Author: Ren Kayashima

Rating: T

Disclaimer: Once Upon a Time belongs to the creative team of Horowitz and Kitsis. Thank them for such a compelling show.

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Chapter One:

"Dad?"

The distant voice echoed in Bea's head as he slowly came back to reality. He blinked a couple times to focus his eyes on the paperwork in front of him. Blowing out a sigh, he forced a kind smile and looked up. "Yes, Lainey?" he asked earnestly.

Lainey Fairchild stood in front of her dad with concern written all over her face. Bae figured she walked into the dining room to find her father staring blankly into space. Judging by the clock above the fire place, he had zoned out for ten minutes.

This seemed to be happening a lot lately. Ever since he had felt magic's pull. Baelfire had felt his mind wandering back to thoughts of Fairy Tale Land and the life he had, the friends he near forgot, and the father who had let go. It wasn't like it was unusual for him to think of Rumplestiltskin, but he hadn't thought about The Dark One. The man his father had become to save him from war.

Bae pushed himself out of his seat and walked over to his daughter, rubbing her shoulders carefully. He rested his head on top of hers, taking in a deep breath as he tried to focus on reality. "Are you ready for a break from school?"

"You mean our little chance to bond as a family?" Lainey asked with a smile. She stepped away from her dad, pulling her thick brown hair out of her face so that she could adjust the simple necklace she wore.

Bae laughed lightly, effectively shaking away the foreboding that he had been feeling temporarily. "Why don't you go get your brother, and we'll go get some dinner at that Korean place you love so much." He ran a hand through his now thinning brown hair and looked around his small living room. It had been a small disaster for several weeks. So much had happened recently with exams for both Lainey and Lucas. The two were always running around the flat yelling at each other about something that had been lost only to find it a few minutes later. Work wasn't much help either. Crime in Washington D.C. never seemed to end, and the paperwork was endless. But that was going to stop for a couple weeks when Bae took his children on a small camping trip.

"Sure, Dad," Lainey smiled. She disappeared down the long hallway, leaving her father to do whatever it was that he needed to do.

Bae ignored the paperwork he had been looking at and moved to the kitchen. He stopped by a small notebook computer and looked at the map he had pulled up. The state of Maine looked small and unimpressive as a standard geographical map, but Bae knew what Maine hid.

When Magic pulled at him, calling him towards something more, Maine seemed like the right place to go. He never looked anywhere else. He looked at Maine because it felt right. It was the world that called to him. And he knew then that he would never be able to escape magic or his father. He had to wonder if he could ignore the calls. His daughter had already seen him consumed by thoughts of Fairy Tale Land, The Dark One, and to an extent his old home.

But he couldn't allow his children to be drawn into that world. He had spent the last year of his time in Fairy Tale Land afraid of his father, and before that he was afraid of the Ogre Wars, of Dragons and monsters that haunted his dreams. He couldn't have his children ever know the truth of his life before San Francisco, before Colby, and before he had moved on to his idea of normal. He swore that he would protect them from evil when they had been born, and again when their mother died. He only wanted what was best for them, and Fairy Tale Land wasn't it.

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"Something is wrong with Dad," Lainey said two days later, her green eyes staring out the window of her twin brother's bedroom window. She could see the Washington Monument in the distance. Her arms were crossed across her chest and her ankles were crossed. She kept her balance by making sure her shoulder was braced against the wall.

Lucas leaned back in his desk chair and slid his gaze to look at Lainey. "So you noticed the increased far off look in his eyes, too?" He grabbed a stress ball off his desk and tossed it up in the air. "Maybe he's just trying to wrap his head around us going to college?" He raised an eyebrow questioningly.

Lainey narrowed her eyes as she turned her head to look at her brother. Try as she might, she couldn't see her father's behavior being related to their journey into the world of college life. It was something else. She heard him muttering at night about something that obviously agitated him. She couldn't put her finger on it though, and it bothered her. She had been unable to find out what he was muttering to himself, but she always caught the occasional curse. She pushed herself off the wall and sat down on Lucas' bed. "Whatever it is, it has Dad all hot and bothered," she said. She rested her chin in the palm of her hand as she blew out a sigh. "If Mom were around, she would get him to open up about whatever it is."

"Mom's dead, Lainey. She can't help us," Lucas said somberly. He snapped his fingers and smirked. "Here's an idea. Why don't you just ask him what's going on?"

Lainey scoffed at the mere thought of getting her dad to open up to her. He had always kept a part of him hidden, as if it was the only way to keep them protected. "If only it were that easy," she muttered. After a few minutes of restless silence, she grumbled incoherently and stood up. "I'll be in my room if you need me."

"I highly doubt I'll need you, dear sister, but I'll keep that in mind," Lucas smiled; he tossed his stress ball once more.

Lainey left the room and walked down the hallways towards her own bedroom. She paused by the door to her father's bedroom when she heard more muttering.

"Storybrooke," Bae spoke to himself, his footsteps quick and light as he paced a small portion of his room. "Why? Why are you here? You let go."

Lainey frowned as she quietly moved to her door. She didn't want to stay too long if it meant her father had caught on to her nosiness. It had been painted a chalkboard black and had several random scribbles of musings, dates, and the start to a story. She pushed her door open and fell face forward onto her bed. If she could only figure out what was bothering her father, she would feel a lot better.

Turning over on her back, she pulled her cell phone from her front pocket and quickly typed out a message. I might need your help in the future. Papa is acting weird and I'd really love not to lose him, too.

The reply that came brought a smile to Lainey's lips. Adventure is in the wind, dear Lainey. Call me should there be any suspicious developments on the home front.

"Storybrooke?" Lainey whispered. She raised an eyebrow curiously. "It's a start."

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Author's Note: Meet the Fairchilds. I wanted Baelfire to have the traditional sense of normal: wife, kids, a job where he got to be the hero. But normal isn't always happy. Obviously, Bae is acting a little fishy and his children can see it. I really am having a lot of fun writing this even if it's not my usual cup of tea.

Drop me a review if you get a chance.

Ren