AN/ Here is something that could happen at any time in the future. I set it for the first Christmas in Storybrooke since it is quite far (I think that we are sometime in the beginning of April now if my calculations are correct). This is a little Christmas fluff between Emma and her family. Wooden Swan of course.
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters. This story means no copyright infringement and is for entertainment purposes only. Do not publish without my knowledge and explicit consent.
"So? How is the eggnog?" Snow asked.
"For a princess, you are a good cook. But eggnog is not your thing." Emma said.
"I'm sorry." Snow took the cup from her. "We didn't have Christmas back in the Enchanted Forest. But it is a nice occasion to celebrate, don't you think?"
Emma nodded. She was happy. The entire previous year had been exhausting. Her entire world had been turned upside down. She had a son. She had parents. She had put all the Neal story behind. They had tried to recapture the past but she realized that they had both changed too much and that, maybe, he had never been the right person for her in the first place. Everyone was in love at 18. But that didn't mean it could last. He had straightened up. He'd recently moved to Storybrooke and was now working as a janitor in the school. He got to spend time with Henry. And she had peace and quiet. Most of the time. She was working at the sheriff station with her father. She discovered that they made quite a good team. After the mayor elections in the summer, the Charming family was officially in control of the town since her mother had been elected. With Regina out of their lives, they could finally have a quite holiday at home.
The only unstable relationship that she has was with August. She still felt betrayed but she was not mad any more. Seeing that things with Neal would not have been for the best, since she would have ended up far away from her family and/or in prison for a long time, helped her make her peace with his interference with her life. But they still weren't talking.
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After the eggnog fiasco the entire family decided to go to the diner where Granny had prepared wonderful meals for everyone.
"I wanted to give you a perfect home Christmas." Snow took her daughter's arm.
"Don't worry. I don't like Christmas anyway." Emma said as if it was something very normal.
"What do you mean?" Henry was surprised.
"Well, I rarely had a proper Christmas when I was a kid. And then, when I grew up, I didn't really have anyone to celebrate with."
"Oh Emma." Snow wanted to cry. "I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. It's ok." Emma said. "I was 5 when I realized that Santa wasn't real. Nor were fairy tails. I guess I was wrong about that one."
"You should have had better." Snow said with concern.
"I actually had one good Christmas." Emma started telling the story. "When I was 8, my foster mom took me to one of those big stores and told me to wait on the line to see Santa. She actually wanted to leave me somewhere because she wanted to go buy some weed and other stuff for her and her hippie husband. She was already super high when she came to pick me up.
"Oh Emma." Snow let out a cry.
"It's ok. I got transferred to a pretty good home after that." Emma continued with her story. "Anyway, after talking to Santa, and asking him for my real mom, I realized that my foster mom wasn't there. I waited for her all day. When they were about to close the shop I snapped at one of Santa's elves. And the most quiet of all. Later that day, someone called child services and told them about my foster parents. I got into a new family on Christmas Eve. It was my best Christmas in the foster system."
"You snapped at one of Santa's elves?" Snow smiled.
"Yeah. Poor guy. I don't remember what he looked like but I remember that was actually really sweet with the kids. He must have been in high school, probably 16 years old."
"Try 15." She heard a voice and turned around. August was standing right behind her. "At least physically."
"How do you know?" Emma asked in shock.
"It is hard to forget when an 8 year old girl starts throwing sugar canes at you and then kicks you in the nuts." He said with a characteristic grin.
"Wait, that was you?"
"3rd of December 1992, North Bridge mall, 520 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois" They said in unison. "I didn't realize hat the little girl was you. Then again, I didn't get a chance to really see your face. I was protecting my eyes from the shower of sugar canes and then I was on the floor."
The diner filled with tension. Emma and August hadn't really talked much since she'd found out about what really happened in Portland.
"Just so you know. I was the one to call child services. I thought that no kid deserved to spend Christmas with that woman. She died of an overdose on New Years. It was all over the news." And the silence was back. One could cut the tension in the air with a knife.
"Thank you." Emma finally spoke up. "That was the best Christmas that I had in the foster system. My foster dad dressed up like Santa. I knew it was him but he really tried to pull it off. We had a lot of fun."
"I'm glad I could help." August smiled and added. "I should thank you as well. I was in a quite bad place back then. I thought I was a complete failure, which actually turned out to be true. But despite that you made me believe that I could make a difference in somebody's life. That I could be useful."
"You really were my guardian angel, weren't you?" All eyes turned to Emma surprised from her words. "You probably saved my life and gave me the opportunity to have a nice Christmas for once in my life. You saved me from a serious prison sentence. And you helped me when I was trying to clear my mother from murder charges."
"Add the fact that I messed up your life and you're there." He said sarcastically. They remained silent again. "Emma, I realize that I never had the chance to apologize properly. I stand by what I did in Portland 10 years ago. I couldn't let you ruin your life and risking you being away from Storybrooke when the time came to break the curse. But I need to apologize for the methods that I used. I was young and I didn't know what to do. I hope that you will find a way to forgive me one day." Silence. Emma felt like everyone in the diner expected her to say something. "About the money that Neal left you. I know this is 10 years too late but ..." He handed her an envelope and headed out.
"What the hell is that?" Emma opened the envelope and saw a check inside.
"The check from my last book. It actually turned out to be quite popular." August smiled.
"But …" Emma said.
"Take it all. It was never mine. Consider that you lent me money and I'm paying back with interest."
"If you think that this will make everything ok…" Emma said but she knew that she didn't blame him. Not any more. She doubted that she was ever blamed him. He'd managed to make his way past her defenses earlier and she wasn't sure that she had been able to push him back out.
"I don't. I just want to do at least something small for you." With that he turned away. She could see that he deeply regretted what had happened. She knew it. And he'd proved that he had changed in the past year. "Merry Christmas."
"Wait." She caught up with him. "August, I don't blame you. Not any more. If it weren't for you, I would have ended up away from my family. When you came here, my mother was in jail and I was all alone against Regina, you helped me although you knew what she was capable of. I know I was angry when you sent Neal that card but it allowed me to see that it was for the best, both for me and him. Your methods might not have always been ideal but you did look out for me."
Silence reigned again upon the room. But this silence was different. Emma could feel people's eyes shifting from her to August and backwards as if they were expecting something to happen.
"Thank you, Emma. You don't know how much those words mean to me." August said and she could see something different in his eyes: an internal struggle but she couldn't quite decide about what. "Enjoy the holidays." He started heading out as Emma started walking toward the table where her parents were sitting.
"Wait. Don't move." Emma heard Ruby say. She didn't like the look on the young woman's face: a master plan. "You are standing under mistletoe." All eyes were again on them.
"Ruby…" Emma tried to say. For some reason kissing August terrified her.
"Emma." Ruby looked back. "It's tradition."
Emma felt butterflies in her stomach. She had never been so nervous about kissing a man. A part of her was afraid of that kiss. Why, she didn't know. Another part wanted it so much and had wanted it for a long time. On the one hand his face was too close to hers, on the other he couldn't approach her fast enough. After what felt like eternity, his lips touched hers. She hadn't experienced anything like it in her life before. The diner disappeared. The entire world disappeared. Emma felt like the sun wasn't the center of the universe anymore. They were. Everything revolved around them. The kiss was very soft yet extremely powerful. She felt like a spark of electricity shake her body. His lips were like the piece that had been missing her entire life. They were designed for hers.
Suddenly, she felt emptiness. And she realized that one of them had pulled away. She opened her eyes and she looked in his. She hadn't imagined it. He had felt it too. She slowly regained her senses. She knew perfectly well that the entire diner was looking at them, including her almost 11-year-old son and her parents. But all she wanted to do was kiss the man standing before her again. And by the look in his eyes, so did he. She pulled away before she gave in to this urge.
"Merry Christmas." She said quietly.
"Merry Christmas." He answered just as quietly. After what felt like an hour he turned away and left the diner.
Emma made her way back to the table where her parents were sitting. No one dared break the silence until Ruby came with a tray.
"More eggnog?" She didn't wait for a reply and put a glass in front of everyone except Henry, who got a cocoa. When she put the glass in front of Emma, she leaned forward and whispered in her year. "You are welcome." And Emma was certain that she wasn't talking about the refill.
"Gramps, are you going to dress up as Santa?" Henry finally broke the silence.
"Do you want me to?" David asked with a grin on his face.
"Please, for the love of God, don't." Emma managed to say. It was weird enough that her dad looked her age and that he was the real Prince Charming. Adding Santa to all that would go past weird and park next to creepy.
"You don't think I can pull off Santa?" He made a joke.
"How about you stick with one childhood iconic figure for now?" Snow said and smiled. Emma looked at her parents and wondered whether it was possible for them to be even cheesier. But soon that thought was replaced again by the memory of the kiss that she had shared with another fairy tail character only moments ago.
AN/ Originally, I had planned on Emma snapping at Santa but August wouldn't have been old enough to pose as him. So I stuck with an elf. It also allowed me to make a little reference to the 1994 version of Miracle on 34th Street where Jennifer Morrison played one of Santa's elves.
Did you like it? Do you want to read a New Year's piece?