Afternoon on the 29th of October, Halloween was well on its way, it was tangible in everything from the decor (Storybrooke was bedecked with laughable paper ghouls and amber leaves) to the smells which drifted around the town (the scent of warm apple cider and sweet pumpkin pie floated through the windows of Granny's Diner)
All was not so pleasant, or idylic as appearances would have you believe however.
The Swan-Jones house was surprisingly lacking in the mood of the season. Unlike the other houses the windows were barren, filled only with the usual flowers, and the dining room table was topped only with paper and pens as opposed to pre-jackolantern pumpkins. Upstairs was similarly bereft of Autumnal atmosphere, there wasn't even an apple scented soap in the bathroom.
As soon as she got home from school Edythe Jones rushed to her room and threw open her Closet. What met her eye was pretty and familiar but there was something missing. A gap the size of an outfit was glaringly obvious between the Pastle Pink summer dress her Grandmother Snow had gifted her and her her favourite pair of dungerees. Looking frantic she plunged her hands in gripped the rail and shook, hoping, just maybe, what she wanted would magically fall like some mystical fruit. When nothing did she let out a piercing scream, not even stopping when Pongo, the dog down the road starting howling along with her.
It only took a few moments of this racket for her parents to come flying up the stairs. Emma's heart hammered all the way, fearing something terribly wrong. When she reached the landing and peered through the door to her daughter she breathed a sigh of exasperated relief. "It's okay Killian" she called over her shoulder as her husband, noting the sudden drop in volume, dragged himself up the stairs reluctantly. He was half expecting to be told to go away again "Everything's fine..." she peeked through the door again just to be sure "I think."
Indeed what met her eye was not as dangerous as she had first expected, there was no giant spider clambering out from underneath Edythe's bed ready to devour her, nor was there a neon green portal threatening to suck her into another world. There merely seemed to be something bothering her about her clothes. Emma crept towards the door and tentatively pushed, expecting there to be t-shirts and dresses, leggings and shorts to be littering the floor. When the door didn't seem to resist she pushed it open fully and glared at her daughter. Edythe had tears in her eyes and a frown like thunder but mercifully the screaming had stopped now. It was replaced with tearful quiet.
Emma broke the silence "Monsters in your closet Edie?" she asked creeping toward Edythe to offer some comfort. "If Killian's been telling you those stupid Peter Pan stories you should tell him you don't like them"
Killian, who had now reached the room as well, coughed in dismissal "why the bloody hell would I tell her anything about that brat? I've spent my whole bloody life here trying to forget what he's done to me"
Emma who had turned to listen to her husband looked quizically at her daughter "then why-?" in response Edythe pulled at her sleeve pointed at her closet again which hung open like the gaping maw of some wild animal. "I've got no costume" she stated simply, taking her gaze to the floor. As if expecting one to simply pop up like water from a spring.
"Halloween! Of course!" Emma groaned, slapping herself on the forehead "How could I forget?"
"Perhaps," came Killian's voice from the door frame as he stood brushing his fingers through his messy hair "it's because we've been so busy with other things"
He was thinking of not only the trouble they'd had that last week, with another beanstalk ripping right through the town line, and the none-too pleased giant who descended it, but also of the equally massive pile of homework that Storybrooke Elementary handed out. He had glared the book report worksheet for hours, completely perplexed by some of the questions. Especially the one which asked the Child what they'd do if they ever met Captain Hook.
In the end he had prodded and poked Edythe making her write "I'd give him a hug. Because I do know the real one" She'd even drawn a tiny heart beside it with the word daddy etched across the middle.
Emma looked around the room at her family and sighed, her shoulder's heaving as the wish for an early and simple evening was crushed into a ball and thrown into the trash "yeah well we're not too busy now. I guess we could go to the store and pick something out" Edythe's eyes lit up then she ran off shrieking "Batwomaaaan! I'm gonna be batwomaaan!"
Emma smiled but somewhere inside, perhaps from her earlier life in Boston, knew that Batwoman was indeed a thing. But was called Batgirl. She didn't believe in correcting this simple mistake though. Especially when it was such a detriment to her. She knew how powerful beliefs and dreams could be
Left alone with Killian she nodded toward the door "Could you drive? I'm exhausted"
He nodded and smirked "Sure thing Swan."
The three piled into the yellow Beetle, Emma and Killian in the Passenger and Driver's seat respectively. Edythe bounced in the back, still humming the name of her favourite superhero. Killian, speaking, almost shouting over Edythe's excitement said "this thing came around quickly again"
"Yeah" Emma yawned, "Hey, remember last year? The candy war?"
"When Henry and Edythe threw the sweets they didn't want at each other. Yeah swan I remember"
What the two refused to acknowledge in front of their offspring was that they'd eaten all the chocolates that ended up orphaned on the floor. They'd told them both off for leaving it and then further reprimanded them by leaving empty wrappers all over and telling them that rats had eaten them.
"And now we've got bloody bilge rats in our house" Killian had said, particularly proud of his nautical vocabulary which usually made people groan when he used it off the Jolly Roger. Reminiscing the two fell into a silence, then Edythe screamed "THE STORE!" making them both jump. Killian turned the car sharply into the parking lot and slammed hard on the breaks.
It barely took five minutes for them to get where they needed to be. The maze-like layout of shelves, piled high with colourful boxes and packages of all kinds of products, not putting Edythe off for a minute.
There was an oof as she bumped into something.
"Hello Edythe!" came a pleasant if slightly crusty voice. Granny Lucas who was lugging a hand cart chock full of baking ingredients looked up to see the rest of the family "AND the rest of the Swan-Jones clan! How are you! I've not seen you in the diner for a while. We're serving pumpkin pie and ice-cream made with my own special recipe right now. I'm sure you'd love it"
Emma nodded, grabbing her daughter by the shoulders and wheeling her around to be silently told off with a wag of the finger. "I'm sure we would Granny Lucas. But we've not been into the diner for a while because of the whole... beanstalk situation "
"Yeah" Edythe spat "and all that dumb homework"
Granny let out a laugh like a bubbling pot of stew then yawned widely. "It sure has been a busy few weeks. Ruby and Dorothy are coming over tomorrow as well, for a whole week, so I thought I'd bake them something..." she said pointing to the basket nearly overflowing with flour and eggs. Then she lit up as if she had a lightbulb flash above her head "I know! What about a cake... a red velvet cake? With emerald icing that says 'there's no place like home' Oh I could even make a pair of wee slippers out of that shiny marzipan and Ruby's wolf of course"
As Granny continued to blab about her dreams of baking Edythe sneaked behind her parents and stalked off into the depths of the store. Quietly relieved to be away from the grown ups boring, and unimportant conversation. She found the Halloween isle all by herself. It was however, much like her closet slightly bereft of costumes that she really, truly wanted to wear. There was definitely no batwoman. She stormed up and down the isle in disbelief thinking she must have been missing something, brushing past cotton wool cobwebs and not so sinister skeletons for what felt like hours until the frustration made her eyes fill.
In the end she sat by a dancing skeleton doll and began to cry. Once her parents had broken away from Granny they found her there, still, her face blotchy and red.
It didn't take them long to find out the costume situation. So Killian reached out for her.
"It's all right Kiddo" he said, pulling her to her feet "I've got an idea"
"Okay" Killian said, once they were back in the house and standing in the living room in front of the mirror. "Close your eyes."
Edythe did, but frowned, confused at exactly why. When she did she felt her father moving around her, his eyes carefully making measurements or something. Then he pulled at her arms. "Okay. Lift them up"
She did and what felt like some sort of bag was thrust over her head, then there was a strange little pop as it came back out of the top of the thing. A few seconds later something heavy landed on her head, making her shy away a little. But her father held her fast and whispered "It's all right you're nearly there." then he let go. "Now open your eyes.
she did and gasped. What met her eyes was a girl garbed in a shirt which would ordinarily have been too long but that was now hemmed with beautiful white lace. And on top of her head rested a slightly too large tri-corn hat, black but fringed with yellow. Even in her delight she could see her father smiling at her at the corner of her eye.
"You're a little pirate princess" he grinned.