The room was filled to the brim with untold stories, quite literally. The travelers were still a bit jet-lagged and their stomachs a bit empty from their trip into the land without magic. So, they took their chances in the town's diner the following morning. It was a pleasant surprise to both Storybrooke residents and the travelers. The diner was lively and chatter among the potential customers sent Red and Granny into a frenzy preparing meals and drinks for the travelers. Red poured one coffee after another sloshing some of the pot's content onto the counters every moment or so. Each time, Granny growled a nagging quip under her breath as she flipped sausage patties on the stove. The diner hadn't seen this much business since the Christmas party of last year but it was never something Granny couldn't handle.
The hunger and exhaustion didn't keep the travelers from finding their stories with the assistance of Henry who had his grand storybook splayed out across the bar of the diner. His finger running under the lines of stories that rung familiar to the "fictional character" he was assisting in that moment. A large grin of pride in his hard work spread across his pale yet youthful cheeks every minute or so. No matter how small of a job, he felt as if he was finally finding his place in Storybrooke. And, what he enjoyed most was helping others find their rightful place as well.
Just as he was covering the last of the untold stories riddled throughout the book, he found a familiar face drawn among an unfamiliar scene that he couldn't recall ever finding before. "That can't be..." He mumbled under his breath only to catch the attention of Snow standing only a few stools between them alongside Charming. "What can't be, Henry?" Her bold brows rose curiously as she lifted her weight from the edge of the bar and made her way to her grandson's side. She rolled up the sleeves of her pastel, pink cardigan up to her elbows before crossing her arms and analyzing the page that caught Henry's attention. "Let's see what we have here…" David's intrigued voice entering the matter as he curled a concerned hand over Henry's shoulder. Henry glanced up over his shoulder at the pair revealing a slightly bewildered expression knitted across his face, "It's Mom. She's in one of the untold stories."
His tone grew excited at the find as he glanced back down to the storybook that was now perched in his lap sliding his index finger over a figure with long, raven locks and a porcelain, white face to complement. "Is that…?" Snow's voice rose in pitch causing Ruby's own brows to rise in curiosity but she was far too busy to evade her duties behind the counter. "Regina." Charming finished and answered Snow's question with an equally perplexed tone in his voice. They shuffled in closer around the book to get a better look and as the boy pointed out, it was proven to be true. The woman did have a striking resemblance to Regina. The picture depicted a young woman with delicate, bare features and smooth locks that cloaked her shoulders as she sat upon a dirty stable floor. The scenery surrounding the innocent-faced girl couldn't distract from the beauty of the young Queen to be. Her slender legs folded under her with a look of adoration on her face. Her eyes gazed upon a much smaller and more innocent figure. The small baby curled into her bosom in a deep slumber snuggled closely into a heavy, cotton horse blanket. The child greatly resembled her own mother from when she was an infant herself, from the cherub cheeks tinged with a faint tint of red to the smoothly-curved, pouted lips; her features were uncanny. It was depicting a short time in the Mayor's life when tragedy and heartbreak hadn't taken a psychological toll on her and there was still an innocent twinkle in her eyes that would sooner than later be snuffed out. It was a side that was new to all three of them.
The three gawked further at the illustrations until they were shortly interrupted by another figure that stood closely behind. Mhm Mhm. The sound of her throat being cleared sent an easily-frightened Snow into a slight yelp. "Oof. You scared me." Snow quipped quickly to distract the Mayor from their blatant infatuation from the book's illustrations. "What is it that you three are so interested in?" Regina's brows furrowed at the sight of uneasiness that passed over each of the three's faces. Her arms crossed with impatience and her jaw tensed. There was a light-heartedness that soon washed away as a few seconds passed without an explanation. Her question was followed by a few awkward shuffles from the Charmings and Henry moving the book 'casually' from her sight. Snow was the first to attempt to put her confusion to rest. "Uhh, uhh. Nothing. We were just…-" David chuckled cheekily interrupting his wife as he placed his hands on his hips, "- finishing up here. We were, uh, helping Henry check the last of the stories off." Snow nodded eagerly behind that answer with pursed lips. "Yep! Sure was." Regina's expression grew into more of amusement although it surely neither settled her confusion nor her concerns. "And?" Snow gestured her hands out to her sides a bit wildly. "And, we're done here. All their stories were found. No other stories to be read." For a moment, they thought they'd have to break from the situation and so David did with a quick explanation, "We, uh, left Neal to Emma and Killian, so we have to get back to them." The two nodded in unison before trekking off out the door of the diner evading their small discovery leaving Henry to his book and his mother.
An equally amused grin spread across Henry's face as Regina settled on the stool next to him before jutting out her top lip analyzing those few moments over in her mind. Her elbows rested on the granite counter with that same confused expression, "Do I even want to know what that was?" A slight chuckle left her lips as she shook her head at the absurdity. Without another minute passing, Ruby placed a hot cup of coffee in front of the mayor with a hectic expression on her face as she tried to fill the orders of the regulars in between the traveler's meal orders. The busyness didn't leave Ruby much time to chat in between orders served and Regina didn't necessarily care for her mindless, small talk in that moment although the girl was harmless. Regina wrapped her fingers around the mug before taking a careful, slow gulp of the hot liquid. "Well, that was awkward." Henry let out a stifled laugh before placing the book back to rest on top of the counter.
'I'll have to tell her one way or another if I have a brother or sister out there somewhere. I need to know.' Henry was lost in his own thoughts for a moment as he convinced himself to bring up the scene of Regina's past. Just as Regina lifted the mug to her lips once again, Henry's deepened voice tried to set up the question in a soft and understanding tone, "Why didn't you ever mention that I had a sibling?" Regina's dark, brown eyes widened in response to his blunt question; the shock caused the coffee to catch in her throat. A fit of heavy coughs caused a crowd of eyes to settle on the Mayor as she tried to find her breath. A gasp left her lips as her chest heaved, her hand placed across her heart. She wasn't as disturbed by the meaning behind the question but why he felt to bring it up. Where did any of this come from? Regina thought to herself as she found the words that were missing. "Why on earth would you ask something like that, Henry?" Her brows stitched together worried at the twinkle in his eyes that seemed lost and abandoned by Regina's "secret". "You don't have to worry, I'm not upset. I just was curious is all. You know you can tell me about them. I won't judge you for your past." He began to ramble in defense to his outlandish question. Regina shifted on the stool to face Henry's side; her hands clutched his shoulders carefully yet sternly. The formerly evil queen wasn't quite sure how to put it lightly but she was just as confused as he was in that very moment. She tucked a couple of stray strands of hair behind her ears as her lips twitched in attempts to form words. Why was this being asked now? What did he know? Her thoughts overlapped one another as she tried her best to mentally tackle that question. "Henry…" Regina's eyes connected with his. "You know I'd never hide any of my past from you, most definitely not something as big as /that/."
Henry shook his head in confusion before parting his lips, "No. No. I know, Mom." Her head tilted at the sound of him denying her claims, watching him as he thumbed through the pages of his storybook eagerly and excitedly finding the place he marked with a torn, diner napkin. That's where she laid her eyes upon the image that not a soul could deny resembled the other illustrations of her. It was her. A young version of herself was wrapping her young child with careful hands in a blanket. Her entire body went cold, numb, and stiff all in that telling moment. She curled over feeling sick to her stomach but she didn't reveal that to Henry. Her voice grew shaky and her mind was lost in thoughts that were so scrambled, she didn't know what to think. This had to have been someone else. Who was the child? Where were they now? Why was her face in the sea of untold stories? A billion questions that she could be asking herself and yet she couldn't answer a single one. "Bu-But…That can't be. How? How is any of this possible?" She uttered quickly in a sickening confusion. Her insides felt as if they were being physically twisted by her own emotions. Henry's expression contorted as his hand went to comfort the small of her back when he realized what this all meant (or at least some of it), "Mom, you're worrying me. Do you mean you don't have any memory of this happening? How could that be?" Regina salvaged some amount of air as she gathered herself from the blow of the shock. "Well, your guess is as good as mine. I either have an, even more, evil twin sister which I didn't think was quite possible or my memory was scrubbed clean. Both sound utterly ridiculous." Regina stared blankly at the haunting illustration. Her voice grew soft and almost weakened. "Henry, you have to believe me..." Henry nodded quickly, assuring his mother that he understood how this could be difficult to take in. Although she couldn't possibly recollect any memories of this child, she felt for them- a sadness and desperation. But, most of all, she felt frustrated with not being capable of remembering something as important as bearing a child into this world. A puddle of tears welled in the corners of her eyes as they connected with Henry's, they both felt so lost.
Her voice croaked out, "I don't remember any of this."