Beane Odette - Reawakened - A Once Upon A Time Tale

Just as she had the thought, Emma’s cell phone rang. She didn’t recognize the number.

She did, however, recognize the voice.

It was Regina. She wanted to make a deal.

Emma left her car and walked the half mile to the mayor’s office. Emma and Regina greeted each other tensely, and Regina motioned for Emma to sit. She brought over a drink — not cider this time — and had one for herself.

— Thank you for coming, — Regina said. — I’d like this to be civil. I think we can make it work.

— Make what work? — Emma said.

— All of it, — Regina said. — You. Here. I get the sense that you’re more determined than ever to stay in town. And I’m not blind. I know that standing in my son’s way will only make him want something even more than he already does.

Emma relaxed — a little — and sank back into her chair. She took a breath.

— Okay, — she said. — I’m listening.

— I accept that you’re here to take my son from me.

There it was. Emma thought for a moment, then said:

— That’s not what I’m doing here.

— Then why are you here? — Regina asked.

She wasn’t entirely sure herself, she’d been grappling with the same question all day.

— I’m worried about Henry, frankly, — she said finally. — He thinks everyone in this town is a fairy tale character. That’s not a great sign.

Regina nodded.

— And you don’t, I take it?

— Of course I don’t. I don’t think my mother is Snow White and I don’t think you’re the Evil Queen. Henry is having a hard time distinguishing between fantasy and reality. All of it is crazy.

Emma frowned, seeing Regina’s grin. Her eyes had ticked to the right, and Emma spun to look at the office’s door. Henry, a look of sadness on his face, stood watching.

— You think I’m crazy? — he said, his eyes welling up. Emma’s heart shot up to her throat.

— Henry, no, I…

But it was too late, and he ran away. Before Emma could even stand, he had disappeared from view.

Furious, she turned to Regina.

— You did this on purpose. You knew he’d be here.

— Of course I knew he’d be here, — said Regina coolly. — He’s my son. He’s here at five o’clock precisely, every Thursday. Mothers keep track of their children.

Emma, her pulse racing, felt the anger mixing with sadness and regret. She had lost — she had hurt Henry. It didn’t matter how it had happened. She was a fool to have come here.

— You have no soul, — she said to Regina. It was all she could think to say before hurrying off after Henry.

He was in therapy, at Archie Hopper’s office. Emma saw them through the window as she hurried up to the building. The quick glance told her all she needed to know. Henry, inside, sat in his chair, hunched and deflated, and it broke her heart. She couldn’t stand to see him sad, and it brought her joy to see him happy. Perhaps that was the simple compass that could guide her.

She burst into the office without knocking, and both Henry and Archie looked up in surprise.

— I need to talk to you, — Emma said.

Archie stood.

— Miss Swan, this is highly irregular, — he said, hand out. She glared at him, and he withered a bit. He began fidgeting with his glasses. — I’m sorry about the file. She told me…

— It’s okay, Archie, — she said. — I’m not worried about that right now. — She turned to Henry. — I need you to know that I stayed for you, — she said. — I’m here because of you. I don’t think you’re crazy. I think this town is crazy and this curse is crazy, but that doesn’t mean I think you’re crazy.

Henry seemed skeptical at the start of this speech, but his posture improved as she went on.

Encouraged, Emma pulled the wad of papers from her pocket and said, — I read the pages. You were right — they are dangerous. And there’s only one way to keep her from knowing my story. — She walked over to the fire and cast the papers in. — She can’t ever read it. — They all watched the pages burn. — Now we have the advantage.

Henry smiled.

— Brilliant! — he cried.

Emma looked at Archie, expecting an admonishing look, but she could see that he was pleased at how happy this had made Henry.

— I knew you were here to help me! — Henry cried.

— That’s right, kid, — Emma said. — That is why I’m here. Not even a curse can stop that.

It was on the high road beyond Midas’s castle, about a year before their wedding, where Prince Charming and Snow White first met.

The terms, initially, were not amicable.

Snow White had been living as a fugitive when she dropped from the tree onto the carriage escorting Charming and his bride-to-be through the forest. Of course at the time, Snow White didn’t know who he was, what their future held, or the curious way he’d arrived at this betrothal — to her they were only wealthy people down below, their carriage only a target to be ransacked. Her aim was the same as with the others she’d robbed while on the run: to make some money and escape unscathed. To live to fight again. To avoid the Queen and her soldiers, to find a way to clear her name.

Stretched across a horizontal branch, she watched from above as the carriage trundled up, then stopped. The man — quite arrogantly, she thought — got out, strode down the path, and investigated the fallen tree that had stopped them. The tree was there because Snow had cut it down in the night and placed it there. A simple and elegant plan. She was amazed how often it worked.

She dropped from the tree onto the carriage. In a matter of moments — she’d grown quite good at this — she snatched a purse from within, barely noticing the regal, sleepy-looking blonde who sat twirling her hair. The purse was all she cared about, and as she darted away she noted its heft. There would be something valuable within. She’d made it to one of their horses before the woman even started to scream.

Thirty seconds later, the wind in her face, Snow White galloped away atop a sturdy brown stallion, thinking already of the Troll Bridge. She was surprised when she heard a cry behind her. She turned and saw the arrogant man in pursuit.

She rolled her eyes.

They always think they can catch me, she thought.

The man, however, surprised her with his riding ability; when she looked over her shoulder again, he was only two horse-lengths away. She kicked her stallion once more, but it was too late — she felt the man’s heavy hands on her shoulders, as the two of them careened off of their horses and crashed into the ground.

They rolled together. Snow made herself compact for the impact, but she heard the man grunt and knew he’d lost his breath. When their rolling finally stopped, he was on top of her, but his breath was ragged. He squinted at her face, and Snow assumed he was only now figuring out that she was a woman. She disdained the surprise in his eyes.

(Even though she had to admit, it was a pretty nice set of eyes.)

She used this strange little moment — the two of them locked in each other’s gaze — to hit him in the chin with a rock.

He fell back, stunned. She was galloping away again when she heard his words trail behind her:

— I will find you! I will always find you!

Mary Margaret Blanchard walked alone down Main Street, counting the cracks in the sidewalk, hands in the pockets of her skirt. She’d just had a date with Dr. Whale. A terrible, terrible date.

She sighed, kicked at a stone, looked up at the clock tower. When was the last time she’d been out with somebody she liked? She didn’t know. He’d been superior, which was perhaps to have been expected — he was, after all, a doctor. But he’d also been uninterested in a way that made Mary Margaret feel a familiar old sadness. Was she boring to other people? She had so much trouble just connecting. It was as though she’d been going out on dates with the wrong men her entire life. She…