Disclaimer: I don't own Once Upon a Time
This is completely AU and was inspired by the pilot.
One-shot
The Savior
"Up you go, pumpkin." James hoisted four-year-old Emma onto his horse to sit in front of him on the saddle. Sir William handed him the reins.
"Will we be accompanying you, Your Highness?" the head knight asked.
"That won't be necessary, Sir William. We're just going out for a picnic. Isn't that right, Emma?"
Emma leaned her head back to look up at her father, excitement dancing in her eyes. "Yes we are, Daddy!"
James smiled into his daughter's bundle of blonde hair and then looked to his head knight. "We'll be fine, William. You stay here and hold down the fort for when Snow asks for someone to fetch some trimmings."
Sir William smiled. It was that time of year again: when Princess Snow White would be in charge of planning the Grand Ball. Everyone knew better than to get in her way. She hated planning it but it was a task that had to be done, and anyone who was wise would give her some space. "If you insist, m'Lord."
James nodded to his men with a smile. He then looked down at Emma. "Ready, princess?"
"Ready, Daddy!" Emma yelled with singsong.
"Alright then." He patted his horse. "Hiyah, boy." And father and daughter took off into the forest.
"Where are we going, Daddy?" Emma asked.
"To our place, sweetheart," James replied as he rested his chin gently on the top of her head.
Emma smiled. Their place. She loved it when her parents took her to their place in the meadow, a place only the three of them shared on private family outings.
"Is Mommy going to come with us?"
"I'm afraid not, sweetheart. She has a very stressful task right now so it's best that we leave her to her work. She'll be able to join us on picnics again when the ball is over."
Emma pursed her lips in contemplation as they rode on. "If she doesn't like balls and I don't like balls then why do we need them?" she reasoned, as if that was the most obvious solution to the problem. Getting rid of those annoying balls was a seemingly simple solution that would allow her to enjoy her picnic with both her Mommy and Daddy.
James smiled and chuckled. Emma surely was thoughtful and insightful. "It's not that she doesn't like balls, sweetie. She just doesn't like planning them. And besides, balls are always the oldest of traditions and Mommy loves to uphold traditions." Emma huffed in reluctant acceptance as James laughed. "Come on, Emma. Don't you enjoy just one night of dressing up?"
"No," the young princess said bluntly, crossing her arms in front of her chest. James continued to grin as he kissed the crown of her head before nudging his horse onward.
It was a 15-minute ride and soon they approached the beautiful meadow. James brought his horse to a halt and then dismounted before lifting Emma to the ground.
"Let's see what Alice packed us," James said and then reached for the basket strapped to the side of his horse. He lifted the lid to the wicker basket and then looked over to his daughter, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "I guess we get duck with bread for lunch," he grinned.
"Goody!" Emma shrilled in delight.
James laughed. Alice, the cook, always knew what Emma wanted. "Help me spread the blanket, honey." He pulled the checkered blanket out and Emma held two ends of the fabric as he stretched out the remaining two corners to drape the blanket onto the grass.
Emma then fell to lay sprawl across the blanket. James fell next to her and turned over to kiss her temple. "Don't you want to eat, Emma?"
"Not now," Emma replied. "Later," she looked at him with a grin.
"Oh?" James raised his eyebrows at her. "Then what do you suggest we do in the meantime?"
Emma sat up and then with a mischievous smile, ran from the blanket down the meadow.
James laughed in comprehension. "Not too far, sweetie!" he called after her.
"Just start counting, Daddy!"
James grinned and then closed his eyes. "One…Two…Three…"
Emma ran through the meadow, looking right and left to assess for a good hiding place. She found a log and with a grin, crawled inside. She could hear her father's voice boom as he got closer and closer.
"I'm going to find you, Emma! I will always find you."
She smiled to herself from her spot inside the log. Her father always told her that, and unfortunately for her when playing this game, he never failed on his promise.
James was now a few feet from her hiding spot. He scanned the area and then saw it: the light blue hem of her dress sticking out from the opening of a log. A smile crept upon his face as he snuck up. "Gotcha!" he roared as Emma screamed in delight. He then pulled his daughter out and playfully swung her over his shoulder, making his way back towards their picnic area.
"Daddy!" Emma giggled. "How did you find me?" she asked.
"Like I said, I will always find you Emma. No matter what," James promised as Emma laughed. "You think that's funny, don't you? I'll show you funny," he teased as he reached his hands up to tickle her. She erupted in laughter.
"D-Daddy! D-Daddy, st-stop!" she giggled.
"Not a chance, princess," he retorted as he lowered her onto the blanket again. She continued to shriek in laughter as he tickled her sides. He finally stopped and reached over to pluck a daisy from the meadow to tuck behind her ear. She smiled at him at then wrapped her arms around his neck to sit up where he brought her over to sit in his lap. "Has all that running made you hungry?"
Emma nodded with a smile.
James began reaching into the basket to pull out their lunch, placing the bread on the dishes.
Suddenly, they heard the thundering of hooves pounding against the ground. With alarm, James swiftly rose to his feet and saw four black-cladded men rush at them on horseback. He swiftly drew his sword, grabbing his daughter's wrist. "Emma, get behind me."
Emma's eyes widened in terror as she hid behind her father's legs. The men continued to advance and James' glanced down to his daughter, petrified. His breath caught in his throat. "Emma, run," he instructed.
"Daddy?" Emma panicked.
"Run, Emma! Just like we're playing hide-and-seek! Run!" Emma scurried to her feet and ran off deeper down the meadow. The flower that her father had tucked in her hair had fallen to the ground but she didn't turn back. She found her hiding spot from before in the log and rushed to crawl inside. She stuck her head out to see that the men were now dismounted and surrounding her father, their own swords drawn.
The first knight made his move and James speedily blocked, taking his chance to strike his opponent in the back. The remaining knights flailed their swords at him and he raised his sword to hold their weapons back as he kicked one of them to the ground. He ducked a blow made by the third one but upon rising, the sword pierced across his shoulder. Emma whimpered as she heard her father's painful cry. As he recovered, he struck his sword through the third knight's side but the forth knight rushed at him, sword now a mere inches from James' body.
"Daddy, look out!" Emma screamed from her hiding spot but it was too late as the blade plunged into James' gut and Emma screamed again as her father grunted in excruciating pain. With his last remaining strength, James struck his sword through his last foe's chest before collapsing to the ground.
Emma ran from her hiding spot in the log and fell to her knees at his side. "Daddy!" she cried, tears beginning to stream down her face.
"Emma," he struggled to breathe out, hand trembling up to wipe away her tears. "H-Home," was all he could manage to tell her. She had to escape. More men could be coming. "I love you, Emma," he trailed off weakly.
"I love you too, Daddy," Emma fought to keep her voice steady as she brought her hand up to smooth through her father's hair. She leaned down to kiss his cheek. "Daddy? Daddy, please. Say something! Don't…don't leave me," she whispered. "I promise I'll be good. I promise I'll learn to like the balls. I won't complain about dressing up. I'll listen to Governess Jane during my lessons. I promise that when you tuck me in at night, I won't sneak back out to climb into bed with you and Mommy. I won't bother anyone. I'll be good. I swear!" Emma cried.
James fought to respond to his little girl, to reassure her that she was absolutely perfect in every way, but nothing came out. Emma frantically looked around them. The slain men adorned in black lay spread across the meadow. The images of their heavenly spot were now tarnished in her mind. She noticed her father's horse still tied to a nearby log. Letting go of her father's hand, she ran up to it but then realized that with her tiny stature, she wasn't even tall enough to reach the belly of the horse, much less tall enough to hoist herself onto the saddle. She looked to the horizon and realized that she would have to make it home by foot. She had to bring back help to save him.
She ran back to her father. "I'll come back, Daddy. I promise I'll come back. I promise I'll find you."
James was able to force his eyes open for a little longer, just long enough to see his daughter racing down the meadow towards home, away from here. She was safe. With a slight smile creeping on his lips, he allowed his eyes to fall shut, anticipating it to be the last time.
She ran. She ran with all her might. She ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. She was so focused that she wouldn't even allow herself to feel the pain as the firs and the tree branches caught and tugged on her hair as she raced past, as rocks would scrape at her knees. When she stumbled and fell, she would pick herself back up and push herself forward, not allowing any more time to pass in which her father would have to lie there in the meadow alone. Tears pricked at the corners of her eyes but she stubbornly wiped them away. She couldn't cry. Not now, not when her father needed her.
She hadn't even noticed the fact that she wasn't even thinking about her orientations, checking to make sure she was going the right path through the vast forest; something just urged her onward automatically as she raced against time. Her fear was steering herself.
Hang in there, Daddy, she repeated over and over to herself.
Finally, after what seemed like almost an hour of endless running, she saw the castle up ahead. With her remaining strength, she pushed herself forward. As she got closer, she could see Sir William and his men patrolling the entrance to the castle. His eyes widened in alarm at seeing the young girl running towards him alone, hair messy, dress ripped, mudded, and bloody; an amount of blood much too large to have come from her own body as he stared at her skinned and scraped knees.
He ran towards her. "Princess Emma! What happened? Where's your papa?"
Emma was panting and all the tears that she had been trying to hold back during her journey now came pouring down her face in uncontrollable sobs. "There…th-there were mean men!"
A feeling of extreme horror raced through his body and his stomach dropped as he picked Emma up. "Where is he, Princess?"
"In…in the meadow," she continued to cry. "He's hurt."
He reached up to wipe her tears. "Can you lead us to him? Can you do that, Emma?" he asked as Emma nodded silently. Sir William turned to three of his men. "Alert Her Majesty, and with the greatest of sensitivity. Make sure she doesn't race after us. She must remain here, where she is safe. There could be another ambush coming. And send for Master Doc straightaway." The selected knights nodded at their orders and retreated immediately. "And also fetch the bloodhounds." He then set Emma down, mounted his horse, and then another knight lifted the young princess to pass her to him. He set her in front of him. "Lead the way, Princess."
Emma led the way rather easily. The bloodhounds' services were not even needed. Her instinct told her where to go. An unexplainable force was pulling her towards the direction of her father. When they reached a fork in the forest path, she thought back to all the times her mother and father had taken her to the meadow. "That way," she pointed to the left with conviction.
The ride was much quicker this time than when her father had leisurely taken her this morning; Emma could sense the knights' ominous tension and panic.
They soon reached the clearing to the meadow and Sir William gasped behind her. Her father was right where she had left him, completely still. Only when the horse thundered closer, she could see how pale he now looked in contrast to how red the grass was underneath him. A whimper escaped her lips as she saw how he looked no different than the assailed men decked in black lying around him.
The knights swiftly dismounted their horses and rushed forward. Sir William was the first to reach James. "Your Majesty!" he yelled. "Your Majesty, please. Can you hear me?" he called desperately but there was no response from James as the knight grasped his shoulder and shook him.
Another knight, Sir Gavin, immediately reached for James' wrist. "He's still got a pulse!" he yelled out in hope. "We have to move quickly!"
Sir William briefly tore his eyes from his prince to survey the setting. James' horse was still tied to a nearby log and the picnic sat by, much disturbed. The basket was knocked over and the dishes and meal lied spilled, as if a fight had run through them. He moved towards the picnic area and quickly pulled the blanket from the ground. He ripped the cotton fabric in half, keeping one end while tossing the men surrounding James the other half. "Get his horse," he commanded as James' white and grey horse was untied and brought forward. William removed the saddle and draped his half of the blanket across the horse's back. The other men worked to carefully wrap their piece of the cloth around James' middle, trying to stop the bleeding. William walked the horse over to the prince's body. "Lift him gently," he directed as the men worked to bring James onto the horse, laying him across sideways, facedown.
"Daddy?" Emma whimpered from her perch on Sir William's horse.
Sir William turned his eyes to her. "We're going to bring him back, Princess, don't you worry." He turned to three of his men. "You, you, and you," he pointed. "Stay behind and clean up these bodies. The Queen mustn't know that she has failed. Not yet."
The remaining knights then mounted their horses. Sir William held on to James' horse's reins as they rode back home.
When they approached the castle, Snow ran forth past the knights guarding her. "James!" she screamed. "Emma!"
Sir William passed her Emma and Snow held her close, crying. "Are you alright, baby?"
Emma was crying as well. "Daddy!"
Snow looked over at her husband's body lying across his horse. Her gut tightened and she gently set her daughter down and moved towards him as some castle staff ran out with a stretcher. "No!" she shouted. They gently lifted him from the horse and onto the stretcher, rolling him face-up. Snow gasped at seeing the deep gash in her husband's side. His previously cream-colored tunic was now soaked in blood. "No, no, no!" she repeated as she bent down to stroke his cold cheek, beginning to sob. "Please…please come back to me."
Sir William leaped from his horse. "He's still alive, Your Highness," he tried to reassure her. "But we need to get him help quickly."
Snow nodded, shaking as she stood up. "Doc has just arrived. Bring him upstairs to our chambers immediately." The staff nodded as they lifted the stretcher and carried James through the palace doors. Snow picked up her daughter again and she ran after them.
Emma wrapped her arms around her mother's neck and buried her face in the curve of her shoulder as Snow raced up the winding staircase. When they got to the bedchamber, the staff lifted James from the stretcher and onto the bed. Doc soon came through the door.
"Doc, please," Snow's voice trembled. "Do something," she whispered. Doc nodded solemnly and approached the bed. Snow noticed that her daughter's nursemaids were now also in the room. She passed Emma to them. "Tend to her and give her a bath," she instructed.
"No Mommy! I want to stay here with you and Daddy!" Emma protested in her nanny's arms.
Snow looked at her sadly. "You can, sweetheart. But first, you have to get tidied up while we try to help Daddy, okay? Can you do that for Mommy?" Emma nodded as her maids carried her away.
Snow turned back to the bed where Doc was now examining James' wound. "It's very deep," Doc stated. "I'm afraid he's lost a lot of blood," he nodded over to James' bloody tunic, which now lied in a pile on the edge of the bed. A maid picked it up to go dispose of it.
"Wh-what does that mean?" Snow was shaking again from her seat on the edge of the bed, tightly clasping her husband's hand. "What's going to happen?"
Doc pulled out his stethoscope from his bag and was now listening to James' heart. "His pulse is very weak right now, Snow. But I think that with some rest, he should come back with a full recovery." He reached over to squeeze Snow's other hand, trying to soothe his old and dearest friend. "He's got you and Emma to come back to."
Snow smiled weakly. "Thank you so much, Doc."
Doc nodded as he pulled out cloth bandages from his bag and began to tightly wrap them around James' abdomen before moving on to his shoulder. "We'll just have to keep an eye on him," the dwarf instructed before leaving the room.
Snow leaned down to kiss her husband's lips and then stroked her hand through his hair and down his face.
"Mommy?"
Snow lifted her head from her husband's lap to see her daughter standing at the door, her baby blanket in hand, trailing on the floor. Her thumb was in her mouth.
"Come here, sweetheart. Are you okay?" Snow looked Emma over to make sure the Queen's men didn't lay a finger on her baby.
"Yes, Mommy."
"Are you hurt?" Snow continued to press. Emma shook her head but Snow glanced to the girl's now-bandaged knees. She saw that there was also a cut across Emma's cheek, no doubt from falling in the forest. She lifted her daughter to sit on her lap, stroking her damp hair. "You must have been so scared."
"I was scared for Daddy." Emma reached her hand out to touch her father's face. "Is he okay?"
Snow smiled weakly. "Daddy will be alright, sweetie."
"Promise?" Emma asked with wide eyes.
"I promise," Snow nodded.
Emma brought her thumb to her mouth again. Snow sighed as she reached for her daughter's hand. Thumb sucking was a bad habit that she and her husband had just been able to help Emma break. But with the trauma that she had just witnessed, Emma reverted back to her old ways. "Emma darling, what did we tell you about sucking your thumb?"
Emma promptly removed her thumb from her mouth. "Sorry Mommy,"
Snow hugged her tightly. "It's quite alright, sweetheart," she soothed, kissing her daughter's crown, inhaling the sweet lavender scent of her bath. "I'm so proud of you. You were so brave today."
Emma looked up at her mother. "I...I was?"
Snow nodded, stroking her blonde hair again. "You saved Daddy, Emma."
Emma then buried her face in her mother's chest as Snow rocked them back and forth in the rocking chair by the bed.
Emma looked up at her mother's face as the room was now quiet and the rocking had stopped. She saw that her mother had fallen asleep, arms lightly wrapped around her. She wiggled her way out and crawled onto the bed, being sure not to accidentally kick her father and lied down pressed against his side. As she buried her face into his chest, she saw that blood was beginning to seep through the bandage again. She looked up at his face. He was so still. Trying not to cry, she closed her eyes and sleep overtook her as well.
She dreamed. She dreamed good memories.
She was sitting in her bedroom, stuffed animals surrounding her around a tea set.
"Would you like sugar or cream, Miss Unicorn?" In her head, she imagined a "sugar please," and dropped a sugar cube into her stuffed unicorn's cup. "Would you also like a biscuit to go with your tea?"
"I would," she heard her father's voice behind her and spun around to see him standing at the door.
"Daddy!" she grinned.
"Hey, pumpkin. What do we have here?"
"We're having a tea party!" Emma reported proudly.
James grinned, making his way over to her to sit down on the floor beside her. "And I'm sure it's a very splendid one at that."
"Would you like a biscuit to go with your tea, Daddy?" she asked.
"I told you I would," he wiggled his eyebrows.
Emma smiled as she reached for a biscuit. When she turned back to her father, he was on all fours and put on a scary face. "Roooaaaarr! I'm the Biscuit Monster!" he bellowed. She shrieked with laughter and tried to playfully swat at his face as he kept on bringing it closer to her hand, trying to grab the biscuit with his teeth. "Daddy!" she laughed.
"Who's 'Daddy'?" James continued to roar and Emma giggled as he grabbed the biscuit between her fingers with his mouth and Emma let him have it.
Emma woke up and heard her mother crying.
She rose from the bed and returned to the rocking chair and climbed up into her mother's lap. "Mommy?"
Snow wiped her eyes. Her husband's advisors had come to her suggesting very delicately that she prepare herself for the worst-case scenario in which she would have to single-handedly take over and rule their kingdom. She had scolded them and waved them off but as soon as they left, she began to sob at the possibility. "Hi baby," she tried to smile at her daughter. Emma reached her hand up to touch her cheek.
"Don't cry, Mommy," Emma tried to comfort her.
Snow sniffled her nose one last time. "I'm not anymore, baby girl. Not now that you're here with me."
They continued to rock in silence when they heard a groan. Both looked over to see James trying to roll. Snow was by his side in an instance, placing her hand gently on his bandaged shoulder. He smiled at seeing his wife's face. "Snow," he said huskily but within a moment, panic struck his features as he tried to sit up, grunting at the pain. "Where is she? Where's Emma?" Snow tried to calm him down and steady him but Emma poked her head out from behind her mother.
"I'm right here, Daddy!"
"Emma," James breathed out in relief, allowing himself to sink back down into the pillows. "You're safe. You found me."
Emma smiled as she hopped onto the bed to kiss his cheek. "I will always find you, Daddy."
~Fin~
Thanks for reading and please, please review! :)