Raised By A Pirate *On Hiatus*

Eavesdropping

~Third Person ~ The Next Day~

Vanessa sat on her bed going through the storybook. Henry was right, there were stories about everyone in Storybrooke, including her

She read through her story. Every detail was right. There was everything from when Snow and Charming gave her up to when she was Portal Jumping. 

After Hook left she went to different realms. She went to Wonderland, Camelot, Neverland, Agrabah, Arendelle, and others. She never stayed anywhere for longer than a couple of years. The longest she stayed anywhere -Not including The Land Without Magic- was in Arendelle. She was there for almost four and a half years

She was almost finished with the book when she decided to go downstairs for something to eat. She sat at the counter and waited for Ruby

"Hey V!" Ruby said cheerfully. Vanessa and Ruby had become pretty good friends since Vanessa's been in town "What can I get you?"

"A regular coffee and a muffin"

Ruby nodded and wrote everything down "Cream in the coffee?"

Vanessa nodded. 

"What kind of muffin?"

"Chocolate chip"

Ruby smiled "Comin right up!"

Vanessa nodded as Ruby walked away. She rested her head on the counter. She hasn't gotten much sleep since she's been in Storybrooke, she didn't sleep at all last night. 

Not long later Ruby came over with her order. 

"Thanks..."

She started picking at her muffin while she continued reading Henry's book. The bell above the door rang, indicating that someone walked in

"Hey, Aunt Nessa!" Henry said sitting next to Vanessa. 

Vanessa glanced over at him "Just, Nessa is fine" Vanessa closed the book and pushed it over to him "Here you can have your book back"

She didn't finish it but she figured she could give it back to him now

"But you haven't finished it yet. You can drop it off at Grandma's Loft later"

Vanessa shrugged. She pulled the book back over to her before realizing "You little shit"

Henry grabbed his drink from Ruby and stood up.

"What?" He asked, with a smirk

Vanessa turned to him with a look of awe "You planned this. When you gave me the book yesterday. You gave it to me so that when I returned it I'd have to go to the Loft and see Snow, Charming, and Emma!"

She was impressed. The kid was smart. 

"I have no idea what you're talking about" He had a look on his face that said 'Yeah I totally planned this'

Henry turned and left Granny's, leaving Vanessa in astonishment

"That little shit"

~Later~

Vanessa walked up the stairs to Snow's Loft. In her arms was Henry's storybook. She had finished it and was now returning it. 

The door to the loft was open and she heard voices coming from inside. She knew she shouldn't eavesdrop but she heard her name and got intrigued

~Charming's POV~

"How come you never mentioned Aunt Vanessa before?" Henry asked

I sighed. "After the curse broke everything was so hectic with Emma and Mary Margaret getting stuck in the Enchanted Forest, and Greg and Tamara, and Neverland, and then the thing with Elsa and Anna. We just didn't want to add another thing to everyone's plate..."

"Is that all I am to you?" A voice from behind asked. We all turned and saw Vanessa standing there, holding Henry's book "A distraction? Mistake? Disappointment?"

"Vanes-" Before I could finish she dropped the book on the floor and walked out. I tried to follow her but Emma grabbed my arm

"Give her time to cool off..."

I shook my head. "I lost my daughter once I am not losing her again. I finally got her back into my life" I turned and followed Vanessa out the door

~Vanessa's POV~

I ran out of there as fast as I could. Why does this affect me so much? I don't know them. They gave me up, they don't deserve me. I stopped running and looked around. I was at the docks

For some reason, I always came here. It didn't matter where I was. If I was hurting or needed to think I went to a river or any other type of water

"Vanessa!"

I turned around and saw Charming coming towards me. "What do you want?" I asked through gritted teeth

"I'm sorry" He took a few cautious steps forwards "I didn't mean it like that... I would never say that. I just meant that... If we had mentioned you then Emma, Henry and even Hook would have wanted to go find you. And we didn't have time for that-"

I scoffed "Yeah like that's so much better"

"There isn't a good way I can explain this. We had to save the town or everyone in it would have died and then we really couldn't go find you... We didn't even have a way to get to any other realms and we couldn't leave the town to look for you in this realm"

I rolled my eyes "That does explain why you didn't tell Emma, or Henry or anyone else about me. Are you ashamed of me? Is it because I'm not the Savior? Is it because you only wanted one child but instead you got twins so you got rid of one?"

He came over and put his hands on my shoulders. I tried to get out of his grasp but he wouldn't let me "It's nothing like that. Emma had just found out that she was the daughter of Snow White and Prince Charming and that she was the Savior and had to save everyone. Even that was too much for her and it would have made it worse for her if we were like 'Oh by the way you have a twin sister that we had to send away so she didn't get cursed and we have no idea where she is, let's go get coffee!' We love you so much, Vanessa. We wanted to give you your best chance. I'm so sorry that it didn't happen-"

Before I knew it he engulfed me in a hug. My body stiffened by his touch. 

"We loved you from the moment you were born. The hardest thing we ever had to do was give up our daughters. We wanted to do what was best for the both of you... Even if it meant that we wouldn't be in your lives, that we wouldn't see you grow up, that we would never see you again... Ever since the curse broke we regretted giving you up... We missed you so incredibly much..."

I could feel his tears falling onto my shoulder. I never thought about how hard it would have been for them to give us up. But it didn't matter. They had a choice. They didn't have to give me up, Emma maybe because she's the Savior. But I'm not, I'm just... Vanessa. Just Vanessa. 

He finally let me out of the hug. He looked at me like he was looking at me for the very first time

"You look just like your mother..." He smiled "I didn't realize how grown you've become..."

I bit my lip and looked down. I had never known my parents so I didn't know which one of them I looked like

"Vanessa..."

I looked up at him. He had a pleading look in his eyes

"Please give us a chance..."

I sighed "I don't know..." I looked at the water, then the town, and then back at Charming. 

He was looking at me like... Like I was the last thing he needed in life. As if once I finally accepted them as my parents that everything in his life would finally be complete. 

"I guess... I guess I can come over tomorrow..."

Charming smiled bigger than I ever thought a person could "Great. See you then..."

"See you then..." I gave him a small smile and he turned around and walked back to the loft

I was still mad at him. For saying what he said and giving me up... But there was something deep inside me that wanted to forgive him...

But I don't know if I can...