A/N: Ellery made a comment in the last chapter about no one recognizing that Emma and Ellery were twins, but I wanted to make sure everyone understands that the curse is behind hiding their identities. I see the curse as a semi-conscious entity that maintains itself and it sees Ellery as an anomaly, so it protects her until it can figure out how she can come and go as she pleases without actually being the Savior. There are some other things that the curse will be responsible for hiding later on, but I won't give anything else away.

This chapter has some of my favorite scenes that I've written so far. And we get to see Red, who is one of my favorite characters ever anyway! I have a lot planned for her and can't wait to see it all pan out! Hopefully I won't end up pulling an Adam and Eddy and having to not follow through on her story line. I promise I'll try not to do that!

This is the first chapter I wrote this year and I know my writing style matured between finishing chapter 3 and writing this one, so bear with me please! Hopefully this chapter will be better than the last ones have been. From here on out I'm fairly certain my chapters will begin to get steadily longer, I'm sorry!

To my Squad: Thanks so much for being totally awesome all the time! And thanks for supporting me whether I'm writing angst, fluff, or this!

Special thanks to my betas IUsed2bcool and sassyoq who helped me to catch tons of little mistakes. You guys are the greatest!

Chapter Four

~21 Years Earlier~

"Mama," 7-year-old Ellery was getting her pajamas on while Emma was in the bathroom brushing her teeth, "Can you tell us a story about Aunt Red tonight?"

"Yeah!" Emma said excitedly, coming into the bedroom just in time to hear Ellery's story request, "Aunt Red is the coolest! I can't wait to meet her."

"Of course I can tell you an Aunt Red story," Snow White said, laughing lightly at the twins' enthusiasm, "How about I tell you the story of how Aunt Red and I met?"

When both twins nodded excitedly, Snow White directed them to finish getting ready for bed and then helped them both get settled before telling them the story of her first adventure with Red and finding out she was a werewolf. When the story ended, both girls were blinking sleepily and struggling hard to keep their eyes open. Snow White stood to kiss and tuck both of them in so they could fall asleep.

As Snow was tucking Ellery in, the young girl asked, "Mama, do you think Aunt Red will like us when we get to meet her?"

"I think your Aunt Red is going to love both of you, Ellery Red," Snow White said, kissing her daughter's blonde curls, "And I bet she'll even know you before Emma can break the curse." At least I hope she still does, Snow thought as she kissed her other daughter goodnight and left the room.

~ 9 ½ Years Earlier ~

Ellery had been in Storybrooke for three months and had basically spent every moment of that time in the loft apartment she was sharing with her mother, or Mary Margaret now she supposed. But now that Henry was approaching six months, Ellery felt like she needed to get a job to help pay for the things that she and Henry needed. This was why Ellery was standing outside Granny's diner, trying to work up the courage to walk inside and ask Granny for a job.

Of all the places in Storybrooke, Granny's diner was the one Ellery had both dreaded and looked forward to going to the most. Ever since she was little, Ellery had adored the stories of her Aunt Red and had desperately wanted to meet her. But as she got older, Ellery had realized that despite the fact that Red's curse had broken when Ellery was born, there was a good chance that Regina had figured it out and recursed her godmother. Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on the state of Red's memory, the only place in town that had a job opening was the diner.

Taking a deep breath, Ellery pushed open the door to the diner and walked inside, a sleeping Henry strapped to her chest in the carrier she'd purchased on a whim before he was born and gotten far more use out of than she'd ever expected. Since it was only 10 in the morning, the diner was fairly empty. Granny, upon hearing the bell above the door, came out from the kitchen wiping her hands on a towel. Ellery was struck by how much she looked exactly like the description Snow White had given her daughters for years.

"Can I help you?" Granny asked, staring at the girl standing before her with a baby strapped to her chest, trying to place her. "You're Mary Margaret's roommate, aren't you? She's mentioned you."

"Yeah, I'm Ellery White, and this is Henry." Ellery had chosen to use part of her mother's name as her last name so that if Emma ever did end up in town, there would be no connecting the two of them until it was too late, unless the fact that they were identical twins gave it away. Ellery had chosen to believe that the magic that had protected her at birth would protect her identity now too. But she was definitely looking forward to the day she could be Ellery Swan, or even Ellery Blanchard again. "I'm here because I was hoping you might have a job opening."
"You're actually too late, dear," Granny said sorrowfully, "I just gave my last open waitress position to someone else. I'm sorry."

Ellery felt her heart sink, it was true that she had the money she'd forced August to give her after he'd taken it from Neal, but she wanted to save that for Henry's future like she'd decided with Emma before he was born. "Well, thank you anyway, I guess I'll ask around for something else."

"Alright, Ellery," Granny said, "You take care now."

Ellery walked sadly out of the diner, not sure what she was going to do now. As if sensing her mood, Henry started shifting in the carrier, rubbing his face against her chest. As she bounced back and forth, shushing to try and calm him down, she heard Granny's door open and someone come running out, "Ellery?"

The young woman's voice that called her name wasn't one that Ellery recognized, but she turned around anyway, too preoccupied with getting her son to take the pacifier she'd fished out of the carrier and fall back asleep to worry about who might be calling her. The fact that the young woman standing in front of her was her Aunt Red took a second to penetrate her thoughts, but when it did, Ellery could only stare.

Red must have taken her shock for confusion because she explained, "I heard Granny say your name right before you walked out. I came after you to tell you that we actually do have a waitress position open. I just got a call from the woman who was supposed to start today and apparently she's found a better job. Granny said the position is yours if you want it."

"Yes," Ellery almost sobbed in relief, "I would love it! Thank you so much… Sorry, I don't know your name."

"It's Ruby," Red said, rolling her eyes, "at least, that's what most people call me…"

Ellery stared at Red, trying to decide if she was reading more into "Ruby's" statement than she should be, but her aunt was either fabulous at hiding the fact that she remembered everything, or her alternate persona just really hated the name Ruby. "And what would you rather have people call you?"

Red studied her closely for a moment and Ellery shifted uncomfortably, wondering what she was looking for. Finally, Red spoke, "What did you say your full name was again?"

Ellery weighed her options quickly: she could lie, she could tell a partial truth, or she could trust that the woman in front of her was still in possession of all her memories and tell the truth. She chose to trust, "Ellery White, but I grew up as Ellery Red Blanchard, I got my middle name from my mom's best friend who's also my godmother."

Red's face was impassive for a second before breaking out in a wide grin, "I knew it! You look just like your parents! I don't know how much Snow told you about me, I'm your…"

"Aunt Red," Ellery interrupted excitedly, "Mom used to tell us stories about you when we were little, I've wanted to meet you forever!"

"So, Snow found Emma," Red said with a sigh of relief, "I've wondered for close to two decades if she'd found her."

"Yeah," Ellery said, smiling broadly, "Mom found her a day or two after leaving Storybrooke. It took her about a month to regain custody because she had to prove to the state she was the mother and that she wasn't the one who had dropped Emma off in the middle of the woods, but she eventually did and she raised the two of us on stories of her life in the Enchanted Forest and the curse Emma was supposed to break. Emma ran away at sixteen because Mom pushed too hard, but she did the best she could. This is Henry, he's actually Emma's, but she wasn't ready to be a mom and she asked me to raise him."

"Was Emma running away the reason Mary Margaret suddenly showed back up here a few years ago?" Red asked, stroking Henry's face with her finger gently.

"I think so. Mom put so many messages out in the media; I think Regina must have found her and threatened Emma if she didn't come back and allow herself to be recursed." Ellery said, "I'm not really sure what happened, I just came home one day and mom was gone. I tracked Emma down a few months later, but by the time I worked up the courage to approach her, well, she wasn't in a position to help me look for mom. Then three months ago I drove into Storybrooke and found Mom about three days later and I've been living with her ever since."

"You know, I would hug you," Red said, obviously wishing to do just that, "but Regina has spies everywhere, some willing and some not so willing, and I've kept my memories in tact for over 18 years now and I'm not about to lose them right after you've arrived. We'll work closely together at Granny's though since I'll be the one to train you, so we'll get to know each other fairly well and we can become friends."

Ellery smiled, "I look forward to that. I'm ready to start as soon as I find someone to watch Henry."

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that," Red said, "I'll convince Granny to let you use the backroom for him to nap in and I know she'll be more than happy to help hold him when you're working. Now come on, Granny's waiting to discuss the position with you."

Ellery followed Red's lead, eager to finally get to know her aunt, neither of them knowing how important their relationship would end up being to the two of them.

~ Present Day ~

After the emotionally exhausting day Ellery'd had, she didn't think she could handle facing Mary Margaret and not being able to treat her like her mother. Instead, Ellery decided to take some time to work on the apartment above the Toy Store that she hoped to have painted and furnished by the time her custody hearing rolled around in two months. From the window in the living room where she was priming to paint, Ellery could see the clock tower over the old, boarded up library.

Even though she'd lived in Storybrooke just under ten years and had never seen the clock actually work, Ellery still found herself looking to see if the clock would ever tell the right time. Which was why when she glanced up to see the clock hands reading 8:30, she was shocked. This meant that Emma was really staying.

The sound of someone unlocking the downstairs door startled Ellery since she wasn't expecting anyone to be coming by tonight. Ever since the incident that had caused Henry to be removed from her custody….well, she didn't handle surprises after dark very well.

"Hey, it's just me," Luckily her Aunt knew Ellery well enough to know better than to enter her apartment without announcing herself first, "I saw the light on and decided I was better off studying here than in my car on the road out of town. Sorry if I scared you."

"Only slightly," Ellery called back, breathing deeply to calm her heart before it started racing. "I just wasn't expecting you. Come on up, I'd love the company of someone who knows the truth."

"As opposed to your mother?" Red asked as she walked through the door, "Do I have any clean changes of clothing here? I've got to get out of this skirt."

"You know, you could always start changing your appearance gradually so you didn't have to wear clothing like that anymore." Ellery said.

"Yeah, cause that won't scream 'she remembers her real life' to Regina," Red said snarkily, "and I didn't ask you what I should do about my clothing. I asked if I had any clean clothes here."

"I washed the laundry yesterday, everything's back in the closet outside of the bathroom." Ellery relented and Red shot her a grateful smile before heading into the hall and changing into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. Ellery continued speaking when she walked back into the living room, "And yes, as opposed to my mother who remembers nothing. After the last two days I just need to speak candidly with someone about anything and everything."

"And your sister isn't an option?" Red asked pointedly, pulling out a stack of law books from the backpack she'd dropped by the door when she came in and sitting down cross-legged in the middle of the floor away from where Ellery was currently priming.

"My sister is kind of my problem," Ellery said as she rolled her paintroller over the wall harder than was necessary as she thought about everything that had happened over the last two days. "And how did you know my sister is in town?"

"I saw her when she came into the Inn tonight," Red said as she pulled out a pair of red, tortoise-shelled glasses and opened the books in front of her, "For about half a minute I thought it was you and then she asked for a room and I realized who she was. You guys really are identical; I don't know how no one saw it right away."

"I've been telling you we were identical for years. I think the curse is protecting us honestly." Ellery laughed, "So, what'd you think of her?"

"I didn't get a chance to speak with her," Red rolled her eyes, "Rent was due."

"She met Gold already?" Ellery stopped painting and turned to stare at Red, "What happened?"

"I'm not really sure," Red answered honestly, "He seemed to like her name and was a little more distracted than normal, he didn't count the rent money this month, but I have no idea if her name broke the curse on him or not."

"I'm still not sure if we want him awake or not," Ellery said, "On one hand, he might be useful if we can guarantee him as an ally."

"But on the other hand, he can't be trusted," Red deadpanned, "Come on, El, you know as well as I do that he only ever does anything for himself and he manipulates everything to his advantage. And that's just as Mr. Gold. If he remembers who he was back home, there's no telling what he'll do. Especially if he figures out who you are."

"He didn't know about me, no one did." Ellery said, resuming her painting, "And since the curse or something has protected my identity from the Evil Queen so far, we'll just have to trust that it'll protect my identity from him too. For now we'll just have to wait and watch him until he makes a wrong move."

"Please, just be careful," Red pleaded, "Now, tell me what made your sister change her mind about coming to town. I thought she was adamant that she didn't want to be the Savior."

"Well, she's still not keen on the fact that the fate of everyone here rest on her shoulders, but she's agreed to stay," Ellery smiled, "and she's here because of Henry. He's getting worried about the custody trial so he went to find Emma. To be honest, after Regina convinced the judge to decrease our visitations today, I'm a little worried too. I think Henry figures that Emma will either convince the judge to let him come live with me or that she'll break the curse and this will all become a nonissue."

"Well, he's not wrong with either theory." Red stated, staring at her goddaughter closely, "What does Emma think?"

"I think she's onboard to help with the custody hearing, but she's definitely still balking at having to break the curse," Ellery sighed, "I'm sure she'll come around eventually. Besides, we still don't know how she's supposed to break the curse, so there's still time to convince her."

"I'll talk to her," Red said, "I'll explain what life has been like around here especially for your mother. I'll tell her…"

"No," Ellery interrupted, "that's the opposite of what's going to convince her to stay and break the curse. She needs to come to the decision on her own without people trying to force her into it. And I think part of what is going to convince her to stay and fight is if she believes you're still cursed. As a kid she idolized you, having to watch you act cursed as Ruby could help convince her."

"Are you sure?" Red asked uncertainly.

"Absolutely," Ellery said, "Now, I need something to take my mind off the last few days, read me some of your law books. Your Bar Exam is coming up soon, isn't it?"

"It's the week before your trial, unless the trial gets moved again." Red answered affirmatively, "I've got one chance to pass, unlike all the other poor souls who've been taking the exam every year we've been here and failing. If I don't pass and Regina finds out, I'm done for. She'll know I have my memories and she'll come after me. Luckily, the curse is kind of on my side. Regina cursing me to be a law school dropout may be the best thing that ever happened to me. I have all these memories that are updated constantly of all the things I supposedly learned in law school and then I've done enough studying over the last few years to give me a very good chance of passing."

"Well then," Ellery said cheekily, "You better keep studying. I may need your services some day soon."

Red smiled and began reading aloud from the books in front of her as Ellery continued to prime the walls and both allowed their selves to forget, just for a moment, that there was anything wrong outside the front door.

The clock tolling the next morning was what woke Emma up and for a few seconds she entertained the idea that maybe the town had finally gotten someone in to fix the clock, but she knew better. The clock was working because time was moving again. Time was moving again because she had decided to stay in Storybrooke. And she had decided to stay in Storybrooke for her family; especially for Henry.

With a groan, Emma got out of bed. This was exactly what she had run away from twelve years earlier. Maybe her mom had been right, maybe this was her destiny and maybe she had no control over her life. She groaned again, she was not about to let some imp's vision control her life, destiny be damned. If she was going to break this curse, then it was going to be on her own term and no one else's.

The only thing she was definitely going to do was help her sister regain custody of Henry. And if that failed, she would petition the courts for custody herself and then move her entire family away from this cursed place. And that was including Mary Margaret and her father who was in a coma if she could figure out how to break the curse on them. Ellery would never leave Storybrooke though; Emma had figured that out within half an hour of speaking with her the previous day. Ellery had the same hero complex their mother did and she would insist on staying to save the people who were technically their subjects.

A knock on the door startled Emma out of her musings and she was still partially thinking about her destiny when she opened the door to the Evil Queen.

Regina didn't bother with pleasantries, just nodded towards the basket of apples in her arms, "Did you know the Honeycrisp tree is the most vigorous and hearty of all apple trees? It can survive temperatures of up to forty below and keep growing. It can weather any storm. I have one that I've tended to since I was a little girl. And to this day, I have yet to taste anything more delicious than the fruit it offers."

Regina offered one of the apples to Emma and she had no choice but to take it, holding back a shudder of revulsion, "Thanks."

"I'm sure you'll enjoy them on your way home." Regina didn't even try to hide the threat behind her words.

"Actually, I'm going to stay for a while," Emma said, her resolve to avoid the curse fading with every second she spent in Regina's presence; though she refused to admit it to herself yet.

"I'm not sure that's such a good idea," Regina said haughtily, "Henry has enough issues. He doesn't need you confusing him."

"All due respect, Madam Mayor," Not that Emma thought she deserved any respect, because she didn't, not after what she'd done to Emma's family, "the fact that you have now threatened me twice in the last twelve hours makes me want to stay more." It also didn't help Regina's case that she'd made both Ellery and Henry cry. That was unforgiveable.

"Since when were apples a threat?" Regina asked innocently.

Since you poisoned my mother with one, Emma thought, but said aloud, "I can read between the lines. Sorry. I just want to make sure Henry's safe." And back with his mother where he belongs.

"He's fine dear." Regina tried to brush off Emma's concern, "Any problems he has are being taken care of."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emma had an idea of what that meant, but she wanted to hear it from Regina firsthand.

"It means he's in court ordered therapy. It's all under control." Regina was so haughty that Emma just wanted to slap her. "Take my advice, Miss Swan; only one of us knows what's best for Henry."

"I'm starting to think you're right about that," Emma said, barely containing her anger. The one person who really knew what was best for Henry was Ellery and Emma was willing to do whatever it took to reunite them.

"It's time for you to go," Regina was angry and Emma could tell. She was also afraid.

"Or what?" Emma challenged.

"Don't underestimate me, Miss Swan," Regina said threateningly, "You have no idea what I'm capable of."

Regina didn't give Emma a chance to respond, stalking off down the hallway so that she missed Emma mumbling, "Oh, I know exactly what you're capable of. But I'm not scared of you."

Emma shut her door firmly, refusing to slam it and give Regina the satisfaction of knowing she'd gotten under Emma's skin. With a growl of frustration, Emma tossed the apple on the bed instead of giving into her urge to throw it through the window. She really should throw the apple away, but if Regina had given Emma a cursed apple, then Emma might need to hold onto it, just in case. Ellery would know what to do with it.

Emma picked up her phone and went to dial her sister's number, hesitating at the last second. Ellery had seemed happy to see her yesterday, but Emma wondered if her sister really wanted her around. Emma could clearly remember the last conversation she'd had with Ellery before arriving in Storybrooke and the sisters hadn't exactly parted under the best of situations. Emma shook her head as if to clear those thoughts. Of course, Ellery wanted her around, she was the only person who could break the curse and she was Ellery's best chance at getting Henry back. Emma dialed and waited for her sister to pick up.

"Hey, sis," Ellery answered after a few rings, "For someone with no job and nothing to do today, you're sure up early."

"That stupid clock that's supposedly broken woke me up chiming the hour," Emma said grumpily, refusing to admit that she knew the reason why the clock was working again. But Ellery knew Emma too well to believe that she didn't know the truth.

"I wonder why the clock chose now after all the years I've lived here to suddenly start working," Ellery said wryly, obviously not fooled by Emma's attempt to play dumb.

"The same reason why Regina Mills showed up at my door with a basket full of apples and a bunch of thinly veiled threats as to why I need to leave town," Emma replied, "Tell me, what made you decide to stay in town and allow that woman to care for Henry instead of driving straight back out of town and finding me? How can you stand to be in the same town as her?"

"Mom," Ellery said simply, "she was there for me when no one else was. When Henry was first removed from my custody, I was in no state to leave town with him, and then when I was…"

Ellery trailed off and Emma wondered not for the first time just what had happened to cause Henry to get removed from her sister's custody, "El, about that…"

"I don't want to talk about it," Ellery said quickly, "Let's just say I trusted the wrong person and ended up getting manipulated into a situation that had a terrible outcome, for me and Henry."

"I don't want to push," Emma began, "but I need to know at some point. I don't want to be surprised by the information at a later date."

"I promise, I'll tell you what happened eventually," Ellery said sincerely, "It's just not that easy to talk about over the phone and without copious amounts of ice cream. There are only two people who know the full story: Henry, because he was unfortunately there, and Mom, because she put most of the piece together and then coaxed the full story out of me with ice cream. I want you to be the third person, but I'm just not ready to tell you right now. It'll be soon though."

"Okay, Emma acquiesced, realizing that whatever her sister had gone through must have been really terrible. She changed the subject, "So, I saw Aunt Red last night, or her cursed counterpart at least. She's nothing like the woman mom used to tell us about."

"Ah yes, Ruby," Ellery laughed, "I used to work with her and we've become pretty good friends. Before I owned the Toy Store I was a waitress at Granny's. I still pick up shifts if Granny's is super busy. Ruby's not as brash as she seems, except with Granny. It's too bad really. They obviously love each other, but they're almost always fighting with each other. Oh no…"

The tone of Ellery's voice concerned Emma. Something must have caught her sister's attention and whatever had caught her attention was most definitely awful, "What's going on?"

"You haven't read the paper this morning by any chance have you?" Ellery hedged cautiously.

"No," Emma said suspiciously, "What does it say?"

"Well, let's just say the Evil Queen must be scared of you because she's put Sidney Glass up to one hell of a hatchet job." Ellery said, "Not that it reveals too much information about you, good or bad. But the way he's portrayed you isn't exactly flattering. And the picture doesn't help either."

Emma sighed, "Fantastic! That's just what I needed to deal with: a hatchet job. I guess giving me a potentially cursed apple wasn't enough."

"You took an apple from the Evil Queen?" Ellery asked incredulously, "Are you insane?"

"I didn't really have much of a choice," Emma responded, "it's not like I'm planning on eating it. I was thinking maybe I should keep a hold of it in case she poisoned it and we can use it against her one day."

"That's not a bad idea," Ellery said distractedly, "look, why don't I meet you at Granny's in forty-five minutes and we can discuss our game plan. I have to go talk to Henry before he convinces Mary Margaret to let him skip school today without telling Regina."

"Good luck with that. And I'll talk with you about how you're planning to get Henry back," Emma said, "but I'm still not ready to break the curse. That doesn't mean I'm not willing to fight dirty and use what magic I can to get Henry back. But putting the fates of everyone on my shoulders is more than I'm willing to carry right now."

"That's fair, I guess," Ellery sighed, "But one day you're going to have to accept your role as Savior and you know it."

Emma refused to acknowledge the fact that she did know that she would have to one day don the mantle of Savior, "Go deal with your son. I'll see you in forty-five minutes."

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