The bell to the Pawn Shop jingled merrily as Gold entered the shop. Henry looked up and without surprise replied, "Grandpa. It's a Saturday morning. Don't you have anything else better to do?"

"I should be asking you the same thing," retorted Gold in kind. "I was wondering if you gave any more thought to my proposal?"

"I'm still thinking about it."

Realizing that he wasn't making any headway with his grandson, he decided to negotiate. "What if I were to change some aspect of the deal? Say, instead of a free pass for multiple days, how about just one day in the Enchanted Forest with you as my guide? The item I need isn't going to take me long to find in my castle."

"What if someone had taken over your castle in your absence? What if things aren't where you left them when we arrive there? You know, things could have changed since the last time you were there. There are just way too many 'what if' scenarios," said Henry as he began scratching his hand.

Even Gold had to admit that anything could have happened during his seven-year absence. The last time he was at his castle was right before they moved to New York and even then he had to vacate any vagrants who had wandered bravely into his castle. But with the amount of enchantments he had used to fortify the castle he was confident in the security over all the precious items he had left behind. He knew that, but Henry didn't. Assuming the latter, he continued, "That's why I suggested one day as opposed to many." Seeing that Henry was still unimpressed by the alternate deal, Gold's frustration over his simple proposition came out as irritation as he pointed out, "C'mon! I know you want magic back in Storybrooke as much as I do."

The itching intensified and Henry began scratching his neck. "Yeah, but for what purpose? We bring magic back and what then, you get to have your dark magic again?"

"How do you even know that my magic is dark? My years outside of Storybrooke could have changed me."

"Sure."

"Since I've moved back to Storybrooke, I've done nothing sinister with my magic. What you've got to understand about magic, Henry, is that light and dark magic are all a matter of perspective. One's disadvantage can be one's advantage. A man steals a loaf of bread and automatically, you would assume darkness because of the method he used. But if the man stole bread to feed his starving family, well then that's a whole different perspective, wouldn't you think? Dark magic can be used for light and Light magic can be used for darkness. You can't have one without the other. Are you alright?" asked Gold as he came over to inspect the rash that was occurring on his neck.

"I don't know. I just suddenly felt itchy all over," moaned Henry, but as soon as Gold came close to Henry the rash mysteriously disappeared. Henry ceased his rampant scratching and relaxed his once irritated body. The moment the itching stopped Henry began checking all over for the source of the rash.

"That's odd," remarked Gold as he inspected his grandson as well.

"Fine," agreed Henry as he ignored the strange infirmity without skipping a beat of their conversation. "We'll go, but only to one place for one day."

"Excellent!" Gold smiled with glee. Realizing that Henry's position had suddenly changed "If you don't mind my asking, what changed your mind?"

"I have a date with Paige tonight," stated Henry. In truth, Henry just wanted a reason to have his grandfather out of his hair, but he was certainly looking forward to his date with Paige that evening so it did put him in a more receptive mood.

"Paige…" Gold ran through his mind of the millions of names he had acquired over the centuries until finally he made the connection, remembering his daughter's tale from her vision journal, "Jefferson's daughter."

"That's right."

Gold nodded his head in approval and replied, "Well, I won't bother you any further. I'll leave you to prepare for your date tonight."

"Oh, and uh, just so you know... Thanks to your suggestion, the Archery contest will take place tomorrow. Mom wanted me to help her spread the word. So if we are to go, we'll leave then."

Gold nodded in acknowledgment, suppressing an impish grin as he backed away from his grandson. As soon as he exited the shop through the front door, Henry smiled to himself over the mere thought of seeing Paige again. He attempted to walk to the back of the shop when suddenly he tripped and fell to the floor behind the counter. The unexpected fall and impact to the ground made his elbows and knees throb with pain. He scanned the floor around him to see the source for his impediment only to discover that his shoelaces had somehow tied themselves together on their own.

…

Lily stood outside the side door's entrance staring into the glass panels as she watched the interaction take place between Henry and her father. During their discussion inside she made small clawing motions with her hands and magicked an invisible irritant onto Henry. The moment her father got closer to Henry she ceased her motions and saw through the glass display case in front of Henry his fancy dress shoes and began making the laces magically move to her will. She twirled her fingers in the air swirling this way and that until finally the deed was done and she made a complete knot out of Henry's shoelaces.

She giggled to herself proudly as her father finally left through the front door of the pawn shop. When Henry fell to the ground behind the display case she couldn't contain herself and snickered loudly.

"You could just walk in you know?" said a voice from over by the hardware store next door to the pawn shop. The voice startled Lily and she jumped in place, gasping at the sudden realization that she was being observed. When she turned she saw Roland leaning up against the neighboring building watching her with curious amusement. Or was it, distaste? She couldn't tell.

"I-I… How long have you been standing there?"

"Long enough," her hero replied. It didn't exactly answer her question, but he did answer. He stood up and walked closer to Lily as he continued, "I was heading to the library when I noticed you loitering by my brother's shop."

"Your brother? Henry's your brother?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Step-brother, actually. If you want to get technical. My father married his adopted mother, Regina."

"Oh," she said as she tried to soak in this newfound connection she had with her friend. Suddenly a thought occurred to her as she asked unsure, "Does-does that makes us relatives?"

"We're not blood-related if that's what you're wondering. No. Only Henry and I are related by marriage."

For a moment Lily got excited over the prospect of her friend being another unexpected blood-relative. Like her father, family was considered precious to Lily because she always felt alone. For the majority of her life the only family she had ever known were her two parents. If it wasn't for the Author kidnapping her from New York a year ago, she would have never known of the family that existed in Storybrooke all along. Lily didn't like that her mother and father withheld knowledge from her and it made her slightly angry if not bitter towards her parents as a result of it. However, whatever resentment she gained from not knowing, it was quickly negated by all the new family members she had met so far, blood-related or not. Since each one was just as magical and wonderful as the next, her joy and excitement only compounded. For Lily, family was one of the many reasons she wanted to move to Storybrooke in the first place.

"Oh," she said disappointedly.

"I swear to you. He doesn't bite."

"Who doesn't bite?" she asked, shaking her head of the train of thought her mind had wandered to in that brief moment.

"Henry. I can understand your confusion, though." Roland shuddered suddenly and continued, "I wouldn't dwell on figuring out who's related to who in this town. You might discover the horrific truth."

"And what truth is that?"

"That we're all somehow related to each other. Henry, more so, than others. Oh, and by the way," Roland said as he backed away towards the direction of the library. "If you're going to loiter around a building, you might not want to look so suspicious."

"Oh!" exclaimed Lily as she looked around at her surroundings. She was completely visible to anyone who had happened to see what she was doing, "I suppose I am exposed to the public."

"Mmhmm," agreed Roland as he turned away from her with the look of unapproved indifference to what he just saw. Lily took notice of his reaction toward her and it made her feel guilty about the harm she had caused Henry. She glanced back inside the shop and noticed how he continued on with his business despite the strange ailments that she had bestowed upon him. The guilt lingered as she admitted to herself that regardless of her feelings towards him, Henry was still family.

She questioned how bad she really wanted Cogsworth and whether or not it was truly worth finding her older brother Neal. In her mind it all came down to one fact, the only person who understood her the most was her brother. Although she had never met her brother, hearing the stories of who he was as a person and how loved he was by everyone made her feel that having him by her side was the right choice.

She continued observing Henry's movements from outside the shop and all she could think about was how he had kidnapped her in New York a year ago. She did eventually find out later that he was possessed by the Author and that it was the Sorcerer's hat that controlled his every move. He wouldn't have bothered anyone in her family otherwise and she knew it. Despite her recent understanding, she still couldn't shake off the trauma. Whenever she saw him she saw her kidnapper, not her brother's son.

Henry is Neal's son, she reminded herself. Neal. Hero. Henry. Hero.

What would he have thought of her teasing Henry like this? Probably nothing good. She was already making poor decisions without him. What if Neal was there beside her being her voice of reason, moral compass, protector and hero? How would her life be different if he was more involved? Certainly less guilty, she supposed. All these questions that she had asked herself only gave her more incentive to continue with her mission, but there was only one problem. She needed to get Cogsworth away from Henry without him knowing.

"A date with Paige tonight," Lily thought out loud to herself. "That could be my one opportunity to get it away from him while he's distracted." She had her work cut out for herself.

Just then the clock tower above the library chimed. Lily glanced down at her digital watch which read: 12:00.

"I'm late!" she exclaimed as she ran over to her bike she had left leaning against the back part of the shop and pedaled away. She was going to be late for lunch at home.

Another short chapter. Struggling writing these days. I'm about 7 chapters ahead of you guys right now and a lot is going on. You'll see what I mean... maybe. Thank you to Actress10, Grace5231973 and ladybugsmomma for messaging, reading and reviewing the last chapter. As you can tell, Lily is progressively heading down a mischievous path. Such a curious little thing. I guess, like her father, it's why I like writing her so much. Hopefully you enjoy reading her character too. Until then, see you next chapter!