Woah, I was totally overwhelmed with the response to that first chapter, thank you all so much! Here's the next chapter so I hope you all enjoy it, this is mainly an explanatory chapter but it was important to include, I already have the next chapter written up so that should be posted within the next couple of days (as soon as I have Chapter 4 typed out).

As always let me know what you wanna see happen in the story and I'll try and fit it in there!


As David threw the car into park outside of Gold's shop, Mary Margret was already undoing her seatbelt, and before David had even managed to get out of his own seat Mary Margret had got out of the car and was lifting Neal's carseat out.

She peered through the shop window, it was mainly darkened but she could just about see a light towards the back of the shop, she tried to catch a glimpse of Emma but couldn't see anything; she felt David appear at her side and he placed a protective hand on her back. They sent each other a look, Belle's message hadn't been the clearest, and although she had assured them that Emma was safe until they saw her for themselves they wouldn't feel at rest.

*OUAT*

The bell rang as they walked into the store the door slammed behind them but luckily Neal didn't wake.

"Belle!" David called out as he and his wife took tentative steps towards the lit part of the shop. "Emma?" he heard some quiet talking before he heard steps coming through to meet them.

"David, Mary Margret." Belle greeted them with a small smile.

"Belle, where is our daughter?" Mary Margret asked in a no nonsense, but not unkind, tone.

Belle's smile faded a little. "She's through the back, she's okay, but… well, Rumple will explain what happened."

"Belle, what's happened to Emma?" David asked.

"It's best for you to see her." Belle led them towards one of the back rooms.

If they didn't know Belle better they would worry that they were being led into a trap but there was no sign of anything wrong, and as even falling for The Dark One hadn't darkened Belle's heart, they doubted very much that she had turned evil.

But the room she led them into had no sign of Emma. "Emma." Belle called gently.

David and Mary Margret frowned and looked for their daughter, they noticed a pile of Emma's clothes folded on a small table, however before they could ask anything David noticed a small blonde head appear from around a cabinet.

Both David and Mary Margret's eyes were glued to the child's head. There was something so familiar about the girl, although her features were that of a kindergarten child, physically she looked a lot younger. She nervously stepped closer to them. Mary Margret placed Neal's carseat onto a chair, without taking her eyes off if the girl, and David crouched down so he was on eye level with her.

The blonde hair and green eyes…

"Emma?" he whispered.

"Hey dad." Emma pulled at her long dress-like top anxiously. She watched David's mouth fall open, she grew uncomfortable at the attention, and allowed her eyes to flicker to her mother who looked in disbelief at her though there were tears in her eyes.

"Emma," David repeated, "is that really you?" he watched the child nod and he took in the features of the child again, the face shape was so clearly Emma's and the eye shape was the one Emma had inherited from her mother. She was almost exactly how he had imagined her to be when Mary Margret told him that they were going to be having a daughter. "Are you okay?"

Emma opened and shut her mouth like a fish. She hadn't known what to expect, no matter her parents' usual reaction to things, her being turned into a five year old was unprecedented, but she hadn't prepared herself for her father's kind voice asking if she was okay. Perhaps she should have prepared herself for that, not only because it was something so completely in his character, but also because his loving voice in combination with her own circumstances and how ill she was still feeling made her burst into tears, and the confusion in her actions only made the tears fall faster down her face.

David moved on instinct and took Emma into his arms, he stood up with her in his arms his hand automatically went to the back of her head as it always did, he rocked side to side as he had learnt to do for his son whenever he cried.

Mary Margret moved forward in tandem with her husband, she put the feeling of shock to the back of her mind, and rubbed Emma's back even though she had no idea what was happening. How could this be Emma?
She spoke quietly so that Emma wouldn't hear her and get either more upset. "Belle, what happened?"

"Emma came here to ask Rumple about time portals, she was worried about one appearing again or something coming out of it, she really didn't look too good." Belle looked concerned at Emma. "Rumple said he can make some conclusions though he can't tell for certain, I had him wait in the back room," she sent a look to them which made them realise that Emma and Gold had probably been getting on each other's last nerve, "I'll go get him."

*OUAT*

David and Mary Margret felt grateful that Belle had left them for a few minutes, they felt as though they had been hit by a truck, they would never have expected this to happen.

"Emma, sweetheart," Mary Margret called as her daughter still had her head buried in David's shoulder, "do you still feel ill?"

David felt Emma shrug against him, he didn't mind holding her at all but it was going to be much harder to figure out what was going on and how she was if they could only get vague answers, he crouched down and pulled Emma back from him slightly. "Kiddo?" David prompted.

"I don't feel too well." Emma muttered quietly. She kept hold of his leather jacket, she didn't know why but she couldn't help but feel nervous in the shop, she just wanted to get home. No, she wanted to be turned back to normal, then get home, and for all the stupid portals to never open in the town ever again.
"What happened to me?" she asked in an uncharacteristically small voice.

"I…" David trailed off and looked over at Mary Margret with a helpless look on his face. What did happen to her? And how were they going to help her?

"We're not sure, Emma, but we'll figure it out." Mary Margret promised. She watched Gold and Belle walk into the room. "Gold, can you tell us what happened, please?"

"As I already told your daughter, there must have been a complication when she was travelling back to our time, resulting her being turned into a five year old."

"Change me back." Emma demanded angrily. Her hands curled into fists at her sides.

"I already told you, Miss Swan, I cannot turn you back. I can however do this for you." He twirled his hand and Emma was changed into some child sized jeans and a top which had the Disney version of Snow White on it. "There, how charming." He smirked and gained scowling looks from David, Mary Margret, and Emma in return.

"Rumple." Belle chastised. "You were saying it might have something to do with Emma being ill."

"But she just has a cold."

"Then what's that rash on her arm." Gold pointed out.

Mary Margret quickly crouched down, she gently took hold of Emma's arm, and examined the red and slightly blistered skin. "Emma, did you have this earlier?"

"Maybe," she shrugged, "it was a little itchy earlier." Belle appeared in front of her and also examined the rash. Emma moved back slightly into David, her earlier feelings of anger at Gold dissipated, all the attention was making her feel very uncomfortable.

"Belle, is this-?"

"- Yes, I think it is." Belle frowned. "She should probably have it looked at by a doctor but I think it's a flu like illness from the Enchanted Forest, Saltbourne flu."

"Saltbourne flu?" David asked worriedly he placed his hand on Emma's shoulder protectively. "I thought that was really rare… and rather contagious."

"It is nowadays." Belle explained. "In the Enchanted Forest we were given vaccinations so we wouldn't get it."

"When I was pregnant with Neal I was given a vaccination Whale created which was passed on to him, just in case anything were to happen, Alexandra got one through Ashley." It suddenly dawned on Mary Margret that everyone in the town was protected from the flu, bar Emma, just in case. Even Henry would have been given one when he was little. She saw Emma move even closer to David, a contagious illness along with being deaged was clearly scaring her, she smiled at her daughter kindly. "Don't worry, sweetheart, we'll have Doc check you over and he'll be able to give you some medicine."

"Gold, are you sure there's nothing you can do to help Emma?" David asked firmly. "How come this only changed Emma, why weren't Hook and Robin's wife affected?"

"I can only guess that her magic and being ill somehow interacted with the portal and turned her into this… infant."

"CHANGE ME BACK!" Emma shouted and raced from David's side towards Gold. She suddenly felt two hands wrap around her and David picked her up into his arms effortlessly. She kicked her feet rapidly, trying to get her father to put her down, it hadn't even been an hour since she had been changed and she was already sick to death of it. "Gold I mean it! Change me back right now!"

David held Emma close to him and held her legs firmly so she couldn't kick him as she tried to escape. She felt barely heavier than a bag of sugar in his arms.

"I already told you I can't, given time I'm sure you'll change back and if not…" he shrugged in response.

"If not what?" Mary Margret demanded.

"If not you finally get to raise your daughter." Gold shrugged again. "But that doesn't matter."

"Why not?" Mary Margret narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"Because, you are now here to collect your daughter, therefore she is no longer my problem. I presume you drove here so," he waved his hand and a toddler's carseat appeared at David's feet, "here, free of charge. Now, please leave me and my store."

David and Mary Margret shared a look, clearly they weren't going to get any more help from Gold, and they really should get Doc to make sure that Emma was okay and possibly have Blue check on Emma to make sure that her magic hadn't affected her beyond the obvious.

"I'll do some research," Belle promised them, "I'll see if I can find out a way to speed up changing you back, Emma."

Emma nodded from where she was half sat on David's hip. Her words escaped her again, she really did think that she would be going home herself again, she didn't even want to think about the carseat which David picked up in his other hand. Not to mention Gold's uncertainty of whether or not she'd be able to turn back.

*OUAT*

Mary Margret picked Neal's carseat up and followed David and Emma out of the door. David had walked fast, clearly he was trying to get Emma away from Gold as quickly as he could, not that she blamed him he was being totally unhelpful.

"I'm not getting in that." Emma told David as he tried to lower her into the carseat he had just strapped into the car.

David shared a look with Mary Margret who was strapping Neal's carseat into the other side of the backseat. "Em, kiddo, you have to go in it."

"I'm not a child." She whined.

The whining tone suggested otherwise but David didn't say so. "I know you're not but it's not safe for you to sit in the car without one."

"I'm twenty nine, not five, I don't need to sit in that and I don't want to… I just don't…" she took a shuddering breath and tried to stop tears from rolling out of her eyes. She didn't know what was going on, she didn't usually cry, all she knew was that that she wished that everything would go back to normal.

Mary Margret wanted to rush over and take Emma from David's arms give her hug and never let her go. But she knew that Emma didn't need that at the moment right now all she needed was to be talked straight to. "Emma, you're still the sheriff, you know that legally you have to be a certain height to be able ride without one."

"The quicker you get in the car the quicker we can get home." David told her quietly when he felt her sigh against him. He received a nod in return so he carefully placed her into the seat and strapped her in.

He closed the door at the same time as Mary Margret did on the other side and he walked over to talk to his wife. "This is insane." He wrapped his arms around her and kept his voice quiet just in case Emma was able to hear them, though he didn't doubt that she had other things on her mind.

"I know." She tucked her head against his shoulder. "I have no idea what we're going to do. Our daughter is suddenly five," she reiterated, "there's no parenting books on what happens when they get deaged by twenty four years."

"She doesn't even look five, she seems way too short, and way too skinny." David pressed a kiss to the top of his wife's head. But then he shook his head, if there was to be a conversation about that it would be held at a later time, not on the darkened and cold Main Street outside of a shop of a man who would not or could not help their daughter.

"We should get home," she pressed a kiss to his lips to give herself courage, "we need to make sure she's not in immediate danger, we can freak out about this later."

"Preferably without Emma realising that we're freaking out about it." He agreed.