Disclaimer: rights to ABC and Odette Beane.
I'm pretty sure I have a good idea where I'm going to take the story, and in probably about ten chapters Hook will show up. Thanks for all the reads, loves. I'll update soon.
Liz xx
It seemed like every time Emma cleared up a problem, two more grew in its place. Her tense ongoing conflict with Regina? Detente for now, but who knew where that would lead? The case of Gold and Moe French? Sure, Emma had found Gold's property, and Mr. French had stabilized in the hospital, but Gold, with a team of lawyers, had somehow snaked his way out of prosecution and had gotten away with nothing more than a slap on the wrist as punishment for beating a man within an inch of his life.
We still did not know what happened between Gold and the florist. I was resigned to the idea that we'd really never know. There was more. Henry, it turned out, had lost his book during the big storm. (Or, according to him, Regina had used the storm as an opportunity to steal his book). His castle had been knocked down by the high winds, and before anyone could lift a finger to clean up the mess, Regina had sent in the bulldozers to clean up the wreckage. She'd never liked that Henry had a place of his own, and she'd hated that it was the place where Emma and Henry talked. Had she known that Henry's book was buried in the sand? I didn't know. Regina was definitely capable of this, but it was perfectly possible that the book was in a landfill, the circumstance of bulldozers. Henry was upset without his stories, but it seemed Emma wondered whether it might be best for him without them. She made no effort to recover his book. Emma promised Henry she would look for the book, but she hadn't even looked around the corner. I had tried to persuade her to search Regina's office, but she would not do it, and told me not to do it either. Of course, I did not listen, but the book was no where to be found, and Henry had no other ideas.
When Henry and I were sitting at the diner, Emma saw Henry's forlorn look and asked him to tell her one of the stories from his book. "Which one?" "I don't know. One about love," Emma replied. "Have I told you how Charming got Snow White to remember him again, after she drank the potion?" Henry asked. "I don't believe so. What potion again?" I smiled at Henry's face. His boyish smile had returned, and the light in his eyes had been sparked. Henry replied, "The potion that made her forget that she'd ever known him." "That's right," Emma said, "Rumpelstiltskin made it for her." "Right, and she took it while she was with the dwarfs, because King George told he that he would kill Charming if she got in the way of the marriage between him and Princess Abigail." "Poor girl," Emma said. "I know!" Henry exclaimed, "but Charming went looking for her anyway." I listened as Henry told the rest of the story. Charming found Red Riding Hood, and with her help, he eventually found Snow White. Snow, however, didn't remember him, and what was more, she didn't want anything to do with him, as she had become fixated on killing the Queen. Charming tried to stop her-several times. But it wasn't until he saved her, throwing himself in front of an arrow she's shot at the Queen, proving to Snow White that he truly did love her, that his kiss was powerful enough to break the curse, and Snow was able to remember who he was. "So after that," Emma asked, "she didn't want to kill the Queen anymore?" "She still hated her," Henry said thoughtfully, "but she loved again, and that was more important." "And then they lived happily ever after?" "No!" Henry said, "It was only just starting. Because right when it seemed like they'd be okay, King George's henchmen caught up to them and dragged Charming away again." Henry stood. "I gotta go to school," he said, "if I still had the book, I'd give it to you to read and finish the story." I noticed a slight hint in his voice, like he knew she was not trying hard to find it. "I'm still looking for it," Emma said, "don't give up hope. Not yet." Henry left, and Emma sighed, sipping her coffee. I told Emma I'd get the bill, and she went out to the police car. When I was walking out, someone walked right into me. "God, I'm sorry," I said. Then I saw his face. "August?! What the hell are you doing here?!" "Ashton! I'm helping Emma with the curse." "Hold up, you're the stranger that everyone's been worried about?" "Apparently. How's your job going?" August asked. "Good, I guess. Well, I guess it kind of depends on your view. Henry definitely believes the curse a whole lot more now." "Because...?" "Well, the first time I met him he whipped out his book, found my picture, and I guess I wasn't very convincing that I wasn't the Ashton from the book. Maybe I should've changed my name." "No, you did great! The sooner Emma believes, the sooner Ill be cured," August said. "Yeah, how's the leg?" I asked. "Getting worse. I don't know how long it'll be before I revert to wood." "So, let me get this straight, you're trying to get Emma soft about the curse by, what? Wooing her and than telling her you're Pinnochio?" "I haven't worked that out yet. But she already owes me a drink, so it'll work out." "Ooh, August is a player," I said sarcastically. "Is Emma here?" He asked. "She's out in the cop car. But it might look a little suspicious if I know you... you go out first. Ill give you a minute and than ill come out. Than, you can take Emma to get a drink, and I can get the cop at so I don't have to walk." "Did you break the motorcycle?" "No, thank you very much, but I rode over here with Emma. Now go, because I'm not patient." He smiled, "Still the same." "Always." He rolled his eyes. "Bye, Ashton."