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Chapter 14

Hanna was in the kitchen with David making breakfast, she was actually up early enough to help him today. He and Henry usually made eggs or some kind of pancakes, but today David declared that they were going to be making french toast. Hanna was excited about that, she didn't think she had ever had french toast before. She was eager to try them. They were just about done when Mary Margaret came into the room.

"Hi Mom!" Hanna said with a smile. She was excited for her mom to try the breakfast she helped make.

"What are you doing?" she asked with a worried look on her face.

"Making breakfast," David replied with a shrug of his shoulders like it was no big deal.

"Why?"

"We're hungry."

"You think I don't know what you're doing? Why are you making french toast. You know it's my favorite. We talked about this. We had a deal."

"I know I know, but with the curse broken I thought maybe you would change your mind."

"Change your mind about what?" Hanna asked as she looked at her parents, very confused about what was going on.

"Well, I didn't," Snow replied, ignoring her daughter's question. She didn't have the energy to explain the situation to her. "I have to go," Snow said as she went to grab her coat.

"Mom, wait…" Hanna started to say as she ran over to her.

"I'll be back later, sweetie," Snow said with a small smile as she headed out the door.

Hanna had no idea what was going on. Why was her mom so concerned about them making breakfast? Apparently it was even her favorite breakfast. Shouldn't she be excited about that? What was this deal that her mom and dad had made, one that her dad apparently didn't follow through with. What did he think she would change her mind about? Hanna looked at her dad hoping to get an answer from him. "What was that all about?" Hanna asked him.

"It's her birthday," David said with a sigh as he sat down on the bar stool.

"She doesn't like her birthday?"

David went on to explain to Hanna about why this day made her so sad. He told her all about Queen Eva and what had happened to her. He told her that she didn't like celebrating her birthday because it reminded her of her mother's death. Hanna felt bad that her mom's birthday brought her so much sadness. Hanna knew birthdays should be happy occasions. However, she had never had a birthday celebration herself. No one at the orphanage had one. It mostly had to do with the fact that no one was aging during the curse, well except for the last ten years of it when Hanna was, but even then nobody celebrated a birthday for her. Hanna hadn't even known when her birthday was until Henry told her about Emma. Emma's birthday was the day he brought her to Storybrooke, so that was obviously Hanna's birthday too. It wasn't until a few days later that Hanna had actually put two and two together that it had been her birthday as well. It had already passed, so she didn't make a big deal about it. She hadn't celebrated a birthday before, so she didn't feel bad about not celebrating it then either. Besides, her and Henry had too much on their plate with breaking the curse and everything.

"I'm sorry this is such a sad day for her," Hanna told her dad.

"Me too kiddo."

"Where did she go?"

"Probably out in the woods somewhere. She just needs to be alone for a while, but she'll be back. How about we eat this breakfast we worked so hard to make."

"I'm not hungry," Hanna said. She didn't want to eat the breakfast that had made her mom so upset.

David knew that Hanna was hungry. She was always hungry in the mornings. He knew why she didn't want to eat the breakfast they had prepared, so he made a different suggestion. "How about we save this for later and just have some cereal instead."

"Okay," Hanna said as she nodded her head.

After breakfast, Hanna left with David to go to the station since Snow hadn't returned yet. David tried calling her, but it went straight to voicemail. He left her a message letting her know where they were. Hanna didn't feel like filing today, so she brought her backpack and decided to work on homework or read one of her books. After about an hour or so, Mary Margaret came rushing into the station.

"It's Regina, she's been lying to us," she said quickly, practically out of breath.

"Wait, slow down. How do you know this?" David asked her.

"I overheard them in the woods. She's working with Cora to find Gold's dagger."

"The dagger controls him. If Cora gets it she can force Gold and all his power to do her bidding."

"Or become the Dark One herself."

"Neither one of those options sound good. Lucky for us we can call the man himself. He's with Emma."

"Tried it, sent a message."

"Well we can't just wait."

"No we have to bide time unit they call us back or return."

"How?"

"Regina. She doesn't trust her mother, never has. If we can put some doubt in her about Cora's motives, it might slow them down."

"You think she'll just trust you?"

"Well she doesn't need to trust me, she just needs to listen to me, and I know how to get her to do that."

Hanna listened to the exchange between her parents. She was trying to wrap her head around all of it. Hanna knew Regina was up to something. She really hoped she wasn't, but she had a feeling she was. Hanna felt sorry that Henry was going to come home to find out his mom was plotting to steal the Dark One's dagger. She had just been cleared of Dr. Hopper's apparent murder, and now this. Hanna knew Henry really hoped that she was trying to change for the better. Hanna really wanted Regina to change too.

Snow set off to meet Regina. She used Henry as an excuse to get Regina to agree to the meeting. Hanna stayed at the station with David. They both waited for Snow to return, hoping this would give them enough time for Gold to respond and tell them where the dagger was. Unfortunately, when Snow returned, they still hadn't heard from Gold. They decided that they would just have to search for the dagger themselves. They hoped that Mother Superior would be able to help them.

"Let me guess," Hanna started, "I get to go hang out with Ruby?"

"You got it," Snow told her.

"Come on, we better hurry," David said as he grabbed his coat and gave Hanna hers.

While Hanna was at the diner, drinking her second hot chocolate, she got an idea about what she could do to make this day more special for her mom. She had been thinking all morning about something she could get for her. Something that would make this sad day maybe a little bit brighter. The perfect idea finally came to her. For some reason, one of the ladies who worked at the orphanage took pictures of the children. She had an album for each of the children there. She left them on the bookshelves for the kids to look at whenever they wanted. Hanna wanted to give her mom the one with all of her pictures in it. She thought it would be the perfect gift. Her mom would be able to see what she looked like growing up. Now, Hanna just had to figure out a way to get it. She looked around the diner, it was very busy. Ruby and Granny were running around taking orders and delivering food. They really weren't paying much attention to Hanna. While their backs were turned Hanna simply grabbed her backpack and slipped out the door.

Out of habit, Hanna went to her window. It didn't even occur to her that she should go to the front door and actually ask somebody for the photo album. When she stayed there, she usually left the window open just a little, but now it was shut all the way. She really hoped it wasn't locked. She pushed up hard, but it didn't budge. She decided to try one more time, thinking maybe it was just stuck. Luckily for her, that was the case and the window finally opened. Hanna climbed through and made her way to the sitting room where all of the photo albums were kept. She looked around and listened for any signs that someone was there. It was quiet and she didn't see anyone around. She didn't think anyone would miss the photo album, so she kneeled down and looked until she found it. She finally located the one that held pictures of her. Hanna sat down on the floor with it and decided to look through the pictures. She hadn't done that in a long time. Of course, all of the other kids were the same age in their pictures, but not Hanna. The beginning of her album had several pictures of her as a newborn because that is what age she was for most of the curse. However, after a few pages, the pictures of her began to change. She was growing. There were pictures of her crawling and standing. There were a few that she was pretty sure were taken when she was just starting to walk. The pictures continued up until she was about ten, a few months before her and Henry had broken the curse. There were a few more pages left and Hanna thought she could add all of her school pictures that she kept in her box at home. After looking through the pictures again, Hanna knew her mom would like it—well she hoped she would.

Hanna carefully placed the album into her backpack. She put her backpack on and just as she was about to turn around and leave, she heard a voice come from behind her.

"You're not an easy girl to track down," the woman said.

Hanna turned around and looked up at the woman standing in front of her. She didn't recognize her. "Who are you?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll figure that out soon enough," she said as she held onto Hanna's arm. Hanna tried to pull away, but before she could she felt herself being transported somewhere. She could no longer feel the ground beneath her feet. She couldn't move—she couldn't do anything. Hanna just closed her eyes tight and waited for it to stop.

When she finally felt herself stop moving, she slowly opened her eyes and tried to take in her surroundings. Her head was spinning and it was hard for her to figure out where she was. She shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times, trying to get the room to come into focus. When she could finally see, she took in the black and white room and the basket of bright red apples sitting on one of the tables. She knew immediately where she was—Regina's office. The woman who brought her here was not Regina though. Hanna suddenly realized who she was and her thoughts were proven correct when she heard Regina begin to talk.

"Mother what have you done?" Regina asked, shocked to see Hanna standing there.

"What?" Cora asked her daughter. "We needed leverage."

"So you kidnap a child?"

"We need something to exchange for the dagger. Snow's not going to think twice about giving it up for her precious daughter."

Regina didn't answer, she only responded with a nod of her head and looked over at Hanna. "Have a seat. You're probably going to be here for little awhile," she told her.

"Regina, please don't do this," Hanna thought maybe she could convince Regina to do the right thing and not go through with her plan of stealing the dagger. "Think about Henry, he…" Hanna started to say.

"I am thinking about Henry," Regina said, sounding angry.

"He wouldn't want you to do this. All he wants is for you to be good. What would he think?"

"Don't talk to me about my son," Regina said as she glared down at Hanna with a threatening look in her eyes.

"You told me once that I didn't need to be frightened of you," Hanna said as she looked Regina directly in the eyes.

"Just have a seat," Regina demanded, but Hanna saw the look in her eyes soften just a bit.

Hanna couldn't tell what Regina was going to do. Would she really let Cora hurt her? Would Regina hurt her herself if her parents didn't give up the dagger? She really didn't think Regina would hurt her, but she wasn't sure. Regina is the Evil Queen after all. She's capable of pretty much anything. But, Hanna was Henry's best friend and Regina knew that. She knew how much it would hurt Henry if anything bad happened to her—did Regina care about that though? Hanna wasn't sure. She decided not to take her chances and sat down on the couch. Hanna considered trying to run, but thought better of it. There was no way she was going to escape with both of them watching her. There was a chance that Regina wouldn't hurt her, but Cora definitely would, and that terrified Hanna.

Hanna sat on the couch while Cora and Regina stayed on the other side of the room. Hanna couldn't hear what they were talking about. All Hanna could tell was that they were waiting for something to happen. Probably some sort of sign that her mom and dad had found the dagger. She wasn't sure what they were going to do once they found out that her parents had it. Hanna hoped they would be able to find it without Regina and Cora knowing, but she didn't think that was going to happen. Somehow Regina and Cora were going to know the exact moment the dagger was found.

"It's time," Hanna heard Cora say. She looked up and saw that they had come across the room and were standing close to her. Then, with a wave of their arms they disappeared in a puff of purple smoke. Hanna looked around. They had left her there, in the room alone. Hanna quickly got up and ran to the door. She didn't think twice before placing her hand on the doorknob to escape, but she soon regretted that decision. As soon as her hand touched the knob she felt a shock go through her arm. She quickly pulled her hand away and shook her arm in an attempt to get the pain to go away. She should have known that they weren't just going to leave her here without some sort of spell that would keep her in the room. Hanna paced the room trying to think of a way out as she continued to rub her arm trying to make the throbbing stop.

Just as the pain in her arm subsided, Hanna felt herself being pulled from the room and it took her a minute to figure out where she was once she felt the floor under her feet again. She looked up to see her parents standing right in front of her. She looked to her left and to her right and saw Regina and Cora. They were in the clock tower and her parents had found the dagger. Her mom clutched it tightly in her hands.

"Hanna!" Snow practically shouted, her voice full of fear. She had no idea how they had gotten their hands on her daughter. Hanna was safe at Granny's, the Blue Fairy had made sure of it when she put a protection spell on the door that would keep Cora and Regina out.

"You see in the end it isn't good or evil that wins, but power. Now, you can either give us

that dagger or we will rip your daughter's heart out," Cora threatened.

"Do not harm her, she had nothing to do with this."

"Of course she does."

"Don't give it to them mom!" Hanna shouted.

"Quiet girl,"Cora responded.

David quickly pulled out his gun and aimed it at Cora.

"Mother watch out," Regina warned.

With the flick of her wrist, Cora made the gun fly out of David's hand. "Enough of this," she said. "Surrender the dagger. We all know you'll follow your mother's example no matter the cost. All she ever wanted was for you to be good."

"Those words. Where did you hear those words?" Snow asked.

"Where do you think?"

"The blue fairy made me swear to never speak of that candle again. Not because it was a secret, but because it wasn't her. She didn't give me that candle, you did. My mother wasn't sick at all was she?"

"Oh she was quite sick."

"You did all of this. You killed my mother."

"Actually the candle would have worked. You could have saved her."

"But you knew I wouldn't. Why? Why did you take her from me?

"To make my daughter the queen," Cora said with a shrug of her shoulders. "Now hand over the dagger."

"Mom, don't!" Hanna said again as she took a step forward trying to get to her. Regina quickly grabbed her arm, preventing her from going anywhere. Hanna struggled against her hold, but there was no point, she wasn't going anywhere for the moment.

"Take it!" Snow said as she threw the dagger to the ground. Nothing was worth her daughter's life. They would find some other way to defeat Cora.

Hanna felt Regina release her arm, and she ran straight into her parents arms as Regina and Cora disappeared. Snow and Charming held their daughter tight.

"Are you alright?" they both asked, worry filling their voices, as they pulled Hanna back to get a good look at her.

All Hanna managed to do was nod her head as she tried to hold back the tears. She hadn't realized how afraid she'd actually been.

"Look here," Snow said as she lifted her chin. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm okay," Hanna managed to say as a single tear escaped her eye.

Snow gently wiped the tear away.

"You're safe now," Charming assured her. They embraced their daughter one more time before heading home.

On the way home, David had called Emma to let her know what happened. She told them that they were on their way home and they would be there soon. Lucky for them, Cora couldn't use the dagger while Gold was outside of Storybrooke, so they had some time to come up with a plan.

Hanna started coming down the stars with the photo album in her hand. She had just finished adding her school pictures to it. She looked around to make sure her parents weren't there. Luckily, they were still in their bedroom, so she sat down on the couch and covered herself with a blanket, hiding the album underneath. She didn't want her mom to see it before she was ready to give it to her. After a few minutes, Snow and Charming came and sat next to Hanna on the couch."Hanna, where were you when Regina and Cora took you?" Snow asked. Snow had been confused as to how they had gotten into Granny's and why Red or Granny hadn't called them to let them know, so she made a phone call to her friend to see what exactly had happened. Apparently, Red had received a phone call from Snow telling her that she and Charming had picked Hanna back up while she was busy working. Snow concluded that was obviously Cora and Regina covering their tracks so no one would know Hanna was missing. Ruby and Granny thought Hanna was with her parents, while Snow and Charming thought she was safely at the diner. Snow wanted to hear from Hanna where exactly she had gone because the only explanation was that Hanna snuck out and Cora had taken her from somewhere else. Blue checked and the protection spell hadn't been broken.

Hanna's eyes widened as she heard what her mom had asked her. She didn't want to tell her that she had snuck out while Ruby wasn't paying attention. She also didn't want her to know why she had snuck out. "At Granny's," Hanna said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Hanna, we know that's a lie. Now tell us what happened," David warned.

Hanna jumped a little at the sound of her dad's voice. He sounded pretty mad. She didn't see the point in trying to lie anymore. She wasn't sure how, but they knew she had snuck out. They just wanted her to be the one to tell them about it. Hanna took a deep breath and told them the truth. "I just had to go get something from the orphanage real quick. I was just about to go back to Granny's, but Cora showed up and took me to Regina's office. I'm sorry. I know I shouldn't have left, but…please don't be mad at me." Hanna said as she looked up at her parents with sad eyes.

"Hanna, we're not mad," David said, his tone a little softer now.

"But do you see why we don't want you out and about by yourself? Anything could have happened to you. I don't want to think about what Cora could have done," Snow said with a look of panic in her eyes. She knew what the woman was capable of, and she didn't what her daughter anywhere near her.

"I know, I'm sorry," Hanna said as she looked up at both of her parents, hoping that would be enough, but they were looking at each other, having one of their silent conversations again. Hanna started to become nervous, her stomach did a flop. She had a feeling she wasn't going to be getting away with it this time. Just saying sorry wasn't going to work. She had snuck out or attempted to sneak out way too many times.

"We know you're sorry, but this has happened too many times. Until further notice you're grounded," Snow told Hanna, hoping she wouldn't get too upset about it.

"No, that's not fair. I…," Hanna started to protest.

"Hanna stop. We're not changing our minds about this. We need you to understand how serious we are. We want you to be safe," David told her.

"Please. I won't do it again. I promise," Hanna begged as she looked up at her dad with those charming eyes she knew he couldn't resist.

"Don't even try that young lady. It's not going to work," David told her.

"When you can show us that you won't go running off every other day, then you will be ungrounded. Until then, this is how it's going to be," Snow told her.

"Fine," Hanna said in defeat. She could tell neither one of them was going to budge. She decided not to fight it anymore. Deep down she knew she deserved it. She continued to push the boundaries, and she was bound to get punished for it sometime.

"Can I give you something?" Hanna asked looking up at her mom.

"Give me something? Of course you can," Snow replied as she looked questioningly at her husband, who shrugged his shoulders letting her know that he had no idea what Hanna wanted to give her.

"This is why I went to the orphanage today," Hanna said as she pulled the photo album out from under the blanket and handed it to her mom. "I know you don't like your birthday, but this doesn't count since it's not wrapped."

Snow took the gift from her daughter with a smile on her face. "Oh Hanna, that's you," she said as she opened the album and saw the infant in the picture. She recognized the baby right away. She would never forget that beautiful little face. "Are all of these you?" she asked as she flipped though the next couple of pages.

"Yeah, I thought you might like to see what I looked like growing up. Do you like it?" Hanna asked shyly.

"Oh sweetie, I love it. Thank you," Snow said as she wrapped her arms around her, hugging her tight.

The three of them sat on the couch and looked through the whole album. This gift really meant a lot to Snow. She never liked getting presents on her birthday after what happened to her mother. She loved this one though and would treasure it forever. Snow and Charming had missed out on so much of Emma and Hanna's lives. Looking at these pictures helped make up for it a little bit. They may not have been with Hanna when these pictures were taken, but they were beyond thrilled to have them to look at. They let the worries of Cora and Regina slip away as they enjoyed this moment with their daughter.