A/N: This was a bit more difficult to write than I thought it would be. I forgot about the car ride. Hopefully you still enjoy it. Please feel free to R&R. I still don't own anyone but Anna.
Ugh. How do people wear heels like this all the time? Emma mused to herself wandering down the hall to her lonely little apartment. On the door she noticed an envelope. Every year just like clockwork. Smiling slightly to herself, she pushed her keys into the lock and opened the door.
Using the wall to hold her up she kicks off the heels that were causing her such discomfort and sighed in relief. Not even bothering to turn on the lights she limped, though only slightly, to her kitchen where she removed the cupcake she had purchased for herself. Another birthday alone it seems. Picking up the envelope she had found on her door Emma smiled again. Opening it she found a card, a simple 'Happy Birthday!', but at least her mother remembered. Just like the previous years card, at the bottom, there was a phone number and an address, Just in case you need me.
Emma had lied when she said she knew nothing about family earlier. She knew enough, sure she and her mother were estranged, but her mom always seemed to move to be close to Emma. They hadn't spoken in years, but every year a card showed up on Emma's door, reminding her that she still had someone.
Placing the card back on the counter Emma turned back to her cupcake and placed a sparkly blue star candle on top and lit it. Leaning down to stare at the flame, Emma thought back to her past birthdays, knowing that her wish this year would be no different.
"Another banner year." She said to the emptiness of her apartment, before squeezing her eyes shut and blowing out her candle and silently saying her wish. I wish that I wasn't alone today.
The doorbell rang right as she finished this thought. Glancing sceptically at the candle in front of her Emma walks to the drawer nearby and pulls out her weapon, Always got to be prepared. She shrugs and walks to her door yanking it open. Before her stood a kid, brown hair, brown eyes, without letting him see the weapon she quickly and subtly placed it on the table she had by the door.
"Uh, can I help you?" She says placing one hand on the door frame while the other holds the door.
"Are you Emma Swan?" The kid replied, sounding way younger than he looks.
"Yeah." Emma slightly shrugged. "Who are you?"
"My name's Henry. I'm your son." The kid said in a matter of fact tone.
Emma could just stare for a few minutes. My son? Henry apparently took Emma's shock as a 'please come on in' because the next minute he was pushing past Emma into her apartment.
"Whoa! Hey, kid." Emma reacted once she realized what was going on. Shutting the door she followed him down the short hallway. "Kid. Kid! I don't have a son." Henry just ignored her, wandering aimlessly around the corner. "Where are your parents?"
Henry finally stopped at the kitchen counter and looked at Emma. "Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" He asked tilting his head slightly to the side. Emma's breathing got only a slight bit heavier as she remembered what she had done 10 years ago, and why she had done it. "That was me." Henry continued.
Emma shook slightly in her spot before turning around. "Give me a minute." Then she stalked to the washroom and shut the door. Leaning on the door she began panting as she continued to playback in her head the kid she had given up.
"Hey, you have any juice?" The young voice permeated the door. "Nevermind. Found some." Emma took a few breaths to collect herself before walking calmly out into the kitchen, seeing Henry drinking directly from her orange juice bottle.
Once she drew even with him across the counter Henry glanced up, "You know, we should probably get going." I can't believe this. Emma turned toward him and crossed her arms.
"Going where?" The annoyance in her voice only slightly there.
"I want you to come home with me." Henry replied excitedly.
Whoa now, stop right there. Emma took a step forward drawing closer to the counter. "Okay, kid. I'm calling the cops." Walking around the far side of the island she headed for the phone sitting by the window.
"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped me." He shrugged at her, smirking slightly.
This kid is good. Emma ended the call she had been about to make. "And they'll believe you. Because I'm your birth mother."
"Yep."
Emma glanced at the child sitting at her counter, "You're not gonna do that."
"Try me." Henry raised his eyebrows to issue his challenge.
"You're pretty good, but here's the thing." Emma chuckled softly to herself, This kid thought this through. "There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill." Henry just listened still holding onto his tiny smirk. "Let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying," Emma enunciated 'anyone' with a nod in his direction, "and you, kid, are."
Emma began dialling the cops again. "Wait." Henry spoke up meekly. "Please don't call the cops. Please. Come home with me." His eyes helping him plead.
Sighing she asked him, "Where's home?"
"Storybrooke, Maine." He said less than happily.
"Storybrooke? Seriously?" Emma was stumped. I've never heard of it. And with a name like that he has to be lying…. Right? Emma looked him in the eye, hoping her 'superpower' would prove her thoughts. They didn't.
"Mhm." Henry's sounded from his perch.
"Alrighty then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke." Emma wandered off towards her bedroom to change.
Maine isn't that far. I shouldn't be gone more than a day. Emma finished zipping up her boots and grabbed her favourite jacket, a soft red leather number, from the closet. Walking back into the kitchen to grab her car keys Emma's eyes fall on the card she had left there.
"Hey, kid! We are gonna need to make a stop before we head to Storybrooke." Emma shouts across the apartment, not knowing where the child had disappeared to. If I needed her at any point, now would definitely be it. Emma grabbed the card and her keys and went to find Henry.
Pulling up to the Boston street address that was written in the card Emma scrunches her nose slightly. Well, this is charming. The building in front of her was falling apart, not exactly what she pictured her mother living in.
"Kid, I need you to stay in the car. I'll be right back." Emma looked at him while pulling the cars keys out.
"My name isn't 'kid', it's Henry." He said, still nodding and locking the door next to him.
Smart kid. Emma pointed at the lock of the driver side door once she closed the door, and then she took a deep breath before heading towards the building. Walking through the front door took no effort at all, seeing as the lock was broken. Emma stood at the bottom of the stairs looking at them warily; they barely looked like they could handle the weight of a child let alone her.
Emma carefully manoeuvred her way up the stairs to the third floor, stopping at the door with the numbers 306. Raising her hand she hesitates right before knocking sharply three times. Emma could hear shuffling coming from the apartment and her anxiousness grew by the second, but before she could turn to walk away the door was yanked open.
"Sorry the door always….." The woman who answered chuckled out half an explanation before looking at the person who had roused her. "Emma? What are you doing here? Did you not get your card?" The brunette hastily tried to angle the door so Emma couldn't see inside her apartment. "No, of course you got it, or you wouldn't be here."
Emma smiled at her mother's rushed statements, before shaking her head, still at a loss for words. She hasn't changed much. Emma steps back and takes a deep breath.
"A kid showed up at my apartment earlier, Anna." Emma finally says breaking the tense silence. Anna raised an eyebrow and tilted her head to the side conveying her thoughts loud and clear to Emma. And what does that have to do with me. Emma smirked at how her mother didn't need words.
"He's my son." That statement made Anna stand up straight, remembering ten years prior when Emma had given up a kid and also the last time the two of them had seen each other.
"What do you need me to do?" Anna replied.
"He wants me to take him home to some town called Storybrooke in Maine. I was hoping you would come along. I don't know how to handle this." Emma prayed that she would say she would come along, but wouldn't blame her if she said no.
I shook my head slightly before opening the apartment door, "I need five minutes to get changed. Do you want to come in?"
I sat down on my bed to pull on my favourite knee high boots. Emma was standing in the 'living room' waiting for me to emerge. You gotta talk to her at some point Anna, it's gonna be a long ride otherwise. Standing up and walking over to the closet I grabbed my Michael Korrs brown leather jacket. "Did the kid say anything else?" I said walking back into what passed for living space.
Emma shook her head putting down the snowglobe that she had been fiddling with. "Just said he wanted me to come home with him."
"I'm assuming its not the first time someone of the male species has asked you to come home with him." I grinned at her leaning on the wall slightly. Emma just glared at me, but humour twinkled in her eyes. "Okay, don't take it so seriously." I raised my hands yielding.
"Do I need to bring anything?" I ask walking towards the apartment door.
"No. I don't think we will be gone more than a day." Emma follows half a step behind. Grabbing my cell phone off the table I nod and walk out the door and head for the stairs.
"Don't you need to lock the door?" Emma yells after me.
"What is anyone going to steal from in there? The most expensive thing I own is on my person. Besides they would have to tackle the door to get in anyway." I stop at the first floor landing to wait for her to join me. Emma just shakes her head and pulls the door shut firmly before jogging down the stairs and out the main door.
Following after her, we make our way to a yellow 1972 Super Beetle, which Emma swiftly unlocks and pulls the seat forward for me. I raise an eyebrow slightly at the choice of car but say nothing as I slide into the backseat.
"Who is this?" Henry asks pointing a finger at me as soon as Emma is in the car.
"I'm Anna. And you are?" I lean forward, mainly because the backseat is cramped but also to get a better look at him.
"Henry." He says still looking confused. "I'm her son."
"Yes Emma already filled me in on that." I nod smiling as Emma started the car with a violent shake. "It's nice to meet you. You can pretend I'm not here if you would like." I stretch out in the backseat after making eye contact with Emma in the mirror.
As Emma was driving Henry kept stealing glances at her and vice versa, but no one said a word.
"I'm hungry. Do you want to stop somewhere?" Henry finally asked breaking the silence.
"This is not a road trip. We're not stopping for snacks." Was the crisp reply from Emma.
"Why not?" Henry returned looking at her.
"Yeah, why not?" I spoke up from the back seat, where I'd been pretending to sleep.
"Quit complaining, kid. And you don't encourage him." Emma glanced at me in the rearview mirror before turning her head to look at Henry. "Remember, I could have put your butt on a bus. I still could."
"But you won't" I mutter with a smirk at the same time that Henry huffs at her.
"I told you, I have a name. It's Henry." He pulls out a book from the bag at his feet.
Emma sighs watching the road ahead of her. "What's that?" She asks nodding in the direction of the book.
"I'm not sure you're ready." The boy replied scrunching his nose. I sit up and lean over the seat to see what he's holding.
"It's a book." I say as my face contorts to show my confusion.
"It's not just a book." He glances up at me.
"You don't think I'm ready for some fairy tales?" Emma chuckles glancing at the page he had opened to.
"They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened." Henry explained quickly.
"Of course it did." Emma sardonically responded.
"Use your superpower. See if I'm lying" He retorted as I looked at Emma and asked. "Superpower?"
Stunned slightly Emma reared her head toward him before calmly stating, "Just because you believe something doesn't make it true." I lean back in my seat realizing she wasn't going to respond to me.
"That's exactly what makes it true. You should know more than anyone." His words floated around the car.
"Why is that?" Emma had taken to glancing between the boy and the road in regular intervals.
"Because you're in this book." I glanced up at his words.
"Oh, kid. You've got problems." Emma exhaled peering into the review mirror to slyly smile at me.
"Yep, and you're gonna fix 'em." I grinned at how smug this kid was. Maybe he really is her kid. I mused glancing between the two of them. Emma frowned and reached down to turn on the radio that was tuned to the least staticy channel. With that I figured that the conversation was over, at least for now, so I laid myself back out and closed my eyes then waited for sleep to come.
It was raining by the time we crossed the Storybrooke town line. There hadn't been much conversation since the whole storybook thing. Looking out the window I saw that there wasn't anything of interest here, just forest.
"Okay, kid, how about an address?" Emma said as we drove down the center of town.
"44 I'm-not-telling-you street." I giggled from the back seat earning me a glare from Emma. Sheesh, it was funny okay. Emma slammed on the brakes sending me crashing into the back of her seat. I righted myself and muttered under my breath. As soon as the car had fully stopped Emma jumped out and slammed the door. Henry looked at me then climbed out after I shrugged at him.
"Look, it's been a long night," Emma started on him as soon as he rounded the front of the car, "And it's almost….. 8:15?" Her brow furrowed at the time.
"That clock hasn't moved in my whole life." Henry looked up at the clock tower that Emma was staring at. "Time's frozen here."
"Excuse me?" Emma leaned down so she was eye level with him.
"The Evil Queen did it with her curse." I jumped at what he said hitting my head on the low roof of the car and swearing at the pain. Did he just say Evil Queen? I swivel my head back around so that I can hear what is going on outside the car. "She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here." Oh boy. This can't be happening. I hang my head, recalling my old home that I had left 28 years ago. Someone please tell me I'm hallucinating, or dreaming.
"Hang on." Emma pushed herself off the car that she had settled against as the kid talked. "An Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here?" Well when you say it like that it does sound ridiculous. I muse from inside the car, glad that she can't see my face; I hadn't exactly told her the truth about her birth yet.
"Yeah, and now they're trapped." He nodded enthusiastically.
"Frozen in time and stuck in Storybrooke, Maine…" Her head tilted slightly and she leaned back against the car crossing her arms. "That's what you're going with?"
"It's true." Henry looked up at her the belief in his eyes almost a tangible thing at this point.
"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma kindly snarks back.
"They can't. If they try, bad things happen." He explains as a man walking a Dalmatian approaches them.
"Henry. What are you doing here?" I shift in my seat to get a better look at the man that had spoken. I don't recognize him. I let out a sigh of relief; the kid had me believing his story. "Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine, Archie." Henry had leaned against the car beside Emma but stood up too pet the dog when the man had stopped in front of him.
"Who is this?" Archie stared at Emma.
"Just someone trying to give him a ride home." Emma replied defensively.
"Oh, she's my mom, Archie." Henry looked up at the main and responded dismissively.
"Oh. I see." Archie was obviously startled, if the way he was shifting around on his feet was any indication.
"Do you know where he lives?" Emma questioned.
"Uh, yeah, sure. Just, uh, right up on Mifflin Street." Archie was still a little rattled by the 'shes my mom' news. "The mayor's house is the biggest one on the block."
"You're the mayor's kid?" Emma asked incredulously as Henry hung his head.
"Uh, maybe." Staring at his shoes Henry squeaked this response out.
"Hey, where were you today, Henry?" Archie shifted around trying to get Henry to look up at him. "Cause you missed out session."
Henry's head flicked up with his eyes open wide. "Oh, well, I forgot to tell you, I went on a field trip."
Archie smiled and sighed before sinking into a squat that brought him just below Henry's eye level. "Henry….. what did I tell you about lying?" Henry tries to avoid eye contact but once he fails the ginger man continues. "Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything."
"Ooooookay." Emma interjects, "Well, I really should be getting him home."
"Yeah, sure." Archie rises to his feet again. "Well, listen, um, have a good night," He gestures at Emma, "and, uh, you be good, Henry." He says with a light tap on Henry's arm. Then with a brief smile he walks off, leaving a stunned Emma standing there.
Turning to face Henry she finally speaks, "So that's your shrink?"
"I'm not crazy." Henry pointedly responded.
"Didn't say that." Emma recrosses her arm and frowns. "Just…. He doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you." Shrugging she catches his eye.
"He's the one who needs help, because he doesn't know." Henry's voice rises slightly at the end.
"That he's a fairy tale character?" I flinch at Emma's words.
"None of them do. They don't remember who they are." Henry turns away and starts walking back around to the passenger side of the car.
"Convenient." Emma opens grasps the door handle. "All right. I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?"
"Jiminy Cricket." I turn and look at the retreating man. That does not look like Jiminy. He's much taller for one, and I don't have the urge to squish him.
"Right. The lying thing. I thought your nose grew a little bit." Emma slid back into her seat as Henry did the same.
"I'm not Pinocchio." Henry scoffed at Emma. No Pinocchio had red hair, I think. I shook my head.
"Of course you're not, cause that would be ridiculous." Emma raised her eyebrows amusedly, and started the car again.
As we drove off down the main street in town my thoughts were not in the car, but back in the Enchanted Forest.
A/N: The story for now is going to follow the show with small bits changing to accommodate Anna. I hope everyone enjoys.
