It's short, but we finally start getting some answers. Next chapter will be longer, and I'll be able to get things moving again. Enjoy!

Holiday Spirit

Chapter 10

Breakfast was continued in relative silence. The children were all too busy to say anything, and David and Regina were mostly just poking at the food with their forks, having lost their appetites. Occasionally, they'd catch the other looking at them and sharply look away again, stewing in anger for their own separate reasons. A sudden shout from Henry made them both jump.

"That's her!" he exclaimed, dropping his fork onto the plate with a loud clatter. "That's the woman I was talking about!"

David looked out the window in the direction that Henry was pointing, and Regina turned around in her seat as best she could.

It wasn't anyone either of them recognized, but that wasn't what mattered at the moment. David stood up abruptly, and Regina slid to the side a bit.

"Isabella, I have to get up for a moment, darling."

The girl complied, jumping off her mother's lap and standing off to the side in confusion as both her parents made their way quickly out of Granny's.

The woman wasn't walking quickly, but in the time it had taken them to rush out of the diner, she was a good way down the sidewalk.

"Excuse me!" David called, slipping into a jog. "Excuse me!"

Regina hurried after, struggling to keep up in her heels and refusing to do anything as undignified as running. "Hey!" she shouted instead, finally catching the woman's attention.

She turned in surprise at the shout, but recognition dawned immediately and she smiled. "Mayor Mills…Mr. Nolan." She nodded her head in greeting. "I was expecting you to come find me."

"Come find you?!" Regina asked in a dangerous voice, finally catching up with David where he stood next to the stranger. "How could you expect us to find you? We don't even know you!"

"Ahh, but how could you not want answers? Henry will have told you about me, I'm sure, and of our dealings. No doubt he is the one who pointed me out to you?"

"Your dealings?" Regina hissed. "He's a child! What business did you have approaching my son?"

"He was unhappy!" the woman said harshly, losing her irritatingly calm demeanor for a moment. She took a deep breath, her face relaxing once again. "I apologize. Henry was clearly miserable, as were you, and with good reason; everything here is so out of balance."

"And you think granting wishes by grossly misinterpreting them is fixing something?"

David shifted forward, wanting to prevent the confrontation from turning into a full-blown fight. Regina had a way of putting people on edge and pushing their buttons until even the gentlest people were goaded into a vicious argument; something he didn't currently have the patience for. "I think what Regina means to say," he started, glaring at Regina when she opened her mouth to retort, "is that we're a bit confused with how Henry's wish for everyone to be happy has resulted in a town-wide mix-up. Or in anything at all, really…"

The woman smiled. "Not many people know of my powers, or who I am. I travel through all of the worlds, and the effects of my magic are not always as large as it has been this time, but Henry did wish for everyone's happiness. While it was his family he meant, it would never have worked without changing around many more pieces."

Regina shook her head in exasperation. "You're still not telling us anything! Henry's wish was for people to be happy, which – obviously – no one is."

At this, the woman shook her head, her smile turning sympathetic. "That is only because I was not able to create new memories. It is difficult to explain how the process works, but part of the journey you are now on is finding the answers for yourselves." At David's frown and Regina's loud huff, she continued. "I'm sorry I can't explain more, but giving you the answers would not have the same result. The magic of life cannot be forced, it has to be found."

"If you think this is magic—" Regina started angrily, but David cut her off.

"What exactly is it that you do?" He ignored the way Regina's spine stiffened and her fists clenched at her sides in anger at being interrupted. "I'm still not sure I understand."

She smiled at him warmly. "I make my way through the worlds, looking for desperate souls who need my help. My abilities allow me to show people what could be…if only for a short time. A glance into the future you might say, but only one of the many futures that exist for all, and always a future that is different from the path that they are already on."

"Like the ghost of Christmas future?" David asked, still trying to grasp what was going on.

"I suppose you could compare my power to the Earth tale, yes. However, this wish coinciding with Christmas was merely chance. I'm am not limited in when I show people what I show them."

"So stop this," Regina said firmly, crossing her arms.

The woman tilted her head. "You are that unwilling to try for your happiness?"

This time David was in complete agreement when Regina scoffed. "You think this is my happiness?"

"She's right," he said. "I'm sorry, but you must have done something wrong. I'm happily married. Or I was until my wife and I were ripped apart by whatever it is that you've done. The whole town is in an uproar. And this…" he gestured between himself and Regina, "what you've done to us is miles from happiness. Do you have any idea of our history? Who she is and what she's done? It could never work…nor would we ever want it to."

The stranger looked back and forth between them sadly, seeing both Regina's hurt and anger, as well as David's frustration. "I'm sorry that you feel that way, however, even if I wanted to, I cannot stop what I have done."

Regina's eyes narrowed on her, her voice dropping down to the low and threatening tone she'd used often as queen. "What do you mean you can't stop it?"

"My power is to show the future, but once it has started, I have no control over it. It will have to end on its own."

"And how long will that take?"

"It is impossible to say. Each journey is different."

David pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose as he squeezed his eyes shut, a sudden headache overtaking him.

"I can't believe this!" Regina said, throwing her hands in the air. "What are we supposed to do in the meantime?"

"Live."

"Mom?"

Regina turned to see Henry hurrying toward them. "What's going on? Is she going to fix this?"

"You should go back inside, honey. It's freezing out here."

"But this is my fault!" he said defiantly. He stopped in front of the woman, his eyes desperate. "I didn't mean it!" he pleaded. "I didn't want to mess everything up and make everyone angry. I just wanted people to be happy."

"I know," she told him. "And now there is a choice."

Henry's nose scrunched in confusion. "What choice? Do you mean to go back to how everything was?" he asked hopefully.

"Eventually…if that is what everyone wishes."

"Can't you just fix it now?"

"I don't really have the power to fix things; only to show people the way to do it themselves."

"But everything is all wrong now. I didn't mean it." Henry's voice grew quieter and a tear fell. "I didn't mean it."

"You've done nothing wrong," she assured him. "And it will all be over in due time. How it ends is up to everyone else now." She looked back to Regina and David. "Sometimes my magic has no effect in the end, and others it leads to yet another future after it is over, but no matter the result, people learn something about themselves along the way. I've told you all that I know," she said, looking between the three of them. "The rest is out of my control. My duty is to stay until the magic has seen itself through, but I will not be of any help to you beyond this point." Focusing on Henry, her eyes were filled with sincerity when she said, "Regardless of how it ends, I hope you get your wish."

She turned away before any of them could find words, and continued in the direction she'd been headed, eventually turning the corner out of sight.

"What just happened?" Henry asked. "Does that mean this is going to end soon? Is she going to fix it?"

David shook his head. "I don't know."

"Mom?" Henry asked, turning to her for answers.

"It's not over yet," she told him, still staring at the point where the woman had disappeared. "But it will be. Until then, we're just going to have to live with it." Without looking at either of them, she turned around and walked back to the diner.

"Is she mad?" Henry whispered.

"No," David lied, knowing that she was in fact angry, but also knowing that Henry would misunderstand it as directed toward him. He knew exactly how she felt because he felt the same. They'd been looking for answers, and instead, they were right back where they'd started. "You should go back inside and finish breakfast."

"You're not coming?"

He shook his head. "I need to find Snow."

"What should I tell mom?"

"Tell her…" David closed his eyes and let out a long breath. "Tell her that I'll stop by later so we can talk about what we're going to do."

"Okay."

Noticing Henry's guilty look, he put a hand on his shoulder. "This isn't your fault, buddy. Come on, I'll walk you to the door."

Henry sighed, but allowed his grandfather to guide him back up the sidewalk, past the fence, stopping at the base of the stairs.

"I'll see you later today, okay?"

Henry gave a sullen nod.

"Things will go back to the way they were," he tried, looking for something to say to cheer his grandson up.

"I don't really want that, either," he said quietly.

"We'll find a way to be happy, Henry. I promise."