AN: This chapter was really tough to write. I'm at a moment where cannon meets AU and I'm trying to merge the two of them so they mesh well. As we get further into Starfish the more things will be turning into AU. I am trying to get through the 1st season as quickly and differently as I can, and then I can start bringing Killian back in with my take on season 2. The whole Fairy Tale land thing will occur, but after they get back, this story will turn COMPLETELY AU! YAY!
Sorry for taking more of your time, but here's Chapter Six, enjoy! :)
She was numb to the world, until the sunlight that crept through the curtains splashed onto her closed eyes. Turning her head to the side she spied the alarm clock and groaned at the time. Her body was stubborn this morning, she did not want to move, it was warm, and she's cheering in joy, in thoughts at least, that she didn't wake up on a crappy bed in jail again. "Ugh, Never again." She groaned while sitting up.
Emma was not a morning person, and until she hopped in the shower and the water in there got her energized, she would be a zombie. She is a deep sleeper, to an extent. When she was a child in the system she learned to sense things while asleep. Little things, like if the door to her room was starting to open or if someone was above her watching her sleep. Those were the times her body automatically woke up. Anything else wouldn't phase her a bit.
Somehow she managed to get to the bathroom to shower, and when the warm water hit her she began to mentally wake up. It was going to be a busy day. She wanted to find out more about this "Mr. Gold", and when she gets the time, she wanted to hang out with Henry. Maybe do a bit of sightseeing, get to know the town a bit better.
She was drinking her morning coffee when a knock on the door interrupted her thoughts on where to sightsee first. After all, searching for Mr. Gold can wait at least until lunch, she had all day after all. The day started out looking pretty good, until she opened the door and Regina was there with a basketful of apples. 'Now what?' "Yes?" Her eyes scanning the woman and fruit in front of her.
Regina stood there with a smile on her face and decided to speak, "Did you know the Honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hearty of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures as low as forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm." Pausing her thoughts she looks at the deep red fruit with more affection than Emma has seen on the woman's face. After the slight pause she continued speaking, "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 stopped with a fond smile on her face looking at the apple, then hands Emma the one she was holding.
Looking at Regina wearily she took the apple from her, "Thanks."
"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your drive home."
'There we go.' Emma was waiting for the reason for the early morning unannounced visit. "Actually, I'm going to stay for a while."
Regina's smile turns into a frown and then spoke with some hidden hostility, "I'm not sure that's such a good idea. Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him."
"All due respect, Madam Mayor, the fact that you have now threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me want to stay more." Smug. That's what she felt, every time she said something that Regina wouldn't approve of.
"Since when were apples a threat?"
"I can read between the lines. I just want to make sure Henry's okay." She smiles to rub it in a little bit more, 'I also want to find out more of this Mr. Gold.' Of course she doesn't need to explain her plans or actions to Regina.
"He's fine, dear. Any problems he has are being taken care of."
"What does that mean?"
"It means I have him in therapy. It's all under control. Take my advice, Miss Swan. Only one of us knows what's best for Henry."
"Yeah, I'm starting to think you're right about that." She states, then leans against the doorframe.
"It's time for you to go." Regina's hands grip the basket in her hands tighter, her expression a warning to the blond in front of her.
Emma's eyes narrow, and she clutches the cup of coffee tighter while bringing it closer to herself, "Or what?", she countered then took a step closer to the mayor. She's not going to get intimidated by this insecure woman. 'Who does she think she is trying to manipulate and make me go? This is just going to make me want to stay even longer.'
Regina, accepting the unvoiced challenge, took a step closer towards Emma as well then declared with barely hidden anger, "Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan. You have no idea what I'm capable of." Then doing a quick once over, turned around and walked away with the rest of the basket of apples still in her hands.
With a quiet, held in squeal of anger, Emma roughly closed the door. 'It's too damn early for this!'
Thirty minutes later Emma found herself inside of Granny's Dinner reading the newspaper. Her face covers the front of the page, describing her accident with the town's sign, along with pesky little details like her time in the foster system and jumping from town to town. She's brought out of her musings when a mug of hot chocolate with what smelled like cinnamon in it, is put down in front of her by Ruby, the young woman from last night.
"Here you go." She then gives Emma a friendly smile and continues before Emma has a chance to speak, "You have an admirer."
Looking around the small diner Emma's eyes land on the Sheriff from earlier. Getting up she walked towards his booth and puts the hot drink down in front of him.
Graham greeted Emma with a friendly smile and said, "So you decided to stay."
"Observant. Important for a cop."
"It's good news for our tourist business, it's bad for our local signage." He grins at her, hoping she'd laugh at his attempt at humor. One quirk of Emma's eyebrows he stutters, a slightly bit embarrassed now, "It's… It's a joke. It's because you ran over our sign."
The man was cute as he tried to fix up his attempt at flirting with Emma. A bit of a butterfly fluttered by, but she wasn't staying long so it's not worth delving into flirting territory. "Look, the cocoa was a nice gesture, and I am impressed that you guessed that I like cinnamon on my chocolate because most people don't, but I am not here to flirt. So thank you, but no thank you."
The man's eye glittered with even more humor as she finished speaking, and knowing this was a bit funny smiled as he explained, "I didn't send it."
Emma feeling a bit embarrassed about her reaction towards the sheriff is about to turn around and walk out of the diner when Henry's voice was heard in one of the other booths, "I did. I like cinnamon, too."
Recovering from her public embarrassment walked over towards Henry and asked, "Don't you have school?"
"Duh. I'm ten." Getting up out of the booth he drinks the rest of his hot chocolate then turns towards Emma declaring, "Walk me."
The short walk to Henry's school with him had left Emma feeling energized and happy. This young kid was starting to worm his way into her isolated heart, and that both frightened and thrilled her.
Henry had said that she was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming. He must have gotten her sense of imagination, after all, she at one point was convinced that the dream she had years ago was real; perhaps that's what he's going through at the moment. Her eyes followed her son and before he entered the school, he turned around and smiled a gigantic grin, waved at her then went into the building.
Mary Margaret's eyes landed on hers and they both studied each other silently before the teacher started walking towards her. A smile in her voice as she addressed the woman Henry brought to town, "It's good to see him smiling so much. He hasn't done that in a long time." Pausing a moment to think, she spoke with a curious tone, "So you decided to stay, that's great."
"Yeah. For awhile at least." She pushes a piece of her hair back behind her ear and smiles a friendly grin back. For some reason she feels connected to this woman. Almost like Mr. Gold, but vastly different. Where she feels drawn and connected towards Mr. Gold, as a mystery to be solved, Mary Margaret feels like a vibe of a sister, not that she knows what a sister bond feels like, as she never had a sister; but, friends are the family you make for yourself.
"So." Emma broke the companionable silence. "What's with Henry's mother? Why has he not smiled in a long time?" Concern seeped through her voice, eyebrows creased with a bit of worry. 'She's tough, but I can see she loves him.'
"She inspires a lot of fear, but I worry that I caused more harm in their home life by giving him that book on fairy tales." She paused and with some regret to her voice continued, "Now he thinks Regina is the Evil Queen."
"Regina said he was seeing a therapist. Do you know where it's located?" Bringing her hand up to her chin in thought, she continues, "Maybe I can find out why he's assigning her as the Evil Queen in his childish book fantasy." Emma's thoughts start wandering, and she's hoping to find some answers. 'Yes, Regina is a hard headed, insecure bitch, but regardless of that, I'm still going to stay, just to show her to back off and relax, I'm not going to take him away from her. Shesh.'
Mary Margaret put her hand on Emma's shoulder and it paused her train of thought. "Please, if you do think of them as childish fantasies, don't tell him that." Removing her hand she continues speaking gently, "He's a kid who needed hope of a better future, and that's why I gave him that book. He needed to believe in himself and to have hope. Hope that things can get better."
Emma, felt a bit ashamed as if she was being scolded by her mother of all things, just nodded. She knew that Mary Margaret was right with what she said, and her mood returned with a brighter light, and she smiled at her friend, "You're right. So, who does he think you are in his book?"
"He thinks I'm Snow White. Who does he think you are?"
Emma internally reels back in shock. There's no way this lady who's probably younger than her, is her mother. Yet, according to Henry it's because time had stayed still. "I- I'm not in it." Pausing to compose herself she changed the subject, "Do-do you know where I can find Henry's therapist?"
"Oh yes, I'm sorry, here let me give you the directions." Taking out a piece of paper she hastily wrote them down then handed it to Emma. "I've got to go, but maybe sometime we can get together?"
"Yeah, we can do that. Sounds fun." Giving the small teacher a tiny wave good bye, she turned around and walked away.
Arriving at the therapists door brought back a small hit of anxiety, until she steeled herself and knocked. A few minutes later the man she met when she first got to town, and who had given her the directions to Regina's house, answered the door.
Gesturing to the woman outside of his door, he also opened the door wider and said, "Come on in, make yourself comfortable." Closing the door after Emma passed by him he says with a bit of humor in his voice, "Let me guess, you're here about some post traumatic stress from hitting the town's sign?" A smile lit his face at the end of his sentence.
Smiling up at the man, despite her irrational fear of therapists, because come on, psychologists are a bit nerve wracking, she still wanted to be polite. "No, I'm sorry. Not today." Spying one of the chairs in the room she walked towards it and sat down, thumbs tapping against her thigh. "I'm here about Henry. What's his deal? Why is he thinking this town is full of crazy fairy tale nonsense?"
Sitting down in front of her, he pauses before he speaks and then says, "I'm not supposed to be doing this."
"I know. I just want to know something, anything that you can discuss. What's causing it?"
"I-I hope you don't talk that way in front of him. The word crazy is, um, quite damaging. These stories… They're his language. He has no idea how to express complex emotion, so he's translating as best he can. This is how he communicates, when he's using this book to help deal with his problems."
"He's only had the book a month though, has he been having problems before that?"
"Um, yes, he has."
"So it's his mother Regina, isn't it? Or something involving his home life?"
"Uh, his mother is, uh, a very complicated woman. And, uh, over the years, her attempts to try and bring Henry close to her only backfired." Archie stand up and goes to his cabinet. Pulling out a file he hands the thick, packet of notes towards Emma, "Why don't you take a look at the file? Um, see what I mean."
Emma fans through the thick file in front of her and spoke up, "I would love nothing more than to go looking through his files for the reasons of his sessions with you." Pausing a moment she then holds out the file and passes it back towards the doctor. "I can't take this. Thank you for giving me a few answers but I'm not his legal guardian, I don't have the rights to just go looking through his medical files just because I was asking a question. I'm sure this would help me a lot, as far as dealing with and understanding what's causing these problems but in good conscious, I can't do this."
Looking at the man in front of her she asks, "Why would you be willing to do this?"
The man who looked a bit ashamed answered saying, "You're very important to him. He talks about you a lot."
Nodding first, she then stands up from her chair and walks towards the office door, and opens it, but before she goes through it she speaks once more, "Thank you for telling me that. I would love to go through his file you know. But I can't risk your job by letting you breach the confidentiality between the two of you. The only time that can occur between a psychologist and his patient are when the doctor believes the patient is a threat to himself or others, or abuse is occurring. The fact you haven't called the police and reported anything, gives me faith that everything is fine." She then closes the door gently behind her and leaves.
For a late breakfast she ordered a stack of pancakes to go and was eating it in her room at the Bed & Breakfast. Henry was more like her than she had thought before. Both of them living in fantasy worlds, the only thing she had wished, was that her fantasy would've happened as a child like his is doing. It's harder waking up from a fantasy as an adult and having that crush you. Maybe one of these days she'll tell Henry about the fantasy world she had lived in at one point.
As she bit the fork that held another bite of her breakfast, her thoughts switched to those of Mr. Gold. She knew that she's have to ask someone eventually on where to find him so she can talk to him. Perhaps after she's finished eating here she'll start asking around.
Cutting into her stack of pancakes, she was about to take another bite when there was a knock on her door. Opening it, she spotted the sheriff from earlier standing there, "If you're worried about the 'Do Not Disturb' signs, don't worry, I left them alone."
His brown eyes crinkled with humor but it was quickly changed to that of, 'serious cop mode.' "Actually I'm here about something else. I'm here about Dr. Archibald Hopper. He mentioned you got into a bit of a row with him earlier?"
Her mood dropped, "No. I went over there earlier to talk about Henry, but then I left. We didn't get into a fight."
"I was shocked too. And given your shy, delicate sensibilities… He says you demanded to see Henry's files and when he refused, you assaulted him, pushed him against the wall and threatened to hurt him if he didn't comply. When he threatened to push the panic button for the police, you left."
Shock, then anger showed on Emma's face and she explained, "I did no such thing!"
"He's pressing charges. I'm sorry Miss. Swan, but you're under arrest again. This time for Attempted Robbery and Assault."
"What!?" She yelled in disbelief as Graham started to put the cuffs around her wrists. "You know I'm being set up!"
"Who would be setting you up?" Leading Emma outside and towards his patrol car.
"Regina!" She hissed. Emma was furious. She knew the Mayor was behind this. She didn't think that the woman would go to these lengths.
Graham opened up the car's door and gently put her in the backseat, "And why would she be setting you up?"
Waiting until he got into the drivers seat she just said, "She hates me for being here. She thinks I'm here to take Henry away, even though I wouldn't do that."
Arriving at the Sheriff station Graham started the booking process and had Emma in front of the camera and started to take her Mugshot.
Exasperated Emma is still bringing up her innocence and the conspiracy of the frame job. "You know the shrink is lying, right?"
Graham takes a picture of Emma looking at the camera, then once the 'click' of the camera is heard and the flash was seen says, "To the right, please. Why would he lie?"
Turning to the right she answered, "The Mayor put him up to this. She's got to have something on him. He's terrified of her like everyone else in this…town."
'Click.' Looking at Emma he speaks up, "To the left. Regina may be a touch intimidating, but I don't think she'd go as far as a frame job."
"How far would she go? What does she have her hands in?" She turns left with a slight twitch to her eye.
"Well, she's the Mayor. She has her hands in everything."
"Including the police force?" Eyebrow raised and suspicion laced her voice. She really hoped not. She could see that the sheriff was a nice fellow who was just doing his job, but she didn't like to think that the man in front of her couldn't think for himself.
He starts to lead Emma into one of the empty jail cells, when a door is heard being swung open and rapid footsteps running down the hall. Henry appeared, it looked like he was the one running, and coming up behind him was Mary Margaret.
"Hey!"
Graham turns towards the boy who trampled into the room, worry lacing his voice, "Henry! Henry, what are you doing here?"
"His mother told him what happened."
"Of course she did. Henry, I don't know what she said-"
Interrupting Emma, Henry explains, "You're a genius."
"What?" She asked, truly confused.
"I know what you were up to. You were gathering intel for Operation Cobra." Pride shown through his eyes, and he looked at Emma with pure joy on his face.
Looking confused Graham speaks up, "I'm sorry. I'm a bit lost."
"It's need to know, Sheriff. And all you need to know is that Miss Blanchard's going to bail her out."
Emma, shocked again says, "You are? By the way this isn't what I agreed to when we decided to meet up." She flashed the woman who wanted to bail her out with a smile. "Why help me out though?"
Returning the smile she said, "I'm sure we can find another time to hang out. I, uh, trust you. That's why I want to help."
Looking at the Sheriff with a determined set of eyes said with held back anger, "Well, if you can uncuff me, I have something to do."
Henry showed his mother, Emma, the garden shed where the tools were held, and grabbing a chain saw, she went towards the Mayor's office. This would be sweet justice, cutting down some of her tree with her own power tool.
Looking up at the window with glee, she then turned to look at the apple tree and started up the chainsaw. With one final look at the window she turned around and started to cut down the first thick branch she laid her eyes on.
A few moments later she heard Regina shouting, "What the hell are you doing?"
She turned off the power tool and then threw it to the ground, and watched the young Mayor speed walking towards her. "Picking apples."
Regina stopping in front of Emma, points her finger in the woman's face and says with visible anger, "You're out of your mind."
Not holding back her anger this time, Emma replies back, "No, you are if you think a shoddy frame job's enough to scare me off. You're going to have to do better than that. You come after me one more time, I'm coming back for the rest of this tree. Because, sister, you have no idea what I am capable of." Eyes narrowing she turns around and walks away, with a fuming Regina behind her.
Grumbling Emma made her way back towards the Bed & Breakfast. As she unlocked the door to her room, the Inn's owner, Granny spoke up behind her saying, "Miss Swan. Oh my, this is terribly awkward. Uh, I need to ask you to leave. I'm afraid we have a 'no felons' rule. It… It turns out it's a city ordinance."
She held in her rage. 'Damn that infuriating woman!'. "Let me guess, the Mayor just reminded you of that. Can I get my things first please?"
Granny nods and Emma handed her the room key.
'That woman is declaring war.' She thought to herself as she packed her meager things up. 'This is getting exhausting. This is just giving me more of a reason to stay longer!' With an angry huff she threw her clothes into the bag on her bed.
Walking down the stairs and into the cafe Emma glanced at a copy of a paper that was left on one of the tables, and did a double take. Furry crossed her face and she grabbed the paper while sitting down to read the afternoon edition of "The Mirror".
Her face once again plastered on the front of the page, this time her time in Phoenix was shown. Everything. Every detail regarding her arrest and giving birth in jail. With fire blazing in her eyes she left the diner, a few patrons watching her through judging eyes.
Walking towards her car the anger that she was feeling before, rose to new heights. Her car was booted. Then her phone rang, unknown caller. "Yeah?"
Regina's sickly sweet voice wafted through the phone, "Miss Swan, I'd be happy to continue demonstrating my power, but am I right in guessing your resolve to stay is only growing?"
"You have no idea." She replied while leaning against her car.
"Well then. I think it's time we made peace. Why don't you drive over to my office? Or walk, whatever suits you."
Emma was now searching the town for Henry. She was stupid to believe that Regina would actually be handing out an olive branch of peace. Henry had overheard her telling Regina that she thought he was troubled, and his fantasy ideas were crazy. He had looked so devastated and hurt. Guilt crashed through Emma and she wanted to fix the grief she caused Henry.
He was a good kid, he didn't deserve both of his mother's at war with each other. They'd end up hurting Henry, and that's what happened this afternoon. She knows what's it's like to have made up a fantasy, she shouldn't have destroyed his happiness though.
Walking around town, she spots her friend Mary Margaret and walks up to her. "Hey."
It was like the woman could feel that Emma wasn't happy with something, "Hey. Do-do you want to come over?"
Smiling at the one friend she has in town, she nods. As they walk towards Mary's house they pass a bank and Emma quickly goes in, and a few minutes later emerges. "Hey. Just wanted to say thank you and, um, pay you back the bail money." She hands her friend the envelope of cash she was holding.
"Thank you." Smiling she took the envelope and they continued to walk to her house in companionable silence.
"So, what's wrong? You look like you need to talk." Making her way towards her kitchen she starts to make some hot chocolate.
"Thank you." Taking a sip of the hot chocolate she hums contently to herself and speaks up with a bit of surprise, "Cinnamon?"
Blushing, the host replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. I should've asked. It's a little quirk of mine. Do you mind?"
"Not at all. Oh, thanks. When you bailed me out, you said that you trusted me. Why?"
"It's strange. Ever since you arrived here, I've had the oddest feeling like we met before. And, I know it's crazy."
"That's not crazy. I have had that same feeling. Although I feel like I've met the mysterious Mr. Gold before." Seeing her friend's eyes start widening she continues, "I do feel comfortable around you as well."
"Mr. Gold huh?" She asks genuinely curious. "He's someone you have to watch out for as well. He's about as difficult as Regina is."
"Oh." She sure hopes not. She had hoped that Mr. Gold would be vastly different than Regina.
Sensing that Emma's mood was turning south, and not wanting to see her friend upset, Mary Margaret says with piped up saying, "For what it's worth, I think you're innocent."
Appreciating the change of subject, she smiled, then asked, "Of breaking and entering, or just in general?"
"Whichever makes you feel better."
"It doesn't really matter what anyone thinks I did or didn't do. I'm leaving. Thank you – for everything – but I think it's for the best. If I stay, Henry's only going to keep getting hurt."
"What happens if you go? I think they very fact that you want to leave, is why you have to stay. You care about him. Who will protect Henry if you won't?"
"You're right. I have to go." Looking around nervously she then asks, "Do you mind giving me a lift?"
Grabbing her coat, Mary Margaret replies with joy, "Of course not. Let's go."
Emma was quiet on the way to Archie's office. She knew Henry would be there, because of Regina earlier. In a way, that crappy moment was a blessing in disguise. Emma wouldn't have known that's where he'd be today, and if he forgives her, then their relationship would just get stronger.
Lost in her thoughts she jumped when her friend's voice crashed through, "We're here."
Jumping out of the jeep with a, "Thanks!" She then ran into the building and into Archie's office, interrupting their therapy session.
Archie, in shock jumped up and said in a panic, "Miss Swan! Look, I can explain. The Mayor forced me to-"
"Don't worry about it. I get it." She then Ignored the panicking man and kneels down in front of her son and apologizes, "Henry, I'm sorry."
Henry, still upset at his mother turns away and doesn't look at her. "I don't want to talk to you."
She gently touches Henry's shoulder and explained, "Henry, there is one simple reason I stayed here. You. I wanted to get to know you."
Looking at her, his eyes shining with unshed tears, he trembled saying, "You think I'm crazy."
"No, I think the curse is crazy. But, that doesn't mean that it isn't true. I know there are a lot of crazy things in this world. I've had my moments before as well. So what do I know. Maybe it is true."
"But you told my mom."
Smiling at her son she answers, "What she needed to hear. What I do know, is that if the curse is real, the only way to break it is by tricking the Evil Queen into thinking that we are non-believers. Cause that way, she's not on to us. Isn't that what Operation Cobra was all about? Throwing her off the trail?" She smirks seeing her son's voice turn ecstatic.
"Brilliant!" He jumps up and gives Emma a hug, which she gladly returns with smile as well.
"I've read the pages and, Henry, you are right. They are dangerous. There is only one way to make sure that she never sees them." She turns towards the fire in Archie's fireplace and tosses the torn pages of the book that Henry had given her earlier.
"I knew you were here to help me."
"That's right, kid. I am. And nothing, not even a curse, is going to stop that." She looked at him with pride and said, "Let's go to the castle, there's something I need to tell you before you see it for yourself." Nodding at his mother, the two of them leave Archie's office, with the doctor having a smile on his face as well.
Mr Gold was having an interesting day. He had read both of today's paper editions and felt bad that his friend's personal life was being broadcast for everyone to see. He had stayed cooped up in his shop all day long… he kept telling himself that he wasn't hiding, he was just doing inventory, so he wouldn't run into Emma on the street.
He was curious though, he needed to see how the Mayor was handling having the Savior in town now. So after hours of being holed up in his shop he decided to leave to see what kind of damage the two were doing to each other.
Of course when he decides to leave his shop, that's when Emma decides to walk past his vision, but she's too engrossed in what little Henry next to her was saying that she didn't even notice him.
He arrived at the Regina's office to see her cleaning up her tree that looked like it had seen better days. 'Hmm Emma sure has a temper on her.' He chuckled to himself, pleased to see Regina's precious apple tree tortured. "What a mess."
Regina, pausing from picking up the last apple from the ground, looks up to see Mr. Gold standing there. "Not for long. What could I do for you, Mr. Gold?"
"I was just in the neighborhood. Thought I'd pop by. Lovely to see you in such high spirits."
Standing up, the smiling Regina replies with joy, "Well, it's been a good day. I just rid the town of an unwanted nuisance."
"Emma Swan. Really?"
"Yes. I imagine she's half way to Boston by now."
Ah today was a good day for him as well! He laughed a full hearty laugh inside, but outwardly only cracked a smile and said, "Oh, I wouldn't bet on that. I just seen her strolling down the main street with your boy. Thick as thieves, they looked."
Shock shown on Regina's face, and that was followed by a harsh, "What?"
"If Miss Swan is a problem you can't fix, I'm only too happy to help. For a price, of course." Regina didn't need to know that his reason was to just keep an eye out for Emma. Sure he wasn't going to actively search her out, but it didn't mean he wasn't going to watch her back from a distance.
As if she read his mind, Regina's eyes narrowed and she stated, "I'm not in the business of making deals with you anymore."
"To which deal are you referring?"
"You know what deal."
"Oh, right. Yeah. The boy I procured for you. Henry. Did I ever tell you what a lovely name that was? However did you pick it?" Of course he knew, but he wanted to rub in the pain.
Regina with a bit of anger in her voice, "Did you want her to come to town? You wanted all this to happen, didn't you? Your finding Henry wasn't an accident, was it?"
Of course not, but she didn't need to know that. He had to make sure his Savior got here, so what better way than to have a reason for her to come here. He didn't know that her son would be the one to actually leave and find her though. "Whatever do you mean?"
"Where did you get him? Do you know something?" She walked closer towards Mr. Gold, a frown marking her face.
"I have no idea what you're implying."
"I think you do. Who is this woman, his mother, this…Emma Swan?"
'An old friend, that I'm watching out for now. Also, the key to unlocking the curse like I told you when you came to visit me.' He thought excitedly. He then looked at Regina in the eyes, and almost dared her to do something, "You know exactly who she is. I really must be going."
He's walking away and he's about to leave the yard when Regina blocks his path, "Tell me what you know about her."
Gowling low enough that she doesn't hear, but the he answers politely saying, "I'm not going to answer you, dear. So I suggest you excuse me." Leaning into Regina's face slightly, he adds, "Please." Then he leave the yards in better spirits than when he entered.
His work will be cut out for him, it might be harder to manipulate her than he had thought. Who doesn't love a puzzle? She is just a puzzle that he will have to solve. A smile graces his face as he walks back to his shop.
Sitting at Henry's Castle she handed over the news paper article, and was waiting for any kind of response from her son. Finally the silence was broken by his, "I was born in jail?"
Emma nodded sadly, "I had a rough time. I ended up going to jail because I made the mistake in trusting someone. I didn't know I was pregnant until I was sentenced."
He looked upset at finding out this, "Why didn't you want me?"
Sighing, she turned her head and looked out towards the rolling waves of the ocean before he and was silent for a few moments. "It's not that I didn't want you. I was eighteen and scared. I was in jail, I let the fear of being a bad mother make the decision. I wanted you to have the best life you could have. I was not in the position to raise a child right. When I would get out, the two of us, living in a car on the road. I wasn't mother material." She glanced at Henry and continued, "You are a smart, young man, who has a great life here."
He was about to interrupt her when she said that, but Emma held up a finger and he kept his thoughts, for now. "Even though Regina is intense, she has given you a better life then I could have. But, you finding me, was the happiest moment in my life. I wouldn't give this up for anything."
Henry launched himself at Emma and gave her a hug and said, "Please don't leave Storybrooke. Even if I don't live with you, I need you here with me!"
Nodding in happiness and mind made up, she knew she was going to stay. "Any more questions before I walk you back to your house?"
Nodding he asked with a quiet voice, "What about my dad?"
Sucking in a breath she answered in a shaky voice, "He doesn't know about you. He left before either of us found out I was pregnant. I didn't search him out, because I was hurt, and when he left, he didn't give me a way to reach him." She gently put her hands around his face and gentle said, "With my connections and my job, I could have found him, but I didn't want to."
He nodded sadly, and gave his mother another hug before the two stood up. Hand in hand, and hearts closer, Emma walked her son back towards his home.
AN: I hope this was an okay chapter. Next Chapter, Emma finds Mr. Gold, and we'll see how that will work out. Stay tuned! :D