Chapter 10: Who is Emma Margaret?

Basic question really. "Who am I?"

For 5 years, she was the Savior. But now, that she had realized it was just a game, who was she without that looming in her future?

Who was Emma Margaret?

[X]

It was 5:30 when Emma heard a knock at the door. August was out, presumably to spy on his dad. He thought that she believed him when he said he was doing "research" on the town, even though he never came back with any actual research. He was wrong of course, but it didn't make the claims of research any less funny.

Emma opened her door.

It was the kid. Henry.

He looked upset.

He threw the book back at her.

"There," he said, "I never want to see it again."

[X]

On the first day of winter vacation, halfway through seventh grade, Emma's mom and brother asked to "talk to her".

That was the sort of thing that never ended well.

"Emma," said her mom very seriously.

"Yeah?" said Emma innocently, wondering what it was she had done this time.

"You've stopped believing that you're the savior, haven't you?"

Really? That was all?

Emma nodded.

"It was fun," she said, "pretending that I was born special. But I think I've outgrown kiddie stories mom."

Her mom and her brother exchanged nervous looks.

"Emma," said her mom, "you are special. And not because you're the Savior."

"Thanks mom," said Emma.

"But," said August, "you are the Savior."

"Huh?" said Emma.

"That's right," said her mom, "you were born in a land of magic called the Enchanted Forest. Your brother is Pinocchio. I am Snow White. Everything we told you when you were seven was true."

"You mean," said Emma, "you actually believe that?"

[X]

Emma Margaret was born on the same day Storybrooke came to be.

To Regina, this was one coincidence too many. Outsiders weren't even supposed to get into the town. And now, this woman shows up in Storybrooke, and, worse yet, decides she wants to live here? This was no coincidence. Her being born the moment that Storybrooke came to be? No coincidence.

Regina made a phone call.

"Sidney," she said, "Yes, it's Regina. I need you to get everything you can find on Emma Margaret's parents."

If her birthday was important, surely her parents were even more so.

Who was Emma Margaret?

[X]

"Kid," said Emma, "let's talk."

"You want me to believe that my mom is some Evil Queen?"

Emma sat down on her bed.

"You didn't show her the book, did you?"

Henry shook his head no.

"Good," said Emma, "that's a start at least. Why not?"

Henry shrugged.

"You should know that everything in this book happened exactly as it was written. Your mom was the Evil Queen from the Snow White story. My mom was Snow White. And I am Emma, the child whose name Rumpelstilstkin demanded to know. I am the Savior."

"You could have made that book," pointed out Henry.

"Why?" said Emma, "to trick you? Why tell you anything at all?"

Henry shrugged again.

"I believe that this book is true. I found it, on the floor of this very room. This town gave it to me. It wasn't here when I arrived here.

"Or maybe none of that is true. Maybe I'm just crazy. In which case call the police, or whoever law enforcement is in this town, and have them haul my rear off to an insane asylum.

"Your call kid. And you don't have to decide right away. Either believe me now, and help me, and everyone in this town, or don't believe me, and deliver me into the tender clutches of your mother."

"Why would my mother care?" said Henry

"She wouldn't, if I'm insane. But if I'm right, she'll care a great deal that Snow White's kid and the person destined to break her curse is wandering around her town."

[X]

Mr. Gold prided himself on his code. Whether he was a strange magical man in the Enchanted Forest or a pawnbroker in Storybrooke, he never broke a deal.

But it seemed people weren't terribly good at making deals. They ignored the deals.

Rumpelstilstkin would honor the letter of his deal with Snow White. He would let her see her husband. He would set her up in a cabin in the woods that he owned. And then, if it suited him, he would betray her. Because he had never promised not to.

[X]

Emma promised her mother and her brother that she would think about it.

But what was there to think about? They were clearly insane. Suffering from delusions of being fairy tale characters. August was probably brainwashed by her mom into thinking he was Pinocchio.

So that night she quietly packed her things and tried to sneak out the door.

She got halfway down the stairs when her mother turned on the light.

"I'm a light sleeper," she said, "Quality I picked up during my bandit years."

"Right," said Emma sarcastically.

"You don't want to be the Savior," said her mom, "You don't realize it, but that's really why you're doing this. It's not that you find it all too hard to believe – though that doesn't hurt – it's that you don't want that responsibility on you any more."

"Don't pretend you understand me," said Emma.

"I'm your mother. I understand you as well as anyone. When you don't want something, you try and pretend it doesn't exist. You did it with your reading assignments, you did it when Jacob Felton didn't want to go out with you, and you're doing it now."

"Yeah," said Emma, "except this doesn't exist. For real."

"I was," admitted her mom, "considering just letting you not believe. Heading over to Storybrooke myself, after you'd grown up, and trying to break the curse myself or, failing that settling down with my husband and living a life. Letting you have the life you wanted."

"Storybrooke?" said Emma. She had never heard the name before.

"It's a town in Maine," said her mom, "right next to where we arrived from the wardrobe. There are very few records of it from before your birthday, and the town population hasn't changed since. Which means it's probably where our people are."

"Right," said Emma again.

"The point is," said her mom, "August made me realize something. I can't let that happen. You have to be the one to do it. I can't break the curse because I'm not the Savior. Just her mother. In the end it doesn't really matter what you want. And I know that's not fair. But that's just how life is. You have to do this."

Emma sat there, mulling it over.

No, she decided, this is insane. My mom is insane. My brother is insane. I'm getting the hell out of here before I go insane too.

So she walked out the door, while her mom yelled something about finding her.

She had spent the last 5 years believe that she was special. That she was "The Savior". But now she was striking out on her own. Now it was time she figured out just who the hell Emma Margaret was.

[X]

Henry didn't want to believe Emma, but he held onto the book anyway. He wasn't sure if she was telling the truth or not, but either way, he needed a way to know for sure.

He needed to find out who Emma Margaret was.