Dani Swan Once Upon A Time - ReWrite

Jade

Dani snuck through town quietly, sticking to the back allies and side streets that the people of Storybrook rarely used. Normally she wouldn't have a problem cutting straight through town. Normally she wouldn't have a problem being seen. But then again, normally, she wasn't grounded either.

Finally, she managed to make it to the back ally of Golds shop, which thankfully lead directly to Jades apartment.  Grinning as the fire escape came into view, a memory flashed through her mind. 

Dani was eight when it happened.  She stumbled out of the back door to Gold's shop with a grin on her face as she went, clearly running from something. Quick as a fox she darted into the back ally connected to the shop, disappearing into the shadows. 

Gold watched her from the back of his shop with a glint of amusement in his eyes. Just as she rounded the corner, the bell to his shop rang sharply and three other children darted in. They skited to a stop at the sight of him. 

They all looked at him with fear in their eyes. 

Clever girl. . . Using my reputation to her advantage.  Gold smirked at the children as they started stuttering out their apologies. 

Meanwhile Dani had come across a fire escape leading up to a series of windows. 

Dani took one look at the thing before shrugging and beginning to climb. It was already a gamble coming down here, and she had no clue how long her golden distraction would last. 

Reaching the very top, Dani heaved herself onto the platform with a grunt, before carefully tapping on the window. The ripped curtains pulled back to reveal a small head of long blonde curls and jaded, green eyes. 

Not much had changed since that day. . .

Sure, they had both gotten older, and Jades hair had gotten even longer, but the same eyes still greeted her now as she tapped on the window. 

Jade's pale lips stretched into a small smile as she saw Dani sitting there on the platform, waiting for her to answer. And just as they had done once a week, every week, since they had meant, Jade pulled back to let Dani pick the lock on her window. 

Once Dani had gotten the lock lose enough, she slipped it off and put it in her pocket. Sliding through the small gap she had made, Dani stood in front of Jade with a smile.  "You okay? "

The first words out of Dani's mouth were always the same. Always a check in to see if Jades grandmother had done anything more than usual that week. And those words were almost always meant with a shrug and a grimace.  

" Nothing new, and you fix what she would normally do . . ."

Dani rolled her eyes as she sat on Jades cot. " What I can give you is so not enough food to live off of. " 

Jade shrugged again as she moved to sit beside her. " It must be, I've been doing it since I meant you. "

Dani sighed as she picked up the small stuffed dragon that lay on Jades bed and changed the subject. " Remember when I gave you this? "

A small smile grew on Jades face. " Yeah. . . My ninth birthday. You said, Every princess in her tower needed a dragon to protect her. "

Dani smiled softly as she went to get her bag from the fire escape. " Yeah, and then that became our thing. . . " 

Jade eyed the papers peeking out of her loose floorboards. All of them pictures of dragons that Dani had drawn her. " No, really? I hadn't noticed! "

Dani gently shoved Jades shoulder as she made it back to the bed, trying to ignore the feeling of her bones poking out. " And " She continued as if Jade had never spoke. " Your birthday is only a couple weeks away. . . "