October 24, 2011 Continued
Ada easily picks the lock to Emma's room and walks in like she owns the place. She can hear her sister in the shower and so flops down on the bed Emma's already tossed her pajamas out on.
A few minutes later, Emma walks into her room to find her sister, dressed in some pajama pants with Snoopy on them and a white tank top, lying on top of her own sleep clothes and staring hard at the ceiling.
"Get up," she orders, nudging the redhead off her clothes.
"Emma," Ada starts, and Emma immediately has a sinking feeling from the tone in her sister's voice.
"I don't like this," she tells Ada.
"Neither do I," she answers, "But I looked some stuff up online."
"Like what?"
"Like the fact that Regina Mills can't legally be Henry's adoptive mother unless she moved here from Arizona, but I asked Granny and she said Regina Mills had never lived anywhere but Storybrooke her whole life."
Emma stops completely, frozen, before sitting down heavily on the edge of her bed.
"Are you sure?"
"About Granny? She had no reason to lie and a damn good memory- told me Ruby's exploits for the past five years before she finally started letting me talk. About the law? It says," and Ada pulled her phone out and began to read, "Any adult resident of this state, whether married, unmarried or legally separated is eligible to qualify to adopt children. A husband and wife may jointly adopt children.""
Emma is silent again.
"Before you ask, I also double check on Neal's rights- he has none, he'd have had to filed for paternity within thirty days of Henry's adoption, provided he even got the notification since he had no address for them to send it to. Either way- has no legal rights."
"And apparently neither does Regina."
"What do we do?"
"Nothing."
"Huh?" Ada said, finally sitting up and staring at her friend, "I just told you Henry wasn't legally adopted and you say we do nothing?"
"Ok, we don't know for sure what went on legally there, there was probably some sort of exception."
"Or she kidnapped a baby," Ada hotly replied.
"Either way," Emma insisted, "She is Henry's mother- she raised him-"
"Yeah, so badly that he ran away to you to get help."
"Ok, here's the deal, we'll stay for a week, if something is really wrong, then we'll plan from there."
"Emma, I really don't like the feeling I'm getting here. Tell me the truth- do you think this is Henry's best chance?"
Emma was silent, before finally whispering, "I don't know."
Ada gave a sigh, "Ok, well, let's sleep on it, I'll do more research, and we'll see how things look tomorrow."
"Alright," Emma still hadn't moved.
"Hey," Ada shakes her shoulder slightly until Emma meets her eyes, "You're my sister, and I love you."
"I love you, too."
"Good night, Emma."
"Night, A."
October 25, 2011
The next morning Emma waits for Ada to barge into her room- the redhead takes forever in mornings, while the blonde usually just waits it out.
Hearing a knock, her eyebrows come together- Ada normally just picks the locks and waltzes in. Well, maybe Granny or someone else was in the hallway as well.
Emma opens the door and is shocked to see Regina Mills standing there, holding a basket of apples.
"Did you know the honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hardy of all apple trees?" the mayor begins, not giving Emma a chance to speak, "It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl. And to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers," she grabs one apple and holds it out to Emma.
"Thanks," Emma says, taking it, hearing the door next to them opening as Ada steps out in a bright green dress and matching heels. Emma will never stop teasing the redhead for her obsession with colors bright enough to stop traffic.
"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home," the mayor says, having apparently not noticed Ada.
Ada fixes that quickly, "Actually," she tells the brunette, "We were thinking of staying a while. Haven't had a vacation in ages, and Storybrooke is so charming," her voice shifts to a different tone Emma knows well, it's the I'm-so-charming-you-won't-even-notice-that-I've-made-a-fool-of-you tone Ada uses right before she delivers a crushing rebuttal to someone, "Especially the people."
"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," the mayor says, "Henry has enough issues; he doesn't need his birth mother around to confuse him."
"All due respect, Madame Mayor," Emma says, gripping the doorway to her room in an effort to keep herself calm, "the fact that you've threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me wanna stay more."
"Since when were apples a threat?" the mayor asks in a faux innocent voice.
"I can read between the lines," Emma tells her, no-nonsense tone firmly in place, "I just want to make sure Henry's ok."
"He's fine, dear," the mayor says in a sticky sweet voice that causes Ada's nose to wrinkle, "Any problems that he has are being taken care of."
"And what does that mean?" Ada asks.
"It means I have him in therapy. It's all under control."
"The same therapy you had him in before he felt the need to come running to Emma?" Ada immediately rebuts, "Or is this one of those "it has to get worse before it gets better" things?"
The mayor gave Ada a saccharine smile, "It's a process, Miss Ward," she then turns to Emma, "Take my advice, Miss Swan, only one of us knows what's best for Henry."
"Yeah," Emma responds, "I'm starting to think you're right about that."
"It's time for you to go," the mayor's voice hardens and the threat is clear.
"Or what?" Emma asks, straightening her stance.
"Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan," the brunette hisses, "You have no idea what I'm capable off."
"According to Henry you're capable of cursing an entire kingdom," Ada says in her sweetest voice, making the mayor actually take a step back, "So I think we've already heard the worst that can be said about you. And, one more thing, Miss Mills:
"You have no idea what we're capable of."
The mayor leaves, only slightly cowed, and Ada scowls.
"I really am starting to hate her."
Emma sighs, "You and me both. C'mon- let's get breakfast. Took you long enough to get ready."
Ada gestures to her ensemble, "This doesn't just happen, Emma."
Laughing at the familiar exchange, the two sisters lock the doors behind them and leave.
A few minutes later finds them sitting at the counter of Granny's diner, Ada finishing up some eggs and bacon while Emma flips through the Storybrooke newspaper- The Mirror.
"Here you go," Ruby says, plunking a mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon in front of Emma.
"Thank you, but I didn't order this," Emma tells the waitress, before shooting a look at her sister.
"Don't look at me," Ada shrugs.
"Yeah, I know," Ruby gleefully tells Emma, "You have an admirer." Emma turns and sees Sheriff Graham sitting in a booth, putting down her paper, she grabs the mug of cocoa and goes to confront the man.
Ada swivels on her stool to watch.
"Ah, so you've decided to stay," Graham says when he sees Emma approach.
"Observant, important for a cop," Emma retorts.
"That's good news for our tourist business, bad news for our local signage." Emma says nothing, and the man begins to flounder slightly, "It's- it's a joke- because you ran over our sign…" he trails off as Emma's eyebrow rises.
"Look, the cocoa was a nice gesture," she tells him, looking down at the aforementioned, "And I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon in my chocolate, 'cause most people don't, but I am not here to flirt, so, thank you, but no thank you." And with that, Emma sets the mug down on the table in front of the Sheriff.
He gives a small grin, "I didn't send it."
"I did," Henry chimes up from another booth, "I like cinnamon, too."
Ada outright laughs.
"Don't you have school?" Emma asks after sending a glare towards her sister.
"Duh," the kid responds, "I'm ten. Walk me."
Emma turns to Ada who waves her on before turning back to the remains of her breakfast and asking Ruby for another coffee. Seeing she had little choice, Emma follows the boy out the diner.
"So, what's the deal with you and your mom?"
"It's not about us," Henry seeks to explain, "It's about her curse. We have to break it. Luckily, I have a plan. Step one: identification. I call it, "Operation Cobra.""
Emma decides playing along is probably for the best until she can talk to Henry's shrink and ask what to do, "Cobra? That has nothing to do with fairytales."
"Exactly, it's a codename. It'll throw the Queen off the trail."
"So," Emma seeks to clarify, "Everyone here is a fairytale character, they just don't know it."
"That's the curse. Time's been frozen. Until you got here," Emma nods as she goes for a bit of apple. "Hey!" Henry suddenly shouts, startling her out of the motion, "Where'd you get that?"
"Your mom," Emma tells him.
"Don't eat that!" Henry insists before grabbing the apple from her head and tossing it away. Great, now Emma would have to pay for breakfast at Granny's.
"Okay, um. Alright," she turns back to the conversation, "So what about their pasts?"
"They don't know, it's a haze to them. Ask anyone anything and you'll see."
Emma nodded, "So…for decades, people have been walking around, in a haze, not aging, with screwed up memories." Did this kid also read adult thriller novels? That's just creepy. "Stuck in a cursed town that kept them oblivious."
"I knew you'd get it!" Henry cheered and Emma almost felt guilty for not actually believing in the whole curse-thing. "That's why we need you," the boy insists, "You're the only one who can stop her curse."
"Because I'm the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming?"
"Yes! And right now," Henry plots, "We have an advantage. My mom doesn't know that," he unzips his backpack and takes out some torn pages, "I took out the end, the part with you in it," He hands the papers to Emma, and she looks down at the illustration in front of her, it's a man- Prince Charming- tucking a baby into a wardrobe, cuts covering his body from a bloody battle, a stitched name- Emma- visible on the baby's white and purple blanket. Emma makes an effort not to be creeped out, "See! Your mom is Snow White!"
"Kid," Emma begins.
"I know the hero never believes at first," Henry tells her with passion, looking up at her and for a moment, Emma believes- not in the curse, but that this boy truly sees something heroic, something worthy of the title Savior in her. "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. They're dangerous. If she finds out who you are…then it would be bad." They've reached the school and Henry suddenly breaks out of his seriousness to give her a sweet grin, "I gotta go, but I'll find you later and we can get started. I knew you'd believe me!"
"I never said I did!" Emma argues as he begins to turn towards school.
"Why else would you be here?" Henry replies as he runs to class.
Miss Blanchard comes up to Emma at that moment, "It's good to see his smile back," the teacher remarks pleasantly.
"I didn't do anything," Emma defends, used to people accusing rather than complimenting her.
"You stayed," the teacher replies. And Emma can understand that- she knows the power that someone staying can have. After all, the only person who ever stayed with her was Ada, "So," the teacher's voice breaks Emma out of her thoughts, "Does the mayor know you're still here?"
"Oh, she knows," Emma sighs, "What's her deal? She's not a great people person- how'd she get elected?" It was true- not one person Emma had met had a nice thing to say about the Mayor, but they all seemed to fear her. And Mr. Gold.
"She's been Mayor as long as I can remember," the woman remarks with a shrug, and Emma is suddenly reminded of Henry's theories "It's a haze to them," he had said, but Emma shook that thought out of her head and refocused on Miss Blanchard, "No one's ever been brave enough to run against her. She inspires quite a bit of... well, fear. I'm afraid I only made that worse by giving Henry that book and now he thinks she's the Evil Queen."
"Who does he think you are?" Emma asked, if only to get Henry's voice about hazed memories out of her head. You forget things after a while, she reasons, nothing weird about that.
"It's silly," the teacher says with a touched smile.
Emma gives a laugh and gestures to the walk she'd just had with Henry, "I just got five minutes of silly. Lay it on me."
Mary Margaret Blanchard gives Emma one of the nicest smiles the blonde had ever seen before confessing, "Snow White."
Emma is more than a little stunned- this is who Henry thinks is her mother? The school bell rings.
"Who does he think you are?" Mary Margaret asks.
Emma almost says it- almost talks about his theory that she's the savior. But Henry's voice comes back and reminds her about Operation Cobra and keeping it all a secret. And the blonde gives a shrug, "I'm not in the book." She decides it's time she figure out what to do- and she doesn't have a psych degree to deal with this appropriately, "Can I ask you a favor? Regina mentioned the kid's in therapy; do you know where I can find the doctor?"
"For the twentieth time, yes, Emma, I think this is a good idea," Ada tries (and fails) not to roll her eyes at her friend's waffling. Emma is torn between investigating every aspect of Henry's life to make sure everything is perfect, and keeping herself as distant as possible for both her and Henry's sake, still convinced it is all going to blow up in her face and she is never any good to anyone.
Ada really hates every foster family, but she finds she particularly loathes the Swans and Neal when Emma gets like this.
Emma knocks on the office door and enters with Ada; Dr. Hopper is sitting on a comfortable looking chair reading when they enter.
"Hey," Emma begins.
"Emma Swan," the therapist stands up, greeting both women, "And Miss Ward," he turns back to Emma, "I was just, uh, reading about you," he gestures to his newspaper that has the title "Stranger Destroys Historic Sign- Alcohol Involved" with a less-than-flattering mug shot of Emma. "Let me guess, you're here for help with a little, uh, post-traumatic stress?" he chuckles before setting the paper down, and Ada remembers that Henry had decided this man was Jiminy Cricket as he continues, "That diagnosis was free, by the way."
Emma laughs and corrects him, "No, I'm, uh, here about Henry."
"I'm sorry- I really shouldn't-" the therapist begins, but Ada cuts him off.
"Listen, we understand your whole doctor-patient confidentiality thing, but that's not why we're here. It's more about...advice, in relation to Henry."
"This whole fairytale thing is crazy," Emma adds.
"I -I hope you don't talk that way in front of him," Archie says, running a hand through his hair, "The word "crazy" is um... quite damaging. These stories- they're his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotions so he's translating as best he can, this is how he communicates. He's using this book to help deal with his problems."
"But he got the book a month ago," Emma tells him.
"Has he been seeing you longer than that?" Ada asks, feeling concerned.
"Um- yes, yes he has."
"So it's Regina, isn't it?" both sisters say in unison. They exchange a look before turning back to the therapist.
"Uh- his mother is a... very complicated woman, and uh- over the years, her attempts to try and bring Henry closer have only backfired," he moves to a file cabinet, opening it and removing a file before handing it to Emma, "Why don't you take a look at the file. Um... see what I mean."
Both woman look at the file before Ada asks. "Why are you doing this?"
"Well, Miss Swan here- he talks about you a lot. You're very important to him."
"Thank you," Emma says, bringing the file closer to her.
"Just uh... see that I get it back, okay?" he opens the door for the two women as they begin to leave, "Miss Swan," he interjects one last time, "Just for the sake of the boy, be careful how you handle his... belief system. To destroy his imagination would be... would be devastating," Emma nods before finally leaving with Ada. What both women didn't realize was that, as soon as they had left the room, the therapist picked up the phone and dialed with shaking hands. "You were right," he tells the person on the other end of the line, "She… was just here."
Ada and Emma sat at the head and foot of Emma's bed with Henry's file spread out between them.
"What do you think?" Emma asks her best friend.
"I think we should take the shrink's advice and let him continue to believe- we don't want to do damage that can't be undone, and you and I both know what it's like to have people not believe you."
"You're comparing us speaking out about abuse to believing every person in his hometown is a fairytale character."
"I'm comparing exactly that. Dr. Hopper said it was Henry's language- we just need to figure out how to interpret it. Mary Margaret is Snow White you said? Makes sense- sweet, pretty, kind woman, makes Henry feel safe, surrounded by dwarfs-"
"You mean children-"
"And she's got the right look for it too! So if Henry says his adoptive mother is an Evil Queen, then we need to figure out why it is that she makes him feel so unsafe. What it is that has him categorizing her that way. You're his birth mother- the person he knows least about, so the character who doesn't get much story time but still has a central presence, the person who is supposed to save everyone- or, in this instance, Henry. He tells you you're meant to bring back the happy endings? I think he wants you to bring back his."
Emma stares at her for a moment, "You never should've gone back to school and taken those Intro to Psych classes."
Ada stuck her tongue out, "Jerk."
At that moment, before the argument could dissolve into something truly childish, a knock came on the door.
"Since when are you so popular?" Ada asked Emma as the blonde got up to answer the door. On the other side was Sheriff Humbert.
"Hey there- if you're concerned about the "Do Not Disturb" signs, don't worry- I've left them alone."
"Actually, I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper. He mentioned you got into a bit of a row with him earlier?"
"No," Emma said, confused.
"I'm shocked, too," Graham joked, "Given your shy, delicate sensibilities. He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused you came back later and stole them."
"He gave them to me," Emma protested.
"Alas," Graham responded, "He's telling a different tale. May I check your room? Or must I get a search warrant?"
"What?" Ada finally manages to pick her jaw up off the floor and stands, "Are you serious right now? The shrink really-"
Emma cut her off by opening the door wider for Graham and saying, "This what ya lookin' for?" with a wave of her hand to the bed.
Graham walks in and picks up a paper before turning back to Emma, "Well, you're very accommodating. But, I'm afraid, Miss Swan, you're under arrest. Again." He begins to cuff her as Ada fumes silently.
"You know she's being set up, don't you?" Ada manages to grit out.
"And whom, may I ask, is setting her up?" With that, Ada shakes her head and storms out of the room.
She's got a shrink to grill.
"So is there a reason you've decided to lie to the police?" Ada asks, entering Dr. Hopper's room without knocking, startling the man. "Because you seemed like the decent, law-abiding sort to,me, so, imagine my surprise when my sister is being cuffed on your word."
"Miss Ward- I really must-"
"Nope," Ada says, holding a hand up, "I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen. I have no idea what it is about Regina Mills that has this whole town living in fear of her. Frankly, I think it's about time someone slapped her and took her down a peg. Or fifty. I don't know if she's blackmailing you, or threatening you, or even if she didn't have to say a word and just flat-out ordered you, and I don't give a damn. I just want you to know how very low you've fallen. Because there is a woman, currently getting her mug shot taken, who desperately loves a little boy, and has loved him since the day she found out about him, who gave him up for his very best chance, who now has to face the fact that that chance he was supposed to get? Wasn't the best at all. Who now might have to face the fact that a sociopath adopted her child, that the sweetest, kindest little boy I've ever met, is being manipulated and isolated by the person who was supposed to love him and treat him with the utmost care. I'm no stranger to emotional abuse, Doctor, and I recognize it when I see it, and Regina Mills is bullying this whole town into submission. But you- what you've done is taken away an advocate. Someone who was willing to stand up for Henry, to stand with him instead of opposing him, and you're doing everything to help send her away from Henry. Henry is your patient, you are not only legally but honor-bound to do what is the best for him. And we both know Regina Mills isn't it. And that Emma has probably been the best thing to happen to that little boy in years.
"You didn't just send an innocent woman to jail, Dr. Hopper, you failed Henry.
"I hope Miss Mills makes it all very worthwhile for you. Because the little boy who thinks you are Jiminy Cricket, conscious personified, could not be more wrong from where I'm standing."
Slamming the door behind her, Ada left and went to the station, fully intent on bailing her sister out.
"You know the shrink is lying, right?" Emma asks Graham, unable to believe he could be that oblivious.
"To the right, please," the Sheriff instructs so he can take her mugshot, "Why would he lie?"
"The Mayor put him up to this," Emma insists, "she's gotta have something on him. He's terrified of her, like everyone else in this…" she resists adding an expletive, "town."
"To the left. Regina may be a touch intimidating," Graham defends, "But I don't think she'd go as far as a frame-job."
"How far would she go?" Emma questions, and the Sheriff is silent, "What does she have her hands in?"
"Well, she's the Mayor," he shrugs, "She has her hands in everything."
"Including the police force?" Ada asks as she waltzes in. Graham flashes her an annoyed look and starts to reply, but is interrupted by Henry running in.
"Hey!" the boy shouts.
"Henry!" Graham says in surprise, "Henry, what are you doing here?" he asks the boy who runs up to Ada and Emma.
"His mother told him what happened," Miss Blanchard, who followed Henry in, tells them.
"Of course she did," Ada sighs.
"Henry- I don't know what she said-"
But the boy cuts her off, "you're a genius."
"What?" both Emma and Ada ask.
"I know what you were up to," Henry explains. "You were gathering information, for…Operation Cobra," he whispers the last bit, and Emma smiles. It's not often she finds someone willing to have faith in her. The fact that it's Henry just makes the feeling that much more precious.
"I'm sorry," Graham says, shaking his head slightly, "I'm…a bit lost."
"It's need-to-know, Sheriff," Henry explains, causing the man to smile down on the ten-year-old. And really, who wouldn't be charmed? "And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard's gonna bail her out."
"You are?" Emma asks, immediately on the defense. "Why?"
"I, uh, trust you," the teacher says, and Ada smiles at her.
Ada laughs, "Miss Blanchard, thank you, but you can keep your savings in the bank, I've got enough to post bail already. But, really," she looks the teacher in the eye, not sure the woman will ever understand how much what she's offered to do means, "Thank you."
"Well," Emma says, turning to Graham, "If you can uncuff me," she shoves her manacled hands towards the man, "I have something to do." Ada grins- she knows what that tone of voice means, and it's usually something delightfully destructive.
October 26, 2011
Ada sits with Marco in his shop as she waits for Emma to return with the man's chainsaw. Ada finds the old Italian man completely delightful and chats with him. Remember Henry's theories on the people, she begins to ask questions.
"So, I take it from that accent you're not from around here?" she begins.
"No, ah, I'm from Sicily originally," the older man smiles at her as he begins work on a repair job.
"Really? When'd you move to Storybrooke?"
The man pauses in his work, thinking back, "I, ah…I'm not…uh. It's all a bit, eh, hazy. Long time ago," he gives a shrug.
"You don't have any kids, Marco?" she asks, looking around the shop- the man clearly has a talent for woodcraft- he's got various carved knick knacks spread around the show, including some toys that appear totally unused.
"No, ah, my wife and I, we were never, ah, blessed."
"You're wife- where's she?"
"She passed, ah, some time ago?"
"Oh?" Ada asks, "When?"
"Oh, many years, it's a bit, ah, hazy."
And that's when Ada gets a strange combination of chills and prickings that make goosebumps appear all over her arms.
"You, ah, cold, Miss Ward?" Marco asks, "I have a jacket if you, ah, wish?"
"Oh, no, Marco- thank you. And you can call me Ada."
He gives a little shrug and Emma walks into the shop then, restoring Ada's feeling of normal balance.
"Thanks for this, Marco," the blonde says, putting the chainsaw up on the counter.
"You have fun?" Ada asks, grinning at her friend.
"Picking apples was never so easy," Emma tells her. Marco just gives the girls a little secretive grin and a wink.
Trying very hard to remember that cursed characters are characters who are not able to be their full selves- Mary Margaret has Snow's desire for hope, but not her ability to be actionable and an active participate in the creation of her own hope and life, Archie has Jiminy's desire for honesty and morality, but not the follow-through of it. Ideally, when I'm writing someone cursed vs. uncursed it'll be easy to differentiate them. This is one of the things that bothered me about the show- as things went on most characters (especially Snow!) seemed stuck in their cursed personalities even after the curse was broken, or seemed to slowly sink back into that personality after a while. But the whole point of the cursed selves was for them to be unhappy- so they wouldn't have their true selves' better qualities that are intrinsic to each character finding their happy ending, but a muted, twisted version of it. Mary Margaret's longing and wistfulness is a dim, twisted reflection of Snow White's strength in setting her own goals and believing in them while ACTIVELY working to achieve them. It's such an interesting way to explore characters and I intend to play with it!
