Baker's Apprentice Who Lives In A Shoe

The Stranger

A/N: Here is another chapter. I hope you guys enjoy.

I wake up in bed alone. I look around the room as I sit up. What happened? I think about what happened before I blacked out, and I start to get emotional again. I take a deep breath to calm myself down. I hear a pair of limping footsteps climbing the stairs. I wipe at my eyes to hide the fact that I was tearing up. Softly and slowly the door opens

"Well, good morning sleepy head." Rumple says as he walks in with a mug of coffee. I smile at him as he walks to my side of the bed.

"Good morning." I reply, my voice coming out shakier than expected. He hands me the mug and sits on the edge of the bed. I take a sip from the mug in my hands as he begins to speak.

"Ava, we need to talk about what happened last night." I nod at he continues. "After you fainted, August told me who he really is." I look down into the brown liquid in the mug in my hands. He rests a hand on my knee in support. "I don't know how much you saw, but I am truly sorry for what I did to the boy." I do not say anything. "I didn't know who he was. If I did-"

"I know." I interrupt him. I look into the eyes of the man in front of me as I begin to tear up again. "It was not that you threatened him. It was because he said that he was going to die if magic did not come back to Storybrooke soon." I shake my head as I set the mug down on my bedside table. "I found out who he was a few days ago, and he told me that he was turning back to wood." I wipe at my eyes to stop my tears from falling. "It just did not fully grasp, until last night, that without magic he would just turn into a lifeless puppet." Rumple gently rubs my leg, trying to comfort me.

"I guess we must get the magic to come about soon, then." He says. "There's no need to loose another loved one." I look up at him and smile. Yes. If magic comes to this town, then August will not die when he turns back to wood. He would be a living puppet. I look over at the clock on my bedside table and notice that I am late for opening the bakery. I jump out of bed and get dressed. "What are you doing?" Rumple asks me.

"I cannot go back to missing work." I say as I put my boots on. "I just got back on a schedule." I rush into the bathroom, brush my teeth and hair, and put my hair up in a ponytail. I leave the bathroom and kiss Rumple quickly before running downstairs. "If you need me today, you know where I will be." I call back up the stairs. I put on my jacket and run out the door and all the way to my bakery. I am running about three hours late, but I am able to finish the diner order quickly. I rush over to the diner with the order.

"So much for being back on your usual schedule, Ava." Ruby says with a smile. I set the boxes of baked goods on the counter, and I try to catch my breath as a smile makes it to my face.

"It seems no matter how much I get back on track, there is always something to knock me off my path." I chuckle out. Ruby's smile gets bigger as Granny comes over and pays me. I start to head towards the door when someone calls out to me.

"Miss Ava." I turn around to see Henry sitting at one of the booths. He waves for me to come over to him. As I walk closer to the boy I notice that he has his Once Upon A Time book open in front of him. I sit down across the table from the boy as I see the door to the diner open to reveal Emma. She walks over to us. "Perfect timing." The boy says to himself.

"Hey," Emma says. "What's the emergency?"

"Shhh." Henry shushes the woman with a finger places before his lips. "This is sensitive." He whispers.

"Then why are we at Granny's?" I ask him in a matching whisper. Emma nods slightly in agreement.

"I'm hungry." The boy answers simply. I chuckle at his answer.