A Kindred Soul


It was in the early hours of the morning and warm-tinted sunlight shone on the small town of Storybrooke, making it seem happy and quaint, as a new day began.

But today was a sad day, because today Storybrooke mourned one of its own.

Most of the shops were closed for the morning, and though it was a school day, the building remained empty. It was almost 10 o'clock and the town was still.

It was a day where the entire town was sullen. It was the day of a funeral: Henry's Mills funeral.


Emma Swan stood at the edge of the woods that surrounded the town's church, waiting for the service to end. Though she could have entered the building at any time, the woman knew that she wasn't welcome. Between Regina and her own guilt, Emma knew that walking into Henry's funeral service would be emotional suicide. So she had staked out the chapel, waiting for a private chance to say goodbye.

The woman made her mind blank, focusing on her breathing and the numbness that had overcome her, making sure that her true feelings didn't surface. Not yet. She had to be alone with the kid before she could let herself go. So she waited patiently in the cover of trees.

It seemed an eternity before the large doors opened, but the sheriff instantly forgot about the time as she observed the procession that came from within the church.

Emma watched stoically as the pallbearers carried out the small ebony casket towards the open grave-site, where it was meant to be laid; her blue eyes noting that it was Archie Hopper and David Nolan that carried her son to his rest.

Once the casket was in place and the congregation had surrounded the spot, the priest read several passages from the Bible before he offered up a prayer to the sky and thus ended the service.

Slowly the citizens of Storybrooke moved forward to pay their respect to the dead child and the mayor before one by one they left altogether.

But Emma still waited.

After thirty more minutes, Regina finally left with Sidney Glass, as he tried to offer her words of comfort.

If it had been a regular day Emma would have scoffed at the reporters antics, but it wasn't an average day. And as she watched the two drive away she couldn't help but feel jealous. A heart clenching resentment filled her as the unforgiving truth once more was shoved in her face. She should have had someone standing by her side, consoling her and holding her as she cried. But she didn't. She was alone as she always had been.

Emma slowly walked from the shelter of the trees, across the gravel parking lot and past the church itself before she entered the cemetery with wary feet and found her way to the spot where the casket now rested in the ground.

As soon as she stood before the ebony box it was as if someone had ripped her heart out, and Emma fell to her knees from the sheer power of it. As she landed hard on her already sore legs she let her emotions overwhelm her as she freely cried by Henry's side.

"You were right," she sobbed quietly. "I was scared . . . Too scared to have been the mother you needed in your life. . . Too scared to be the hero you wanted me to be . . ."

Emma half expected to hear the kids' voice telling her that she was wrong and that she was the savior weither she believed it or not. But the loving reprimand didn't come.

Emma would never hear Henry's fairytale theories again, nor see him smiling at her over a cup of cinnamon coco at Granny's.

Henry was gone, and he wasn't coming back.

Emma reached down and stroked the top of the casket with her right hand, immediately jerking away from the cold unfeeling wood beneath her fingers. It was all wrong. Henry was soft and warm . . . Henry wasn't supposed to be dead. He was supposed to live a long and fruitful life and get married and have children. He was supposed to have his best chance! . . . Not this. . .

The turnover was meant for her. Emma knew this and wished with all her heart that she had been to one to eat it, saving her child from such a horrible fate. But she hadn't, and now she had to live with the consequences.

Once more she was reminded that she was poisonous; ruining everything she touched. She was cursed.

But instead of accepting it as she always had, Emma fought against her fate with all the willpower she possessed, silently begging for the life that she could have had. A life with a mother and father, where she was loved unconditionally and perhaps had the opportunity to have been a good parent herself.

"I never should have come to Storybrooke. I never should have gotten involved in his life. . . If I had listened to my instincts and stayed away, he would still be alive . . . He would still have the chance for happiness that I never did."

Emma sorrowfully looked down at the object she was holding onto with her left hand, and knew that it was time to part with it. For she couldn't stand to look at it. . . Not without Henry.

She gently laid the leather bound book down on top of the casket and read the words 'Once Upon a Time' for the last time before she leaned down to kiss the wood in parting, with the son she had almost had.

"I love you, Henry."

Then Emma stood and turned her back on the child she had come to love and tried to walk away. But after two steps she fell back to the ground, clenched in a fetal position as she sobbed aloud as the pain grew worse.

And then, someone was pulling her up from the ground and holding her, murmuring comforting words in her ear and kissing her forehead as she cried.

Emma clung to the figure and sobbed harder not realizing who it was, but she felt relieved to have someone with her, in her time of need.

"Thank you," she choked out between sobs. "Thank you."

"Hush, dearie," Gold crooned, as he moved her hair from her face with his forefinger. "I've got you."

Emma recognized the voice but she couldn't bring herself to pull away, so she hugged him tighter than before and continued to cry. And to her relief Gold held her just as tight as he rested his cheek against her hair.

"My dear, Emma," he said as he rocked them back and forth. "My brave little Emma . . . it'll be alright, sweetheart. I promise."

Emma felt something inside her flare as he used the terms of endearment. But instead of snapping at him or feeling uncomfortable, she leaned up and nuzzled his cheek with her own and placed her hand on his suit where his heart beat in a soft, calming rhythm.

And as she felt his heartbeat, Emma looked up into his eyes and instantly knew that he was telling the truth. . . Somehow, he thought that he could make it right. . .


Author's Note:

I decided to rewrite this story and actually have Henry dead. ;P I also decided to make this a Gold/Emma romance or GoldenSwan fic. If this bothers you I apologize, but I must follow the path my plot bunnies lay out for me!

Please review if you read! Any suggestions or comments are welcome! I would love some imput on the writing. Is Emma in character? I feel like she is a little off. . . :/ Please let me know!

~Lyn Harkeran