So wow this is now officially the last chapter! Thank you all for the support and I hope you enjoyed it!

Kryptonite

The small rays of light hit the room as Henry opened his eyes. Sitting up he stretched and looked around. It was then that last night's events came flooding back to him. He jumped out of bed and quickly changed into his clothes and ran down the stairs to see Snow and James sitting in the kitchen heads together talking…but Emma was not in sight, "She didn't come home?" He asked quietly.

Snow and James both jumped and looked at him. Snow sighed and went over to him, "Maybe she is at the diner. We were going over there of breakfast, what do you say?"

Henry sighed and nodded. Snow tried to give him an encouraging smile, but he could see right through it. James looked between Snow and his grandson and pulled him aside while Snow gathered her stuff together, "Hey kid, it will be ok."

"I messed up." Henry said, "I was just so…" he stopped talking and tried to hold back the tears.

James gave him a sympathetic smile, "I know you were upset. But Emma feels just as bad. I am sure she is just giving you a bit of space."

"I don't want space. I just want my mom back." He said firmly, "I am supposed to be a knight right? I am pretty sure this goes against the knight code."

"Henry people make mistakes. We are only human. Knights are not perfect or god like in anyway. They make mistakes too," James sighed, "I would know about mistakes and right now I am sure Emma is beating herself up just as badly as you are." If not worse, he thought to himself. Henry nodded as Snow came up behind them and together they left for the diner.

Once they arrived at the diner, Red immediately greeted them, "Hey guys; only three today?"

Henry side-stepped Red and looked around for Emma, but did not see her anywhere, "She is not here." He said deflated.

Red gave Snow and James a look and James offered to seat himself and Henry, leaving Red and Snow to chat, "Emma did not come in this morning?" Snow asked softly to her friend.

Red shook her head, "No I have not seen Emma at all since she dropped Gold and his son off last night."

Snow bit her lip, "This is not like her it's as if she reverted. We walked pass the station and it was locked with the lights off."

Red placed a sympathetic hand on her friend's shoulder and guided her to the table where James and Henry sat, "I am sure she is ok. She is bound to come in and get something to eat soon. Now what can I get you guys?"

After ordering their meal the trio sat in silence and each time the doors to the diner opened their heads turned to see if it was Emma, but sadly so far the blonde had yet to walk in. The net time the door opened, their eyes met Archie's and as soon as he saw them he went over to their table, "Hey." He greeted.

"Hey Archie," Henry said glumly as Snow and James nodded as their greeting.

Archie smiled softly, "How are you Henry?"

"Miserable," came the response as Henry took a sip of his chocolate milk his head resting in the palm of his hand.

Archie looked to Snow and James and James responded, "It was a real rough night."

"I can tell." Archie responded. Biting his lip and deciding to play dumb he asked casually, "How is Emma? Is she not feeling well?"

Snow and James stole a look and Snow carefully responded, "We have not seen Emma since last night when she ran out of the apartment." Archie looked surprised at this. He figured at least Emma would go home for the sake of her son, "Have you seen her this morning?" Snow asked.

Archie looked away from his longtime friend and debated on answering. He could tell that they were worried, and Henry looked really bad. Archie in fact had never seen the kid so down trotted…not even when Archie blatantly denied the curse's existence. Emma, based in the state she was in last night, would not want anyone knowing that she sought out help…but then again he had to give them some peace of mind. So he made his decision…for Henry's sake, "I did in fact see Emma."

"What?" The three asked.

"This morning? Was she ok?" Snow asked quickly.

"Was she leaving town?" Henry also asked panicking.

"How did she seem?" James asked.

"Whoa slowdown," Archie said holding his hands up. Once the three were quiet Snow moved over so Archie could sit down, "Thank you. Now to answer Snow's question…I did not see Emma this morning. I saw her last night and she really wasn't ok."

"You saw her last night?" James asked confused.

Archie nodded, "Yes I did and she was quiet upset. I am not going to tell you what she said, but she was almost questioning her integrity. Before I could get to the bottom of it, she ran. I have not seen her since."

"It's my fault." Henry said solemnly, "It is my entire fault."

"No it isn't. I am sure Emma did not leave town." Snow said softly giving Archie a look.

"Right yes, Emma did not mention anything about leaving town." Archie said agreeing.

"She wouldn't though." Henry stated remembering when she had tried to run away with him, "She would do it on instinct or on the fly." They continued to talk for a bit and then Archie left, leaving the trio back to their solemn state wondering where Emma could have gotten.

After their half-eaten breakfast they left the diner to search the town when Leroy came up to them, "Hey, how are things?" he asked them.

"Not that great. Have you seen Emma?" James asked this time.

"Uhm yea I saw her…last night at the bar." He answered back.

Snow looked at her favorite dwarf if disbelief, "You left my daughter at a bar by herself?"

Leroy looked at her, "What do you honestly take me for? Of course not! When we exited the bar together she was totally sober. The only thing she brought from there was a bottle of scotch. She was leaving with the bottle and before I could talk her out of it, she left me," he was looking at them and then it had clicked for him, "You mean she still has not come home?"

Henry, who was quiet nearly the whole time, answered, "No."

Leroy gave the boy a smile, "Well then you are in luck. She told me to tell you that if you came asking, you could find her at the castle."

They shared a look of confusion, "Castle?"

"Yea, she said that you would know what she meant." Leroy answered looking directly at Snow and walked away.

They stood there thinking about what the dwarf said. Henry shook his head; there were no castles in Storybrooke, so what did Emma mean? The only one he knew about was his and it was gone…He snapped his head up and it clicked…the only castle was his! Without saying a word he started running, "Henry!" Snow and James called out in surprise. But he did not stop running. He had to hurry before it became too late.

Emma was lying on her back on the blanket she had set up on the beach where Henry's castle used to be. She allowed the sun to warm her face and body as she tried to clear the fog out of her mind. The bottle she had brought last night was half empty and was currently sitting in the trunk of her car. Sitting up she shook the sand out of her hair that had accumulated. Of course she did not sleep; she just laid there looking up at the stars like she used to do when something was bothering her. Emma did not think of herself much of a philosopher, but occasionally she would find her thoughts drifting and the one thing she was focusing on was the values of right and wrong.

The definition of right is described as morally good, justified, or acceptable. One could also add correct, just, or honorable depending on if you wanted adjective (which is the first one) or the noun (being the second) definitions. The definition of wrong is described as not correct or true; an unjust, dishonest, or immoral action. There was two options to go with in how to approach the matter that could justify as being 'right' at the time. One being that she could have chosen to tell Henry the truth right from the beginning; the other was what she just did: lie so he did not get hurt.

Shaking her head she got up and started to pace. This is what has been bugging her all night long. Ever since she had spoken to Archie, his question kept popping up in her head: if given the chance for a do-over, would she lie to Henry again knowing what she knows now? Then she thought about her response…part of her would lie again and the other part wouldn't.

Option one really should have been the 'right' choice, because it is open and honest, "But I couldn't be open and honest with him." Emma spoke out loud arguing with herself ignoring the fact that she looked totally insane doing it, "It would break him, and who knows what it would do to me."

Somehow she knew that by being selfish that the second option was 'wrong'. Lying in general she knew was wrong, but never did she realize that it would have broken them…then again never did she imagine that it would have come back and bit her in the ass either, "I lied to protect him, but I also lied to protect myself." She admitted out loud.

She stopped pacing and faced the water. Picking up a few rocks she proceeded to chuck them into the water and her mother's voice came to her, "No matter what this man did, Henry has a right to know who his father is. The truth about your parents… Emma, you of all people should know how important that is."

Emma shuddered as her voice came back to her, "I don't want Henry to get hurt. I just want to protect him."

"Are you sure this is about protecting Henry, and not yourself?" Of course Emma had already answered that question; it was more of the fact that she was protecting herself…but then again…

While she did not know how Henry found out about her to start with, he left Regina in the middle of the night to go to Boston and find her. What would have happened if she had told him about Neal? Would he had left her to find him too?

She stopped throwing the rocks and took up to pacing again. She knew that answer would have been a yes. He would have gone to find his father, not only to have a full family, but to give her a so called 'Happily Ever After'. So really it was a good thing she lied right?

Emma shook her head at that thought, "No." She stated out loud, "Lying was the wrong thing to do!" But then again if it is wrong to lie, even though it did protect him in the end from taking off, surely the good or 'right' would have cancelled out the 'wrong'…wouldn't it?

Stopping suddenly she once again faced the water with a defeated look. It was no use, no matter how she tried to justify or analyze everything, she was still no better than Regina. In fact she had become the very thing she hated: a liar.

Shaking her head she picked the blanket up off the sand and shook it out. She knew what she had to do and what she had said last night to Leroy was true: Henry did not need another Evil Queen in his life. Going over to her car she opened the trunk and she wrapped the bottle of scotch in the blanket and slammed the trunk closed. Henry deserved better than her, "Emma!" She heard her name being called and she looked around not seeing anyone.

Shrugging her shoulders she turned one last time to look at the water as she heard Henry's voice, "You're just pushing me away because I make you feel guilty. It's okay. I know why you gave me away. You wanted to give me my best chance."

She did not know what to say at the time, but she really did want to give him his best chance and when she was eighteen it was not with her, but now it still is not with her, "I really did kid." She whispers out loud, "But I guess it still is not with me."

Henry was running at full pace to the beach where his castle used to be. In the distance he could make out the yellow bug and he could see his mother's figure slamming the trunk of her car closed, "Emma!" He heard his grandparents calling from behind him. He saw her look around, but she did not look their way. He wanted to call her name, but he knew that would make him slow down so he pushed himself to go faster. Almost there, he thought to himself.

Then he felt his stomach sink and he saw her turn away from the water and was about to get into her car. That was when he yelled, "MOM!" He was close now.

At this her head jerked up and looked his way, "Hen-" She was about to say when he launched himself into her, tackling her to the ground away from the car.

"Ow kid," Emma groaned out thanking whatever higher power was out there that she parked in the sand and not on the pavement, "You know if the knight gig doesn't work out, you ever think about playing football?" She could not help but asked after the air returned to her. Henry could not bring himself to say anything. He just laid on top her and started sobbing a bit while trying to get his heart rate under control.

When Emma realized what was going on she managed to sit up a bit and tries to pull him off of her but he tightens his grip, "Please you can't leave."

Emma finally manages to sit up to her knees, and he managed to change his position to a hug, "Hen-" Emma tries to say but she gets cut off, "No! I am sorry! I shouldn't have said those things! I didn't even let you fully explain! Please forgive me."

He doesn't look at her and chooses to keep his eyes closed. He hears her sigh and feels himself being pulled away from her. He tries to tighten his grip, but Emma manages to break it. Looking at her now he sees tears in her eyes and she places her hands on his shoulders, "Forgive you? No," His breath hitches but she continues, "You have nothing that needs forgiving. You were right. I am like Regina."

"No," Henry said shaking his head, "You are nothing like her. You were only trying to protect me, I know. I am so sorry, Emma."

Emma continued to look at him and shook her head, "Henry, I was like her though. I became something I hated. I tried to justify the reasons why I lied, but I couldn't. It was wrong and even my reasons were totally selfish when I looked at the big picture," She pauses for a minute, "Regina lied to you to protect herself. While yes I did somewhat lie to protect you, I was also protecting myself."

Henry looked into her glossy eyes and could see how red they were. It was clear that she had been crying the whole time, "But you feel remorseful about it. She never did, never once did I see her look remorseful about what she said or did. At first I was upset because you seemed to be brushing it off."

"I wasn't. That was not my intention," Emma said quickly, "I just thought you needed space. Henry I never meant to intentionally hurt you. That is all I seemed that I was doing ever since I got here was hurt you."

"So you were going to leave?" He asked quietly. He was vaguely aware of his grandparents listening to the conversation, but he was looking at her in the eye.

Emma dropped her gaze, "I figured that dealing with one Evil Queen was enough for you…that you did not need two. So yea, if leaving was what was best for you to make you happy then I would graciously bow out."

Henry shook his head, "That is not what is best for me. You are what's best for me."

Emma felt the tears coming again and asked, "Can you ever forgive me?"

Henry smiles broadly as he felt his own tears and throws himself at her again, causing them both to fall backwards, "I take that as a yes?" Emma asked laughing.

He laughed to and eventually Snow and James came over to join them. Emma heaved out a sigh and said very seriously to Henry, "I am going to tell you everything. I don't want there being anymore secrets."

"No, you don't have to." He said to her, "I understand completely."

Emma shook her head, "No, I have to do this. You deserve to know. You all deserve to know." She repeated looking at her parents.

Everyone was silent and took a seat on the beach. Emma sighed and began, "Once Upon a Time…"