I WANT TO THANK EVERYONE WHO READ/REVIEWED LAST CHAPTER. YOU GUYS ARE AMAZING. SECONDLY, I JUST WANT TO SAY, AGAIN, THAT I'M TOTALLY OPEN TO IDEAS IF YOU HAVE ANY.
DON'T OWN ONCE UPON A TIME.
"You want to hear how we met, Kid?" Emma raises an eyebrow.
"Yeah." Henry nods enthusiastically.
"Don't you already know?"
"Actually, he was too busy being mad at Regina." Graham interjects. "But either way, I don't mind telling the story. It's kind of ironic, actually."
"How so?" Snow asks. She's never heard about their first meeting, either.
"Well, it started when I had to arrest Emma–"
"I already told you, I wasn't drunk and there was a wolf in the road."
"Now I know it's true."
"But it didn't start with you arresting me. It started when I dropped Henry off at Regina's after he found me. Graham was there cause obviously Regina had the sense to file a missing persons alert."
"I was just jumping to the good part." He says.
"So let me get this straight." James holds up a hand to silence the two. "You had to arrest Emma –your future deputy and sheriff–"
"Co-sheriff." The blonde interjects.
"You were the sheriff, though."
"And now he's our deputy." Emma says.
"And it wasn't even a justifiable arrest?" James finishes.
"At the time it was." Graham clarifies.
"I wasn't drunk." Emma reiterates.
"Emma, your blood alcohol lev–"
"I can hold my liquor. Just cause I'm legally intoxicated doesn't mean I can't function like I usually do."
"Believe me, I know. You don't have to remind me to never have a drinking contest with you again."
"Wait, you two had one?" This time, it's Snow who interrupts the banter.
"In hindsight, it was a really bad idea." Graham confirms. "But then one thing led to another, so it wasn't all bad."
"Henry, Henry, Henry!" Emma says loudly to keep Graham from going any further. "It was our fourth date."
"So this," Graham gestures around them, "is all Henry's fault. Or doing. I guess I should say 'doing' because what he did was a good thing." The five sit in companionable silence for a few moments, each of them taking in the truth of the statement.
"While we're playing Twenty Questions, I have one for Henry." No one's questioning why Emma's in such a good, family-oriented, fun mood. Emma turns to her son. "What's your favorite subject in school?" At the mention of school, the boy in question sticks his tongue out.
"It's not so much a favorite subject as it is a favorite time. I like when we get free writing time."
"I can vouch for that." Snow says. "And he's good at it, too. Of course, a lot of the stuff he's written has ties to the book, but what makes it so interesting to read is that he put you into it. Before he brought you to Storybrooke, he's write about you and the curse and how you'd be such an amazing mom if you were here and… well, I guess it's not my story to tell, but he's a good writer. That was my point." At the compliment, Henry blushes.
"What about you guys?" He asks. "What were you favorite subjects?"
"I was homeschooled," James starts, "but I really liked reading. It was always amazing to me how words work, that people came up with them and that these characters represent something. And I knew I was lucky, because most poor shepherds barely know how to write their names."
"I was homeschooled as well." Snow nods in agreement.
"More like castle-schooled." Emma scoffs.
"Yes, I suppose, but that doesn't change anything. I had to learn etiquette and survival skills–"
"Hold on, they made princesses learn survival skills?" The blonde interjects.
"The children of kings and queens are targets, Emma. The easiest way to hurt a parent, even a royal one, is to hurt their children. You'd be surprised by how many kings and queens before my mother and father were forced off the thrown because their children were going to be killed if they did not resign. But anyway, when I was supposed to be learning about which berries were edible and which ones weren't, and stuff like that, I enjoyed watching the birds and making friends with them. I considered the survival subject to be the nature subject."
"Nature's a wonderful thing." Graham agrees with a smile. "Unfortunately, though, I was self-taught. That was my only subject, so it has to be my favorite." Henry turns to his mother,
"What about you, Mom? What was your favorite subject?"
"I hated school." Emma says simply. "The only thing I actually liked was gym. I've always been a bit of an athlete, and it was the one thing I was good at. Plus, I got to accidentally," She puts airquotes around the word, "hit jerks in the head with balls."
"I'm surprised you didn't just knock anyone who messed with you's teeth out." Graham comments. "Given your shy, delicate sensibilities." He adds with a teasing smile.
"Oh, I did. The thing is, though, I couldn't just pick a fight with someone just because they were bothering somebody else. Then I wouldn't have any justification or defense for doing what I did."
"You stuck up for people who were bullied?" There is both pride and disbelief in Snow's voice. While she's never doubted that Emma wouldn't take crap from anyone, she wasn't entirely sure that the blonde would go out of her way to help someone. Emma may be a nice person, but Snow figures that while she was in the system, Emma's survival instincts probably outweighed her morals.
"Well, um, yeah, but…" oh no, this isn't the road Emma had wanted to go down when she'd answered Henry's question. "Only cause I had been bullied in elementary school and I guess I just, I don't know, wanted to take down every bully I saw cause I hate them so much. That was my problem with Regina when I came here. It wasn't so much that she kept me from Henry. Yeah, that sucked, but she was acting like any mother would. Like I'm acting towards Neal now. What I hated so much was that she walked on everyone and no one did a damn thing about it."
"I hate gym." Henry says quietly after a moment's silence. "I always get hit in the face with the balls when we play dodge ball and no one passes to me."
"We'll have to fix that, won't we?" Emma smiles at him. He curls up onto her side. "The thing that never made sense to me is why Regina never scared the crap out of the kids who were mean to you. She could've, and they wouldn't be mean to you."
"I dunno." The boy shrugs against his mother. "But it's a tiny bit better now. That's the plus side of your mom being the Savior and your grandparents being Snow White and Prince Charming."
"And Rumplestiltskin." The blonde adds under her breath.
"We already decided that I'm the better, cooler grandfather." James says.
"Yes you are, Darling." Snow smiles.
"Mhm!" Henry agrees with an enthusiastic nod.
"Either way, Kid, I gotta teach you how to fight back."
"Yup." Graham says, "You have four kick-ass adults at your disposal." He reaches over and ruffles Henry's hair.
"Gramps and I already practice with swords."
At Emma's alarmed look, James says, "Wooden swords. It's perfectly safe."
"That's one of my favorite skills. It's really fun."
"I agree." James shares a smile with Henry. "When I'm with my sword, I feel as though we're a unit. It's difficult to explain."
"When I was with your sword, I felt like it was this awkward, unusable appendage that didn't do what I wanted it to." Emma says with a frown. "I much prefer my fists, thank you very much."
"It takes practice, Emma." Snow says. "The first time I used a sword, I almost took Grumpy's head off. Accidentally, of course."
"Yeah, I knocked over Gramma's vase."
"Charming! You said there was a little earthquake while Emma and I were gone!"
"Sorry." James cringes.
"Who wants lunch?" Emma asks in an attempt to defuse the situation.
"You just ate breakfast." Snow says, repeating Emma's earlier statement.
"Yeah, well, now I'm hungry. I'm making mac and cheese from the box if anyone wants some." Emma pushes herself off the couch.
"We don't have that." Snow apologizes.
"Fine. Do we have anything else from a box?"
"If you sit back down, I'll make you something." Snow stands up. "Is everyone okay with chicken?"
"You know, I am capable of cooking."
"Mom, it's better for everyone if Gramma cooks." Henry says with a small smirk. "No offense."
"Chicken's fine." The blonde sighs as she plops back down onto the couch, barely avoiding landing on Henry. "And I'm still going to teach you how to be the best dodge ball or whatever else player ever."