Chapter 1
The first thing that hit Regina Mills when she entered Granny's diner was not the strong waft of waffles, not the aroma of coffee, not even the grumble of her stomach but the scene of Mary Margaret Blanchard giggling over the counter with Ruby Lucas. Just the perfect way to start her Saturday morning, she grouched. Not bothering to hide her scowl, Regina made a beeline toward the duo who immediately fell into silence once they spotted her.
"Madame Mayor," Ruby greeted politely. "Your usual?"
"Yes," Regina nodded toward the waitress, not even giving the pixie haired brunette a glance. "But I'll have it to go."
"And a hot chocolate too, with whipped cream and cinnamon!"
Henry's voice piped up beside her and Regina turned to give her son the eye. "Henry, you do know it is too early for sweet drinks."
"It's already ten in the morning!" Henry protested, his storybook in hand and giving her the puppy dog eyes, knowing that was foolproof for getting what he wanted. "Please?"
Heaving a sigh, Regina pursed her lips. "Fine, but we're having salad tonight."
"Fine," Henry grouchily replied. Salad for dinner can be balanced out with his secret stash of sweets under his bed, he thought as he rushed over to greet his teacher, a gesture that never fails to annoy his mother immensely.
"Hi, Miss Blanchard!" Henry eagerly greeted as he settled in the seat beside her at the counter, conveniently bringing space between Regina and Mary Margaret.
"Hi Henry," the woman smiled before turning toward his mother, suddenly feeling very flustered in the presence of the older brunette. "M-Madame Mayor, good morning."
Mary Margaret watched as Regina gave a curt nod to her, barely a form of acknowledgement, before moving to the far end of the counter, idly browsing through some brochures that are definitely of no interest to the powerful woman. She never really understood how or why but the Mayor always seemed to be reluctant to be near her, almost as if she hated being in her presence. But then again, there was no one Regina Mills was not aloof to, except her son.
"Thank you for giving me this book," Henry beamed up at her as his fingers traced the large bold words of 'Once Upon A Time' imprinted on the old leather of the cover. "I'm close to finishing it!"
"Wow," Mary Margaret bobbed her head up and down, impressed. It was a pretty thick book, after all. "I just gave it to you yesterday and now you're almost finished?"
"Yup," the ten year old grinned proudly, and then he leaned in close enough so that his voice was barely a whisper. "Did you know that everything in this book is true?"
Mary Margaret raised an eyebrow, confused.
"The curse," Henry continued. "In the book, the Evil Queen cast a powerful curse that brought all the fairytale characters from the Enchanted Forest to this world and when they came here, everyonehas no idea who they really are."
"Okay…" Mary Margaret nodded, trying to catch up with the boy. In truth, she had always noticed how the other children in her class always left Henry out just because nobody wants to play with "the Mayor's kid" and had felt sorry for him. This led her to scour Mr. Gold's Pawnshop until she found the story book, which she thought was quite suitable for him, and felt that maybe it could at least be of some company to the young boy.
"And do you know what else?"
"What?"
"Everyone in this town is in this book."
Mary Margaret stared wide-eyed at the boy into his hopeful eyes. As an elementary school teacher, she knew how rampant a child's imagination can be. Not wanting to run him down so quickly, she encouraged him to go on.
"So you're saying that everyone in our town… is a fairytale character?"
Henry nodded eagerly, glad that his teacher believed him although the skeptical look on Mary Margaret's face said otherwise.
"You are Snow White, and she," he pointed to Ruby who was busying herself with packing the beverages. "Is Little Red Riding Hood. You two were like, best friends before the curse. Maybe that's why you guys get along so well now!"
Mary Margaret glanced at the waitress and can't help but smile. It was strange, how she had so easily clicked with Ruby the first time she met her in the diner even though they look the complete opposite of each other. Although she knew better than to continue entertaining him, Mary Margaret's curiosity got the better of her.
"So who do you think is this 'Evil Queen'?"
Her stomach did an involuntary small flip when she saw Henry's face sobered up and he lowered his voice once more.
"My mom."
"Henry, let's go."
The deep voice of the Mayor startled them and they immediately jumped apart, faces turning beet red as if they were two teens caught in the act of shoplifting. Regina stood behind them holding on the to-go bags, a perfectly sculpted eyebrow raised at their behaviour. She said nothing, however, only tilting her head at Henry, a silent order for him to heed her.
Obeying his mother, Henry quickly slid out of his seat and bid a hasty goodbye to Mary Margaret and Ruby before following the Mayor out, the book tucked securely under his arm as Mary Margaret watched the two leave.
Now here's the thing about the door to Granny's diner; it was your everyday typical town kind of rickety door that swung out from the inside. For some reason, Granny had put up blinds on the entrance windows and door of the diner ("Damn sunlight," she had once said). Now so conveniently on this particular Saturday morning (which Granny had so conveniently taken the weekend off, leaving the diner to her granddaughter), the blinds to the entrance door had been drawn, effectively blocking off the line of sight from the inside to the outside and vice versa.
In her haste to get away from the pixie haired brunette, Regina walked in quick strides toward the entrance door, an arm stretched to push the door only for it to swing open from the other side and she collided into another body. Harshly. Her other arm, which had been safeguarding the to-go bag, flattened against her torso on the impact, the spilt coffee and hot chocolate leaking through the thin material and onto her silk blouse.
"Jesus Christ!"
It did not help that the two words uttered from the other person was not even an apology and Regina glared at her dripping self, before turning to finally face the woman who had been responsible for all this mess.
[-]
Emma Swan had a bad morning.
Sure, last night had been one of nervous albeit excited haste: learning about Storybrooke, packing, and then making the four hour drive from Boston to Maine. But that had soon delayed to become an eight hour drive due to some road works and a major accident somewhere on the highway, causing traffic to move like a snail. When she finally got out of heavy traffic, Emma was no doubt exhausted and pissed.
When she had finally managed to roll into Storybrooke, she did not even bother with examining her surroundings as she drove straight into Main Street and thanked whatever gods above that there was a diner.
A triple shot espresso would help, was all she remembered thinking before the collision happened.
Now standing with dripping coffee on her shirt from the other woman's to-go bag, Emma decided she's had it with all this fuckery thrown at her and cursed out loud.
"Jesus Christ!"
The brunette woman glared at her with such ferocity Emma felt her heart initially thumping faster out of fear but it soon burgeoned into anger when the other woman spoke.
"I believe it is not the second coming," Regina snapped, sass still in place despite her current messy appearance. "Now you've ruined my blouse!"
"Please," Emma retorted back, quickly shrugging off her red leather jacket which thankfully, had not gotten soiled in the process. "You are the one who can't look where she's going and just in case you haven't noticed, my clothes are ruined too."
Regina glanced at the brown stain on the brunette's tank top and scoffed, "That rag you call 'clothes' is not even worth the price of the floor mats in my house."
Then grabbing Henry, she stepped up close to the blonde and snarled, "I will see you pay for this." With that, she pushed the blonde roughly aside and walked off.
Emma rolled her eyes and shook her head. Some people are mad crazy, she thought as she made a beeline toward the counter where the waitress had been looking on.
"What?" She asked as the tall brunette, who was wearing way too little by the way, stared in what seemed to be shock at her.
"Wow," The waitress breathed. "No one has ever spoken to the Mayor like that before, you're a first."
This time, it was Emma's turn to scoff. "She's the Mayor? God, how do you people survive with such a tyrant?"
The waitress shrugged. "We're used to it. I'm Ruby, by the way."
"Emma Swan," Emma replied. "Say, do you happen to have a laundry room around here?"
Ruby nodded. "It's just at the back."
"Thanks," Emma replied before heading off in the direction Ruby had directed her to.
Stepping inside the laundry room, Emma closed the door to ensure a little privacy before quickly stripping off her white tank top and dumping it in a washing machine. Noticing some dry clothes hanging on the clothes rack above, Emma grabbed one blue cotton blouse before putting it on.
"Oh hello!"
She jumped and spun around, almost cursing because who in the right mind would sneak up on people like that before she stopped. And stared. She had an idea of what to expect when she made the trip here of course, just… not so soon, and definitely not under such circumstances.
Mary Margaret smiled at the blonde stranger as she stepped in from the back, previously wringing out some wet clothes.
"The dryer is spoiled," she said, making conversation. "So I guess you have to either wait for Billy, the maintenance guy, or blow your clothes dry yourself."
Emma watched mouth still agape, as the brunette woman, her mother, stopped beside her and placed her basket of clothes atop the washing machine.
"But I suggest you take the latter, Granny always takes on such duties and she's off for the weekend so you'd have to wait till Monday."
When Mary Margaret turned to smile at her and Emma immediately felt her tears gather, her voice too choked to speak. It was as if she was a child again, dreaming about her mother's gentle smile, only this time it was real.
"Are you alright?" Mary Margaret's concerned voice brought her back to reality and Emma turned away, quickly brushing her tears aside and clearing her throat.
"Uh, yeah, I uh…" She turned to look back toward her mother again. Something wasn't right. "I… You… D-do you remember me?"
Dammit get it together, Swan.
Mary Margaret stared blankly at the blonde before smiling apologetically. "I'm sorry; I don't think we've met before."
That's right how could she be so stupid, Emma mentally berated herself. It had been twenty three years since they last saw each other and she definitely would have looked different from her five year old self.
"Oh… I-I'm Emma," Emma replied slowly, scanning the other woman's face for any trace of recognition at the name. "Emma Swan."
"Emma…" the brunette smiled dreamily, as if in a trance. "Such a pretty name! To be honest, I have always wanted to name my child that too. I'm Mary Margaret Blanchard!"
At this, Emma started. Something was definitely wrong, either that or she is crazy.
"So are you new in town?"
"Uh yeah," Emma gave a tiny smile.
"Oh," Mary Margaret smiled back so freely, it almost hurt. "We seldom get any visitors in this town. In fact, I think you're a first!"
"I might be staying here for a while. There are… things I need to do."
And answers to find.
"You can try Granny's Bed and Breakfast! It's just around the corner from here; I can help you ask Ruby about that."
"Oh no," Emma declined on instinct and then mentally cursed herself when she saw the other woman's dejected face. "I mean, I appreciate your help. But I'm just used to independence."
Mary Margaret nodded. "Alright, if you need anything you know you can approach me?"
It was a question and Emma cannot help but feel a bittersweet clutch in her gut. "I will… if I ever need help."
With that, she politely excused herself, leaving Mary Margaret staring after her.
[-]
"See to it immediately, Sidney." Regina barked into the phone, irritancy remaining at a high level at the man's flustered state.
After speeding home and changing into something comfortable and most importantly, dry¸ she had realized how disconcerting of a fact it was that she had never seen the blonde stranger around town before. Which led to only one thing: she was new to town, a stranger. Sensing threat, she had ordered Sidney to monitor the blonde's movements. At least this was sufficient enough to give her a sense of security, for now, that is.
As Regina sat in the living room contemplating all this, little did she know that just upstairs of her mansion, a revelation had been made that could most possibly change her life forever.
[-]
Emma sat at the counter sipping from her hot chocolate and discreetly observing the people in the diner.
If her gut feeling about the postcard was accurate, why is it that everyone in this town seemed so… normal? It was true that she had prepared for this journey not knowing what to expect, but from what she had deduced in her observations, it was just highly unlikely. She needed more information but from what she had asked Ruby earlier, it seems like she will not be getting answers anytime soon. Or so, she thought.
The diner's bell chimed as Emma watched a little kid run in and slid two seats away beside her, dumping his huge ass book on the counter with a heavy thud.
"Ruby," the boy hissed, not even giving her a glance.
"Henry?" Ruby asked. "What are you doing here and where's your mom?"
"She doesn't know I'm here," the boy, Henry, replied. "Where is Mary Margaret?"
"She left around half an hour ago. And you should probably go back, before Regina finds out." Then turning to Emma, Ruby set the bear claws Emma had previously ordered in front of her.
"Here you go, Emma."
"Thanks," Emma said, reaching out to take one.
"Emma? As in, Emma Swan?"
Emma turned swiftly to her left, suddenly aware of how the boy was sitting right next to her and staring at her with bulging eyes.
"Kid, how do you know my last name?" Emma raised a skeptical eyebrow at him, suddenly very cautious.
Henry just continued staring at her with a disbelieving look. "Y-you're Emma Swan… What are you doing here? I thought you were in Boston?"
Emma stared at the kid aghast. How the hell did this kid know something she had never revealed?
Emma gave a side glance to Ruby, who had been darting her eyes toward them suspiciously, and her heart rate picked up. She had come here on a mission and she was definitely not going to let some kid ruin it for her.
"Okay kid let's go," Emma rose from her seat, signaling for Ruby to pack her bear claws to-go.
"Where're we going?"
"To talk."
"Only if I choose where we're going."
"Why should I listen to you?" Emma retorted. "You're just a kid."
"Why should I listen to you? How would I know you wouldn't kidnap me?"
"How would I know you wouldn't kidnap me?" Emma countered.
"Because I'm just a kid," Henry grinned.
Realizing she had been outwitted, Emma sighed. "Fine, let's go."
[-]
"So… this is a playground?" Emma looked at the dilapidated state of the wood construction.
Henry shrugged. "I call it my castle. The other kids don't play here because it's old and not fun, but I like it here."
Emma hummed in acknowledgement as she followed Henry and hoisted herself onto the wooden banister.
"Okay kid, speak. How do you know who I am?"
Henry took a deep breath and started. "Do you remember the baby you gave up ten years ago?"
Emma's face scrunched into a flabbergasted look. Jesus, now this kid even knows about my past?
"That was me."
It took a minute for Emma to take that in as she stared apprehensively at… her son. Then she gave a cynical laugh.
"Kid, I'll give you that one. Man, you're pretty good huh, scaring people and all."
"You think I'm lying? It's the truth! I went to a website on the Internet and I found your name and address!" Then Henry promptly shut his mouth, not wanting to say about the part where he had slipped Mary Margaret's credit card from her wallet earlier that day.
At this, Emma stopped. It does not seem that this kid was lying but then again, nothing made sense. What was the son she gave up for adoption ten years ago doing in this town? Why did her mother look so awfully young when a full twenty three years had passed? Where was her father? And where was the person who had been behind all this? Emma closed her eyes and rubbed her temples, it was so confusing it hurt to even think about it.
At her prolonged silence, Henry continued, "I was thinking of going to Boston to look for you, actually. But then I'm not surprised you're here, in Storybrooke. You're the Saviour after all."
Emma snapped her head up. "What?"
"The curse!" Henry grinned. "The curse that the Evil Queen cast!"
This kid was really taking her by surprise each minute.
"How did you know about the curse?"
Henry held up the huge ass book that his tiny arms had been holding on to. "This! Everything in this book actually happened and everyone in this town is a character in here! The Evil Queen cast a very powerful curse that sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest into this world and they have no memory of who they really are!"
No memory… Of course, Emma realized. It is no wonder that her name had not even ringed a bell in her mother's head.
"Time has stopped in this town for twenty three years and only the Saviour can break the curse and make time start again! You are the Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, the Saviour who can break the curse!"
Emma reached forward and took the book from Henry. "Where did you get this from?"
"My teacher, Miss Blanchard gave it to me."
"Mary Margaret Blanchard?"
Henry nodded. "She didn't seem to believe me when I told her about the curse. But that's okay because it's only the curse that is blocking her memory. Once you break the Evil Queen's curse, everyone will start to remember."
Emma silently flipped through the book and looked at the illustrations. She had heard so many stories of the Evil Queen from her mother as a child and this book had accurately reflected each and every one of them.
Emma stopped at a picture of Prince Charming and pointed at it, looking toward Henry. "My father… where is he?"
Henry widened his eyes. "You believe me?"
At this, Emma gave a small smile. "Of course, I wouldn't forget the biggest thing that happened in my childhood."
Henry paused for a moment before remembering. "Oh yeah! You were put into the wardrobe at five!"
Emma smiled again and nodded. "Where is Prince Charming?"
"He's in the hospital," Henry said. "He has been in a coma since the earliest I can remember."
"You mean my parents are not together, in this world?"
Henry shook his head. "That's why the Evil Queen cast the curse, to take away everyone's happy endings!"
"Who is this Evil Queen?" Emma asked, the sheer frustration this unknown woman was bringing her is nearly driving her insane.
"Actually…" Henry trailed off, suddenly avoiding her gaze. "You've met her before."
"What?"
"The lady who you crashed into this morning at the diner? She's my mother, the Mayor of this town."
Emma blinked as she recalled the morning's events. She had not seen the kid in the midst of the chaos but suddenly it all made sense: the way Ruby had looked at her when she talked back to the Mayor, the glaring gaze from the woman herself, the way everyone seemed almost petrified of her. The Evil Queen had been Queen once and it was only fitting she wanted to be the ruler in this land again.
"The Evil Queen adopted you?"
Henry kept his head down, a feeling of sadness washing over him. "Yeah, but she doesn't love me."
"How do you know?"
"She can't. When she cast the curse, there will be a void within her. A void she can't be able to fill," Henry quoted. "So it's impossible."
Emma kept silent, a plan already hatching in her head.
"Kid, how would you like to help me on this mission?"
Henry's brow crinkled. "What mission?"
"To break the curse."
"Definitely!" Henry jumped up in excitement. "We can call it Operation Cobra."
Emma broke into small laughter at the weird name but accepted it nonetheless, "Anything you'd like, but we have to keep it a secret."
"Pinky promise," Henry agreed as they hooked pinkies.
Then glancing at his watch, Henry quickly packed his stuff. "Oh shoot, my mom is going to find out I'm missing! It's close to lunch!"
Emma got up as well. "I'll drive you."
"Thanks," Henry replied as they clambered into Emma's bug.
"Where to, kid?"
"108 Mifflin Street."
[-]
"Henry, lunch is ready!"
When there was no sign or sound of movement upstairs, Regina frowned.
"Henry?" She said, making her way up the stairs and toward her son's bedroom.
"Henry, I made spaghet-" She stopped abruptly when she saw the state of her son's bedroom: empty.
In a flash, Regina rushed downstairs and grabbed her car keys, peeved that Henry had sneaked out on her again but even more worried because what if he got into an accident?
Just as she opened her front door however, a yellow beetle pulled up at her entrance and that became the least of her worries when Henry stepped out of the car and she heaved a sigh of relief. But soon, the flame that was her anger rekindled when she saw who else got out of the car: the blonde stranger.
Rushing toward them, she bent down and put a hand to Henry's face.
"Where did you go, Henry? You know the rules, no sneaking out. If you want to go somewhere, just tell me and I'll gladly take you." Regina said, her tone stern yet shadowing an undertone of concern.
"I found my real mom," Henry bit back, ducking his head from her touch and running into the house.
Regina stood back up and surveyed the blonde in shock.
"You're Henry's birth mother?"
Suddenly under the scrutiny of the Evil Queen, Emma nervously licked her lips. "I guess we've met."
Straightening herself, Regina never broke the blonde's gaze. "Come in, we need to talk."
[-]
"So, Miss Swan," Regina addressed the blonde from their brief introduction earlier, pouring a glass of apple cider for both of them. "What brings you here?"
Emma shrugged casually as she looked around Regina's study. "I wasn't doing well with my old job so I decided to move up to Maine. Who knew I took a wrong turn and ended up stumbling into the town of Storybrooke."
"Which you so happened to find out the child you gave away ten years ago was in," Regina skeptically said, handing the glass to Emma and settling opposite her.
"Yes," Emma said confidently.
"Well, if you expect me to believe that," Regina smiled and for a second Emma thought she could get away with it. "I don't."
Or not.
"That's up to you," Emma gave another shrug, taking a sip of the cider and finding it surprisingly good.
"What business do you have with Henry?"
"Look lady," Emma sighed, exasperated. "I'm not trying to take your son away if that's what you're thinking. You've been with him since birth, I get it. But now that I know he is the kid I gave birth to, I'm not going to sit back and not do anything. Maybe a little time with him would be great."
"Am I hearing things or are you actually asking permission to spend time with my son," Regina snickered. "I'm his mother."
Emma downed the rest of her drink as she eyed the brunette warily.
"I mean, of course I respect that fact," Emma replied. "But I'm not asking for much. Like an outing or an ice cream treat, even half an hour would suffice."
The look Regina gave her was so dirty Emma mentally applauded herself when she did not shrink back.
"You're missing the point, Miss Swan. I'm his mother," Regina reiterated. "What I say goes and right now, I say you are to stay away from my son."
Then Regina stood up abruptly and stalked toward the door, holding it open.
"The exit is this way."
Although surprised by the sudden turn of events, Emma rose and brushed past Regina, heading toward the main door.
"Oh, and Miss Swan?"
Emma spun around to see Regina holding out a laundry bag.
"The shirt you soiled this morning? I want it washed and dry by tomorrow." Regina grinned devilishly.
"What? I don't even have a place to stay." Emma protested.
"Then deal with the consequences."
Without even a word of goodbye, Regina closed the door with a loud thud once Emma stepped onto the porch.
It didn't matter if the Evil Queen was one hell of a bitch, Emma decided. She needed to find a place to wash that damn blouse, she needed to see Henry again. As she made her way to her bug, Emma considered what she had found out in the short period of time she spent in Storybrooke. A plan was definitely in place, she checked as she got in the bug.
That was when she noticed Henry's book lying on his passenger seat. It took a moment, then she got it. Picking up the book and feeling its velvety texture, Emma smiled.
That smart kid.
A/N: The winter finale really hit me hard and I must say I was reduced to heap of sobbing mess. Thank you to all who have read and I hope you enjoyed this chapter! All mistakes are mine.