"Another banner year," She closes her eyes and blows out the candle. The doorbell rings, Emma walks over to the door and opens it to only find a little boy standing in the hallway, "Uh what can I do for you kid?"
The little boy looks up at her, "Are you Emma Swan?" He asked.
"Who are you?" She asked confused.
"My name is Henry and I'm your son." He introduces himself, slips under Emma's arm and walks into her apartment.
"Who, hey, kid! I don't have a son! Where are your parents, kid?" Emma asked, the joke lost on her.
"Ten years ago, you gave up a baby for adoption? That was me." Henry responded.
She looks at the little boy agitated, "Give me a minute kid." She walks to the bathroom, grabbing her phone on the way in.
Henry looks around the room, Emma had been in the bathroom for a few minutes and he was getting bored, "Hey, do you have any juice? Never mind, found some."
Emma exits the bathroom, she didn't understand how some kid could feel this comfortable around her. Most people could vaguely sense that something was wrong with her.
"You know, we should probably get going?" Henry states after finishing his cup of juice.
"Going where?" Emma asked confused.
Henry looks at her, "I want you to come home with me." He says as he is not asking a complete stranger to take him home.
"Okay, kid, I'm calling the cops." She crossed the room, going to grab her house phone.
"And I'll tell them you kidnapped me." Henry warns.
Emma studies the kid for a second, "And they'll believe you because I'm your 'birth' mother." She walks away from the phone.
"Yup." Henry smirks smugly.
"But you're not gonna do that kid." Emma responds.
"Try me." Henry warns.
"You're pretty good, but here's the thing. There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have a particular set of skills. I like to call them my superpowers but one of them superpowers is I can tell when anyone is lying, and you, kid, are." Emma refutes.
"Wait. Please don't call the cops. Please come home with me." He pleads.
"Where's home kid?" Emma asked tired.
"Storybrooke, Maine." He responds.
"Storybrooke? Seriously?" Emma asked, laughing.
Henry nods his head, "Mm-hmm, Storybrooke."
Emma shrugs, "Alright, then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke."
During the long drive, Emma plays music to keep from pulling over and dumping the kid on the side of the road with his asinine conversation.
"I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?" Henry asked.
"This is not a road trip kid; we're not stopping for snacks." Emma snaps.
"Why not?" Henry whines.
"Quit complaining, kid. Remember, I could've put your butt on a bus; I still could I really should have." Emma replied, her nails digging into the steering wheel.
"You know, I have a name? It's Henry." He snaps.
"That's really not even on the bottom of my long list of fucks given kid."
"You shouldn't curse around kids." Henry gasped.
"Says who?" Emma snaps.
"My mom." Henry whispers.
Emma notices the book he's gripping tightly, "What the hell is that?"
"I'm not sure you're ready to know." Henry replies seriously.
"Ready for some fairy tales?" Emma laughs.
"They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened." Henry states.
"Of course they did." Emma replies skeptically.
"Use your superpower and see if I'm lying." Henry replied.
Emma looks over at him, "Just because you believe something doesn't make it true, kid."
"That's exactly what makes it true. You should know more than anyone." Henry states.
"Why's that?" Emma asked, looking at her watch.
"Because…you're in this book." Henry replies in awe.
"Oh shit, kid you've got some serious problems." Emma replies.
Henry smiles and looks at the window, "Yup and you're going to fix them."
They arrive in town, Emma looks around she'd been around this area of Maine before but had never seen this place.
Emma turns to Henry, "Okay, kid, how about an address?"
"Forty-four, not-telling-you street." Henry replies laughing.
Emma stops the car and gets out, "Look kid, it's been a long night, and it's almost," She looks at the clocktower, "8:15? That's not right."
"That clock hasn't moved my whole life because times frozen here." Henry said.
"Excuse me?" Emma looks at the boy.
"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here." Henry explains.
"Hang on. The Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairytale characters here." Emma asked questioning his theory.
"Yeah and now they're trapped." Henry agrees.
"Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?" Emma asked.
"It's true!" Henry exclaims.
"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma asked.
"They can't. If they try, bad things happen." Henry whispers.
"And they call us crazy." Emma whispers under her breath.
A weird looking man walked up to them with his Dalmatian, "Henry! What are you doing here? Is everything all right here?" He asked.
"I'm fine, Archie." Henry laughs petting Pongo.
"And who's this?" He asked.
"Just someone trying to give him a ride home, dude." 'Emma' replied.
Henry looks at the woman he believed to be his mother, noticing the change in her personality from before Archie walked up on them.
"She's my mom, Archie." Henry boasts.
"Oh, I see." Archie replied.
"So do you know where he lives or nah?" Emma growls irritated.
"Oh um yeah sure, just uh, right up on Mifflin street; the Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block." He pointed.
Emma turns to Henry, who looks away, "You're the Mayor's kid?"
"Um, maybe?" Henry blushes.
"Just fucking great." Emma mutters.
"Hey. Where were you today, Henry, because you missed our session." Archie wondered.
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip." Henry lies.
Archie crouches to get face-to-face with Henry, "Henry, what'd I tell you about lying? You are angry at your mother for lying to you about your adoption yet here you are lying about your whereabouts." Archie admonishes.
"Well okay! I really should be getting him home." Emma replies just wanting to get as far away from the red headed creep as possible.
"Yeah. Sure. Well, listen have a good night and uh you be good, Henry." Archie said walking off.
Emma looks over at the blushing 10-year old, "So that's your shrink?"
Henry's head whips her way, "I'm not crazy."
"That's what crazy people usually say," Emma opens the door to her door and get's in, "Get in the car Henry."
Henry gets in the car and slams the door.
"I don't care too much for you slamming my door, kid. I don't care if you don't like being called crazy because some people wouldn't like being threatened by a 10-year old. And some people would hate being called an Evil Queen as well." Emma retorts.
Emma pulls off, angrily.
"Please don't take me there." Henry pleads.
"I have to, kid. I'm pretty sure your parents are worried sick about you." Emma tries not really knowing what to say to the kid.
"I don't have parents. I have a mom and she's-evil." He replies hatefully.
"And you're crazy." Emma replies.
"I am not!" Henry snaps.
"Yet you call your own mother evil. That's a bit extreme don't you think?" Emma asked genuinely wanting to know.
"She is evil. She doesn't love me; she only pretends to." Henry growls.
"I'm sure that's not true trust me." Emma replies.
"She doesn't she only acts like it." Henry exclaims.
"If she didn't love you she wouldn't have adopted you trust me. I know that people can only pretend for so long. How many times a week does she whoop you?" Emma asked.
"Never! Mom doesn't hit me but that doesn't mean…" Henry exclaimed, "Yes, it really does. If she didn't love you that's something that cannot be faked, the world would know her true emotions." Emma explained.
They get out of the car, the front door opens, to reveal a woman and a man who was obviously the Sheriff.
"Henry!" The beautiful woman called out, "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"
"I found me and Danny's real mom!" Henry barked hatefully running into the house.
"You are Henry and Daniel's birth mother?" She asked Emma.
"It's complicated." Remembering that there was another baby born and given away on that day 10-years ago.
The Sheriff cleared his throat, "I'll just…go check the lad, make sure he's okay." The Sheriff chased walked into the house to check up on the boy.
"How'd you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?" The woman offered Emma.
"You got anything stronger?" Emma asked seriously.
They walked into the house Regina walks over to a bar area while Emma stands in the foyer.
Regina enters with a set of glasses, "How did he find me?" Emma asked.
"No idea. When I adopted them, they were only three weeks old. Records were sealed, I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact." Regina replied accusingly.
"You were told right." Emma replies.
"And the father?" Regina asked hopeful.
"There is a father but trust me there is nothing to be worried about." Emma smirks, thinking 'if only you knew.'
"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss Swan?" Regina asked suspiciously.
"Absolutely not." Emma replies instantly.
The Sheriff came walking down the stairs, "Madame Mayor, you can relax. Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's fine." The Sheriff announced.
"Thank you, Sheriff," She shows him to the door, returning to the foyer leading Emma into the sitting room. "I'm sorry that he dragged you out of your life. I really don't know what's gotten into him."
"Kid's having a rough time. Happens, especially if he shares my DNA." Emma smirks.
"Henry unlike his brother, Daniel is usually a well-behaved boy," Regina explains. "You have to understand, ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky. You have a job, I assume?"
"Uh well, I keep busy. Yeah."
"Imagine having another one on top of it. That's being a single mom to twin boys especially. So I push forward. Am I strict? I suppose. But I do it for their own good. I want Daniel and Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?" Regina asked, her eyes bright and sincere to Emma.
"From what I can tell they have it easy. You're put together, they could have had it way much worse," Emma states honestly. "But I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairytale thing."
"What fairytale thing?" Regina asked sharply.
"Oh, you know, his book. How he thinks everyone's a cartoon character from it. Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."
Emma noticed the confusion instantly, "I'm sorry, I—really have no idea what you're talking about."
Emma raises her hands in surrender, "You know what, its none of my business. He's your son. They are your kids. And I really should be heading back." Emma replied.
"Of course." Regina replies.
Emma leaves and turns around briefly to find Henry watching her from an upstairs window.
"Sneaky little bastard." Emma looks up seeing a wolf standing in the road, "Fuck!" If she had killed that wolf, Samnun would've had her ass. She spins out of control, crashing into the "Welcome to Storybrooke" sign. Emma's head hits the steering wheel and she falls unconscious. In the middle of the road, the wolf howls.
The storybook, fallen to the floor, flips pages with the breeze and comes to rest upon a picture of Geppetto carving the enchanted tree trunk.
Emma wakes up looking around noticing a dwarf not too far from him, "What are you looking at, sister?"
"Hey, Leroy-manners! We have a guest! So you are eh, Daniel and Henry's mother. How lovely for him to have you back in his life." An elderly man said.
"Actually, I was just dropping him off. Daniel and Henry already has a mother as you well know." Emma replies.
"Tsk. Don't blame ya sister. They're all brats; who needs em?" Leroy laughs.
"Well, I'd give anything for one. My wife and I, we tried for many years for a child, but uh…it was not meant to be." The elderly man informs.
"Well cry me a river." Leroy replies.
Entering and unlocking Leroy's cell, "Leroy! I'm going to let you out; you need to behave. Put on a smile, and stay out of trouble." Leroy smiles falsely, then leaves.
"Seriously?" Emma asked.
"Regina's drinks; a little stronger than we thought." Sheriff smirks.
"I wasn't drunk; there was a wolf, standing in the middle of the road." Emma shrugs carelessly.
"A wolf right." Sheriff smirks, "That's a new one."
A voice rings out, "Graham? Henry's run away again, we have to," Regina comes around the corner into the room when she spots Emma she stops, "What is she doing here?" She turns to Emma, "Do you know where he is?"
"Look lady, I haven't seen him since I dropped him at your house," She points to the jail bars, "Pretty good alibi huh?"
"Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning and Daniel has not seen him since last night when they went to bed."
"Did you try his friends?" Emma asked, "I'm sure he probably told at least one of them already."
"He doesn't really have any. Kind of a loner." Regina states sadly.
"Every kid has friends I think. Did you check this computer? If he was close to someone he'd be emailing them." Emma explains.
"And you know this how?" Regina asked shocked.
"Finding people's what I do. Here's an idea; how bout you guys let me out, and I'll help you find him." Emma bargains smiling because she knew the answer before either said anything.
"Smart kid. Cleared his inbox. I'm smart too, a little hard disk recovery utility I like to use when a target tries to get tech savvy." Emma smirks, Regina hung off her every word impressed, though trying to pretend she wasn't.
"I'm a bit more old-fashioned, in my techniques. Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing." Sheriff said.
"You're on salary; I get paid for delivery. Pounding pavement is not a luxury that I get. Ah, there's a receipt for a website, – it's expensive." She stops shocked by what she sees, "He has a credit card?"
"He's ten." Regina snapped.
"Well, he used one." Emma points at the computer screen, where the card clearly belongs to Mary Margaret Blanchard. "Let's pull up a transaction record. Mary Margaret Blanchard, who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?" Turning to Regina.
"She's Henry's teacher."
"Where is the other twin at?" Emma asked.
"At school, where Henry is supposed to be." Regina replies.
A woman no older than Emma stood in the front of the class, holding a bird in her hand, is teaching.
"As we build our birdhouses, remember: what you're making is a home. Not a cage. A bird is free, and will do what it will. This is for them, not us. They're loyal creatures." She opens the window and allows the bird to fly away; it flies up to a birdhouse, "If you love them and they love you, they will always find you."
The bell rings; class rises, "We'll pick this up after recess. No running!" She accepts a pear from a student, "Why thank you!" Regina enters the room, "Miss Mills, what are you doing here?"
"Where's my son?" Regina doesn't hesitate she gets right down to business.
"Henry…I assumed he was home with you?" Mary Margaret stutters.
"You think I'd be here if he was? Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?" Regina gestures toward Emma, standing just inside the doorway.
She turns to Emma, "I'm sorry, who are you?"
"I'm…I'm not relevant just a lonely drifter trying to help out a desperate hot mom." Emma smirks gesturing towards Regina.
"Please do grow up Ms. Swan." Regina snaps back.
"Trust me, all grown over here." Emma flirts.
"This is the woman who gave him and Daniel up for adoption." Regina informs.
Emma sighs, "You don't know anything about this, do you?" Realizing the woman had no clue about what was going on.
"No, unfortunately not," She grabs her purse and searches for her credit card, "Clever boy. I should never have given him that book."
"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina snapped.
"Just some old stories I gave him. As you well know, Henry is a special boy not to say that Daniel isn't. Henry is so smart, so creative and as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it." Mary Margaret replied.
"What he needs is a dose of reality." Emma said.
"This is a waste of time. Have a nice trip back to Boston, Emma." Regina snaps, walking out in a huff, knocking over a stack of books on the way.
Emma watches as Mary Margaret picks them up.
"Sorry about that. Women you know." Emma laughs.
"No, it's—it's okay, I fear this is partially my fault."
"How's a book supposed to help?" Emma asked confused.
"What do you think stories are for? The stories? The classics? There's a reason we all know them. They're a way for us to deal with our world. A world that doesn't always make sense. See, Henry hasn't had the easiest life."
They leave the classroom, walking down the hall.
"Yeah I mean I'm sure he's had such a hard life?" Emma replied sarcastically.
"No, it's more than her. He's like any adopted child. Both he and Daniel are. Except Daniel makes friends easily. Henry wrestles with most basic question they all inevitably face: why would anyone give me away?" Mary Margaret stops, realizing what she said, "I am so sorry. I'm so sorry, I didn't mean in any way to judge you…" She stutters.
"It's okay. Doesn't much bother me much really I was young irresponsible I did what I had to do, their lives would've sucked if I had kept them. You think he questions himself now? If I had raised them, they'd both be questioning more than just why someone didn't want them." Emma replies.
"Look, I gave the book to him because I wanted Henry to have the most important thing anyone can have; hope. Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.
"But giving a kid that type of false hope for his future is worse. There's one thing to inspire hope to children, it's another thing giving them false hope. Henry might be a special child but he's also still just a child and hope breeds different outcomes with kids."
"Henry needs to believe that life gets better." Mary Margaret argued.
"He's a spoiled little brat. What kind of problems aside from being adopted does this kid have?" Emma sneered.
"Being adopted can cause all types problems." Mary Margaret said.
"You know where he is, don't you?" Emma accuses.
"You might want to check his castle." She replied.
"His mother asked you for his location and you pretended to not now, you sit here sprouting out nonsensical bullshit yet you believe that, I am more deserving of knowledge of his whereabouts than his own mother. If that's true than you more than anyone needs a dose of reality." Emma snaps before walking off.
Henry sits on his wooden playground castle whole Emma walks up behind him with his storybook.
"You left this in my car," She hands him back the book, "Still hasn't moved, huh?"
He looks down at his book, "I was hoping that when I brought you back, things would change here. That the final battle will begin."
"I'm not fighting any battles, kid." Emma replies.
"Yes, you are. You're here because it's your destiny. You're going to bring back the happy endings." Henry argued.
"Can you cut it with the book crap? Look kid…" Emma tries but is interrupted by Henry, "You don't have to be hostile. I know you like me, I can tell. You're just-pushing me away because I make you feel guilty. It's okay; I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance right?"
"Look Henry you don't like lying so I'm going to be brutally honest with you. I am not overrun by regret, we were kids and there would be no way that I would be able to look after 2 kids." Emma admits honestly.
"You said you would be honest you gave me up for the same reason Snow White gave you away."
"Listen to me, kid. I am not in any book. I'm a real person. And I'm no savior. You were right about thing, though. I'm glad that you got have your best chance. But it was never going to be with me. C'mon, let's go." Emma replied.
"Please, don't take me back there! Just stay with me for one week, that's all I ask! One week, and you'll see I'm not crazy." Henry pleaded.
"I have to get you back to your mom." Emma replied, her nerves worked.
"You don't know what it's like with her. My life sucks!" Henry whined.
"Oh, you wanna know what sucking is? Being left abandoned on the side of a freeway, my parents didn't even bother to drop me off at a hospital!" She sneered, "I ended up in a foster system and I had a family until I was three but then they had their own normal kid so they sent me back." She stops takes a breath, "Look, your mom is trying her best and I get that sometimes you think she doesn't love you but your wrong. And if that doesn't make you feel better at she wants you."
"Your parents didn't leave you on the side of the freeway; that's just where you came through at!" Henry explained.
"What?" Emma asked confused.
"The wardrobe. When you went through the wardrobe you appeared on the side of the street. Your parents were trying to save you from the curse." Henry argued.
"It doesn't matter what they thought they were doing Henry. They made a choice to get rid of me and the little bit of family that I've made for myself over the years are the ones I love the most." Emma argued, "Your mother made a family for you and Daniel, loved when I didn't you should appreciate her more. Remember if this fairytale bullshit is real, if it weren't for Regina casting this curse you and your brother wouldn't exist."
She reaches her hand out to him and they walked off. Emma drives Henry back home, they get out of the car and walk up to the house and Henry runs into the house. Emma gets her first glimpse of Daniel and she instantly knew who his other parent was.
"Hey." He nodded his head.
"Sup." Emma replied.
"So you're my birth mom?" He asked.
"It's a long, complicated and unnecessary story because Regina is your real mother, Daniel. That's all that matters, that's all that should matter anyway."
"Cool, so how long you gonna be in town?" He asked.
"I don't know, probably not much longer maybe a day or two." Emma tells him.
He spotted his mother walking towards them, "Well, see ya around, Ms. Swan."
Regina looked happy, "Thank you."
"No problem." Emma replied.
"He seems to have taken quite a shine to you." Regina said.
"Which is totally surprising." Emma replied.
"Why is that?" Regina asked shocked.
"People usually avoid my presence especially little kids, they seem to hate me and it's usually mutual feelings." Emma replies honestly.
"What about Henry and Daniel?" Regina asked.
"Henry is different I'll give him that but I don't know he's cool I guess, Daniel is outgoing too." Emma tried.
"So I guess you'll be going back to Boston tonight?" Regina asked curiously.
"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe I'll leave tonight or maybe I'll see you again." Emma replied shrugging her shoulders.
Mary Margaret places flowers by an anonymous patient's bedside, holds his hand. Does the same for a man in the ICU with a wristband naming him 'John Doe'. The scene transitions to Henry staring out his window at the Storybrooke Clock Tower. It reads 8:15. The scene transitions again as Emma walks into Granny's Bed and Breakfast, where Granny and Ruby are arguing.
"You're out all night, and now you're going out again." Granny yells from wherever the hell she was.
"I should've moved to Boston." Ruby growled.
"I'm sorry that my heart attacked interfered with your plans to sleep your way down the Eastern Seaboard!" Granny growled.
"Scuse me? I'd like a room?" Emma asked Granny.
"Really?" Granny asked shocked Emma nods her head Granny fetches a ledger, "Would you like a forest view or a square view? Normally there's an upgrade fee for the square, but as the rent is due, I'll wave it."
"Square is fine." Emma agrees.
"Now. What's the name?" Granny asked.
"Swan. Emma Swan."
A man appears behind Emma, "Emma. What a lovely name."
"Gee thanks." Emma replied creeped out.
Granny removed a roll of cash from a drawer, hands it to Mr. Gold, "It's all there."
He takes the money without counting, "Yes, yes, of course it is, dear." He turns to Emma, "Thank you enjoy your stay, Emma." He leaves.
"Who was that creep?" Emma asked.
"Mr. Gold. He owns this place."
Ruby watching the old man go through the curtains, "That's Mr. Gold he owns this place."
"The inn?" Emma asked confused.
"No. The town. So! How long will you be with us?" Granny asked.
"A week. Just a week." Emma replied.
"Great," She hands Emma an old-fashioned key, "Welcome to Storybrooke."
Henry stares out his window at the clock tower, the clock turns to 8:16 and Henry grins. The start of the final battle would soon begin and good would be victorious.