"Where is she?" Henry desperately turned to the blond man, but he looked just as surprised as he was. "Where did Emma go?"
"I don't know, kid." The man dropped back to his chair and with a blank expression he stared at the table. "She's gone. And I'm stuck here. Probably forever."
"What do you mean, she's gone? What happened to her?!" He grabbed the man's arm and shook it. "Are you listening to me?"
"I'm sorry, kid." The blond stood up and stumbled to the door. "But I need to go home. Somehow..." And he almost fell out the door, leaving Henry in the empty diner.
He heard a static noise coming from his backpack. "Henry! Henry, answer me! Are you okay? Henry!" He could hear his grandmother's desperate voice, so he searched for the device quickly.
"Grandma! It's me, Henry. What happened?!" He let go of the button and impatiently waited for the answer.
"It was Gold, he brought magic to this world, we just finished talking to him." His grandfather took over. "Henry, are you okay? Is Emma with you? Where are you?"
Henry looked around hopelessly before pushing the button again. "I don't know... I'm at Granny's, I'm fine, but Emma... Gramps, Emma's gone!"
"What?!" Snow almost shouted into the other walkie-talkie.
Charming tried to stay calm. "Stay where you are Henry, we're coming to get you!"
Snow stormed into the small diner. She quickly found what she was looking for - Henry was sitting at the counter with a big mug of hot chocolate with cinnamon. Ruby stood next to him, rubbing his back.
"Henry!" Snow hugged her grandson tightly, but let go of him quickly. "Where is Emma?"
The boy seemed run-down enough, but his voice was clear when he spoke. "I don't know. She's gone."
Charming stepped next to his wife. "Tell us what happened!"
Henry took a sip of the cocoa, gathered his thoughts, and only then started talking. "I came here, because I've been looking for Emma. I wanted to let her know that everything was okay and she could come back home to talk to you guys. But when I got here, she was talking to a stranger, or at first I thought he was. I found your letter to Regina, the one you'd given the huntsman, before he saved your life, remember?" He turned to the woman.
Snow nodded and warmth filled her heart. The huntsman, who saved her... Graham. But he was dead. Before her eyes could fill with tears, she reminded herself that her daughter was missing. She needed to concentrate. "And what did you do with the letter?"
"I gave it to my mom," Henry continued. "I thought that it would maybe bring her memories back. I thought that if I showed her proof, then... " he swallowed his tears.
"Then she would believe." Charming finished his sentence.
"Yes. But it didn't work. When I gave the paper to her, this magical purple smoke appeared and the letter sucked it into itself. Emma held it and then... she was gone." His blank look wandered to the place he had last seen his mother.
"And what happened to the man?" Charming tried to keep the conversation running and learn as many details as he could. "Who was he, anyway? Did you recognize him from your book?"
Henry nodded. "He ran away, he said he needed to get home, but I doubt he could do that." To his grandparents' questioning expressions, he answered quietly. "He lived in Camelot. He's Arthur Pendragon."
Emma finally figured it out. It took her a few days, but she finally understood what was happening to her. Or, at least she suspected something, but given the present circumstances, it was better than nothing.
She was in a dream, or a vision, but it was certain that this time she didn't travel in time. This time, she was trapped in her young mother's memory. Which was way better. Yeah.
Not knowing how she could get home was one thing, but she learned a more alarming detail of her trip. Apparently, whatever happened to Snow, happened to Emma, too. She was like a mirror image of the young girl - if she got hurt, if she felt cold or hungry, Emma felt the same emotion.
A few days had passed, and the blond felt less and less like herself. She didn't speak, because nobody could hear her; she tried to catch her reflection on the top of the river water, but it was like she wasn't there, like she was a ghost. Time passed slowly and she caught herself watching Snow and Robin more closely. The man taught her many things, how to catch fish in the river, set up traps in the woods and find a good place for making a shelter. At the beginning Snow had been afraid of Little John, but she had never shown it. She had kept her distance, but when the man asked her something, she politely answered. And then, after four days of basically living together, the ice broke. They started laughing about something, and when Emma broke from her trance, - gazing at the fire, thinking about her family back home - she couldn't believe her eyes. The giant-like man grabbed the girl and tickled her with a wide grin on his face. Snow laughed, like Emma had never heard her mother laugh before. They became friends and the men kept on teaching Snow how to survive in the forest.
After a week and two days however, Robin wanted to talk to the girl seriously.
"We have to go, Frosty." On his face appeared a sad smile, one of a bittersweet goodbye. "The love of my life is sick and only I can cure her. I stayed as long as I could, but now Little John and I have to continue our journey."
Snow nodded sadly, she knew this day would come one day, but she'd grown to love these men. "Well, I suppose... now I'll be able to handle myself in the forest on my own."
"You'll do just fine, my lady. Do not worry. And whenever you are near the Sherwood Forest, you are welcome in my home anytime." He smiled at her and reached for the girl's hand. Robin placed a gentle kiss on her hand and bowed before her. Snow then hugged the man tightly and whispered a thank you in his ear.
"You are more than welcome, Snow." Robin laughed and broke the hug. "I think it's time I told you - I figured out your secret."
Snow stood frozen where she was, unable to speak. This one word made her feel betrayed, it was written all over her face. Emma thought about how many times she might have felt this way before. From what she could tell, this wasn't the first time.
"You knew me..." She breathed. "You knew who I was... and you still helped me..?" Gratitude was mixed in her questioning tone, but Robin just smiled.
"Of course I knew, my lady. From the moment you introduced yourself to us. When you told me that you were born during a dreadful winter and how your mother named you. I'm familiar with your history. And I don't mean to offend you, but... Frosty? Really?"
Emma sat next to them and listened to the conversation. They talked about Snow's stepmother, what she did and how the girl ended up in the forest. After a longer pause, she hugged the man again, then went to Little John and embraced him too. With tears in her eyes, she waved goodbye to the men and wished them the best luck with finding and curing Robin's love.
Emma stepped next to Snow and looked down at her. Was she every going to get home? Would she ever see her son again? And her parents? It all seemed bleak and empty, and mostly hopeless. She didn't even know how she'd gotten there, how could she find a way back?
Then, as if it was something Emma wanted to do a long time ago, she put one hand on Snow's shoulder, and to her surprise the girl looked up, surprise glittering in her eyes.
"What is this..?" She whispered, but Emma barely heard her. Finally, after days of total solitude, she made contact with another person. And not with just anybody. The touch of her young mother, when she reached to the place where Emma's hand rested, made her remember all the times she had held her hand before. All the love Emma had gotten from her, all the things the woman had taught her about how to be a family, a daughter and a mother to Henry.
Gratitude and love spread inside her as she looked into Snow's puzzled eyes. The girl's soul burned through her eyes, making Emma feel like everything was going to be okay.
"Emma!" She heard someone shouting her name in desperation.
Emma took her hand off the girl and turned around quickly. She knew that voice.
Snow and Charming went to Rumplestiltskin right after they learned what happened to Emma. To their surprise, Gold agreed to help them - free of charge. But Snow knew better, she knew that all magic comes with a price. When she asked Gold why he was doing it, he said, "Oh, well, Miss Swan did a great service for me with breaking the curse. I only see it fitting that I help rescue her as a way of showing my gratitude. I believe she wouldn't argue." So they accepted the help he offered. He showed them a strange looking globe, where Snow had to prick her finger and let a few blood drops fall onto it.
"Well, well, Miss Swan, hiding from your parents in the woods?" Gold announced, and they went straight to a place where they found Emma's motionless body. The limping man assured them that the blonde was alive, but she was trapped. "In a memory."
Snow knelt next to her daughter and took her hand. She wrinkled her forehead when she felt a paper inside Emma's grip. The woman forced the fingers to open and took the paper. Her heart skipped a few beats when she realized what she was holding. She looked up at Gold. "She's trapped inside my memory?"
The man nodded and took a red scarf-like piece of clothing from the pocket of his coat. "I think it would be best if you lay down next to your daughter, Your Majesty." Snow didn't ask anything, it was her daughter's life they were trying to save. She decided to blindly obey Gold's orders. It was their only chance. "Alright, now," Gold started, binding Snow and Emma's hands together with the scarf. "I need you to concentrate. Think about the memory you're about to enter. What happened there? How did you get there? What were you feeling back then?"
"I felt... lost." She whispered, but Gold shook his head.
"You don't have to tell me. Just think about it. Embrace the feeling. Try to live the moment all over again." And when he finished twiddling with the scarf, he made a strange movement which made the red object start to glow. "Relax, Snow White. You can find your daughter... if you're strong enough." Which made Snow feel anything, but relaxed.
But she knew she could do it. She would have done anything for Emma.
"Emma, take my hand, hurry!" Snow tried to be as loud as she could, but she'd been shouting at her daughter for minutes. Now, finally she seemed to notice her, but Snow was afraid that it wouldn't last long enough. "Take - my - hand! Come on!"
She felt like she was a ghost, barely existing in the vision. She cried out again, "Emma, we have to go!"
Fortunately, the blonde might have looked scared and puzzled, but she was used to crazy things, so after a few seconds of shock, she ran straight towards the other woman and grabbed her hand.
Snow looked up and shouted as loudly as she could. It was like whispering in a storm, she didn't even know if they could hear her or not. "Now!"
However, she felt a pull coming from above and grabbed her daughter with both hands. She wasn't going to lose her, not again.
Snow looked down at the scared blonde and smiled. "Don't worry. Everything will be okay."
It took Emma a whole day to wake up fully. Snow knew a spell like the one they had used was tiring, but she was okay, and she was worried about why her daughter was still asleep. Mr Gold assured them that she would be okay in a few short days, but Snow didn't trust him. Not even after what he'd done, how he had helped them.
When she finally opened her eyes, Snow was there and held her hand with a wide smile on her face. "Emma... hey, honey. How are you feeling?"
It took her another few seconds to comprehend the situation around her. That she was no longer in that memory, that she was home.
Emma sat up slowly, carefully and looked around. She really was home.
"Henry and Ch-... David just went to Granny's to get coffee and breakfast, but they'll be back soon." Snow's voice directed Emma's gaze back to her roommate. "Henry didn't want to go, but I convinced him that I would look after you and you would be here when they get back. He's really worried about you, you know."
Emma listened to her voice and almost lost it. She thought she'd never hear it again. Because it was Snow White, yes, the same person she was with in that vision. But she was so much more. She was Mary Margaret, her flatmate, her best friend... and her mother.
She couldn't help but let tears escape her eyes and she embraced the slightly surprised brunette in a tight hug. "I was so lost," Emma whispered. She couldn't believe it, but right there, in her mother's arms, she felt like a child again. "I felt so alone..."
She felt how Snow held her even tighter and started rubbing her back. It made her feel unbelievably happy. "Shhh, it's okay now." Snow's soft voice made Emma sob even more, but somehow it felt good. After days of complete numbness, she could finally breathe.
"I'm here..." Snow whispered. "And I'm never leaving you again."
And the Charmings are back together, the whole family, hooray! There are only a few chapters left, soon this adventure will end, but I hope you guys enjoy the ride. I sure as hell enjoy writing it ;)
Mama Snow fears no shit when her little girl is in danger. She's a mama bear like that.
oldmcpiper deserves a HUGE thank you for betaing me:)