Magic Land

Snow White

Mary Margaret surveyed their new surroundings. It was all so surreal - giant mushrooms, colors that weren't natural, and...was that a giant caterpillar?

"I really don't think we're in Storybrooke anymore," Mary Margaret repeated.

"What was your first clue?" Emma responded dryly and then said, "I know I'm new at all this fairytale stuff, but I think we're in Wonderland."

Mary Margaret swallowed audibly. "I was afraid of that."

"Have you been here before?"

She shook her head. Growing up, she'd heard stories about Wonderland. It was a wild, dangerous place - the stuff of nightmares.

"The real questions is, how do we get back?"

"I don't know," Mary Margaret said and marveled at how calm Emma looked.

"What do you mean you don't know? You're a fairytale character for crying out loud."

So much for staying calm, Snow White thought to herself. "I'm not from Wonderland, I'm from the Enchanted Forest." Silently she added, "And so are you."

"Yes, how could I be so ignorant?" Emma said sarcastically. "So, what do you know about this place? I could use all the information you have right about now."

"Well," Snow said, trying to remember what she'd heard growing up, "it operates on pure magic."

"What does that mean? Isn't that exactly like the Enchanted Forest?"

"No, my home has physical, mathematical, and scientific laws just like Storybrooke, Maine. The difference is that we also had magic. Still it was limited. Not everyone had it, and all of life didn't operate by it. Magic is everything here. At least, that's what my father always told me."

Emma was quiet. She seemed to be processing this new information, and she didn't look very happy about it. "You wouldn't be any chance be one of those people who had magic, would you?"

Snow White laughed darkly, "No, I was one of those people who was constantly cursed by it."

"So, we're stuck here with no idea how to get home?"

It was more of an accusation than a question. Snow could tell that Emma was angry, and she hated that she was the cause of it - that and being trapped in Wonderland. With everything that had happened, Snow hadn't had time to process how she felt about anything. She knew that a part of her was overjoyed that Emma was her daughter, but another part of her - a growing part of her - mourned the loss of her child. She would never get to hold her baby again. That realization brought tears to her eyes, but she forced herself not to cry. Crying about it wouldn't change the past.

"We'll get home," Snow told her, "to Storybrooke, that is, but first, we should probably find some kind of shelter and food. There's a forest up ahead. We will probably be safer there than out in the open."

"Safe from what?" Emma asked.

Snow White shrugged and said, "A bandersnatch."

"Those are real?" Emma asked, "I think I had to memorize a poem in high school that mentioned something about them."

"They're real alright," Snow said as they headed toward the forest. "My mother had a fur coat made out of one of their pelts."

"What happened to them?" Emma asked.

"The bandersnatches? I'm assuming they died, unless they can magically grow skin back. It is Wonderland after all."

Emma laughed, "No, Mary Margaret, your parents. What happened to them."

"Oh," she said, "they died too."

Snow White stared at the ground as she walked. "Amazing," she thought, "after all this time, I still miss them so much." One of the few nice things about being Mary Margaret was that for twenty-eight years, she'd forgotten her parents were dead. It was strange to remember how her mind had worked only the day before. If Mary Margaret ever thought about her past or family, something had always managed to distract her. How had she forgotten to think about whether or not her parents were alive? Even worse, how could she have forgotten Emma? Curse or no curse, Snow White knew that she would never forgive herself for that.

Mistaking her silence for evasion, Emma said, "I understand if you don't want to talk about them."

"No," Snow said, smiling at Emma, "you should know about your...my parents." She didn't know if she should say "your grandparents". "My mother died when I was younger than Henry, but thankfully I was old enough that I can still remember her. She was an amazing mother. You look a lot like her, by the way, which might be why I thought I recognized you when you first came to Storybrooke. She was so beautiful - the fairest of them all, my father would say. Her name was Emma."

"Oh," Emma said. She looked unsure of how to respond to this new knowledge. "I guess we can't all have names like 'Snow White', huh?"

Snow laughed loudly, "Thank goodness for that. I loved my mother, but who names their child Snow White? She was a bit eccentric, and very different from Regina - "

"Who is justifiably insane," Emma cut in, "and on that note, it just occurred to me that my mother and my son were both raised by the same woman. That's weird."

"I guess you're the lucky one then," Snow White said only half-joking.

"What was she like with you? Was she the same as she is now with Henry?"

Snow shook her head, "No, she was different. However limited Regina might be in her capacity to love people, she honestly does care for Henry." Snow sighed, the truth about her relationship with her stepmother was also a painful memory that she hadn't had to deal with for a long time.

"She despised me," Snow continued, "which ironically meant that she was nicer to me than I think she is to Henry - at least on the outside. She said all the right things, but when she smiled at me, it never felt real. I wanted to believe that she loved me, and under different circumstances she might have been able to. I guess I'll never know."

"Why couldn't she love you?"

That was the same question Snow had asked herself hundreds of times. "I guess she felt trapped in her marriage with my father."

"How was any of that your fault?" Emma asked.

"That is a very long, and very depressing story, but suffice to say, I was the reason she was forced to marry him. He desperately wanted me to have a mother." Snow smiled to herself as she thought of him, "He really did spoil me, which is probably another reason why Regina and I never grew close. I could do no wrong in his eyes."

"That's why she had to be nice to you?"

Snow White nodded, "Yes, there wasn't any room for her to try to raise me like she has Henry. Perhaps in her mind, Henry is the one good thing she has done."

"Yeah," Emma said, "until she almost got him killed with that stupid apple."

"Well, that Henry and I do have in common."

In some morbid way, the thought of Regina poisoning both of her children was incredibly humorous, which caused both women to laugh.

"Should we nominate her for 'Mother of the Year'?" Emma asked.

"I'll bet she'd love that."

"Wait a moment," Emma said, "doesn't that make Henry your step-brother?"

Snow's mouth dropped as that realization sunk in. "Yes, it would. And that would make you his step-niece."

"This is making my brain hurt."

"Mine too."

It was this that made Snow White realize family tree dynamics would be the least of her worries. Far more terrifying and complex was her relationship with the woman walking beside her. Snow White's feelings about Emma made Wonderland look boring.