There & Back

Pack your bags… if anything should happen to Belle… leave today… find my son… kill all of you… those words circled Emma's mind like a merry go round.

"It's late," Snow murmured. "Well, early, but you know what I mean."

"Oh, uh, yeah, we should all get to bed," James added.

When his mom didn't budge, Henry tipped his chin up. Her eyes were still. Her head was somewhere else. The look on her face, it scared Henry. The eleven year old turned his head to meet his grandfather's gaze.

"Emma," James prodded gently while touching her shoulder.

She blinked. "What?"

"You were up all night. You need to go to sleep," he prodded carefully.

Emma barely nodded while looking to Henry. "You wanna crash in my room tonight?"

The boy nodded.

"Go on up. I'll be right there."

With that Henry turned and hurried to the second floor.

With Henry gone from earshot, James said, "you don't have to go, Emma. We'll figure something out."

"Gold has the most power in town, doesn't he? Even with Cora here, that hasn't changed, right?"

"Well-"

Emma cut Snow off saying, "he can wipe out the town if he wanted to. He can kill Henry and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Emma-"

"He wants to find his son, and he'll do anything to make that happen. You think he'll hesitate to kill us? Because he won't."

Snow stepped forward to take her daughter's hands.

"I'm going," Emma said firmly. "There's no alternative."

Snow nodded a bit. "I understand. The only reason I'm not fighting you is because Gold will become powerless once he crosses the town lines. He can't hurt you… but you'll become powerless too. Whatever is it that you have, whatever protected your heart, that won't matter when you leave. You'll be vulnerable."

"My heart's went through worse than almost being ripped out," Emma muttered.

Snow frowned.

Emma sighed. "I'm taking Henry."

"But-"

"I know I can only protect him from so much but he can't stay here, not with Cora and Regina around. You said it yourself, the damage they could do together… I won't leave him again."

Snow nodded in understanding.

"Wherever this guy is, I will find him and I will be back," Emma said firmly.

"Okay," Snow murmured.

Emma frowned at the tiny drops of water brewing in her mother's eyes. She looked over her shoulder to James who came around to take his wife's hand.

"I can't go with you," Snow said quietly.

"No, no, please don't cry," Emma begged. "I'm not good with this. I can't even handle my own emotions."

Snow gave a watery half smile while pulling her daughter close.

"Oh, okay," Emma stuttered as she fell into her mother's embrace.

"You'll call? A lot?"

"Everyday."

"You'll put Henry on the phone?"

Emma smiled further. "You guys fascinate him. He'll want to talk to you whenever he can."

Snow pulled back enough to show Emma a big grin. "And what about you? Do we fascinate you?"

"Are you kidding? My parents are Snow White and Prince Charming. Doesn't get much cooler than that."

THE END

Just a little Charming fluff! Hope you liked! (P.S, new chapters for my ongoing stories coming soon!)