"You weren't always a cricket," I said to Archie. We were currently in a therapy session with Archie. "I weren't always - Oh, right. Because, um... Because you two think I'm Jiminy Cricket. Why... Why do you two... Why do you two think that, Henry, Ava," Archie asked.

"It's just because of who you are," Henry answered. "And what am I?" Archie asked. "You're a conscious. You help people see right from wrong," I answered.

"So, all the crickets in Storybrooke - they were once people, too?" Archie asked. "There aren't any crickets here. Listen," Henry said. "Maybe it isn't light enough," Archie said.

"There's never been crickets here. You've just never noticed," I told him. "So, you two think that's proof that there's a curse?" Archie asked.

"Yes, but we know it's not enough. We're looking for more," Henry said. "So, Henry and Ava, look. I asked you this once before and you both said you'd think about it. Why do you two think it's so important that this is real?" Archie asked.

"It..." Henry said but then paused. "It just is," I told Archie. "Alright. Well, keep thinking about the answer, Henry, Ava. Cause I think there's something buried there," Archie told us. Suddenly the ground began to shake violently. Archie ran over to us and protected us from some falling ceiling.

"Thanks Archie," we said and I kissed him on the cheek. "No problem, I couldn't see my two favorite kids getting hurt now could I?" Archie laughed. "Now let's go find out what happened," Archie told us. We left the building and ran towards where a crowd had formed.

There was a giant crater and you could clearly see a mine entrance inside. "Emma's changing things," I whispered to Henry. "You're right. We have to go find her," Henry said. "I see her, she's up front next to Sheriff Graham and Mom," I told Henry.

We moved through the crowd until we got to the front. I heard my Mom say, "We will bulldoze it, collapse it, pave it." I ran in front of Mom and asked, "Pave it? What if there's something down there?"

"Ava, Henry. What are you two doing here?" Mom asked. "What's down there?" I asked. I needed to know what she was hiding.

"Nothing. Now step back. In fact, everyone! Please, please step back. Thank you," Mom said. She bent down and picked up something that looked like a piece of glass and then put it in her pocket.

"What was that?" Henry asked Emma but Mom pulled us aside. "Henry, Ava, enough. Listen. This is a safety issue. Wait in the car," Mom demanded.

We left and went to Mom's car. Archie walked by and we quickly got out. "Archie! Over here!" I whisper yelled as I pulled Emma and him aside in front of the police car.

"This requires all of Operation Cobra. Both of you," Henry said. "I didn't realize I was in Operation Cobra," Archie said. "Of course you are. You know everything. We can't let her do this. What if there's something down there?" I asked.

"They're just some old tunnels," Emma said. "That just happened to collapse right after you get here? You're changing things. You're weakening the curse," Henry told Emma. "That's not what's happening," Emma said.

"Yes, it is! Did you do anything differently today? Cause something made this happen," I said. Emma reached down and touched a deputy badge I had never noticed until now.

She must have gotten it today! And that's what must have caused this!

"Ava, Henry, I told you two to wait in the car. Deputy, do your job," Mom said. Henry and I walked away and to the car. We got in and I quickly said, "The badge. Emma became deputy today. That's what caused this." "That's right. It must have happened right when-" Henry started but Mom opened the door to the car. She took us home and forced us to go to bed.

The next day it was time for another session. We got up and I braided my hair while Henry packed up his backpack. We left to go to our session and on our way out Mom said, "Have fun with your session." She smiled evilly and when we walked out I whispered, "What was that about?"

"I have no idea but I don't think we are going to like this session," Henry said. We arrived at Archie's and went in. Marco was there. "Hey! Have a good session, Henry and Ava!" Marco told us. He ruffled our hair and then walked out.

"Hey," Archie said as we sat down on the couch. "Are you recruiting Geppetto for Operation Cobra?" Henry asked. "You two think Marco's Geppetto?" Archie ask.

"Sure. He's Jiminy Cricket's best friend and Marco's yours," I told him. "Henry.. Ava, look. W-We really need to talk about this, okay?" Archie said.

"I know you're not convinced, but we know where we can get some proof," Henry said as he unzipped his backpack. I helped him and showed Archie what was inside.

"What is this? Flashlights? Candy bars? Oh, wait, Henry, Ava. You do not want to go down there," Archie told us.

"Emma's here and stuff's happening. We have to look at it," I said. "Henry, Ava. Stop. Stop. There is no proof. Look, all of this - all of this - is a delusion. Do you two know what a delusion is?" Archie asked.

"I... I think so," we answered. "It's something that's not real. And... And not healthy. And I thought you two'd outgrow this, but Henry and Ava, you know... Now it's turned into a psychosis. Do you know what a psychosis is? Th-That's when you can no longer tell what's real and if that continues, then... Then I have to lock you two away and you will have to be separated. Ava, Henry, look. This has to stop for your own good. You two have got to wake up. This nonsense must end," Archie said.

Henry got up and stormed out. Archie looked at me, "Ava.."

"No! You listen to me! You know what's worse than having you not believe us? It's actually believing I can trust someone for once and then realizing I can never trust anyone. You have hurt me and my brother and that is not okay. You were our best friend, we trusted you. Now look what you have done. You can never separate me and my brother, cause if you do I swear we will never ever forgive you. I don't even know if we can forgive you now... I haven't been able to trust anyone since Emma gave me up. Then I met you and actually thought I could trust someone. But you just proved to me that I was wrong. I don't care if you are Jiminy Cricket or not. What you just did, right there, was not what Jiminy Cricket would do, so stay away from me and my brother!" I yelled and then ran away and out of the building.

I was crying and I saw Henry walking up ahead. I ran up to him and noticed he was crying too. I hugged him and said, "Don't listen to him. We don't need him. Let's go see Emma." Henry nodded and we went to the Emma's.

She opened the door and asked, "Kids? What happened? Come on." She pulled us inside and we explained everything. We were crying and she held onto us. When she calmed us down she took us to Mom's office. She dropped us off and drove off. "We need to go to the mines, we can prove Archie wrong," I told Henry.

He agreed and we headed towards the mine. When we arrived, we got out our flashlights and turned them on. I grabbed Henry's hand and then we walked inside.

We walked down the mine hoping to find something. I saw something glimmer and I picked it up. It was a piece of glass like the one my Mom had been holding earlier. As I showed Henry the ground began to shake. The mine was collapsing!

We start to run towards the entrance but then heard a voice. "Henry? Ava?" It was Archie. We turned a corner and Henry exclaimed, "Archie!" I glared at Archie. "Henry! Ava!" Archie exclaimed.

"You're here to help us!" Henry said excitedly. "No, Henry, Ava, listen. We got to get out of here, okay?" Archie told us.

I pulled Henry close to me. "So, you're still against us?" I asked angrily. He has hurt me and my brother, I wasn't going to forgive him like I forgave Emma.

"Henry, Ava, there's no time for that. Come on, Henry, Ava! Come on!" Archie said. "You don't believe us?" Henry asked. "You'll see! You'll see!" I yelled as we ran deeper into the mines while Archie yelled after us, "Henry! Ava! Come back!"

We ran ahead to where we had found the piece of glass. We looked in the little holes when Henry said, "Ava, I found something." I came over to him and Henry flashed his light. Sure enough, something shinned back.

"Henry? Ava? Henry! Ava! You two got to slow down," Archie said as he came up to us. "There's something shiny down there," Henry said. "Henry, Ava, this is seriously dangerous. We got to get out of here," Archie told us.

"It could be something," I told him. "Henry, Ava, look at me! Look at me! I'm frightened for the two of you," Archie said. "Because you think we're crazy?" I snapped.

"No! No, because we are trapped underground in an abandoned mine, Ava, Henry. There's no way out," Archie told us. I felt my heart begin to race. There's no way out? What?!

We got up and followed Archie who tried to find a way out. I grabbed Henry's hand, I was scared. What if we never got out? I heard barking. What?

"Henry, Ava, do you hear that?" Archie asked. "It's Pongo!" I exclaimed. "Follow the noise!" Archie told us and sure enough we did.

We followed the noise and found some light coming from where it was loudest. "It's loudest over here," Archie said. Henry and I saw some planks of wood covering something. "What's... What's this?" Henry asked. Archie moved the wood out of the way and said, "Looks like... An old elevator."

"It's to get the mine workers in and out. It goes all the way to the top. That's why we could hear Pongo," Archie told us. "Can we make it work?" I asked. "Let's give it a shot," Archie said. Henry and I got in the elevator while Archie turned the wheel to the elevator. The elevator moved slightly.

"Come on!" Archie said. We helped him. Something exploded and then the elevator stopped going up, it fell. Archie jumped over us to protect us from falling rocks.

After everything stopped and we realized the elevator couldn't move anymore, we sat down. I flashed the flashlight hoping to find something up above.

"I'm really... really, really sorry," Henry said. "It's alright," Archie said. "I just wanted to find proof," Henry said.

"You know, it's really alright, Henry. And um, um, I'm sorry, too. Look, I... I don't think you two are crazy. I-I just... I just think you got a very strong mother, who's got a clear idea of a path that she wants you two to be on and when you step off that she... She gets scared. And, you know, it's natural. But it's also natural for you two to be able to be free to think the things that you want to think. So, anyway I... I didn't mean those things I said and I never should have said them. Especially after Ava yelled at me. Ava, I'm sorry, I really blew it. You can always trust me, I'll never leave you," Archie said.

"You yelled at him?" Henry asked. "Worse than I yelled at Emma when she called you crazy," I laughed. Henry hugged me and whispered, "I love you." I hugged him back, "I love you too."

I turned to Archie and said, "Then, why did you do it?" "I guess I'm just not a very good person. I'm not the man I want to be," Archie told us. I felt guilty and said, "I'm sorry Archie. I didn't mean to yell the things I did. I'm just trying to protect Henry and me from ever getting hurt again."

The elevator suddenly jerked and fell down further. "I think you can be him. I think you can be a good person. I mean, you're Jiminy Cricket," I told him.

"Ava, Henry. Jiminy Cricket was a... He was a cricket, okay? And he was a conscious. And... And I hardly think that's me," Archie said.

"But before he was that, he was a guy who took a long time to figure out the right thing to do," Henry told him. "That kind of sounds like me," Archie whispered.

"Now it's harder for you because of the curse. To hear the voice inside of you. To be who you want to be," I said.

The elevator jerked again and fell further down the shaft. "Hey, can I ask you two again?" Archie asked.

"Ask what?" Henry asked. "Why do you two think it's so important that your... your fairy tale theory is true?" Archie asked.

"I don't know," I said. "Give it a shot," Archie pestered on. "Cause.. Cause this can't be all there is," Henry said. I nodded my head in agreement. "I understand," Archie said.

"We thought that if we found proof..." Henry said but then paused. "But we didn't find anything," I pointed out. "Well, that's not true. I was lost and you two found me, right?" Archie said.

"You mean, you remember?" Henry asked. "No, Henry. I... I don't remember, but I-I do remember the kind of person I want to be. I just got to listen harder," Archie told us. I smiled at him and leaned my head on Henry's shoulder.

We heard a noise and looked up. Light filled the air above. "Wh-What's that?" I asked. "I think that's the rescue," Archie told us. "You guys okay?" A voice asked. Emma appeared and I breathed sigh of relief.

"Yeah, we're... We're okay," Archie said. "Hang on, Henry and Ava," Emma said. She took out her walkie talkie and said, "Okay, that's good. Stop."

Emma reached in to grab someone. Archie lifted up Henry and said, "Here you go." "Come on. I got ya. Okay. Okay, I got him," Emma said.

"You got him? Is he safe?" Archie asked. The elevator started shaking and I screamed. "Archie? Ava?" Emma asked worriedly. "It's going to fall!" Archie yelled. "I'm sorry!" Emma yelled. I felt tears streaming down my face, I wasn't going to make it.

"It's okay," Archie said. Emma turned to me, "Ava.." I felt hurt. She didn't even try to grab me. She's just going to let me die.

The elevator started to fall. Archie grabbed on to me and I shut my eyes tightly. "AVA!" Henry cried. "ARCHIE! AVA!" Emma yelled. After a couple of seconds of silence and no death, I slowly opened my eyes.

Archie was still holding on to me and his umbrella was attached to Emma's hook on the side of her waist. I was going to live!

I looked up at Henry and he looked at me smiling. I turned to Archie and hugged him tightly. "Thank you," I whispered. He hugged me tightly and we were slowly pulled up the shaft.

Mom was at the top and she grabbed us as soon as we got out. Mom hugged us tightly and I didn't mind. Emma came over to us and tried to hug us asking, "You two okay?"

I flinched away and Emma looked at me hurt. Mom pushed Emma away from us and said, "Deputy, you can clear the crowd away."

Mom pushed us aside and went to go talk to some people. We stayed for what seemed like forever. At nighttime, Henry dragged me over to Emma. We sat down but I sat farther away from Emma.

She looked at me and walked over to me. She sat down next to me and asked, "What's wrong? Ever since we got you out of the mines you haven't talked to me."

"You wouldn't understand," I whispered. "Try me," Emma said. "You don't understand what's it's like to watch your real mom grab your twin brother but then not even try to save you. You don't understand the feeling I had of abandonment when you looked me in the eyes as I was about to fall to my doom. You don't understand, that I was going to die just because you didn't even try to save me when you had the chance. Archie saved me. Not you. And that's what hurts most of all. That my own mother couldn't even try and save one of her children," I said with tears.

Emma had tears in her eyes too. She hugged me and I cried in her arms. Henry hugged me too and I felt like I actually had my real family. If only my dad were here...

"I'm sorry, Ava. I should have tried to save you. If you had died though, I would have died inside myself. I can't loose you or even Henry. I don't know what crossed through my mind when I was going to let you fall. Can you ever forgive me?" Emma asked. "I forgive you," I said as I hugged her.

We sat there in silence when Emma asked, "Is that Archie's father?" I looked to where she was looking and saw Marco and Archie talking.

"No, they're just old friends," Henry told her. "You two really scared me," Emma said. "We're sorry," we said.

Archie and Marco walked over to us. "Gentlemen," Emma said to Archie and Marco. She turned to us and told us, "Well, come on. Your mom wants to take you two home."

We started to get up and I heard something that I have never heard in Storybrooke before. "Hey! Listen," I told everyone.

I could hear the sound of crickets. This is the first time I have ever heard them in Storybrooke. "Crickets," Archie whispered. "They're back. Things are changing," Henry said.

I smiled. Things were changing. And that was good, I hope.

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This was for episode 5. That Still Small Voice. Hope you liked it! Maybe an update tomorrow? I'm going to Kansas so I don't know if I will be able to update tomorrow until Sunday. I'll try if I can! Thanks for the views!

❤️Luv you❤️
-K

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