Disclaimer: Just playing, will put everything back when finished.
She's a climber. Always has been. Because she's found when you climb so high up, nothing can get to you. Not your life, not your problems, not anything. It's just you and the horizon.
So their first night in Neverland, when she can't take the sounds of the forest and the root in her back any longer, Emma finds the biggest, best tree nearby, and grabs hold.
In minutes she's on the highest branch that can support her and looking out, but this time she can't quite shake what she wanted to leave behind. Because Neverland, like the Enchanted Forest, has it's own vibe.
She's sure she's the only one in their party that actually notices, but the feeling is downright tense.
Magic.
Something deep inside answers for her, and it makes sense. From what she's seen and felt magic is as diverse as its users, and so it must be too with the lands it inhabits. And for somebody who grew up in a place without any of it, the differences are obvious.
The thought makes her scoff.
Magic, the Enchanted Forest, Neverland. If her Pre-Storybrooke self were to ever meet her now she'd probably have herself committed. But then, Pre-Storybrooke Emma hadn't met a kid named Henry either.
Henry.
His name makes her heart hurt, hence why she's tried to avoid thinking about him for just a little while. Thoughts like where he is now, what those psychopaths have done with him, what she'll do when she gets her hands on them-
"Emma?"
The call is soft but direct, and she startles, fingers tightening on her branch as she looks down from the perch.
"David?"
"You were glowing, everything okay?"
"Huh?"
Sure enough, looking at her hands she spots that familiar light starting to fade.
"Yeah," she calls back, "I'm fine."
"I'm coming up."
"Wait- I-" She starts, but not quick enough.
In a couple efficient moves she finds her father on a thicker branch just below hers, his eyes watching her expectantly. That look says he wants to know why she suddenly became a human night-light, but she replies instead, "Now I know whom I have to thank for my climbing skills."
He blinks, then smiles.
"I'm afraid I can't take all the credit. Your mother's quite the acrobat herself."
The real story of how Prince Charming and Snow White first met comes to mind, and she smirks.
"Guess I just inherited the best of both then."
"I agree."
The sincerity in his voice, the adoration; even after nearly being obliterated, after calling him "Dad", is still too much to hear.
All she wants is to rescue her son and go home, that's it, nothing more. But her parents' devotion is a reminder that achieving those goals won't be easy on her psyche. They would happily die to save her, to save Henry, have come close many times, and she can't have it. She's already lost so much...
"Emma? Emma! Emma, breathe!"
She gasps, suddenly aware she's been holding her breath during her emotional spiral. But she inhales too fast, and the world starts to spin too.
Stupid Swan, stupid, she inwardly groans, feeling her body slip off the branch even as her mind desperately tries to stop it from happening. Her head is so preoccupied in fact, that it doesn't realize what her heart moves her lips to say until it's too late.
"Dad!"
Two arms wrap fast around her middle mid-fall, hauling her up from the abyss, and in a mad scramble to get away from the edge she koala bear hugs David.
"Hey, hey, you're okay. I wouldn't have let you fall, I swear."
Only when she feels his hand in her hair, so similar to the last time, does she realize she's shivering, but rather than pull away she only holds on tighter.
"It's okay. You're safe."
I know, she thinks, but can't seem to make herself let go. A part of her that's only just starting to emerge from behind her wall is adamantly refusing.
"Well, I've had enough of climbing for one night how about you?"
He's going for humor, but she can tell he's just as rattled by her near fall as her.
"Okay," is her only answer, thinking she better suck it up and get herself down too when suddenly she feels herself being maneuvered so she's riding piggyback.
"Just hold on, and I'll get us down."
She should protest, get her own branch and make the climb, but before she can he begins their descent. And when they're safely on the ground again she finally lets go, but before she can get away David's tugged her into an embrace of his own.
"Don't ever do that to me again, okay? We can't lose you, Emma."
She simply nods, wondering how she could be so self-absorbed that she missed it. Yes, her parents would die for her, but only because they'd die with her should she perish. She couldn't lose them, so she'd make sure they didn't lose her.
"I know, Dad," she hugs him back, "I know.'