Prince James sat across Princess Abigail, King Midas' daughter, which was soon to be his be-throned wife

"What do you think of the view my dear?" Asked James, staring out at the scenery through the window of the carriage

Abigail sighed as she whipped out her fan, fanning her face a bit "I've seen better"

"This is taking forever" she complained "I told you the troll road would have been quicker" they went over a bump, Abigail closed her eyes in annoyance "And far less bumpy"

James, now ignoring her, looked at the leather pouch that layer beside him

"Are you even listening to me?" She asked once again annoyed

"Yes of course I am" he responded quickly

"Whoa! Whoa!" A man yelled to the horses, have the horses whine as the carriage stopped

"Now what?" The Princess asked, Jamey sighed as he stepped out of the carriage, leaving the pouch behind, as he stepped out to see what was wrong

"M'lord!" Another man shouted, James took a quick glance at Abigail in front of the carriage before seeing what's wrong

"Worry not, it's but a fallen tree!" He shouted to Abigail, she rolled her eyes

"Fellows? Shall we?" He said to the guards, preparing to lift the tree out of the path to continue on

Unknown to them all, a brown hooded figure waited silently in a tree, waiting for the perfect moment to strike

The prince looked at the tree, noticing the markings along side the tree where it fell

While he was noticing this, a small thud fell on top the carriage where Princess Abigail still sat, she gasped in terror as she didn't know what fell on top of the roof of the carriage

"M'lord.....what is it?" Asked a guard as he noticed him examining the tree

"Look at these markings. This tree didn't fall it's been cut. It's an ambush" he said telling the man, as they were ready to pull there swords

The hooded figure quickly swiped the pouch from the carriage as Princess Abigail's screams of fright alerted the guards

"Guards! Stop! Thief!" She shouted in fright, the figure took the closest horse, which was pure white, and sped off

Prince James did the same with the nearest horse, which was brown, and headed after the thief

Their horses rode fast, James urging his to go fast as he caught up with the thief

Thinking fast he jumped off his horse and grabbed the masked thief, tumbling to the ground

"Show your face coward!" He yelled, ripped the cloak of their face, and there was a girl
Her skin as pale as snow but with raven dark hair

He almost punch her but was stunned to see a girl "You're a..... girl"

"Woman" She said grabbing a rock and hitting him in the chin, he hissed in pain as he fell off her and she jumped right back on the horse taking off deeper into the woods

"You can't hide from me! Wherever you are, I will find you!" He shouted as he watched her take off, he touched his bleeding wound and looked back at her

He saw her riding off looking back with a smile

A smile of victory
                                <><><><><>
I waited inside Mary-Margaret's house, she was on a date and I waited for her to get home, I made hot chocolate and waited in the kitchen, I sprinkled some cinnamon on top as the door opened and closed

"Hey! I just made hot chocolate for you!" I said as she came closer smiling, I set it in front of her as she placed her purse down

"So....? How'd it go?" I asked eagerly, her face slightly fell, but she still kept the smile

"No! He didn't! Tell me he at least payed?" She shook her head no, I groaned

"Man, that's why us women have to stay together" I said chuckling, Mary-Margaret did the same

"You know, if true love was easy, we'd all have it. Sometimes it's just not meant to be" She replied sipping her hot drink

"Amen to that!" I said, she giggled "But in all seriousness, he just wasn't the right one for you, there will be tons of other guys, you just have to find the right one" I answered sipping my hot drink, she looked at me funny

"How do you know about boys so much?" She asked I giggled

"Ruby, I swear I don't know where her boy talks end, and her impressing them begin" I sighed drinking my hot chocolate

"Tell me about it, well I should get out of this and get into some comfy clothes and head to bed. You should to you have an early morning tomorrow, goodnight Emily" she said taking her stuff to the bathroom

"Night Mary-Margaret!" I said back, I had already showered so I just went back to the couch watching Netflix, I felt my eyes become heavy and I turned off the tv before the world became dark
                                    ~~~~~~~
The next day I was on my lunch brake so I went to the apartment me and Mary-Margaret shared and for a reason Emma was there

"Oh hey Emma, what are you doing here?" I asked setting my bag down and heading to the fridge, grabbing my left over Granny's out of the fridge

"Just talking to Mary-Margaret about reading to a comma patient" I looked up from my left over sandwich

"John Doe? What has Henry believed now?" I asked

"He believes that he's Prince Charming" she sighed

"Wait doesn't he think your Snow White?" I pointed at Mary-Margaret

"Yes" she answered

"And he thinks I'm Andriana, Snow White and Prince Charming's first born....." I muttered

"He thinks your Andriana?" Mary-Margaret asked

"Yeah, wait why does he want you to read to him in the first place?" I questioned

"He thinks it will help him remember who he is" Emma replied

"And to him that's Prince Charming" I said Emma nodded

"So he thinks that Me, him, and Mary-Margaret are a family?" I questioned, Emma nodded again

"Yep, he thinks that all the time, wait why don't you know all this?" She asked

"Because we've only talked about my true love story, which I find very hard to believe. I haven't been told much else" I explained

"Well, I'll do it, I'll read to him if it makes Henry understand reality and fantasy" Mary-Margaret replied

"And he wants a full report at breakfast at Granny's" Emma said handing over the book

"Okay, guess I better go get ready for my date, I guess I'll be the only one doing the talking" Mary-Margaret replied

"Shoot! I have to go back to work, I'll see you guys later bye!" I said rushing out the door back to Granny's to work my next shift
                               ~~~~~~~~~~
Snow White used a lantern to light her path as she grabbed a pouch stuffing everything on the table into it

This caused things to topple over and clash together into the ground, she quickly picked up those things and placed them in the pouch with the other things

She swung it over her shoulder and left her house, she looked back at her log house as she sighed with a frown and continued forward

But as she did, she was caught in a giant net, she screamed as it pulled her up high in the air away from the ground, a man laughing got her attention

"I told you I'd find you. No matter what you do, I will always find you" he said walking closer to her, arms folded

"Is this the only way you can catch a woman--by entrapping her?" Snow sassed

"It's the only way to catch thieving scum" he replied

"Oh. Aren't you a real Prince Charming?" She sneered

"I have a name, you know" he replied

"Don't care 'Charming' suits you. Now cut me down Charming"

"I'll release you when you return the leather pouch you stole with my jewels"

Snow denied it shaking her head "Not the jewelry type"

"Indeed. I noticed"

"What is that supposed to mean? Are you insulting me?"

"No, quite right. My apologies. How dare I cast aspersions at the person who robbed me. Where are my jewels?"

"I sold them"

"What?"

"What do you care? Don't you have a palace full of treasures somewhere?"

"These were special. Among them was a ring that belonged to my mother, a ring I was about to give--" Snow cut him off quickly

"The bag with the bad attitude? That's what this is about?"

"She's my fiancee"

"Good luck with that. You must be getting something impressive to have agreed to that union"

"Excuse me?"

"I know how this works. True love? It doesn't exist. It's all arranged marriages and business transactions. There's no such thing as love at first sight or first kiss. Let me guess, her kingdom wants to take over yours, and this is--what, a last-ditch effort to avoid war?"

"This is not a takeover. It's-it's a merger and quite frankly, it's none of your business. Now this is what's going to happen" Snow hummed "Im going to cut you down. And you will take me to whoever has my jewels, and then you're going to get my ring back"

"Mm. Why would I do that?" She asked placing her head in a hole of the net

"Because you don't want me to tell anyone who you really are" he dug into his jacket and brought out a piece of paper that had her face on it with a 'wanted' sign on it  "Snow White" he ended

"Help me get my ring back, or I turn you over to the Queen's forces. And I have a feeling the Queen's not as... charming as I am"

"Well..." she began, taking her head out of the hole "I wouldn't want to stand in the way of your getting 'True Love.' "

Charming took his sword out of the holster as he sliced the rope holding the net that held Snow White, she dropped to the ground
                                  <><><><><>
I cleaned the counter at Granny's while I was making coffee for some people sitting up at the counter

It finished as I watch Mary-Margaret walk in, I pour the coffee for them as Henry waved me over, I smiled and placed the coffee down

"Cover for me for a minute?" I asked Ruby she nodded, I smiled in thanks as I sat in the booth next to Emma

"He woke up" Mary-Margaret said

"What?" Emma and I said shocked

"I knew it" Henry said

"I mean he didn't wake up, wake up but he grabbed my hand" I stared in shock

"He did the same to me" I said, they looked at me weirdly

"I mean, I think he did, but when I was visiting my mom, I went to visit the other patients and when I sat with him holding his hand, he clenched back" I explained

"He's remembering" Henry said

"What did the doctor say?" Emma asked

"That I imagined it. But I'm not crazy. I know it happened" Mary-Margaret explained

"We have to go back. You have to read to him again" Henry told her

"Let's go" she said to Henry as they got out of the booth

"Wait, wait, what?" Emma said as we got out of the booth also

"If I got through to him, if we made a connection--"

"You don't believe--" Emma began, Mary-Margaret stopped her

"That's he's prince Charming. Of course not. Somehow, some way, I touched him" she said walking out, I sighed running a hand through my hair

"Ruby!" I said she turned around "Cover me? I need to watch Henry" she nodded smiling, I smiled and ran after him

"You're right. He's waking up" Henry said rushing to the room, Graham was outside the room

"Henry, you should stay back" Graham said as he turned around to face Henry

"What's going on? Is it John Doe? Is he okay?" Mary-Margaret questioned

"He's missing" Graham said plainly

Graham moved out of the way to reveal an empty bed and Regina in the room

Regina walked out of the room "What the hell are you doing here?" She looked at Emma "And you" she looked at Henry

She gripped onto Henry's arm "I thought you were at the Arcade. Now you're lying to me?"

"He was with me, at work" I said, placing an arm over Henry's shoulder, Regina glared daggers at me

"What happened to John Doe? Did someone take him?" Mary-Margaret kept asking questions, I'm worried to, is he alright?

"We don't know yet. His I.V.s were ripped out, but there's no sign for sure there was a struggle" Graham explained

"What did you do?" Henry questioned looking at Regina

"You think I had something to do with this?" Regina asked him

"It is curious that the mayor is here" Emma said

"I'm here because I'm his emergency contact" Regina said

"You know him?" Mary-Margaret said

"I found him in the side of the road years ago with no I.D. I brought him here" Regina explained

"Mayor Mills saved his life" Dr. Whale said walking in

"Will he be okay?" Mary-Margaret asked

"Okay? The mans been on feeding tubes for years, under constant supervision. He needs to get back here right away, or quite honestly, 'okay' might be a pipe dream" Whale said

"Well, then let's quit yapping and start looking" Emma said walking away

"That's what we're doing-" Emma stopped walking and turned back around "Just stay out of this, dear. And since I clearly can't keep you away from my son... I guess I'm just gonna have to keep my son away from you" she said looking at Emma

"Enjoy my shirt, because that's all your getting"  Regina sneered "Sheriff?"

Graham looked up "Find John Doe. You heard Dr. Whale. Time is precious" she looked at everyone before walking out of the hospital, gripping Henry's hand

"Doctor, how long between your rounds since you last saw him?" Graham asked Whale

"12 hours or so" he replied

"Then that's what we need to account for"
                                 ~~~~~~~~~~
We were in the security office, and might I saw, it's pretty gross

"You two were the only employees on the floor last night.... and you saw nothing?" Graham said/asked

"Not a thing" Walter said

"Did anyone walk by?" Emma asked

"I didn't see nothin' " Leroy replied

"Ms. Blanchard, was there anything unusual you saw during your trip with your class?" Graham asked

"I don't think so" Mary-Margaret replied, then Emma looked at the tape we were watching and I think noticed something

"We're looking at the wrong tape. This is the ward where Henry's class put up decorations. If this was really the tape from last night, we'd see the banners the kids hung" Emma explained

Leroy scoffed "You fell asleep again"

"You selling me out?" Walter asked Leroy

"I ain't getting fired for this" Leroy said simply

"At least I don't drink on the job" Walter said

"Gentlemen, enough. Where's the real tape?" Graham asked

Then the tape whirled and then the one from last night played, he walked out by himself

"Oh, he walked out alone. He's okay" Mary-Margaret said in relief

"Four hours ago" I said looking at the tape

"Where does this door lead?" Emma questioned

"The woods" Leroy replied

Then I guess we really don't have time on our side
                                 <><><><>
Snow and 'Charming' walked through the woods, both not speaking what-so-ever, both only had one thought on their minds: are we done yet?

Snow lead the way through the the woods, throughout the wall, she spun the container of dust around her neck

James watched as she did this and it questioned him in the back of his mind "I thought you weren't the jewelry type. What's that around your neck?"

"Don't worry about it" she said letting it go

James then ripped it off her neck as she gasped "Careful! It's a weapon" she said sternly

"What, dust? What's kind of weapon is dust?" He said, holding it in front of her mockingly

"Fairy dust" she replied trying to take it back, he moved it out of her reach

"I thought that was a good thing"

"When it comes from a good fairy. This stuff is deadly. It transforms the most fearsome of adversaries into a form that's easily squashed" She explained trying to take it back, but he once again moved it out of her reach and put it under his jacket

"Then why didn't you use it on me?"

" 'Cause you're not worth it"

James chuckled at her seriousness

"It's very hard to come by. I'm saving it for a special someone"

"Ah, the Queen. You've got a lot of anger there, don't you, Snow?"

"The charges in her posters are lies. Didn't stop her from sending her huntsman to rip out my heart"

"What happened?"

"Well, not everyone is soulless royal. He took pity on me and let me go. I've been hiding in the forest ever since, trying to amass enough fortune to leave this place, escape to another realm--somewhere isolated, where I can never be hurt"

"Sounds lonely"

"No lonelier than an arranged marriage"

"At least I don't pray in the innocent"

"Up until now, I've only ever stolen from the Queen. I thought your carriage was one of hers. No one else uses that road"

"We took the scenic route"

"Well, lucky for me. All I'm doing, charming, is what it takes to survive. She wants me dead" she started to walk again to their destined place

"So... what did you do to incur that much wrath?" Snow stopped once more

"She blamed me for ruining her life"

"Did you?"

She thought for a moment, "Yes"

Both continued to walk down there path to get back the ring, until they came across a small river bank

"I'm thirsty" Snow said blankly "May I?"

"Sure. Make it quick"

They both walked to the river, cupping their hands sipping the slightly cold liquid it offered, Snow frowned knowing what her next action would be

As he turned to tell her to head on, she kneed him in the stomach as he grunted in pain, tossing him way from her which landed him in the river, he started to flow down its path as she dug through her pouch he had taken, grabbing a small pouch and running through the forest

She kept running through the forest as she came to a big clearing, rocks everywhere, but the sound of horse's feet slapping in the rocks got her to worry

Her worry turned into fear as three of the Queen's guards showed up blocking a way out

"Huh. Look who we found" the head guard taunted, the two standing beside him urged their horses to surround her

Snow reached for her fairy dust necklace but when she didn't feel it, she remember that James had swiped it from her

The head guard got off his horse, approaching her slowly

"There's nowhere to hide. The Queen wants your heart" he pulled out a dagger "And we're not going to disappoint her"

Snow could feel nothing but fear as the man came closer than she would have liked, most importantly the pain she would feel
<><><><><>
We walked through the forest, through the door John Doe went through

Pushing tree branches out of our path, and stepping over fallen tree and rocks we searched for my clue that may lead us to John Doe

Graham crouched to the ground and touch the dirt

"What is it?" Emma questioned

"The trail runs out here" he said

"You sure? 'Cause I thought tracking was one of your skills" Emma said

"Just give me a second. This is my world. I got it"

"Right sorry" Emma said quickly

"What does he mean 'His world'? Isn't finding people your thing, too?" Mary-Margaret questioned

"Sure. Just...people I find usually run to places like Vegas"

"Oh"

"Not a lot hit the woods" she finished

"It's an interesting job--finding people. How'd you fall into it?" Mary-Margaret said/asked

"Looking for people's just what I've done. . . As long as I can remember"

"What made you start?" I asked curious

"Your parents?" Mary-Margaret asked, Emma snapped her head towards her "Henry told me that your--that you were from a similar situation to his own? Did you ever find them?"

"Depends who you ask" she explained

Then a branch snapped, as footsteps approached, I quickly got into a fighting stance, never know who it might be, out came Henry, sliding down the hill

"Henry!" I exclaimed worried

"Did you find him yet?" He asked, I chuckled and hugged him, he hugged back

"No, not yet. You shouldn't be here" Emma said as we broke apart from our hug

"I can help. I know where he's going" he said

"And where's that?" Mary-Margaret asked

"He's looking for you" he said looking at Mary-Margaret
<><><><><>
A guard slammed Snow against the tree, the head guard scraped his dagger against his metal like glove

"Hold her still" he demanded as he held the blade above his head, but before he could strike, he fell over, blade still above his head, into the ground

A blade had been thrown through his back, the guard that was holding her took out his sword ready to fight the man who threw the sword through his guard boss' back

That man was James

Snow looked around for something as James went to fight the remaining guard

Their swords clashed together as Snow had struck an idea in her mind, she ran over to a horse trying to get a weapon, but the remaining guard James wasn't fighting picked her up and threw her over his horse

She yelled out for help, as James finished fighting the guard, he noticed her being taken away

He eyes saw the horse next to him and took the bow and one arrow, he raced through the forest catching up with the horse and guard that held Snow

He found the perfect opening and took the shot, hitting the guard knocking him off his horse

Snow then got a good hold on the horse and started to ride it as James chased after the horse, Snow had finally stopped the horse and climbed off

"Are you all right?" James asked as he panted

"You... you saved me"

"Seemed like the honorable thing to do. Are you ready?"

"For what?"

"My jewels"

"Right. You've got a wedding to get to. The trolls I sold them to are just beyond the next ridge. We need to be careful"

"What, of trolls?"

"You've clearly never met one"

"Aren't they just little people?"

"You're thinking of dwarves. Show a little respect. They'll cut your hand off sooner than they'll shake it"

James sighed "Well, then let's get this over with"

"Yes, we've both got places to be. So let's go"

Snow grabbed the horse by the reins and started to walk with James to meet with the Trolls

"You have your lonely little corner of solitude to find..."

"And you've got a ring-less fiancée to appease"

They both walked deeper into the forest, for what awaits them they would soon find out