Worth it

A guest asked for a oneshot of…a read and see story.

Snow had to keep reminding herself that it was worth it. Sure, Emma wasn't talking to her right now, but she might never have been able to talk to her again if Snow hadn't jumped in and shot an arrow laced with squid ink at Maleficent to freeze her and frighten her two cronies. Sure, they then taunted Emma over needing her mommy's help to fight them which embarrassed Emma, but Snow would rather she was embarrassed than hurt. It had been two weeks now though and Emma was still giving her the cold shoulder. She had confessed to her dad that she felt her mom had made her look weak in front of the queens of darkness, and that she could have handled them on her own. Snow had just been trying to help her daughter, and she could not apologise for that. She did, however, hate the wedge it had created between them. Emma was refusing to talk to her. She was fine with her dad (something else Snow was struggling with), but if Snow came over to join in, Emma would quickly turn cold or walk away altogether. It was tearing Snow apart. Why was Emma punishing her so much for protecting her? Unfortunately for Snow, Emma wasn't the only one who felt she should be punished for the action. To make matters worse, the queens of darkness were going to give Snow a less friendly punishment than a cold shoulder. No, they felt she deserved a much graver punishment for meddling with their plans…

Emma had been staying late at the station to finish up some paperwork when her cell started ringing. She picked it up. She saw it was her dad. She sighed. She was going to end up falling out with him if he kept insisting that she made up with her mom.

"Hey dad." She answered, giving him the benefit of the doubt.

"Hey Em." Charming answered. "I need to talk to you, urgently. It's about your mom…"

"Dad, I've already told you." Emma interrupted him, disgruntled. "I'm still mad at her. I'm not interested in talking to her-"

"Emma, this isn't about your falling out." Charming said. Only now did Emma notice the panic in her dad's voice. She shut up and listened. "The queens got your mom. They didn't like what she did either. Maleficent was choking her with her magic. If Regina hadn't been walking by I don't know what would have happened." Charming explained. Emma felt like she'd just been dumped in a pool of icy cold water.

"Is she alright?" Emma croaked.

"She's in a bad way Em." Charming admitted. "She's in the hospital now."

"Say no more." Emma said, stuffing everything she needed into her bag. "I'm on my way." Emma hung up, her heart hammering in her chest. She'd been so stupid. What if something bad happened now? What if…what if her mom was gone before Emma could make things right? Emma refused to let that happen. She wasn't going to lose her mom.

Emma sped straight to the hospital and followed the staffs' directions to her mom's bed. By the time Emma had arrived, her mom had gained consciousness.

"Mom." Emma said, relieved. Snow smiled, surprised. Emma was talking to her? Emma came over and sat beside her, taking her hand. "Mom, I'm so sorry. I've been so stubborn. I should never have stopped talking to you, you were just trying to protect me. Now they've hurt you. I should have been there…"

"Hey." Snow said gently. She ran her thumb over Emma's hand. "I'm fine. I'd still rather it was me over you any day of the week." Emma smiled weakly. She was still sorry, but she was at least glad she was ok. This had been a real kick up the backside for her. She would never let her stubbornness come between her and her family again.