Summary: California local Emma Swan is just trying to make her way home to South Carolina for Christmas, but the universe seems to be working against her. She finally snags herself a flight to Boston, it's not ideal but it will get her to the right side of the country. Her journey introduces her to a mother and son who are about to make Emma's Christmas the best she's had in years. (AU SQ)

A/N: Hey everyone! I was afraid to start this so close to Christmas in case I couldn't get much done but the idea has been bothering me for weeks and I finally couldn't take it anymore and needed to start it. I'll try to write as much as I can before Christmas! I hope you like the first chapter, let me know what you think :)

Christmas On Standby

December 21 - Los Angeles International Airport

Airports were basically Emma Swan's second home. Being based out of Los Angeles, LAX was Emma's most frequented airport even if it wasn't quite her favourite. This was the airport she was at right now, and even though she wasn't working today all she wanted was to be away from the hustle and bustle of the Christmas travelling rush.

Emma had just arrived at her gate after waiting in the executive lounge for her airline. She had known they weren't boarding quite yet when she decided to leave her comfortable seat in the lounge, but there had been a lot of delayed flights and cancellations today. She didn't want to risk losing her complimentary seat in the rush of people fighting to snag seats on the limited number of flights that were still going out. One of her favorite perks of being a flight attendant was the free airline tickets you could get when you were off the job.

Despite the busyness of the airport, Emma had been having a pretty good day so far. She had slept well, she had packed early, she had remembered to bring the presents she had purchased for the parents she was going to see, but her good day was about to come to an abrupt halt, and she saw why when her phone went off.

"You have to be kidding me." Emma groaned to herself as she read the text on her phone, she suddenly found herself wishing that this was not her day off.

Emma glanced over at the screen that had just switched to read "Now Boarding", and gave a frustrated sigh as she watched what would have been her fellow passengers scrambling to get into the priority line for early boarding. She kept outside of the line of holiday travellers but made her way closer to the desk, trying as much as possible not to appear as though she were trying to cut in front of the elderly passengers and the parents with young children who were currently waiting in line. Lily, Emma's friend and fellow flight attendant at Oceanic Airways had just messaged her with the unfortunate news that her stand-by first class seat was no longer available. Someone had apparently bought a last minute ticket in the most literal sense, and now Emma's hopes of reaching her parent's house in South Carolina later that day were crushed.

Lily was busy checking passenger's tickets and ID's but Emma was able to catch her eye. Lily waved at her with an apologetic look.

"Please tell me this isn't true." Emma asked through the line of people.

"I'm sorry Emma. Someone bought the ticket about half an hour ago at the front desk. Maybe try another airline? I'll keep my eye out of for something on a later flight with us but everything for the next forty-eight hours with Oceanic so far is booked solid. Or cancelled."

"Thanks," Emma sighed. "Have a good flight."

"Good luck!" Lily replied.

Emma nodded in farewell, before turning around and grudgingly dragging her small suitcase behind her.

"Shit." She muttered grumpily.

As Lily had said, all of the flights departing for South Carolina with Oceanic Airways for the next few days were booked solid. There weren't that many going out to begin with, and even the connecting flights were sold out. Emma could wait until tomorrow to see if another stand-by ticket would become available with her own airline but that wasn't ideal, and it didn't guarantee her getting home tomorrow either. Taking Lily's suggestion, she decided to look into purchasing a last-minute ticket with another airline.

An hour later Emma was beginning to lose hope when finally she found her savior, Ajira Airways. She tiredly dragged her feet up to the counter after being turned away from so many other desks, but then the lovely lady at the counter finally had the response Emma had nearly lost hope of hearing.

The Ajira Airline employee's nametag declared that she was called Cindy, and currently Cindy was checking for seat openings on her computer." I am just looking at our options here... and it looks like we have exactly one ticket available for the next flight to Boston." She announced.

"Boston?" Emma repeated in confusion.

"Yes. Unfortunately due to bad snow storms on the East coast a lot of flights have been cancelled or delayed today as I'm sure you've noticed."

"Yup..." Emma sighed. "Which is probably why I got bumped by my airline. Whoever bought my seat probably had their original flight cancelled on them or something. Paying customers come first right? Who cares about employees. I should have just bought that seat and been done with it." Emma had originally intended to make a joke but was still quite bitter and she had a feeling it showed. What was the use of free flights if they weren't available when you needed them most?

Cindy didn't seem fazed as she continued to look at her computer screen. "And once we get you to Logan... separately we can book you a seat on a flight from Boston to South Carolina."

"Perfect, could I do that right now? Charleston if possible."

"Of course. If I could just see your ID please so we can go ahead and get this first flight to Boston finalized..."

"Sure." Emma said fumbling in her bag for her wallet. She knew very little about this mysterious Ajira Airlines, it had come from nowhere and was still quite new, but it didn't seem all that bothered with advertising. Whatever. Emma thought to herself. All that mattered was that it had a seat for her. It wouldn't take her to where she was supposed to go, but having to make two separate flight reservations to get somewhere had never bothered her much. She had never come across a connecting flight that went through Boston on any if her trips back home, but at least it would get her on the right side of the country. She supposed if anything, once she was there she could even drive a rental car the rest of the way if it came to it. Fifteen plus hours driving in the snow wasn't ideal but hey, it was Christmas.

"Alright, so we're looking at an aisle seat..." Cindy was narrating her work again as she finalized the ticket.

"Great! I'll take it. Honestly I don't care as long as it's a seat that will get me out of California."

Cindy's eyes flicked up at her as she smiled. "Are you going home to see your family?"

"Yeah..." Emma responded a little regretfully. "My parents. I feel bad, I haven't spent Christmas with them in years."

"Well then we absolutely must get you there this year." Cindy replied cheerfully.

Emma just leaned on the counter, exhausted from the day's–well, one hour's– plane ticket scavenging. She almost couldn't believe she had managed to snag this flight. The only seat left it seemed, to be flying to the east coast. She felt like an enormous weight had been lifted off of her shoulders when Cindy handed her the two printed tickets. The first to Logan International Airport, and the second to Charleston.

"You should head over to security right away, your flight will be boarding soon."

"Thank you," Emma said with meaning. She felt as if she could hug this wonderful stranger.

"It was my pleasure. I hope you enjoy your flight!"

Emma sped through security quickly, another perk of being a flight attendant, and got to her new gate ten minutes before they were meant to start boarding. After all the running around and stressing out looking for a last minute ticket, Emma decided to treat herself to a coffee and something sweet. The line at the Starbucks was long but she knew it would move quickly, and as long as she didn't order any speciality drinks or hot food items she wouldn't have to wait long after placing her order.

Emma made a beeline for the end of the line before anyone else could join the line, and she just managed to sneak in front of two men in suits clearly heading out on a business trip. She didn't envy them in the least but they seemed content enough as they conversed about their businessy things. Emma tuned them out and looked over the heads of people at the menu boards. A seasonal latte was so tempting but she made a silent promise to treat herself to one between flights once she was in Boston.

As she predicted, the line moved quickly and when she reached the fridge with the cold drinks in it she decided to pick up a juice as well.

"Mom can I get a juice?"

Emma barely registered the words that got lost in the chattering of the many people around her. She reached into the fridge for the last bottle of strawberry banana just as the woman in front of her reached for the same one.

"Oh," the other woman said in soft surprise as her fingers brushed against Emma's. She immediately drew back her hand.

"Sorry," Emma said, even though she was pretty sure she'd had her eye on the bottle first. Emma took in the brunette's impeccably on-point hair, makeup and clothing. She was beautiful.

The brunette glanced at the bottle in Emma's hand and then looked back into the fridge, searching hopelessly for another bottle. Emma could see the disappointed look in the woman's son's eyes as the brunette selected a bottle of mango, carrot and orange instead.

"Mom I don't want that one." The boy said, clearly trying to be quiet enough that Emma wouldn't hear. He looked about eight or nine years old.

"It's all that's left Henry." His mother responded.

"Can I get a hot cocoa instead?"

"I told you, our flight has already started boarding. We can't risk missing it." The brunette replied in a kind, but stern voice.

"Mooom."

"Henry it's either this or water."

Emma glanced into the fridge again, the only other juice she saw was a green one that she was pretty sure the boy wouldn't want.

She gave an internal sigh. It's Christmas, she reminded herself.

"He can have this one." She said, causing the brunette to turn around again. Emma felt the breath leave her as the woman's beautiful brown eyes locked with hers, this time for much longer than the initial quick glance.

If Emma considered herself any good at reading expressions she would say the woman seemed a little speechless too, although Emma couldn't imagine why. There was a soft twinkle in the brunette's eye that made Emma's heart flutter. Breathe, she reminded herself. After a few beats the brunette finally broke eye contact and looked down at the bottle which Emma was holding out to her. "Oh you don't have to do that, you had it first."

Emma shrugged, trying desperately to ignore the way she suddenly seemed to be overheating. She tried to play it cool. "I'm getting a coffee anyway. I'll be fine."

"Are you sure?"

Emma swallowed a little nervously. The woman's eyes were searching hers again, and Emma almost wished she would look away, but at the same time...

Emma looked towards the boy and saw the hopeful look in his big round eyes. "Yeah I'm sure." She grinned.

The woman glanced at her son too and then looked back at Emma again, probably unaware that Emma was now having a little trouble finding oxygen.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you." The brunette said, taking the bottle. "Henry?"

"Thank you." The boy gave Emma a big smile that made her heart melt just a little bit. His hair was a lighter shade of brown than his mother's and he was wearing a navy blue pea coat and red and grey striped scarf. His clothes complimented his mother's black wool coat and leather boots wonderfully, and Emma felt a small tug of longing in her heart. She loved the freedom she had in her life, but sometimes she found herself wishing for a child of her own.

One of the men behind them cleared his throat and both women realized that everyone who had been in line in front of them had already ordered and gone.

"Sorry." Emma said quickly as the brunette made her own more gracious apologies. The woman gave Emma one last smile before turning around and placing her hand lightly on her son's back to guide him toward the further cash register.

Emma was distracted as she placed her own order. She had barely noticed herself accepting the orangey carrotey juice that the brunette must have handed to her in exchange for the strawberry, but clearly she had and apparently she was now buying it. Emma didn't really want it but the brunette had given it to her, probably thinking she would want it instead. Emma decided to buy the juice because she didn't want to hurt the brunette's feelings even though the woman probably wouldn't even care, or wouldn't even notice for that matter if Emma didn't take the juice. Emma kept glancing at the other cash where the mother and son were ordering, and by the time Emma had finished placing her own order she seemed to have completely forgotten how to pay. Emma noticed too late that her phone had lost its' data connection and in her panic she couldn't think of how to connect to the Wi-Fi. She quickly fumbled for her wallet again but found that it had been suddenly lost in the depths of her bag. Shit shit shit. She felt her face redden a little as she glanced at the annoyed customers behind her. She understood, she was annoyed with herself too.

"Sorry..." she mumbled for the third time to the boy behind the counter as her coffee and pumpkin bread sat already waiting on the counter in front of her.

"It's okay take your time," the boy responded, even though Emma could tell that he secretly meant, it's not okay and would you freaking hurry up?

Suddenly Emma felt a gentle hand on her arm and her heart nearly stopped when she realized the brunette was standing right beside her. The woman wasn't looking at Emma however, and was smiling at the employee behind the counter while holding out her phone to him which was open to her Starbucks app.

"I'll pay for hers." The brunette offered in her smooth, smooth voice.

"Uh–" Emma stammered, while the employee said, "oh! Thank you," and gestured to the scanner.

"Wait no–" Emma tried to intercept. "You don't have to–"

But the small beep indicated that it was too late and the brunette had just paid for Emma's three items.

"Merry Christmas." The woman smiled at her and lord was she stunning. She was so close that Emma could see the flecks of color in her brilliantly dark eyes.

"Merry Christmas," Emma stammered back at her, probably smiling like an idiot with her face as red as a tomato. Damn whitest-family-in-the-world genetics. Hopefully her California tan and makeup were enough to mask it.

"Thanks for the juice!" The boy named Henry held up the bottle cheerfully from behind his mother.

Before Emma knew it the woman had turned away from her, leaving a whiff of expensive perfume in her wake. Emma exhaled heavily as she watched the two leave.

"Thank you." The employee behind the counter said a little loudly, which meant it probably wasn't the first time he had said it and now he was kindly telling her to get the hell out of the way so they could get the line moving.

"Sorry. Thanks. Sorry," she said, hastily gathering all of her items and trying to force her nerves back under control. As she walked back to her gate she could still feel the other woman's hand on her arm and tried to hold onto the feeling for as long as possible.

Real smooth Swan. She grumbled to herself, embarrassed within an inch of her life. She just wanted to disappear to her seat on her plane where hopefully no one would ever know this little incident had taken place.

When she reached her gate she saw that her section had already boarded, and so she made her way to the line, haphazardly stuffing her juice into her bag so she could have her ticket ready. She glanced at her phone to check the time, and of course her data had kicked back in now that she had already shamed the hell out of herself in front of an entire airport Starbucks and probably the most beautiful woman she had ever seen. She showed her ID and ticket, and for the first time looked at her seat number: 5C. She walked down the aisle, looking at the numbers as she did. It wasn't until she got to row five that she looked down from the numbers. When she saw who she would be sitting beside for the next five and a half hours her heart nearly stopped.

Oh no. Oh no no no.

In the middle seat, 5B, was the brunette from Starbucks, and seated beside her in 5A, was the boy named Henry.

xxx

A/N: Thanks so much for reading! Let me know what you think. Take care xx