Hello : ) So here's the next chapter : ) I know it's a little short, but for now I want to keep the chapters at roughly this length or a little longer, until we get a little further into the story : )
I'd like to thank those who reviewed the last chapter. All the support people show this story is amazing and greatly appreciated : )
Please remember that Once Upon A Time is not mine, and I hope you enjoy this chapter : )
Their First Meeting, Again
In the time it took Emma to realise that her jaw was hanging wide open, Henry had easily side-stepped her, and was now walking into the living room of the apartment Emma had never called home.
"I'm sorry… what?!" she cried in shock.
Henry, pausing by the sofa, turned to look at her as she walked over to him, her eyes wide with panic.
Misinterpreting her disbelief, Henry heaved a sigh as he began to explain.
"Ten years ago, did you give up a baby for adoption?" he asked calmly.
Emma just stood there, staring at him, horror rising in her gut as she began to realise what was going on, why Henry didn't have any recognition of her in his eyes.
"That was me".
Emma stared at him, tears threatening to fall.
Her son didn't remember her… no… he had never met her yet.
THIS was their first meeting.
Because she had fallen through the time portal, none of it had happened yet.
But if that was true, where was her past self?
And for that matter, where was Hook? Had he managed to escape the portal's pull on him?
Eventually, after a drawn out speechless moment, Emma regained enough sense to realise that standing there gawping wasn't going to get her any answers.
She had to figure out what the hell was happening, but first, perhaps a moment to compose herself was in order, lest she start sobbing.
"Wait right there kid, I'll just be a moment" she said, forcing herself to be calm.
She turned on her heel and briskly walked into the bedroom, shutting the door behind her. Slumping against the wood, a choked sob escaped Emma, and she furiously rubbed at her eyes.
No. She would NOT cry.
But Henry didn't remember any of their time together.
No, it hadn't actually happened yet… oh god, what about her parents?! In this time, they were still cursed! The entire town was cursed! The curse wasn't yet broken!
She had to save them!
Practically flying across the room, Emma all but ripped herself out of her red dress and was mid-way through changing into a pair of jeans and a jumper when she paused, a new thought striking her as she looked into her full-length body mirror which hung on the wardrobe door.
She gently smushed her cheeks and examined her hair, running her hands up and down her sides as she tried to take in what had happened to her.
She could tell, even by a simple glance, that her body was different.
Whilst she had never been fat or anything but beautiful, Emma knew that this body wasn't as toned up or muscled as the one she'd had before going through the Time Portal.
She groaned as she realised what had happened, and where her past self was.
She was her past self.
She was definitely herself, she hadn't become somebody else, but this was the her that hadn't gone through any law enforcement training.
It was like her real self had merged into her past self's body, completely taking her over and retaining her memories of events that had happened… would happen… god, this was all so confusing!
"Hey, you have any juice?" Henry called from the living room.
Emma groaned again.
She didn't have time right now to just sit down and think. She had to try and deal with this mess that had become her life. She didn't have time to figure out some sort of plan.
Right now she had to get Henry back home and figure out how to get back to her own time.
"Never mind" Henry called again, "Found some".
Emma cursed under her breath.
She couldn't tell him, and that broke her heart.
But right now, Henry hadn't even been in the same room as her for a full two minutes.
If she started spouting off about how she was a time-traveller, she would most definitely scare him away… or would she?
Henry was the Truest Believer.
Perhaps she COULD tell him and he'd believe her… no, it was far too soon.
Maybe once she took him home and convinced him that she believed in him and the curse.
And she would, because this time, she WASN'T going to let him down.
Steeling herself for pretending not to know him for the next few hours, Emma quickly finished getting changed, adding her red leather jacket and boots to her outfit, and exited the room.
Henry, who was drinking juice straight from the bottle, set it down and looked at her in surprise.
"You changed your clothes" he commented in surprise.
Emma let out a chuckle.
"Observant kid. Yes I changed my clothes… because I need to take you home. I know for a fact that you got adopted and I'm sure your mother is worried sick about you" she replied.
Emma winced as she realised that right now, whatever semblance of friendship she and Regina had been developing, now hadn't happened either.
Which meant that she'd be back to hating Emma's guts again.
Terrific.
"I doubt that" Henry grumbled, before brightening up, "Wait, you mean you'll come home with me?"
Emma laughed out loud at that.
Oh, if only she had known how special her little boy was the first time around, she'd have never labelled him crazy, she'd have believed him straight away about the curse.
She would always regret that she hadn't.
"Well it's either that or I sit your butt on a bus, which you'll probably force to let you off at the nearest stop and you'll get another one right back to here" Emma smirked, "At least taking you myself ensures you get there safely".
"That's so cool!" Henry cried happily, "That's the whole reason I came here. I want you to come home with me".
"Might I ask why?" Emma 'asked'.
"I'm not sure you're ready yet" was Henry's reply.
Emma inwardly scoffed.
That was such a typical answer from Henry.
"Okay… whatever you say. Now, where's home?" she pretended to ask.
"Storybrooke. It's in Maine" Henry 'told' her.
"Storybrooke? As in… Storybook? What a fairy-tale name that is" Emma couldn't resist a bit of teasing.
Henry's eyes widened ever-so-slightly, but he apparently brushed her words off as a coincidence because he didn't comment on it, instead choosing to reply cautiously.
"I guess so. Maybe the person that named it loved books" he shrugged, trying, and failing, to be nonchalant.
Emma smirked.
Subtly was never Henry's strong point.
"Maybe" Emma agreed with a smile, "All righty then. Let's get you back to Storybrooke".
Spotting the wide smile on Henry's face as they exited the apartment, Emma felt a surge of… she wasn't sure what it was… hope, maybe?
Whatever it was, Emma suddenly felt that maybe this situation wasn't quite as dire as it had seemed before.
At least this curse hadn't made Henry hate her or anything.
Emma quickly decided that, by comparison, this ride too Storybrooke was even more awkward than the first time she had made this journey.
It was just… this was her son sitting next to her!
Her little boy that she'd broken a curse to save, had scaled a beanstalk and battled the evil queen's mother to get back to, had gone to Neverland to rescue… and now he had no idea about any of it.
None of it had ever happened.
It made Emma want to cry.
And the worst part was, she couldn't mention any of it. Not yet, or she'd freak Henry out big time.
And it hurt so badly.
She wanted to tell him and she couldn't!
And so they were driving in silence. Apparently it wasn't just grating on her nerves though, because Henry was quick to break it before it got to intense.
"I'm hungry" the boy announced suddenly, "Can we stop somewhere?"
"I don't think so kid" Emma chuckled, "How do you think it'll look if your parents have the cops looking out for you, and you're sitting in a diner with me? Do you think I wanna spend my night in jail?"
"Guess not" Henry muttered, and Emma smiled.
She reached into the side-compartment of the driver's door, and pulled out a bag of hard-boiled sweets.
"Here" she said, passing the bag to Henry.
"Thanks" he beamed enthusiastically.
He set the bag of sweets down on his storybook, which lay open in his lap.
Emma eyed it, and going with her gut feeling and her memories of this journey in the previous timeline, decided now was the time to bring it up.
"What's that?" she nodded at the book.
"I'm not sure you're ready yet" Henry told her seriously.
Emma smirked, unable to resist a bit of teasing.
"Well it's not my bedtime, but…" she smiled.
"That's not what I meant!" Henry whined, realising she was taking the mickey, "I just meant that… it's dangerous".
"Dangerous? What's so dangerous about fairy tales?" Emma, loathed that she already knew the dangers and couldn't even mention that, pretended to ask.
"They're not fairy tales. They're true" Henry told her, deadly serious, "Every story in this book actually happened".
"I see" Emma said slowly.
"I'm not lying!" Henry said quickly, defensively.
"Calm down kid, I never said you were" Emma chuckled.
"Good, because I'm not" Henry almost pouted.
Emma paused momentarily, thinking hard.
She may not be able to just blurt out the truth about the whole time travelling thing, but perhaps she could tweak this situation just a little bit to her own advantage.
"I'm gonna let you in on a little secret kid" she said, before she could question her decision, "There's not a lot I'm great at in life, but I have one skill. Let's call it a superpower. I can tell when anyone is lying and… as mad as it sounds… I don't think you are".
"Y-you believe me?" Henry gawped at her, almost speechless, "Nobody at home believes me".
"You've been shouting about this around this Storybrooke place?" Emma raised her eyebrows.
"People need to know the truth" Henry shrugged.
"Yeah, but kid, think about it. You're asking people to believe that fairy tales are real… that's a lot to swallow" Emma said gently.
"You believe" Henry stated.
"I believe you're not lying, there's a difference" Emma reminded him, "Look kid, all I'm saying is there's a more subtle way of getting people to listen to you than shouting louder because you think people aren't listening".
Henry frowned, looking thoughtful, before he smiled.
"You're pretty smart" he eventually remarked, "We'll need that for Operation Cobra".
"What's that?" Emma 'asked'.
"I'm not sure you're ready yet" Henry repeated.
Despite the situation she found herself in, Emma threw back her head and let out a long hard laugh.
And to her delight, she found that the car journey wasn't the slightest bit awkward anymore.
Emma couldn't help but smile slightly as she crossed the town line and drove her bug into Storybrooke.
She felt a strange feeling run through her body that momentarily disorientated her, before she realised what it was.
It was the first sparks of her magic beginning to flare up.
That was a thought, Emma mused silently.
Would she be able to use magic before the curse was broken?
Jefferson HAD said that she'd brought it with her, and so had August.
If she couldn't figure out a way back to the future, it was something to look into.
But right now she had to get Henry home.
That was more important at the moment.
"Okay, kid" Emma started, knowing she had to ask this obvious question for appearances' sake, "How about an address?"
"Forty-four Not Telling You Street" was the smart reply she received.
Emma slammed her foot on the breaks and got out of the bug, slamming the door behind her.
Her head jerked upwards as a fuse box on a power line above her head exploded in a shower of sparks.
What the hell?
Emma felt that magical tingle again, and glanced up at the fuse again, slowly putting the pieces together.
She couldn't have done that, could she?
Surely not.
But was that just a coincidence?
Or did she really have her magic back, BEFORE magic was brought by Rumplestiltskin?
She was forced to file the thought away for later inspection as Henry got out of the yellow bug too.
"Listen kid, this isn't a game" Emma started, getting the tiniest bit frustrated, "Your family must be worried sick and it's almost…" She looked up at the clock tower and saw its hands frozen in place once more, just more proof that she really had gone back in time, "8:15… how's that possible? I know for a fact you didn't even get to my place until after that".
"Wow. You are really smart" Henry smiled at her, "Nobody in this town's ever noticed, except me, and even I only noticed recently. That clock hasn't moved my whole life. Time's frozen here".
"Excuse me?" Emma pretended to be confused.
"The Evil Queen did it with her curse" Henry 'explained', "She sent everyone from the Enchanted Forest here".
"Hold on, this is the fairy tale thing again, yeah?" Emma asked, continuing once Henry nodded, "Let me get this straight… an Evil Queen sent a bunch of fairy tale characters here?"
"Yeah, and now they're trapped" Henry smiled, pleased she was keeping up.
"Okay… so they were cursed, and what… it brought them all here and froze them in time? Frozen in time, stuck in Storybrooke, Maine… not exactly what you'd expect a curse to do, but okay" Emma shrugged nonchalantly, keeping up her act.
"It's true!" Henry insisted, fearing she was doubting him.
"I never said it wasn't" Emma winked at him, and Henry visibly relaxed, "But, if this place is cursed, why don't all the fairy tale characters just leave?"
"They can't" Henry 'told' her, "If they try, bad things happen".
"Henry!" they heard someone calling.
Turning, Emma and Henry saw Archie Hopper, or more accurately, Jiminy Cricket, approaching with his Dalmatian, Pongo.
"What are you doing here?" he asked as he reached them, "Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine, Archie" Henry smiled up at him.
"Who's this?" Archie smiled at Emma, who returned it.
"I'm Emma, Emma Swan" she extended her hand and Archie wrung it warmly.
"Archie Hopper, the town's psychologist" he introduced himself, "Might I ask what you are doing with Henry, Miss Swan?"
"She's my mom, Archie" Henry piped up, and Archie's mouth fell open.
"Oh" Archie faltered.
Emma remembered with a jolt that he knew she'd given Henry up at birth.
"I see" Archie said slowly.
"You know where he lives?" Emma asked to change the subject.
"Yeah, sure. Just, ah, right up on Mifflin Street" Archie looked relieved for the change of subject too, "The Mayor's house is the biggest one on the block".
"You're the son of the Mayor?" Emma pretended to be shocked.
"Uh, maybe" Henry shrugged.
"Hey, where were you today, Henry?" Archie asked, "Because you missed your session".
"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I went on a field trip" Henry said apologetically.
Archie sighed and knelt down to Henry's level, looking him in the eye.
"Henry. What did I tell you about lying?" he asked in a gentle yet firm, almost parental tone, "Giving into one's dark side never accomplishes anything".
"Good advice" Emma commented, "Well, I really should be getting him home".
"Yeah, sure" Archie nodded, standing up straight, "Well, it was very nice to meet you Miss Swan. Have a good night and, uh, you be good, Henry".
And with that he resumed his walk with Pongo.
They watched him until he was out of sight, before Emma turned to Henry.
"So that's your shrink?" she asked playfully.
"I'm not crazy" Henry pouted.
"I didn't say that. Just, he doesn't exactly scream 'I'm a cursed fairy tale character' to me. Care to explain?" Emma 'asked'.
"He doesn't know he IS a fairy tale character, that's why. He can't help me, because it's him that needs help" Henry 'told' her.
"Hold on, are you saying that the curse, what, erased all his memories before bringing him here?" Emma 'asked'.
"Yep" Henry nodded, "But not just him. It's everyone. Nobody can remember who they really are".
"I guess it wouldn't be much of a curse if all it did was bring people to a more modern world. That's more of a blessing" Emma said slowly as she got back into the bug, "Okay kid, let's say I believe all this… for curiosity's sake… who's Archie supposed to be?"
"Jiminy Cricket" Henry replied as he got in and buckled his seatbelt.
"Right, the psychology thing" Emma smiled, "I guess that makes sense… what about you?"
"I'm not in the book, and neither are you. That why we're the only ones who can save everyone" Henry said as they drove off again.
And they would, Emma silently vowed.
She'd make damn sure of it.
And there we go : )
I know that not much has changed here from the original script, but some important stuff has. Emma is slowly laying the ground-work with Henry and believing in him, and that'll make some important differences to the timeline later on : )
What do people think about the possibility of Emma already having her magic?
Do you guys think I should run with that? It could mean a lot of changes to the timeline later on, but I'd love to here your opinions and thoughts on the matter before I decide if Emma should have her magic or not before the curse breaks : )
Anyway, thank you once again to those that reviewed the last chapter, and please leave another on your way out. Like I said, I love reading your thoughts and opinions, and I'd love to know what you think about the whole magic thing ; )
Until the next time, keep on reading : )