I need my mom again

KatCS15 asked for a oneshot of Emma being the one to talk Snow into being herself again instead of Regina in 5x13.

Thatonegirl: I've already written Henry having a twin who ended up in the system.

I know I sound like a broken record now, believe me, I hate saying it just as much. No matter where you request from, if you're requesting a sequel could you PLEASE give the chapter name AND number? Otherwise it ain't getting written! I'm gonna start greetin if I have to say it again :L

Emma had never seen her mom looking so hopeless. She was always the one who seemed to rally the group together, remind them all that there was always a reason to keep fighting. Now here she was, sitting on the Underworld equivalent of Emma's bed, and had clearly given up.

"Mom?" Emma asked. Nothing. "Mom, come on. We have to find him." Emma told her. She watched her mom sigh, defeated. She shook her head slightly.

"I can't help you." She said, her heart breaking. She wanted to be able to help her daughter, but she just couldn't.

"Mom, you can't just quit…"

"I'm not quitting, I'm being practical." Snow responded to her. Maybe she had been wrong to give Emma false hope. Emma raised her eyebrow. She sat on the edge of the bed.

"That's not exactly your style, mom." She said gently. Snow looked over to her.

"Emma I'm so sorry." She said. Emma was confused.

"Why?" She asked.

"This is all my fault." Snow said quietly. "I thought I was doing the right thing. Hercules was destined to kill Cerberus. I thought it would help us get to him but now…" Snow couldn't finish her sentence.

"Now is not the time to just quit." Emma finished for her. "How many times have you and dad been in a situation where it looked like all was lost? You've never given up before." Emma pointed out. Snow gave a small nod with a pained expression. It wasn't as easy as Henry's book made it out to be.

"I lost my kingdom." Snow told her. "Had a curse cast over everyone in it. I lost you for twenty eight years…"

"And then you found me." Emma reminded her before Snow lost herself in a spiral of self-pity. Emma reached out and placed her hand over her mother's.

"All I ever did was the hope speeches, Emma." Snow said sadly. "What good is that?"

"Ok, so maybe now isn't the time for the inspirational speech." Emma agreed. "But those were never Snow White's speciality; they were Mary Margaret's. I might have needed them once upon a time when I needed a friend, but I need more than that now. I need, we need, Snow White." Emma sought out her mom's eyes. "I need my mom." Something about the vulnerability in Emma's voice brought Snow out of her cloud of despair. She looked up to meet Emma's gaze. Emma was right. What was she doing up here, feeling sorry for herself? She wasn't here for herself, she was here for Emma. Her daughter needed her to be strong. So that was exactly what she was going to be. Snow leaned forward and pulled Emma into a hug.

"I needed that." Snow admitted.

"I thought you might." Emma murmured from her shoulder. Snow chuckled, pulling out of the hug. She rested a hand on Emma's cheek, looking at her proudly. "I thought the mothers were meant to give the pep talks?" Snow joked. Emma laughed.

"A bit of role reversal every once in a while is good for you." Emma said, getting up. "Should we go down now and see what's to be done next." Snow gave a lighter smile as she nodded and got up.

"I think that's a great idea."