All the magic (OUAT Peter Pan)

Chapter 29: The man in the forest

"Come on Lia mom said it was ok, plus I miss having sleepovers with you." Henry complained on the other end of the phone.

Amelia shook her head "Even so I don't think Matt would agree to it bud."

"Agree to what?" Matt asked, sitting down next to her on the couch.

She pulled the phone away from her face as she told him, "Henry wants to come over here and have a sleepover tonight. Regina has been in a very wicked happy mood since David and Mary Margaret have been in trouble. It weirds Henry out seeing her so evil happy. Plus he missed having sleepovers. Since that fight with Regina, I haven't been needed or wanted to watch him overnight."

"Tell him if he lets me stay I can maybe bring the book, and let him look at a page or two we approved of!" Henry yelled on the other end of the phone.

"That sounds fair," Matt said, standing up and heading to the stairs. "You too will need to hang out here for a bit without me. Ms. Swan called me down, as I am Mary Margaret's lawyer to talk about some things."

"I wanna come too!" Henry yelled again. "Can we come with? I promise we won't be in the way."

Matt gave Amelia a nod and started down the stairs. "He said we can come. Pick you up in five, don't forget your PJs or your toothbrush." with that she hung up and walked down the stairs. She grabbed her keys and said "I can drive tonight. It looks like your leg is kinda sore tonight. What was the story of it again, I don't remember."

Matt sat down in her car and explained, "Well, the cursed version of the story is I was in a car crash with your 'father'. He was fine, but my foot was messed up for life. The true version is-" he took a breath to admit the painful truth even if she may have read it in the book before. "- I did this to myself. I was sent out to fight in the ogre's war. But back then, I was a coward. I didn't want to fight, so I did this so I would be sent home. Because of my choices that night I was known as the village coward for years until I became the Dark One."

She placed her hand on his shoulder and told him softly, "Well you have always been the bravest man I know. What you did back then, hundreds of years ago does not define who you are now. Every day is a new chance to make a new you."

"That is very wise. And thank you. I don't know I got so lucky to have you." He told her as they pulled into Henry's driveway.

"They were your wise words." Henry climbed into the back seat and Amelia flashed a smile at him. "Hey, Henry. Ready for your first sleepover at my house?"

"Yeah, I can't wait. It's gonna be a great night! I get to see you, see Emma, and have a sleepover. I grabbed some movies as I'm not sure what you all have."

"Well you kids will have to wait a bit on movies, first we have to go see Ms. Swan." Matt told them. She drove them to the station and Matt walked out of the car. "I was told to meet her at the front door but I see no reason you kids can't surprise her by going in the back door, I happen to know she never locks."

Amelia and Henry shared a smile and quickly hopped out of the car to meet up with them inside and surprise Emma. They opened the back door and she sat down in the hallway with Henry's backpack. "You go ahead. I wanna say hi to Mary Margaret quick." Henry told her going into the main room. He came back a moment later with a smile on his face.

"Is she doing ok?" Amelia asked, handing him his book. He opened to the page of young snow. He squinted at a word for a moment.

"Ya, she is doing really good." Henry told her as Emma started down the hall and saw them.

"Henry? What are you doing here?"

He closed the book again and said "Well, I'm having a sleepover with Amelia, and when Mr. Gold said he had to come here and we tagged along. Now, I also get to congratulate you."