10 years later, it was the tenth month of the year and it was the year 2011, which would lead up to one fateful and eventful evening that would come to pass and be a night to remember. A lot had changed in 10 years, especially with Henry coming home and staying home in Storybrooke, Maine. Henry loved his time with Evie whenever he would have it, the two sharing a rare sibling bond where they seldom fought with each other and Evie had a part-time job looking after Henry whenever their mother would be very busy acting as his babysitter, chef, and homework helper whenever the time would come. Ben and Evie were still good friends, though some other kids were scared of him in school since his father was Mr. Gold and Ben often accompanied his father, whether helping out in the pawnshop or collecting rent with him. Ben wasn't as scary as his father, but something had definitely changed, plus Charlie went from rather friendly and shy to being a bit rude and selfish and even renamed himself as Chad, but regardless of that, Evie still had a crush on him, though pretty much everyone, even Henry, agreed that he was no good for her and was just a regular "Prince Charmless".
"All right, I need to get going," Regina said in a rushed tone of voice as she came to see Henry and Evie at the breakfast table as they ate up. Henry was now 10 years old and Evie was now 16 years old. "Evie, could you take Henry to school? I have a meeting that starts very soon."
"Sure, Mom, I can do that." Evie nodded.
"Here you go, sweetie... A new lunchbox." Regina then smiled softly as she took out a new lunchbox for Henry, showing the logo for a video game series known as TRON that her son was rather fond of.
"Oh... Thanks..." Henry said softly as he accepted the lunchbox with a shrug. "I guess."
Regina frowned a little. Something had changed about Henry too, but no one could really figure out what it was. It concerned her and hurt her deeply, not sure what his problem could be.
"See you later, Mom," Evie said. "I'll make sure Henry gets to school before I go."
"Thank you, Evie," Regina said softly in relief. "I should be back home in time for dinner."
"Should I go ahead and make something then?" Evie guessed.
"Well, if you don't mind, that would be helpful," Regina nodded before she kissed both Evie and Henry on their cheeks. "I'll see you later. Both of you have a good day at school."
"Thanks, Mom. We'll try." Evie replied.
Henry didn't say anything and just began to finish his bowl of cereal. Regina smiled as she soon waved at them and left out of the mansion to get going.
"Henry, you wanna tell me what's bothering you?" Evie asked. "You haven't been yourself lately. It's just you and me. I won't tell Mom about anything you said and this can be our safe space." she then said softly and soothingly.
"...It's nothing." Henry firmly pouted.
"Are you sure?" Evie asked gently as she could tell that there was indeed something eating him up on the inside. "Please... Tell me. You know you can tell me anything."
Henry looked over at Evie with a sour pout on his face. Evie then smiled softly and warmly at him to reassure him that whatever he had to say would be fine with her.
"...Maybe I'll tell you later," Henry said. "It's hard and complicated to explain."
"At least try," Evie insisted. "I might not be a licensed therapist like Dr. Hopper, but I can at least try to help you out."
Henry looked over at his big sister with a distant look in his hazel eyes. Evie smiled warmly and comfortably to help soothe Henry from his sudden damper of a mood.
"I just... I just feel like nothing changes around here. Like at all." Henry soon told Evie after he found the right words in his mind to share with her.
"Hmm..." Evie frowned thoughtfully. "Like how do you mean?"
"It just feels like everything is pretty much the same around here and it's boring and depresses me." Henry frowned.
"Henry... You have nothing to be depressed about. You're only 10," Evie told him before sighing. "...Did you do the homework that Ms. Blanchard assigned you this week at least?"
Henry heaved a sharp sigh and turned away, staring down at the floor.
"Henry... You have to keep up with your homework..." Evie reminded.
"I don't see the point sometimes," Henry firmly pouted. "Nothing changes around here except for me. My birth mother didn't love me and Regina says she does, but she doesn't. I'll never fit in around here."
"Henry, you may have been adopted, but Mom is still your mom and I'm still your sister," Evie replied before smiling a little. "Who else am I gonna have fun with around here, huh?"
Henry sighed sharply.
"Oh, Henry..." Evie frowned softly as she hated to see her little brother like this. "I wish that I could help you somehow."
Eventually, Henry took Evie's hand as they went to go to school together. It was just another day in Storybrooke and the usual business seemed to be going on: Archie was walking his dog, Mr. Gold was walking past, hobbling with his cane, Ruby Lucas and Granny were getting into another argument with each other, Marco was doing light work outside his shop with his ladder right now, Chad was attempting to take selfies with cute girls as Evie sighed dreamily at him, though Henry rolled his eyes at both Chad and how monotonous Storybrooke seemed to be and only he seemed to notice or care.
"I'm gonna try to make him my boyfriend," Evie told Henry. "What do you think?"
"...I think you should try to see if someone else will be your boyfriend, Evie," Henry frowned. "Chad changed since you and Ben grew up with him."
"Oh, Henry..." Evie frowned firmly.
"What? You asked for my opinion." Henry shrugged.
"Well... Next time, think of something nice or encouraging to say when I ask that question," Evie suggested. "That's rude, Henry."
"It's rude to be honest?" Henry asked out of confusion.
"I'll explain to you later," Evie sighed sharply as they continued to walk down the street. "Besides, people change when they add to their knowledge. Some people need to grow up. You'll be grown up someday."
"If things ever change around here." Henry said sullenly.
"Hey, now. You just said nothing changes around here and you also say that Chad's changed," Evie tutted at him. "What exactly is your issue, Henry?"
"It's complicated for me to explain." Henry pouted.
"...Well, maybe you and Dr. Hopper can talk about it tonight," Evie suggested. "You've changed yourself lately since you turned 10. Just because you're a full decade old doesn't mean you have to act like a grumpy old man. That's Leroy's job at the hospital if he isn't getting arrested again."
"I guess so..." Henry shrugged.
"I'll come to see you at lunch if it's okay with your teacher," Evie suggested. "Maybe that'll help perk you up and we can talk more. I'm afraid I can't stay long because I know that Mr. Deley will have another Chemistry Test before I know it and he has very strict deadlines."
"Okay..." Henry sighed. "Have a good day at school."
"Thanks. You too, kiddo." Evie smiled softly.
Eventually, they made it to the elementary school. The teacher known as Ms. Blanchard was there watching the kids on the blacktop as they ran around and talked with each other until the morning bell would ring which meant that they would have to begin their education. Henry saw a blonde girl from the crowd and soon walked over to her, though he was very slow, seeming like he had a metaphorical raincloud hanging over his head.
Ms. Blanchard looked over, seeing Evie as she was about to leave before she decided to stop the teenage girl. "Uh, Evie? Can I speak with you for a moment?" she then piped up.
"Hm? Oh, uh... Sure, Ms. Blanchard," Evie replied as she walked back over. "I can't stay too long though. I have school too you know."
"I know and I understand," Ms. Blanchard said as she stepped over to the teenage girl before she explained and got to the point rather quickly. "Is everything going okay at home? Henry hasn't been himself lately, not to mention his homework issues. I'm sure you've noticed too?"
"Oh, yes, I have," Evie nodded. "I'm not sure what's bothering him either. I don't think Mom knows either, especially since she's extra busy this morning."
"Hm... I was hoping maybe you could tell me so I could help him," Ms. Blanchard frowned softly. "You're a very good big sister."
"Thanks, Ms. Blanchard," Evie replied calmly. "Do you think maybe I could come here for lunch and check on Henry? I'm very concerned about him."
"...That might be a wonderful idea," Ms. Blanchard agreed. "Do you think you could?"
"I'll definitely try," Evie said with a small smile forming on her face. "I just want my little brother back and we'll see what happens. Maybe he'll tell me what's going on."
"All right, Evie," Ms. Blanchard smiled back. "He was a joy in class, a lot like you were when you were his age. I'll see you around, okay?"
"See you around, Ms. Blanchard. Thanks." Evie nodded as she went to go to her own school.
"No, Evie, thank you." Ms. Blanchard replied as she waved at the dark-haired girl.
Evie smiled, waving back, then soon went to her own school. Ms. Blanchard lightly sighed, carrying a smile on her face as she looked around the students as they played and laughed together, enjoying their lives as kids while they still had the chance.
Eventually, the time came for Evie to meet up as she was hanging out with Chad under the bleachers behind the football field. Evie had pure love and a big smile on her face as Chad looked rather smug while smiling at her.
"So, uh, what do you think you'll do for your birthday this year?" Evie asked with a small smile as she played with her hair a little while talking to her childhood friend, now biggest crush in the whole school.
"Oh, I don't know about the official day, but maybe the week after or something when I'll be having an awesome house party," Chad smirked. "I'll be home alone and we can hang out and enjoy the pool."
"Your pool~..." Evie beamed and gushed. "That sounds so cool~"
"Oh, yeah, it's the best," Chad smirked. "Of course, my bathtub is as big as a swimming pool and my actual swimming pool has a submarine inside of it with a fountain. There's even buried treasure with real gold coins and jewelry which you can take if you want~"
"Awesome..." Evie whispered and gushed in excitement before she flinched as she suddenly felt her phone vibrating. She then took out her phone and saw that a reminder was coming in.
"What's that for?" Chad asked. "Does your phone have an app that tells you when you're about to have your-"
"NO!" Evie groaned in disgust before smiling bashfully. "Oh! Uh! I-I-I mean... No, silly~... It's just a phone reminder."
"Oh... Okay... Cool..." Chad smirked.
"Yeah... I promised my little brother I'd go and see him at his school," Evie then explained. "He's feeling a little down in the dumps lately, so I thought I'd be a good big sister and go and check on him."
"Hm... I see..." Chad replied, still sounding smug and full of himself as he tried not to get bothered by that little fact. "I've got a brother. We try to help each other out too... At least we're better off than Ashley Boyd. That girl got pregnant. I don't know who the father is, but I don't envy him."
"Uh-huh..." Evie said as she backed up. "Anyway, I should go and check on my brother. He's probably waiting for me right this second."
"Oh... Right... Sure..." Chad replied. "I'll see ya later than, Eva."
"Evie." Evie corrected as she walked off to excuse herself from school to go over to Storybrooke Elementary School to check on her little brother.
"Right... That's what I said..." Chad covered up before shrugging as he soon walked off to go and do something else.
Evie was soon walking down the street. She looked over and hid behind a tree as the sheriff car was riding around. Inside was Sheriff Graham Humbert, Regina's boyfriend and father figure to her and Henry. She didn't hate Graham, but she didn't really like him either, but she knew if she was caught outside of school, he would talk to her about cutting class, which she wasn't doing, but kept going. Luckily, the car turned down the opposite side of the street, seeming to not see her, so she sighed in relief, and soon went to go and keep going where she was ending up.
Evie then made it to Henry's school. After the two greeted each other, they sat at one of the tables on the school blacktop as it was time for a break and Henry put away his latest school assignment which was a Family Tree that he did not complete. Evie frowned, feeling her heart aching for poor Henry as she could tell why the assignment was incomplete, though it was not going to look good for when he would see Ms. Blanchard again when she would ask for the homework assignment.
"Henry, you need to do your homework." Evie reminded her little brother.
"What's the point?" Henry frowned.
"Henry... Don't be like that..." Evie sighed and shook her head. "It's going to get better. We all have our bad days, but that's no reason to wanna run away from your problems and hide. Believe me, it never works or helps."
"I don't care." Henry lightly scoffed.
Evie winced and frowned, feeling very concerned. Ms. Blanchard was soon walking over to the two Mills siblings.
"Thank goodness. Ms. Blanchard." Evie smiled hopefully as Henry soon tried to hide his assignment under his new lunchbox.
"Hello, Evie," Ms. Blanchard greeted. "I see you're living up to your promise."
"Yes, I am," Evie smiled and nodded before sighing. "But Henry doesn't seem to be feeling any better."
Ms. Blanchard frowned lightly. "Henry? You didn't turn in your homework again. Is there a problem?" she then spoke to the boy.
Henry did not answer as he looked away from both his teacher and his sister.
"Oh, Henry. Things really will change if you just believe it." Ms. Blanchard advised as she sat down next to the boy as he closed his lunchbox.
"She's right," Evie agreed. "Life is unpredictable."
"Are your lives unpredictable? Because it seems to me like everything is pretty much the same around here. Except me," Henry sulked at both of the older females. "My birth mom didn't love me. Regina says she does, but she doesn't. I-I don't belong here."
"Henry, don't say that. Mom loves you to pieces." Evie insisted.
"You do belong here, Henry. You are loved," Ms. Blanchard added before her expression suddenly perked up as she came up with an idea. "I wanna show you something."
"Is it a pear because you don't like apples like most teachers?" Evie teased.
"Very funny," Ms. Blanchard replied through a small laugh, slightly amused as she reached for something in her bag. "This morning, I was cleaning out my bedroom closet. Like I've done every week, thousands of times, and do you know what happened? I found something. Something I've never noticed before," she then pulled out a large book, entitled in golden letters as Once Upon a Time, and placed it down in front of Henry. "It was just there. Like magic."
"Wow... Magic..." Evie said, trying to sound endeared and amazed in order to appease Henry.
"That's not possible." Henry disagreed before he began to open the book.
"Well, of course not, but it happened," Ms. Blanchard replied as Henry continued to look through the pages. "This book somehow arrived. Was it given to me? Did I forget about it? I don't know, but there it was. And do you know what I saw when I looked inside?" she then rhetorically asked.
Henry then looked at her expectantly.
"Hope." Ms. Blanchard then answered her own rhetorical question.
"Looks like fairy tales to me." Henry shrugged as he looked back down at the book.
"Fairy tales can be oh-so-overrated," Evie rolled her eyes to herself. "...Though I do miss them sometimes."
"And what exactly do you think fairy tales are?" Ms. Blanchard asked Henry as she continued to speak calmly and softly for him. "They are a reminder that our lives will get better if we just hold onto hope. Your happy ending may not be what you expect, but that is what will make it so special." she then advised.
Henry continued to look through the pages, seeming hopeful for once before he looked back at his teacher. "Can... Can we borrow this?" he then asked softly.
"You can have it." Ms. Blanchard decided.
"Really?" Henry asked with a small, but very visible smile.
"Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a powerful thing. Think you could use it," Ms. Blanchard smiled back as she got up and patted him on the shoulder to leave. "I'll see you in class. It was really great to see you again, Evie."
"Nice to see you again too, Ms. Blanchard," Evie nodded. "Have a good day."
"Thank you, dear." Ms. Blanchard smiled as she began to leave.
Henry soon flipped to another page of a princess and her prince. "Ms. Blanchard." he then spoke as he saw something very interesting about the princess in the book.
"Yes?" Ms. Blanchard responded as Henry looked up at her, seeming to be stunned as she looked very different to him right now somehow as Evie looked hopeful for Henry cheering up.
"...Thank you." Henry said after a few moments.
"You're very welcome." Ms. Blanchard smiled in response before she continued walking away.
Henry nodded and soon continued to flip through the pages before seeing one that had a princess and a prince with their infant child, seeing that the baby had her name sewn onto her blanket. "Emma." he then whispered to himself.
"That was very nice of Ms. Blanchard to give you that book, Henry," Evie smiled lightly. "I hope you like it."
"I love it, in fact, I think I know what has to be done," Henry said as he faced Evie. "I have an idea."
"Oh?" Evie blinked.
"Do you trust me?" Henry soon asked.
"...Henry, what do you think you're-" Evie began to ask, concerned and curious, only to be cut off suddenly.
"Do you trust me?" Henry repeated with heavy urgency in his voice.
"...Well, y-yes. Of course I do, Henry," Evie nodded. "You're my brother and I'm your sister, even if you don't think Mom loves you as much as I do."
"It's time to get some answers," Henry replied. "I'll tell you more later because tonight, both of our lives are going to change."
"How's that?" Evie asked.
"I don't know what my full plan and idea are, but after tonight, it will all get better," Henry said. We have to find out more and I'll tell you more later."
"...Well, Henry, I'm not sure how I feel about whatever your big plan is going to be, but as your big sister it's my job to keep you happy, so whatever you have planned, I'm up for it," Evie decided after thinking about it for a few moments. "Whatever you want. As long as it doesn't involve setting the house on fire."
"It won't. Just trust me, Evie," Henry said as he hugged the large book in his tiny arms. "One way or another, we're all going to live happily ever after. Especially you and me."
"Okay, Henry. Whatever you want, as long as it makes you happy." Evie replied calmly.
Eventually, some time in the day had passed. Evie was beginning to regret telling Henry that he could tell her anything he wanted her to do just to be happy, which included many great risks. The next thing she knew, she and Henry had left home and been now on their way to a completely different state: Massachusetts. More specifically, in a place called Boston. The Mills siblings were riding a bus together as it was getting dark and Evie felt very scared and nervous. She turned her phone off to avoid calls and texts from her and Henry's mother because that would just make her paranoid about this whole adventure and she wanted Henry to be happy, but if they got in trouble, she would take the blame for it, even if it meant she would be grounded for 100 years or something like that.
"That a good book?" A woman smiled sweetly as she looked over at Henry and Evie.
"This... It's more than just a book." Henry replied confidently.
"Oh." The woman smiled, not taking that too seriously, but she did humor him a bit.
Eventually, the bus stopped as Evie and Henry got off of it.
"Boston sub-station. Thank you for riding Greyhound." The announcer informed the passengers as they left.
"Now where do we go?" Evie asked Henry.
Henry looked around before pointing to a nearby taxi. "There." he then said as he walked off ahead of Evie and she followed behind him as he knocked on the window of the taxi.
The driver then rolled down the window, looking at the two siblings.
"Uh, do you take credit cards?" Evie asked as he held up her mother's credit card.
"Where to, chief?" The cabbie responded as he let the young ones inside.
Henry and Evie gave him the address and they soon rode off to get going down the night streets of Boston. They looked around before they soon pulled up to an apartment. Evie bit her lip as she knew she had to check on her phone sooner or later, but tried to ignore it as she went with Henry since this meant so much to him. She felt like this wouldn't change anything, but Henry was very happy for the first time in ages, so she didn't want to rain on his parade. She kept all negative thoughts to herself as best as she could without overwhelming her brain, resulting in a headache, but it wasn't easy.
"Is this the right hallway?" Evie asked as she followed Henry.
"Yep. Room #205." Henry nodded.
"All right... Well, I guess this is it," Evie said before taking a deep breath as she rang the doorbell on the apartment door. "It's now or never."
"Right." Henry agreed.
After a few moments, a blonde-haired and green-eyed woman stepped out the door. She then looked at the two kids who just stumbled onto her doorstep as she looked very curious and surprised. "Uh... Can I help you?" she then asked the kids.
"Are you Emma Swan?" Evie asked patiently, memorizing the name that Henry told her about countless times after a little help and self-discovery.
"Yeah... Who are you?" The woman, named Emma, soon asked in response after confirming herself to them.
"My name is Evie and this is Henry." Evie introduced.
"I'm your son." Henry then added.