May muses 6: No prince for Emma

Day 6 of May Muses! My idea for today: what if Emma came out as a lesbian in the EF?

Emma dreaded these Balls. She didn't so much mind the getting dressed up, or the dancing, or the glorious amount of food she could have. It was the clear pressure on her to find a suitor. Alexandria had already found her match with Prince Philip, along with the majority of royals Emma's age who had gotten themselves paired off. Emma's problem was, she was never going to find a match like that. She knew there was a true love waiting for her somewhere…it just wasn't a man. It didn't help that her parents were clearly so keen on her finding someone at one of these Balls.

"This could be the one, Emma." Snow said as she helped Emma pin her hair up. "You could meet your true love…"

"Yeah, I don't think so." Emma grimaced. All the dancing with well-meaning princes who didn't seem to realise they didn't stand a chance."

"Hey, don't sell yourself short." Charming said, from where he stood getting his shoes on. "Anyone would be lucky to have you, Emma Ruth…"

"I'm not going to find any suitor at any of these Balls, ok?" Emma snapped. She'd been hiding this for so long. She couldn't take it any longer. Her parents looked at her.

"Why not?" Snow asked her. Emma fidgeted. She knew she had to tell them at some point, but she had hoped to buy herself more times.

"Because I don't want a prince to sweep me off my feet…I want a princess." Emma said quietly. She couldn't even look at her parents. She was going to be sent away for sure.

"Finally." Charming sighed. "She's out with it." Emma looked up rapidly. They knew?!

"Wait, what?" She asked. Charming came and stood beside Snow. They both smiled at their daughter.

"Emma, sweetheart. It's been clear since you were a little girl that you didn't like boys. We've known for years that you would find a princess. At what point did we say you'd find a prince just there?" Emma looked back. She realised she'd made some assumptions too. "Have you forgotten that your auntie Red's true love is Dorothy?" Snow pointed out. Emma shook her head.

"No, but we don't see her very often. I was so scared when I told you you'd not want to see me often either." Charming pulled Emma into his arms.

"Oh baby no." He said, heartbroken Emma would think that. "We don't see aunt Red often because she lives in Oz and transport across realms is hard. We're so happy you've finally been honest with us. We thought you were dancing with the princes because you weren't sure yourself yet. I've said from day one no man is good enough for you. You had to go and find a loophole, didn't you?" Charming teased her. Emma rolled her eyes playfully.

"I'm so relieved." She sighed. Snow smiled, running her thumb down Emma's cheek.

"So, now that that's out of the way, do you think there's a chance your true love might be waiting in that ballroom?" Emma, for the first time, grinned at that question.

"I guess you never know."