This was a prompt sent in by Oncefan123: Snow realizes that Henry is having trouble staying awake in class. When she talks to him, he finds out Emma is having nightmares.

Being Henry's teacher had always been a perk for Snow, especially once Emma moved into her own place. Of course, she and David had insisted it wasn't necessary, but Emma said that it was time. Most 30-year-olds weren't living with their parents and eventually she might meet someone, it would be awkward to bring dates back to her parents' home. So, by teaching, she was able to see him at least once a day and catch up on all that was going on his life (David found the same perk by working with Emma).

However, lately, Snow had noticed that Henry had been more tired throughout the day and was falling asleep in class. That wasn't like him, at all. He seemed to be a morning person, unlike Emma. After talking to the other teachers, she realized that it was happening in their classes as well.

She decided to talk to him about it when she found him snoozing against his textbook one day after the bell had rang. She waited for the other students to leave before gently shaking him awake. His head shot up and he blinked a few times.

"Grandma?" He asked, groggily.

"You fell asleep, Henry. Again."

He winced. "I'm sorry." He started to gather up his books, but Snow took them from him.

"What's going on, Henry? This isn't like you. You've been falling asleep a lot lately."

Henry sighed. He knew there was no point in trying to lie to his grandmother. "I've been going to bed on time lately, but whenever I spend the night at Emma's, it's hard to get sleep."

Snow drew an eyebrow. She didn't think that Emma would bring dates back to the house while he was there, but was still a bit unsure. "Why is that?"

"She keeps waking up in the middle of the night screaming. At first she tried to claim she was fine, but I knew better so I kept badgering her about it. Finally, she admitted she was having nightmares about being the dark one."

Snow frowned. She didn't understand why Emma hadn't just come to her and talked about it. Emma said that once the darkness was out of her, she was fine. Snow felt like a fool for believing that.

She spent the rest of the afternoon in game plan mode. That night was the start of Henry's week with Regina, so she knew he'd be getting a good night's sleep. She talked with a few other people before going to Emma's house.

"Mom," she gave her a soft smile. "What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to talk to you and this didn't seem like a phone conversation."

"Well, come in," Emma stepped aside, allowing her to walk inside. They headed into the kitchen, settling down at the table with ice tea. "What's going on?"

Snow decided to just bite the bullet and start talking about it. "Henry's been having trouble staying awake in class lately."

Emma frowned. "Oh no. He didn't mention anything was wrong."

"I know, it seems you followed suit when it came to your own parents." Emma's brows furrowed. "He told me about the nightmares, Emma."

Emma bit her lip. "Mom…"

"Why didn't I hear it from you?"

"You've got enough going on, between Neal and working. Plus, I put you all through enough when I was the Dark One. I don't think it's fair for me to dump my problems on you."

"I'm your mother, Emma. I'm always going to be here for you," Snow told her, firmly but lovingly. She took her hand. "You don't have to keep things from me."

Emma sighed, rubbing her eyes with her free hand. Henry wasn't the only one who felt completely exhausted. She was trying to avoid sleep every night so she wouldn't have those terrible nightmares, not that it worked.

"I just want it to go away," she whispered.

Snow nodded. "I know, sweetheart. Which is why I came up with a plan. I know you love your time with Henry and you'll still get it, but I think for now it's best if he sleeps at Regina's. He needs his sleep."

Emma knew she couldn't argue there. She would've come up with that herself had Henry told her he wasn't sleeping. "Agreed."

"I've also made an appointment for you with Archie." Before she could refute, Snow held up a palm. "I know you don't want to, but honey, you obviously need it. You've been through so much, maybe he'll have some coping skills to help."

Emma chewed on her lip. She hated talking about what she was going through. Growing up, she had been taught that talking about your feelings only lead to less than desirable results. She had bad experiences with guidance counselors not doing anything to help her. At the same time, she knew that Archie had done good for the other people in the town, Henry included.

"Will you go with me?" Emma asked.

Snow smiled. "Of course I will, baby." She leaned over, kissing her forehead. "Your father and I have also arranged a schedule so one of us will be here each night to be there for you after a nightmare."

"You don't have to…"

"We're your parents, Em. We'll always be here for you."

Snow got up to get more ice tea and Emma smiled after her. How did she get so lucky to have such a caring family?

As a reminder, this month is July Jamboree, so I'll be posting at least 1 one shot a day this month. Keep up the requests, whether it's on here or my Tumblr: justanoutlawfanfiction. Even if you've already requested, you're always welcome to leave more prompts.