Emma first noticed that her head hurt, then that she was lying on stiff bed with scratchy sheets. She gave a shuddering breath as she remembered the crash: she's found Henry's book sitting the front seat. In the split second she'd been distracted, a wolf with glowing red eyes had leapt in the path of her car and she had swerved to avoid it. She didn't know what happened after, but she deduced that she must have been in the hospital.

The faint hum of a machine buzzed in her ears, almost drowning out faint footsteps a few feet away. Emma's eyes creaked open, though the sleep dust was nearly thick enough to keep her eyelashes glued together.

"Welcome back." a soft voice greeted her. Next to her, in front of a large window, a woman slouched in a small plastic chair. Her soft umber skin and crown of black curls glowed in the morning sunlight, contrasted by sharp ice-blue eyes that didn't seem to fit the gentle curves of her face. "You were asleep a long time."

Emma rubbed her eyes, "Uh, who are you?"

"Priscilla Jefferson. I found you near the town line after your accident." She got up and handed Emma a bottle of water.

"Wow, thank you." She accepted the bottle, grateful that someone had stayed with her all night but suspicious as to why anyone would bother. "You didn't have to stay here." Emma chuckled to deflect her lingering nervousness. Last night's events had thrown her off.

"Someone had to." Priscilla shrugged, "I'll let the nurse know you're awake."

After a lengthy round of examinations, the hospital staff concluded that Emma was fit to leave. Priscilla had been shooed out of the room by the nurses, but Emma found her in the lobby as she waited for her discharge papers.

"Hey, you're still here." Emma noted.

"Yes, but the real question is: how are you here?" Priscilla folded her arms across her chest, head tilted to the side.

Emma raised an eyebrow, "I drove here last night to drop off the mayor's kid. Why?"

"And?" Priscilla pushed.

"And I got into an accident. What else do you want me to say?"

Frustrated, Priscilla shook her head, "Okay, this clearly isn't going to work. Just don't leave town until I figure out what's going on." Priscilla turned on her heel and marched out of the hospital.

Emma gaped. Had she somehow wandered into another universe?

Just as Emma received her papers and a recommendation to take things easy, Regina Mills stomped into the hospital lobby. When she saw Emma standing by the counter, her eyes lit up with rage.

"Where the hell is my son?! What have you done with him?" She demanded, stalking toward Emma like a lion toward a deer.

Emma held up the discharge papers, "I've haven't seen him since I left your place and I've got a pretty good alibi."

The nurse at the front desk chimed in, "He hasn't been here Madam Mayor. Sorry."

Regina took a deep breath, "Then I guess this trip was a waste of my time."

"If Henry's missing," Emma said, "I could help you look for him."

"You'll be no such thing." Regina snapped, "He's my son, not yours. Your only responsibility to get out of my town and back to your...whatever it is you do, as quickly as possible. Understood?"

Emma frowned, "No, not understood. Why would you turn down help to find your child?"

"I don't have time for this. You've overstayed your welcome and I need to find my son." Without another word, Regina stormed out of the hospital.

For a minute, Emma debated whether she ought to leave, but she didn't feel okay knowing Henry might be in trouble. She glanced at a clock mounted at a wall behind the front desk. 2:30.

"Hey," she asked the receptionist, "do you know how I can get to the elementary school?"


Students rushed to escape the classroom as soon as the bell rang. Mary sighed and watched as her students shoved notebooks and pencils in their bags, some not even zipping their bags before run out of the room. As they started racing each other to the bus, the woman Henry had been with the night before stumbled into the room.

"Mary Blanchard, right?"

"Yes," Mary blinked, not sure how this woman, "Emma, right?" had found her classroom.

As if reading her mind, Emma explained, "Henry mentioned you were a teacher, so I asked the front desk where you were. I'm sorry to barge in, but I need your help. Henry's missing."

"Missing? I thought he was home sick."

Emma shook her head, "I ran into his mom earlier and she was frantic looking for him. Do you have any idea where he could be?"

"Do you think he ran off again?"

"I don't know." Emma replied, "That's why I'm asking you. I mean, I didn't know who else to turn to."

Mary debated whether she should tell Emma, this virtual stranger, about Henry's castle. It was his favorite place, the one place his mother didn't know about.

She remembered the first time she'd taken him there, when he'd been only five years old. Back then Henry was terribly afraid of seagulls and every trip to the beach fill him with dread. Regina had been so annoyed that her son feared harmless birds. She scolded him for crying whenever they came near. One day, while Regina was at a town counsel meeting, Mary found Henry wandering near the beach, not getting too close.

"I like looking at the water," he had confessed, "but I don't like it when the seagulls bother me. They're everywhere!"

"No everywhere." Mary led him to a small coastal hill a little on the south side of town, where nobody ever came. Not even seagulls. Years ago someone had built a wooden play castle, but years of disrepair had left in a sorry state.

Henry loved it anyway.

Mary pulled herself out of the memory. She had a boatload of papers to grade and Emma still waited for an answer. If Henry was in trouble, that was worth letting the secret out, wasn't it?


She found Henry sitting on the castle like Mary said he might be, staring out into the distance. He seemed too young to brood. "There you are," she panted as she ran up to him, his book tucked under her arm. She climbed the castle and as she sat down next to him, returned his book. This part of the beach was quiet and lonely, but it had a lovely view of the ocean. She could see why he liked it.

"You stayed?" Henry perked up.

"Well, your mom said you were missing and I thought I'd help find you. You teacher told me you might be here." Emma explained, "So what's up with you and your mom?"

"This isn't about her." Henry claimed, but Emma sensed it was. If he didn't want to talk about it, she couldn't force him to.

"I'm leaving after I take you home. For good this time. And you better not stow away in my car or something. Try to cut your mom some slack, okay?"

He huffed.

Emma rolled her eyes, "I get it, she's hard to deal with, but running away all the time isn't the answer."

"She's not just 'hard to deal with', she cursed the entire town, including your parents. That's why they had to give you up. My book says you're the Savior; you're gonna brings back all the happy endings."

"Will you please cut it with the book crap?" Emma snapped, "It's just a story, okay. I'm not in any book."

"You don't have to push me away. I can tell you like me." Henry gave his best puppy-dog eyes.

Emma smiled morosely. Getting close to people never did her much good and this kid was doing a seriously good job of under her armor. She felt responsible for him, no matter how little sense that made.

She hopped off the play castle. "Okay, I like you." Emma admitted, "But now I have to get you back to your mom and you have to promise me you won't run off again. You're scaring her."

"You don't know what it's like with her!" Henry followed suit. His face flushed pink with anger, "My life sucks!"

"You wanna know what life sucking is?! Try being left on the side of the road as a baby with nothing but a blanket. Or getting adopted, only to have your parents put you in foster care because they don't want you anymore and they're having a biological kid. Or the one person you thought really loved you stabbing you in the back." Emma didn't mean for it all to sip out like that, but once the words left her mouth, she wanted to grab them and force them back inside. Henry looked stunned. "I'm sorry kid. You shouldn't have had to hear that. Look, my point is, I know it may feel like your mom doesn't love you the way she should, but she's doing her best. I'm sure you two can work out whatever's going on between you two if you just gave her the benefit of the doubt."

Henry didn't seem to hear her, "I can prove the fairy tales are real. Just give me one week, and I'll show you!"

Emma threw her hands up, "Okay, that's enough. I'm taking you home." She began walking toward her car and motioned for him to follow.

To her great surprise, Henry took her hand and walked with him, as if he were her child.


"I left my book in your car." Henry whispered, before racing past his mother's waiting arms into the white mansion.

Regina's lip curled in hurt and for the first time Emma genuinely felt sorry for her. Regina coughed, "I see my son's taken quite a shine to you."

"I guess." Emma shifted her weight from one foot to the other. It struck her out of nowhere that the same moment she wished to not be along, Henry had burst into her life, but she didn't think Regina would like to hear that.

"You do understand that this little adventure is over, of course?" Regina enunciated, as if speaking to a small child.

"Maybe I-"

Regina raised a finger, "Uh, uh." She stalked closer to Emma, like at the hospital. "You don't get to speak, you don't get say anything." Her voice was slow and low. Dangerous. "You are not his mother. You are not his friend. You're nothing to him and you know nothing about him. While you've spent the last ten years doing god-know-what, I've changed every diaper, nursed every fever, and endured every tantrum. He's my son. I'm the only one who knows what's best for him. I swear if you come anywhere near my family again, I will destroy you."

Lie? Something close to a lie.

Again, Emma knew something there wasn't completely true, but she had no idea what. Remembering the similar speech Regina had given the night before, she wondered why Regina seemed to deem her such a threat. Emma studied Regina for moment. Her immaculate appearance; her rigid posture; the haughtiness and disdain written in the lines of her face.

"Do you love him?"

Regina looked disgusted that Emma would even ask her that, "Of course I do." She slammed the door in Emma's face.

Lie.

All Emma could picture was Henry's little face, the words "She doesn't love me" leaving his mouth and the conviction in his eyes. It made no sense. Regina had raised him for ten years and clearly worried about him. How could she not love him? Maybe, Emma thought to herself, I'm not as good as I thought when it comes to defecting lies. She should leave, Emma knew. This wasn't any of her business. But...

But Henry needed someone on his side, someone who might be able to bring him down to reality and help him through whatever emotional crisis he was dealing with. His mother didn't seem to have a very good handle on things. Emma thought of Felicity, and how she'd been too cowardly to give the poor girl a word of advice.

She didn't want to let Henry down, so she was staying.


The inn had gaudy floral wallpaper and carpeting that had been around longer than Emma had. Still, it had a certain old-fashioned charm. She heard parts of an argument between two women upstairs, growing louder as they came downstairs.

A young woman in bright red shorts and a black leather jacket stomped her feet. "I should have moved to Boston!" she screamed.

"Well sorry my heart attack stopped you from sleeping your way down the Eastern Seaboard." an older white-haired woman replied, her tone thick with acid.

They argued for another few minutes until they noticed Emma, frozen and unsure, standing there. "Hi, I'd like to rent a room?"

"Please forgive my granddaughter," the old woman said, "She's a piece of work."

The young scoffed and rolled her eyes, "Oh that is rich coming from you."

The old woman sat behind the front desk, an ancient wooden thing with forest imagery carved into the front, glaring at her granddaughter the whole time. Her face softened when she turned to Emma, "We haven't had a guest in a while. It's always nice to see a new face." She took out a large book from under the desk, "Full name?"

"Emma Swan."

"Emma," a man's voice came from behind her.

She turned to see an older gentleman approaching them. There was nothing impressive or interesting about him: thin and shorter than average; brown eyes and graying brown hair; sharp features; and plain clothes that seemed a size too large. He walked with a cane and an aspect of satisfaction. An unsettling smile crept onto his lips. Emma felt self-conscious under his intense gaze.

"What a lovely name." he continued.

"Thanks." Emma nodded, then turned back to the old woman, who was glaring at the man.

"I told you, I'll have my rent by tomorrow." she told him.

He considered this a moment, then laughed, "You know I don't normally do this Mrs. Lucas, but I'm in a good mood tonight. Have my money by this time tomorrow and we won't have any issues."

Mrs. Lucas sighed, "Thank you."

"Please ladies, enjoy the rest of your evening." The man smiled like he knew something they didn't and was proud of that fact. A wave of distrust washed over Emma.

"So, he owns this place?" Emma asked Mrs. Lucas.

"Mr. Gold?" The granddaughter chimed in, "Try the whole town. Son-of-a-bitch."

"Ruby!" Mrs. Lucas scolded. She asked Emma, "Would you like a view of the square or the forest?"

"It doesn't matter." Emma answered.

Mrs. Lucas finished the paper and reached behind her to grab a silver key with an ornate handle. "Here you go. Room 214. Ruby would you please make yourself useful and show Miss Swan to her room?"

'Gimmicky', Emma thought as she accepted the key.


Unbeknownst to Emma, at the moment her fingers brushed against the key's silver hand, a minute hand of the old clock-tower moved for the first time in years. From his bedroom window, Henry noticed the change and a huge grin split across his face.


After Ruby showed her to her room and closed the door behind her - promising to bring her toiletries in the morning. Emma kicked off her books, stripped to her t-shirt and underpants, and slung her red leather jacket across the back of a chair. Instead of going to sleep, she curled up with Henry's book and studied the front cover. It looked moderately used - not brand new, but not well-worn either. She flipped through first several pages, just looking at the pictures: colorful and lifelike, save the blank faces.

She flipped back to the beginning and began to read:

Once Upon a Time,

In the Kingdom of Misthaven, there lived a girl named Snow White. Before Snow White had been born, her mother wished for a child that was black as night, red as blood, and white as snow. For those were her beloved's favorite colors, and she wanted a child that was everything he loved. And so it came to pass. Snow White was born with skin as pale as the moon, lips like summer cherries, and long black hair like a raven's wing.

The more Emma read, the more odd and twisted the story became, until it was almost unrecognizable for the story she'd heard as a kid.

The Huntsman looked down at the young girl kneeling at his feet. Tears fell down her cheeks, but a sad smile graced her lips.

"It's all right, as long as my sister is safe." she told him.

The Huntsman raised his dagger, prepared to take her heart as the Evil Queen had instructed, but he couldn't bring himself to hurt on hair on Snow White's head. She was so selfless, he felt himself fill with shame for even thinking of following the Queen's terrible orders. He tossed the dagger aside.

Snow White looked at him in surprise.

"Go," The Huntsman instructed, "Back into the forest and run in the direction of Siren's Peak until you reach the mines. The dwarfs will hide you and keep you safe until your father's allies can defeat the Evil Queen. I'll deal with her myself."

"You mustn't! You have no idea how powerful she is." Snow White protested. "She killed my father, her own husband. Who knows what she'll do to you?"

The Huntsman took her hands and helped her unto her feet, "You don't need to worry about me. If you are lost, your father will never have justice. Hurry your Majesty, there's not a moment to lose."

New tears fell from Snow White's eyes as she obeyed the Huntsman. By now the sun had begun to set and soon the whole forest had turned dark and cold and unfamiliar. Strange shapes seemed to follow her as she stumbled over roots and through the thick foliage. Her hair wild with leaves, her dress and clock torn and muddy, and her feet aching with each step.

She wanted Father and Red and Widow Lucas. She wanted to go home, to sit by the fire telling stories and ride her favorite horse. Siren's Peak, the tallest mountain in the kingdom, loomed in the distance. No matter how fast she ran, it seemed to only get farther away. What if she never found the dwarfs? What if she did, but they turned her away?

A growl echoed through the forest. Snow White froze in terror. She couldn't tell where the sound had come from or what had made it. She had no weapon to defend herself and was exhausted from her long ordeal. A huge, lumbering shape emerged from the trees, its movements slow and deliberate. A pair of amber eyes flashed in the moonlight.

All fell silent expect the sound of Snow White's heart thudding against her sternum.

It was a bear. A great, fearsome thing with long, jagged teeth. It didn't matter if she ran or screamed for help; it would catch her. Perhaps if she stayed still, it would lose interest and leave her alone.

The bear moved toward her, not changing its pace. It closed its mouth, putting away those awful teeth. When it got close enough for Snow White to smell the thick musk covering its fur, the bear craned it's neck. Around it, someone had tied a ribbon that might have once been white.

Snow White's mouth feel open. This was the same bear she and Rose Red had found half-dead in the palace gardens so many winters ago, the same one they had cared for until one day it disappeared.

"Do you remember me?" Snow White asked the bear.

The bear moved even closer and nuzzled her hand with his snout. Snow White's fear melted away. She hugged her old friend, grateful to have his companionship once more.

"I'm need to get to dwarf mines," Snow White told him, "Can you take me there? I don't want to have to travel through this dark forest all alone."

The bear nodded. Snow White had no idea how he understood her, but she didn't question it. The two friends traversed the lonely forest together, neither of them afraid anymore.

Soon, the hours crept up on Emma and she drifted off to sleep.