One month later…
"Henry, I'm fine, stop hovering," Emma admonishes as she moves to the passenger side of her bug. The same bug to which her son had started driving as soon as he got his license. The license he had gotten three years into her coma.
He ducks his head in apology but opens the door for her. "Sorry," he murmurs as he helps her in, much to her chagrin. She sighs as he closes it and moves around to the driver's side.
"So where are we headed, kid," Emma asks nervously as they start to drive.
He glances over at her quickly and offers a small smile as he catches her leaning tiredly against the cool glass of the window. "I was thinking my house first to get you settled in and maybe have a bite to eat and a nap," he pauses, his voice dropping before he continues, "you know, just until you get back on your feet."
She gives him what she can only hope is a convincing smile. "Sounds great, kid." She once again leans against the window and he doesn't correct her about the fact that she once again called him 'kid', when he was no such thing anymore.
In the short walk between the familiar yellow car and Henry's small, cottage-like house, the blonde takes in a lot. The front garden is trimmed to perfection, barely a leaf out of place. The blonde sucks in a breath when she sees the ambrosia flowers lining the walkway towards the door.
Henry is by her side in an instant. "Are you okay," he asks hurriedly, taking her elbow gently to hold her upright.
Despite the tears prickling behind her eyes, she nods. "Yeah," she croaks out. "Just a little tired."
He continues to look at her in concern but leads her towards the house. After unlocking the door he ushers her in whispering, "welcome home."
Emma is bombarded by pictures on the walls of the front hall. She had been so used to the bare walls of Regina's mansion or the tacky paintings in Mary-Margaret's loft. Henry starts down the hall with Emma trailing behind, her finger trailing over picture frame after picture frame. She stops short when she sees one photo, hung over a small table that held a vase of lilies. She pulls it from the wall, carefully running a finger across the faces shown. Captured, was a moment from the party that had been held days before Emma had been put in the coma and other unspeakable things had happened. Henry was front and center, smiling toothily into the camera. One of his arms was wrapped around Emma while he sat, half-falling off his other mother's lap. The two women were grinning at each other over their son's head.
"Ma," Henry calls gently. He appears by her side. Catching sight of the photo his mother was holding he smiles. "I miss her too." She looks up at him, yes up, and gives a brief smile.
She clears her throat and tries to put the frame back. Her hand is shaking too much and Henry steadies it, guiding the photo back to its rightful spot. "Come on, I'll show you your room."
…
She wakes up in the room she'd been given. It's darker than it was when she fell into her sleepless doze and a quick glance out the window confirms she'd been out for a while. Voices were talking quietly just down the hall. She creeps out from under the covers, stifling a groan as she stretches.
Tiptoeing down the hall she heads towards what she can only guess is the kitchen. The murmuring is loud enough to hear as she makes it to the doorway but she stays out of sight when the female voice she hears is not Mary-Margaret's.
"You're doing the best you can Henry," the woman says. "It will just take a little while to get used to having your mother back."
"I don't know what to do," Henry says quietly, voice shaking.
There's a pause before the woman responds. "I know hun, but I'll be behind you every step of the way."
Did she just call him hun? Emma blinks in confusion. Henry had not told her he was dating anyone.
"I-I-I didn't want her to wake up," he admits sullenly. "I didn't want to have to explain that mom was," his voice hitches, "gone. I don't want to tell her about all she missed."
"You know I won't tell you it will be okay," the woman says, softly. The blonde lurking in the doorway leans forward a little when there is a shuffling from the kitchen.
With a quick glance in she sees Henry slouched forward on a kitchen chair and a dark haired woman standing in front of him. His forehead is buried into the fabric of her sweater, hiding his face in her stomach with his arms wrapped securely around her waist. The dark-haired woman's fingers thread through his short hair in a soothing manner. "I know," he mumbles.
Emma can't take the guilty feeling of peering in on the private moment for any longer. She knocks quickly on the doorframe before stepping into the light of the kitchen.
The woman pulls away from Henry as he stands abruptly and she turns to face Emma. Her smile, Emma notices, reaches her emerald eyes in an honest expression. "Hi," she greets excitedly, moving towards the blonde. "How was your sleep?"
Emma takes a tentative step backward and the woman takes the hint, freezing a few feet in front of Emma. "It was fine, thank you."
Henry steps beside the dark-haired woman and wraps an arm around her waist. "Ma, I want you to meet my girlfriend, Nicole. Nikki, this is my birthmother, Emma," he introduces.
Nikki holds out her hand for the blonde to shake. "Miss Swan, I've heard so much about you," Nikki says.
Emma flinches but shakes her hand. "Please, call me Emma. Only Gold and uh, Regina called me Miss Swan."
Nikki's smile wavers but she nods. "Of course, would you like something to eat?"
Emma perks up immediately. "What do you have?"
Henry smiles widely and Nikki chuckles. "Anything you want."
"I could really go for a grilled cheese," Emma practically drools.
Henry lets out a sharp bark of laughter. "Of course the first meal you want is grilled cheese, ma," he declares with a smirk. He moves towards the counter and Nikki motions for Emma to sit at the table.
"Would you like some cocoa with cinnamon," Nikki questions.
Emma nods. "Please."
The couple goes about the menial tasks. They work in sync with Emma observing carefully. Their routine is flawless as they work around each other, Henry dropping a quick kiss onto Nikki's cheek as she reaches around him. She smiles and swats at his arm.
Ten minutes later the two are placing the grilled cheese and cocoa in front of where Emma is sitting at the table. "It looks delicious you guys," Emma compliments.
Henry sits across from his mother than pulls Nikki onto his lap. "Henry," she warns but doesn't move. He chuckles into her shoulder.
"So how long have you two been together," the blonde woman asks around a mouthful of her sandwich.
"About five years," Nikki replies. "David introduced us and we just clicked."
"How do you know David?"
"Well, it was about two years after you fell into your coma, I believe, and they needed some help around the station, so I volunteered. I've been working there ever since. A few years later I met Henry and well, the rest is history, we're here now."
Emma smiles at the couple as Henry blushes. "You know, Nikki, I'm glad you're there for Henry. I'm glad someone is, and I think Regina would be proud too. As much as I don't want to though and as much as you don't want and I know how painful it will be Henry, we will have to talk seriously about a few things sometime soon," the blonde rambles, her appetite suddenly lost, as her chest tightens at the mention of the brunette woman noticeably absent.
He nods, "I know ma."
Emma offers another smile to the couple before diving back into her sandwich with renewed vigor. "This is so good," she moans before taking another bite. Henry and Nikki chuckle to themselves as they watch the woman in front of them guzzle down her food.
"I should probably go so you two can talk," Nikki announces once Emma had finished her food.
Immediately two sets of eyes shoot to where she's standing in panic. "No Nikki, could you stay," Henry says quietly after a minute.
She smiles lightly at the two of them. "I love you, Henry, but I won't be the buffer between you and your mom. You two need to talk, properly. I will be back in the morning, okay?" She kisses his forehead before pulling away and watching him nod.
"We'll see you in the morning," he replies. "I love you too."
He stands and walks her to the door, leaning in to brush his lips against hers. She gives his arm a squeeze, whispering, "You'll be fine," in his ear, before she is out the door.
He slumps back into the kitchen, hands dug deep in his jean pockets. "So," he drawls."
Emma smirks. "So?"
He chuckles and sits across from his mother, taking her hand in his from across the table. His hand dwarfs hers and she stares down at it before looking up when he squeezes gently. "I missed you, ma."
"Oh, kid," the blonde says.
He takes in a shuttering breath and wipes a stray tear that had escaped down his cheek. "You missed another ten years. You missed so much again," he mutters, his eyes meeting hers.
She draws him in for a hug across the table. "I'm so sorry, Henry," her voice breaks on his name as she tries to stifle the tears threatening to spill. "I wish I could go back, Henry, I really do."
It was as if the man had become eleven again as he untangled himself from across the table and moved until he was curled into his mother's lap, holding on for dear life. They don't say a word as Emma rocks back and forth in what little room she has left on the chair.
"I love you, ma," he mumbles into her collarbone.
"I love you too, kid."
…
The next morning, Emma scribbles a note out telling Henry that she is going for a jog and she'll be back, before sticking it on the fridge. She looks at it a moment before sighing and heading out.
The crisp morning air feels good on her face as she attempts to keep a clear mind. So many emotions had been coursing through her; she didn't want to process them all. After about fifteen minutes into her jog, she decided that this may have been a bad idea. The town had known she was out of her coma but now they were all seeing her making her way through the streets. Staring at her rather than just seeing, because she felt their eyes and how everything stopped as soon as she passed by. She was also getting rather tired.
She passed town hall as she thought this and in an instant every thought in her brain came to a grinding halt. Only one thing could do that: Regina. There would be no more of her constant nagging for paperwork to be done properly and filed promptly. There would be no more sarcastic, flippant remarks that for a while had started to edge more into teasing than anything else. It felt as if she could walk right in, barge into the office—which tended to annoy its occupier—and see her working studiously at her desk with only a perfectly sculpted eyebrow rose in question. An offhand "what do you need, Miss Swan," spoken in a dismissive tone.
Emma didn't stop herself as she gravitated towards the front doors of town hall and let herself in. It was too early for even the secretary to be in and a quick glance to the clock, mounted high on the wall, informed her it was nearing seven o'clock. She had been prepared for it and yet she still startled when she didn't see Regina's name, scrawled in fancy script across the plaque on the door, but her mother's. Suddenly she couldn't bear to be in this place that reminded her of so many heart-wrenching memories of a love she could never have again. She backed out, tears welling unbidden as she made her escape. She ran, taunting thoughts filling her mind with the fleeting laughter she would never hear again.
With tears streaming down flushed cheeks she sat heavily on a bench by the pier. She sobbed into her hands as she finally allowed herself to grieve over everything that had come to pass. "You weren't supposed to go," she screamed. "You weren't supposed to leave, not without me. I didn't get to tell you, how could you."
"Oh Emma," Regina's voice sounded in her head, soft, like it had rarely been before. If she pretended, kept her head in her hands, she could believe the brunette was sitting right beside her, only just out of reach. "Don't be an idiot. I've not gone far, I'm still here."
"I can't do this!"
"Of course you can. You're the savior."
"There's no point in the savior, there hasn't been in a long time. They went on just fine without me. If I'm still the savior, why couldn't I save you?"
"I was already gone." Emma gasped as memories flooded her senses. Doctor Whale said that she may never get these ones back yet here they come. The fateful day when her life almost ended and she lost her son's other mother, lost the woman she loved.
"You were already gone," she whispered.
"Emma," a voice asks hesitantly, and it takes a second for the blonde to realize someone was actually talking to her.
Her head shoots up as she palms away the tear tracks of fresh tears that still slid down her face. She catches sight of the weary boy in front of her. His hair is only a shade or two darker than hers but, she notes once again, they share the same colour of blue eyes that border on green. "Neal," she questions quietly as her brother's gaze roves over puffy eyes and reddened cheeks. "What are you doing here?"
"I was walking to school, is everything okay? Why were you crying?"
"I'm fine, why are you walking? Don't you take the bus?"
He looks down, scuffing his sneakers against the cement pier as he answers. "No, I haven't for a while. Mom told me you used to come here all the time when you were trying to think and one day when I was upset I just kind of ended up here." He didn't add how he sometimes talked to her when he was alone in this spot. That it had become his morning ritual to sit on the very bench she was curled up on and pretend that she was beside him for at least five minutes before school every day.
"Hey," she says quietly, patting the empty spot beside her. He sits and looks up in time to catch the upward curl of her lips before it vanishes for something softer. "It's okay to be upset. You have a huge family who is always ready to lend an ear when you need it."
"I know," he mutters, eyes drifting over the pier and the murky water beyond it.
She smiles at him again and he's baffled by how much it reminds him of his dad. He had always heard stories of the blonde savior, his big sister, who he had only met as a baby. But they always made his parents and everyone else in town sad, so after a while he stopped bothering to ask at all. He couldn't believe she was actually sitting beside him. "Henry was only a few years younger than you when I met him. Did you know that?"
Neal nods; Henry was the only one still willing to add little pieces to the puzzle that was his sister. He told Emma as much.
"It's hard for our parents, so full of hope, to talk about what they had no control over. It's okay to talk about it. It took me a long time to realize that. If you ever want to talk, Neal, I'll be happy to listen." She waits until he nods in understanding before she stands. "Come on," she holds out her hand. "I'll walk you to school."
His eyes are shining when they meet hers and her heart clenches, a little less hurting than last time. He wraps his small arms around her waist and leans into her, clutching her into a tight hug. She holds on, breathing in his scent and resting her chin atop his head. When he pulls away he keeps a snug grip on her hand and wipes his eyes with his other. "Okay, I'm ready," he admits quietly.
"Me too, my Charming little brother," she grins as he smiles up at her, a chuckle falling from his lips.
They walk hand in hand towards the school, Emma only briefly curious as to why her thirteen year old brother clings to her hand before she realizes he's just making sure she doesn't disappear. Once they are out front of the schoolyard, Emma crouches down to Neal's height. "Have a good day at school," Emma says with a smile. "I'll see you tonight for dinner, okay?"
He nods and reaches for a hug that Emma happily reciprocates. She ruffles his hair as he pulls away. "See you later, Emma."
She waves as he runs into the yard, heading for a blonde girl a year or two older. They both wave in her direction before heading into the school, laughing with each other. "Every kid in this town still hears the stories of you," a voice Emma vaguely recognizes sounds from close by.
Emma turns and sees Ashley, the same woman who she had owed Rumplestiltskin a favour for in order to save her baby. "They tell stories of me," she asks with a rueful smile. "I never thought I'd see the day."
Ashley chuckles and nods to where Neal and the blonde girl had disappeared. "I tell Alexandra about the woman who helped me so many years ago."
Emma's head whips back to the front doors. "That was Alex? She's so big now."
Ashley laughs again and nudges Emma's shoulder with her own. "Don't remind me."
They are both quite a moment before Emma asks hesitantly, "you want to go to Granny's for breakfast? I could go for a bite to eat."
Ashley nods. "Sure I'd love to, Emma."
With that they head towards the diner, both silently working through the anticipation that this excursion was causing. The bell that chimes when they enter the diner is what breaks them out of their thought. Emma looks up from her tattered, old running shoes just in time to see everyone's heads turns towards her. A blush crawled its way up her neck as she gave a small wave to the diner's patrons.
The citizens smile at her as she and Ashley walk further into the diner. "Ruby, could I get a Pepsi and pancakes please," Ashley asks as they slide onto stools by the counter. "What do you want, Emma?"
"Uh, just a salad please, thanks."
"Of course," Ruby exclaims with a beaming smile. "Anything for you, Em."
As they wait for their food, the whispering starts. Emma can feel as everyone's gazes burn into her back. She keeps her head down and tries to block out the noise, doing surprisingly well enough to be startled when Ashley taps her shoulder lightly. Frightened blue eyes meet the other blonde's. "Sorry, what did you say?"
Ashley smiles tentatively and gestures in front of Emma. "I was saying that your food is here. Are you alright?" Emma nods but Ashley frowns slightly. "Why don't we take this to go and I drive you home," she asks. It's not really a question though as she motions for Ruby, who was standing close by, to pack up the food.
Emma lets out a shaky laugh, "If you insist." The blonde feels worse when Ashley offers an encouraging smile. Emma Swan was not one to be coddled. She pushes from the stool a little rougher than intended but manages to steady before concerned hands reach her. "I'm fine," she snaps angrily, before deflating visibly. "Can you just take me to Henry, please?"
Ashley nods. "Of course, Emma, let's get you home."
Home, but not where she wanted to be.