**Okay. I wanted to make something clear. Far be it for me to defend Henry or Emma in anyway at any time. Trust. But this story isn't just about sticking it to them. It is about them facing the truth about themselves and their actions, forgiving themselves and others, learning to live with themselves, and figuring out how to move on. Even though I'm glad that there are more people who are opening up to the things that they've done being disgusting and in some cases deeply disturbing. A hate-for-all was never what I was encouraging. It just always confused me as to why people acted as if the show was great when these things were always the foundation of the show and no one ever acknowledged them. As a parent whose fostered and adopted hearing that Henry is the poster child for never adopting or fostering breaks my heart. And trust me I'd be on the same page if I thought that it was a possibility. But Henry is a special abomination who I have thankfully never had the misfortune of meeting. I've never seen the combination of stupid, entitled, with a lack of common sense or decency while exempting himself from the evil things that he does displayed by anyone anywhere. And I never want to!

As I've said this story is about healing. Now that they've faced the ugliness inside and their honest contributions to it I hope to move on from here. It's still slim pickin's. But I do believe there is light on the other side for Henry and Emma.

And again thank you all for going on this journey with me. On a separate note - Please keep the comments coming! :D I love the debates!

And congrats on reaching more than 300 comments!

Also, you do realize that this show is nothing but a really shyte fanfiction of Buffy right? Someone hit it right on the nose when they said that it looked like a 14 year old girl's live journal. So for the person who thought that Regina had raped Graham I assure you that it was merely the shyte writing of the show. They were trying and failed to recreate Buffy telling Spike that she was just using him to feel something... anything. I'm not the only person who got that right?! And honestly- straight up real talk- it's also a white supremacist version of Buffy. I've never understood the love for any of the Charmings. But ignoring all the messed up things that Emma does in the name of the power of white which can do no wrong just horrifies me. Regina's supposed 'evils' pale in comparison against what the noble and righteous Whites have done and never been held accountable for to me.

If you're confused you might want to stop watching the show and start watching Buffy. I promise you the original was way better and should never have been touched IMO. I was drawn into the show because of the Buffy characters. But deeply disturbed and turned off by the way it was twisted into something Buffy was never meant to be. I turned to fanfiction to basically rage against the machine. Anyhew ... I'm off my soapbox. Hope you enjoy!**

CHAPTER 37

The next morning it was a late start. It had taken forever to get Henry out of bed. Emma chalked it up to adolescence which seemed to be coming hard and fast for her son. Which again made her sad about the years they'd lost between them.

After a reasonable breakfast of eggs, tomatoes, mushrooms, spinach and toast the small family got dressed up for their big day.

Emma wore a tight fitting blue dress and did her hair up in a coronet around her head. Henry wore a suit of his including a tie. He'd parted his hair on the side and swept the front to the back. On the outside, he looked fine. On the inside, he was a mess.

He didn't really understand why any of this was so important. But Emma had insisted and he had no fight left in him for anything. So here he was.

Soon they'd be leaving the only place he'd ever known as home to go to a foreign place because of Emma's baby. A baby he understood was supposed to be his sister. But he felt nothing when he looked at her. And he had no idea what being her brother even entailed.

He missed the way things used to be. The way things were with Emma when they were on the mission to bring down the Evil Queen. It was like the two of them were in on this huge secret. It had been fun to know that they were the good guys doing a heroic deed. But he also missed the way things were with his Mom before Emma came into the picture.

His life had taken a series of turns and twists that he never saw coming since the breaking of the curse. His Dad was in his life now but the happily ever after he'd imagined that long time ago when he'd first set out on his mission would clearly never be his.

Growing up with just him and his Mom, he'd spent a lot of time alone as an only child. It had sometimes been lonely when his Mom was stuck working or doing something else and couldn't be with him. But it had never felt as bad as it did now. Now, even in a crowded room surrounded by his family he had an aching emptiness inside him that kept him from caring about much of anything.

Henry turned at the low wolf whistle he heard to find Emma grinning at him, "Hey handsome. You ready?" she called out from the doorway. "Let's do this!"

Henry checked himself out in the mirror one last time making sure that he was presentable. He grabbed one of his monogrammed handkerchiefs his Mom had bought him and folded it into his suit pocket. He allowed Emma to fuss over his hair and even give him a hug and kiss before they turned to the door and headed out.

Emma had booked an appointment with a photographer that should take them about an hour. They needed portraits done for the passports. But she also wanted a family photograph. It was one of those foster kid fantasies that she would finally have the chance to make real.

Tears gathered in her eyes as she watched Henry sit for his portraits. And they threatened to spill over as the two of them sat for the family picture. Henry had glanced at her curiously but she'd covered it up by hugging him and declaring that it was just allergies that made her eyes shine brightly in the pics they proofed.

She paid for the photos then they went back to the hotel to change quickly before heading back out again for some lunch and sightseeing. She took Henry to the Statue of Liberty which was a necessity for everyone at least once in their life. The kid had been in a good mood and they'd both had fun goofing around about absolutely nothing. It was almost like in the good old days of the two of them together again.

The next day after a nice breakfast on the balcony they stopped by the photographers and picked up the portraits to use for their passports. Then they continued on to a post office to get the paperwork out of the way before they continued with on with their family vacation.

They walked into an almost empty post office to find a tall, dark haired guy reading a book. He was so deeply engrossed in the novel he didn't even look up until the door gave a ding as it started to shut.

"Business slow these days eh?" Emma asked as she looked around.

The man gave them a sheepish smile. "Yeah it has been weird. I guess the internet is killing the reality star. He came and stood across the countertop from them, "so what can I do for you?"

"We're here for our passports. We're moving overseas as soon as possible," Emma explained as she put her bag that carried their documents on the countertop.

"Ah," he seemed impressed. "There are plenty of people coming in these days but not many going out. I think it might have something to do with being violated just to get on a plane nowadays."

Henry scrunched up his face, "ew."

"Eww is right little man," the man whose nametag read Bernie nodded. "Now do you have the paperwork or did you need an application?" he asked politely as he put his book away.

Emma went through her bag and began to organize the items they would need to complete their applications. "I think we're all set. I skipped signing the application just like they said online," she said as she placed all the documents they needed on the desktop and waited.

"Alright," Bernie began to sort the documents and applications into a couple of piles. He picked up Emma's id, "I'll just have to make a couple of copies of this."

He put her ID in the copy machine and quickly made copies of the front and back. He walked back over to the desk and examined the paperwork. "What's this?" he frowned as he lifted the paper that Regina had left Emma that gave her custody of Henry.

"Custodial papers," Emma nodded.

"Only a judge can issue custody papers," Bernie said as he noted the different names on the applications that Emma had already filled out while glancing up at her skeptically. "These aren't even notarized."

"My Mom doesn't want me anymore," Henry decided to pipe in. "So now Emma's my Mom."

Bernie looked startled at the declaration. Emma herself winced as she heard how the horrible the comment sounded. She jumped in quickly hoping to smooth things over, "He was adopted before. But I'm his real Mom. And now I'm back," she said uneasily as she wrapped an arm around her son. "Henry's mine now."

Emma started to feel sick as she watched a smile appear on Bernie's lips while his eyes were saying something completely different. This wasn't right. And she knew it. Her heart dropped into her belly as he excused himself.

She groaned aloud as she realized how what Henry had just said sounded. And she knew they were in big time trouble and needed to move fast. She couldn't ever remember feeling as terrified as she did in this moment. Not even while facing down an actual dragon.

Her heart was pounding so loud she thought it would give her away as she leaned toward Henry and whispered, "Henry, I need you to take my keys and get into the car. Make sure you unlock my door as soon as you get in. I'm going to be right behind you," she said as she stood watching Bernie on the telephone throwing her an occasional dirty look.

"What?" Henry was confused. "Why? I thought we had to do more paperwork. I don't understand - ."

"Damn it Henry," Emma muttered as quietly as she could while trying to keep her cool as best she could. She plastered on a fake smile as Bernie's eyes drifted over to her again. When he looked away she bent down to Henry's eye level and gritted through her teeth, "I do not have the damned time for this. Now do what I said," she thrust her keys at him forcefully.

Henry looked at her with hurt then anger. He whipped the keys from her hands and ran out the door.

She straightened and ran her shaky hands though her hair. Her heart felt like it was going to beat right out of her chest as she rounded the desk. She'd just grabbed up her ID and the copies from the copy machine when she heard Bernie end his call. She'd made it back to the other side of the counter and was halfway out the door when she heard Bernie return. "We had something important come up," she threw over her shoulder as she hurried to the door. "We'll come back later to finish this up," she said as she bolted outside.

When she heard a "hey!" she went from a brisk walk to a run. She jumped into her car as fast as possible and locked and slammed the door behind her. She turned to Henry, "keys?" she held her hand out and waited for him to give them to her.

But Henry was angry and confused. Emma owed him some explanations for what had just happened, "what's going on?" he demanded. "And why do you keep yelling at me? I haven't done anything."

"Give me the damned keys!" she yelled ignoring his whining. They seriously did not have time for this. If what she thought was going on truly was, they only had minutes to get out of there before the police showed up. And that was far worse than dealing with Henry's defiance.

She snatched the keys out of his hands and peeled out of the parking space with a screech. She could smell the burning of rubber as she high tailed it out of the parking lot and away from the place as fast as she could.

Once she could no longer see the building in her rear view and she saw no police cars around she turned into a parking garage. She snatched the ticket out of the machine and then drove around and around until they reached the top floor.

When she saw the sky open up before her, she put the car into park. "Oh my God, oh my god, oh my God," she kept moaning over and over as she tried to control her shaking. By this point, tears were streaming down her cheeks as her adrenaline began to wear off. Now that the imminent danger was over her nausea was returning. She opened the door and practically fell out of the car. "Oh my God!" she cried as she collapsed next to the car. She buried her head between her knees willing the sickness away.

Henry was scared as he watched his Mother fall apart in front of him. Today was supposed to be a good day for them. Another happy day like the one before. A day when it felt like they could finally be reaching a new normal that he could live with.

Emma had never raised her voice at him. She'd never even told him no before. He didn't understand what any of this was even about. He just stared at her angry and hurt for the position it seemed she'd put them both in. He had no idea what was going on but he knew that he didn't like this.

He turned his back on Emma as tears began to roll down his cheeks while he contemplated his life. He had no friends. At least before the curse he'd had some. And then after the curse broke everyone pretended to be his friend for a while. But then they'd remembered he was also the son of the Evil Queen and they'd turned their backs on him again.

His grandparents had been fun. But once Regina had lost interest in him it seemed they lost interest in him too. It was one thing to hurt the Evil Queen by stealing her son. It was another when she proved she could care less and disappeared. He'd seen their selfishness and the way they closed themselves off and thought they were better than everyone else firsthand and it sickened him that they'd been his heroes. Truthfully they barely seemed to care about Emma.

Now he had no one. Only his Dad seemed to understand him sometimes. And all he talked about was being back at home in his real life. With the occasional invitation for a visit to him when he remembered he existed.

He just wanted to be back home again. He wanted nothing more than to be his Mom's little prince again and to fall back in her arms safe in the knowledge that this nightmare that had become his life was just that. But his life had been hell for so long that it was becoming harder and harder to remember the good times.

Emma was trying to get herself under control. They needed to get out of there. Hell, they needed to get out of town. But first she had to pull herself together.

She picked her head up and began to wipe away the stray tears. She turned and fumbled in her bag until she found some old restaurant napkins. She quickly mopped up her face and was blowing her nose when she noticed Henry had his back turned to her. His shoulders were shaking and she could hear the slight squeals from him trying to cry quietly.

"Oh Henry," she climbed into the car then thought better of it. Instead she got back out and walked around the car. She pulled his door open and tried to reach out to him but he jerked away. "Henry - ?" she asked confused as she dropped into a squat.

"I want to go home!" he yelled out as he turned to face the front of the car trying to put as much distance between the two of them as possible. "I hate being here and I want to go home," he cried out even as he couldn't figure out what or where he meant by home.

Emma nodded and again tried to reach out to touch her son. This time he didn't flinch but he didn't exactly welcome her touch either. "We will. I promise we're going to go straight home after we get our things. I think it's best we get out of here as soon as we can."

She reached into her glove compartment and pulled out her stash of restaurant napkins. She tossed her used ones in the plastic bag she kept as a trash can underneath the dashboard as she started to clean up his face. "I'm not sure who all that guy called. I'm guessing he was talking to the police." Henry's head jerked around at this and his face registered his confusion over the situation. She rubbed his arm to comfort him, "It's okay. They don't know where we're staying or anything. I just think we need to get out of here as soon as possible."

"Why? What's going on?" Henry croaked still lost and honestly a little scared. He still was not understanding why Emma had just had a breakdown. Or why she'd started yelling at him for doing nothing.

Emma shrugged as she handed him the napkins to finish cleaning his face. They were both still crying but the tears were drying up. "The custody papers. I guess we have to get ones signed by a judge. I'm not really supposed to have you," her heart broke as she realized the truth behind the statement.

Henry's breathing became labored as he stared at her. Her fear had transmitted itself to him even though he had no idea why. "Why were you yelling at me?" he demanded to know still not appeased by her answers. "I didn't do anything."

She held up her hand to him to stem his tirade. Henry had a bad habit of taking control of situations and never letting things go. Now and here was seriously not the time. "Look we need to go and get our things while we still can. I'll just have to get this figured out later."

Henry caught the deflection and it was doing nothing but making him angrier. "No!" he yelled and pushed past her to step out of the car before rounding on her. "I'm not going anywhere with you until you tell me everything!"

"There's no time for this Henry!" Emma yelled back as she stood. She could feel her own temper start to rise. "We have to get out of here! If the police track us down then I'm going to jail and you're going into foster care! Your Mom doesn't want anything to do with any of us! You'd never get out of there!" Emma felt the panic from a few minutes ago start to well up in her again. "Oh God," she whispered as she fell back onto her haunches. The waves of the nightmare that she'd been trying to avoid started to rush at her and the tears started anew as the nightmarescape scenario played out in her mind.

Henry gasped then blanched as he processed through what she'd just said. "My Mom doesn't want me?" He'd suspected. But it had never just been coldly laid out for him that way. Suddenly his head felt light and his knees began to shake. He stumbled until he fell against the half wall behind him. His legs gave out as soon as he made contact with something solid and he slid down the wall.

It took a moment to clear through the fog, but finally what he said began to register through her shock. She wiped the blurriness from her tears away even as more tears took their place. Seeing her son clutching his arms around his raised knees as he cried cut her to the core.

"Oh Henry," she crawled towards him. "Henry it's okay. I've got you."

Henry heard her voice as if it was from far away. He felt her arms go around him and gather him close but he barely registered it. He couldn't breathe. There was no air.

The boy's loud sobs tore at her insides. She hated the position they were in. And hated her inexperience and uncertainty at what to do or say. So instead she stayed silent. She just held him as he cried his heart out into her arms.

It seemed like forever before their heartache had passed enough for them to collect themselves. They were both emotionally drained. "The guy back there has no idea where we're staying," she said as she began to work her muscles out. She'd been sitting in a cramped position for too long and her body was protesting. She flayed her limbs around trying to get her body to cooperate and move the way she needed it to. "I think it'll be fine for us to crash at our hotel again. Then I'll call the lawyer's in the morning. They'll know what to do."

She ran her hand through her son's hair. He'd also stopped crying but it was clear the emotional roller coaster they were on was far from over. "It's okay Henry. I've got you. And we're going to be okay," she assured him as she helped him stand.

Henry nodded and got back into the car. His head fell against the back of the seat. He was spent and even though he had no idea what was going on or where they were going next he knew he wanted to get out of there now.

"Don't worry. We'll be home soon," Emma tried to give him a lopsided smile but she knew it was more of a grimace. She took a deep breath to steady herself. Then she put the car in drive and took off.

Henry's head lay heavy against the back of the seat as he watched the city go by his window. Home. Wherever that was. The word now seemed like a joke. All he knew was that there was no going back for him. And he had no one to blame but himself.