Mother and Son

Piper had…not been looking forward to this particular weekend. Pinocchio had begged her for it though and she had never been able to deny her son anything. She smiled at that, her son, he was legally her son now, adopted and all. Officially he was Keith Lynn, it allowed her to continue to call him 'Key' in public, but in private she called him Pinocchio as well. Her son had adapted quite well to the land without magic, even without having a partially developed life of that world already in his head like she did. He was a quick study, absorbed everything like a sponge instead of wood, and was so eager to learn new things.

And that was why she had been dreading this weekend.

He had learned about something, a small group for boys, the Boy Scouts they called themselves. He wanted to join their little club so badly, but she was hesitant. They moved, frequently, and she knew it was hard for him to leave the few friends he managed to make before they were moving to another location. To be part of a club would be even harder, they'd become friends faster and she hated to see him upset to leave them. It would make it easier though, the next area they moved to, for him to find new friends if he was to look around for the local Scout club and join them. There were useful things, badges she believed, that he would work towards, skills he would learn. How to survive in the woods…not that she felt he needed to know that given their lives in the Enchanted Forest…but first aid, charity, other skills that would be good to know.

They had compromised, she had asked him to prove to her that he really wanted to join the club, that he would remain dedicated to it and wasn't just joining it because one of the boys at school mentioned it. He had fully agreed and his brilliant plan to prove it was to take her camping. Well, it would be HER taking HIM camping, but he insisted that he would set up the tent and get the firewood set up (NOT lighting it though, he was as hesitant around fire having been wooden as he was), that he would show her the good berries and bad berries, that he would show her how to fish and identify the stars and lead her on a hike…everything he thought a boy scout should do. Everything he knew he would excel in that would help him get into the club to begin with.

She…was not much for camping. She had lived many years of her life in a castle, and then wandering, and then in another castle till she arrived here and had had a home. She had hated the wandering most, not having a home, not having protection. She equated having walls around her as being safe, being out and open in the woods brought up such poor memories for her now…but her son had wanted to go.

She had given in, bought a tent and supplies and other things they would need, had sent him to bed early to rise early and be off…and now, despite how much she had been dreading it, it appeared the trip would be canceled.

It was down pouring just outside the window. There was no way she could allow them to go camping in that weather. Not only would it be muddy and ridiculously hard to navigate and get anything set up, but she had no doubt her son would catch a cold as well and she wasn't going to let that happen. It shouldn't have rained though, the weather had seemed like it would hold up, but then she woke up…and it was raining hard. Switching on the news had revealed a freak shower over the area, one that appeared was going to last the whole of the weekend.

She let out a breath at that, turning to look at the stairs, knowing her son would wake up soon and see the rain and be so let down. She hated to see that expression on his face. She shifted in place, trying to think of something that would have a chance of making this up to him…when it hit her.

She smiled and quickly got to work, keeping an ear out for the boy waking up or coming down the stairs, hoping he wouldn't do so till she had finished…

As luck would have it, she managed to finish her attempts just as she heard him call out for her and his small feet thumping down the stairs.

"Mama?" Pinocchio called as he rubbed his eye, "Mama, it's raining! We'll never be able to…" he trailed off, stopping halfway down and staring at their living room with wide eyes.

Piper smirked at his wide-eyed expression, his mouth hanging open, his hair still stuck up from sleep as he gaped at her, "Oh I do believe we shall," she corrected him, knowing he was about to say they'd never be able to go camping now.

"You…you did all this?" Pinocchio blinked at the scene.

The couch and chairs had been pushed to the walls, everything that had taken up the center of the room was moved to the side, allowing enough space for the tent to be set up, which it was…something he would have complained about her not letting HIM do if it hadn't surprised him so much. The one side of it was open right by their small fireplace, logs already set up on it and waiting to be lit. There was a small tray resting next to the tent with graham crackers on it, chocolate bars and marshmallows too! Their sleeping bags were all rolled out, their flashlights resting to the side, and just…everything set up just as it would have been if they'd been camping.

"Of course," Piper nodded.

"But…why?" he shook his head, stepping down the last few steps to the base of the stairs, still staring. His mother liked order and a bit of neatness, and this…this was a mess, a good one though.

"It is raining," she said simply, "We could not go out to camp, so I thought you would much rather enjoy if the camp were brought to you instead.

Pinocchio let out a breath at that, "You set this up for ME?"

Piper walked over to him, kneeling down to take his hands, knowing what this was. He had had…such a bad experience in this world when he had arrived in it. It seemed, to him, as though no one at all cared for him, would do anything for him. And while she had tried her level best to make sure he knew she always would, as his mother, look out for, care about, and protect him, sometimes it still shocked him what she genuinely DID care about him. He seemed to half expect her to leave him or drop him off at a facility and abandon him, such was his experience in the world. He had told her the children he had left the children's home with had quickly abandoned him a short while after, leaving him alone. It surprised him sometimes when she would do a kind thing for him, he never seemed to expect anything of the sort from this realm.

"I did," she told him, squeezing his hands, "You were so looking forward to this trip, Key, I would not see your heart broken over being unable to experience it," she hesitated a moment, "I know it is not the same thing but…"

Pinocchio lunged forward, hugging her tightly, "It's BETTER," he insisted, squeezing her, "It's so much better, mama," he pulled away, beaming at her, "Thank you."

His smile, the look on his face, the happiness in his eyes would more than make up for when he got marshmallow stuck into the carpet later in his attempt to make her a s'more himself.

~8~

Piper's face was blank as she strode down the halls of some random high school, no it wasn't random, it was just there were so many schools that her son had attended over the years, it became easier to just think of them as a generic school instead of a specified name. She really should have known this particular school though, she had been called in as a substitute teacher for their music program just that morning. She wasn't often called in to sub for a class, but she always filed, wherever she and her son moved, to be a substitute for the music programs of the local schools. It was always an interesting experience, gave her extra money and, sometimes, a chance to observe her son while at school. That was rarer though, seeing Pinocchio as a student, he was growing older and, more often than not, she was called in for the younger students. He would be graduating soon, the end of that school year. They had debated and discussed his plans for after that, whether or not he wanted to attend a college or go on the road more than they'd been able to in the past, to help her find the others, find Emma.

She had refused.

She had reminded him that, if the prophecy about Emma was true and the curse wouldn't be broken for 28 years…they would still have quite a few more years in this realm before they could reunite with their families. They would need a means to survive, HE would need a means to survive if anything happened to her. Oh she had plenty of money, Rumpelstiltskin had seen to that, that she'd be well cared for, and she had already made a 'will' as they called it in this realm, all of it would go to Pinocchio, or Keith Lynn, if she were to pass. But she didn't want him to be idle, she didn't want him to miss anything that this world had to offer him.

She wanted him to go to college…and she knew he really wanted to go as well.

He felt guilty though, that, because of him they had to stay in one place for a period of time. He was required to go to school, or at least be home schooled. Homeschooling wouldn't really work as she only had a general knowledge of the world and wouldn't be able to teach him what he'd need to know to get certain substituting certification for education, nor would she have the time or patience to home school him in the sense of needing to learn what to teach him first. And school would be a good way for him to blend in, learn more about this realm and the people and places in it. He wanted to continue his education, ever since he'd learned that colleges and universities offered further education in literature and English and stories. He wanted to learn all he could about it, having a special fondness for fairytales given their history. But he felt like he wouldn't be able to do what they had done for his younger years of education. They would stay somewhere for a semester, then move, maybe stretch it to a year, but never longer for they were searching for Emma and their families. He wouldn't be able to do that at college, he would need to stay there for three or four years to get his degree…he wouldn't be able to travel as much because of it. And he wanted to help her find the others, so badly.

She insisted he stay though, insisted that she was a grown woman despite how slowly she was aging, that she would be more than capable of searching for the others while he learned. She told him she wanted him to do what made him happy and he wanted to learn.

That wouldn't be for a few more months now though, it may not be ever if she didn't get to the principal's office soon. She'd been in the middle of teaching her last class when she had gotten a call to the classroom phone to come to the office as her son was facing suspension, possibly expulsion. Pinocchio had been suspended for a week or two twice before, once for accidently cutting a woodshop teacher (the man was doing it wrong! He'd explained to her, he was trying to show the teacher the proper way to do something and the man wouldn't let go of the tool and there was a little bloodshed) and another time for getting into an argument with a teacher over, of course, fairytales and the concept of realism vs. fantasy (he hadn't reacted well to their interpretation of his own story). If this wasn't settled without punishment, her son was going to be expelled and if he didn't complete his high school degree, as he had already applied to colleges saying he would complete, he might lose the acceptances he'd gotten to a few already.

She didn't bother to knock as she strode into the principal's office…though she did blink at the sight before her. Her son was sitting in a chair before the principal, a rather old, short man with a laughably bad comb-over, while two other boys sat against the wall, one with an icepack over their eye and the other with a wad of tissues up their nose, both looking as though they'd lost a fight…and it was then she noticed Pinocchio had bruised knuckles.

"Key," she let out a breath and walked over, sitting beside her son to face the principal, "What happened?"

The man sighed, "It appears your son instigated a fight."

Piper narrowed her eyes at that, her son did not instigate anything, it was not his personality, however he WOULD fight in defense, "Did he now?" she raised an eyebrow at that, before turning not to Pinocchio but the other boys, "And what did you say to my son to cause him to 'instigate' a fight?"

"Hold on, now, Ms. Lynn," the principal tried to call her attention back, "The boys did nothing but defend themselves. We have witnesses that your son threw the first punch."

"And I know my boy, Mr. Quinn," she eyed his nameplate, "He does not pick fights unless someone has done something to warrant a punch being thrown. Now I ask you, what did they SAY to my son to cause this?"

The principal blinked, clearly not having thought to ask why the fight even started.

"Key?" she turned to him.

"I don't wanna say," he muttered, crossing his arms and looking down.

"Key," she grew firmer, "Tell me what was said that would cause YOU to attack first. Because I know you, son, and I know it is not in you to fight for no reason."

"I really don't want to say it, mom."

Her lips pursed at that, at how he'd said 'mom,' he usually called her 'mama' no matter if other people were around to hear it, he only said another variation of it if something was really bothering him, if it was something he didn't want to associate with his mama, "What did they say about me?"

The principal leaned forward again, "Now that's a rather large assump…"

"That you were a hot piece of ass they wouldn't mind…" Pinocchio answered, waving his hand in the air and shifting, clearly NOT wanting to say the next words, "You know," he shrugged, "They were talking about you like you were a piece of meat, called you a MILF, and they were just…being disgusting, what they were saying," he looked away, "I wasn't gonna let anyone talk about you like that."

Piper nodded and looked at the principal, "And you expect to put my son into trouble over his defense of his mother?" she eyed the man, who looked honestly startled that the boys had said such a thing, made more clear that they HAD said it in how they were avoiding anyone's gaze, "You would punish him for defending a woman from verbal abuse, instead of reprimanding these boys for their vulgar remarks, which, I do believe are against the etiquette and policies of this school," she continued, she always read what her son would be signing when he entered a new school, the student guidelines and such, "Now, as they broke the guidelines first, I do believe the punishment is moot, for both sides. Unless you wish to teach men that it is acceptable to speak of women in such a manner and also teach others not to try and stop them doing so? Or would you stand idly by as two others said such remarks about YOUR mother?"

Her son did not face expulsion that day, and she hugged him extra tight for how much he cared about her that he would risk it merely to defend her in her absence.

~8~

Piper was starting to think that having a child meant a never ending stream of moments that made you want to cry…if she were the crying sort that is. Tears of happiness to pride to fear to sorrow, children caused all sorts. Right now she felt the sadness though it was mixed with pride. She had hoped that her son would have brought up this latest endeavor of his earlier, given her time to process it, to plan for it, to help him more…but he had surprised her and told her that that was the exact reason he had done what he was planning so quickly. He didn't want any of that.

He appreciated it, he truly did, that she would have wanted to help like that, but he wanted to do this on his own. He had graduated college, had his degree in English that he'd worked for four years for, had gotten through the school on scholarship while also working a small side job to help pay for other little odds and ends like books and things. She had offered to pay for it, but he wanted to see if he could do it on his own, which she applauded and praised him for, seeing him becoming more and more independent.

She regretted that now, as she stood before him in the middle of the airport.

His little side job had made him enough in the last four years that he wanted to take what he'd made and go out on his own, see if he could investigate some odd occurrences over the world, reports of genuine magic, that would help them find Emma and the others. He had managed to get a job with a small travel company which worked out just as well, they helped pay for some expenses. He would write about the beautiful places he was going and, on his day off or so, do some research and investigate the other areas of 'magic' surrounding the locations he was going.

He had tried to make a reasonable argument for it, for leaving so soon after graduating. If he told her too soon, she might try to talk him out of splitting up (his one argument that they'd cover more ground apart than together, might find the others sooner if they were both looking in different places…and he was old enough to go out on his own without his mother tagging along, though that last one was more a tease than him trying to be hurtful). If he told her too soon she might try to help take control of it and…he wanted to do this on his own. If he told her too soon she would help and he wanted to be able to do something to help instead.

All his life in this realm, she had been taking care of him, she had been making the money, supporting them both, searching for the others while he was in school, having to divide her time between searching and taking care of him. It was HIS turn now to contribute and he wanted to. It was the first time since he'd been in that realm that he felt confident and mature enough to go out on his own and really help her, to search like she had been, in new places she hadn't been able to go to while taking care of him. He didn't doubt he would get into trouble along the way, go a bit too wild without her around to check him, but…it was his life and it was time to see what the world had made him into. So long as he kept an eye out for Emma or the others, dug a little deeper in some places…if he had fun too then what was the harm?

He just…wanted to see what the world had to offer and really, he was only able to do this because she had raised him to be a strong, confident, travel-savvy man. And now he was older, he was stronger and more capable, he was going to help her find the others too. He'd been stuck in school for so long, only having summer to really help her look, but now he was free to explore more, travel farther, and really DO something…and he was excited.

Piper took a breath as she looked at her son, "I do not like this," she muttered.

He couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I know," he told her, teasingly rolling his eyes, "You've said it 196 times since I told you about my plans. Impressive as that was only 2 days ago."

She pursed her lips at that, making his chuckles die off, "I am being serious Key."

"I know," he sighed, reaching out to take her hand, "I know mama, but I have to do this. All my life you've taken care of me and I know that it meant putting off our search. You weren't able to search as much as you could have without me there. Please," he gave her a pleading look, "Let me make up for that now, with this. I CAN do this mama, I want to help."

"I know," she mimicked, "I just…you are my son, Key. You are my little boy."

"I'm not so little anymore," he joked, before growing serious, knowing he was about to say something that might hurt her but…it had to be said, "You're searching for your cousin, mama, I'm…my papa's out there too. I want to find him as much as you do her. I…I miss him," he looked down, shifting a bit, something he'd picked up from her, "I don't…even if we find them, he won't remember me, will he?" he looked at her, "He'll look right through me and I…if Emma does break the curse, he still won't now me. Because I grew up while he was frozen. He won't know who I am anymore…and I'm not even sure I remember him all that much either," he admitted quietly.

Piper reached out to touch his cheek, making him look at her, "It was years ago, Key," she reminded him, "You were but a boy, you were with him such a short time…"

He nodded at that, he had been a puppet for a little while, run off, and returned to his father for such a short time before the Dark Curse was coming. He probably barely got a year with his father, and it HAD been many years, more than a decade, since he'd even seen the man. The only thing that helped keep him alive in his mind was talking to his mother about the man, telling stories, drawing pictures…he'd become quite proficient an artist in his attempts to have something to remember his father's face in. But he just…he wanted to find his father, prove to himself that he hadn't forgotten the man completely, that he could still recognize the man that had made him and loved him and wanted to save him.

"Yeah," he let out a breath, "I was little then, and now I'm grown," he looked back at her, smiling sadly, "YOU helped me grow mama, and now I'm big and strong," he laughed a bit, "And now I can go out on my own and I can help YOU for once. I want to," he reached up to the hand on his face and gently tugged it off, holding it in his hand instead, "I want to be able to do this, to find them, to help you get back to your family just as much as I want to see my papa again. Your cousin's out there, and so is your true love, and…who knows, maybe I'll find my own true love on this trip," he let out a little laugh at that, he hadn't found his true love yet, but he wasn't going to give up hope just yet."

"Perhaps you will," Piper went along with it, "I expect an invitation to the wedding," she pointed at him warningly, "Do not dare think for a moment that I would not hunt you down and find some way to turn you into wood and set fire to you myself if you go and get married without me there."

He let out a hardly laugh at that. It was an old 'threat,' one that wasn't really a threat. When he had been younger, when she'd first started to adopt him, he'd tried to test her, to see if she REALLY loved him as much as she claimed, he'd been a right terror to her for a short while, seeing if she would get rid of him, or if she'd still want to keep him. When she had a particularly short temper or he got her truly furious she would threaten to find a way to turn him back to wood and turn him into a torch. It never worked to intimidate him then, nor did it now, because the fact that she said it meant that she still wanted him around even then, she would need him around long enough to find such a method…and in a world like this there was NO way to do that, so it meant she just…wanted him around.

"I won't," he promised, crossing his heart, "I wouldn't ever get married without my mother there," he joked, "I mean…well…so long as I don't get drunk in Vegas again…"

"Again?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Joking," he reassured her, looking back over his shoulder when he heard an announcement for his flight, that it was boarding, he was off to England as his first official stop, going to snoop around for some potential magical areas the country was said to possess, "That's me…" he murmured, sad to leave her but excited at the same time.

Piper nodded and stepped closer, reaching up to wind her arms around him, hugging him tightly, "Call me when you land," she told him quietly, an edge of worry in her voice.

He gave her an extra squeeze at that, "I will," he promised, "I'll keep in touch, mama, I promise."

She nodded, pulling away, "If you do not…"

"I know, I know, you'll jump on a plane and hunt me down," he smiled at her, leaning in to kiss her cheek, "I'll call you soon," he nodded as he pulled away, "Love you mama."

"I love you too, Key," she swallowed hard, taking a deep breath as she watched him walk away, giving her a small wave before he disappeared through the doors to board the plan and begin his first adventure without her.

~8~

Pinocchio groaned as he reached his small hotel room in Hong Kong, wincing as he limped over to his bed, sitting down heavily onto the edge of the bed and hunching over, dropping his head into his hands, shaking it. He tried to breathe through the pain that was racing through him from his leg. It was nearly unbearable, something he hadn't felt since he was a child and even then it hadn't been this agonizing. He wasn't sure if it was just because he was older or if it was because this shouldn't be able to happen in a land without magic, maybe it hurt more because of that, because it was happening despite that.

He let out a breath and looked up when his phone rang.

He winced, moving to the side to pull it from his pocket, not even bothering to look at the ID, there was only one person that had his number anyway, only one person that was the reason he had the phone in the first place.

"Hey mama," he greeted.

"Key…are you well?"

He nearly let out a chuckle at that, did in fact, though his breath caught in his throat at the end at the genuine concern in her voice. He was expecting her call, she always checked in with him every other day to make sure he was doing well or needed anything.

"Actually, mama…" he sighed, glancing at his leg, reaching out for it with a hand and tugging up his pant leg to look at the wooden limb where his leg should be, "I'm not," his voice broke.

"What is it? What happened?"

"I um…" he swallowed hard, "I want to come home," he told her, "I um…it's something I don't want to say over the phone, it's um, it's something I just…I need my mother for."

"I am wiring you money now," she told him, "Come home, Key, and we shall handle this together."

He nodded, tears in his eyes at her reassurances, not knowing how on earth his mother would be able to help with the fact that he was slowly turning back into wood…but just wanting his mother.

Mothers made everything better.

A/N: Lol, I couldn't not have some Piper-August memories after she got him back ;)

Some notes on reviews...

We'll have to wait and see if Regina joins in on the revenge plot ;)

That could be why it happened in the show. But here Gold is mourning his son a little healthier with Piper around, Piper didn't banish him so he's not suffering that heartache, and he managed to separate himself from the dagger much earlier ;) So the reason for his heart affecting him won't be 100% the same here as in the show. I can say that Snow is quite a large part for why Gold is suffering it now }:) But thank you! :) And that's awesome ;) Yay for Geminis! :)

I think some people in the show expect that they can get away with lying to Emma because she trusts them. Sort of like...her superpower only works if she's actively looking to see if someone's lying to her. If she trusts someone she won't be listening or feeling for a lie and may not notice, or if she does feel something she might just think she's paranoid because they'd 'never' lie to her :( Which is almost worst than lying in general, lying because you know someone trusts you enough to not question your lie :'(

Yup, August will have all his memories from when he was Pinocchio ;)

I can say we'll see a hint of Gold's care/concern for August very soon ;)

We'll have to wait and see what happened in New York }:)

Thank you, it went well, the other employees were all very kind and welcoming :) I'm glad you enjoyed those parts :) We'll have to wait and see what happened in New York though }:) Emma will find out very soon that Piper's back...and may be more angry her parents kept it from her than that Piper's with the Queens of Darkness ;) We'll find out in a few chapters what happened with Rose and the people ;) I don't think it would be bad for Ilayda to have gained their trust, though the people probably would have felt like if they trust her, then they wouldn't question some things she does, and what if she does something bad/dark/evil? To her they can't quite get past her being a dark creature :( I could see Howard in a love-hate relationship very easily lol ;) And the sneak peek was lovely, you can really feel how sad/angry/hurt she is :( I hope he doesn't lose his memory too, I don't think anyone wants to see cowering, weak Rumple the spinner who has no clue why everyone wants to kill him, I'd rather see cunning, clever Mr. Gold pre-curse broken being able to still manipulate and protect himself even without his magic :)

I hate tumblr sometimes :( I had the link set in my queue to post incase I wasn't able to get on tumblr and when I went to my queue because I saw your review and was like 'it should have been up though...' it wasn't there :( I think my queue ate it :( I'm going to manually post it the next time I'm on tumblr, likely tonight ;)