I did this once before but ended up deleting it.
Belle's hair was long and matted, her dress a dirty grey rag. She looked out the barred window of her cell. Purple smoke was consuming the land, moving quickly towards the Evil Queen's castle. Belle doubted that any could escape it. A tear ran down her face.
"Huntsman?" Her voice was hoarse from years of barely speaking. She had heard his footsteps outside her door earlier and knew that he was there for her, for her last moments. There was no reason to guard her now. Surely he couldn't have missed what was coming towards the castle.
"Belle." He said her name softly. If he still had a heart, he would have cried along with her.
"I don't blame you. Whatever she made you do. You have a kind heart, I can feel it." The Huntsman had used to bring her books and candlelight to read by. Sometimes scraps of paper to write on. It wasn't often, there was only so much that she could fit and hide in her cell.
The Huntsman wanted to scoff, he had no heart at all let alone a kind one. He watched her through the window of the cell door instead."Thank you."
The smoke reached the castle and Belle was flung back. The sounds of shattered glass echoed in her ears.
Lacey French was taking books from a cart and putting them on the shelves. She picked up a large book and looked it over. The cover read Once Upon A Time. She flipped through the book but couldn't find an author or any kind of credit.
Lacey went to the computer and checked the database, and then searched the net. There was no mention of it anywhere. She would have put it in the lost and found bin but something told her to keep it. Lacey smiled, thinking that she knew exactly who needed the book.
At recess Lacey found Henry sitting by himself with his head down staring at the table. "Hello Henry."
Henry looked up at her. "Miss French."
"I have something for you." Lacey got the book out of her bag and set it on the table. "I found it while shelving books today. It's the oddest thing, the book doesn't seem to exist as far as records are concerned."
"Thank you." Henry picked up the book.
"It's not a problem. Stories can really help us when we feel lonely. Give us hope."
Ashley was always pregnant and never gave birth. He was the only one who ever moved up a grade and the only one who ever aged. He had thought he was going crazy, that there must be something wrong with him. Now all the pieces were sliding into place and it was thanks to the book. The realization was both freeing and terrifying.
He can't look at his mom the same way ever again.
He felt bad about taking Miss French's credit card but she would understand why soon enough. Henry stood on his toes to ring the doorbell. The woman from the bus answered the door. He had never expected to met her twice. He considered that he could have saved himself some of the trip but decided that she would have more likely brushed him off.
"Uh? Can I help you?"
"Are you Emma Swan?"
"Yeah. Who are you?"
"My name's Henry. I'm your son." He pushed past her into the apartment, not giving her a chance to protest.
Henry wished that Archie hadn't given Emma his address. They could have slept in her yellow bug or maybe Granny would have taken pity on them. He threw his bag onto the floor and flopped onto his bed. Soon he heard someone coming up the stairs. Graham opened the door and closed it after he entered Henry's room.
Graham walked over to Henry's bed and once there crouched down on his knees. "Henry?"
"Yes?" he mumbled against his pillow.
"You really worried has us worried. Anything could have happened to you."
Henry didn't miss that Graham said us. You should have just said I. She doesn't care about me, she's evil. After some silence Henry got the feeling that Graham was waiting for him to say something. Henry lifted his head up to look at Graham. He couldn't help feeling guilty when he realized how tired Graham looked.
"She has to be here, she's important."
Graham's smile was soft. "I'm sure she is."
Henry lied back down and faced the ceiling. He stifled a yawn, not wanting to fall asleep before he could see Emma leave. "I didn't mean to worry you. Everything's going to change soon, we'll have hope."
"There's always hope Henry." Graham stood up. "Get some sleep."
"Good night."
Graham closed the door softly behind him when he left. After assuring Regina that Henry was fine he waited outside to see Emma off. Even after she drove off, he hoped Emma would change her mind. More than Henry needing her, having her in town felt right somehow.
The Evil Queen's castle was in chaos. Many of Regina's men were fleeing, trampling over each other as they went. The curse came without warning, devouring the land as it spread. Some hide in the underground of the castle where the cells where, not that it would do any good. There was no hiding from or out running this.
Her vault of hearts was likely unguarded but there was no way the Huntsman would remember which box his was in, especially not with so little time to spare. He ran up the stairs to Belle's tower instead. He could set her free if only for a moment. At the very least he could apologize to someone he wronged while under Regina's control.
Emma was driving out of Storybrooke when she looked at the passenger seat and saw Henry's book. She smiled. "Sneaky bastard."
A wolf was in front of her car when she looked back. She swerved, hitting the entrance sign instead and blacking out.
Emma awoke to whistling. She looked over to the cell next to hers. A short scruffy looking man with a beard was whistling. Outside the cells a man was repairing a cabinet.
"What are you looking at, sister?"
"Hey, Leroy—manners!" the man said. "We have a guest!" Emma stood up and walked towards the bars, her footing felt unsteady. "So you are eh, Henry's mother. How lovely for him to have you back in his life." Emma touched her forehead, her head was throbbing. She tried not to think about the other time she had been thrown into jail.
"Actually, I was just dropping him off." Her comment lead to a short argument between the men. Then Sheriff Graham came to let Leroy out.
"Seriously?" Emma had her face pressed against the bars, her arms rested outside the bars. Of course the Sheriff didn't believe her about the wolf. She wondered if there was a zoo here, anywhere the wolf could have escaped from. Then Regina came in looking for Henry and Graham not believing her about the wolf, no longer mattered to her.
Regina, Emma and Graham were in Henry's room. Emma was going through Henry's computer. Graham next to her and Regina watched them.
"Smart kid," Emma said. As much as she disapproved she was impressed. Most kids wouldn't have thought things through that much, some criminals wouldn't have. "Cleared his inbox. I'm smart too, a little hard disk recovery utility I like to use."
"I'm a bit more old-fashioned, in my techniques," Graham said. "Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing."
Of course you are, Emma thought. He looked old fashioned, the whole town did really. Like something out of time, maybe that had started Henry thinking time was frozen here.
"You're on salary," she reminded him. "I get paid for delivery. Pounding pavement is not a luxury that I get. Ah, there's a receipt for a website, —it's expensive. He has a credit card?"
"He's ten," Regina said.
"Well, he used one. Let's pull up a transaction record. Lacey French, who's Lacey French?"
"The town librarian and Henry's school teacher," Regina said.
Lacey stood in front of a classroom of young kids. The desks are put together in pairs of four and each kid has a bird house and paint supplies on their desk. Her hair was in a loose bun, she wore a pink cardigan, jeans and worn in sneakers. She wore a large blue handbag.
"It's important to remember that we're not keeping the birds caged," she said. "If you love them you'll let them be free. And they love you they will come back to you." The bell rang. "We'll pick this up after recess. No running!" A student handed her a pear before leaving. "Thank you." She put the pear in the front pocket of her handbag.
Regina shoved her way through the students leaving. Emma trailed in after her.
"Miss Mills?" Lacey asked. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Where's my son?" Regina demanded. Emma kept at the back, keeping a close eye on Lacey.
"When he didn't show up to class I assumed he was home sick with you." Lacey put her hand on her chest. "I can check the library."
She walked towards the door and Regina held out her arm to stop her. "Did you give him your credit card to find her?"
Lacey had barely noticed the woman when she first came in, too concerned with Regina. "Sorry but who are you?"
"I'm his... his," Emma stammered.
"The woman who gave him up for adoption," Regina said, glaring daggers. "If your hiding him remember that I can get that library shut down faster than-"
Emma pushed Regina's arm away. "You don't know anything about this do you?"
"Nothing," Lacey said. She went through her handbag and got out her wallet, Emma was sure that she saw a book in there. She looked through her wallet and realized her credit card was gone. "Clever boy. Maybe that book was a bad idea."
"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Lacey jumped at Regina's tone.
"Just fairy-tales. Henry is so smart and creative, and lonely. He needed some adventure." Lacey cleared her throat. "In the literature form."
"What he needs is a dose of reality," Regina said. "This is a waste of time. I already checked the library."
"That would have been nice to know before we came here," Emma said. Regina turned and pushed past Emma, knocking over a pile of books as she left. Lacey rushed to pick the books up.
She looked back at Emma. "Have a nice trip back to Boston." Then she was off.
"Sorry to bother you," Emma said. She walked over, knelled down and picked up a book. "You're..err, really passionate about books. How was a storybook supposed to help?"
"Fairy-tales are classics are a reason. We need a way to deal with a world that doesn't always make sense. We can adventures and get to know characters when there's no one else. Henry hasn't had an easy life."
"Yeah, she's kind of a hard-ass." Emma smiled, she wished the librarians she had known as a kid had possessed Lacey's unbridled enthusiasm. Hell under different circumstances she wouldn't mind taking Lacey out for a drink.
"It's more than her." Lacey put the books back onto the desk, Emma handed her the book she had picked up. "He's like any adopted child, wondering why anybody would ever give him away." Belle's eyes widened and she put her hand over her mouth. "Oh, I'm so sorry! I'm sure you had your reasons. I don't mean to judge you."
"It's okay." I was dumb enough to get arrested. To trust someone.
"I gave Henry that book to give him hope in a happy ending. We should all have that."
Emma's eyes widened."You know where he is, don't you?"
"Check his castle."
After finding Henry and her conversation with Regina, Emma was exhausted. She headed over to Granny's Bed and Breakfast. When she got there an old lady who she assumed was Granny, was arguing with a younger woman.
"Excuse me? I'd like a room."
"Really?" Granny asked. Emma nodded and Granny got the ledger out. How rare were visitors if her wanting to stay was a surprise? "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally, there's an upgrade fee for the square but, as friends do, I'll wave it."
"Square is fine."
"Now, what's the name?"
"Swan, Emma Swan."
An old man entered the inn and stood behind Emma but she didn't notice him right away. "Emma. What a lovely name."
"Thanks." Emma looked back at him.
Granny held out a roll of bills. "It's all here."
He reached out and took the money. "Yes, yes, of course it is, dear. Thank you." He looked back to Emma. "You enjoy your stay…Emma." He said her name like he was testing the sound of it. They watched him leave.
Meanwhile Lacey was locking up the library, having no idea that Rumpelstiltskin was thinking of her. Henry was in his room, looking out his window at the town clock. Emma took a room key, the clock started moving and Henry smiled.