There's No Place Like Home
Summary: Reunions, hugs and misconceptions…Emma's first night back in Storybrooke. An exploration and expansion of the family reunion scene in NYC Serenade.
A/N: So who else is impatient for Sunday? I wanted to get into Emma's head a bit and expand on that last Storybrooke scene so voila! My offering to the post NYC Serenade story collection. This will be in two parts, with the second coming tomorrow and will feature Hook in part two…but this part is all Emma and her parents.
As for the title…if you don't know where that's from, I'd be very surprised… ;)
As always, feedback is very much appreciated!
Disclaimer: OUAT and all its characters belong to ABC…all I own is a sore typing finger and an Itunes copy of NYC Serenade which may have been playing on repeat since Sunday…
She'd walked up these steps a hundred times but never had they felt so unending as they did now. Part of her wanted to race up them…the other wanted to slow down, to dawdle. She didn't know what she would find at the top, didn't know what had befallen the residents of Storybrooke when they'd been once more forced into this world by magic. Would her parents be up there, happy and welcoming that their daughter again remembered them? Or would she be forced to look into polite but distant eyes, curious but unknowing of the woman standing before them?
The steps finished far too soon and she found herself on the dimly lit landing. Not allowing herself to hesitate she crossed the few feet to the door and rapidly knocked on the slightly peeling green painted surface. The few seconds it took for the door to open each passed as if they were an eternity but pass they did and before she could blink, she found herself facing her father in the doorway.
"Hi," she breathed out, the word escaping without thought. He looked exactly as she remembered, piercing blue eyes staring at her in shock. He made no move to speak or approach her except for a subtle step backwards. Emma tried desperately to see if she could discern recognition in his gaze but his face was blank. Dread pooling in her stomach she hurried to explain before the possibility of having the door shut in her face arose.
"Don't close the door…I…I…My name is…"
"Emma."
With that single exhalation, the dread dissipated. He knew her…he knew who she was.
"David?"
She'd barely uttered his name in question before he was moving, she was moving and she was wrapped up in his strong embrace. When his hand automatically came up to cradle her head as he had always done, from the first hug in the moments after the curse had been broken, she let the relief flow through her. He was her father, he knew her as his daughter.
"You remember," he murmured against her hair before she stepped back again.
"You remember," she echoed, her lips twisted into a slight smile of relief.
"Of course..wh…what are you doing here? Where a…"
"Well, Hook found me, he brought me here…he said you were cursed," Emma explained, strangely pleased that David didn't let go of her arm as he led her into the apartment.
"Yeah," he breathed out in acknowledgment, "We're back or we never left or…well, we don't know. We're trapped again."
"But you know who you are?" Emma questioned, even as she internally berated herself for asking a question she already had the answer to.
"This curse, we don't know who did it or why. All we know is that our last year…it's been wiped away."
"Wiped away?"
"All we remember is saying goodbye to you…it feels like yesterday."
Emma could easily hear the emotion in David's voice and a small part of her was soothed with the instant knowledge that he'd missed her…no matter how short the separation seemed to be in his memories. But something else tugged at her mind and her brow furrowed.
"But if you can't remember, how do you know it's been a…"
"Emma?"
Her sentence was interrupted by a familiar voice from above and her eyes flicked upwards to see her mother rapidly making her way down the stairs…her visibly pregnant mother. Emma couldn't help the shocked flickering of her eyebrows, nor avert her gaze. This was…she was…
"Year?"
Emma didn't have time to process this information before Mary Margaret was wrapping her arms around her with loving force, pressing as close as she was able to. For a moment, Emma let everything else go and simply revelled in the joy of being hugged by her mother, an involuntary smile crossing her lips at the sensation.
Mary Margaret pulled back but took Emma's hands into her own, squeezing them gently. She seemed to open her mouth to speak but instead just stared at her with love, disbelief and fair amount of happiness spread across her features.
David brought his hand up to Mary Margaret's shoulder and rubbed it gently as he glanced down at the rather obvious bump in her dress.
"As you can see…a lot's happened."
"Yeah…we just don't know what," Mary Margaret explained, "The whole year is gone."
"Who the hell would have done this?" Emma breathed out, looking between both of her parents.
"We don't know," David replied, "Of the only three people we know to be powerful enough to cast a curse like this, two are dead and Regina…"
"Swore this wasn't her…and we have no reason not to believe her," Mary Margaret finished, "This time she's as trapped as we are."
Emma nodded, mind racing back to the night before. She was never one to believe in mere coincidence and knew that Wal…that creature must've had something to do with this. As to what though, she had no idea.
"Is Henry with you?"
Her mother asked the question but both of them looked curious and hopeful.
"Yeah, but he doesn't…Hook had a potion to restore memories but he only had enough for me," she explained, "He's asleep in the car…he thinks we're here for a case."
David looked especially crestfallen at her answer and Emma was reminded that this was Henry's family too…they'd missed him as much as they'd missed her.
"Hook…he's the one who brought you here? How…" Mary Margaret questioned, "He wasn't cursed with the rest of us?"
"Apparently not but I think he might explain it better than I can."
David nodded and she saw the resolve harden in his eyes, "Then let's ask him."
"I left him down at the car with Henry," Emma explained, "I'll go get them and…"
"I'm coming with you," David's tone of voice brooked no argument, "You'll need help with your bags anyway."
Emma hesitated, wondering whether having her father sprung on Hook without warning was a good idea. But Mary Margaret took the hesitation to mean something different and an uncertain expression crossed her face.
"You are going to stay with us, right? Your bed's untouched and we can tell Henry we're old friends or something for now and…"
"We're staying here," she interrupted, reaching across to squeeze her mother's hand comfortingly, "This is…this is home after all."
It was surprising how easy the word slipped out. In the scheme of things, she'd lived here less than most other places she'd resided in but standing here, surrounded by memories of family, she could think of no other word to describe it.
Mary Margaret's face lit up with relief.
"Besides," Emma continued, "You have some explaining to do."
Surprisingly, she seemed to be taking this in stride. She thought it was partially because so much had changed in the last two days and everything hadn't quite sunk in yet but even still…she couldn't muster up any other emotion than happiness on her parent's behalf, concern as to how it happened and a small sliver at excitement that she'd been reunited with a family that was bigger than she thought.
And in case her mother didn't realize to what she was referring, she gestured down to the bump in her dress. Mary Margaret let out a little laugh.
"I would if I could…but I don't know much more than I woke up pregnant. We checked with Doctor Whale and all he could tell us is that we're both healthy and that I'm about six months along. Other than that…"
She trailed off and Emma could see the uncertainty and slight hint of fear in her words. She could see her parents shared her concern and she made a vow then and there that she would figure out what was happening…she was the savior after all.
"Now you'd better go get Henry before David rushes off without you."
The man in question just shook his head and pressed a quick kiss to his wife's lips before he placed a gentle hand on the small of Emma's back and guided her through the door.