Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Reviews make me very happy. I know I'm not the fastest updater in the world, but I am trying. I hope you like this chapter. There will be a longer author's note at the end. To Those Who Reviewed: Me, Thank you. As you see, I am continuing. I hope you continue to enjoy it. Guest, Here is the update. Enjoy.

Author's Note 2: The beginning of this chapter has been changed as of September 20, 2023). Lines taken from 1x01 The Pilot of Once Upon A Time with the aid of the ForeverDreaming Transcript website.

Chapter Two: Magic

Snow White and Prince Charming stood in the war room with their friends, starring at the mysterious piece of parchment they had received earlier that morning.

"Are we sure that this is true?" one of their friends around the table asked.

"Blue authenticated it," Snow White said. "It lines up with what the fairies were able to determine. What is written here will come to pass."

"But who sent it?" one of the dwarves asked.

"And what does it mean?" another piped up.

Prince Charming read the parchment for what seemed the hundredth time. "Prepare yourselves. Zelena, Wicked Witch and Queen of Realms has crafted a powerful curse that will destroy all that you hold dear and take away all your happy endings. You have little time to make ready. Your only hope is the child that the prince and princess will bear. She will be the Savior. On her twenty-eighth birthday, will she return on to free you from the curse, but only if you can spare her from becoming its victim. Send her to safety, for she will fight the final battle." Prince Charming threw the parchment down on the table. "Our child will be the Savior? Our child hasn't been born yet! How can such a great task already rest on her shoulders? How can that evil witch even do this? She's been exiled, rendered nearly powerless!"

"Nearly, but not completely," Snow said glumly. "She'll find a way. She always finds a way. David, this woman pretended to be my dead mother in order to trick me into poisoning myself. You have no idea what she is capable of."

The Prince put a comforting hand on his wife's shoulder. "I do know. I was there. I saw you dead, and then I saved you. I always will."

"You can't save me this time," Snow said. "The future is written. There's nothing we can do to stop this curse."

"No. I refuse to believe that. Good can't just lose."

"Maybe it can," Snow said.

It hurt David's heart to see his strong and beautiful Snow White so drained of hope, for hope was her greatest strength. "No. No, not as long as we have each other. If you believe what this parchment says about the curse, then you must believe what it says about our child. She will be the Savior."

As he said this, the Blue Fairy entered, and behind her floated a piece of a tree, of all things. The war council stared at it in confusion.

"What the hell is this?" Prince Charming asked.

"Our only hope of saving that child," the Blue Fairy said.

"A tree? Our fate rests on a tree?" the grumpiest of the dwarves asked, scorn in his voice.

"The tree is enchanted," The Blue Fairy said. "If fashioned into a vessel, it can ward off any curse. Geppetto, can you build such a thing?"

"Me and my boy, we can do it," Geppetto said, motioning to the boy who had been made of wood not that long ago.

"This will work. We all must have faith," the Blue Fairy said. "There is, however, a catch. The enchantment is, indeed, powerful, but all power has its limits. And this tree can protect only one."

"I don't understand," Snow White said.

"You will travel in this tree, Snow," the Blue fairy said. "You and the child that is inside of you will travel to safety so you can raise it to be the Savior. But your husband will be unable to go with you."

Snow gasped. "No! no, after everything we've been through, I can't leave him behind."

"You must," David said. "We will be together again. I know it. But if we are to survive this, if our child is to be safe, and come back to save us one day, then you must do this. I know you can. You are the strongest person I know."

After much debate, it was decided that Snow would travel in the tree to a land free of the curse. Geppetto and Pinocchio worked on fashioning the tree into a wardrobe, and Snow White and Prince Charming prepared to be separated once again. They looked at the nursery where their child had been meant to live, the baby blanket that Granny had sewed for the princess with the name Emma stitched into it, and they wept. But they were heroes. They were prepared to make the sacrifice. However, just as the curse approached, Snow went into labor. It was painful, as such things are, but it was also quick, and too soon, the baby Emma was in the Princess's arms.

As the proud parents stared down at their newborn daughter, Geppetto came to tell them the wardrobe was ready, and realization dawned in Snow's eyes.

"The wardrobe… It only takes one," she said, heartbroken.

"Then our plan has failed," Prince Charming said. "At least, we're together."

Snow thought of David's strength, of how he had been willing to let her go, trusting she would come back to him, of how he had believed she was strong enough to survive those long years away from him. She looked at her baby, so new, and so innocent. A child could not survive on its own. But this was no mere child. Their child had a destiny. Their child had their love and strength in her veins. Snow knew what she had to do, even as it broke her heart. "No. You have to take her. Take the baby to the wardrobe".

David stared at her incredulously. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, it's the only way. You have to save her," Snow said.

"No, no, no. You don't know what you're saying."

"No, I do," Snow said. "We have to believe that she'll come back for us. We have to give her her best chance."

Each parent laid a kiss upon the baby's head, and then the prince took her from the room.

"Goodbye, Emma," Snow said, trying to smile for her husband and her child. Once they were gone, however, she led out a cry of despair. What had she done?

Meanwhile, David made his way to the wardrobe, and deposited the baby inside it. He kissed her forehead, and whispered, "Find us." Then he closed the door.

Emma was safe, but the curse descended upon all the other residents of the Enchanted Forest, carrying them away to a land without magic, and trapping them in time in a land devoid of happy endings. And in a far off land, as she was also transported, a wicked witch cackled, for she had finally, truly won.

The End.

Henry stared at the words in shock. The End? No, it couldn't be the end. He had stayed up all night reading the book, and now it was over, and it wasn't actually over. How could it end like that?

Henry knew all the tales in the book, but none of them were like the Disney stories he remembered. Somehow, he knew there was a reason. These had to be the true stories. True? he thought. That's crazy.

But then he thought of his mother Emma. He thought of her name and the baby blanket that he had seen a million times. He thought of how she had just appeared on the side of the road that one day. He thought of how strange this town was, and the magic he felt when he held this book.

Magic?

Henry had always been a practical kid. He couldn't suddenly decide to believe in fairy tales. But something told him to hide the book, to trust it, and to keep his eyes and ears open for this crazy feeling that was forming in his head.

Zelena was angry as she listened to the message on her phone. It was that munchkin or dwarf or whatever he was, calling to say he had gotten a little too wasted at the celebration last night to congratulate her on her win, but he wanted to just the same. But the celebration hadn't been last night. It couldn't have been. It was tonight.

Today was the election.

It was always the election.

Every day, the residents of Storybrooke voted her Mayor and embraced her with love and family. The election had to be today.

There was a knock on her door. "Sweetheart, are you awake?" she heard the bloody shepherd ask. "It wouldn't look good for the new mayor to be sleeping in on her first day." He chuckled. The ridiculous man thought he was funny. What a waste. But Zelena laughed at his little joke as she rose from the bed.

"I'm awake," she said. And she had been for the past half hour. She had panicked when she heard the little man leaving his message, and had sat up to listen to it over and over, hoping that is would somehow disappear from existence.

David came in, smiling. "I already got the kids ready for school. I can drive them in if you like."

Zelena smiled. The children were tiny like munchkins, but they adored her, so she liked them. Everybody adored her here. That was the point.

"No, I'll give them a ride. I have to go to town anyway."

"Yes, it's time to start your new term. Frankly, I can't wait until the next election. If I can convince people to let you rest, you'll be home all the time and we'd never have to leave this bed."

He kissed her and Zelena kissed him back. For all Zelena had against the shepherd, he certainly could kiss. Being married to him would have been a pain if he couldn't, so she was grateful for that. They continued to kiss until it was time to drive the kids to school.

"Ow!" Emma said, stubbing her toe on one of the poorly-placed decorative monkeys at the inn.

Neal woke up to see her with wincing as she struggled to get her pants on. He couldn't help but laugh.

"Not liking the accommodations?" he asked.

Emma started and turned to him. "Sorry for waking you."

"But…" he waited for it.

"But what's with all the freakin' monkeys? Sock monkeys, rubber monkeys, wooden monkeys, talk about tacky. Is this Storybrooke or Monkeytown?"

Neal shrugged, getting up. "I don't know. Do we get to do monkey business in monkey town?"

He approached his wife and planted a kiss on her lips. "Good morning," he said.

Emma smiled in spite of herself. "Good morning, Crazy."

Neal rolled his eyes. "Well, you've called me worse."

"Bastard!"

"Emma." The older man spoke calmly. "We don't use that kind of language."

Emma spat at him, and then turned back to Neal, "You tricked me."

"How did I do that?"

"How come I'm waking up in a house I don't recognize?"

Emma had woken up feeling, frankly, better than she had in a while, though she would never admit it. She remembered meeting the boy and his talking her into going to the drug store. They sat chatting for a while, and he bought her some ginger ale for her stomach, plus some crackers for later. She had been planning to run off once she had the food, but she had enjoyed their conversation. He was funny and weird. They had sat up all night in the drug store. Now it was morning and she was on the couch near a kitchen where the boy and an older man sat looking at her. She felt like she'd walked into a trap.

"Emma—" The older man tried again.

"I never told you my name!" she yelled at him.

"I told him," Neal said. "Just calm down."

"Let me out of here!" Emma said, running for the door.

Neal grabbed her arm. "Bae," came the gentle voice of the man.

Emma turned. "What?"

Neal dropped her arm and shrugged, shooting a strange look at his father, "It's a nickname," he muttered,

The old man shook his head apologetically. "Neal, if the girl wants to leave, that's her right."

"But I don't want her running off thinking we did something wrong. We're good people. We're not cowards or monsters, and I never want anyone to think—"

"I don't care who you are, but I do care where I am, so if you really don't want to hurt me, tell me—"

"You fell asleep," Neal started. "At the drug store. My papa came to pick me up and I told him you were homeless and alone."

"I never said I was homeless…" Emma said, looking down. Was it that obvious?

"Well, it was clear you didn't have a place to stay. A year ago, we had nowhere to stay, and now we're taken care of. We just wanted to make sure—"

"You are the weirdest, creepiest boy I have ever met. You talk weird and you act like you're in some fictional world where people are nice and actually help each other out."

"Then how come you didn't just run off when I bought you your crackers and ginger ale?" Neal asked.

Emma didn't answer, and she noticed a smirk form on the boy's face. She wanted to punch him, mostly because she knew he was right. She had let her guard down. When would she learn? "I was stupid," she said, looking down at her shoes. She could see from out the corner of her eye that he was approaching her again. Her brain told her to bolt, but her gut told her to stay put.

"You were having fun. We were having fun," Neal sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder. "I know you have no place to go. Why don't you just stay with us for a while? We can look after you."

Emma looked up at him, shocked. "That's crazy. You're crazy."

"I'm not crazy. I'm Neal, and I want to be your friend. We want to help you, if you'll let us."

Emma felt herself smiling, but then she drew back, remembering herself. "You can't just do this. There are legal things. You would have to adopt me, and you don't—"

"Then that's what we'll do," the man said, standing from his chair. Emma was surprised to see him grab a cane to steady himself. He walked over to her, offering her his free hand, "This is a small town and we know a few people who helped us get on our feet when we first arrived here. One of them happens to be a lawyer. It might take some time, but if you like, Emma, I'd be happy to call you my daughter." Emma didn't say anything, she just watched the man warily. "My name is Jack Stiltskin," he said, still holding his hand out. She shook it, and then let go. The man smiled at her, and she gave him a smile in return, "Now, lawyers and things can wait for the afternoon. Why don't we have breakfast?"

Emma nodded and followed him to the kitchen. Neal trailed behind her, "So, you're going to join the crazy family, huh?"

Emma thought of all the other families she had tried to be a part of in her years in the foster system and smiled. "I could do worse."

"Let's go get breakfast!" Henry said, running in and interrupting his parents. He looked over at them kissing. "Ew! You guys are being so gross."

Emma laughed. "There are worse things, kid," she said, ruffling his hair. "So, you said something about breakfast?"

Henry nodded. "Yeah, let's go to the diner."

"We went there last night," Emma said.

"Duh, but this is a small town. They probably only have one place for breakfast."

Emma laughed. "Maybe. I guess it is right here. Go wake your grandfather; we'll be there in a minute."

"Let me guess, the minute I leave, you two are going to get all gross again."

Neal smiled at Emma. "He gets his deductive reasoning skills from me."

Emma laughed again. "Yeah, right."

Rumpelstiltskin had been tossing and turning all night. He just couldn't get to sleep. Deep down, he knew why. "Dark Ones don't need sleep," Zoso's voice had said. But he wasn't The Dark One anymore. The Dark One only existed in a land with magic, and he was in a land without magic. He had been in a land without magic for years. That had been the whole point.

He didn't have magic here. He knew that. He had tried using some anyway, because something about this town felt so magical, and he'd needed to know. But there had been nothing. He still needed his stick to walk. Yet, whenever he closed his eyes, he saw Zoso. There were whispers, quieter than they'd been in the Enchanted Forest, but there nonetheless. And he was restless. He hadn't gotten a wink of sleep all night. What was it about this place? Or was it all in his head? Was he just afraid of it coming back, or was it coming back? And if it was, how was it doing so, and why not all the way? What was going on?

"Grandpa?" a sweet voice said. Henry's voice had always been sweet to Rumpelstiltskin. He'd never thought he could love anyone as much as he loved his son, and then Emma and given birth to his grandson. They were a family now. Magic couldn't ruin that. But he needed to know what was going on with this town. There had to be a way to protect against whatever it was, because if the darkness could reach him here, then God help them all.

"I'm up, Henry. I'm coming."

"Good morning, Madam Mayor," Zelena's manservant said. Okay, technically, he was her assistant, but the term 'manservant' better fit how he saw her.

"Good morning, Mr. Scathe."

She saw the hurt in his eyes and fought back a smile. He always tried to get her to call him by his first name. Perhaps, he thought it would make their relationship more intimate. That would never happen.

"Would you like me to go over your morning itinerary with you before or after breakfast?" he asked.

Interesting question. Ordinarily, Zelena wanted the food first, because she was hungry, and she knew her morning itinerary by heart. But today was different.

"Before we get into that," she said, smiling sweetly at him, "there's something I want to know about." He stood up straight and stared at her with big, excited eyes. The gleam was hilarious. She half expected him to start panting like an overexcited puppy. Better still, she could just picture him drooling. He thought he was subtle, but she had made him feel that way about her, so she knew exactly what it looked like. Lovesick fool. Served him right having gotten in her way, back before. "There's a new family in town. A blonde woman named Emma, an unattractive man with facial hair named Neal, and an old man with a walking stick. I need to know everything there is to know about them. Who they are, why they are here, and so on."

Mr. Scathe nodded vigorously. "I'll take care of it," he said.

She smiled and placed her hand on his elbow, making him twitch like a bolt of electricity had hit him. "I do so appreciate all you do for me," she said sweetly. He nodded again, this time a little more shakily. He always got shaky when she was so cruel as to touch him. "I couldn't have won without your aid," She continued. "And, of course, the help of your lovely wife," she added, removing her hand and watching as his face fell. She felt like squealing with glee. This knife was so very fun to twist. "How is she? I'm sure you two had a lovely celebration last night."

"I'm sorry you wouldn't let us celebrate with you," he said, and Zelena continued to laugh in her head at the man's obvious adoration.

"Oh, no, your time with your wife is special. I would never want to do anything to hurt such a lovely marriage." He nodded, this time halfheartedly. "Now, perhaps we can have that breakfast. I'm famished, and I'm sure you're lusting for something delicious as well." Mr. Scathe gulped and nodded, "I think I'd like something a bit different. Get me whatever the special is and, of course, treat yourself to whatever looks appetizing to you, Mr. Scathe."

He nodded again and was out the door. Once he was out of earshot, Zelena finally burst into giggles. She had needed that.

Emma kept looking up every time she heard the ding of the bell on the diner door. This time, it was a skinny looking man with short hair and professional attire. He ordered two of the day's special in a cockney accent, and Granny treated him the way one treated a famous or powerful customer. He was in and out pretty fast. Even though Emma knew the bell was just dinging because he was leaving, she still had to look.

"You okay?" Neal asked.

Emma nodded, sipping her cocoa. "So, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Pretty much what I told Granny when we ordered twenty minutes ago."

Emma blushed. "Well, that's the price of slow service, I guess. It's been so long, I forgot."

"Emma," Neal said, reaching across the table to take her hands, "What's going on?"

Emma shook her head, not knowing how to answer. "I guess I'm just curious about this town. The people …" a face formed in her mind of the woman she had met for a millisecond yesterday. There was something so familiar about the mayor's sister and it was bugging Emma. Plus, the woman had seemed so nice, and the mayor had seemed so … not. She couldn't help but wonder how that had happened. But beyond any of that was the desire somewhere inside her for the woman to come into the diner and talk to her. It was silly. She knew it was silly. Still…

"I know what you mean," Neal said, surprising Emma. She pulled back her hands, cocking an eyebrow at him. "There are some interesting people here. The faces …" he paused too, and Emma couldn't help but wonder if he had met someone that gave him that same familiar feeling. Neal had always understood her. Even though their experiences were vastly different, there had always been a similarity between them, and Neal always seemed to get where she was coming from. "It's strange, isn't it?" he nodded. Like we're meant to be here?"

Emma hadn't used to believe in fate. But then she had randomly stumbled on the family she had always wanted. In that family, she had found the love of her life and then, they had made Henry. Emma couldn't claim to be the skeptic she'd been at thirteen. Yeah, life sometimes sucked, and sometimes everything and everyone seemed to be working against you, but there were other moments when it was hard to believe there wasn't some kind of divine intervention involved. How else could certain things have happened to a discarded child like her? Emma had found love. She had found the love of a father, a man, and a child. There was no other explanation than something else out there, and as much as Neal hated the word magic (even magic shows, which he refused to take Henry to no matter what), she couldn't really think of anything else to call it.

"Emma!" Neal yelled, as he banged on her door. Emma stood with her back to the door, trying to drown out his voice. She was such an idiot! How could she screw up a good thing so completely like this? What was wrong with her?

She flung herself on the bed, trying so hard not to cry. This was supposed to be a special day and she had ruined it, and her life, in one impulsive moment.

She heard the doorknob squeak, and her jaw dropped as Neal came into her room. He had never barged in on her. She didn't even bother locking anymore, because she knew he and his father were gentlemen. They never came in without permission.

"Get out!" she screamed, trying to channel her shock and anger in order to block out everything else she had been feeling.

"Emma," he said approaching her. She backed up. "We need to talk about-"

"Get out, Neal." She managed a growl and Neal looked pained. That hurt Emma's heart. She hated seeing Neal's eyes clouded with hurt. She hated that she had been the one who'd hurt him. This was still all her fault. She should apologize. Instead, she said, "Since when do you just barge into my room?"

"You wouldn't let me in!" Neal countered.

"But you've never—"

"Things have changed," he said, slowly.

Emma shook her head, tears falling down her cheeks. "Nothing has changed," she said, sitting back on the bed, avoiding Neal's gaze. A moment later, she felt the bed cave a little. Neal had taken a seat next to her.

"It's okay," he said. "It's okay if you're not ready for anything to change. We can wait, take our time with this."

Emma's jaw dropped and she looked over at him. He was smiling at her. There was such gentleness in his eyes. It made Emma swoon. "It's not …" she swallowed, trying again, "It's not that I don't want … it's just, we've always been like brother and sister and-"

Neal chuckled. "Emma, I've never seen you as a sister."

"You … you haven't?" Emma said, feeling the butterflies again.

Neal shook his head. "I thought you knew that." Emma shook her head back at him, as he kept talking. "My dad adopted you, and you are my best friend, but if you were my sister, then I would never have let you kiss me, even if it is your birthday."

Emma blushed, recalling that moment of bliss. It had been her seventeenth birthday party, and Neal's gift had been so sweet, and Emma hadn't been able to help herself. And for a moment, all she felt was him. Of course, then she realized what he was doing, panicked, and ran off. But if what he was saying was true …

"As a matter of fact, birthday girl, if you'd let me, I'd very much like to try it again."

Emma nodded, unable to speak. She felt Neal lean in and then, she felt something she had never felt before. All she could think was that this must be magic.

Aria Scathe carefully climbed into the dumpster behind the diner, hoping for scraps. She hadn't been completely honest with the boy about rummaging for food. Yesterday, she hadn't been, but the concept wasn't unusual for her. They never had any food at home. Her husband was the stingiest man she had ever met. He ate the food provided for him at work, so he was fine, but despite his salary, he would not have her spending his hard-earned money on anything. "Find a way to feed yourself. It's not my business," he would say. She could steal food, but she had been caught doing that once at Granny's and was scared to do it again. Her husband had taught her the value of fear. She never could stand up to him, or anyone else really. She wished to be brave like the heroes in her books, but it just wasn't in her nature.

Except for yesterday.

Yesterday, she had given a book to a little boy, and while that in and of itself was not brave or heroic, something told her that it was important and potentially dangerous.

She laughed at herself as she looked through the trash for something edible. "Listen to me. Making up stories like that in my head. I'm certainly no hero." Shaking her head, Aria hoisted herself out of the trash. It looked like she would have to check the one behind the Rabbit Hole. It was a seedy bar, and she liked to avoid it, but she needed to eat. The trash at Granny's wouldn't be left in the dumpster until 3:00, and she did not want to wait around to get caught. It wouldn't make Jack look very good to have his wife sifting through garbage, and making Jack mad was never a smart idea.

"I'm so sorry that I'm running late today. If you could just wait another—"

Upon hearing a hurried voice talking into the payphone (Payphone? Really? How behind the times was this town?) Emma stopped on her way back from the bathroom.

"Okay, I understand," the voice said dejectedly. "Thank you for your time."

Emma heard the click of the receiver returning to its cradle, and then she was face-to-face with the woman from yesterday. The woman's mouth formed an O and her cheeks quickly went pink, which made her look a little like a cartoon character, though Emma couldn't recall which.

"Sorry," Emma said quickly, trying to defuse the situation. "I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I was just coming out of the restroom."

"It's okay," the woman said. "I mean, I wasn't whispering or anything. I'm just a little embarrassed is all."

"Yeah, it sounded …" Emma trailed off, not really sure what awkward situation she had stumbled on.

"I was supposed to interview. For a job," she clarified. "Selena set it up for me. She's been trying to help me out and now I screwed up and overslept and missed the interview."

Emma nodded. "That sucks."

"I don't know what went wrong. I'm usually very on top of these sorts of things, but we had the party last night to celebrate her win, and then this morning I just felt … strange." She got a sort of far-off look in her eye for a minute, then shook her head. "Anyway, you don't want to hear about my problems."

"That's okay. Everybody needs someone to vent to."

"I have Selena. She loves listening to my problems; she's the best sister."

Emma just nodded. Her impression of the mayor hadn't been so positive, but this woman seemed to truly believe that she was a good woman. And it was her sister. Anyway, maybe she was wrong. She didn't really know Selena Mills, after all.

"Well, if you ever need a second ear..." She shrugged.

"Oh, are you staying here?"

Oops. It had sounded like that, hadn't it? "Not permanently," Emma said slowly, "Just, you know, for a little bit. We're on vacation."

The woman nodded. "Storybrooke's a nice place to get away to."

"So, um, it was Mary, right?"

"Mary Margaret," the woman corrected.

"Like the actress."

"That's Mary Martin. Or Ann-Margret."

Emma laughed. "Since you knew that right away, I'm guessing you get that a lot."

Mary Margaret shook her head. "I just like musicals. When I was younger I wanted to go to New York and become a singer, but I didn't really have the talent for it." She looked down, and Emma couldn't tell if she was sad or embarrassed. "It's silly, I know."

"I did some acting in college. Never got the lead, but it was fun."

"It's great, isn't it? Pretending to be someone else. It's like getting to live in a fairy tale."

"Well, I don't know about that. I mean, "Les Mis" doesn't exactly have a fairy tale ending."

"Still."

The two women were quiet for a minute. Then Emma said, "Listen, I know that this doesn't exactly fix your day, but if you want to join us for breakfast-"

"I should really get going. Selena's going to want to know what happened. It was nice talking to you, though."

Emma nodded. "You too."

"Bae, we need to talk," Rumple whispered.

His son's head shot up; his father rarely called him that these days. "What's wrong?" he asked immediately.

"This town. This town is wrong. There is something very wrong here."

"How wrong?" Neal desperately wanted this to be nothing. He didn't want to have to leave. Henry liked it here. Even Emma was coming around. And Jamie … he had to get to know her. He had to know if she was connected to his mother.

"Magically wrong."

"You said there was no magic here."

"It's not magic exactly, but …" His father trailed off.

"But what?"

Before he could answer, Emma returned to the table.

"Where's Henry?" was the first thing she asked.

Neal looked around. "I thought he was with you."

Henry was able to sneak around back just in time to see the woman from yesterday scuttling off. She clearly did not want to be seen and, curious as he was, he did not want to upset her. Still, he couldn't help but notice the bruise on her cheek or the slight limp when she walked.

She was taking back ways, trying to stay to the shadows, which actually made her easier to follow. So Henry did. What else was he to do? He needed answers and it was her book after all.

He lost her when she got in her car and floored it. Determined as he was, Henry knew he couldn't outrun a car. He stared at the ground, disappointed.

"Henry?"

He looked up and smiled at Jamie. "Hi," he said, pleasantly.

Jamie, however, was not smiling. She was looking down at him disapprovingly. "Shouldn't you be with your parents?"

"I just snuck off for a minute," he said, trying to be cute and charming like he was with his parents sometimes. Jamie was having none of it.

"Henry, do you know what I do? I'm a principal. That means I know all the tricks that cute little boys use to get their way. I'm immune to cuteness. There's a right way of things and little boys belong with their families. You don't want them worrying about you, I'm sure."

Henry nodded, knowing he'd been called out. "I don't think they noticed yet. If I sneak back, they'll never have to worry."

Jamie shook her head. "You're a mischievous one, aren't you? No, I think your parents need to know you've been running off in order to stop it happening again."

Henry nodded and followed Jamie back into the diner. His mother hugged him, then scolded him, and then she, his father, and Jamie all started to talk about him while his grandfather sat watching and drinking chamomile tea. It was strange. Grandpa Stiltskin had seemed so on edge today. Maybe it was connected to the curse in his book. Maybe he was sensing what Henry had sensed. Should he confide in his grandfather, Henry wondered.

"Okay kid, here's what is going to happen. You are not going to wander off again, because if you do, we are leaving this town and going straight home. We clear?"

Henry nodded. "This place just has so many mysteries."

"It's a lazy little town," his mom said, though he couldn't tell if she really believed what she was saying.

"What if it's not? What if it's more than that?"

"What are you talking about?" Emma asked. Henry didn't say anything. "Henry. I asked you a question."

Henry nodded. "I just … don't want to leave," he finally said.

"We won't, kid. Just stop running off, okay?"

Henry nodded again. He would have to think of other ways to investigate the mysteries of this town and of his book. And he would. But for now, he sat down and finished breakfast with his family.