Chapter 2 – Back Home
Author's note: A big thanks to my writing partner & fellow Once Upon A Time Fan Lauren Poche for helping me with this story I know many people enjoyed chapter 2 that I posted last night, but neither myself nor Lauren weren't completely satisfied with it. So we did a major rewrite of this chapter. We hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 2 – Home
The next instant they were all standing in a field within the Enchanted Forest everyone was dressed in the clothes they were originally in when the curse first swept them all away, even Neal was dressed in clothes from the enchanted forest that Emma & Henry had never seen before. Emma and Henry were the only ones who were not dressed in fairytale land attire. As Emma looks around at everyone from her parents, to the dwarves over to Regina, then finally she catches sight of Neal in his regal leathers, tunic and cape, she feels her heart skip a beat as she realizes just how incredibly handsome he is. Neal catches her staring and offers up a smile.
Emma continues to stare not quite sure why the site of Neal in Fairy tale land clothes is having such an effect on her. "You okay there Em?" Neal asks with a slight smirk. Emma not wanting to admit that he is having an obvious effect on her quickly nods her head "Yeah, it's just a lot to take in. I never thought I'd be back here, so soon anyway." Neal nods in agreement. "I know what you mean; it was like literally the other day I was here." Emma chuckles and is glad that Neal is here and knows how to put her at ease.
Emma looks down at herself and frowns in bewilderment as she sees her own leathers. So she speaks up to no one in particular "What did the magical kingdom not have enough leather or frills for me and Henry?" Emma says sarcastically as she once again looks around at her family and friends attire. She and Henry are the only ones in the same clothes that they wore in Storybrooke.
Regina chooses this moment to speak up "I believe the curse brought us back the exact way we were dressed when the curse originally struck or as close as. You were a baby then, and Henry wasn't born yet, I think the curse just adapted and left you as you were. Be glad it didn't bring you over in just a baby blanket, I am."
Snow shook her head and walked towards her daughter and grandson where she pulled Emma aside. "Hey you're bound to feel a little out of sorts but don't worry, we're all together and that's all that matters. But if you really want to I'm sure I have some old ball gowns back at the palace that I'm more than happy for you to have." Emma cringes as Snow smirks, her comment having the desired effect. "Thanks but no thanks mom; I'm not much a fan of lace. I'll stick with Hilfiger."
Neal looks down fondly at Henry who is taking everything in, he's so relieved to not have been taken from him. "You okay buddy?" Henry looks around in awe "Yeah Dad I'm fine. Is this really the Enchanted Forest?" Neal smiles at the wondrous look in Henry's eyes and wishes he'd be able to keep that look forever, but knew sadly that wasn't likely. He tries to hide his concern as he replies with a smile. "Yeah this is home; but the question is where exactly in our land are we?"
David on hearing this looks from Neal and Henry over to his wife & daughter. "Neal raises a good point, we need figure out exactly where we are so we can best prepare. I'll get the dwarves to scout ahead to check for any familiarities or dangers." David approached the dwarves and addressed Grumpy "Grumpy why don't you and Happy check north, Sleepy and Doc go south, Bashful and Sneezy go west, and the others go east, we'll have all our bases covered then. But be careful though Snow and Emma both said that the Ogres have returned so who knows what other dangers may be out there. "Grumpy nodded and went to get Happy and direct the others.
Emma walked back over to Neal and Henry still feeling a bit out of sorts she just could not stop staring at Neal, it was still all so surreal. Emma smiled then looked down at Henry to make sure he was okay. "You okay kid?" she asked and Henry looked up at her and replied "Yeah Mom I'm fine. I'm finally here with you all. I can't believe it looks almost like Storybrooke." Neal and Emma looked at each other and then down to Henry as Neal replied "This is definitely not Storybrooke Henry. This is our land, and our world is full of magic, monsters, and many other dangers. But it's our home." Emma shares a look with Neal, home, and they're all together. Emma spoke up before she got emotional over that fact. "Your dad is right about that we're definitely not in Storybrooke anymore kid."
Henry smiled and left his parents to go be with David and spoke "Gramps, when can I see your castle?" Henry says excitedly. Emma smiled at Neal as they heard this and walked toward their son and her father, Emma spoke up as they approached "Wow, catch a breath for a minute kid. Let our feet touch the ground and give us all a chance to get our bearings, and then maybe we can do the family history tour after we check to see that there are no ogres or dragons to fight first. Okay?" Snow speaks up with concern as she approached her family, "Emma's right, we don't know what dangers are out there." David replied "I sent Grumpy and the dwarves to scout ahead. I suggest we all stay here it will be easier for them to find us with any news if we're not all moving in different directions."
David noticed that Hook once again was staring at his daughter just like he did in Neverland and was not the least bit amused by it, but understood Hook wasn't one to let things go easily. He pulled Hook aside and spoke "I think it's clear that my daughter has made her choice, so why don't you let them be, save your fighting for the dangers that we're more than likely going to face out there. I'm sure Emma will much prefer hook hitting an ogre than the man she loves, and father of her child." Hook nods once and walks away mumbling.
The group suddenly hear a noise from the trees and stop, David, Neal and Hook all draw their swords as Regina makes a fireball appear in her hand and says "I can handle anything that comes our way." Emma pulls Henry behind her as she raises her fists ready for a fight; she was more than ready to tap into her magic if she needed to protect her family. Just as Regina was going to launch a fireball at the trees Grumpy & Happy come walking through the trail with two additions with them.
"Whoa, woah, woah, hold your fire. It's just me and Happy, and these two say they know you Snow and Emma?" Grumpy finally puts his hands down when Regina gets rid of her fire ball, David and the others had already returned their swords when they saw Grumpy. "Try warning us next time dwarth or you might end up with no beard." Regina grumbles turning away as Snow embraces Aurora and Philip. David converses with Grumpy and Happy briefly finding out what they came across other than their companions.
"Hey mom?" Henry approaches Regina who turns and smiles at Henry. "Yes Henry?" Regina stumbles back as Henry gives her a fierce hug while mumbling "Thankyou." Regina embraces Henry savoring the moment for she wasn't sure when she'd get another. "Why are you thanking me?" Henry smiles up at his mother as she takes a small step back from their hug. "For stopping Pan's curse, for saving us, for bringing us all home." Regina is overwhelmed suddenly and wipes at a tear hoping nobody had seen it.
"Yes thank you." Emma approaches Regina and Henry, "Hey kid,"
Emma ruffles Henry's hair then speaks to Regina. "You've really had our backs these past few weeks, days, damn I don't even know how long it's been but through all that crap you helped us… even if it brought us back to this place."
Regina clears her throat and turns away a moment gathering her composure. "I'm not the first to admit when I'm wrong, and I probably never will… but I am sorry and I know that doesn't mean a lot coming from me…" Emma jumps in stopping Regina from her apology or whatever it is she was saying "It does and it doesn't. Look Regina you said it back in Neverland and while I don't wholly agree with it I do understand it because I regret nothing of my past because it got me Henry and…" Emma looks over at Neal briefly "A chance to love and be loved. Look, we're in the Enchanted Forest, home of Kings and Queens, Dragons and Ogres and a tonne of other magical crazy so I can't deal with your regret as well, we need to focus on what's out there and what the hell we're going to do. Because something's coming, I can feel it, and it's… It's bad."
