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Jul. 23rd, 2014 02:55 pmName: Britt
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E-Mail: brittany.duke84@gmail.com
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Character Name: Henry Mills
Series: Once Upon a Time
Timeline: Episode 3x22, 'There's No Place Like Home' from the very end.
UPDATED TIME LINE: Episode 7x03 right at the end of the episode.
Canon Resource Link: OUAT wiki link
Character History: Henry has two sets of memories, two lives, and both are as important to him as the other. In one life he was Henry Mills, the adopted son of Regina. He was well off, and while he was very obviously loved by Regina he often felt that he didn't belong, that he didn't have a true family. He was a lonely boy, often escaping to a play castle or holing up in his room with comic books. Shortly after turning ten, he was tasked with needing to complete a project for school about his family tree, and he could only stare at the paper helplessly with no 'father' section to fill in and only his mother's name next to his. He had no one, just a singular parent who left him alone sometimes and worked too much. His best friend, as it would turn out, was his therapist.
The therapy wasn't even truly warranted, as it was a last-ditch effort to figure out why he felt so withdrawn and pulled away from his mother. Lost and forlorn, his teacher, Ms. Blanchard, gave him a book about fairy tales that was titled only 'Once Upon a Time.' It was when he opened the book that he finally felt a connection to anything around him and could see the people in his hometown of Storybrooke as they really were. Ms. Blanchard was Snow White, his therapist Jiminy Cricket, and almost as if he expected it to be so, his mother was none other than the Evil Queen. He read through the book and discovered that she had cursed everyone into forgetting who they were, and he immediately turned on her - not realizing that she had also cursed herself and didn't understand why Henry pulled away so dramatically. His sole mission then was to find the Savior, his biological mother Emma, to break the curse. Swiping Ms. Blanchard's credit card (for the cause; Emma was Snow White's daughter), he tracked her down by using whosyourdaddy.com, and bought himself a one-way bus ticket to Boston.
By the time he talked Emma into staying in Storybrooke, it was clear that she was doing something to impact the curse the Evil Queen cast, and Henry was determined to make her believe that the town of fairy tale characters wasn't something he made up. Dubbing the mission to break Regina's curse 'Operation Cobra,' with Emma in town, Regina's spell began to weaken, but with so many odds stacked against them, the Savior simply wanted to get out of town and take her son with her. Everything became much more real and dangerous after Henry and the Sheriff, Graham, started talking. Realizing that Graham was starting to remember his life in the Enchanted Forest as the Huntsman, Henry encouraged him to try and figure things out. Regina realized though that Graham was remembering, and without hesitation killed him. Henry blamed himself, knowing that it was all his fault that a good person died, though on the outside it simply looked as if Graham died of a heart attack.
Emma understood that Henry wasn't happy in Storybrooke, and together they were bound to leave for good until Henry realized they couldn't go with all of the town still under the Queen's spell. He confronted Regina soon after, declaring that she was evil and she could never, ever win against good. With Emma not believing that she was truly in danger if Regina was allowed to continue, Henry did the only thing he could think of to make her believe in magic: Regina made an apple turnover laced with a sleeping curse - the same that Snow White was once the victim of. Though the dessert was meant for Emma, Henry took a bite knowing that it would be what his biological mother needed to believe in him, to believe in the curse, and be the Savior she was destined to become. He trusted her and believed in her with everything in him, and he immediately fell asleep, but when Emma kissed his forehead after she thought he'd passed away, Henry opened his eyes. Regina's curse was broken, everyone remembered, and he stayed close to Emma and his grandparents, Snow White and Prince Charming.
The family reunion didn't last long, however, with his mom (Emma) and grandmother disappearing through a portal back to their homeland, the Enchanted Forest. While Henry wanted to stay with his grandfather, Regina had other plans and held the town hostage until he came forward, going home with her willingly. When he tried to escape she restrained him with her magic, using tree branches to bind him, but finally, she saw reason and admitted she didn't know how to love him very well. Letting him go, Henry stayed with his gramps and avoided Regina the best that he could. As a side effect of the sleeping curse, he began having nightmares, but it soon proved to be a way to communicate with his family that was stuck in the Enchanted Forest. When it was realized that Charming needed to have access to the same dreamworld Henry had, a new sleeping curse had to be brewed. Observing Regina while she worked her chemistry type magic, she promised that she was attempting to change, and Henry tentatively decided to believe her though he didn't move back into her house. It was soon realized by Henry though, that Regina was going to try and close the only portal Emma and Snow could come through which would trap them forever. Begging Regina at the portal to not seal their fate, he asked her to stop saying she was changing and actually prove it. His words struck a chord with Regina, and she reversed the magic that would have sealed the portal at the risk of her own life. When Emma and Snow returned, the entire Charming family lived under one small roof, but Henry finally had his family, all of them, and he preferred to keep it that way.
Shortly after, Rumplestiltskin soon collected on a favor, commanding that Emma take him to New York to help him find his missing son, Baelfire. With Regina's mother in town, a powerful woman who managed to convince Regina to take out anyone keeping her from Henry, he went with Emma on her trip, his first out of Storybrooke. While there, Emma did find Baelfire who, as it turned out, was Neal Cassidy - Henry's father. It was a confusing moment for Henry, having been told by Emma that his father was a firefighter who died a hero. Henry, having never dealt with liars well, shut Emma out and began to try getting to know his father. Of course, through this, it came to light that his grandfather was none other than Rumplestiltskin himself, and years ago, a seer predicted that Henry would be his undoing. Which meant that Henry would have to die. Before anything could be realized, Captain Hook, having traveled to New York on his pirate ship to exact revenge against Rumple, successfully managed to poison him before being subdued by Emma. With time on the line, Henry steered the Jolly Roger (with his father's help) back to Storybrooke.
Once again there was no lasting peace in town, as two strangers threatened to destroy them all. Henry did manage to make up with Emma under the condition that she never lie to him again. And then, tragedy struck when Neal was shot by one of the strangers and fell through a portal, presumably dead. With no time to grieve, Henry was facing the loss of Regina, of everyone who had been born in the Enchanted Forest (including Emma) at the hands of the strangers. But Regina stepped forward to save everyone, sacrificing her own life. It was then that Henry realized his mother was changing for the best. Hugging his grandparents and Emma, Henry stood with Regina, holding onto her, determined to be with her in her final moments. Her death, though, was avoided with Emma's magical assistance. Henry, however, was kidnapped by the strangers soon after, and they took him through a portal to Neverland, delivering him to Peter Pan.
At first, Henry resisted giving into Pan's words, that his family abandoned him, believing that both of his moms would be rescuing him. But the longer he was in Neverland, the easier it was for Pan to sway him. When his parents finally had a chance to take him out of Pan's grasp, Henry decided to finally be the hero he always wanted. Thinking that the island needed Henry's heart, (one of a true believer) in order to save magic, he pulled it out of his chest and gave it to Pan who had no such intention of saving anything but himself. Taking Henry's magical heart as his own, there was precious little time left to save Henry's life. Regina did though, by breaking free from Pan's magical bindings. His plan had been to make her suffer with all of her regrets, but the truth was she had none because every choice in her past led her directly to having Henry. Once she had her son's heart back and in his chest again, Henry was on his way back to Storybrooke.
Before he could make it there, Pan managed to switch bodies with him, and as Henry, planned to curse Storybrooke. As Pan now, the real Henry first convinced Emma and his grandfather that it was really him before he confronted Regina, promising her that she still had him, and that he would always need her. He'd finally come to an understanding of her, that she was trying to be a better person, and her love for him never went away. It was hard to see when she was doing bad things, but she loved him, and she wanted to be a good person for him. Unfortunately, their mutual realizations came as Regina understood that to save the residents of Storybrooke after Henry and Pan were switched back to normal, she had to sacrifice the thing she loved the most - Henry - and return to the Enchanted Forest. Storybrooke would cease to exist, and both he and Emma would lose all of their memories of the town ever existing. They would think it had always been just the two of them with Emma having never given him up for adoption. Emotionally saying goodbye to his mother, Henry blamed himself, knowing that it was his fault everything bad had happened. If he hadn't looked for Emma and brought her back with him, no one would have to be giving up anything. Regina wouldn't let him accept that blame though, and before parting from her forever, he declared that she wasn't a villain at all.
And then, Regina wasn't even a whisper of a memory in his mind.
A year went by with Henry believing that he was and always had been Henry Swan, only child of single mother Emma, until another now reformed villain, Hook, arrived to take them back to Storybrooke. The sleepy town was somehow on the magical map once more, with none of its normal residents having any memory of the past year they'd led in the Enchanted Forest. Henry was a typical pre-teen, absorbed in video games, head always down with his attention on a gaming system or on his cell phone. He recognized no one, not even the mother who had given him away. With the threat of Zelena - the Wicked Witch and Henry's aunt - trying to destroy Regina and turning people into flying monkeys, he fell under Hook's protection. The two of them bonded, but Henry was only confused by the happenings of Storybrooke because he had no idea what magic was, or how so many people seemed to know him and the mother he'd always thought was a loner. Regina realized that he needed to remember who he was as a first step toward defeating Zelena, and he needed the book to do so. Even though Emma was hesitant to have her son remember a life filled with magic, danger, and curses she finally relented, and as soon as his book was in his hands again Henry remembered everything. However, the residents of Storybrooke still didn't have their memories. Memories they hoped held the key in knowing how to get rid of the Wicked Witch for good.
Reunited with Regina now, it was a kiss to his forehead that broke the final curse and helped the residents remember the last year of their lives and how to defeat the Wicked Witch. He and Regina shared True Love's Kiss, solidifying the relationship between mother and son. Shortly after, Henry discovered that his mother's boyfriend was none other than Robin Hood which was infinitely cool. Talking with Emma, there was a certain sense of pride in knowing that she thought through the events in Storybrooke with him in mind, often saying 'It's what Henry would do.' For Henry, having Emma in his life was now a must, even if they left a life in New York behind. Their family, for now anyway, went back to normal after Zelena was brought down, but in Storybrooke, that never lasts.
CANON UPDATE BEGINS
We pick up with Henry’s family life falling apart just as it promised to right itself. With no curses on the horizon and all of his family in one place, the realization that Emma inadvertently brought Robin Hood’s presumably dead wife, Marian, to Storybrooke sent shockwaves through Henry’s household. In an attempt to shut everyone out, Henry is forced to move in with his grandparents and Emma, though he decides he has to try and get through to Regina. At first, he attempts to google ‘how to get over a breakup’ and send her a basket of chocolate and wine, but on second thought simply goes home and tells her he won’t abandon her, that she still has him and he wants to come home. This works, just in time for Elsa to arrive in Storybrooke along with a woman (her aunt) hell-bent on claiming Elsa and Emma as her sisters, destroying everyone else in the process.
In order to give Regina a new focus, she and Henry begin a new project together: Operation Mongoose. The goal is to find out who, exactly, wrote Henry’s book. Specifically, they both want to know and understand why Regina’s story has been written with so many negative things impacting her heavier than others in the book. What they discover together is a mansion, and as they press on, they discover the mansion has a secret room filled with empty books. There are hundreds of them, all completely blank but identical in how they look to Henry’s current book. Before any other exploration can happen, Marian is frozen by Ingrid and Henry aids Regina in ripping out Marian’s heart in order to keep it from being frozen forever. Henry goes to his mother’s vault of magic and brings back a box to store the heart in, indefinitely. Because his mom is now so focused on the Marian problem, Henry decides to take an apprenticeship at Rumplestiltskin’s antique shop, in the hopes that being around his grandfather will give him the answers he seeks about the book and its origins.
Meanwhile, Ingrid has been setting her own plan into motion to make Emma doubt herself and her magic which causes her to pull away from Henry and then, when he confronts her, she accidentally hurts him with her magic which is enough to make her want to push him away even further. With Ingrid’s plan firmly in place, it’s clear that a new curse is coming and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. The curse is one of Shattered Sight which causes everyone to become the worst reflection of themselves and in some cases, fight their perceived enemies to the death. For his own protection, Regina seals Henry in her office in City Hall, hoping that even though he’s affected by magic, no one will be able to come after him. However, a uncursed Hook attempts to locate Henry and bring him to Rumplestiltskin who is interested in taking his grandson out of Storybrooke for good. Henry outsmarts Hook and runs, taking his book with him. The curse is eventually broken and at the mansion of books, he’s reunited with his parents and grandparents for what appears to be a happy ending.
Six weeks of relative normalcy pass with Henry attending school, reconnecting with his family, and exploring the mansion to understand what the books mean. The peace doesn’t last, however, as soon as Cruella de Vil, Ursula, and Maleficent team up with Rumplestiltskin and a Chernabog is unleashed on Storybrooke. Regina and Emma defeat it with their magic combined, but it’s very clear very quickly that a new threat will attempt to tear the town apart. Meanwhile, Henry finds a loose page of his book, an illustration of a door, and though he has no idea what it is or what it could mean, it’s determined by his mothers that it should be guarded, with Regina going so far as to make a replica of it with her magic. This proves to be a solid plan when it becomes clear Rumplestiltskin needs that page for something, though no one knows what that something is. When a sleeping curse is cast by Maleficent, Henry finds himself completely unaffected, as people who have been under said curse cannot ever fall victim to it again. In a panic, he runs to the mansion to try and hide but he’s found by Regina and shortly after Cruella et. al. to demand the book page. Knowing his mother is working as a double agent, he gives over the fake page instead of the real one. He also finds a key, though he isn’t sure what it might be for and keeps it a secret. Only then does it become clear what Rumplestiltskin actually wants: There is an author, the author, trapped in that illustrated book page and he wants to free the man so that he can have his own happy ending written and make everyone else’s lives miserable. In essence, Henry’s grandfather wants to rewrite himself as the hero in Henry’s book instead of a villain with an unhappy ending.
What Henry doesn’t know is that the former author, Isaac, greatly misused his power as the author and rewrote many stories to fit his narrative better, including Cruella de Vil’s. Because she’s outraged about this (and because his family won’t give over Isaac after Emma inadvertently freed him), she kidnaps Henry as leverage to give up Isaac and threatens to kill the boy. Emma, however, kills her first, in front of Henry, though he’s not negatively affected, seeing the best in his mother and her urgent need to protect him. What they don’t realize is that Rumplestiltskin has already teamed up with Isaac to rewrite everything, and the next thing Henry knows, he’s waking up to a completely abandoned Storybrooke. There are literally no residents at all, and in a desperate attempt to find his family, he drives Regina’s car into the closest town.
Stopping inside of a diner, he sees a book for sale written by none other than Isaac titled Heroes and Villains. Upon further investigation, he realizes Isaac is doing a book signing and Henry crashes it, demanding to have his family released from the new version of the book. Isaac refuses, and it’s then that Henry realizes what the key he found will do. Stealing Isaac’s version of the Once Upon a Time book, Henry presses the key to the page and unlocks a portal that sends him into this alternate universe version of the Enchanted Forest that houses his family. Immediately he’s followed by Isaac who ties him to a platform in order to be killed by an ogre. Instead, Henry is saved by Rumplestiltskin, the new hero who does not recognize his grandson in any way. Once Henry is saved he tracks down Regina who is a bandit now on the run from the Evil Queen who is Snow White in this version of the story. He tries to convince Regina that none of this is real but she doesn’t believe him at all. That’s when he realizes he isn’t sure where Emma is, knowing he’ll need her to break this curse. He attempts to enlist the help of Captain Hook who is, in this AU, meek and cowardly, afraid to actually be a pirate. Still, Henry convinces him to set sail and find Emma, which they do in a locked tower. To Henry’s sheer relief, Emma is still herself and recognizes him immediately. He breaks her out of her prison and after defeating a dragon, sails with her back to convince Regina to help. Henry promises Regina that she has a true love, that this life isn’t her own and even takes her to try and meet Robin Hood, her soul mate. His plan is foiled when it’s discovered that here, Robin is actually planning to marry Zelena (Regina’s sister) the next day. If the wedding actually happens and the wedding bells toll, Henry’s family will be stuck in this AU forever with no hope of ever going home.
Determined not to let that happen, Henry and Emma team up with a reluctant bandit Regina to confront Rumplestiltskin. Emma is knocked out, and as Rumple prepares to strike a killing blow to Henry, Regina steps in front of him, sacrificing her life for his, even though she doesn’t know him. Isaac appears to gloat that he’s won before Emma punches him in the face, sending his belongings scattering. Henry picks up a pen, and when he holds it, it glows bright blue, magic washing over him. It’s quickly deduced that Isaac is no longer the author and now the torch has been passed on to Henry who quickly writes an alternate ending to the story. In an instant it works, and everyone is transported back to Storybrooke, including a now uninjured Regina. The Apprentice, a man who has been living just on the outskirts of town finally sits to speak with Henry about his new responsibilities in being the author. The only question Henry asks is whether or not he can use the pen to bring back his father, and the answer is no. There’s so much power in being able to write other people’s stories that Henry breaks the pen in half. It’s too much for one person, he thinks, and everyone should be able to write their own stories. When the Apprentice tries to remove the evil that has begun to consume Rumple’s heart, the evil is unleashed on the town and takes root in Emma. While Henry (and the rest of his family) watches, Emma disappears. It isn’t clear where she went, but they know she has become the new Dark One.
Eventually, via a magical tornado portal, Henry and his family (along with a few other residents of Storybrooke) make it to where Emma wound up - Camelot. Greeted by King Arthur they’re given clothes and shelter in the castle once Emma is located alive and (kind of) well. At a ball, Henry is immediately smitten by a girl his age named Violet, sharing his iPod with her and telling her about modern technology. This is his first crush and he wants to impress her, badly, so he tries to train himself in how to use a sword but her father has a few scathing remarks that completely deflate Henry. However, after speaking with both of his mothers and realizing he doesn’t have to be a prince to impress a girl, only himself, he sets up a date for just the two of them. It seems to be going well until Violet tells Henry that she doesn’t like like him which devastates Henry. When he finds his moms again it’s as they’re trying to release Merlin from a magical trap. They need a tear from someone who's lost love, and as it happens, Henry’s tear works to free Merlin. What Henry doesn’t know is that Emma - now the Dark One - is controlling Violet’s heart and manipulated the moment on their date in the hopes of making Henry cry.
While Emma is battling her inner Dark One, Henry and Hook want to try and distract her, to keep her from having terrible thoughts. So, Henry helps set up a date, apparently not too thrown by the failure with Violet. He does many things like this in Camelot just out of sight and as a result, it’s not wholly clear how Henry spends his time while the adults try to figure out a way to save Emma. In the end, it all feels futile when Emma must face losing Hook forever and letting him die, versus giving in to dark magic and using it to save her true love which ultimately will turn him into the Dark One as well. Henry watches this happen and then, via another portal, everyone is sent back to Storybrooke, however, everyone’s memories have been erased and not only do they not know how they got back to Storybrooke, Hook does not know what happened to him and no one understands how Emma has turned so dark so quickly. She threatens all of them - excluding Henry - with destroying their lives.
Back in Storybrooke and with no memory of failure before, Henry again has a crush on Violet and this time plans to help find her missing horse to win her over. Enlisting Emma’s help to try and do something normal, they find the horse together and Violet is thoroughly impressed. Once again, however, Henry’s world comes crashing down when a magical dreamcatcher reveals the memory of Emma taking Violet’s heart to control her. Henry feels completely betrayed and shuts Emma out of his life. That plan seems to go well until Hook finds out he’s actually a Dark One and decides to send Emma, plus the rest of her family, to their deaths by bringing back every Dark One that’s ever gone before him to destroy Storybrooke. While Henry watches, Hook battles with the driving thought to kill Emma, until he finds the strength to beg Emma to kill him to save everyone else. She does just that, Hook ultimately dies, and the former Dark Ones disappear. Unable to accept there’s no way to get her true love back, Emma embarks on a trip to the Underworld and for some reason, Henry’s allowed to go with her along with Regina, Snow and Charming, Robin Hood, and Rumplestiltskin.
Once in the Underworld - which looks exactly like Storybrooke but filled with the souls of the departed - Henry is taken by Regina to meet his namesake, his grandfather Henry whom Regina murdered around 30 years prior. Seeing his daughter stand up to her abusive mother helped him move on, but not before Henry was able to tell his grandfather that Regina is someone he should be proud of. Left to his own devices after that, Henry is cornered by the dearly departed Cruella who shows him the pen he broke - even it has a place in the afterlife - and tells him he can’t escape his destiny to be the Author. So, of course, she wants him to write her a happier ending, to bring her back from the dead. She entices him by explaining should he bring Cruella back, then Emma will no longer have the mark of a murderer on her soul. Henry decides to tell no one this information and even lies to Robin when confronted about his whereabouts. Ultimately, Henry decides he can use the pen to be the Author for people whose stories actually deserve to be written and leaves Cruella to her fate in the Underworld before leaving with his family without the Hook they came for. Unfortunately for Henry, he loses another father figure in Robin when he is killed by Hades, though on the day of Robin’s funeral, Zeus brings Hook back to life. Henry knows that’s not fair, that one mom gets the love of her life back but the other doesn’t, so he’s completely and utterly done with magic. Running away to New York with Violet, Henry finds the opposite of the Holy Grail and destroys it which thusly destroys magic. Unbeknownst to him, his grandparents (Snow and Charming), Hook, and Zelena are stuck in another realm and without magic, have no way of getting home. Once word gets back to Henry, he makes an impassioned speech in front of the New York Public library imploring the general public to believe in magic and make a wish as they throw coins in a fountain. It works (because this is Disney) and a portal opens in said fountain, in the middle of NYC, his entire family stepping through. No civilian asked any questions at all about this moment. Amazing.
Once the dust settles back home, Henry manages to convince Regina that Robin was able to move on after he died, that he’s someplace better. It gives her the nudge she needs to try and repair her relationship with her sister and fulfills Henry’s wish for his family to all be together, at least temporarily. Unbeknownst to him at the time, there is another version of Regina walking around town - the actual Evil Queen. She wants Henry for herself while destroying Regina and begins planting ideas in Henry’s head that the people he loves may not always be honest with him. This is proven when he discovers that Hook is hiding the Shears of Destiny, magic scissors that can cut people from their pre-destined fate. Upset at him, Henry confronts Hook but at that very moment, Rumplestiltskin’s son, Gideon (who has been hell-bent on killing Emma, but Henry isn’t aware of that at this point) traps both Henry and Hook on a submarine belonging to Captain Nemo. While trapped, Hook confesses to Henry that he was only trying to keep Emma safe by lying regarding the sheers, and the pair works together to get back to Storybrooke.
When he’s home, Henry plans to go to the school dance with Violet, seeking advice from Regina. He has no idea that the Evil Queen has actually trapped both of his mothers in another realm but he does know right away that this is not His mother. Once he realizes Regina and Emma are trapped, he’s faced with freeing them on his own. The Evil Queen tries to convince Henry that if he kills a wise man known as the Dragon, she’ll free Emma and Regina but instead, Henry uses a magical item to shatter the portal containing his mothers which sets them free. He tells the Evil Queen that she’s not his mother and that no one will ever love her because of how terrible she is. Shortly after this, Henry is writing when his eyes roll back in his head and he begins writing strange symbols that make no sense. The only person who might be able to explain is the previous Author who has been locked away in a basement cell following his previous shenanigans. In exchange for Hamilton tickets (??????) Isaac agrees to help Henry by telling him he’s beginning to near the end of his book but there’s no happy ending coming. There is a final battle that Emma must face, and Henry realizes this battle could mean the death of his mother with no way to stop it. There isn’t anything he can do to alter the story which makes him feel powerless, but despite possible death on the horizon, Emma and Hook decide to get married in a rooftop ceremony. It’s perfect until a curse is cast and once again, Henry awakens in an altered version of Storybrooke. This time, Emma believes she’s a mental patient in a psych ward who convinced Henry to believe in fairytales, while the rest of Henry’s family is stuck in the Enchanted Forest, courtesy of the curse. If Henry can’t manage to get Emma to believe him, in all the stories, then they’ll be gone forever with no hope of ever getting back to Storybrooke. Henry takes her to the place where she got married, and while it does spark some belief in Emma, it isn’t enough. Unable to find his book, Henry realizes the entire town now believes the woman who cast the curse, Fiona, is his adoptive mother. Everything about his life is the same, though, including therapy with Archie. On a hunch, Henry goes to Archie’s office to see if his book is there, and sure enough, it is. Fiona catches him and magically pushes him down a flight of stairs, landing Henry in the hospital. She uses the accident to convince Emma the book is dangerous and it should be burned, which she agrees to. Fiona then serves Henry the ashes of his destroyed book on a silver platter.
Undeterred, and with Rumplestiltskin on his side, Henry hand draws a new book for Emma and it’s enough to get her to help and believe in him, which keeps everyone in the Enchanted Forest safe. Once Rumple kills Fiona, the rest of Henry’ family is brought back to Storybrooke. However, the final battle Isaac mentioned still has to happen, and while going up against Gideon, the son of the Dark one who wants the Savior’s powers for himself, Emma sacrifices herself to die. She literally falls on her sword, but because her sacrifice was purely good, she doesn’t die. Everything is restored to the way it should be, and Henry can finally write a happy ending in his book, with his entire family together, safe, and not threatened by anything. Henry eventually finishes school, but instead of going to college elects to use a magic bean to create a portal to a new land. He wants to find his story now and seek his happy ending.
Approximately ten years later, Henry lives in Washington State but what he doesn’t know is that he’s cursed. He believes he’s a successful novelist, having written a book titled Once Upon a Time. He also believes he has a wife and daughter who died tragically in a fire. One evening, there’s a knock on his door and when he opens it, a young girl tells him that her name is Lucy and that he’s her father. This leads him on a mission to find her parents because of course, he doesn’t believe this child, and when he drives her home, meets a woman named Roni who runs a nice bar in the town Lucy is from - Hyperion Heights. He also meets a cop named Officer Rogers. What Henry doesn’t know is that Rogers is Hook and Roni is Regina. All of them have been cursed similar to the original curse that created Storybrooke.
This is when Henry will re-enter Wonderland, believing his cursed adult life is the only life he’s ever known.
***Per my understanding, Henry should have a vague sense of Wonderland but he doesn’t need to recollect it to every fine detail. If it works, I’d like to have him find it familiar because he thought he was going to write this as the first draft of his book. That way, it can be something he knows, but he doesn’t know how he knows it. If that doesn’t work, please let me know!
Abilities/Special Powers: Henry can write people's stories with a magic pen, but that's his only ability outside of Regina teaching him magic in game only.
NEW WRITING SAMPLES
Third person sample
A beer. That’s all Henry wants as he leaves the police station in Hyperion Heights. It’s been a hell of a day between this little girl claiming to be his and reliving painful memories of losing his own daughter. Walking into Roni’s bar, he sits, heavily, letting out a slow exhale.
He doesn’t have a kid.
Not anymore.
His wife isn’t Cinderella, either, there’s no such thing as magic, and honestly, if he’d known his book would be this impactful he might have inserted even more fantastical elements. Maybe placing fairy tale characters into the real world was a bad idea, and yet there’s a part of him that still thinks the concept is cool. For one single kid who has an over-active imagination, should he really forget his plans of a sequel? Probably not. Or, maybe she’s right and one day the memories he has of not getting to his family in time, of watching his house burn and the firefighters telling him there’s nothing else they can do will be swept away. Gone, because he was only cursed.
If only life actually worked out that way.
When he sees Roni, Henry looks up and smiles a little, somehow comforted by her presence at the bar even though they’ve only just met.
“Hey, Roni. I’ll take a cold beer. Maybe two. You know what? Just leave the tab open.”
Network post
[ He’s been here about ten minutes and he really needs to get out, now. Because he’s either losing his mind, or he fell and hit his head, or he’s dead, or something. He would almost swear he’s been here before except he knows he hasn’t. He does know he was going to write about a version of Wonderland in his book but never got there, so is he somehow living that discarded draft? All he can think to do is actually confront the residents via video message. ]
Okay, so, hello. Just to get the basics out of the way, I’m Henry Mills and I guess I’m new here. Whatever else people want to know, sure, ask away, but I do have a question.
How the hell did I get here? I mean is there a running theory, is this a fever dream we’re all sharing, something in the water? I was having a beer and then I was in this place so any answers would be really appreciated at this point.
Also: did you believe in magic before coming here because this closet situation is seriously freaking me out.
[ What is happening and how is it possible? ]
Anyway, just thought I’d introduce myself. Sorry if I wasted anyone’s time.
-----old, previous samples from original app-----
Third-Person Sample:
Henry sits on his bed, cross legged in a bedroom he hasn't been in for over a year, and tries to remember why he ever felt like his mom didn't love him. It doesn't really stand out to him anymore, one thing that she maybe did, but he does remember the day she told him he was adopted, that she didn't know who his father was, or where he came from other than she drove to Boston to adopt him. She never answered any of his questions or even tried, and the more she'd told him no or dissuaded him from trying to find out, the more he pulled away.
Standing, he makes his way to his bookshelves and reaches for a small strip of pictures they took once together at the school carnival. He smiles, remembering that she hadn't wanted to get into the small photo booth but he convinced her, and that was maybe the last time they smiled together in pictures. She doesn't smile a lot, he realizes, and now she smiles even less.
(There's so much baby stuff in here. A nightlight still on his bedside table. He needs his things from New York. He wishes he could say goodbye to his friends.)
The disaster in the diner, with Marian being back, made Henry unsure how to feel. He knew Emma was doing the right thing, and that was good. She was a hero, and Marian didn't have to die. But now his mom wouldn't leave her room; he hadn't even seen her all day, and he knew it was because she thought she didn't get to be happy. Even though he told her she wasn't a villain, he knew she still thought she was. It didn't help that he'd spent a long time before last year calling her one.
(You're not my mom. He wishes he could take that one back now that he's a little older, a little smarter.)
Leaving his room he tip toes down the dark hallway and stands outside of hers. He hears nothing, sees no light coming from beneath the frame, but slowly opens the door. Everything is dark, her back to him, and he can't tell if she's asleep or not. Quietly, he makes his way inside and pulls off his shoes before climbing onto the bed with her. Emma had wanted him to leave Regina alone, to give her space, but he refused to leave her by herself.
"Mom?"
There is no movement for a few long moments, but then he hears a very quiet sigh. "You don't have to be here, Henry." He can hear that her voice sounds rough, like maybe she's been screaming, and he shakes his head.
"No. I want to stay." He lays down, watching her back, watching it move as she breathes, and he doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know how to make it better. "I love you," he finally says quietly, words that he maybe doesn't say enough to her, and he can hear her breathing hitch before she turns to face him, her fingers reaching out to touch his cheek.
"I love you, Henry."
He's really too old for cuddling, and he doesn't even know if this is the right thing to do, but he still shifts against her, moving to tuck his head under her chin. "It'll be okay. I promise." He can believe that, and he can believe it enough for both of them.
First-Person Sample:
[Henry really doesn't understand how he came to be in a garden when he was just going to try and find Robin to maybe talk to his mom; there was a lot happening, and maybe if he could convince him...but that didn't seem to matter now. He broke through a clearing in the forest when suddenly there was a fountain in front of him, and a lot of flowers and hedges and -
- there's something in his pocket that most definitely wasn't there before. He pulls it out, turning it over, and it sort of seems like his cell phone. So, he starts pushing buttons and finds the camera. Switching it to record, he flips the camera so that it's facing him, and pauses, trying to figure out what to say. Not even sure if this is the right thing to do.]
Um...I'm Henry. And I think maybe I walked through a portal. If you don't know what that is, then, it's sort of like a magic door. And if you do know what that is, do you know who my moms are? Regina and Emma.
[He pauses again; what if they think something really bad happened to him? Has something really bad happened to him?] If you know them, and you can maybe get a message to them, tell them I'm okay. I can figure this out. [They were both really brave, and he can be too. He just has to be calm.]
Okay, well, if someone could maybe tell me where I am...I think that would be good. I just want to go back home, to Storybrooke. [He stops the recording then hits 'send,' not even sure of where it's going. And then he just waits, wondering how long he should before striking out to try and find answers.]
DW username: N/A
E-Mail: brittany.duke84@gmail.com
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Plurk: propernice
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Character Name: Henry Mills
Series: Once Upon a Time
Timeline: Episode 3x22, 'There's No Place Like Home' from the very end.
UPDATED TIME LINE: Episode 7x03 right at the end of the episode.
Canon Resource Link: OUAT wiki link
Character History: Henry has two sets of memories, two lives, and both are as important to him as the other. In one life he was Henry Mills, the adopted son of Regina. He was well off, and while he was very obviously loved by Regina he often felt that he didn't belong, that he didn't have a true family. He was a lonely boy, often escaping to a play castle or holing up in his room with comic books. Shortly after turning ten, he was tasked with needing to complete a project for school about his family tree, and he could only stare at the paper helplessly with no 'father' section to fill in and only his mother's name next to his. He had no one, just a singular parent who left him alone sometimes and worked too much. His best friend, as it would turn out, was his therapist.
The therapy wasn't even truly warranted, as it was a last-ditch effort to figure out why he felt so withdrawn and pulled away from his mother. Lost and forlorn, his teacher, Ms. Blanchard, gave him a book about fairy tales that was titled only 'Once Upon a Time.' It was when he opened the book that he finally felt a connection to anything around him and could see the people in his hometown of Storybrooke as they really were. Ms. Blanchard was Snow White, his therapist Jiminy Cricket, and almost as if he expected it to be so, his mother was none other than the Evil Queen. He read through the book and discovered that she had cursed everyone into forgetting who they were, and he immediately turned on her - not realizing that she had also cursed herself and didn't understand why Henry pulled away so dramatically. His sole mission then was to find the Savior, his biological mother Emma, to break the curse. Swiping Ms. Blanchard's credit card (for the cause; Emma was Snow White's daughter), he tracked her down by using whosyourdaddy.com, and bought himself a one-way bus ticket to Boston.
By the time he talked Emma into staying in Storybrooke, it was clear that she was doing something to impact the curse the Evil Queen cast, and Henry was determined to make her believe that the town of fairy tale characters wasn't something he made up. Dubbing the mission to break Regina's curse 'Operation Cobra,' with Emma in town, Regina's spell began to weaken, but with so many odds stacked against them, the Savior simply wanted to get out of town and take her son with her. Everything became much more real and dangerous after Henry and the Sheriff, Graham, started talking. Realizing that Graham was starting to remember his life in the Enchanted Forest as the Huntsman, Henry encouraged him to try and figure things out. Regina realized though that Graham was remembering, and without hesitation killed him. Henry blamed himself, knowing that it was all his fault that a good person died, though on the outside it simply looked as if Graham died of a heart attack.
Emma understood that Henry wasn't happy in Storybrooke, and together they were bound to leave for good until Henry realized they couldn't go with all of the town still under the Queen's spell. He confronted Regina soon after, declaring that she was evil and she could never, ever win against good. With Emma not believing that she was truly in danger if Regina was allowed to continue, Henry did the only thing he could think of to make her believe in magic: Regina made an apple turnover laced with a sleeping curse - the same that Snow White was once the victim of. Though the dessert was meant for Emma, Henry took a bite knowing that it would be what his biological mother needed to believe in him, to believe in the curse, and be the Savior she was destined to become. He trusted her and believed in her with everything in him, and he immediately fell asleep, but when Emma kissed his forehead after she thought he'd passed away, Henry opened his eyes. Regina's curse was broken, everyone remembered, and he stayed close to Emma and his grandparents, Snow White and Prince Charming.
The family reunion didn't last long, however, with his mom (Emma) and grandmother disappearing through a portal back to their homeland, the Enchanted Forest. While Henry wanted to stay with his grandfather, Regina had other plans and held the town hostage until he came forward, going home with her willingly. When he tried to escape she restrained him with her magic, using tree branches to bind him, but finally, she saw reason and admitted she didn't know how to love him very well. Letting him go, Henry stayed with his gramps and avoided Regina the best that he could. As a side effect of the sleeping curse, he began having nightmares, but it soon proved to be a way to communicate with his family that was stuck in the Enchanted Forest. When it was realized that Charming needed to have access to the same dreamworld Henry had, a new sleeping curse had to be brewed. Observing Regina while she worked her chemistry type magic, she promised that she was attempting to change, and Henry tentatively decided to believe her though he didn't move back into her house. It was soon realized by Henry though, that Regina was going to try and close the only portal Emma and Snow could come through which would trap them forever. Begging Regina at the portal to not seal their fate, he asked her to stop saying she was changing and actually prove it. His words struck a chord with Regina, and she reversed the magic that would have sealed the portal at the risk of her own life. When Emma and Snow returned, the entire Charming family lived under one small roof, but Henry finally had his family, all of them, and he preferred to keep it that way.
Shortly after, Rumplestiltskin soon collected on a favor, commanding that Emma take him to New York to help him find his missing son, Baelfire. With Regina's mother in town, a powerful woman who managed to convince Regina to take out anyone keeping her from Henry, he went with Emma on her trip, his first out of Storybrooke. While there, Emma did find Baelfire who, as it turned out, was Neal Cassidy - Henry's father. It was a confusing moment for Henry, having been told by Emma that his father was a firefighter who died a hero. Henry, having never dealt with liars well, shut Emma out and began to try getting to know his father. Of course, through this, it came to light that his grandfather was none other than Rumplestiltskin himself, and years ago, a seer predicted that Henry would be his undoing. Which meant that Henry would have to die. Before anything could be realized, Captain Hook, having traveled to New York on his pirate ship to exact revenge against Rumple, successfully managed to poison him before being subdued by Emma. With time on the line, Henry steered the Jolly Roger (with his father's help) back to Storybrooke.
Once again there was no lasting peace in town, as two strangers threatened to destroy them all. Henry did manage to make up with Emma under the condition that she never lie to him again. And then, tragedy struck when Neal was shot by one of the strangers and fell through a portal, presumably dead. With no time to grieve, Henry was facing the loss of Regina, of everyone who had been born in the Enchanted Forest (including Emma) at the hands of the strangers. But Regina stepped forward to save everyone, sacrificing her own life. It was then that Henry realized his mother was changing for the best. Hugging his grandparents and Emma, Henry stood with Regina, holding onto her, determined to be with her in her final moments. Her death, though, was avoided with Emma's magical assistance. Henry, however, was kidnapped by the strangers soon after, and they took him through a portal to Neverland, delivering him to Peter Pan.
At first, Henry resisted giving into Pan's words, that his family abandoned him, believing that both of his moms would be rescuing him. But the longer he was in Neverland, the easier it was for Pan to sway him. When his parents finally had a chance to take him out of Pan's grasp, Henry decided to finally be the hero he always wanted. Thinking that the island needed Henry's heart, (one of a true believer) in order to save magic, he pulled it out of his chest and gave it to Pan who had no such intention of saving anything but himself. Taking Henry's magical heart as his own, there was precious little time left to save Henry's life. Regina did though, by breaking free from Pan's magical bindings. His plan had been to make her suffer with all of her regrets, but the truth was she had none because every choice in her past led her directly to having Henry. Once she had her son's heart back and in his chest again, Henry was on his way back to Storybrooke.
Before he could make it there, Pan managed to switch bodies with him, and as Henry, planned to curse Storybrooke. As Pan now, the real Henry first convinced Emma and his grandfather that it was really him before he confronted Regina, promising her that she still had him, and that he would always need her. He'd finally come to an understanding of her, that she was trying to be a better person, and her love for him never went away. It was hard to see when she was doing bad things, but she loved him, and she wanted to be a good person for him. Unfortunately, their mutual realizations came as Regina understood that to save the residents of Storybrooke after Henry and Pan were switched back to normal, she had to sacrifice the thing she loved the most - Henry - and return to the Enchanted Forest. Storybrooke would cease to exist, and both he and Emma would lose all of their memories of the town ever existing. They would think it had always been just the two of them with Emma having never given him up for adoption. Emotionally saying goodbye to his mother, Henry blamed himself, knowing that it was his fault everything bad had happened. If he hadn't looked for Emma and brought her back with him, no one would have to be giving up anything. Regina wouldn't let him accept that blame though, and before parting from her forever, he declared that she wasn't a villain at all.
And then, Regina wasn't even a whisper of a memory in his mind.
A year went by with Henry believing that he was and always had been Henry Swan, only child of single mother Emma, until another now reformed villain, Hook, arrived to take them back to Storybrooke. The sleepy town was somehow on the magical map once more, with none of its normal residents having any memory of the past year they'd led in the Enchanted Forest. Henry was a typical pre-teen, absorbed in video games, head always down with his attention on a gaming system or on his cell phone. He recognized no one, not even the mother who had given him away. With the threat of Zelena - the Wicked Witch and Henry's aunt - trying to destroy Regina and turning people into flying monkeys, he fell under Hook's protection. The two of them bonded, but Henry was only confused by the happenings of Storybrooke because he had no idea what magic was, or how so many people seemed to know him and the mother he'd always thought was a loner. Regina realized that he needed to remember who he was as a first step toward defeating Zelena, and he needed the book to do so. Even though Emma was hesitant to have her son remember a life filled with magic, danger, and curses she finally relented, and as soon as his book was in his hands again Henry remembered everything. However, the residents of Storybrooke still didn't have their memories. Memories they hoped held the key in knowing how to get rid of the Wicked Witch for good.
Reunited with Regina now, it was a kiss to his forehead that broke the final curse and helped the residents remember the last year of their lives and how to defeat the Wicked Witch. He and Regina shared True Love's Kiss, solidifying the relationship between mother and son. Shortly after, Henry discovered that his mother's boyfriend was none other than Robin Hood which was infinitely cool. Talking with Emma, there was a certain sense of pride in knowing that she thought through the events in Storybrooke with him in mind, often saying 'It's what Henry would do.' For Henry, having Emma in his life was now a must, even if they left a life in New York behind. Their family, for now anyway, went back to normal after Zelena was brought down, but in Storybrooke, that never lasts.
CANON UPDATE BEGINS
We pick up with Henry’s family life falling apart just as it promised to right itself. With no curses on the horizon and all of his family in one place, the realization that Emma inadvertently brought Robin Hood’s presumably dead wife, Marian, to Storybrooke sent shockwaves through Henry’s household. In an attempt to shut everyone out, Henry is forced to move in with his grandparents and Emma, though he decides he has to try and get through to Regina. At first, he attempts to google ‘how to get over a breakup’ and send her a basket of chocolate and wine, but on second thought simply goes home and tells her he won’t abandon her, that she still has him and he wants to come home. This works, just in time for Elsa to arrive in Storybrooke along with a woman (her aunt) hell-bent on claiming Elsa and Emma as her sisters, destroying everyone else in the process.
In order to give Regina a new focus, she and Henry begin a new project together: Operation Mongoose. The goal is to find out who, exactly, wrote Henry’s book. Specifically, they both want to know and understand why Regina’s story has been written with so many negative things impacting her heavier than others in the book. What they discover together is a mansion, and as they press on, they discover the mansion has a secret room filled with empty books. There are hundreds of them, all completely blank but identical in how they look to Henry’s current book. Before any other exploration can happen, Marian is frozen by Ingrid and Henry aids Regina in ripping out Marian’s heart in order to keep it from being frozen forever. Henry goes to his mother’s vault of magic and brings back a box to store the heart in, indefinitely. Because his mom is now so focused on the Marian problem, Henry decides to take an apprenticeship at Rumplestiltskin’s antique shop, in the hopes that being around his grandfather will give him the answers he seeks about the book and its origins.
Meanwhile, Ingrid has been setting her own plan into motion to make Emma doubt herself and her magic which causes her to pull away from Henry and then, when he confronts her, she accidentally hurts him with her magic which is enough to make her want to push him away even further. With Ingrid’s plan firmly in place, it’s clear that a new curse is coming and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop it. The curse is one of Shattered Sight which causes everyone to become the worst reflection of themselves and in some cases, fight their perceived enemies to the death. For his own protection, Regina seals Henry in her office in City Hall, hoping that even though he’s affected by magic, no one will be able to come after him. However, a uncursed Hook attempts to locate Henry and bring him to Rumplestiltskin who is interested in taking his grandson out of Storybrooke for good. Henry outsmarts Hook and runs, taking his book with him. The curse is eventually broken and at the mansion of books, he’s reunited with his parents and grandparents for what appears to be a happy ending.
Six weeks of relative normalcy pass with Henry attending school, reconnecting with his family, and exploring the mansion to understand what the books mean. The peace doesn’t last, however, as soon as Cruella de Vil, Ursula, and Maleficent team up with Rumplestiltskin and a Chernabog is unleashed on Storybrooke. Regina and Emma defeat it with their magic combined, but it’s very clear very quickly that a new threat will attempt to tear the town apart. Meanwhile, Henry finds a loose page of his book, an illustration of a door, and though he has no idea what it is or what it could mean, it’s determined by his mothers that it should be guarded, with Regina going so far as to make a replica of it with her magic. This proves to be a solid plan when it becomes clear Rumplestiltskin needs that page for something, though no one knows what that something is. When a sleeping curse is cast by Maleficent, Henry finds himself completely unaffected, as people who have been under said curse cannot ever fall victim to it again. In a panic, he runs to the mansion to try and hide but he’s found by Regina and shortly after Cruella et. al. to demand the book page. Knowing his mother is working as a double agent, he gives over the fake page instead of the real one. He also finds a key, though he isn’t sure what it might be for and keeps it a secret. Only then does it become clear what Rumplestiltskin actually wants: There is an author, the author, trapped in that illustrated book page and he wants to free the man so that he can have his own happy ending written and make everyone else’s lives miserable. In essence, Henry’s grandfather wants to rewrite himself as the hero in Henry’s book instead of a villain with an unhappy ending.
What Henry doesn’t know is that the former author, Isaac, greatly misused his power as the author and rewrote many stories to fit his narrative better, including Cruella de Vil’s. Because she’s outraged about this (and because his family won’t give over Isaac after Emma inadvertently freed him), she kidnaps Henry as leverage to give up Isaac and threatens to kill the boy. Emma, however, kills her first, in front of Henry, though he’s not negatively affected, seeing the best in his mother and her urgent need to protect him. What they don’t realize is that Rumplestiltskin has already teamed up with Isaac to rewrite everything, and the next thing Henry knows, he’s waking up to a completely abandoned Storybrooke. There are literally no residents at all, and in a desperate attempt to find his family, he drives Regina’s car into the closest town.
Stopping inside of a diner, he sees a book for sale written by none other than Isaac titled Heroes and Villains. Upon further investigation, he realizes Isaac is doing a book signing and Henry crashes it, demanding to have his family released from the new version of the book. Isaac refuses, and it’s then that Henry realizes what the key he found will do. Stealing Isaac’s version of the Once Upon a Time book, Henry presses the key to the page and unlocks a portal that sends him into this alternate universe version of the Enchanted Forest that houses his family. Immediately he’s followed by Isaac who ties him to a platform in order to be killed by an ogre. Instead, Henry is saved by Rumplestiltskin, the new hero who does not recognize his grandson in any way. Once Henry is saved he tracks down Regina who is a bandit now on the run from the Evil Queen who is Snow White in this version of the story. He tries to convince Regina that none of this is real but she doesn’t believe him at all. That’s when he realizes he isn’t sure where Emma is, knowing he’ll need her to break this curse. He attempts to enlist the help of Captain Hook who is, in this AU, meek and cowardly, afraid to actually be a pirate. Still, Henry convinces him to set sail and find Emma, which they do in a locked tower. To Henry’s sheer relief, Emma is still herself and recognizes him immediately. He breaks her out of her prison and after defeating a dragon, sails with her back to convince Regina to help. Henry promises Regina that she has a true love, that this life isn’t her own and even takes her to try and meet Robin Hood, her soul mate. His plan is foiled when it’s discovered that here, Robin is actually planning to marry Zelena (Regina’s sister) the next day. If the wedding actually happens and the wedding bells toll, Henry’s family will be stuck in this AU forever with no hope of ever going home.
Determined not to let that happen, Henry and Emma team up with a reluctant bandit Regina to confront Rumplestiltskin. Emma is knocked out, and as Rumple prepares to strike a killing blow to Henry, Regina steps in front of him, sacrificing her life for his, even though she doesn’t know him. Isaac appears to gloat that he’s won before Emma punches him in the face, sending his belongings scattering. Henry picks up a pen, and when he holds it, it glows bright blue, magic washing over him. It’s quickly deduced that Isaac is no longer the author and now the torch has been passed on to Henry who quickly writes an alternate ending to the story. In an instant it works, and everyone is transported back to Storybrooke, including a now uninjured Regina. The Apprentice, a man who has been living just on the outskirts of town finally sits to speak with Henry about his new responsibilities in being the author. The only question Henry asks is whether or not he can use the pen to bring back his father, and the answer is no. There’s so much power in being able to write other people’s stories that Henry breaks the pen in half. It’s too much for one person, he thinks, and everyone should be able to write their own stories. When the Apprentice tries to remove the evil that has begun to consume Rumple’s heart, the evil is unleashed on the town and takes root in Emma. While Henry (and the rest of his family) watches, Emma disappears. It isn’t clear where she went, but they know she has become the new Dark One.
Eventually, via a magical tornado portal, Henry and his family (along with a few other residents of Storybrooke) make it to where Emma wound up - Camelot. Greeted by King Arthur they’re given clothes and shelter in the castle once Emma is located alive and (kind of) well. At a ball, Henry is immediately smitten by a girl his age named Violet, sharing his iPod with her and telling her about modern technology. This is his first crush and he wants to impress her, badly, so he tries to train himself in how to use a sword but her father has a few scathing remarks that completely deflate Henry. However, after speaking with both of his mothers and realizing he doesn’t have to be a prince to impress a girl, only himself, he sets up a date for just the two of them. It seems to be going well until Violet tells Henry that she doesn’t like like him which devastates Henry. When he finds his moms again it’s as they’re trying to release Merlin from a magical trap. They need a tear from someone who's lost love, and as it happens, Henry’s tear works to free Merlin. What Henry doesn’t know is that Emma - now the Dark One - is controlling Violet’s heart and manipulated the moment on their date in the hopes of making Henry cry.
While Emma is battling her inner Dark One, Henry and Hook want to try and distract her, to keep her from having terrible thoughts. So, Henry helps set up a date, apparently not too thrown by the failure with Violet. He does many things like this in Camelot just out of sight and as a result, it’s not wholly clear how Henry spends his time while the adults try to figure out a way to save Emma. In the end, it all feels futile when Emma must face losing Hook forever and letting him die, versus giving in to dark magic and using it to save her true love which ultimately will turn him into the Dark One as well. Henry watches this happen and then, via another portal, everyone is sent back to Storybrooke, however, everyone’s memories have been erased and not only do they not know how they got back to Storybrooke, Hook does not know what happened to him and no one understands how Emma has turned so dark so quickly. She threatens all of them - excluding Henry - with destroying their lives.
Back in Storybrooke and with no memory of failure before, Henry again has a crush on Violet and this time plans to help find her missing horse to win her over. Enlisting Emma’s help to try and do something normal, they find the horse together and Violet is thoroughly impressed. Once again, however, Henry’s world comes crashing down when a magical dreamcatcher reveals the memory of Emma taking Violet’s heart to control her. Henry feels completely betrayed and shuts Emma out of his life. That plan seems to go well until Hook finds out he’s actually a Dark One and decides to send Emma, plus the rest of her family, to their deaths by bringing back every Dark One that’s ever gone before him to destroy Storybrooke. While Henry watches, Hook battles with the driving thought to kill Emma, until he finds the strength to beg Emma to kill him to save everyone else. She does just that, Hook ultimately dies, and the former Dark Ones disappear. Unable to accept there’s no way to get her true love back, Emma embarks on a trip to the Underworld and for some reason, Henry’s allowed to go with her along with Regina, Snow and Charming, Robin Hood, and Rumplestiltskin.
Once in the Underworld - which looks exactly like Storybrooke but filled with the souls of the departed - Henry is taken by Regina to meet his namesake, his grandfather Henry whom Regina murdered around 30 years prior. Seeing his daughter stand up to her abusive mother helped him move on, but not before Henry was able to tell his grandfather that Regina is someone he should be proud of. Left to his own devices after that, Henry is cornered by the dearly departed Cruella who shows him the pen he broke - even it has a place in the afterlife - and tells him he can’t escape his destiny to be the Author. So, of course, she wants him to write her a happier ending, to bring her back from the dead. She entices him by explaining should he bring Cruella back, then Emma will no longer have the mark of a murderer on her soul. Henry decides to tell no one this information and even lies to Robin when confronted about his whereabouts. Ultimately, Henry decides he can use the pen to be the Author for people whose stories actually deserve to be written and leaves Cruella to her fate in the Underworld before leaving with his family without the Hook they came for. Unfortunately for Henry, he loses another father figure in Robin when he is killed by Hades, though on the day of Robin’s funeral, Zeus brings Hook back to life. Henry knows that’s not fair, that one mom gets the love of her life back but the other doesn’t, so he’s completely and utterly done with magic. Running away to New York with Violet, Henry finds the opposite of the Holy Grail and destroys it which thusly destroys magic. Unbeknownst to him, his grandparents (Snow and Charming), Hook, and Zelena are stuck in another realm and without magic, have no way of getting home. Once word gets back to Henry, he makes an impassioned speech in front of the New York Public library imploring the general public to believe in magic and make a wish as they throw coins in a fountain. It works (because this is Disney) and a portal opens in said fountain, in the middle of NYC, his entire family stepping through. No civilian asked any questions at all about this moment. Amazing.
Once the dust settles back home, Henry manages to convince Regina that Robin was able to move on after he died, that he’s someplace better. It gives her the nudge she needs to try and repair her relationship with her sister and fulfills Henry’s wish for his family to all be together, at least temporarily. Unbeknownst to him at the time, there is another version of Regina walking around town - the actual Evil Queen. She wants Henry for herself while destroying Regina and begins planting ideas in Henry’s head that the people he loves may not always be honest with him. This is proven when he discovers that Hook is hiding the Shears of Destiny, magic scissors that can cut people from their pre-destined fate. Upset at him, Henry confronts Hook but at that very moment, Rumplestiltskin’s son, Gideon (who has been hell-bent on killing Emma, but Henry isn’t aware of that at this point) traps both Henry and Hook on a submarine belonging to Captain Nemo. While trapped, Hook confesses to Henry that he was only trying to keep Emma safe by lying regarding the sheers, and the pair works together to get back to Storybrooke.
When he’s home, Henry plans to go to the school dance with Violet, seeking advice from Regina. He has no idea that the Evil Queen has actually trapped both of his mothers in another realm but he does know right away that this is not His mother. Once he realizes Regina and Emma are trapped, he’s faced with freeing them on his own. The Evil Queen tries to convince Henry that if he kills a wise man known as the Dragon, she’ll free Emma and Regina but instead, Henry uses a magical item to shatter the portal containing his mothers which sets them free. He tells the Evil Queen that she’s not his mother and that no one will ever love her because of how terrible she is. Shortly after this, Henry is writing when his eyes roll back in his head and he begins writing strange symbols that make no sense. The only person who might be able to explain is the previous Author who has been locked away in a basement cell following his previous shenanigans. In exchange for Hamilton tickets (??????) Isaac agrees to help Henry by telling him he’s beginning to near the end of his book but there’s no happy ending coming. There is a final battle that Emma must face, and Henry realizes this battle could mean the death of his mother with no way to stop it. There isn’t anything he can do to alter the story which makes him feel powerless, but despite possible death on the horizon, Emma and Hook decide to get married in a rooftop ceremony. It’s perfect until a curse is cast and once again, Henry awakens in an altered version of Storybrooke. This time, Emma believes she’s a mental patient in a psych ward who convinced Henry to believe in fairytales, while the rest of Henry’s family is stuck in the Enchanted Forest, courtesy of the curse. If Henry can’t manage to get Emma to believe him, in all the stories, then they’ll be gone forever with no hope of ever getting back to Storybrooke. Henry takes her to the place where she got married, and while it does spark some belief in Emma, it isn’t enough. Unable to find his book, Henry realizes the entire town now believes the woman who cast the curse, Fiona, is his adoptive mother. Everything about his life is the same, though, including therapy with Archie. On a hunch, Henry goes to Archie’s office to see if his book is there, and sure enough, it is. Fiona catches him and magically pushes him down a flight of stairs, landing Henry in the hospital. She uses the accident to convince Emma the book is dangerous and it should be burned, which she agrees to. Fiona then serves Henry the ashes of his destroyed book on a silver platter.
Undeterred, and with Rumplestiltskin on his side, Henry hand draws a new book for Emma and it’s enough to get her to help and believe in him, which keeps everyone in the Enchanted Forest safe. Once Rumple kills Fiona, the rest of Henry’ family is brought back to Storybrooke. However, the final battle Isaac mentioned still has to happen, and while going up against Gideon, the son of the Dark one who wants the Savior’s powers for himself, Emma sacrifices herself to die. She literally falls on her sword, but because her sacrifice was purely good, she doesn’t die. Everything is restored to the way it should be, and Henry can finally write a happy ending in his book, with his entire family together, safe, and not threatened by anything. Henry eventually finishes school, but instead of going to college elects to use a magic bean to create a portal to a new land. He wants to find his story now and seek his happy ending.
Approximately ten years later, Henry lives in Washington State but what he doesn’t know is that he’s cursed. He believes he’s a successful novelist, having written a book titled Once Upon a Time. He also believes he has a wife and daughter who died tragically in a fire. One evening, there’s a knock on his door and when he opens it, a young girl tells him that her name is Lucy and that he’s her father. This leads him on a mission to find her parents because of course, he doesn’t believe this child, and when he drives her home, meets a woman named Roni who runs a nice bar in the town Lucy is from - Hyperion Heights. He also meets a cop named Officer Rogers. What Henry doesn’t know is that Rogers is Hook and Roni is Regina. All of them have been cursed similar to the original curse that created Storybrooke.
This is when Henry will re-enter Wonderland, believing his cursed adult life is the only life he’s ever known.
***Per my understanding, Henry should have a vague sense of Wonderland but he doesn’t need to recollect it to every fine detail. If it works, I’d like to have him find it familiar because he thought he was going to write this as the first draft of his book. That way, it can be something he knows, but he doesn’t know how he knows it. If that doesn’t work, please let me know!
Abilities/Special Powers: Henry can write people's stories with a magic pen, but that's his only ability outside of Regina teaching him magic in game only.
NEW WRITING SAMPLES
Third person sample
A beer. That’s all Henry wants as he leaves the police station in Hyperion Heights. It’s been a hell of a day between this little girl claiming to be his and reliving painful memories of losing his own daughter. Walking into Roni’s bar, he sits, heavily, letting out a slow exhale.
He doesn’t have a kid.
Not anymore.
His wife isn’t Cinderella, either, there’s no such thing as magic, and honestly, if he’d known his book would be this impactful he might have inserted even more fantastical elements. Maybe placing fairy tale characters into the real world was a bad idea, and yet there’s a part of him that still thinks the concept is cool. For one single kid who has an over-active imagination, should he really forget his plans of a sequel? Probably not. Or, maybe she’s right and one day the memories he has of not getting to his family in time, of watching his house burn and the firefighters telling him there’s nothing else they can do will be swept away. Gone, because he was only cursed.
If only life actually worked out that way.
When he sees Roni, Henry looks up and smiles a little, somehow comforted by her presence at the bar even though they’ve only just met.
“Hey, Roni. I’ll take a cold beer. Maybe two. You know what? Just leave the tab open.”
Network post
[ He’s been here about ten minutes and he really needs to get out, now. Because he’s either losing his mind, or he fell and hit his head, or he’s dead, or something. He would almost swear he’s been here before except he knows he hasn’t. He does know he was going to write about a version of Wonderland in his book but never got there, so is he somehow living that discarded draft? All he can think to do is actually confront the residents via video message. ]
Okay, so, hello. Just to get the basics out of the way, I’m Henry Mills and I guess I’m new here. Whatever else people want to know, sure, ask away, but I do have a question.
How the hell did I get here? I mean is there a running theory, is this a fever dream we’re all sharing, something in the water? I was having a beer and then I was in this place so any answers would be really appreciated at this point.
Also: did you believe in magic before coming here because this closet situation is seriously freaking me out.
[ What is happening and how is it possible? ]
Anyway, just thought I’d introduce myself. Sorry if I wasted anyone’s time.
-----old, previous samples from original app-----
Third-Person Sample:
Henry sits on his bed, cross legged in a bedroom he hasn't been in for over a year, and tries to remember why he ever felt like his mom didn't love him. It doesn't really stand out to him anymore, one thing that she maybe did, but he does remember the day she told him he was adopted, that she didn't know who his father was, or where he came from other than she drove to Boston to adopt him. She never answered any of his questions or even tried, and the more she'd told him no or dissuaded him from trying to find out, the more he pulled away.
Standing, he makes his way to his bookshelves and reaches for a small strip of pictures they took once together at the school carnival. He smiles, remembering that she hadn't wanted to get into the small photo booth but he convinced her, and that was maybe the last time they smiled together in pictures. She doesn't smile a lot, he realizes, and now she smiles even less.
(There's so much baby stuff in here. A nightlight still on his bedside table. He needs his things from New York. He wishes he could say goodbye to his friends.)
The disaster in the diner, with Marian being back, made Henry unsure how to feel. He knew Emma was doing the right thing, and that was good. She was a hero, and Marian didn't have to die. But now his mom wouldn't leave her room; he hadn't even seen her all day, and he knew it was because she thought she didn't get to be happy. Even though he told her she wasn't a villain, he knew she still thought she was. It didn't help that he'd spent a long time before last year calling her one.
(You're not my mom. He wishes he could take that one back now that he's a little older, a little smarter.)
Leaving his room he tip toes down the dark hallway and stands outside of hers. He hears nothing, sees no light coming from beneath the frame, but slowly opens the door. Everything is dark, her back to him, and he can't tell if she's asleep or not. Quietly, he makes his way inside and pulls off his shoes before climbing onto the bed with her. Emma had wanted him to leave Regina alone, to give her space, but he refused to leave her by herself.
"Mom?"
There is no movement for a few long moments, but then he hears a very quiet sigh. "You don't have to be here, Henry." He can hear that her voice sounds rough, like maybe she's been screaming, and he shakes his head.
"No. I want to stay." He lays down, watching her back, watching it move as she breathes, and he doesn't know what to do, he doesn't know how to make it better. "I love you," he finally says quietly, words that he maybe doesn't say enough to her, and he can hear her breathing hitch before she turns to face him, her fingers reaching out to touch his cheek.
"I love you, Henry."
He's really too old for cuddling, and he doesn't even know if this is the right thing to do, but he still shifts against her, moving to tuck his head under her chin. "It'll be okay. I promise." He can believe that, and he can believe it enough for both of them.
First-Person Sample:
[Henry really doesn't understand how he came to be in a garden when he was just going to try and find Robin to maybe talk to his mom; there was a lot happening, and maybe if he could convince him...but that didn't seem to matter now. He broke through a clearing in the forest when suddenly there was a fountain in front of him, and a lot of flowers and hedges and -
- there's something in his pocket that most definitely wasn't there before. He pulls it out, turning it over, and it sort of seems like his cell phone. So, he starts pushing buttons and finds the camera. Switching it to record, he flips the camera so that it's facing him, and pauses, trying to figure out what to say. Not even sure if this is the right thing to do.]
Um...I'm Henry. And I think maybe I walked through a portal. If you don't know what that is, then, it's sort of like a magic door. And if you do know what that is, do you know who my moms are? Regina and Emma.
[He pauses again; what if they think something really bad happened to him? Has something really bad happened to him?] If you know them, and you can maybe get a message to them, tell them I'm okay. I can figure this out. [They were both really brave, and he can be too. He just has to be calm.]
Okay, well, if someone could maybe tell me where I am...I think that would be good. I just want to go back home, to Storybrooke. [He stops the recording then hits 'send,' not even sure of where it's going. And then he just waits, wondering how long he should before striking out to try and find answers.]
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