So here I am in this small town where I knew most of the people but none of them knew or remembered me. It was quite a special situation. I didn't have to create a drama, I had to try to play a role. That of a mysterious stranger who came to settle in Storybrooke. The first day was my lucky day.

When I arrived, I interrupted the discussion between a young blonde woman and a little boy who was to be her son. As I had seen her at her trial, I immediately recognized Emma. I was relieved that she didn't recognize me. And the young boy was totally obvious: he was Neal's son. He looked like him like two drops of water.

Do I blame Neal for impregnating Emma?

Surely he shouldn't have known.

Emma must have given birth in prison and she probably hadn't kept him. When I saw this young boy's face, it was the cold shower. I had barely left his father. I didn't even want to think that it was my fault again that this family had been separated. They both looked stunned to see a stranger arrive in town, the young boy even asking me if I wanted to stay there. It was the best way for me to work out my whole plan: to allow the savior to believe in her destiny. First of all, I had to find a way to find myself alone with her. I couldn't believe it was she who was going to come to me.

I moved in with Granny, aka Red Riding Hood's grandmother. She ran a hotel and a restaurant, very nice and friendly. I reflected on the storybook the apprentice had told me about and realized that the peculiar young boy who had it in his possession was Emma and Neal's son. Not surprising ! He looked like a smart young boy who believed in all of this and being so sure that no one could enter or leave the city except the Savior, when he saw me disembark he looked puzzled. I learned from Granny that this young boy was called Henry and was the adopted son of the mayor of the city Regina who was bound to be the Evil Queen.

The next morning, I positioned myself exactly in front of the mayor's house. I was trying to pretend that my motorcycle had broken down. Henry asked me a lot of questions like what I was doing here. I was very vague. I heard from a distance Regina who did not understand who was this person she had not bewitched.

I walked around and visited this city full of secrets. I learned that, as soon as she arrived, Emma had been promoted to sheriff. The least we can say is that she knew how to be respected and that was very encouraging.

She lived with Mary Margaret, who was none other than Snow White, her mother, but they did not know it. The relationship between these two roommates looked more like sisters or friends than a mother and daughter, given that time had no hold on Mary Margaret. They looked to be the same age. I happened to be angry with myself because of Snow White. She could have been with her daughter, if I hadn't replaced her in the wardrobe, and she never would have abandoned her. I don't know what she would do if she knew about it but it was Snow White, although she's a badass sometimes, she's always sweet and generous so I don't worry.

I was to steal Henry's book and I learned as I followed him in the afternoon that he was hiding his book in a play area. I had to find a way to steal it from him.

Thinking about it, I went to the Granny cafe. There was no one there while it was raining. I had a coffee. It was my detox. Sex and alcohol was over for me for a long time. I had to think of more important things. And here one of the things happened. Emma came up to me. She was doing her job as a sheriff: checking my identity.

"You're suspicious!"

"Sitting here. Out in the open. Drinking coffee. Wonder what kind of hell I would've raised had I ordered a donut ..."

She was on her guard and it was a lot of fun to watch. In every town I've lived in, no sheriff or policeman would go to a foreign man. I was making her nervous. She did not appreciate my way of breaking in and especially the fact of having talked to her son. She was then very intrigued by my mysterious box where my typewriter was hiding. I wanted to make the suspense last. With his nervousness towards me, I took it as a game and enjoyed playing around with her nerves.

"I'm gonna make you wait. You're gonna have to wait a long time and watch me carry it around. Hauling it to strange and mysterious places. And with each passing moment, the mystery will become more tantalizing. Your imagination will inflame, but so will your frustration. Never knowing, only guessing, what could possibly be inside that box. Is it a severed head? From an infernal machine?

Then I saw a counterpart that could better suit me so that I could get closer to her

"Or you could let me offer you a drink sometime and I'll tell you right now" I said with a delicate sensuality.

"Okay, A drink it is"

I showed her my typewriter, explaining that I was a writer and that this city intrigued me. She looked disappointed, I didn't know what she was expecting. Nevertheless, I will have the right to a date with her and it was already the first step.

The next day I succeeded in grabbing Henry's book. I read, first of all, a bit of everything. This book was magnificent: large, golden, with very beautiful designs. The apprentice had given me pages suitable for this book. I rewrite my story on these pages. I had worked out a passage about Pleasure Island but I was so ashamed and it wasn't the most thrilling. It took me several days to insert my story. It was extremely meticulous work, I had to take the book apart and then put it together as it was with my extra story.

One page caught my attention. It was on a magical lake, Lake Nostos that could fix everything. And as I walked through Storybrooke, I discovered a well, the wishing well. It was quite captivating to compare these two places. I knew where I wanted to take Emma now …

One afternoon, I saw Henry alone and sad. He was disgusted that he had lost his book, but he was going to find it with a new story. I almost felt like Santa Claus at the time.

When I left Granny's I saw the Mother Superior and the psychiatrist Archibald Hopper on the street. The mother superior was the blue fairy, she was a bit like my mother since she had given me life. She had prevented my father from putting me in the wardrobe and he had not listened to her, to protect me. She was another person I had betrayed.

I had never seen this psychiatrist before, but his voice sounded very familiar to me. And I knew the professions had a great deal to do with the kind of person we were in the Enchanted Forest. Regina had scored well. For example, all fairies had become nuns because of their purity so Doctor Hopper had to be Jiminy Cricket, my conscience. He was a cricket in my world, not a human, it was kind of weird. I heard him talk about a certain Marco, his best friend. It had to be my father, it was obvious. If I saw him, I don't know what I would do …

The next day, Henry had been separated from Emma because Emma had said something to Regina that she had not liked. Emma was prohibited from seeing Henry until further notice. I often saw Henry, at Granny's, extremely alone and lost. I think he needed someone because his adoptive mother isn't the best person to love him. I didn't know how to take care of a ten year old boy, but I liked him very much and was the only one who believed him in his fairy tale stories. He needed a father figure or just a friend who understood him, Emma telling him that his father had died a hero. I concluded then that she was not the only one lying to protect her son. This is how Henry became a true ally.

Every day we hung out together, he read my short stories, we walked around Storybrooke, we ate ice cream. Regina was aware of all this, she had even come to talk to me one day making me threats, but she had nothing solid against me and I was not in a position to be afraid of the evil queen. Despite all these great looks, she had no powers, she couldn't do anything.

On Valentine's Day, I passed Emma in the street. I felt she didn't really want to see me, but chatting with her was fun. I finally offered her the long-awaited meeting. She was still on her guard and it was getting less funny. I had to give her my name and again, she added a layer.

"I won't go out with guys who want tell me their names. I find it weeds out of the ones who like to keep secrets. Like they're already married or they store body parts in their freezer. It was nice talking to you"

"It's August, August W Booth."

"Really? With the middle initial?"

"W's for Wayne. So there goes your reason for not meeting me after work!"

A few hours later, I saw Emma waiting for me for maybe several minutes, outside the cafe. She was chatting with Granny, meanwhile. I nodded, roaring my motorbike.

"You gonna come in? I thought you wanted that drink?"

"I do. But I didn't say here. Hop on!"

"You want me to get on the back of that bike? How about if we go somewhere I drive"

Was it really getting on a motorcycle that terrified her or going to a place only a stranger wanted to take her? I categorically refused to let her say "no" to me, I couldn't stand that once a girl refused me an invitation, especially Emma.

"How about you stop having to control everything and take a leap of faith ? You owe me a drink so Hop!"

And, despite my hopes, it was Granny who agreed to go in her place if she refused. Emma walked over to me, I gave her a second helmet and she clung to it. For once I had the feeling of coaxing her despite her desire to always be in control.

We came to a sort of meadow, where the well stood. I had brought back pretty little cups in my bag. Emma obviously thought that date was all about drinking alcohol, but first of all, I didn't want her to imagine things. She was like my sister and treating her like the girls I hooked up with in bars, that was not an option and secondly, this place was perfect to tell her about the magic of this world, notice her skeptical mind or not. She was still doing her job as a sheriff trying to figure out why I was here and that pissed me off.

"Wishing well, you actually believe that?"

"I am a writer I have to have an open mind!"

"Yeah but magic?" She mocked.

"Water is a very powerful thing. Cultures as old as time have worshipped it. It flows throughout all lands, connecting the entire world. If anything had mystical properties, if anything had magic? Well, I'd say it'd be water."

"That's asking a lot to believe on faith"

She was horribly skeptical and that didn't suit me at all. Most of the people I had met certainly did not believe in magic but had faith and believed in higher forces. In Asia, it was the ideal place for all beliefs. Annie believed in fate and happy endings, Ezra had the sincere impression that novels helped us understand life, and Kaylie managed to have the faith to be successful in her sport. All of these people believed in different things and it made them feel hope and happiness. But Emma was way too down to earth and it was awful.

"If you need evidence for everything, Emma, you're gonna find yourself stuck in one place for a very long time ..."

"Maybe or maybe I'll just find the truth before anyone else"

"Well miss skeptical, there's one thing I can tell you for sure, that requires no leap of faith, and I know you'll agree with me ..."

"What's that ?"

"It's good water!"

I recognized that the rest would be complicated. Emma ends up telling me a bit about her life, about leaving Henry in prison, how Henry found her and brought her back to Storybrooke but also about all those families who didn't want to her. It was probably for this reason that she was suspicious of everything and everyone, but I found it hard to understand her at the time. We had not experienced the same things even though our history here began in the same way.

In the evening, I put the book in a metal box and put it under Emma's car. She was happy to be able to return it to Henry. I wanted her to think that it was the wishing well that had made this book appear, but I shouldn't have too many illusions.

The weeks that followed were not easy to approach Emma. Mary Margaret had been a suspect for the alleged murder of Kathryn Nolan, the false fiancée of David aka Prince Charming.

I could console myself by talking about my trips to Granny's waitress, Ruby, Red Riding Hood. She was an extremely sexy and enchanting young woman who could very well have been one of my suitors at the time. Even when I was a child she was a fantasy. She was very interested in my travels and it was nice to discuss it without talking about my mistakes. Ruby felt trapped by her grandmother and wanted to live her life outside of Storybrooke.

After discovering Kathryn Nolan's so-called heart when she was the Sheriff's Assistant, she was terrified and did not know what to do with her life. I came to see her and tried as best I could to reassure her. She reminded me a little of Kaylie in the personality. I encouraged her to come back to see her grandmother, and told her, from my own experience, that traveling can be wonderful, but you always end up being disappointed. You would end up feeling lonely and having your family by your side was the most beautiful of treasures. And that's what she did. Entering in the coffee, I overheard their discussion and her grandmother wanted to give her the restaurant, she trusted her. What wouldn't we do for our family?

I was helping Henry and Emma cope with their friend's conviction. I made Henry believe in the characters in his book. I told him that it was all real, that I was Emma's guide, that I wanted to point her towards the light and make her believe in her destiny.

I found Emma, a few days later, completely lost by the situation, trying to do everything to save her friend (her mother). I made her understand that she had to start over. We walked back to where Ruby had found the heart and saw a piece of shovel. Emma knew full well that she belonged to Regina and she wanted to finally show everyone who really was the mayor of this city. Her intelligence and her will were a pleasure to see. However, when we were there, my leg began to twist in pain again.

I felt the end looming. I didn't think pretending Emma could be the quickest solution, it could take weeks, how skeptical she was and my life would already be over … On top of that, the shovel was missing when she returned to ask Regina for a warrant. She was sure it was I who had warned the mayor. Why would I do that? I was incredibly disappointed of her. I was sure she at least trusted me and liked me at least. I preferred to tell myself that it was stressful. But, I hoped she had enough faith in me to know that I would never betray or lie to her.

Regina visited me at Granny's, all proud of having messed up my relationship with Emma. She had the feeling of having won so much that she suggested that I team up with her. She was starting to understand who I really was but I didn't care, the Evil Queen won't help me. I declined her invitation and left Granny's. I was relieved to see Emma on the way out, wanting to apologize for doubting me, understanding that she hadn't trusted the right people. Although I was upset, I felt her gesture was sincere and I didn't want to make her believe that I was angry with her …

The next day, the wood continued to my stomach, it hurt horribly. When it goes to the heart, it will be over for me. I wanted to move the situation forward to break the curse or save myself. I was asking Neal for advice over the phone. I couldn't tell him about his son, it wasn't my role. He advised me to speak to his father. The Dark One. The solution was to pass myself off as Neal or rather Baelfire and use his dagger to heal me. Neal was convinced that the dagger was the most powerful weapon in the world and that it was magical in a place like Storybrooke. It was a much more dangerous game than facing off against the Evil Queen. But I was able to take all the risks.

I think Rumplestiltskin or Mr. Gold, as he called himself in this world, orchestrated a little bit of everything here and therefore remembered his life before, like Regina. I roamed in his shop, in the street. I noticed immediately that I intrigued him.

I was talking to the Mother Superior about a painful separation that I had with my father, that he had abandoned me and that it was hard to come and talk to him. It was all true in my case but it was exactly the same for Neal and when I heard the blue fairy related my words to Gold, he suspected that I was his son.

I met him near an abandoned cabin. He thought he knew who I was and it worked, for a while. This asshole made me want to cry, not just for Neal but also because my situation was so close.

"In every waking moment, I've been looking for you ... I know I can't make up for the past, for the lost time. All I can do is to ask you to do what you've always done and that's to be the bigger man, and forgive me. I'm so sorry, my son ». The words sounded sincere, but this man was a monster, he had preferred his power to his own son, so pretending to be his child and manipulating him didn't bother me in the slightest. I accompanied him into the forest where I had to dig for the dagger. He gave it to me to destroy. But I decided to use it against him to force him to take away the evil that was eating me away. He discovered the pink pole right away. This dagger might have been very powerful, but in Storybrooke there was no magic. I was really stupid at that level, but I think I was still too desperate.

"So, why bury useless knife?"

"I wouldn't say it was useless. Still cuts through flesh rather nicely. he's harmless, he has enough to carve and slice flesh, It's about time you started answering some, questions, sunshine. How do you know about this kife? No one knows!"

"No one here remembers!"

"And yet, you do. You're from there, aren't you? From my world?"

"The fact that you're asking the questions means you know the answer!"

"Well, now that that's settled..."

He carried me up to a tree and brandished his dagger to my neck, I was sure he was going to kill me but I was more upset than scared.

"If you know who I am, you know who I am. The chances of you surviving this little encounter are pretty slim. So why take the risk?"

"Because I'll die anyway"

He relaxed

"I'm sick and I need magic, I was gonna get the savior to believe, but that woman... I don't think i'm gonna make it long enough to see that happen"

"She trusts you. It might be enough. Try again"

He left and left me with my back to this tree

"You're gonna let me live?"

"You're gonna die either way. This way, at least I might get something out of it"

I was starting to get hold of him, since he had no power, he couldn't hurt me. Likewise for the Evil Queen, he wanted to play the role of the villain but in this world it was much less impressive than in the Enchanted Forest. But unlike the Evil Queen, we had common interests. To find Neal, he absolutely wanted this curse to be lifted and he was almost convinced I could do it. I asked him for help. Emma needed him, as a lawyer, to get her son back from Regina. But the best solution, from my point of view, was for her to know where she was from and that Regina was the Evil Queen, the woman who wants everyone evil.

I found him in his shop, but when I walked through the door I saw an old man. His voice was the last I had heard when I was in this world. It was my father.

I was sure Gold had done it on purpose to get revenge for my staging the night before and I hadn't stolen it. With my father, we shared a long look. I was in shock after all these years. He hadn't changed, he was the same, but he couldn't remember his own son, the son he always wanted to have. But, I knew deep down that I didn't deserve to see him, that my shame in front of him was endless. I didn't know how to forgive myself. But this man was not yet my father, he had other memories and did not know me. I didn't know what was worse between emptiness and shame.

"First time seeing dear old dad since you arrived in Storybrooke? You know what surprises me is, why a man who claims to be at death's door can't even bring himself to say hello to his father, What are you afraid of? Rumplestiltskin mocked. And for a man whose end is supposed to be near, I don't find you in such a rush to get Emma to believe in her destiny."

"It's not me slowing us down. It's her. All she can think about right now is getting custody of her kid. She's coming to you for legal advice"

"And you want me to steer her toward you"

"I can't get her there. To believing. Trust me."

He laughed

"I'm sorry. It's just that knowing who you are and your nature, trust is a big ask. Fear not. A gentle nudge I shall provide"

Gold had succeeded.

Emma went to my hotel room and allowed me to help defeat Regina.

I took her, pretending that I wanted to tell her about myself, to the place where I had met Judy and Paul, in Boston, near the orphanage. This place was listed in the article of her abandonment. It was here that she believed she was found. When she dismounted, she was furious. She knew this place. She must have gone there to know the answers about her origins.

"I thought this trip was supposed to be about you?"

"It is, this is my story and it's your story"

"And how is that?"

"That seven years boy who found you, that was me!"

I felt like I was stepping back in time, 28 years ago. The moment it all began.

I took her into the forest. I explained to her that I had lied about where I had found her to protect her from that tree. She couldn't believe me. But I convinced her by telling her that she was wrapped in a blanket and that the name Emma was embroidered on it with purple thread and that was not in the article. I finally had to tell the whole truth:

"You've read Henry's book right? You know about the curse, don't you? You role in it? It's true Emma, we both came into this world, through this tree ..."

"You're asking me to believe that you are a fairytale character?"

"Pinocchio."

"Right of course, Pinocchio. Explains all the lying, she scoffed, You're the one who added the story to Henry's books. And you're not even a very good liar, why not write the end to that story?"

"Because this is the ending. And we're writing it right now."

"And how does this story end?"

"With you believing"

"Not gonna happen..."

I had failed. My leg was still hurting. It was incessant. I had no choice but to show her my wooden leg, maybe she will see it, maybe she just refused to believe it on purpose for not really thinking that Mary Margaret really was. her mother. But if she believed it just a little, it might work. She was not like those doctors or Isra. Speaking of Isra ...

"You ever been to Phuket? It's beautiful. Amazing island. Full of pleasures, the perfect place to lose oneself. That where I was, when you decided to stay in Storybrooke ..."

"How do you know when I decided to stay in Storybrooke?"

"Because at 8:15 in the morning I woke up with a shooting pain in my leg. That's 8:15 at night in Storybrooke. Sound familiar? That's when time there started to move forward again. I was supposed to be there for you, and I wasn't. Because I was halfway around the world, I got painful reminder just how far I had strayed. If that tree won't make you believe, maybe this will"

I pulled up my pant leg. She couldn't see it. I felt like everything I could say or do was no longer useful. I was bewitched by my own fate, I had no more hope to get out of it, nothing. I was angry with her and myself at the same time and felt sorry for everything.

"Your is more powerful than I thought. It's preventing you from seeing truth. After everything you've seen, why can't you just do it? I, the town, everyone needs you!"

"You're saying that I am responsible for everyone's happiness? That is crap. I didn't ask for that I don't want it!"

"Right now. A little while ago you didn't want Henry either but then he came to you and now you are fighting like hell for him ..."

"For him. That is all I can handle right now. And I'm not even doing a good job at that. Now you're telling me I have to save everyone? That is beyond ridiculous. I don't want any of it.

She was in tears. It isn't the tension I like.

"Well, that's too bad, Emma. Because that doesn't change the truth, you're our only hope!

"You are scrubbed"

I had found the right words for Kaylie but after all my efforts, I couldn't do it with Emma, she couldn't believe it and I couldn't do anything. I was lost. I had given up a lot to make it work. I had given up on the woman I loved for Emma and it hurt me afterwards and now I was going to turn back into a wooden puppet and I still knew it was my fault. I felt very tired, like an old man with missing limbs.

But, I had to do one last good thing for me. My dearest wish was to spend my last moments with my only family. My father was the town carpenter.

After bringing Emma home, wordlessly, I walked past my father's home. He was trying to fix a little clock that Mr. Gold had given him when I passed. This clock was my toy, when I was a child it was a nice little memory. I tell him how to fix it. He was happy and gave me a smile. I handed it back to him, amicably with a heavy weight in my heart.

"Who taught you that?"

"My father"

"He taught you well. He must be very proud."

"I don't know about that. I don't think I became the man he wanted me to be"

"Have you tried to make it up to him?"

"I made him a promise a long time ago. By the time I got around to making good on it, I think it was too late ..."

"But you kept your promise, you realized your mistake and you tried to fix it. That's important. If I had a son that would be enough for me!"

It was the most heartwarming phrase I have heard so far. Maybe my father was not conscious but hearing those words from his mouth soothed me. I wanted to continue spending time with him. To know what had become of him. My father was my whole life and I needed to not end my miserable existence, all alone ...

'You look like you might be short-handed"

"I get by"

"How would you feel about taking on an assistant?"

"I can't pay you"

"It doesn't matter. I just feel like fixing things"

He was absolutely adorable. He had retained his empathy and even though I hadn't stayed very long, he liked me. He too was often alone, in his home and needed a little company and youth to reassure him. I spent the day with him and it almost made me forget my situation. I felt fulfilled and accepted and my shame was a little gone.

Nonetheless, after a discussion with Henry, there was a small chance of being saved. My life was now in the hands of a young boy.

And no... It was too late. Emma knocked for a long moment on my door and she saw me, distinctly, lying on my bed like a dead person. She was confused but I couldn't do anything for her anymore, I was still and helpless. It was over ...

But I was reassured, since I arrived in this city, I have not taken a wrong step. I was honest with as many people as possible and was there for Emma, my father and Henry ... I had finally forgiven myself ...