Chapter 77

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Hanna was packing up her books from her locker and trying not to worry about her sister. That was proving to be difficult though because she's barely seen Emma in over a week. There was part of Hanna that didn't care. If Emma couldn't bother to answer her texts or reach out to her at all, then why should she? It was really hard to be mad when she was so worried though. She was pretty sure her sister was avoiding her. Hanna knew Emma was keeping something from them again. No one else thought Emma was lying, but Hanna had a feeling she was and her feelings about Emma were usually correct. It made Hanna mad that she would lie to them again after everything that happened when she was the Dark One. Sometimes her sister could be so infuriating. Hanna slammed her locker shut and slung her backpack over her shoulder. It was so heavy. She had a ton of homework this weekend, and she was not in the mood to do any of it, but she figured she might as well get a head start on it now. Hanna waved her hand to send herself home. When she opened her eyes, she was outside the loft. Hanna sighed, she meant to send herself directly to her room. When she opened the door, she saw Emma bouncing a crying Neal in her arms.

"What are you doing here?" Hanna asked.

"It's nice to see you too."

"Why isn't Neal at daycare?"

"He had a fever, so Dad picked him up. He was here with him most of the day, but I needed him to do something for me at the station."

"He left the baby with you?"

"Yeah Hanna, I think I know a thing or two about how to take care of a baby."

Neal's cries started to get louder.

"Are you sure about that?" Hanna asked.

Emma tried to give Neal his pacifier. "Come on, buddy…"

Hanna grinned. She was enjoying seeing her sister struggle with the baby, but she felt bad that Neal was so upset. "Just give him to me." Hanna reached out her hands for the baby. She knew what he wanted.

Emma turned away from Hanna. "I can handle it."

Hanna watched Emma try to give Neal the pacifier again. "He doesn't like that one."

"Care to tell me which one he does like?"

Hanna rolled her eyes and walked over to the kitchen. She looked on the counter, but the one Neal liked wasn't there. Then she went to his bassinet, but wasn't in there either. She looked on her parent's bed and found it lying next to her mom's pillow. She picked it up and held it out to Emma. "Here."

Emma looked at the pacifier Hanna was holding, then to the one she had in her hand. "They're exactly the same."

"No they're not…this one is blue. He doesn't like the red one."

"Oh so Neal knows his colors now?"

Hanna shrugged. "Apparently."

Emma set down the red pacifier and took the blue one from Hanna. She put it into his mouth and he instantly stopping crying.

"Told ya."

"Since you're so good with him, here." Emma reached out the baby to Hanna. "I have work to do."

Hanna took Neal from her sister. "You're leaving?"

"Yeah. You can handle him for a half hour, right? Mom will be home by then."

"Yeah, but…"

"I'll see you later" Emma said waved her hand and sent herself away.

Hanna sighed. She thought Emma would spend some time with her, but apparently not. Maybe Hanna shouldn't have been so moody with her. Hanna looked down and saw that Neal had fallen asleep. She laid him in his bassinet, then got started on her homework.

About 20 minutes later, Hanna heard the front door open. She turned to see her mom walk inside. "Hey, Mom."

"Hi sweetie. How was your day?"

"It was fine."

"How's your brother?"

"He's good. He was fussy when I got here, but then he went to sleep. He didn't feel too warm, so hopefully his fever is gone."

Snow gently touched the back of her hand to Neal's forehead. "I think it is. He feels normal to me."

"That's good."

Snow walked over to Hanna. "Did you you get to talk to Emma?"

"No, she practically threw the baby in my arms as soon as I got here and left."

"I'm sorry, honey." Snow rubbed Hanna's back. "I know you haven't seen her in awhile. She just has a lot on her mind right now."

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Yeah all that stress…"

Snow raised her eyebrows at her. "If your sister says it's stress, then we should believe her."

"Well, I don't."

"If something else was going on she would tell us."

Hanna sighed, knowing her mom was wrong. "Is she at least still seeing Archie?"

"Yes, she still going to her sessions."

"That's good."

"He can help her. Try not to worry." Snow reached down and kissed the top of her head. "Dinner might be a little later tonight. Your dad said he has a lot of work to do at the station. How about I get you a snack?"

"Yeah that would be good, thanks."

Snow walked into the kitchen and pulled a box of crackers down from the cupboard. "Oh I forgot to tell you that Regina said you can go to her house for a magic lesson tomorrow if you want."

"Really?"

"Mhmm." Snow got some cheese and pepperoni out from the fridge and began setting some onto a plate with the crackers. "Only if you want to though."

"Yeah I want to!"

"Okay. She said to be at her house by 11 and not to be late."

"Okay."

Snow set down the plate of food beside Hanna. "You finish that homework. I'm going to go change."

Hanna couldn't help but smile. She couldn't wait to learn new ways to use her magic. She ate her snack and tried to focus on her homework, but she couldn't help but wonder what Regina was going to teach her tomorrow.

"Mom, I'm going to Regina's for my lesson!"

Snow came out of the bedroom after putting Neal down for his nap. "Okay, put your coat on please."

"Why?"

"It's cold out."

"But I'm just going to poof myself there."

"You're not going to poof yourself directly into the house are you?"

"Well, no…"

"Exactly, so put on your coat."

Hanna rolled her eyes, but put on her coat. "There. Can I go?"

"Yes. Have fun and be careful."

"I will." Hanna closed her eyes, envisioned Regina's front porch, and waved her hand to send herself there. When Hanna opened her eyes, she found herself on the sidewalk in front of Regina's house. "Ugh…" Hanna walked the rest of the way to the porch and rang the doorbell.

Regina opened the door. "You're late."

"Sorry…"

"Well, come on then." Regina stood back to let Hanna inside.

Hanna took off her coat and followed Regina into the kitchen. "What are we going to do?"

"Hand me that wine glass."

Hanna furrowed her eyebrows, but did what Regina asked. She picked the empty wine glass up from the counter and held it out towards Regina. She let go as Regina was about to hold onto it. Only she didn't hold on to it, and it shattered onto the floor. Hanna's eyes went wide.

Regina raised her eyebrows at her. "First you're late, and now you're breaking my things?"

"I…"

"Well don't just stand there." Regina waved her hand and put the broken pieces of glass onto the counter. "See if you can put the pieces back together."

Hanna looked at the shards of glass, then back to Regina. "How am I suppose to do that?"

"With magic."

Hanna looked back towards the broken glass and examined the pieces. The base of the glass stayed in one piece, so she moved that out of the pile with a wave of her hand. The stem was in two pieces. She moved those into their own pile. Hanna counted, and the rest of the wine glass was broken into eight different pieces. Hanna turned her attention to the stem. She used her magic to push the two pieces together, but they just fell back apart again as soon as she released them. "How do I get them to stick to each other?"

"You have to envision the glass forming back to itself."

Hanna nodded and turned back. She was able to get the pieces of the stem together and get the stem back onto the base of the glass. The rest of the pieces were going to be more difficult. Hanna waved her hand, making the pieces float in the air in front of her. It was like a puzzle. She needed to figure out which piece went where first. It was hard to concentrate on so many things at once though, and the pieces fell back onto the table several times, before she was finally able to figure out where each piece went.

Hanna was almost done. She only had two more pieces left to fit together. She fused one into place, then was ready for the next, but got distracted for a split second and all of the pieces fell apart.

"You have to concentrate!"

Hanna jumped. "Sorry. I'm trying."

Regina sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I just…I have a lot on my mind right now."

"I know you do." Hanna looked up at Regina. "You still haven't figured out a way to stop the Evil Queen?"

Regina shook her head. "No. Not without hurting myself."

They recently learned that if they kill Evil Queen, Regina will also die. If one half becomes hurt, then so does the other. They made this discovery when the exact thing happened to Jekyll and Hyde. Jekyll went after Belle, and Killian stopped him. He pushed Jekyll and he landed on a spear, which impaled him through the back, killing him. Hyde was inflicted with the same wound and died too. They wouldn't be able to just simply get rid of the Queen without putting Regina at risk.

"We'll find a way to stop her, Regina." Hanna plastered a smile onto her face to try and make Regina feel better, but Hanna still wasn't so sure they would.

"I know we will," Regina said. "Now…fix my wine glass."

Hanna refocused on the shards of glass in front of her. She noticed few pieces had broken, and now she had more pieces than when she started. After awhile though, she was finally able to fix the glass. You couldn't even see the cracks where the glass had been broken.

"Good job," Regina told her.

"So…what is this going to teach me, anyway?"

"Well, once you learn how to properly fix a glass, you can eventually move onto noses." Regina looked over at Hanna and winked.

Hanna smiled.

"That boy hasn't been giving you kids any more trouble, has he?"

Hanna shook her head. "He's too scared of me now to try anything."

"Good." Regina picked up her wine glass and put it into the cupboard.

"What's next?" Hanna asked.

"That's all for today."

"Why?"

"Hanna, it took you two hours to fix the glass."

"It did?" Hanna turned around and looked at the clock on the oven. "Oh…"

"We don't want to do too much in one day. I don't want you getting headaches again."

"Yeah I guess you're right," Hanna sighed.

"We'll do this again soon. Why don't you go home. I told your mom this would only take an hour. I'm sure she's wondering where you are."

"Alright. Thanks for the lesson."

"You're welcome."

Hanna gave Regina a smile then lifted her hand to send herself home.

"And Hanna?"

"Yeah?"

"Try not to worry about the Evil Queen, okay?"

Hanna just nodded. She waved her hand and sent herself home, knowing she wouldn't be able to get that woman out of her mind until they found a way to defeat her.

"They can't make it," Snow said to David.

"Who can't make it?" Hanna asked as she was coming down the stairs. After she got home from Regina's, she spent the rest of the afternoon in her room finishing her homework.

"Emma and Killian. We invited them over for dinner, but they're going on a date," Snow told her.

Hanna sat down at the table. "Or Emma is just avoiding me."

"Hanna…"

"What?" Hanna shrugged. "She is."

"That's not true. Henry is at Regina's tonight, so I'm sure they just want to enjoy an evening out with just the two of them." Snow set a plate of food down in front of Hanna, then sat down beside her.

"Or she just told you that because she's avoiding me…" Hanna looked down to see what was for dinner. Her mom made chicken, rice, and broccoli. Hanna pushed the broccoli aside with her fork and took a bite of rice.

David sat down on the other side of Hanna. "Why do you think she's avoiding you?"

"Because she knows I'll figure out what she's hiding."

"Why do you think she's hiding something?" he asked.

"She's lying about her tremors, so…"

"Hanna, we've talked about this," Snow sighed. "Your sister will tell us if something is wrong. How about you tell us about your lesson with Regina?"

Hanna looked up at her dad. "Has Emma been acting weird at the station? Has she said anything?"

"What did Regina teach you today?" Snow asked again.

Hanna looked over at her mom. "I broke a wine glass, and she made me fix it." Hanna turned back to her dad. "Well?"

"She seems fine to me," David told her. "I think the sessions with Archie are helping."

"Are you sure you haven't noticed anything because…"

"Let's just eat our dinner and talk about something else," Snow interrupted.

"Why?"

"Hanna, listen to your mother," David said.

"But Dad…"

"Tell us how you fixed the wine glass," David said.

"Who cares how I fixed the stupid glass?"

"We do," Snow said.

Hanna shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it."

"What do you want to talk about, then?" David asked.

"Nothing." Hanna stood up from the table. "I'm going to my room."

David reached out and took ahold of her arm. "Sit back down and eat your dinner."

"I'm not hungry." Hanna tried to pull her arm out of his grasp.

David raised his eyebrows at her. "Hanna, sit down."

"No." Hanna pulled her arm away and went up the stairs.

David stood to follow her.

"David." Snow went to him and put a hand on his chest. "Just let her go."

Hanna laid in her bed and stared at the ceiling. Maybe she was wrong about Emma. Maybe the tremors really were from stress and Emma was just too busy to see her. Maybe Hanna was making all of this up in her head. Believing Emma was avoiding her because she was lying was easier than the alternative. If Emma wasn't seeing her because of her boyfriend and new house, that would hurt Hanna more than she could even express. Hanna sat up and let her head fall into her hands. That couldn't be the reason Emma wasn't around. It just couldn't. Emma wouldn't just forget about her like that, would she? Hanna threw herself back onto the bed. She didn't know what to think anymore. Hanna groaned when her stomach started to growl. She wished she would have stayed downstairs and eaten her dinner. Hanna had an idea though. She sat up and waved her hand, making the box of pop tarts that were downstairs in the cupboard appear on the bed right in front of her. Hanna enjoyed her snack and tried to get Emma off of her mind for now.

Hanna sat straight up in her bed as she pulled herself out of another nightmare. She was no longer dreaming of the Underworld. Now her subconscious sent her through various scenarios involving the Evil Queen killing her and her family. Hanna took a deep breath and tried to relax, but it wasn't working. She thought about going downstairs and waking her mom or dad, but she was still annoyed with them. She'd also woken them up the past several nights because of these nightmares. Either she went downstairs to them or they heard her screaming in her sleep and came up to wake her. She really didn't want to bother them anymore. Especially since Neal started getting a few more teeth and was keeping them up a lot of the night as well. Hanna had another idea of how she could calm herself down though. She quietly got out of her bed and slipped on a pair of tennis shoes. She put on her sweatshirt that hung over her desk chair and with a wave of her hand, she sent herself to Henry's bedroom at Regina's.

Hanna opened her eyes and smiled. She actually sent herself exactly where she wanted this time. She walked over to Henry and poked his shoulder. When he didn't move, she gave it a good shake.

Henry opened his eyes and jumped slightly at the sight of her. "What are you doing here?"

"I want to go for a walk on the beach."

"Why?"

Hanna shrugged. "I can't sleep. Will you come with me?"

"Okay, fine…"

Hanna waited while Henry put on a pair of shoes and his jacket. When he was ready, she reached out and held onto his hand. She waved her own, and sent them to the beach.

"It's kinda cold out here," Henry said.

"It's not that bad…" Hanna wrapped her arms around herself.

Henry raised his eyebrows at her.

"Okay, maybe it's not the best time of the year to be at the beach."

"Then why did you bring us here?"

"I like the sound of the ocean. It calms me." Hanna sat down in the sand. "Let's just sit and listen to it for awhile."

Henry sat down beside her. "Why do you need help calming down?"

"Look at the moon tonight. It's pretty isn't it?"

"Hanna…"

"And the stars. How many do you think are up there?"

"I don't know…what's going on with you?"

Hanna just looked over at Henry and sighed.

"Nightmares?"

Hanna nodded.

"What are they about this time?"

"Oh you know just the Evil Queen and the different ways she's going to kill us all."

"Hanna…"

"Look, can we just not talk about it? I came out here to try and forget for awhile."

"Okay…how do you think you did on the math quiz today?"

Hanna groaned. "Can we talk about something that won't stress me out? I'm trying to relax, remember?"

Henry grinned. "So not well I take it?"

Hanna shrugged. "So…how does Emma seem? Any more of those tremors?"

"I thought you wanted to talk about something that wasn't stressful?"

"Just tell me."

"Her hand was shaking a little after dinner yesterday."

"She's still saying it's from stress?"

Henry nodded.

"And you believe her?"

"Yeah I do."

Hanna sighed. She was annoyed that no one else thought Emma was hiding something, and she wasn't in the mood to try and convince Henry right now. "How about we just don't talk and listen to the waves?"

"Okay."

After about an hour, Hanna felt like she was ready to go home. She took Henry back to his room, and then closed her eyes to poof herself back to her bedroom.

Hanna opened her eyes and found herself standing in the kitchen. She looked over and saw that both of her parents were awake. "Oh crap."

David raised his eyebrows at her. "Oh crap is right…"

"And just where have you been?" Snow whispered as she carefully placed a sleeping Neal back into his bassinet.

"You're suppose to be upstairs sleeping," David said. He walked into the kitchen and placed Neal's bottle into the sink.

Snow walked into the kitchen too. "Where were you, Hanna?"

"Well, I was just upstairs and I…poofed myself down here for a drink."

"With your shoes and sweatshirt on?" Snow asked.

"I was cold," Hanna said, avoiding her mother's gaze.

"Why are your shoes covered in sand?" David asked.

Hanna looked down, then back up at her parents again. "I went there yesterday and…"

"Hanna, stop it," Snow said.

"Stop what?" Hanna shrugged.

"Stop lying."

"Tell us the truth, right now," David demanded.

"Fine," Hanna sighed. "I went to the beach for a little bit."

"By yourself?" David asked.

Hanna hesitated for a second. She didn't want to get Henry into trouble. She looked at her parents and nodded.

Snow crossed her arms. "Hanna…"

"Okay…I went to Regina's, woke up Henry, and convinced him to come with me. We just sat on the beach for a little bit and listened to the ocean, then I took him home and came back here. I meant to poof myself into my room, but I've been a little off lately and ended up down here."

"Hanna, it's…" David had to stop himself from raising his voice so he didn't wake the baby. "It's the middle of the night."

"What were you thinking?" Snow asked.

"I don't know." Hanna said.

"Something bad could have happened," Snow said. "What if the Evil Queen found you?"

"Like Dad said, it's the middle of the night…she's probably sleeping."

"Why did you leave here in the first place?" David asked.

Hanna just looked down.

"Did you have a nightmare?" Snow asked.

Hanna nodded.

David put his hand on her shoulder. "Why didn't you wake us?"

"Because I'm tired of alway bothering you. And Neal…he hasn't been sleeping the best lately either and I…I feel stupid for having the nightmares in the first place."

"You're not bothering us." Snow reached out and gently lifted Hanna's chin. "And you're not stupid for having nightmares."

Hanna sighed. "But I'm not a little kid. I shouldn't be so…scared."

"It's okay to be scared," David told her.

Hanna sighed and looked up at her dad. "You still haven't found her?" It has been several days since anyone has spotted the Evil Queen.

"Not yet."

"She's probably just working on a plan to finally get rid of you guys."

Hanna looked up at her parents when they didn't say anything. She noticed the look they exchanged. It only lasted for a split second, but Hanna knew what it meant…she was probably right, and they were scared just like she was.

"Everything's going to be fine princess. I promise." David reached down and kissed the top of her head.

"But no more leaving the house, please," Snow said. "We don't care if we never sleep again. If you can't sleep, wake us, okay?"

Hanna smiled. "Okay."

"Good." Snow held onto her hand. "Let's go to bed."

Hanna was confused when her mom began pulling her towards their bed instead of upstairs. "Mom, I can sleep my bed."

"You know you'll sleep better down here," Snow said.

David pulled back the covers. "In you go."

"If you insist." Hanna crawled over to the middle of the bed and laid down. She wouldn't admit it, but she liked sleeping with them. She knew there would be no nightmares with her mom and dad on either side of her.

Snow and David laid down beside Hanna. The each reached over and gave her a kiss on her cheeks.

"You guys…" Hanna reached up and wiped both of her cheeks.

"You know you can't wipe off mom kisses, Hanna," Snow whispered.

"Same with dad kisses," David said. "It's just the way it is."

Hanna smiled. "If you say so." She closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.

Hanna was sitting on the couch eating popcorn and watching a movie when she heard the front door open. She looked up and saw her sister walk inside. Hanna quickly glanced back towards the tv. She wasn't even a little bit excited to see Emma.

Emma sat down on the couch next to Hanna. "Where are Mom and Dad?"

"They were having trouble putting Neal to sleep, so they took him out for a walk."

"You didn't want to go?" Emma asked.

Hanna shrugged.

Emma reached out for some of Hanna's popcorn.

Hanna pulled the bowl out of her reach. "Go make your own."

"What's your deal?" Emma asked.

Hanna glared up at her sister. "Why are you even here? Henry's at Regina's. Shouldn't you be hanging out with your pirate?"

Emma looked at Hanna curiously. "I just came by to see what you guys were up to. I'm not always with Killian…"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Right…"

"Hanna, what?"

Hanna sighed and looked over at her sister. "You know I haven't even seen you in over a week?"

"That's not true."

Hanna raised her eyebrows at her.

"I was just over here the other day for dinner."

"Yeah the dinner that was like nine days ago."

Emma thought for a minute. Had it really been that long? Emma met her mom for lunch one day and obviously saw her dad at work, but maybe it had been over a week since she's seen her sister. "You know you can come visit me anytime."

"No I can't. You said I can't poof to you anymore."

"All I said was you need to give me a heads up first."

"Well, I try, but you suck at answering texts!" Hanna stood up from the couch.

"Hanna, wait."

"It's fine, Emma. I get it. You're busy. You have your boyfriend and Henry…."

"I'm sorry. I…"

Hanna shook her head. "It's fine."

"Han…"

Hanna shoved the popcorn into Emma's hands. "Here, you can have this. I'm going to bed."