Chapter 1: A Birthday

Flanders, Belgium; Two Days Ago

Because of the searing summer heat, the streets of Flanders were less crowded than they should have been. The occasional car zipped by; bikers and pedestrians being few and far between. The fruit stands and flower sellers were exhausted, and the heat had clearly taken toll on their produce.

So it wasn't a surprise when nobody noticed a teenage girl sitting by herself on a park bench, soaking in the sunlight. Her golden hair glowed like an angel's halo, and even her pale skin seemed to be illuminated. Even in her simple blue and white frock, there was something beautiful about her that simply couldn't be ignored.

As she hummed contently, her fingers enclosed on her necklace. It had become habit by now; she didn't even need to think about the way her fingers closed in and out around the ruby-red pendant. To any passerby, she would have appeared perfectly normal; carefree and happy.

The one that passed by her, however, knew better than that. She walked behind the bench first, and the girl remained unaware of her presence. Not discouraged, she remained silent, trying to find a way to walk around the bench. This woman knew very well the surprise of seeing an unwelcome face from one's past unexpectedly, and here she hoped to see the look on her young prey's face.

She didn't need to, however, because the second she walked around, the girl gasped. "You!" She cried, her eyes wide. The woman grinned ear to ear, sitting down next to her.

"Yes, darling," She cooed, reaching over and stroking her cheek with one perfectly manicured finger. "It really is a pleasure to see your face again." She knew very well the effect she was having on the girl; she had made many unfortunate souls wither the way she appeared to be.

"You- you're not r-real…!" She stammered; her shaking hands trying to push the woman away. "You can't be! You died!"

"Did I?" The woman asked. Before her victim could reply, however, she took out a sachet of purple dust and blew it into her face. As quickly as the surprise had come, it was gone; and, losing all consciousness, she fell forward. The woman caught her barely before she hit the hard wooden bench, and, seeing her peaceful expression, chuckled to herself.

"I'm going to enjoy coming back," She whispered, the glee obvious. And then, in a vivid boysenberry-colored cloud, they were gone.

Storybrooke, Maine; Present Day

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Henry, happy birthday to you!" Cheers could be heard from the dining room of the Storybrooke Mayor's house as the room ended their song. The birthday boy grinned, thanking everybody and eyeing the cake along with its blown out 1 and 6 candles.

"So Henry, how does it feel to finally be sixteen?" Doctor Hopper asked, shaking the boy's shoulders in a friendly manner.

"No different from when I was fifteen," he admitted, making several people laugh.

"Can we have the cake already?" Leroy's gruff voice called out. This emitted some more laughter, along with murmurs of agreement. Opening presents and going around receiving well wishes had taken long enough, and even though the dinner Snow and Charming had cooked was delicious, guests were starting to get hungry.

As Mary Margaret chuckled and began cutting the layered chocolate cake, Regina made her way towards Emma. "It's nice to see him growing up like this, isn't it?" She asked, her voice soft. Emma tilted her head so she was looking into the other woman's eyes, and nodded.

"I can't wait to see the look on his face when he sees what we got him." Since it was Henry's sixteenth birthday, both his mothers had decided to pool and buy him the present every sixteen year old wished for: a car. He hadn't been able to see it yet; they had agreed to wait until the party was over.

"Mom, you should try some cake," Henry himself appeared next to Emma, holding a plate of chocolate cake in either hand. "It's delicious."

"Why, thank you, young man!" Granny, the woman who had baked it, exclaimed, playfully ruffling his hair. They then began to converse, leaving Emma to finish the cake by herself. As she ate the last of it, she realized two things:

The first being that their life in Storybrooke had, one way or another, settled down and, save for the fact that everybody in town had Enchanted Forest personas, they were fairly normal; and the second being that her son would grow taller than her anyday now. Her eyes glazed over, and she found herself staring off into his direction.

"Nice party, huh?" Emma's thoughts were interrupted by Mary Margaret, who had made her way over to the corner and was resting her chin on her daughter's shoulder. Emma simply nodded. "Henry looks happy," Mary Margaret added, motioning towards the laughing boy.

"Yes, he does." Emma agreed. She paused, and then said softly, "He is happy. We all are."

"Indeed," David agreed, standing next to his wife, picking at his chocolate cake. "Now tell us: What did you and Regina get for the kid?"

Emma grinned to herself. She hadn't told anybody except for Hook of her plans to buy her son a car. The residents of Storybrooke weren't exactly good with secrets. "You'll just have to wait and see," she replied breezily, and made her way to chat with Ruby and Whale, who, like everybody else at the party, looked like they were enjoying themselves tremendously.

And so the night went on, with Henry making his way around the room full of people, telling each and every one how grateful he was to be able to celebrate his birthday with them and for the gifts they brought him. Only when the last guest had walked out Regina's oak doors did either of his mothers mention their joint present.

"So, Henry," Emma began, exchanging a quick glance with Hook as she walked over to her son, "Me and Regina decided it was a good idea to give you a… collective present."

"What do you mean?" He asked, looking from Emma to Regina. Hope and curiosity glinted in his warm brown eyes.

"You'll see." Regina replied, taking him by the shoulders and leading him towards the doors. "It was a little big, so we've kept it in the back driveway."

The minute he heard that, the boy smiled. He was surprised he hadn't guessed it earlier: it was so like his mothers to get him his car the moment he was old enough to learn to drive. "Thank you!" He exclaimed, opening the door and sprinting out.

Mary Margaret, David, and Robin seemed to realize what it was too, for the second he was out they began jokingly complaining about how their gift overshadowed any of the ones that were brought to the party.

The night was beautiful; speckled with sparkling stars and the passing cool breeze. Henry couldn't help but feel peaceful as he walked around his mother's mansion to get to the back driveway.

As he passed her storehouse, which was an extension to the garage, he thought he heard something. He dismissed it; thinking it must have been a rat. When he heard it again, however, he decided to call out: "Hello?" His voice was more intrigued than frightened. The storehouse door rattled again, and Henry realized there was something inside of it.

His heart began hammering as he made his way towards it. "Please stand back," He instructed, and picked up the plank of wood his mother sometimes used to break in when the locks didn't work. He positioned it in the crack between the two doors, and, taking a deep breath, pushed his body weight against it. Nothing budged. After two more thrusts, the doors gave way and opened.

Suddenly, somebody fell forward. Henry was barely able to catch her, and, confused, looked from her to the darkness of the storehouse she was in. It surely couldn't be that his mother was keeping her here… So who was she?

"Help me," She rasped, reminding him that he was now responsible for her safety. "Please, help me…"

Henry was about to reply with a promise that he would, when he heard his mother call out. "Henry!" Emma was pointing a gun towards the storehouse.

"Put it down, mom! It's alright!" He yelled back, and Regina ran towards her son, followed closely by David and Mary Margaret.

"Who is she?" Regina stared at the now unconscious girl.

"I dunno," Henry replied, his heart still racing. "I just found her in here."

"Look, right now, it's more important to make sure she's safe," David said, and quite easily picked her up. As he carried her into the house, followed by his wife, Emma, Hook, Robin, and Regina, Henry couldn't help but realize that he'd never seen the girl before, yet she somehow seemed familiar.

Perhaps it was her blue dress, which was pretty badly ripped; or her bright blue eyes. Or, maybe, it was her hair; so blonde that it looked like an angel's halo. At any rate, as he walked inside, Henry couldn't shake off the feeling that he knew her from somewhere.