I do not own anything! Enjoy!

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Emma sat in the yellow chair in their living room. She smiled as she opened the memory book. Inside was a dream catcher, pictures of their first car together, given the circumstances were not the best it was still theirs and in her heart she will never regret her past, because after all it was how she met him. Him. His hair so messy. His eyes so sweet and tender. His smile brought life to all around. His laugh made her heart leap inside of her. She loved her Neal. He was her true love. She smiled as she slowly flipped the pages. She landed on another cherished moment for them. First haircut. First picture with daddy. First picture with mommy. A picture of the three of them all together. The picture of them with the yellow bug. The post it note of their promise to Henry. To never be thieves again, for him. To right their wrongs. To settle down and be a family, for Henry. She smiled and continued to go through the book. The next page listed some of his favorites; favorite show, batman and robin. Favorite movie, Harry Potter. Favorite food, grilled cheese. Favorite drink, hot cocoa with cinnamon. Favorite season, Spring. Favorite activity, Exploring. Favorite book, Peter Pan.

She grinned again. She looked around the house, not too long ago it still was pretty empty. It had had boxes all over the place. She reminisced back to when they had just bought this place. Small, big enough for their family. One extra room. They had plans for that room, yet they still had to work out all the paperwork. The walls were yellow and that was one of the things Emma loved the most about it. Even though they sold the yellow bug, representing the end to their wild days together, they still kept as many symbols around that they could. All in yellow. It would make them smile on the rainy days. She remembered looking at all the boxes and reaching down for the one that said photos. She reached down to collect the pictures in her hands and stood to begin placing them on the walls. She remembered that day, it was particularly cool that day. It had been raining on and off. She remembered Henry ran in right as she hung the first picture. She remembered their conversation perfectly.

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"Mom! Maine is cooler than Tallahasse! Why did we move here again?" Henry ran into the house and shut the screen door behind him. He stood on his tippy toes and kissed Emma on the cheek.

"Henry, you ask that all the time, but you know the answer. We moved for your father's job. Now, don't be so negative! Start looking for the good things, we are so blessed. We have many things to be thankful for." Emma said as she hung the frame on the wall just right. Their sweet family of three by the Christmas tree four years prior.

They had lived happily in Tallahassee until Henry was ten. Then Neal had a new job offer. One in Maine. He worked for a graphic design company. The new job needed a manager and the boss wanted Neal for the job. In which, he accepted. Anytime they encountered change, expected or unexpected, Neal always just said, "Well, Babe, it's a new chapter." He would smile and kiss her cheek. Sometimes, Emma would be so irritated. Not in the mood for his jokes about the serious decisions, but she loved him for it, she so did.

"Yeah, yeah mom. I got it. I do love you. Now, hey can you come show me where the goldfish are? I'm hungry." Henry's voice rang from the kitchen.

Emma laughed, "Haha ya, kid. One moment, please!" She walked into the kitchen and began opening the boxes that were labeled kitchen.

She remembered not hearing him come in but sure enough, Neal had walked in through the front screen door. It had been a long but perfect second day at his new job. He stepped into the living room and smiled at the walls, yellow, as well as the black and white pictures that hung on the wall of him and his family. His perfect little family. He was so blessed. He entered the kitchen and dropped his briefcase!

"Hun, I'm home!" Emma turned around and smiled so big and gave him a big hug.

She whispered something in his ear so quietly no one could really hear but it made his smile widen even more than before.

He pulled back from her and nodded, "Really? Yes!" He picked Emma up and swung her around!

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Emma looked up at the photos on the wall and smiled as a tear formed in her eye. That day was a year ago to date. She was sitting in the yellow chair in her black dress, it had just passed 4pm. The funeral ended that morning around 10am. She decided once again not to dwell on the rainy days but looked back across the room and a picture that hung above their fireplace. She smiled again as a tear escaped and flew down her face. She walked over to the picture and hugged the memory book around her. It was a picture of all of them at the beach, with their newest edition. A week after that conversation in the kitchen they were signing the papers at the AAAA (August Association Adoption Agency). They had a new family member. Hollis was an orphan that struck a chord with Emma. Emma could relate, as she was raised through the foster system, she was found on the streets when she was only a baby, just like Emma. Hollis reminded her of her at 11 and she couldn't just abandon her. She had talked to Neal about adopting her and Neal agreed. It was a little odd to be adopting a child that was a year older than their own child but Henry said he didn't mind and that having a sibling would be the coolest thing ever. So they signed the papers. Hollis became Hollis Cassidy. Henry and Hollis got along pretty well. They had taken a beach trip and they all had so much fun building sandcastles and creating memories. The kids found star fish and Neal even got stung by a jellyfish. Of course, that wasn't a highlight of the trip however Neal always was able to find humor in anything, even in his own pain. She wished she could do the same, but after losing the love of her life only days before she had trouble finding joy. If it wasn't for the kids and the yellow walls...she knew she would be an even bigger mess than she currently was. As she continued to stand in the living room. The kids were upstairs. Henry in his own room, crying. As Hollis was leaning on her window sill in her own room. Hollis loved Emma and Neal and opened up to them really well with only a few restraints. She always couldn't help but want to know. Want to know who she came from. She knew the city name that she was found in. It was right here in Maine, and sure that was actually really helpful. But she wanted to know, who. Who gave her away? She wanted to know her roots. Hollis had a nice tan complexion. She had dark red hair and deep green eyes. She had just turned 12. She figured it was time. Especially now that she had lost her father. Her adoptive father, but nevertheless the father that wanted and cared for her. She wanted to go find them. Sure, this came on suddenly but even if Hollis didn't realize it, it was her grief...her grief that drove her to go find her purpose and her value. She knew she needed to leave. She didn't want to hurt Henry and Emma any more than they had been hurting already and so she packed a bag, made a bed sheets rope and threw it out the window, she left a note telling them she was off to find her biological family and that she was off to Storybrooke, Maine. She told them the location because she cares for them. She does. But she doesn't want the fact that she is leaving to be a fight. Especially right now, so she leaves Emma a note on where to find her, if that is Emma wants to find her. Hollis knew she was taking a risk but she had to find out more, someone had to know something about her and where she came from. She headed down the back of the house and took off, for Storybrooke.

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How did you like that? This is my first Once Upon A Time story and I am so excited for it. I have to dedicate it to my nanny child who watches it with me. She helped me expand on my ideas for this story and helped me make a timeline for it. She helped brainstorm and really lead to some AMAZING story ideas! I have never seen this be done in a story, (aka where I am taking the story) and that is really exciting to me. I feel like especially OUAT stories, they are so complex...already and then trying to fanfic on top of them, it can be hard! So here we go ya'll, are you ready? This is going to be an intense one, with cliffhangers and all sorts of juicy secrets. I try to stick to the major details, however some things are a little different, if you have any questions please just ask! There will be pairings along the way! Obviously, Swanfire undertones (which is hard because i was never a big fan of them), down the road we will see Captain Swan develop a tad and some others. Already planning on a sequel as well. I want to hear your comments and theories you have throughout so please review!

xoxo I hope you like it! - Bluetights