I hadn't spoken to my father since our brief conversation after my returning to town. To be fair, he hadn't come and found me, either. I was still a bit angry at him for not believing in me about the curse - maybe he had been right, sort of, but it wasn't his job to try and control me like that. Well... maybe it was. It was when I was younger. I was a mature young woman now, nearing 15 years of age. I did not need my Papa telling me what to do all the time. But, because of course that's how life works, when I was on my way home from my date with Michael, I ran right into him. Quite literally.

"Elizabeth!"

I sighed. "Hello, Papa."

"Elizabeth, you haven't spoken to me in nearly a week!"

"Yes, Papa, I am aware of that fact. See, I'm angry at you. And it's not like you bothered tracking me down, either."

"Why are you so determined to live on your own? You are 14 years old."

"Papa, I'm not on my own. I am in a room at Granny's by myself. Charlotte, an adult and my friend, is right down the hall. Michael and Emmy, also my friends, are a little bit further down the hall. You live one floor above us! And Bae is down the hall from you. And Henry is not that far away and comes to visit alot. As does Emma. I mean, I literally sleep one floor down and three doors over from you."

"But you don't come up!"

"And you don't come down! And like I said, I'm still mad at you for not believing in me!"

"Because I thought you would get hurt - and you did!"

"Because I made a choice. I am capable of taking care of myself."

"You're FOURTEEN!"

"Papa, how old was your brother when you and he were left alone?"

He blinked for a second, taken off guard. "Twelve or thirteen," he replied.

"Then why are you all over me?"

"Because your father didn't abandon you."

"Didn't he? He didn't drink a potion to forget my existence and drop me off in a strange land?"

"For your protection! Rumpelstiltskin would have killed you!"

"I doubt that! He wasn't angry at me! And anyway, when we met in the Enchanted Forest - and yes, I know you don't remember this, but it happened - you remembered me, then you left again anyway. And when I said I wouldn't come, you still left. You left me."

"Elizabeth, I don't know why I would do that," he said. "But I love you. Truly, I love you."

"I know," I replied, feeling my resolve weaken. "I love you too. But I'm still angry."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I have trouble believing in... well, anything, really. But you have proven yourself, my wonderful daughter. I believe in you."

"Really?" I asked.

"Really."

"Ok, apology accepted," I said, rolling my eyes.

He gave me a hug, which I returned. "Will you come and live with me now?"

"Like in the same room? Uh... no. Maybe we could get a house."

"A house?"

"Yeah. We could live in a REAL HOUSE. And I could enroll in school, graduate high school, maybe head to college."

He frowned. "Is that what you want?"

"I want a normal life," I replied. "Being a fairytale is fun and all, and pirate will always be who I am, but... I kind of want to be a regular teenage girl for a change."

"Okay," he said, "We can try that. Regular teenage girl."

"Awesome. Also, uh, is it okay with you that I was just on a date?"

He let go of me and took a step back, blinking. "What?"

"Nothing!" I replied, running back to Granny's.

"Hey Charlotte," I said, when she opened her door.

"Elizabeth! How was it? Tell me everything."

"Uh, well, we ate cheeseburgers and got some weird looks, we took a walk and had a short conversation, and... I fell in a lake."

She burst out laughing. "Classic. Well, water is your thing, right?"

"Um... when there's a boat on top of it. Ha ha, Charlotte, you're so funny."

"Alright, alright. What did Michael say?"

"Um... nothing. I dried myself off and split."

"You ran from a date?"

"No, I said I was going home and walked away."

"Bad move, though. He could have kissed you. Would have been so romantic."

"Oh, stuff it," I said, and she stuck her tongue out at me. I returned it. "Anyway, I ran into my Papa on the way back."

Her eyes widened. "Really? What happened?"

"He apologized, I forgave him, and we decided we were going to try to move into a house together and I'm going to finish high school and go to college."

Charlotte smiled widely. "That's wonderful!"

"You should do it too, Charlotte."

She shook her head. "I'm too old."

"You're never too old to learn. Besides, you could totally pass for sixteen."

"Thanks...?"

"Come on, Charlotte. Together?"

She smiled. "Together."

Awkwardly, I knocked on Michael and Emmy's door the next morning. Michael answered. "Emmy still asleep?" I asked. He nodded. "Good."

"So... Liz... About last night."

"I know, I made a fool of myself," I said.

He chuckled. "Yeah, well, it was pretty funny."

"Hey!" He stuck his tongue out, as did I. "Anyway... I was wondering, you wanna try that again? Except maybe just for lunch?"

"Sure," he replied with a smile.

"And, uh, I'm gonna enroll in the high school... you should too. And Emmy in the elementary school."

"Liz, how long are we gonna be allowed to stay here?" he asked.

"As long as you wish," I replied. "Storybrooke is now your home."

A/N: And with that, that is the end of the story. There WILL be a SEQUEL, and it will be coming WITHIN THREE WEEKS (Promise!). Stay tuned!