Henry had endless questions about Emma's time in the forces, his ramblings lasting a good 3 hours before he finally crashed out on the back seat after stopping off for food. Emma watched through her rear-view mirror as he slept, glad that the conversation had gone well. She had expected it to go another way, him taking offence in her not telling him; him being ashamed of the army being her only way out, but instead he was amazed, she was his new hero, and she felt herself fill with pride at the statement. You're a real life hero, my very own real life hero! She finally arrived outside her old apartment, already spotting the familiar car of Jackson in her parking space. She parked in the guest one, making her laugh which stirred Henry who sat up groggily.

"Hey sleepy head, we're here." She said, Henry yawning, climbing out to stretch.

"Finally! Your car seat is not comfy." The 10 year old groaned, Emma rolling her eyes at him.

"Come on, grab my duffel bag and I'll get your suitcase." He nodded and took hold of her light bag. She didn't need to bring much considering she still had things in her apartment, having not brought all her clothes and such when she came to Storybrooke, her intention not on staying, which hadn't worked out for her obviously as it was coming up to over half a year and she was not planning on leaving any time soon. Henry lead the way, remembering the floor from when he came, Emma trailing behind. Knocking on the door, Henry was surprised when a tall, well built man opened the door, looking to Emma who had just come up the stairs.

"You must be Henry!" The man expressed happily, Emma smiling, recognising the voice.

"Jackson!" She dropped Henry's suitcase, wrapping the man up in a hug, Henry standing on the sidelines awkwardly, watching them interact.

"It's so good to see you! So, is this your man?" He nodded to Henry who smiled slightly, Emma nodding.

"Henry, this is Jackson, remember the man I told you about?" He nodded, holding out his hand for Jackson to shake, his grip firm on Henry's small hand.

"It's great to meet you Henry! Come on in, August and Lucy are really looking forward to meeting you." He ushered the two in, grabbing the suitcase and bag, following them in. Henry was greeted by another man and a woman in the living area, the two standing.

"You guys are here! I'm August, you must be Henry." August expressed happily, hand shakes going around, Lucy hugging Emma happily.

"I have missed you." August cooed as he embraced Emma, Henry glad to see his mother happy, clearly seeing that her friends were a main factor in who she was today.

"I have missed you all too. I'm sorry I never warned you about not being here, I thought your next break was in a few months."

"We wanted to surprise you, but you are here now so we cannot complain! And we are so glad you brought Henry!" Lucy expressed, skipping the handshake, going straight to hugging the boy who laughed.

"Henry, I'm going to go and call your mom, do you want to speak to her?" Emma asked, picking up their things to take into the bedroom.

"No it's okay." He never batter an eyelash and dove into conversation with her friends, Emma rolling her eyes, going into her bedroom, sitting on the bed she had to admit she had missed dearly.

"Mayor Mills."

"Hey Regina it's me."

"Oh Emma! Hi, is everything okay? Is Henry okay?"

"Yeah we are both fine, I just wanted to let you know we got here okay. Henry has settled in nice with them all."

"Sounds just like him. I'm glad you both arrived safely. I'll leave you two to enjoy the week."

"Thank you again Regina, I owe you one. See you in a week!" The two bid farewell, Emma hanging up, lingering on the sound of the brunettes voice for slightly longer than necessary before heading back into the living area, watching from the doorway as her son and her friends interacted. Henry was chattering about how he hunted down Emma, Jackson a lot more interested in how a 10 year old had done such a thing, while August focused on Emma more. She stared happily at Henry, but he could see something else in her eyes which he would question her on later. 3 hours passed and Emma knew it was way past Henry's bedtime and decided that it was time for him to crash. She made sure he was settled in bed before heading back to her friends, picking up her wine glass, sitting down on her couch, closing her eyes happily. The silence was eerie, her left eye prying open to see all eyes on her, the blonde sitting back up.

"What?" She asked, Jackson raising his eyebrows at her.

"You are incredibly happy."

"These past few months have been great, having him in my life makes me happy." She stated, knowing that it was not a lie. Henry had brought a new light into her life and she was incredibly happy with having him, even if it was 10 years too late.

"There is something else, I saw it in your eyes earlier. Have you met someone?" Emma scoffed, leaning back on the couch making Lucy laugh.

"Did you hear that, she has met someone!"

"Oh come on guys, you are all grasping at straws."

"Really? We saw how Henry reacted when you asked to call his mom, so clearly the phone-call was not for him- it was for you." Emma just rolled her eyes, her silence confirming their suspicions.

"Didn't I tell you. So, tell us all about her." August queried, Emma looking at the door Henry was behind, them all frowning.

"Okay there is something you are hiding, what is going on?" Jackson pressed, Emma motioning for them to lower their voices, leaning forward so they would still hear her.

"Henry thinks his mom is the evil queen."

"I thought my mom was an evil queen as well, what is your point?" Lucy commented, Emma shaking her head.

"No, he thinks she is the actual evil queen. Like, the evil queen who gave Snow White a poisonous apple." August frowned, shaking his head slightly.

"I don't understand, Snow White is a fairy tale."

"He has this storybook, and he thinks that Storybrooke is a cursed town where all the characters in his book have been sentenced to live forever. His mom is the one who cast the curse, the evil queen."

"He really believes that?"

"More than you think." Emma yawned loudly, realising that it was well passed 12am and she had been awake all day.

"I am going to crash. Please don't say anything to Henry about this." They nodded, watching as she went to bed.

"That is a pretty powerful fantasy for a 10 year old, I wonder what made him think that?" Jackson wondered, Lucy nodding along.

"I know, I mean believing in them is one thing, but casting it out like that, makes you wonder whats going on in his head." They all jumped when a door opened, smiling at Henry who walked out of the spare bedroom, rubbing his eyes.

"Hey Henry! Are you okay?" August asked, Henry nodding.

"I couldn't sleep. Is my mom still awake?"

"She just went to bed sweetie, do you want me to get her?"

"No it's okay. Can I sit in here for a bit."

"Of course! Do you have any stories you want us to read you or anything?" Lucy smirked slightly at Jackson's tactics, August sitting on the sofa with his legs crossed next to the young boy.

"I have a storybook, but I don't think you are ready for it."

"Really? I bet you we are. We are all very open minded Henry." Lucy commenting, him nodding slowly before climbing off the couch, running into the bedroom. He come back out with a very large book, their jaws dropping.

"That is a big book Henry!" August expressed, Henry laughing.

"It's not just a book, its a reality."

"A reality? What do you mean?" Lucy wondered. They all placed themselves in a circle on the floor, Henry putting the book in the middle of them.

"This book is the tales of loads of different people. Snow White, Prince Charming, Rumpelstiltskin, the evil queen, the seven dwarfs, red riding hood- loads of people! The evil queen cast a curse over everyone and sent them to this world to live forever on a never ending loop where people don't age, and they stay frozen in time. The characters are people who live in Storybrooke with me." He explained, them all flicking through the book, the tales not the classics they all knew.

"These stories are amazing! They are nothing like the ones I know." Lucy exclaimed, Henry nodding his head along with them as he watched them indulge in his book.

"It's because they aren't the normal ones, they are what really happened. Look at this-"He grabbed his backpack from behind the sofa and pulled out a plastic wallet with pictures in, him spilling them out over the floor. He held up a picture of him and Mary-Margaret that Emma had taken, placing it down next to a page where Snow White was standing in the middle of the forest.

"This is my teacher, her name is Mar-Margaret Blanchard. She is actually Snow White." They were all shocked at the resemblance between the fictional character and his teacher, but still, it was a coincidence, right? He pulled out another picture of David from when he was a John Doe in the hospital, going to the end chapter where Prince Charming was fighting to save Emma and put her in the wardrobe.

"This is David. He was in a coma until, Mary-Margaret woke him up by reading to him. He was in a coma because he was already half dead before the curse hit."

"Oh my God." Lucy whispered, the pictures definitely of the same person, even if one was animated it was uncanny how much they were alike.

"Let me see more Henry." August asked, Henry gathering pictures and linking them with the characters in the book. They watched as he linked up a man called Leroy with one of the seven dwarfs, grumpy, and a handy man called Marco with Geppetto.

"He doesn't look like him later on in the book, but Archie, the therapist in our town, he is Jiminy Cricket." The three were silenced by the accuracy in the little kids story, Jackson shocked at how much he was actually buying this.

"Okay, so, your mom, Emma, where does she play into all of this?" He asked, knowing he hadn't spotted a character like her yet.

"She is the saviour." He spoke to confidently, it was hard not to listen to his tales.

"The saviour? Can you elaborate?"

"See, at the end of the book, Snow White and Charming have a child, who Rumpelstiltskin prophesied to be sent to this world and return on her 28th birthday to save them all. Emma was sent through the wardrobe just after she was born and I found her on her 28th and brought her to Storybrooke. That night when we turned up, the clock in our town, it moved for the very first time ever." He went to the end page which was a picture of Emma in the wardrobe, August's eyes widening.

"Is that, a blanket?" Lucy frowned, looking at the picture, the same realisation hitting her, the woman scrambling to grab her phone. She hovered it over the image and snapped a picture, zooming in on her phone, a small laugh escaping her mouth.

"Well I'll be damned." She whispered, Jackson snatching the phone off her, his eyes wide.

"No way." He breathed, shaking his head. Henry was looking between the silenced three, his hairs standing on edge.

"What is it? What did you see?" He asked eagerly, bouncing on her knees.

"Henry, has your mother shown you her baby blanket? She was found in it and it's one of her treasured possessions because its the only thing that links her to her parents."

"Yeah, it's got her name on it, right?"

"Right. At first glance, this just looks like some plain blanket, but look-"Lucy handed the phone to the young boy, his eyes widening, the excitement causing him to stand.

"I was right! I knew I wasn't crazy!" He cheered, the three sharing a look of pure shock.

"Henry, how about we take a trip to Storybrooke with you before we go back. I don't know about you two, but I am eager to see this town for myself."