entrancelogs | magic is believing in yourself.

Who: Henry Mills, Regina Mills
Where: Regina's place
When: 12/4
Rating: G probably
Summary: Henry wants to learn some magic.
The Story:

Ever since his talk with his grandfather - Rumple, not David, which is nice to have to distinguish now - Henry's been thinking about the fact that he could actually do what both of his moms can. And maybe he even has a little bit of magic already in him. He does have the heart of the truest believer, though he tries not to think about that very often. But the point is, to him at least, he could be helpful when things happen. And they happen often, both here and in Storybrooke. Both of his moms are always called to action, and maybe if he can help, they can all go back to their week of peace a little faster. Or maybe things could stop happening so often.

He also knows more about his mom now than he did before, that she didn't set out to learn magic for anything bad. That her mother killed Daniel. It doesn't excuse all of the things that have ever happened, but he understands more now. He probably couldn't three years ago, but now he does and thinks maybe his book will be the perfect gift.

Even though he lives on his own now, he still makes it a point to spend a couple days at a time at each parent's place, and now it's his turn with Regina. There's no real set schedule, he just lets them know, and now he's letting himself in, backpack (though not with anything school related) over his shoulder.

"Mom? I'm here and I have new comics," he calls out. He can ease into the whole 'and I wanna learn magic, too' conversation.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The situation with Henry has forced Regina to deal with the Emma Dilemma. Honestly, it's just nice to not be fighting all the time again. Henry doesn't need that, and neither does she. It doesn't change the fact that every time Henry chooses to spend time with her she gets a little surge of pride, but. It's nice.

When he lets himself into the room, Regina's just turning away from the closet with a thick, leatherbound notebook in her hand. She knows she can't get any of her magical texts from her vault from the closets, but a replica of her Mother's spellbook so she can write what she remembers in it in case they need it? You'd think it would be easy. Instead, a small stack of books sits on the table besides the closet, the heart shaped gem on the cover replaced with a variety of shapes.

The latest is placed on the top of stack, and she moves over to greet Henry with a hug.

"I hope you didn't get more Wolverine."

"I thought you liked Wolverine. But I got Captain America this time." He hugs her, lingering for just a minute before glancing over at the spell books. This could be a nice segway.

"Is this magic stuff?" he asks curiously, reaching out to pick up one of the books. He doesn't open it, just runs his fingers over the cover, studying it in his hands. He trusts her, doesn't think she'll do anything bad with her magic, not anymore, so when he looks up at her, his expression is pure curiosity.

"It just gets a bit tiring when he's on every single team, that's all." She presses a kiss to the top of his head before he pulls away, you might be getting taller but you're never escaping that, Henry.

"It is," her voice is hesitant as she answers. Despite everything, she's still a little uneasy about talking about magic with Henry. She's done a lot of good with her magic, but she's left far more scars. "It's for Emma, actually. I can't get Mother's spellbook here in Wonderland, so I thought I'd write down what I could remember."

Granted, a lot of the spells are no doubt evil incarnate given their source, but.

Henry doesn't mind, not really, though maybe if they were in public he'd make a little face. Maybe. (Probably not.)

"Write it down because you're still trying to teach her how to use her magic?" He looks at all the different books and puts together that she'd been trying to get one specific version from the closet.

"You know a lot of magic, I bet you can write a book better than your mom's."

"Well, I doubt Emma wants to learn most of the spells I know." Given that, you know, they tend to lean to the side of evil. "If she even still wants to learn."

With a shake of her head, she puts an arm around Henry's shoulder to steer him away from the books. "Enough of that, we have some comics to read."

"She should. Too much weird stuff happens here for her to not learn. Back home, too." At least, that's Henry's opinion on the matter.

He goes where he's led though, tilting his head up to look at her.

"But even if Emma doesn't want to learn...what if someone else did?" Henry looks up at Regina, and small, hopeful look on his face that leaves no room for assuming he's talking about anyone else but himself.

She catches the look on his face immediately, the question startling her more than she'd care to admit, really. Given that he'd tried to blow up the magical well and the horrors he'd experienced at her hands through magic, she'd stopped entertaining the thought of teaching her son the spellcraft she's so familiar with.

"You want to learn magic?" Her voice is light, tinged with disbelief. A year or so ago she'd have jumped at the chance, but now? Now she wants him to be sure.

All magic comes with a price, after all.

"I wanna learn magic from you. I know it can be bad, but I also know you can use it for good. You used light magic back in Storybrooke. And Emma has light magic."

Now he's on a roll, and he's determined.

"If I learn magic, then I can help with things. It doesn't have to be bad, mom. Please?"

It doesn't surprise her in the least that he wants to help, and she feels a rush of pride at that fact. Unfortunately, said pride is pushed down by motherly concern.

"Henry..."

She sighs, looking him straight in the eye. (Which wow, she barely has to bend over anymore.) "If I promise to teach you, will you promise that you won't do anything dangerous?"

Henry expected her to say no, flat out, had thought he'd need to keep going with what he'd hoped would eventually be a winning argument. But then she's sort of agreeing, and he nods at her words.

"I promise, mom. I won't do anything that isn't safe." He means it, he wants to be able to help, not put people in danger. (Which isn't to say some accidents might not happen, but he won't do anything on purpose.)

Well, she hasn't said yes yet. Instead of answering immediately, she fixes him with an appraising look. There might not be a superpower at work here, but a mother knows her child. "You're absolutely sure this is what you want?"

She has no doubt about his ability to handle the strain of both learning, and magic itself, but. He needs to be sure.

"This is what I want," he said softly, but insistently. He reached out then and wrapped his hand around her wrist lightly. "I know what kind of stuff you've had to do, and you think you have to do it all by yourself, but you don't. I want to help you from now on."

He knew this was what he wanted, without a doubt.

"Henry..." she trails off, pulling him into a hug. They've come a long way, these two and Henry's support fills her with a feeling she can't describe. A feeling she never wants to lose again.

"Okay. Okay, I'll teach you."

Hugging her tightly, Henry doesn't let go for a few minutes, just resting his head against her shoulder until he finally steps back. He's smiling when he does, one eyebrow raised as he tries just for a moment to make her smile.

"You could teach me how to make candy bars first."

Regina huffs out a laugh, thankful for the sudden change in mood. Of course he'd want to know how to make candy first, of course. "I don't think so. You have a long way to go before you can learn how to do that."

What, he thought this would be easy?

He's ready to work, and he gives her the most determined face he can muster. "Then I'm ready to start learning. Whenever you want to start."

Never once has he said he's ready to learn anything in school, so this is a pretty big deal to him. And he does get that it'll be work but in the long run? Knowing how to wield magic is going to be so much more important than solving for X.

"Well, our week just started. So we can start now if you'd like."

It isn't as if learning how to light a candle takes hours of preparation or cleanup. Still, she's privately thrilled Henry is sure about this. Emma might know how to use magic, but teaching Henry? Never. This is something she can't take away from her, even if they have been getting along lately.

magic is believing in yourself.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject