I was away for the Christmas holiday, just having returned and finished this chapter. There is another reason I didn't update quickly. Star Wars. The Force Awakens. I was emotionally incapacitated for quite some time, Kylo Ren being the main cause. What can I say? I fall for angst emos who throw temper tantrums. I honestly can't keep a straight face anymore when I see him on screen. I have also been working on the sequel for this fanfic, I was thinking of running this through to Season 5, depending on how 5b works out as well.

I was truly happy to see that a lot of people loved my little Christmas Special. It was really nice to see the response for it, even when I thought I really rushed it. However, just a little thing to add and this in no way applies to all those lovely reviewers out there who are so kind and give me helpful advice. But I do not appreciate reviews that are not constructive when dealing with a problem they don't like. Just because you don't like two of the characters being friends doesn't mean you can spread your negativity to others. I will always ignore those reviews but I'm putting this up as a heads up for the future, when you go to write a review dealing with an aspect of a story that you don't like, doing it in a semi-constructive manner. Give reasoning to why you think that way and suggest what the author can do for the future but don't make it sound that they should change just for you. I'm not just saying this just for me, a person I am friends with on here experienced this recently with their own story and I'm finding this a common occurrence. Don't go out of you way to hate on something if you aren't willing to back it up with evidence, reasoning, and you are at least polite about it. Because I'm telling you now, you will be ignored and just to spite you, they focus on that thing you hated even more in the story.

Guess who finally meet in this chapter? I'm so excited to hear what all of you think about this little chapter and I want to thank everyone who has supported this story so far, I know it is following canon a lot but that will all change soon once we reach season two.

Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon a Time, or any of the characters that are involved with it.

Thank you all. Please enjoy the update and don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews.

As the little yellow bug trailed down the highway, getting closer and closer to this Storybrooke, the air was becoming thicker and thicker in the car. It felt as though something was pushing her away from this town, or as if something was trying to, but it was also drawing her in at the same time. But that might be due to the situation that Emma was in. The situation where the kid that she gave up for adoption ten years ago was presently hitching a ride back home with her. This was becoming one of Emma's most awkward car rides she had experienced in her lifetime and she had been on plenty when she was younger. But she supposed that that was common with any foster child who was travelling to their new foster home with their new foster parents trying to make conversation but failing miserably at it. Henry, though, seemed oblivious to this choking air that seemed to be getting thicker with each passing moment they continued to sit in silence. However, this did give Emma ample opportunity to think over the night's events, to try and figure out what had happened and maybe even what it meant for her.

She was scared, she would admit that. She couldn't deny that she feared her walls weren't high enough for this. That this kid with adorable brown eyes and optimism that made even the dimmest of situations sing with happiness and new hope would be able to climb over her walls with ease. So when she asked herself why she allow for this to happen, she couldn't give a proper reason. She couldn't really be going through with this, could she? Was she really driving the kid who she had given up ten years ago home? And after this was all over, what would she do? Would she really just walk away from this? And when she got to this kid's house and met his parents, what was she supposed to say? Oh hi, your son came all the way to Boston, probably destroying your credit card by the way. Got into my apartment and, oh wait, by the way did I tell you that I'm his real birth mother? She still couldn't believe that he had found her. How'd he even get that information, it was a closed adoption. Unless he went through an expensive service to track her down, then his parent's credit card was really destroyed.

It wasn't long before they were driving down the New England Highway and Emma's grip on the steering wheel caused her knuckles to shade white with trepidation. It was Henry's sudden question that caused Emma to ease her grip. "I'm hungry," Henry said, turning to Emma, "Can we stop somewhere?"

"This is not a road trip; we're not stopping for snacks," Emma told him tightly. The quicker she got him home, the better this would all be and hopefully she would be back in Boston before night's end. Hopefully.

"Why not?" Henry asked her, and Emma nearly rolled her eyes.

Emma tried to keep her full attention on the road rather than on Henry, but man he was making this really difficult. Is this why parents scream at their kids in the car? Were they always like this? God, she would make a terrible parent. "Quite complaining, kid. Remember, I could've put your butt on a bus," Emma said, "I still could," The last part was said more to herself. In fact she was thinking about it, sticking him on a bus and heading right back home to Boston but a part of her wouldn't be able to do it. She was listening to that part of herself at the moment.

"You know, I have a name? It's Henry," Yeah she knew that. Of course she knew that and something was telling her that the kid was doing this on purpose. She just couldn't let herself call him by his name. She had to disassociate herself from him. If she started calling him by his name then she would start to get too attached with him. That and the regret she knew she would feel, the longing she knew she had always felt deep down and she didn't plan on staying that long to be able to know Henry in that way.

Emma went and peered over at Henry, noticing a securely gripped book in his hands. She had noticed it before but what was strange was that he hadn't loosened his grip on it for the entire trip, almost as though he was afraid he might lose it. It peaked her curiosity. "What's that?"

Henry looked over her for a second. "I'm not sure you're ready," Henry said in a cryptic tone.

Emma squinted her eyes slightly at the book. Once Upon a Time, so it was a book on fairy tales. "Ready for some fairy tales?" Emma questioned him, slightly raising her eyebrow at him.

"They're not fairy tales," Henry told her in a confidence, if not with a little annoyance at her, "They're true. Every story in this book actually happened."

"Of course they are," Emma said, disbelief was evident in her tone. She wasn't going to argue with him, it was obvious that the book had really gotten in the kids head.

"Use your superpower," Henry challenged her, looking her straight in the eye as if daring her, "See if I'm lying."

Emma paused, looking at him for a moment, from what she could tell he wasn't lying to her but that didn't make what he was saying anymore real. Kids believed anything, maybe he just had a huge imagination, "Just because you believe something doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes it true," Henry paused for a second, turning to look at Emma again like he had just found something interesting and couldn't wait to tell her, "You should know that more than anyone."

"Why's that?" Emma asked.

"Because you're in this book."

Emma stopped the car then and there. They were now in Storybrooke, she had made sure of that. Emma had to double check the town sign to make sure the town was really called Storybrooke, which it was to her surprise. And now this kid- Henry as her mind was correcting her own, was being stubborn, which she wasn't really in the mood for at the moment. She had a long day and she really didn't need to deal with this right now.

Emma got out of her bug, the car door vibrating and echoing down the empty street as it slammed shut, and turned to face Henry, "Look, it's been a long night, and it's almost…" Emma looked around, spotting the clock tower and paused, "eight-fifteen?"

"That clock tower hasn't moved my whole life," Henry enlightened her, "Time's frozen here."

"Excuse me?"

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse," Henry further continued, "She sent everyone from the Enchanted forest here."

"Hang on," Emma stopped him, clearly that book the kid's been reading wasn't even the proper ones. She would remember if all her favourite fairy tale characters had been sent here, especially if the Evil Queen had cast a curse. "The Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here."

"Yeah and now they're trapped here."

"Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine," Emma nodded her head, although it wasn't exactly in an understanding way. Wow, that wasn't believable at all. "That's what you're going with?"

"It's true," Henry defended, all his life he had been treated as though he was crazy ever since he had started speaking about the curse. Every time he even mentioned, he was scrutinized by his adoptive mother and sent to therapy. And he wasn't about to be treated as though he was crazy by his real mother. He couldn't handle that.

"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma asked.

"They can't. If they try, bad things happen," The sound of a door opening and slam shut sounded throughout the empty street. A man was now running over to the, he was a very well dressed man, if Emma cared to admit it. When the man turned to face Emma, however, all she could see were those bright blue ocean eyes. She instantly felt calm as though waves were rushing over, if she didn't force herself to look away she felt as though she might get lost in those ocean eyes. Wow, that didn't sound cheesy at all.

"Oh…" Henry said, he had that deer in the headlights look about him, "Hey Killian."

"Oh's right young lad," Killian, it seemed, ruffled Henry's hair, causing Henry to laugh, "You've had all of us scared for you, Graham's out looking for you, and your mother's worried sick about you."

Killian turned to Emma, looking her over for a second before he decided to ask, all of a sudden he seemed to get defensive. Emma probably would too, if their positioned were reversed. "And who might you be?"

"Swan, Emma Swan," Emma replied, "And who are you?"

Killian gave her a little smirk, he could already tell that he was going to like her. He couldn't describe that feeling. Knowing, feeling as though you have known a person before even meeting them. Forgetting his previous defensive state almost immediately. She had the greenest eyes he had ever seen, with flecks of hazel hidden in the icy green cracks that made them truly hypnotic. "I happen to just be the local librarian who is looking for the Mayor's missing child, who you happen to be with."

"You're the Mayor's kid?" Emma turned to Henry.

Henry ignored the question, "It's okay Killian, it's my real mom," Henry said. Killian quirked an eyebrow at Emma, looking her over once again.

"You're the lad's mother?" Killian asked, surprised. So that's what the lad had gone off and done. No wonder he kept it a secret.

"Yeah, apparently so," Emma sighed, looking down at her feet, "Just trying to give him a ride home."

"Come on, I'll show you the way, just up Mifflin Street," Killian gave them both a nod before getting into a nice little car just parked outside the town library and starting the engine. Emma turned to Henry, nodding for him to get back in her bug.

"Well he doesn't seem cursed to me," Emma said as she started the car and followed the librarian, "It seems like he's trying to help you."

"He's the one who needs help. Because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairy tale character," Well he did look like he came straight from a book and into the real world. What was the saying again… Only good men could be found in books.

"None of them do," Henry stopped, "He's trapped like everyone else."

Emma slightly raised her eyebrows. From the way that Henry spoke about this librarian, it sounded as they he nearly idolized the man, or at the least looked up to him. They seemed close from what Emma could gather. If the kid's parents weren't the greatest parents in the world and from the looks of things, the kid wasn't too fond of his parents at the moment, then maybe this Killian guy stepped in as a sort of father figure in the kid's life , if not a close friend of his.

"Okay, I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?" Emma asked, she was a little bit curious about who this guy was supposed to be in Henry's little fairy tale world.

"I don't know yet, he's not in the book so I'm still figuring that one out," Henry said, it appeared that he himself was genuinely curious about it. The librarian pulled over, it appeared that they were at the Mayor's house now and Emma didn't know whether to be nervous, relieved or scared by that fact.

Emma and Henry walked up the garden pathway to the large white house. Killian was already in the house, properly to tell the Mayor that her son had returned. Looking around, Emma noticed a squad car parked outside the house.

Oh good, the cops were here…

Suddenly Henry stopped on her, shaking his head vigorously, "Please don't take me back there."

Emma turned her body so she was fully facing Henry now, "I have to," Emma insisted, "I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you."

"I don't have parents," Henry further insisted to her, pleading with his eyes, begging her more than anything else, "I just have a mom, and she's evil."

"Evil," Emma furrowed her eyebrows, she had met some awful parents in her time. Too many she thought. But this mayor couldn't be all that bad and it was certainly a lot to say that someone was evil. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

She glanced over to the front, no movement just yet. Secretly she wished that the mayor would come and take her son back, and secretly Emma wish she wouldn't.

"She is," Henry argued, "She doesn't love me; she only pretends to."

Emma gave Henry a sad look, she'd had that same feeling every time she'd gone into a foster family only to then be put back into the system again. And it was always true but Henry was adopted, his mother wouldn't have done that if she didn't love him. "Kid, I'm sure that's not true."

The front door to the Mayor's house flew open then, "Henry? Uh! Henry," The Mayor, Emma supposed, ran out of the house and enveloped Henry in her arms, Henry didn't seem to return the same affection towards the Mayor. "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?" Soon two other men emerged from the house, one Emma recognized as the librarian and the other seemed to be dressed in the appropriate uniform, she presumed to be the Sheriff of this town.

"I found my real mom!" Henry said angrily towards the Mayor before running inside the house.

The Mayor was left stunned for a moment, clearly shocked by the anger words from her son before slowly turning to Emma. Graham also seemed quite surprised by this new revelation, looking at Emma also with a look of surprise upon his face. The librarian seemed to be the only one out of the lot that wasn't surprised by this revelation. "You're Henry's birth mother?"

"Hi," Emma gave a nervous little gesture, not particularly liking being put in the spotlight. However, when Emma looked at the Mayor, something wasn't sitting right, the vibe she was getting from the Mayor wasn't a good one. And Emma had learnt to trust her instincts a few time in her life when it mattered.

"I'll… just…um, go check on the lad, make sure he's okay," The Sheriff nodded his head at them, clearly wanting to avoid the awkward situation at head, and left them.

Killian thought for a moment, it might not be such a good idea to follow Graham on that front, not with the Mayor there at the very least anyway. But Killian knew that all Henry needed right now was some space. From the sounds of it, he'd had a tiring day today after all.

Killian had remained for one sole purpose, he knew he should of left. He wasn't anything in this situation but he was pulled to stay. He also wanted to speak to Graham before he left, and he wanted to learn more about the young lass who turned out to be Henry's mother.

At first look, she didn't appear to be his mother but something underneath it all, they shared that same fire. He wasn't going to lie and say that he was investing personal interest in Emma Swan, he saw something in her. It was also always good to see someone rather than himself being able to piss Regina off. It was the first time, he had seen her thrown off by a situation. It wasn't always noticeable to everyone who knew the mayor, maybe it was the few who really knew her, but as a man who had spent what felt like his entire life pissing Regina off, he knew when to stop tempting the woman. After many years of being trained in the art of recognizing the death glares she was giving both him and Emma, he got the impression that Regina was about to, maybe not kill Killian, but she was about ready to lunge towards Emma at this very moment.

Regina, for a split second, gave Emma the most deadly look Killian had ever seen her give in this lifetime and he made it his hobby to see how far he could push the woman before she could spontaneously combusted on him. So this was a whole new level of rage surging through the woman. Before Killian thought Regina would completely loose it, her whole body language suddenly changed and she soon put on a sickly fake smile, "How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted."

Emma let out a slight nervous chuckle, this day had gone from completely boring to one of the most eventful birthday's she had ever had in her life and she was still deciding whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Regina turned around, giving Killian a once over. Regina hesitated for a moment, "Thank you for bringing Henry home." But she didn't deem Emma worthy of the same gratitude just yet.

"Madam Mayor, if you don't mind I would like to stay and find out if the lads alright," Killian asked, he didn't want to stay any longer then he had to at Regina's house but right now all that mattered was Henry.

Regina looked like she was about to disagree but stopped herself, "Wait in the living room." And with that she turned and entered the house. Killian and Emma close behind her.

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Until next time...