It's been twenty eight full years since the Dark Curse was cast over then Enchanted Forest. Twenty eight full years since Lily was taken to Storybrooke. Caught up in the curse's aftereffects and those of Rumpelstiltskin's last spell, she wanders the town unseen. Unaging. Unknown. Unremembered.
And, like the other residents, with no real memories of her own.
With her mind degraded due to years of solitude, she hopes against hope that maybe, when this blond newcomer shows up, she'll get the happy ending that everyone else is getting. Maybe she'll even find the person she was meant for.