Indiana Jones ↠ Peter Pan [OUAT] ✓

02 | The Nanny

            

            

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INDIANA JONES
ii. THE NANNY

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LIFE WAS A BORE to 16-year-old Anna James. She grew up in upstate Maine as a child genius, who graduated high school at an early age to study at college even sooner than expected. She moved out as soon as she could to study to become an Archaeologist, similar to her aunt whom Anna seemed to idolize more than her own parents. Due to the fact that Anna was a minor, Anna was forced to live with an adult, which really was not a problem. Her father reached out and Anna moved in with an old family friend who went by the name of Regina Mills, who Anna never liked too much.

For as long as she could remember, really, Anna James lived in Storybrooke, Maine.

While Anna James was never the greatest fan of Regina Mills, there was only one true reason she was willing to live with the town mayor that didn't include having a roof over her head. In Anna's father's agreement with Regina, Anna would babysit her adopted son whenever she deemed necessary, which made Anna James the town Nanny.

Everyday was always the same. She always started her day off with breakfast kindly made by Regina. The woman would always incorporate apples with her meal, which Anna had always liked. After that, Anna would spend the rest of her day studying or attending Storybrooke College. If Henry didn't have to be at school that day, she would usually hang out with him.

Anna was so blessed to have a kid like Henry Mills in her life. He was so understanding of how she was just a teenager who was trying to find a balance between school, a job, and having a social life. He often helped the girl study, and in return, Anna would take him on at the local arcade (after he finished his homework, of course).

Henry Mills always knew that it would be a wonderful day when his Nanny went out of her way to have lunch with the 11-year-old. It wasn't a huge deal to most, but Henry felt special when she did. He knew that she was always stressing herself out over school, so she was always studying or spending extra time redoing homework assignments from months ago—even if she got a perfect score on it. Anna tried her best to make sure Henry never saw that side of her, and for the most part, she was rather successful. When Anna was stressed out, it was never a pretty sight.

The ocean-eyed girl spent a countless amount of lunches with Henry Mills at his middle school. She tried her best to go twice or thrice a week, but Henry usually understood when she could only go once. For a 16-year-old, Anna James was far busier than any adult Henry knew. What Henry didn't know was that sometimes, Anna was avoiding him. Keep in mind, the duo spent just about every single day with each other. It was normal for her to get tired of him or Regina, but that wasn't the reason why Anna was avoiding him.

She wasn't really sure of where it all came from, but as of lately, Henry Mills had been talking a whole lot about fairytales. Anna always assumed that he was too old for fairytales, for make-believe and magic, but it turned out that he was far from being too old for it. Anna was unsure where it came from, but Henry even had a fairytale book. As cheesy as it was, it was even called "Once Upon A  Time."

Within his fairytale book, it stated that all fairytales that we know and love are all wrong. It told insane and twisted versions of stories that most children all over the world grew up with. It told stories of how Little Red Riding Hood was actually the wolf and how Snow White was really a bandit. The craziest part about all of this was that Henry genuinely believed that these stories were nonfiction.

Not having the heart to tell Henry that all of this wasn't real, Anna let him have his fun. This went on for weeks. The more Anna heard his theories about Snow White and Prince Charming's daughter, the more Anna wasn't sure what she believed. Surely, she was too old to even think about believing in this stuff, so why was she having such a hard time telling herself that there was no way any of this could be real? Everything Henry Mills was telling Anna was messing with her head. She felt stupid even thinking that this stuff was even remotely close to being real.

For what felt like the billionth time that week, Anna James politely and quietly listened to Henry Mills discuss his conspiracy theories at the middle school when she felt a presence behind her. "Hi!" a cheery voice greeted, causing Anna to turn around. "I don't think we've properly met. I'm Henry's teacher, Mary Margaret."

Mary Margaret Blanchard, otherwise known as Snow White in Henry's book, was one of the kindest people that Anna had heard about. She had been Henry's teacher for as long as the boy could remember. In a way, Mary Margaret and Anna James were very similar. They were both the most caring and loving people Henry knew. It was a shock to many that they had never met before until then.

"Oh, hi! I was wondering when we would meet," Anna confessed. She rose from her seat. "I'm Anna James, Henry's Nanny. You know, like the Nanny named Fran?" Mary Margaret chuckled at this.

"Of course," the teacher assured with an amused expression on her face. "It's so nice to meet you. Do you mind if I talk to you about something? It'll only take a second."

Even if Anna wanted to decline, she couldn't. The woman looked so happy that it would make Anna's heart hurt if she said no. Therefore, the girl nodded and followed Mary Margaret after telling Henry that she would be back in a jiffy. When they were a few feet away, Anna turned to properly face the teacher. "So what's up? Did Henry do something?" Anna worriedly questioned.

Mary Margaret's smile dropped. "Oh, no! No, no, no! Of course not!" Mary Margaret denied in exclamation.

Anna released a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank God. See, when people tell me they need to talk to me, I just have to think of the worst outcomes," Anna explained, laughing it off with the woman. Mary Margaret nodded, laughing with her. "So what can I do for you, Ms. Blanchard?"

"Please, call me Mary Margaret. Or-or Mary! Whatever works for you," Mary Margaret stammered. Anna smiled and nodded. "I just wanted to talk to you about that book of his. I gave it to him a few weeks ago, and I guess he's been talking to you about it and not just me. I thought it was only customary that I told someone where he got it."

"Hm, oh! Thank goodness. I was afraid he was talking to strangers that drove creepy, white vans and gave out storybooks that hypnotize kids instead of just giving out invisible candy," Anna rambled before wanting to slap herself. "God, that was really weird. Sorry! I think I've been talking to Henry a little too much."

Mary Margaret merely waved her hand and laughed it off. "Don't worry about it. I say a lot of stuff like that too after spending so much time with a bunch of middle schoolers," Mary Margaret assured her. "One time, I made up a theory that I turned my phone invisible when I was looking for it. Yeah, it was in my hand the whole time."

The duo giggled at this. "Oh, gosh," Anna said. "But, ah, yeah, I'm really glad you gave him that book, actually. I could tell he's been going through a hard time. I'm not really sure where it's all coming from, but he's only really taking it out on Regina--I mean, Mayor Mills."

"Mhm. He's been a lot quieter in class lately. That book seemed to really cheer him up, though," Mary Margaret pointed out. Anna nodded. Before she could respond, the bell had rung, indicating that lunch was officially over. "Oh! I didn't even realize how long we had been talking. Sorry for holding you up. I just wanted to let you know."

"Don't sweat it! It's fine, really. It was nice meeting you, Ms. Bla—er, Mary Margaret," Anna said. "Maybe we could talk like this again some day, yeah?"

"Of course! Have a good day, Anna," Mary Margaret told her as she began to walk back into the building with all the other students that ate lunch outside.

"You, too!" Anna called out before turning around and walking back to the Mayor's home. She face-palmed herself. "Like the Nanny named Fran? Am I stupid or something?"