Jared Gilmore: Henry Mills

Is This Henry Mills?

Henry Mills

Young Henry Mills: Dear mom, this is the personal essay I wanted to send, but couldn't. It's titled "Once Upon a Time." And it's the story of us.

Young Henry Mills: Mom, I wasn't entirely honest with you or myself about why I couldn't pick a college.
Regina Mills: Really?
Young Henry Mills: When you told me that you were ready to let me go, I realized *I* wasn't ready to leave. Storybrooke is the only home I've ever known. And change is hard, and the unknown is scary.
Regina Mills: But now it's not?
Young Henry Mills: Oh, no. Still terrifying. But I know now that home isn't a place. It's the people you love. And even when I'm not in Storybrooke, Storybrooke will always be with me.

Young Henry Mills: Sometimes, you have to leave home. And you've been there for so long, you don't know who or what you'll be outside of it. But then you realize, every experience, every trial, every moment has shaped you. And you take that place with you no matter where you go next. I'm lucky. I have an incredible home. You won't find it on a map. But in it, you will find magic. You find love, hope, and something to believe in. You'll find a family that fights for one another, who never gives up on each other. And even when they're separated by curse, or distance, or time, they find each other. They always find each other. I wish the world could know the story of my family - how it was all true, how every moment of it happened. And you may think this is just a story. But that's the thing about stories. They're more than words. They live inside of us. They make us who we are. And as long as someone believes that, there will always be magic.

Regina Mills: What's wrong?
Young Henry Mills: It's just... in the entrance essays, the Henry Mills I was writing about wasn't really... me.
Regina Mills: What are you talking about?
Young Henry Mills: I couldn't write about the time I got kidnapped to Neverland. Or how I met my first girlfriend in Camelot. I even had to lie about my own home.
Regina Mills: I read those essays. They were exeptionally well-written.
Young Henry Mills: That's not the point. They didn't accept the real Henry Mills. And i-if I go out there and keep lying, I won't be me anymore. Maybe I'm better off just staying at home. Mom, what do I do?
Regina Mills: I wish I can tell you to stay here and never grow up. But you're already grown up. And the only person who can tell you what to do... is you.

[Henry calls his younger self just as the latter gets ready for his graduation party]
Henry Mills: Uh, I just called to congratulate you.
Young Henry Mills: Oh. Well... thanks.
Henry Mills: So, um... what's next?
Young Henry Mills: To be honest...
Henry Mills: You're having doubts.
Young Henry Mills: I told my mom it was because I didn't want to lie about who I am. But, um... it's hard... letting go of this place.
Henry Mills: Believe me, I know. Um, can I give you a piece of advice? Advice someone gave me a long time ago at my graduation?
Young Henry Mills: Sure.
Henry Mills: Home isn't a place. It's the people in it. And they will always be with you.
Young Henry Mills: Who'd you say this was again?
Henry Mills: Just someone who believes in you.

Regina Mills: [returning from Henry's graduation party] Thank you for saying you wanted to leave early. I could not handle another one of Grumpy's "To all the curses I've known before" toasts.
Young Henry Mills: Yeah, I was starting to think that wasn't hot chocolate in his mug.

Young Henry Mills: So... I-I may have hit a curb, and dinged the passenger door.
Regina Mills: Oh, Henry, do you know what I put this car through? Scratches are a part of life.

[Henry is trying to fix his mother's car]
Granny Lucas: Stop. You're stripping the threads.
Young Henry Mills: Sorry.
Granny Lucas: Look, kid, I'm happy to let you borrow my tools, but you got to respect the machine. This is vintage curse-era classic.

Regina Mills: Look, I... I've been thinking, and maybe your future is outside Storybrooke.
[she holds out a collection of college pamphlets]
Young Henry Mills: Mom... I thought you didn't want me to leave home?
Regina Mills: Oh, I don't. But being a parent also means learning to let go.
Young Henry Mills: Really?
Regina Mills: Henry, I just want you to be happy. And even if happiness means a rowing crew in Ithaca. Or... a chess club in Boston.
Young Henry Mills: Or studying film in Los Angeles.
Regina Mills: ...Whatever you want. Even California.