The choice made for them
nahbois68 asked for a oneshot of **6x17 spoilers!* Snowing seeing Emma in a nastier foster home. Would that have made them change their minds about leaving her? Loved this request! This chapter will contain a small amount of violence against a child.
Happy Once day! Important: As usual, if you have a request from the latest episode, great! Please just give me a spoiler warning beforehand! :).
Snow and Charming had never felt so nervous. This was it. This was their chance to see their baby girl. Snow felt guilt mingled with her excitement. In her heart of hearts, she knew that she couldn't leave all her friends cursed so they could have Emma back. But nor could she leave here without so much as seeing their daughter. Surely, they were owed that much? Snow carefully tapped the flower so the pixie dust settled on the palm of her hand.
"How exactly does this work?" She asked, turning to an equally nervous Charming. He looked down at Snow's hand. He shook his head slightly.
"I don't know." He admitted. "Just…think about Emma, and let the magic do the rest?" He suggested, looking hopefully at Snow. He would be devastated if this failed. He so desperately wanted his baby girl back. Snow smiled hopefully at him. Then, she clutched the pixie dust tightly in her gloved hand. She closed her eyes.
Emma. She thought. My Emma. She threw the magic in the air, and waited. A bright light appeared above the couple. It was so blinding, that they only noticed the door that appeared in front of them when it faded. Snow and Charming stared at the door, wide eyed. This was it. Charming gulped, even though his mouth was dry. He wasn't going to waste another second. He reached forward and turned the doorknob, opening the door. There was a glowing magical, swirling, shield between them. Snow frowned, pressing her hand against it. When she took her hand away, the shield began to melt away…then, they saw her. Both parents were completely mesmerised.
"Oh…she's beautiful." Charming breathed. Snow couldn't even speak. This was their daughter. Snow was about to tell Charming that they had to let Emma go, when someone burst into the room where Emma was sat on the bed, reading.
"You!" The person bellowed. Emma jumped, scrambling back against the pillow. "What have I told you about tattling to your teacher about not having lunch money? That money's mine, you hear?" The woman came forward and snatched the book off of Emma. Snow and Charming were horrified to see this woman- who was obviously meant to be caring for their daughter- then take the book and send it crashing against Emma's head. Emma yelped, but it was clear she was trying not to cry. "I don't give a damn if you're hungry! It's not my fault you're a greedy little pig! What do you think you are? Some kind of princess?-"
"Actually." Charming growled, unable to stomach anymore. "She is." Snow let go of her plan to let Emma go. She couldn't, not after seeing this. She would not condemn her daughter to a life of heartbreak and pain for the sake of everyone else. Surely they would understand? The woman recoiled at the sight of the strange door appearing from the closet of the room. Emma, too, was shocked. Snow and Charming stepped into the room, knowing they didn't have much time before the portal closed again. They approached Emma.
"Who are you?" Emma asked. "What is that?!" Charming bent down.
"We promise we'll explain everything better, once we leave here. Emma…we're your parents." Charming told her. Snow bent down beside him.
"We've been looking for you. We never wanted to give you away. We had to, to save you. We'll explain better, soon. We promise, but for now, we need to get you away from here. Will you come with us?" Emma looked between this couple, claiming to be her parents, the weird door leading to an unknown location, and Ms Bowie, her foster mother. Emma knew she only had one option. She could always run away again if this couple were lying, or just as bad. She was going to be running from here that night anyway. She guessed taking this chance was better than the certainty she faced of a night on the streets with only the pages of the book to burn for warmth. She nodded, signalling that she would leave with them. Charming grinned, taking Emma up off the bed and bolting back towards the door. He noticed Snow wasn't beside him.
"Snow?" He called, looking back before he went through.
"Just a second." Snow responded. She looked Emma's now terrified foster mother right in the eye. Without so much as a word, Snow slammed her fist into her nose, delighting in the way it made her squeal. She then followed her husband and her daughter back through the door to Storybrooke. At that moment, they didn't care about Emma's destiny, or how the curse would ever be broken for their friends. All that mattered was that their daughter was safe, and back with them, where she belonged.
