Update time! So this chapter turned out LONG. Like 5,445 words long. So I decided to do something fun! (Fun for me, at least!)

This is part 1 of chapter 37, Like Magic. Would you like me to post part 2 TODAY?!

If you do, tell me so in a review! If anyone creatively demands part 2, (creatively could mean anything, a haiku, an emoticon, a drawing, or you could just tell me I'm being dumb!) I'll update even sooner plus I'll give you a shoutout here and on Tumblr if you like! Yell at me on Tumblr (no need to follow unless you want) at crossinginstyle. :)

Also, thanks to Sara K M for leaving my 500th review! Wow! :D

Without further ado, I give you Emma's point of view!

I just froze.

Standing there, waiting for my son to pop up and yell, "gotcha!" I felt almost angry, because he was taking this thing way too far.

"Henry…"

He didn't move.

"Henry?!"

I dropped to my knees beside him, and Mom was at my side in an instant. My shaking fingers pressed to his neck, this sickening feeling of déjà vu overwhelming me and I saw Graham lying before me, lifeless. Then I was sixteen again, hearing the terrifying words that had just become even more unfathomable, "Henry is gone."

But his pulse was still thrumming, and I sobbed with that small relief. I checked his airways, but he seemed to be breathing okay.

"What happened?!" Mom exclaimed hysterically.

"I don't know!" I yelled back. Somewhere behind me Paige was sobbing, saying over and over that her mother cursed him. I shook him lightly, patting the side of his face. "Henry, Henry please wake up! Henry!"

Regina may not have cursed my son, but that bitch did poison him. And she was going to pay.

It would have taken too long to wait for an ambulance, so I scooped my little boy up into my arms and rushed out the door, trusting Mom to grab my wallet and keys.

"Hold on, Henry," I cried.

Mom climbed into the backseat with Henry, holding his head and whispering that everything was going to be okay. Paige hopped into the passenger seat, but I didn't stop to argue with her or send her away.

I must have broken every traffic law possible in Storybrooke, but made it to the hospital in minutes.

This isn't happening, I thought in a panic. Not my little boy, please not him!

Over and over my traitorous mind replayed those heart-stopping moments in the hospital when Henry was born, and the doctors took him from me and I didn't know if he would live or die.

I prayed to whoever was listening, to whoever was looking out for him the day he was born to look out for him again and not to take my baby.

Nurses descended on us the moment were through the doors, pulling Henry's limp form out of my arms and settling him on a stretcher. I reached behind me blindly, and Mom's hand was in mine at once.

Dr. Whale was there, a man I didn't entirely trust as a human being, but was the only doctor in town so I had no choice but to trust him with my son's life. It was maddening.

"Just hang on, Henry!" I exclaimed, running alongside the stretcher, clutching Mom's hand in a vice-grip. "Come on, baby, please, wake up!"

The was a flurry of activity as Whale starting checking his vitals while some nurses hooked my baby up to machines while another, in an unfortunate bout of delusion, actually thought she was going to take me to another room.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Whale asked. "Did he fall, hit his head?"

"I don't know," I snapped. "He took a bite of…" I glanced down to find the remains of the turnover in a baggy held in front of me by Mom. "THIS! I think it's poisoned!"

Whale was checking his mouth and eyes. "His airway is clear…did he vomit? Any convulsions? Disorientation?

I pulled at my hair in frustration. "He took a bite of this, and he just collapsed! So run the test for arsenic or bleach or Drano…"

"He isn't showing any symptoms would suggest neurotoxins. So whatever the problem is," he took the turnover. "this isn't it. Now is there anything else you can tell me, anything at all?"

"What else could it be?" Mom chimed in at last.

"It's a sleeping curse!" Paige wailed, and Mom released my hand to grab Paige and pull her to the corner of the room.

"I don't know what it is," Whale admitted, and I could have punched him. "That's what I'm trying to find out."

"He's going to be okay though, right?"

Whale sighed. "Right now, we just need to stabilize him, you'll just be in the way. Now is there anything else you can remember? Even the tiniest detail…"

"I already told you everything, just DO something!"

I whirled away to face my mom. She was holding Henry's backpack, (thank God she was there to think of everything my panicked mind didn't,) so I ripped it from her hands and dumped its contents on an empty bed.

"We'll do everything we can," Whale was saying. "But there's no explanation for this. It's like…it's like…"

I was only barely listening, staring at the big leather-bound book that Henry had been shoving in my face for months, telling me that his grandmother was Snow White and my father was a man my own age. I looked up at Mom, expecting her to beg me to believe. But she just looked back at me with fear in her eyes and little else. That was when I finally saw it. Her eyes were void, lifeless, holding none of the fire, none of the light I was used to.

"I'll lose everything!" she had told me.

I looked at the book again. "Like magic…" I muttered and picked it up.

Something surged inside of me like electricity. A million half-formed images invaded my mind. Images of Mom, heavily pregnant, sobbing in the arms of a man I recognized but didn't know, climbing into an impossibly small wardrobe.

The man first kissed her, then her swollen belly.

"Find me…"

I dropped the book, standing stock-still.

It was true. It was all true. And I was an idiot for not listening.

"Emma?"

I jumped, turning to look at my mom again, finally seeing her for who she really was.

"It's true..." I whimpered. "All of it?"

"What is?" she whispered worriedly, glancing down at the book then back at me.

And that's when I knew. She had tried to tell me. Henry said that the curse took everyone's memories, and now it had done the same to my mother, leaving a shell of a woman who stood passively and nervously to the side instead of taking charge and running around like a madwoman demanding answers, making staff cow to her with her seldom-used but striking and commanding presence that I knew she had. That I'd seen before when I needed it.

Why had I never realized how strong and powerful she was until suddenly she wasn't?

I believed, but now my mom didn't. And I was on my own.

"Paige? Where is my daughter?! I was told she was here!"

I looked up at the sound of her voice, anger and hatred welling up inside of me.

"You did this…" I seethed, spinning around to catch her by the arm, fighting not to hear Paige's startled cry.

"Emma!" Mom exclaimed but I barked at her to stay with Henry.

The Mom I knew would never have stood for being yelled at, regardless of the situation, and would have followed me no matter what I said to make sure I didn't do anything stupid. Or perhaps to hold while I punched, as the case may have been. But she only nodded meekly and watched, holding Paige back as I dragged Regina into a broom closet.

Once there and out of sight, I threw the conniving bitch with all of my strength into a supply cart.

"What the hell are you doing?!" she screamed, holding up her hands in defense as I lunged for her again.

Assuredly the entire hospital could hear us, but who in their right mind would want to get in the middle of that fight?

I pinned her against the wall, pressing my arm into her windpipe and watching her face whiten.

She'd hurt my son, and now I knew that she'd done even more than that. She cursed my mother's family. She separated her from the man she loved, dooming her to a lonely life, regardless of her constant smiles and assurances that she wasn't lonely as long as she had us. She made both Auggie and me grow up without our fathers.

She killed Graham.

I pressed harder against her throat.

"You did this!" I screamed again.

"What are you talking about?!"

"That apple turnover you gave me! My son ate it!"

She had the nerve to look upset. "What?"

"It's true, isn't it?!"

Regina glared at me and didn't answer.

"Do you think Paige will ever forgive you for this? For poisoning her best friend? You make him better you WAKE HIM UP!"

"I CAN'T!"

I took a shuddering breath. "Don't you have magic?"

She looked at me long in the eyes, before her shoulders slumped and she grew limp in my grasp. "That was the last of it," she shoved me away. "It was supposed to put YOU to sleep!"

"So what'll it do to him?"

"I don't know. Magic here is…unpredictable."

Despite the fact I had already decided to believe, hearing Regina speak openly about it was staggering and frightening. She suddenly looked like another person, not the annoying and sneaky wretch who I exchanged insults with on a daily basis, but someone far more dangerous. "Then he could…"

She sighed, and I honestly believe she regretted this happening. "Yes. It wasn't meant for him."

"I was leaving! Why couldn't you leave it alone!"

"Because at long as you're alive…" she growled and clenched her teeth, but I knew what she was going to say. As long as I was alive, I could break the curse.

"So what do we do?"

"We?" she scoffed.

"This is your doing Regina! If you even want to think about your daughter every forgiving you, you're going to help me save him!"

She glared at me for a long time, but I knew I had her. Despite her miserable personality and penchant for ruining lives, I knew that she loved that girl, and I knew that she knew that she was on the fast track to losing Paige completely. Doing the right thing might be her only hope. "We need help," she said at last. "There's one other person here who knows about this. About magic."

I groaned inwardly. Of course. "Mr. Gold."

Regina rolled her eyes. "Actually he goes by Rumplestiltskin."

Of course.

When we left the closet, Mom was sitting beside Henry, cradling his hand, and Paige was at the foot of the bed, glaring at Regina. She may not have been Regina's real daughter, but she had Regina's signature Glare of Doom down pat.

"This is your fault," she hissed at Regina, eyes full of tears. "Henry didn't do anything wrong!"

Regina flinched in the face of the girl's ire, then she glanced up at Henry's pale, lifeless face and flinched again.

I ignored them and went to Mom's side. "I'll be back," I said. "We're going to go talk to someone who may know how to help him."

"You are?" Paige asked, directing her question to Regina.

Regina bent down, touching the side of the girl's face. "Yes, Paige, I'm going to try and help Henry."

Paige offered a tentative smile and nodded.

Mom looked confused, but I didn't bother trying to explain. "Okay," she said. "I'll stay here with Henry."

"Thanks," I said, silently promising that as soon as Henry was safe, I would try and break the damned curse and fix what had been done to her. "Call me if anything changes."

"I'm coming too!" Paige declared.

"No," Regina said. "You stay here with…" she clenched her teeth. "Ms. Swan. It's safer."

But the girl was resolute. "I want to help Henry!"

"Can we just decide and get on with it?" I asked impatiently.

In the end Paige won, of course, and the three of us power-walked down the sidewalk toward Gold's shop, and my mind was spinning.

Rumplestiltskin? Seriously? Like the little elfy thing that steals babies? Well, I guess he did try and take Ashley's. But still.

He barely looked up from whatever he was cleaning when I barged in, only smiled and said, "Do my eyes deceive me or is that the look of a believer?"

Damn he was creepy.

Our discussion with him was just as maddening as any discussion with Mr. Gold, except that we were discussing magic. Oddly enough his riddles gave me confidence since he was the same old bastard and not suddenly a magical imp now that I knew his name.

I was still reeling, barely registering words until he said that he'd bottled some magic…from my parents' hair… for a rainy day.

"Well, it's storming like a bitch, where is it?"

He smiled at me before looking at Regina. "Tell me your Majesty, is your friend still in the basement?"

"You twisted little imp," she seethed. "You hid it with her?!"

His chuckle sent chills down my spine. "Oh no, not with her. In her."

Was that a euphemism?

"I don't care what I have to do," I said. "If I have to slay a fucking dragon to save Henry, I will."

"Famous last words," Regina mumbled while Paige shot her a glare.

"Well in that case," Gold said, moving over to the long case he'd been dusting when we arrived. "You might be needing this."

"What the hell is that?" I asked as he opened the lid with a flourish.

His gold tooth twinkled as he grinned. "Your father's sword."

I told Regina to meet me at the library, where this potion was supposedly hiding beneath.

First though, I needed talk to someone. I needed someone to tell me I could do it. Mama couldn't just then, so I did what any girl would do.

I went to find my big brother.

Marco wasn't home, so I went on into the shop and climbed the stairs up to August's apartment. He hadn't been answering his cell. "Auggie?" I called, taking the stairs two at a time. I knocked on his door, tried to open it, but it was locked. "Auggie are you in there? Open up!"

The voice that answered me was weak and muffled, but I could make out the words, "I can't…"

Heart hammering in sudden fear, I raised my foot and kicked in the door in one go, then rushed into the small apartment.

August was lying stiffly on his bed, above his covers. At first I didn't see anything wrong, but then I got closer and I did see it. I finally saw it.

His entire body, up to his neck, was solid wood.

"Auggie…" I whispered. "What's happening to you?"

August sighed and closed his eyes in what looked like relief. "You can see it. You believe."

Coming out of my shocked stupor, I fell to sit beside him on the bed, taking hold of the lifeless wooden hand lying across his chest. "Yeah, I do. How can I stop this?"

"Break the curse," he said simply, his breathing labored.

I stifled a sob. Mom had tried to tell me. They all tried to tell me. Why was I so damned stubborn? "I'll try, I promise, but I gotta save Henry first!"

His eyes flew open and he turned his head, though it looked like it took serious effort to do so. "Henry? What happened to Henry?"

"He's sick, he won't wake up. Regina tried to poison me but Henry took it instead because I had my head too far up my ass to listen. Auggie…I just…I just talked to the Evil Queen and Rumplestiltskin about a quest to find magic to save him," my breathing started to quicken and I felt on the verge of a panic attack. "I can't do this! No normal person can!"

He chuckled. "Lucky for us…you're not normal, twerp. You can do this. I believe you can do anything," the change was spreading, more of his neck was turning to wood.

"But I need you, Auggie! Mama's lost her memory, and I'm all alone here! I need my big brother! You've always told me what to do!"

"You don't need me," he croaked. "You know, I thank God every day…that my dad sent me through. I never told you…but it was supposed to have been your father, not me. Every day I lived with the guilt that I took his place…but every day I was glad I did. Because if I hadn't…I wouldn't have had Mom…and I wouldn't have had…the most amazing baby sister.

My tears fell freely onto his hand, leaving dark spots in the wood. "I'm glad, too, Auggie. I wouldn't trade you for the world. You're my best friend! Please don't go. I love you, Auggie."

"Love…can break…any curse. You can save Henry, Em. You can save all of…of…"

And then the light in his eyes went out, replaced by painted wood.

I bowed my head, pressing my eyes against the rough grain of his hand. I could scarcely believe it. My big, strong brother was gone. Would breaking the curse bring him back? I could only hope so. But I didn't have time to mourn, didn't have time to do anything but settle his hands on his chest and press a kiss to his head. I knew he understood, understood that Henry came first, and hopefully later I could save everyone else too.

I'd never felt so alone, so utterly and completely alone. Mama was a shell, Auggie was a log. And my sweet baby boy was lying lifeless on a hospital bed. My smart, brave boy who tried so hard to make me believe and didn't deserve this.

I knew enough of Henry's book to know that Mom was in labor when my father sent her here. Minutes later and I would have been born back there, doomed to either be cursed to be a baby for eternity, or go through the wardrobe all alone. It was a terrifying thought, one that gave me an eerie feeling, like that expression about someone walking over your grave. As I ran from the apartment I couldn't stop myself from thinking how close I'd come to having nothing, and having to be this alone my whole life. And damn it all if I wasn't going to get my family back.

Coming up in part 2, Emma's words about slaying fucking dragons comes back to haunt her!