Henry's view

As soon as I close the door behind me, I talk to Ruby about it.

Tell me, Ruby, have you noticed that Mom is acting strangely. She seems much happier, you could almost say she seems happy, and yet she's totally absent, as if she were lost in her thoughts the whole time, but even more so than before," I want to know from Ruby.

I didn't notice that directly, Henry, but my feeling told me that Regina was hiding something from me. I ignored my feeling because I wondered what reason Regina would have to hide something from me. Something might have happened if you noticed something too. Do you have any idea what might have happened?" Ruby confirms my observation. I think about it. Why could Mom suddenly be happier than before and more absent at the same time? Maybe the two of them have been talking? Or maybe Mom is just relieved.

I don't know, I can think of two possibilities. One is that maybe mom is just relieved to have found Emma and maybe that's still going on. But on the other hand, what if they finally talked about their feelings. I mean that's unlikely, because they're both total stubborn bastards, but there's a small possibility, isn't there?" I share my thoughts with Ruby.

You're right, there is a small possibility, but from what Regina told me, they didn't have time to talk about it. Maybe she was like that because she was so happy to see you, and then there was the relief that Emma is doing well and is with her. And the fact that she is more absent than usual could perhaps be due to the fact that she was worried about Emma and was thinking about what could have happened that threw Emma off track so much that she ran away. Or just her constant daydreaming that she thinks no one would notice." Ruby unconsciously takes away my hope that my moms have finally gotten together.

"What did Mom tell you about what happened in those two days? Emma and I didn't talk about it." I want to know.

Regina said that when she arrived, your mom wasn't feeling well and she just held Emma until Emma fell asleep. And that when your mom woke up in the morning, Emma wasn't there anymore and she thought that Emma had run away again. As a result, she had been outside for several hours until Emma had come to her at some point, because she hadn't run away, she had just gone shopping. Then Regina had fainted and woke up only this morning. After that they just had breakfast until Emma went to take a shower and Regina finally noticed all our messages and calls ha. She then texted us back and then we were there." Ruby sums up what mom told her. She's right, with everything that's been going on, my moms wouldn't have had time to talk at all. It worries me a little that Mom fainted.

"How mom fainted, why is that? She's fine, isn't she?" I ask Ruby irritably.

She had a high fever, but this morning when she woke up she was fine, she didn't really notice, Emma told her. In any case, you don't have to worry." Ruby reassures me.

Hmm, nevertheless, something is different with Mom. But maybe it really is because of what you said." I say more to myself than to Ruby.

,Alright, let's explore now, but if you think of anything else or notice anything, let me know yes?" I close the topic to finally be able to explore the area.

Of course, if I think of anything else, I'll let you know. Then let the adventure begin." Ruby says to me, while she winks at me.

I look around. We've been walking for a while and I didn't even notice that we were on some kind of beach. All around us are rocks on the light sandy beach. It's gorgeous here, but most importantly, and this is the coolest part of the whole thing, a few of the rocks form little caves that you can walk into. No sooner do I notice this than I run off to explore the first cave. Behind me I hear Ruby laughing, but I just ignore it because I'm too curious. Arrived at the first cave, I look at it more closely.

Who knows maybe I will meet a wolf that lives in the cave and only comes out at night. Okay yes I know it's very unlikely, but you can hope, right? I have always wanted to see a wolf.

When I met Ruby a few years ago, I thought she was a werewolf, I mean she has an incredible sense of smell, she always knows who is coming into the diner, even if she hasn't seen them yet. So if that's not a sign that she's a werewolf, then I don't know what is.

Of course, it could all be good intuition or the regularity of Storybrooke residents actually coming into the diner at the same time every day, but I used to think my version of events was just way cooler.

Of course I never told her that, but who's to say there isn't something to it. Well, I know that there are no werewolves and they only come from fairy tales and fantasy novels, but wouldn't it be incredibly cool if they really existed?

But now back to the cave. It is very dark in here, only the entrance is somewhat illuminated by daylight. But I don't let that stop me. I go further into the cave and take out a lighter that I keep in my pocket. On the ground I feel for a stick, which I find also quite fast and light it. I know of course that one does not play with fire, but I pay attention and am careful and so I can recognize at least something of the dark cave. On the walls are some drawings scribbled, probably here are often times young people or children who paint something on the walls. If I had a pen with me, I would probably do it. The cave is not very big, there are no wide tunnels running under the place, which would have been really cool, because I just love such adventures. Still, the cave is very fascinating. The stones, how they are strung together to give the cave stability. Maybe there was a landslide that caused this, or maybe people built these caves, back in the Middle Ages to house in such caves.

Ruby's view

After Henry told me that he noticed that Regina was acting strangely, I can't shake the feeling I had earlier in the kitchen. So my feeling wasn't wrong after all, Regina is hiding something from me, but what reason would she have to? So while Henry explores the caves, I think about it.

I told Henry that I didn't think they had talked about their feelings for each other because there really hadn't been time, but maybe they had finally talked. Because Emma had also seemed different to me. After she had received the letter from her parents, I assumed that she would be sad all the time or would be lost in her thoughts, that she would not be able to concentrate, would be introverted and would rather block us off. But nothing like that had happened. Emma had participated in the conversation with joy, was not lost in thought and had smiled a lot. She seemed freer and more carefree than she had a few days ago. Even before she had received the letter, she had always seemed depressed. But if they were talking, why didn't they tell us? That's something we'd be happy for you to hear, isn't it?

I mean, Regina and Emma know that Henry secretly wants that too. It's all quite strange, maybe we're just interpreting what we secretly want to see. Emma was probably just happy not to be alone anymore, grateful that Regina followed her and happy to see her son again, who can also give her support and strength. And Regina? She probably hadn't slept well due to the fever yesterday and was therefore simply tired and in thought, but at the same time happy and cheerful because Henry had come and Emma is doing well so far. We shouldn't read so much into it, probably nothing happened at all, otherwise they would probably have told us about it.

Even though Emma seems to be doing relatively well right now, I hope she talks to Regina about what her parents said here in the letter. Because Emma really needs to stop trying to work everything out with herself, otherwise she's going to break from it, just like she broke from it once before. It had taken forever for Emma to open up to anyone after Henry brought her to Storybrooke.

Ruby, come here, there's a pack of wolves painted on the wall, you've got to see this." Henry snaps me out of my thoughts.

I'm coming." I call out to him.

Finding him was not difficult, I go purely intuitively to the third cave, which is located on this beach. Henry is standing in front of a stone wall with a homemade torch, waiting impatiently for me. Arriving at his place, I look at the picture in amazement. There are many wolves kneeling down in front of the alpha wolf, while the alpha wolf stands on a high rock and howls at the moon. Next to it is pretty much the same picture, with the only difference being that the many wolves that were kneeling before are now also howling at the moon.

I find wolves insanely fascinating, they are my favorite animals. They are beautiful and graceful, they have their own rules and live in packs. They defend everything dear to them and always stand together.

I take my cell phone out of my jacket pocket to take a picture of the paintings.

Henry, can you hold the torch a little higher so I can take a picture? I ask Henry, who immediately holds the torch a little higher.

Can you please send me the picture too, I want to put it with my storybook, with Red's story". He asks me, which makes me smile. In his storybook, there are many stories that flow into each other, including that of Captain Hook, who is supposed to be Killian in Henry's eyes.

Of course! I don't think I know Red's story, do you want to tell me?" I ask Henry, knowing he is excited about telling others stories from his book.

Red is a girl who lives with her grandmother because her parents have died. Her grandmother has kept a secret for years, which tragically comes out. Red had met Snow White and told her that her grandmother would not let her meet her boyfriend. It was wolf season and a dangerous wolf was running around outside killing many people. Snow White and Red followed the wolf's tracks and came to the conclusion that Red's friend must be the wolf, because the tracks led them directly to Red's window and he had been standing in front of that very window the night before. Red wanted to stand by her friend and chain him to a tree so he couldn't hurt anyone, but knew her grandma would never let her. Snow White then had the idea that Red would give her her cloak and she would get under the covers instead of her. Her grandma then came in the evening and noticed it, whereupon she panicked and told Snow that Red was actually the wolf and only the Red cape could prevent her transformation. Snow and Red's grandma set out to quickly get to Red, but it was too late, because by the time they arrived, Red had already killed her friend.

From then on, it was a very hard time for Red and Snow helped her through it as best she could, but Red just couldn't forgive herself. She felt out of place, so she decided to leave with Snow White and find a home. There she met a pack of wolves and it turned out that her mother was still alive. Snow can into the pack's lair to check on Red, but she hadn't noticed that the Evil Queen's black knights had followed her. A fight ensued, which the wolves won, of course, but Red's mother wanted Snow to die. Red could not allow this and so Red lost her mother and fled with Snow. They were very good friends and found a place where they felt comfortable. The curse that had brought all the other fairy tale characters to our world also brought Red here. Here she felt much more comfortable during the curse and when it was broken, she had a lot of trouble being herself again. After quite a while, Red decided to return to the Enchanted Forest to find her place. While there, she met Dorothy, with whom she had fallen in love. They got together and Red finally found a home.

Of course, that's not the whole story of Red, but I think you know the most important thing now."

I let Red's story run through my mind again. She must have been very strong with all that she had been through and I am glad that in the end she found a place where she felt comfortable. I think this is my favorite story from his book and not just because Red is a wolf, but because she had the courage not to give up and because she had such a good friend like Snow by her side, who always encouraged her and stood by her when she was in such a bad way.

Henry, I really like this story, if it's okay with you, I'd like to read it sometime." I express my thoughts.

Sure, I thought you would like the story. You can read it tonight if you want, I have my book with me." He says.

"Sure, if you want, we can read it together later." I suggest, knowing that he could read these stories every day.

I would like that very much." He agrees to my suggestion.

Henry's view

I'm not surprised that Ruby likes this story so much. If Ruby were a fairy tale character, she would definitely be Red. There are already a lot of parallels between the two. I'm really looking forward to reading this story with Ruby.

But first, I want to continue exploring the caves. In the fourth cave, we find again pictures painted on the wall, but this time they are not wolves. On the wall is a man with golden shimmering skin. He is sitting in front of a spinning wheel and a golden roll of thread is hanging from it. On the second picture, is a brown haired woman holding a broken teacup in her hand. This must clearly be Rumpelstiltskin and Belle.

Ruby takes a picture of that, too, and we go into the next cave. There we find more pictures, which probably belong to the fairy tale of Snow White and Prince Charming, of which again a photo is taken. And so it goes on from cave to cave. In any case, it is a very nice time that Ruby and I spend together.