Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

Spoiler: Same as before

A/N: We're getting close to the end, my dears. Enjoy.

"Love is the biggest magic of all."

–Unknown

Chapter 11 – Magic

"Mom?" She looked up from the menu to see Henry looking over her shoulder at Granny's front door. Confusion made his face scrunch up in a way that was similar to both her and Emma, she thought. She nearly smiled at that.

"Henry, please don't stare. It's rude." She'd felt the fool staring at her since she and Henry sat down, and truthfully, it unnerved her. She knows Henry will ask and knows he'll be disappointed. That he'll hate her. She swallowed roughly, clenching her bandaged hand, the white gauze a parting gift from Emma before she'd left the station.

"Dad looks pissed."

Her head snapped up, "Henry Daniel Mills! Language!"

He tilt his head at her, a small smile on his lips, "Is that how you hurt your hand, Mom?" She was relieved that he didn't look angry, just concerned. He reached across the table and gently ran his hand over her bandaged hand, watching her closely. Her eyes were wide, fearful that he'd hate her – that he'd push her away – but he merely shook his head, grinning in a way that's so like his other mother that she nearly gasped, "You really did a number on him."

"Henry…" she breathed softly. Her little prince. She cleared her throat, looking back down at the menu, speaking in a voice that she hoped sounded strong, "He hurt your mother again, Henry. He needed to know that he wasn't going to get away with it a third time."

"Oh," Henry looked over her shoulder again, a small frown on his face as he took in his father's appearance.

"He didn't mean to hurt her," she found herself saying, "He claims it was an accident, but I…" She paused as he looked back over at her, a curious look on his face, "Yes?"

"Why did you do it?" there was no judgment in his voice, just curiosity.

"Henry, I just told you why…"

"No," he countered, "you told me what he did."

She sighed softly. There was only so much she could tell him before crossing the line. She didn't want to tell him anything, if she was honest with herself. She wanted to have dinner, grab a takeout meal for Emma, and then head home. The blonde's reluctance to have dinner with them worried her. But for now, all she could do was answer her son's questions.

"I was afraid he was going to send your mother into another flashback." She said with a frown, continuing before he could ask, "Remember what happened outside your grandparent's house?"

"Yeah."

"Your father did that."

He tilted his head to the side, his brow furrowing as confusion washed over his face, "I thought he just kissed her?"

Her voice was soft when she next spoke, speaking mostly to herself, "Sometimes that's all it takes."

"Mom?"

She looked back at him, smiling softly, "Sorry, dear. As I was saying, this happened a second time at the station today."

"He kissed her?"

"No, dear," she gently grasped his hand, almost smiling at his confusion, "He slapped her, and she went to push him away, and when he grabbed her, that's what set her off."

"So that's why you did it? Because Ma didn't want to arrest him?"

"Your mother felt that he didn't need to be brought in. We had a disagreement afterwards," she answered truthfully, "but," she continued, "Henry, I was also worried that if you decided you wanted to see your father, he would hurt you."

He looked back over her shoulder, a contemplative look on his face, "I'm not worried about him, Mom."

"Henry," she began, a warning in her tone.

"I mean," he looked back at her, smiling, "I have the Savior and the former Evil Queen as my moms. I'm not worried." With that, he turned his attention back to his menu.

She swallowed back the sob in her throat, her eyes filling with tears, a watery smile on her face. Former Evil Queen, "Very well, Henry. Would you like to split a plate of French fries?"

"Really!?" he looked up at her then, his grin fading into a concerned frown, "What's wrong?"

She wiped at her eyes with a napkin, "Everything's fine, dear. Now about those fries?"

Henry let out a quiet sigh as he walked down the street towards the loft. His mom was heading to Mr. Gold's – she explained it being saying it was about magic – something he wasn't quite sure of, to be honest. He'd wanted to go with her, but she insisted that he go to his grandparent's loft.

He stopped, looking back at his mom as she walked the opposite way. He wished he understood what was going on with his moms. Sure, he loved that they were getting closer to each other – in fact, he was really excited – he just wished they would tell him what was wrong. From what he could tell, something had happened to Emma in the Enchanted Forest, something that Regina understood.

Any other time, he would have followed his mom to Mr. Gold's shop, but he decided against it. Both of his moms were spacing out more than normal, his brunette mom especially. The more he thought about it, she never spaced out as much as she had in the last few days. Whatever she needed to talk to Gold about – magic or whatever – she didn't need him as a distraction.

With a soft sigh, he turned away, intent on heading to his grandparent's loft. A movement out of the corner of his eye made him pause. The Blue Fairy was walking quickly down the sidewalk, heading away from the nunnery, which was strange. She was always in the nunnery. Looking towards the direction she was heading, he frowned. The forest? What did a nun – no a fairy – need from the forest? Herbs maybe, but didn't she have enough at the nunnery?

What should I do? He bit his lip, trying to think. Emma always said that if something didn't seem right to go investigate, but then his mom said to never do anything that could get him hurt, though, technically, following her wasn't dangerous.

He could picture their faces from the night before his dad showed up, his mom afraid for him, and his ma afraid to be alone; they were struggling with their own inner demons – demons that were devouring them slowly. He needed to do something to help them. They were everything to him.

He waited until The Blue Fairy turned the corner before slipping out of the alley and following her.

A/N: Let's just pretend it didn't take me 4 months to get you an update that's barely 1200 words. College kicked my ass last semester, and then I wanted to make this longer, but decided against it with some friends help. So…if you're still reading this, let me know your thoughts!

Hime