The early the next morning, Dr. Whale came into Emma's room with her chart in hand, "I'm releasing you today." He told her.
"So I can go home?" Emma asked excited.
"Yes." Whale told her as he looked through her chart.
David and Henry came into the room and Henry went over to Emma.
"Is she ready to go?" David asked Whale.
"Just about." Whale told him, "Sign the release forms here."
"Wait, what's going on?" Emma asked confused.
"You're coming home." Henry told her.
"Yeah I know." Emma told him, "To Boston."
"You don't have a home in Boston anymore. Storybrooke is where you live. It's where you've lived for the last 3 years." Henry told her.
Emma looked at Henry then at David. She was so confused.
"Where do I live then?" Emma asked.
"You live with us." David told her.
"Why do I live with you?" Emma asked him.
"It's a long story." Henry told her.
"Refresh my memory."
"How about we do that on the drive home?" David asked and handed her a duffle bag, "It's some of your clothes."
They left the room and Emma got out of bed to change. Emma riffled through the bag and pulled out a white t-shirt, blue jeans, a pair of underwear, socks, shoes and a red leather jacket. She picked up the jacket and smiled, now this she remembered.
She got dressed then opened the door to see David and Henry waiting for her in the hall.
Emma signed a few papers and Dr. Whale told her that he'd like to see her again in a few days.
"Yeah sure." Emma said to him.
On the way home Henry told Emma how she came to live with Mary Margaret.
"So I got arrested, kicked out of the inn I was staying at then ended up moving in with Mary Margaret?" Emma asked Henry.
"Well yeah I mean my mom had something to do with you getting arrested but that's a story for another time." Henry told her.
David opened the door and He and Henry went inside while Emma stayed out in the hallway.
"Emma, are you going to come in?" Mary Margaret said to her smiling as she held a small baby.
"Yeah." She said as she took a few steps inside and shut the door.
"So who's the little one?" Emma asked giving a head nod to the baby.
"This is Neal your…." Mary Margaret caught herself, "Your roommate."
Emma gave her a look.
"I mean, you know he stays here with all of us." Mary Margaret told her, "Your room is upstairs."
"Right." She said then looked around the loft. She went over and sat down on the couch.
She looked up at them, "You guys are staring at me like I'm part of an exhibit at a museum."
"We're sorry. We're just happy you're home." Mary Margaret told her trying to hide her excitement.
"Well thanks. This has been real fun." She said as she stood up and headed over to the door.
"Where are you going?" Mary Margaret asked.
"Out." Emma told her as she opened the door.
"When will you be back?"
"You sound like the mom I never had." Emma said then shut the door behind her.
"Emma wait!" Henry called after her.
"Look kid, it's a little too much too soon. I just want to be alone." She told him.
He held up a set of car keys, "It's to your yellow bug. It's parked out back."
She took the keys from him then left.
She smiled as she got into the driver's seat. She remembered her trusty VW Bug.
She drove down Main Street and passed by all the shops. She kept driving till she passed a big white sign on the side of the road: Leaving Storybrooke.
Regina walked into Emma's hospital room and saw nothing but an empty bed. She went looking for Whale and literally pulled him out of another patient's room.
"Where is Emma?" Regina asked.
"I discharged her this morning. She went home." Whale told her.
"To Boston?" Regina asked.
"No, she went home with her parents and Henry." Whale told her.
"Why wasn't I told?" Regina asked getting angry.
"Why would I notify you?" Whale asked, "This has nothing to do with you."
Regina glared at him then turned around and left in a huff.
"Regina, what can we do for you?" Mary Margaret asked as she opened her front door.
"Dr. Whale said that Emma came home." Regina said, "Is she here?"
"She did come home but she's not here right now." Mary Margaret told her.
"Where is she?" Regina asked.
"I believe she went for a drive." Mary Margaret said then looked at the clock.
"What?" Regina asked, "How could you just let her leave?"
"I couldn't stop her." Mary Margaret told her. She looked at her watch, "She has been gone for a few hours now."
"Where could she have gone?" David asked.
Regina knew where she had gone.
"Boston."
"You don't think she really took off to Boston do you?" David asked Regina.
"That's all she's wanted to do since she woke up." Regina said to him.
"But her family is here." Mary Margaret told her.
"She doesn't know that." David said, "She doesn't know we're her parents or Neal's her baby brother. All she knows is that Henry is her son."
"We have to go find her." Mary Margaret said.
"No." Henry said as he came downstairs.
"Henry…." Mary Margaret started to object.
"She'll be back." Henry told her.
"How can you be certain?" Regina asked him.
"Because this is where she belongs." Henry told her.
It was late afternoon when Emma drove into Boston. She wasn't going to take the word of a bunch of strangers. She had to see for herself if what they were telling her was true. She parked outside her apartment building and went inside.
"Emma? Emma Swan?" An older woman asked stopping her before she went upstairs.
Emma turned around to see her landlord, "Hi Mrs. Howells!" She said happy to see her.
"What are you doing here Emma?" Howells asked.
"I live here." Emma told her.
"Not for the last three years honey." She told Emma.
"What?" Emma asked confused.
"Honey, you called me and told me you were moving closer to family." Mrs. Howell told her, "I had to lease your apartment out."
She looked at Emma and saw the confusion on her face.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Thanks Mrs. Howells." Emma said to her with a smile then headed back out the front door.
The sun was sinking low into the sky as Emma drove back to Storybrooke. She parked her car on the street in front of one of the small stores. She got out of her car and just started wandering up the road.
Somehow she ended up near the water. She folded her arms across her chest as she stared out into the water.
She was getting frustrated with herself. She didn't understand why she couldn't remember anything from the last 3 years. Dr. Whale had told her she'd been in an accident and suffered a head injury and that's why she couldn't remember. But something didn't feel right to Emma.
"I knew you'd be back."
Emma turned around to see Henry smiling at her as he walked over to her.
"Do you remember this spot?" Henry asked her.
"Should I?" She asked looking back out onto the water.
"This used to be the spot where the old playground used to be." He told her.
Emma looked around, "What happened?"
"A storm came and destroyed it." Henry told her, "You really don't remember?"
"Sorry kid."
Henry called Mary Margaret and told her that Emma was back. The two of them walked back down Main Street. Emma looked at all the stores in hopes it might bring something back. She stopped in front of one particular store.
She tilted her head up and looked at the sign: Mr. Gold Pawnbroker & Antiquities Dealer.
"You don't want to go in there." Henry said taking her by the hand and pulling her away.
"Hang on a minute." She said and pulled her hand out of his and pushed the door open.
Inside the shop it was dark and filled with all kinds of trinkets.
"Emma!" A woman said as she came from the back room. She threw her arms around her and gave a big hug.
"Uh." Emma said looking over at Henry.
The woman pulled back and smiled at her. The smiled fell from her face when she saw the look of shock on Emma's.
"I'm so sorry." The woman said to her, "I forgot you don't remember."
She retreated and went back behind the counter.
"I'm sorry." Emma said as she went up to the counter, "I'm sure you're a very nice lady …."
"Belle." She said smiling again.
"Well it's nice to meet you." Emma said to her, "Again."
"Were you looking for something?" Belle asked.
"You wouldn't happen to have anything to bring back memories behind that counter of yours would you?" Emma asked her.
"Actually…" Belle started to say but Henry started shaking his head no and waving at her from behind Emma.
"Oh you're joking." Belle said letting out a small laugh.
Emma turned around and looked at Henry who was now pretending to be looking at a small crystal ball on one of the tables.
The door opened and they all turned to see who was coming in.
"Madam Mayor." Emma said, "Nice to see you again."
"I .. yes.. well…" Regina said flustered and Emma smiled at her.
"Henry and I were just leaving." Emma told her.
"We were?" He asked as Emma took him by the shoulders and directed him towards the door.
"We were." She said as she opened the door and practically pushed him out.
Regina went to talk to Belle and ask where Gold was and Belle told her that he was out and wouldn't be back till morning.
Emma stopped Henry on the way back to Mary Margaret's.
"Hey, I'm not ready to go back yet." She told him and he looked at her with concern.
"I promise I won't skip town again." She told him and he smiled.
Henry waited for Regina who was coming out of Mr. Gold's shop.
She watched him walk down the sidewalk before she looked around then headed over to the little diner across the street.
When Emma walked in everyone stopped and stared at her. She smiled awkwardly at them then made her way to the counter and sat down. A woman with long dark hair, big eyes and too much red lipstick was working behind the counter.
She came over to Emma and placed a cup of hot cocoa in front of her and smiled.
Emma looked at the woman's name tag which read: Ruby.
"What's this?" Emma asked her.
"Your usual. Hot cocoa with cinnamon." Ruby told her with a smile.
"You got anything a little stronger?" Emma asked her.
"You probably shouldn't drink with a head injury."
Emma turned around to see Regina standing behind her with Henry.
"Never stopped me before." Emma said as Regina sat down next to her and Henry took the seat on the other side of Emma.
Ruby stood there watching the exchange between the two women before another customer called for her and she moved out from behind the counter.
"Did you find what you were looking for in Boston?" Regina asked her.
"Yeah it seems life in Boston has moved on without me." Emma said to her, "How'd you know I went to Boston?" She asked her then took a sip of her cocoa.
Regina smiled, "I've come to know you pretty well over these last 3 years."
"Oh." Emma said quietly then put her cup down.
Emma looked around, "Is there a place I can stay that doesn't involve a school teacher, her husband and a brand new baby?"
Regina was almost tempted to offer up a room at her house. Saying it would be so Emma could be closer to Henry and so that someone could keep a watchful eye on her but she thought better thinking Emma would think it odd that a stranger would offer up her home like that.
"There's an inn." Henry told her, "Granny's Bed and Breakfast."
"Oh great. I think I'll get a room there." Emma said as she went to grab her wallet to pay for her cocoa. "Damn it." She cursed when she realized she didn't have her wallet.
Regina stood up, put some money on the counter then looked at Henry, "Why don't you help her get her things? I'll see you at home."
"Yeah okay." He said to her.
Regina headed for the door as Emma called out thanks and Regina smiled just before she went out the door.
Ruby took Emma over to Granny's. "We don't get a lot of people through here." She said as she took Emma upstairs and to one of the many empty rooms.
"At least it will be quiet." Emma said as Ruby opened the door to the room at the end of the hall. She poked her head in and looked around, "This will do just fine."
Emma took her time walking back to Mary Margaret's house.
"I'm sorry I worried you." She said to Mary Margaret and David as soon as she went inside.
"We weren't worried." David lied and Emma smiled at him.
Emma went upstairs where her bedroom was and they could hear her rummaging around.
"Are you looking for something?" David asked coming upstairs. He looked at the bag on her bed half stuffed with clothes then to her.
"I can't stay here." She said to him, "I know you guys mean well but you have a new baby and I don't want to get in the way."
David started to say something in protest but Emma interrupted him, "I just think it would be easier for me to just be by myself for a while."
All he could do was say okay then he went back downstairs and let her finish packing. When she was finished she came downstairs with two bags and looked over at them.
"You are always welcome here." Mary Margaret told her.
Emma smiled, "Thanks."
Henry grabbed one of Emma's bags from her as she opened the front door.
"You don't have to carry my bag." Emma told them as they walked down the street.
"It's okay." He told her.
Henry looked around Emma's small room then sat down on the bed.
"So what do you want to do?" He asked her.
Emma sat down next to him, "Look kid, I'm not going anywhere. You don't have to hang around just to keep an eye on me."
Henry stood up his feelings hurt, "I'm not. I just wanted to hang out with my mom." He told her then opened the door and shut it behind him.