Marali's fault

A guest asked for a oneshot of Emma and Marali disobey their parents and get into trouble, leaving Emma hurt. David ends up being too harsh with Marali because she is the eldest and should have known better. Snow gets mad at him and makes him apologise to Marali because even though she's the eldest she's still just a kid.

Charming paced back and forth as Emma hissed in pain from Doc administering the mix of herbs to the wound on her shoulder.

"Just what were the pair of you thinking?" Charming asked, fighting to stop himself from raising his voice. "How many times have we told you both that you cannot leave the palace grounds unaccompanied?"

"Too many, that was kind of the point of this." Emma grumbled.

"Emma." Snow warned. Now was not the time for her twelve year old's sassy remarks.

"Well maybe now you can see why we tell you so often, Emma. You could have been way more seriously hurt. It's just luck your magic kicked in and you were able to transport you and your sister home before they got you to Regina. Do you think using your magic around her would have been so easy?" Charming asked her. Emma wanted to respond that she could take her, but one stern look from her mother told her that was a bad idea, so she clamped her mouth shut. Charming turned his focus to Emma's older sister Marali. "I am so disappointed with you." He told her. Marali looked shocked and hurt. He hadn't said any of this to Emma. Snow looked wary. She didn't think she was going to like where this was going. "I expect better from you, Marali. You should certainly have known better than to have some foolish idea to go traipsing into the forest without an escort. You know this land is crawling with people who want to get back at your mother and me. Now because of your lack of thinking, your little sister ended up getting hurt. Just thank your lucky stars it wasn't worse. You're supposed to be her big sister, Marali. We expect you to look out for her, not lead her astray." Charming said. Marali's eyes were brimming with tears. Emma felt awful, and not because her shoulder hurt, because this whole plan had been her idea in the first place.

"I-I…I'm sorry, Emma." Was all Marali could say before she fled the room. Charming went back to his pacing. Snow sighed. Well this just got a whole let messier.

"Doc, would you mind continuing to treat Emma in her own room please?" She asked her old friend.

"Certainly, Your Highness." Doc said with a bow. He then supported Emma out of the room. She was uncharacteristically quiet. Snow turned her attention to Charming once Emma and Doc were out of earshot.

"I know that you're angry Emma got hurt, I am too. I know you're frustrated that the girls didn't listen to us, and you're concerned that things like this will happen again, so am I. I know you were frightened when you saw Emma standing there with blood dripping from her arm, I was as well. However, none of those feelings make Emma's injury Marali's fault." Snow told him gently. She would never say any of this in front of either of her children. She and Charming were a team, and would always have a united front when it came to their girls. That didn't mean conversations like this didn't happen in private though. "We both know Emma is very strong willed. I'm prepared to bet my crown that this whole adventure was her idea and she roped Marali into it. Marali probably only agreed to try and make sure Emma stayed safe. So probably feels worse than both of us that she got hurt." Snow pointed out. Charming was beginning to see Snow's point, and was feeling terrible about how he'd spoken to his daughter. "She's just a child, Charming. She's only fourteen herself. She's not responsible for Emma, we are. We're responsible for both of them." Snow reminded him. Charming nodded in agreement. Snow placed a loving hand on his cheek. "It's not too late. Go talk to her. Sort this out." Snow pleaded with him. Charming pressed his lips lightly against his wife's. Of course he would sort this out. He quickly made his way to Marali's room, where he was sure she would have ran to. He knocked on the door. Marali quickly granted permission for whoever was there to enter, but her voice was croaky. When Charming came in, he saw her quickly wipe at her red eyes. His poor baby had been crying.

"Aw sweetheart." He said, heartbroken for her. He went over and sat on the bed beside her, pulling her into a cuddle.

"I-I'm sorry about Emma." Marali croaked against his arm. Charming shushed her, kissing the top of her head.

"Sweetheart, I'm the one who should be sorry. It's not your fault Emma got hurt. It's the person who attacked you that's to blame. They didn't get you, did they?" In all the commotion over Emma, Charming realised nobody had actually double checked Marali hadn't got hurt. Fortunately, she shook her head. "Good. I really am sorry, baby. I shouldn't have got angry with you. It's not really you I'm angry with. Yes, you both shouldn't have left here alone, and I hope this will be a lesson learned, but that doesn't make any of this your fault." Charming reassured her.

"Ok." Marali murmured against his shoulder. Charming gave her one final squeeze before getting up. He knew she still needed some space to calm herself down. "I'll come back when we have more news on Emma's shoulder." He promised her before going back to his own room. Snow met him with a questioning gaze. "It's all fixed." He assured her. Snow relaxed, coming over and wrapping her arms around her husband.

"Excellent. Now all we have to do is find those dark knights and sympathetically poke them with the sharp end of sword and arrows." Snow growled. Charming smiled. That, he wholeheartedly agreed with.