Chapter Ten: Overwhelming

The next hour was spent with the entire story being told. Everyone jumped in at different points to explain their versions of their own stories. David fixed hot chocolate for everyone, knowing if Adult Emma was back, she'd be requesting something stronger. Snow brought out pictures of their time together, Regina poofed in Henry's scrapbook. There was no denying it. The older her, the one from her dreams, had been with these people, while they were this age. It was all starting to make sense. While overwhelming, she couldn't deny it was no crazier than the fact that mere hours ago, she was shooting firecrackers from her palms.

"So, you…" Emma looked over at her parents. "Are Snow White and Prince Charming?"

Snow nodded. "That's right, baby."

"And you had to put me through a magical wardrobe because she, the Evil Queen/your step-mom," Emma pointed to Regina, who winced at being referred to evil again. "Was cursing the lands." David nodded. "I grew up in the system, that much I remember, but you're telling me in a few years I end up pregnant with…" She looked at Henry, who was sitting beside her. "You."

Henry smiled. "Yes."

"I have a kid. Wow." Emma paused for a minute. "Wait, but you said you were adopted…" She bit her lip. "Why would I give you up? I swore if I had kids, I wouldn't do that to them. They wouldn't grow up like I did."

"I didn't," Henry assured her. "I had a mom. And she wasn't all that bad, she's really great now. You did it to give me my best chance, you were in prison for a crime someone set you up for."

Emma still didn't feel so happy about it. No matter what, she had never wanted any kid she had to be raised by someone else. She looked back at Regina. "And you, my step-grandmother, adopted him?"

Regina nodded. "We co-parent quite well, actually. Or we try to."

The teen glanced over at Killian. "You're Captain Hook, my new boyfriend, sort of."

"Aye, lass."

"Are we in love?"

"We care very deeply for one another." David rolled his eyes at that sentiment. "Your father is still coming to grips with it."

Emma smiled, in spite of herself. "And are you, Henry's father?"

"No." Killian reached into his satchel and pulled out his memory box. "Perhaps this may help a bit. You showed this to me before the Snow Queen turned back the clock."

Emma carefully opened it and found a picture of a her that was obviously a few years older with a young man. He had Henry's hair and some scruff. All in all, he was handsome.

"His name was Neal," Henry explained. He saw his mom look over at the baby in her mother's arms (Ruby had dropped him off half-way through the story telling). "Your parents named your brother after him."

"So does that mean, he's…dead?" Everyone fell somber and Emma bit her lip. She, herself, felt nothing for this man, nor Killian. She couldn't remember falling in love with either of them. Yet, she felt bad for her older self and more importantly for Henry. She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry to hear that, kid."

"Thanks," he gave her a small smile. "He was a good guy, he died a hero."

"That's good." Though, she did still find it weird that her parents would name her baby brother after a boyfriend of hers. "Were we together when he died?"

"No, that was during the last curse."

"The one where we forgot who we were?" Henry nodded. "How do you guys keep track of it all?"

Snow lightly laughed. "It's not easy, that's for sure."

Emma continued to go through the box. There was a keychain with a little swan on it, some shoelaces and a pair of bulky glasses. She didn't wear glasses, so she only assumed that was something to come.

"Does any of this help you remember?" Elsa spoke up. She had been fairly quiet through the whole thing, only really speaking when it came to explaining Ingrid and their whole role in everything.

"No," Emma said, honestly. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, honey," Snow sat next to her and rubbed her back. "It's not your fault."

"I just…I believe you. I know all of this is real…it's just a lot to digest."

"We understand."

Emma lifted the shoelaces back up. "Why did I have these in a memory box?"

"You met this man, Graham, when you first came to Storybrooke before the curse broke."

"Did we break up?" More silence. "Or did he die?"

"It was quite horrible," Snow muttered.

Emma drew back a deep breath. If she was being honest, her adult life seemed to suck. In a few years-time she'd meet someone who would not only get her pregnant, but set her up for a crime she didn't commit. She'd be forced to give away her son, spend so many years alone and then end up in a town where she'd find her parents, after everything was far too late. There'd be more battles, separating them all again. And then when she finally did get a normal, happy life, she'd have to return (after her boyfriend turned into a flying monkey). So far, it seemed she had four boyfriends in her life: two dead, one an evil villain and one that seemed nice enough, though he had a shady past.

The only people she really felt connected to were her parents and Neal. She felt bad, but the kid sitting beside her, she had only just then realized he wasn't crazy. Even then…she didn't feel like a mom. Especially not to a kid that was just a year younger than her.

"So…what happens now?"

"We have to find a way to defeat the Snow Queen," Regina explained. "We already stopped the curse, but she's still hell bent on making you and Elsa her sisters."

"We're doing all we can to protect you," Elsa assured her.

"But, before this whole age back thing, I was working with you?" Emma asked.

Snow knew where her daughter was going with. Adult or teenager, she always wanted to help. "Yes, but you're not going to do that."

"Mom…"

"For one, you still have a fever, Emma. Don't think we've forgotten about that."

"Yes, and that will break. Then I can help."

"No, you're not."

"I'm the savior. That's what I've gotten from this whole story, I'm supposed to help people."

"Right now, we've got it handled," Elsa said. "You just need to focus on feeling better."

"I can help you control your magic," Regina added. "It's a lifestyle, but a livable one."

"Don't you hate me? I thought I separated you and your lover, Robin Hood. Or am I mixing up stories here?"

Regina gave her a soft smile. She had been mad at Emma Swan for a while. Yet deep down, she knew she couldn't hold another 20-year grudge. Much like Snow, Emma really had been trying to do the right thing and it was a little different. She didn't know what she was doing by saving Marian. "I'm working on moving past it. We do have a son, after all."

Emma looked back at Henry. Once again, she tried to feel some sort of motherly feelings towards him. Was she supposed to tell him to eat his vegetables or something? Maybe do his homework? What was the dynamic like between a mother and the son she gave up for adoption? Sure, Snow and her had seemed to go through something similar, but it felt different. At least Snow knew who she was and remembered giving her up.

"I think Emma's been through a lot today," Snow told everyone. "She really should head back up to bed."

"That may be for the best," Regina said, looking over at Henry. The boy pouted slightly. His mom was finally learning about who she was and he had to go? It didn't seem fair.

"Maybe we could uh, hang out again? Once I'm better?" Emma spoke up. Now that she knew the kid wasn't crazy, she figured maybe they could be friends. Eventually segway into mother/son. If they even could. Henry beamed.

"Okay." He gave her a quick hug, catching her off guard. "Bye, Mom."

"Mom?" Emma couldn't help it, she had to laugh. She was 13!

"Right. Maybe we should stick to Emma?"

"Might be best."

Henry left with Regina, leaving the book behind. Elsa, Kristoff and Anna left as well, since they were all staying with the former mayor. Killian seemed to linger, staring at her.

"Um, can I help you with something?" She asked.

"You really can't remember anything?"

Emma gave him a sad smile. "Sorry."

The pirate let out a small sigh. She could see the pain in his blue eyes and in that moment, she wished she could say she did remember, for him. No one had ever looked at her in such a way, with so much heartbreak. "I'll see you around." With that, he was gone.

"Alright Princess, I think you better get back up to bed," David said.

"I'm fine."

"You had a magical meltdown and just found out you're royalty and a mom…again." He gave her a smile and nodded towards the stairs.

Emma sighed, there was no arguing with these people. She got up and headed up to her room, them following closely behind her. She climbed under the covers and allowed her father to tuck her in nice and tight.

"How are you feeling?" Snow asked, stroking her hair as she sat next to her.

"Overwhelmed. I mean, how would you feel if you had all this dumped on you?"

"We're sorry we didn't tell you when you first aged back. We just knew you wouldn't believe us," her mother whispered.

Emma shrugged. That wasn't really bothering her. "You're right, I wouldn't have. You saw how I handled Henry trying to tell me. You were just trying to protect me."

"We want you to be safe, Emma," David told her, sitting on the other side of her. "We're not going to let anything hurt you, not again."

"We'll have Regina update the protection spell, maybe we can make it so even the cloaking spell is somehow…" Emma cut off her mother, quickly.

"I know you two don't want me getting involved in this, but I have to. Ingrid doesn't want any of you, she wants me. And today she proved she'll go far just to get me."

"We won't let her around you."

"That's really sweet but let's face it you two haven't done a very good job of it in the past. She's nearly taken me a few times and she apparently sent me from being an adult back into a teenager."

Pain struck David's face. "That's not fair," he said, feeling a little offended.

"I don't mean it in a bad way. I don't blame you, not even a little. You two just don't have magic. I do."

"Magic you can't control," Snow reminded her, gently.

"Regina said she can help me."

"We're not letting you go up against her."

"If I hadn't been aged back, would you have let the other me do this?"

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because the other you was a grown woman. While yes, we were still your parents and we still loved you all the same, we couldn't stop you from doing what you wanted to. Plus, you had fought battles before."

"Well, I'm not just going to let Elsa and Regina fight this alone. Clearly Ingrid is going to stop at nothing and I won't let people who aren't even involved get hurt."

"It's too dangerous," David tried his best to explain. "There's a reason Ingrid made you 13 again. She knew you'd be too weak…"

"Weak?!" Emma sat up straight. "I am not weak!"

"I didn't mean it like that," David realized the mistake in his words and wanted to rectify it. "I just…"

"Do you two have any idea what I've been through?"

"We do, or at least a pretty good picture. And older you has been through ten times worse. Older you, could handle this. But you just can't, not like this, Emma."

"It's not really your choice, now is it?"

"Actually it is," Snow told her, a little more firmly. "We're your parents and as of right now, you're a child."

Emma rolled her eyes. "You can't stop me."

"We can. We don't want to make you a prisoner here, but if you won't listen to us, we'll have no choice but to."

"So, you'd rather let this ice menace terrorize the town? Some king and queen you are," Emma scoffed.

"Alright, that's enough!" David told her, so loud that it caught even Snow off guard. Emma retreated a bit in her bed. "We are your parents and you will treat us with some respect. I know that you don't think we're doing the right thing, but it is our choice to make. As long as you are a child, we will decide these things."

Emma just stared up at him. She had been yelled at plenty of times by foster parents, but this felt different. All those other times, it had been out of frustration or anger. This was out of love. She wasn't sure what she was going to do just yet. She knew that she couldn't let Regina and Elsa take on Ingrid alone, but she didn't have to harp on it now. She'd have to develop a plan. One that didn't require her pushing away the only two people who had ever showed that they cared so much about her.

"Okay," she said, softly.

David and Snow were a little shocked. Emma wasn't one to back down. "Okay?" David repeated, slowly.

"If that's what you think is best, fine."

"Are you yanking my chain?"

"No. I guess I still need to get used to people putting me first." That part was true, at least.

David wasn't sure if he believed her, Snow wasn't either. But, neither wanted to keep arguing with her. It had been a long enough day as it is. So, the brunette gently placed the baby into David's arms.

"Let's check your temperature and get some medicine in you." She took Emma's temp and it had not so surprisingly gone back up a degree. "Your fever is now worse." She wanted to track down Ingrid and strangle her. The list of reasons why was just becoming far too long. Snow grabbed the medicine and poured it out for Emma, who surprisingly took it with little protest. "I'll go make you something to eat."

"I'm not really hungry."

"Best not to argue with your mother, Em," David said with a smirk. "As you'll soon learn."

Snow rolled her eyes and left the room, leaving Emma to stare at her father. She didn't want to go back into the whole Ingrid thing, so she brought something else up.

"So, am I stuck like this?"

"Your fever will break soon and then you'll get out of bed…"

"No, I mean…as a teenager?"

David sat there for a moment, reflecting. "Well, I've only ever seen one other person have the clock turned back. He's bee aging, but how one normally would. I think he just celebrated his 8th birthday."

"This was August, the kid who was sent to protect me?"

"Yes."

"So, I'll keep aging, all over again?"

"Well, Regina says once we handle this whole Ingrid nonsense, she's going to look for a cure. She hasn't heard of the clock being moved forward again, but she assumes it's possible."

The clock being moved forward again.

They wanted her to go back to her adult life. The one that seemed to have caused her so much pain. Sure, the past 10 years of her life had been hell, but things were different now. She had a chance to have a good rest of her childhood. She could be raised by her parents, have her little brother. Things could be great.

"What if I…what if I couldn't change back? What if I was stuck like this, to just age back normally?"

David looked down at her, stroking her cheek. "Emma, your mother and I love you. No matter how old you are, you'll always be our daughter. So, if Regina couldn't find a way to fix it, that'd be okay. We would gladly accept the opportunity to get to raise you." Emma smiled, so they would. "But Regina has a lot of faith that she can fix this."

Emma sighed, folding her arms and biting her lip. David couldn't help but be a little shocked at the sudden change in behavior. He adjusted Neal so he could pull his daughter closer to him.

"Em, what's wrong?"

"What if I don't want to change back?"

David eyed her for a minute. "Emma…"

"I can't even remember 17 years of my life. And to be honest, they sound like they suck. I go through so much pain, so much loss…"

"But you have a son."

"I don't feel anything for him." Tears sprung to Emma's eyes, half out of frustration and half from the fever. "I feel terrible about that, but I don't even remember getting pregnant. And it's not as if he'd be alone, he has his adoptive mother. Plus, me doing this doesn't affect the timeline of things. Henry would still be born. Everything that adult me already did already happened. I'm just not going to remember going through all of that and maybe that's for the best."

David felt speechless as his daughter started to cry. He knew he should be telling Emma it was okay, that yes, her life hadn't been easy. But that a lot of good came out of it. That she was a stronger person as a result. That the adult version of her would want her to return to who she was. Yet, something told him that it wasn't what she wanted to hear. He wrapped an arm around her and she buried her head in his shoulder.

"I…I've already been through so much," she sobbed. "I don't want to remember any more pain. Please Daddy, don't make me. Don't make me have to go back to all of that."

So, there we have it! What will David and Snow do with this little revelation from Emma? Will they make her change back if given the opportunity? As always, thank you all for the awesome reviews. Let me know what you want to see and I hope to have the next installment up soon!