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Ten year old Henry Mills swung his legs back and forth under the desk. It was a day off school for him, but Lynn had to leave soon. And their mother had already left for work. It was the perfect time. He was still nervous. He looked between the book he had been pouring over for months., and the printer. Eventually, the printer spit out the information. He scanned over it once. Twice. Three times. This was it. He stared at it, almost not believing it was real. He heard Lynn starting down the stairs. He slipped the paper into the front of the book. He closed the windows on the computer, and shut it off. Tucking the surprisingly heavy and large book under his arm, he just about walked into his seventeen year old sister. Lynn eyed him strangely, twisting her hair in her hands. She slipped on her shoes, and then scooped up her backpack. Henry stared at the family picture just next to her. Himself. Her. Their mo - Regina. He blinked back tears. Mary Margaret didn't know it, but she had showed him the truth. And she had no idea of it. She hadn't believed him, either. Regina had gotten upset when he had brought it up. Forbade him from bringing it up with Lynn.
"Henry?" Lynn lightly waved a hand in front of his face. "You okay? Are you trying to go into hypnosis by staring at family pictures?"
He shook his head. "Netta, we need to talk."
Lynn eyed him strangely, but took his free hand. The two of them eventually sat down on the stairwell, and he set the book down on his lap.
"What is it?" Lynn pressed, ruffling her little brother's hair. "You've been acting weird around momma lately. What happened?"
Henry chewed at the inside of his cheek.
"You're the evil queen!" Henry had started to cry, pulling open the storybook his teacher had given him. "I can't believe I'm in the fourth grade and am just finding this out!"
Regina had stared at her son in disbelief for a moment. She hesitantly looked to the pages of the storybook he had pushed towards her. She flinched when she saw the illustration, and the text that was alongside it.
"Henry," Regina had taken the book from him and shut it. "I have no idea what's going on with you. I know you've had some trouble with people at school, I know you've been lonely. But this?"
"You cursed everyone!" Henry had tried to take the storybook back from her, but Regina was quicker, and set the book up on the top shelf on her dresser, well above where her son could reach. "Why? How could you do something like that?"
"There are some things that you are too young to understand," Regina had said, startling when Henry ran past her, crying. "Henry!"
"What?"
He had turned around in the doorway. He started to yell again, but went silent when he heard a car pull up outside of the house. Regina had startled, too. She and her son had stared at each other for a few seconds, her shaky, and him still crying.
"I don't know what's going on, Henry," Regina had finally said. "But do not say anything about this to Lynn."
"Why not?"
"Because it will upset her. And, whatever you're mad at me about, she does not deserve to be dragged into this. Promise?"
He had not said anything and ran to his room, slamming the door shut.
"Henry?" Lynn hugged her brother. "Is someone bothering you at school again?"
He shook his head.
She hesitated. "What is it, then?"
"Netta," Henry's voice was unsteady when he opened the book, careful to not let the piece of paper he had printed fall out. "Remember when you told me how you're a princess?"
Lynn nodded, flinching when she saw him paging through the storybook.
"You are," Henry pointed at an illustration. "See? That's the evil queen and her baby. That's you, and the evil queen is your mom."
"She is not the evil queen!" Lynn just about screamed. "She's just the queen, and she always has been!"
Henry gaped at her when she slid over to the wall side of the staircase. After a little more hesitation, he continued to flip through and show her the book. He paused on a few of the pages. The first of these were of the kidnapping of the princess.
"I'm sorry about what they did to you, Netta," Henry said quietly when he saw his sister was starting to cry. "They shouldn't have taken you away from your mom. I just…how can you be okay with what mom's done over the years?"
Lynn blinked back tears, trying to calm her breathing.
"Momma is not a perfect person. She's a good person, really. She's just done a lot of bad things because a lot of bad things have been done to her."
Henry sighed, closing the book and resting his head in his hands.
She loves us. She always has loved us. But love doesn't have to be healthy, and I think Ruby was right in the story when she said that mom uses us as crutches to try and hold onto what she has. It's sad. But she's killed people. She cursed the entire town! Why?
"Is it all true, then?"
Lynn stared at him for a few seconds.
Do not tell lies, but you do not have to tell the truth.
Her aunt was right a lot of time, and that had been good advice for most painful situations.
This was not a time like those.
This was not the time to hide anything.
She could not lie to her little brother.
"It is," Lynn said quietly. "But momma is not the evil queen."
The front door opened. Chloe stepped in, startling and adjusting her glasses when she saw her 'niece' and 'nephew' on the stairs, them both looking to have been crying. With a heavy sigh, the pale, bony pink haired woman dropped her keys in her purse and crossed her arms.
"What's going…" She fell silent the second she saw the now-closed book in Henry's lap. "Henry…"
He's starting to piece things together. I'm terrified. He already seems to hate me. I don't want him to hate me more. I almost lost my daughter. I can't lose my son.
"He knows," Lynn whispered, suddenly latching onto and hugging her brother. "He -"
"Hush," Chloe started swearing when the rain started to pick up outside, thunder and lightning starting to come. "Both of you, get in the car."
Henry and Lynn both scrambled. Lynn was the first in the car, buckling herself into the passenger seat with her purse and backpack at her feet. Henry was shortly behind her, and held the storybook tightly against his chest with his own backpack on his shoulder. Homework and snacks were in it, both on purpose for the day and naturally. He stared up at his 'aunt' when she locked up the house.
"Chloe?" He said, shaking. "How are you able to be close with mom after everything she's done? Through everything she did as queen?"
Chloe swore at the key in the front door, eventually getting it out.
"A lot of people are more than a good person or a bad person."
Henry grimaced when she checked to make sure the front door was, in fact, locked. She slipped and almost fell over, swearing again.
"Henry," Chloe dropped the keys back in her purse again before setting her hands to his shoulders. "When did you start reading this book?"
"A few months ago," He admitted. "Mary Margaret gave it to me when she saw I was lonely. I told her how she's Snow, and she thought I was crazy."
"That's because most people would think that's crazy," Chloe shook her head. "You have to admit, Henry, that it sounds completely outlandish."
"But it's true. And you haven't answered the question all the way."
"You saw me in the book, didn't you? What did I say about that question then?"
Henry stared at her but then flipped through it, finally reaching the page he had been looking for.
"You said: maybe not," Henry read out. "But, at least for me, I've come to realise that there are some things that are beyond my control. Some things that I will just never know…and having to let them go, making myself let them go…that has helped me more than I can properly explain."
Chloe nodded. "See? Try and think about that, Henry. Please. Get in the car. Now."
"What? You snuck off while your aunt was shopping and went to find me? Are you completely -"
Emma let out a short yelp when her mobile started going off. She sighed when she saw the text message from Chloe. Quickly, she texted back, letting her know she would be bringing Henry home herself. She did not have to leave her performance. A minute. A few more. Chloe eventually got back to her. Emma let out a sigh of relief. She turned back to where Henry was sitting on her couch, his hands tapping against the spine of the storybook. He awkwardly watched his mother, who was pacing. She could not, it seemed, stop making incredibly anxious and freaked out noises. Every so often, she started swearing. Finally, she got around to being able to turn to him. She was breathing heavily, her hands out, shaking. She had changed from her dress and into a tank top, jeans, and jacket. She seemed almost unable to say anything. That was not surprising, though it had scared him at first. He had thought she would take things the same way Netta and Chloe had. How could his mother not get that she was the saviour? How could she not get that things would get better in town because of her?
Eventually, she waved at him to stand up, and he did. What he did not expect, however, was that she gently tagged her fingers around one of his ears, and grabbed her mobile, cards, and keys, and pulled him out of the apartment with him, locking it shut in a matter of seconds.
They started down the hall to the lifts.
"Where are we going?" Henry excitedly asked. "To town, right?"
"Yes," Emma replied. "To take you back to your mother."
Henry pouted. "But you're my mother."
"Sure," She agreed. "But so is…"
"Regina," Henry put in. "She's the mayor."
Emma groaned. "Kid, did you think any of this through?"
"Yes," Henry chirped. "That's why I had to come find you!"
Emma paused, and let go of his ear when the lift doors closed. The descent to the lobby began.
Regina.
Regina Eveline Mills! What the fuck -
Oh my God. Chloe never mentioned that Lynnetta had a brothe -
"Henry," Emma started, taking his free hand. "You have a sister, right?"
Henry nodded, though his brow furrowed in confusion.
"How did you know that?"
"Because I was the one who gave anonymous testimony on her behalf in the case against the girl who tried to murder her," Emma went silent and awkwardly smiled at the couple who stepped into the lift, frowning at her and Henry. "Mind your own business. I'm allowed to be unmarried and have a son!"
The couple stepped as far away from them as possible. Emma scowled at them, her mind starting to spin and spin. Her hand tightened around Henry's. He's not really my son. Just biologically. Regina is his mother, don't forget that. The lift doors opened at the lobby. She and Henry just about ran out. They quickly went into the apartment building's garage. It was not too long until the two of them got to her car. Henry gasped in excitement when he saw it. The car was vintage, and bright yellow. He couldn't help but gape at it. He only got into the passenger seat when Emma pulled the door open and waved him over to it. Henry shook himself out and all but jumped into the car. He buckled himself in and kept the storybook in his lap when Emma closed the door. She walked around the side of it. She opened the door on the driver's side. She let out a heavy sigh, rubbing at her eyes. Eventually, she buckled herself in. She looked over at Henry, who smiled at him. She put the key in the ignition. She adjusted the mirrors and her seat. They did not really have to be adjusted, but it was going to be a long drive. Hours. Hours in the car, with the kid, and with no idea if his mother knew he was okay.
Chloe was distractible, and probably had jumped on stage the second she had responded to that text without a thought.
Regina almost certainly had no idea where her son was.
"Henry, listen to me," Emma's hands tightened around the steering wheel when she pulled into traffic. "I don't know what possessed you to do this, but that was incredibly dangerous. Leaving your aunt, and in a city you're not familiar with? You could have been kidnapped, or worse! Promise me you will never do something like this again. I can't begin to imagine how your mother is feeling right now."
Henry said nothing, looking down at her hands.
"She is probably upset," He said quietly. "Really, really upset. But you're my mom, and I had to meet you. I also had to get you to come to town because you're the saviour. You have to come to town to break the curse! You just have to!"
Emma glanced at him in the mirror.
"Look," She eventually said. "I have no idea what's going on, but I know that curses aren't real. Chloe might believe in all that, but I don't. It simply doesn't exist. That's a fact. Magic, curses, divination…it's not real."
Henry shook his head. "That's what the curse wants you to think!"
He can't really believe this…can he?
Her thoughts began to wander. Chloe had said some odd things over the years. But had she been trying to tell her something because they were good friends, or had she let things slip out?
"Alright," Emma said, looking between him and the road while stopped in the traffic going out of the city and up to Maine. "If you're telling the truth -"
"I am -" Henry started.
"- then who do you think I am?" Emma regretted the question almost the second it left her mouth. "And who is your mother?"
"You're the saviour. You break the curse because you're Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter. My mother…" Henry swallowed hard. "She's the evil queen."
A woman who fought desperately for her daughter's life and justice for her? A woman who adopted a child without question and has given him everything, not hiding from him that he's adopted, either? There's no way she's the evil queen, even if the rest of what he's saying is true. If. Get a grip. You're not…
"Henry," Emma began to drum her fingers against the steering wheel while traffic started to move again. "I get it if you're angry with your mom. That happens. I never knew my parents, but I can imagine I would get this angry at them at some point or another. I've never met your mother, but I know some things about her, and, I'm sorry. I just cannot believe she's the evil queen."
Henry leaned back against the seat, drawing his legs up to his chest.
"I'm not lying."
Emma's eyes left the road for almost too long. Her mind began to reel.
He hasn't lied about anything. He's being completely honest.
"I never said you are."
Emma screeched and swore when she almost hit another car while veering onto the interstate.
"You okay?" Henry looked at her with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to scare you."
"You're not scaring me," Emma caught her breath, her hands almost death gripping the steering wheel. "I'm fine, Henry. It's just been a long day. I have a hard job, and the past few weeks have been very, very, very long and exhausting. Okay? So, if I seem sharpish, it's not you. It's me."
Henry nodded. "I get it."
"I also don't want you to get hurt," Emma went on. "Which is another reason why I'm taking you home. Even if it were legal - which, to be clear, it is not - I cannot take care of you. I gave you up because I knew I could not raise a child well. Whatever you're going through with your mom, I know she loves you, and is a good mother. And you know how? Because I know how she is with your sister. Do you get that? I haven't met her, but I'm sure she's a good mother. I just can't be. I never would have been."
Henry shook his head. He drew his legs and the storybook with them as tightly against his chest as he possibly could.
"Can you promise me something, then?"
"If you promise me something else first."
"What's that?"
"Promise me you'll never run away from home again, sneak out, anything like that. And promise me that you'll work things out with your mother because I'm sure she loves you unconditionally."
"I will. Can you promise to stay in Storybrooke?"
Emma hesitated.
"We'll see, kid. But I just…I can't make promises. I can't risk hurting you, or letting you or anyone else down."
Replies To Reviews:
Sammii16: a can of worms opening up just about happens every day in Storybrooke. that's going to continue to happen, especially now…
jasouatfan: and all of that will become the least of things on the forefront of Regina's mind.
barrattajennifer: that's true, and i'm so glad you enjoyed the chapter! i hope you guys will continue enjoy it, because i'm loving writing it, as well as things continuing to kick up in a new phase of this two hundred chapter story.