Hello !

Just to clarify, this story is probably unlike many you've seen before. It takes place around the beginning of the second season, just a few weeks after StoryBrooke's members are relieved of the curse. It follows the life of Rachel- Rainy in the Enchanted Forest- as she experiences all that happens as the show progresses. She is not an actual character in the show, but the story gives you all an insight on someone I find quite relatable; a young woman who struggles with discovering herself, and her role in a complicated society. ***

"That'll be 31.80$, Rach."

Belle smiled warmly as she placed all twelve of Rachel's books in a large paper grocery bag. Rachel glanced at her hands, as they rested on the check-out counter in front of her. The library was empty; silent and cool as if it were haunted by unknown ghosts. She knew if it weren't for Mr. Gold, Belle would be out of business. Other than Henry, Rachel was the only frequent visitor. Rachel sighed and reached down into her brown satchel. She fingered around for her wallet, and, managing to fish it out, handed Belle 32 dollars.

"Keep the change." She said quietly, in the same whispery sweet voice she had always spoken in. Belle looked on at her for a moment, and then just smiled. She shook her head scornfully.

"Oh, sweetheart, you are just too kind for your own good, aren't you?" She smiled as she spoke, and Rachel forced herself to smile back. If anyone was too kind, it was Belle. She'd been Rachel's friend back in the Enchanted Forest for as long as she could remember. She was the only girl to ever pay any attention to quiet little Rainy; the name Rachel went by in her homeland.

"I guess you could say something like that," she breathed "but I think I'm just a bit too… introverted." It was true. Rachel was many good things. She was kind, relatively pretty, smart, and very apologetic. But after these good traits, followed many flaws. She was quiet, awkward, clumsy, and perhaps a bit too apologetic. She knew this well. As a child, her weaknesses had been pointed out and made fun of until she didn't know who she was anymore. Those days were behind her, however, and she knew now what she was; a simple young woman who had a lot of weekend reading to do. She smiled at Belle, gathered her rather heavy bag, and headed for the door.

"Oh!" Belles voiced made Rachel whip around. "Don't forget never to read and walk at the same time!" Rachel laughed. She nodded once more and headed out into the cold streets.

Usually, Storybrooke's roads were crowded with people coming and going, saying hello to one another and stopping to talk. Now it may as well been a ghost town. She closed her eyes as she walked slowly, recalling each of the twelve books she had just purchased. Now let's see, in the big list of books she had bought there was; Jays calling, Last Winter, Well Done, Bravo, I.F.Y.R, To See You Again, Ivory Street, No-one, Learning to Garden When You Have No Idea How, Northwind, My Turn, Revenge: Book 5, and- most embarrassingly- How to Get a Man in 15 days.

Rachel opened her blue-brown eyes. That was all of them. A knife of guilt pricked her heart. She'd stolen I.F.Y.R from the library, and hadn't told Belle about the extra purchase. Worst of all, it was in the 'not-for-sale' section. The title page was black, and there was no description on the back. Something about the old book had simply intrigued her.

She suddenly realized just how much she'd been wanting to read the fifth book of Revenge. She bit her bottom lip, trying to resist the temptation, but found herself giving in anyway.Without breaking stride, she grabbed out the thick hardcopy book from the middle of her neat stack and rested the book in one hand, holding her baggage in the other. She took a deep breath, and opened to chapter one.

There was no turning back now. If I wanted to kill the maid who had viscously murdered my father, now was the time to do it. I fumbled with the blade of the long machete with my forefinger, and felt my heartbeat increase. I couldn't do this! I was not a murderer. But this woman had ended the life of my loving father… she deserved what was coming to her. It was now or never. Of all the times to get the jitters, now was the worst of all. I lifted the weapon above her, as she slept on the couch. I popped my neck, closed my eyes, and-

Rachel was immediately cut off from her reading. She had bumped into someone while she was looking down at her beloved book, and she was so startled, her bag of books came tumbling onto the ground. She closed her eyes and placed her hand against her temple.

"Shoot!" She hissed. Then her eyes popped open and she realized it was her fault the accident had happened. She didn't look up, but began apologizing profoundly.

"I am so sorry!" She shook her head frantically, and dropped into a crouch to start retrieving the fallen stories. Just her luck, the bag was swept away by the wind the moment it was relieved of its contents. She brushed her light brown hair out of her eyes and started stacking her books into a tall pile. She glanced up for just a moment, and realized that the victim of her careless reading/walking was crouched down as well, handing her books from the ground. She looked up some more to meet the eyes of Archie Hopper, the town therapist. She smiled politely, and stood up once she had all of her books gathered.

"Sorry, I promised myself I wouldn't walk and read at the same time today, but apparently, I lied." Rachel noted as she stood, the red rushing to her cheeks. Why was she constantly so clumsy? Archie smiled and stood up as well.

"There's nothing to be sorry for," he said, "but I didn't know you had such a love of books." Rachel laughed, feeling slightly better about the mishap.

"Well, Belle isn't the only person in this town with an affinity for reading," She rambled, "Besides, I only ever spend my time with Snow and Emma, and since they've been sucked into a magical portal, I thought I'd get some reading done- oh, um..." She stopped and frowned as she noticed another of her books still on the ground behind Archie. He must have noticed too, because the moment she bent over to reach for it, he leaned down as well.

When two people accidentally bump heads, the result is not very pleasant. They both pulled their hands to their head, and winced in pain. By the time they'd recovered, Archie was already retrieving the book again. Rachel sighed.

"Sorry, and thanks." She muttered. Then her eyes flickered to Pongo, the black spotted dog that belonged to Archie. A grin swept across her face. She suddenly went back into her crouch, and began petting the dog, laughing as he licked her face. Archie was by her again in a moment, but he was busy looking at her book. She turned to him. He looked up and met her eyes, and she was nervous to find his warm gaze filled with slight amusement.

"How to Get a Man in 15 Days?" He said as he held out the book. Rachels face grew about 10 times hotter. She took the book and shoved it to the bottom of the stack.

"It's, um, for my niece.." She lied, unable to meet his eyes again. They both stood up. She struggled to hold all twelve of her thick novels, as well as returning her face to its normal shade of, well, pale. Archie held out a hand.

"Need some help with those?" He asked kindly. Rachel shook her head. The last thing she needed was some more embarrassment.

"Sorry again, Dr. Hopper." She managed to say, "It was nice speaking with you." Then, without another word, she continued her walk home. She only raised a finger in acknowledgement when he called out behind her,

"You know, you can just call me Archie!"

She collapsed onto her bed at home and slammed her eyes shut. In a few hours, she would have to drive Henry to his weekly therapy session, while Regina was typing something for her work. Way to make things awkward between you and his instructor, she scolded herself. Oh well. She knew there were more important things to do. She stood up, set her books aside, and ran towards her bucket of secret things. She pulled out a bow and arrow, water canteen, and a map of Storybrooke's forest. She grabbed a pencil and a few sheets of parchment on her way out the door.

No reason for self-shame right now, Rainy, she thought, it's time to make some magic.