Lily walked up the path to Regina's house, hoping that she wouldn't get involved in a fight between its occupants again. She reached out to knock, her hand freezing just as it touched the wood at the sound coming from behind her.

Lily slowly turned around as the clock continued to chime for the first time in twenty-eight years. A small smile flitted across her lips and she spun back around when the door slammed open. A pleased, yet anxious Henry darted out of the house and Lily grabbed him by the shoulders.

Lily took on look at his face before calling through the open doorway, "Madame Mayor, I'm walking Henry to school! We'll see you at five!" With that, Lily yanked her head out of the doorway, slamming the door before she gripped Henry's hand and marched down the walkway. As soon as they were several houses away, Henry relaxed. "Did you win a fight with Regina or something?"

He shrugged at her question and, still looking mildly pleased, he steered them towards Granny's. She stopped, pulling him back and pointed with her thumb in the other direction as his brow furrowed.

"Unless the geography of the town has changed while I wasn't looking, school is that way." He smiled at her words. Clearly, being snarky isn't going to ruin his good mood, Lily thought.

Henry simply turned back to the diner, smiling widely. "I know." He shot her a mischievous glanced over his shoulder. "But Emma, is that way."

Shaking her head as he resumed walking, Lily allowed him to pull her, hoping that whatever he had planned wouldn't cause more problems.

Though, knowing Regina, all hell would probably break loose before the day was up.


Lilith walked past the guards, waving her hand when the burliest one moved to stop her. He froze and purple, shimmering light covered him from the waist down, causing the other guards to jerk away from her outstretched hand.

"I have been given permission and have sworn an oath of blood and magic to not release him." She glared darkly at the three men and when they nodded frantically, she smiled sweetly at them and turned away towards the stairs, absent mindedly flicking her hand behind her shoulder to cancel the spell.

She made her way down the stairs and into the dimly lit corridor at the bottom, towards the makeshift cage that held Rumple.

"Rumple." He reacted to her soft call, his shadowed form nearly dancing until he was right at the front of the cage, gripping the bars.

"Hello, dearie!" He pressed his face right up to the bars, his expression mildly disturbing for a trapped man. Lilith pushed that down and continued until she was a mere foot from the bars. He continued to grin at her, his golden eyes glinting madly in the dim torchlight. "What can I do for my lovely assistant?"

She quirked a brow at his question and leaned closer to the bars. "I believe you know why, Rumple." He simply smirked at her and began to twiddle his thumbs, his expression still frightfully gleeful.

"Of course!" He lowered his voice. "But I'm not in the mood to play guessing games right now, dearie." She smirked sardonically at him, though he simply giggled at the sight of her disapproval. "Now, now, don't look at me like that, Lilith." He wagged his finger at her in mock disapproval, making Lilith sigh and cross her arms.

"Regina has gone to see Maleficent." He nodded, unsurprised. "She's going to get it, isnt' she."

Rumple nodded again, his voice low and grave. "Yes, she is."

Lilith resisted the urge to slam her face into her palm at his nonchalant answer and instead fixed a dark glare on the mad imp before her.

"Why the bloody hell did you give Regina that stupid curse in the first place?" She demanded, furious with her mentor for the first time in years. "How could even you, create something that horrible?"

He interlocked his fingers, resting his forehead against the bars and stared hard at her, his gaze unblinking as she returned the favor.

"You, Lilith, should know better than to question my actions." His hand snapped out and caught the back of her neck, yanking her face towards him as he all but snarled at her, somehow still managing to sound giddy. "Don't. Start. Now."

Lilith wrenched myself from his grip and stared at him, wary of his hidden agenda for the first time. Being away for almost three decades had apparently done more damage to her relationship with my mentor than she'd though, if he wasn't sharing with her the details of why the gave the Dark Curse to Regina.

"Then perhaps I should stay here until your reasons come to light."


Lily glanced at Henry when he sat down in the booth, sharing an amused glance with Ruby as she made the hot chocolate and added cinnamon, a weird quirk of Henry's that wasn't that bad, actually. Lily stifled a snicker when Ruby said Emma had an admirer and had to cover her mouth at the sight of Henry's face.

Emma, for some odd reason, decided that Graham was the one and after a few minutes of conversation, Graham finally stopped Emma's theory, giving Henry the opportunity to reveal himself.

"I did." The nonplussed blond stared at the ten-year old, her eyes wide as he smiled brightly to her. Lily stood as well, smirking quietly. "I like cinnamon too."

Emma raised an eyebrow after darting a quick glance down at the beverage before her eyes darted back to a smug Henry.

"Don't you have school?"

"Duh. I'm ten." Henry situated his backpack straps, stating the obvious before he smiled up at his birth mother. "Walk me."

Emma glanced at Lily, her eyebrow raising dangerously close to her hairline and she gestured at the other woman. "Uh, isn't that her job?"

Lily shrugged lightly, fixing the uncomfortable blond with an amused stare and quickly decided to not help her out in this situation.

"You can tag along."

Henry headed to the door, pulling Emma along while Lily smiled and walked after them, sending Graham a dark glare when she caught sight of the look on his face. She sighed inwardly, knowing she'd catch hell from Regina for letting Henry near Emma but, it would be worth it in the end.

They made it across the street before Emma cracked, clearly bursting with questions for the kid between them.

"So, what's the deal with you and your mom?" Henry shook his head at her question, easily deflecting.

"It's not about us, it's about her curse." He smiled up at Emma while Lily looked fondly towards the pawn shop, weighing the amount of pain Regina would cause her if she ditched the mother/son pair and went to work. "We have to break it." Henry continued, much to Emma's clear exasperation. "Luckily, I have a plan. Step one: Identification." He smiled up at her, his entire body nearly vibrating with excitement. "I call it Operation: Cobra."

"Cobra?" Emma parroted, her face twisting up in bemusement. "That has nothing to do with fairy tales." She shot Lily a confused glance and the younger girl rolled her eyes.

"He reads to many comic books." Lily explained with an absentminded wave of her hand, earning a sulky look from Henry before he turned back to Emma to explain more of his so-called 'plan'.

"Exactly. It's a code name to throw the Queen off the trail." I shared a look with Emma as she attempted to catch up to what Henry was saying.

"So, everyone here is a fairytale character-they just don't know it?" She clarified, staring down at Henry expectantly.

"That's the curse. Time's been frozen until you got here." She shot Lily a look, clearly begging for my help but I shrugged again.

"He's got a point," Lily pointed at the now moving clock. "The clock hasn't moved for as long as anyone can remember." Emma sighed and pulled an apple out of her pocket, to Henry's clear alarm.

"Hey! Where'd you get that?!" Emma stopped just as she was about to take a bite and pulled the red fruit from her mouth, her eyes wide.

"Your mom?"

Henry reacted, taking the apple from the stunned woman. "Don't eat that." Chucking the apple behind them, he continued to walk down the street and Lily glanced at Emma when she finally snapped out of her surprise and followed them, her wide eyes glancign back at the apple.

"O-okay. Uh, all right." She caught up to them, bringing Henry's attention back to her. "What about their pasts?"

"They don't know, it's a haze to them." He gestured around and even pointed to Lily. "Ask anyone anything and you'll see." Emma followed his movements and glanced at the dark-haired teen.

"Do you?" She asked softly, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

Lily shook her head, mindful of their gazes. "I honestly don't remember anything but Storybrooke."

Emma nodded haltingly, her movements jerky when she glanced down back at Henry. "So, for decades, people have been walking around here, not aging, with screwed-up memories, stuck in a cursed town that keeps them oblivious."

Lily smirked when Henry nodded, his expression lighting up and fought back the urge to groan when he failed to catch the rhetorical question Emma posed.

"I knew you'd get it!" He cheered. "That's why we need you, you're the only one who can stop the curse."

"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?"

"Yes!" Henry chirped, his tiny face excited. "And right now, we have the advantage." Henry reached into his backpack and, to Lily's surprise, pulled out the last few pages of his storybook. He handed them off to a bemused Emma. "My mom doesn't know that I took out the end, the part with you in it."

Lily leaned closer to Emma and looked at the page, unsurprised to see Snow White cradling a baby in her arms. She darted a glance at Emma's face and held in a smirk at the look on it. The baby's blanket clearly had the name 'Emma' embroidered on it and Lily remembered Granny knitting that blanket before she presented it to a delighted Snow.

"See," Henry started, looking from the pages to his birth mother. "Your mom is Snow White."

Emma shook her head, her face twisted up in exasperation. "Oh, kid."

At the sight of her disbelief, Henry quickly spoke, his words filled with conviction. Lily stayed silent, aware that she probably wouldn't help anyone if she made any of the sarcastic comments welling in her throat.

"I know the hero never believes at first, if they did it wouldn't be a very good story." I glanced between them and rolled my eyes after a quick glance at the time, I prodded Henry and Emma along, not wanting Regina to hear that Henry had been late to school on my watch. "If you need proof, take them." Henry pushed the papers back into Emma's hands. "But, whatever you do, don't let her see the papers. They're dangerous." He warned and Emma shot Lily a desperate look, though she simply shrugged in response.

We arrived at the school just as the bell rang and Lily nudged Henry, smirking at the look he sent her. He turned back to Emma, his voice cheerful.

"I gotta go. But, I'll find you later and we can get started." He started towards the school, turning around with a huge grin on his features. "I knew you'd believe me!"

"I never said I did!" Emma called back but Henry's grin simply widened.

"Why else would you be here?" He called, waving goodbye to them before he ran towards the school, passing Mary Margaret on his way, sending her a brilliant smile.

The surprised teacher approached us, sending Lily a small smile that she returned. She hadn't been too well liked because she was Gold's assistant, so naturally, Lily wasn't exactly trusted by most of the town. But, ever since she'd become Henry's proverbial shadow, most of the town had warmed up to her.

She smiled brightly at Emma and, after darting another surprised look at Henry, turned back to them.

"It's good to see his smile back." She said, earning a confused look from Emma.

"I didn't do anything."

Mary Margaret shook her head, smile still in place. "You stayed." Her happy expression suddenly became solemn. "So, does the Mayor know you're here?"

Lily snorted, glancing up at an irritated Emma with a smirk before crossing her arms loosely.

"Oh, she knows." Emma stated, her voice flat. "What's her deal? She's not a great people person, how'd she get elected?"

Unsurprisingly, Mary Margaret's face took on a puzzled and almost cloudy expression, similar to how everyone else looked whenever they were asked questions about the past. The other woman blinked and lightly shook her head before answering, her eyes taking on a far away look.

"She's been mayor as long as I can remember, no one's ever been brave enough run against her. She inspires quite a bit of...well, fear." She shrugged again, focusing back on Emma and Lily. "I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book. Now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."

"And that I'm some sorceress named the Dark Lilith." Lily spoke up, earning an amused look from both women. "Well, I have to hear about it enough from Henry." She smirked in response to Emma's next question.

"Who does he think you are?"

Mary Margret looked down bashfully, her pale face filled with fondness. "Oh...it's silly."

"I just got five minutes of silly." Emma stated in as serious of a voice as she was clearly capable of. "Lay it on me."

Mary Margaret smiled again, still looking as bashful as the dwarf she'd been best friends with back in the Enchanted Forest.

"Snow White." She admitted, oblivious to the look of shock that crossed Emma's features. She looked up to the other woman with a small smile. "Who does he think you are?"

Wide-eyed, Emma shook her head, nearly tripping over her words. "I'm not in the book." I raised an eyebrow but said nothing, starting at her next words. "Can I ask you a favor?" Mary Margaret nodded, always the helpful one. "Regina mentioned the kid's in therapy. Do you know where I can find the doctor?"

Mary Margaret nodded but, the warning bell for the school rang and Lily jumped into the conversation, not wanting to make Mary Margaret late for her job.

"I can take her, Mrs. Blanchard." The dark-haired woman nodded at Lily gratefully and took off for the school, sending a short wave over her shoulder. Lily glanced at Emma and managed a small smile. "Come on, I don't have to be at the shop yet."

She turned from the school, heading back to the main street, Emma at her heels. "What shop do you work at?"

Lily held in a smirk at Emma's question and, peeked at her from the corner of her eyes when she answered.

"I work at the pawn shop, for Mr. Gold."


After dropping Emma off at the front of the building that housed Archie's office, Lily rushed across the street, passing Leroy on the way and gave the burly man a sarcastic wave, earning a sneer from him.

She held in a chuckle, oddly grateful that the sarcastic relationship she'd had with the dwarf in the Enchanted Forest hadn't dimmed in this new land. She entered the shop, her boots echoing on the wooden floors as she made my way to the back room.

Lily peeked my head around the door frame and went fully into the room when she caught sight of Gold going through one of the cupboards. She leaned against the frame and raised an eyebrow, clearing her throat loudly.

He didn't even react, continuing to take and move things from the wooden shelves.

"You're late, dearie."

Lily rolled her eyes and pushed off the wall, stalking forward and taking a heavy looking vase from his hands. "And you shouldn't be lifting such heavy things."

"When did you get this snarky, dear?" He turned to her, his lips twitching lightly.

Lily simply smiled at him before she placed the vase on the counter and turned around back to him with a soft smile. "Around the same time you hired me." She teased back, and they both knew she wasn't talking about being hired at the pawn shop, as that had never technically happened. Lily had woken up twenty-eight years ago and already worked for Gold. She was talking about when she'd been eight years old and Rumpelstiltskin had taken her on as his apprentice. "If I'm anything, I learned it from you, boss."

He simply tsked softly, wagging a finger at Lily, pretending to chastise her. "You are far too insolent for your own good."

Lily simply sent him a cheeky smile before she removed my coat and hung it up, going to his side and staring at the mess in front of her.

"Good lord, what did you do to this poor cabinet?" She asked in mock outrage, though she was a little peeved because this was the cabinet she'd organize just yesterday. Lily turned a baleful eye on him before she rolled my eyes at his sheepish expression.

"I needed to find something."

"And what, pray tell, did you need to find so badly?" He raised his hand and she gasped loudly, covering her mouth with her hand at the sight of the chain dangling from his hand. With shaky hands, she accepted the necklace from Gold and stared at it with wide eyes.

"Where...where did you...how..." Lily stared up at him, feeling her eyes burn with tears at the sight of his sad features.

"I knew how important it was to you and, I felt that I had to find it." He smiled softly at her, placing his hand overtop of her own. "It was my fault you lost it, in the first place, after all."

He removed his hand and she stared at the pendant, swallowing past the lump that had grown in her throat. Lily allowed him to take it and palce it around her neck, nearly sobbing at the relief at the familiar weight around her neck.

"Thank you, Gold."


Lily walked towards the school and, before she could react, Henry was running at her, his dark eyes wide in horror.

"Lily!" He called to her, Mary Margaret at his heels and, before Lily could move, Henry barreled into her, knocking the breath out of her.

"Henry!" She wheezed out, nearly doubling over and was extremely grateful when Mary Margaret rushed over, supporting her with gentle hands. "Next time, please warn me before you tackle me." Lily gasped out, still out of breath even as Mary Margaret rubbed her back.

After several moments of Lily wheezing for breath and, seeing that Henry was nearly bouncing with anticipation, Mary Margaret spoke.

"Are you okay, Lily?"

Lily nodded at the other woman before she sent a dirty look to the boy next to her. "I'm fine, Mrs. Blanchard." She straightened up and turned her attention back to Henry, who was still practically jumping up and down. "So, why did you decide to run at me like a bull?"

"Emma's in prison!" Henry nearly shouted, his eyes widening with exaggerated horror. "She's been accused of stealing records from Archie-"

"Don't tell me, Regina?" Lily smacked herself in the face with an annoyed groan.

Henry nodded his dark head, his eyes still as wide as they could be. "She pulled me out of class and told me!" A quick glance at his teacher's nod gave Lily all the answer she needed. She sighed darkly, her good mood from earlier evaporating as she took Henry's hand and pulled him with her.

"I'm assuming we're headed to the Sheriff's Office?"

Henry's responding smile caused Lily to give him a small smile in return and she shared another look with Mary Margaret, who simply smiled weakly at her before they set off towards the center of town.

They made it there just as Emma was getting her mug shots and, never the subtle one, Henry called out to Graham.

"Hey!"

Their bearded Sheriff turned around, his eyes wide at the sight of the mayor's son. "Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?" He asked, pulling away from the camera and Emma, who was looking at the three of them in shock.

"Regina told him what happened." Mary Margaret offered.

"Of course she did." Emma rolled her eyes before turning her attention to Henry. "Henry, I don't know what she said-"

"You're a genius!"

"What?" Emma and Lily asked, their matching expressions of confusion evident.

"I know what you were up to." Henry continued. "You were gathering intel." He gave Emma a pointed look, his expression serious. "For Operation: Cobra?"

Graham started looking between Emma and Henry, his expression confused.

"I'm sorry, I'm a bit lost."

Henry, to Lily's delight and pride, smirked up at the sheriff.

"It's need to know, Sheriff. And all you need to know, is that Mrs. Blanchard's gonna bail her out."

Emma started and stared at the dark-haired woman, her eyes wide. "You are? Why?"

Clearly unnerved by the attention she had just gathered, Mary Margaret blinked and looked around.

"I, uh...trust you." She offered, clearly uncomfortable with having the attention of everyone in the room.

Emma nodded before turning to Graham and outstretched her cuffed hands.

"Well, if you can un-cuff me, I have something to do."


Lilith glanced around the room before looking at Rumple, who smirked at her before he leaned against the bars and called out, his voice trilling. "It's just us dearie!" His voice turned sing-song. "You can show yourself."

She watched dispassionately as one of the many mice on the floor became surrounded by black smoke, turning slowly into Regina. The Queen cracked her neck once and sighed before turning to them.

"That curse you gave me...it's not working."

Rumple smirked and tilted his head, clearly ready to tease the Queen as much as possible. "Oh, so worried. So, so worried." He lowered his voice. "Like Snow and her lovely, new husband."

His words had their desired effect and, Regina's face became like stone.

"What?" She asked flatly and Rumple's smile brightened, if that was possible.

"They paid me a visit as well. They were very anxious about you and the Curse."

At Rumple's words, Regina moved closer to the cage, shooting Lilith a dirty look as she did so, and glared at the man in the cage.

"What'd you tell them?"

"The truth!" He trilled, looking far too happy considering he was discussing the Curse to end all curses. "That nothing can stop the darkness...except of course, their unborn child." Regina's face became even harsher and Lilith smirked lightly at her, drawing her attention myself.

"What is it, Lilith?" She hissed, clearly not wanting to even speak directly to the younger sorceress.

"Well, Regina." Lilith allowed her smirk to become wider. "Any curse, no matter how powerful, can always be broken. Their child is the key."

"Of course, the curse has to be enacted first." Rumple mocked, sharing an amused look with Lilith before he turned his golden eyes back to Regina.

"Tell me what I did wrong." She commanded, her voice low and, judging by the look on his face, this was exactly what Rumple had been waiting for.

"For that, there's a price." He giggled and Lilith sighed, resisting the urge roll her eyes at his flair for the dramatics.

"What do you want?" Regina asked, clearly as unsurprised by his words as Lilith was.

"Simple. In this new world, I want comfort. I want a good life. For me," he sent Lilith a somewhat serious glance and she blinked in response. "And for Lilith here." His eyes sharpened and he stared hard at Regina. "You will not separate my ward from me."

"Fine. She will remain your ward. You'll have an estate, be rich-"

"I wasn't finished!" He snapped, gripping the bars tighter. "There's more."

Regina sneered at him, though her expression was resigned. "There always is with you." At her words, Lilith chuckled softly, earning another glare from the Queen. "Something funny, Lilith?"

"Not at all, M'lady." Lilith nodded her head at Regina, smirking lightly at the fury etched clearly on her face.

Rumple pulled her attention back, though it was hard to ignore the high-pitched trill he called a laugh, especially when he giggled his words. "In this new land, should I ever come to you for any reason, you must heed my every request." Lilith didn't need to look at Regina to know that they shared the same incredulous expression on their faces. "You must do whatever I say! So long as I say...please!"

"You do realize that should I succeed, you won't remember any of this?" She reminded him, only earning herself a slightly mad smile from the caged imp.

"Oh, well then..." he tilted his head, his eyes glinting in the torch light. "Where's the harm?"

"Deal." Regina answered, a smirk growing on her painted lips, even as Rumple backed away from the bars and snorted, clearly amused with the woman in front of him. Lilith glanced at him, able to feel the smugness radiating off him. "What must I do to enact this curse?"

"You need to sacrifice a heart." He gestured to his chest with one hand, gripping the bars of the cage with the other.

"I sacrificed the heart of my prized steed."

Even Lilith was unprepared for Rumple's violent reaction to Regina's response. He lunged at the bars with a grunt, pulling himself up them so his face hovered over Regina's and grabbed her face, forcing her to look at him.

"A horse?" He hissed out, clearly incensed. "This is the curse to end all curses and you think a horse is gonna do?! Great power, requires great sacrifice." Her eyes narrowed when he continued. "The heart must come from something far more precious."

Instead of reacting to his manhandling of her person, Regina simply stared at him, her voice surprisingly steady. "Tell me what will suffice."

"The heart of the thing you love most." He cooed, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Un surprised, Lilith glanced from Rumple to Regina as the later's face filled with hate as she grabbed the hand clutching her face, white-knuckled grip shaking.

"What I love most died because of Snow White." She hissed out, hate and malice dripping off her words.

Lilith rolled her eyes, uncaring if Regina saw. Having heard that story enough to know that what Snow White had done hadn't contained any malicious intent and she'd only been a child, Lilith knew that Snow had had no idea about the atrocities Cora was capable of. Snow White had done what she thought was right, she thought she was helping. She hadn't purposefully had Daniel killed, in fact, she hadn't even known about what had happened until years later.

Her attention was jerked back to the two magic users in front of her when Rumple cooed softly at Regina, his mocking voice gently soothing her.

"Ooh, is there no one else you twuly love?" Regina's eyes widened with realization and Lilith felt the shock filling her before cold, icy dread followed it. "This curse isn't gonna be easy. Vengeance never is, dearie."

Lilith swallowed thickly when Rumple's eyes landed on her, his knowing, golden gaze spearing her in place and she held back a scream when Regina's attention turned to me.

"You have to ask yourself, Regina. One simple question." The teen hissed out quietly, earning a confused look from the Queen in front of her. Regina, despite her claims, clearly had no inkling of the sordid past Lilith had. "How far are you willing to go for your vengeance?"

After a moment's hesitation, Regina leaned forward, hissing softly at Rumple, though her eyes remained on Lilith.

"As far as it takes."

"Then stop wasting everyone's time and just do it." Rumple spat out, clearly tired of this little 'game'. "You know what you love."

Lilith picked up where he left off, making sure that her eyes were red and her voice was filled with malice when she spat out the words.

"Now go kill it."


Lily smiled at Henry as they climbed the stairs to Regina's office, keeping her arm around his shoulders to try and offer some comfort. He turned to his baby-sitter, his eyes big and pleading.

"Can't you just take me back to Granny's and we can skip the torture session?"

She rolled her eyes at his pleading tone, aware that giving into him once meant it would become a regular thing.

"Henry, spending time with your mother isn't a torture session." Lily scolded, continuing before she could stop myself. "Be grateful you have a mother..." Breaking off in wide-eyed shock, she clamped her mouth shut.

Henry stared up at her, his eyes wide with shock before he looked away, muttering apologies softly. "Sorry, sis..."

"It's fine, Henry." Lily hugged him closer to her, kissing the top of his head and, as they reached Regina's office, both came to a complete stop at the open door.

"The poor kid can't tell fantasy from reality and it's crazy."

Before she could stop him, Henry spoke up, his voice filled with pain and completely heartbroken. "You think I'm crazy?"

Emma whirled around on the couch, her eyes wide at the sight of her son in the doorway. She glanced over her shoulder to meet Regina's smug smirk and, with an inward sigh of disgust, Lillian sent Emma a glare.

Henry went from my side, nearly running down the stairs, ignoring Emma's call of his name. Lillian sent both of the women a heated glare before she took off after him, aware that this was going to be far more detrimental than Emma probably thought.

"Henry!" Lily yelled, rushing down the stairs before she gave up and leapt over the bannister, landing in front of him as he reached the bottom of the stairs. She caught him by the shoulders and, ignoring his half-hearted struggles, pulled him into her arms and led him out of the building.

They stalked through the streets and Lily led them to his castle, allowing him to climb it and sit on the platform before she joined him. Worried at the depressed expression on his face and his now sullen demeanor, Lily wrapped an around around his hunched shoulders.

"Henry, look at me." She commanded softly, cupping his chin when he did so.

"She thinks I'm crazy, Lily." Her chest throbbed at the pain in his voice and Lily simply pulled him into her arms again, holding him as a painful shudder went through his little body. "Crazy."

She pushed him away far enough so she could see his face and gripped his chin again, pulling his face up so his eyes met hers. "Henry, you are not crazy." Lily said, her tone fierce as he looked up at her with those sad, brown eyes. "And anyone who says so is a bloody idiot and will have to deal with me."

True, Lily didn't have her magic anymore, but she was still fully able to take care of herself and him, something Henry knew all too well. At the sight of his eyes welling up with moisture and the tears spilling over, Lily pulled him back into her embrace and hugged him tightly, aware that she couldn't give him the comfort he truly needed and wanted.

The comfort of a mother.

Hours layer, Lily sat silently in Archie's office next to Henry, who was currently playing with Archie's customary umbrella and leaning on his babysitter. The bespectacled shrink had been trying, unsuccessfully, for over an hour to try and draw Henry out of the depressed slump he was in. It was rare that Lily was involved in these session but, after seeing the state Henry was in, Archie had all but begged her to stay as she had more success with Henry than even the resident shrink.

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?" Archie tried again, for what seemed like the hundredth time and I held in the urge to huff in irritation. Finally seeing that approach wasn't going to get any results, Archie tried another tactic. "You know, that umbrella is kind of my good luck charm. Is that why you think I'm Jiminy Cricket?"

Henry messed with the umbrella handle for a few minutes before he sighed deeply. "I don't think you're anyone." He set the umbrella on the coffee table and Lily shared a disturbed look with Archie, though her attention was quickly diverted by the door behind them slamming open.

Lily blinked at the sight of Emma and Archie stood, his eyes wide behind his glasses.

"Ms. Swan! Look, I can explain...the mayor forced me-" He stuttered, his voice filled with guilt.

"I know. Don't worry about it. I get it." Emma brushed him aside, focusing her attention on her silent son. "Henry, I'm sorry."

"I don't wanna talk to you." He turned his head away from her, leaning deeply into the couch as if he wanted to sink into it.

Archie chose that moment to speak up, his voice hesitant. "Ms. Swan, if she knew you were here-"

"To hell with her!" Emma spat out and Lily raised an eyebrow but didn't remark, content to remain silent until Henry needed her. Emma sat down on the coffee table, facing Henry. "Henry, there is one simply reason I'm here-you. I wanted to get to know you."

Lily didn't have to be an empathy to practically feel the guilt and desperation coming off Emma. The dark-haired teen glanced at Henry, unsurprised to see that he still refused to look at the blonde in front of him.

"You think I'm crazy."

"No-I think the curse is crazy and it is." She sighed deeply. "But, that doesn't mean it isn't true." Lily stared at her, bemused as to why Emma decided now, of all times, to pretend that she believed Henry. If she was pretending, then when Henry found out about it, and he would, it would be even worse for her than it was now. "It is a lot to ask anyone to believe in-"

"I believe in him." Lily stated quietly, not taking her eyes off Emma's face. The blonde turned to face her, meeting Lily's eyes for several seconds before she turned her attention back to Henry.

"There are a lot of crazy things in this world. So, what do I know? Maybe it is true."

"But you told my mom-"

"What she needed to hear." Emma finished. "What I do know, is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen...into thinking we are non-believers."

Lily stared at her in puzzled shock, unsure if she was being honest or was just trying to get into Henry's good graces again. Years of being deprived of her gift of empathy had left Lily unable to truly judge whether or not ap erson was lying. And Emma had already proved to be a rather good one.

Lily glanced back at Archie, who had remained behind the couch, clearly hesitant to get in the way of this little heart-to-heart session going on in front of them. Emma kept her attention on Henry, who was slowly bringing his head towards her.

"'Cause, that way, she's not onto us. Isn't that what Operation:Cobra is all about?" Emma glanced at Archie, who smiled at her before she turned her attention back to Henry, who was now looking at her fully and slowly pulling away from Lily's side. "To throw her off the trail?"

Henry smiled at that and fully sat up, his face filling with excitement. "Brilliant!"

Lily couldn't' hold back a small smile and leaned against the edge of the couch, glancing up at Archie when he sat next to her.

"I read the pages." Emma pulled the torn pages out of her coat. "And, Henry, you're right. They are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure that she never sees them." Emma, to Lily's surprise, stood and walked to the fire, throwing each of the pages into the flames. "Now we have the advantage."

Henry nearly shot up from the couch and flung his arms around her waist. With a sigh, the blond rested her cheek against his head, hugging him tightly to her.

"I knew you were here to help me." He muttered, his voice filled with so much quiet joy that it made Lily's smile widen.

"That's right kid, I am." Emma pulled back, holding Henry at arm's length. "And nothing, not even a curse, is gonna stop that."

With a large grin, Henry hugged her again and Lily glanced up at Archie, sharing a grin with him before she looked back at mother and son, feeling much better about the fate of this town and everyone in it.

As they left Archie's office, Lily allowed Henry to hold her hand while Emma kept her arm around his shoulders. Lily glanced around and, when she met the smirking face of my mentor, she smirked back and nodded, letting him know that everything was in place.

He nodded back before heading the opposite direction, towards Regina's. Lilly held back a chuckle, realizing that Regina was about to be forced to fulfill another part of her deal with Gold. She looked back at Henry when he squeezed her hand and she gripped his back, allowing herself to be led towards the diner.

Everything was falling into place.


Thoughts? Comments? Questions?