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

𝒞𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓉𝑒𝓇 55: 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝓌 𝒪𝒻 𝒲𝒾𝓈𝒹𝑜𝓂

"Can you believe Henry ordered blueberry pancakes?" Granny says, glancing at the order ticket. She stands behind the counter, arranging knives and forks with a plastic tray. Her hands work with a gentle and steady rhythm, her arms knowing on instinct where each piece of cutlery goes. She takes the ticket off the counter and shows it to Ruby as proof.

"He hates blueberries," Ruby responds, grabbing the order and stabbing it with the iron check spindle.

Granny shakes her head. "Exactly." Perched on a barstool, I get a whiff of her perfume as she works, and it smells like lavender and rose petals.

As Ruby turns to stash extra napkins in her apron, she adds, "He didn't order cinnamon with his hot cocoa again today. I had to offer it to him."

"He's acting strange," Granny says, worry lingering on her face. "I'm glad I'm not the only one who realizes it."

"It started ever since Neverland. Who knows what Pan did to him?"

"It's almost like he's a completely different person."

"Poor Henry." Ruby steps around the counter, balancing a loaded tray.

After their discussion and the interview with the kids, it's clear Henry's behavior isn't going unnoticed. Delilah, Emma, and Regina expressed their concerns to me, but now others are catching on. It's only a matter of time before we find out what's wrong with him.

Granny notices me wiping away tears and walks over, ready to take my order. "What happened to you? Still fussing over those damned rumors?" From that comment, I assume she doesn't believe them, either. Considering what I'm about to ask of her, that's a relief.

"You seem like you act as everyone's granny. Do you think you could act as mine for a moment?" I say, my voice shaking.

Her face softens, and she sets down her pen and pad of paper. "What's bothering you?"

"Henry brought me to town and said I'd find my parents here. I thought I was so close, but I'm further away than I started. I had fun these past two weeks, and I haven't said that in who knows how long? But everything seems fake. Like I can't have happiness, no matter how much I want it—no matter how hard I try to have it. Everyone wants me to believe that I'm Queen Anna, but...I'm not." Tears fall from my eyes, and I wish they wouldn't. How did I go from someone who held in her emotions to someone who cries all the time? How did I let myself become this weak? "I'm not anyone special," I continue. "I'm just an orphan girl, and I shouldn't have listened to Henry. I don't belong here. Ever since I arrived, I've been filled with false hope. If I stayed at the foster home, I wouldn't have seen what I can't have, and I wouldn't be hurting right now."

Granny swipes a customer's dirty mug off the countertop and sets it on the counter behind her. "Were you happy at the foster home?"

"No," I say, wiping away more tears.

"Were you hurting?"

"Yes, but I knew how to deal with that kind of pain. I've dealt with it for sixteen years; being alone and thinking I'd never have a family. I always thought one day I'd find it, but now I know I won't. The hope is gone. I've never dealt with this kind of pain before."

"If this place has been hurting you, why did you stick around for so long?"

"I told you. Because I thought I'd find my parents here."

She gives me a knowing look, like the one grannies always seem to have in movies.

"What?"

"Is that all?" she says with unwavering eye contact.