Regina and Emma stood in the kitchen, both keeping an eye on the teenager going through the storybook in the dining room. Every once and a while, she would look at them with a raised eyebrow before turning back.

"This is getting stranger and stranger," Emma muttered, taking a sip of coffee.

"I'm just glad she's not trying to kill us. Makes for a nice change of pace."

"Let's just get her home, then we can move back to getting the fairies out of the Sorcerer's hat."

"So, you believe here? That's she's just a stray mermaid trying to get back home?"

Emma nodded. "She's not lying about trying to get home. But she is lying about being the only mermaid."

"Yes, I picked up on that too."

And we've met other people from other realms, it's entirely possible that she is too." She looked back to the dining room, and sighed. "And it looks like she's gone."

Regina started for the dining room, but it was true. The book had been left on the table, Charlotte's chair pushed back, but the teenager was nowhere to be seen.

"Great," Regina muttered, running her hands through her hair. She turned back to Emma, "Come on, she can't have gone far."

"Wait, Regina. I have a better idea."

Outside, Charlotte was walking with purpose down the street, going as fast as she could.

Fairy tales are real. They live here.

As she walked, she recognized more and more people from the book. Ruby from the diner, she had been Red Riding Hood. The woman at the library was the titular beauty from Beauty and the Beast, the man with the hook for a hand, must've been Captain Hook. She passed a small group of men that she recognized as the seven dwarves.

No, this is insane. In the book, Regina was the Evil Queen. From Snow White. But she was so kind…

The Evil Queen had placed the entire Enchanted Forest under a curse, which banished them to Maine without a clue as to who they were, that's what the book had said.

Charlotte began to run faster towards the beach she had washed up on. She needed the safety and security of the ocean, and in no time, she reached the waves. Not caring who might see (after all, if this was all true everyone knew about mermaids anyway), she rushed into the water, diving down when it was deep enough. As soon as her tail appeared, she swam as fast as she could.

I just want to go home. Is this my punishment for how I acted? Why was I brought here?

After a few minutes, she slowed down, and went back to the surface, taking a deep breath. She looked out to the wide ocean, and let her mind go blank. As she did, for a second, there was a shimmer in front of her. Hand trembling, she reached forward and was met with the feeling of something solid.

An invisible wall? Why would they have an invisible wall out here? So, it wouldn't even matter if I could swim home, I can't leave this way.

Charlotte sighed heavily, and dipped back under the water, swimming back to shore. It looked like whatever this town was, the ones who resided in it would be the only way she could get home.

She pulled herself back onto the sand. After she was dry, she pulled her knees up to her chin, and wrapped her arms around her legs.

Eventually, I'm going to have to go back to Regina and Emma. I need to get home. Mom must be so worried… And it's been a couple days, maybe Lewis and the girls have calmed down.

Of course, she had attacked them, and they had been on the verge of winning. It was only luck that she still had her powers and her tail. When she got back to Australia, she had three angry mermaids that considered her a danger to deal with. That was not something she was looking forward to.

None of this would've happened if they were just nice to me. Or if Cleo hadn't… done everything she had!

Charlotte huffed angrily and stood up, brushing the sand off her clothes. She stomped back up the beach, thinking back to how they had taunted her at the moon pool, how Cleo was constantly trying to steal Lewis away from her.

Just like everything else that has gone wrong lately, it's Cleo's fault that I'm stuck here!

She felt her hands grow hot before suddenly bursting into flames. With a small shriek, she knelt down and buried her hands in the sand, immediately extinguishing the fire.

"Right," she whispered. "I have to keep calm. I can't let my emotions get the better of me."

She stood back and shook the sand off. After another few minutes more of walking, she came up to the pier, where a boy slightly younger than her stood, his hands in his pockets, and a smile on his face.

"Are you Charlotte?" He asked, his voice cracking slightly.

Charlotte raised her eyebrow. "Who are you?"

The boy's smile widened slightly. "My name's Henry. You met my moms, Regina and Emma?"

Charlotte smirked. "So, you're the grandson of Snow White?"

Henry nodded, nothing but sincerity on his face. "Emma's my birth mother, Regina adopted me. They wanted me to find you, and I figured, where else would a mermaid go?"

"They told you-"

"It's okay, Charlotte, you don't have to worry about hiding it. Believe me," Henry chuckled, "a mermaid isn't the strangest thing around here."

"So, this place is really filled with fairy tale characters?" Charlotte asked incredulously. "How am I supposed to believe that?"

"You're a mermaid, aren't you? You've got magic, why can't you believe?"

Charlotte huffed and started walking past him, but Henry just followed her. "There's a difference! I jumped into a magic volcano and became a mermaid. That's the only exposure I've had to magic, until I got sucked into a whirlpool and woke up here! So, you'll excuse me if suddenly jumping into a fairy tale and meeting the Evil Queen is a little out of my wheelhouse!"

For a minute, Henry was quiet, and they continued walking, Charlotte half-marching down the street.

"They told me you were from a different realm, I just didn't think… I'm sorry, Charlotte."

Charlotte sighed and slowed down, letting Henry catch up with her before they both sat down on a bench.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you, Henry. I'm sorry too." She looked around the bustling streets. Hansel and Gretel were going down the sidewalk with the daughter of the Mad Hatter.

"Why don't we go to my grandma's house? I can fill you in about what happened after my mom broke the curse. My moms are talking to Ariel, to see if she can help get you home. They'll come find us when they have something."

"You want me to meet Snow White?"

Henry smiled again and stood up in front of Charlotte. "Yes, I do," he said, holding out his hand.

Taking his hand, Charlotte stood up and followed him down the street.