Once Upon a Time Princess Eva: Book 1

Pilot Part 1

Anna's POV

"Henry, I'm not letting you go alone. Don't be stupid," I said, rolling my eyes at my little brother. I stood firmly in front of him, blocking his path as he explained his plan to go into the city to meet his birth mom. His birth mom. The words made my chest tighten, though I wouldn't admit that to him. The idea of Henry meeting her without me being there just felt... wrong.

"I'll be fine, Anna. I'm old enough to go by myself," Henry huffed, crossing his arms in defiance. The stubborn look in his eyes made me sigh. He really believed he could handle something like this alone, and I hated it.

I let out a sarcastic laugh, unable to help myself. "Henry, you're ten years old. That is definitely not old enough to go into the city by yourself," I replied, my hands on my hips as I stood my ground. He glared at me, and I shot the same look right back at him. We were both stubborn, but I wasn't about to let him win this one. Not today. After a moment, he sighed dramatically, clearly annoyed that I wasn't budging.

"Fine," he muttered under his breath, like I was the most annoying person in the world.

"Good decision," I said, grabbing my jacket from the hook by the door and following him outside. A yellow taxi was already waiting at the curb, its engine rumbling softly. We climbed in, settling into the back seat. I watched as Henry stared out the window, lost in thought, while the driver pulled away from the curb. The quiet streets of Storybrooke quickly faded into the distance as we began our journey to the city.

The hum of the taxi's engine filled the silence between us, and I couldn't help but think about how we'd gotten into this mess. My mother—Regina Mills—would kill me if she found out I let Henry run off like this. She always made me take care of him, constantly reminding me that as the older sibling, it was my responsibility. I was four years older than Henry, after all, and according to Mom, that made me his personal babysitter. But this? This wasn't just some casual babysitting job. This was way bigger than that.

I glanced over at Henry, who was still staring out the window, deep in thought. His brow was furrowed, and I could tell he was thinking hard about something. Maybe about this whole crazy plan. I couldn't help myself—I had to ask.

"So, what's the point of all this?" I asked, breaking the silence. "Why do you want to see the woman who gave you up?"

"You know why," Henry said softly, still not looking at me.

I rolled my eyes. "Please don't tell me it's that fairy tale stuff again," I groaned. I loved my brother, but sometimes it felt like he was completely losing it. He'd been so obsessed with this idea that everyone in Storybrooke was some kind of fairy tale character, and that they were all stuck in this cursed town with no memory of their real identities.

"It is true," Henry insisted, finally turning to look at me. His eyes were wide with that same determination he always had when he talked about this stuff. "My birth mom is part of it. I think she's the savior from the book—the one who's supposed to break the curse and save everyone."

I stared at him, my disbelief growing by the second. "You seriously think Mom is the Evil Queen? Yeah, she's cranky and super bossy, but she's not some evil villain," I argued, my voice rising slightly. It was one thing for Henry to have an active imagination, but this? This was just crazy talk.

Henry's expression softened, and he let out a small sigh. "We need to break the curse, Anna. Or else they'll never get their happy ending," he said, his voice so sincere it almost made me feel bad for doubting him. Almost.

I shook my head, deciding to play along for a bit. "So, who's who in town, then? If this fairy tale thing is true?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Henry's face lit up, like he'd been waiting for me to ask that question. "Mom is the Evil Queen, Ms. Blanchard is Snow White, Dr. Hopper is Jiminy Cricket, the guy in a coma at the hospital is Prince Charming, and you—" he paused dramatically, like he was about to drop some huge bombshell, "—you're Eva Charming, Snow White and Prince Charming's first daughter."

I raised an eyebrow, clearly unimpressed. "Who's that? I've never even heard of her."

"She's their daughter before the curse. It all makes sense," Henry said confidently, like everything he was saying was the most obvious thing in the world.

I gave him a look, crossing my arms. "So, you think my parents are your elementary school teacher and a coma patient?" I asked, my skepticism practically dripping from my voice. He nodded, completely unfazed by how insane that sounded.

"And if this curse breaks, everyone will remember everything?" I asked, still trying to make sense of his delusions.

"Yeah," Henry said, nodding again. "But you might not remember much since you were just a baby when the curse happened."

I let out a small laugh and shook my head. "Dude, this is why you're in therapy," I teased, giving him a playful nudge with my elbow.

Henry rolled his eyes at me, clearly not in the mood for jokes. "You'll see," he said stubbornly, crossing his arms again and turning back toward the window.

I shook my head, still not believing a word of it. But hey, if it made him happy, then I'd play along—for now.

The drive took about two hours, and by the time we pulled up in front of the apartment building, I was more than ready for this whole adventure to be over. As the taxi came to a stop, Henry pulled out a credit card and handed it to the driver.

I raised an eyebrow at him. "Where did you get a credit card?" I asked, confused.

Henry looked at me sheepishly, avoiding my gaze. "I got it out of Ms. Blanchard's wallet," he admitted.

"You stole from the sweetest woman in the world?" I asked, completely outraged. Henry just shrugged, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"I'll pay her back," he said, brushing past me and heading toward the building.

"With what? Your lunch money?" I muttered, following him up the stairs. He ignored me, too focused on his mission to care.

We climbed the stairs to the last door in the hall. Henry stopped in front of it and took a deep breath. "You ready for this?" I asked, crossing my arms as I leaned against the wall.

Henry nodded and knocked on the door. Moments later, it swung open, revealing a tall woman with long blonde hair and tired eyes.

"Can I help you?" she asked, looking at us with a confused expression.

"Hi, I'm Henry. I'm your son," Henry blurted out without hesitation.

The woman blinked, clearly caught off guard. "Sorry, kid. I don't have a son," she replied.

Henry wasn't giving up that easily. "Did you give up a baby for adoption ten years ago?" he asked.

Her face went white as if she'd seen a ghost. "I'm him," Henry said confidently, stepping past her into the apartment like he owned the place.

She looked over at me, clearly even more confused now. "I'm just his adopted sister, making sure he doesn't get kidnapped," I explained with a shrug.

Henry wandered into the apartment, completely ignoring the tension in the air. "Got any juice?" he asked, casually walking into the kitchen like this was the most normal day of his life.

I couldn't help but shake my head, following him inside. This was going to be one heck of a day.