Autumn in New York - Part 1

'Mary-Margaret Swan,' the customs officer said out loud as he let his eyes go from the forged passport back to her.

Snow swallowed back the nervous feeling that was stuck in her throat and nodded.

Gold had assured her that this would be going to work, that this document would get her on a plane. All the information of her false ID was not only visible in her passport, but had also been added to the necessary systems of this world, hence it shouldn't raise any suspicions.

She had asked Emma if it wouldn't be better to take the car and drive down there, but her daughter had convinced her that it would be much quicker and more convenient to fly to New York instead of driving.

This would be a weekend of firsts for the pixie-cut woman. Her first passport - during the first curse she'd never wondered why Mary-Margaret didn't own a passport or other form of ID - the first time traveling by plane and the first time visiting New York. It would also be the first city trip she got to take with her daughter. Who knew what other firsts would be awaiting her once they got there?

The man's eyes pierced hers and she felt the red creep up to her cheeks. 'Yes, that's me, Mary-Margaret Swan,' she echoed nervously. She tried to look out for Emma, but she'd already gone through passport control and couldn't be seen through the tinted windows.

'Hmm…' the officer mumbled. 'And where are you traveling to today?'

'New York City, JFK Airport,' she quickly added.

The tons of questions came at her at an indescribable speed.

'Reason for traveling?'

'City trip with my d… sister.' She clenched her hand into a fist at the fatal mistake she'd almost made. Of course, they couldn't tell anyone they were mother and daughter out here. That's why she'd to come up with an alternative identity. She'd considered using her cursed last name, but she'd preferred to use the name ''Swan'' to at least imply a family relationship between the two of them.

Her hands were shaking so much that she struggled to hide them when the man handed her back the passport.

'Safe travels, Miss.'

'Thank you.' She walked through the glass doors as quickly as she could, terrified that she'd be called back by the strict-looking officer.

Emma waved at her from across the hall where she sat relaxed sipping a cup of coffee. 'Hey, you okay? You took your sweet time. Here, I got you a Starbucks.'

She gratefully took the cup from her, put her handbag on the floor, and sat down with a sigh.

The blonde raised an eyebrow. 'That bad, huh?'

'I thought they caught me, that they realized the passport's a fake,' she whispered while looking around in a not-so-unobtrusive way. 'He kept asking me all these questions and kept looking at me like I was a high-profile criminal or something.' She shuddered at the memory.

Her daughter didn't in the least look surprised. 'Welcome to the wonderful work of customs officials.' When Snow cast her a questioning glance, she continued. 'Most people in this business, mostly the men, are complete dicks who never made it to a position they are more in power, so they try to overplay their authoritative status by scaring women like you.'

She almost choked on her coffee. 'Women like me?'

The blonde shrugged apologetically. 'Bottomline is that the key to success is not letting them know that they are making you nervous with their ridiculous interrogations.'

'I guess I failed in that department,' she laughed taking another sip of her coffee, and nodded in an approving fashion. 'Much better than Granny's brew. Don't tell her I said that,' she added warningly.

Emma chuckled. 'Wait until we get to New York. I'm going to let you try the best coffee in the whole wide world. There's this amazing place in Brooklyn where they roast their own brew, and they have the best bagels too!'

'I can't wait!' she replied sincerely and she smiled at the youthful enthusiasm her daughter displayed.

It had been six months since Neal was born and although she had found it hard to leave him - even if it was for only a few days - she also really wanted to spend some quality time with her daughter.

She took out her phone and scrolled through her messages. None from Charming yet.

'You could call him, you know?' It was as if Emma had read her thoughts.

She shook her head. 'We've only been away for a few hours…I'll call him tomorrow when we're there.'

Emma kept her eyes steadfast on her, one eyebrow raised. 'Come on, just give him a call, I won't haunt you with sarcastic comments about you having abandonment issues,' she teased and nudged her shoulder.

Naturally, she buckled under the playful pressure and dialed her husband's number, which of course was on speed-dial.

When she was fully reassured that everything with the men in her life was okay - David doing paperwork from home, Neal sleeping soundly, and Henry playing videogames - she hung up and waited together with Emma for their gate number to be announced.

The lights dimmed right before take-off. A very normal occurrence during evening flights, which Emma was aware of. Snow, on the other hand, wasn't.

'Is this supposed to happen?' she whispered somewhat loudly so that the man sitting next to Emma turned his head and blatantly stared at the pair.

'It's my sister's first time on a plane,' Emma quickly explained before turning back to her mother. 'Yes, this is completely normal, but you can switch on the reading light in the panel above your head if you want to read your book.' She glanced at the paperback that was lying closed on Snow's lap.

'No, I'm good I think,' the other woman replied as the plane made a loud noise and started to make its way towards the runway.

One of the flight attendants walked past to do all the final checks and made Snow aware that she had to put her chair back in the upright position.

'How does this thing work?' she asked while trying fervently to pull the seat back up.

Emma noticed the panicked tone in her voice. 'Here, let me help you,' she replied and found the button in the armrest to change the position of the seat. Then she placed the book in the seat in front of her so that it wouldn't drop from her lap during take-off.

Her mother had her fingers firmly wrapped around the armrests and it struck Emma how much she looked like Gold when they'd traveled to New York together. ''So flying broomsticks, giant beanstalks, and psychopathic Evil Queens, no problem, but an airplane flight is what terrifies them?'' She only expressed the thought in her head but didn't have the heart to voice it out loud.

Snow stared out straight, hoping with all her heart that the loud noises coming from this gigantic machine weren't actually a bad sign. She didn't quite understand why she was so frightened, having seen airplanes on TV and in the films she watched with her family, but somehow the sense of not being in control of what was happening made her nervous.

When the plane took off, the noises intensified and she felt the power of gravity pushing her firmly into her seat.

Emma saw the fear in her mother's eyes despite the relative darkness the aircraft cabin was in and put her hand on the hand nearest to her.

Snow turned her hand so that she could grab Emma's and held on for dear life. Only then she dared to take a look outside of the window. The lights of the world below them gave a magical touch to the view and she found it fascinating how driving cars and trains looked like Neal's toys from all the way up there.

'You okay?' Emma asked as soon the plane had stabilized and the ''fasten your seatbelt'' light was switched off.

'Yes, now I am,' she answered. 'Thanks.'

Emma's lips curled up into a comforting smile. 'It's only going to be a very short flight, we'll land before you know it.'

She was touched by the concerned tone in her daughter's voice and smiled back at her.

The short duration of the flight didn't withhold Emma from falling asleep and dropping her head onto her mother's shoulder, making the remainder of the flight a whole lot easier for the pixie-cut woman. She relished the closeness between her and her daughter and cherished the idea of them getting to spend a whole weekend together, just the two of them. Aside from that unfaithful trip to the Enchanted Forest a year prior, they'd never had the time to explore their relationship as mother and daughter.

It had been Snow who'd suggested taking a trip together. She'd had been afraid that Emma would reject the idea, arguing that it would be too late. That they couldn't repair all the years that they'd missed being together. In all fairness, she wouldn't have blamed her for feeling that way.

Unexpectedly though, Emma had been open to the suggestion, happily accepting it even without needing time to think about it.

So although Snow realized that there was still a lot the two of them had to work through, she now knew that they'd get there, simply because of the resilience and openness her daughter displayed.

The ride from the airport into the city was another first for Snow. She could hardly believe her eyes when seeing the high-rise buildings popping up around them, the numerous flashing lights, and the gigantic amount of traffic rushing by. It was almost too hard for her senses to process all the impressions that came at her almost simultaneously.

'You like it?' Emma queried. She had been a little worried about how the overwhelming effect the city could have would impact her. Even Storybrooke seemed an oasis of peace compared with the Big Apple, let alone the Enchanted Forest her mother grew up in.

'It's different… that's for sure!' she muttered, her eyes still fixated on the ever-changing scenery outside.

'Oh, New York, you either love it or you hate it, lady!' the cab driver interjected.

Snow turned her head to face Emma. 'Well, you and Henry clearly love it, so I'm sure I'll grow to love it too.'

The cab stopped at the side of the road a little sooner than Snow expected.

'We're here!' Emma announced nervously.

She looked up and saw the red-bricked apartment building rising up in front of her. 'Wait, didn't you say you booked us a room at a hotel? This doesn't look like a hotel.'

'Just follow me,' Emma replied mysteriously as she got out of the car.

The driver handed her their luggage from the boot and Emma paid him his fare.

Snow took her own bag and followed Emma inside the apartment building. She noticed that the blonde knew the code to open the door and how quickly she navigated them to the elevator which was on the far end of the hallway.

Emma pressed the button to go up to the third floor and it was only now that something started to down on Snow. She didn't express her suspicions though, in case she was wrong.

Once they got to the third floor she followed her daughter down a relatively dark corridor until they arrived in front of apartment 311.

'Welcome to my humble New York residence,' Emma smiled as she turned the key and opened the door.