"Stop, stop!" Henry screamed, laughter wracking his body as he attempted to twist free from the head-lock his grandfather had him in. "Sto-ho-hop!"

Snow White gave a delicate roll of her eyes as she glanced back down to the little bird on her hand - her attention having been previously grabbed by the squealing, raucous laughter coming from her grandson. Blue feathers, beautifully preened, twitched with nerves, the bird's dainty head flitting jauntily as it watched the interaction going on a few paces away. "There, there," Snow eased, curling a finger and gently smoothing it down the bird's silken neck, "they won't hurt you."

The creature appeared settled by her words but, with a startled chirp and a flurry of feathers, suddenly rushed from Snow's hands, forcing itself into the air even before its wings had the chance to carry it. She watched it disappear into a leafy tree, perched statuesquely still on a top branch.

With a soft frown, Snow glanced around to determine what had startled the little bird. It was only when her eyes settled on Emma, and her daughter's friend, that she understood.

"Emma?" Henry cried, his tone full of high-pitched wonder. David had released him from the tight hold upon seeing his daughter approach. He stood behind Henry, now, frowning down at the little black creature that stood timidly behind Emma's feet.

"It's a cat," Henry beamed, squatting down to the creature's level and missing the smirk and eye-roll from Emma, above. She refrained from making a wise-ass comment and merely watched as Blacky peered around at him, clear uncertainty clouding those large, orange eyes.

Emma waited, watching the cat's thought process easily displayed in its sunset-shaded round moons, for Henry's outstretched hand to make contact. The eleven year old glanced up, once, to make sure his mother was not going to warn him against stroking the strange creature, and then paused with his stretched fingers a few inches away from the cat's nose.

Blacky remained perfectly still for a number of seconds. When the black-furred beast determined that it saw only longing and excitement in the young boy's eyes, it took a cautionary step forward and dipped its head to give Henry's fingers a rough shove. Emma felt herself exhale with relief at Henry's grin, unable to keep the smile from her own lips as her son shuffled forward so as to cup his fingers around Blacky's head, scratching her fluffy neck.

"Emma?" The woman herself glanced up, eyes meeting with her approaching mother as Snow regarded the little cat with a quirked brow. She gave her daughter a confused tilt of the head and waited for her to explain.

"I've been seeing it- her around the gardens," Emma explained, shoving her hands in her pockets and chancing a glance down to where Henry was now sitting, cross-legged, on the floor, the little black cat purring with content as he scratched beneath her chin and behind her ears. "Can we keep her?" Her voice was small, uncertain, as she raised her eyes up to gauge her parents' reactions.

David was quick to crouch down behind Henry, smiling fondly at the cat that his grandson and daughter seemed so taken with. He cautiously held out a hand and it was only when Henry muttered a soft, "It's okay, he won't hurt you," that Blacky's eyes slipped shut in content and she allowed the King's large hands to brush over her silken, black back.

Snow remained standing, peering down at the cat with caution. She had attempted to keep all cats - especially strays - from her garden, where the birds liked to dwell, if only for their comfort. Every now and then a little cat would find its way inside and, either before or after it had toyed with or dined on the gardens' double-winged residents, she would see to its removal. She tried to find the creatures a loving home, of course, either with the family of one of her guards or servants, but she wasn't always successful. Taking a cat in herself was out of the picture, always had been, but seeing her family now cocoon themselves around this little black stray had her resolve melting. Perhaps, just this one time…

Practically feeling his grandmother's unease and uncertainty, Henry twisted around to peer up at her and had no shame in his almost whining, "Pleaaase?"

Snow's eyes met her husband's, wondering where he stood on the topic, but David barely allowed for a beat of silence before he was answering, "Yes." His eyes found deep blue, his smile broadening, as he waited for Snow's answer. Her expression flashed with surprise - and only a hint of annoyance - but the second her eyes fell back to where Henry was sitting, the troublesome cat pawing at his lap, her decision was made.

"Of course," and she managed a small smile as she raised her gaze to Emma, "as long as you take good care of it."

Emma had to refrain from rolling her eyes; her parents had a bad habit of referring to her like she was still their young child. She had managed to hold her tongue, for now, but she had no qualms in bringing their slip ups to light should they continue. "I know," she nodded, her smile returning as she crouched before Henry and Blacky, "we'll look after her, won't we, kid?"

Henry nodded with enthusiasm and Emma thought she saw the exact moment confusion dampened his excitement. "What's she called?" he asked, lifting his gaze from those large, orange eyes to question his mother.

"Blacky."

"Blacky?" His amused disappointment spiked a laugh at his mother's creativity, and he easily rolled his eyes.

It wasn't a 'cool' name, no, but the second he looked down at the dark animal shimmering and purring in his lap, he saw it rather fitting, nonetheless. The cat, now, however, Blacky, almost appeared to smile as his fingers hooked their way beneath her chin, scratching, and her eyes closed in delight. Though whether at Henry's ministrations, or finally having someone agree with her on Emma Swan's poor name choice, the eleven year old wasn't sure.

# # # #

Held captive within Tsuki's furry body, Regina surmised that the Charmings must have been so taken with their new pet - and she tried to hold back the sudden urge to heave up a fur ball at the thought - to determine whether the cat they were welcoming freely into their Palace held any traces of magic - and, furthermore, her.

The fact that they had not even checked to see whether the cat they knew as Blacky - and, again, she felt a fur ball on its way up her throat - was all as it seemed did little to surprise her.

Creatures came and went in this world as they had in the other - some were in possession of great power, true, but especially in the current times, those types were unavoidably rare. And the spell she had mastered in order to project her soul within Tsuki's body was not at all available to the common practitioner of magic. One had to be experienced, powerful, and, above all else, insanely reckless in understanding the very prominent risks and all that could so easily go wrong.

It wasn't as though every other person they saw had forced their soul within an animal's body before, Regina knew, and so neither Snow nor David, of course, would suspect a thing. Especially not when their daughter and grandson were so taken with the furry beast. Still, it was a little disconcerting to see how easily a threat could enter their wards and get so close to Henry… If anything, that only solidified her reasons for returning to the Palace.

Regina was, at present, being jostled quite violently as Henry attempted to carry her up a set of stairs. She tried as best she could not to dig her claws in, or screech at his careless hold on her, as he took her to his mother's chambers. Emma was walking behind them, she could hear her prattling on about being careful, something about cats not liking being put inside a room and that, once they took her up there, she might act out in a panic to be free. Orange eyes almost rolled at the thought, but she held them at bay. Just because suspicions weren't already piqued, did not mean she wanted to provoke them.

"Aw, look at her," Henry almost squealed as he watched the black cat settle on his mother's four-poster bed. The cat appeared to be taking in her surroundings and, after a short pause, she lowered herself to a comfortable squat, where she sunk into the duvet over the bed and blinked tiredly. It was growing late.

Her yawn, for there was no hope in repressing it, had her casting a glance towards the window. She was most thankful to see it open - and Emma made no move to close it, even as she noticed the cool air in her bedchamber. There was a looming tree positioned just out of reach, close enough for her to land on should she need to jump. She was sure Tsuki's body was fit enough to make the jump, should it come to it - which she wholly believed it would.

"She looks settled," Emma commented, most relieved with Blacky's placid nature. She had been sure it would be too soon to bring the creature into the Palace this early, but the cat had, after another wide, tongue-arching yawn, sprawled out and curled over her bed like it belonged there. She put the curiousness down to the magical realm - as she had a tendency of doing, it seemed - and ignored the cautious alert at the back of her mind. It was always easier to do when Henry was beaming at her so happily. He really was settling in well here.

"Can I stay in here tonight?" Henry asked, his excitement and hope easily covering any shame he might have in asking to spend the night in his mother's bed at eleven years old.

Emma quirked a brow but answered, "Sure."

"Blacky really likes it here," Henry said, the little black cat moving to throw her body down against his chest as he curled around her, lounging comfortably over the blankets. "Hey, Emma, do you think they have collars here?"

Emma shrugged as she took a seat beside them, her fingers instinctively seeking the silken soft fur at the base of Blacky's ears. "I don't know, kid. We can ask tomorrow." Henry's eyes brimmed with excitement.

"I've never had a cat before," he told Emma. "Mom never really liked pets."

And was it Emma's imagination, or did little Blacky suddenly become a little overly attentive with her son? She watched with an amused smile as the cat clambered over Henry's chest, causing him to giggle heartily as he rolled onto his back, and continued to squat there, purring, with those wide, orange eyes refusing to lose him from her sight for a mere second, if she could help it.

# # # #

Emma assumed it was the cold air now filling her bedchamber that had jostled her from sleep. Her tousled, blonde curls were easily brushed from her eyes to reveal a small body curled beneath the blankets beside her. Henry was still sleeping, dead to the world. At that thought, Emma swept her eyes around, hoping to ignore the sudden encroaching memory of her son lying, motionless, with a number of wires connected to beeping machines, the only things keeping him alive. It wouldn't do to dwell on the past, she thought, not now.

A wave of goosebumps clung beneath her bed shirt - she had skipped out of the nightgowns her mother had introduced her to - and the shiver reminded her of why she was awake in the first place. Carefully shifting from the bed, she made to move towards her open window, when her eyes suddenly caught sight of a small, black lump perched on the sill.

Emma's first reaction was to throw something at it, push it outside, get it away, but then memories of Blacky and her now staying with them, at the Palace, came flittering back and she approached the window, alerting the cat with her heavy, tired footsteps. Blacky pushed herself up into a sitting position, tensing out of her crouch with alertness, and twisted around to encompass the sleepy blonde within the bright reflections of her orange eyes.

"What's wrong, cat?" Emma quietly asked, the cool air causing her to wrap both arms tightly around her middle. Blacky's answer was a high-pitched meow that, Emma thought, might have meant something, perhaps even a real reply to her question, but she doubted she'd make sense of it even without her current burden of exhaustion.

It was only when she reached the window that Blacky twisted around once again, looking out into the night. The tree outside her window - often a nuisance; damn singing birds at the crack of dawn - looked menacing, draped in the night's lingering darkness. The depth of the night had Emma clinging to herself tighter; she was still so overly aware of being a stranger in a strange land.

With a sigh, she shrugged the creeping sensation of unease from her knotting shoulders and reached out to pull the window to a close. Before her fingers could grasp the frame, however, Blacky suddenly leapt from the windowsill and landed, with the heaved rustle of leaves, on a high-branch of the tree. "Blacky!" Emma hissed, fear spiking her chest as she wondered whether the cat might have hurt herself. "What the hell are you doing?"

Her frantic whispers, however, fell on deaf fuzzy black ears as Blacky merely ignored the woman now hanging out of her window, begging her to return. She leapt with a flourish from branch to lower branch, until her padded paws fell with a dull 'thud' on the ground below.

"Blacky!" Emma tried again, voice hushed and muffled from her bedroom walls as she hung down at the waist, trying to make sense, through the darkness, of the tiny black shadow that was making its way through the Palace grounds below.

With a frown at the silence, Emma pushed herself to a standing position and wondered, with doubtful curiosity, what that little black creature was up to. Though, really, she supposed, it should come as no surprise that Blacky didn't want to stay indoors. She could only hope that the animal hadn't spooked and left her a nice little foul-smelling present beneath the bed before it had taken its leave.

# # # #

Tsuki's ears pricked, eyes widened, at the almost excitable squeal that left her human's wide, smiling mouth. She had never heard anything quite so… girlish come from the woman, and had merely expected it was something the grown humans lost during the slow process of parting from youth.

She watched the dark witch curiously, now, from her place by the fire. The black fur over her back gladly absorbed the heat, willing away the chill that had clung to her body since she awoke on the rug just a few moments earlier, as though she had been caught in the lingering cool of the outside air.

"You, my little cat," the human began, dropping to Tsuki's level on the ground. The smile that captured her lips was shark-like, revealing smooth, white teeth, but Tsuki knew not to be afraid as the woman scooped her up from the fire and nestled her against her chest, supporting her from beneath with one arm whilst the other held her in place. "You are a charming beast," the woman finished with a happy sigh, dropping a soft kiss atop Tsuki's head.

The cat squirmed in her hold and so Regina freed it from her arms - right after a happy spin, skirts blooming like a late flower finally catching up with the end of Summer days. She moved through the cottage, blissful and content with her progress at the Charming's Palace, to fix herself a grounding brew and something to settle her stomach.

Regina couldn't remember the last time she had felt so peaceful. Although her time with Henry was now clipped by the ever present constraints of magic, she was seeing him, and that alone gave her hope for a happy future. She had him, now, not just within sight, but she had quite literally been within his grasp.

She would not lose him again, that she vowed, bringing a chilled glass of wine to her lips as she meandered around the small kitchen area. She would not lose him again.