True loves kiss can break any curse.

That's the way the magic was written.

And so it did.

Emma Swan had saved her son. With true loves kiss she had brought Henry back. As she looked at him and his cheeky grin, Emma knew she would fight dragons for an eternity if it meant keeping him safe. He was hers and she was never going to let him go.

"I told you," Henry said. "All you had to do was believe. You did it. The curse is gone."

"Yeah," Emma said, ruffling his hair as he scooted back under the white hospital sheets. "I guess it is. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you."

Henry smiled. "It's okay. I know you wanted to, you just let logic get in the way."

Emma had to laugh. Henry was definitely wiser beyond his years. She wondered where he got that from because it wasn't from her.

She stroked his hand, careful not to hit his I.V. line. Then she stood and grabbed her jacket off Henry's bed. "You okay for a few minutes? I just have to go check on something."

Henry nodded with an exuberant smile. "I'm sure there are people that want to see you too," he said.

"Er, right," Emma replied, backing towards the door. "No funny business while I'm gone. And please, do not eat anything with apples."

Henry laughed. "That's gunna be a thing now, huh?"

"You got it, kid."

Emma gave him a small wave before slipping out the glass door. She paused for a moment, watching through the window until Henry settled in and his eyes drifted closed.

Then she turned, her mind spinning a mile a minute. When the curse broke things changed. It was more than just the fairy tale memories and the magic that returned. She could feel it in her bones.

Family had returned. And Emma wasn't ready for it. She wasn't prepared. When she left Henry's bedside, wondering how far Regina would get before someone tried to hang her from that blasted apple tree in her yard, Emma couldn't help but notice the subtle nods and low bows that were bestowed upon her.

At first she merely cocked an eyebrow and shrugged, but after being bowed out of the hospital, Emma opted to keep her head down. If she didn't make eye contact, she could ignore the strange gestures and then she didn't feel obligated to respond, like it was her civic duty or something.

Emma didn't know where she was going when she hit the pavement, not at first. The strange feeling of not knowing, not understanding the sleepy little town anymore was irritating the once competent sheriff. Emma had the distinct feeling that she would no longer have the credentials to keep up with the kind of things that would go on in this town.

The anomalies that accompanied dwarves and fairies and people made of wood, all the things that Henry had so desperately begged her to believe in. Everything in that stupid book. It was all real and concentrated in this one town.

And despite whether she wanted it or not, she was part of it. She had been born into that world.

A chill zipped up her spine. It was crazy. Emma shook her head, and pulled her jacket on, shrugging into the familiar leather. She untucked her hair from beneath the collar and started a brisk walk towards Granny's, the social hub of the town. If she was going to find out anything it would be there, and if not she could at least pick her and Henry up some dinner. He was probably sick of that hospital slop.

As she rounded the corner of Mr. Gold's shop she froze, her feet digging into the gravel before coming nose to nose with Mary Margaret.

"Ah," Emma said. "Crap." This was not exactly the first person she wanted to run into. She looked up over Mary Margaret's shoulder. David was smiling at her in a weird sort of way; one that made her feel extremely self-conscious. She squirmed. She didn't want to see him either, since according to Henry and his big book of fairy tales, these were her parents; living, breathing, in the flesh parents.

Twenty-eight years too late parents.

Boy was she bitter today. Granted, she did just slay a dragon and cooperate with the slightly evil, slightly deranged, and mostly eye-roll inducing Regina to save her son, so forgive her for not wanting to throw an awkward family reunion on top of that. She just wanted to be with her son. So it was best to keep those thoughts in her head if she wanted to spare any feelings. And she did. She wasn't an obnoxious jerk. Just stubborn beyond reason.

"Emma," Mary Margaret whispered. Her smile was so wide it clouded her entire face.

Emma saw the tears gathered in her eyes and chose to look elsewhere. Anywhere else, which was rather difficult. There was a crowd of people forming around them and Emma was glad she had never been claustrophobic.

Her breath hitched though and she stilled, seeing the hand move in her peripheral vision."I can't," Emma said, rolling her shoulders as Mary Margaret reached for her.

It wasn't as if she had never been hugged by Mary Margaret before, but this was different. That hand, the sympathetic smile.

It was different now.

The motives behind the motion had changed. No longer was it a friend comforting another. It was a mother comforting her daughter. Her long lost daughter, returned home as the saviour to a bunch of whacked out, realm hopping story book characters who took revenge to a whole new level of insanity. Or stupidity. She hadn't quite figured that part out yet since she wasn't exactly up to date on her story book life.

Emma saw the hurt she had caused and sighed. It stung like a spark, at least that's what it looked like when Mary Margaret recoiled, clenching her fist and holding it against her chest as if she were wounded.

Emma nodded to herself. That's what she did. She hurt people. She couldn't have parents. It was too late. She was too hardened, too broken to let people in the way they needed, the way they wanted, especially these people.

"I have to go," Emma said suddenly, muttering offhandedly. She threw Henry's name into the conversation for good measure, confirming her priorities to herself and these people. She couldn't stand in the crowd of fairy tale characters anymore, in the middle of a town of people she thought she knew, but it turned out she really didn't. She couldn't be a part of the non-existent reunion, the one that it was blatantly obvious everyone was waiting for.

Mary Margaret and David looked at her, panic lining their faces.

Emma grimaced. She was doing it already. Making a mess of things.

"Emma, please," Mary Margaret begged. "We love you."

"No, you don't," Emma said gently, taking a step back as the crowd parted to free her. "You're in love with that baby you sent away twenty-eight years ago." She held up her hands, not in surrender, but to protect herself, maintain the distance. "That's not me. I'm not that baby anymore and I'm definitely not a princess."

Mary Margaret raced forward but was caught by David as he wrapped his arms around her waist. "Let her go," he whispered. "It's a lot to take in."

"I'm sorry," Emma said. "I really am." She turned, keeping her head down to avoid the accusing eyes she knew would follow and walked away, wishing for the briefest moment that she had never followed Henry back to Storybrooke. It was selfish, she knew that, but maybe things wouldn't hurt so much now.

Emma had finally gotten everything she had always longed for: a family.

But now that she had it, she realized just how broken she actually was. She wasn't fit for a family. She was a loner. She had always been alone and now, it was too late for her to learn anything else.

And it would be too hard to make them understand. She just needed some space.

Hey guys thanks for reading. In case you didn't notice, this story will be slightly canon, slightly AU so let me know if you want to see more.