Disclamer: I don't own nor do I have any rights to the Once Upon A Time series, just my own characters and plots.
Storybrooke, current time.
She was here.
Snow heard her own heartbeat in her ears, going so incredibly fast.
Her daughter was standing right in front of her.
This was it. What they had been waiting for, what they'd been dreading.
She felt oddly nervous and relieved at the same time.
It was over. The curse was broken.
A laugh escaped her.
Next to her stood Charming, frozen still. His gaze was set on Emma, mouth slightly opened.
He couldn't believe it. This grown woman... that was his daughter. His Emma. The little bundle of joy he had fought for ever since he'd found out Snow was pregnant. The crying tiny human he'd barely seen before the curse had hit.
It seemed like yesterday.
Literally.
He had his memories as David Nolan, but – it was strange. As if all of his experience as David Nolan was a confusing dream that he was forced to live through but not allowed to participate in. Not allowed to interfere. He couldn't identify Regina as the Evil Queen, a woman who caused his family so much pain, he'd even been pleasant to her. He caused his own wife so much pain, he acted like a spineless coward – he couldn't even recognize his own daughter.
Who stood directly in front of him. Watching him and Snow with tight mouth, eyebrows crocked together as she frowned. She looked as if she wanted to run away.
A part of him could still recall, quite vividly as in his mind it had happened not even a day ago, her fretting in Snows arms. Her expression as she opened her eyes for the first time. How his chest tightened when he had seen her. He was having a similar feeling right now.
He also felt adrenalin rushing through his body – he was expecting danger. The curse had already happened – it had also already been broken, but his body as if it hadn't grasped it yet. He felt restless. Ready to pick up a sword and fight once more.
But also, watching Emma, his grown daughter… it was calming somehow. Nerve-wracking as hell, he won't deny that, but also calming. Seeing her in front of him, knowing she's safe – that was helping.
Snow was the one to pick up the courage to come closer first. Step by step, she started erasing the distance between them. Slowly, as if Emma would disappear if she made any sudden movement, her eyes still set on and studying every inch of Emma's face. And shaking, her hands moved up to cup her daughter's cheeks.
At first glance, she didn't resemble Snow very much, one might argue that they didn't look alike at all. But as Snow continued studying her, she could see it. Of course, Emma had her father's hair colour – and cheekbones as she noticed now. Overall, she took after Charming more in terms of looks. But she had her eyes, they had similar shade – and chin! She had her chin.
Snow felt indescribably happy about that random fact.
Under observation she could even detect some of her mother's features. The sharp lines and faint elegance, that was all Queen Eva.
Her eyes started to burn. She took a deep breath and in one swift motion embraced her.
At that, Charming finally found the strength to move and slowly stepped forward to hug her as well, entranced. His hand went up to Emma's head, stopping before he got close enough to touch her.
"You found us," Snow drag out, her voice strained as she attempted to hold back her cries.
Charming's vision was getting blurry. He swiftly pulled closer to both Emma and Snow, his head next to Emma's as he closed his eyes and let a tear escape. How could it be years since he was this close to his own child?
"Grandpa?"
His eyes flew open and he looked down. Henry was standing a few feet away, watching them with uncertainty.
Snow laughed again, in pure joy.
Charming felt his lips twitch as he tried to shake off the trance, he felt himself falling into once more. He'd had enough of driving in the back seat to last him a lifetime.
It was time to wake up.
Snow continued laughing breathily as she and Charming pulled away from Emma, who also couldn't help herself and smile.
Snow watched, with a grin so wide her cheeks started to strain, as Charming looked down at Henry with amused expression and reached out to pat him on the back, pulling him closer.
This was so surreal.
"Yeah, kid," he breathed out, his smile widening, "I suppose so."
So so surreal.
Henry let his grandpa hug him, feeling victorious.
He knew it! He'd been right! All that time no one believing him, people thinking he was crazy – delusional for trying to save his family. And now they were finally free. They would finally take him seriously.
He looked around and saw Mary Margaret – Snow White holding Emma's palms in hers, watching her with an intense look.
"She did it. She saved you," he said and looked up at Charming, who was still hugging him.
He knew it.
His smile widened.
He knew his mom was the saviour!
"She saved all of us," Snow added not moving her eyes from Emma. Watching her with admiration, she felt so incredibly proud. That feeling was so… natural.
It was surreal, that's what it was. A few hours ago, she gave birth and saw her daughter for the first time. She'd been a bit freaked out by the protectiveness she'd immediately felt, how there was an entirely new person she'd had a family bond with.
She had felt so alone, especially after both her mother's and father's deaths. She felt abandoned by everyone, a little bit betrayed if she were to be honest with herself. Like something was ripped away from her.
When she discovered she was pregnant she'd been so excited not only about being a mum, but also about having a blood family again. Her own family. Her new person – their new person.
"I – well..."
Snow felt her chest tighten as Emma spoke for the first time.
Not for the first time… what was her first word?
Emma was watching Snow uncertainly, lost for words. She looked to Henry and David and back to Mary Margaret.
Her parents.
She didn't know what to say. She didn't know how to act – how to feel.
This...
This wasn't something she'd expected. Not by a long shot – all she'd thought about was saving Henry. Nothing else mattered.
And now... standing in front of her were the people she'd come to know the last few weeks, people she'd come to call friends. Only, even if they looked the same – Mary Margaret Blanchard and David Nolan were gone now. These two were strangers to her.
But not really. Are your parents strangers?
Parents. A topic she'd felt very bitter about for years – since she was old enough to understand what that word meant, really. She thought she'd imagined every scenario there was of who they might be. Of how she would meet them. When she was a little girl, she'd waited on them to come rescue her. As a teenager she literally could not stop thinking about them, especially since she felt like she needed them more. Which was strange because logically, children surely needed their mum and dad more, compared to a teenager at least. But as a kid she hadn't really understood what exactly she needed or what she was missing. What she should have had. As a teenager on the other hand, she learnt all that observing others with less clouded mind.
As an adult, she'd gradually lost all hope she had of finding closure. Which didn't stop her from thinking about why she was abandoned, because she did think about it. Every day, she wondered.
And out of everything she'd imagined…
Freaking Snow White and Prince Charming for goodness's sake. And their reason for giving her up? The Evil Queen is casting a curse on us – quick, let's send our kid through a tree to another world so that she could rescue us all. Because that's logical.
David was losing himself again.
Staring at Emma, he knew it was nonsensical, but he could not help himself and look for any similarities there might be between her and the baby he'd held. 28 years ago. That night that happened 28 years ago. The night he became a father of two baby girls.
"What's ha-happening?" Snow cried out, voice shaking with pain.
"There is... there is another one," said Doc, sounding surprised.
"What?" Charming asked, wide eyed.
His head snapped up.
He let go of Henry and took a step closer to Emma, looking at her heatedly.
"Where is-"
He stopped breathing.
She was looking up at him with dark eyes, mouth slightly open, almost gaping, and her face grimaced at she did what Charming assumed was supposed to be a smile.
Panic started to crawl through his veins.
"Your... your sister. Your sister – where is she?"
He couldn't remember ever seeing her in Storybrooke.
Not once.
As he studied her face, he was hit with a feeling similar to déjà vu and continued to observe her, as if the answer was somewhere on her. And then it hit him. She had his mother's eyes.
Snow sharply breathed in.
Her daughter. She'd been so enamoured with Emma she hadn't even thought about...
What kind of mother forgets her own child?
She quickly searched her mind for any trace of her being mention by Emma.
She was in the storybook, Snow knew that. She was there, she'd seen a picture of her laying next to Emma with that eye-catching mane of hers.
But Emma never addressed her.
Snow was having trouble breathing.
She had held her a few hours ago!
She was squirming around, looking all over. Snow couldn't help but smile sadly at her before leaning down to place a kiss on her forehead as she had done with Emma. She closed her eyes and went to move away, when she felt a light touch on her cheek. Her eyes flew open and she saw the little one moving her hand next to her face before grabbing a loose strand of Snow's hair.
Emma slowly moved her head from David to Mary Margaret. Still disoriented, bewildered. It took her a second to catch what David was asking for.
She snapped her head to him, a lump forming in her throat.
"Rei... um, she..."
Snow took a sharp breath.
Rei.
"She…"
For a moment Emma thought about not telling them. She thought about saying that her sister was fine and just travelling around the world. Sparing them the pain she felt.
But then Henry caught her eye, who was watching her with slightly widened eyes. Emma imagined how eager he must be. He'd asked about Rei before, never getting any answers but never quite giving up. Not a quitter that one.
If it were her child, she would have wanted to know. She would have needed to know.
She cleared her throat hoping it would somehow help. It didn't.
She looked at Mary Margaret, who was now gripping her hands without realizing it, and halted again at that look she was wearing.
The lump in her throat grew bigger.
"She is…" Emma looked away and took a deep breath. "Rei has been missing for the last 12 years. I've been trying to find her but..."
She tried to speak quickly but her voice got higher as she talked.
She did not want to have this discussion.
"What?" Snow breathed out.
She let go of Emma's hands and her body went still. Emma glanced at her before quickly looking away.
"But… she... she was here?" Charming didn't understand.
He saw the wardrobe empty. She had to be here.
How… In what world would she manage to get to safety only to…
He watched Emma's face intensely. She tried to appear unfaced as much as she could. She didn't do a good job – like Snow, her expressions gave her away. He wanted to laugh at that.
But he found that he couldn't quite move.
"Well, we have to find her," said Henry, like it was the most obvious thing.
Emma looked at him, her expression softening.
"Kid..." she breathed out.
"No, no... Henry is right," Snow said slowly, her head subconsciously nodding as she looked into nothingness.
Yes. They would find her – they had to get as many information as they could, talk to Emma about everything that had happened, prepare to get out of the town…
Yes, they could do that.
She just needed to stop her heart from speeding.
She looked to Charming and saw he was staring at Emma, panicking, although desperately trying not to show it.
She turned to Emma.
"Henry is right. We are a family," she smiled at that. "and the curse is finally gone – thanks to you. And now… you aren't alone now. We-we are here and so…" Snow looked up to Charming, fidgeting.
She had thought she would have years before she would have to reason with her daughter.
Was she a difficult child ?
Not the time.
She shook her head and turned back to Emma.
"Now we get our family together – all of us. That's what we do best, we find each other. Always."
Henry smiled.
Emma looked away.
Charming kept his gaze on Emma before slowly looking to Snow.
How could she have so much hope, he'd never know. But it was her hope that told him to take both of their daughters to safety and as heart breaking as that decision had been, it also proved to be right. The wardrobe was supposed to only take one but somehow, some way, it had taken both Emma and – and Rei.
Snow turned at him and gave him a look. It was the 'it's going to be okay, trust me' look.
He had learned to trust that look.
He hoped she was right.
Emma observed them watching each other.
She didn't like the blind optimism. And she did not want to get into this right now, especially in front of the small group listening to their every word.
She eyed Leroy and his buddies before signing and interrupting Mary Margaret and David's moment.
"Now we should focus on what happened with the smoke."
David looked up and frown but before he could say anything he was interrupted.
"Magic."
Emma turned around and saw Mother Superior walking up to their little group.
"I can feel it." She came directly to David. Mary Margaret's face lid up and she walked to them and reached out to squeeze Mother Superior's hands in a 'welcome back' gesture.
Emma watched them, silent. Who was Mother Superior in Storyland again?
Henry passed Emma and went between Snow and David, wiggling through, walking towards Mother Superior in amazement.
"Magic? In Storybrooke?" he asked with a shocked face.
Mother Superior smiled and nodded her head.
"You're the Blue Fairy – do something magical!" Henry was excited.
Emma wanted to laugh. Blue Fairy, of course.
"It's not quite that simple, Henry. No wand, no fairy dust..." Mother Superior smiled emptily. "Matters are complicated now."
Grumpy stepped forward, angry.
"Let's go to the person responsible for bringing it," he said to Charming. "The Queen."
He crossed his arms. His brothers joined him nodding their heads.
Emma was standing by the side and frowned. She listened to them saying 'Let's go to the Queen' trying to wrap her mind around the fact that they were indeed talking about who had brought magic into the town.
She shook her head.
"No. Wait."
All the eyes turned to her.
She sighed.
"It wasn't Regina."
XxX
"Is there anything you want to ask us?"
Snow once again tried to engage in a conversation with Emma as they were marching the streets to Gold's shop. The whole group had decided to come and were walking behind the Charmings, giving them space.
"I mean I have so many questions, you must have as well," Snow continued, struggling for the right words.
Snow was dying to talk to Emma. Ask about Rei. About their life. About what had happened, how they grew up, what kind of relationship did they have.
How did Rei even look like?
"The only questions I have are for Mr. Gold," Emma said, looking straight ahead. She didn't even look behind her.
"Why did he double-cross me and what did he do to this town."
Snow shared a look with Charming.
"Um," Snow was confused.
She walked faster. Charming joined her as well and put his hand on Snow's back, both trying to catch up to Emma.
"Shouldn't… we… have a talk?" Snow tried again.
"About what?" Emma asked her casually and turned to Snow this time. As if asking about the weather.
"Us? You? Your… your sister?"
Emma raised her head higher.
"I mean… we want to know what happened and- and what… how- "
Emma interrupted her.
"Can we do that maybe… later," she waved her hand uncomfortably.
"Like, with a glass of wine... and several bottles," she added to herself and walked faster.
Snow looked to Charming for help and pushed him forward.
"It's a lot to take in, for all of us," he immediately said.
"We don't want to push," interrupted Snow quickly. "But we have waited for this moment for so long-"
Emma couldn't take it anymore and turned around.
"Yeah, so have I!"
The whole group stopped.
"I've thought about this moment my entire life," she breathed out looking from Mary Margaret to David, eyes wide.
"I've imagined who you might be… but of all the scenarios I've concocted, my parents being..."
Snow stilled and frowned as she watched daughter search for a word to call them.
"I... I just need a little time, that's... that's all," Emma said uncertainly.
What she really needed was the wine.
"Snow," David interrupted.
Snow slowly turned her head to him, eyes lingering on Emma. All her previous excitement gone.
Charming was looking at something behind Emma with a tense face. Snow looked the same direction.
A swarm of people emerged from the streets. They were all running and didn't seem very happy.
Emma turned as she heard the yelling just in time to see Archie dashing to them.
"There you are," he breathed out.
He moved closer to them, out of breath.
"Come with me, I need your help. Dr. Whale's whipped everyone to a frenzy. They're going to Regina's house," he said quickly, gesturing towards the crowd.
Emma looked past him to the people.
Yep, that's a frenzy alright.
"They're gonna kill her," he said, eyes wide.
Emma's eyes jumped to Snow and David. Would that really happen?
"Great, let's watch," Leroy said dryly.
Henry looked at him, upset, and turned to Emma.
"No. No. We cannot stoop to her level," Archie immediately shut him down and turned to Emma. "No matter who she is or what she's done, killing her is wrong."
Henry instantly joined.
"He's right. Please, she's still my mom," he said, desperately looking around.
Emma's expression softened.
She turned to Snow and David.
"We have to stop them," she said quietly, looking to Snow.
David quickly turned around to the rest of their group.
"If the Blue Fairy is right and magic is here, Regina could have her powers back." He looked at the ongoing crowd.
"They could be marching into a slaughter," he looked to Snow. They'd both seen their fair share of Regina's massacres.
Snow took a deep breath and raised an eyebrow at Charming. He nodded and ran first before the rest joined him.
XxX
When they got to the front gate of Regina's house, they saw a raging crowd pointing and egging someone in the front on. They ran faster, Emma getting to the front.
She saw Whale pushing Regina into a white column before her door, his hand going to her neck. She ran faster.
"Let her go!" Emma screamed and pushed through the people surrounding them.
"Let her go. Let her go!" She quickly got to Regina and Whale and took hold of Whale's hand and pushed it away.
He eyed her.
"Why should I listen to you?" he asked, unbothered.
Emma stared at him and almost narrowed her eyes.
"Because I am still the sheriff," she said.
David watched her not backing down. She reminded him of Snow.
Seeing all the people itching for action again, he quickly swooped in the front.
"And because she saved you," he immediately said and looked from Emma to the people closest to them. "All of you."
Some started listening.
Snow stood next to David, holding Henry close to her, watching the crowd sharply.
"And because no matter what Regina did, it does not justify this," she said.
Emma never stopped to look away from Whale, watching his every move.
"We are not murderers here," she said quietly.
Whale returned her look.
"Well, we're not from this world," he said, if a bit sarcastically.
"Yeah, well, you're in it now," Emma fired back.
David narrowed his eyes and quickly stepped forward to them.
"Okay, Whale, we're done," he said and went on to grab him. Whale immediately pushed back before David even touched him.
Regina, who'd been still backed into the column, rolled her eyes as Charming stepped in front of Whale, separating both her and Emma from him.
Here we go.
"Back off. You're not my prince," Whale said mockingly and looked over David with distaste.
Charming wanted to disagree but stopped himself. He'd never seen Doctor Whale before. Not in the Enchanted forest.
He searched over his face, not moving an inch.
"Who are you, Whale?"
Whale smirked a bit.
"That's my business."
David gave him a smile before taking a step forward.
"Well, my business is making sure this town doesn't go to hell."
Emma tilted her head slightly as she watched him. Quite the change from a man she had only witnessed break Mary Margaret's heart. She hadn't thought much of him, she even wondered why Mary Margaret was so taken with him, to be honest. He was undecisive and from what she'd seen, easily manipulated.
This man, however. Well, he was different.
"So whether or not I am your prince, isn't the issue," David spat, not taking his eyes off Whale.
Emma made a face at the word.
Prince, right. He was royalty.
"We have a lot to figure out and this isn't the way to do it," David spoke louder and firmer to the crowd.
He turned back to Whale and glared at him, almost daring him to go against him. Whale seemed ready to do so.
Snow rushed to the front.
"And Regina's death won't provide any answers," she spoke loudly before turned to Regina. Who had been uncommonly quiet.
Snow didn't know how to feel about her. Waking up, reuniting with Charming, being surrounded by the people closest to her – seeing Emma… it all just seemed to wake Snow more and suppress Mary Margaret. So much had been going on that she didn't even have the time to think about her life as Mary Margaret, she'd been ignoring it, really. Pretending it was a bad dream – long but just a dream. But that dream had been her life. He lived as Mary Margaret for years. 28 years, to be exact. Every day she had felt empty and she had no idea why. She had no idea her husband was so close, she had no idea her daughter was in driving distance – she didn't even know she had a daughter.
And all of that just came rushing back to her as she watched Regina standing there, unfazed.
"She needs to be looked up," Snow said suddenly.
Regina forced a smile as she listened to Snow defend her.
"For her safety, and more importantly, for ours."
Snow raised her head and tried not to clench her jaw. Not the best time to feel the pint up anger of 28 years, especially with her daughter and grandson watching. Oh, and the group of people who would cheer her for loosing control.
Regina pushed herself from the column, straightened her posture and rolled her eyes.
She was missing the curse already.
XxX
David pushed Regina in the cell and slammed the door with a loud shriek. Regina gritted her teeth and tried to compose herself as she turned around. She did not want the smug shepherd to see he was getting to her.
"So I'm a prisoner now," she said.
David ignored her.
"The curse it broken, why didn't we go back?"
Going back to the Enchanted forest was something everyone assumed would happen when the curse broke. The fact that nothing of the sort had happened yet was fortunate for him, seeing as he had a daughter to find in the outside world, but he knew that with magic, he couldn't be sure of anything.
He needed more information. He needed to know if a big portal was coming their way and would swoop everyone back home or if they would spontaneously start disappearing one by one. Or if they were safe and set here.
"Because there's nothing to go back to," Regina said easily.
Snow turned to a side, trying to not let her face express what she was thinking. Regina watched her.
"That land is gone."
David stared at her for any sign of her lying. She turned to look at him, her face still.
He hadn't even considered that. The curse, all everyone ever talked about was it taking them away, to a cruel world, for them to suffer. Be separated from the people they love, not even being aware of it happening. No one had ever mentioned the possibility of it evaporating their home, too.
Snow looked away and felt her face twitch. She was thinking similarly.
She turned to David.
"We should get to Gold," she said quietly.
Surly he would know.
David looked at Regina again. She had to be lying.
But how could he be certain?
He put a hand at Henry's shoulder and pulled him towards the exit.
Regina kept her face hard and just watched as they all walked out with Henry in the front. Not even an hour of the curse being broken, and they had already taken her son.
When they were out of sight, she immediately went to the locked door.
She had to get out of here.
XxX
"Keep him safe, Ruby."
Charming watched as Emma leaned forward to the opened window and ruffled Henry's hair. Henry made a face at her, which she returned, before she moved away as the car started to move.
He wanted to smile.
But his head couldn't stop thinking about his daughter. Rei, he reminded himself.
As he studied her face, he was hit with a feeling similar to déjà vu and continued to observe her, as if the answer was somewhere on her. And then it hit him. She had his mother's eyes.
He kept going back to that. He kept getting flashes of her.
He felt restless. Wanting to punch something, someone – anyone.
He pushed back a scoff. As if finding someone he loved was that easy.
He sighed and rubbed his eyes.
Just the fact that he had no idea where she was – what she looked like even… it was driving him crazy. All of this was driving him crazy. But he knew he had to wait, he had to focus on one thing at a time. First, the whole mess with the Enchanted forest, if what Regina had said was the truth. He wouldn't put it past her to lie just to screw with them.
Then he could put all of his energy on finding Rei.
It would help no one if he wasn't focused and just delayed everything. He had to pull himself together and get a move on.
He took a deep breath. How had Snow not have a breakdown yet, this was maddening.
He looked to her and chuckled. Of course.
"Don't push it, Snow," he muttered to her as he saw Emma walking back to them.
"I won't," Snow said with an unusually high voice.
The corner of his mouth lifted.
Emma waved at Henry as he rode off and stepped to them.
"You guys ready?" Emma asked.
"We need to talk."
David closed his eyes and chuckled. Record time.
Emma's eyes widened a bit. She blinked and almost turned back around.
"I... well, I don't... I don't wanna talk," she finally said strongly.
"Well, I do."
Emma opened and closed her mouth at that.
"Okay. Gold can wait. I can't," Snow continued. She acted like she might burst.
Emma looked down.
"And, you're my daughter and... I want to talk to you." Snow took a deep breath and smiled
Emma still wasn't looking at her and Snow started to get nervous.
"I know we have talked, but… we didn't know that we were talking..."
David shook his head and rubbed his face, not saying anything. Emma watched him.
"And we talked about things we probably shouldn't have even talked about... one-night stands and alike," Snow stopped herself and averted her eyes.
Charming's head shot up.
"One-night stands?" he repeated.
"Whale," Snow shushed him.
Emma closed her yes.
"Whale?!"
"We were cursed," Snow waved her hand.
David opened and closed his mouth.
"That is neither here nor there. The point is," she ignored David and focused on Emma, who looked like she'd rather fight a dragon again.
"We did not know that we were mother and daughter and now we do, and so... please let's talk."
She was whispering towards the end. Emma watched her for a bit.
"Okay," Emma said. Partly to stop this monologue.
She signed.
"What do you wanna talk about?"
Snow smiled.
Of course, she wanted to talk about Rei. God, she had so many questions…
But how do you ask about your daughter's –
"Rei has been missing for the last 12 years. I've been trying to find her but..."
– disappearance?
Her chest tightened.
Kidnapping?
"Your sister… I – she… how – "
"I don't want to… to discuss her. Right now. We should – we should go to Gold." Emma looked away and stepped forward to leave.
"No – wait!" Snow moved to grab her, but Emma flinched before she could touch her. Snow pulled her hand back.
There was an awkward pause.
David moved closer to Snow and carefully watched Emma, who was looking away.
"I agree," he started quietly. "We should talk to Gold. We… we need to figure this out – what his intentions are, what's going to happen to us…" He breathed out. "But we do need to talk about Rei."
That was the first time he said his daughter's name aloud.
Emma looked to him.
"Maybe not right now. But soon. We deserve to know," he added quietly, his eyes big.
Emma pushed back a sigh. She knew he was right.
"Okay, I – we can talk after. After we deal with… this."
David nodded and smiled at her. She didn't know how to feel about the look he was giving her.
Snow watched them anxiously. Emma was still frowning but nodded at David anyway and they both moved to go to Gold's shop.
Snow swallowed.
"Wait!"
They both turned around.
Emma had her head tilted and avoided Snow's look.
"Okay. I just – I need to know."
"Snow…"
Snow ignored him.
"We can talk about Rei," she swallowed. "Later. Okay? But right now, I just, I need to know why you're…" she stopped herself.
Emma looked at her.
"We're together, finally... and I understand, I understand that this is a difficult situation but," she took a deep breath. "I can't help feeling as if… you are not… happy about it. Us, being here – being together."
"Oh, I am," Emma quickly said and took a step forward.
"But… see…"
Both David and Snow watched her intensely.
She took a deep breath and faced them head on.
"Here's the thing. No matter what the circumstances… for 28 years I only knew one thing... that my parent sent me away."
Snow was quick to answer.
"We did that... to give you your best chance."
Emma watched as Mary Margaret smiled, looking somewhat… proud? Pleased?
She didn't share that sentiment.
"You did it for everyone. Because that's who you are… leader, heroes… princes and princesses," she struggled to even say that ridiculous concept.
"And... that's great and... and amazing and... wonderful." She signed. "But it doesn't change the fact that… our entire lives... we've felt alone."
This was one of the first pieces of information both Snow and David learnt about their daughters' lives.
Snow raised her head as she felt a lump in her throat and pressed her lips together before swallowing.
"But if we hadn't sent you away… you would have been cursed too," she said with humourless chuckle.
Emma looked at her and gave her a sad smile.
"But we would have been together," she looked at David before going back to Snow. "Which curse is worse?"
No answer.
Emma signed.
"Come on. Let's... let's go find Gold."
This time she left before they could stop her.
Both Snow and Charming tried to search for something to say as she was walking away but there was nothing.
What could they say?
She was right.
Hello, here is another chapter. Hope you enjoy it, Charmings reunions can be a bit chaotic…
Again, I appreciate any comments you've got!