A/N: Got this idea off of a tumblr post with a picture of a timer across someone's arm that counted down without an explanation. I decided to write my own one-shot about it. This is my interpretation. Enjoy!
She's only 5 when the numbers appear on her right forearm. The black ink reads 23:22:8:15 before they start to move and the numbers fall before her eyes. Emma tries to keep her ink a secret from the other foster kids until she realizes she is not alone. First it is a boy, with 5:12:7:20 written across his arm. Then it's a girl, a foster parent, a friend. "The numbers will count down to the most important moment in your life," They say to her but she doesn't understand what that means. She's not sure she wants to.
She's 12 when she finally watches a friend's timer run out. It is a fellow foster child and a friend named Lily. The day Lily's timer runs out is the day she gets adopted by a loving family and her life begins. Emma smiles for her. She even waves when Lily leaves, a big smile across her little round face. It's only when Emma's alone that night that she sheds a small tear for her own countdown that still reads 16 years. Emma does not get adopted.
She's 16 when she meets Neal, a runaway orphan just like herself. Her numbers still read 12:43:18:5 but she doesn't care, her feelings so strong for him she is sure the numbers are a lie. After a year he gives her a dream catcher and she gives him her heart. She is sure that this is the moment she finds happiness. She is wrong.
She's 18 when she realizes her mistake. Left alone in a jail cell with nothing but a positive pregnancy test and a broken heart, Emma holds herself for comfort. Alone and fragile, Emma looks at the timer with hatred and fear. She does not want it anymore. She does not want anything. And so she cries and the tears swell her eyes and damp her cheeks and Emma wipes her face with her arms with a hope that the water will wipe off the damned ink on her arm. But it doesn't and the timer beats on.
She's 26 when she moves to Storybrooke with her son, Henry, hoping to start a new life. "Maybe you will find your happy ending here," Henry smiles at her and Emma smiles back. "You are my happy ending now," Emma tells him but her hand moves like a reflex to cover the tattoo. It does not mean much to her anymore. At least that's what she tells herself.
It's only when Graham, the new sheriff and Emma's new boss, comes into her life that Emma learns to love again. Regardless of his kindness though, Emma can't stop her eyes from wandering down to the countdown that is getting closer and closer to zero. "You don't need to be afraid, Emma," Graham tells her, but he knows little of what they mean. His own timer drops two weeks later and he dies of a heart disorder in the sheriff station. Emma holds him close to her when it happens, yelling for help. It's only in his final moments that he tells her he loves her, and Emma tries not to look at his arm when she says, "I love you, too." His timer hits zero when he hears her three words.
It's her 28th birthday when the her countdown finally breaks her. Emma's hands begin to shake with nerves she's never felt before and it takes all her strength to keep herself together. It's only Henry that is able to calm her. "It might be a good thing," Henry tells her and Emma nods, trying not to focus on the 22 day countdown ahead of her. She had never been lucky enough to have a "good thing".
On the 20th day, Emma realizes her numbers are changing, every decision she makes changing the numbers lower or higher. "Maybe the most important moment in your life depends on your choices," Her friend Mary Margaret says to her and Emma looks at her happy friend and husband. The husband's timer is at zero and has been since the moment he met Mary Margaret but her friend's countdown still reads 9 months 2 days 14 seconds. "Sometimes my timer changes, too," She says quietly to Emma, placing two hands over her not-yet-showing pregnant belly, "I don't think he's decided when to come out yet."
On the 15th day, Emma takes Henry for a boat ride to clear her head and the ride goes horribly wrong. The waves get high and the skies get dark when Emma sees her timer drop to 10 minutes. She does not cry when she thinks that her timer is counting down to her death, she just holds Henry's hand as they are thrown from the boat. She makes him promise not to stop kicking and he promises. He has no timer. He has control of his fate and she will not let him die.
The timer counts down to 1 minute when a light shines on the two survivors from a fishing boat. "Take my son," Emma tells them and she pushes Henry into their hands despite his protests. One of the men offers her a hand and she tries to reach toward blue eyes before a wave shoves her back below the water. She closes her eyes, her last thought on the 10 second marker on her arm.
But her timer continues to lower when the man reaches into the water and pulls her back up, his hands wrapped tightly around her arms. "Do not give up on me," The man says to her and Emma tries to nod, her eyes fighting to open. All she can feel is his hands wrapped around her but they are warm and caring hands and she tightens her grip in his. She is not dead.
At 3 seconds left Emma opens her eyes, sputtering as water leaves her lungs. 2 seconds left and Emma searches to find an unharmed Henry a few feet away. 1 second left when she finally turns innocently towards the man who saved her life. "Are you okay?" The man, whose name she learns later to be Killian Jones, asks her, looking worriedly into her eyes. "Yes," She says quietly and the timer hits zero. He does not let her go.
She's 33 when she finally becomes Emma Jones. The day is joyous and full of love and her beautiful white dress trails down the aisle with her son at her side. The blue-eyed man reaches out for her when she walks towards him and she accepts his hand with grace at the altar. His timer hits zero when she says, "I do" and his happiness fills her with a joy she didn't know she could feel.
She's 35 when she finds out she's pregnant again and anxiety takes over with flashbacks of a jail cell and a lover who wasn't there. "Not again," She whispers to herself but she knows this is different. And then Killian has run to her, his arms quickly falling around her shoulders and she leans to him for protection. "I'm sorry," She whispers but he doesn't listen, shaking his head. "I love you Emma," He tells her and she feels that he is telling her the truth. That he loves her, scars and all. "I love you too," She whispers to him, her fingers silently rubbing the spot where her forearm hit zero, feeling more and more thankful for the man that came with it.
She's 50 and happy when her daughter finally asks about the tattoo across her own forearm. The numbers read 16:28:54:13 and the little blonde watches the numbers change with wonder in her eyes. "It's a countdown to the most important moment in your life," Emma explains, looking up at her husband and the father of her children with happiness filling her chest. She has not cried in years, she has not had anxiety or fear..."It's a big moment.. But you don't need to be afraid."
"Why not?" Asks the blonde, so little and naive and Emma smiles in return. Leaning down, the mother pulls the child to her and whispers softly, "Because you should never give up hope on a good thing."