The Girl With Lost Memories - Parts 1 & 2 (An OUAT Fanfiction)

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 20: 𝑀𝑜𝒸𝒽𝒶 & 𝒱𝒶𝓃𝒾𝓁𝓁𝒶

I don't know how long it will be before the system or police find me. My search is moving at the speed of a sleep-deprived turtle. My parents are out there. They're here.

My only available option for finding them is the Town Hall. I don't care how much Mayor Mills hates me. Those town records will tell me everything there is to know. And if she isn't there again, I'll have to get them myself.

I make haste, and as I approach Granny's, Delilah emerges from under the arch, wearing a uniform similar to Henry's. I spin and speed back down the sidewalk. There's no way I'm talking about fairytales again. No, no, no—

"Bella!"

I stop and shut my eyes. Damn it. I twist around and drag out, "Hey."

She hurries over and says, "Where are you going?"

"Nowhere. Just... strolling."

"Sounds fun," she teases, smiling.

"It is."

"It's not safe, though. With flying monkeys and all."

"Really?"

She crinkles her button nose. "What? You saw it."

"I know, but... it's so surreal. Are you sure it wasn't like a hologram?"

"Now I get to say, 'Really.'"

"Fine," I say, folding my arms. "I still can't believe it."

"It takes time, I assume. I bet it's hard."

"And what's harder is everyone telling me I should do it or else."

Her upbeat energy depletes, and her shoulders loosen. "I suppose we are going the wrong way about it. Forcing it down your throat."

"I mean, come on. Me, a queen? Fairytales being real? It's ridiculous."

"Want to know what's even more ridiculous? Waking up from a curse and realizing you missed out on twenty-eight years of your life. Finding out that the entire world thinks you don't exist because you're a character from a book they read. That's ridiculous."

"I have no idea what you just said."

"Curses?" She puts her weight onto her right leg, crossing an arm over herself to hold her elbow. "No, you wouldn't, would you?"

"I need to find my parents. Do you think you can help me before you have to get to school?"

"I'd like to, but," she turns her head, still maintaining eye contact, "I thought you weren't looking to make friends."

I take a deep breath, letting my head hang to the side. I knew that would come back to bite me. "Don't take it personally. I'm never looking to make friends."

"Even if I help, I wouldn't know where to start. I never met your parents. Only Henry seems to know."

"Why is that? Emma, Mary Margaret, and Killian know my mother. You'd think they'd know where she is, but Henry?"

"I'm assuming you were going to the Town Hall to find out," she says, still in her pose, but with a bounce on her heel.

I shrug and reposition my stance. "Maybe."

"I don't think Regina will help you. Especially after that night."

"How do you—"

"People talk in a small town."

"I always hated that about small towns."

With the hand gripping her other arm, she tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. "I know a great place where we could talk more about this. It's not far from here."