A quick chapter, I'll upload a longer one soon! Thanks for all the amazing reviews! Next chapter is when you get introduced to some of the new characters.


"Emma." Emma turned as she walked by the bookstore to see where the voice had come from. She saw August standing in the doorway. "How's your first full day in Storybrooke going?"

"All right." Emma crossed her arms against the wind. "It's a pretty small town."

"It's home." August looked around nostalgically. "You may not realize it yet. But there's something very special about this town and all the people in it."

"There's something different about it, that's for sure." Emma couldn't hide her sarcasm.

"Why don't you come in out of that cold?" August suggested. "You can explore the bookstore. That's a part of our town you haven't seen yet."

"Why not." Emma shrugged and followed August into the shop. The bookstore was small but filled to the brim with all kinds of books, new and old. Some Emma recognized, but most she had never seen before. "This is a weird collection of books."

"I like different." August shrugged.

"Clearly." Emma said as she took in her surroundings.

"You know some of my favorite books in here are the fairytales." August said.

"Fairy tales." Emma said slowly. "As in what you read when you're a little kid?"

"You'd be surprised as to what you can discover when you read them again." August looked fondly at a book. "I've found them to be very useful, and insightful."

"Right." Emma rolled her eyes.

"You know you have a lot of judgment for someone so young." August said.

"I've had a lot of life experiences to base my judgments off of." Emma said matter-of-factly.

"It still doesn't mean you can't be more open minded." August pointed out. "I mean look at me. Traveling the world, open to new possibilities, living a life of adventure. Then coming to settle down here."

"It's easy to be open minded when you have so much opportunity." Emma said. "It's a little harder to be so open minded when you know what's going to happen."

"And how do you know what's going to happen?" August asked.

"There's a pattern to how all of things work." Emma stated.

"It can work out differently." August pointed out. "If you want it to. You'd have to actually try though."

"And what do you know about this kind of stuff?" Emma crossed her arms, insulted.

"Because Emma." August walked behind the counter. "We have a lot more in common than you might imagine."

"I find that hard to believe." Emma scoffed. "I mean we grew up in the same town, but you've clearly led a life of privilege."

"It might surprise you to know that I grew up in the foster system same as you." August said.

Emma's arms fell. "I um, didn't know that."

"I know." August said. "That's why you shouldn't be so quick to make judgments on others. While they can be right, they can be wrong sometimes too."

"I'm sorry." Emma apologized.

"It's ok." August smiled. "I understand, trust me. Life's not always fair, or easy. But sometimes we have to make the best of the situation we've been put in, for our own sake."

"I guess you have a point." Emma agreed reluctantly.

"Seems to me like you have a pretty good situation right now." August said. "Mary Margaret's a great person. She has a good heart; she won't treat you wrong. You can trust her."

"Well trust doesn't exactly come easy for me, with good reason." Emma took a breath. "But I suppose it can't hurt to giver her a shot, if you think I should."

"I do." August reached below the counter. "Hey I have something you might find interesting." He produced a leather bound book. "Since you seem to have such skepticism about fairy tales, I think you should have this."

Emma glanced at the book title. "Once upon a time, are you kidding me?"

"Not at all." August insisted. "I think you might find the stories in there are a little bit different than you remember; A much more interesting take on things. Trust me."

"Ok." Emma hesitantly took the book, flipping through the illustrated pages. "Well I better go. Mary Margaret will be wondering where I am. Thank you August."

"My pleasure Emma." August smiled. "Don't be a stranger."

"I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of each other." Emma turned around in the doorway. "After all I live upstairs, across the hall.

"That you do." August smiled as he watched the young blonde girl who was so much like her mother and father in every way. Her presence in this town gave him hope. She could save them all. He hoped maybe, just maybe, they could all be given back everything they had lost.