Manhattan

Blaise sat on a chair in front of the fire pit in his mother's house in Whiterun, waiting for her to return from wherever errand the Jarl had sent her on. He had Sissel out to play when he read his mother's journals.

Her red leather bound journals that neither of them were to touch ever.

Now he knew why.

How long was she going to wait to tell him of the truth? Would she have told him at all?

The door opened. "I'm home." The armored figure stopped when it spotted him in the chair. "Blaise! I didn't know you were-."

He held up the one of the journals making her fall silent. "I read them, Stacia," he spat her old name at her, making her jump and take off her cowl. "Were you ever going to tell me?"

She took a breath and adjusted her jaw. "No, I wasn't."

He felt himself overcome with rage and jumped to his feet. "If this is how you wanted us to be, untrusting and selfish, why did you adopt me?"

Erimentha swallowed the lump in her throat. "Because every child needs love. That includes you. And I love you, Blaise!"

He threw the book onto the other chair, and picked up his coat. "I'm leaving. I don't care about Guild work, but I never want to speak to you again." With that he brushed past her and out the door.


The taxi cab pulled up to the curb, shaking Orabella from her memories. Gold exited and helped her out after paying for the cab. The quartet gathered and looked up at the brickstone building.

"What's wrong," Emma asked the silent man. "This the right place?"

"Yes, it is," he said, still staring at the apartments, making no move to go inside.

"Let me guess, he's not expecting you?" The parent pair looked away from her. "Well, who doesn't love a surprise?" Emma led them in.

Henry looked at the buzzer list. "No Baelfire."

Emma smirked. "Yeah, that probably wouldn't fly as an alias." She looked to Gold. "Your magic globe didn't give you an apartment number?"

"It doesn't work that way," Gold said as Orabella pointed to one.

"This is him," she said confidently.

"Well, or it could just be vacant." The look she gave him would have hurt him had they been in Storybrooke. "Or it's him and I shouldn't question you."

Emma pressed the buzzer and waited for the room to pick up. "UPS package for 407." The line clicked off but the door didn't open.

"Maybe you should've said FedEx," Henry offered.

There was a crash from upstairs. "He's running." Emma led the way back to the street.

They gathered outside and noticed a man in a black jacket and a hood making his way out from the fire escape. "That-that favor you owe me," Gold said to Emma before the man got too far away. "This is it. Get him to talk to me. I-I can't run." He gestured to his leg.

"Watch Henry. I'll be back," Emma barked before going after the man.

Orabella sighed and looked down to Henry. "Come on, Henry, you must be hungry. You've only had cinnamon rolls today, and that's not enough. Two things you hafta try in NYC before you're allowed to leave are cart dogs and proper NYC pizza," she said as she steered him towards a hotdog cart.


Orabella fiddled with one of her lock picks as she paced back and forth in front of Gold and Henry. The two of them were seated on a bench talking as she worried the metal between her teeth.

Gold reached out to grab her hand as she passed. She jumped, not expecting the action. "Hmm? What?"

"I said you should sit down," he chided.

"No, too nervous now. Any minute, she's gonna come back through that door."

At that moment Emma walked back into the apartment building. Gold stood. "Did you find him?"

"Sorry. Your son... got away." They let out a breath before they turned to the door. He pressing buttons, and she working the lock. "Hey, wait. What are you doing?" Emma put a hand on the older woman's shoulder.

The door swung open. "Finding our kids."

"He's gone," Emma said as she held Henry back and the couple passed through the security gate.

"But he lives here," Gold said turning to the Savior as the former head of the Thieves Guild bounded quietly up the stairs. "He'll be back, and we'll be waiting.

The three of them followed Orabella up the stairs to find her kneeling before the lock of 407. "Stop. You can't just break in," Emma tried to reason.

"Watch me," the woman said as the tumblers turned.

"He might not come back," Emma pointed out as Orabella stood up and packed away her lock pick away.

"Oh, he will. This is not something to argue about with me Emma, it's one of the few things I remember."

"No, don't do this. There are things called laws. You could get arrested."

"Final warning, Miss Swan," she said as she grasped the handle, turned it, and opened the door wide.

She entered first, Gold following closely behind her, Emma and Henry coming in after. Orabella looked over the pictures and posters on the walls and shelves as Gold did the same. Emma continued her attempts to get them back out of the apartment. "Ora, Gold, come on, please. We really shouldn't be here."

"I don't think they're listening," Henry said as the door was shut.

The group spread out, looking through the place until Emma found a dream catcher and sent Henry to wait in the bathroom to argue with Gold.

"But I can help-" he tried to argue with his mother.

"Henry go!"

Orabella held her hand out to him. "Come on, kid. We'll wait together." She ushered him into the bathroom and leaned against the door.

"Is my mom gonna be okay," Henry asked as he leaned against the sink.

"She'll be okay. I'm more than certain that Bae will be back soon."

"Are you excited to see your son?"

"I'm more worried about my daughter," she sighed. "I can't tell you the number of times I've prayed to the Gods for her safety."

"How old are you anyway?" He pushed off the sink to stand straight.

"Oh, gosh," she said as she heard the door in the other room burst open. "Twenty-seven-ish years in my realm, five-maybe in Skyrim, forty-some in the Enchanted Forest, and thirty because of the curse, makes about 100... 110-ish years old, not including time spent in Oblivion or in Sovunguard.

"Wow," he said with a shocked face.

"Yeah, I'm old."

Gold's voice was heard through the door. "How do you two know each other?!"

"Maybe you should go see what's going on," Orabella said as she opened the door and scooted him out. She shut the door and waited inside, listening to the muffled voices on the other side of the door. When she heard the faint voices of her lover and her son she stood closer to the door, waiting for them to part.

Gold opened the door and looked at her. "He wont talk to me," he whispered.

She held her arms open for him. Despite all his years as the Dark One, hiding behind his insanity and his magic, he was still a man of emotions. Emotions shared only with her: his insecurities as a father, his fear of what would happen when they finally met their children, his love for her and all they had. These were things only she ever saw, things no one else would ever believe he had.

"He'll feel different when he sees me," she said as he pulled her into him.

He only nodded and they exited the bathroom. Orabella went to the window and waved at Henry before pointing to Neal with a smile. Henry grinned before turning back to his father. "There's someone else who'd like to see you."

"Henry, I don't think I can take anymore surprises today," Neal said as he shook his head.

"You'll want to see her," Henry said as he motioned for Orabella to climb out onto the fire escape. "Her name's Orabella. She's my aunt. And now, I guess, my Grandma."

Neal turned to face her and was shocked as she flipped her loose hair out of her face. "Mama?"

"My sweet boy." She smiled, happy tears collecting in her eyes. "You told me to find you. So, I came looking."

Neal pulled his mother to him in a tight hug. "We thought we'd never see you again."

"Your sister is here?" Orabella looked at him hopefully.

"Yeah, she's at work right now. We're meeting at Arco later after she's done."

"She's at work? Maybe we can go meet her surprise her?"

Neal laughed a little as he let her go. "Yeah she works at a tea shop in the mall. Good pay, she's a manager."

"A tea shop?" Orabella's eyes threatened to spill.

"Oh, mama, don't cry, please." He pulled her in again. "She asked me what you would do if you were here. I told her about the journals. I told her you loved your job as a commissary drink mixer for the studios."

"And she went to follow me?"

"She just wanted to be like you. Have a job and a family." He pulled her away again. "You did so good with us, mama. Even after I said I never wanted to speak to you again, you never once let on to her that we were having problems."

"I never should have written those damn journals." Her tears finally broke free as she remembered that day.

Neal wiped away the fallen tears. "No, mama, I should never have read them. They were yours, and you told us not to read them. And I've never forgotten the look on your face the day of the storm. I meant what I said, you are nothing like them. And I'm so grateful everyday that I can still think of you as my mother."

Her tears were coming from her eyes like a waterfall. "I'm so sorry I let go of you."

"No, mama, I let go. And you found me." They both gave a watery chuckle. Then his phone went off. He wiped his face, pulled his phone from his pocket, and began speaking to the person on the other end. "Hey, sis. Yeah, I'm on my way now. Yeah. And! I've got one hell of a surprise for you. Yeah. No, I'm not gonna tell you what it is. A hint? It's not what you think. Yeah, I'm on my way. See you in a few." He hung up and turned back to Orabella who was wiping off her own face. "Ready to go see Celia?"

"'Celia'? Is that her name now," She asked as he climbed back into the apartment.

"Well, 'Cecilia', but I call her 'Celia', or 'Celly' if she's being childish," he said as he helped her follow. "Come on, Henry, mama. Let's go get some pizza!"