Sorry! Sorry! Life... life... life. I will try to be better about posting and thanks to those that haven't given up. I actually have the next few episodes written, it's just a matter of making time to post and edit. However, I'll make more of an effort. Enjoy! :)

Enchanted Forest:

The sun was shining through the clouds, creating spectacular sun-streaks over the forest. Elizabeth was enjoying the view of the forest and villages, that were just beyond the palace, but she was clearly bored. There was nothing to do and Regina wasn't due back until super. Elizabeth had asked Regina to take her with on the trip, wherever it was she was going, but Regina said it was matters for an adult. It took a lot of will power for Elizabeth not to roll her eyes at that, but she didn't want to upset her mother or disobey, so she'd nodded her understanding and kissed Regina on the cheek goodbye.

Elizabeth often found myself spending countless hours on Regina's balcony, reading, writing or trying to find ways to pass the time. She longed to be out exploring, visiting the nearby villages, but her mother had told her that she needed to stay in the palace. You could see some of the villages from the balcony, hence why the girl spent so much time here. She'd pretend she was out there. Elizabeth usually became swept up in her day dreams, but today her mind was blank.

She'd just decided to go sneak to the kitchen for a snack, when someone cleared their throat behind her. Elizabeth gave a small jump, and turned around. "Oh, grandfather! You startled me." Elizabeth said with a smile. Grandfather was one of her favorite people. He never failed to make Elizabeth laugh, and was always bringing her cookies, just out of the oven.

"My apologies, Lizzie." Another smile flashed across the girl's face at the nick name. Henry was the only one that called her Lizzie. He bowed his head slightly in apology and continued, "I came to see if you'd like to help me start super?"

Elizabeth gave one last look at the forest and turned back to him, nodding. At least it would help the time pass, and Grandfather had the best stories.

Elizabeth was cutting up apples, for a pie, when her Grandfather asked, "are you happy?" The girl was intent on the task at hand, and the question took her by surprise.

Elizabeth's head snapped up and she looked at him questioningly. "Of course," She said back, without thinking.

Henry was looking at the potatoes he was cutting up for a stew. "Don't you miss your friends or running around the country side? Don't you miss Snow?"

Elizabeth's body visibly tensed at the mention of Snow's name. "I…" It was clear the girl was confused as to where all of this was coming from. They weren't allowed to speak of Snow, unless Regina brought her up.

"Grandfather, you know mother asked me to stay in the palace" Elizabeth finally replied.

"That didn't used to stop you," he responded with a chuckle.

Elizabeth smiled. "Yes, but that was when I was a reckless kid. I know better, now." She said with a shrug, as she turned to look for the cinnamon.

"Do you remember how you got that necklace?"

Elizabeth froze, her hand on her locket. It seemed to be a stress reaction, to hold the charm in her hand. Slowly, she dropped her hand down, walked over to wash her hands, and grabbed a rag to wipe the sticky apple off the necklace.

"Of course. Mother gave it to me." Elizabeth said back. A sad sigh came from behind her, so she turned to look at him. "Grandfather?" she questioned quietly.

Henry looked at her, with a sadness in his eyes that she'd never seen before. "When was the last time you remember seeing Snow?"

Another question that made Elizabeth's head spin. She wanted to demand an answer as to what this was all about, but the older man seemed to be trying to figure out something himself. "Uhh, I guess not since before she ran away."

The rims of Elizabeth's eyes reddened with tears at this thought, so she walked over to grab the cinnamon and turned back to the apples.

"She did alter your memories," She heard Henry grumble under his breath.

"What are you talking about?" Elizabeth finally requested.

"My dear… This isn't you. Your mother… She… You need to take off the locket." Henry demanded in an urgent voice.

The urgency and frustration in his voice filled Elizabeth with worry and it was clear she was about to respond, when from the doorway came, "There you two are! I've been looking everywhere for you both."

Regina entered the kitchen, her long, black, shimmering dress dragging behind her. Per-usual, her hair was piled on her head, there was dark eyeliner around her eyes, and her lips were a deep red.

Part of Elizabeth wanted to laugh at seeing her mother, the queen, in the kitchen. It was comical and clear that Regina didn't belong in there. "Oh mother! You're back!" Elizabeth finally exclaimed. "Please tell me all about your trip," She practically begged, clearly relieved to have ended the conversation with her grandfather.

"Let's head somewhere more comfortable and we can chat. I have a surprise for you." Regina replied, giving her father a stern look, that let him know she'd overheard their conversation.

Elizabeth walked over to wash her hands, again, and then hurried to join her mother. As the women retreated down the hall, Henry heard his daughter say, "I was thinking that you should start coming with me on my trips."

A sad look spread over the older man's face. He knew Regina would seldom leave Elizabeth with him alone now. Henry turned back to making supper, his mind thinking over things, while his daughter and Elizabeth climbed the stairs to Regina's sitting room.

Elizabeth's own mind was trying to understand all that had just happened. Her hand toying with her locket, trying to remember how she'd gotten it. Her grandfather had seemed so worried, but why? Why did she feel as if she were missing something? Elizabeth looked at her mother, walking next to her with her hand on Elizabeth's shoulder as if to guide her. Could it be possible her mother had done something to her? Elizabeth had never questioned why she wasn't allowed to leave the palace, but now that Regina had mentioned that she could, the girl was suspicious. Of what, she didn't know. Only that something wasn't quite right.

Storybrooke:

Emma and Henry were walking to the bus. Feeling like a creeper, I tried to stay far enough back, hoping no one would see me, but close enough so that I could see where the blonde went. Finally, the bus pulled away and Emma started down the sidewalk. "Okay, Maddie. Now." I tried to prompt myself.

I was about to run to catch up with her, when the sheriff car stopped in front of Emma, with the siren blaring. I'd barley moved a step, so I quickly pulled back, and watched. Being where I was hiding, I was too far away to hear the conversation, but Emma looked amused at whatever Grant was saying to her. Eventually, Sheriff Grant got back in the car and drove off, as Emma continued down the sidewalk to Granny's. I was about to start after her, when a voice sounded next to me, "Maddie?"

I startled, and quickly suppressed the scream that tried to escape my throat. I looked up, and took in Dr. Hopper standing next to me. "H, H, Hi." I managed to stutter out. Dr. Hopper looked down at his watch, then back up to me. "Do I want to know what you're up to?" He questioned, but without any trace of accusation.

"Can we just pretend you didn't see me here?" I tried to sound innocent, even though it was clear I was up to something. The shrink gave me a soft, but knowing look, and said, "Deal, but do be careful. Whatever it is you're trying to do." With that, he turned and headed towards his office.

Letting out a breath, I tried to regain my composure, and continued on my way to find the blonde. As I was coming up to the diner, my mother suddenly emerged, a smug look on her face. I froze on the spot, my heart instantly pounding and adrenalin and fear surging through my veins. I couldn't move. I could have sworn I'd watched her go towards her office this morning, what on earth…

By the time I realized I should hide, instead of standing in the middle of the sidewalk, my mom was already at the entryway of Granny's. I just stared in horror, waiting for her to spot me. However, thank the heavens, she was looking down at her phone and turned the opposite direction of me. Before risking a chance of her looking back, I ducked my head and ran to the diner. It was becoming very clear that I wasn't meant to be a detective.

Shaking my head to clear it, again, I looked around and realized Emma was nowhere in sight. I noticed Ruby behind the counter, giving me a puzzled look, so I walked up. "Have you seen Emma?"

"The blonde? Yeah, she's in the laundry room of the Inn." She said with a shrug. I started to turn, when Ruby stopped me. "Here." She said, handing me a to go cup of coffee. I gave her an appreciative smile, and walked through the back. This whole thing was taking way longer than I had planned and there was no way I was getting to school in time for second period.

Walking towards the back, I could hear Emma talking to someone. I knew the other voice, but couldn't think of who it belonged to. Not wanting to barge in, I leaned against the wall and sipped my coffee. Not long after, Emma walked out and stopped dead in front of me, taking me in. She opened her mouth to say something and then closed it.

"Can we talk?" I finally asked. The blonde looked back towards the laundry room, then over me, almost like she was looking for something or someone. "Uh, yeah. Sure." She said, as if unsure whether it was a good idea.

The blonde and I were sitting on the deck of the jungle gym, sipping drinks and swinging our legs.

"So you decided to stay?" I said lamely.

Emma chuckled, "I'm glad everyone seems to have noticed." She replied somewhat sarcastically.

Alright, get to the point, Maddie. "Do you believe Henry?"

I watched her process the question. She took her time and really thought it over. "I don't know." She finally answered, and I could tell she was being honest.

We were silent for a few minutes. "So, what is it you want know, Maddie?" Emma asked. She didn't mean anything by it, simply she was curious.

"I don't know." I finally responded. Then laughed at the response, that was the same as her own. She smiled, and looked down at our swinging feet. "Henry… Henry's my brother. He's turned our family upside, found you, and thinks you're going to save the day. I don't want him to get hurt." I mumbled at the end.

"I think we both know he's already hurting." Emma said, sympathetically.

"I want to see you as the enemy," I replied truthfully. "But?" Emma asked hesitantly.

"But" I huffed out, "I'm starting to rethink who the enemy might be." I answered, looking at Emma then down at the paper mug in my hand.

We both let out a sigh, not sure what to say next. Emma's next question surprised me a little. "Henry says people can't remember their past, that it's all fuzzy." Emma started, as I looked back up at her.

"And you want to know if it's true?" I finished for her, raising an eyebrow.

"Uh, yeah… and could you not look at me like that. You look like your mom and it kind of creeps me out."

Coffee shot out of my nose, and I started laughing and coughing at the same time. Emma quickly leaned away and threw a couple napkins at me. "Whoa, kid! You okay?" She asked, finally leaning back towards me once no more fluids were escaping, and whacked me on the back as I coughed.

I couldn't breathe, but I also couldn't stop laughing. I had tears streaming down my face from the episode, but eventually regained my composure. "You and Henry are clearly related." I coughed out.

Emma raised an eyebrow herself, but I could see the gleam in her eyes at my words. She wanted that to be true. It was then, that I could clearly see that this woman wasn't here to hurt my brother, she might not actually know why she was here, but I felt like I could trust her.

I cleared my throat a couple of times, blew my nose into a napkin and cleaned up the mess on myself, the best that I could. I didn't know how to answer her question. "I have memories." I finally started. The look on Emma's face changed from concern over my choking fit, to pure concentration on what I was saying.

"It..." But I didn't know what to say next. "It's random things that I can't remember." The fact that I was admitting this made my stomach turn. "Like, when my mom became mayor, or what we did last Christmas."

Emma looked at me. "How old are you?"

The question threw me off, but I responded, "sixteen?"

"So you're six years older than Henry." Emma stated. "Then you should remember - what did he do for his 5th birthday?"

"Ummm, okay. Random." I said, but started to think. "Oh, that's easy. We went to the go-karts! You had to be at least five to ride as passenger." I explained. A smile spread across her face, but suddenly my stomach dropped.

Emma saw my face, "what's wrong?"

"Uh, nothing. That's just all that I remember." Emma eyed me. "To be fair, I was only 11." I explained.

It was a lie. I could remember more, or at least, I think I did. For some reason, very faintly, I remember driving Henry at the go-karts, but that couldn't be possible. You had to be at least 16 in order to drive a passenger. I should have only been 11 at the time, so I couldn't have driving him.

I shook my head. The more I thought about it, the crazier it seemed. I tried really hard to get the memories, but the harder I thought, the more blank my mind went. It was five years ago, and well, who cares about their younger sibling's birthday, I finally justified to myself. I was thinking about this too much. No, it must have been mom driving him, and I was in my own kart, I realized.

All of a sudden, I could remember mom and Henry in a kart. There was a huge smile on his face, and mom even looked amused at the situation. I was in my own kart and we were racing. That was it. That's what happened. I shook my head at my own silliness. I felt more relieved now that I could remember, not that the details really mattered. The panic faded, and I turned back to Emma.

"Anyways, see, I can remember things." I continued. Emma eyed me suspiciously, but waved it off.

We swung our legs a bit more in comfortable silence, when she asked, "Do you believe him?"

I hesitated. Did I believe that my ten-year-old brother was right? That we were fairy tale characters, living in a different realm, all because my mother, the Evil Queen, cast a curse? Did I believe that this woman, his birth mother, was the savior, or whatever it was that he called her? Did I think my mother was acting weird, that things didn't add up, that basically my whole life was a lie? Uhhh...

Letting out a sigh, my hand absentmindedly pulled out my locket and started to fiddle with it. Looking up at Emma, I said, "I honestly don't know what I believe."