Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time

IV

Emma continued to stare at a map of Maine as Henry munched on his breakfast at a local diner. She was grateful August got her a car, she hadn't quite thought through the potential problem with transportation. Particularly with a seven year old. It had been easy enough to find the car. It was a bright yellow Bug with a swan pendant hanging from the mirror. "Momma, where are we going now?"

Emma's eyes landed on a town name that suited her, "Storybrooke."

"Really?" Henry asked as if that were the most fascinating place in the entire world.

Emma took a sip of her hot cocoa and nodded, "Yup, kid, that's where we're going." She decided.

Twenty minutes later, with Henry buckled in the small backseat of the Bug, Emma studied her state map thoroughly before turning the car north. The further away from warm weather she went, the less likely Walsh was to find her. She'd made it clear when they met that she hoped to never see snow again.

Four hours later, the Storybrooke sign came into view. Henry was currently sleeping as Emma pulled into the quiet town. The town seemed quaint, and the Thursday afternoon lunchtime traffic was minimal, not that she imagined there would ever be traffic here. A part of her thought that might be nice. It could be nice to live in a town where she and Henry could walk everywhere and where people would smile and wave as they passed by and asked how they were doing. Pulling in front of Granny's Diner that appeared to have an inn attached to it, Emma turned around to find Henry just waking up, "Welcome back, kid." She grinned at him.

Henry beamed at her, "Are we here?" He asked.

Emma bit her lip as she cut the engine, "We need to talk about something," she paused, unsure of how much to really tell him. While he was wise beyond his years, he was only seven and she didn't want to scar him for life with some of the details of his step-father. "So when someone asks you your name here, you're not Henry West."

"I'm not?"

She shook her head, "Our last name is Swan now."

Biting his lip, Henry asked, "Why?"

"Well, kid, we're kind of starting over."

Henry nodded. "So why isn't my last name Carter again?"

"You remember how when Momma married Dad our name changed to West?"

"Are you getting married again?" Henry asked quickly.

"No!" Emma shook her head violently, "No, it's just, we're using a new name now."

"So I'm Henry Swan."

"And I'm Emma Swan." Emma smiled softly at him.

"What about Dad?" Henry asked quietly.

"Well, sweetie, we're not going to be seeing Dad anymore." Emma whispered.

"Because he's mean to you?" Henry asked, his eyes narrowing.

"What?"

Henry reached forward and his little fingers brushed against her scarf covered neck, "He's mean to you. I know you don't think I know, but I know." He murmured.

Grabbing his hand, Emma pressed a kiss to it, "He's a bad man, Henry."

"I know. He's not really my dad anyhow." Henry shrugged. "So we're not going to see him anymore are we?"

Emma shook her head, "I hope not." She told him, "We shouldn't tell anyone about him though, or that we lived in Texas."

"What about Mr. August?"

Emma shook her head, "I think we should just tell people we're Henry and Emma Swan and we're just moving here for a change." Emma stated firmly.

Henry thought about it for a moment before nodding, "Okay." His stomach made a noise, "Momma! It's lunch time!"

Emma grinned at him and opened the car door, leaning back to unbuckle him, "How about a burger, kid?" She suggested, pulling him out and grabbing her purse.

"Yummy!" He yanked her forward as she locked the car. "Are we eating here?"

Emma shrugged, "Why not?"

They paused in the doorway and all noise seemed to quiet down as the diners turned to face them. It was clear that everyone would know they were strangers in this town. Emma shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot, suddenly wondering if maybe a big city would've been a better decision. No one would've given them a second glance if they were eating in a city like Portland. Maybe they should turn around after lunch. A young woman around Emma's age rounded the counter, "Two?" She asked.

Emma eyed her skin tight black leather pants, red mid-drift top and tall black heels. She had on too much eye make up and there were red streaks in her hair, "Yeah, and a kids menu if you have one."

The woman smiled and led them over to a booth, setting the menu in front of Henry, who promptly dumped the crayons out and started on the word search. "I'll have a water and hot cocoa with cinnamon on top." She glanced at Henry, "Do you want the same, kid?"

"Extra cinnamon please." Henry looked up with a wide smile.

The woman looked at them with a little bit of surprise, but nodded, "I'm Ruby, by the way."

Henry eyed her for a moment, "I'm Henry!" He finally gave her a big grin that had the young woman smiling.

"It's nice to meet you, Henry." Ruby smiled at him before looking at Emma.

"I'm Emma." She held out her hand, "It's nice to meet you Ruby."

"I'll be right back with your drinks." Ruby sauntered off and Emma was left shaking her head. She was sure every man in the diner was staring at her assets now rather than at them. When she returned she lingered long enough for Emma to know she wanted information about them. When Emma sent her a small smile, Ruby took that as permission to launch her attack. "So, are you guys just passing through on your way to Portland or Boston or are you staying?"

Henry answered that, "We're staying."

Emma nodded, "Yes, is there a hotel or something around here?"

"We have an inn right here." Ruby grinned, "Granny is back there right now going over the books. If you want to go check in while I put your orders in, Henry can hang here."

Emma bit her lip and shook her head, "I'll do it after lunch."

"So how long are you staying for?" Ruby asked.

"Um, this is actually a permanent thing for us."

"You're willingly moving to Storybrooke?" Ruby shook her head, "Well, if you're looking for apartments or a house I suggest you go down to Gold's Pawn Shop tomorrow. Mr. Gold owns pretty much all of the property here in Storybrooke. He can set you up with something."

"Thanks, Ruby." Emma smiled softly, "We'll go see him tomorrow." Emma stared hesitantly up at Ruby and then down at the empty table in front of her. Wrapping her hands around her mug, she hoped Ruby got the picture that she really didn't want to talk. Henry seemed oblivious to her tension completely enveloped in the maze he was now tracing. Although since he knew what Walsh did to her, he probably knew what she was feeling. The kid was far too observant for his own good.

Ruby simply shrugged at her lack of response, "I'll go put your orders in." She ginned at them and sauntered off. Emma let out a long breath before noticing that the other patrons were no longer watching Ruby sway about the diner, they were watching her and Henry. Emma bit her lip, no matter what small town they went to, this would be the response they received. She just had to keep her head up and her shoulders back and actually talk to people. If she wanted to be anonymous she should've stayed in Portland. She glanced across the table at her son and bit her lip. A town like this would be good for him. It would be good for them. Her resolve returning, Emma made the decision to stay. It was odd, she noted as she sipped her hot cocoa, just in making that one tiny decision, she started to feel like her old self. The woman who could and would do anything to survive, the self-sufficient brave woman who hunted down bad men. Standing, she walked to the tray with newspapers and sat down, grinning over at Henry.

Time to find a job and plant some roots.

XOXO

MAS