Disclaimer in Chapter One.

A/N: I am sure many of you are wondering when we will see Regina outside of a dream. Have no fear. It won't be long now dears. Thanks to all of you who have left comments and reviews. You have no idea how much they make me feel like updating the story... so leave another. ;)

"I'm sorry sir, but we just have no record of a town called Storybrooke anywhere in the State of Maine. There are some lovely coastal hamlets however, if you would like me to send you a visitor's guide." The agent from the Maine Office of Tourism was clearly beginning to tire of Henry's assertion that there indeed was a place called Storybrooke.

"Sure, yeah, send it. Whatever. Thanks for your help." Henry gave her his address and dejectedly hung up the phone. He had begun searching the internet when he'd awoken from his nightmare and had turned up nothing. Once his mom had gone in to work for a couple hours, he had set about making calls to travel agents, government offices, anyone who might be able to help.

This last call had been his final hope.

Henry was sure the town must be in Maine. He and Emma had taken a trip there just before coming to New York. At least, that was the way he remembered it. They had gotten lost on their trek along the coast, and although he didn't remember Storybrooke or the scene that unfolded in the middle of the road, he did remember the road. They had finally found their way back to civilization along that road.

Henry quickly made a few notes in his dream journal.

Things I'm sure about: Regina is real.She is the mayor of Storybrooke and lives in a large house.She and Mom are my...

At these words Henry stopped. Chewing on the pen cap, he mulled over some options. Moms? Parents? Co-parents? What did that mean? How could Regina be his mom too? Henry thought about this and only one thing came to mind. Maybe they were a couple.

Tapping his lips with the pen, Henry took a moment to let this thought settle over him. In his dreams they had argued about him a lot. But he also noted that in his dreams, even the arguing ones, they seemed to care about each other, protect each other and consult each other about things. He shook his head to clear thoughts of the number of times they stared a little longer than he was comfortable with.

Henry continued his list.

She and Mom are my co-parents. They seem to be a couple who has broken up.Peter Pan is real.Neverland and Storybrooke are real places that I have been.Storybrooke is on the coast and likely the coast of Maine.Nobody knows where it is.None of this is very helpful.

With those last words Henry chunked the journal and pen onto the coffee table. He wasn't giving up but he wasn't making any progress this way. He needed to think. And nothing helped him think better than a cup of cocoa.

There has got to be a way to find this town...

~ ( SQ ) ~

"...happy birthday dear Henry! Happy birthday to you!"

There was something unpleasant and amusing about the sound of the cracking voices of teenage boys singing a childish song. Emma couldn't help but laugh at the embarrassed faces-all of them, not just Henry's- after she had insisted they sing. Once the song was sung and the cake served, everyone waited for the gifts to be opened so they could get back to the games.

Emma hadn't been sure what exactly to do for her son's party this year. He was, after all, thirteen. And what was fine at twelve wasn't fine at thirteen. Emma smiled at her successful choice. Henry had invited several boys from his school as well as three very awkward and lanky girls to join him at the Good Times Depot.

With bumper cars, miniature golf, laser tag and a greasy snack bar, Good Times Depot was a kid's paradise. But the part that made it worth the trip out was the arcade. It was huge and featured new games as well as classics like Pac-Man and Frogger. There was an entire section of games that paid tickets for your scores, tickets that could be traded for candy, stuffed animals and cheap plastic trinkets. Yep, Swan, you outdid yourself tonight.

"Are you ready to open your gifts, Kid?" Emma waved a present in front of Henry before he had finished off his cake. She knew she had a very small window of opportunity before the natives would be restless and lose interest in the birthday part of the party.

"Sure, Mom. Bring on the presents!" Henry rubbed his hands together greedily and smiled a devilish little grin. Where'd he ever get that evil streak from?

Among the gifts, Henry had received a number of gift cards, some cash and a couple of new video games. Without her prodding, he had thanked each person after opening each gift. Emma was always proud of Henry, but at times like this she felt just a bit extra. He was a good kid. She'd done a good job.

"One more and then you can all get back to the games," Emma said with a smile. She had saved her gift for last and hoped Henry would be both happy and surprised.

Henry made quite a show of trying to guess this gift. Winking at his mom, he rattled the box from side to side. He weighed it in his hands and shook it near his ear, brow furrowed as if in deep concentration.

"Just open it already," commanded Henry's friend, Jake from over Henry's shoulder. He was not the only one growing impatient with Henry's antics as several other boys chimed in.

"Okay, okay! I'm just having a little fun." With that Henry ripped back the paper and began wrestling with the over taped box. His mom wasn't a professional gift wrapper, but she took tape seriously.

Freed from its festive prison, Henry pulled the gift from a nest of tissue paper. It was a large paperback book.

The Maine Thing: A Guide to Beautiful Coastal Maine

Henry's eyes were wide and filled with confusion. He looked to his mother for an explanation. Several moments passed with Henry staring back and forth from the book to his mother.

"Okay guys, everybody go play! Henry will be along in a second," Emma dismissed the crowd and sat down next to her son. His confused face made her wonder if she had made a mistake.

"Mom, what is this?" Henry stared at the glossy cover.

"Well, it actually came in the mail last week addressed to Mister Henry Swan. I wondered why you would order it, but I had seen a bunch of searches for Maine on the computer browser history-which I do check, FYI- and I sorta thought you must be wanting to go there again. We had such a good time last summer, I just thought... Was I wrong?" Emma's heart dropped as she considered that her gift was about to be a monumental failure.

"No. No, you weren't wrong," Henry hurried to school his features to a look of happiness. "I was just shocked to see this, that's all. I had forgotten I ordered it. Thanks, Ma."

"Oh, well that's a relief. Wow, Kid. I was about to seriously cry if you didn't want that. Mostly because my gift isn't that book from the tourism office, obviously. I have something much better in mind."

"What? What's my gift?"

"We are going to Maine! I had to call in a favor and pull some strings at work but I got two weeks off. Of course, we don't have a real itinerary on such short notice, but its gonna be great! Just you and me buddy, driving up the coast in my little yellow bug. We are leaving in the morning! I figure we can get there in about 8 hours if we don't stop too often. How's that sound?" Emma barely took a breath as she pushed out her explanation. Her green eyes searched Henry's face, begging him to be excited.

And he was. Storybrooke.

"Mom! You rock! This is the best gift ever! I'm so excited! We will be in Maine on my birthday! You're the best!" With that, Henry launched himself into his mother, more like a five year old than a thirteen year old. Emma reveled in it and squeezed her son tight. This was going to be his best birthday yet.

~ ( SQ ) ~

"We must seriously be cursed," Emma groaned as her faithful yellow bug coasted to a stop on the side of the two lane road at the edge of a very dense forest.

"It's ok, Ma. Let's just consider this a part of our adventure and call a wrecker." Ever hopeful, Henry tried to lighten his mother's mood.

Since Henry had learned at his party the night before of the trip his mother had semi-planned for them, things had not gone well. Perhaps they should have taken Jake Brody's unfortunate bumper car accident and subsequent sprained wrist as an omen of things to come. But once Jake and Henry's other friends had wished Henry a happy birthday one last time and left Good Times Depot, he and his mother had put the incident out of mind and stayed up far too late packing everything they could possibly need on a two week road trip.

Bright sunlight pouring in the window had awoken the Swan's rather than an apparently busted alarm clock. Despite the late start, Emma had insisted they could still reach the first little seaside gem Maine had to offer before dark if they limited their stops along the way. After narrowly missing a collision and skating past Boston at what seemed mere moments before rush hour, Emma thought maybe they really would make it to Maine on Henry's birthday after all.

Then it had happened. Somehow Emma had taken a wrong turn. Civilization began to fade in the rearview mirror and houses became more sporadic but Henry and Emma continued. It's an adventure. The words were the chorus ringing between them. Emma wasn't worried-the gas tank was full, there were snacks and drinks in the back and surely they would see a landmark soon to locate themselves on the map.

"I should've turned around when I realized we were lost," Emma grumbled mostly to herself. "I'm sorry, Kid."

"Mom, seriously, it is ok. This has been an exciting birthday for me!" Henry laughed, still trying to ease his mother's tension. "I just hope the bug isn't dead. Maybe we should call someone. I'm not scared or anything but... yeah. It's pretty dark out here, Mom."

"Call who, son? We have no idea where we are. Even if I could get a wrecker service on the phone, where should I tell them to come?" Emma's frustration was evident as she shimmied her phone out of her tight pocket. In a very out of character move, she had opted for skinny jeans, gray tank top and red leather jacket today. Most of the drive had been too warm for the jacket but it was cooler here, especially since the sun had set hours ago. "Oh that's just terrific. Damn it."

"What's wrong?" Henry could count on one hand the number of times he had heard his mother swear in the last year. She was clearly upset.

"No signal. I couldn't call anyone even if I had a number."

"Oh," Henry said with a decidedly less optimistic tone. "What should we do?"

"Well, I'm going to get out and walk ahead a bit. Maybe I can find a signal or see a house or something. You stay here."

Henry opened his mouth to protest.

"Henry, you stay in this car and lock the door. I won't walk far and I'll come straight back. Ok?"

"But mom! What if there is a wild animal or an ax murderer out there? You might need my help!" Henry's voice had reached a level of whine by the end that denied his thirteenth birthday more than he could imagine.

Emma grinned at her son. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Cute them to death?"

"I am not cute." Henry glared at her incredulously.

"Yeah, you sorta are. Especially when you get that little mad thing going with the squeaky voice. Seriously. So darn cute." Emma's smile was wide and genuine as she teased him.

"Well, ok. I'll stay here. But I am not cute."

"Okay, Kid. If you say so. Lock the door and stay put."

Henry watched as his mother shrugged on her jacket and disappeared around a bend in the road, darkness swallowing her from his sight. He reached up and locked his door and leaned over to lock his mother's. He looked around nervously. What are we gonna do now?

Despite being very excited at the prospect of possibly locating Storybrooke and its mayor, if Henry was honest with himself he was also a little apprehensive. What if they didn't find the town? What if they did? What if Regina wasn't real? What if she was? Henry laid his head back against his seat and closed his eyes. Taking deep calming breaths, he tried to compose himself.

Looking at the sky, a black ocean dusted with diamonds, Henry whispered and wished to no one in particular, "Storybrooke is real. Regina is real. We will find her. Please, let us find her."

Movement ahead caught his eye. It was Emma jogging toward him.

"Hey Henry! We must be close to a town," Emma said opening the driver's side door. "I came up to a city limit sign just around the bend there. I figure if we keep walking we are bound to come to a house or business sooner or later. C'mon, Kid."

Henry ambled out of the car, leaving everything behind. If they were able to find help, they could always get a ride back to collect their things. Emma was walking fast, hurrying along in hopes of reaching the town and safety as soon as possible.

As they rounded the bend, Emma gestured to her right, "See there. Welcome to Storybrooke. I've never been so happy to see a street sign in my life. I just hope we don't have to walk too far before we find a house. Kid? Hey, Kid. Henry? Are you okay?"

Henry was standing in front of the wooden sign, frozen. He wasn't moving, wasn't blinking, only staring with his mouth hanging open. "Storybrooke? It's real?" Henry mumbled under his breath as his mother approached and placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Henry, you're scaring me. Are you okay? What's wrong?"

"Wrong? Huh? Um, nothing's... no, nothing's wrong, Mom. I just... too much excitement for one day. I'm glad we found a town. Let's go." Now it was Henry who took the lead along the dark road.

"Wait up! No need to run. We might have a long walk yet. Pace yourself, buddy." Emma half jogged to catch up to her son.

"Sorry. Just ready to be there. You know, not Storybrooke necessarily since I've never heard of it obviously. Just ready to be there-like wherever." Henry tried to hide his excitement but was failing miserably. Even in the dark, with only the stars and a silver sliver of moon to light the way, Emma could see her son was trembling with nerves. He was nearly vibrating with anticipation.

"Yeah. Kid, you are acting really weird. No more sodas for a couple days, ok? I think we over did in on the drive." Emma reached a hand out and ruffled his hair.

"There!" Henry cried out, pointing to a light in the distance. It was only a streetlight, but it meant that people couldn't be too far away.

Emma laughed out loud at her son's enthusiasm. "Well, pardon the pun, but streetlights don't mean we're out of the woods yet. It's pretty late. Even if we see a house there is no guarantee there will be anyone home or that they will be awake. I'm really not interested in going to a strange house and waking people up at this hour if I can help it. "

"Well, maybe we will be lucky and find somebody still awake." Henry had picked up his pace upon seeing the streetlights.

"Yeah, maybe."

The two travelers had barely reached the first streetlight post when the most unexpected thing happened. They found themselves not on the outskirts of town but suddenly in an established and affluent neighborhood. From wilderness and woods to an actual, house filled, sidewalk lined neighborhood within just a few hundred feet.

"Unbelievable," Emma said as they walked up the tree lined street, past manicured lawns and picket fences. The homes were large and intimidating, hulking creatures in the darkness. As they marched along, they passed a number of homes but none with any lights on.

"Well, should we just pick one?" Henry was looking from one side of the street to the other, watching each house for signs of life inside.

"I guess so, Kid. If we don't see a light on by the end of the street then, yeah, we will just pick one whether they are awake or not." Emma really hoped they saw lights soon. Despite their predicament she really did hate the thought of knocking on a door at, she glanced at her watch, midnight straight up.

"Hey Mom! That house has lights on downstairs. Maybe they are still up." Henry pushed open the iron gate between huge evergreen hedges and jogged up the path.

"Wait, Henry. Let me catch up." In a moment, Emma was beside him at the door of a large white house. Indeed there were lights on inside despite the hour. She raised her fist and knocked tentatively, her knuckles rapping against the door beside the shining brass house numbers.

108.