You know how on the first episode it says: Once Upon A Time. There was an enchanted forest with all the classic fairy tale 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… The story diverges from Canon at that point. So basically the beginning. Since the story is different so are the characters. *doesn't know how to write characters that aren't ooc.*

Alternate Summary: In a world very much like the one we know, a dark curse is cast and a young boy seeks out the woman who gave him life for her help in defeating the dark forces responsible. Instead, he finds himself in the home of a stranger who knows more about his story than he does. Meanwhile, a mother and son travel to a trapped town to save the inhabitants and reunite with family but things are not as they seem and someone thinks it may be something other than a dark curse that threatens their family. If they're wrong then they just have a curse to break and if they're right... they could end up farther apart than ever before.

Characters: Emma Swan, Timothy Swan, Henry Mills.

Ages:

Timmy and Henry-10yrs, Emma-30yrs.

(Boston)

ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ

Timothy James Swan ran around the apartment, that he lived in with his mom, Emma Swan, making sure he had all of his stuff packed. Today was the day his family would, once again, be reunited. He and Emma were going to Storybrooke to help Henry break the dark curse. Not only had it been five years since the curse was cast but it was also his mom's thirtieth birthday. The curse was cast on her twentieth fifth birthday and it was the day his mother vowed to beat fate. They may have lost the battle but they would win the war. As his grandfather, Henry would always say, 'Everything will be okay in the end, and if it's not okay...'

"Then it's not the end," Timothy said looking over at his belongings and realizing that he was missing something or two.

"Shirts. Check. Pants. Check. Socks. Check. Toothbrush. Check. Toothpaste. Check. Two pairs of shoes. Check. Brush. Check. What am I missing?" He paused and looked at the stuff that he was stuffing in his backpack. "AH-ha," He yells running back into his room. "Underwear. I forgot underwear." He grabbed seven pairs of underwear before running back to where his backpack was located in the living room. As he stuffed his underwear in his blue Avengers backpack, he saw the cover of his brown leather storybook out of the corner of his left eye.

Timothy skipped over and picked it up off of the coffee table. Timmy opened it to the page that had a folded corner and looked at the picture of his family. They were all smiling brightly. He and his twin brother, Henry, were on a beige horse with their moms on either side. All of his grandparents stood next to their respective daughters. His redhead aunt was next to his brunette mother and His brunette aunt and blonde uncle stood next to his blonde mother.

When he and his mom came through the wardrobe they had ended up on a farmland. The owners were kind enough to offer to let them stay for as long as they needed. Since they had little knowledge of this world, apart from the information that was given to them prior to the curse, they accepted the offer.

For as long as they stayed with the family, Timothy would help with the horses. After all, horses were his favorite animal.

He smiles at the memory and closes the book, gently placing it in his backpack with all of his other stuff. The curse was cast a month after that moment. It marked the last time all of his family was together. The next day, at the crack of dawn, is when all hell broke loose.

Hearing the front door unlock, Timmy runs to it and pulls it open. Grinning up at his mom he grabs her arm and pulls her into the apartment.

Emma barely has time to step into the hallway before he starts to ask her questions.

"Hey, mom! Happy Birthday! How was work? Did you get the guy? Do you know what day it is? It's your Thirtieth birthday. We gotta go. Let's go help Henry break the curse. Then we can all be a family again. Do you have your stuff ready? Happy birthday, by the way. Did I already say that?" He turned and looked at the blonde expectantly. "Well?" He was going to see his brother again today so he was a little excited.

"I packed my stuff before I left, so yeah I ready. I got the guy, thanks." Emma walked into the kitchen and filled a glass with water. As she drank her water, she watched her son bounce up and down in excitement. It's not that she wasn't excited, it just that what if she didn't break the curse? What if she did break the curse but something went wrong? What if? Emma sighed and brought the glass of water to her mouth again.

She finished up that last of her water and sat the cup down. "I'm gonna change my clothes and then we can go." Emma walked into her room and sat on the edge of the queen sized mattress. Her bed wasn't made up and her room was shambolic. She went to her closet and opened it. The blonde pulled out a white t-shirt, blue jeans, brown knee-high boots, and a red leather jacket and sat them on the bed before slipping out of her red dress. Emma quickly changed then decided to straighten up her room. Once done, she grabbed her duffel bag and walked out of her room.

The blonde spotted her ten-year-old son at the bar that was in the middle of her small kitchen. In front of him sat two cupcakes, one with a light blue, star-shaped, candle. He was reading one of his new Avenger comics, that he had begged her to buy him, as he waited for her. He was wearing a black and blue plaid shirt with blue jeans and brown combat boots. He was tapping one hand on the table and the other turned the page of his book.

"What's this," Emma asked as she walked over and took a seat next to Timmy, on one of the black, cushioned stools. Timmy turns to his mom and smiles.

"Cupcakes. The one with the candle is your." Emma rolls her eyes at her son but smiles nonetheless.

"Ok then, where did you get them and why."

"I got them from Alex at the store around the corner. He said to tell you happy birthday." Timmy picks up the lighter that was laying on the table and lights the candle. "Make a wish."

"Are you serious," Emma said skeptically. Timothy nods and gives her a "duh" look.

"What else would I be." Emma, once again, rolls her eyes at the brunette, then closes them. She makes a wish then blows out the candle. When she opens them again, Emma sees that Timothy has already taken a bite of his and was chewing. When he swallows the bite he asks: "Wha'd ya wish for."

Emma swipes her finger through the white frosting on her cake and tastes it. After realizing that it doesn't taste that bad she answers: "If I tell you then I'll have to kill you."

He gave her a dubious look and went back to eating his cupcake. Once they are done, Emma grabs her duffel bag, that she had dropped on the floor and hangs it on her shoulder. They silently walk to the door and Timothy opens it. Emma grabs the keys on her way out and is followed closely by Timmy who was holding his backpack. After putting their stuff in the back seat, Emma and Timmy got into the yellow bug. Emma turned to her son.

"It feels like I'm forgetting something." When Timmy shakes his head and tells her that she is not forgetting anything, Emma pulls out of the parking lot and drives off.

ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ

Henry slowly opened his door and peeked around the corner. He had a mission to complete but to do so, he needed to get to Boston without his mother noticing. Or at least out of Storybrooke. If he was out of Storybrooke before she noticed then she wouldn't be able to follow him. The curse would prevent her from leaving Storybrooke and he would be able to complete the first stage of his operation without any interference.

His mom would come and check if he was sleeping in approximately forty seconds. She would come in, kiss his cheek, and say sweet dreams before walking away from the bed. Then she would gently close the door behind herself after exiting the room. Tonight wasn't any different.

After she left, Henry heard the shower turn on in her room. Once she got in he would have thirty minutes to get out of town, then to Boston; where his real mother lived. Getting out of bed, Henry maneuvered around his room, opening dresser after dresser. The best option was to find clothes that helped him blend in with the darkness of the night; as Batman once said. Henry laughed quietly as he pulled out multiple different outfits.

After finding the perfect clothes for his escape from the Evil Queen, Henry laid his clothes on his bed and got down on one knee. Pulling his DC heroes backpack from under his bed, the brunette sat it on his bed, stood up and started undressing.

Henry shook his head, with a small smile on his face, as he slipped his legs into the darkest pair of jeans he had. Grabbing the black long sleeved shirt off of his bed, he slipped it over his head before sitting on his bed. He then slips his black beanie over his mop of hair. I really need a haircut, Henry thought.

After his beanie, he put on his all black converse and tied the shoelaces. Picking up his backpack, that was stuffed full of snacks and his storybook, the brunette walked over to his door. Opening his door slowly, Henry crept, silently, out of his room. Henry tiptoed down the steps and walked to the front door. He gently opened the front door and slipped out. He made sure that when he closed the door there was no noise.

Once Henry made it outside, the ten-year-old jogged down the street until he reached Main Street. He cursed himself silently as he realized that he hadn't grabbed a jacket and right now the cold was unforgiving. Once he reached the library, the boy looked up at the frozen clock tower. If he succeeded in his mission then after the curse was broken the happy endings would come back. Maybe even his mom could get her happy ending.

Shaking his head, Henry kept walking. Villains don't get happy endings and she was the one who wanted to get rid of the happy endings in the first place. Even if it was to get her own happy ending, the way she went about it was all wrong.

Henry tried to reason with the part of him that didn't hate his mother. She was a bad guy, a villain, and villains don't deserve happy endings. Even if he didn't realize it himself, he didn't hate her. He loved her very much in fact, but he was mad at her for lying to him. And when he accused her of being cursing the people of the enchanted forest, she put him in therapy. The fact that she would make him think that he was crazy just to protect herself proves that she hadn't changed.

During his inner battle, Henry hadn't realized that he had stopped walking. The boy gripped the straps of his backpack and looked at the sky as of it would give him the answer to all of his problems. But it wouldn't. He would have to solve his problems on his own and find the answers himself. Well until he could convince his birth mother of the curse.

Brown eyes focused on the path in front of them as the brunette boy started walking forwards. If he wants to complete his mission then that was exactly what he would have to do; keep moving towards no matter what.

As Henry continued walking, he realized that he hadn't completely thought out his plan. He was trying to get to Boston but how would he get there. He had a long way to go and he was one hundred percent sure that he wouldn't be able to walk the whole way. He wasn't sure if he had any money to catch the bus. Maybe he could ask someone for a ride. He reprimanded himself for even thinking about it. His mom would throw a fit if she found out. Or he would get kidnapped and never see her again. Which was worse than the first one.

He opened the small pocket on his backpack and saw a wad of cash. He uncrumpled it and realized that it was more than enough to pay for bus fare. Maybe there was a bus stop or something a few miles outside of Storybrooke. He hadn't been out of town since the day he was brought to Storybrooke.

Passing the welcome to Storybrooke sign, Henry felt a weird feeling settle into his stomach. He thought about turning back but decided against it. If he went back now he would be in a lot of trouble and all for nothing. He'd have to go through with the plan and bring his birth mother to Storybrooke so that they could break the curse. There was no turning back now.

ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ ṨQ

They had been driving for three hours. They had stopped for food and to use the bathroom multiple times and now Emma was sipping on her energy drink, trying to stay awake while Timmy was knocked out. His storybook was opened on his lap. On the page was a redhead with forest green eyes. She was facing a brunette and they seemed to be arguing. In the background of the picture was a brown desk that had books stacked on the top. Behind the desk were shelves that lined the walls, all filled with books. There were velvet curtains that hung from the curtains that were visible in the picture. There was also a blonde in the picture. Unlike the brunette and redhead, she wasn't wearing a dress. She was wearing a white shirt and black riding pants. Her hair was pulled back.

The page flipped and the next page was mostly blank, except for the small words that said To Be Continued'. The words started to disappear, letter by letter, in a dim flash of white light. The words were replaced by large fancy letters that said 'A New Chapter Has Begun'. With Emma's focus on the road and Timothy being asleep, neither noticed as the book started to write itself.

TBC.

I know I should finish my other stories before making more but I couldn't help it. And I have so many drafts and they're all just sitting in my docs collecting dust. I was going to make this into a full fic but instead, I'm just gonna leave it as it is. I may continue it in the future.