"Hey, buddy," Emma said as Henry collided into her arms at dinner. "How was sword fighting?"

"It was awesome! Dad taught me all the coolest moves! And Grandpa stopped by for an hour or so to spar with me. He beat me, of course," he laughed. She pictured Charming trying to hold back in a duel with Henry, but failing miserably and beating him within seconds.

"I'm glad you had fun," Emma said, just as Neal walked into the room, his hair dripping wet. He must've just showered. "Hey." He leaned over and kissed Emma quickly before taking his seat. Henry sat beside him. "Long day, huh?"

"Yeah," Neal said tiredly, leaning back in his chair. He reached for Emma's hand under the table and gave it a squeeze, making Emma smile. "I have to admit, the kid's good with a sword. Soon enough he'll be fighting off dragons."

"Oh no he won't," Emma said, shaking her head at Henry's enthusiastic face. "I almost died fighting one of those things. No way I'm letting you do that."

"I was kidding, Em," Neal laughed. "Though he's easily a better fighter than you." Emma nudged him and he chuckled.

Just then, Snow and Charming walked in, taking their seats at the grand table. Snow sat beside Emma with Charming across from her, completing the table. "Hi, honey," she said, smiling at Emma. "What did you do today?"

Emma wondered whether she should talk about Rapunzel with them or not. She took a quick glance around the room at the maids - Rapunzel wasn't there. Emma assumed it was fine, so she started telling Snow about her day. "I actually spent a lot of time with one of the maids talking. I thought it might be nice to get to know some of them."

"Oh really? That's so sweet," Snow said, obviously proud to have such a caring daughter. "Who was it?"

"Rapunzel," Emma answered shortly, eager to see Snow's reaction.

"Oh, she's such a nice girl. Horrible past, though. Regin-"

"I know, Mom. Regina locked her up and then blinded her prince. She told me all about it," Emma sighed, miserably taking a bite of her salad. She looked across the table to make sure the others weren't listening. Charming was talking excitedly to Neal about something and Henry was busy stuffing his face.

"I feel so bad for her," Snow sighed, pursing her lips. "Is she doing okay? I know she's been much happier since we returned, but I've never seen her really happy, you know? She smiles a lot, but it never reaches her eyes."

"Yeah," Emma said, remembering the lost look in the girl's eyes even when she was laughing. "I think she wants to find the man who tried to rescue her."

"Oh," Snow said, a little surprised. "I thought she didn't know who he was. His name, even."

"That's what she said, but Regina blinded him. I doubt there's that many people in the Enchanted Forest that are blind." Emma took a sip of her water before speaking again. "And if we did find him, I'm sure Regina would heal him."

"True," Snow agreed, before waving her hand so that one of the many guards lining the walls would come to her. "Thomas, please go talk to Rapunzel about the man who tried to save her. Get one of our artists to draw the man she describes and proceed to make posters searching for him."

"Will that be all, my Queen?" Thomas asked, his face focused, obviously intent on carrying out these instructions.

"Yes, thank you," Snow smiled, sending him off. "Well that was easy enough!"

"We haven't found him, yet," Emma said dryly.

"True, but word spreads quickly around the kingdom. I'm sure he'll show up within the week. Until then, why don't you worry about yourself? You seem a little down lately."

Emma sighed, knowing she would have been asked this eventually. Over the past few days, she hadn't been herself. "I don't know . . I guess I'm just still adjusting to life as a princess," she laughed.

"Well, is there something wrong here? Do you not like it?"

"No, I love it. Henry and Neal . . . they're so happy. And I love getting to see you, too. And everybody else from Storybrooke. I just . . I don't know."

"But do you love it here?" Snow asked, her smile sympathetic and understanding.

Emma took a second to think about this. She hated the dresses, the extravagant palace, the constant unfamiliarity. But she loved the people, the atmosphere, the excitement. She just felt . . . bored. "In Storybrooke, I had a purpose. I was the savior. But here, I'm just . . . useless. Nobody's relying on me for anything. I don't know. I just feel kind of bored here. There's nothing important for me to do."

"Emma," Snow said, cupping her face and smiling. "You're important. You're the princess. And you're still the Savior. These people, they love you. You saved their lives and they're more grateful than you could know."

"But what can I do with that? I can't just sit around while they love me," Emma joked.

"No," Snow smiled. "But you can talk to them. Hear their stories, help them out the way you did with Rapunzel. Afterall, you could be queen one day and you're going to have to know the people. Why not start now?"

Emma nodded at the proposal. She was a good listener, and good at fixing problems. This was the perfect job for her.

"I'll start tomorrow."

Sorry this was so short. I really don't know where to go with this story. Let me know if you have any ideas.