Once Upon A Time ~ Book 1

Chapter 4 - Madam Mayor

"I say we fight!" said Charming to the group gathered around the table in the castle hall.
"Fighting is a bad idea. Giving into ones dark side never accomplishes anything." said Jiminy Cricket, who sat on the table behind a magnifying glass, to enlarge his tiny face.
"And how many wars has a clear conscience won?" said Charming to the cricket. "We need to take the queen out before she can inflict her curse." he said to the group.
"Can we even trust Rumpelstiltskin?" said a drawf.
"I've sent my men into the forest. The animals are abuzz with the queens plan. This is going to happen unless we do something." said Charming.
"There's no point." said Snow. "The future is written."
"No. I refuse to believe that." said Charming. "Good can't just lose."
"Maybe it can." said Snow.
Charming turned to Snow. "No." He kneeled down next to her. "Ni. Not as long as we have each other. If you believe him about the curse, then you must believe him about our child. She will be the saviour." Charming said holding Snows hand.
Suddenly the doors of the hall opened and four gaurds came in, heaving a giant tree into the room.
"What the hell is this?" said Charming.
A blue fairy led the soldiers and she flew over towards the table.
"Our only hope of saving that child." she said.
"A tree? Our fate rests on a tree? Let's get back to the fighting thing." said the drawf, Grumpy.
"The tree is enchanted. If fashioned into a vessel, it can ward off any curse." said the blue fairy. "Geppetto, can you build such a thing?" she said looking towards an old carpender.
"Me and my boy, we can do it." he said rubbing a little boys head, who sat next to his chair, sanding a little model of a whale.
"This will work." said the blue fairy. "We all must have faith."
Snow and Charming smiled and looked at each other hopefully.
"There is, however, a catch. The enchantment is indeed powerful. But all power has its limits, and this tree can protect only one." said the fairy.
Snow and Charming looked at each other, fear and worry in Snows eyes.

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Emma and Henry walked to the gate of the mayors house.
"Please don't take me back there." said Henry.
Emma opened the gate and they walked up the path to the front door.
"I have to. I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you." Emma said.
"I don't have parents. Just a mom, and she's evil." said Henry.
Emma stopped and turned to face Henry. "Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?" she said.
"She is. She doesn't love me. She only pretents to." he said.
"Kid, I am sure that's not true." said Emma.
Suddenly the front door of the house flew open and a woman with short, brown hair and a tear stained face stood in the doorway.
"Henry!" she said and ran towards him "Henry!" and put her arms around him and held him tight. A man walked slowly out behind her. "Oh! Are you okay?" she said she said stepping back "Where have you been? What happened?"
"I found my real mom." Henry said running past her and inside.
The woman turned and looked at Emma. "Your Henrys birth mother?" she said.
"Hi." Emma said awkwardly.
"I'll just go check on the lad, make sure he's all right." said the man and walking back into the house.
"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?" she said now smiling.
"Got anything stronger?" asked Emma.

The woman walked from the kitchen with two glasses and into the dining room where Emma was standing.
"How did he find me?" said Emma.
"No idea." said the woman, pouring the cider into the glasses. "When I adopted him, he was only three weeks old. The records were sealed. I was told the birth mother didn't want to have any contact." she said.
"You were told right." Emma said.
"And the father." she said.
"There was one." Emma said.
"Do I need to be worried about him?" she said.
"No. He doesn't even know." she said.
"Do I need to be worried about you, Miss. Swan?" she said walking over to her with two glasses of cider.
"Absolutely not." she said as she took the glass that the woman gave her.
"Madam Mayor, you can relax." said the man, walking down the stairs. "Other than being a tired little boy, Henrys fine." he said.
"Thank you, Sherif." said the mayor and he walked to the door.
"I'm sorry he dragged you out of your life." said the mayor. "I really don't know what's gotten into him." she said as they walked into the lounge.
"Kids having a rough time. It happens." said Emma and she sat down.
"You have to understand, ever since I became mayor, balancing things has been tricky. You have a job, I assume?" she said.
"Um, I keep busy. Yeah." she said setting the glass down on the table in front of her.
"Imagine having another one on top of it. That's being a single mom." she said sitting down. "So I push for order. Am I strick? I suppose. But I do it for his own good. I want Henry to excel in life. I don't think that makes me evil. Do you?" she said.
"I'm sure he's just saying that because of the fairytale thing." she said picking up the glass again.
"What fairytale thing?" the mayor asked.
"You know, his book. How he thinks everyone's a cartoon character from it." she said. "Like his shrink is Jiminy Cricket."
"I am sorry, I really have no idea what you are talking about." she said.
"You know what, it's none of my business. He's your kid. And I really should be heading back." she said taking one last sip from her glass.
"Of course." said the mayor an she got up and opened the door and Emma followed.

She walked down the path once again and got her keys from her pocket, leaving the gate open behind her. She turned her head and looked up at the house to see Henry at the window, but when he saw Emma look he hid behind the curtain.

Emma drove from the mainstreet, out onto the country side, with trees on either side of the road.
Emma took her eyes off the road for a moment and saw Henrys fairytale book lying on the passenger seat of the car.
"Sneaky bastard." said Emma to herself shaking her head.
Then suddenly, a wolf appeared in the middle of the road.
Emma gasped and swerved, dodging the wolf. The tyres of the car screeched and the breaked squealed, the car swerved and hit the sigh reading "Welcome to Storybrook"
The thunder crashed and the wolf standing in the middle of the road lifted his head and howled and Emma lay unconscious in the car.

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Archie ~ Jiminy Cricket

The Mayor (Regina) ~ The Evil Queen