(A/N: First foray into SwanQueen/OUAT. I own nothing. Just what I think Emma was thinking during some key moments during the show.)
The First Time
"Please don't take me back there," Henry pleaded, as she released the latch and opened the gate to allow them to walk up the path to the mayor's house.
"I have to," she said, "I'm sure your parents are worried sick about you."
"I don't have parents," Henry retorted, "just a mom. And she's evil."
Emma stopped and rolled her eyes. "Evil? That's a bit extreme, isn't it?" She was now facing Henry.
"She is," he said, looking down. "She doesn't love me. She only pretends to."
Something resonated inside her. Whether it was because he was actually her own child, of which she still wasn't wholly convinced, or because she'd seen so much as a foster child, she wasn't sure. Either way, she felt she had to reassure the boy.
"Kid," she sighed, bending down to his level, "I'm sure that's not true."
As if on cue, the door to the mansion opened. "Henry?" called a woman's voice.
Emma turned.
The woman was slender, with dark hair and dark eyes. Her grey dress was conservative, but stylish. It covered her shoulders, but left her arms bare.
She ran towards Emma and Henry, virtually ignoring Emma entirely.
"Oh, Henry!" she called as she ran, eyes shining with unshed tears.
She embraced him tightly, as any mother who had been worried about her child would. "Oh," she said, "are you okay?" She held him at arms' length, not giving him the chance to answer. "Where have you been?" she demanded.
The dark-haired woman stood straighter, now addressing Emma, looking at her, dark brown eyes meeting Emma's for a fleeting moment as she asked what had happened.
"I found my REAL mom!" Henry blurted and took off, running into the house.
Emma hadn't stopped staring at the woman, the woman who flinched when Henry had referred to Emma as his "real mom". She could tell at once that his words had pierced whatever armor this woman usually wore. He was her weakness. Regardless of anything else, she was certain that the woman who stood before her truly loved Henry.
The dark-haired woman took a steadying breath and returned her gaze to her, eyes watery.
"You're... You're Henry's birth mother?" she asked, with some measure of confusion in her voice. She had clearly not been expecting that bit of news.
"Hi," Emma responded, meekly.
A man, whom Emma had barely noticed to this point, said, in his British accent, that he'd go check on the boy. He turned and re-entered the house, leaving Emma and Henry's mother alone on the walkway.
The dark-haired woman let her eyes wander down Emma's body and back up. Their eyes met again.
"How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you ever tasted?" the mayor asked, a slow smile creeping across her face.
Emma was intrigued. "Got anything stronger?" she asked, honestly.