"That's good," Zelena offered praise as Alice stood up to grab her toy rabbit she'd dropped. Zelena had been potentially overdoing it with the praise lately but she was just so happy. Alice had finally gotten to a point where she could do more than just sit and stare into space waiting for Zelena to tell her what to do. She'd started to go into the kitchen to draw on her own and her apologies were becomeing less frequent and when they did slip out they were far less panicked.
Zelena had no idea if Alice's newfound confidence would translate to any other enviorment but for right now it was good to not have to go tell her it was okay to come out of wherever she was curled up. It was wonderful to be able to almost trust that she didn't need the constant attention that she had for a while.
Alice continued drawing. It was a picture of her rabbit. Zelena usually wasn't around when she drew. She didn't know what Zelena did with the drawings once she was done. She finished the drawing and picked it up. She didn't want to keep it and she knew where she wanted to go was only a few steps away. She still flinched as she walked over toward the edge of the counter with her drawing in her hand.
She dropped it in the trash bin. Zelena watched as the drawing Alice had been working on for hours was tossed away like it meant nothing. She'd kept every single one in a box she had stored in her room. Or at least every one that had still been on the table when she'd come into the kitchen. Some were drawings of things Alice had seen around the house: her stuffed toy, the furniture, the doors; but others were far darker: something that looked like a belt with bloodstains, chains attached to a wall, shattered vials on a stone floor, and in all of them a little girl was sitting near it clearly terrafied. It was obvious how alone she'd felt for so long. The drawings saddened Zelena but she thought maybe one day Alice would want them. They were filled with detail and emotion.
"Alice. What are you doing?" Zelena didn't understand why Alice thought the art went into the garbage. She had seen random papers put in there, Zelena assumed.
"Done."
"Yeah you can be done. But why are you throwing it away?"
"Idon'twantit."
"I do," Zelena told her.
Alice blinked. She'd tried to give mother things she'd written during her lessons but she didn't want those and they were useful. She'd thrown them away and told her that she didn't care about anything she did or made. Once she was finished practicing her writing she was supposed to just throw it away. And she did. Even the note she'd made to tell her she loved her. She'd heard mother say she loved the market. She'd wanted to give it to her. But she didn't bother. She'd tossed it and never thought about it much again. "Your drawings are amazing, Alice. You're really good at it. And they are not meant for the trash."
Alice had thought they'd all been thrown away. She tilted her head.
"Let me show you something."
Zelena walked away and came back with box. She opened the lid and pulled out a stack of papers. "I've kept all of them."
Alice didn't know what to do.
Zelena went over and pulled Alice's latest drawing out of the bin and put it in with the rest. "One day you may want these. And I'll have them, okay?"
Alice nodded. She didn't want them. They were just something to do that didn't terrify her.
Zelena knew right now Alice likely didn't realize how talented she was, or even that talent was a thing. She'd hold onto the drawings for her until she did.
Alice spent the rest of the day as she had started to. She still did the same things she always had but had finally managed to make it through an entire day without anyone telling her what to do.
Zelena was really happy for her.
A few days past with Alice not seeming to rely on anyone too much. She still spoke to Luna and asked her some questions, Zelena didn't think Alice would ever be able to do anything she was doing without Luna's help.
Alice had grown so much more confident that Zelena finally thought the market would be safe to take her to. She was still going to have Luna. And they'd taught Luna a command of following a specific person. No matter how panicked she got, Alice wouldn't be able to get lost.
"Okay, we've got this. Luna can follow us and if you get scared she's right there. If you get lost, she's right there. Ready?" Robin told Alice. Her encouraging tone not betraying her inner feelings of worry. The last time they'd tried this Alice had come rather close to dying. And she'd been through so much she deserved not to die before at least knowing what it felt like to be safe and happy.
Luna's leash was attached to Alice's waist. It'd taken a while to get Alice used to that but she was fine with it now.
They made it to the market and Alice and Luna trailed after Zelena.
Zelena kept glancing back but Alice was doin great. She kept reaching down to pet Luna, but that was a good thing. If she was touching Luna she wasn't in such a blind panic she couldn't walk in a straight line.
Someone bumped into Luna and Alice.
"Sorry."
"Watch it! And you can't have a dog here!" the man flung his arms up in a questioning stance.
Alice flinched. The man was loud and he looked like he was going to hit her for a second. Why couldn't Luna be with her? She needed Luna in order to feel safe. She'd get lost without her and then she'd get hurt. And she needed her so she could ask to move. It was different when she was at home, she finally thought of Robin's house as her home. She'd figured out how to handle doing things there. But there were so many people here. And any one of them could be angry if they knew she didn't ask first.
Zelena turned back around and walked up to the stranger. "She's a service dog, and she very well can have her here." Zelena was pretty sure that was how that worked. That's how Regina had explained it.
"What's it for?"
Zelena sighed. What was the right words for if I ever find the woman that made a child too scared to move to the point she needs a dog with her I'm going to destroy her at least twice?
"Help," Alice whispered. Alice knew what Luna did for her but didn't know how to explain it. And this man seemed like he'd hurt of if she breathed wrong.
"Yeah, good job Alice but you don't have to answer his question."
Alice nodded.
"Someone needs to," the man was gruff and Zelena was annoyed. And it'd frightened Alice who sat down and let Luna lay in her lap.
"There, she's doing what she's trained to do, go away," Robin told him.
The man scoffed but walked away.
Alice sat there until she calmed down than got back up.
"Follow?" Alice whispered then pointed to Zelena. Luna followed her for the rest of the trip and they finially got everything they needed and circled back to the entrance of the market.
"Good job Alice, you did great," Robin told her. Alice had just been letting Luna lead her and comfort her when she got scared. She didn't think she could do this without her.
"Lunadid."
"yeah, I know Luna helped but you did it. We walked around the whole place I know that was scary," Robin was so excited. Alice nodded.
They went back home and Alice sat down and drew for a little while with Luna asleep at her feet.
They soon got into a new routine. Alice would come to the market with them about once a month and she was slowly getting better at it. She still couldn't handle going too often. And the number of people that demanded to know what Luna was for was suprising. Alice didn't know how to stand up for herself and often listening to people's questions while petting Luna hoping that whoever was talking to her would go away.
It was time for their monthly trip and Zelena had made something for Luna to wear that vaugely explained what Luna was for.
"There," Zelena told Alice as she finished attaching the patch to Luna's vest. "If anyone ask, you can just point."
Alice nodded.
They went to the market and someone approached Alice.
"Awwww, cute dog! Can I pet it?"
Alice flinched. How did she say no? The woman reached over and started petting Luna, distracting her from what she was supposed to be doing.
"What's she for?" the woman asked.
Alice shakily pointed to the patch Zelena had made.
[Do not pet. I am here to help her make decisions and guide her through crowds. Do not distract.]
"Oh, but it's fine isn't it? Nothing bad will happen if I pet her for just a few seconds."
Alice flinched but ignored the woman. She glanced ahead of her and realized she couldn't see Zelena or Robin any more.
"Follow?" Alice whispered and pointed in front of her. Luna would follow whoever she pointed to. But Zelena and Robin had gotten a ways ahead. So she started to guide Alice to the first person she pointed to. All around the maarket and straaight to the road. Luna stopped at the side of the road wher she saw a carriaage and laid down at Alice's feet. Luna's way of telling Alice not to go any further. They'd managed to train her that if she saw a carriage she needed to stop and refuse to let Alice walk in front of it.
The carriage driver got in then glanced over. He recgonized her.
"You're the girl that sat in front of my carriage a few months ago." He'd learned his lesson from when the girl's friend had yelled at him. He'd felt terrible for his part in damaging what sounded like progress that had taken a lot of effort to get to. He'd sworn he'd never treat someone that way again. And gotten the girl a gift. But then he hadn't seen her for months. He blamed himself for ruining what sounded like something she'd been struggling to be able to do. He'd kept it in his carriage. She looked older than she seemed to behave so he'd gotten her a book and a stuffed bear unsure on which she might like. He grabbed the bag out of his carriage. He'd held onto it in case he ever saw her again.
"Sorry," Alice whispered.
"No, it's okay." The driver read the patch on Luna. Guide her through crowds? Had she gotten seperated from whoever she'd been following? "Are you lost?"
Alice nodded.
"I think I can help. I'm Ian, what's your name?"
"Alice." she wondered if he wanted Luna's name to. Everyone else had been curious about her lately. "Luna." Alice gestured to the dog.
"Let's try to get you unlost, okay? Who are we looking for?"
"Zelena," Alice whispered.
"What's she look like?"
Alice told him she had red hair. It was more conversation than she'd had in a while but Luna was making her feel like it was okay. And this man was speaking to her the way Robin did. As if he was okay with her responding but still happy to maintain most of the conversation.
Alice nodded and pointed to Ian. "Follow."
She trailed behind him until they found Zelena standing with her back turned.
"Excuse me, miss," Ian approached. Zelena turnd on her heels and saw Alice standing there.
"I think she got lost."
"Oh thank you," Zelena told him. "Alice are you okay?"
Alice nodded. "Alright."
"And Alice," Alice looked at him. "This is for you. Wanted to apologize for how I treated you a few months ago." He handed her the bag and went to walk away.
"I'll be back, Alice. You stay with Robin, okay?"
Alice agreed and Zelena chased after Ian.
"Hey!"
He paused and looked at her. "How'd you know her name?"
"She told it to me."
"She's never said her name before. She usually takes weeks before she'll say anything at all. What was in the bag?"
"Wasn't sure how old she was so got her a book and a little stuffed bear."
"She loves stuffed animals. She has one she carries around everywhere in the house. Not so sure about the book."
"It's Alice in Wonderland, funny enough. Don't meet too many people with that name these days."
"My daughters favorite book, she didn't have a name when she found her so she named her that."
"You've got a good kid. Two actually. Your daughter laid into me while defending Alice a few months back."
Zelena wasn't suprised at all.
"Well, thanks for the help."
They went their seperate ways.
Slowly, Zelena added more and more outings for Alice. It took time but she finally got to a point where her getting scared wasn't a worry. The only issue was people bothering Luna but after some time Alice had learned how to tell people not to pet her.
The first time she'd done that Zelena had lost all composure and shown how happy she was.
They'd been out at the market, Alice happily listening to Robin tell her about some trick shot she'd done with her bow and a woman had approached her. It was clear Alice struggled more around women than men or younger kids. Which made complete sense. Her mother had been the one to beat her and hold her prisoner for a very long time.
"Can I pet your dog?"
Zelena was within earshot still and assumed Robin would have to step in.
Alice knew that if the woman did that she'd not feel safe and that Luna would likely no longer be able to follow Zelena and keep her safe.
"sorryno."
Zelena had blinked, forgetting that Alice was easily frightened.
"Yes! Good job Alice! That's amazing!" She was hyped up and excited for her.
Alice blinked. Why was Zelena acting like mother whenever she got a spell right?
She'd slowly stopped fearing questioning Zelena.
"Whatspellwereyoudoing?" she whispered.
"No. No spell. Just happy for you. Proud of you. Really really happy. Want to go get ice cream or something? We can go get ice cream."
The woman that had asked to pet Luna stared at her for a moment.
"She didn't do anything, and is plenty old enough to not need encouragement."
Zelena glared. "Long story. Come on Alice."
They left and went to get what Zelena had offered. Alice ate her food with Luna laying at her feet but she was confused. Why was Zelena so happy?