Hey folks! Again I say, I haven't abandoned anything else, but my brain only writes what it wants to write. I am merely its humble servant. That said, I give you this! This idea has probably been done before, but I haven't seen it, and it's been rattling around in my head for a few weeks now. This is just a little Emma/Snow bonding, (my favorite!) with a magical twist. It's not exactly AU, but doesn't keep to any specific cannon, it just takes place sometime after Emma and Snow's return from the Enchanted Forest. Also I'd like to note that this story is finished, and about 7 chapters. I just have to edit them as I go! As always, feel free to point out mistakes, spelling, grammar or otherwise, and let me know what you think! The better the response, the faster the chapters go up! Did that sound like bribery? Haha, oops. ;)

Chapter 1

"Concentrate, Emma," Rumpelstiltskin warned, his patience waning…if he ever had any to begin with.

"I am concentrating," Emma said, her voice taking on an unattractive whining quality.

She and Rumpelstiltskin had been meeting twice a week for the past month to try and help Emma get a handle on her unpredictable magical abilities. Emma would leave in the evenings to go to his shop, sarcastically telling her family that she was "off to Hogwarts!" But she only wished she were in Hogwarts, because Mr. Gold was, unsurprisingly, an impossible teacher.

"If you were concentrating, the candle would have been lit by now. You've done it time and time again."

"Exactly!" Emma opened her eyes and lowered the candle in her hand. "I've done it before, why can't I just try something else now? This is so damned boring!"

Rumpelstiltskin growled. Literally growled, and stood up from his stool to walk to the other end of the shop, his limp more pronounced in his frustration. "We are not here to entertain you, Miss Swan," his voice was low and dangerous, a tone that scared the pants off most people in town. Most people except for Emma, who saw him as nothing more than a grumpy, untrustworthy imp, and Belle of course who, for reasons Emma couldn't quite grasp, loved said imp.

It also helped that Belle adored Emma, almost idolized her in a way, and anyone who Belle cared about was completely safe from the wizard's wrath.

"In order to control your abilities," he continued. "You must be able to concentrate and keep a clear mind. Power as strong as yours is dangerous, as you well know."

Emma winced, remembering the damage done last time she became very angry.

"So next time, when you feel your power build, you can school it, suppress it if necessary, or use it when needed," he was becoming more animated as he spoke, theatrical almost.

"Okay, okay," Emma groaned. "I get it. I just got a lot on my mind today, alright?"

Just then, the bell on Gold's door tinkled, and in walked a Belle of another sort. From the corner of her eye, Emma watched Rumpelstiltskin's face soften as a loving smile broke out across it at the sight of the young woman. For the hundredth time she marveled at the change Belle made in this man just by being in a room. He looked younger, more human. Almost handsome in a weird way, though Emma would die before ever admitting that out loud.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Belle said brightly. "I didn't realize you were still having your lesson, I'll come back…"

"No, don't go," Rumpelstiltskin said at the same time Emma said, "Save me!"

"I think my student here is done for the day, anyway," he continued with a scowl, saying "student" as if the fact were debatable.

"Is he giving you a hard time again?" Belle asked Emma. "Rumpel, you promised you would try and not be so short with her."

Emma smirked at Gold while his scowl deepened, knowing he hated when Belle scolded him in front of other people. "I wasn't being that great of a pupil today," she said, throwing him a bone. "I'll practice."

Rumpelstiltskin moved to put away the candles and other items they'd been using in that day's lesson. "I'd rather you didn't. You shouldn't attempt any magic without me around."

Emma frowned. "Why not? I'm not going to blow up the town lighting a candle. What, you just want to keep tabs on exactly how far I progress?" she actually wondered that exact thing on more than one occasion, but since he was the only one in town who knew about magic and wasn't Regina or a fairy, (okay, one thing they had in common…neither of them could quite tolerate fairies, but for different reasons.) she had no choice but to let him teach her. Even Mary Margaret and David agreed, even though they had their reservations, and justifiably so.

"I just don't think you quite realize what you're capable of," he said simply.

Emma nodded, seeing straight through his carefully structured mask, and made to leave. "See ya on Monday, Rumpel."

"Emma, wait!" Belle called catching up with her just outside the door. Once the door was firmly closed behind her, she spoke again. "I uh, just wanted to thank you for the advice you gave me before."

Emma smiled. Though in the beginning she fought tooth and nail against liking this girl who loved a man so much who had done so many awful things in the past, Belle had effectively wormed her way past Emma's wall. In many ways, she reminded Emma of Mary Margaret before the curse broke. Sweet, naïve, innocent, and Emma once again felt the big-sisterly desire to protect a young woman from the big bad world, just as she had with Mary Margaret. In hadn't escaped her that maybe Belle was sort of replacing her roommate, since she was now her mother, and a woman who needed no protection whatsoever.

"No problem, Belle. Did it help?"

Belle grinned wickedly, causing Emma to nearly double over laughing at the uncharacteristic expression. It had happened while they were having a few drinks with Ruby and Mary Margaret, and Belle let it slip that she had been growing increasingly frustrated with Rumpel keeping her at arm's length whenever she wanted to do anything more physical than a chaste kiss. The poor thing was mortified when Mary Margaret and Ruby loudly, (and rather drunkenly) expressed no desire whatsoever to discuss her and Mr. Gold's sex life. Though not too crazy about the imagery herself, Emma had later taken her aside and talked to her about it, giving her advice on how to get him to open up, claiming that she was an expert on walls.

Though her friends all had come to accept, in varying degrees, her relationship with the feared Mr. Gold, the fact that Emma was willing to lend an ear and allow her to open up about it made Belle latch on to Emma.

"I'm glad," Emma said, still chuckling. "Maybe it'll put him in a better mood and he won't terrorize quite so many people."

Belle was well used to Emma's sense of humor and took no offence. "We can only hope! Have a nice evening, Emma!"

"You too," Emma called back in a teasing, sing-song voice, and Belle shot another suggestive grin over her shoulder.

By the time she got home, Emma was drained both from a day at the station and lessons with Rumpel. Magic was exhausting in a way she never would have expected, and it usually made her cranky.

"Hey," Mary Margaret/Snow/Mother chirped when Emma came in the door. Emma often struggled with what to call the woman, and usually flip-flopped between Mary Margaret and Snow, much like David/Charming/Father did.

"How was your lesson?" David asked. His name was easier. She just stuck with David.

"I got sent to the principal's office for not playing nice with the other kids," Emma drawled.

David chuckled. "Do I need to have a parent-Gold conference?"

Emma rolled her eyes and Mary Margaret batted him with a dishrag.

"Now that's something I'd like to see," Mary Margaret laughed, before turning to Emma. "I saved you some dinner…"

"Oh, thanks," Emma mumbled. "I'm not really all that hungry though."

Mary Margaret gave her that no-nonsense, do-as-your-told motherly look that sometimes amused, sometimes bugged the hell out of Emma. Tonight she was tired, and tonight it bugged her. "You should eat something," Mary Margaret said gently.

Knowing the woman would just sweetly nag her until she did, Emma warmed up her plate and ate, trying not to show how hungry she turned out to be once she took the first bite.

"Where's Henry?" Emma asked.

"In bed," David replied. "We made sure he finished his homework, took a bath and everything. He asked us to tell you to go tell him goodnight when you get home."

Emma chuckled and nodded, rising to head to the room upstairs which had been divided by curtains to give her and her son individual spaces. They were really going to need to get a bigger place soon.

"We were going to watch a movie," Mary Margaret said. "Would you like to join us?"

"Nah, I'm beat," Emma said. "I'm gonna turn in."

"Emma, why don't you take tomorrow off?" David asked. "It's been dead lately, I can handle the station."

Emma felt like arguing, but was too tired to. "Uh, thanks, David. I think I'll take you up on that."

Mary Margaret smiled, looking a little excited. "Oh, well, I'll be around tomorrow, too…you know, I don't have a lot to do…"

Emma gave a non-committal nod and made her way upstairs.

She groaned when she reached her room, flopping down on her bed after kissing Henry goodnight as he slept. She felt bad for not reacting to Mary Margaret's obvious hint at wanting to do something together the next day. It wasn't that she didn't like spending time with her, she just missed the days when it was easier, when they were just friends and Emma was finally, finally learning to open up to someone. Now her friend was her mom, a very anxious, somewhat overbearing mom.

Emma and her mother had grown close in the Enchanted Forest, under the constant threat of danger. But now that they were home, and there wasn't much going on, Mary Margaret had reverted back to trying too hard to get Emma to talk to her and spend time with her. Emma kicked herself constantly for not trying hard enough to let her walls down for her mother, knowing that every little rebuff hurt her terribly.

She wanted to be more comfortable. She wanted her mother to hug her, and kiss her cheek, and stroke her hair without tensing up in response.

"I'll try harder," she mumbled to herself, face down against the pillow. "Tomorrow. I'll try harder tomorrow."

She rolled over to get more comfortable, but realized she'd forgotten to turn off her light. It was too annoying to ignore, but she was so comfortable, she didn't want to get up.

She glared at the light switch on the wall, willing it to flip down.

In the back of her mind, she heard Gold's voice telling her not to try magic when he wasn't around. But dammit, if she couldn't use it for practical reasons, what good was it?!

She continued to stare at the switch, pulling all her concentration like he kept nagging her to, and focused it on flipping the switch down. She was exhausting herself further trying, but now it was personal. Damn light, turn OFF!

Finally the light turned off, and all she had time for before sleep overcame her was a tiny smirk of victory.

Emma groaned and struggled to open her eyes. She was on her back on the hard ground, and the sun beating on her face made it clear that she was outside, but she had been inside just a second ago.

Suddenly her eyes flew open in panic, thinking that something must have happened, that she snapped somehow and her magic had blown apart the apartment. She sat up and surveyed her surroundings, but found herself deep in the woods, not among a demolished building.

"I just teleported," she mumbled in relief, but the thought of teleporting alone was worrisome and…well, crazy.

Her relief was short lived when, as she shakily stood up, she heard the caw of a bird she'd only heard during one time in her life, because it was a bird that only existed in one place.

The Enchanted Forest.