Welcome to a Nightmare

Chapter 37: Discovery at Home Base

"Crystal slow down!" Henry shouts because the daughter of Rumpelstiltskin having not let go of his wrist since they left the asylum. She continues to guide him down the streets, further and further away from the hospital and back towards the outer parts of the city where Storybrooke was situated. His mind is reeling with various questions as to why she's suddenly acting this way, but the most important one is why she insisted they leave just as he was about to make a breakthrough with his mom remembering something important. He tries to grab at her hand to make her release his arm, but when that doesn't work, he finally plants his feet and resists going any further.

"Henry let's go we don't have a lot of time," she says, trying to pull at his arm. The two were evenly matched when it came to strength, so it becomes a painful tug-of-war between the two as they fight over what direction they are going.

"No, we're not going anywhere until you explained what the hell happened in there!" he says firmly. "Why did you stop me from talking to my mom?"

Despite the urgency of her quest, Crystal sighs, knowing that she owes him some kind of explanation for why she cut the visit short.

"Fine, but not here."

The two duck into a small alleyway between two buildings. They check to make sure that there are no freaks or other creeps who might be lurking behind the dumpsters or under a pile of newspapers, eavesdropping on their conversation. What they would be talking about could be considered insane or crazy to the average bystander, and the last thing they needed was to be locked in the asylum themselves for believing in curses, fairies, and magic.

"Why did you cut me off?! My mom was telling me about the images she had in her mind. Those were her real memories!"

"I know and that's why I had to stop you."

"What? Why?!"

"Because I knew the second that she mentioned true love or remembered her real-life you'd start telling her that everything was real, and I was afraid you'd send her into a spiral again."

"I wouldn't do that!"

"I know you wouldn't do it to her on purpose, but Henry, as someone who struggles with their own demons every day, the last thing we need is to be reminded of the things we're trying to avoid. It just makes things worse for everyone involved."

"But those are her real memories!"

"Not according to her. She still believes that she's the bail bonds person from Boston whose parents abandoned her on the side of a highway when she was a baby, who got pregnant as a teenager and did time in jail, whose son came to find her and convinced her to believe in fairy tales, causing her to have a mental break down. She still believes she is sick, and all those memories are mere delusions. We may know the truth but trying to convince her is just going to make it worse right now. It's like trying to convince someone that the world is flat or to convince someone that The Shining is not a metaphor for faking the moon landing. Remember how tough it was for you to avoid being persuaded by Regina that your beliefs were false? Or how long it took for you to convince Emma that the stories you were telling her were real and what you had to do to make her believe? It's because you're going against what other people already believe is the truth and it causes internal conflict, upsetting the norm, and makes it more difficult to create a change. The more you insist that something is true, the more pushback and conflict you'll get from the other party."

"So, you're saying I shouldn't say anything to my mom about her real life and her real family?" he snaps.

"Just for now. Henry, we're just trying to get her out of there and you bringing up Captain Hook or the curse or the fact that she's the Saviour... it's not going to help our cause. And the longer you keep preaching it, the harder it will be to convince her of anything in the future. I know you want the old Emma back, so do I, but sometimes we have to go along with it to make a change."