Thank you for all the kind reviews! I hope you've had a wonderful weekend thus far! Enjoy!

Enchanted Forest:

The carriage bumped along the lane. It had been a long, hot, day, that never seemed to be coming to an end. Elizabeth didn't know how long they'd been traveling, but it had been hours. She kept stealing glances at Regina, but the Evil Queen just stared out the tiny window, a determined look upon her face.

Ever since the weird conversation with her grandfather, Elizabeth had been on edge with her mother. Her locket seemed like a heavy weight on her chest at all times. She'd tried to take it off, but for some reason she couldn't get the clasp to open. Elizabeth wasn't sure if it was coincidence, or if her grandfather was right, and she'd been cursed by her own mother.

The girl also regretted her wish to be allowed to travel with her mother. Being stuck in the castle was much better than being dragged all over the countryside. Elizabeth seldom was allowed out of the carriage, and the few times she was, Regina kept her right next to her. According to her mother, it was for Elizabeth's safety, but that seemed odd. Who'd want to hurt her?

"Mother? Whatever happened to Mary?" The question popped out of Elizabeth's mouth before she'd even processed it. Regina's eyes tore from the countryside to look at her daughter, a bewildered look on her face. "Mary? "She asked, clearly not knowing who Elizabeth was talking about.

"My handmaid?" Elizabeth asked tentatively, but holding her mother's stare. "And my friend," Elizabeth thought the second part to herself.

Regina gave the girl a hard look, clearly confused where this was coming from. "I let some of the staff go after your father's death, I'm sure this Mary was among them."

"Oh," was all Elizabeth could say. Both women went back to sitting in silence, as the carriage bumped along. Elizabeth's head was swimming with thoughts and questions. "She did alter your memories." echoed in her head. What had her grandfather meant? Elizabeth was sure her memories were her own, she remembered everything, or so she thought, but…

"Why'd Snow run away?" This question came out as a whisper, and for a second, Elizabeth wasn't sure if she'd simply thought it or actually said it. However, once her eye's met her mother's, she knew she'd spoken the words out loud, and by the look on her mother's face, it had been the wrong question to ask.

Storybrooke:

"Faster." That's what I kept telling myself. If I ran faster, I could run away from everything. There was no rhythm to my running; I simply ran as hard and as fast as I could. My foot steps were muffled by the dirt, and I could barely make out the shapes of what I was running past. However, it was no use. No matter how much I pushed myself, I couldn't get the picture out of my head. The picture that was all wrong. I had only looked at it for a second, before my mother caught me off guard that night, but I know what I saw. I was very clearly the wrong age in that picture.

Suddenly, I felt a pull at my foot and then I was sailing through the air. I landed in a heap, on top of some ferns and twigs. My right ankle instantly hurt and the wind had been knocked out of me. Rolling onto my back, I was wheezing and trying to collect my breath. I looked around, and it was then that I was aware of just how dark it was and just far into the forest I'd ran. Dirt, pine needles, and other debris was sticking to my sweat-covered-skin, as I tried to sit up.

Taking in the damage, my hands were skinned and burning, as well as my right knee and shin. My ankle was already throbbing slightly and I was scared to move it. "Crap." I hissed to no one, but myself. I looked around, but it was no use, I couldn't really make out where I was. Angry tears started to spill out, as I tried to collect myself. "Crap, crap, crap!" I screamed into the empty forest.

I grabbed a rock that was next to me a threw it as hard as I could. It didn't go very far, but as it landed a sudden rumbling shook the ground.

Hobbling, I managed to get to the old coal mines. I'd been able to hear all kind of commotion coming from there, when I neared the edge of the forest, so I figured that was where the rumbling had come from. It was common knowledge that the mines were unstable, so I wouldn't be too surprised if a tunnel had collapsed or something. The mines were closer than anywhere else, so I decided to head that way in hopes of maybe getting a ride home.

Once I managed to get to the edge of the crater, that the entrance to the mines sat in, I had a clear view of what was happening down below. My mom's voice caught my attention. Across the crater, she was directing the crowd to step back. I'd started down the road, to get closer. As I neared, I could see that Sheriff Grant was roping off the mine with… Emma. "Huh, random." I thought. I caught a glimpse of something shining on her belt, and the conversation I'd seen her and the sheriff had, now made sense. Emma apparently worked for Storybrooke.

I was surprised just how many people were down there, trying to see what had happened. Henry was talking to Dr. Hopper and Emma, so decided to wait by my mother's car. I'd managed to avoid her pretty well since the picture, but in my condition, I knew there was no way I'd be able to walk all the way home. As I neared the car, I watched my mother break up the meeting with Dr. Hopper, Henry, and Emma. Henry started towards the car, but stopped abruptly when he saw me. Not wanting to talk to him, I got in the car, but Henry clambered in shortly after me, and then he looked shocked at my appearance. "Whoa, what happened to you?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." I snapped a little more harshly than I'd intended. Taking a breath, I looked out the car, "what happened?" I asked, indicating to the mine entrance. Henry started to fill me in on his theories as to the cause of the rumbling. I was zoning out slightly, when I realized he'd become quiet. I turned to look at him, and he was eying me. "What?" I asked, confused by his weird look. "When did you take your necklace off?"

As Henry finished his question, mom appeared at the driver side of the car. The window was down and she'd clearly heard him. Her brown eyes locked on my neck briefly, before she took in the rest of my appearance. "Madelyn, what on earth… what happened to you?" She sounded more frustrated than worried, but quickly gave me a concerned look.

"Nothing, I fell." I snapped at her. I was grateful that it was slightly dark in the backseat, and she couldn't see the full extent of my injuries. Heck, I hadn't even gotten to see the full extent of my injuries, but I could feel the dirt and debris stuck to the right side of my body and face. My hands still burned slightly, and my right leg wasn't happy. However, I refused to show any pain on my face. Mom put her fingers to her temples before climbing in the driver's seat.

The drive to the house was silent. Once the car stopped in the driveway, Henry darted for the house, leaving me to climb out of the back somehow on my own. I really didn't want to move. I was already stiff, but I knew I needed to get cleaned up. I went to lean down to move the passenger seat, when mom beat me to it. The seat slid forward, and she stepped aside to let me out. I swallowed, and the hoisted my body out. quickly grabbed my shoulders to steady me, as I stumbled out of the car. "Madelyn." she said in a voice, that demanded an explanation.

I tensed my body and huffed out, "I fell in the forest on my run." I tried to shove past her, not looking at her, but she grabbed my arm and whirled me around to face her. I hissed in pain, but stopped. "What?" I growled at her.

Her eye's widened in surprise and anger at my tone. "What the hell here you thinking? Running in the forest at night? Madelyn…" I pulled my body out of her grip, and started past her, again. "I'm taking shower," I snapped back at her and forced myself to walk steadily into the house.

I didn't stop until I reached my bathroom. Shutting the door, I paused before turning on the light. Once I did, I sucked in a breath. My hair was covered in dirt, leaves, and blood. It was falling out of my ponytail, and looked crazy. There was dirt on my face was well, and small scratch on my chin. As my eyes traveled down, they assessed more damage. I looked at my hands, they were scrapped and dirty, but not too bad. The hem of my shirt was torn, and once I took in my right leg, I gasped slightly. It was coated in the dirt and blood from my knee to my shoe. I gingerly moved my foot. The ankle pulled slightly, but it dirt hurt as back as I expected. We'd see how it felt in the morning.

Heaving a sigh, I started the shower and removed my clothing. The shower felt good, but also hurt like burned my cuts. I made sure to scrub all the dirt off, and all my cuts carefully. My hands and leg had tiny beads of blood on them, as I got out of the shower, and I knew I was going to be in trouble for getting them on my towel. Suddenly, I felt out of breath and overwhelmed, and tears started to pour out again. Even my run, which was supposed to clear my head, had back fired. It was like there was no escape.

I was apparently too lost in my panic attack to hear the knock on the door, or my mom entering with the first aid kit. It wasn't until she was kneeling in front of me, did I register her presence. I tried to reel back, but sitting on the toilet, there wasn't really anywhere for me to go. My mom eyed me, clearly analyzing me, but without saying anything, she reached down and started attending to my leg. Grateful, I reached next to me and grabbed some toilet paper to wipe my eyes and to blow my nose.

Once I had calmed down slightly, I suddenly became aware of how exhausted I was. "Does your ankle hurt?" Mom asked, as she placed the last band aid on my leg. My right leg was covered in various cuts, scrapes, and floor burns of sorts, but it was now covered in Neosporin and band aids. I looked down to my foot. My ankle hurt a little, but not as bad as I'd expected. I shrugged my shoulders but didn't answer. Mom eyed me, but didn't push. "You're icing it after this, and if it's swollen in the morning, I'm taking you to the doctor." With that she reached up and tucked the corner of the towel that I was holding to keep covered, into the edge around my chest, to make it stay up on its own.

My mom then grabbed both my hands, and started working on them. I winced and inhaled sharply when she put antiseptic ointment on them. The shock of everything had started to ware off, and I was to aware of how sore my body was. When my mom had finished bandaging both my hands, she stood up and leaned forward to grab my chin, careful not to touch the cut there. I pulled my face back hard, and glared.

Raising her eyebrows, she then reached back down and grabbed some gauze to clean/disinfect my face with. "You want to tell me what's going on Madelyn?" Her voice was firm, but quiet and filled with concern. I chanced a glance at her, but quickly averted my eyes. "I got in a fight with Ray and wanted to clear my head. I know it was reckless, I won't run in the forest, after dark, again." My voice was cold and flat, and the lie took me by surprise, but I kept my face blank. Mom let out a small sigh, put everything back in the first aid kit, and disposed of the garbage. She then grabbed my chin again, kissed my forehead, and started out of the bathroom. "Get dressed and ice your ankle. I need to start dinner."

I watched her walk away, my mind blank for once on what to do next. I shrugged to myself, and decided getting dressed was a good idea. I was cold in my towel and didn't really want Henry walking in on me just sitting there. Plus, if I sat there too long, I'd get pulled back into the never ending thoughts. No, the only good thing about my fall, was that I'm now more aware of my sore, aching, body, instead of the events that had happened. My muscles were already groaning, as I walked to my room. Great, the next few days were not going to be fun. That I could count on.