The next morning came in Storybrooke. Things started to change, though the people of the rather small town were walking and going about their days almost like nothing had changed when a lot more had and they didn't realize it yet. However, one thing that didn't change, was definitely Evie's morning routine as it was a weekday morning and she cringed at the sound of her alarm before she rolled over and slammed her phone to be quiet as it charged overnight and she yawned as she stretched and slid off her eye mask. She stumbled out of her room as she grunted to herself, but she tried her best to be innocent and cheerful as she came out into the hallway and knocked on a certain door.

"Henry, time to get up for school." Evie gently called as she knocked on her little brother's door.

"Coming..." Henry mumbled in reply.

"Very good." Evie said, going to walk off then.

"Hey, Evie?" Henry then spoke up before his sister would leave to her daily routine.

"Yes, Henry?" Evie replied as she stopped.

"Can we go to the diner on the way to school today?" Henry asked her.

"...Why?" Evie asked, almost suspiciously. Not that Granny's Diner was bad or anything, it had amazing food, as long as you didn't order the meatloaf even if Mr. Gold thought that ordering lasagna from there would be overpriced.

"Take me first and then I'll tell ya." Henry smirked.

"Henry..." Evie smirked back, raising an eyebrow as she crossed her arms.

"Okay," Henry then sighed and gave in. "I wanna see Emma again."

"I don't know," Evie said cautiously. "That sounds like a hazardous idea, especially since Mom doesn't seem to like her very much."

"Oh, Evie, please?" Henry asked and pouted.

"Augh! Not the puppy dog eyes! I invented that trick!" Evie cried out and flinched, trying to avoid his gaze, though she sighed at him. "Oh... All right. Just remember, we can't stay long, we have to get to class on time. Ms. Blanchard is nice and all, but she might be a little mad if you're late."

"Great!" Henry then beamed. "Thanks, Evie."

"Yeah, whatever..." Evie rolled her eyes with a smirk as she then left the hallway to head into the bathroom to freshen herself up for the day. She did her business first of course, then washed her hands, and soon began to take out her moisturizing wipes to wipe down her face and brushed her teeth before brushing her ebony hair as it got a bit fuzzy overnight. She then flossed her teeth and looked at her reflection before beaming at how cute she looked before she then left the room and went to go to her bedroom to get dressed, applying her lotion and deodorant as needed. It was a pretty simple and regular morning in Storybrooke so far. Evie smiled as she took out The Pinkettes' pin and put it on her shirt as she looked hopeful about being noticed by Scarlet and her friends.

When Henry got himself ready for school, he was immediately met with his and Evie's mother who looked frustrated as she held onto his prized storybook.

"The missing pages, where are they?" Regina demanded.

"It's an old book, stuff's missing," Henry shrugged and scoffed while getting his uniform ready. "What do you care?"

"I care because you think I'm some evil queen. And that hurts me, Henry," Regina explained before she reached out to touch his face in comfort as best as she could. "I'm your mother. If I'm an evil queen, then you must think Evie is an evil princess, right?"

"No, you're not and Evie's not an evil princess," Henry said, backing away from her suddenly. "Evie actually believes me about the curse and she's trying to help me."

"Henry... That woman you brought here is not your mother," Regina sighed sharply. "I don't like what she or this book is doing to you. Thankfully both are no longer an issue."

Henry looked at her, then looked at the ground and shuffled his feet a bit.

"What?" Regina then demanded.

Evie then came over to take Henry out of his room. "All right, kiddo, let's get to-" she then stopped herself, seeing their mother and quickly changed what she was originally going to say. "School."

"Coming, Evie." Henry beamed and nodded at her.

"Ah, Evie... I need you to do something for me." Regina then said once she saw her older child.

Evie flinched, feeling worried, almost like she felt like Regina had discovered what was going on, feeling younger than Henry right now, but she did her best to keep calm as she just looked at her mother and nodded with a low whimper, though her face blanched a bit, making her look paler than she already was.

"I'm in the mood for apples today." Regina smiled which made Henry snicker a little as that didn't help her case about denying being The Evil Queen who cursed Snow White with an apple.

"Oh..." Evie said softly.

"Yes... Why don't you deliver some apples for me and I'll deliver some of my own?" Regina suggested as she kept her smile. "I'll give you a basket and you can share some with your friends in school."

"Heh... That sounds great, Mom..." Evie chuckled and smiled sheepishly. "What's on the menu for today's Apple Day?"

"I was thinking Honeycrisp of course," Regina replied. "You know how much I love my tree."

"Yes, Mom, of course," Evie nodded. "I'll take a basket and deliver some apples to my friends and teachers. That totally won't get me beat up on the playground at all."

"I just want you to make some friends, especially for your brother," Regina advised. "I see you already have a pin... Is that something of interest to your peers?"

"It's a long story, Mom," Evie said. "I'll take care of the apples and get me and Henry to school."

"Good," Regina nodded at that. "Both of you have a good day."

"We will." Evie and Henry promised.

"Speaking of delivery though, I better make one of my own," Regina then decided as she smirked to herself, but Evie and Henry clearly saw it, but said nothing of it. "Especially to some... Certain special people."

Henry looked quickly unsure, but again, he said nothing because he knew that Regina wouldn't like that.

Eventually, Evie and Henry finished up getting ready for school as Regina left with her apple basket, leaving another one for her older child. She was clearly on her way to Granny's Bed & Breakfast, though she stopped at a very unique sight in Storybrooke, especially pointed out by someone else who was taking a walk with a certain canine companion of his.

"Hey, how 'bout that?" Dr. Hopper smiled as he saw that the clock tower had changed in what felt like the first time in decades. "Guess those rusty old innards finally straightened themselves out, huh?"

Regina was dumbfounded before she looked across the street to see Emma's car. "Yes, how 'bout that, indeed?" she then agreed rather sternly.

Eventually, after a little while, Evie and Henry made it into the diner. Henry walked right in and went to go find a seat as Evie smiled at him, carrying her basket. She then looked around, but saw that there were some other kids her age who sat at a booth on their own. One of which was a long-haired boy with a red beanie on his head, another boy seemed to be small and had black and white hair with freckles all over his face, and there was a girl who had various hints of purple in her hair who seemed to have a sour expression on her face. Evie sighed as she took a deep breath and soon tried to look brave and confident before she walked off to go and see the other teenagers as they were talking among themselves.

"I'm telling you guys, I think I might have to say goodbye to Zevon sometime soon," Mal said to Jay and Carlos. "You might not get it, but he's really getting under my skin lately."

"Sounds like he's so under your skin that he's under your skeleton." Carlos commented.

"Meh... I wouldn't mind honestly." Mal shrugged before smirking.

"I wouldn't mind either, especially with having girls on both of my arms no matter what," Jay smirked. "I know my way around a girl."

"Now if only they were interested in you like you were with them." Mal then smirked to herself.

Carlos cupped his mouth and chuckled to that as Jay narrowed his eyes slightly.

"Whoa..." Carlos soon said and muttered.

"What? Did I suddenly just strike a nerve or something?" Mal asked based on Carlos suddenly looked shocked about something.

"N-No, no... It's not that..." Carlos replied.

Mal just raised an eyebrow at him. "Then... What?" she then asked. "Speak!" she then demanded like she was speaking to a dog which made Carlos straighten up suddenly.

"Gah! Erm... Uh... Evie Mills is coming right this way." Carlos explained as he twitched nervously.

"Evie Mills?" Mal and Jay repeated.

"As in... Mayor Regina Mills' daughter?" Mal then asked.

"Erm... Is there any other Evie Mills around here?" Carlos replied.

"Fair point." Jay smirked to himself.

"Hm... She'd seem interesting if she wasn't the mayor's kid..." Mal chuckled lightly.

"Um... Hello, there..." Evie smiled as she walked by. "I think I might've seen you guys in school."

"Yippee-tapdancing-doo to you for finding that out," Mal smirked before looking over. "Oh... Yeah, you're definitely the mayor's kid... You got some apples with you."

"Erm... Yeah..." Evie smiled before she took one of the apples out of her basket and reached out to show them. "Did you know the Honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm." she then educated them.

"Huh... I didn't know that..." Carlos remarked.

"...I knew that. I just didn't wanna show off..." Jay mumbled to himself.

"No, you didn't," Mal rolled her eyes before smirking. "Well, uh... Thanks for the tip, Eva."

"Evie," Evie corrected before smiling. "So... Who are you guys?"

"Well... I'm Mal and this is Jay and Carlos," Mal then introduced with a small smirk. "You don't have to hang out with us though just to pity us."

"Huh? ...Whatya mean?" Evie asked with a small frown.

"You're the mayor's kid, so you're pretty much the princess of this town," Mal rolled her eyes before she looked Evie dead in her eyes with a glare. "If you don't move your pretty-haired caboose out of my way, you'll get some kind of view all right."

Evie blinked and flinched as Mal seemed to hate her already even though they had just met. She knew this girl for a few seconds and they already seemed to be enemies.

"Do you guys want anything else?" The young waitress, Ruby Lucas, the granddaughter of the eponymous Granny, asked once she saw Mal, Evie, Jay, and Carlos.

"Thanks, Ruby, but we're fine," Mal replied before looking over at Jay and Carlos with a smirk. "We were just leaving."

Jay and Carlos didn't say anything and soon walked over while Carlos seemed to look apologetic to Evie. Evie frowned before she sighed at herself. She wasn't sure how this could get any better for her, but she soon came to sit down with Henry.

"Hey, Evie..." Henry told his sister.

"Hey, Henry..." Evie said as she sat down. "You want some hot chocolate with cinnamon?"

"Maybe a little bit, but I know someone else who would like it too." Henry then said as he looked over a little.

Evie glanced at him before looking over to see a certain someone in the diner. "Oh... My... Gosh..." she then whispered as she knew that Henry had to have done something while she was trying to make some new friends.

"Here you go." Ruby said as she gave Emma a certain drink that Evie recognized instantly.

"Thank you... But I did not order that." Emma told the young waitress as she was about to bite into an apple that Regina got for her.

"Yeah, I know. You have an admirer." Ruby smiled innocently.

Emma then turned around before seeing Graham at a booth as she put down her paper and walked right over to him suddenly.

"Ah, so you decided to stay." Graham smiled.

"Observant. Important for a cop." Emma snorted.

"That's good news for our tourist business, bad for our local signage." Graham replied then.

Emma shot him a look for that quip.

"I-It's a joke... Because you ran over our sign..." Graham then smiled nervously.

"Look, the cocoa was a nice gesture, and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon in my chocolate, 'cuz most people don't, but I am not here to flirt, so, thank you, but no thank you." Emma then spat at him before setting the mug down on the table suddenly.

"I didn't send it." Graham told her innocently and truthfully.

"I did," Henry piped up as he stood up from his and Evie's booth. "I like cinnamon, too."

"Don't you have school?" Emma glanced at him.

"Duh, I'm 10." Henry reminded.

"Maybe you should walk with us, Emma." Evie suggested as she stood up beside her little brother.

Emma looked unsure about that, but she soon decided to do that.

"Here, Henry, wear your scarf," Evie reminded her little brother as she made him wear it. "It's rather chilly, it's October you know."

"Yeah, I know..." Henry sighed. "I just think I look silly in this scarf."

"Hey, don't you remember that I made that for you on your birthday?" Evie reminded.

"Couldn't you have made something cooler?" Henry asked.

"You mean like a superhero's cape?" Evie smirked playfully. "Maybe when you get a little bit older."

"Maybe you could make me something nicer than this silly old scarf." Henry pouted as he and Evie walked past the counter as Granny waved them off as they headed to school.

"Oh, Henry... It's a nice scarf." Evie sighed and smiled as they walked off together away from Granny's Diner.

However, there was a girl who seemed to be sitting at the counter as she looked over and quietly spoke to Henry, though it was so quiet that he didn't even hear her and it was mostly to herself. "I-I... I like your scarf..." she then said quietly and bashful as she sipped a glass of chocolate milk she was given.

They soon went out of the diner and it was about time to get to school for both Evie and Henry. Evie told Emma that she didn't need a full walk to school and would get out of her way as soon as Henry would be in school since it was her job to make sure he would make it to school on time and especially make sure she wouldn't be late, especially for Mr. Deley's chemistry class.

"So, what's the deal with you and your mom?" Emma soon asked the Mills kids.

"It's not about us, it's about her curse. We have to break it," Henry replied. "Luckily, I have a plan. Step one: identification. I call it, 'Operation: Cobra'."

"Cobra?" Emma blinked. "That has nothing to do with fairy tales."

"Exactly, it's a codename," Henry explained. "It'll throw the Queen off the trail."

Evie snorted a little at that.

"So, everyone here is a fairy tale character, they just don't know it." Emma then guessed.

"Uh, yeah, that's part of the curse." Evie replied, though she seemed to make that up as she didn't truly believe in the curse and just wanted to cheer up Henry from his fairy tale phase and was sure he would be over it in no time if she played along for now.

"Yeah... Time's been frozen... Until you got here," Henry added before saw that Emma was about to bite into the apple she had been carrying. "Hey! Where'd you get that?"

"Your mom." Emma answered like it was obvious.

"Don't eat that!" Henry told her before taking the apple from her and then suddenly threw it.

Evie gasped and moved her head before the apple could hit her before she smirked at herself.

"Okay... Um, uh, alright. What about their pasts?" Emma then asked Henry.

"They don't know. It's a haze to them," Henry explained again. "Ask anyone anything and you'll see."

"So... For decades, people have been walking around, in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories, stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious?" Emma then guessed as Evie looked a bit relaxed then.

"I knew you'd get it! That's why we need you," Henry cheered hopefully. "You're the only one who can stop her curse."

"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?" Emma then asked.

"Yes! And right now, we have the advantage. My mom doesn't know that and Evie's on my side even though she's her daughter which makes her an Evil Princess," Henry replied before he unzipped his backpack to take out the missing pages from his storybook to give to Emma. "I took out the end, the part with you in it."

Emma glanced at the page which showed the illustration of Prince Charming placing Baby Emma in the wardrobe, the name "Emma" clearly visibly on the baby blanket.

"See? Your mom is Snow White!" Henry then urged.

"Really? Cuz that looks like Prince Charming to me." Evie said to Henry.

"You know what I mean!" Henry then retorted.

"Kid..." Emma sighed wearily.

"I know the hero never believes at first, if they did, it wouldn't be a very good story. If you need proof, take them, read them, but whatever you do, don't let her see these pages," Henry then told Emma. "They're dangerous. If she finds out who you are... Then it would be bad."

Soon, they made it over to the elementary school which was Henry's stop.

"I gotta go, but I'll find you later and we can get started," Henry then said to Emma. "I knew you'd believe me!"

"I never said I did!" Emma called out to him as he got ready to go to school, seeming to smile for the first time in a very long while.

"Why else would you be here?" Henry retorted before he ran off to school.

"I better get myself to school too, Emma," Evie decided as she looked at the blonde woman. "Thanks for walking with us."

"Sure, no problem," Emma replied. "So... Do you really believe in this curse stuff or are you just trying to make your brother feel better?"

"I'm sorry, but as a part of Operation: Cobra, I'm afraid I can't discuss that in public." Evie said before suddenly running off.

"Hey! You can't just walk away from me like that!" Emma called out suddenly.

"Yes, I can!" Evie replied.

Emma then rolled her eyes before looking over as Ms. Blanchard came over to her as Henry came to see his classmates.

Evie soon made it to school while everyone went about their business. Some students seemed to be whispering and staring at her funny, even more so than usual. Evie just glanced at them and shrugged as she tried to ignore them, though she had to wonder why she was being part of everybody's attention today.

"Ahem!" A throat was cleared right behind Evie, making her flinch suddenly.

Evie then turned around, looking over her shoulder, then found herself met with a fellow girl in school who had a notepad and pencil. She flinched briefly because the girl startled her as she put her hand on her chest before sighing a bit sharply.

"Jordan Glass, heiress to The Storybrooke Daily Mirror Newspaper?" The girl spoke, making herself sound like a professional news reporter even if she was just a teenager like everyone else in this school.

"Jordan... I've known you since Pre-K..." Evie rolled her eyes slightly.

"Just go with it, okay? I gotta do this if I'm gonna be a journalist like my dad someday," Jordan retorted before smirking. "I was wondering if I could schedule you for a lunch interview?"

"Interview? For what?" Evie asked as she began to collect some books from her locker.

"Oh, nothing too major or hot off the press, though... It was in my dad's paper," Jordan said before smirking. "Apparently the new arrival in Storybrooke is an ex-jailbird."

"WHAT?!" Evie asked before suddenly spinning on her heels. "What are you talking about?"

"Just this little paper," Jordan said before she took out her father's newspaper to show Evie what she meant which had Emma on the front page with the headline of "EX-JAILBIRD: EMMA SWAN BIRTHED BABE BEHIND BARS". "If memory serves me correctly, she was already in the paper for crashing into the town sign the moment she was trying to leave town."

"Henry was born in jail?" Evie muttered in shock with wide eyes as she took the newspaper. "...I'm not sure about this Emma Swan woman."

"It's the talk of the school that your brother is actually the son of a felon," Jordan replied, sounding rather smug. "So... How about that interview then?"

Evie just looked wide-eyed and horrified. What was this going to do to her reputation? She had to talk to someone about this as soon as possible, but... Who could she turn to in a time like this? She two girls in The Pinkettes crew of the usual trio, Amalie Bonfamille and Scarlet O'Bell, who were whispering to each other. Evie just feared that she would lose her chances of becoming a Pinkette now at this rate and she didn't even want to think about what Mal, Jay, and Carlos probably thought about her right now. She just couldn't wait for this school day to be over now.

Evie pretty much tuned out and blocked the school day that happened today out of her mind. Henry's obsession was getting out of control and she was concerned about being around Emma anymore.

"Evie?" Regina's voice called. "Why don't you come downstairs?"

"I'm not in the mood, Mom!" Evie called out with a pout.

"But you haven't been out of your room since you got home," Regina replied in concern. "Come say hi."

Evie sighed sharply as she sat up and soon decided to come downstairs. Henry would be busy later tonight as he had a session with Dr. Hopper to hopefully control his obsession with fairy tales lately as it was really getting out of hand lately. Evie then gasped once she saw that Emma was in the house.

"Hey... Look, I know what the paper said, but please... Don't be afraid of me." Emma said to Evie.

"Hm..." Evie paused with a firm pout as she crossed her arms.

"I think we all need to talk right now." Regina suggested.

"...Fine." Evie said as she gave in.

Regina nodded before they decided to sit down and have a word in the office.

"Is this gonna take long?" Evie then asked. "I mean... It's almost time for-"

"Don't worry, my dear Evie, we'll have plenty of time," Regina interrupted with an innocent smirk. "Just sit down and get comfortable."

"Okay, Mom..." Evie sighed before she sat down.

"I know we have a lot going on right now, so I'll start," Regina decided to say before facing Emma. "I'd like to start by apologizing, Miss Swan."

"What?" Emma asked, a little surprised.

"I just have to accept the reality that you want to be here." Regina then said.

"That's right. I do."

"And that you're here to take my son from me."

"Okay, let's be clear: I have no intention of taking him from anyone." Emma then clarified.

"Well then, what are you doing here?" Evie then demanded. "Do you really wanna help Henry?"

"Please..." Emma sighed and shook her head at what Evie said before she explained herself to Regina. "I know I'm not a mother; I think that's pretty self-evident, but I did have him, and I can't help it; he got in my head and I want to make sure he's okay. The more you try to push me out, the more I want to be here, especially after seeing how... Troubled... He is." she then explained.

"You think he's troubled?" Regina then asked.

"Well, he's in therapy, and I only got through a couple pages of his shrink's notes before you had me arrested, but putting all that aside; he thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character and some people like Evie are descendants from said fairy tales." Emma then explained.

"And you don't?" Regina then asked as Evie looked like she was suddenly in deep thought over what was being said by Emma.

"How can I?" Emma scoffed. "The poor kid can't even tell the difference between fantasy and reality and it's only getting worse."

"...Miss Swan, I think I have to agree with you." Evie then suddenly said.

"What...?" Emma asked as she turned around to the girl suddenly.

"You're right, Miss Swan," Evie explained as calmly as she could. "Henry has been taking this fairy tale obsession too far and has been lying to Mom and even turning into a little jerk. It's turning him into a crazy kid."

"Now... I didn't say-" Emma then began, only for a tiny voice to suddenly interrupt them.

"You guys think I'm crazy?"

Emma and Evie turned around and suddenly saw that Henry was standing there in the doorway of the office and suddenly looked hurt on the inside.

"Oh... Henry... I... I didn't mean-" Evie spoke up with a frown, but it was too late. Henry was already running out of the office as he was deeply dejected and depressed over what was being said about him.

"How long was he there?" Emma demanded from Regina.

"Long enough." Regina replied coldly.

"Mom..." Evie firmly pouted and whispered.

"You knew he would be there." Emma said suspiciously.

"Did I know that my son comes to my office every Thursday at precisely 5:00 PM so I can take him and his sister for dinner before his therapy session? Of course I did," Regina retorted smugly. "I'm his mother. Your move."

"You have no soul," Emma spat out. "How in the Hell did you get like this?" she then stormed off suddenly as Regina didn't answer that question.

Regina watched her go before smirking. "I think I need to tend to my apple tree tonight," she then spoke to Evie. "Would you like to help me out?"

"Mom... I-I can't... I gotta go... I have a lot of homework." Evie suddenly said, sounding shallow like she was going to be sick.

"...Evie?" Regina called, going to reach out for her daughter's arm.

Evie just walked out of the office and soon came upstairs to go to her little brother's room. Regina watched her go as her facial expression didn't seem to change much. Evie thought about going to Henry's room to check on him, but she just felt her heart sink in her chest as she bowed her head and felt unsure about that idea. She then sighed and shook her head and just decided to go to bed early as this was probably a very rotten day of her life. So very rotten. It was rotten to the core.

A/N: Yeah, I'm sorry this chapter ends on a pretty dower note, but I promise that it'll get better later. I hope you enjoyed it regardless though.