49 years later (or 21 years, +28 years frozen in time)-
Emma had fought a dragon and yet nothing had prepared her for the wave of realization that came over her when she was walking hand in hand with her son- who was alive after being pronounced dead only moments before-as Mary Margeret and David faced her, beaming from ear to ear.
They were her parents. Her mom and dad. They were Snow White and Prince Charming. Queen and King of a mystical kingdom.
Mary Margeret cupped Emma's face in her hands as tears pooled up in her eyes, her lower lip trembling. Emma had been thinking about this moment her entire life, and it wasn't living up to her expectations. She wasn't overjoyed as she had been in her daydreams. She wasn't crying. She was just looking into the eyes of the woman who had been her roommate for the past nine months, the one she had seen and talked to and passed by and lived with, completely clueless to the fact that she had found her mother. Emma's heart sunk to her stomach as Mary Margeret clutched her closely.
Emma's heart raced. Surely, this day had all been a dream. There was no way that Henry had spent the day in the hospital. No way that she had fought a dragon. No way that the town had been filled with glittery, purple smoke. No way that Mary Margeret and David were Queen and King... No way that they were her parents.
"You found us." Snow's voice was shaky and David engulfed them both in his arms, his hand on the back of Emma's head.
No, the moment hadn't lived up to her expectations. But Henry was alive, and that was all that mattered.
"Um... Yeah," Emma said stupidly, "Sorry. This is really overwhelming."
Mary Margeret, Emma's angel of a best friend, smiled brightly. "It's okay! It's okay, it's okay. You don't have to say anything at all. You're perfect."
"... Grandpa?" Henry asked, his voice small and squeaky. Snow burst into tear-filled laughter and Emma couldn't help but smile as they let go of their embrace.
"Yeah," David said, smirking, "I guess so."
They each smiled at each other, unsure of how to move forward when the moment was interrupted by a voice from behind them.
"Snow?!" the voice called, and Emma turned to see an elderly man who seemed to materialize from thin air, covered in dirt and grime and the color gray, stumbling toward them.
The color left Snow's face and her smile dissipated. She stood motionless, staring at the man who hobbled forward.
"Um... Do you know this g-" Emma began, but she was interrupted by Snow's shout.
"Father!" she called to the old man and shot out into a run to meet him.
"Father?" Emma, Henry, and David all asked at once.
"Snow's father?" Henry thought aloud, the wheels in his brain turning before Emma's eyes. "King Leopold, right?" Henry asked.
"Yeah, Henry," David said as he watched Mary Margeret and the elderly man with a mystified expression on his face.
"I thought King Leopold was dead," Henry said unsurely, "Didn't the evil quee- I mean, my mom- kill him?"
David looked back and forth between Emma and Henry, frowning darkly. "Yes. Yes, she did."
Leopold had cleaned up and changed into some of David's clothes before the five of them met up at Granny's. Emma hadn't seen Snow stop cry-smiling since the curse had broken, and she wouldn't stop looking between the four of them. "This is a BIG day!" she said more than once, happily, "All of the ones that I love seated around the same table."
David's cellphone rang about four times in five minutes before he finally picked up. "Hey Archie, sorry I was..." His voice trailed off and Emma could hear Archie shouting from the other side of the line.
Suddenly, David shot up from out of the booth. "Emma," he said, waving her to come with him as he walked toward the door.
"We'll be right back," he told Snow, "Stay here."
Emma followed him out to his truck. "You left that pretty ominously, are you gonna tell me-"
"There's a crowd of people outside of Regina's house. Torches and pitch-forks. People want her to die. I can't say I blame them, but-"
"She's Henry's mother," Emma stated. She was a bitch. An evil, infuriating, murderous bitch. But she was Henry's mother.
The tired squeaked against the road as David pulled the car up to Regina's house, put it in park, and jumped out, already screaming.
"HEY! MOVE! PEOPLE!"
He pushed his way to the front of the crowd, and Emma followed. Whale was pounding on Regina's front door and David pulled him away by his shirt collar and pushed him back into the crowd.
"NO!" he shouted, "I need everybody's attention!" In a few seconds, the shouts and screams were replaced by silence and murmurs.
"We cannot kill her like this. That's not how things work around here. We have to have a trial. We have to do things the right way or else we're no better than her. Do you understand?"
A few people shouted protests, and David turned to Emma. "Arrest her," he said, "She'll be safer in the jail, for now."
"I can't arrest her," Emma whispered, "She has magic!"
"There is no magic in Storybrooke. At least not much. I need you to go in so I can stay out here and control the crowd."
Emma grumbled but turned to pick up a rock from Regina's flower bed. She hurled the rock at the window and the glass shattered, and she used a stick to knock the rest of the debris away.
Emma huffed a sigh as she stepped through the broken window. "I swear to God," she muttered, "I'm about to get turned into a fucking frog."
Shouts erupted from behind her and David moved to block her entryway. She sighed again and turned to look through the house.
"Regina?" she called, "It's just Emma. I'm here to talk about Henry!"
There was no answer throughout the house except for the creek of the wooden floor under Emma's feet.
"Hello?! ... Listen, you've got to get out of here if you don't want all these people to break in and kill you."
Emma stomped up the stairs and peeked into the bedrooms. "Come on, Regina," she muttered.
Emma found Regina in her silk pajamas, teary eyes, sitting with her back against the wall of her bedroom, next to the window. Her knees were pulled up to her chest and her hands were covering her ears to drown out the shouts. Her eyes were swollen and her nose was red. When she saw Emma, she uncrumpled herself from her position and sat up straight in her chair. She took her hands away from her ears and glared at Emma to hide her embarrassment.
"Whoa," Emma said. This image of Regina was the farthest away from what she would have imagined the evil queen to look like. She looked pathetic.
"What do you want?" Regina snapped, her voice croaky and her eyes fiery. The same Regina that had tried to poison her a day before.
Emma took in a deep breath. "... We've got to get you somewhere safe. Those people are gonna kill you if you stay here."
"Let them try," Regina rasped, "Let them think I won't kill them first." She sniffed, and the venom in her voice became substantially less threatening.
Emma paused before walking toward Regina and motioning for her to get up.
"Come on. There's not enough magic in Storybrooke. If you had the magic to kill them they'd all be dead by now."
Regina made no move to stand but turned her head toward the window. She sniffed again. "Maybe I'm just being compassionate."
"Oh my god. I'm not here because I want to be, Regina. I'm here for Henry. You need to be, too."
"Where is he?" Regina asked, "How is he doing?" A glimmer sparked in Regina's eyes, replacing the scowl.
"He's fine. Eating dinner with Mary Margeret and uh..." Emma scratched her head. "Leopold."
The smile instantly vanished and Regina's eyes widened. "Leopold is alive? Snow's father?"
"Yeah," Emma said.
Regina stood up suddenly, startling Emma. She pressed her fingers into Emma's arm harshly, pulling her close and forcing Emma to look into her eyes.
"Ouch!"
Emma tried to pull her arm away from Regina's grasp but Regina gripped her tighter. "Keep Henry away from him. Do you understand me? Do not let him near my son."
Emma had seen Regina angry. She had seen her livid and desperate, filled to the brim of her soul with hate and rage. But even so, she hadn't been prepared for the look that Regina was drilling into Emma's eyes, the bruising grasp that Regina had on Emma's arm, and the sincerity of her low voice.
"My son," Emma said defensively, finally prying herself away from Regina.
Regina's glare sparked with a familiar exasperated expression.
"Our son," she said, "Keep him away from our son. Or I'll fucking rip your heart out and crush it in front of your own eyes."