…Flashback… six years ago… Storybrooke… same day…

She had no idea where she was going. At this point, Lily was so beside herself with emotion that all sound judgement was completely out the window. She walked all the way down the road that led into Storybrooke's downtown main street and carefully crossed the intersection. The first place she dropped by was her brother's workplace at the Pawn Shop but when she arrived she was disappointed to see the closed sign at the front door. Disheartened and disappointed, she went to the only person around who would be willing to listen to her, Dr. Hopper.

She ran into the building and up the flight of stairs. Without even thinking to knock, she burst forth into his office eager to talk and said, "Dr. Hopper! Dr. Hopper, I need…"

Lily didn't even bother to finish her own sentence when she realized she had just interrupted one of his sessions. Dr. Hopper was startled by Lily's arrival and his client, Leroy, turned to see the bombardment.

"Lily!" exclaimed Dr. Hopper in surprise.

"I'm… I'm so sorry!" apologized Lily, embarrassed by what she had done. It was apparent to both of the adults in the room that the girl was in distress. Her eyes were still wet from tears and her cheeks were still flushed from frustration. She looked like she really needed to talk to someone and Leroy saw this.

"Lily, our session isn't for another two hours? As you can see I'm already with-" started out the doctor, but was immediately interrupted by Leroy who raised his hand to object.

"-It's ok, Doc." Leroy stood up from the couch and looked sympathetically back and forth between the little girl and the doctor. "She can have the rest of my session."

Lily was so taken back by the kind gesture from that she became overwhelmed with embarrassment. Dr. Hopper asked Leroy, "Are you sure you're ok with that, Leroy?"

"Positive. This looks like an emergency. I'll just see you same time next week." Leroy then turned to Lily and said to her encouragingly as he passed by her, "Good luck little sister. I hope today gets better for you."

"Thank you… sir," thanked Lily bashfully. It warmed her heart to know that there were still good people in this town. She was truly grateful to him for surrendering his time to her. Lily stepped a little further into the office and Leroy shut the door closed behind her.

"Well, uh, have a seat I guess," instructed Dr. Hopper as he looked at her with the look of consternation. The moment Lily sat down on the couch, Archie realized what his face was doing and tried his best to relax. For a brief moment before speaking, he took the time to scan Lily and take in her situation. He knew of her inclination to run away, but for the most part he knew that she had her reasons. Whatever those reasons were, he didn't know but knew would be most interesting. He initiated the conversation. "So, Lily, why are you here instead of at school?"

Lily fidgeted with her fingers and bowed her feet where she sat on the couch. It was evident that she felt some remorse from having left school prematurely and knew that she was going to hear about it from her parents later. She fumbled with her words and began, "I-I don't like school anymore."

"So… you're here because you don't like school?" reiterated the doctor for affirmation.

"Nobody likes me. They all think that I was the one who murdered the two people on the night I ran away into the woods," stated Lily heartbrokenly.

Dr. Hopper remained frozen. He was there on the night Hook and Zelena were murdered. He remembered seeing Lily be used by Zelena to kill Killian. He also remembered witnessing Neal's life curse get traded with Zelena's. He hesitated on his response because for once there was actual truth to those rumors, but then remembered that he was a professional psychiatrist and that she wasn't supposed to know the truth about that night. "Is that what they're saying?" he asked coyly.

Lily continued, "… and that the reason why I had amnesia was because their deaths were too traumatic."

To Dr. Hopper, it sounded like Lily desperately needed clarity to that night in the woods. He wanted to tell the truth to her, but revealing the truth would also mean that she would have to recognize magic, her magic. And according to a prophecy revealed to him by her parents, should Lily remember her magic Storybrooke as they knew it would cease to exist. Lily looked to the doctor for a reassuring response and he found himself lacking one. So instead he reluctantly conceded to the rumors and concurred, "From what I saw, I would say that-that it was quite traumatizing."

"But what happened?" she asked practically imploring.

"You know quite well that is something your parents have not permitted me to talk about."

"Then how am I to get better if you're preventing me from connecting the pieces to my memory?" pointed out Lily. Lily stunned the doctor again with her acute response. She had indeed struck another point. Before he had a chance to respond Lily rapidly fired out another point, "For that matter, what's the point in me coming to these sessions if you're not willing to help me?"

Defensively, the doctor struck back cleverly, "I am trying to help you Lily! Just not in the way you think is helping." He then quickly redirected the conversation by saying, "You mentioned when you first walked in here that nobody likes you. Do you not have any friends?" Lily felt affronted by the doctor's quick evasion of her most pressing question and went ahead and answered him silently by shaking her head 'no'. The doctor continued, "So you're saying that in your entire year since you've moved to Storybrooke, you have yet to make any friends?"

"It's hard to make friends with people who are afraid of you or who are partially related to you," mentioned Lily as she protectively crossed her arms over her body.

"First of all, people who are scared are only afraid of what they don't know. Second, it's ok to be friends with family."

"You don't understand! No matter what I do it all gets back to my parents. It's like I can't escape!"

"Well, that would certainly explain your constant need to escape your situations. Perhaps you should change your tactics. Instead of everyone having to accept you, maybe you should learn to accept others." Lily didn't like hearing his suggestion, but the thought was novel so she continued listening. "If you allow yourself to continue thinking and assuming that nobody likes you then how does that open you to the possibility of welcoming anybody into your life?" Dr. Hopper could tell that Lily was masticating on the thought and continued, "Don't give up hope on friendship just yet-"

Just before Dr. Hopper could finish his thought, a knock came at the door and interrupted the conversation. He looked to the face clock on his mantel and saw that his next appointment had arrived on time. Knowing full-well who his next client was, he welcomed the next person in, "Come in!"

Lily turned to the door that opened and was surprised to see Roland Locksley standing there. Based off his facial reaction he was also surprised to see Lily. It had been over a year since they had last spoken to each other. Throughout the year, they had seen each other in passing but never had one been thrusted into a situation to actually talk to each other. He had very little to say to her since he was well known throughout town as the Vigilante which came with it his notorious prejudice over magic.

The last time they had spoken to each other Lily had come to his jail cell under the manipulation of Zelena to torture his father in front of him. He knew that the witch compelled Lily to hurt his father in order to get at her sister Regina, but he also knew that it took pleading and begging to spare him. He couldn't forget the torment he saw in Lily's eyes and felt that somehow it was he who had gotten her to spare his father from the torture. He had harbored ill-will towards magical persons for the longest time, but ever since Lily spared his father's life from the witch it changed his perspective slightly on magic. And with his sessions with Dr. Hopper, he realized that magic wasn't all bad. Lily didn't remember any of this, but he did.

At first he viewed magic as good and bad, but when he remembered being helpless inside that jail cell he realized that it took magic to come to save his father; Lily's magic. Magic was neither black nor white, but grey. Just like Lily. She was neither good nor bad, but somewhere in the middle. So when Roland saw Lily with Dr. Hopper having a session, it made him remember that she wasn't this little evil sorceress, she was still human. That even she, who had magic, still needed help from someone who wasn't magical.

With his connections with Regina being his stepmother, Roland later understood that Lily's magical situation was being kept under a tight wrap. He didn't know the full extent of it, but he knew that for all intents and purposes she was to know nothing about magic. Which in his mind, was just about the same as not having magic at all which is how he preferred things. "I'm-I'm sorry. I didn't know you were still in the middle of a session," apologized Roland with great flummox.

"It's quite alright, Roland. Lily was about to head home," mentioned Dr. Hopper.

"I-I was?" questioned Lily to the doctor. It had all felt too soon. Lily was actually beginning to feel like they were going somewhere in their session. Dr. Hopper ignored Lily's slight protest and continued his thought to Roland, "I'm sure the school and her parents must be worried about her."

Lily stood up slowly. She was slightly affronted by the doctor's passive aggressive dismissal from his office and shuffled toward the office door. She couldn't believe she was being kicked out. Just when she was beginning to think that nobody cared the doctor suggested to Roland, "You know what? Roland, why don't you escort Lily to her mother's library."

"Me?" Roland questioned the doctor while pointing to himself, "But, don't I have to be here to satisfy my probation?" Since he was a juvenile when he committed the crimes as the Vigilante, his lawyer was able to convince the court to serve his penance through community service and counseling.

"You have to attend your sessions, yes this is true, but I am the one who has to sign off on your attendance and make a recommendation to your probation officer at the end of this month for your hearing. So, to satisfy today's session you will walk with Lily down to the library." Roland looked hesitantly back and forth between Lily and Dr. Hopper, wondering if this was some kind of cruel trick. "Don't worry, I think this will be good for the both of you."

Roland rolled his eyes and huffed. He then turned to Lily and groaned, "C'mon…"

The two didn't say much to each other as they left the office building and walked a little way down the street. Lily kept looking to Roland expecting him to say something, and when he didn't her curiosity got the best of her and she blurted out, "So what are you in for?"

Roland looked to Lily full of scorn and growled, "I would think that you, of all people, should know why I have to see the Doc."

Lily thought really hard about her last encounter with Roland and realized that she couldn't remember. Her memory loss somehow involved him and it caused her to pause in her tracks. Her sudden halt caused Roland to turn around to see what the matter was and saw that she was genuinely becoming upset.

"I-I don't," she replied meekly. She honestly couldn't remember. From what she heard of the town rumors, he had vandalized various establishments because of a cause he had believed in. To Lily, she didn't give much credence to rumors because if the rumors about her weren't true then neither were his. It just didn't seem right or fair to hold his to a higher pedestal just because they didn't involve her.

"Wow, you really don't remember, do you?" Roland said in astonishment.

"I only know based from what I've heard," Lily pointed out fairly.

"And what have you heard?" he wondered curiously.

"That you, uh painted on people's houses, because you thought- because you thought…" It was obvious that she was afraid to finish the rumor.

"Because I thought-, what?" He demanded her to finish her sentence.

"Because you thought they had magic!" Lily blurted out the thought and then immediately grimaced over Roland's reaction to it.

At first his face was serious, but then it smoothed out and his face turned into a smile as he laughed, "I suppose that does make me sound crazy, doesn't it?" Roland couldn't help but laugh for a good few minutes and it was his laughter that alleviated the tension between the two. She had no idea what it was that she had said to him that was so funny, but his laughter certainly eased Lily's anxiety towards him. "No wonder why I'm seeing a psychiatrist!" Roland bellowed rhetorically to himself, not caring who was gawking at him on the streets. He looked to Lily and saw how unsure she was of him. Upon recognizing her hesitance towards him, he patted her on the back and apologized, "I'm sorry. I'm not normally this intimidating. It's just, ever since my arrest and… what had happened with you and my family…"

Lily uncoiled to think back to the memory, only she found that it was yet another curious blurry moment of her past. The only memories she had of Roland was that time she had been bullied at school and he came to her rescue. It wasn't much, but it was still a positive memory of her interaction with him. He wasn't a threat. He was a friend. Despite the random acts of vandalism, she remembered no other harm being done. With his lingering statement, she could only imagine that he was simply referring to the vandalism to their house on the day they first moved to Storybrooke, so she mustered up her courage and replied, "I forgive you… for the markings on our door last year. I'm-I'm sure you had your reasons."

"And you're not the evil little witch everyone thinks you are," Roland snarled back. Realizing how it sounded as it came out of his mouth, he too apologized, "I'm sorry. I don't handle criticisms well. What I meant to say was, you're not so bad, Lily Gold." His smile toward Lily calmed her and in return she smiled kindly back at him. He noticed how lonely she was and given her past with people bullying her he assumed that she still most likely struggled to make friends. Given what he knew, he decided to continue the conversation and mentioned, "So, uh, next year I graduate high school."

"Ppfft. Lucky you," remarked Lily sarcastically with a pang of jealousy. "I wish I could graduate this year. I'd leave this town in a heartbeat and escape these ignorant fools if I had my diploma now."

"Well, someday it'll be your turn. And if you take enough advanced courses, it is actually possible to graduate from school early."

The thought piqued her interest and his suggestion suddenly had her undivided attention. "How?" she wondered eagerly.

"Well you see, most Storybrooke residents, when they 'go off' to college they just take online classes and get their degrees that way, but I think you're more of the adventurous type." Roland stated his observations out loud but Lily was still waiting with bated breath for the how to finally be answered. She nodded her head for him to go on in his explanation, so he continued, "So, since I take that you are that eager to leave town, I suggest you try to do so well in school that your teachers have no choice but to have you skip a few grades. And as soon as you get into high school, research your college of choice, take a few Advanced Placement courses, pass them, get your diploma and then get the hell out of here."

Just then, Belle rushed outside of the library and scanned the streets. It didn't take her long to spot her daughter with Roland when she ran right up to them and said with relief, "Lily! Oh Honey, thank goodness you're safe. I was so worried!" She immediately took her daughter into her chest and they embraced for a moment. After a few squeezes Belle continued, "The school just informed me of your disappearance and then when Dr. Hopper called and said that you were on your way to me. I just had to run out to find you."

"I'm ok, mum. Really," assured Lily, who was already starting to get embarrassed in front of Roland. When mother and daughter parted from their hug, Belle looked to Lily's accompaniment and gave him a skeptical glance. Unlike Lily, she hadn't forgotten what he had done or what he thought about magic. So without showing her distain toward the boy she cleared her throat, flashed a plastic smile and addressed cordially, "Mr. Locksley."

Roland stood stoically with feet spread slightly apart and planted firmly to the ground. He wasn't afraid and Belle noticed it. He replied in kind, "Mrs. Gold."

Belle glanced quickly between Roland and Lily. With a quick change of heart, she was quite pleased with the budding friendship. It was, after all, better than Lily not having any friends. Belle thought of the prophecy and how Roland was against magic and was comforted by the fact that with Roland she wouldn't have to worry about Lily remembering her magic. She approved the interaction between the two and said more warmly, "Thank you, for-um, accompanying Lily back to me."

"It was my pleasure," he said as he bowed most chivalrously to the point where it was almost comical. Roland didn't intend for the gesture to be an insult, but merely an acknowledgement of propriety. It was a reminder of her days of royalty and of their previous lives in the Enchanted Forest. However, it was also of days Belle gained the most painful memories. Other than her time living with Rumple in the Dark Castle, her life in the Enchanted Forest were days she would have soon liked to have forgotten.

The silence between the group was starting to become awkward and upon seeing that his mission was complete, Roland began backing away slowly and said, "Well, I guess I'll see you around, Lily."

Without wanting to squander away an opportunity for friendship, Belle invited on behalf of Lily, "Come on over to the house for tea sometime. We'd love to have you over."

The invitation caught Roland by surprise and he choked on his spit that was in his throat. "Are you sure- I mean, that would be nice," he said nervously. "Thank you."

Lily smirked. Up until now, she hadn't recalled a moment where she saw Roland frightened over anything and so the sudden change in character amused her. Lily decided to bait him. With a coy smile she added nonchalantly, "You don't have to come. I'll totally understand if you're scared. Most people in town are."

Suddenly his back straightened and he replied more defiantly, "I'm not scared!"

"Good. Then it's settled," Belle said very pleased with herself. "How about tomorrow?" Belle glanced strictly to her daughter as she emphasized the last part of her sentence. "After school?"

"Uh, yeah," confirmed Roland as has he folded his arms across his chest to feign confidence.

"Great, we'll see you then," finished Belle with a much warmer smile than before. She reached her arm around Lily's shoulder and brought her close as they both made their way back to the library.

This was one of my favorite chapters to write. With the time changes I was able to explain a few things like how Lily became friends with Roland and why Belle approves of the friendship versus Rumple. Well, here's to another writing sprint. Let's see if I can keep this going. I look forward to hearing from you guys soon! Until then, see you next chapter!