Hi everyone! This is the start of a new fic based on prompt 286 from OQ Prompt Party 2021: AU: As a child, when he went to sleep, Henry used to dream of a land of fantasy, where he has incredible adventures with different fairytale characters. Regina dismisses his tales as just dreams, but little did she know the land isn't as made up as she believes, when she accidentally gets transported to the fairytale land alongside Henry. The fantasyland seems a lot for a modern woman like Regina, but thankfully Henry's favourite hero Robin Hood is there to help.
"Henry, time for bed!" his mom called. Henry heard her footsteps as she walked up to his room, where she found him sitting in his bed reading.
"What are you reading?" she asked.
Didn't she know his favorite book by now? He turned the book so she could see the cover, and her frustrated sigh confused him. Miss Blanchard always said that it was good for them to read as much as they could. Why did his mom not understand that?
"Henry, you really should read something real," she told him. "Why don't you read something about animals or travel?"
She said things like that a lot, and it made Henry mad. They already had to read so many boring things for school, why did she want him to read boring things in his free time too? "Mom, why can't I get to pick what I read?"
"You can," she said carefully. "I just wish you would choose something that's a little more real, Henry. Life isn't all a fairy tale, after all."
Frustrated, Henry burst out, "I like fairy tales! What's so wrong about that?" Books helped him escape to another world. Why didn't she get that? It was the best thing about reading for him.
She sighed. "You're upset, and I don't want you to be mad right before bed. We'll talk about it in the morning."
She kissed his forehead, said, "I love you, Henry," and turned to walk out of the room.
"I love you too," he replied sleepily.
She left, but not before cracking the door so the light from the hall shone through.
Once he was alone, Henry took out the flashlight he kept under his pillow and grabbed his book from his bedside table. He was old enough now that he wasn't tired when his mom tucked him in, so he would always read for a little bit before falling asleep. Tonight he was rereading one of his favorite stories: the story of how Robin Hood had broken into the sheriff's mansion and stolen enough to feed several villages- with the help of his Merry Men, of course.
Henry eagerly poured over the words, swept away to the land of Sherwood Forest. As he read, his eyelids slowly drooped, and his head fell back on the pillow.
(********)
"Look out, lad!"
Henry dodged to the side just before a knife came his way. Robin nocked an arrow, shooting the giant who had been trying to kill him in the eye.
The giant fell, but that wasn't the end of the battle by any means. There were more giants coming, so many that Henry couldn't see the end to their army's ranks.
Robin and the rest of the Merry Men fought their hardest, but it seemed like the giants were gaining the advantage. Henry wanted desperately to join them, to do anything to help, but Friar Tuck was holding him back. "This isn't a fight for us, lad," he said. "I'm sure your time will come someday, but for now, we need to stay safe, away from the fighting, all right?"
Henry sulked, his arms crossed over his chest. Why wouldn't anyone let him do anything? He knew he could be useful if people would just give him the chance.
After several long moments, he realized that Tuck's back was to him. That meant that if he was as quiet as his favorite thieves, he would be able to melt into the trees behind them and sneak around so that he was in the middle of the battlefield, a much better place to try to help the Merry Men win.
He spotted a large rock at his feet, and he lifted it, needing both hands to do so. This would definitely be heavy enough to do some real damage.
He spotted Alan fighting one of the giants, and he hurled the rock right at the giant's stomach.
The stone hit its target, hitting the giant right in the gut and making him double over in pain. Alan looked around, trying to figure out who had helped him, and Henry prayed that he wouldn't spot him where he was still hidden in the trees. If he did, he would likely be sent right back to Tuck and wouldn't be able to help anymore, which was the exact opposite of what he wanted.
He was relieved when Alan seemed not to spot him, and he moved as silently as possible among the trees, each crack of a twig or rustling of leaves as he pushed branches aside making him pause, making sure that the others hadn't heard and he hadn't been caught.
Thankfully, the clash of swords on giants' tough skin and the roast of the monsters themselves was making too much of a racket for his missteps to be heard, and he next stopped where Robin was dueling with the largest giant of them all. Robin was most experienced with a bow and a quiverful of arrows, everyone knew that, but he held his own in this method of combat as well. Henry looked around for another rock he could use, but this part of the woods was strangely clear of anything he could use as a weapon.
He looked above him and saw a branch that he discovered by jumping up and grabbing it was just low enough to help him. He knew pinecones didn't hurt much, but they were a distraction, right? That would give Robin the advantage, a chance to defeat his opponent.
Sure enough, when he hit the giant with the pinecone, he looked around to see where it had come from. Henry held his breath, but Robin pressed his advantage, making his bigger opponent pay attention to more pressing matters as he drove his sword into his leg.
The giant cried out, bleeding profusely onto the ground. Their leader's plight seemed to rally the other giants to come to his aid, and Henry sighed with relief when they all left, leaving the Merry Men in peace.
Robin came up to Henry, a small grin on his face. "You're as clever and sneaky as one of us now. I think it's time for you to go home now, don't you?"
"Do I have to?" Henry asked.
Robin smiled. Henry didn't know how it was possible for a smile to be both sad and happy at the same time, but somehow, Robin managed it. "I know, I'll miss you too. But don't worry. We'll see each other again tomorrow, yeah?"
His answer was immediate. "Yeah!" He visited them every night in his dreams, after all.
"All right," Robin said, clapping him on the back. "Time for you to go home."
"See you tomorrow, Henry!" Will called, his words echoed by the others in turn as they realized what was happening.
"Bye!" Henry shouted, waving. He could already feel the familiar pull of Maine calling him, his body gradually disappearing before his eyes. It had scared him the first time it happened, but now he was so used to it that he wasn't afraid anymore.
(********)
Henry woke up refreshed, ready for the new day. As always, though, he felt like something was missing. Sherwood Forest had quickly become a second home to him, the Merry Men his family.
Only then did he realize that he had woken to the sound of his mom knocking on the door. She opened it and walked to him, kissing him on his forehead. "Good morning Henry. Time to get ready for school."
Henry got out of bed, excited. His teacher, Miss Blanchard, had told him at the beginning of the year that he could spend free reading time writing instead, and he always spent that time every day writing down the latest chapter of what had happened to him and the Merry Men in Sherwood Forest. He couldn't wait to put pen to paper and write down their latest adventure.
School went by really fast. As always, Miss Blanchard and his friend Grace were excited to hear his latest story. He was afraid Miss Blanchard would fuss at him, tell him that what he did was dangerous. She never did though. Unlike his mom, he thought that she might believe what he told her, that his stories were real. He wished his mom did too, that there was some way for her to know that Sherwood Forest really existed.
Soon his mom was there to pick him up. When he got in the car, she asked, "How was school?", like she always did.
"Good!" he said. "I wrote another story about what happened last night, and Grace and Miss Blanchard loved it!"
He could tell from her smile that she thought his story wasn't real, and it made him sad. She probably just thought he had an overactive imagination. He wished that she would believe him more than anything. "That sounds wonderful, Henry."
Suddenly, the car lurched, and with a flash of light, instead of driving down the roads of Storybrooke, they were hurtling through the familiar oaks and pines of Sherwood Forest.
Henry grinned. He had no idea how his wish had come true, but he couldn't wait to show his mom around and introduce her to his favorite hero: Robin Hood.
Hope you enjoyed this, let me know what you think!
