Emma made her way down the sidewalk after her chaotic meeting with Regina. She was nearing her house and looked up from the rock she'd been half-heartedly kicking to see a small child stood in front of her door. She cautiously made her way to the front porch and cleared her throat. A small blonde girl turned and fixed piercing green eyes on her.
"Oh good. You're home. Can you let me in? It's not exactly warm out here," Emma stared dumbfounded for a moment before opening her mouth.
"What are you doing here? Do you know who I am?" The girl just shot her a look that said she clearly hadn't opened the door for her yet and Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Of course I do, Mama. Do you not recognize me?" The girl smiles at her, her eyes lighting up with seemingly spontaneous glee.
"M-mama? I'm pretty sure I only gave birth to one child in that prison. Though I was kind of drugged up so.." Emma shrugged as she tried to wrap her mind around what the little girl was telling her.
"You didn't give birth to me, silly, but you still created me. There was still light magic left when you became the dark one. To stop that last shred disappearing completely, you made me! I'm also here to keep you company, so that you don't have to be alone." The girl replied, almost matter of factly, speaking in a way that seemed too mature for someone as young as she appeared to be.
Emma stared hard at her for a moment before just shaking her head and opening her front door. She left it open as she walked through and heard little footsteps follow her into the house and close the door behind her, "So, you're my kid?" The girl gave a small completely serious nod, "But you're also a part of me?"
"I'm a part of you that darkness almost destroyed. But your loneliness created me both to stop the darkness from consuming you and to stop you from making any decisions you'll end up regretting- dark or not." Even though she was explaining something so serious, her tone stayed high pitched and relatively squeaky which Emma was going to have trouble getting used to. "I'm starving, so I brought grilled cheese and hot chocolate from Granny's."
"Okay, so maybe you are my kid. That doesn't mean I'm just going to let you hang around here. I have things to do and I can't have you here getting in my way. Where'd you get money from anyway?" Emma watched the girl climb her way onto a stool in the counter and take a seat before pulling out two grilled cheese sandwiches and setting the hot chocolates down.
"Let's just say when you tell someone the food's for the dark one, they let things slide. Also I think we both know Granny has a soft spot for little kids." She explained, taking a bite out of the grilled cheese, her face looking like she hadn't eaten in months, which was probably true.
Emma rolled her eyes and grabbed the other sandwich from the counter before taking a bite, "So, you're here now. What am I supposed to do with you? I didn't exactly ever raise a child. I don't know how to do that. And now I'm the dark one so I'm probably not the best candidate for mom of the year," Emma replied grumpily as she watched the child in front of her practically inhale her hot chocolate.
She licked her lips before opening her mouth to speak. "Well it would be a little bit harsh to neglect me, wouldn't you agree? All you really have to do is make sure I don't die. The main reason you created me is to be happy. So before you start lecturing me with the 'I'm better than I was before' stuff you fed Hook, you should know I know the emotions you feel and the emotions you felt. You're not happy and I'm here to change that. Do you want to keep even a tiny bit of light in your life?"
Emma swallowed hard and stared into the green eyes in front of her. She looked down at the sandwich in her hand and shifted her feet uncomfortably before looking back up at the girl who was looking to her for an answer, "I guess that wouldn't be a terrible thing? I still don't know anything about being a parent to you though."
"There isn't really much to know. Just feed me and give me something to do on a day to day basis and I'm pretty much fine. You don't need to worry about scaring me, I've been in your head so talking to you is far better than being trapped with all of the dark ones." Emma saw the girl's expression drop, realising that no matter how clever she was, she was still only a child. A child that needed a parent.
She felt bad now that she realized that and sighed before finishing her sandwich and leaning forward against the counter to face the girl, "Okay, mini me, what do you like to do then?"
"I don't know, I've never really done anything before. I would say watching Disney movies but I know that you'll spend the duration comparing the characters to people living here."
"You're probably right, but I suppose I could pull one up for you anyway. Did you have one in mind.. What's your name again?" Emma looked at the girl in question.
The little girl grinned, letting out a single giggle. "That's for you to decide, Mama. If five year olds named themselves imagine how ridiculous registration would be."
"I guess that makes sense," Emma beckoned the girl to follow her as she made her way into the living room and turned on the TV, "I mean I picked my last name. I thought I did an okay job," Emma looked down at the girl who shrugged at her before nodding, "So, Swan.. How about Odette? Like Swan Lake?"
She looked up for a moment, thinking to herself before nodding. "I like it; it feels right. As long as you don't turn me into a swan if I'm naughty."
Emma looked at her funnily before shaking her head and pointing to the TV. She nodded when "Frozen" came on the screen and looked to the girl in question, "This okay, mini me?" The girl nodded as she made her way to the couch and climbed up onto it, "Okay, Frozen it is then."
She watched the screen intently for the first part of the movie. When 'do you wanna build a snowman' came on, Emma sensed that this kid was going to start singing. She listened to the first verse before turning to Emma with a mad grin on her face. "Do you wanna build a snowman? Our ride our bikes around the halls?" She looked at her, trying to encourage her to join in.
"Absolutely not. I hate the snow. It's cold and it makes your clothes all wet. I mean what is the point of even trying to play in it? It's pointless," The girl looked at her unimpressed and Emma heaved a sigh before joining in on the song, "I think some company is overdue, I've started talking to, the pictures on the wall."
"Hang in there, Joan!" They leant in together, singing the line in sync, "It gets a little lonely, all these empty rooms, just watching the hours tick by."
"Don't get used to this, kid. I don't sing," Odette looked at her with an amused expression on her face and Emma nodded to her, "I mean it. I don't sing."
She raised her eyebrows, reminding Emma of Regina's usual response whenever she knows that Emma won't keep her promise. "If you say so." Odette replied, shrugging.
"I say so, kid," Odette looked back to the screen and Emma watched her for a moment before taking in her outfit. She almost laughed out loud when she finally realized that the girl was dressed in a soft little bunny onesie complete with the hood and ears attached to it, "Where in the world did you get that thing you have on?"
"I have light magic, remember? Actually, no, I am light magic but you get the point. Also, I'm not alone." She gestured to Emma's drastically different attire. Emma looked down noticing her usual black, crocodile skin jacket had been swapped for a crocodile onesie.
"Okay, Odie, fair enough," Odette laughed at the nickname and smirked at Emma, "Why a bunny though? You have magic. You could have created anything that you wanted. And you chose a bunny?" Emma said this with slight disgust in her voice and the girl giggled at her.
"What's wrong with bunnies? And I'm five, what were you expecting?" She points out.
"Well, they're just bunnies. You know? They're not really special. They're not strong or powerful or anything other than something that my mother would try to sing to," Emma shrugged like her argument is irrefutable.
Odette cocked her head to one side, frowning a little. "Not everything revolves around being powerful. When you first arrived in Storybrooke, you had no magic but you were happy all the same, right? When you were in New York with Henry, you didn't even know magic existed yet you loved it so much you wanted to return even after you came home. Tell me, or rather, tell yourself, are you happy now?"
Emma looked at the child like she had just grown another head and Odette grinned up at her, "I'm powerful now. I don't need to be happy," She said matter-of-factly.
"You may not think you need to be happy, but do you want to be happy? Isn't that the whole point of life?" Odette almost whined at her mother's stubbornness.
"Whatever you say, kid. I don't need happiness, but if you want to try, be my guest. It's not going to do you any good though," Odette just shrugged knowingly, "How many songs are in this fricking movie?!" Emma exclaimed as another character started singing once again on the screen in front of them.
"In response to your decision to be as open to suggestion as a brick wall, 'Let it go, let it go!" She sang loudly, gesturing like Elsa but refraining for creating actual snowflakes.
Emma rolled her eyes and grumpily sat back with her arms crossed to watch the movie in front of her, "I met Elsa once."
"I was there, remember?" The five year old tapped her temple, raising her eyebrows. "You forget that I'm still a part of you, I'm not a stranger that walked into your house and decided to sit down and watch a movie you clearly hate with a woman that could kill me in the blink of an eye. If I get too annoying, you could rip out my heart. But we both know there's still enough light thoughts left to argue with that instinct for that to happen."
Emma bit her lip but nodded in agreement with the child in front of her, "It's late, kid. Aren't you supposed to be in bed by now or something?"
She shrugged, both her and Emma sharing the same thought regarding a room full of dream catchers. "I don't need to sleep as often as a normal kid would. But I do actually need sleep. I guess tonight you're in luck because I'm sleepy and I want more hot chocolate."
"So if I make you hot chocolate, you'll get out of my hair for a while?" The girl gave a small nod and Emma held her hand out with a hot chocolate in it that the girl gladly accepted.
She sipped it, her gaze not tearing away from Emma for a single second. "Where am I going to sleep?"
"Umm. One second," Emma looked at her for a moment and furrowed her eyebrows before nodding, "Okay, upstairs first door on the right," The girl grinned and stood to walk up the stairs to the second story. Emma trailed after her and took in the room she had just created and decorated to the girl's tastes.
Each of the walls were painted a light lavender colour with fairy lights draped over the bed situated in the corner of the room. The white wooden bed was covered in a bedspread that was different hues of purples and blues and had numerous amounts of stuffed animals arranged on top of it. There was also a white-feathered dream catcher in the centre of the room hanging from the light fixture.
"Why is this in here?" Odette turned to Emma, her eyes narrowed in a way that looked ridiculous on a five year old.
"It's not anything bad. It's only purpose is to protect you and actually collect bad dreams," Odette nodded uncertainly but made her way to the bed and climbed up onto it. Emma just looked around awkwardly for a moment before turning for the door.
"Can you read me a bedtime story?" Odette piped up just before Emma touched the doorknob. She turned around, shooting her a look that said 'you must be kidding'. Odette pouted, beckoning for her to sit down on the end of her bed.
Emma looked at the kid like she was crazy and Odette just gave her an unmoving look so Emma rolled her eyes and sat down on the end of the bed. She held her hands out and Henry's storybook poofed into her hands in a grey cloud of smoke, "One story, kid."
Odette grasped the book out of Emma's hands, flipping the pages until she found one she liked. She handed the book back to her, watching realization creep its way onto Emma's usually emotionless face. Not, this one, anything but this one Emma thought to herself, staring into the eyes of the illustration of a fourteen year old Baelfire.
"Pick a different one, kid," Odette shook her head defiantly and Emma sighed out before looking down at the book and beginning to read aloud to her. Odette could tell that Emma was becoming upset as she read to her and shifted close to her. Emma faltered for a moment as the girl placed herself into her lap but just settled her more comfortably before continuing to read to her.
As Emma immersed herself into the story, she noticed her voice slowly getting quieter and gradually slower. She paused for a moment in attempt to compose herself, her eyes shut as the voices in her head drowned out her thoughts. She knew that the girl was trying to get the light part of her to show through by giving in to her emotions, and it was working. She zoned back in, realising that Odette's arms were draped around her neck, her head resting against her shoulder.
As she finished the story, she looked down to see the girl asleep in her lap. She shut the book and placed it aside before standing and disentangling herself from the girl so she could lay her down in the bed. Emma settled her down before pulling the blankets up around her. She stood back up and shook her head before making her way to the door once again.
"Goodnight, Mama." Odette whispered before rolling over in bed sighing deeply.
"Good night, mini me," Emma shut the door behind herself before leaning back against it and breathing in deeply, "What in the world have I gotten myself into?"