Once upon a time

There was an enchanted forest filled with all the classic characters we know. Or think we know. One day they found themselves trapped in a place where all their happy endings were stolen. Our World. This is how it happened…

FAIRY TALE LAND – PAST

"I do." Prince Charming said, love filling his eyes for the woman in front of him. I pulled my hood closer to my head to hide my face. I couldn't have them recognizing me or they would send me back to him.

"And do you, Snow White, promise to take this man to be your husband, and love him for all eternity?" the Priest asked the young woman to his right.

"I do." Snow White told the priest. I smiled at them; the love they shared seemed to reach out to everyone in the room.

"I now pronounce you man and wife." Everyone applauded as Snow White and Prince Charming leant in for a kiss. The door slammed open and the Queen stood where they once were closed, interrupting them.

"Shit." I whispered and ducked lower to the ground, but that didn't stop her from finding me. She said nothing to me just looked back up at the alter and smiled.

"Sorry I'm late." She approached the couple quickly and when the guards tried to stop her she pushed them away with magic.

"It's the Queen! Run!" one of the dwarfs yelled to the couple. Snow White drew the sword at her husband's waist and pointed it to the woman in front of them.

"She's not the Queen anymore. She's nothing but an evil witch." The prince lowered his sword from his wife's hand.

"No, no, no. Don't stoop to her level. There's no need." He told her taking his sword back but he doesn't sheath it. "You're wasting your time. You've already lost. And I will not let you ruin this wedding." He stood slightly in front of his wife, protecting her from the witch.

"Oh, I haven't come here to ruin anything. On the contrary dear, I've come to give you a gift." She told them smiling.

"We want nothing from you." Snow White told her holding on to Prince Charming's arm. The Queen smiled at them some more.

"But you shall have it! My gift to you is this happy, happy day. But tomorrow my real work begins. You've made your vows, now I make mine. Soon, everything you love, everything all of you love, will be taken from you. Forever. And out of your suffering, will rise my victory. I shall destroy your happiness, if it's the last thing I do." She turned and headed to the doors, signaling to me to leave as well.

"Hey!" the Queen turned to them and the Prince throw his sword at her, but it dissipates before it hit her and her smoke came to me and made me disappear as well.

FF A YEAR

Snow White and her Prince are with child and my aunt almost has her curse ready she just needed the hair of all the people with the darkest souls, and my condition was getting worse. She had called a doctor when her magic hadn't helped, but nothing they did ever helped either. She and the doctors confined me to my bed; a guard at the door just to make sure I didn't move from my spot. Not that I wanted to either, but hey if they wanted to stop me moving then by all means, they can waste their energy. I wrote in the journal my aunt had given me, only stopping when the pain started its way across my body. I held my chest and breathed deeply until it went away as it always had; only it didn't stop. It kept on building and building until I screamed to try a release it. After that my world went dark.

STORYBROOKE

I woke my eyes quickly. It was the exact same dream for the last couple of years. I lifted my head from the window and looked out in time to see a woman with blond hair walking up the driveway with my cousin, Henry. They were talking and he looked to be begging her for something. I then saw my aunt rush towards the pair and hug the small boy. Not to long later, Henry runs inside followed by the sheriff and I hear them run up the stairs to Henry's room. Not long after that the two women outside walked in taking them from my view. Some time later a set of footsteps walked back down, to heavy to be a small boy. After a while, the blond walked out of the house and to her car. Before she got there she turned and looked at the house. I got up from my seat by the window and closed the curtains in front of them, blocking any view into my room. Moments later my aunt walked into my room.

"Who was she?" I asked her as she sat down on my bed.

"Who?" I gave her a look and she sighed. "She's Henry's birth mother. He went to find her and she brought him back."

"Is she leaving?"

"Yes."

"Good." I walked to my closet to get my nightgown.

"How are you feeling?" I grabbed the silk gown, closed the door and turned to look at her.

"Same as ever the pain comes and goes, and the flashes are the same as they were before." I changed behind the changing curtain in a corner of the room. When I was finished I walked out and sat on the bed; the red silk hugging my body, bringing out features that went overlooked many times.

"You look so much like your mother, Clarissa; it's almost like having her back again." My aunt smiled at me, and I just watched her.

"Thank you." I pulled back the black sheets and crawled into bed, my long black hair spreading out on the red pillow case then blending with the sheets. "Good night, Aunt Regina."

"Good night, Clarissa." She walked out of my room and closed the door.

FAIRY TALE LAND – PAST

"Clarissa! Clarissa! Wake up, sweetie!" I opened my eyes to see my aunt and grandfather.

"Oh, thank god!" my grandfather sighed in relief. I got up off the bed I was on.

"What happened?" my aunt asked me.

"I don't know, I was in pain then nothing. I must have blacked out." I told them.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" she asked me. I held my head as flashes came to my mind. I looked at her shocked.

"What did you do?" I whispered.

"Clarissa?"

"What did you do to me?!" tears were coming down my face and no matter how I tried I couldn't stop them.

"How? How do you remember?" they both looked shocked but her worst of all.

"It's this sickness." I whispered putting my hand to my chest. "It's because of him." I looked up at her as if I'd never seen her before. "It's because of you, because you took me away. You poisoned what I had! Can you allow no one happiness just because you never were allowed your own!" I yelled at her.

STORYBROOKE

I awoke to the sunlight streaming onto my face from the windows. Aunt Regina must have opened them before she left for work. I got up and pulled on the red robe next to my bed and closed the curtains. Because of my sickness, I can't leave the house much but when I do Aunt Regina didn't like me in the town so I went to an abandoned cabin or walked in the forest. I got dressed and walked down stairs and saw a note on the counter:

Clarissa,

Henry's missing so I went to look for him. Be careful today.

Regina

So Henry ran away again. I sighed and grabbed a bite to eat. I spent the day in the living room reading when my aunt, the sheriff, and Emma Swan came in.

"Aunt Regina?" I asked and they stopped and looked at me. "What's going on?"

"Clarissa, we're trying to find Henry. Do you know where he might have gone? She asked me." I shook my head at her.

"Who are you?" Emma asked me.

"Clarissa French. I'm her niece." The four of us then went up to my cousin's room and Emma searching through Henry's computer to find out where he possibly went.

"Smart kid – cleared his inbox. I'm smart too. A little hard disk recovery utility I like to use." Emma said plugging a flash drive into the computer.

"I'm a bit more old fashioned in my techniques. Pounding the pavement, knocking on doors, that sort of thing." Graham told her, wanting to compare notes.

"You're on salary. I get paid for delivery. Pounding the pavement is not a luxury that I get. Huh. His receipt for a website – . It's expensive. He has a credit card?" Emma asked looking at my aunt.

"He's ten." Regina pointed out to her.

"Well, he used one. Let's pull up a transaction record. Mary Margaret Blanchard, who's Mary Margaret Blanchard?" Emma looked back to my aunt.

"Henry's teacher." My aunt seethed.

When we arrived at the school the kids filed out of the classroom, while Regina shoved through them, while the Emma and I followed. I stopped just inside the classroom and sat at one of the chairs and breathed deeply.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked me.

"I'm fine." I told her smiling at her.

"Miss Mills. What are you doing here?" Mary Margaret asked her.

"Where's my son?" My aunt asked.

"Henry, I assumed he was home sick with you." The teacher answered her.

"You think I'd be here if he was? Did you give him your credit card so he can find her?" my aunt asked the woman in front of her while pointing to Emma.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Mary Margaret asked looking at us.

"I'm his cousin."

"I'm his… I'm his…" Emma tried.

"The woman who gave him up for adoption."

"You don't know anything about this do you?" Emma asked the teacher in front of us.

"No, unfortunately not." Mary Margaret then looked through her wallet and noticed her credit card missing. Clever boy… I should never have given him that book." I looked at Mary Margaret strangely.

"What in the hell is this book I keep hearing about?" Regina was close to blowing her top.

"Just some old stories I gave him. As you well know, Henry is a special boy. So smart, so creative, and as you might be aware, lonely. He needed it." Mary Margaret told her.

"What he needs is a dose of reality. This is a waste of time." Regina then left knocking over a stack of book and pulled me with her. "Have a nice trip back to Boston." She told Emma.

FAIRY TALE LAND - PAST

Regina and I traveled through the forest towards Snow White's castle, her curse following us.

"Cheer up, Clarissa. We're finally winning against all of them." She smiled at me.

"No, you're winning. I'm losing everything again. Don't you get it? If no one gets a happy ending that includes us!" I looked out the window to see our world dying. Against what my aunt tried I still remembered everything about him. I was sick when he left me with him and I would be sick until it killed me. We entered the a nursery to see Snow White kisses her husband twice, attempting to revive him. Regina and I entered the room.

"Oh, don't worry dear. In a few moments, you won't remember you knew him, let alone loved him." My aunt told her.

"Why did you do this?" the young girl asked her stepmother.

"Because this is my happy ending." My aunt told her as two guards entered the room.

"The child?" my aunt asked them.

"Gone. It was in the wardrobe, and then it was gone. It's nowhere to be found." A guard answered.

"Where is she?" I asked Snow White.

"She got away… You're going to lose. I know that now. Good will always win." Snow White told us. I smiled slightly at her.

"We'll see about that." Regina smiled at her evilly as the ceiling started to break apart and a twister started to form in the room.

"Where are we going?" Snow asked as she and I looked around at the nursery as it was destroyed.

"Somewhere horrible. Absolutely horrible. A place where the only happy ending will be mine." Regina smiled as the window shattered and the dark smoke fills the room and they were whisked away to another world.

STORYBROOKE

My aunt opened the door and Henry ran inside and up to his room.

"Thank you." My aunt said to Emma.

"No problem." Emma put her hands in her back pockets and my aunt put her hands in her jacket pocket.

"He's seemed to have taken quite a shine to you." Regina commented about her having brought him home twice now.

"You know what's kind of crazy? Yesterday was my birthday and when I blew out the candle on this cupcake I bought myself, I actually made a wish. That I didn't have to be alone on my birthday. And then, Henry showed up." Emma told Regina for no reason.

"I hope there's no misunderstanding here." Regina told her.

"I'm sorry?" Emma looked confused at her.

"Don't mistake all this as invitation back into his life." My aunt told her.

"Oh…"

"Miss Swan, you made a decision ten years ago. And in the last decade, while you've been… Well, who knows what you've been doing. I've changed every diaper. Soothed every fever. Endured every tantrum. You may have given birth to him, but he is my son." Regina interrupted her.

"I was not…" Emma tried again.

"No! You don't get to speak. You don't get to do anything. You gave up that right when you tossed him away. Do you know what a closed adoption is? It's what you asked for. You have no legal right to Henry and you're going to be held to that. So, I suggest you get in your car, and you leave this town. Because if you don't, I will destroy you if it is the last thing I do. Goodbye, Miss Swan." My aunt interrupted again. Regina headed back into the house but Emma called after her.

"Do you love him?"

:Excuse me?" my aunt turned back to her.

"Henry. Do you love him?" Emma asked again.

"Of course I love him." Regina came back into the house and went upstairs. When she came back down she was holding a book then looked into a mirror looking angry.

Later that night I was sitting at my window sill reading when the clock started going off. I smiled at it, thinking of what was to come. People would remember. Her curse would break

So it's begun.