A/N Sorry for the wait, I kind of forgot that I had a chapter finished that I just needed to type up. There may be a slight wait for the next chapter since I'm working on reading about six Shakespeare plays for uni but I will try and get to work on the next chapter as soon as possible :D

Chapter eight

"Just text me when you want to go to see your mom," Emma said with a tight smile.

Henry just nodded and began walking across the station towards the sheriff. Graham looked away from August, who had been deep in conversation when they had arrived and offered Emma a reassuring smile.

The blonde just nodded at him and gave him the same smile she had given to Henry before she just awkwardly began walking towards the exit.

Once Graham was sure that the woman was out of ear-shot, he pulled out a spare desk chair and motioned for Henry to sit down.

When the boy did, he asked, "what's up, Hen?"

Henry sat quietly for a moment as he considered his words and finally asked, "how does a Sleeping Curse work?"

Graham frowned at the question and exchanged a look with August before he replied, "it's pretty much in the name..."

"Mr Gold told me that he modified the curse so that it wouldn't hurt me, but Dr Whale said that my mom won't survive the week…he's wrong, right?" Henry asked desperately with a hint of hope in his voice. He knew that he had told Graham everything that Gold had told him before, but he hoped that he had been wrong. Maybe the sheriff had found out more information since then?

"I still can't believe that the Evil Queen has a son," August scoffed.

"Don't call her that," Henry shouted and the former puppet held up his hands in surrender and said:

"I'm sorry, I should have said 'Regina'."

Henry nodded and stifled a sniffle as he asked, "who are you?"

"Aug…Pinocchio," he replied with a smile, hoping that the information might help the boy to forgive him. He couldn't help but feel like a complete ass for saying that in front of a grief-stricken son.

"But…you're an adult," Henry replied with a tilt of his head.

The older man shrugged, "I came through the wardrobe with Emma, so I grew up…"

"That reminds me, weren't you supposed to protect her?" Graham asked with an accusatory look.

"I…" he began, but nothing came out. This didn't really feel like the time to start going over the past.

Thankfully, Henry seemed to agree with this sentiment as he interrupted, "that's not important right now, you didn't answer my question."

Graham sighed and looked back over to the boy, this was not something that he wanted to confirm right now. The boy obviously already knew the answer to his question, he was just hoping that he had been wrong when he had explained everything to him.

"Without magic to sustain the curse…she is really being poisoned," he said carefully.

Henry looked shocked for a moment before he started vehemently shaking his head, "no, she can't die," he exclaimed as a few stray tears began dripping down his face.

Graham launched out of his seat and brought the boy into a hug, "shh…" he whispered as he began to stroke his hair lightly, "we won't let that happen."

Henry sniffed and pulled back so that he could look up at the man's face, "we?"

"You, me and August," the sheriff replied as he jammed his thumb in the man's direction.

"It doesn't seem like he wants to help," Henry frowned and ran his sleeve across his face in an effort to dry it.

August shifted in his seat and replied, "of course I will help the…queen does seem like a different person."

"She is," Henry sighed as she looked down and Graham finally released him from what had become a half-hug. The boy thought for a moment before he said, "so we need magic to stop mom from…being poisoned?"

Graham nodded, "that's about as far as we got, but we don't exactly know that much about magic…"

Henry bit his lip in concentration and said, "mom said there's a dragon under the library…that means there's magic, right?"

"There's a dragon…in Storybrooke?" Graham asked slowly.

Henry nodded vigorously with excitement spreading across his features and Graham sighed deeply, he really wished that it could be anything but a dragon.

Emma pushed through the door with a heavy sigh as the bell over the door rang out. She may have had the best sleep of her life the night before, but she somehow felt drained and she was sure that this conversation wasn't going to help, even if she did want to meet the infamous Mr Gold.

The man behind the counter smiled at her as she approached him, "deputy Swan," he greeted and instantly received narrowed her eyes in return, "it's a small town and news travels fast."

Emma just nodded, though she couldn't get past the feeling that there was something suspicious about this man.

"I was told that you were the closest thing that this town has to a lawyer," Emma said and awkwardly shifted from foot to foot.

"You have a question about the mayor, I assume?" Gold smirked.

The blonde swallowed hard and nodded she supposed that it did make sense. In a town like Storybrooke, it was reasonable that people would know that their mayor was in hospital, though she wasn't sure that people should look as gleeful about this situation as this man did.

"I…need to make sure that Henry won't go to a foster home," Emma said slowly. She had been rehearsing this on her way back from the station, but she didn't feel the slightest bit prepared for this.

"Quite crass, Miss Swan," Mr Gold replied and smirked as the woman swallowed hard and looked down.

Emma knew she probably could have waited for this, but the idea of sitting around while Henry could lose his mother at any moment made her nauseous.

"I don't want the system to make things worse for him, he deserves a permanent home," Emma replied.

"The contract that you both signed stipulates that in the event of Regina's death, all parental rights would return to Henry's birth mother."

Emma's eyes widened and she shook her head, "I didn't see that in the contract."

"I suppose that an eighteen-year-old didn't read the fine print," he replied and Emma got the distinct urge to slap the insufferable smirk from his face.

Emma, instead, just rolled her eyes and said, "okay them, why would Regina agree to that?"

"This may surprise you, Miss Swan, but our dear mayor doesn't have anyone she would be willing to give guardianship to."

Emma bit the inside of her cheek when a thought occurred to her. She couldn't help but think that Regina would never have believed that she would die in her own cursed town. Her eyes widened slightly when she realised that her mind had just seriously considered that as a plausible explanation.

She just decided to push it aside, though, "what would happen if I can't look after him?"

"Then he would become a ward of the state and enter the foster system," he replied.

Emma's jaw clenched at the thought and she shook her head adamantly, "how do you know so much about this?"

"I arranged the adoption."

"You arranged for the Evil Queen to adopt the saviour's son?" Emma asked without thinking.

Rumple's eyebrows shot up and he smirked, "it seems that young Henry is finally getting to you."

Emma blew out a breath and ran her hand across her face before she replied, "I think that he really is."

S

Regina's head fell into her hands and she shook it as if it would erase everything that she had just seen.

Finally, she brought her head up to see Daniel smirking at her in amusement.

"She's screwing this up," the brunette defended. Even if she felt a slight flutter of happiness at hearing Henry telling Emma that she wasn't his mom, she had to remind herself that ultimately what she wanted anymore.

Daniel just laughed and shook his head. He had shouted similar things over the years when he had seen the Evil Queen do things to live up to her title, but he also had to remind himself that there was nothing that he could do about anything that he was seeing, no matter how much he wanted to.

"It's unfair to expect a woman who grew up in a land without magic to believe that the adoptive mother of the son she just met is under a Sleeping Curse. You've got to give her some slack, Gina."

Regina sighed and replied, "well when you say it like that…"

Daniel laughed again and brought his arm across the woman's shoulder, "you just have to be patient, the saviour will come through eventually."

"For once, it would be nice if the heroic moment didn't have to be at the last possible moment," Regina frowned, "I just feel like I need to do something."

"You have no idea how many times I have wanted to intervene over the years, but there's nothing that you can do," he said softly.

Regina swallowed and mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Daniel tilted his head and asked, "what are you sorry for?"

"If you had never met me you would be alive and happy," Regina sighed and looked down at the dark ground, "and after all of these years, you're pushing for me to find my happy ending with another."

The man released her shoulder so that he was fully facing her and used a finger under her chin to bring her face up.

When her eyes remained down, he said, "look at me, Regina," after a moment, she did as he asked and he continued, "if I was alive, I most certainly would not be happy if I had never known you, seeing you happy for even a moment is my happy ending."

"I was truly happy with Henry…" Regina offered after a moment of thought. She decided that there was no reason to bring up the thought that she didn't deserve any of that. He would probably just argue that she did and it would get them nowhere.

"I don't doubt it, Regina, but the fact is that he is just a child. He is no doubt part of your happy ending, but he isn't all that you need. Over the years, it became clear that you were happy but that there was always something missing."

"Yes, you," Regina sighed.

Daniel shook his head, "I may have been your first love but I don't believe that we were ever meant to last forever."

"How can you be so accepting of this?" Regina sighed, mostly because she didn't want to admit that he was right. When she imagined a future with Daniel, she found that she couldn't imagine growing old with him.

"For the first few years, I desperately wished for Frankenstein's experiments to work, but I saw how much it was destroying you and I began wishing for you to move on," he explained, sounding as though he had practised these words many times over.

"I never did move on," Regina replied with a sniff.

"Well…I would be a little insulted if you moved on from me completely," Daniel smirked only to receive a playful punch to his arm by way of response, "I know that it may not feel as though you have moved on, but you can love those you have lost whilst loving the living. One does not somehow negate the other."

Regina swallowed hard and then let out a small chuckle, "you sound like you have been thinking about this."

"Forty years leaves a lot of time for thinking, Gina, and if I can wait that long, then you can certainly wait a week."

Regina stood silent for a moment before she said, "perhaps…it would be better for everyone if I just don't wake up."

"Don't day that…" Daniel frowned.

"My death would break the curse. Rumple can go and get Neal and then he, Emma and Henry could be the real family that Henry has always wanted."

"Or you could wake up, you and Emma would have the chance to completely fall in love. Rumple would get Neal and then Henry will have three parents who love him," Daniel retorted, when Regina didn't make any attempt to reply, he added, "Henry doesn't want you to die and it isn't something that he could just get over for the sake of his 'real family'. Do you honestly believe that he could replace the mother of ten years with his so-called father?"

"Neal isn't that bad," Regina sighed before she realised that she had actually said that aloud, "I never said that…"

Daniel laughed and brought her into his arms, "your secret is safe with me, Gina."

Gold brought up a small diamond to his face and frowned at it.

As much as he prided himself on being patient, he found that just waiting for the curse to break was agonising, especially when he knew that it was so close to happening. Going about his usual day just felt wrong when he knew what was about to happen, appraising a diamond didn't feel particularly important in that moment when all he could think about was how long it would take to get to his son.

Thankfully, his mind was brought away from the mind-numbing task when the bell rang out to announce the arrival of an unexpected trio.

Gold raised an eyebrow as Graham and Henry walked in, followed by the man whose name he knew was August from his time peeking into the future.

"How can I help you?"

Graham placed his hand on the counter and shot back, "you know exactly how you can help us." When the man just shook his head, the former hunter added, "we need magic in Storybrooke."

Gold just laughed in response.

Henry clenched his small fist and seethed as he asked, "Why are you laughing?"

"If you wait a week, the curse will break by itself," Rumple replied simply, "there's no need for any further planning on your parts."

Henry's face contorted in anger and August came up behind him to place a reassuring hand on the back of his shoulder, "none of us want that," the former puppet said firmly.

"Had quite the change of heart, haven't we, Henry?" Gold smirked.

The boy furrowed his brow and looked over to Graham who just shrugged.

"I never wanted my mom to die," Henry said with narrowed eyes.

"From your perspective, perhaps, but your mother has lived through quite a different past. There were plenty of moments when she believed that you couldn't care less whether she lived or died," Mr Gold replied.

The boy just shook his head vigorously, "none of that actually happened."

Gold inspected the desperation on his grandson's face and wondered whether he was doing the right thing. However, he quickly decided that Neal deserved to have his son, which would be made all the more simple if said son only had one mother.

"It did happen to her," he replied as he reached below the counter to pick up a random trinket, "how about a demonstration?"

Henry narrowed his eyes at the man wand was about to say that wouldn't be necessary, but the Dark One had already crushed what Henry could only assume once held some magical properties. The moment he opened his palm, a thin dust travelled through the air and began to embed itself into the small looking glass propped up on the counter.

The trio stared in fascination as an image began to bloom out of the particles until they formed a complete picture.

Henry frowned at the image of what looked like an older version of himself and Regina standing outside of Granny's diner. The first thing that his eyes were drawn to was the distraught expression on his mother's face and he felt guilt spring up in his stomach for something that he hadn't technically done.

"I found my real mom and dad, I don't need you anymore. Just leave me alone!" Henry shouted.

Regina swallowed hard and just nodded, "okay," she replied just above a whisper. Before she simply just turned on her heels and began walking away from the diner.

In the scene on the mirror, a bell rang out behind Henry and he turned to see his blonde mother step out of Granny's.

Emma frowned at her son's clenched fists and asked, "are you okay, Henry?"

The boy turned to look at her and launched forward to hug her, "I'm okay, mom," he said against her leather jacket.

The image disappeared from the glass but Henry continued to stare at it blankly while Graham and August exchanged worried looks.

"Why would I say those things to her?" Henry finally asked after a couple of moments of silence passed.

"The context isn't important," Rumple replied, "the point is that this proves that you can move on if she dies."

"Just because I was too stubborn in another timeline to give my mom a second chance, that doesn't mean that I want her to die," Henry argued.

Gold furrowed his brow at the determination in her voice, it was certainly a stark contrast to the scene that he had just seen him in.

"The Evil Queen has had far more than just two chances," Rumple shot back.

"We're talking about Regina here, not the Evil Queen," Graham interjected when he noticed Henry's face beginning to show signs of distress, "now you need to give us the answers that we need."

"And why would I do that?" the older man sneered.

"You'll eventually run out of trinkets for your tricks," August supplied, "if the curse breaks and magic returns to Storybrooke, then you'll have your unlimited source of power again."

"If I help you bring magic to Storybrooke and Miss Swan fails to break the curse, I will be stuck here with a sleeping mayor for the rest of eternity."

"It's Emma's destiny, she has to break the curse," Henry retorted.

"Destiny may be inevitable but it likes to take its sweet time," Mr Gold replied, "I may be a patient man, but even an immortal has his limits. I need to find my son so that he can meet you, Henry…"

"Why would he need to meet me?" Henry frowned.

"Because…my son is your father," Rumple replied with a triumphant smile.

Graham and August shared a cautious look. Rumpelstiltskin may have been a deceitful bastard but he didn't tend to straight-up lie, they silently agreed that he was most likely telling the truth and the simultaneously looked over to Henry for his reaction.

For a moment, the boy's face looked completely blank as his mind processed this. Since he was old enough to know that children were 'supposed' to have a mother and a father, he had imagined what his dad would be like. He often imagined a superhero who couldn't stay with him in order to protect his secret identity but since he found out that he was adopted, that idea began to change. He imagined a firefighter or policeman who didn't know that he had a son. In his original plan, he was going to help Emma break the curse and then he would demand that she take him to meet his father.

However, since Regina had started telling him the truth, he found that he no longer thought about the 'real family' that he was going to have after the curse broke. He thought more about what the possibility of Emma and Regina being a couple would mean, the thought of having a father didn't really factor into his imaginings of the future anymore.

This meant that when he was forced to hear about the man who he knew literally nothing about, he still found that his priorities did no shift away from his comatose mother who he wanted to desperately wake up as soon as possible.

"So…you're my grandfather?" Henry finally asked.

Gold nodded, though he suddenly looked cautious when he detected a strange change in the tone of Henry's voice.

"That means that you have to help me," the boy replied as he grew in confidence.

"I am helping you," Gold defended, "if this works, then you will have both of your parents."

"Emma and…your son are not my parents!" Henry exploded and continued before Gold could open his mouth to retort, "Emma doesn't know what I'm allergic to or scared of, she doesn't know that my favourite superhero is Spiderman or how to make me feel better when I'm sick. And I bet that your son doesn't even know that I exist!"

Gold stood completely dumbstruck for a moment. His whole plan had been designed to give his son an uncomplicated family for his son, but he now saw that simply killing the Evil Queen was not the answer. This plan could have maybe worked in the alternate timeline, but in this one, Henry clearly still loved his mother. This was something that he could certainly understand, he knew too well what it was like to be abandoned by his biological parents and then learn to love those who actually raised him unconditionally.

The man wiped a hand across his face and whispered, "how could I be so foolish?"

Henry noticed the remorse spreading across the man's features and he smiled broadly in hope, "so you'll help?" he asked as he tried not to jump up and down on the balls of his feet.

"I don't see that there's anything else I could do," Gold sighed, "but I'm afraid that returning magic to Storybrooke is something that only the saviour can do."

"Why?" Graham frowned.

"Before the curse was cast, I asked Emma's father to place a source of True Love he and Snow White shared inside a very powerful creature. As far as I know, Maleficent and Regina had quite the feud going on at the time, so her curse was to remain in her dragon form with no magic to turn her back."

"The dragon under the library is Maleficent," Henry said slowly as Graham swallowed hard at the thought and August just looked somewhat confused. He hadn't expected any of this when he had set off to find Emma Swan.

"Calm down, Sheriff," Gold chuckled when he saw how nervous the man suddenly looked, "only the source of the True Love or a product of it will be able to defeat Maleficent and collect the magic. I hardly think that Mary Margaret or David Nolan should be sent in to the dragon's den, which only leaves one option to save the queen."

Henry scowled at the use of the title and Graham rolled his eyes at the man, "that means that we're back to trying to get Emma to believe. What would be the point of even sending her to fight Maleficent?"

This time, it was Rumple's turn to roll his eyes as he replied, "True Love is a form of Magic, hunter. As long as Miss Swan does in fact love Regina as much as you think she does, she would still require a source of power for the kiss to have any effect."

"So how do we get her to believe enough to remember?" Henry asked as the two men behind him just sighed.

"The process of Emma remembering as already begun, but she needs to reach the point where she accepts that she is remembering and not simply going mad."

"Will that take less than a week?" August asked.

"The saviour is quite stubborn, it could take years…"

"You've seen the future, what makes her believe?" Henry asked as he tried not to think about a future in which his birth mother remembered too late.

Gold tilted his head in thought. He had honestly spent more time trying to find ways to destroy Regina rather than considering how he could save her.

"She saw you eat the apple turnover, then she picked up the storybook…"

Henry's eyes widened in realisation and he practically shouted, "she hasn't read the storybook!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the boy began running towards the door.

Graham and August each shot Gold a look that was somewhere between mirth and appreciation before they ran to catch up with Henry on Main Street.

Rumple just rolled his eyes and turned on his heels in search of the word one of them would surely be returning for soon enough.

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