Emma stood in front of the sheriff's station and looked at her watch.
She said she'd be here in ten minutes. It's already been fifteen, where the hell is she?
She had gotten an emergency call from Mary Margaret, who wanted to meet her right away. They had agreed to meet in front of Emma's workplace in ten. She had said it was something very important. But if it was, why is she late?
But the brunette appeared around the corner in the next moment and rushed towards the impatient blonde. Emma couldn't help but smile a little in thought. She always found it amusing how Mary Margaret ran. It was both awkward and funny, yet she couldn't imagine the brunette doing it any differently.
"Finally! Tick – tock! I'm working here, Mary Margaret. I can't just stand in front of the office and do nothing! If the Mayor caught me, I'd have been fired in the blink of an eye." She dropped this stream of complaints on her friend, then took a deep breath. "What is it? What was so important?"
Mary Margaret on the other hand was smiling ear to ear and raised her hands. "This is why I was late." She showed Emma a small camera.
Emma waited, she thought maybe she had missed the point. "…and?"
"I know what I missed!" She smiled constantly, gesturing with her hands, she was clearly happy about something. "Do you remember, the other night we talked about how the house didn't feel like home for me? Well. Today I've been cleaning a little…"
"Again?" Emma sighed. "Geez, the house is all neat and tidy! If you clean it again – for the tenth time this week – I'll feel like I'm in a laboratory…"
Mary Margaret let the complaint pass through her ears unheard. "I noticed that in the whole apartment I only have one personal photo - with my class. Nothing more. I don't have any images with my friends or family… That's why I felt lonely." Her voice was filled with sadness, yet the smile remained on her face. "And…" She showed Emma the camera again. "… guess what I thought."
"No." Emma took a step back. "Oh, no. You tricked me into this! I'm not taking pictures! I hate taking pictures! No way!"
"Emma!" Her pleading voice sprung a small crack in Emma's wall of stubbornness. The brunette sighed desperately. "Look, I know that you haven't been here long, but you live here, you work here, your family is here..." To her questioning look Mary Margaret explained. "... Henry. Your home is here. It's not like you'll move to another town tomorrow... is it?" She added with sudden concern in her voice.
"No, it's not." The blonde admitted.
"Then, some roots won't be that bad, right?"
"It's not that..." Emma tried really hard not to think about the only other person who had said the exact same thing to her so long ago. "It's just not my thing."
Mary Margaret raised her eyebrows with a knowing look. "I think I've heard that before. You're not really the roommate type, remember?"
Emma had to let out a short laugh. She still remembers that conversation?
"Oh, c'mon!" Mary Margaret pleaded. "It's no big deal! Look. We take it, we see if it's worth keeping and if it is, we find a nice, hidden nook in the apartment where you'll never have to see it again. Deal?"
"Oh, I hate you so much..." Emma gave up with a sigh. "Let's get on with it quickly, shall we?"
Mary Margaret hopped next to her with a wide grin on her face and held the camera in front of her. Emma tried her best to smile as naturally as she could.
A quick flash of light and it was done.
"You see? It wasn't that bad, was it?" It looked like nothing could wipe off the brunette's satisfied sneer. "Gotta go! I have to get this printed before the shop closes! See you at home!"
Emma raised her hands wearily. She spoke to the brunette but she was already too far away to hear her words. "I thoughe we'd check if it's good at all!"
Oh, this woman...
But as she jogged along back to her office, she couldn't help but smile openly and think about the possibility of finding such a nice, good-hearted flatmate. With her luck, it was saying something. And she felt proud as well. Content that even after all the evidence pointed at her, when everything showed that her friend was guilty; there wasn't a seed of doubt in her. She knew the brunette was innocent and nothing changed that.
She was right. My family really is here.
In thought she included Mary Margaret as well.
After a very long and stressful day, Emma stepped into the small apartment with the weird feeling of waiting for a sneak attack. She went straight to the kitchen table, dropped her bag and keys onto it and looked around. She didn't see her friend, but her eyes got caught on a small object in Mary Margaret's bedroom. Emma didn't know why she wanted to take a closer look, but she went closer and held the picture in her hands.
It wasn't such a big deal, no. But this picture started to melt her heart.
She had in fact taken a few pictures during her time in the foster system. Awkward family dinners at Christmas, Thanksgiving, ect... None of those pictures were real, none of them showed what a family picture was supposed to symbolize. Emma didn't keep those images. They were meaningless, soulless caricatures of the fact that she could never have a real family. She felt like those portraits were mocking her, telling her that she never would.
Now, gazing at this simple photo, she felt that hole mending. The hole her parents had left, the people she had never gotten to meet, had never gotten to know.
But who cares? I don't need them. Family isn't defined by blood, not for me anyway.
For me, it's the people in my life who want me in theirs. Those who accept me for who I am, believe in me. The ones who would do anything to see me smile, and would stand in the way to protect me from getting hurt. And the other way around - those for whom I care the most.
Family is my choice. And I've chosen well.
She smiled when she noticed that her trusty yellow bug appeared in the photo as well. Her old home.
Emma didn't know how long she stared at the image, but when she heard a quiet cough behind her, she jumped and felt like she had been dragged out of a whole different world.
She saw Mary Margaret standing at the door, her arms folded, but her smiley expression warmed her heart. "I told you it wasn't a bad idea."
Emma glanced back at the image. "No, you were right."
The brunette came closer to her friend and took a look at the picture as well. "You know, you really should smile more. I have proof now that it suits you." She winked at Emma who gave her a thankful smile.
"That's what I'm talking about!" Mary Margaret wrapped her right hand around Emma's right shoulder, half-hugging her and looked at the image again.
Unbeknownst to Mary Margaret, but the blonde was taken aback by this gesture. She wanted to return it, she really did. She wanted this moment to be one of the firsts with her new family. To start fresh. To let her walls down, after all this time.
But she couldn't. She may have destroyed the evidence, but her memories remained. Her past was still there, and it wouldn't let her take the next step. Not yet.
Emma broke their hug and walked out to the kitchen. She could hear the other woman putting the frame down and following her, but she didn't turn around.
"Is there something wrong?" Mary Margaret's concern was evident in her voice. "Are you mad at me for some reason?"
"No, of course I'm not!" She spun around to face her friend.
Mary Margaret noticed the gathering tears in her eyes. With a heartfelt smile she put her hand on Emma's arm. She clearly didn't want to invade her personal space again. "It's okay. I know how you feel. But we are not alone anymore." The brunette waited for Emma to look up. She was most definitely on the edge of crying. When Emma did hold her head up, her eyes met the other woman's. She couldn't help but think that in them she saw something she'd seen a lot of times, but never looking at her. Something so... motherly. "Hey. We've got each other. We're like family. Remember?"
Emma only nodded briefly and was grateful that she could keep her emotions at bay. She took a deep breath and swallowed her tears.
"Family." She nodded.
Mary Margaret's warm smile assured her that they had indeed became one.
Small and damaged, yes. Nevertheless the best family Emma could ever hope she'd have.
One more chapter ahead, everyone! I hope you enjoy this little something. I miss the old Emma-Mary Maragret friendship on the show so much, even though I can't have enough of their mother-duaghter bond.
A huge thanks goes to oldmcpiper (as usual ;)) for betaing me! I know it's a huge work, but I'm very grateful, because I know I couldn't have found anyone better!:)