Christmas wasn't snow to Emma. She liked watching the snowflakes as they fell in spirals towards the forest's moss ground, turning green to white. It was undeniably beautiful, the way the drops came together to blanket and hide secrets and sections of the world.
But, beauty aside, it didn't remind her of Christmas. Christmas was a hot sun and a muggy rain fall. Christmas was Tallahassee in the midst of an Indian summer. This freezing cold snow was just a poor substitute.
She hoped her family was okay. She hadn't stayed to check. She wanted to but she couldn't. She couldn't stand to see the looks on their faces, the fear. She had heard her mother scream and a loud crashing sound and a flash of sparks when the Christmas lights that twirled haphazardly around the streetlight hit the cold hard pavement and in that moment all she could do was run. Her magic, the magic she had once tricked herself into believing she controlled, had squared half a street corner and potentially harmed someone she loved. After all of that who could possibly want to be around her?
The blonde sat, rugged up in a thick winter coat, in small yellow car on the edge of Storybrooke. She rubbed her hands together and fiddled in vain with the knob on the heater. She should have turned the car off. After all, she should be saving petrol, she had a long way to travel tomorrow and she didn't want to run out of gas before she reached the town line but it was just so cold outside and her need for heat was over powering her common sense
It would be Christmas tomorrow and Emma knew she couldn't be in Storybrooke at the time. It would be too dangerous, with the Snow Queen after her and her magic acting up, the best thing she could do would be to get out of dodge and leave her loved ones whilst there was still someone to be left. It wouldn't be her first Christmas alone, not by a long shot but there was a time, when the curse first broke, that she had been so sure that those days were behind her. Well, if there was one thing Emma Swan was good at, it was being alone.
The radio crackled and sparked with distortion. It filled the car and replaced the classic rock anthems she had been using to block out her thoughts on this cold Christmas Eve. In their absence, the car filled with the sound of bells jingling and simple rhymes that would only be acceptable in Christmas Carols.
Great, now even her trusty bug is betraying her. Emma sighed and with a roll of her eyes, turned the car off. It was one thing to be alone on Christmas but a completely different thing to have to face the constant reminders. The car hummed as she turned the key but the sound of carols did not cease. They weren't coming from the radio.
Someone was in the car with her.
Emma took a deep breath, eyes quickly rising to her rear view mirror, scanning her backseat. The sound of caroling continued, meaning whoever it was who was stowing away either didn't realize she had noticed their presence or didn't care. Experience told her to hope for the first while preparing for the second. She heard some rustling in the back seat and felt around for something to use against the intruder. For a few moments her hands grasped blindly until she felt something, cold, metal and heavy with in her grasp. A crowbar. Perfect.
"Whoever is back there, show yourself." She stated with inflated confidence.
For the first time, Emma turned her head around and inspected her backseat, hoping it was just a stray raccoon with an affinity for bad music or something. She let out a deep breath when she saw nothing but an empty, and slightly, worn backseat. Her brow furrowed in confusion.
"Impressive." said a man's voice. "But was the threat really necessary?"
Emma jumped at the sound but turned towards the source, her grip firmly planted on the crow bar and her shoulders ready to strike. She almost did but the sight of her mystery intruder stopped her mid swing.
"Neal?!" She said, eyes widening and the crow bar dropping onto the floor of her car.
"Neal. You —you're dead. Zelena killed you. I watched you take your last breath. What are you doing in my car?"
"I am not really him, Emma. I just borrowed his appearance, temporarily. People always seem to react better when you're wearing the face of a deceased loved one. Don't really get it myself. What if I was a zombie?" The man said lighting a cigarette and shaking his head. "No, Emma. I am not Neal Cassidy. My purpose is a very different one. Emma Swan, I am your guardian angel." He finished with a look of pride on his face.
"My guardian what? Look, I don't know who you are or why you've magicked yourself to look like my dead ex-boyfriend but whatever you're selling I am not interested."
"I told you, I am your guardian angel. I've been watching you your entire life, looking out for you even"
"Well, great job you've done so far. My life's been great. A real fairytale. If you're an angel where are your wings?"
"Depending on how things go tonight, I should be getting them in a couple of hours. Come on, you've been hanging out with fairies, pirates and sorcerers for the last two years but you call the line at guardian angels?"
To that, Emma had no response. Whoever this guy was, he was right. Her life was so far down the rabbit hole at the moment that she couldn't be sure of mystical creatures were real or not. But still, angels? Emma had only been to church once when she was living with a religious family in Phoenix. They ended up sending her back the next morning when they caught her sneaking in cigarettes. But, there was something about this vision of Neal that made Emma want to trust him. Something almost otherworldly.
"Fine. I'll listen to what you have to say, but if I find out that you were sent here by the Snow Queen I will not hesitate to kick your ass, got it?"
"Got it." Neal said nodding his head with conviction and shooting Emma a familiar, playful smile that made her groan. It brought up feelings she did not need to be having right now.
"So, you're thinking of leaving, huh? What about your family, you know they'll miss you, right?" He said.
"They'll be better off. Since I've come into their lives everything has gotten worse."
"You can't really believe that. You're the savior. You broke the curse and freed everyone. You've been saving people your entire life."
"Please, I've never saved anyone, much less my family. Sometimes, I wish I never broke that curse. I wish I never came to Storybrooke."
The familiar face of Neal Cassidy stared back into hers. She could see the gears in his head turning and across his face was the expression he used to wear back when they were running the Bonnie and Clyde act.
"Emma Swan, your wish is my command." He said before a white flashing light filled the car set off a shooting pain in Emma's head.
Emma winced at the bright lights in front of her. She squinted her eyes and held a hand up to her forehead, slowly making out the neon lights of Granny's sign. There was a throbbing in her head that felt like a bad hangover and through the haze it cast, Emma could barely make out her thoughts? What time was it and where had the bug gone?
The last thing she remembered was running away from Storybrooke and getting ready to camp out in the bug and..Neal? No, not Neal. Someone who looked like him.
Ugh, this didn't make sense and her headache was demanding water.
Granny's court yard was blanketed in darkness and from the looks of it, the restaurant was long since closed. That was a rare sight in itself and Emma wondered just how late it was. She pulled out her phone and glanced at the time. 7:30pm. Curious and curiouser.
Emma turned her head towards the street. It, too, was devoid of the life and music that had characterized the small town just yesterday. Gone were the Christmas lights and jingles, instead only a single corner of the street was illuminated by a standard gas light.
She looked up and down the street considering her options. She didn't want to go back to the apartment, the idea of having to explain herself to her family weighing on her, but she wasn't sure she had much of a choice. Wherever the bug had gone it wasn't here and she'd need shelter to get through the night.
She picked herself up and brushed the dirt off of her jeans. In her head, she ran through the things she could tell her family and only briefly did she consider making a run for the town line instead. The fact that Storybrooke was in the middle of nowhere stopped her. Even if she made it to the town line it would be morning before she reached the next town over.
It was when she reached the edge of the curb, the point where the trendy store fronts of Storybrooke were replaced more and more with apartment buildings and town houses, that she saw signs of life. In the shadows a pair of silhouettes stood talking to each other and loading empty crates into one of the more rundown buildings.
Emma reached for her gun, keeping her hand on her holster and crouched in the shadow of the buildings around her. She squinted her eyes until the figures slowly began to resemble people.
"And he couldn't be persuaded?" Asked the taller, more feminine one of the pair. The voice triggered a sense of recognition in Emma but it had been so softly spoken that Emma dismissed it as a trick of her mind.
"I told you, sister, he isn't interested. No one is." The short man replied.
She pulled her hand from her gun and sighed with relief. If the first voice hadn't been enough to calm her fears, the second definitely was. The figures talking were Leroy and her mother, and with that knowledge the town felt instantly more familiar and comforting.
She glanced at her mother and a twinge of strange uneasiness swept over her. This was definitely her mom speaking, Emma would recognize her voice anywhere, but the woman held herself differently. She lacked the confidence Emma had come to associate with her mother. This woman held herself more like someone Emma had known years before, someone she'd even come to call a friend.
"Mary Margaret?" She said, squinting her eyes and leaning in closer to the sight.
"But just a few toys would make all the difference to the kids and this is the only toy shop in town." said Mary Margaret.
Emma could see her mother making a small begging gesture with her hands and was reminded of MM's failed attempt to sell candles two years ago.
Leroy continued to stack the last of the crates into the building. Emma could tell that he was doing his best to avoid looking MM into the eye while she had her puppy dog face on. He must have been as much as a sucker for that as she was.
"Don't you think I know that? People don't care about doing charity unless they can get something out of it. You missed the chance of getting a photo op in the paper and now the owner has no reason to pretend to give a damn about orphans. It sucks but its life." He said.
"But there has to be something we can do. Maybe we could ask the mayor for help?"
"Now I know you're crazy. Just let it go, sister. It's cold and I am wasting precious time that I could be spending sinking into a bottle of Sam Adams."
Emma watched as MM sighed dejectedly and nodded her head at the dwarf.
It was strange watching her. Emma had lived with her mother for years now, she loved her. And though the mother she knew shared similarities with the school teacher Emma had met first, they were two decidedly different people. Both were sweet but Snow was brave and kind of stern. She was a mom first and foremost. MM was lighter, one of the first friends Emma had made and someone Emma felt very protective over. She never regretted the relationship she had with her mom but sometimes Emma missed Mary Margaret.
"You're right. Thanks anyway, Leroy. Maybe next year we'll have a better shot?" MM said, her voice pitching up in hope.
Leroy shook his head, as if her disposition was an offering he refused to be roped into.
"Whatever you want to tell yourself, sister."
He lifted the final crate into the building and locked the door. Then he marched over to his truck, driving away in haste to what Emma assumed would be an empty apartment.
Emma watched her mother from the corner for a few minutes more. The cold had given her cheeks a rosy red hue, but the thing that really caught her eye was the trail of tears the traced down the sides of her cheeks. Emma swallowed hard and, forgetting herself, exited the alley and dashed over to her mother's side.
"Mom, what are you doing here? Where is everyone?"
Emma held her mother's arm and tilted her head in concern, but pulled back when she saw the lack of recognition in the other woman's eyes. She felt a pang of physical pain as she remembered her trip to the Enchanted Forest with Hook when Snow had last looked at her without the warmth and caring in her that Emma hadn't even realize she had come to rely on for comfort.
"I am sorry, do I know you? Did you need help?" Asked the dark haired women.
"Uh I guess I was mistaken? Um could you tell me the date and ah where we are."
"It's Christmas Eve um 2012 and you're in Storybrooke, Maine. Did you want me to take you to the doctor? Were you in an accident?" This time it was MM who took hold of Emma's arm, a gesture Emma let herself lean into for a moment before letting he mother's words sink in and hesitantly pulling away.
"No, its fine. I am just looking for someone. Merry Christmas."
"Okay uh Merry Christmas."
The women exchanged nods, both pushing down the itching inside of them to reach out the stranger they saw before them. One acted out of ignorance and the other with the painful knowledge that they were responsible for the separation they now experienced.
"Okay, Neal or whoever you are, where are you? Uh I summon you, guardian angel." Emma yelled into the starry, clear Maine sky.
Her shoulders flounced when her call went unreceived and she exhaled in an almost comical way until strands of her hair bounced up with her breath.
For a moment the street was silent, the only noise coming from the occasional strong gust of wind but in seconds Emma began to hear the soft ringing of bells. A white light then appeared in front of her, like a tear in the universe expanding gradually until it was just a little larger then Emma herself. From that void the familiar face of Neal Cassidy appeared.
"Hey, Emma. What's up?"
"What's up? I just spoke to my mom and she had no idea who I was. What is going on?"
"It's exactly what you asked for. We're in a world where you never broke the curse, so Storybrooke, the original edition, is in its 30th year non-stop."
"This is cursed Storybrooke at Christmas? But there are no decorations or festivities. Before we left Storybrooke looked like it was pulled out of a hallmark card."
Neal chuckled but Emma remained stoic. Neal rolled his eyes at Emma's stubbornness.
"There is a reason they call it the Dark Curse and not the Christmas land curse, Emma. Everyone here is supposed to be eternally miserable and misery doesn't break for holidays."
Emma stomped her foot in frustration. Of course Regina had to make the curse dependent on misery. Taking away everyone's memories and moving them into a new dimension wasn't enough for her, she had to make everyone suffer as well.
And of course Christmas, for everyone who wasn't an orphan, was like the pinnacle of the year (or so the movies had told her) so it was a bit of a no brainer that Storybrooke did not celebrate it.
"So for thirty years no one here knew it was Christmas?"
"Eh they know it's Christmas, the same way they know what year it is, but it doesn't mean anything for them. It's just another day in their ever repeating year of sorrow."
"Well, that's not so bad. Plenty of people don't celebrate Christmas and it's not a big deal. I didn't celebrate a lot of Christmases when I was growing up and I am fine. The idea that everyone needs Christmas is just a corporate myth that it messes kids up."
Neal smirked and looked down before nodding his head and pursing his lips skeptically. In some ways it was comforting to see such a familiar gesture, but in another more pervasive way it told Emma just how wrong she was about to be proven.
Neal had left quickly after that and the remainder of Emma's questions (like why and how) went unanswered. She wondered the town aimlessly, knowing that wherever she went she would most likely be turned away. She was a stranger here, even among all the familiar faces she glimpsed at through the frost covered windows. Around her the weather had only gotten worse and from the sky snowflakes began to fall.
An hour or so passed before she reached the edge of town. The edge of the suburbs, where the houses became more like shacks and the gravel stone was replaced by a rocky beach. She looked out on to the ocean horizon, a view now obstructed by a shabby wooden castle that had been destroyed in the Storybrooke she knew years ago, and thoughts of a certain pirate who was most likely still stuck in another world invaded her thoughts.
A glimmer of light emanating from inside the wooden castle, caught the savior's eye. A light from the castle. A light from Henry's castle. Emma's hopes were raised, though she was unsure of why, and she dashed over to the child's playground.
The closer she got the more clearly she could see the light source, which seemed to be electronic in nature. She climbed the wooden staircase until she was on the last rung of the ladder, from there she could see a familiar coat and scarf spilling onto the ground. She climbed onto the platform and, just as before, she was taken back by the unfamiliarity in his eyes.
"Hen- Hey, kid" she said with a smile, trying to appear as non-threatening as possible.
"Uh hey? Who are you?"
She took a seat beside him on the edge of the castle platform and looked out to the street she had just come from. Henry must have had a clear view of her approaching but still he hadn't moved to get away. That could be a good sign, perhaps he was still as trusting as before?
From where she was perched, she could see the yellow bug sitting in the distance, not even touched by the snow that was blanketing everything else. She smiled in relief. That was one less problem for her to worry about, though why it ended up here she did not know.
A gust of wind blew past her and she shuddered in response. She looked to her son, who was waiting for her reply, and wondered how he was dealing with the cold.
"What are you doing here? It's freezing."
"Nothing. Just reading." He said shrugging. Emma looked could see the torch, which had created the light Emma had spied earlier, on one of the boy's hand and a book held tightly in the other. It was smaller than the fairy tale book and bound in dull grey leather. She leaned back and read the title.
"The Russian Revolution? School project?"
"No."
"A bit of a downer, isn't it?"
"It's realistic. Life can be a bit of a downer. "He said, looking the book over.
Emma swallowed, her memories of ten year old Henry coming back to her and involuntarily comparing themselves to the son she had raised in the two years that had passed since they met again. Though her Henry was the same age as the boy in front of her, this Henry's dour expression made him seem as far separated from her Henry as possible. Still, there was enough of her son in there to fill her with gnawing guilt.
"Maybe, but then wouldn't you prefer something that mixed it up. Something more hopeful, maybe something with magic? Like a Christmas fairy tale?"
He shook his head.
"I can't - don't read fairy tales. Anyway, there is no such thing as magic and it's stupid to waste your time on things that don't exist."
"Okay, so fairy tales aren't your thing. But its Christmas shouldn't you be home baking cookies or watching Christmas specials with your mom or something?"
"You obviously don't know my mom. We're not really Christmas people, few people in this town are. Anyway my mom is out on a date."
Emma frowned but her face relaxed when she remembered Graham. In this world he was still alive. Under Regina's curse, but alive. That was another perk of her not being the savior, innocent men didn't die in the cross hairs of her battles.
She made a show of checking her watch, the hands of which she could barely read in the fast approaching night, and then turned to the teenager.
"Well, its getting late now. She should be home soon, how about I give you a ride home?"
Henry didn't answer her and Emma reminded herself that in this world he had no idea who she was. The kid was 12 by now and he would know better than to accept a ride off of a stranger.
"Come on, I promise I won't hurt you."
"It's not that. I just don't want to see my Grandmother." He said, shaking his head lightly.
"Snow?"
"Who? No. Cora. I thought my mom was bad but Grandma is the worst. I've gone from living a life where no one care but at least I had my privacy and peace, to one where even that is taken away. Cora seems determined to make everyone around her suffer. "
But despite his protests, he started packing his things away into his bag, realizing that any attempts to spend the entire night out would be foiled by the cold.
Emma offered Henry her hand which he ignored. He pulled himself up though and together they walked towards her car and drove home.
"So, Cora's here?" Emma asked as she pulled toward the curb of 118 Mifflin. The ride had been silent as Emma sorted out her thoughts and Henry prepared himself for returning home.
"Yeah, do you know her?"
"We met briefly once."
"Lucky you. Thanks for the ride." He said, slipping Emma a ten dollar bill (apparently he thought she was an Uber or something? Emma couldn't be sure) and pulling a flask out from his pocket. He opened the cap and took a shot of whatever was inside, wincing slightly as he swallowed.
Emma snatched the flask from his hands as he went to take a second shot.
"What the hell is this? Where did you get this and what on earth are you thinking?"
Henry went to grab the flask back but Emma was much quicker and pulled it away from him before he even got close.
The kid let out a whine and went to leave, but Emma held his coat.
"Where did you get this? Regina would freak if she knew."
"I swiped it from my step dad. What do you care? You're not my mom. Get away from me, crazy lady."
He fidgeted out of her grasp, opened the door and jumped out of the car, looking back with a frown and preparing himself for a fight in case Emma tried to stop him. Throwing her one last dirty glare he slung the strap of his back pack across his shoulder and walked toward the red door of his house.
Emma sat in the car running her hand over the flask and debating whether to follow her son into the mansion. He needed help that was for sure but she doubted if, in this reality, she was the person to give it to him. This wasn't the same as her world, where she was his mom and had some authority over him and where, even more importantly, he actually cared for her opinion. This wasn't even two years ago when he was asking for her help. In this world she basically a stranger.
To take her mind off the situation, she unscrewed the top off of flask and swallowed a mouthful. Rum.
"Drinking and driving, tsk tsk Emma." Said Neal, popping out of the backseat of the bug like he had done when they first met. Emma briefly considered the idea that the angel was purposely taunting her but ignored it. She had bigger fish to fry right now then asshole angels.
"Ah thank god you're back. What is going on here? Why is Henry being so .. weird. Where's Regina?"
"Kid can only hold on to hope for so long. With no savior to break the curse, he was bound to give up sooner or later."
"Well I have to get in there and do something. I have to defeat Cora. Where is Mr. Gold? Surely Rumplestiltskin has a plan to stop her."
"You can't have a plan against a threat your unaware of. Without his memories, the pawnbroker was easy pickings for your pirate boyfriend. He died. A year ago."
"Oh my god. Wait, Hook is here?"
"He and Cora made the journey as they always planned to but, I'll warn you, I don't think you want to see what's become of him."
"It can't be worse than Henry. Show me".
With a flash of bright light Emma suddenly appeared in the restaurant where her and Hook had had their first date. She was sitting at a table in the corner of the room, with Neal opposite her and a plate of spaghetti in front of her. At another table, closer to the center of the restaurant, sat Killian Jones and Regina Mills, intimately leaving over the table's candle and talking in hushed tones. Emma watched as Hook raised his eyes suggestively and then lent into Regina's space. The queen followed his lead until the two were mashing faces in the middle of diner. Emma was barely able to hide her disgust at the sight.
"Eeww. Are - are Hook and Regina dating?"
"Married, actually." Neal answered, nonchalantly taking a bite of his chicken.
"What? Why? Those two hate each other. "
"Not as much as they hate themselves and misery loves company."
At the other table, the pirate and the evil queen had managed to pry themselves away from each other. Regina was collecting her things off of the table and brushing her skirt down.
"I've got to go now. I have a late night meeting at the hospital but Merry Christmas." She said.
She stood up, dropped her credit card on the table and kissed Hook on the cheek.
"That's alright, love. I am getting a bit tired anyway. Might just head home. I'll give the lad your best when I get there."
"Please do."
"Merry Christmas, my dearest wife." He said in a playful fashion.
Hook stayed sitting at the table finishing off his glass of wine for the next few minutes. Unlike Snow and Henry, this Hook was not immediately different from the one Emma knew. He has many of the same flirty characteristics and flourishes. Emma could almost imagine going over there and introducing herself, maybe together they could fix this world. But just as she was working up the courage to do so, Hook picked up his coat and exited the building.
"Let's follow him." The angel said, jerking his head in Hook's direction.
Emma shook her head. Hook dating Regina was unappealing to say the least but it wasn't dangerous. He could handle himself especially in the world without magic.
"No. I need to get back to Henry."
"Well, we're in luck then because Hook should be walking in the door of the Mills mansion… right..about..now" He said as the restaurant around then dissolved and was replaced by the stylish home of Regina Mills.
"This time we're doing things a bit differently. This universe is different in many but they don't react any better to home evaders so we'll be temporarily invisible" He said, stressing the word temporarily.
Emma looked around the house. She hadn't visited Regina often but to her untrained eye it all looked similar enough. Still decorated as it was ripped from the pages of a home catalogue and still littered with red apples and horse statues. Why Regina included so many references to the life she was trying to escape was beyond Emma but whatever. It was sparse on Christmas decorations but even in her reality Regina wasn't exactly Mrs. Claus.
She moved into the lounge room, where she saw Henry sleeping on the couch. She let out a sigh relief and sat beside him, patting his hair as she did when he fell asleep at her house but recoiling a bit at the smell of alcohol coming off of him. It was not a smell she ever wanted associated with her son, especially while he was still in middle school.
The lounge seemed to be the only room that made concessions for the holiday season and even then, barely did so. In the left hand corner was a small, black tree. It was undecorated but undoubtedly expensive, its tips made of fairy lights. Underneath it were exactly four small presents, one for each member of the household.
Emma could hear the doorbell ringing and somebody rising to answer it, giving one last worried glance at Henry, she walked towards the ruckus. In the foyer Emma saw Cora, Hook and Neal, the latter of which appeared to be waiting for her. He smiled at Emma and waved her over.
"How's the kid?"
"Asleep but safe."
"Good."
"Why are they so close?" Emma said, pointing to Hook and Cora.
Cora leaned into Hook's back as he put his leather coat up on the hooks. Emma's eyes widened in disbelief.
"Honey I am home" He said, turning in Cora's direction and looking down on her with a devilish smile.
"How was your dinner?" Cora asked, an equally devious glint in her eye.
Hook chuckled dryly.
"Your daughter, she's a spitfire"
"Regina always did like to play with dangerous things."
"Takes after her mother, doesn't she, love?" The man said leaning over the woman with upward turn lips. He halted before kissing her and for a moment Emma held her breath.
"The lad's not about is he? Don't need another repeat of last week."
Cora shook her head dismissively, and gently rolled her eyes.
"Don't worry about him, he passed out an hour ago. It's just the two of us."
Hook lent further down to her, planting a sensual but quick kiss on her lips.
"Exactly how I like it." He said, arching his eyebrows suggestively.
"What do you say we take this upstairs?"
The vein on Emma's forehead appeared for the second time since entering this universe and she could feel her pulse pushing against her skin. Thank god she was cloaked or Hook and Cora would have been sure to attack on sight. Instead they continued making out.
"What? You can't be serious. Hook and Cora? That's disgusting" She said, turning to Neal.
"Yeah, well, he is your boyfriend not mine."
Emma was barely listening though. The angel's words reached her only like a distant echo and were ignored just as easily.
"Hook isn't like that. Not anymore, not since...we…"
"Any change Hook made for you didn't happen because in this world, you never came here."
"Ugh I can't watch this anymore." She said as Cora began leading Hook up the stairs by the rung of his belt. "Get me out of here."
And with a click of Neal's fingers, the mansion around them began to dissolve.
The two regenerated in the middle of a fluorescent room, with white walls, black tiles and six or so unused gurneys. The small, single ward of Storybrooke hospital.
"Alright, so this bad but there has to be someone who benefited from me not coming here."
"Let's see, Golds dead, Hooks a sleaze, Belle is ringing in the holiday season from inside of a padded cell, your sons well on his way to becoming an alcoholic and your mom is crying over toy less orphans. Oh and your dad is in a coma."
"Then get me out of here. Take me back to the world where I am the savior."
Neal smiled solemnly.
"I wish I could Emma but we've got one last stop."
At his declaration Emma looked around, noticing her surrounding for the first time since she had arrived. In all the rush she'd forgotten about her dad. It's hard to imagine that he was in a coma for 28 years, she always sees him as so alive and healthy but here he laid, assisted by a monitor and more or less lost to the world. Lost to his daughter.
Hospitals are always gloomy, especially around Christmas but this one was downright depressing.
Suddenly, with only the clacking of heels on linoleum as warning, Regina Mills, in full corporate dress, entered the ward. She was followed by a frightened and tired looking Dr. Whale and Mary Margaret, who trailed a step behind the woman, as if they were afraid of being bitten if they came too close.
"Finally you made it." Said Whale.
Regina smirked and answered in a sweetly sarcastic tone.
"And a Merry Christmas to you too, Dr. Whale."
He huffed at that, clearly annoyed by Regina's attitude.
"We've been waiting here for hours."
"Well it's not like either of you have a family to get home to. You should be happy I gave you a way to spend your time"
"That's not the point. I have other patients to attend to and I can't have you wasting my time."
"Careful Whale, or I'll tell your supervisor to check the content of that mug you're always drinking from. Coffee shouldn't make your nose that red, dear"
Whale looked down, the anger in his eyes still painfully apparent but the confidence of his actions quickly lost to him. Satisfied with his sudden docile nature Regina continued talking.
"I thought you would both like to be here for Mr. Doe's last moments. I was able to track down a living relative and it turns out that our mystery man has a do not resuscitate order in place. His family would like to put an end to this immediately."
Regina paused at the word family and then drew all the syllables out as if she was saying something particularly threatening of important. Perhaps she was, the idea of the man new family might appearing threatening to the volunteer who had come to think of the coma patient as her own. Knowing this, and of their previous true love, Regina Mills was unable to take her eyes off of Mary Margaret as she attempted to digest the news.
"But..but there is a chance he could recover?" The teacher suggested.
"You would prolong this poor man's suffering on the off chance that one day he may wake up? Tell, Miss Blanchard, Is it that you derive joy from the pain of others or are you just heartless?"
"No, of course not, Madame Mayor, but I..I don't see the value in.."
"I did you the courtesy of allowing you to say goodbye, despite the fact that you are neither a family member nor loved one of this man. The least you could do is be grateful. "
Mary Margaret closed her eyes and nodded her head in submission. Regina had done her a kindness and she had no real right to impose her wishes on this poor man. Whatever connection she felt for him was entirely of her imagination.
"Thank you, Madame Mayor." She said.
Emma watched the scene from afar, the anger inside of her building as it become all the more clear how this would play out. Regina would kill David and her proud, warrior, bandit mother would sit on the side lines, trapped in the mind of a woman too scared to speak out, and watch as it happened.
"Why is she acting like this? Shouldn't Henry have made her better?" Emma said, turning to Neal.
"You met Henry in this world right?"
"I am going to talk to her. I've gotten through to her before I'll do it again now." She said, rolling up her sleeves and steeling her face.
"Be my guest but remember this isn't the Regina you know now, this is the Regina of the first curse plus two years under her mother influence and an unhappy marriage."
"It doesn't matter. I have to do something."
Emma hitched her shoulders and made her way over to the mayor who was still smiling in satisfaction. At the same time, Mary Margaret, walked away. Her lips and hands trembling as she opened the door to David's private room and made her way to his bed side. No one should be alone when they die, she thought to herself and she held his hand in her own and ignored exactly how right it all felt.
"Regina."
Regina cocked her head to the side, looked Emma up and down and smiled.
"Yes, am I supposed to know who you are?"
"Emma. Emma Swan. And you're going to put a stop to this. You and I both know that this man's family did not authorize his death. You might not recognize me, but I know you, Regina. You don't want to do this. You don't want to be responsible for another father's death"
Regina pulled back from Emma in surprise and anger. It had been a long time since someone had challenged her, someone she actually had a chance of winning against, and a part of her liked the change in temperament.
"A Father? Mr. Doe has no children that I or anyone else here is aware of, So. What makes you suggest otherwise, Miss..Swan, was it?"
"Because I am his family."
Regina chuckles in a loud and obviously fake manner, before shaking her head as if she actually felt pity for Emma.
"No. No, I don't think so. Maybe at one point this man had a daughter. One who was supposed to come and save him, but that point is long past and whatever savior some magical imp and a foolish princess thought would exist was obviously too, pathetic and weak to any saving."
Regina's eyes dared Emma to take action. And Emma could feel that little voice in her head telling her to restrain herself. She could feel her muscles tightening and everything aroud her took on a clear crispness for a few seconds, as her fists tightened and raised. She didn't know what happened next. But the next thing Emma saw Regina was on the floor. Blood streaming out of her nose. Some of it was on Emma's fist. Some was on the floor. All of it stood out as If someone had highlighted random parts of the hospital floor.
Aside from Regina's surprised and pained yelps, the ward remained silent as Whale and Mary Margaret looked on with wide eyes.
After a moment Dr. Whale helped the politician up and Regina looked at Emma as she gave the order.
"Dr. Whale? Pull the plug."
With a nod of his head, Whale walked over to the machine and turned the switch. The room was silent as the frequency of beeps on David's heart monitor spread further and further apart. Mary Margaret, who was shocked and a bit happy in spite of herself about the women's fight, began to break down with the cruel reminder that David was closer to the end than ever before.
Her sobbing drowned at the sound of the heart monitor before it could stop completely but Emma watched the line fall flat. He was beyond hope, beyond saving. This was his end.
Emma walked backwards away from the scene, shaking her head and licking her lips. She could feel the bile rising in her stomach but she repressed it. Eventually her back hit a wall and she fell in a bundle to the ground.
Into her hands she began to cry and wish.
"I was wrong, okay. I-I wish I was the savior again. I wish I had come to Storybrooke. I wish I had never made that stupid first wish" she said, hoping that somewhere, some mysterious force could hear her.
When Emma opened her eyes again she was no longer in the hospital. Gone were the cold tiles and the sound of her mother's tears. In their stead was the soft leather interior of the bug and Christmas carols playing on the radio. But the change of scenery did not take away the exhaustion Emma felt int eh very core of the bones. It was the kind that always seemed to strike after tragedy and it alone was enough of a reminder to get Emma through the drive home.
The hushed whispers and secretive tones she could hear from outside of the apartment told her that those inside were talking about her, but she didn't care. All that matter was that they were back. She's back.
"I am worried, what if she decided to leave again?" Said Snow, her motherly concern obvious.
"No, mom wouldn't do that. She's changed." Said Henry, as hopeful and trusting as ever.
Emma couldn't stop herself from running into the room at the sound of their voices and when she did, she was greeted by the sight of her family sitting around the coffee table, drinking hot chocolate, with marshmallows and cinnamon. All of them in pajamas and fighting to fit on the one couch. Emma Swan could not remember the last time she saw anything so beautiful.
"Emma, you're here" Her father said, as he rushed to her side.
"We tried to reach you but you didn't pick up your phone. We were worried you had left." Said Snow.
"But we're so glad you're here" Henry said, as he moved to hug her side tightly.
She put an arm on him and patted down his hair. She looked into the eyes of her parents and smiled.
"I thought about leaving but then I realized that losing you guys, that's the worst thing that could ever happen to me."
Snow and Charming joined the hug, both happy to have their daughter in their grasp.
"It's almost Christmas." Said Emma, pulling her head from her father's shoulder.
"Our first one together as a family." Added Snow.
"I guess we better get started then. Mom put on the kettle, Hook get the tinsel, Henry go find some Christmas music. Dad and I will get started on the decorations."
The group set out on their tasks. Hook struggled with the tinsel, which he placed lopsidedly on the tree. Mary Margaret pulled out the turkey to thaw, Henry put on the cheesiest Christmas music and David and Emma placed decorations everywhere and it truly was the best Christmas any of them had ever had.