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Angi: Here you go! Thanks for your comment!

Guest: I actually didn't know that. That's funny though! I was told that the name 'Baka' is another name for 'Scar' (just like 'Kovu' is) in Swahili, which was why I chose to use it. Thanks for letting me know!


Summary: Over four years after the death of the Snow Queen, Storybrooke is at peace. That is until a girl shows up one night with a mysterious past that not even she can remember. As she grows closer to our heroes, unrest grows in the magical town. This time, it's Henry's turn to face adventure and romance in the fight of good vs evil.

Background: Story starts off at Thanksgiving dinner at the Mills/Locksley house (by my timeline, November 23rd, 2017). Killian and Emma have been married for 3 years now and have their daughter, Elizabeth. Regina and Robin have also been married for 3 years now and have their daughter, Danielle. Rumplestiltskin and Belle took awhile to reunite after his return to Storybrooke, but eventually they arrived at a good place and started a family. They now have been married for over 4 years and have their daughter, Juliette.

Pairings: Henry/OC, Killian/Emma, Robin/Regina, David/Snow, Whale/Ruby


Chapter Rating: T

Chapter Date: April 2019 (Ages: Henry – 18, Addie - 17.5, Roland – 11, Neal – 6, Juliette – 4, Elizabeth – 4, Dani – 1.5, Liam - 5 months, Peter - 4 months)


CHAPTER 12: SICK PEOPLE IN SICK PLACES

"There you go," Addie smiled reassuringly, "Good as new."

The little boy sniffled as he forced a watery half smile onto his face. His parents sighed in relief as Addie finished placing the last touches of the bandage on the child's arm. She had just spent the last half hour stitching up the deep cut on the boy's forearm as he wailed into his mother's shoulder and was relieved to finally be finished.

"Thank you, healer." The boy's father held out a hand for her to shake as soon as she had removed her gloves.

Taking the offered hand, Addie responded, "I'm just glad Tommy's feeling much better now. Just make sure you make a follow up appointment so that we can get those stitches out."

The man nodded as his wife stood and grabbed her son's hand.

"And maybe no more exploring crawl spaces in the dark." Addie added to the boy as his parents dragged him towards the front desk.

He nodded shyly, brushing his long sandy bangs out of his eyes and tucking his face in his mother's arm as he walked.

Shaking her head, Addie began to clear up some of the trash from the bed. It has been two months since she started working at the hospital, and Addie couldn't be happier with the arrangement. Though all are Whale's patients, she has been given ample opportunity to treat them, under his supervision of course. Every other week Addie works a different rotation, whether it be in surgery, radiology, oncology or any of the other specialties. Dr. Whale said he wanted her to gain experience in every aspect of the medical field, even though she has shown exceptional skill in and a love for the operating room. This week, she was in the emergency room, which means she has been stitching all week.

So preoccupied with her thoughts, Addie almost didn't notice Whale himself come up behind her.

"Heard you had a crier." The doctor commented casually.

Addie chuckled as he gestured for them to begin walking the familiar path towards his basement office, "Yeah well, he's just a kid, and that was a nasty cut."

"Which you stitched up beautifully." He commented with his usual nonchalance.

"Is that almost pride I hear in your voice?" She joked, raising an eyebrow in her mentor's direction.

"It is actually." Addie looked at him surprised as he continued. "Not that I ever admit anything like this, but you have impressed me."

Addie simply stared at him until he sighed and continued.

"I knew to expect you to catch on easily, you know, with being the prophesized Healer and all, but it's as if you have been doing this for years rather than weeks. That's far more than I ever expected. You can suture better than half my trained staff, and you probably know a wider range of surgical procedures than any of them. Did you know a couple of my regular patients have even requested to be transferred to your 'practice'?"

"My practice?" Addie asked, shocked. "I don't have a practice. I'm not even a real doctor."

"Not yet, but you will be." Whale stated matter-of-factly as they reached his office. "Besides, I already give you full privileges that only doctors get, and no one's complained yet that someone as young as you has operated on them.

"That's just because everyone knows I'm the Healer. They just assume I'm using some kind of special magical healing powers to fix them."

"As true as that may be, it doesn't change the fact that they want you as their doctor." He looked her straight in the eyes, "And I'm going to give that to them."

Addie raised her eyebrows in shock. "Give them what? Me?"

"Exactly." Whale responded, sliding a piece of paper that looked like a contract in front of her, "From now on, you officially have your own practice. Your office is being prepared upstairs as we speak. I will be giving you your own patient load in addition to your rotations. You have proven yourself to be an exceptionally talented and dedicated medical apprentice and I'm going to reward you for it. Let's call it 'graduating' from my supervision. You're not an actually doctor yet, since you didn't go to medical school, but you are an honorary one. That is, if you want to be."

She was silent for a moment, simply taking in what she was just told.

"I'll take the silence as an acceptance of my offer." Whale chuckled as he slid the contract closer and offered her a pen.

"Of course I accept." Addie couldn't help the grin that overtook her face. She quickly signed the papers.

"Perfect." Said Whale, "Because we've already got a line of people who want to see the Healer." – Addie shook her head in disbelief – "In that case, I will officially fit you into our rotation. Just so you know, if there is ever anything you are uncomfortable with, just let me know and I'll take over."

Addie nodded excitedly.

"Now go home and get some sleep." He dismissed her.

As Addie exited the office, she finally let her excitement fade into the overwhelming exhaustion she has been holding back. It was early morning, but she hadn't slept in twenty-four hours since she worked all day yesterday as well as the night shift. She has been so absorbed in her hospital work that she has been neglecting simple pleasures, such as sleep and food. Addie was sure she was making herself sick – her lack of food and rest has actually been making her nauseous lately – but she loved her work too much to care. That being said, now that she had two days off, she was going to take care to finally catch up on everything.

She has been extra tired lately, which she contributed solely to her hospital work. Though, if she really thought about it, Henry might have something to do with that as well. Addie has found that every time she sees him lately, she has been all over him. Mostly, it's because she knows her body is an easy way to distract him from the whole true love's kiss talk he keeps trying to have, but also because it's a distraction from her thoughts. When she's not working and fixing other people's problems, she tries to find ways to not think about her past and her pain. This is where the sex and stupid stunts come in.

With that thought, Addie pushed her hunger and sleep-deprivation from her mind and pulled out her phone to call Henry.

…OUAT…

The light drizzle was barely noticeable as he made his way to his destination. Mud from the earlier downpour squishing underneath his boots, Henry finally reached the familiar stone marker in the earth.

'Beloved Son Neal Cassidy'

Henry wished they had also put 'beloved father' on there as well. He knew that his father never really got to be that for him – Killian and Robin were the only fathers he has ever really known – but he still missed his dad every day. Because of that, he tried to visit his grave once a week and just sit and talk to his dad about his life.

Crouching down, Henry traced the letters of his father's name with his fingertips. However, before he could begin telling him all that had happened this past week, his phone rang. Noticing his mother's name, Henry stood right back up with a sigh.

"Hi mom, what's up?"

"Hey, Henry," Emma's voice came through the speakers, "Whatcha up to today?"

"Not much." He answered, "Just, well, talking to dad."

The silence on the other side told him how much she missed his father too. Henry knew that she tried to come down here every so often to talk to Neal as well. So did Killian, for that matter.

"What did you need?" Henry asked after a moment.

"I was wondering if you could watch Elizabeth and Liam for the day."

"Both of them?" He asked, surprised. As trusted as he was with his siblings, usually someone else was there since Liam was so young, and it's usually only for a short amount of time anyway. "All day?"

"Yes." Emma sighed, "Killian's sick. He's got whatever flu has been going around and I really don't want your brother or sister to get it. I just want them out of the house for the day but Killian needs me so I can't do it."

"What about Grams?" It's not that he didn't love his siblings, it's that he really didn't want to spend his Saturday caring for a baby and a five year old with a knack for trouble.

"I can't get a hold of her, and your grandfather is covering my shift at the station right now." His mother sounded desperate now. "Please, kid."

"Okay." He really couldn't say no to his family. "It's just, I would really prefer backup if I'm watching both of them."

"Wait," Emma said confusedly, "I didn't think you would be alone. Where's Addie? I assumed she'd be with you since it's her day off."

"Sleeping." Henry replied. This was true. He had awoken this morning to Addie's familiar weight straddling his chest, and after a delightful morning of love making, Henry had made her go take a shower and go right to sleep. As much as he would love to spend the whole day with her, he knew she hasn't been sleeping very much lately. "She had the night shift and the day shift yesterday so she was exhausted."

He heard his mother sigh, "That's right, I forgot. She's been working so much lately, she's going to make herself sick."

"I think she has." He agreed, "She didn't look too good this morning when she came in."

"That worries me."

"Me too." Henry winced at the thought of how pale she looked when he put her in bed. "I'm going to go check on her on my way over to pick up Beth and Liam. Maybe I'll leave her a note telling her to meet me if she feels up to it later."

"That's a good idea." Emma breathed, "So I take it that means you'll watch them?"

"How hard could it be?"

…OUAT…

Roland's quiet giggle from the couch brought a smile to Regina's face. The boy had been home sick the past couple of days with the flu and hadn't been himself. His laughter at the mindless cartoon he was watching was like music to Regina's ears; she knew he was finally getting back to his usual self.

With a glance over to her daughter who was just as preoccupied with the television as her brother, Regina decided to go check on Addie. Henry had texted her saying that the girl had gotten home from work midmorning and has been asleep ever since. Her son had also expressed his worries about her health. Making sure that dinner would not burn in her absence, Regina made her way up the stairs.

She hoped the smell of lasagna from the oven would be enough to wake the girl who usually had quite the appetite.

The woman had only reached the top of the stairs when Addie burst out of her room and sprinted to the bathroom right next door, hand covering her mouth. Hearing the telltale sounds of retching into the toilet, Regina quickly followed the girl into the bathroom.

"Oh, Addie." Regina murmured as she took in the girl leaning over the toilet bowl and expelling the very little contents of her stomach. She quickly knelt behind Addie and pulled her hair out of her face.

"No," Addie mumbled faintly, lightly shoving her away. "You don't need to see this."

"Yes, I do." She insisted, pulling at her hair again, "When any of my children are sick, I help them feel better in any way that I can."

The girl closed her eyes and pressed her head to the cold acrylic of the bathtub, taking a deep breath through her nose as she did so. Regina rubbed circles on her back comfortingly.

"I'm fine now." Addie opened her eyes after a few moments, "I just need to get this taste out of my mouth."

Letting her get up and grab her toothbrush from the medicine cabinet, Regina stood back and observed the girl in front of her. She was pale, much paler than usual. It was clear by the bony sharpness of her cheekbones that Addie had lost some weight due to her lack of eating lately. The dark circles under her eyes also indicated how tired she truly has been.

After brushing her teeth, Addie seemed to notice she was still there and looked at her clearly embarrassed.

"Really, I feel better now." The girl insisted. "I just haven't really eaten in a while so my stomach wasn't feeling the best and the sudden smell of food just made me nauseous for some reason."

Shaking her head at the explanation and pressing the back of her hand to Addie's forehead, Regina replied, "Hmm well you don't look better."

Addie raised an eyebrow when Regina pulled her hand from her head. "Well?"

"No fever." She was honestly confused at that. Roland had had a fever for days with his bought of the flu.

"See, I'm not sick. I'm fine."

However, that statement was disputed the moment Addie tried to walk from the bathroom. She had barely taken one step when she had to steady herself on the sink. It was clear the lack of food in her system was effecting her strength.

"No, you're not fine." Regina breathed as she wrapped her arm around Addie's waist to hold her steady. Ignoring her protests, Regina helped the girl back to her room and made her get under the covers. "Now stay put while I go get you something to settle your stomach."

She hurried down to the kitchen to grab some plain crackers and a glass of ginger ale. With another quick check on the two children in the living room, both still absorbed in their cartoons, she made her way back upstairs to Addie's room. She was almost surprised that the girl had listened to her and stayed in bed.

"How are you feeling?" Regina asked, knowing full well the girl was not going to answer her honestly anyway. At the expected "fine," she handed Addie the glass of soda. "Take a slow sip. That should help settle your stomach. When you feel up to it, eat one of these."

She placed the pack of crackers on the night stand next to a folded piece of paper with the name 'Addie' written on the front in her son's messy scrawl.

After taking a sip, Addie placed the glass next to the crackers and looked at her curiously.

"What's wrong?" Regina questioned.

Addie looked down at her fiddling hands for a moment as if thinking of how to answer that question. Finally, she responded, "It's just, I don't remember the last time I had a mother to take care of me when I wasn't feeling good. I'm not used to it; that's why I pushed you away earlier."

Regina could feel her heart breaking at the confession. All children should have a mother to care for them when they are feeling ill. She couldn't help the sudden rush of anger to the woman whom she has never met, the woman who pushed Addie away until she left for good, the woman who let her grow up alone yet still holds the title of Addie's Mother. Regina could also tell that the confession was the girl's way of apologizing for her behavior.

Fighting back tears, Regina reached forward and grabbed Addie's hands, squeezing them reassuringly. "Well you'll never be without one again."

Addie took a deep breath, clearly trying to push down her emotional response to that statement. Suddenly overcome with the desire to comfort her even further, Regina kicked off her heels and climbed into the bed. At the confused look in her direction, Regina put an arm around the girl, tugging her close until her head was resting on her shoulder.

"Rest now." Regina whispered, tucking her chin over Addie's head and closing her own eyes, "I'll stay here until you fall asleep. When you wake up, you can get a nice warm shower and I'll have leftovers saved for you if your appetite returns."

Regina felt Addie relax into her embrace until eventually her breathing slowed into unconsciousness.

…OUAT…

"Elizabeth Milah Jones, I said wait for me!"

Henry sighed in exasperation as he watched his sister take off down the sidewalk toward the playground. It's only been a few hours and she has made him have to give her the full name treatment multiple times. He could see his grandmother and Belle conversing in the distance so he knew she would be safe. Shaking his head, he glanced in the stroller at baby Liam's gurgling face as he pushed him after their sister.

Elizabeth was already climbing up the slide after her young uncle and best friend when he arrived.

"Hello, Henry," Belle greeted cheerfully as his grandmother stood up to give him a quick kiss to the side of his head and pick up Liam.

"Hi Belle, hi Grams." He replied as he collapsed on the bench next to the women.

He heard them both laugh.

"Rough day with the kids?" Snow asked with a smirk.

"Just a little bit," He answered. "I thought Addie would have joined me by now so I wouldn't have to do this alone."

"Yeah, well she could use the day off to rest." She responded, with a sad smile.

"Very true." Henry sighed. He had been tempted all day to call her or stop home to check on her but he refrained himself. She was probably still asleep anyway.

They were all quiet for a few minutes, simply enjoying the peace of the children off playing. He watched as his six year old uncle shamelessly flirted with a blushing Juliette and he chuckled to himself.

"So you can see it too?" Snow asked with a small smile at him, "He's just like his father."

Belle laughed, "Rumple's not going to be happy about this. How long do you think it'll take them to realize their feelings and end up together?"

Henry snorted but his grandmother looked thoughtful.

"I give it less than ten years," She chuckled at Belle.

Shaking his head in disbelief, he asked the women, "Are you really setting them up already? Neal's only six and Juliette's only five."

"You're never too young to learn about true love." Belle stated with a smile, "You of all people should know that."

Henry turned away from the knowing looks.

"How is that going anyway?" He heard his grandmother ask.

"I don't know." Henry sighed. "She won't let me talk to her, like really talk to her. Any time I try to bring up something serious, she changes the subject."

"She'll get there." Snow reassured him, "I mean, look at your mother. She was exactly the same for so long, but, eventually, Killian won her over. You just can't give up on her."

"I won't." He insisted. That was never an option; he loved her too much to ever give up on her.

"Besides," Belle added, "You're young. There's plenty of time to have all of those serious conversations. Maybe it's even a good thing to hold off. You should probably figure out what you want out of your future before asking her the same."

Snow nodded in agreement.

"For example," Belle said with a teasing smile, "Even with how tiring your siblings are, would you ever want children of your own."

"Of course." He answered without hesitation. Family has always been the most important thing to Henry, and he definitely wanted one of his own someday.

The two women exchanged small smiles.

"With Addie?" Snow asked slyly.

Henry looked his grandmother in the eye, taking a deep breath, and answered honestly, "Absolutely."

She smiled at him affectionately as she grabbed his hand.

At the gesture, however, Henry became suddenly hesitant. "Hopefully, that is. Like I said, she won't let me have any serious conversations. I don't even know if she'd ever want kids."

"She will." Snow insisted, "You see how she is with all of the kids. She loves them, and she would love her own." – She squeezed his hand – "She would love yours."

Henry smiled as he turned away and looked into the distance. Though he was young, the thought of starting a family with Addie appealed to him immensely. He could see it: a little boy with her smile on his face and a little girl with her big brown eyes, both with a combination of their parents' adventurous spirits. He couldn't help the swell of his heart at the thought of raising their children with her and then growing old by her side. Shaking his head, Henry pushed the thoughts from his mind.

That was the future; they still had a long way to go until then.

…OUAT…

Addie's heart raced as she paced back and forth on the cold tiles of the tiny bathroom she shared with Henry. Her hands, steady as any surgeons could be, tapped random patterns on her thighs as she looked anywhere accept the timer on her phone that was placed on the edge of the sink, and especially not at the object directly next to it.

This couldn't be happening.

How could she be so careless? She's practically a doctor, for crying out loud. They hadn't even had the what-if conversation. Not that Addie let them have any conversation that she deemed to be moving in a serious direction lately. Henry, being the good guy that he is, let her get away with her avoidance anyway.

Maybe she should have let him have at least this conversation.

She was wrong. Addie kept telling herself that over and over again as she paced. She knew the symptoms of course – the whole almost-doctor thing again – but they could mean something else. She has a bug, that's it, something she could easily have picked up from one of her patients at the hospital, or maybe she caught the flu that Roland had had this past week. Yes, that was it. The reason she can't shake it is because of all the stress and lack of sleep. All she had to do was ask Whale for a few days off to rest up and she'll be as good as new. She was working herself up into a panic for nothing. This was most definitely not what her gut was telling her. She was wrong.

Addie felt her heart skip a beat as the beeping from her phone alarm pulled her from her thoughts.

It was now or never.

Actually, never was probably not a good option. She'll find out eventually either way.

Shaking her head, Addie picked up the phone and turned off the alarm before looking at herself in the mirror. She had dark circles under her brown eyes and her dark waves were still wet from her most recent shower. Her face was pale, accentuating the slight smattering of freckles across her nose and upper cheeks. The fact that she hasn't been eating is apparent in the gaunt look of her cheekbones and her bright red lips, colored because of her nervous twitch of biting them not because of makeup of any kind, contrasted sharply to her pale features.

With a deep breath, Addie finally tore her gaze from her reflection and turned toward the white stick that she had picked up on her way home this morning and had buried under piles of clothes until now. It looked so innocent resting on the other side of the sink, but she knew it had the power to change her life forever.

Picking it up slowly, the rest of the world faded away and Addie's heart sank into her stomach. She traced her finger over the little pink plus sign, willing it to go away, and closed her eyes to fight back the tears.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

…OUAT…

NEXT on BEAUTIFULLY BROKEN: Addie thinks, Henry panics, and an attack commences.

A/N: Another short but important chapter! I hope you enjoyed it! Just a fun fact: I named the little boy in the beginning after Tom Thumb, a fairy tale about a boy who is literally the size of a thumb and gets into all kinds of adventures, including crawling in dark places. It's an interesting tale…I highly recommend reading it :)