Anton looked around at the happy, smiling faces all around him in the strange tavern they brought him to in this strange new world. Everyone from the proprietor, who everyone called Granny, to the dwarves to the pretty woman who claimed to be Emma Swan's mother and her husband who wore James's face, they all looked at him with bright eyes and expectation as they waited to hear what he had to say.
It was almost like….almost like they really wanted him around.
No one had ever wanted him around, not really. He'd never fit in anywhere. Not with his brothers, not with the humans who had lied to and betrayed him. Not with the witch who'd made him small and put him in a cage before bringing him here. He was nothing but a freak who had nowhere to belong.
But these people…they seemed different. He'd swear they truly wanted to help him.
But James and Jack had said the same. They'd lured him in, made him think they were his friends, made him think they truly liked him.
And then they betrayed him in the worst way, not only stealing from him but killing his entire family. What if these people from Storybrooke were the same?
They're not, the optimistic, trusting little voice in the back of his mind that all the heartbreak in the world couldn't quite stamp out insisted. You went on a rampage through their town, threatening them, destroying their property, threatening to kill them until you became small again. Even so, they all came together to save you when your life was in danger.
They'd offered him food, a place to stay. He'd tried to object, telling them he didn't fit in anywhere, but the smaller man, Leroy, wouldn't hear of it.
"You're in the right place," he'd said cheerfully, "Storybrooke's got all kinds, dwarves, fairies, werewolves, you name it."
Maybe….maybe he could fit in with these people. Maybe they truly were what they said they were.
When they began talking about how they wished to return to their land but were content to make the best of their circumstances, he knew what he could do to repay their kindness. If only he could trust them. If only he could believe that they wouldn't prove to be like James and Jack.
He hesitated for a moment but then made up his mind, choosing to take a leap of faith. He reached into his tunic and pulled out the vial Arlo entrusted to him.
"This stem's from a beanstalk. If I plant it, I should be able to grow some magic beans, and then you just might have a way to go home.."