Something very different - set in a hypothetical universe where everyone, including Regina and Emma end up back in The Enchanted Forest. Lets say at some point after Neverland.
Short drabble where Charming explores his thoughts. Fluffy nothingness but if you want to review will be happy to read your thoughts.
Enjoy.
Emma pulled at the collar, at least she wasn't corseted anymore but she wasn't comfortable.
David smiled ruefully, he remembered being thrust into a royal wardrobe. Everyone thought he should be grateful for silks and fur, but he had just felt uncomfortable. Starched collars, heavy cloaks, and tight new leather boots. He hadn't known how to stand, how to smile through the pain of a belt digging into his hips as the weight of a sword pulled on it. When he had been handed a helmet with a feather sticking from it he had to stifle a laugh and put it on and somehow had to work out how to keep the expression that he felt like a Prize Pratt from his face. All of it had been foreign to a simple farm boy unused to life as a prince.
So he looked with sympathy at his daughter, who had a life with experiences far removed from the ones Snow kept trying to thrust upon her.
Emma shifted, trying to get comfortable and David wanted to reach out and tell her in a conspiratorial tone that he understood, that he was still uncomfortable after years of getting used to this pomp and ceremony that still appeared unnecessary to him. But it was important to Snow and he loved her, so he stood by her side ignoring his discomfort. And he knew Emma loved them both as she also stood, upholding a bargain she never made, that circumstance had thrown her into. And however unprepared she was, she still tried for her parents.
He was proud of her, of her resilience and her inherently good nature. He knew she was conflicted, both about her royal role and her family and with matters of the heart. He wondered if she knew she was that transparent, he was certain she didn't want to disappoint her parents or clue them in to her internal struggles. But he saw her furrowed brow when alone, the way her shoulders lifted a touch because she was safe in her solitude, it was what she knew and there was no expectation she put on herself, no title to fulfil.
And he saw her smile, frequently absent until her friend joined them. Her friend Regina. David suspected there was more there but he couldn't form any coherent thoughts about what it meant. They had been returned to their homeland, he was suddenly the head of the army and joint ruler and he was reminded how horribly constricting that role was. Especially for a shepherd used to open spaces and fresh air. The only lives he had been responsible for were his animals.
And in Storybrooke Regina had returned him to his animals, caring for them rather than shouldering any responsibility for overseeing people. It had been blissful ignorance. And he didn't have the festering blame some of the others did about being torn from their homeland. He could see positives in the town, in modern living, in plumbing and electricity, improved medicine and the internet. He might have been separated from Snow, denied his love, but he had been ignorant of it and supplied with distractions like a job, books and a Playstation. Regina could have killed them all, but she hadn't. She had taken good care of them, given them shelter and nice homes, brought them to a world with abundant food. Without the bitterness a case could be made that she could have done far worse things that were more in keeping with her Evil title.
He wanted to reach out and spend time with his daughter and reassure her, both that her parents wouldn't ever leave her again and that Regina could be accepted. In his opinion they had missed twenty-eight years, he didn't want to miss anymore or alienate her further. But here he was a ruler first and a father second. He wanted to ask probing questions about Regina and the looks he saw them share. About why their magic combined so easily, and how many evenings they stayed up late into the night talking together. But his focus was split, the Kingdom needed him, so he watched out for his daughter as best he could, keeping his eyes and ears open just in case she needed him.
He looked over again at his grown daughter, and saw himself mirrored there. Both in her small actions and her physical nature, and his heart clenched with paternal love, mixing with fear he couldn't protect her from this life.
If he could spare Emma that he thought that might be his best legacy as a father. Snow clearly disagreed, trying to get Emma into ball gowns and married but David could see a different path. One equally noble, where Emma fought for her beliefs and her family but without the traditional shackles of royalty. And at least Regina understood that part of it, married into the role as Leopold's Queen, a title and obligation she didn't want. She had crafted her own way and she could help Emma do something similar, without the magical darkness of course.
He mused that the path could be where their once enemy held their daughter through her fear. Accepted her for who she was and helped guide her to be a great monarch because underneath the madness, bloodshed and ridiculously tight fitting clothing, Regina had been a good ruler. David wanted to quantify that because it sounded wrong even to his own ears, but there was no denying the army had been strong, the treasury full and her villages well run with the position of healer a state funded necessity when Regina had been on the throne.
Emma could thrive with Regina by her side, offering the protection he couldn't give her. Magically and emotionally. And the thought didn't horrify him like it once would have. Add in that Henry would be happy, his fractured and dysfunctional family together, with both his mother's under one roof. A strong, magical, loving roof. Emma could do worse he mused to himself as he realised it was soon his turn to speak, motivating and reassuring the people.
He cleared his throat, pulled at his collar, hid a rueful smile when he caught himself in the mirroring behaviour and ran through his lines in his head. As Snow finished speaking and looked behind her to catch her husband's eye he smiled. He felt her love, her gaze caressed him, gave him strength and with every heartbeat they became more attuned, closer.
He had everything he needed here, wife, daughter, grandson and worthwhile occupation. Certainly he was uncomfortable on occasion, but as far as life went, his wasn't so bad.