Always face your fears...

[geneticallyscrewed]

Who: Henry Mills and Mary Margaret Blanchard
Where: Henry's Room
When: A few days after the end of the Shadow plot
Summary: The two have a conversation they need but don't necessarily want.
The Story:

It's been a few days since his shadow disappeared so Henry thought it was safe to message hi maternal grandmother about the events that have currently come to light. It wasn't going to be fun, but he had to be done. He had to know her side of the story.

Whenever you're ready, I'm available for that talk. I'll be in my room.

While he waited for a response or a knock on the door, Henry continued writing his book. The entire room was now covered in sheets of paper; some with writing, others with badly drawn pictures. And in a certain corner by the door was all the new information he'd gained from Regina or the shadows. This was going to be one of the hardest conversations he'd ever had.

Comments

[kissedawake]

The eventual disappearance of her shadow had been an enormous relief, but the event and the conversations that came along with it hadn't left her without tell-tale emotional scars.

A few days later, she was in her room straightening things up a bit; and when she picked up her communicator, her heart did a little flip inside her chest.

Henry was ready to talk. She wanted the conversation to happen almost as much as she dreaded it, but regardless, it was inevitable.

I'll be there in a few minutes.

The flights of stairs seemed longer than usual, a different thought occupying her mind with each step. Although what seemed like an eternity to her had only been a matter of minutes, and before long, she was on his floor.

She reached up, hesitating a moment before rapping on his door softly.

[geneticallyscrewed]

Henry had been waiting, debating moving things around. But eventually decided not to. It was his room. He was having it the way he wanted.

Once she knocked, he took a deep breath and opened the door, trying his best to smile but not quite managing it.

"Hi. Come on in." Moving out of the way and gesturing to the bed so she had somewhere to sit once she entered, he closed the door behind her. He had no idea where to start so he waited for her to speak instead.

[kissedawake]

"Hi, Henry."

She offered as much of a smile as she could muster, carefully stepping in and taking a seat a foot or so away from him on the bed, giving him his space. She took immediate notice of the state of his room- scribbled drawings and papers with words etched on them were scattered everywhere, to the point where one had to step over and around them to move through the room- Henry's way of expressing himself. It cut her deeply to think that she was likely the cause of the majority of them.

After a few moments of agonizing silence and deliberation, she sighed, turning toward him slightly.

"Henry, I'm going to be completely honest with you, no matter what your questions are. Rest assured."

She wouldn't lie to him, that was a given. But she would keep Regina out of it as much as possible. If Henry is to know anything about his adoptive mother, she feels that it is not her place to reveal that information to him, no matter how relevant it may be.

[geneticallyscrewed]

"Thank you. I appreciate that." Now all he had to do was figure out where to start asking. Moving away from Mary Margaret to the part of the wall which housed the newest information he got from Regina about the situation, he glanced over it and decided a well rounded question would serve as a starting point.

"I...I'd like to know...why. You're Snow White. What were you thinking to actually kill someone else?" He couldn't catch her asking it but not because he hated her for what she did. But more because he was realising the double standard he had for her in his mind. Had anyone else done this, he wouldn't have the same reaction. He would be upset yes, but the fact it was Mary Margaret somehow made it worse.

"Tell me what happened in your own words."

[kissedawake]

She watched from her seat as he deliberated for a moment, then waited for his questions. When he finally spoke, the level of uncertainty in his voice made her catch her breath. Her own pain became an afterthought upon the sudden realization of just how deeply this whole mess had scarred Henry.

"I was fearful...and hurt." She took a moment to let the idea sink in herself. This was the first instance that she had actually taken the time to sit and analyze her thought patterns leading up to the deed- something that she had undoubtedly avoided until now.

"I was so afraid that Cora would bring harm to us- to our family." Her speech quickened as she shook her head, almost forgetting who she was speaking with for a moment. "She had only just taken the life of-"

She stopped herself right there, meeting Henry's gaze. "Cora gave me every reason to believe that hurting the people that I hold dear to my heart was something that she was quite capable of."

[geneticallyscrewed]

"But haven't you felt those things before? What made this time so different?"

Henry's view of everything that had happened was very blinkered. The book only told him so much and his family had insisted on keeping secrets from him. He needed a lot more information to understand why Mary Margaret had done what she had done and deep down it worried him how angry and hurt he felt at the action even though it was not directed at him. And that was without all the new information Regina had given him last week.

"Did Regina not give you those reasons too? Isn't that why you ate the apple?"