"Momma, you have to tell him the truth," Lynn said, following her mother through city hall and into her office. "He's already pieced a good bit of it together. I mean, you said it yourself, he…"

Lynn set down her school bag and purse on one of the chairs by the door. She took a look around to make sure no one else was around, and then closed the door. After a moment, she walked over to sit across from her mother, who herself had sat down, set down her coffee, and begun to look through her emails. She took a look at the time. 18:26. It was one of those days where Henry had to stay late at school, and had his therapy session in the morning before school. For that, she was relieved. There was no chance of him coming in and interrupting or eavesdropping on any conversation between her and Lynn. That had been something she feared. He had to have overheard a couple of their short lived arguments on the subject. He already seemed to know more than she, Lynn, or Chloe had expected. It was terrifying. She had spent hours upon hours already, too, combing through news articles to see if the curse were weakened in other places. In one place in particular. It was to her immense relief that nothing had changed there, the curse kept that particular person comatose. No one in Storybrooke was aware. But the fact the clock had changed was troubling in and of itself. She had stayed. Emma had stayed. Why did -

"He figured out A…" Lynn fell silent, her voice starting to shake. "He figured out them. Why the curse fluctuated with them but still carried through. And Chloe and I told him what he already knew. He knows at least that much, and I keep trying to tell him you're not the evil queen, but -"

"I know," Regina flinched when her mobile buzzed. She flipped the case open, dismissed the text notification, and stared at the lock screen. Her. Lynn. Henry. "I've always been his mother," She lowered her computer screen a little to look at her daughter. "You know everything, you knew everything by the time you were his age. How can he not see that I…"

"Because Henry and I aren't the same," Lynn said simply. "And he didn't know you when you were the queen. I did. He only knows what me, Chloe…and the book have said. Because he doesn't know what it's like as the queen."

Regina sighed. "Are you sure?"

Lynn nodded. "It's the only thing that makes sense. Don't you think we should tell him the truth?"

"I…" Regina bit her lip. "I can't Lynn."

Lynn eyed her strangely, twisting her hands around her hair.

"Why not?" She asked, completely lost. "There's nothing to lose, is there?"

"There is everything to lose," Regina said softly. "Lynn, I don't want to put anything on you because you've already been through so much, and -"

"You can tell me anything, momma," Lynn said, leaning over to close her mother's computer entirely and squeeze her hands for a few seconds. "I promise," She said, sitting back again. "I wouldn't be here without you, and I wouldn't be here without you doing everything for me over the years. I'm almost an adult, momma, just a few more months. I'm about to go into my last year of high school right before then!"

Regina and Lynn stared at each other, and, a bit to Lynn's surprise, Regina quickly brushed tears away from her eyes.

Her eyes. They have always been Daniel's…and now she sounds like me.

"I hate how things have gone, too, and I don't think I'm going to be fully happy again," Lynn quietly went on with a brief glance at her brace. "But we've always been just about one. You've never lied to me. And I know you've always done your best to keep me safe. You don't have to keep me safe from you, and you never have."

I wasn't my mother to her. I…oh, God…

"Please," Lynn said, her eyes flaring. "Tell me, momma. What is it?"

Her eyes. The way they…

"Lynnie," Regina finally said. "I'm terrified of telling Henry anything - I won't tell him anything - because I can't have him reject me. He's already started to, and I -"

The door to the mayor's office flew open. The stomping of combat boots against the floor were the first indication of the short, bespectacled, pink haired woman in leather pants, a corset, and fur coat sauntering into the room. One of her hands was wrapped around her mobile, and the other pulled one of the earbuds out of her ear, her ipod pressed against the back of her mobile's hot pink case. She was loud. On purpose. Like always. And her voice, high pitched as always, carried in the room.

"Oh, Lynn! I didn't expect you to be here too!"

Lynn laughed when her almost translucently pale 'aunt' embraced her, the fur coat she was wearing soft, and concealing her bony arms. Regina sent her best friend a pointed look. Chloe eventually let Lynn go, and closed the door again.

"What is it?" Regina tiredly reached over to take a sip of what remained of her coffee. "Has something happened? If it's about the curse, I hope it hasn't escaped your notice that the clock has started moving."

"Regina, believe me when I say I'm surprised I noticed the clock, too. Especially since it has only been about a week. But it's not just the clock that started moving," Chloe said, reaching into her bag and pulling out a lighter. "Magic is seeping through too."

Regina nearly spilled her coffee onto her computer when she stood up, shocked when Chloe burnt her tongue. She felt faint when she realised it hadn't hurt or done any harm. Lynn had let out a short yelp, and then started to laugh.

"I don't know whether I'm disturbed you felt the need to prove that by re-enacting Jennifer's Body, or if I'm relieved that you're right," Regina paused, and then let out a heavy sigh. "I suppose we all have to be careful with that, then. I certainly have to be. Because, if not, Henry will realise that he's, at least to an extent, right."

"He already knows a bit," Lynn said, shaking her head. "But I hate to admit that I agree he isn't ready to know about or handle magic. He's just not."

Emma jammed her hands in the pockets of her jeans while she followed Henry towards a dilapidated playground near the water. Mary Margaret, I will never be able to thank you enough for letting me live with you. I can't believe myself, but this…this might be the right decision after all. She tried not to think about the fact Mary Margaret had let Henry play hokey to get to spend time with her after school. Before Regina figured it out. That woman has issues. Henry did not seem worried, though. She managed to smile. She also found herself wishing she had brought a scarf. Her sturdy, red leather jacket was warm enough, but it was still nippy out. Wind. It really was a quiet mountain town. Henry hopped up, his backpack on one arm, and his storybook in the other. When he finally sat down, he opened the storybook and waved her over. She tried not to laugh. Henry is a sensitive kid. Don't let him think you don't take him seriously. Mary Margaret was probably right, she worked at his school. Emma tried not to think too hard about her words, and she tried not to think too hard about anything else. She came up to where he was, and climbed up onto the structure herself. A bit of hesitation rising in her, she sat down beside Henry before she could overthink and change her mind.

"So," She said, playfully nudging him. "What is it today?"

Henry grinned. "Well, remember how we were talking about Netta when we were able to hang out a few other times the last week? Well, I think she's on our side! For sure on our side, I mean!"

Emma raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"For Operation Cobra!" Henry said, flipping through the storybook and pointing to a page with the young princess climbing up into a tree. "See? Netta has always been really strong."

"Okay…" Emma said. How does this make any sense to him? "What does that mean for now?"

"I'm showing you how Netta was capable of being independent from what the queen wanted of her when she was little," Henry patiently went on. "The queen didn't want her to be doing things like that, even though that was normal for a kid. But Netta did it anyways."

Emma stared at him in disbelief.

That makes a little more sense. Still, I -

"She knows the truth," Henry added. "Netta even said so. She isn't lying to me. But Regina is."

"Henry," Emma said pointedly. "She's your mother. Don't call her Regina, and really don't call her the evil queen, okay?"

Henry scrunched up his face, confused.

"I'm serious," Emma said, awkwardly wrapping an arm around her son. "I get that you think of me as your mother, and in some ways I am. But Regina is your mother in every other way. Please don't forget that. I'm not going to lie, I don't know what to think about her, but…"

"But what?" Henry pressed, hugging her back.

"But I can tell she at least cares about you," Emma said with a sigh. "I don't want you to destroy your relationship with your sister because you don't get along with your mother."

Henry hesitated. "Netta knows that her mother is the evil queen."

"I don't think she sees her that way," Emma shook her head. "Why do you think that, Henry?"

"Because they've been arguing a little bit," Henry said simply. "I think Re -" He bit his lip when Emma sent him another pointed look. "- my mom," He corrected. "I think she started to notice. So I don't think she and Netta are talking aloud about it anymore. I think they just text about it now."

Emma considered that. "Well, what were they saying?"

"Netta would say things like 'why can't you just come clean,' or something along those lines," Henry explained. "I don't remember anything specific, but my mom was really against it."

"Maybe that's because she doesn't want your sister to upset you," Emma said after a few seconds of hesitation. "That's probably it, isn't it?"

Henry looked between her and the book.

"Maybe," He conceded.

Am I really a voice of reason? Or does he just trust me too much?

Emma swallowed back the fear and anxiety that was making every hair on her body stand up on end. It also made her wish she had a much easier job, or at least one that was more fun.

Like the time you got to spend weeks going to abandoned places and smashing old toilets for thirty dollars an hour because no one else wanted to do it. Exhausting, but a great work out and more fun than anything else I could have been doing then.

"Also," Henry drew her out of her thoughts, taking her hand and pointing it towards the storybook. "I found your father. He's Prince Charming."

Emma did her best to hide her disbelief.

Conceal it. Don't let him know what you're thinking. He already feels like you abandoned him, which you did. Don't make it worse. He deserves to be happy as much as anyone.

"Henry…" She finally said, her voice softer than she had expected. "What do you mean? How could you have figured that out just from a book? I know you've…figured out a lot. But how could you get who my dad is from just a book?"

"Because I already know who your mom is."

Lying to him shouldn't be this easy.

"He's in the hospital, in a coma," Henry continued, completely unfazed. "See the scar?" He lightly dragged her finger to be pointing at it. "He has one too. In the exact same place, and exactly like that."

"So?" She kept her voice gentle in a way that kept startling her. Be the voice of reason but carefully. Super carefully. You can't do anything to hurt him, he's clearly got enough struggles going on inside him as it is. "I know it sounds obvious, but lots of people have scars."

"In the same place?" Henry pressed again.. "Don't you see what this means? The curse is keeping your parents apart with the coma. Now, they're stuck without each other. We have to tell Miss Blanchard we found her Prince Charming."

"Okay, kid, telling someone their…soul mate is in a coma is probably not helpful," She took his hand on impulse and patted it with her free hand without letting go of his with the other. "Not having a happy ending is painful enough, but giving someone unrealistic hope is far worse."

Henry squeezed her hand. "But what if I'm right?" He countered. "We know who they are. Now, they have to know."

Emma squeezed his hand back. "And how do you intend to make that happen?"

"By reminding him," Henry perked up a bit. "We have to get her to read their story to John Doe. Then, maybe, he'll remember who he is."

Emma considered that.

Be gentle with him.

"Okay…"

Henry perked up more. "Okay?"

"Yeah," Emma finally said, surprising herself again. "Yeah, we'll do it, but we'll do it my way: let me ask her."

Replies To Reviews:

barrattajennifer: Regina and Emma have a lot more in common than they think, and Lynn is definitely that first link…

Sammii16: i hope this did not disappoint you, then!

jasouatfan: Lynn has a pretty good memory, just like her mother! and Henry 100% needs to take a bit of time to consider things more than impulsively, though in that sense he is exactly like the rest of his family