Henry soon slipped under Emma's arm as Evie walked in, both of the siblings walking right into the blonde woman's apartment.

"Whoa, hey, kid! Kid! I don't have a son!" Emma tried to stop Henry, but it was too late as he kept wandering inside with Evie. "Where are your parents?"

"10 years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" Henry rhetorically asked before explaining himself. "That was me."

"Give me a minute," Emma groaned on her way to the bathroom before looking at Evie. "And I suppose you're my daughter?"

"Well, no..." Evie admitted. "But Henry's been having a rough time back home lately and he really wanted to meet you. He's a really bright kid and I just want my little brother back and to be happy again."

"Ugh..." Emma groaned and rolled her eyes, going to the bathroom.

"Well, you could at least humor him a little or play along like I am?" Evie firmly whispered as she put her hands together over her waist.

"Hey, do you have any juice?" Henry called out as he checked Emma's fridge before finding some to give to himself. "Never mind, found some."

"Uh... Emma... Do you mind if I pour Henry some juice?" Evie called out as she took out a glass that she found and took the orange juice to pour for her little brother.

"Thanks, Evie," Henry smiled at her before he looked at Emma again. "You know, we should probably get going." he then suggested.

"Going where?" Emma asked, puzzled.

"I want you to come home with us." Henry replied then.

"Okay, kid, I'm calling the cops." Emma decided as she crossed the room to go for her telephone.

"And I'll tell them you kidnapped me." Henry retorted as Evie couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"And they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother?" Emma guessed before she began to put down her telephone.

"Yep!" Henry nodded.

"You're not gonna do that." Emma challenged.

"Don't fuss with us, Ms. Swan," Evie replied. "Please..." she then added quietly with pleading eyes as she didn't want Henry to get upset just when he was starting to look and feel hopeful again.

"Try me." Henry added bravely.

"You're pretty good, but here's the thing," Emma sighed sharply before she defended herself as she got ready to use her telephone. "There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill. It's called a 'superpower'. I can tell when anyone is lying, and you, kid, are."

Henry began to look scared and nervous.

"I'll handle this, Henry," Evie told her little brother. "You just drink your juice."

"...Okay, Evie." Henry said softly before nodding after thinking about it for a few moments.

"Ms. Swan, please, don't call the cops," Evie said as she put her hands down on Emma's phone as she spoke quietly. "This is really important to Henry. Just come home with us and I promise for both of us, just humor us. Just come home with us and we promise it won't take long and once Henry snaps out of his little fit, it'll be like this never happened."

"...You really want your brother to be happy, huh?" Emma quietly asked Evie.

"I do... I want my little brother back," Evie nodded. "He's been feeling so blue lately. Please come home with us."

Emma sighed before she looked back at Evie, trying to regain her composure. "Where's home?" she then asked both siblings aloud.

"Storybrooke, Maine." Evie and Henry replied.

Emma looked a bit irked and flustered. "Storybrooke? Seriously?" she then asked.

"Hey, I didn't name it," Evie shrugged. "But yeah, it's home to us. Just take us home and I'm sure you'll change your mind." she then said with a small smile before winking at Emma to keep their deal.

Emma noticed that before sighing as she gave in. "Alrighty, then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke." she then decided.

Henry smiled in excitement while Evie had a smaller smile. Deep inside, she was unsure about this, but like a good big sister, she did her best to keep it hidden inside so that she wouldn't hurt her little brother's feelings. She seemed to mouth apologies to Emma on the way as they began to get ready to leave the Boston apartment and to head right back over to Maine where the Mills siblings belonged.

"Nice cupcake." Evie noted as Emma began to get ready for the trip away from Boston.

"Thanks... It's my birthday..." Emma replied softly.

"Oh. Well, Happy Birthday to you," Evie said. "...You're spending it alone?"

"It's complicated, okay?" Emma defended. "Let's just get this over with."

"...Okay, Emma," Evie nodded. "Sorry I asked."

"No, no, it's okay," Emma replied as she got an overnight bag ready and began to put on a red jacket. "Let's just get this over with. You know, you're a really good big sister. I wish I had someone looking out for me when I was the kid's age... Or even yours." she then said, adding the last parts softly.

Evie flashed a small smile as they soon went out to Emma's car which was a yellow Bug.

Soon, it was time to hit the road. Henry sat in the back while Evie sat in the front with Emma.

"I'm hungry. Can we stop somewhere?" Henry piped up.

"This is not a road trip. We're not stopping for snacks." Emma retorted.

"Why not?" Evie asked Emma as she faced the blonde woman. "Maine is very far away from Boston, you know. It wasn't easy coming here."

"Quit complaining, kids," Emma told them with a sniff. "Remember, I could've put your butts. I still could." she then reminded firmly.

"You know we have names?" Henry reminded. "It's Evie and Henry."

"Why don't you read your book, Henry?" Evie soon suggested. "I think Emma needs to cool down a little bit."

"Excuse me?" Emma glanced at her.

"I believe you heard me," Evie smirked. "You sass us, you get sassed back. High school rules."

"Yeah... Right..." Emma muttered before glancing at Henry as he opened up his special storybook. "...What's that?" she soon had to ask him.

"I'm not sure you're ready." Henry told her, trying to sound like a grown-up.

"I'm not ready for some fairy tales?" Emma scoffed a bit.

"They're not fairy tales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened," Henry insisted. "Like Evie being a princess."

Evie smiled warmly as she liked the idea of being a princess.

But Emma was still in strong denial. "Of course they did." she then smirked.

"Use your superpower. See if I'm lying." Henry then challenged.

"Just because you believe something, doesn't make it true." Emma retorted as she glanced at Henry through the mirror.

"That's exactly what makes it true. You should know more than anyone." Henry told her.

"Give him a chance." Evie added lightly.

"Why's that?" Emma then asked both of the Mills siblings.

"Because you're in this book." Henry then told the blonde woman he claimed as his birth mother.

"Oh, kid. You've got problems." Emma sighed and shook her head.

"Yep. And you're going to fix them." Henry defended as he looked at the page in his book that showed a dungeon that Snow White and Prince Charming were about to visit.

Evie looked at Emma before speaking quietly and firmly. "You know, it wouldn't kill you to at least play along a bit," she then suggested. "I'm not sure if I believe in this Fairy Tale Curse he's been talking about for a while, but this is the first time I've seen Henry smile in months, even a couple of months ago on his birthday."

"You shouldn't entertain his imagination like that," Emma advised firmly. "He could end up getting you into trouble."

"When Henry was brought home, I promised that I would do anything to make him happy and comfortable," Evie replied. "Just cool it or else the only trouble that'll happen is you facing the wrath and rage of a protective big sister."

"Oh. I'm scared." Emma deadpanned a bit.

"You should be..." Evie said in a dangerous voice.

Eventually, once they finally left Boston, they arrived in Maine into the place called Storybrooke as it started to rain. Once they rode in a bit more, it was lightening up a little bit in the rain.

Emma then took a look around once they passed the town line as Evie smirked a bit. "Okay, kids. How about an address?" she then asked her passengers.

"42 Not Telling You Street." Henry replied smugly as Evie laughed a little bit as she knew that he would say something like that.

Emma then stopped her car in the middle of the road, prompting Evie and Henry to get out as well as they made it in front of the clock tower. "Look, it's been a long night and it's almost-" she then told the siblings before looking up at the clock in surprise. "...8:15?"

"That clock hasn't moved my whole life," Henry explained to Emma. "Time's frozen here."

"Excuse me?" Emma demanded.

"It's true," Evie replied. "I can't remember when that clock tower was last working and I've been here my whole life too... As far as I can remember anyway, like my friends Chad, Ben, and Scarlet."

"I know why," Henry told his sister before looking at both her and Emma. "The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here." he then explained.

"Okay, the Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here." Emma repeated, her words faltering a little bit as she tried to process everything.

"Yeah, and now they're trapped," Henry nodded. "Their descendants too and that's why Evie is here." he then added.

"Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine with descendants. That's what you're going with?" Emma repeated again, sounding more annoyed than actually believing this kid.

"It's true!" Henry defended.

"...Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma then asked, feeling even more dubious.

"They can't. If they try, bad things happen." Henry replied.

"Henry!" Someone called out to the boy, showing a redheaded man with glasses, holding a leash with a Dalmatian beside him who approached Emma, Henry, and Evie. "What are you doing here? Is everything alright? ...Evie, you're here too?" he then questioned.

"We're fine, Archie." Henry replied calmly.

"...And who's this?" The redheaded man, Archie, then asked once he looked over at Emma.

"Just someone who's trying to give them a ride home." Emma shrugged.

"She's my mom, Archie." Henry then told the redheaded man as Evie cooed and fussed with the Dalmatian a little bit who seemed to love her company.

"Oh... I see." Archie then said.

"You know where they live?" Emma then asked this man.

"Yeah, sure. Just, ah, right up on Mifflin Street," Archie explained as calmly as he could. "The Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block."

"You're the Mayor's kids?" Emma then asked the siblings.

"Uh... Maybe?" Henry replied nervously.

"Hey, where were you today, Henry? 'Cuz you missed your session." Archie then asked and reminded.

"He's been with me all day," Evie covered up. "I guess I forgot what today was."

"Yeah, we forgot to tell you," Henry added. "We both went on a field trip."

"Henry. What did I tell you about lying?" Archie scolded the boy. "Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes anything and Evie, you shouldn't encourage your little brother to this sort of behavior. You know how impressionable he is, especially at this age."

Evie firmly pouted as she didn't like the sound of that.

"Oookay..." Emma blinked. "Well, I really should be getting them home." she then suggested.

"Yeah, sure. Well, listen. Um... Have a good night and, uh, you be good, Henry. You too, Evie." Archie then said as he realized it was very late at night and decided to just get going.

"Okay, bye, Archie," Evie said before she cooed and kissed the Dalmatian on his forehead. "You too, Pongo... Bye-Bye, boy... Be good for your pet human~... Oh, yes, you will... Yes, you definitely will!"

Pongo let out a small bark before licking her face, then went to go back home with Archie once that was taken care of.

"So that's your shrink?" Emma guessed to Henry.

"I'm not crazy." Henry defended firmly.

"Emma didn't say you were, Henry," Evie soothed before flashing a dark glare at Emma. "Right?"

"No, it's just... He doesn't seem cursed to me," Emma shrugged. "Maybe he's just trying to help you two."

"He's the one who needs help because he doesn't know." Henry told her.

"That he's a fairy tale character?" Emma then guessed.

"None of them do," Henry explained lightly. "They don't remember who they are."

"Convenient." Emma snarked.

Evie flashed Emma another look.

Emma felt intimidated by Evie's look, especially with how sweet and friendly she seemed before she gave in. "Alright, I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?" she then said and asked Henry.

"Jiminy Cricket." Henry said without skipping a beat.

"Right, the lying thing," Emma rolled her eyes as they went to get settled for the night. "Thought your nose grew a little bit."

"He's not Pinocchio!" Evie cried out as they went along through Storybrooke.

"'Course he's not. Because that would be ridiculous." Emma then retorted lightly.

"Ugh... Emma..." Evie groaned as she shook her head at that, feeling frustrated that she wouldn't even play along with Henry's situation like she was just to help make him feel better. Even if she found this fairy tale theory to be rather silly, she was willing to put up with it if it would give her baby brother back and maybe he would snap out of it eventually. "Well, if you think about it, psychiatry can be like a mental link to one's conscience. So I can believe that too." she said with a humoring smile to Henry in the backseat.

Henry smiled back, feeling glad that Evie believed him. Or at least, that was what he thought.

Eventually, they got back into the car and they soon arrived at a large white house. They began to go in through the gate and went up the walkway.

"Please don't take me back there." Henry begged as he rushed behind Evie and cowered a bit.

"I have to," Emma replied. "I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you."

"We don't have parents," Henry shook his head. "Just a mom and she's evil."

"Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?" Emma asked in concern.

"She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretends to," Henry defended. "She likes Evie better than me 'cuz she's actually her kid and I'm not."

"Kid... I'm sure that's not true." Emma sighed.

"I think Emma's actually right about this, Henry," Evie said as she tried to soothe her little brother as even she found that be a little too much, even if their mother had been firm and cold a lot lately. "Adopting and raising you after having me biologically doesn't mean that Mom doesn't love you."

"Your sister is absolutely right." Emma agreed softly as that seemed to hit her in a spot deep inside, almost like she could relate somehow.

A certain tall woman with black hair and brown eyes soon came out of the mansion. "Henry? Evie?" she then called before she soon ran from the door and came over to hug both of her children instantly, pulling them into her arms. "Oh! Henry! Evie! Are you okay?" she then asked them. "Where have you been? What happened?" she asked before pulling away a little so that she could look at them. "Evie... You told me that you were at Scarlet's house." she then reminded her teenage daughter.

Evie was about to come up with an excuse, but Henry spoke up, beating her to saying anything.

"I found my real mom." The boy then said before running into the house, passing by an adult man who was there, making Emma step away a bit.

Regina soon eyed Emma and examined the blonde woman. "Y-You're Henry's birth mother?" she then demanded.

"Hi..." Emma blinked at the black-haired woman.

"Erm... Come along, Evie," The man spoke up as he came over and put his hands on the teenage girl's shoulder, making her feel instantly uncomfortable. "Let's just go... Check on the lad. Make sure he's alright." he then suggested.

"I don't wanna go with you..." Evie whined and complained.

"Evie... You're going..." Regina decided. "Our guest and I need to talk over some things... Grown-up business."

"Maaaawm!" Evie complained as she was pulled into the house by the man who was her mother's on-and-off-again boyfriend: Sheriff Graham Humbert.

"How would like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?" Regina offered and invited Emma.

"...Got anything stronger?" Emma retorted lightly.

Regina hid a small smirk as she went to help Emma into her kitchen.

Soon, upstairs, Evie squirmed as she followed Graham inside. "Stop it!" she then complained as he touched her. "Don't touch me! I don't like you touching me!"

"I don't very much like your tone, Evelyn Mills," Graham scolded before he soon let go of her. "Why did you lie to your mother?"

"I didn't lie to her!" Evie groaned and shoved him off. "Not really anyway."

"You know I don't like that tone," Graham glared. "You're going to get as bad as Henry has been acting lately."

"He's my little brother... Let me worry about Henry," Evie defended. "I'll talk to you later, okay?" she then firmly added.

Graham frowned before he soon let go of Evie and backed away a bit.

"That's right... Stay away..." Evie added before she took out a whistle. "Otherwise I'll blow this. I'll warn you, it's very loud."

"Good evening then..." Graham said as he backed away. "Just watch that tone and mood of yours or else you'll find yourself in very deep trouble."

"Sor-ry..." Evie said, a bit snarkily, but she didn't seem to mean it. "...I think I'll have some cider with Mom."

Graham gave her a firm look, but would try to stay patient. "All right," he then told her. "Just make sure you stay away from the strong stuff."

"Yes, sir." Evie muttered and rolled her eyes slightly, going back downstairs.

"Kids these days," Graham sighed to himself. "I don't want to make her uncomfortable around me, but I want her to be happy and safe. I have no idea where this behavior from Evie and Henry came from." he then said before he went to go check on Henry for Regina.

Meanwhile, downstairs, Emma and Regina had moved into the house with Emma in the foyer. Regina came in with two glasses and poured out the cider.

"How did they find me?" Emma wondered, referring to Evie and Henry of course.

"No idea," Regina shrugged. "When I adopted Henry, he was only three weeks old. Records were sealed. I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact." she then explained as best as she could.

"You were told right." Emma admitted lightly.

"And the father?" Regina then asked curiously.

"There was one." Emma nodded, though a bit distant about where exactly her son came from.

"Do I need to be worried about him?" Regina questioned.

"Nope. He doesn't even know." Emma declined.

"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss Swan?" Regina then asked.

"Absolutely not." Emma then reassured.

Regina then nodded as Graham was coming downstairs.

"Madam Mayor, you can relax," Graham told the woman of the house. "Other than being a tired little boy, Henry's fine. Evie's being a little difficult, though I suppose that just comes with being a teenager and coming down with a severe case of puberty."

"Thank you, Sheriff," Regina told him so that he could leave before she then led Emma into a different room. "I'm sorry they dragged you out of your life. I really don't know what's gotten into them."

"The kids are having a rough time. It happens." Emma replied as she followed after Regina.

"You have to understand. Ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky," Regina defended. "You have a job, I assume?"

Emma hesitated slightly before nodding. "Uh, I keep busy, yeah." she then said.

"Imagine having another one on top of it. That's being a single mom, especially with a teenage daughter," Regina then continued. "So I push for order. Am I strict? I suppose, but I do it for their own good. I want Henry and Evie to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil, do you?" she then prompted.

"I'm sure Henry's just saying that because of the fairy tale thing and Evie is trying to make him feel better about himself." Emma remarked.

Regina suddenly looked curious like she had no idea. "...What fairy tale thing?" she then asked.

"Oh, you know. His book. How he thinks everyone's a cartoon character from it," Emma explained like it was obvious. "Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."

"I'm sorry. I really have no idea what you're talking about." Regina said as she still sounded a bit clueless.

Emma looked like she was about to explain before she shook her head and gave in. "You know what? It's none of my business. They're your kids. And I really should be heading back." she then said.

"Of course." Regina nodded as she let Emma out.

As Emma walked down the walkway to her car, she looked up to the second-story window and saw Henry. He then closed the curtain and turned off the light.

Emma was driving along the road out of Storybrooke. She then looked over and saw Henry's book on the seat. "Sneaky bastard." she muttered to herself with a small smirk before she suddenly looked back to the road only to see a wolf in front of her car. She swerved to avoid it, but then ended up hitting the Storybrooke entrance sign and seemed to be knocked out cold.

The wolf then howled and got off of the road while Emma was unconscious and the book flipped open to the pages of the wood maker Gepetto who appeared to be carving on a tree trunk.

Meanwhile, Regina sipped some of her cider before looking over as she saw her teenage daughter. "Oh... Evie. I thought you and Henry went to bed?" she then said.

"Well, I was on my way to bed, but I got thirsty," Evie said lightly. "Mind if I have some cider too?"

"No, I suppose not," Regina shook her head, allowing Evie to have some cider, but not the strong kind of course as she was only 16. "So... What happened at school today?"

"...A lot of things happened in school today." Evie said, seeming to dodge a certain discussion.

"Evie..." Regina said a bit firmly.

"Well, I came to help cheer Henry up when I went on my lunch break and Ms. Blanchard was helping out too..." Evie began to say.

"I just wanted Henry to be happy and have fun again," Evie insisted to her mother. "Can't you see he's bored around here? To him, nothing much has changed around here in what feels like an eternity and I just want him to be happy."

Regina paused thoughtfully as she gave her daughter an even longer look.

"Mom... You can't blame me for that..." Evie said with a sharp sigh. "Look, I'm sorry we cut school. I'll make it up to you. I can babysit Henry without Graham here for double time... As long as we both do our homework of course."

"...I just... I need to think about this," Regina said thoughtfully and still rather sternly. "I think I need to talk with him a bit too tomorrow."

"...Okay, Mom," Evie said softly before sighing sharply. "Just go easy on him, okay? He's having a rough time right now."

"All right, Evie," Regina replied. "I just hope you finished your Chemistry homework. You know how Mr. Deley gets if you don't have your work done."

"Yes, Mom, I will," Evie nodded and promised. "I'll just drink a quick glass of cider and go straight to bed."

"Good girl," Regina replied. "Make sure Henry gets up on time and goes to school and no cutting class again. Do you promise me?"

"Yes, Mom. I promise." Evie said calmly.

"Good," Regina approved before she decided to give her daughter a glass of apple cider. "Here you go. Now off to bed you go after that drink. It's very late despite what the clock tower says."

"Yes, ma'am." Evie replied, accepting the glass of cider and soon drank quite a bit of it.

"Very good." Regina nodded as she went to clean up the glasses she shared with Ms. Swan and soon decided to get ready for bed as well.

Evie sighed sharply as she sipped her cider before she came over to the sink and went to put her glass in next after she finished up. She just hoped that least tomorrow would be easier, especially in a very mundane place like Storybrooke. She didn't believe a word of her brother's theory of everybody being a fairy tale character trapped in a land without magic, but this was the happiest she had seen him in a long time and it felt like years since she saw a smile on his face. She decided that she would at least try to humor him a bit tomorrow and decided that this fairy tale theory was just a phase and eventually Dr. Hopper would help him snap out of it and he would focus on something else, like maybe wanting to grow up to be Luke Skywalker or something like that.

Being a teenage girl, she had more important things to worry about than Rumplestiltskin demanding the name of Snow White and Prince Charming's baby or The Evil Queen cursing them for foiling her evil plans or whatever else Henry said was apart of his new book. Soon, Evie helped herself to bed as she slid on her eyemask and sighed dreamily as she began to dream the wonderful dream that filled her teenage mind and soul with hope and happiness which was the sights and sounds of being Chad Herman's girlfriend. After all, they grew up together back when he called himself Charlie until he decided that Chad was a cooler name for a cooler him.

The next morning soon came. It snuck up on both Evie and Henry rather quickly, though that was probably because they had a long day yesterday traveling to Boston and finding this mysterious Emma Swan. Evie did what she always did and got herself out of bed, fighting her alarm clock for making her get up so early, but it was just the life of a student and she refused to get detention from the principal just because she wanted a few more precious minutes to rest only to come into school to be handed tests, forced social norms, and just trying to survive by her 18th birthday or graduation.

Whichever was easier to get through. She brushed her teeth, washed her face, got her uniform ready and took out a flashing pink button to add to her uniform and brushed her hair out. After she got up pretty early, she went to wake up Henry to get him ready for school too and went to get breakfast ready for them both. Regina had a very busy time as both Mayor of Storybrooke and being a single mother, though she at least had Sheriff Graham beside her who acted as a father figure to both Evie and Henry. Evie wasn't that fond of Graham personally, but she often tried to get along with him because she wanted her mother to be happy which was a bit harder to come by in recent years.

"Five more minutes..." Henry mumbled into his pillow.

"Look, Henroid, I don't like it as much as you do, but you gotta get up and go to school," Evie reminded her little brother. "Otherwise, Mom will cut off both our heads or whatever." she then added, trying to appeal to his new fairy tale obsession.

"That's the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland," Henry said before sitting up. "Regina is The Evil Queen."

"Okay, just because Mom isn't your mother by blood, that doesn't mean you can call her by her first name," Evie firmly reminded. "Just get out of bed, okay? Otherwise, Mom will kill us."

"Fine. Fine." Henry sighed and rolled his eyes, getting a bit huffy as he forced himself out of bed.

Evie sighed sharply as she then went down to get them both something for breakfast in the form of bowls of cereal. Henry then did what he had to do to get ready for the day and of course, once he was done, he made sure that he had his book with him for more research. After getting ready, he sat across from his sister and the two began to eat up together, both being quiet as the only sounds that filled the air were their spoons hitting the bowl and their crunching from the cereal. Evie usually didn't mind a quiet morning, especially to gather her thoughts and mentally prepare herself for a busy school day to come, but the silence got to her a bit right now. She and Henry used to be pretty close, but now they seemed to be drifting apart. Could it be because Evie was a teenager now and Henry was going through his phase? Regardless, Evie decided to try to make decent conversation to help comfort her little brother due to recent events.

"Look..." Evie began to speak calmly. "I know Mom thinks this is just a phase... I do too a little bit, because the idea of everyone being under a curse is kind of silly."

Henry gave Evie a bit of a look.

"But... What character am I in your book?" Evie then continued as she asked lightly. She was still highly unsure of this claim of the curse being real, but she decided to try to humor him in an effort to bond with him more as he seemed to slowly turn into an emo kid faster than "Creepy Claudine" from her school.

"Oh..." Henry said before he brought out his book a bit. "Well... Since Mom is your actual mom, she's The Evil Queen, that makes you The Evil Princess."

"Me? Evil?" Evie smirked a little bit.

"Well... I guess you're not evil now, but that's probably from the curse," Henry replied lightly then. "But yeah... You're The Evil Queen's daughter."

"Well, maybe we can read more about that story someday together?" Evie suggested.

"You really do that for me, Evie?" Henry asked.

"Sure... I know you're having a rough time lately, Henry, but I want to help you just like I promised I would 10 years ago," Evie reassured warmly. "You're my brother and I love you, regardless if we share blood or not."

Henry cracked a small smile as he seemed to like the sound of that.

"All right, let's finish up our breakfast and get ready to head on over to school." Evie said to him.

"Okay..." Henry said as he took another spoonful of Cheerios cereal. "...Hey, Evie?" he then piped up again.

"Yes?" Evie replied.

"Does it get easier?" Henry then asked.

"What?" Evie responded. "...Y-You mean school?"

"Mm-hmm," Henry nodded. "Does school get a little easier? When you're older I mean." he then explained.

"Well, it depends on what classes you take, but they have to get a bit harder as you're growing up so you can learn more." Evie explained softly.

"Hm... I was afraid of that," Henry said. "Oh, well. I try my best and Mom says that's all that matters."

"That's all anyone can ask of you, Henry." Evie said with a soft smile.

Henry smiled back.

"All right, finish up your breakfast and we'll get going to school." Evie suggested before she began to drink the milk in her bowl after finishing up her cereal.

"Okay, Evie." Henry nodded as he continued to eat his cereal.

Evie nodded at him and finished up her milk before she soon went to put that in the sink next. She then checked the time and came over to her mother's bedroom door, looking a bit nervous. She was then about to knock on it before flinching suddenly as a voice spoke right behind her, giving her instant chills.

"I'm already awake, Evie."

"Oh... Hey, Mom..." Evie grinned bashfully and nervously as she turned around to face her mother. "You're up early."

"Yes..." Regina nodded. "Graham is going to pick up my breakfast from Granny's and I have a lot of work to do in my office. So, did you want something?" she then asked.

"Oh... It's just that Henry and I are finished with breakfast and I'm going to walk him to school today." Evie then explained.

"Oh... All right," Regina said, sounding softer than her usual tone which was really saying something. "I'll see you after school... You don't have any activities after school today, right?"

"No, Mom," Evie shook her head. "I'll bring Henry straight home after 3:00 and I'll make sure he does his homework."

"Good..." Regina said with a bone-chilling smile. "Perhaps things can get back to normal after last night. Tell him I said to have a good day and have fun."

"Yes, ma'am," Evie said with a small, though warmer smile back. "I'm sure that he loves you and I love you too, Mom."

"Thank you very much," Regina smiled back with a small smirk. "Keep him out of trouble and come back as soon as you can."

"Yes, ma'am." Evie nodded as she then went back downstairs to go and meet Henry at the door so that both of them could get to school.

Regina nodded as she fiddled with her apple before she would get to work as Madame Mayor.

Henry soon put his own bowl in the sink and looked over his shoulder as Evie was coming back downstairs.

"Let's go, Henry." Evie smiled softly as she came to open the door so that she and Henry could leave home for the day.

"All right." Henry smiled back as they walked off together.