The three of them talked for a long, long while that evening, getting a lot of things straightened out and smoothed over, until Zelena slipped up to the guest room that Regina had declared would be hers, allowing the married couple some time to themselves.
Like Regina had said, Daniel was a good man, Zelena mused, changing into a nightdress that she had found in the dresser – part of an entire wardrobe that was at the ready, thanks to her little sister. She slid into bed and was almost instantly asleep after the emotionally exhausting day – and she'd only been alive again since after noon!
The next day was much of what last night had been. Daniel had even taken off of work so that the three of them could hole up in the house and get absolutely on the same page before Henry came back here after school.
It was the least they could do when the poor boy was inadvertently heading for one of the biggest shocks of his life.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home!" Henry called out, tumbling up the stairs to deposit his backpack in his room before he hunted them down.
He froze near his doorway, his backpack thumping onto the floor at his feet as he gaped at the equally frozen woman who had just been coming out of the guest bedroom.
She recovered first, saying gently in the crisp, British accent that he remembered, "Hello, Henry."
He didn't even reply – didn't say a word – he just ran back down the stairs and straight out the door, barely registering that both of his parents were coming in from the living room and telling him to "stop," "let us explain!" He bypassed them blindly, getting back in his car and gunning it out of there… and straight towards Grace's house.
Somehow he got there before she even made it back to her house after school. Looking around the house, he realized too late that Jefferson wasn't even home from work yet. Sighing, he dug in their mailbox until he felt the key that he knew was kept taped to the top of the inside and let himself into the house to wait for Grace. He collapsed onto the couch, feeling more winded then he had the first time he'd shown up here – and he'd been years younger and on foot all the way from town that time.
Forcing himself to take a deep breath and calm down, he lay on his back and closed his eyes, focusing on the face of the woman he'd seen in his house, making sure it was who he thought it was. Zelena. Zelena, the Wicked Witch, his aunt – who was supposed to be dead – was in his house!
His phone beeped in his pocket with what was probably the twentieth text he'd gotten since he'd left his house and he ripped it into the open with a growl, keeping his eyes closed as he pitched it across the room.
"Ow! What the–! Henry?"
His eyes flew open as he shot upright, saying, "I didn't even hear you come in."
"What's the matter?" Grace asked instantly, dropping her book bag in the doorway and scooping up his phone from off the floor before she walked across the room to sit beside him on the couch. "You look white as a sheet!"
"I, uh…" He couldn't even bring himself to say it! Instead he gestured to his phone in her hands, saying, "It's probably all in there."
"There's twenty-one new texts and three missed calls on here," she said, glancing worriedly between him and the device.
"Oh, I'm sure," Henry scoffed.
"What's going on?" she asked again.
"Read the texts," he said tiredly, "Or play the messages, I don't care."
He leaned his head against the back of the couch and closed his eyes again, suddenly feeling worn-out. Storybrooke had enjoyed a years-long stretch of glorious peace, and he could practically feel it slipping out of his grasp. The very idea had him fighting hard not to have a literal panic attack.
Beside him, Grace lifted one of his arms and put it around her shoulders, snuggling into him as she presumably played the first message when his mom's worried voice filled the air.
"Henry, I know it must've been upsetting – probably even terrifying – for you to come home to Zelena, but I do really believe that she's changed. She wants to be better for us, and if you'd come back home, please, all four of us could sit down and talk about this. Let me explain. Please, Henry."
Grace sat up slowly and Henry eased his eyes open, seeing the shock written all over her face as she asked, "What does she mean, 'come home to Zelena'?"
"What does it sound like she meant?"
Grace asked as it dawned on her slowly, "Did she bring Zelena back to life?"
"Yup," Henry said succinctly as he put his head in his hands.
"Oh, no," Grace breathed, laying a hand on his back as she played the second message.
This one was from Daniel: "Hey, Henry, listen, I know that was a shock for you – believe me, I felt that way yesterday when I came home from work and she was here – but your mom's worried sick, and I really don't think Zelena's going to be a threat this time around. Can you come home so we can be reasonable and talk this out?"
The third message was barely three words in – "Henry, it's Aunt Z-" – before Henry reached over, ripped the phone out of Grace's hand, and hit the "delete" button on the message, barking, "Nope."
Grace looked at him warily, murmuring "calm down" and rubbing circles on his back as she took the phone back and began to read the texts aloud. The first few texts were simply repeats of what had been in the voice messages, and then they switched over into trying to explain instead.
"'She's my sister, my blood. I had to try,'" Grace read from his mother.
"'You know I would've already done something about it if I thought she was going to hurt anyone,'" Daniel claimed.
"'I just want to get to know my family,'" and supposedly that one came from Zelena herself.