Title: A Family's Faith
Disclaimer: Once Upon A Time and its characters belong to Eddie Kitsis and Adam Horowitz and are owned by ABC. Not Mine!
Warning: K+ (Fights with swords and guns- minor violence)
Author's Note: Chapter 10! I wrote this chapter about two months ago when I just found out I was being transferred to a different school so it may be a little angsty, but I really like it anyway. I tweaked it a little to fit better in the story. Are you guys ready for Once tonight?! I am! Thanks for all the reviews! Hope you like this chapter! Enjoy! :)
Insecurities
Sure enough, Emma found herself in her old nursery that she never used. It looked like someone, probably her mother, had started to try to clean it up most likely when her parents had come the one time they were here the last time. The crib was no longer lying on its side on the floor, but standing up right. The toys were neatly arranged on the shelves and the floor was no longer cluttered with various objects. For some reason, this room made her feel vulnerable and emotional. The last time she was in here her mother and her had their first heart-to-heart as mother and daughter.
"It would be nice to bring your brother back here to grow up. He could grow up running through the hallways of the castle, having a kingdom to adore him, and a mother and father to always be there for him. I could teach him how to sword fight and ride a horse. Snow could teach him how to dance for balls and even how to shoot a bow if he wanted. He could have everything here." Charming said with excitement as he looked at the contents of Emma's nursery wishing that Emma could have had all that he wanted for his son.
Charming continued to talk about the many things they could do with Leo in the Enchanted Forest, Emma couldn't stand to hear it anymore and found herself slowly backing out of her nursery. It was like her father totally forgot about her and she couldn't breathe. She just needed to get out of there. She felt all the insecurities of being unwanted come back to her and it left her out of breath. She found herself running down the hallway almost against her will as if she was a little girl running from her problems instead of facing them. She runs into the only open door that she finds. She frantically looks for something to hide her because she knew she was close to breaking down. She saw a wardrobe against the wall and ran to it. A part of her realized that this was childish of her to be feeling this way, even selfish of her to be jealous of her brother. But the larger part, felt betrayed and hurt. She can't seem to breathe and her heart is racing. They may not need her, but she needs them.
***ENCHANTED FOREST***
"I'm just so sorry that you never got to grow up here or even grow up with us." Charming said with a lot of emotion in his voice and then he turns to where he thought Emma was. "Emma?" Charming said as he realized Emma was no longer in the room and started to panic. Did someone take her? Is she okay? Or is it because I was talking about her brother? What have I done? Charming knew something was wrong and he needed to find his daughter. He rushed out of the room and looked down the hallway for any sight of his daughter. Maybe it was his father's instinct in him that knew that she wasn't in danger, but he also knew his daughter was upset.
"Emma!" Charming called frantically.
Just after he called he heard what sounded like a muffled cry. He rushed into what use to be his and Snow's room and looked around to see it was empty. "Emma?" Charming called. Then he looked over at the wardrobe that stood in the room and went to open it.
What he saw broke his heart. His daughter was sitting in the bottom of the wardrobe with her legs pulled to her chest. She was shaking with tears streaming down her face. It seemed like she was having a panic attack or an emotional breakdown.
"Emma, what's the matter?" Charming said gently. He couldn't help, but imagine a little Emma doing the same thing if she had grown up with them in the Enchanted Forest.
After she didn't respond he touched her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. He wanted more than anything to pick her up in his arms and just hold her tight, but he resisted the urge. "Emma."
Emma realized that her father had found her and couldn't decide if she wanted to be angry with him, or embarrassed that he saw her like this, or if she would rather just hug him.
"Leave me alone. You guys don't need me, you have my brother now. You don't have to act like you care. I understand you don't want me anymore." Emma said in anger. The adult in her knew she was being irrational, but the little girl in her was having a hard time adjusting to sharing her parents that she just found and coming to the reality that she doesn't get a second chance like they do. They get to have the second chance at raising a child, but she will never get the second chance of growing up being raised by her parents.
Charming is stunned by Emma's outburst, how could she, after all this time think that they didn't want her or need her? "Emma Ruth Swan, you will never be replaced. You will always be loved. You will always be needed. And you will always be wanted. You are my little girl no matter how old you are." Charming said sternly, yet gently.
"It's not fair, you two get a second chance, but I can't ever have a second chance." Emma said in a soft, vulnerable voice that sounded so unlike the strong, adult woman he had come to know. This was more of a childlike voice that was hurting and felt betrayed.
"Yes, we do have a second chance at raising a child, but we will never get a second chance at raising you. We wanted to raise you and it hurts that we weren't able to. But you can never be replaced. Emma, don't you realize how special you are? You are apart of this family – a very essential part. Don't ever think that you are not apart of this family and not loved because you are very much apart of this family and very much-loved." Charming said softly as he put his hands on her shoulders.
Emma didn't have any fight left in her and the words her father had said touched her heart. "I guess I know that." Emma said in a whisper, still out of breath from her panic attack. She felt like something in her just took control and she couldn't stop the tears from coming.
"Good because it's all true, princess." Charming said, but then did what he had wanted to do right when he found her. He picked her up in his arms and held her tight. "I love you, Emma. I will always love you, Em." Then he kissed the top of her head and continued to hold her as she cried.
Emma's tears had stopped and her breathing had returned to normal. Charming knew from her breathing that she had fallen asleep, so he stood up with his daughter in his arms. He brought her over to the bed. He gently put her on the bed and then covered her with the blankets. He was going to go check the rest of the castle really quick to make sure they would be safe from any intruders, but Emma grabbed his hand.
"Please don't leave me." Emma said in a sleepy voice.
"I won't. I'm staying right here." Charming said as he got in to the bed beside Emma. As soon as he did she snuggled up to him, desperately needing his comfort. Charming was overjoyed that she was seeking comfort from him and was more than willing to comfort her as much as possible. He put his arm around her as he said, "I'm here, baby. You can sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up. I love you."
"Love you too, Dad." Emma mumbled.
Charming wasn't expecting an answer, but he was ecstatic that she loved him back. He figured she did, but Emma is not one to actually tell someone she loves them.
It didn't take long for Emma to fall back asleep. Charming was thinking about the events of the night. He chuckled softly at how Emma reacted just like he imagined she would have reacted if she was raised by them in the Enchanted Forest and they were expecting another child. He could imagine her running off and hiding like she did because she thought she was being replaced. He thought it was interesting that out of all the rooms she could have picked, it happened to be Snow's and his old room. He continued to think about Emma and how he imagined how she would have been as a little girl until he fell asleep as well.
***ENCHANTED FOREST***
Emma could smell a familiar scent and automatically felt safe and comforted. She opened her eyes to see that she had slept with her head on her father's chest. It all started to come back to her, her panic attack and emotional breakdown that she had the previous night. Crap. What was I thinking? Although, Emma was embarrassed at her emotional breakdown, she was feeling a lot better than she had since she found out about her brother. She loved her brother, but it just hurt her to see him get everything she never got. She had been jealous, yet she still had wanted him to have everything. It was good to get everything out.
She should feel embarrassed that at age 30 she was snuggling up with her Dad, but it was too nice of a feeling to move away. He had his arm around her shoulders, which made her feel both safe and loved.
She drifted in and out of sleep because it wasn't yet morning.
Charming felt the sunshine from the window shining on his face as he slowly woke up. He opened his eyes to see that his daughter had moved again last night to rest her head on his chest. He also noticed that if it wasn't for another inch, he might have been on the floor. Emma was stretched out on the bed diagonally; she was no doubt a bed hog although she would deny it over and over.
He knew he should wake Emma, but he wanted to cherish the moment of having his daughter so close to him. She looked so relaxed and carefree as she slept soundly. This was, to his knowledge, the first time Emma had spent the night at this castle. A place that should have been her home, but never was her home because of the curse. It took 30 years for her to spend one night in her rightful home. He lightly kissed Emma's head before deciding that it was time that they both get up. They had a lot to do if they were going to get that ring and go home.
"Emma, honey. It's time to wake up." Charming said softly as he rubbed circles on her back.
Emma hadn't realized she had actually fell back asleep, but didn't feel like getting up at the moment. "Couple more minutes." Emma pleaded tiredly.
"Sorry, kiddo, we have work to do." Charming said with a chuckle.
Emma groaned, but didn't move. Charming for a second wondered if she had fallen back asleep, but then she sat up on her elbows so she could see her father. "I'm sorry." Emma whispered and then she looked down at the bed.
Charming sat up and leaned against the headboard. "Emma, look at me." Charming said as he put a finger under Emma's chin to lift her face. "You don't have to apologize for how you feel. And you can always talk to me or your mom about anything. We are here for you. We love you. I love you." Charming told her gently. He wiped a couple of tears away from her face before pulling her into a hug.
"Thank you." Emma said sincerely as tears continued to stream down her face from the love she could see in her father's eyes. She wasn't sure how she could have missed that the night before, but she knew now without a shadow of doubt that both of her parents truly loved her. She felt safe wrapped in her father's arms and she was content to just stay in his arms for at least a couple of moments.
"Anything for you, kid." Charming replied seriously. He held her for a few minutes as she regained her composure, rubbing circles on her back. "Now, it's time to get up. We need to prepare for our journey."
"Can we eat first?" Emma asked as she was still engulfed in his hug. She was hoping there was something around the castle for breakfast because she just realized that they didn't eat dinner last night.
"Yes, we can do that first." Charming chuckled at his daughter's hunger. He
Charming got out of the bed, but Emma wasn't quite ready to get up so she laid back down hoping her father wouldn't realize it.
"Emma! Get up." Charming shook his head as he saw his daughter closing her eyes then thought of a different tactic that would surely get her out of the bed. "You know whose room this was right?" Charming asked with a mischievous grin on his face as he grabbed his sword and put it around his waist.
"Whose?" Emma asked tiredly as she opened her eyes wondering why that would matter.
"Your mother's and my room. In fact, you, my dear, were conceived in that bed." Charming said matter-of-factly.
Emma jumped out of the bed. "Ah yuck. That's just gross." Emma said as she tried to shake off the weirdness of what she had just learned.
Charming couldn't help, but to laugh at his daughter's reaction.
"It's not funny!" Emma grumbled as she glared at her father.
"It got you out of bed." Charming said as he barely controlled his laughter. He grabbed Emma's sword that was lying on the floor next to the wardrobe.
"That's a mean trick…so that means it wasn't really your bed?" Emma asked hopefully.
"No, that was our bed and you…." Charming started.
'Ugh! I don't need to hear it again!" Emma practically yelled with a disgusted look on her face.
Charming chuckled at his daughter's interruption. He wrapped his arm around Emma and led her from the room. "Ok, let's go find some breakfast. How do tacos sound?" Charming teased.
"Ugh, seriously! You guys ruined tacos for me!" Emma whined in a high-pitched voice, which was so unlike her, but hilarious to her father.
Charming couldn't contain his laughter at her reaction.
Emma tried to glare at her father, but couldn't seem to stop the smile that was coming to her lips. He really did love her and want her. She was glad that he was able to break down her insecurities because this was so much better than being alone. She felt better than she had in a long time.
***ENCHANTED FOREST***
After finding breakfast and then rummaging around for supplies for their journey to Seven Gales to face the dragon, Emma found herself looking at a bunch of metal armor that her father managed to find in the castle.
"We aren't actually going to wear that are we?" Emma asked, thinking that there was no way she was going to be wearing all that metal. She wouldn't be able to move in it.
"Yes, it is protective gear." Charming said as he was trying to make sure that they had everything they would need. He actually wasn't planning on wearing it, but he wanted Emma to wear it.
"I didn't wear anything like that when I slayed the dragon in Storybrooke and I was fine." Emma stated.
"Well, you shouldn't have had to fight a dragon in the first place." Charming said. He didn't appreciate that Gold had convinced his daughter that she had to fight a dragon to save Henry when Gold knew she wouldn't need the bottled true love.
"Well I did and I was fine without any of that." Emma said as she pointed to the armor. "I am not wearing it." Emma said defiantly as she crossed her arms.
Charming narrowed his eyes and put his hands on his hips as he looked at his daughter. "Why not?" Charming asked in a patient tone with a hint of frustration.
"I won't be able to move in it." Emma said seriously then looked down at the pile of armor, which she realized was only enough for one person to wear. Then it dawned on her. Either he wasn't planning on her fighting the dragon with her or he wasn't going to be wearing the armor. "You aren't planning on wearing it, you just want me to wear it." Emma exclaimed as she narrowed her own eyes.
"Yes. I don't want you to get hurt again." Charming said knowing he was fighting a losing battle with this one. He wasn't sure why he ever thought he would be able to convince Emma to wear the armor, but it definitely was worth a shot.
"I am not wearing it." Emma said again keeping her arms crossed in front of her body as she stared down her father.
For moment, father and daughter stared each other down with equal amounts of stubbornness standing in similar stances besides that Charming had his hands on his hips while his daughter had hers crossed in front of her.
"Okay. You don't have to wear it if you don't want to." Charming relented somewhat defeated, but if something happen to Emma while they fought the dragon, Snow was going to kill him.
Emma was surprised that her dad gave up so soon. "What you are giving up?" Emma asked somewhat teasing.
"I know how to choose my battles." Charming said with sigh. "You just have to promise me you will be careful. If anything happens to you, your mother is going to kill me." Charming added.
"Yeah, that's probably true." Emma said with a grin. "I'll be careful."
"Good." Charming said. "We better get going, it's already 7:30."
"Already? It is so gross that we have already been up for almost two hours." Emma commented. She didn't like waking up at the crack of dawn.
Charming chuckled knowing that Emma valued her sleep and waking up early was not something she enjoyed. "Come on, we have a dragon to slay and a ring to find." Charming said as he put his arm around Emma.
"And a family to get back to." Emma finished for her father feeling more confident than she had about getting home since they had landed in the Enchanted Forest.
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