━━━━━━━★━━━━━━━
CHAPTER ONE
EIGHT-FIFTEEN
━━━━━━━★━━━━━━━

SOPHIE SWANN HAD RARELY BEEN TO THE ENCHANTED FOREST. It was a little hard to believe, in retrospect, that all her journeys had not brought her to its shores more often, but as she stared at the mostly unknown land around her, she was thankful she had her uncle with her. Though Jack Sparrow was more likely to get her into more trouble than help her figure out exactly where they were. She hoped he did know where they were, as he had been the one to send the raven to her parents and brother with their location.

Following her uncle, Sophie absent-mindedly rubbed at her wrist, still sore and red from the iron cuffs she'd been forced to wear. They had been heavy and cold, just loose enough to bang against her wrists whenever she moved. How Jack had managed to get the key without being detected, Sophie didn't know, but she suspected at least one had lost their life in the process. As much as she had been raised not to kill without good reason, she couldn't find it in her heart to be sorry about any of the lives which had been lost in the pursuit of her rescue and escape. They had been bad men who deserved what they got.

With a sigh, Sophie glanced behind her, seeing the water slowly disappearing from view down the path they were on. The narrow dirt road was lined with forest on either side and ahead of them, it remained the same until it disappeared over the horizon and they could see no more. Ahead of her, Jack seemed to know where he was going but whether that was because he was actually familiar with the area or just him being himself was unclear. And she suspected she wouldn't know either way till they walked right into trouble or something clearly familiar.

"You do know where you're going, don't you, Uncle?" she asked.

"Do I look like a man who doesn't know where he's going?" Jack questioned her.

"Actually, with everything I know about you, I will have to answer yes to that question," she answered honestly.

Jack didn't reply to that, just continued to stumble on down the road. Sophie sighed and stuck her hands in her pockets, fingers touching something cool and metal. In confusion, she pulled out the object and inspected it, finding it to be a gold ring with three small, blue gems set in it. A smile pulled on her lips. Warm, comforting memories flooded her as she slipped the ring once more on her finger and felt reassured as she continued walking, despite not knowing where she was going. She would get home again. She would.

━━━★━━━

STORYBROOKE WAS A SMALL TOWN, and everyone knew Helen Falconer was a solitary woman and always had been. She had never been one for friends, even as a girl. In recent years, the young woman had willingly allowed one person to get close to her for he made her smile with his innocent optimism and the endearing idea that everyone in their small town was actually one of the characters in his book of fairytales. Yes, ten-year-old Henry Mills might be considered the only friend that Helen had.

Most days, Helen could be found sitting at the beach or the docks with her headphones in and a notebook in her lap, scribbling away in it about things that no one knew, for no one had ever been allowed to look in the notebook. It was almost as common for her to be seen sitting with her headphones hanging around her neck, smiling and listening intently to Henry talk and explain his newest theories about his storybook. She had never been able to put her finger on it, but the young boy reminded her of someone who she was sure had been very dear to her.

When someone pulled out one of her earbuds, she startled, turning to see none other than Henry Mills smiling at her, the large, leatherbound storybook wrapped up in his arms. A smile pulled on her lips and she turned towards him, watching as he sat down across from her on the dock at the beach as she stopped her music and hung her headphones around her neck.

"You look awfully chipper this afternoon," she said, looking once more at the time on her phone. "Did you run here when the bell rang?"

"No," he said. "Miss Blanchard let us out early."

"Oh, of course, she did."

"I figured out the next step in Operation Origin Story!" he told her excitedly.

"You did? Well, you must share with me," she said.

"The Greyhound bus will take me right to Boston and it will only take me four hours!" he explained. "And from there I can take a cab to the apartment building!"

"Well, you certainly seem to have everything all figured out," Helen agreed, nodding. "But you're forgetting one crucial detail."

Henry's brow furrowed. "What detail?"

"I'm coming with you," she explained.

"You want to come?" he asked, excitedly.

"First of all, of course, I do. Why wouldn't I? Second, if you think for one second I'm letting you take a four-hour bus ride to Boston all alone, you're insane," she stated.

Henry smiled broadly and suddenly wrapped her in a hug, causing her to laugh. They both quickly packed up their things and left the beach. First stop, the Falconer residence for any of the supplies that Helen would need for the journey. Second stop, the Mills house for any of Henry's supplies. But then? Well, then they were headed to Boston.

━━━★━━━

SOPHIE WAS RELIEVED TO DISCOVER her uncle actually did seem to know where he was going. When they had entered the tavern in the tiny village an hour down the path they'd been on, the woman behind the bar had called Jack's name joyously, something which was pretty uncommon when it came to women and her uncle. She had told them her name was Jane, offered them some food and drink and even told them which room they could stay in when they had asked for a place to stay till Sophie's parents arrived.

People chatted and gossiped all around the pair as they sat and ate, Sophie hungrily digging into the meat and bread Jane had provided them. She couldn't help catching bits and pieces of conversation of those around her, notably about a princess in a nearby kingdom who had recently been married and found out she was with child. The two women who's gossiping she could overhear were even sure she was sure to have the baby any day now. Sophie paid them no mind, for she would hopefully not be around for much longer.

"You sent the raven with the message, right?" Sophie asked Jack after finishing her meal.

"Yes," he answered her, sounding a little offended that she would question him.

"And you told them the right location?"

"Why would you doubt your trustworthy Uncle Jack?"

"No offence, but you have been known to forget things. Important things. And this absolutely qualifies as an important thing," she insisted.

"I sent the raven," he told her. Sophie sighed in relief, one hand going back to rub at her wrist. "Let me see your wrists," Jack requested.

Sophie easily stretched her arms out across the table where Jack took her hands and looked them over, frowning at how red and irritated they were from the iron cuffs she'd been forced to wear. On her right wrist, just below her palm was a cut running right across it. Without word, Jack unwrapped one of the pieces of cloth he had wrapped around his hand and tied it around Sophie's wrist.

"Thanks," she told him, smiling.

"Of course. Now, go get some rest," he told her.

With a smile still on her face, Sophie got up from the table and headed to the room Jane had indicated would be theirs. She collapsed into the first bed she saw, closing her eyes and letting her mind drift off to better things, better times as she got her first good rest in a while.

━━━★━━━

HELEN WASN'T ASHAMED TO ADMIT she had never left Storybrooke before. It was hard to find buses willing to come through the small town and getting a vehicle to take herself out of the town was almost as difficult a prospect. Not to mention there was mostly forest for miles around them, making walking anywhere absolutely out of the question.

That was why sitting on the Greyhound bus with Henry in the seat next to her was so exciting. Seeing the world outside of Storybrooke was exciting, despite they were on the highway for most of the trip. Henry sat with his storybook on his lap, reading through it while Helen listened to her music and scribbled in her notebook or simply watched the world passing outside the window, fiddling with the bracelet on her right wrist anxiously the whole time.

As they got closer and closer to Boston, she could see Henry getting more and more excited, though he did a good job of hiding it. But she knew the boy well, and could tell just how excited he was. Glancing once more out the window, Helen could see the bus station getting nearer and nearer.

"That a good book?" a woman in the aisle across from them asked Henry.

"This?" Henry said, closing the book. "It's more than just a book."

"Oh?" she said, smiling. Though her tone spoke to how little she believed him.

"Boston south station, thank you for riding Greyhound."

Henry and Helen collected their things as the bus came to a stop, slowly exiting the bus with the others before they stood alone on the streets of Boston, wondering where they were supposed to go next. Luckily, Henry was nothing if not a boy with a plan. He took her hand and pulled her towards the sidewalk, where cabs were lined up and waiting for passengers. They approached one and Henry knocked on the window, getting the driver's attention.

"You take credit cards?" the boy asked when the window had been rolled down.

"Where to, chief?"

━━━★━━━

OUT ON THE SEAS, EVERYONE KNEW the ship known by the name the Black Pearl. She was a hard one to miss, the charred hull and black sails sticking out amongst the backdrop of blue seas and bright skies. Though usually captained by the infamous Captain Jack Sparrow, currently at the helm was none other than sea legend Will Turner, his eyes fixed on the horizon ahead of him. At the bow was Elizabeth Swann, the Pirate King, a spyglass in one hand and held to her left eye and next to her was her oldest child, Henry Turner.

A ship with a bright purple sail and the design of a dragon for its bow sailed along with them, though some distance away. Aboard that ship was none other than the King of Narnia, Caspian X, his heart heavy with sorrow but he held onto his hope.

From the crow's nest of the Black Pearl, a shout echoed down to those on the deck below. "Raven approaching!"

Elizabeth Swann moved from the bow of the ship to the port side, watching as the dark bird flew towards them and landed on the edge of this ship. A message was attached to its leg and allowed Elizabeth to approach, grabbing the bird and pulling the message loose before releasing the bird to fly back home. As she unrolled the parchment and read the message scrawled in messy script upon it, her husband came up to her to see what the message said.

"Will," she said after finishing, turning to him with a large smile on her face. "He found her. Jack found Sophie."

"He did?" Will asked, taking the message and reading it for me. "The Enchanted Forest, that's not far from here."

"Two days," Henry said, smiling brightly at the thought of getting his sister back. "Or less if we're quick."

Elizabeth turned towards a member of the crew. "Hail the Dawn Treader," she instructed him. "We must tell Caspian the wonderful news."

━━━★━━━

AS HELEN AND HENRY RODE THE ELEVATOR up to the correct floor, she couldn't help but be nervous about what they were doing. It was hard to predict the reactions of strangers most of the time, especially when you were confronting them with something they might not have ever wanted to be confronted with. Kinda like what they were about to do.

With a ding, the elevator arrived at the floor and the doors slid open, allowing the pair to exit. They took a moment to survey where they were before Henry dug a piece of paper out of his pocket and checked something, before sliding it back in his pocket and pulling Helen down the hallway in the direction of what she could only assume was the correct apartment.

Next to the yellow door painted with cursive script was the number five. After taking a breath, Henry raised a fist and rang the doorbell. For a moment, there was no sound from the other side of the door and Helen briefly worried if maybe they had the wrong apartment. But she needn't have worried, for the door swung open and on the other side was a blonde woman in a pink, skin-tight dress, looking at them with a confused look on her face. Helen couldn't blame her.

"Uh... can I help you?" she asked.

"Are you Emma Swan?" Henry asked.

"Yeah," she answers. Then, "who are you?"

"My name's Henry," he told her with a smile. "I'm your son."

Emma frowned, disbelief clearly written all over her face. Henry ignored it, pushing under the blonde's arm and into the apartment and when she dropped her arm to turn to Henry, Helen used that opportunity to follow after the boy, inspecting the apartment she was now standing in.

"Whoa," Emma said, following after them. "Hey, kid. Kid. Kid! I don't have a son."

The apartment had floor to ceiling windows on the far side, looking out over the lights of Boston. Papers were scattered on the counter to her right, a Rubix cube sat atop them. The furniture was plain, but nice enough and there was other clutter scattered about the place, making it look lived in. But Helen couldn't help the feeling of loneliness that seemed to sit heavy over the whole apartment. 

"Where are your parents?" Emma questioned.

"Ten years ago, did you give a baby up for adoption?" Henry asked. A wave of realization washed over Emma's face. "That was me."

"Give me a minute," Emma said before immediately disappearing into one of the rooms off the entry hall.

For a moment, the pair watched where she had disappeared from before moving around the apartment. Helen wandered over to the window, watching in amazement as the life below moved, seemingly without a clue as to what was going on around them, everyone wrapped up in their own little worlds. Henry went right to the fridge, opening it and looking through it.

"Hey, you have any juice?" Henry called to Emma. "Nevermind. Found some."

Helen turned back around to see Henry drinking orange juice out of the bottle Emma had in fridge, sitting on one of the bar stools at the kitchen island. Just as Helen walked over and stood behind him, resting her hands on the back of the stool, the door opened and Emma re-emerged, walking into the kitchen to stand on the other side of the island.

"You know, we should probably get going," Henry said.

"Going where?" Emma questioned, crossing her arms.

"I want you to come home with me," Henry said.

"Okay, kid. I'm calling the cops."

"Then I'll tell them you kidnapped us."

"And they'll believe you because I'm your birth mother," Emma said, sounding resigned as she hung up the phone.

"Yup," Henry agreed.

"You're not gonna do that."

"Try me."

"You're pretty good, but here's the thing. There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill – let's call it a superpower – I can tell when anyone is lying," Emma explained. "And you, kid, are."

"He might be, but I'm not," Helen said, immediately changing her straight face to one of concern. "It was awful, Officer, I didn't know what to do. I'm so glad you saved us."

Emma narrowed her eyes at Helen, but she held steady. "And who are you, exactly?"

"Helen. Technically, just a friend of Henry's who wasn't letting him go to Boston all on his own. But if the police ask, his babysitter and your poor second victim," she answered easily.

"Wait," Henry said. "Please don't call the cops. Please. Come home with me."

"Where's home?" Emma asked.

"Storybrooke, Maine," Henry answered.

"Storybrooke? Seriously?"

"Mm-hmm."

"All righty then. Let's get you two back to Storybrooke."

━━━★━━━

CASPIAN WAS OVERJOYED WHEN HE HEARD THE NEWS that Sophie Swann had been found by Jack Sparrow. The thought that he was only two days away from her after going so long not knowing where she was filled him with relief and hope. In just two days time, he would get to see her face again, get to hold her, kiss her and never let her go. He couldn't— no, didn't want to imagine what she may have been through in the time they had been apart.

Alone in his cabin, Caspian couldn't help remembering one of his fondest memories of Sophie from the first time they had sailed together on her ship, the Black Ace.

Brown hair hanging loose around her shoulders, Sophie Swann smiled into the breeze that was blowing her hair out behind her. One hand rested on the wheel and the other on the hilt of the rapier hanging from her belt. She turned and looked over at Caspian, who was standing near her, and his heart leapt in his chest as she trained her smile on him. Her eyes narrowed as a smirk grew on her face.

"Have you ever been on a ship where you're not the crew's king or prince as well as they're captain?" she asked him.

"I've been royalty my whole life, Sophie," he answered with a laugh.

"So, you've never been just Caspian? Just another sailor on the seas, looking for adventure?" she questioned.

"Why do you ask?"

"Answer my question first."

"No, I haven't."

"Then I think it's time you found out what that's like," she said.

In one quick move, she lashed a piece of rope lying in front of the wheel around one of the spokes, keeping it steady. Next, she went around it and jumped up on the railing, somehow managing to keep her balance and looking down at her crew on the deck below her. She looked back at Caspian and gave him a mischievous grin before turning to her crew once more.

"WHAT WOULD WE DO WITH A DRUNKEN SAILOR!"

The crew needed no more instruction than those simple words for them all to stop what they were doing and join in on whatever it was Sophie was doing.

"What would we do with a drunken sailor, what would we do with a drunken sailor, what would we do with a drunken sailor, ear-ly in the morning!"

A few of the crew used the barrels on deck to get a beat going while Sophie walked along the railings to the stairs and slid down the bannister till she was standing at the bottom, still high above the rest of her crew.

"Way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, ear-ly in the morning!"

Sophie pointed to one of her crew, a man named Gustav Morgan, who belted out the next line of the song, "shave his belly with a rusty razor!"

"Shave his belly with a rusty razor, shave his belly with a rusty razor, shave his belly with a rusty razor, ear-ly in the morning!" the rest of the crew sang. "Way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, ear-ly in the morning!"

Gustav pointed to Mabel Schmidt. "Put him in the longboat till he's sober!"

"Put him in the longboat till he's sober, put him in the longboat till he's sober, put him in the longboat till he's sober, ear-ly in the morning! Way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, ear-ly in the morning!"

Even though Caspian expected it, the next verse of the song didn't come, despite the crew keeping up the rhythm. Instead, several of the crew climbed the stairs and pulled Caspian down so he was in the middle of the crew, Sophie smiling down at him the entire time.

Mabel pointed to Viktor Cole. "Stick him in the scrubber with the deck pump on him!"

"Stick him in the scrubber with the deck pump on him, stick him in the scrubber with the deck pump on him, stick him in the scrubber with the deck pump on him, ear-ly in the morning! Way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, ear-ly in the morning!"

As the crew prepared to sing the next verse, they pulled Sophie down off the railing and onto the platform in the middle of the deck, pushing Caspian till he was up there as well. With that, Viktor pointed to Sophie's First Mate, Annika Jensen.

"Put him in the bed with the Captain's daughter!"

"Put him in the bed with the Captain's daughter, put him in the bed with the Captain's daughter, put him in the bed with the Captain's daughter, ear-ly in the morning!"

Sophie laughed boisterously at her crew before joining in on the chorus once more, her hand snaking into Caspian's as he stood beside her.

"Way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, way-hay, up she rises, ear-ly in the morning! That's what we do with a drunken sailor, that's what we do with a drunken sailor, that's what we do with a drunken sailor, ear-ly in the morning!"

As the song wrapped up, the crew started laughing and cheering, but Sophie simply turned towards Caspian, pulling on his hand so he was forced to take a step closer to her, using her other hand to wrap around the back of his neck and tug him down into a kiss. The crew's laughs quickly turned into whistles and even more cheering as the couple drew apart.

"What do you think of how pirates sail?" she asked him.

"I think it's spectacular," he answered, pulling her into another kiss.

━━━★━━━

THE BACK SEAT OF EMMA'S CAR WAS CRAMPED, but Helen didn't mind squishing herself into the back of the car so Henry could sit in the passenger seat next to his mom. It allowed her to stretch her legs out across the entire backbench (not that there was much of one) and sit with her notebook in her lap.

So far, the ride had been mostly silent, with Henry and Emma looking at each other and then looking away when they thought they were going to be caught by the other and Emma glancing in her rearview mirror at Helen when she thought she wouldn't be noticed.

Spoiler alert: she did notice.

"I'm hungry," Henry said. "Do you want to stop somewhere?"

"This is not a road trip," Emma said. "We're not stopping for snacks."

"I think he was leaning more towards burger than a bag of chips, but I guess that's all semantics, isn't it?" Helen said.

"Why can't we stop?" Henry asked.

"Quit complaining, kid. I could have put your butt on a bus. I still could," Emma said.

"You know, I have a name. It's Henry."

Emma sighed and Helen watched as she glanced over at Henry and the storybook that was open in his lap.

"What's that?" she asked.

"I'm not sure you're ready," Henry told her.

"Ready for some fairytales?"

"They're not fairytales. They're true. Every story in this book actually happened," he explained.

"Of course it did," Emma sighed.

"Use your superpower," Henry said. "See if I'm lying."

Emma looked over at him, lingering for a few extra seconds before looking back at the road. "Just because you believe something doesn't make it true."

"That's exactly what makes it true," Henry said. "You should know more than anyone."

"Why is that?" she questioned.

"Because you're in the book."

"Oh, kid. You've got problems."

"Yep, and you're gonna fix 'em."

Emma floundered at that suggestion, instinctively reaching for the radio to turn it up and try and fill the silence now filling the car.  Helen gripped the pen in her hand and held it over the paper for a moment before leaning forward so she was between the two front seats.

"So, were you serious about the not stopping thing or...?" she asked. "Because we haven't eaten since lunch."

"Are you serious?" Emma asked.

"Hey, you don't have to pay for it, but pulling through a drive-thru would be appreciated."

━━━★━━━

IT DIDN'T TAKE LONG AFTER THEY PASSED the town sign for Helen, Henry and Emma to drive into the town center. The streets were dark and empty this late, everything still wet from the shower of rain they had passed through just before reaching the town. Only the streetlights illuminated the town, and Helen found that the silence and stillness was almost peaceful.

They were almost at the main intersection of town when Emma finally decided to ask where exactly she was supposed to be taking Henry. "Okay, kid. How about an address?"

"44 I'm-not-telling-you Street."

Emma pressed on the brakes and the yellow bug screeched to a halt just past the library and clocktower. The blonde got out of the car and slammed the door behind her as Henry and Helen followed her out as well, rounding the car so they were all facing each other.

"Look, it's been a long night, and it's almost..." Emma looked up at the clocktower and hesitated. "Eight-fifteen?"

"That clock hasn't moved in my whole life," Henry told her. "Time's frozen here."

"Excuse me?"

"The Evil Queen did it with her curse. She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here," Henry explained.

"Hang on. An evil queen sent a bunch of fairytale characters here?"

"The Evil Queen," Helen clarified. "The one from Snow White, if you want to get technical."

"Wasn't she the evil step-mother?"

"No, that was Cinderella. Jeez, when was the last time you brushed up on your fairytales?"

"And now they're all trapped," Henry said, steering them back on course.

"Frozen in time and stuck in Storybrooke, Maine. That's what you're going with?"

"It's true!"

"Then why doesn't everybody just leave?" Emma questioned.

"They can't. If they try, bad things happen."

Suddenly, a male voice called out to Henry and they all turned to see Doctor Hopper approaching them, his dog, Pongo, on a leash.

"What are you doing here? Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine, Archie," Henry told him, scratching Pongo's head.

"Who's this?" he asked, looking at Emma.

"Just someone trying to give him a ride home," Emma said.

"Oh, she's my mom, Archie," Henry clarified.

"Oh. I see," Archie said.

"Do you know where he lives?" Emma asked him.

"Uh, yeah, sure," Archie said, pointing in the correct direction. "Just, uh, right up on Mifflin Street. The Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block."

"You're the mayor's kid?" Emma asked in an accusatory tone.

Henry looked down, avoided the adults' eyes. "Maybe..."

"Hey, where were you today, Henry? 'Cause you missed our session," Archie asked the boy.

"Oh, well, I forgot to tell you. We went on a field trip," Henry explained.

"We?" Archie echoed, looking up at Helen.

"What? Did you all want the ten-year-old to go to Boston all on his own to find his estranged birth mother, or am I missing something in this equation?"

"Henry," Archie said, crouching down so he was on the boy's level. "What did I tell you about lying? Giving in to one's dark side never accomplishes  anything."

"Okay," Emma said, looking uncomfortable. "Well, I really should be getting him home."

"Yeah, sure," Archie agreed, standing up. "Well, listen, have a good night and, uh, you be good, Henry."

As soon as he walked away, Emma looked down at Henry. "So that's your shrink."

"I'm not crazy," Henry insisted.

"Didn't say that," Emma defended. "Just... he doesn't seem cursed to me. Maybe he's just trying to help you."

"He's the one who needs help, because he doesn't know."

"That he's a fairytale character?"

"None of them do. They don't remember who they are."

Emma sighed as Henry and Helen went back around the car to get in. "Convenient. Alright. I'll play. Who's he supposed to be?"

"Jiminy Cricket," Henry answered.

"Right. The lying thing," Emma observed as she started to get back in the car. "I thought your nose grew a little bit."

"I'm not Pinocchio," Henry said.

"Of course you're not, 'cause that would be ridiculous," Emma said, shutting the car door.

Helen couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face. Emma had only known Henry for a few hours at this point, but already she was bantering with him like any mother would when their young child came up to them with a crazy story. And though she didn't believe in what he was telling her, the way she was speaking about it to Henry didn't directly convey such a notion. Almost like she was playing along. Almost like any mother would.

They continued down the road the way Archie had indicated they go and soon enough they reached Mifflin Street and Emma was easily able to find the biggest house on the block. From there, she was able to get both Henry and Helen to affirm it was the right house and then park. They all got out and she could see how much Henry didn't want to go back home. She knew how he felt about his mother, Regina. How he believed she was the Evil Queen who had cursed everyone.

"Please don't take me back there," Henry begged as they reached the gate.

"I have to," Emma said. "I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you."

"I don't have parents— just a mom, and she's evil," Henry said.

"Evil?" Emma questioned, stopping on the path to look at Henry. "That's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

"You haven't seen her re-election campaign," Helen muttered.

"She is," Henry said sadly. "She doesn't love me. She only pretends to."

"Kid," Emma sighed. "I'm sure that's not true."

Before anyone could say anything more, the front door of the house opened and none other than Regina Mills herself rushed out. Her face told how worried she truly was about her son, the concern practically etched into her features with the tears around her eyes. Behind her was Sheriff Graham, looking relieved the boy was back home and safe.

"Henry?" Regina called, her voice breaking as she rushed forward to wrap him in a hug. "Oh, Henry. Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"

"I found my real mom!" he spat at Regina, running past her and into the house.

Regina's eyes fell on Emma. "Y-you're Henry's birth mother?"

"Hi," Emma said.

"I'll just go check on the lad," Sheriff Graham said. "Make sure he's alright."

"You know what, that sounds like a great plan," Helen said, beginning to go after him. "I will join you, Sheriff—"

"Not so fast, Miss Falconer," Regina said and she stopped in her tracks. "How could you allow my son to do this?"

"I didn't allow him to do anything, Madam Mayor. What I did do was insist that I, an adult at least as far as the law is concerned, go with him. Because he was going whether I went with him or not, he practically already had his bag packed," she explained calmly. "Frankly, I'm just glad he chose to tell me his plan at all because if he hadn't he would have gone alone and who knows what might have happened? So, if you don't mind, I'm going to go check in with Henry now."

Helen didn't wait for a response, she simply strode on past and into the house, the Sheriff following after her. Together, they made their way up the stairs to Henry's room, where they found Henry sitting on his bed and facing away from the door.

"Hey, champ," Helen said. "Sheriff's gotta give you the clean bill of health, okay?"

"Fine."

He didn't look happy about it, but he turned around and let Graham check him over and ask him a few questions about what happened. Once satisfied, they told him to get into some pyjamas and get into bed, Graham pulling Helen out into the hallway to get a more detailed idea of what happened. She helpfully told him the basics of their journey, from the dock all the way to returning to town. When they were done, Helen went back inside Henry's room and Graham left.

"You didn't lie to the Sheriff, did you? Because I'm pretty sure that's a crime," she asked him, sitting down next to him at his window bench.

"No," he told her sadly. "She's gonna leave, isn't she?"

"Who, Emma?" Henry nodded. "Maybe. She does have a life in Boston, remember. But that doesn't mean she won't come back."

The boy still looked sad, so Helen got him up from the window and guided him towards his bed, tucking him in under the covers. Once he was all snuggled in, she took a step back.

"Want me to read you one of your stories to get to sleep?" she asked. Henry shook his head. "You sure? You always want one. I'll let you pick the story... Hey, where's the book?"

"I dunno," he told her with a shrug.

Helen narrowed her eyes. "Where'd you leave it?"

"Passenger seat."

"Smooth," she said with a laugh. "You get some rest, kiddo."

━━━★━━━

BY THE NEXT EVENING, SOPHIE WAS GETTING ANXIOUS. They hadn't received a message back from her parents saying they were on the way, there was no way to be sure their message had even reached them and to top it all off, the people in the tavern couldn't stop talking about this supposed curse some evil queen was trying to enact. She couldn't stop pacing or bouncing her leg or chewing on her lips, unable to stop worrying if she'd ever get to see her parents again, her brother. Her darling Caspian.

She couldn't bear a world where she never got to see them and just the small dose she'd already had was enough to tell her she didn't want it.

Jack tried to assure her it would be okay, slurring his words as he told her there was no doubt in his mind the raven had reached them and they were on their way. With how worried they'd been from the moment they discovered her missing, why would they not already be on their way to come collect them? He tried to calm her with words on how grand her returning feast would be, how wild the party would be as it raged on into the late hours of the night.

In the afternoon, Sophie sat at the bar, running her finger along the grain in the wood and concentrating far too much on not bouncing her leg. Jane gave her concerned looks out of the corner of her eye and tried to offer her food or ale, both of which she turned down. She wasn't hungry and she definitely didn't want any ale.

"You gotta relax, sweetheart," Jane told her. "There ain't nothing you can do but wait."

"I could sail out to try and meet them," she suggested.

"And you could miss them."

"I could send another raven."

"Which also might not reach them, if the last one didn't."

"I could wait on the beach and watch for them."

"You'd get cold awful fast."

"Not exactly reassuring, Jane," she said as her leg started to bounce and she had to really focus to make it stop.

"Sweetheart, this is the best place for you to be. You're warm, have food and drink, a bed to sleep in and all the company you could want. Your family will get here. And whoever gave you that ring you won't stop playing with," Jane assured her.

"How can you be so sure?"

"You just gotta have hope. There's lots of it 'round these parts, you just gotta believe in a happy ending."

With that, Jane walked away to attend to another customer. Sophie took a deep breath and closed her eyes, and when she let it out slowly, she opened them again, feeling calmer. Perhaps Jane was right, how could they not come? They clearly knew she was missing since they had sent Jack out to find her and despite her uncle being, well, himself, he knew how important finding her was, so he wouldn't have not sent the raven with all the information they needed to find them.

Just as Sophie was feeling herself calm down, relax, the door to the tavern burst open and everyone turned towards it. Standing there was a very out of breath man, panic written all over his face. It took only a moment for him to catch his breath.

"She's done it," he told them. "The Evil Queen cast her curse."

In the blink of an eye, everyone was up and out of their seats, pushing past the man to get outside. And sure enough, in the distance, a thick cloud of purple smoke was hurtling towards them as quickly as the worst of the storms Sophie had seen. Her eyes turned desperately in the direction of the sea but she knew that even if she ran like her life depended on it — which, perhaps, it did — she would never escape it in time.

━━━★━━━

THE NEXT AFTERNOON, HELEN SAT AT A TABLE outside of Granny's Bed and Breakfast, her notebook in front of her and her headphones in. A cup of coffee sat in front of her as well, half-finished already, next to the plate of crumbs leftover from her croissant. She was so lost in thought that she jumped when a body sat in the chair across from her and looked at her expectantly.

"Can I help you with something, Emma?" she asked, pulling one earbud out.

"Mary-Margaret said you might know where to find Henry," she said, as if that explained everything.

"Uh, yeah, I might," she answered, shutting her notebook. "But why do we need to find him?"

"Regina said he wasn't in his bed this morning and he wasn't in class either," Emma explained. "I'm trying to help find him."

"Right, uh-huh," she said, studying Emma's face. "Are you here because you actually want to find him or because he left his book in your car last night?"

Emma looked somehow both confused and startled. "Can't it be both?"

"No," Helen answered, not needing even a moment to think about it. "Because if it's because he left the book, you're just trying to drop it back off to him before leaving again. Which means he's going to have to watch you leave him twice. So if that's the case, you can just give it to me and I'll pass it onto him. However, if you actually want to find him, then I might know where he is."

"Might?"

"Yeah. I might. This coffee and croissant weren't free, you know."

"Are you trying to get me to bribe you into telling me where he is?"

"Was it not obvious when I said my coffee and croissant weren't free? Do you want me to restate it in simpler terms?"

Emma stared her down for a moment, almost like she was waiting for her to give up on the bribe. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen, she sighed and pulled a twenty-dollar bill out of her wallet and handed it over to Helen, who immediately slipped it into her pocket.

"Well, thank you very much, that's very generous of you. If you want to find Henry, I'd suggest checking if his castle is occupied," she told her.

"His castle?" Emma questioned.

"Yup. Play structure down on the beach made to kind of look like a castle. If all else fails, he's probably there."

"Thank you," Emma said as she stood up.

"You can thank me by not letting your son watch you leave him again," she said.

Emma didn't seem to have a response to that as she simply turned away and left, hopefully heading towards the beach where Henry undoubtedly was. Helen could only hope she wasn't sending another heartbreak his way.

━━━★━━━

THE TURNER-SWANN FAMILY WAS NEVER HAPPIER to see land on the horizon as they were when the shores of the Enchanted Forest appeared in the distance. In just a short amount of time, they would be reuniting with Sophie after missing her for so long. Next to them, the Dawn Treader sailed towards the shore as well, and they could see Caspian at the bow, eyes eagerly trained on the land on the horizon line.

They drew nearer and nearer to the Enchanted Forest, getting more and more excited, the closer they got. But as it began to take shape ahead of them, they began to notice something horribly, horribly wrong. Some kind of purple storm was brewing, covering the land in a dense fog of the same colour. They watched as it billowed forward and enveloped the land until it was completely hidden from their view before it simply dissipated and was gone entirely.

More worry now creeping into the family, Elizabeth Swann ordered they go quicker, so as to reach land faster and discover what they had just witnessed and hope Sophie and Jack were still alright. That they hadn't lost her yet again. After the order was given, they sped towards land and were able to dock soon enough. They met up with Caspian once their feet were on solid ground and began to follow the path ahead of them, the one Jack's message had told them would lead them to the town they were staying in.

Every sound in the forest around them, every twig snap or rustle of leaves as the wind passed through them made the group turn towards it in fear, ready to attack. They were all on edge as they walked and walked and kept on walking, waiting for the town Jack had told them about.

But it wasn't quite what they expected when they reached it.

All around them, wooden buildings stood silently. No sound except for the creaking of wood in what should have been a bustling town while daylight still shone. On the ground were scattered baskets, weapons and other items that should have belonged to people, not just abandoned on the ground for any to come across.

"What happened here?" Will questioned.

"Something terrible," Elizabeth said.

Out of the corner of his eye, something caught Caspian's attention. He turned towards it, approaching the town's tavern and kneeling down, picking up the item, though his hands shook and his heart sank as he realized what it was.

"Caspian, did you find something?" Henry asked.

"Yes," he managed, turning towards them. Their breath all caught as they saw the golden ring with three blue gems set in it which Caspian held in his hand. "It's Sophie's ring."

"She's gone," Elizabeth realized.

━━━★━━━

WHEN EVENING ROLLED AROUND, Helen sat in her bedroom next to the window, eyes drawn to the clocktower above the library, watching it curiously. She didn't know why she was so stuck on watching it, why she didn't do anything else with her time. Perhaps it was something Henry had told her, how he believed that once he brought Emma to town, the clock would start moving again, that it would be the beginning of the curse being broken.

The minutes ticked closer to eight-fifteen as Helen watched the clock in the distance and listened to the sounds of her uncle stumbling around in a drunken stupor just down the hall. Helen looked towards the alarm clock on her nightstand that read eight-fifteen and her eyes turned back to the clocktower, waiting in anticipation, almost hoping by the time the minute was up, it would actually move. She waited, holding her breath and counting the seconds. With a few seconds left, she closed her eyes and when the sixty seconds were up, she opened her eyes and her jaw dropped.

It read eight-sixteen.

━━━★━━━

an. GUYS! OH MY GOD! This chapter clocks in at a whopping 7265 words, can you believe it? This is the longest chapter I have ever written, by far and you know what, I'm pretty proud of it. I really love Sophie/Helen and I think her story is going to be so much fun to write, hence why I wrote this in basically one day. Plus, even though you guys have only seen the tiniest glimpse of Sophie and Caspian, you gotta admit, they're so cute! And expect lots more sea shanties because they're the best and I love them all and they're so much fun to write as well as listen to. I will be linking a video of the exact version of the shanty that I'm listening to and using in the story at the top, if you're curious!

Anyways, please tell me what you think and if you love Sophie as much as I do! I can't wait to hear what you all think and all your predictions for how the story is going to go. I hope you enjoyed it and I will see you in the next chapter!