Chapter 8 Two truths and a lie

Word Count 2527

Henry furrowed his brow, "Wait so you're saying this book is real? You know they're called stories for a reason."

Emma smiled, "Well you can either believe me or go on wondering why your whole town is stuck in time." Henry weighed his options and nodded his head in agreement. "All of the people in this book are the people from this town. Except for me, my parents and well… you." She flipped through the pages landing on an illustration of Red. "Like this is Ruby." She lifted the book to him showing him the illustration. "You see she has the same colored eyes, the same shaped face." He nodded slowly, "If you look through the book I'm sure you'll find a bunch of other people from your town in here as well." Emma shook her head, "Though, what is this last story about?" She asked returning to the picture of her father holding her next to a tree with a hole large enough for two people to stand in.

Henry took a seat next to her, "Well that's the story of how you got here I guess." He shook his head and chuckled, "Sort of makes sense now that you said you're the daughter of Prince Charming and Snow White. This last story is how they escaped the Evil Queen before she cursed them. It ends with the birth of their child and the hope for her return." He closed the book and looked at her, "I guess that's now then?"

"It isn't actually." Emma hopped off the castle and turned to face Henry. "I was supposed to return on my 28th birthday. I guess its fate or a destiny, I don't know. My father says a huge battle will commence and I'm expected to break the curse." Cleo pounced off the castle beside Emma and howled again.

"What's wrong with your cat?" Henry asked.

Though Emma had revealed a lot of information to Henry she couldn't reveal Cleo's true identity. "She's probably just hungry." Shaking her head to bring the subject back to the town Emma resumed, "You know that you can't talk to anyone but me about this right?"

Again Henry thought it over, "Yeah I know. My mom would never believe me and Archie wanted me to escape in this book not find—well this,"

Emma turned to him, "Why did you have it buried if you didn't know that it was real?"

He rolled his eyes, "My mom. I saw her looking at it one day and—"Henry paused and looked at Emma, "—she got this look in her eye. She was furious, I don't know why but she threatened to burn it so I buried it and told her that I destroyed it." He flipped through the book, "I guess I know now why she wanted it destroyed. So who is she? My mom?"

Reaching forward Emma placed her hand on the open page of the book. "I don't know if you're ready for that." She said honestly.

"If you don't tell me now I'm sure I can figure it out later."

A sigh escaped Emma, "Fine. But remember you can't tell anybody especially not her." Emma turned the pages until she had found an illustration of her parents wedding day. A picture of her mother holding her father's sword was drawn and the sword was pointed at the Queen.

"The Evil Queen." Henry paused and shook his head, "Now I really know why she wanted it destroyed." Emma jumped back onto the wooden structure and sat next to Henry. The silence between them was understandable, he had just found out that the woman who adopted him was evil. "So… you're going to kill her then?"

She stumbled over her words until she finally said, "No." The look of shock on Henry's face actually surprised her, "I don't know. I know about all of these bad things that she's done but I wonder if there is some way to fix her. Maybe after all this time in another world she'll change."

Henry closed the book and jumped from the castle onto the sand. "People are scared of her. Even here, not just in this book." He placed it in the box and set it back into the sand to rebury it. "I don't know what she was like before but now I can see where maybe she's a little nicer. I mean now that I know she's the Evil Queen I sort of see it. She sort of has this way with people and they just do whatever she asks. But with me she's always bringing me presents and things it's almost like she's trying to buy my love." He sounded sad when he said it.

Standing from the play structure Emma brushed the excess sand from her leather pants. "Well, how about you spend some time with her and encourage her to be nice to the people here. I think if anyone can get her to change it'd probably be her son."

Henry shoveled the last bit of sand over his book. "Couldn't hurt to try, it seems I have at least a decade left to see if she'll change."

As they turned to walk back into town Emma reminded him, "Tell no one okay. It has to be our secret."

Henry nodded and stuck his finger out, "I pinkie swear."

"You what?"

He laughed, "I guess you're parents never told you about pinkie swears, here look. You stick out your pinkie like this." She mirrored him, "And then you hook it with mine…" Their pinkies locking together. "And now you seal the secret by kissing your fist." He leaned forward and kissed the thumb of his hand and Emma mirrored it. "Now we've pinkie sweared and the secret can't be shared with anyone."

As their hands fell Emma shrugged, "That is the weirdest logic I've ever heard but okay the secret is safe in our pinkies."

They changed the subject on the rest of the walk back to town, "So do you have any hobbies?" Henry asked.

"I'm not sure what you mean."

"Well what do you do when you're at home?"

"I practice sword fighting with my dad, and I hope to learn to ride my horse."

Henry stopped in his tracks, "No way. You have a horse?"

She turned to face him and began walking backwards, "I just got it. I'm still not sure what to name him." Emma abruptly stopped as she bumped into someone behind her. By the look on Henry's face she knew who it was before she turned around.

"Mom." Henry said walking forwards to stand next to Emma.

Regina bent over slightly to get on level with her son, "Henry." She smiled at him, "Who is your little friend here?"

"I'm Emma. It's nice to meet you but I was just leaving." Emma quickly started to run and turned to shout back over her shoulder, "I'll talk to you later Henry."

Regina furrowed her brow and turned back to her son as she watched the girl run away, "I'm not sure if I want you hanging around that girl Henry. We have no idea who she is." Henry frowned and followed his mom as she led him to her car.

Emma ran as fast as she could to Jefferson's house. She knew she had overstepped the boundaries by telling Henry the truth and she knew that Cleo was already furious with her by her howls of disapproval. If she was going to be yelled at she thought it best to have someone else there. Emma knocked on Jefferson's door.

Jefferson opened the door with a smile, since no one even knew he lived in this house other than Blue he wasn't used to visitors, "Emma. Cleo." He said to the cat. Cleo entered the house quickly morphing into her human form.

"Emma you get in here right this instant." Cleo paced the hallway.

Emma entered his house slowly and heard the door click behind her. "I swear I didn't mean to but he already knew so much!"

They all walked into Jefferson's living room and Cleo informed Jefferson about what happened at Henry's castle. "You told him?" he questioned.

"I had to! I mean he's been living here for 12 years he could kind of tell that no one was aging."

Jefferson ran his fingers through his hair, "Understandable." He admitted, "But still Emma this is dangerous, you don't know Regina."

"And neither do you! She has a son now maybe she's changed!"

Jefferson and Cleo glanced at each other, in a way they both could relate. Jefferson was a horrible person before he had Grace and Cleo had been just as bad before she took the task to befriend Emma. "Alright I get it. Nevertheless Emma, and this might make you upset, but I think maybe you need to stay out of town for a while."

"What?" Emma asked her eyes wide. "No. I love it here." Her eyes were growing with water and she tried to force the tears from falling.

"Kid. You've got a long time before this curse is going to break. I know you want to learn about the people here and in a way you have. Look at all the things you know now, the people you've met. But we're not going anywhere, we'll be here waiting for you."

Cleo took a seat next to Emma, "I think he's right Emma. Let's come back in few months, maybe even a few years. We have to make our visits sporadic. The people in this town will begin to notice something off and you're parents might too."

The tears fell down her cheeks and she brushed them away quickly. "I can't just leave now what about Henry? A strange girl comes to town and tells him about a curse and you expect him to keep that a secret for years?"

"I'll talk to Blue. She can befriend him and be a guide for him like we are for you." Jefferson suggested.

They sat in silence as Emma thought it over, she didn't want to leave but maybe they were right. She wasn't supposed to come to Storybrooke in the first place and in coming here she already told someone about the curse, someone who wasn't even from the Enchanted Kingdom. "Okay but as long as you promise to have Blue help Henry."

"I promise." Jefferson said.

They left his house and began the walk towards the woods. Emma stood and looked at the Storybrooke sign on the departure. She couldn't know when she'd return. She inhaled deeply and looked at Cleo. "I'm ready."

Cleo wrapped her arms around the teenager as they continued their walk through the woods towards Emma's home. "I know you're upset with me Emma."

"No. I'm not mad at you." She said honestly, "I know I can't keep going to Storybrooke every day. My parents will notice for sure and I still have my training. I just keep thinking when will I get the chance to go back?"

"We'll go back eventually and like Jefferson said everyone will still be there."

Cleo shifted back to a cat as they neared the house. James and Snow were inside the house laughing together when Emma entered. "Emma dear." Snow smiled, "How was your day with Princess?"

"Okay." Emma took a seat next to her parents.

"Are you okay Emma?" James asked concerned. "You seem sad."

Emma shook her head and forced a smile, "I just found this really neat spot in the woods the other day and I lost it."

"That's alright Emma, we can try and look for it tomorrow. We'll even take your horse." James said and then added, "Have you thought of a name for him yet?"

"Not yet." She admitted, she hadn't really had the time to think of one whilst spilling her family secrets to a stranger.

"Let's think of one tomorrow then." Snow suggested, "Make a day of it. Take your horse somewhere nice, I can prepare lunch, James can teach you how to ride. We can look for your special spot. How does that sound?" She smiled at her daughter and draped her arm around her.

Emma looked at her parents and smiled, she would miss Storybrooke but maybe she needed to stay away for a while. She might've missed out on friends but she never had to know what it was like to not have a family. "Sounds like a lot of fun."

James ruffled her hair and smiled. "Come on Emma, I'll take you out on a ride before it gets late."

"Sure." She said as her father jumped up to exit the house, "I just need to talk to mom for a second."

He raised his eyebrows but nodded, "I'll just be outside then."

Snow took a seat and pulled Emma on the seat beside her, "What's wrong Emma?"

"I just wanted to ask something and I'm sure it'll sound crazy but…"

"Anything you ask dear won't be crazy I promise." Snow assured taking ahold of her daughter's hands.

"It's about boys."

Snow furrowed her brow and looked at her daughter, as far as she knew her daughter had never met any other boys other than her father. "What do you mean dear? Did something happen in the woods."

"No." Emma chuckled, "I just mean you have Daddy, you guys seem so happy together and I just wonder will I ever have that?"

"Of course Emma."

"Are you sure? There aren't any boys here and by the time we break the curse I'll be 28. Won't that be too late?"

Snow smiled and pulled her daughter into a hug, "Love is timeless dear. You can fall in love at any age. I know there aren't any boys here but when you're older and after you break the curse you will meet some boys… by then I hope they'll act more like men but yes Emma, you will find someone one day. Is that all you had to ask dear?"

Emma nodded, "Yes, I just never know who to ask about these things. They seem like things I won't have to deal with for years but there still in my mind."

"I understand dear. You know though, if you have any other questions about things like that or anything else you can always come to your father or I."

"I know. They're just odd things to talk about."

Snow kissed the top of Emma's head. "Your father and I would never think anything you had to say was odd."

Emma tightened her hug around her mother, "Thanks mom."

As Snow and Emma parted ways the look of sorrow on Snow's face couldn't be disguised. How much were they putting Emma through by keeping her secluded? Was it wrong of them to keep her from other human beings? Forcing her to be single until she was almost in her 30s. Emma was only just a teenager and beginning to ask questions. How much longer could they go before she started to ask other much more pressing questions?