A/N: The movie reference that Emma makes in this chapter is definitely going to betray my age lol. For the younger crowd, The Flight of the Navigator is an 80s movie where a kid goes missing and returns eight years later, but he hasn't aged and he doesn't realize any time has passed, but all the technology is new and everyone is older, including his little brother, who is now chronologically older than him. Emma was born in 1983, she would have totally seen this movie as a kid.

Chapter Two

"You ok?" Emma asked Regina, as they finally stepped outside the vault.

"Yes, I'm fine," Regina replied, plastering on the fakest of smiles.

Emma looked around. They were standing in a cemetery. "Creepy," she whispered, mostly to herself.

"Come on, girls," Mary Margaret urged them, as she opened the door to the old Ford pick-up.

Regina stopped short. "What… is that?"

Mary Margaret sighed. "It's a truck. Regina, we're not in the Enchanted Forest. This is a different realm with different modes of transportation, but it's safe, I promise."

Regina nodded, and started to step forward, but Emma grabbed her arm, and turned to Mary Margaret. "You're not gonna like… push us in front of oncoming traffic or some shit, are you?"

"What?" Mary Margaret shook her head, confused. "Why would I do that? Oh, and watch your language."

Emma ignored the language comment. "You're not the first person to tell me magic is real. The first one was bat-shit crazy and she pushed me in front of a car so I could magically stop it like Harry Potter."

"Ingrid," Mary Margaret said, nodding.

"How did you know that?"

"Because, Emma, I know you. You just don't remember. And no, I'm not going to push you in front of a car, I promise."

"You're sitting in the middle," Emma told Regina, as she let go of her arm. Mary Margaret pulled out her phone as the three climbed into the truck.

"David, where are you?" she asked into the phone. There was a pause, and then "Ok, stay there. I'm bringing… just stay there."

"David? I thought we were going to see Tinker Bell?" Emma said, laughing.

"We're making a stop first, to see your father," Mary Margaret said as she put the truck in drive and headed off.

Emma scowled but didn't reply. She didn't know what kind of sick joke this was, but she was certainly sick of this woman claiming she had parents when she most certainly did not. Regina watched in wonder at the lights and buildings as they drove, and Emma wondered what in the hell was wrong with this girl.

Emma leaned to look out the window as they pulled up in front of Granny's Diner. "Oh, I get it! There's like a camera crew in there, right? Waiting to see the look on my face? Good one, but I didn't buy any of this," she said, as she opened the door and hopped out.

Regina followed close behind. "What's a camera crew?" she asked Emma, in a hushed voice.

"Quit saying shit like that, or everyone's gonna think you're nuts," Emma replied, rolling her eyes. Mary Margaret hurried in front of them and opened the door. She motioned for someone to come out, and moments later a man appeared. Emma guessed this must be David.

Mary Margaret started talking about magic and a mishap and this is Emma and Regina but they're teenagers now, and Emma rolled her eyes. The man – who Emma had to admit, bore some resemblance to her – couldn't stop staring at her. When Mary Margaret finished, he stepped over to Emma.

"Emma, this is David, your father," Mary Margaret said.

"Is that really you?" he asked, reaching out to touch her face. Emma took a step back, and looked at Regina again, wondering what in the hell she should do. She felt bad for this girl who had just lost two parents, when meanwhile, here were two people claiming to be the parents of an orphan. It was just too messed up to process.

"Come on, girls, come inside," Mary Margaret said, as she headed towards the door.

For her part, Regina looked terrified. Emma watched her eyes dart around between the street lights and power lines and the neon "open" sign on the door, and wondered how sheltered of a life this girl had had until this point. She put her hand lightly on the other girl's shoulder. "Hey, it's ok. We'll stick together and we'll be fine, okay?"

Regina nodded, and they headed inside after David and Mary Margaret.

Emma looked around the diner as David and Mary Margaret stood and discussed going to the fairies. Regina seemed to be listening intently and Emma had to wonder what kind of girl seemed to know nothing of the world and believed in fairies.

"Emma?"

Emma turned to see where the oddly familiar voice had come from.

"Holy shit, that is you!" a woman with dark eyes and brown hair who looked to be in her early thirties was walking over to her, grinning like an idiot.

Instinctively, Emma took a step back, and put her hands up defensively. "Who the hell are you? My long lost sister or something?"

"Lily," Lily said, raising her wrist to reveal her star birthmark.

Emma's eyes widened, and she looked back at Lily's eyes. It was definitely her, just much older.

"What is this, some Flight of the Navigator bullshit? Why are you old?"

"Thanks," Lily said, laughing again, "I'm not old. You're just young, for some reason. How old are you now, like fifteen?"

"Sixteen," Emma said, rolling her eyes

"Wow, that shitty attitude is new. I guess getting you away from Chore Wheel had an effect, huh?"

Emma's eyes darkened at that comment. She was unaware that her Regina and these people claiming to be her parents were listening as she took a step closer to this grown-up Lily imposter. "You know what? After the police picked me up and dropped me off at Children's Services, they put me in a home where I had to earn my room and board on my back. So yeah, that had an effect on me."

"Oh, my God, Emma, I didn't know," Lily said, not even trying to cover the shock on her face.

"Well, like I said before, you like to play runaway, but it's my fucking life!"

"Emma," Mary Margaret reached her hand out for her daughter, who flinched away, suddenly aware that everyone had heard everything.

"What? You wanna tell me to watch my language?" she asked, fighting back the tears that were burning at the corners of her eyes. This wasn't funny anymore. She wanted to go home. "I need a phone! Is there a phone in this place?"

Mary Margaret was at a loss for what to say, and she merely held up her cell phone.

Emma looked at it, and shook her head. "No! I mean a real phone, not this space shit you people have." Her lip quivered as she pushed past Lily and headed up to the counter. The old lady behind the counter gave Emma a sympathetic smile, and handed her a cordless phone. Emma gaped at her for a moment, wondering how exactly she'd heard her from across the room, but she accepted the phone from her anyway, and quickly dialed the number for her foster family.

The automated voice on the other end notified her that she was calling long distance, and she looked back at the old lady – whom she assumed must be "Granny" – confused. "How is Hopkins long distance?"

"Honey, you're a long way from Minnesota. This is Maine."

Emma couldn't process that or reply, as just then a voice came through the other end.

"Hello?"

Whoever it was, that voice didn't sound familiar. "Hi… uh, can I talk to Stephanie?"

"I think you have the wrong number."

"No, no, I don't. Stephanie McCormick. This is her number," Emma insisted.

"The McCormicks moved away from here eight years ago, sorry."

There was a click, and then a dial tone, and Emma handed the phone back to Granny. Granny smiled again, and handed Emma a mug of cocoa.

"Here, this will make you feel better."

Emma looked at the cup, and then back at Granny. "Cinnamon? How'd you know?"

Granny winked, and went back to her work, and Emma turned around slowly to face the group she'd left standing on the other side of the diner.

This can't be real, she told herself, I'm dreaming. This is a dream.

And yet, she found herself crossing the room back over to these strangers – and a strange version of Lily.

"Okay," Emma said, tentatively, shifting from foot to foot, "let's say you're not all crazy, and somehow this is real. What now?"

"Well," David started, "we were going to see the fairies, but now we're thinking maybe it would be best to take you girls home and ask the fairies to come to us. This has been a lot to take in, already."

Emma glanced at Regina, who seemed to be looking to her to judge what to do next. Emma was still undecided.

"I know this is scary," Mary Margaret added, "it's a lot for all of us, trust me. Here you are, in an unfamiliar place, with magic when you don't even believe in magic, and then here's Regina, in a whole other realm where nothing is familiar, except magic. But we'll make it work. I know neither of you remember, but we care about both of you, and we'll take care of you."

Regina was still looking at Emma, silently, and Emma bit her bottom lip, and nodded. She wasn't sure what else to do at this point, and she was reasonably sure these people didn't want to kill her or hurt her in anyway. She was still holding out hope that this was all a dream, but if it was, it was the most vivid dream she'd ever had.

"What about Henry?" Emma heard David whisper to Mary Margaret as they headed back out of the diner.

"We'll tell them about him when we get home," Mary Margaret insisted.

"Are you sure we shouldn't give them a heads up now?"

Mary Margaret shook her head. "How do you prepare someone for that?"

Emma felt a knot in her stomach, as she was suddenly dying to know who Henry was and why she needed to be prepared.

She was suddenly thinking of Ingrid and Harry Potter and wondering if Henry was a giant three-headed dog. At least if he was, then she'd know for sure this was all a dream.

She had a sinking feeling that wasn't going to be the case.