It's been a weird day for Henry Mills. And that's saying something.
He's the son of the Evil Queen, the Savior; grandson of Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumplestiltskin, and the Queen of Hearts; nephew of the Wicked Witch; and lives in a town full of fairy tale characters. There's a magical mishap weekly, but this takes the cake.
Henry decided to take the long way home from school today. He wanted to walk by the docks, the sound of the ocean waves hitting the rocks always soothed him. His mom used to bring him here when he was young. She always told him it was a good place to think. He needed that right now. His moms were fighting again and he didn't know what to do. They're friends; of course he knows that they're friends and they would do anything for him but he hates when they have these spats and don't talk for a few days.
He needed to think of a way to get them to talk again so the shoreline was where he needed to be.
His shoes scuffed against the sidewalk and he trudged toward one of the benches. That's when he heard it, a whimper. His ears perked and he lifted his head, scanning the area. Where did that come from? He begins to look around and sees something, or rather someone, sitting on the rocks, feet brushing against the surface of the water. He subconsciously adjusts his coat closer to him as the bitter spring wind bites against his cheeks. Slowly, he moves closer to this person against the rocks. He notices her long brown hair making its way down her back; she's wearing what look like leggings that are somehow not wet while the bottoms brush against the water. Magic? He wonders to himself as he moves closer. Now he can see the goosebumps spread across her arms and back. "Um excuse me?" he asks softly, hoping not to startle the woman.
She turns, eyes wide, but says nothing.
Henry can see she's young. Just a bit older than he is. He wonders why he's never seen her before. Even if the kids go to the high school, he still knows them; Storybrooke is a small town. But he's never seen her before. "Are you alright?" he asks, moving closer to her.
"I-" she pauses and looks back to the water, confusion etched across her face, "I'm not sure," she says, puzzled.
"Who are you?" he asks as he looks at her.
She looks down at her knees before turning her attention back to him, "I don't know," she whispers.
Amnesia isn't uncommon in Storybrooke. People get confused a lot. And randomly people have turned up without remembering anything. Although, that usually occurs when they try to cross the town line, but this girl was at the docks. He's never heard of anyone making it that far. And for no one to have stopped her. This was definitely weird. He offers her a smile anyway, "That's alright, why don't we get you out of the cold while we figure it out?"
The girl looks unsure but eventually smiles and stands from her spot on the rocks. She has no shoes on but she looks unbothered by that fact. Things are getting stranger and stranger, Henry thinks as he offers her his coat and leads her toward Granny's.
They make it to Granny's and he shows her to his usual booth. Red and Granny immediately bring them steaming hot chocolates and berate them both for walking in the chill without coats and missing shoes! This causes Henry to smile and apologize while the unknown girl simply hides her face beneath her hair, offering a quiet "thank you" but staying silent. Red gives him a confused look that he shrugs off and whispers, "Lost and confused" which is enough for her. She turns and goes back to cleaning the counters.
It's silent in the diner, save for Granny and Red murmuring from the kitchen and Henry's one-sided conversation. He tries to get her to remember anything: her name, where she's from, if she has any friends here, any shoes, does she like hot chocolate? But nothing triggers a memory. She's a blank slate. He successfully shot off a text to his mom and his grandma saying that a confused stranger was found at the docks and he was sitting with them at Granny's trying to find out who she was.
The door to the diner opened and in swept his brunette mother who smiles as soon as she sees her son. "Hello dear," she greets before turning her head to the brunette girl across from him. She can't see her face but tries anyway.
"Hey Mom," Henry responds as he turns back to his new friend. "This is….well, we don't really know her name yet, but this is my mom, Regina," he explains, "She's the mayor here," he boasts proudly.
Regina smiles at her son but freezes when the young brunette turns her face toward her. A fireball glows in her hand, "What are you doing here?" she spits.
"MOM?!" Henry screams. The brunette across from him scoots against the wall, pure terror on her face.
"Henry, get back. She's dangerous."
"Mom! She's a confused traveler from the outside world! She doesn't even know her name!"
Regina scoffs, "She's a liar, Henry. She has a dangerous agenda."
Henry is able to get out of the booth and stands between his mom and his new (and terrified) friend. "Mom, you're not listening! She has no memory! I found her by the docks."
"Henry," she says, her voice softer, "This is not some wayward traveler that came over the town line. This is a vicious, lying, vengeful murderer. If she's here, it means something terrible is coming. And it's her."
Henry turns and looks at the terrified girl behind him. "Yeah, mom," he says with a scoff, "She looks terrifying and not scared at her wits end." He looks back at his brunette mother, "Mom," he sighs, "please stop and just listen to me!" By the end of his sentence he's shouting again.
The door swings open, "Henry?" his grandmother asks as she rushes into the diner. She pauses when she sees flames alight in Regina's hand and at the terrified brunette behind Henry. "What's going on?" she asks slowly.
"Mom was just about done overreacting," Henry says with sharp eyes.
"Henry," Regina warns, "Move away from her. She's dangerous and you need to move away."
"No. She's scared. And she's alone. Well, guess what? Not anymore. She's here with me. And I will protect her. Because she's an innocent, Mom, and she deserves my protection. She deserves our protection." He doesn't know where this protective instinct came from, but he knows he wants - no, he needs - to help this girl. He sits down next to her, completely ignoring his mothers. "Are you alright?" he asks softly.
The girl looks between the women and the boy in front of her. "What is that?" she whispers, looking at the flames still in Regina's palm. "Is that….is that magic?" she asks, unsure.
He offers a small smile and a snort, "Yes, this is….a special town, I guess you could say."
"Special?" she asks incredulously. "This is insanity!"
"She's playing you, Henry. She's a liar, She's lying to you right now. She knows all about magic. She possesses strong magic herself."
"Listen lady, I haven't the foggiest idea who you are or what you're talking about," the young brunette promises, "I just wanna go home," she says softly, looking down at her lap. She scoffs at herself, "I don't even know where that is. But I know it's not here." Tears fill her eyes, "Can't you just send me home?" She looks to Regina, "You pretend to know me. You say you know someone with my face. Can you take me back to where I came from? Can you give me back my memories?"
The flames in Regina's palms die out and she sighs, running her hands through her hair, "You really have no idea who you are?" The brunette shakes her head. "Your name is Narissa. Queen of Andalasia."
Narissa's nose screws up in disgust. From behind Regina, Red shouts, "I knew she looked familiar! I've heard stories about you from Snow!" She turns to her friend who stares in disbelief.
Snow moves closer to the young brunette to get a better look at her face, "It is you," she whispers in astonishment. "I thought- well, I suppose I just assumed-"
After a silence, Narissa says, "Assumed what?"
There's no answer. Instead Snow asks, "You really don't remember anything?" When the girl shakes her head, she plops herself down across from her grandson and the girl. "Well, Regina, I suppose we should tell her some things she should know before leaving this diner."