Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot and any unrecognizable characters and dialogue.

Two whole weeks.

Such a short time, in the schemes of things. But for Evie, it felt like an eternity. Thanks to Henry's magic-hunting tendencies - and his proclivity for dragging others along - he had been grounded for two weeks. Which meant Evie was inadvertently being punished as well. Because Henry couldn't be trusted to be alone (or with Archie, for that matter), their mother had ordered that Evie was to watch Henry all day, every day, for the duration of his punishment.

They were only on day three and Evie was ready to crack.

"Henry," she said as pleasantly as she could when he sighed, as noisily as he could. She set down her pencil and pushed aside the designs she had been sketching. The one-shouldered, glittering dress was too fancy for anything in Storybrooke but was inspired by one of her first, stumbling steps at fashion. "I love you with all my heart, you are the apple of my eye, but if you sigh one more time, I'm going to turn you into pincushion." Her frown turned to a wicked smile. "Or I'll make you model my dresses."

Pouting mulishly, her brother stuck out his tongue. "Even you aren't that evil, E."

Though his word were joking, Evie's blood ran cold at his words. It was suddenly hard to breathe, as if the air had been sucked out of the room. Henry stared at her, clearly thrown by her sudden mood shift. He lowered his storybook and reached across the table to touch her still hand.

"Evie? Sis?"

Her fingers trembled in his hold and she fought to keep them under control. Drawing them into her lap, Evie forced a too bright smile that didn't reach her eyes. "It's nothing," she lied, too quickly and too lightly for Henry's peace of mind. "I just - I need to get back to work. Mr. Gold will be here soon to pick up his suits."

Rising with a brittle smile, she flitted from her work station to a neat pile of dark, bagged suits. Henry watched her buzz around the studio like a bee, twisting in his chair to keep her in his sights. Evie hadn't been too interested in stopping him from reading his storybook - at least until Emma showed up - so he had never confronted her about her Enchanted Forest counterpart.

Princess Evie, daughter to the Evil Queen and King Leopold and half-sister to Snow White, was a myriad of contradictions. She was a princess to her bones, born and bred to be the next heir to the throne; on the other hand, she was also a powerful sorceress in her own right. And, from a few of her later chapters, a fearless leader when the situation called for it, as well as a helpless romantic searching for her prince charming.

Losing herself in her work allowed Evie to bury the pain Henry's words inadvertently brought to the surface. He'd called their mother 'Evil' enough in the past few weeks, but never her.

A knock at the door startled them both. Clearing her throat, Evie called a distracted, "Come in!", before she fluttered back to the neatly pressed and bagged collection of suits Mr. Gold had commissioned. As if summoned by her thought, it was Mr. Gold standing on the other side of the door. He managed a pleasant smile for Evie - the one he sent Henry was even warmer by far.

"Miss Mills, Henry," he greeted them in turn. "And how are you two this fine day?"

"We're well, Mr. Gold," Evie replied before Henry could open his mouth. She gathered the suits and held them out to him with the beauteous smile she once wore as a princess. "Now, I know we discussed adding a charcoal suit and you weren't sold on the idea, but I think everyone could use a splash of color in their wardrobe. I included one suit, free of charge."

Gold smiled at her cheek and managed to return her conspiratorial wink. The eldest child of their illustrious mayor was an interesting chit of a girl, one he had interacted with closely in the last twenty-eight years. Shaking himself, he took the offered suits with a nod of thanks, handing off an envelop in return.

"I've learned to trust your judgement in all things fashion, Miss Mills." Their business concluded, he handed the suits off to the bodyguard that was never far from his person and said his farewells.

Evie carefully closed the door behind them, her carefully crafted smile fading once the door snapped shut. Sighing deeply, she flipped open the envelop, not even bothering to count out the cash. Gold would never short someone he patronized - just as no one who valued their lives would short the pawnbroker.

Henry peered at her curiously. "I thought mom wanted you to stop making Gold his suits?"

"What mom doesn't know won't hurt her," Evie tossed back lightly, setting the payment on her work desk. "Besides, Mr. Gold is the highest paying customer I can get in Storybrooke. Ruby comes here all the time, but I give her a discount. And Harry- " She stopped mid-sentence and slid her eyes away guiltily.

"Relax, E." Henry beamed up at her in a sneaky manner she couldn't find herself to disapprove of. "I know you and Harry are friends and I don't care what mom says about him. Besides, you two are meant to be together."

That peaked Evie's interest. "What do you mean?"

"Well," he heaved the book open and flipped to a page. "Look at this." Evie peered forward to see the illustration in question.

It was of a girl all dressed in blue - a princess - and a boy dressed in red - a pirate - and they were kissing. Stomach doing several flips, Evie drew the book closer. Something behind her eyes gave a dull throb at the picture. Rubbing at her forehead to stave off the building pressure, she read the brief paragraph that accompanied it.

"Despite what the Evil Queen demanded of her daughter, Princess Evie stole away with her beloved, the pirate Harry Hook. The young lovers did not get far before the Princess' mother found them and separated them in a manner almost exact to her own mother's actions. She tore the heart from the Princess' love and hid it, making sure to keep the two lovers far away from one another for all eternity."

Thoughts? Comments? Questions?