Chapter 10: Meeting Old Friends and Looking for Henry
Rose winced as she opened her eyes, her ears ringing by an off-key whistling. She looked over to see Grumpy sitting in a prison cell. No, a cursed Grumpy. The uncursed dwarf never would have scowled at her like that.
"What are you lookin' at, sister?" he asked.
"A poor, heart-broken drunk otherwise known as Leroy," Rose answered. "Seriously, I'm insulted. Gone five years and you don't recognize me anymore." She turned at the one-man applause.
"You haven't lost your touch, Arianna," the Italian gentleman said with a smile.
"Hey, Marco," Rose said, sitting up.
"No, don't bother yourself," Marco said. "Your friend told us that you got a nasty bump on your head. You needn't get up. Just continue to rest."
"My friend?" Rose asked. "Emma's still here?"
"Up til an hour ago when I convinced her to go out for breakfast," Marco said. "She should be back any minute."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief. "Thanks, Marco. Sometimes she worries about me a bit too much." Her smile dropped into confusion when she saw something on the floor. She leaned down and picked it up. A paper flower. They hadn't made these since Emma's sixteenth birthday. She was further surprised to see that there was roughly a dozen of them.
"She said she had been working on them all night while she waited for you to wake up," Marco said, settling down beside her.
"Rose?"
Her head jerked up at Emma's voice. The blonde looked awful. Faint bags under slightly red eyes. Even her leather jacket managed to look rumpled. "Emma," Rose breathed. She stood up taking a few steps to meet her niece.
Emma wrapped her arms around her. "I was so afraid I'd end up losing you," Emma whispered.
"I'm fine, Emma," Rose said. "Slight headache, but I'm fine. Trust me, I've experienced worse."
"I'm just happy you're awake now," Emma said. She pulled back. "I grabbed breakfast," she said, holding up a white, paper sack.
"You found Granny's," Rose noted. "She has the best breakfast in town. Well, any meal actually." She guided Emma back to the couch. "Did you get a chance to meet Storybrooke's best carpenter and all-around handyman?"
"Um, Marco, right?" Emma asked. "Sorry, I was horribly preoccupied earlier."
"It's understandable," Marco said. "First, you meet your son and bring him home, then your friend, who you love as a sister, is badly hurt. That's a lot to handle in a single day."
"Well, cry me a river," Leroy drawled.
"I'll try once I have some water," Rose returned. Turning to Emma she said, "That guy in the cell is the resident Mr. Grumpy-gills, Leroy."
"Don't 'Grumpy-gills' me, missy," Leroy countered. "I can still whip you at solitaire."
"Only when you're sober," Rose said casually.
"I wouldn't have thought that you'd be friends with that guy," Emma said in a low voice.
Marco chuckled. "She's friends with just about everyone."
"Not everyone," Rose said with an eyeroll. "The town's a little too big for that."
Marco continued to chuckle as he shook his head. Turning to Emma, he said, "It was as though Nick and her were always trying to see how many friends they could make. 'Marco, Ari is friends with that fisherman, I've got to meet him.' 'Ari just became friends with Sarah Fisher. I need to find another unique friend.'"
Rose laughed. "That, sir, was only one-sided. I just enjoyed meeting people."
"So, how did you and," Emma smirked, "Grumpy-gills meet."
"Ah, you see there!" Leroy said in protest. "You started it and now you're going to ruin my reputation."
"The only way I could ruin your reputation would be giving you a happy nickname," Rose said. Focusing on Emma, she said, "Leroy would tell you otherwise, but the two of us met when he stumbled onto the Home's property, stone drunk. The only way I managed to make him stay until Graham picked him up was to challenge him to a game of solitaire. I beat him five out of five."
"And she came in the next morning," Leroy continued, "singing like a little bird how she had beaten me. But, she was willing to have a rematch the next time I felt up to it."
"So that's how it started," Emma said. "A card game and name calling."
"Not quite," Rose said. "The name 'Grumpy-gills' was an idea from one of the kids. We couldn't really get his name out of him, so all through our first few meetings, that's what he was called."
"And I'm still plagued by it," Leroy grumbled.
"Stop griping," Rose teased. "You and I both know you secretly love it."
"Oh, shut up," Leroy said, turning round to sulk in his corner.
Rose chuckled. She whispered to Emma, "All bark and no bite in that fella."
"What about you and Marco?" Emma asked, unpacking breakfast.
Rose accepted the apple danish as she answered, "It was actually when Nick was introducing me to Archie. I was starting to put together a list of contacts for my children's home. I figured that since some of the kids might need counseling I better find a trustworthy therapist. Nick insisted that he knew just the man, and took me immediately to meet Archie. It just so happened that Archie and Marco were returning from lunch. So, it was really a quick exchange of names before Marco went back to work and I went with Archie to start the groundwork for the Home's residents."
"It wasn't until one of the boys broke a toy boat that we really got a chance to meet," Marco added, having returned to fixing the cabinets. "We discovered that we both had a love for children. Because of that, she arranged for the kids to have workshops with me a few days a week, so that the kids could learn to work with their hands and I could have the pleasure of being around them."
"I also promised that I would do my best to help him adopt a child," Rose said, heat rising in her cheeks. "I'm sorry that I didn't follow through."
"Ah, don't worry," Marco said. "Nick hinted that there was more to your leaving than what met the eye. He didn't tell me the whole story, but he assured me that it wasn't merely a whim that you left on."
Rose smiled. "I'm going to have to thank him for that at least," she said. "Any idea where I would find him about now?"
"I may end up sending you on a merry chase," Marco said. "Depending on how fast he's working, he could be at any number of jobs. We've been splitting my calls between each other. I do my best to give him the ones I know will pay more, seeing as he needs it more than I do."
Rose blinked. "He always expressed interest in studying the stars and planets, working with kids. Not in woodwork."
Marco shrugged but before he could say anything, another visitor entered the office. Then again, not a visitor.
"Leroy," Graham said, "if I'm going to let you out, you need to behave." He unlocked the cell door and opened it. "Put on a smile and stay out of trouble."
Leroy gave a ghastly imitation of a smile before he started out.
"And you wonder why we called you 'Grumpy-gills,'" Rose said casually.
Leroy turned to her. "I heard that."
"Meant you to," Rose said. She snagged a still-warm sausage biscuit wrapped in a napkin and tossed it to him. "Open to rematch at your convenience."
She was rewarded with a real grin as Leroy unwrapped the biscuit. "Prepare to lose, Smiley."
Rose laughed as Leroy finally headed out. "Never changes, does it?" she asked Graham.
"It certainly doesn't," Graham said, snagging a chair and sitting on it backwards in front of her. "Although, this is the first time you've had to sleep in the station."
Rose winced. "Not the best way to start my return after five years," she noted.
Graham shook his head. "I just need your side of what happened. Emma told me her side, but for obvious reasons, I decided to wait before I passed judgement."
Rose set aside her breakfast before she started. "Emma and I were heading out of Storybrooke and it was raining. I noticed she was reading the book that Henry had left in the car. Since we were planning to return within the next few days, I didn't worry about it. Aside from that one or two seconds it took for me to notice, my eyes never left the road. I just noticed that the sign was up ahead. Then this white wolf just appeared out of nowhere, standing in the middle of the road. I slammed on the brakes, lost control, and sideswiped the sign. That was the last that I clearly remember until I woke up this morning."
Graham nodded. "Alright, your stories line up." He turned to Emma. "I just had to make sure."
Emma nodded. "I understand."
Graham stood and went to his desk. "I will have to fine you for the damages, but no other charges. Sorry 'bout the 'welcome back' gift," he said with a wince.
"Don't worry about it," Rose said, accepting the paper. "At least I know that I'll actually be around for awhile."
"Graham!" Regina's voice rang through the office, just as she stepped inside. "Henry's run away again. We have to–" She ground to a halt when she saw Rose and Emma. "Arianna Nemo? What are you doing here?"
"And good morning to you, Mayor Mills," Rose said, standing to her feet, tucking the paper away. "I just decided to return home for awhile. Well, at first I was just tagging along while Emma dropped your son off. But we decided that it might be a good idea to have a vacation, visit some of my old hangouts, see some of my friends. That sort of thing."
"Do either you know where Henry is?" Regina asked, her voice hardening.
"Madam Mayor," Emma said, "we haven't seen him since we dropped him at your house. And, we have a pretty good alibi."
"Yeah, well, he wasn't in his room this morning," Regina answered, looking down.
"Did you try his friends?" Rose asked, keeping in mind that they were dealing with a distressed mother, not some evil queen.
"He doesn't really have any," Regina answered. "He's kind of a loner."
"Every kid has friends," Emma said. "Did you check his computer?"
"Yeah," Rose added, "if he's close to someone, he'd be emailing them."
"And you know this how?" Regina challenged.
"Finding people is what we do," Emma said. "Ever since we met each other, we've been known as the Swan Sisters. No one has stayed hidden from us for long."
"So," Rose said, "as long as our business is done here, we can head out and help you find him."
"Sounds good to me," Graham said. "Your car is at the garage, just a general checkup for insurance reasons."
"Can we hitch a ride with you then?" Rose asked.
"Sure," Graham said. "Backseat?"
"Fine with me," Rose answered.
"I'm sticking with you," Emma said. A moment later, they were in the back of the cruiser finishing their breakfast. "So, according to the curse, who is everyone I met this morning supposed to be?" Emma asked, her voice low.
"Leroy is Grumpy, good friend of Snow's; Marco is Geppetto; Regina is Snow's and my stepmother; and Graham is the Huntsman, a secret ally but forced to serve the Evil Queen," Rose answered.
"Why are you referring to Snow White by her name and not as my mother?" Emma asked.
Rose shrugged. "Not wanting to overwhelm you. Especially since you seem to still be getting used to the idea."
Emma gave a half-smile. "Thanks for the consideration."
Shortly thereafter they were back at the mayor's house. The house in general was spotless without a thing out of place. However, when they entered Henry's room, it proved to look a little more lived in. It was neat, but in a slightly off-kilter, childish sort of way.
Emma turned Henry's computer on and, as soon as she was able, brought up Henry's email. "Smart kid," she noted. "He cleared his inbox."
"But, we're smart too," Rose said, handing a little device over to Emma. "We never head out without this little hard disk recovery utility. Fastest little guy on the market."
"Legal market I hope," Regina said.
"Yes, legal," Rose said. "I wouldn't have gotten mixed up with this otherwise."
"Believe me," Emma said, "she wouldn't."
"Well, you managed to surpass me, Ari," Graham said. "I'm still old fashioned in my techniques."
Rose quoted along with him, "Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing." She chuckled as Graham smiled with a shake of his head.
"Last I checked, Graham," Rose said, "you are on a salary. Emma and I get paid on delivery. We don't have the luxury of being old fashioned."
"Here we go," Emma said. She scrolled through the newly retrieved emails. "Huh. A receipt for a website: ." She clicked on it.
Rose let out a soft whistle. "That's a bit costly. Does the kid have a credit card?"
"He's ten," Regina said as though insulted.
"Well, he used one," Emma said. "Let's pull up a transaction record."
Rose blinked in surprise at the name. "Mary Margaret Blanchard?" She turned to Regina. "How does he know my sister?"
"She's Henry's teacher," Regina answered.
Author's Note: What did you think about Rose's cursed past? Any theories concerning Nick? Did you enjoy hers and Leroy's banter? Would love to hear from you.
Next chapter we will see two sisters reunited. Any theories how that will go?