Emptiness. Sadness. Loss.

That's what I felt 2 weeks ago when I found out Graham died. He was kinda like my dad to me. He would push me on the swing sets when I was a little girl. He would babysit us when Mom had something to deal with around town.

The sad thing was, ever since Emma came to town, I haven't talked to him as much. Now he's gone. No one will understand why I'm more sad than anyone. Henry and Emma aren't even as sad as I am.

I remember one night Graham had already put us to bed and I had woken up with a nightmare. Mom had had a problem in the hospital and Graham was supposed to watch us for the night. He had come upstairs and had put me in his lap.

Henry was still asleep and Graham was trying to calm me down so I didn't wake Henry up. He had held me close and sung to me. Sure he sounded like a cow dying from a seizure but it's the thought that counts, right? That was when I realized that he was like a father to me. I've never had a fatherly figure in my life. I don't know what happened to my real father, but Graham acted like my own.

I know who did this. I know who killed him.

My mom.

Henry knows too. The night we found out about Graham we started avoiding Emma. It was partially our faults Graham died. We got to caught up in the curse and trying to gain people's memories back to break the curse that Graham had to suffer.

Why are we avoiding Emma? We just don't want her to get hurt. I can't loose my real mom again. I've already lost her once, it would be too hard to loose her again.

"Hey, you okay?" I heard Henry ask as he walked up to the castle. I had been here everyday after school. Some days Henry wouldn't come. I would tell him to leave me alone and I would come here by myself to think about Graham.

"No, you know I'm not," I said. Henry sat next to me and pulled me close. "I know this is tough, but you have to let me in. I can help," Henry told me. He was right. I've been pushing everyone away since Graham died.

"It's just, he was like a father to me. We never had our real father, but Graham kinda filled in the place. I... I just miss him so much," I said with a tear rolling down my face.

Henry held on to me as I wiped away my tears. I heard footsteps, but we didn't move. Someone sat down next to me and I looked up to see Emma. I quickly looked away.

"Brought you two something. Thought we could use them together for Operation Cobra," Emma said as she handed us each a walkie talkie.

"Thanks," we told her but continued to look away. "Oh, come on! What's up? You two have been ducking me for weeks!" Emma told us.

"We think we should stop Cobra stuff for a while. You don't play with the curse," Henry said. "Look what happened to Graham," I whispered. "Henry, Ava, I told you they did an autopsy. It was totally natural causes," Emma said.

"Okay, whatever. You don't believe - good. That should keep you from messing with it," Henry said. "And getting killed," I whispered. "You're worried about me?" Emma asked me.

"She killed Graham because he was good - and you're good," I said. "Ava.." Emma interrupted.

"Good looses - good always looses. Because good has to play fair - evil doesn't. She's evil," Henry stated. I handed Emma back our walkie talkies. "This is probably best. We don't want to upset her anymore," I said. I grabbed Henry's hand and we got up and walked away, leaving Emma by the castle.

The rest of the day we did nothing. I went home and sulked while Henry comforted me. We did find out however, that Emma was fired from her job as deputy. We went to bed that night and I had tears in my eyes. Another night without Graham.

I woke up the next morning and put my hair in a braid. Henry and I ate breakfast and went to school which was really weird today. There were whispers and rumors about me and Henry going around. I don't know what they were but I knew they were about us.

Kids would stop what they were doing and point at us while they were with a friend. We ignored it and finished school. After school, we went to Granny's. I went ahead and sat down while Henry went to go buy the newspaper. Everyone has been reading it today and I heard it was very interesting. I also heard that Emma and Sidney were running against each other for Sheriff, that won't end well.

I ordered two hot cocoas with cinnamon and Henry walked up. He sat next to me and had a sad face. "What is it?" I asked. He placed down the newspaper and I looked at it. It read: "Ex Jailbird - Emma Swan birthed babes behind bars." "What is this?" I asked. Henry shrugged.

We read the article and kept rereading it. "How was school?" I heard Emma ask as she plopped down across from us. "Okay," we answered while not looking up from the newspaper. "You two are reading that paper pretty hard," Emma told us.

"Sidney wrote it," I said looking up. Henry passed her the newspaper and she read it. Her face dropped and she looked up at us. "Is it a lie?" I asked with tears in my eyes. That is why everyone had been talking about us today.

"No," Emma answered truthfully. I fought back my tears and Henry asked, "We were born in jail?"

"Yes. These records were supposed to be sealed. Tell me you two aren't scarred for life," Emma told us. "I'm not," Henry said. "At least not by that," I answered as a shiver went down my spine when I thought of the sleepless nights because of Graham and Mom doing the unspeakable.

"Good. Then, let's throw this out and we will get our news from something more reliable. Like the Internet," Emma told us while she put the newspaper down. "That's what we've been trying to tell you - good can't be evil, because good doesn't do this kind of thing. Our mom plays dirty - that's why you can't beat her," Henry said.

"Ever," I added. "I have a new ally. Mr. Gold said he is going to help," Emma told us. "Mr. Gold? He's even worse than she is. You already owe him one favor. You don't want to owe him anymore. Don't do this," I pleaded.

She looked at us worriedly and then left without a word. We sighed and continued to read the newspaper. After a while, someone came running into the building. "The Mayor's building is on fire! Mayor Mills is trapped inside!" Leroy exclaimed.

We all got up and I grabbed onto Henry worriedly. My mom is trapped in a fire. She could die. I can't have another person die. Henry and I ran to the building where fire trucks were everywhere.

I looked around, hoping to catch a glimpse of my mom being rescued. I saw someone come out with my mom. It was Emma! She had saved my mom! Mom was placed on a stretcher and I walked over to a firefighter who was close to Mom.

"Did Emma really rescue our mom?" Henry asked. The firefighter nodded and we smiled. I turned and saw Emma with Archie, Ruby, Granny, and Ms. Blanchard. "Did you really rescue Regina?" Ms. Blanchard asked.

We ran over. "She did! The fireman said it. They saw it," I answered. "You are a hero," Ruby stated. "We should see if they have a picture of the rescue," Ms. Blanchard said. "We could make campaign posters," Granny suggested.

"Oh, people would love that! That's a great idea. Wait, so..." Archie started but they all walked off so I couldn't hear the rest. That left me, Henry, and Emma.

"This is how good wins. You do something good and people see it, and then they want to help you," Emma told us. "Maybe you're right," Henry said. "You see, Henry and Ava? We don't have to fight dirty," Emma told us. Her eyes caught something and she looked away.

She picked whatever it was up and ran away. We were then pulled away by our Mom and taken home. We went to bed. Tomorrow was Saturday and we had the debate. It was going to be busy.

I woke up the next morning and got ready. Mom then dragged us to the debate. We sat in the front and I noticed Emma looking through the curtain. Her eyes landed on us and we smiled. She shut the curtain and they were pulled back.

Archie then started talking, "Tragedy has brought us here, but we are faced with this decision. And now, we ask only that you listen with an open mind and to please vote your conscience. So, without further ado, I'd like to introduce you to the candidates - Sidney Glass and Emma Swan. Glass. Swan. Sounds like something that a decorator would make you buy. Wow, crickets. Okay, uh... Uh, Mr. Glass - your opening speech." Archie stepped away from the podium and Sidney took his place.

"I just want to say, that if elected, I want to serve as a reflection of the best qualities of Storybrooke. Honesty, neighborliness, and strength. Thank you," Sidney said. Everyone clapped. "And Emma Swan," Archie introduced. Emma walked up to the podium.

"You guys all know I have what they call a, uh... Troubled past. But, you've been able to overlook it because of the, uh... Hero thing. But here's the thing- the fire was a setup. Mr. Gold agreed to support me in this race, but I didn't know that that meant he was going to set a fire. I don't have definitive evidence, but I'm sure. And the worst part of all of this was - the worst part of all of this is - I let you all think it was real. And I can't win that way. I'm sorry," Emma finished.

I sat there shocked. It was a setup. My mom could've died because of a stupid setup. The debate ended and we tried to look for Emma. We couldn't find her. We decided to go look and see if se was at Granny's.

We walked in and sure enough, she was there. We sat next to her and she said, "Hey Henry and Ava." Henry pulled out a walkie talkie and handed it to Emma.

"What's this for?" Emma asked. "You stood up to Mr. Gold. It's pretty amazing," I said. "Well, he did something illegal," Emma pointed out. "That's what heroes do - expose stuff like that. We should've given up on Operation Cobra," I told her.

Mom and Sidney then walked in. "I though I might find you here. With a drink. And my kids," Mom said. "Here to card me, officer?" Emma asked Sidney. "Well, not at all. In fact, I think I'll join you," Sidney told her.

"Here? I don't know. I think they're setting up a back room for the victory party," Emma said. "Oh, well, you'll have to tell me what that's like," Sidney said. What?

"Congratulations. ...Sheriff Swan," Mom said as she set down the sheriff badge. "Wait, what?" I asked. The door opened and people started filing in. "It was a very close vote, but people really seem to like the idea of a Sheriff brave enough to stand up to Mr. Gold," Mom explained.

"Are you joking?" Emma asked. "She doesn't joke," Sidney stated. "You didn't pick a great friend in Mr. Gold, Miss Swan, but he does make a superlative enemy. Enjoy that," Mom said. With that we enjoyed Emma's victory party for the rest of the night.

She may have won this round, but, knowing my mom, it will be harder to win the next one.

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So this was for the eighth episode of season one. Desperate Souls. Hope you liked it! I might not be able to update tonight. I'm going over to a friend's house and I haven't seen her in a really long time so I want to spend time with her. Anyways hope you guys are all enjoying summer!

❤️Luv you❤️
-K

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