I HAVEN'T STOPPED THINKING ABOUT THAT EPISODE, AND THIS IS THE FIRST PLOT BUNNY TO ROLL IN. I HOPE YOU LIKE THIS!

DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME.

By the time the Charming Family gets back to the apartment, it's nearly midnight. Nonetheless, Henry is anything but tired. He's been a chatterbox the whole night. The only thing he seems more fond of doing than talking is clinging to Emma.

"Kid, don't you think you should go to bed?"

"The sub won't mind if I'm not at school tomorrow." The boy jumps onto the couch, messing up the pillows in the process.

"I guess that fourth hot chocolate wasn't a good idea." Emma mumbles, throwing her jacket on the coat rack. "Can you at least brush your teeth and get into your pajamas for when you have your sugar crash?"

"Fine." Henry sulks up the stairs to change.

"Wait. He was sleeping in my bed?" The blonde looks alarmed for a moment.

"I didn't think it would be appropriate for him to sleep in Snow's bed. I mean, I'm her husband. I should sleep in her bed. And then, you know, I thought it would be good for him. To have you near, in a way." James explains.

"Did he… did he touch my blanket?" Emma asks tentatively.

"No, I moved it before he could do any damage. He wouldn't ever purposely do anything–"

"Of course he wouldn't. And you went in my room."

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just… I needed to feel close to you, too." James looks down, sheepishly.

"It's okay." Emma whispers. "I'm touched, actually. No one's ever… you know what, it doesn't matter."

"Teeth time!" Henry runs down the stairs and into the bathroom.

"Ruby sometimes puts an extra packet of the hot chocolate powder in it." Snow comments. "By the looks of it, I think she did."

"Great. So he essentially had eight hot chocolates."

"About tomorrow, Emma, I think we should keep him home. He's been separated from you long enough. He needs a day to just unwind and be with you."

"I agree! I'm all done!" Henry leaps over Emma's legs and lands in between her and James.

"Oh my God. What are we going to do with him?"

"You're going to tell me another story. How did you guys defeat Cora and Captain Hook and get back?"

"Well, it was a long battle." Snow begins.

"It was more like ten minutes." Emma cuts in.

"Ten minutes is a long time, especially when you're fighting for your life." The brunette continues. "But really, it was Emma. She jumped in front of me when Cora was about to rip my heart out. Cora couldn't get her hand out of Emma's chest. Then, she got thrown back by a wave of magic emanating from Emma, and then she disappeared."

"She tried to do what!?" James' outburst startled them all. "Nobody hurts my –" he considers his next words carefully. "My daughter."

"That is so cool! Not the trying to kill you guys part, but I told you, Mom. You're a hero. It just took you super long to see it."

"And guess what else?" A smirk plays across Snow's face.

"What?" Henry leans forward eagerly.

"She knocked Hook out."

"With the compass." The blonde tries to make it out to be no big deal. She still has issues with people, namely her parents, being proud and giving praise.

"That's my girl!" James exclaims quite loudly. They definitely aren't winning the Neighbor of the Year Award.

"I guess it was kinda fun... I mean his face was priceless." Emma admits.

"And I'm willing to bet he's going to have a scar on his chin."

"Oh no." Emma mutters, placing her head in her hands. That's the only story from her son's book she's read from start to finish. "No, no, no, no."

"You two did spend an awful lot of time together." Snow waggles her eyebrows, her tone teasing. They both know that Hook is a horrible man that Emma will most certainly not have any sort of relationship with. Snow's just giving her a hard time. "It took you ten hours up on that beanstalk."

"It was a really high beanstalk."

"Ew, guys. Children are present." Henry says.

"Come to think of it, we've lived very similar lives." Snow comments. "We were both thieves–"

"What?" She ignores James,

"Given men scars on their chins, and given our children up in hopes of giving them their best chance."

"Yes, thank you for that lovely insight." Emma says sarcastically. Sensing the need for a change of topic, Henry looks at James.

"Hey, Gramps, can we show them what I've learned about swording?"

"Swording?" Snow raises an eyebrow.

"Sword fighting." James shrugs, getting up to fetch the wooden swords.

"No. No horsing around in the house." Snow says sternly.

"We'll be careful." He promises.

"En guarde!" Henry shouts, pointing his sword at James. They proceed to trying to jab each other.

"Henry, keep your other hand up in case he gets your sword from your hand, that way you have another method of getting him." Snow advises. "Too close to the table! Guys!" Her protests fall short. The sound of glass breaking makes boy and grandfather freeze. Snow moves her gaze from the broken blue vase to them, glaring daggers at James.

"I'll get the broom." He says, moving quickly. They both move too quickly and precisely for her liking.

"Wait a second." Snow gets up and stands in front of James. He gulps, looking to Emma for help.

"I think I've used up my 'saving people quota' for the next few decades." The blonde grins.

"How many other things have you two broken?" Snow's voice is dangerously low.

"A lasagna dish, a different vase, a glass swan, and a ceramic candle holder. Oh, and a flower pot. But the tulips were dead, anyway. You always were the nurturer." At this, Emma snorts.

"And it never occurred to you to keep the swording outside?"

"Well, uh... It did, but at that point, we thought we broke everything we possibly could."

"Obviously you didn't. From now on, you can only sword outside. You will keep the toilet seats down, because I know you kept them up. You'll do the dishes every day. And the laundry goes in the hamper." Then, she sweetly says, "Come on Henry, I'll go tuck you in."

"How am I the only one who got in trouble?"

"You're the adult." Snow says, halfway up the stairs. Once she was out of earshot, Emma asks,

"Was she always this bad?"

"No. Snow used to be less… well, psycho. The only time I've seen her like that is when she drank a potion to–"

"Forget she ever loved you." Emma smiles. "Yeah, well, Mary Margaret was a little intense about the housekeeping, and coupled with the Snow White persona, she can actually enforce stuff cause she's scary."

"She's not scary, just–" Why James keeps getting cut off tonight is beyond him.

"I know. I spent three months stranded in an unfamiliar land with the woman. She's confident." She says. He sits back down, careful to keep plenty of space between them. Emma notices. "If it's any consolation, I missed you. I thought about how I'd never get to know my dad."

"I've been waiting to do this all day." James envelopes her into a bone-crushing hug. "You have no idea how much I missed you, Emma."

"If it was as much as I missed Henry, then I do." She responds, allowing the embrace to last a moment longer before pulling back.

"So, you right hooked Hook, huh?" He quips.

"Yeah. My beginning luck at swording with the dragon ran out, so I had to resort to the sure-fire thing."

"Dragon?"

"Oh, you don't know about that? I kinda killed a dragon before the curse broke. I tried shooting it first. Do you know how hard it is to kill a dragon?"

"I've killed a couple." James smiles.

"You have to throw the sword at its heart."

"That's how I tried to kill Regina at my wedding." James smiles, amazed that Emma has inherited some of his skills and tactics.

"What about killing Regina?" Snow glides down the stairs.

"I was referring to our wedding. But you started it when you pulled the sword."

"You didn't have to throw it." She rolls her eyes. "And I still don't even know why you bothered. You knew she could dissipate whenever she wanted."

"So like teleporting?" Emma cuts in before their playful disagreement can escalate; she assumes Henry is actually sleeping, which is a miracle.

"Like what Cora did when you tried to tackle her." The brunette sits next to Emma. At first, Emma's uncomfortable. They're not touching her, but she's still in between them. "And you know what else your brilliant daughter did?" Snow asks with a smirk.

"What?"

"We were hiding from ogres and she fires her gun."

"To save you!" Emma protests. "I thought Mulan and Aurora were going to turn you into a shish kabob."

"Emma–"

"Yes, in hindsight I know it was stupid but I hadn't realized you flipped Aurora and that Mulan wasn't actually going to kill you. Shoot me for caring." That's all she had to see for James and Snow to lose control and squish her into a hug.

"That's the first time… you told us you care." The brunette whispers, like if she talks too loud, she'll wake up and it'll all be a dream.

"Of course I care. You're the people I've been wanting to meet for as long as I can remember." Emma's parents hold her tighter. "I can't breathe."

"Sorry!" James exclaims, immediately releasing her. His hand still remains on her forearm, though. Snow is a little more hesitant to let go, but she does after a moment, realizing Emma isn't going to leave.

"It's okay…" Uncertainly she adds, barely above a whisper, "it didn't mean you had to let go."