Emma sauntered down the main street of Storybrooke eager to pick up her morning coffee and bear claw. It had been weeks since her little trip to the past and she found her self beaming with happiness over the peaceful routine her life had fallen into.
She thought over the past month, fondly reminiscing about the time she had spent with her family and the new apartment she had began renting only a few day prior. So deep in thought was she, that she barley noticed the scene that was taking place a little further down the street where a small crowd was gathering to throw snow balls and hurl obscenities at a short dark male figure who cowered in-front of them, telling them to stop at the top of his lungs. Emma immediately switched into savior mode and sprinted toward the scene, hoping to stop the confrontation from escalating.
From behind the crowd she stood, feet apart, blonde curls blowing in the winter breeze and snow flakes falling on her blood red leather jacket, creating a stark contrast.
"Stop it. Everyone stop what you are doing." She bellowed towards the crowd, grabbing the attention of all around her.
The townspeople looked at her hesitantly, not wanting to leave their icy artillery behind, but slowly began to recognize her as the rightful heir to the kingdom and the only law enforcement officer in town.
"Now just what is going on here? Why are you all attacking this guy?" She asked, making her way to the quivering mob victim.
"Princess, you do not understand. This is not just some man. This.. thing.. he .. he is evil. Pure and simple. Back in the Land Without Color he killed many, many people." A middle aged man, that Emma recognized as the town's baker, said.
Oh so this was a past life thing. Emma had been to other worlds three times now but their were still things she did not understand and others that she didn't want to. She had seen Regina, in full Evil Queen mode, torturing civilians but had made the decision to not let that impact on her view of her. Honestly, as far as Emma was concerned life began for these people when they entered Storybrooke and whatever crimes they had racked up in some previous life were moot point.
"I am sure he did terrible things, but he deserves a chance to start over and I will not let you continue to attack him. If I see another person come at this man unprovoked, then you will accompanying me down to the station." She said firmly.
Th crowd looked to each other, obviously displeased with her words and silently daring one of them to speak out, but when none of them did the crowd quickly dispersed. Emma stared the crowd down until the last straggler had left the scene and then walked towards the man, who was still cowering on the side walk.
"You okay? Who are you and what did you do to piss off so many people?" She asked.
The face that looked up at Emma was familiar but something seemed to be a bit off, as if a major element was missing.
"Do I know you?" She said as she looked into the deep blue eyes of the dark haired man.
"Keine. I only came here in the second curse. My name is Adolf... Adolf Hitler."
The man, Aldolf, had passed out soon after telling Emma his name, leaving Emma to doubt his words.
The man in front of her did not have a Hitler mustache and that combined with the absence of an SS uniform meant Emma, being rather unknowable about history, could not confirm his identity. Not willing to take any chances though, she decided the safest course of action was to take the man (she refused to think of him as Hitler. She just could not) down to the station. She paged her parents, Hook and Regina to meet her there. If this man really was Hitler she would need as much help she could get.
With the help of her father and Hook, Emma moved Hitlers slowly waking form onto one of the holding cell's bed only for him to awaken as they placed him him down.
Still in a state of shock, Emma quickly pulled her hand away, as if to avoid catching an imaginary layer of antisemitism off of the man and locked the cell's door.
She turned to her friends and family, seeking some sort of reassurance that this was all alright.
"Wait, Adolf Hitler? As in the Hitler, the dictator. The man behind the genocide of millions of Jewish people? Seriously? How is that even possible? Hitler is a real person, he only died like 80 years ago."
Snow shot Emma a sympathetic look, knowing how much her daughter hated dealing with cross realm mass murderers.
"Mulan and Blackbeard were real people in this world too and we've meet them. Maybe there is some kind of reincarnation system in place?" She offered.
"Maybe. Have any of you ever met him before?" Emma said looking anywhere except the cell behind her where the German was sitting.
"No, you're father and I never left the Enchanted Forest. I have memories, I mean Mary Margaret has memories, of hearing about him but news doesn't travel well across the realms. What about you Regina? I know Rumple sometimes took you to other worlds."
Regina had been quite before this, staring soulfully outside a station window. "I only went to the Land Without Color once, I barley met anyone there but I heard stories. Villages wiped out, gas chambers, nothing too impressive. I once tried to acquire some hydrogen cyanide from him, to use in my hunt for Snow White but once the deal dried up so did my interest in this 'Third Reich'. If he couldn't help me, I didn't care."
"Regina! If this Hitler is anything like the one I know, millions of people were killed at his hands!"
"I know that now but things were different then. I was different then. My hands were hardly clean, My victims may not have been in the millions but I was not far off."
Things fell silent as they always did when Regina talked about her massacres . "Jesus" Emma thought, 'what had she gotten herself into.'
"So what are we going to do with him?" Snow whispered into the tense atmosphere.
"We kill him, obviously. Look maybe when it comes to fairy tales you guys know what to do, but Hitler is from my world. He can't be reasoned with and the last time he was allowed to go free millions died."
Hearing what could be the conversation that determined whether he lived or died, Adolf felt the passion in him rally. He knew he had to speak out.
"Wait. It is true. I am Hitler and I have done many things in my quest to better the world, including the deaths of some but all my actions they have had a reason. The things I've done they were horrible and it took me losing everything, including my beloved Ava, to realize I was wrong but now that I see the path I only want what everyone wants at one point in their lives, a second chance."
A single tear fell down his cheek, and his normally small eyes enlarged to size of globes. It would take a monster to say no to this man and everyone in the station, bar Emma, felt their heart strings pull with sympathy.
"Emma, we are always talking about second chances. We gave Regina multiple second chances and eventually one stuck, maybe the same will work for Hitler too." Pleaded Snow.
"You can't be serious, mom. You know what he did."
"She may not be, but I am. He deserves a second chance and if you deprive him of that, then you are just as bad as he is. Their will be no more killing in this town." Regina spoke with her head held up high and a look of steely determination on her face.
Emma could not follow the logic of the people surrounding her. This man was a murderer. He had killed millions of people, how would she excising justice be at all similar to the genocide he had committed? How did any of that make sense? She looked towards her father and Hook for support but both guys seemed determined to avoid her gaze. Stupid fairy-tales.
Knowing she wasn't going to get the support of anyone else in the room and cursing herself for even trying to make these people see reason, she exhaled loudly and slouched.
"Fine, but keep him away from any beer halls." She said before walking out of the station and praying the rest of her day was void of Nazi's.
Next Chapter: Sad Back-Story Time