Healing the damage
Just one of my own now. I've recently found the song "Piece by piece" by Kelly Clarkson and I think it's beautiful. So, based on that song (particularly the chorus which I shall post below), I wrote this :).
" But piece by piece he collected me
Up off the ground where you abandoned things, yeah
Piece by piece he filled the holes
That you burned in me at six years old
And you know,
He never walks away
He never asks for money,
He takes care of me
He loves me
Piece by piece he restored my faith
That a man can be kind and a father could... stay"
It was no secret to anyone around her that Emma had trust issues. A life growing up in the system would do that to you. But nobody had left bigger holes in Emma than the Swan family who had adopted her for three years before tossing her right back into the system when they found out they were going to have a biological child of their own. Then Emma wasn't good enough. Then Emma was taken on a plane to Florida, where the adoption had officially taken place. Emma had overheard her then parents discussing a trip to Florida, and knew that she was going. Emma was so excited. The poor little girl thought she was going to Disneyland. But when Emma got on that plane to Florida, it wasn't to Orlando, it was to Jacksonville, where Emma's social worker was waiting to take her away to a group home to await a new forever family that would never come.
Of both of the Swans, it was Mr Swan that had hurt Emma the most. She had always been closer to him than her former adoptive mother. After that, Emma found it hard to trust any man. As time went on and Emma found herself hurt time and time again by every man she let her walls come down for, Emma gave up on them completely, with Neal Cassidy sealing the deal. But then her father came into her life. Not Mr Swan again, her real father.
In the beginning, Emma's relationship with Charming was a bit rocky, especially after what he had done to Mary Margaret during the curse. But eventually Emma learned to disconnect David Nolan from her dad, they were completely different people. Emma wasn't even aware of it, but her dad was slowly reminding her that some men were ok to trust. Like he was. Emma could trust her dad, rely on him for anything. Although she would never say it out loud, Emma knew her dad would always keep her safe. He would never let anyone hurt her, and he always was there to listen and guide her through. Most importantly of all? Emma knew her dad would never leave, like all the rest did, because he loved her. For once in her life, Emma didn't have to doubt that for a second. Emma knew her dad would hate to hear it, but if it wasn't for his love, there probably would be no Emma and Hook. If it hadn't been for him, Emma would never have allowed herself to trust another man romantically again. It was her dad being her steady rock that allowed that to happen. Her dad became Emma's constant, the man she knew she could always depend on, which was something Emma had never had before. Emma knew her dad was never going to walk out on her this time, and for that, she thanked her lucky stars every night. Again, she would never say it out loud, but she had the best dad in the world, and he was worth the wait.
