NOTE: Hey, I originally wrote this in 2018 as a story for swanqueen supernova. I've decided to post it whilst I work on my other story Regina's Ill. A friend S. K Allen helped me out a lot with this and I'm so greatful. I'm truly proud of this story. It does have a few ragged ends but all in all I think it came out alright thanks for reading guys.
Just a heads up before we begin Tajana is Emma is cursed form just there's on confusion.
Chapter 1: Henry's daughter
Henry was sat in his car driving home. His last fare of the night had been a small family of three. Their little girl sat between her parents, forcing both of them to put Mickey Mouse ears on. Both obliged and let her place them on their heads, laughing at each other and their daughter.
He watched as they interacted, images of his own family going through in his head. Each second having a tighter hold on his heart. It made him ache to see his wife and child again. He knew it would never be a possibility. Not now, not after the fire.
He tried to distract himself from his thoughts. He looked out of the front window of the car and couldn't help but think to himself how beautiful Seattle was at night. The street lamps and headlights created their own small light show in the distance, the trees that lined the edge of the road waved lightly in the subtle breeze, and the tall buildings around just visible to him.
The drive to the family's home was hard for him. He was relieved when he could drive back to his own apartment. It had been a long difficult day. Sure, driving for swift wasn't the worst job but it wasn't writing. He just couldn't wait to just be able to relax in the peace of his own home and get to that book he had been wanting to write for quite some time now. He was just suffering from major writers block.
When he finally reached his hiding spot away from the world, he chucked his keys on the side and sat on his red, leather sofa. He took a deep breath, and opened his laptop, switching it on. A word document was left open… all that was written on it was:
Poetic opening line goes here...
He sat and stared at the screen but not a single idea came to him. He needed to at least try and write something. His brain felt foggy and distant. He couldn't concentrate lately. He knew the reason why, but writing was all he had now. He would like to enjoy it but he just couldn't think.
He was interrupted by a light knock on his front door. No one knew him here and he hadn't told anyone else where he had gone. Confused and wary, he went to open it.
He was suspicious as to who would knock at his door at this time, Henry pulled the door open slowly. Behind it was a small child. She had soft brown skin with dark brown eyes and hair, full lips and a slightly upturned nose. She was wearing a jean jacket underneath a navy coat. Henry had never seen her before; why was there a small girl knocking his door at this time?
"Uh, hello..?" He said to the young girl, a little baffled by her sudden appearance.
"Hi, are you Henry Mills?" She asked him confidently.
"Yeah... Who are you?" Henry said really wanting to find out why there was a young girl stood outside his door asking who he was.
"My name's Lucy," She introduced herself, looking a little more nervous now. "I'm your daughter."
Henry's question had been answered. He was a little speechless at that quick reveal. He invited her in. She dropped his book on the table. This was getting weirder by the second.
"Is this some kind of joke? Kid, I don't have a daughter." He explained knowing exactly where his daughter was.
"Oh, that's just the curse, it changed all your memories," She said, as if it was a common explanation for forgetting your own daughter.
" Huh... A curse, huh?" He knew what this was now.
"I kind of expected my favorite writer to have a bit more... success," Lucy said swiping her finger across his window still which left it covered in dust. She rubbed it on her jacket. "This place is a dump."
"You know, I didn't exactly write Harry Potter," He said, a little hurt to be burned by a little girl.
"Or anything since that one book." Lucy added in, looking on his laptop. "Poetic opening line goes here..." She looked at him, "You've got some work to do."
"Not all stories come easy. Sophomore albums are hard," He said, walking over to his laptop, "And actually, this is none of your business." he closed the laptop lid and put it in a draw. "What are you? Some kind of stalkery superfan?"
"No, I'm your dau..." She started Henry cut her off
"Daughter. Right?" He said not even for a second falling for this kids tricks. "Wrong," He said walking past her.
"UH, it's like your book..." Lucy groaned getting annoyed he wasn't believing her. "You just don't remember because you're cursed, this is why you're not writing now," She said picking up his book and holding it close to her chest. "It's because you're not living your own story." She sighed seeing him still not getting it. "Come with me to my neighborhood, Hyperion Heights."
"Hyperion Heights," He said in disbelief.
"It's like your Storybrooke," She explained, her reasoning not hitting a mark, considering he knew Storybrooke was fictional.
"No, it's not. It's a real neighborhood in Seattle," He explained to her. Storybrooke even in his story doesn't actually exist on the map. "A real city, with real people."
"And living with them is your family..." Lucy fought back. " And all the other cursed fairy-tale characters. Come with me. You can meet your true love and break the curse," Lucy explained passionately. The kid had some imagination, he'd give her that.
"My true love?" He asked now completely sure this girl was making it up.
"My Mom," She said like it should have been obvious. Henry made a face that told her he still wasn't on board the idea. "Cinderella," He hummed to himself. This girl sure was persistent. "You met her in your last chapter. Remember?"
"Kid, none of that was real. Snow White isn't my Grandma. My shrink isn't Jiminy Cricket. I never flew with Peter Pan and I never crashed into Cinderella's carriage," He tried to explain to her, bending at the knees so he was at her level. The girl had gotten her head wrapped up tightly in her own disillusion.
"NO, it's true. You returned all the happy endings. Now my mum and all the other's need you to do it again," Lucy pushed. She clearly had been thinking about all of this for some time. "The curse got most of the people in Hyperion Heights, but.." Henry stood up straight again.
"I hear that's an up and coming neighborhood," He said walking away from her. "Doesn't really sound like a curse to me." He said he pointed to the door to indicate her to leave his apartment. He just wanted to go to bed.
"It is, it's up and coming because of my Grandma, Cinderella's stepmom is trying to bring people from this world in, so all the fairy tale characters move out. Move away, Get separated," Lucy said, becoming more distressed with Henry's unwillingness to believe her. "Just like you lost Cinderella. Everyone will lose each other... Forever."
"Sad story, kid, but that's all it is. Now come on, I've got stuff to do." Henry said ushering the girl out of his house.
"But my mom. She ne..." She started to try and explain to him. He was having none of it.
"Look, kid. I'm sorry about your Mom, but I'm not some magic fairy-tale character, who can swoop in and change her life. She's gotta do what we all do. She's got to save herself."
Later that night, when Lucy had finally left. Henry went to get his laptop wanting to at least write something. He opened the drawer he had put it in earlier when Lucy had been nosing around. It wasn't there. He felt around panicked thinking it might have fallen down the back. It hadn't.
His hand found a yellow sticky note. Someone had written on it:
If you want to see your laptop again, meet me at Roni's, take a left at the troll under the Aurora bridge.
That settled it then, he was going to Hyperion Heights.