A/N: hey guys! sorry for the delay, vacation happened then I lost my train of thought on where I wanted this to go. I re-wrote this chapter a few times and I'm still not completely happy with it, so sorry in advance if it sucks. If anybody has any sort of suggestion or request on where this story should go feel free to let me know! I'm open to all suggestions! Thank you for reading and sticking with this. Hope you all have a good week, enjoy!
"Hello? Is anybody there?" said the little blonde haired, green eyed, seven year old girl as she heard a noise in the woods. Emma and her two older foster brothers were playing hide and seek in the woods behind their house and it was Emma's turn to seek and she wasn't doing that well.
"Tom! Jason! This isn't fun anymore. It's starting to get dark. Where are you guys?" Emma usually wasn't one to give up, but she was currently on her foster parent's good side and being late for dinner wouldn't be a good thing.
The woods were now pitch black and Emma could barely see where she was going. She was terrified. What if her foster parents didn't care enough to find her? What if her foster brothers did this on purpose? She was the only girl in the house so she got a bit more attention.
"I wish my real parent would come save me. They will one day" The scared little girl said aloud.
She kept walking and walking. She felt like she was going nowhere. Emma felt the temperature get hotter and more humid, as if she was entering a jungle. Being too distracted by the climate change, she didn't notice she was getting close to the edge of a hill.
Taking a few more steps into the unknown Emma tumbled down the hill she was just on. She gave a slight groan as she brushed the dirt off of her face and arms. She felt the presence of someone else near her. She slowly looked up at the figure walking towards her. "No!" she said breathlessly.
She looked down and noticed that she was now her grown, 29 year old self. Her gaze went back up to the figure almost on top of her now. "Hey, there's my favorite lost girl! Fancy seeing you back here."
She knew that accent and smugness anywhere. No, she thought, I can't be back here. No way! Standing above her was none other than Peter Pan. She was back in Neverland.
"What do you want?" Emma sneered as she began to stand up. She squared her shoulders, standing tall over the should be teenager, and gave Pan a glare that would incinerate him on the spot.
"I just wanted to see how my favorite lost girl is doing, especially since you were actually lost in the woods" he said with a devilish grin on his face and a wicked gleam in his eye.
Not buying his statement of somewhat concern, Emma crossed her arms over her chest and said in a hard tone "Why are you really here?"
"To give you a place to stay. Clearly you're here for a reason. Feeling a bit lost?" Pan said, with extra emphasis on the word lost.
"I'm fine" Emma replied still holding her ground, thinking that is a joke her father would make.
"Of course, the savior is always fine. But who will save you? Mommy and Daddy are busy with the newest addition, are they not? Always paying more attention to him, getting to watch him grow before their eyes. Cherishing-" Pan was going on walking around her in a circle when she cut him off.
"That's not going to work, someone already beat you to that bit and I've had my peace with it."
"Oh, I'm sure you have. But we both know you still resent your parents for abandoning you, more than once if I may add. They were willing to part with you and stay on this island together, probably start a new family without you. And who found who after my downfall? That's right, the one handed wonder made it to you and not the royal couple. They were busy turning your room into his, the rightful heir to the throne. I mean if the Captain could give up his whole life to get to you, why couldn't your parents? They pushed you aside again, Emma. Always falling behind on their list of priorities. It's a shame really, you would've made a lovely princess."
At this Emma had had enough of his smugness and cheap blows. She charged him and tackled him to the ground. "ENOUGH!"
When she stood again he was gone, vanished into the darkness of the island. She began to walk, to find a way out. No way in hell she wanted to be here. She could be the next Forrest Gump with all the traveling her legs have been doing lately. She just wanted to be home in her bed, in the comfort of her parent's house.
"Please be Tink's hut" Emma said as she could see a hut with a light on in the distance. As she got closer she heard some familiar voices laughing and playing. Emma made her way to the front door and knocked. Her father answered the door and looked at her with a lost look in his eyes. "Dad?" Emma said with a bit of hope in her voice.
"Who are you, I'm not your father" the familiar looking man said to her.
At this point Snow made her way to the door holding a toddler on her hip. "David, who is this?"
"I'm not sure. Are you lost?" Her should be father said. Emma rolled her eyes at the lost reference again.
"You guys are my parents. I'm Emma, your daughter, the product of true love. The one you sent through a wardrobe to escape a cure and save your people?" Emma said trying to get them to remember.
"We've never had a daughter. Our one and only true love is right here" David said with a hand motion to his son on his wife's hip.
"No! No! You love me too! I'm your oldest child!" Emma said in a pleading tone.
"We've never loved you, Emma" Snow said with a wicked gleam in her eye.
Suddenly Emma is facing some of her worst foster parents, all saying the same thing "We've never loved you, Emma." "Emma!"
**OUAT**
David was startled awake by the sound of glass breaking. He quickly sat up in bed and noticed a few lights flickering in the apartment. There's only one person he knows who can control the lights like that. Oh no, he thought. "Emma" his voice was barely above a whisper.
He threw off the sheets of his bed and bounded up the stairs to his daughters room. When he made it to the top of the stairs he noticed his daughter sitting up in bed holding her head. Was that blood he saw?
"Emma! What happened?" He said walking across the room to his daughter. He squatted down in front of her to be more at eye-level and saw that it was definitely blood coming from her head. "Oh, Emma you're bleeding!"
"Yeah, it's fine. I'm just going to go clean it up real quick" She stood up from her bed, a little too quickly, and began to sway. Her father noticed and quickly grabbed her shoulders to steady her.
"Woah, Emma. Are you okay?" Charming said with heavy concern into his daughter's eyes.
"Yes, dad. I'm fine. Now can I go clean this up?" Emma said with a tired tone in her voice.
David assisted his daughter down the steps of the loft and brought her straight to the bathroom. "Sit" David commanded, pointing to the toilet who's seat was just brought down.
"I can do this myself, I'm not a kid" Emma said with a roll of her eyes at her father's worrying.
"You're my kid, so sit and let me take care of this" David said in a no nonsense voice to his incredibly stubborn daughter.
He got a face cloth and ran some water on it before going over to his daughter and removing her hand to wipe the blood off of her forehead. Noticing that it wasn't too deep he grabbed Emma's hand and put it to where his hand just was so that she could continue to hold the wet cloth on her head wound. Without sating any words David continued to take care of his daughter's cut.
When he was satisfied and finally put a decent sized Band-Aid on her forehead, he helped her stand and brought her to the living room. "Sit" David commanded for the third time that evening. Emma wasn't one to be bossed around, but judging by her father's tone she wasn't going to argue with him.
A couple minutes later and he came back into the living room with two mugs, one in each hand. He handed one to his little girl and sat down in front of her on the coffee table. Good thing Snow is asleep, she doesn't like to use the coffee table as siting furniture, David though before he cleared his throat.
"So what happened up there, Em?" David asked, wanting to start out slow.
"I think the lightbulb burst and a shard caught my forehead" Emma said, not wanting her father to ask why the light exploded to begin with.
"Why did the light burst, Emma?" So close, Emma thought at her father's concerning question
"Beats me" Emma tried to play off.
"Nuh huh, no way. Emma, you're the only person I know whose powers controls light like that. Plus it's tied to your emotions. Is everything alright?"
"Yeah everything is fine" Emma said, averting her gaze from her father's as she lightly sipped her hot chocolate.
"Emma, please don't lie to me. You inherited your superpower, in case you didn't know." David said with a disapproving look in his eyes and a raised eyebrow.
"I had a nightmare, no big deal. I must have subconsciously freaked out a bit, its fine" Emma replied, wanting the attention to be on anything but herself.
"Do you want to talk about it? Maybe it'll make you feel better" David said, encouraging his daughter to share what was on her mind.
"No thanks, I'm fine. I'm just going to head up to bed. Good night" Emma said trying to stand up. He father was quick to react and caught her hand before she could walk away.
"Not going to happen, princess. Tell me what's wrong" Her father said with a no bullshit look in his eyes.
Emma sat in silence for a few moments before heaving a big sigh "Fine. I had a dream about the time I was lost in the woods when I was seven. My foster brothers didn't like me so they tricked me into playing hide and go seek. They brought me deep in the woods and made me count to 100 then they ran back home. I spent hours trying to get out of there. Anyway this time it was different, this time I ended up in Neverland. As if we haven't had enough of that place. Pan said some things and got my mind racing with doubt, per usual with him. I found you and mom and Neal but you guys didn't remember me, and yeah. That's it" Emma ended quickly, not wanting to bring up some of her insecurities.
David sat there looking into his daughter's eyes. She was still hiding something. What the hell did Pan say to her that she believed? "What did he say to you?" David asked out of the blue.
"Huh? Oh, nothing I haven't heard before" Emma said, looking down at the empty mug in her hands.
"That wasn't my question, Emma. What did he say to you that made you this upset?" David said lifting her chin to meet his eyes.
"The usual things people say to plant doubt in my mind, you have a new chance at raising a kid. You abandoned me, stupid stuff like that." She has tears stinging the back of her eyes thinking of the truth behind Pan's claim that Hook gave up everything to find her. She felt like her parents just gave up after the first dead end.
"So then what has you so upset? You know we love you more than anything, Emma. You and Neal both hold a special place in our hearts. Just because we missed out on your childhood doesn't mean I love you any less. The same goes for your mother. You know all of this, so what has your magic playing with the lights and bursting a bulb?"
Damn her father was good. He could always read her better than her mother. Does she really want to get into a deep heart to heart right now? Her mouth betrayed her mind as she began to tell the truth.
"Pan said something that struck a chord with me. How long did you try to get back here to Henry and me? Did you give up after the first dead end? Did you even try at all? There was a way to find us, there's always a way and you and mom of all people should know that. Killian got to me in New York! New York, where there's like a million people and he found me. But I guess you guys didn't have any time, what with the new baby and all. Too busy turning that old room into his?" Emma spat with anger in her voice and a few tears in her eyes.
David was speechless. Her own subconscious thoughts told her all of this? How long has she been feeling this way? "Emma, I'm so sorry you feel that way. You know we love you so much. There was no possible way to get to you, we tried along with Regina. It wasn't possible. Killian got to you after the curse was cast, that was our way back here to you. Yet again we were stuck in Storybrooke and couldn't leave to find you. Oh Emma, I am so incredibly sorry you thought that of us. Please know that it killed us more and more every day to be away from you and Henry. We missed you so much, sweetheart" At this point he had gathered Emma into his arms and was cradling the back of her head like he usually did.
He held her there for a long moment before releasing her and wiping away a stray tear that ran down her cheek. "You know, you were often in my dreams when we were back in the forest" Charming said with a small smile.
This statement caught Emma by surprise. "I was?" Emma asked in disbelief.
"Yes, would you like to hear about it?" David asked, not wanting to overwhelm his daughter tonight.
"Yeah, I'd like that" Emma replied with a smile.
He sat back and put his arm around his daughter and brought her close to him. "It started off with me back at our old castle, I heard a baby crying from your room. When I got there it was empty but it looked as beautiful as we left it before the first curse. You appeared behind me in this truly amazing ball gown that was silver and head feathers. It made you look like a beautiful swan. You wanted me to teach you how to dance for your first ball, I was so thrilled that you asked me. You were a natural, just like your mother. I told you this was the life I wanted you to have. Then the dream went south" he finished with a far off look in his eyes remembering his daughter telling him he failed her.
"What do you mean it went south?" Emma asked, sitting up and looking at her father.
"Then you uh…you told me I failed you and then I lost you to the wardrobe, again" his eyes were welling up with tears at the memory.
Emma noticed her father's distress and put both her arms around his torso, hugging him. "You didn't fail me, dad. You saved me and put me on the path back to finding you. I don't blame you for what you had to do"
Charming was moved by his daughter's words. He sat there and held her for a long time. He felt her relax in his embrace and figured she must be exhausted. "I think it's time for bed, princess" Charming said then kissed his little girl on the head.
"Mmm hmm" was his only response from his 29 year old daughter.
Charming chuckled before he helped his daughter stand up. She was definitely in the verge of sleeping on him. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and guided her up to her bedroom. If she were completely aware of what was going on she would have protested immediately, luckily for David she was very much out of it.
He laid her down in bed and kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Emma. I love you" As he was picking up the shards left of the lightbulb, he heard her murmur "Love you too, daddy"
Charming's heart swelled at that. Daddy. She said daddy. He has always wanted to hear that from his little girl. He went downstairs and disposed of the glass before going to bed with the biggest smile on his face.
**OUAT**
Emma came down the loft stairs the next morning as she usually did. Rushing to get her day going and struggling to put her hair up into a pony tail. How she loved to just brush through it once and blow dry it and not touch it anymore throughout the day. Low maintenance was more her style.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs her mother rushed over to her and took her face into her hands and tilted it. "Ummmmm?" was all Emma could say before her mother sat her down at the kitchen table.
"Are you alright, sweetie? Your father told me about last night" Snow said as her husband emerged from his bedroom dressed and ready for their run.
Emma rolled her eyes in her father's direction. It was so like him to tell his wife everything as soon as it happened. Emma wondered how detailed her father's tale on what happened and what was said last night. "I'm fine, mom. Seriously" At the thought of her mother's incessant worry, it dawned on Emma that she had the power to fix this. "As a matter of fact…"
Emma closed her eyes and focused her energy, at the wave of her hand by her forehead she felt the cut disappear. She opened her eyes to see both her parents looking at her curiously. Emma proceeded to remove the tan strip from her forehead and saw her father's eyes widen and heard a small gasp from her mother.
"There, all better" Emma said with a smirk in her parents direction. Snow brought her hands to her daughter's forehead and ran her thumb over where the red mark should've been.
All Snow could muster up was a breathless "Wow" at her daughters magical skill.
"I've been practicing. You ready, dad?" Emma said backing away from her mother and retreating towards the apartment door to start their morning run.
Charming snapped out of his thoughts and followed his daughter out the front door, with a quick kiss on the cheek to his wife. The pair began their workout with the usual warmup walk down Main Street. The sky was cloudy and there was a cold twinge to the fall air. It was nearing the end of October and even though the town went through an early winter, the weather was finally warming up a bit.
Emma was deep in thought at what else was to come at the end of October. Her birthday. It was a couple days away as a matter of fact. Did her parents remember? She never actually celebrated a birthday with them. Henry found her on her birthday, but she doubts he had any knowledge of that. But wait, he 'grew up' celebrating her birthday with her. He was actually there when she turned 29 in New York. Should she tell them? Should she just ignore that day like she usually did? She was technically abandoned that day. No. She had to stop thinking about it that way. She was saved that day, end of story. She is here now that is all that matters, no more negativity.
Her father pulled her out of her inner thoughts with a gentle hand on her shoulder and a soft call of her name. "A bit lost in thought there, Emma?" He said with a wink.
Emma realized that they were now at the edge of the woods. "You're not funny anymore" Emma returned before turning and running off in front of him. She had a lot of steam to blow off from last night's emotional encounter so she pushed harder today and kept a good ten feet in front of her dad for the first mile of their run.
David could tell there was still something off with his daughter. She was really hauling it this morning. He would never admit this but it was getting harder for him to keep up with her. The air was particularly cold this morning. It reminded him of when his daughter, the one running as if a monster was chasing her at the moment, was trapped in an ice cave. He noticed Emma slow down a bit and waited till he was by her side before she mentioned the route extension.
Charming smiled and lead his daughter down a new path and told her to follow the blue blazes now instead of the white. When she realized she could somewhat navigate by the color of the trail blazes she sprints ahead again. This better not be a reoccurring thing now, Charming thought.
They were pretty deep in the woods, working on conquering their second mile when it began to rain. It started as a soft rain through the tree tops, sadly that soft rain turned heavy fast. The air got a bit colder as well, not a good combination in Charming's eyes. He felt that familiar tightening deep in his chest, he couldn't push this any further.
He went to yell Emma's name to tell her to slow down when he saw her slip in the mud down the small hill she had just ascended. He ran faster to get to her. When he finally made it to her she was still laying on her back, rain smacking her in the face, golden hair becoming mixed with the brown of the wet ground beneath her.
"Emma!" David said very loudly in a worried tone as he knelt down next to his daughter. He noticed she was breathing fast and shallow, just like he was on the verge of doing. "Emma are you alright? What's hurt?" He received no response to his two questions, she just breathed harder and kept her eyes close.
"Emma you need to answer me right now! Please!" David was now pleading with his little girl, who was still laying there breathing irregularly. She raised her arm and gave him an 'OK' sign with her hand before placing it in his.
Knowing nothing was seriously injured on her, David sat her up and moved behind her and began rubbing circles on her back. A few minutes later and her breathing calmed down significantly.
"Emma, can you answer me now?" David asked, still rubbing her back gently. Worried out of his mind.
"Just got the wind knocked out of me I guess. Sorry, I didn't want to move right away. I had to focus on not having an asthma attack right then" Emma said, then realized she just shared something from her past her parents didn't know of.
"You have asthma?" He didn't sound angry at her confession, he sounded kind of astounded.
"I used to. It hasn't bothered me in a very long time, why?" She asked, curious at her father's weird mood.
"Sorry about that. You get that from me I guess. Must run in the family. Hasn't bothered me since before you were born, until today actually. I'm not sure this cold rainy weather is really helping our lungs out" He said with a small chuckle.
Emma turned and looked at her father with a realizing expression. "Runs in the family, huh. I always knew that as a kid. There were never any environmental reasons for my crappy lungs, the doctors blamed genetics. Since I didn't know you back then I guess I can finally do this" Emma proceeded to smack her father's arm, "Thanks for passing that down, jerk!" She finished with a laugh.
"Hey! It isn't fully my fault. I had to get it from a family member. Just doing my duty in passing down the family traits" He replied with a wink to his daughter.
She looked pensive before she looked up and asked, "What did you do without inhalers in the forest?"
"There were herbs to drink in tea that had the same effect. Where's your inhaler?" He asked sternly, knowing the answer but hoping for the right one.
Emma averted her eyes from her father's "Uhhhh…It hasn't bothered me since a couple months after Henry was born, so I don't have one" she rushed the last part of her sentence, praying he wouldn't harp on it.
"Well, on Monday you and I will go to the clinic during lunch and each get one. If we're going to keep running in the cold we need to be prepared, got it?"
"Yeah, fine. Whatever. Can we not tell mom about this? She'll go insane and you know it. If I promise to bring it with me on runs can this just stay between us?" Emma said with her puppy dog eyes that her father couldn't resist. Plus she promised to bring it with her and she always stuck to her word.
"Fine, for now. Let's get out of this rain before you get sick, Em" He said as he helped her stand up and put an arm around her shoulder. The rain was still coming down hard on them. Emma had another idea. She stopped and David gave her a confused look. She closed her eyes and thought of the warmth of home. She focused her energy on being home. Her mother and brother awaiting their arrival at home. The warm shower she could take at home. Home.
A white light surrounded her and her father as she felt disoriented. Her mother's startled gasp and father's light chuckle confirmed that she was back at home.
Emma opened her eyes and smiled at her parents. "Well, there's no place like home"