The Modern Fairy Tale Town Book 3: Secrets of Storybrooke

Chapter 1: Manhattan

Evie was soon on her way back home, looking around the familiar landmarks just to make sure before she smiled and nodded at herself before gasping a bit as she suddenly had to come to a stop as a certain someone stood right in front of her.

"Oh. Hello, my dear~" Cora grinned at the sight of Evie. "My, how you've grown."

"Erm... Hello there, Grandmother... Or should I call you Cora?" Evie greeted nervously once she was face-to-face with her maternal grandmother who was also The Queen of Hearts.

"Call me 'Nana', I think that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?" Cora suggested before she tilted her head with a friendly smile.

"Uh... Yeah... Nana sounds nice..." Evie said as she looked down, a bit nervously as she looked down at her hands, avoiding direct eye contact with her grandmother since this was the first time they had interacted in a big portion of the teenage girl's life. "I was just hoping that I'd-"

"Look up, speak nicely, and don't twiddle your fingers!" Cora said suddenly and firmly.

Evie was startled as she looked up into her grandmother's eyes and had her hands behind her back suddenly, feeling like a soldier who had to report for duty.

"Turn out your toes. Curtsey. Open your mouth a little wider..." Cora soon continued to tell her granddaughter as Evie slowly began to do as the older woman told her to. "And always say-"

"Yes, Your Majesty?" Evie guessed as she lifted the ends of her skirt to curtsy properly for her grandmother.

"Oh... That does sound very tempting, my dear... I've always wanted my own perfect little Princess of Hearts after your mother and I had a falling out together," Cora remarked with a smirk. "That won't be necessary though... I want you to answer 'Yes, Nana' and 'No, Nana' in the future. Understand?" she then asked, though sounded stern at that last part.

"Yes, Nana." Evie soon answered as she curtsied lowly to her grandmother respectively.

"That's a good little princess... I knew that I would like you," Cora smiled sweetly as she gently patted her granddaughter on the head. "Now, um, where did you come from, and where were you going?"

"Oh, I was just with my friends who needed help and I was thinking-" Evie began to say.

"Curtsy while you're thinking, it saves time~" Cora advised her granddaughter.

"Yes, Nana," Evie said before she soon did that. "I was just with my friends and I thought I would come visit my mother dearest."

"That sounds like an excellent idea, my dear," Cora nodded before she smiled and soon walked with Evie down the path over to the Mills family mansion. "Do you play croquet, my dear?" she then asked, seemingly out of the blue.

"I don't think I'm very good, Nana." Evie said softly.

"Nonsense! I'll teach you, my dear," Cora smiled as they walked together over to the front door as Evie took out her key to let them inside. "I'm rather good myself too and I can teach you the way I learned back when you were small and Nana had to go away for a while."

"You mean with flamingos and hedgehogs?" Evie asked since her grandmother was The Queen of Hearts and she knew all she knew about Wonderland from the animated movie she used to show Henry.

"Ah! I see you do know quite a bit about Wonderland, my dear~" Cora chuckled on the way inside before they went to head upstairs right away as Evie had a feeling she knew where her mother was.

The front door soon closed behind them as Regina was sitting alone in her room. However, when they got to the mansion, it wasn't just going to be the three generations of women in the house. Regina was shown to be trying to hide some tears until she saw her mother and daughter coming to speak to her.