ONCE UPON A TIME IMAGINES AND PREFERENCES

A. Booth - "What's Your Name Again?" (C)

A/N: This imagine was requested by totallygayforZendaya. I really enjoyed writing it, and I hope it's what you asked for. Just as a side note, the things written in italics are flashbacks and the things in the normal font are present-time. Anyone is more than welcome to give their feedback - in fact, it is greatly encouraged. Enjoy!

The sound of rushing water filled my ears as I tried to maintain my grip on the dock's ledge. I didn't know where I was; I just knew I wasn't where I was supposed to be. The events of the last few weeks had happened so quickly that I could barely comprehend anything that had occurred. Straying away from my sisters, getting captured by a ship full of pirates for the sole purpose of their entertainment, and then being set free late one night by a young woman who beamed with confidence - it was all a blur.

I gazed down at my tail as it swished underneath the waves, the dark blue coloring of it momentarily blending with the color of the ocean. Seconds after I had decided to swim away and give hopeless attempts at finding my way back home, I heard an odd sound coming from behind me.

I whipped my head around and dipped down far enough in the water so that only my eyes were showing. I'd expected to see something dangerous or pirate-like, but I only saw a hurrying man with tousled hair and a worried look on his face. I used the pole to pull myself back up.

"Where are you going?" my voice rang out.

~~~

"I told you to hang on!" August shouted over the sound of the running motorcycle engine, trying not to laugh at the frightened expression I was making.

I tightened my grip around his waist. "I didn't know you were gonna be driving 80 miles an hour!"

"Ariana, I'm going 40."

My brown-haired ponytail whipped in the wind behind me. I was about to mutter a response under my breath, but at that exact moment we drove past a road sign that said 'Welcome to Storybrooke'. I felt my shoulders tense up a little. This small town was what August and I had been searching for over the past couple months; August had spent years with this place hanging around in the back of his mind. And now we were here.

~~~

"I'm late for an appointment," the man's voice hesitantly answered. "Really late."

At his seemingly ordinary response, I was about to turn around and leave. What reason would I have to stay? But something about the way he held himself - not to mention the look in his eyes and the half-grin he gave - made me want to stay. It made me want to follow him to the ends of the earth, if that's where he was going.

~~~

The town was smaller than I'd expected. From what I understood, the Enchanted Forest was huge. So if they were all moved here by the curse, shouldn't the town be a little bit bigger?

Just as I was about to voice this to August, we started nearing a blond woman and a little boy. He slowed the motorcycle down, and pulled to a stop a short distance away from them. He took his time getting off the bike and absentmindedly brushed his hair back. I followed his lead.

"Hey," August bluntly greeted the light-haired woman.

"Hey," she replied.

She looked taken aback by our presence, making me self-conscious of the appearance of the both of us. Did we really look that out of place? I pushed the ends of my silver-tipped hair behind my shoulders so that they were no longer visible.