Author's Note: Hello All! Thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter! I loved reading them all! And Oh. My. God. Tonight's episode...just oh my god! Anyways, here's chapter fifty (good lord that's a lot!) I hope you all enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Once Upon A Time
Fifty
Emma's feet slowly trudged up the stairs towards the loft. She wasn't sure why today had seemed so much longer than any other, but she couldn't wait to get inside and relax. Each day that passed that the curse didn't break was becoming more and more draining.
"Hey!" Emma tried to hide her exhaustion as she made it inside. When she turned from shutting the door she could tell something was very wrong. It was obvious this day wasn't going to get easier now that she was home. "What'd I miss?"
"Answer me, please, Henry." Mary Margaret's tone seemed very out of character as she demanded a response.
"Uhhh…" Henry couldn't think of anything to say as his grandmother looked at him. "Well…"
Her expression was stern as she waited for the boy's answer patiently.
"What…" He stuttered as he stalled. "What d-do you mean?"
"Henry," The woman's eyes were burning holes in Henry's head. "What do you mean you know who she is?"
The scene was unfolding quickly before the Savior, and it was worrying her a bit as to what was happening. "What's going on?" Emma asked again, getting a bit upset that she had been ignored.
"Oh, Henry, is this about the fairytales?" Henry's silent stare answered her question. "Henry, there is no such thing as magic. Storybrooke is just a normal small town in Maine, there is nothing magical about it."
"You're only saying that because of the curse!" Henry burst with frustration. He hadn't meant to yell at his grandmother. "You're Snow White! And a bunch of other things…" The last part was said much quieter.
"What happened?" The Savior yelled in a last ditch effort to get their attention. Her son practically in tears with anger and frustration and her mother looked very upset. "What happened, Henry?"
The child turned and fell into his mother's arms.
Emma's eyes connected with Mary Margaret's. "It's okay, kid. Calm down. Just tell me what happened." Her motherly instincts kicked in, offering a soothing voice and gentle hand gliding back and forth on his back.
"I didn't mean to. I'm sorry, Mom." Henry whispered in his mother's ear just loud enough for her to hear.
"Henry, maybe you should go upstairs." Mary Margaret suggested causing the boy to pull away.
"No, Henry, stay." Emma's hand stopped him from running up the stairs immediately.
"It's fine, Mom." Henry put on a brave face that his mother saw right through.
She looked at him with sympathetic eyes. "Okay."
The boy nodded then did as he was told and ran up the stairs for his and Emma's bedroom. His mother's eyes followed him with worry until he was out of sight.
As soon as her son was upstairs Emma remembered the aching in her legs and made her way to the couch to sit down with her mother in tow.
"Did I miss parent-teacher conferences, or something?" Emma tried to joke as she shrugged out of her jacket and toed her shoes off. "Because I really didn't think they were for another month or two."
"Emma," Miss Blanchard spoke with a very serious, straight to the point tone. "I'm worried about Henry."
"Okay," Emma let her eyes shut before moving a hand to rub the bridge of her nose. "I'll bite. Why are you more worried than usual about him?"
"He came home today yelling that he knew who Sophie was."
The blonde's eyes popped opened.
"Emma, I'm starting to worry about his obsession with believing that Storybrooke is under a curse." She admitted. "It is starting to take over his entire brain. It's starting to become…well, very unsettling. I had the children write stories about a hero they wanted to be most like the other day, and Henry wrote about Prince Charming, except that he referred to his as David Nolan. That isn't a common answer for most children his age, Emma."
Miss Blanchard watched as Emma obviously tried to find something to defend the belief with. When nothing was said and her friend's face began to look as guilty as Henry's she finally broke the silence. "Oh, Emma, please tell me you aren't caught up in this curse story too."
"It…" Emma mustered up all of her courage. "It isn't a story, Mary Margaret."
"It is a story, Emma. In fact, it's a group of stories that parents tell their children to give them hope." Emma was struck hard when she remembered using the same excuse against her mother before. "I don't know why Henry believes those stories in that book of his, and I really don't know why you believe them too, but Emma, you're both starting to sound…well, you're starting to sound insane."
The Savior stood up and ran her hands through her hair before turning to look her mother in the eye. She laughed a bit before she spoke. "Oh my god."
"I don't see how you can find this funny."
"I'm not laughing at this." She tried to find a way to explain why she found the conversation so humorous without sounding ridiculous. Finally she gave up on that. "I'm laughing at the irony of this conversation."
"How is us talking about Henry believing Storybrooke is a town full of fairytale characters ironic?"
"You and I had this same argument eleven years ago now. The only difference is that the roles are reversed now."
"I didn't know you eleven years ago." Mary Margaret looked very confused but was obviously trying to hide it. She recalled Henry sharing with her that he thought the schoolteacher was Snow White and the mother of the Savior.
"Yes, you did." Emma replied. "Henry isn't lying to you. You just can't remember because you're stuck in this stupid curse. I don't understand why because you two were fine up until a couple years ago, but you are."
"Storybrooke isn't cursed, Emma. They're just stories."
"No, they're not just stories." Emma pushed passed her mother towards the stairs. "Henry! We're going out." She yelled when her son reached the top of the steps to respond. "Grab your shoes and a coat and let's go." The Savior followed her own advice and grabbed her own jacket and pulled on her shoes once more from the couch.
Tears were falling from the blonde's eyes now when Mary Margaret spoke with more of a mothering tone.
"Emma-"
"No!" The Savior lashed out unexpectedly. She could feel all of her emotions that had been building up since they arrived emerging. "You have no right to 'Emma' me right now."
The outburst had caught the cursed princess off guard and left her speechless.
Henry carefully treaded down the stairs and waited for his mother by the door.
"Let's go." Emma's voice thundered before she all but broke the door by slamming it shut behind them.
"I'm sorry, Mom. I didn't think she was home." He apologized when they were safely out of the building.
"Don't worry about it." She took a breath and leaned her body against the beetle. "It was bound to happen eventually."
The two stood against the car in silence for a few more minutes before Henry watched his mother stand up straight and start walking down the street.
"Where are you going?" Henry asked as he moved to catch up.
"I'm tired and I'm hungry, Kid, and I'm sure you're not far behind me on those fronts." She acknowledged. "Both of these issues can be solved by going to Granny's, so that's where we're headed."
OUATOUATOUATOUATOUATOUATOUATOUAT
"But I thought we weren't allowed to stay at Granny's?" The brown haired boy said as he followed his mother down the hall of Granny's Inn.
After the blow up earlier, Emma decided it was a better idea to avoid the loft for the night.
"Henry?" The Savior stopped and knelt down right outside the door to their room. "I don't really care what Regina thinks anymore. She's the reason we're stuck in this mess, so she can…deal with it!"
She shoved the key in the lock and opened the door. Emma and Henry both collapsed on the bed and stared at the ceiling.
"Hey, Henry?" She remembered what had started everything today.
"Mmhmm?" The child replied barely.
"Who is Sophie?" Emma asked him. When she didn't get an answer her head moved quickly to see Henry had dozed off. "Awesome. I get this close to an answer, and I can't reach it."
As tired as she was, Emma couldn't sleep that night. Her mind was racing as she settled for watching her son's chest rise and fall slowly. The words he yelled as his grandmother earlier kept reverberating in his ears. "I will break this curse soon, Henry." She promised her unconscious son before placing a soft kiss on his forehead and rolling over to attempt sleep again.
So? Please review and let me know what you think of the chapter? Do you think Emma is going to make up with Mary Margaret before the curse is broken? Any last guesses on who Sophie is before it's revealed? Any ideas on how the curse will be broken? Let me know! I should hopefully have the next chapter up soon (it's already in the works) and I'm thinking this story might be done within the next few chapters! We'll see! OH! HAPPY EASTER EVERYBODY! :)
