Thank you for all your kind reviews! Thy really motivate me to write more. My holiday chapter should be up next!
"Why did I wake up in your room?" Emma rubbed her eyes as she emerged from Mary Margaret room the next morning.
"You fell asleep on the couch last night and I didn't want to wake you up." Mary Margaret shrugged as she put a bowl of granola out for Emma. "But I didn't feel comfortable leaving you on the couch."
"Whatever." Emma accepted the reason and sat down at the counter.
"How are you feeling today?" Mary Margaret watched Emma carefully.
"Fine." Emma looked up to see Mary Margaret giving her a look. "I feel up to going back to school Mary Margaret. I promise."
"You know what the doctor said." Mary Margaret set a glass of juice in front of Emma. "If you get overwhelmed or your head hurts too bad, just speak up and go to the nurse."
"I know." Emma rolled her eyes. "I'll be fine."
"I still wish you would have let me talked to the special education program." Mary Margaret shook her head. "They could work out a plan to make going back to school easier for you. You could get help taking notes or extra test-taking time…"
"Mary Margaret." Emma cut in. "I do not need special help. I'm smart enough to manage without it."
"I know sweetheart." Mary Margaret looked at Emma with those caring eyes that made Emma squirm. "But you have to understand you won't be able to perform at the level you were prior to this."
"You've been reading the pamphlets again haven't you." Emma said knowingly.
"There's a lot of stuff we don't know about this." Mary Margaret said unapologetically.
"I'll tell my teachers if I need help, I promise." Emma stood up. "Now I'm going to go get ready to go back to school. Where I want to be."
"Don't forget Kelly's coming today." Mary Margaret called up the stairs.
"What?" Emma's head poked into view, her face bearing an expression of shock. "I know I've been forgetful lately but I'm pretty sure that's one you didn't tell me."
"I think you're actually right on that one." Mary Margaret agreed. "She'll be here at dinner time. We're going to the diner. 5:30. I know you're staying after school to get help from your teachers but I think that's a manageable time."
"You called her?" Emma disappeared from view again.
"Of course I did Emma." Mary Margaret said. "She's your case-worked. She cares about you. She needed to be informed."
"Then why did it take her so long to come?" Emma asked.
"She was out of town last week." Mary Margaret explained. "This is the first she's heard of it and she insisted on coming immediately."
"Of course she did." Came Emma's sarcastic reply. "That's just what I needed after my first day back at school; an over bearing dinner with the two of you."
"You're too kind." Mary Margaret quipped back.
The doorbell rang. "That's me." Emma hurried down the stairs bag in hand. "Kate is taking me to school, per your instructions."
"I'm just looking out for you." Mary Margaret ran her hand over Emma's hair affectionately.
"Of course you are." Emma shook her head but she couldn't keep the smile off her lips. She opened the door to an ecstatic Kate.
"Emma." Kate threw her arms around her friend. "I'm so glad you're all right."
"Good to see you too." Emma laughed. "I'm in one piece don't worry."
"Kate." Mary Margaret called. "Emma's supposed to be at the diner at 5:30 tonight. Can you guys make sure that she gets there?"
"I'll remember on my own." Emma said indignantly.
"No you won't." Mary Margaret smiled. "Kate?"
"Of course." Kate nodded. "Let's go Em. School has not been the same without you."
"So how is she doing outside the injury?" Kelly took a sip of her coffee while Mary Margaret and Kelly were waiting for Emma to join them in the diner that night.
"Pretty good." Mary Margaret warmed her hands with her own mug. "She's doing well in school, still doesn't really participate unless called upon, but she's getting better. Her teachers all love her and are more than willing to help her out with her return."
"That's really good." Kelly smiled. "What about socially?"
"She has friends, a group of them actually. They're really good kids." Mary Margaret explained. "They get into trouble sometimes, but they're teenagers, it's pretty standard."
"Trouble?" Kelly raised an eyebrow.
"One incidence of trespassing early on." Mary Margaret admitted. "But it was out in the woods, if you're not from here you might not realize it's off limits and I believe Emma when she said she really didn't know. She's toed the line since then."
Kelly nodded, taking another sip from her mug. "So these friends, how close are they? Does she just talk about them or are you really seeing it."
"They spend a lot of time together, five girls and three boys. The girls have frequent sleepovers. Not lately because most of them were grounded after a party thrown by one of them. A party that Emma had the good sense to leave before drinking anything." Mary Margaret said hurriedly.
"They drink?" Kelly raised an eyebrow. "Are they a bad influence?"
"No not at all." Mary Margaret shook her head. "These are really good kids but they're teenagers and they make stupid choices sometimes. She's gotten really close to two of the girls, Kate and Ava. Kate, well you can't not smile when you're around the girl. She lights up the room. And Ava, she is such a good influence on Emma. She's a sweetheart and she's always there for her. Ava herself is in foster care. But Emma actually helped her find her father a few weeks ago. I think it was a little hard on her, but it got her to open up a little emotionally."
"That's surprising." Kelly mused.
"Yea, Emma's not the emotional type." Mary Margaret agreed. "But she's been making progress."
"And what about the boys?" Kelly asked.
"They're gentlemen. Sam and Kate are in a relationship and Peter has a thing for another one of the girls, and then there's Connor, the mayor's son." Mary Margaret explained.
"Interesting." Kelly nodded. "You'd say these are the type of guys she should be hanging around."
"Oh yes." Mary Margaret nodded. "They care very much for her. Especially Connor."
"Is she?" The pieces slowly began to fall in place for Kelly. Mary Margaret nodded slowly. "Wow this is a first."
"He really likes her. He's good for her too." Mary Margaret said. "He makes her relax. She seems so carefree and comfortable around him."
"Wow, good for her." Kelly smiled. "So how about the home life. Have there been any issues."
"Not really." Mary Margaret shifted in her chair unsure of whether or not to mention the incident with Dr. Whale. "She's been a bit different since the accident, almost like her walls aren't as strong as usual." Mary Margaret took a deep breath and looked at Kelly. She knew Emma might not be ok with Mary Margaret telling Kelly about her nightmare, but she felt a responsibility to tell Kelly, for Emma's sake. "She's been having some nightmares lately."
"Ok." Kelly said slowly.
"I woke her up from one a week ago, only for her to tell me it wasn't a nightmare. It was a memory." Mary Margaret admitted.
"What kind of memory?" Kelly asked.
Mary Margaret let out her breath. "She told me about her foster family when she was ten, about what they did to her." Careful to keep anyone else in the diner from overhearing, Mary Margaret explained the whole story to Kelly. Kelly sat quietly, listening to the whole thing.
When Mary Margaret finally finished Kelly shook her head sadly. "I knew something like that had happened but she never said anything. Her caseworker at the time, well she's no longer with us. I picked up Emma's case after it all happened. I wanted to help, but without her testimony there was nothing I could do. I didn't even really know what happened."
"It's absolutely horrible t0 think someone could do that to a child." Mary Margaret said.
"Mary Margaret, you do realize you're the first person Emma has ever told this to." Kelly put her cup of coffee down. "This is a really big deal. Emma doesn't trust people, not even me. For her to tell you this, it's a huge step."
"I know." Mary Margaret looked out the window. "Oh there's Emma now."
Kelly glanced out to see Emma walking down the street with two girls, both with blonde hair, and a very attractive boy. They were all laughing, a sight Kelly wasn't used to seeing associated with Emma. Emma turned to face the boy and let him wrap his arms around her waist. He pulled her close and gently kissed her before letting her go on her way with her two friends. Kelly turned to Mary Margaret with a look of disbelief. "That's Emma?"
"Yea." Mary Margaret smiled. "Can you believe it?"
"It's like she's a completely different person." Kelly shook her head.
Suddenly the door to the diner opened and the three girls walked in, laughing and chattering away. When Emma saw Kelly she stopped suddenly, looking at Mary Margaret with confusion.
"I told you I'd get her here." Kate smiled. "You're absolutely hopeless."
"I am not." Emma said defensively.
"You forgot about this." Ava pointed out.
"No I definitely remembered." Emma lied.
"Really?" Kate raised an eyebrow. "Then why did you agree to have dinner with us."
"You two are horrible." Emma shook her head. "See you tomorrow."
"Same time, same horrible place." Kate lamented as she and Ava left.
"Hi Mary Margaret. Hi Kelly." Emma allowed her social worker to envelope her in a hug. "It's nice to see you too."
"How was your day at school?" Mary Margaret asked.
"It went fine." Emma took off her scarf, gloves, and coat. "My headache got a little too intense during Chem so I did what you said and went to the nurse."
"You didn't go on your own did you?" Mary Margaret asked knowingly.
"Connor made me." Emma rolled her eyes. "But the point is I did what you said."
"How did your boots hold up?" Mary Margaret asked.
"No slipping." Emma looked at Kelly. "Ever since my little spill Mary Margaret bought me new boots with better traction so my clumsy self won't take any more extreme falls on the ice."
"That's probably a good idea." Kelly smiled.
"Hey Emma." Ruby walked over smiling. She had traded her usually skimpy clothing for a flannel shirt and jeans. In Emma's opinion it made her much more beautiful. "It's good to see you out and about again."
"It's good to be out." Emma agreed. "Mary Margaret's been keeping me on lockdown lately."
"Well we wouldn't want a repeat of last week." Ruby said.
"Freak accidents don't usually happen twice in one week." Emma pointed out.
"Yea but they do when you ignore doctors orders and choose to go running around in the woods." Mary Margaret said.
"Ok, not fair." Emma pointed at Mary Margaret. "I was under duress."
"Duress you put yourself under." Mary Margaret fired back.
"Not to interrupt." Ruby cut in. "But do you guys know what you want to order?"
"The usual." Mary Margaret and Emma said in unison.
"Number 5." Kelly handed Ruby her menu.
"Coming right up." Ruby took the menus and walked away.
"You have a usual?" Kelly raised her eyebrow.
"There's not exactly a lot of places to eat here, which may shock you." Emma said sassily. "Plus Mary Margaret knows the owner so we eat here almost every time we eat out."
"Which isn't that often." Mary Margaret held up a finger. "I try to cook as much as possible."
"Which has been all the time lately." Emma agreed. "She's on this new healthy kick because Dr. Whale told her it would be good for me."
"I'm just doing whatever I can to help you get better." Mary Margaret said.
"I know, I know." Emma looked at Mary Margaret. "You've said that a thousand times."
"And I still mean it." Mary Margaret looked up. "Oh I need to go talk to Ruby about the catering for the town Christmas party. I'll be back soon."
"We'll be here." Emma let Mary Margaret out of the booth.
"She's…" Kelly started
"Intense?" Emma suggested.
"I was going to say great." Kelly finished.
Emma looked at Mary Margaret and smiled. "I think so."
"So I see you have friends now?" Kelly commented.
"I do." Emma nodded. "Shocking I know. I have social skills."
"And was that boy I saw you with outside?" Kelly's eyes twinkled.
Emma's face went ashen. "You saw that?"
"You weren't exactly discrete." Kelly pointed out.
Emma looked down at the table. "I didn't exactly remember you were in here. Anyway there's no need to make a big deal of it. It's just a boy. People do this all the time."
"Just a boy?" Kelly raised an eyebrow. "He's pretty cute regardless. Mary Margaret says he's a good kid and he really cares about you." Kelly nudged Emma with her elbow. "Good job."
"It's like you're congratulating me on an A on test." Emma shook her head.
"Oh Emma I miss you." Kelly laughed.
"You miss having to deal with all my problems?" Emma raised her eyebrow.
"Not at all." Kelly shook her head. "But I do miss getting to see you. Getting to know kids like you, it's one of the best parts of my job."
"Yea I haven't seen much of you lately." Emma agreed. "I miss our lunches."
"I'm sorry." Kelly tilted her head. "I've been really busy dealing with stuff back home."
"Dealing with screw-ups like me?" Emma asked.
"They're not screw ups and neither are you." Kelly said.
"You can't tell me I didn't create a lot of issues for you." Emma looked at Kelly.
"You weren't my easiest case, that's for sure." Kelly glanced at Mary Margaret. "But it seems you've found a good place here."
Emma followed Kelly's glance and watched as Mary Margaret laughed with her friend. She smiled, thinking of how much her life had changed in the past few months. Emma looked back at Kelly. "Yea, I have."
"Emma." August called as he chased her down the street.
"Mary Margaret would not be very happy if she knew you were talking to me." Emma warned to August.
"Are you upset with me?" August asked.
"You betrayed me." Emma crossed her arms. "You told Mary Margaret about what happened and got me sent to the hospital."
"Emma I had to." August said.
"No you didn't." Emma shook her head. "I would have been fine."
"Emma you were unconscious, you were not fine." August pointed out.
Emma sighed. "I know. I'm not really that mad at you. But Mary Margaret wants your head."
"Yea I've gotten that vibe." August nodded slowly. "So … I was wondering if you could tell me what you remembered that day. You said you remembered hearing Regina and Gold talking?"
"Yea I guess." Emma shifted uncomfortably.
"What all did they say?" August asked.
"I don't know." Emma shrugged. "Honestly August it was probably all made up by some drug induced hallucination."
"Emma." August said seriously. "Everything you said, everything you heard. It's all real."
"What are you talking about?" Emma raised her eyebrows.
"Emma that book? Those stories? They're all real." August said. "Kate was right. Those pictures in the book look like people in this town because they are the people in this town. I know this sounds crazy but everything that happened in that book really happened. It's our past. It's your past."
"August this is crazy." Emma cut in.
"I know it sounds that way but Emma I need you to believe me." August looked into Emma's eyes. "This entire town is cursed; A curse that only you can break at sixteen years old. That's the prophecy. Emma your parents, Show White and King James, they sent you to this world to protect you from the curse so that one day you could save us all."
"Honestly August, aren't I supposed to be the one with the brain damage?"
Emma shook her head. "This is absolutely mental."
"Why do you refuse to believe?" August asked.
"Because I can't believe in something so unrealistic August." Emma said harshly. "August I've lived my life in some sad lifetime movie about a girl who just get's one hard knock after another. It's basically been a horror story. Not some fairytale. I never believed in fairytales August, you know why? Because I learned early on that happy endings don't happen for everyone. There is no fairy godmother that's going to conjure a dress up and send me to the ball to find my true love. There's no prince charming that's going sweep in and save me from a dragon."
"Em…" August tilted his head.
Emma held up a finger, silencing him. "I can't believe in what you're asking me to believe. My parents, Snow White and Prince Charming, sent me through a wardrobe to save them from a curse placed on them by my mother's evil stepmother. It's absolutely mental. I mean don't get me wrong Regina cast as the Evil Queen makes absolute sense, but. Mary Margaret… my mother? That's… there's no way. She's thirteen years older than me. She's a nice woman, but don't you think I would know if she is my mother?"
"You're telling me you don't feel anything different with her?" August asked.
"She's the only person who's ever treated me like a person, not a meal ticket." Emma shrugged. "So of course there is something different, but August this isn't real. You're asking me to believe in the impossible and I can't."
"Emma I need you to believe, we all need you to believe. Me, the town, everyone needs you." August pleaded.
"I don't want them to need me." Emma shouted.
"That doesn't change the truth." August shook his head.
"I didn't ask for that, I don't want that." Emma stepped backward. "I'm sorry but you are going to have to find someone else."
"There is no one else." August shook his head. "There's only you."
"Well then you're all screwed." Emma couldn't keep the emotion out of her voice. She shook her head and turned away.
August watched helplessly as their only hope walked away. Without Emma all was lost. Without Emma, they would never find their happy endings ever again.