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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
THE GAME OF LIFE
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"I'M GOING AFTER GOLD," Emma announced as soon as she walked into Granny's Diner, where Teresa sat with Snow, David, Henry, Regina and Hook, having breakfast. Immediately they turned to face her with wide eyes. "He made this happen. He needs to answer for it."

"Careful. Don't go off half-cocked," Hook said.

David nodded. "Hook's right. He wants you angry."

"Yeah, well, I am angry. That doesn't mean he's gonna get what he's after. Do I wish I could change what I did to Cruella? Yes. But that's regret, not darkness. I think we've all done things we regret. Right now, we need to focus on one thing... How to keep Gold and the Author from causing any more damage."

"I might be able to help with that." Regina shifted in her seat and automatically moved closer to her son as Maleficent walked in.

"It now appears we have a common foe...Rumplestiltskin."

"Didn't he resurrect you?" Teresa asked with arched eyebrow.

Maleficent glanced over Emma to look at the archer. "To help himself, not me. Cruella's death only confirmed that."

Hook rolled his eyes. "Oh. Now you want to turn on him before he turns on you."

Regina grinned in amusement. "I knew Gold couldn't keep the dragon on her leash for long."

"What do you want?" Snow demanded, her arms folded tightly over her chest as she stared at the blonde.

"Nothing from you." Teresa's eyebrows furrowed, wondering why the hatred in her tone was directed toward Snow and David. "But your daughter, I hear, has a talent for finding people."

Emma narrowed her eyes in suspison. "Yeah, I do. Who do you want found?"

"My daughter."

Teresa's eyebrows shot up, she has a daughter?

"She's alive?" Snow asked, her voice laced with both relief and shock, further confusing Teresa.

"Yes. She survived the journey to this land...the journey you sent her on."

From beside Henry, Teresa's head snapped toward Snow, her eyes widen. "You did what to her baby? Snow, that's not like you. Why would you do that?"

"We didn't know what would happen, Teresa," David voiced, heaving a sigh.

"You want to prevent Rumplestiltskin from achieving whatever he wants. What better way than leaving this town and helping me?"

"I'm not running away from Gold," Emma declared.

"It's not running from him. It's hindering him."

Emma held Maleficent's gaze for a long moment before nodding. "What do you know about her?"

"Just what the Dark One showed me...that she was banished to this world 30 years ago, to a place called Minnesota, where she was adopted by a couple." Maleficent paused for a moment. "And they named her Lilith."

"No." Emma's voice was low, full of disbelief and shock.

Hook stared at her in concern. "Emma? What is it?" She didn't answer as she took off out of the diner, leaving them to watch her blonde hair disappear out the door.

"I'm gonna go on a wild limb here and guess that she knows your daughter," Teresa said.

➳

They were leaving; according to intelligence she received from Gold, Regina was going to New York to save Robin Hood, and alongside her would be Emma, who was going to find Lily, Maleficent's daughter.

Apparently fate worked it's magic and as a young teenager, Emma knew Lily, until their friendship was broken by Emma pushing her away.

Outside of the Town Hall building, Teresa stood with Snow and David as Emma was hugging Henry goodbye.

"Be good, kid," Emma said as she placed a gentle kiss to Henry's temple. "I'll see you when I get back."

Henry gave his mother a smile before stepping back next to his grandparents and Teresa.

"Take care Teresa," Emma said, then a smirk pulled onto her lips. "Maybe try and not get taken while I'm gone."

Teresa rolled her eyes. "The first time doesn't count, that was my own mother."

From beside her, Henry cracked a smile.

Hook stepped up to Emma next, wearing a smile, as he bid her a goodbye. After they exchanged a few words, the pair shared a loving kiss.

Snow let go of her husbands hand and stepped forward to say goodbye, "Emma..."

"Take care of Henry."

A heartbroken expression pulled onto Snow's face as she stared at her daughter. Emma was still beyond furious about what they had done to an innocent little baby just to save their own baby.

Before Snow could say anything else, David stepped forward, placing a gentle hand on his wifes shoulder. "Of course."

Regina walked out of the building and immediately walked past Teresa and to her son. She pulled him into her warm and loving embrace.

"Did you get what you needed?" Emma asked.

With a nod, Regina pulled away from Henry and held up Teresa's mother's scrolls. "I'm not going into a land without magic without bringing some of our own. Ingrid's scroll...in case we have any trouble getting through the cloak put around this town."

Emma nodded. "Sounds good. Let's get out of here."

Regina gave her son one last smile before walking over to Emma's bright yellow car; she climbed in and buckled up.

After a few moments, Emma pulled the car out of the lot and began heading out of Storybrooke. They watched Emma's car until is disappeared from their sight.

"So," Teresa clapped her hands together. "What's on the agenda for today?"

➳

With Snow and David going to look for Maleficent to apologise for all they have done to her, Teresa was left to babysit Neal with Henry.

Teresa was sitting on the couch, rocking the infant to sleep when Henry closed the closet, revealing a white box in his hands.

"What's that?" Teresa asked, her eyes dancing with curiosity.

"This is my favorite board game. My mom and I used to play it all the time when I was younger," Henry replied. He walked over to the sofa and took a seat beside her. He set the board game onto the coffee table, allowing Teresa to read the title of the game.

"The Game of Life," she read out loud. "How do you play?"

Henry opened the lid to his favourite childhood game with a smile. "Basically, you have an entire life in an hour of playtime; schooling, a career, kids, a spouse, everything."

"I don't understand, how do you acquire all of that in a game?"

"You're about to find out," Henry replied.

She watched as he laid out the rather large board before separating all the pieces into pile. After a moment, he then held up four different coloured plastic cars.

"Does your favorite color happen to be one of these?"

Teresa nodded. "I've always loved green, it reminds me of the forest."

After placing the green car onto the board, Henry then chose the blue one for himself. He picked up twobof the small white plastic pieces that resembled people and began to explain what they meant as he stuck each of them into his car and Teresa's.

"So these resemble you, and as you play you can gain more people in your car; a spouse and kids. Whoever gets to the end of the board first wins."

"Sounds easy enough," Teresa replied. She scooted closer to Henry to get a better view of the board, chasing the teenage boy to look down with slightly pink-tinted cheeks at her sudden closeness.

He cleared his throat before motioning toward the game board. "Ladies first."

Teresa smirked as she reached forward to spin the spinner. "Such a gentleman, Mills."

The spinner stopped on the four, allowing her to move her car four spaces. She landed on a blank space, indicating it was now Henry's turn to go.

As he went, she couldn't help but as one of the many questions that were inside her head. "So," she began. "Who's Alice?" A frown formed on Henry's lips. "I'm just curious, Regina seems to talk about her like she meant a lot."

"She did," Henry replied. "She was my mom's true love."

"What happened to her? I mean, since your mom's sort of with Robin Hood now?"

"She died."

Teresa frowned. "Oh...I'm so sorry."

"No it's okay," Henry reassured her. "It's just that it was really hard on my mom. She really loved Alice, but Robin Hood helped her find happiness again."

"Do you mind if I ask how Alice died?"

"That's sort of a long story..."

"I think we've got time."

"Well, it started with Neverland."

"Neverland? Like Pan?"

"You know Pan?"

"I know of him, but no, I've never met him. I overheard a ship captain talking about Neverland once, how it was ruled by a boy that could never age."

"I was kidnapped by my dad's fiancé — another long story which I'll have to tell you about some time — and I was taken to Neverland through a portal. Pan wanted me for my heart, apparently I have the heart of the truest believer."

"You do seem to believe a lot."

Henry chuckled. "When we got back to Storybrooke, Pan cast a curse. Everyone else was brought back to the Enchanted Forest, while me and my birth mom were forced to flee Storbyooke. We lost our memories, completely forgetting Storybrooke and everyone from it, including my adoptive mom."

"That sucks, why only you and Emma?"

"My mom had to change the curse to make it so Storybrooke wouldn't change into Pan's new Neverland. And in order to do so — "

"She had to lose the thing she loved most in order for the curse to work," Teresa realised. "Her son."

Henry nodded. "I don't know much about their time in the Enchancted Forest, but my mom and grandparents told me that they had met Robin Hood and my mom's sister, Zelena, who turned out to be the Wicked Witch."

"Wicked Witch? So I'm guessing she's Regina's sister than, or else someone would have told me about Emma having a sibling?" Henry nodded. "And Alice?"

"Alice sacrificed herself so that my mom could live to see me again. She died protecting her."

Teresa was speechless, she felt terrible for Regina. "Well I can see why Regina is hell-bent on getting the author, she's never been able to be with someone she loves. We'll have to make sure Operation Mongoose is successful, she deserves a happy ending."

Henry smiled, giving a nod agreement. "Yea, she does."