The next morning found Melanie sitting at the breakfast table with her mother, Kathryn, both women watching the local morning news. There was a small tension in the air between the two, as there always had been as of late. Ever since her father had gone missing, Kathryn had found every excuse under the sun to not be home. And on the days that she was, she always chose to nitpick and nag at her.
"Melanie," Kathryn began as she flipped a page in the newspaper. "How did your last test go?"
Melanie shrugged as she ate another spoonful of oatmeal. "I dunno," she stated in a dull tone. "Mr. Hofmann hasn't given us back the results yet."
Her mother hummed. "I see, well…I expect to see the results when you do get them back."
Melanie sighed and dropped her spoon into the now-empty bowl. "Whatever, Mom. I'm going to get ready for school."
Pushing back her chair, Melanie got up with bowl in hand and had just gotten to the sink in the kitchen when the doorbell began to ring. Along with a mixture of knocking. Rolling her eyes, Melanie exited the kitchen and walked towards the entrance of the modest two-story house with a huff. There was only one person she knew that would make that much ruckus. Opening the door, she grinned at her little troublemaker friend.
"Hey Henry," she greeted the boy. "Whatcha doing here? Don't you have school?"
"I was going to go down to my castle, actually," Henry said. "My mom grounded me for going to Boston and yelled at me for finding Emma."
Melanie smiled gently at him. "I'm not surprised." She stated. "If I were Regina, I would be furious too. You ran away without telling her where you going or why, which worried her to no end. And brought back your bio mom who for all we know could be an axe murderer!"
Henry rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Not you too," he groaned. "I already got lectured, and besides - she's not an axe murderer. Emma's a bail bondsperson."
"Good," Melanie tutted. "But, did you ever think that somebody could have happened to you while you were in Boston or en route there? Bad people are everywhere Henry, and sometimes there are people who don't care if you are a kid or an adult."
A sheepish look came washed over Henry's face at that point as he brought up a hand to scratch the back of his head. "I hadn't thought of that." His eyes dropped to the floor, guilty. "I feel bad now."
Melanie smiled and placated him with a head pat, as she bent down to his level again. "That's why you have me for, Hen." She said more gently. "I'm more than your babysitter, I'm a friend who cares about you and your wellbeing. And the voice of reason when you decide to act out like this."
When Henry smiled up at her after she was done talking. Melanie knew that she had reached through to him.
"Melanie, is everything alright?" Her mother's voice cut through the comfortable silence, causing her to wince. Turning around, Melanie flashed a fake smile at her mother who had appeared in the hallway. "Whose at the door sweetie?"
"Henry is." She said in a sharp tone. "He's just come to ask me to walk him to school that's all."
Kathryn nodded, smiling politely to the mayor's young son in greeting before turning to face her daughter again. "Once you've done that, please head to the school library. Mr. Hoffman will be waiting for you there."
Melanie nodded in understanding. Mr. Hoffman was one of the many tutors that taught both her and other teens in Storybrooke, who didn't function well in a normal classroom setting. He often taught in small groups at the school library, since the town library has been under repair for the last couple of years.
"Yeah, sure." She said in agreement before turning to face Henry again. "I'm going to go and grab my school bag okay Henry? I'll be quick though." She threw a wink at him for good measure and he nodded, chuckling.
Turning swiftly on her feet, Melanie walked towards the dining room where her bag was located. While telling her mom that she would see her later tonight.
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Bringing herself up onto the beach, Melody sighed in relief when she got far enough away from the water to not have to worry about transforming again. Turning herself around, Melody laid her back down gently onto the dry, hot sand. So that way she could begin to dry off and switch back to her human form in due time since she didn't have any access to a towel and had to rely upon the sun instead. Closing her eyes softly, Melanie allowed herself to relax in the heat of the sunshine.
"Where do you think she came from?"
"The shadow has never brought a girl to Neverland before."
"What do you think this could mean?"
"She looks pretty and soft!"
The sound of different hushed-sounding voices filled the area, disturbing the peace that she once had. Groaning slightly, Melody squeezed her eyes tightly before opening them slowly. And blinked at the sight of many different young, male faces staring down at her in a circle.
"Uuuh," Melody groaned as she slowly woke up from the nap that she was having. "Who are you guys?"
The small group of boys backed away from her as she fully sat up, smiling when she looked down and saw that her tail had disappeared finally. Looking back up at the boys, Melody took in their appearance. They seemed to vary in age, and all wore rag-like clothing. Which made sense in Melody's mind if they were all peasants from what most of the stories she heard, seemed to say.
The eldest looking of the bunch, who had a club swung over his shoulder stepped forward and spoke first. "We're the lost boys. And you, girl? Who. Are. You."
Melody blinked before standing up sort of shakily, after having swum for the last few days. She had to find her land legs in order to find balance after a while, she surmised.
"I'm Princess Melody, of the kingdom Tirulia. Daughter of King Eric and Queen Ariel, granddaughter of King Triton. Ruler of the seven seas."
The boy blinked a few times before he smiled widely at her. "Welcome to Neverland then, princess." He stated. "As such of your title and relation to the sea king, we will allow you mercy and not greet you the way we normally do with newcomers."
O.o.O.o.O.o.O
Looking out at the ocean with Henry, Melanie smiled to herself as she listened to the peaceful sound that the ocean waves made. The way that they crashed over one another and washed up on shore, was soothing to hear. Living so close to such a large open body of water was one of Melanie's favorite things about living in Storybrooke. And Henry's little 'castle' was the perfect retreat to go to, after highly stressful days in town and dealing with the general populace.
"Hey kid," Melanie turned and saw the strange woman from last night standing there closest to Henry, his storybook in her hand. "You left this in my car last night. Thought you may want it back."
Melanie watched with a pointed stare as Henry turned to look at the blonde, and reached for the item. Holding it tenderly in his hands as he brought it close up to his chest. "Thanks." He mumbled.
"So I noticed that the clock hasn't moved yet, huh?"
Melanie snorted and as the woman turned to her questioningly, she said. "That clock hasn't moved my entire life. I'm Melanie Nolan by the way. Henry's babysitter." She introduced herself kindly as an afterthought.
The blonde smiled as she took a seat on the only other empty space on the piece of wood. "Emma Swan. I'm uh, guessing you know who I am?"
Melanie nodded before looking back to the ocean.
"I thought that when I brought you back," Henry started to speak, his voice sounding small and glum. "Things would change. That the final battle will begin."
Melanie winced slightly when she heard Emma sigh harshly. "I'm not fighting any battles, kid."
Henry got up, landing on the ground with a soft plop and when Melanie saw his face, she was surprised. He was angry, hurt, and frustrated more than anything. She had never seen the kid display saw many emotions before, he was usually so quiet and shy.
"Yes, you are!" He practically shouted at poor Emma, his face twisting. "You're here because it's your destiny. You're going to bring back the happy endings."
Melanie watched the scene with a renowned interest and was silently wondering how Emma would respond to his tantrum.
"Can you cut it with this book crap, kid?" Emma snapped. "I'm just an ordinary person. I'm not a superhero or someone who's remotely brave. I run away from problems, not towards them."
Henry suddenly smiled, causing Melanie to be knocked off guard. That certainly wasn't what she expected how he would react to somebody responding like that.
"You don't have to be so hostile, you know?" he said with an upbeat attitude. "I know you like me, I can tell. You're just—pushing me away because I make you feel guilty. It's okay; I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance."
Suddenly feeling out of place and more than awkward where the conversation was going, Melanie got off the wooden structure as silently as she could and began to walk away backward. While giving Emma an encouraging smile, she mouthed 'go easy on him' when the blonde looked up at her, an eyebrow raised questionably.
Strangely, Melanie didn't feel bad about leaving the two alone as she normally would have to leave Henry with a stranger. But as she watched them talk to each other animatedly, Melanie knew that everything would be okay between them. Turning around, she put on her backpack as she walked. While humming a tune that she once heard long ago, something that brought her a sense of warmth and home.
"Down to the sea we go
Down to a world I know
There's never been
Not ever before
A child born of sea and shore"