Everybody wants to be a cat

The Stowaway

A few hundred years later, as Pan's curse enveloped the town of Storybrooke

As Emma and Henry bid their goodbyes to their family and friends, the smoke from Pan's curse began to sweep over the town. With all eyes fixing on the mother and son, no-one noticed a stowaway leaping into the well-known yellow bug. Her bright blue eyes watching the exchanges through the window as her chest heaved from her run through town.

Regina muttered to Emma softly, her words calm as the blonde opposite her sobbed. "My gift to you is good memories and a good life for you and Henry."

Emma released yet another tear as her brows twitched slightly. "You would do that?"

"You would have the life you always wanted," Regina said as Henry stood to join them. "Together."

The stowaway's ears twitched as she heard the words, her head tilting at the thought of her own life. She ducked down quickly at the sight of the green cloud creeping towards the group and the car, feeling guilty for her part in Pan's plan.

The stowaway had mourned the loss of Pan as he and his son vanished into death, the two of them grunting at the pain of the dagger. She made her plan as the heroes made theirs, her small body shooting through the streets to retrieve something Pan had entrusted her with hiding before she hid it and herself in the only way out of the doomed town.

The car stuttered into life, triggering the stowaway out of her thoughts as she hunkered down in the footwell of the back seat. She shuddered at the rushing wave of magic washing over her as the car passed through the magical barrier. The two magics in her body fought for control, causing her skin to prickle and her hair to stand on end before the emerald collar around her neck won. Her memories and her body remaining untouched by the magical barrier that otherwise would have rendered her completely lost.

When the feeling eventually vanished, the stowaway breathed a sigh of relief and snuck a peek through the middle console of the front seats. Emma drove with a dazed smile upon her face, her cheeks still wet from tears and her eyes still red. Whereas Henry happily read a comic book on his lap.

When the car stopped at a gas station for the pair to catch a break, Henry turned to spot the stowaway, his eyes widening as she attempted to shimmy down from his view. "Mom?" He asked, pulling the attention of the blonde from her reflection in the car mirror. The woman confused as to why her eyes were red.

"We are only stopping for a few minutes Henry, we can't wait too-" her words drifted off at the sight of the stowaway in the footwell, her eyes locking onto the blue ones staring back at her. "That's a whole ass cat," she stated as her eyes blinked a few times.

The cat in question could only be described as petite. Her eyes were a bright blue and her small nose a soft pink. Around her neck sat a thick gold collar with a dark green emerald, the duo a stark contrast to her pure white fur coat that made her seem twice her size.

Henry made a clicking sound with his mouth and reached a hand out slowly towards the creature, the boy grinning wide when she accepted his touch. Emma hesitantly held out a hand and scratched the cat behind the ears, the two humans revelling in the sound of the creature's purrs.

"We can't keep her, kid."

"But mom, we are in the middle of nowhere and we haven't made any stops recently and..." The boy looked up to see his mom's stern face, the two of them confused about the same issue. "Actually, I don't remember much about our trip," he admitted.

Emma hummed and the duo once more looked at the cat, which had moved to situate herself on Henry's lap. She mewled quietly as she looked towards a sign for hotdogs. "You hungry, huh?" Emma asked, unsure of how she knew exactly what the creature had been suggesting.

"I could go for a hotdog too," Henry hinted, his eyes flitting between the sign and the cat.

"Gas station hot dogs aint always the best kid, plus we can't exactly take the cat with us in there and-" Emma's words shifted into a groan as her eyes flicked to where the cat had been hiding. The woman finding a large white patch of fur now embedded in the once dark carpet.

"She'll be good," Henry urged, opening the door for him and the creature to jump out. "She and I are friends now. Never apart, right cat?" The cat trotting behind him meowed excitedly, the duo bonding instantly.

One year after their journey, Emma returned home to the little apartment she shared with Henry, the woman still reeling from Walsh's proposal. Henry sat in the middle of the couch as he played his game, a large bowl of popcorn on the coffee table. Next to the large bowl sat a smaller one filled with cat treats, the bowl intended for his player two, who sat beside him.

"I thought I told you guys to lay a towel down when she's on the couch?"

"Mrs Cuse put it in the laundry," the boy replied, tilting his head towards the basket in the corner of the room.

Emma removed her coat, her eyes never leaving the duo on the couch. "She said you were quiet tonight."

"Not quiet, concentrating. We finally reached level twenty-three." The cat meowed as if in agreement.

Emma removed her shoes as she approached the duo before picking up the unused controller in front of the cat. "Mind if a fifth level wizard joins you?"

"Sure, good luck though." Henry's character dodged an attacker after a short mewl from the cat, the creature maintaining fixed eye contact with the screen as the boy watched his mom join them on the couch. The trio in a line upon the leather fabric.

After a few minutes of gaming in silence, Henry turned to his mom. "So, what did you say?" Emma returned to him a confused look. "To Walsh." She maintained the look as he turned to the screen once more. "First date restaurant, special night out, the time of day, the date..." He turned to her when she didn't answer him, the look on her face saying everything. "Poor guy."

"I didn't say no. It's just... It's a big step. We got a good thing going here, just the two of us." The cat meowed sharply, her head flicking from the screen to the duo.

"Three of us. But mom, we would still have a good thing going if it was four of us." The cat gave a disgruntled sound before turning once more towards the screen. "Even if someone disapproves." He reached over to give the creature a quick scratch behind the ears before reaching for a piece of popcorn.

Emma clicked the buttons on the controller a few times, her character barely making a dent in one attacker on the screen. "You think Walsh is worthy of joining our little family?" The cat huffed through her nose as Henry paused the game and turned to his mom.

"Ignore her. Walsh is good, and you actually like him. I know because he is the first guy you allowed to meet me. He isn't like my dad. This guy isn't that guy." The two paused for a moment before Henry turned to the game once more.

"Since when did you get so wise?" Emma asked, a proud smirk on her face.

"Somewhere after level sixteen, when I became a knight." The cat mewled in agreement and accepted a treat from her small bowl as Henry received a piece of popcorn for himself and his mom.