For those of you who don't know: when I post a chapter, I've likely only read it through once, and I have no idea what's going to happen in the rest of the story or even in the next chapter. I love writing fanfiction this way because it lets me see my raw creativity, but it also means it's full of mistakes and little writing issues that I would normally edit out in my own original fiction. For this I apologize. I only hope you have as much fun reading it as I did writing it.

"It's the middle of the night."

Henry jumped when his flashlight beam fell on a tall figure and the light reflected back dazzled him. "Melody?" he said, shielding his eyes from the reflection off her bright skin.

"Henry, you really must stop disturbing my rest."

Henry was about to stammer an apology when his vision cleared and he saw that Melody was smiling. He held out his hand to give her his offering – a large travel mug full of water. She took the mug, looked inside, and chuckled. "Well it looks like I can rest long into the morning, now that there is no need to fetch water. Perhaps I can forgive your intrusion. Come, sit."

Henry followed Melody into the shelter of the lean-to. There was a thick, heavy blanket laid out on the ground, but otherwise she had nothing but her staff. Henry wondered, not for the first time, how she was taking care of herself alone in the woods with a bad leg. That wasn't what he really wanted to ask about, though.

"Are you a fairytale character?" he asked.

"We've discussed this at great length, I should think. I am-"

"Fae. I know. But…" it occurred to him then that in order for Melody to understand him, she would have to know what human fairytales in this world were. That probably wasn't the case. He tried a different approach. "Where are you from?"

"My home has no name in your tongue, nor my own. We simply call it 'home', and it is understood." Melody tilted her head, looking down at Henry. "But I sense that is not a satisfying answer."

"Were you brought here by a curse? How long have you been here?"

Melody didn't respond for a long time. Henry couldn't be sure but he thought she was looking past him, seeing something in her mind's eye. He was silent, not wanting to disturb her thoughts. At last, she said, "A curse would certainly explain my arrival here, I suppose. It would have to be powerful magic to transport me suddenly to a strange land. I have only been here a short time and have not been able to travel far."

They were quiet for a while, Henry plucking at blades of grass. Melody took a few long gulps of water and let out a deep sigh, eyes fluttering shut, like she had never tasted anything so delicious. Henry wondered how long it had been since she'd had any food or water. "Are you sure you don't want to go see a doctor about your leg?"

She rested a hand on Henry's forearm. A shiver ran down his spine when he looked at the thick black claws, but he didn't move. "You are a rare human to show such concern for a fae." She smiled. "I assure you, I am quite resilient. Now, what was it that disturbed you from your sleep tonight?"

"Well..." Henry had no idea where to even start. Was Melody from the Enchanted Forest, or some other world? Were there other non-humans living in Storybrooke? Was Regina really the one who raised him? Why had Emma brought them back here? He knew Melody couldn't answer most of those questions, but he was so overwhelmed by what he was being asked to believe. And he couldn't stop thinking about his life with Emma. If he accepted magic and fairytales – hard not to when he was sitting next to a fae – then he had to accept it all. That would mean none of his memories of Emma were real. Their relationship was something Henry had always treasured, a friendship that most people just didn't get with their parents. And now it wasn't real.

Henry sniffed and wiped his eyes with the back of his sleeve. He didn't want to cry, not out here in front of a stranger. And not even a human one. But Melody stroked his hair and her gentle touch was soothing and Henry felt himself feeling drained and sleepy. "Come now, little one. It's time for your mind to rest."

'I'm not little,' Henry thought, but the words never left his lips.

"Regina! Regina, wake up. Look at this!"

Regina gasped as the bed suddenly dipped under Tink's weight. She rubbed her eyes and squinted up at the fairy. Tink was grinning from ear to ear and holding a piece of paper that Regina's vision was still too blurred to read. "How in all the realms do you have so much energy this early in the morning?"

"I always have this much energy, silly." Tink pressed a finger against Regina's nose and Regina scrunched her face, pulling away from the irritating gesture.

"I hate when you do that," she said, rubbing her nose.

"I know, but have you ever seen your face all scrunched up like that? It's adorable."

"Next time you do that I'm launching a fireball at you, I swear."

"It will absolutely be worth it. Seriously, look at yourself in the mirror when you make that face. You can't really expect me to resist that face."

"What's got you so excited that you just had to wake me?" she asked, changing the subject with a lazy roll of her eyes.

Tink flopped down onto the bed next to Regina and held the paper up so they could both see it. It was an invitation. "There's a royal ball tonight! It's to celebrate the Princess's engagement."

"I don't know the princess; why should I care that she's getting engaged?"

Tink smacked Regina in the face with the invitation. "It's not about the engagement, it's about the ball. I've never been to a royal ball. I want to go."

"I've been to plenty. They're not that exciting."

"Maybe they're not excited to someone who's been to so many, but I haven't." Tink sat up. She looked down at Regina with a genuine frown, something Regina hadn't seen on her face since their time in Neverland. "Regina, you spend all your time out here with nothing but flowers to keep you company. You haven't even been to town in over a month. Maybe you want to disappear into the forest and live the peasant life forever, but I don't. I need excitement."

"So go to the ball, I'm not stopping you."

"I can't just show up alone and uninvited!"

"In case you haven't noticed, I wasn't invited either."

"But you're royalty."

Tink's hand reached out just as the words left her mouth, like she wanted to snatch them back. She froze, then let her hand fall. Her words hung in the air between them. Regina rolled over, her back to Tink. She knew which buttons not to press, and she'd done it anyway, just to go to some damn party.

The bed groaned and shifted, and then Tink's arm slid over Regina and one finger stroked her cheek. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking."

"I am not royalty here," Regina said. It came out hollow and robotic. She'd said it so many times since their arrival.

"I know." Tink kissed the back of Regina's bare shoulder. "But Regina, you're wasting away out here. There's no need – no one here knows who you are. I've been asking around and-"

"You what?" Regina twisted to look back at Tink.

Tink blushed. Swallowed. "I've been asking around when I go into town. I tell people I want to visit the Enchanted Forest – they call is Mist Haven here – and ask if they know anything about it. I haven't found a single person who recognized your name, and I've only come across two people who'd ever been there. They were traders, and never went farther than the Northern border towns. Regina, you're a complete stranger to these people. You don't have to hide here."

Regina tried to summon up anger, to rage at Tink for talking about her with a bunch of Arendelleans, but she couldn't quite manage it. Her eyes stung with tears and she quickly twisted back so Tink wouldn't see them. She would know they were there, though. Regina knew that.

"Look, all we have to do is dress up and tell them you're Queen Regina from Mist Haven. No one will question you."

Regina rolled so she was facing Tink. "A queen from the Enchanted Forest will draw people's attention…"

Tink raised an eyebrow. "You sound like you have a plan."

Regina put her hands over her face. "Fiiiiine. I'll get us in."

Tink grinned. "Excellent. Now we just need to get ourselves some ball gowns."

She was about to spring up when Regina draped an arm over her, keeping her in place. "I have magic, remember? I can whip us both up anything you want in one puff of smoke."

"So we have lots of time before we have to get ready?"

"Mm-hmm." Regina leaned forward and started trailing kisses down Tink's neck, pulling her tunic aside to continue along her collarbone.

Tink shivered. "Well I guess one afternoon cooped up inside wouldn't be so bad."

It's remarkable how children are all the same, even human children. All they need is a little comfort, a gentle soothing of their worried minds, and they drop right to sleep. Henry was no different, even though he was nearly leaving childhood. And just like any other child, he didn't stir at all as Melody scooped him up in one arm, staff in the other, and began the slow trek back to his home, wherever that was.

Her knee ached, not unbearably, but it did slow her considerably. Still, an adult fae was considerably faster than a human, and Melody followed Henry's trail back to his house in half the time it would have taken him alone. He didn't so much as twitch the whole way. Melody paused when she saw his trail stopped at a wooden fence with one of the slats set aside. She peered through the gap into a large yard, and past it was a truly enormous home. Melody had never seen a dwelling so large, yet hardly large enough to be a castle. Either the peasantry here were well off or the royalty were poor. There were no lights on in the house, but Melody knew which was the boy's window.

Unable to fit through the tiny gap, Melody crouched and then sprang, clearing the fence and landing softly on the other side. She let out a hiss of pain as pain flared in her knee, spreading through the entire limb. She'd forgotten to compensate for the injury and land on her non-dominant leg. Henry made a noise in his sleep, but didn't wake.

There was a noise from the house, almost like a gust of wind, and Melody froze.

"Who's out there? Show yourself!"

I apologize to all those who don't ship Fairy Queen, but I adore the idea of these two together. I promised SQ endgame and SQ endgame you shall have, don't worry. And no, there will be no love triangle because UUUUUGGGGGGHHHHH.