Dead Reckoning

Chapter Two

"So, how exactly are we going to convince Lily to find somewhere else to practice her magic where people won't be effected by her dark side?" Killian asked his wife while Emma drove towards Granny's Bed and Breakfast on their way home so they could talk with the two sorceresses. "Maleficent might not be a villain any longer, at least not an acting villain, but surely she'll see our talk as nothing more than a way to stunt her daughter's progress. And Lily…"

"Lily will take it personally and God only knows how she's going to react," she finished for him. "She's been moody and upset about something lately. Last week, she got so mad at Dopey just for accidentally running into her and then being unable to speak his apology. Had I not been there to pull her out of the room, she probably would have killed him. She won't speak to me about what's bothering her. She always used to when we were kids. Although that was before I abandoned her and she learned about what my parents did to her and her mother."

Killian laid his hook on her arm as if to comfort her a little when he sensed she was still felling ashamed about being the Savior because of what her parents had done, while Lily had become the opposite, then he said, "Don't do that to yourself, love. You've made things right for both Lily and her mother. Perhaps whatever it is she's so angry about has something to do with being unable to find her father. Or perhaps it's because she feels trapped here."

Emma looked over at him in surprise and then answered, "Killian, you're a genius. How could I have been so blind? Lily did ask me some time ago to see if I could help her locate her father. I told her I'd try and yet after everything that happened next, with me becoming the Dark One, Camelot, and then you die… dying. I completely forgot about it. And as for her feeling like she's trapped here, that's probably true too. I would suggest that they go on a long vacation somewhere out among the world, but Maleficent still can't leave town without dying again herself. Surely Lily doesn't want to hurt her mother's feelings by telling her she wants to leave for awhile. Unfortunately, I don't have a suggestion to help her with that. Nor do I know where I can even begin trying to find her father, especially since Maleficent did her thing while she and the father were in dragon form and she doesn't have any idea who he is. It's worse than trying to find someone who skipped bail."

"Well, if anyone can do it, it'll be you," he replied and leaned over to kiss her cheek. "If you need my help, you know that I'll be here."

"You're right, I do know you'll always be here for me," she responded with a smile and then leaned over to kiss him as they pulled up outside of the bed and breakfast. "All right, we have to finish our job. We can do more of that later."

Killian smiled as he answered, "I'm grateful that Henry's been staying over at his other mother's since we've been married, rather than at home with us."

They both got out of the yellow bug as his wife replied smugly, "That's because he knows better than to stick around. We're early into our honeymoon phase. And like my parents' never did, I hope ours never ends."

"Nor I," he stated, then together the two sheriffs walked inside and made their way to Lily's room first.

Meanwhile…

Henry was sitting on the couch within the living room at his and Regina's appearing to be doing some homework after they ate a late dinner. However, Regina knew something was wrong with her teenage son when she noticed that he kept drifting off into his thoughts. Finally, she set down her book she was reading so she could talk to him about it.

"Henry, what's wrong?" the Queen asked quietly. "And don't tell me nothing, because you keep getting lost in your thoughts and I doubt you've gotten a lot of your homework done at all."

The seventeen year old laid down his textbook and notebook, then looked over at his adopted mother as he responded, "It's Violet. She's been acting strange for two days now. Kind of sad. I've tried going up to her to ask her what's bothering her, but she's avoiding me. She'll either turn and walk the other way when she sees me coming, or she clams up and tries to act like nothing's wrong. I'm beginning to worry that we're drifting apart. What if… What if she doesn't like me the same way that she used to anymore? Or what if she's even found someone else she likes more than me? What do I do, Mom?"

Regina leaned forward in her chair and reached out her hand to lay it down on her son's knee, the she answered, "First of all, don't automatically think the worst. Violet can't possibly think of you any less, especially since now you give her all your free time you never really used to have when you were busy helping us fight against all the villains who rose up before the final battle was won. Second, she couldn't possibly think there's a better guy than you anywhere in town. You're one of a kind."

"You only say all that because you're my mother," he retorted in frustration.

"Maybe so, but it doesn't mean that it's not true," she replied in seriousness. "The next time Violet turns and runs, or whatever else you might be thinking, go after her and keep on encouraging her to speak up. Just so long as you don't scare her away by badgering her. She'll tell you what's wrong eventually, I'm sure of it. You have to be patient. Now is that all that's troubling you?"

Her son smiled and nodded, then he responded, "Yeah, that's all. Thanks. I'd better finish up my homework now. Most of it's due tomorrow and I'm a little behind. I can't use the excuse of fighting monsters anymore, you know."

Regina was about to say something more, when the doorbell rang. She stood up and walked into the foyer to open up the front door and when she did, she was surprised to see the sixteen year old girl her son was just talking about, but she quickly smiled, then called out to Henry still sitting in the living room.

He came jogging into the hallway as his mother did so, he was also surprised to see his girlfriend too as she whispered bashfully, "Hello, Henry. I hope you don't mind that I stopped by tonight. I'm sorry, Regina. I know it's getting late, but I was hoping we could talk. Henry and me, I mean?"

"Of course you can," the Queen answered and then started to head towards the kitchen to give the two teenagers some space. "But Henry… don't forget to finish your homework later before you go to bed. You said it yourself, you don't have any more legitimate excuses to not get it all done."

"I won't forget," he replied. "Thanks, Mom."