Disclaimer: Just playing, will put everything back when finished.
"She's beautiful, isn't she? Our baby girl…"
"She is, but Snow-"
"I know, I know. But can't we appreciate this?"
She's not really awake, but she's not really asleep either. It's strange, just like what Snow and David are talking about. Wait…Snow and David? Mom and Dad. Mommy and Daddy.
"Of course we can, but you can't tell me you don't miss her."
"Like crazy."
"Me too."
She's right here. How can they miss her? But is she? Is she really there? Her head hurts.
"Mommy?"
"Emma? How'd you sleep, honey?"
"Okay, but my head hurts."
"Well, that doesn't sound good," Daddy frowns, picking her up purple coat and all. Her arms loop around his neck automatically, holding on tight as she presses her face into his chest.
"I'm going to talk to Gold and Hook, find out if this is normal," Mommy whispers to Daddy, pressing a kiss to the back of her head before getting up and walking off.
"What's wrong with me?" she whimpers, clinging tighter as Daddy moves a hand up and down her back.
"We're going to find out, sweetheart. You don't have to worry, okay?"
She doesn't like how Daddy's voice sounds so shaky, but nods all the same.
He's about to say something else, however, when the noise happens.
Angry screaming and sharp fast sounds surround them, and she screams too, feeling Daddy hold her closer.
"Charming! Ambush!"
Mommy, Emma realizes, and she starts to cry, especially when Daddy suddenly gets up and puts her down in a hollow of a big tree.
"Daddy!" She grabs at him, but his hands are stronger than hers and he makes her let go.
"Stay right there, Emma, and don't make a sound!"
"But Daddy!"
"Everything's going to be okay, I promise! I need to help Mommy, just stay there!"
"Daddy, please!"
But he's gone, and the sharp fast sounds she realizes are arrows pelting the ground, and the screaming hasn't stopped. Mommy and Daddy are out there, and she's hiding. Daddy told her to stay put, but they could be hurt! They could be…
NO!
They can't leave her again! They can't! She has to do something, anything! But what?
Her head feels even worse now, like something is trying to dig its way in. Or maybe dig its way back in?
Yes, a voice from that part of her she doesn't understand whispers, and she shivers, crying.
But why?
You know why, kid. We're the same.
How?
The berries, they changed us. But time's up, and Mom and Dad need our help.
Will we change back?
Yes.
But-
They need us, kid, all of us. You want to save them? This is how we do it.
She takes a deep breath, thinking, but finally nods.
Okay.
And with that permission it bursts forth in her head, she doesn't fight it, and finally she understands.
She's not a little girl named Emma, she's a grown-up named Emma Swan, she has a son they're here to find. She's the product of true love, and she has magic, magic like nobody's ever seen before.
Her mother's jacket starts to float on her shoulders, catching the glow that surrounds her, pure and true. Emerging from the hollow arrows rain down on her small body, but they do not touch her.
She finally reaches the center of their camp, and raises her hands. The glow intensifies, and the command that roars from her throat is not her child self's.
"GO AWAY!"
A flash of light bursts from her body, and Emma feels every surrounding enemy blown back by the force. But encompassed in that light she also feels her bones and muscles stretch, her hips widen and chest expand, and once the change is complete she falls to the ground in a heap.
A very grown-up and very unconscious Emma Swan is who her parents find when they come running back to camp, her mother's jacket still covering her.
To be continued…
