I was talking with someone about Snow being so hard on Emma and how she reacted to Emma's powers in season 4. It lead to us also talking about how they would be if there had been no curse and the person said that they believed that Emma would've been closer to Charming, because she may have felt inferior to Snow. Not in a bad way, like her mother made her feel like it, but just because it can't be easy to compete with "The fairest of them all". In this, Emma is 14. There was no curse. Daddy Charming and Mama Snow feels, just a short drabble.

"I'm not going and you can't make me!" Emma yelled at her mother.

"You will not speak to me that way, young lady," Snow told her. "Now, let's go get ready."

"No!"

The young princess turned on her heel and stormed up the long staircase and ran down the hall to her bedroom. She threw herself down onto her bed, burying her face into her pillow. Tears began to fall down her cheeks. A minute later, she heard her door open and felt her bed sink in. A hand was on her back a moment later.

"Pumpkin," Charming whispered.

"Go away!"

"Please talk to me."

"No!"

She was acting very un-princess at this point, but she didn't care. Her father gently rubbed circles on her back, the same he had done since she was a baby. It was the one way to get her to calm down. The tears went away and she slowly looked up at him. He gave her a warm smile.

"Now, what's this I hear about you not going to the ball?"

"I don't want to. Daddy, please don't make me," Emma pleaded.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want to put on a dress and have everyone staring at me."

"You're a princess, love, it's what they do."

"Yes, however when they look at me, I'm like a silver medal."

Charming cocked an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Mama is so pretty," the blonde whispered. "I'm not."

"Emma Ruth," The king tipped her chin up with his fingers. "You are the most beautiful princess in all the lands."

"No, I am not. Every time we go to a ball, Mama is beautiful, all eyes are on her and then they look at me like I'm some disappointment.

Charming sighed and stroked her cheek.

"Baby, that's not true at all."

"You have to say that, you're my father."

"When do I ever lie to you?"

"I don't want to go. Please, Daddy. Let me skip it."

The king looked down at his daughter. She looked just like him, with blonde curls and green eyes. Despite the fact that she was a teenager, a small pout was on her lips. From the moment she was born, the princess had been wrapped around his finger. "I'll make you a deal. You make an appearance and then you can leave after the first dance, quietly."

Emma threw her arms around her father's neck. "Thank you, Daddy!"

"You're quite welcome, my love. Now, let's get you to your mother."

She looked away. "Can't someone else help me get ready?"

"I think you two need to have a chat anyway."

Emma sighed and stood up. Charming wrapped his arm around her shoulder and lead her down the hall to the dressing room. Snow was just finishing getting ready when she spotted her husband and daughter. She was about to chastise Emma when she saw her tear stained cheeks. Her heart snapped in half at the sight.

"She's going to make a brief appearance, she's not feeling too well," Charming said. He kissed his wife and then his daughter's cheeks. "I have to get our little prince ready," he added, referencing their youngest child, Prince Neal. And with that, he was gone.

Snow helped her daughter dress in a green gown with gold accents. As her mother did her hair, Emma looked at her. Snow was beautiful. She had dark hair, accompanied by snowiest complexion. Her eyes were a shade of emerald green. She was kind, loyal, yet fierce and a warrior. She was a true queen.

"I wish I was as beautiful as you," Emma whispered.

"Pardon?" Snow asked, pausing with the brush in her hand.

"I…I'm not like you, Mama. I'm not as pretty as you are. Everyone looks at you and they know you're the fairest in the land. I'm just your plain daughter."

That's when all the pieces came together. Over the past few years, Snow had caught her daughter watching her with a pained expression when they prepared for the balls. Emma requested to wear and obscene amount of makeup, claiming it would make her beautiful. The princess had even cut her hair the year before in attempt to have her mom's signature do, but it looked quite a mess with her curls.

But Snow did not see her daughter that way. She saw her as the beautiful princess that she was. She looked just like her father, though she had the queen's chin. But her personality was all Snow. Her daughter was fierce and stubborn, but also very, very kind. She did so much charity work and had the prettiest smile that seemed to make people feel better.

The queen never realized the burden it was to be the fairest in the land's daughter.

"Emma, look in the mirror," she finally said.

"Mama…"

"Look in the mirror, Emma."

The blonde sighed and looked in the mirror.

"Tell me what you see."

"A girl with ratty hair and pea green eyes."

"That's not what I see."

"What do you see?"

"I see my beautiful daughter, who has gorgeous curls, just like her daddy." Snow ran a brush through them. "And shining green eyes, just like her father's. I see a princess with my chin," she stroked the girl's prominent feature. "Along with those pink lips, which look especially beautiful when they're smiling." She gently tickled her daughter's neck and watched the lips curl up. "There it is. I see the kindest girl I know. The true, fairest one in the land."

Emma shook her head. "You have to say that."

"I do not. What I do have to do is make sure that you realize just how perfect you are." She laid a kiss to the top of her head. "I love you, Emma."

"I love you too, Mama."

This talk wouldn't fix everything, but it was a start.