't imagine what form it might take, but Mr. Gold had helped with the nightmares hadn't he?
"Certainly. Why don't you stop by my shop later and I'll show you?"
"Um... Okay. Sure."
"Wonderful." Mr. Gold backed away from the counter, leaning heavily upon his cane, and took a hearty sip of his coffee. The expression on his face was the most undignified Henry had ever seen it, eyes wide as he immediately spit it out again. "Hot! Ahhhg!"
Somewhere in the back Granny cackled.
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Later ended up being the next day, between school and meeting Emma for dinner at the diner. His backpack was a reassuringly familiar weight on his back and he clung to the straps at his shoulders as he pushed open the shop door.
Henry had never before experienced any thing approaching trepidation when entering the pawn shop but now, armed with the knowledge that all of the artifacts within contained very real magical history, every dark corner sent a little thrill down his spine. What did that hat in the corner do? And those puppets, had they been real people once? A baby's mobile, as one might place above a crib, hung from the ceiling and he reached out to touch the little glass figurines strung from it. They were cut in the shape of animals, blue and perfect, and they caught and reflected the shop's dim light in a way that made them almost seem to glow.
"Best not touch that, dearie. Very fragile."
Henry jumped back as though burned, heart thundering in his ears as Mr. Gold stepped out from behind the heavy curtain that separated the back of his shop from the rest.
"Sorry."
"No matter. I have what you're looking for, just here."
He opened one of the glass display cases alongside the register and Henry approached cautiously, sneakers scuffing across the floor.
The trinket was no bigger than the palm of Henry's hand though it was near as heavy as one of the hefty paperweights his mother kept on her desk. He wrapped his fingers around it as Mr. Gold gently deposited it in his grasp, frowning down at the twisted golden shape. At first he thought it was just a knot, vaguely cross shaped, but upon closer inspection he realized it was a snake, wrapped around and around and swallowing the tip of its own tail. The details were spectacular, each teeny little scale lovingly carved. It could have been a real serpent coiled there in his hand, if not for the cold metal of it. It was almost unnaturally cold, in fact, tingling oddly against his skin.
"What is it?"
"Just a charm."
"And what'll it do exactly?" Henry turned it round in his palm, wondering at the snakes beady little eyes. It was almost creepy how lifelike it looked.
"Exactly what you asked for. It will separate the evil from the Queen's heart."
Henry wanted to point out that he hadn't asked for that, not exactly, but the promise sounded too good to be true. Could it be that easy? Just wish it away? "Will it... Will it hurt?"
Mr. Gold smiled and Henry was struck for a moment with how closely his eyes resembled that of the snake. But that was silly, of course. He was just a man. A man who could make extraordinary things happen. "Not at all. Quite the opposite, in fact. All that, hm, bad stuff, will simply be gone. Free as a bird, she'll be."
"What do you want for it?" Because there was always something, right? No one ever got something from Mr. Gold for free.
Except his nightmare necklace. Henry's free hand unconsciously reached for where the bauble, removed in the daytime, would rest. That had turned out alright.
"My reward will be in the results, Henry."
Henry stared at the charm a moment longer before slowly sliding it into his coat pocket. He could always just not use it. "Okay. What do I do with it exactly?"
"Just slip it under the pillow she uses for sleeping. The next day the results should be... Apparent."
"Thanks."
"I truly do wish to see you happy, Henry. I hope you know that."
Henry merely nodded and fled the shop, already sure to be late to meet Emma.
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"What held you up?" The sheriff asked, blond brows climbing toward her hairline as Henry slid into the booth across from her. He wrestled with his ungainly backpack for a moment in the confined space between table edge and seat, finally resting the behemoth from his shoulders and tossing it aside. The jacket, curiously, remained on, one hand shoved in the front pocket.
"Oh, uhhhh... I was just talking to Gretel. She's really cool."
"Really cool, huh?" Emma smiled at him fondly, though her heart clenched a little bit in her chest. Was he really old enough to be interested in girls already? Maybe she could snag some fairy dust and make him small and cute and innocent forever. She was sure that was a thing.
"Yeah. We like the same comics." He shrugged noncommittally as Ruby deposited their usual- hot chocolate and burgers for both- on the table before them.
"Just promise me you won't start dating until you're eighteen. Twenty. Forty. You're not aloud to date until you're forty."
Henry's little face scrunched up adorably with disgust. "Eeew I don't wanna date her. She's just cool is all."
"You say that now." Emma sighed, flicking a fry across the table at him. His giggle warmed her in ways she never could have imagined when she'd given up.
Fairy dust. Had to be a thing.
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Henry kept the charm in his pocket, reaching for it at intervals to trace his fingers over the heavy weight of it. When the weekend came and he was handed over to his mother, who groused at Emma for being relegated to "weekend dad", he still hadn't arrived at a firm decision.
They sat silent across from one another through dinner, macaroni and cheese which she hated but he loved, silent and awkward. Every time he looked up she was watching him, dark eyes impossible to read as her fork scraped across the food she hadn't touched and she was thinner, he realized than could possible be healthy. Dark circles bruised her eyes and really, she wasn't living at all, was she? Trapped in an empty house alone day after day, not even work to keep her busy.
Henry set his cutlery aside suddenly, face pinched as he asked in a voice that sounded small to his own ears, "Mom, are you happy?"
"I'm with you, dear. Of course I'm happy."
Her eyes lit up then but her smile was tight and sad and Henry's heart ached.
'It'll make all the bad stuff go away.'
Maybe people would like her, if the evil was gone. She wouldn't hate anyone and she could go outside and be a person again instead of just a shadow.
He did it while she was in the shower, careful to rearrange the pillow exactly as it had been once the charm had been slid into place. There was no hum, no trill of magic but he trusted it would work as promised. He smoothed the pillow case's silken surface, nodding to himself.
If it could somehow bleed the evil from her heart maybe she could be happy again.
