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[Henry had to figure out a way to ask for an artist without actually letting his mom know what he wanted. He had to be vague, and though she knew a little about what he was doing, he didn't think she knew that he was having a real actual book made for. Which was why Henry's face appeared on screen and he gave a little smile and wave.]

In case you don't know me, I'm Henry. I'm looking for someone who can illustrate. You know, like a kid's book or something?

[Wow, this was not shaping up to be subtle at all, but he figured as long as Regina was still surprised by the finished product, it was okay.]

If you can, it'd be great if you could get back to me. Or you can find me in room 27 on the eighth floor. Thanks to anyone who can help.

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[Wavy, it was. She could do wavy. Her hand reached up , making much broader strokes against the page. Curving this way and that.]

What I meant--[going back to his question before]--is that not everything has to have a single person behind it.

Who says that Wonderland, itself, doesn't run on some sort of power of it's own?

Oh. Well, there's the Queen. Do you think she really has all of the power to do all of that?

[To him, that would make her more like Rumplestiltskin or...maybe the Blue Fairy, who he always meant to read more about but never did.]

Us being here means there has to be a reason. I don't understand why it would be an accident, showing up here and sometimes more than once.

I don't know. She might, but I don't really know enough about her to say.

[Which wasn't to say Henry was wrong. Sometimes, the Mists of her home world acted on their own, and sometimes it was Hecate screwing with her. Who really knew for certain.]

I'd like to think there was a reason we're all here, even if nobody tells us.

[Her nose slightly scrunched up at that. Story of her life, really. Both of them.]

[He's quiet for a second, trying to think things through. Regina'd cast a curse and taken everyone from The Enchanted Forest to Storybrooke. If she really hated everyone as much as she thought...why did she do that? Maybe Wonderland was the same kind of thing. Maybe whoever was in charge was lonely and this was entertainment or a way to keep from feeling alone. After all, they weren't stuck forever. Eventually people left, so...maybe they were there for someone's amusement?]

Maybe. Maybe someone's just bored.

...that too.

[It honestly wouldn't surprise her. It really, really wouldn't.]

[A few more strokes of charcoal, and she picked up her drawing and turned so that Henry could see it. Her face was slightly plumper, particularly around the cheek and chin area, and her hair was long and flowed loosely on either side of her face, framing it in a much more youthful fashion. Then, of course, there was the smile. Soft. Warm. Loving. Happy.]

Done.

[All that Henry can do is stare for a few minutes. It's her, it's unquestionably Regina, and it makes him swallow heavily, though there's a little tug of a smile on his lips.]

Hazel? This is perfect. I don't know how what we do from here, if you want me to just give you ideas for what I'm writing. But this is perfect. This is my mom.

[He can hardly take his eyes off of it, but then he does look up at Hazel, grinning.]

[She grinned back. It was hard not to--Henry just looked so happy. Even if they had only just met, she liked that she was able to do this for him. Not a bad start to a new friendship.]

It's your book, Henry.

You tell me what you want. I can do some more sketches like these. I can try to add to this one. I can do new ones, with different poses.

I'll make an outline then, of the stories. And that way you can pick which ones you think you can do. There are a couple of other people that volunteered too, so you don't have to feel like you have to do everything.

[Really, he's just so grateful she's helping him at all, and that she's so good at what she does. He can't really ask one person to do everything since he doesn't have a way of paying people.]

[She wouldn't have asked for payment even if he offered. Helping people...especially something so simply as drawing a few pictures...it wasn't something she hadn't already done for friends. Or herself.]

That sounds fine. What's the first story?

It'll start like any good story - 'Once upon a Time.' [He smiles because that's how it should be, a story that starts full of hope.]

How much she loves horses and riding and being outside. Her origin story. Maybe around the time she was sixteen or seventeen. Happy and not sad about anything.

[He couldn't do a lot about her very young days, because, while he didn't know about the person she loved he knew it happened before she ever became queen.]

[Her hands were already running up and down the page before Henry even had a chance to finish. She knew exactly what to draw.]

I can relate.

[Not the part about being sixteen or seventeen, of course--she was another two years away from that--but the part about the horses. Her favorite animal. Partially because horses were the only animal that didn't fear her, but mostly because she had always loved them regardless. To the point where her chosen weapon had been a cavalier sword. A weapon meant to be brandished on horseback, even though she'd had no horse of her own at the time.]

To liking horses, or to being happy and not sad all the time?

[His question implies that Regina now isn't as happy as Regina then, but it's true, sort of. It's probably true of most adults, not being as happy as they were when they were teenagers. Henry's really not sure, he likes to think he can make his life as happy as he wants.]

[Both, actually...though, in the interest of keeping the conversation light-hearted:]

The horses.

They're my favorite animal. I go riding out in the stables whenever I can.

I really want to learn to ride. I'm hoping it's something my mom'll teach me.

[He has tentative plans to ask her around the same time he plans on asking Emma to start a new longer video game with him that they can try beating together.]

Do you have your own horse here? Or is someone in charge at the stables who lets you borrow a horse?

I could teach you...unless it's something you want to do with just your mom.

[Which she would take absolutely no offense to if that were the case, but she couldn't help offering. Any excuse to go riding, really, which, speaking of...]

I do have a horse, actually. Somewhat. Nobody else ever claimed him, and we kind of bonded. I call him Saggitus

[There was a faint flush to her cheeks at the name, as if there were a deeper, significant meaning to it. Or reason she'd chosen it when she did.]

[There was a lot of stuff he could do with Regina, and it really wasn't like he was sure she even wanted to be at the stables after what happened in them back in Storybrooke.]

You'd be willing to draw these and teach me how to ride a horse? [Henry couldn't help but smile lopsided at her.] Saggitus is a pretty strong sounding name, I like it.

[She offered a casual shrug in response.]

It's not any big deal. They're things I like to do normally, anyway.

Thanks, Hazel. Yeah, learning to ride a horse would be fun, I think.

[And, if he didn't like it, he could always say so.]

Oh, it's definitely fun.

[She might be slightly biased, of course.]

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