Before we get started just a quick note for those who also read I Won't Let Go: I've gotten some concerned reviews that I've forgotten about it or something. I haven't, I promise. I just am having trouble putting my thoughts into words on it. I hope to have it up soon, I promise! That story is like my baby; I'm not neglecting it. =) On another note, I'm not really sure how much indoor plumbing the fairytale lands are supposed to have, but just pretend it's a luxury the royals have. The rest of this, you may want to skip to the chapter because it's not as pleasant. In regards to the guest who also accused me of favoring Snow: I would've actually taken your comment seriously if you ended it in other ways Charming and Emma looked alike, but considering you accused me of favoring Snow when Emma's parent interaction in the last chapter was 95% her father, I just laugh. I also suspect you're the same guest that goes around trolling stories accusing people of favoring Snow because they're always worded the same. There is no favoring in this story, just because in one chapter there's some bonding with one parent.
Chapter Seven: A Land Without Magic
Emma woke up the next morning and almost felt like everything the day before had been a dream. Then she rolled over and nearly collided with August's chest. A quick look around the room confirmed that it had indeed been her reality. She was in Storybrooke.
With her birth parents.
Emma blinked a few times and climbed out of the bed, she had fallen asleep in her dress and her hair was a mess, she could feel that without even looking in the mirror.
Why are we still here?
Grumpy's words echoed through Emma's head. Why were they all still there? She wasn't sure how the curse breaking was supposed to go, but it made sense that they would all return to Misthaven. Now they were all stuck in a land without magic.
Emma looked down at her hands. With all the stress, it was a miracle she hadn't had a magical meltdown. She decided to attempt a simple spell, to just change her outfit and it didn't work. She attempted to open the window, once again nothing. What Blue had said was true, there really was no magic in this world.
So how the hell were they supposed to get back?
"Em?" August's tired voice carried from the bed. She turned around and gave him a small smile. It was her own fault that they were trapped in this place. In her mind, she should've thought it out better, she should've planned something. Grabbed another bean, found a way to secure a portal. She was in no rush to get back to the kingdom that had lied to her, her entire life, but she knew that the town was going to be anxious to get back to where they came from. August didn't deserve any of it. "What's going on in that head of yours?"
"Nothing," she lied as she sat down on the edge of the bed. August sat up, giving her a knowing look.
"You forget I know all about lying."
"I'm fine, really. I didn't think you were going to spend the night."
"You fell asleep in the middle of a sentence and I wasn't about to leave you."
Emma nodded. "I'm sure Snow called your father, so he won't worry."
August moved closer to her, putting an arm around her. "Talk to me, we don't keep secrets from each other." Emma's green eyes cast him a Look and he sighed. "Well, outside that."
"My magic…it doesn't work here."
"Blue said that was going to be the case."
"I know, but that means we're stuck here."
"Not necessarily. Maybe Regina brought over some items that could help us get back."
"Oh yeah, let's go ask the woman who cursed our families to just hand over a way for us to get back home. I'm sure if we say please and thank you, she's bound to do it," Emma replied with an eye roll.
August chuckled. "Well there's the Emma I know and love."
"Seriously, Auggie. Why did I do this? I mean…I'm glad I broke this curse but I should've thought about it more. Found another bean, secured a portal. I didn't know what I was thinking. Now we're all stuck here and…"
"Hey," August interrupted, holding up a hand. "It's going to be okay. We're going to find a way back to Misthaven, one way or another. It's not your fault or your responsibility. Your job as the savior was to break the curse, that's it."
"Did you not see how everyone looked at me yesterday when Snow introduced me to the crowd?" Emma could still see their faces. They were staring at her with this great anticipation, as if she was going to be able to solve all of their problems. "I think it's more than that."
"You won't have to do it alone. You have me, Snow, Charming…" He trailed off when he saw her face. He understood how she felt. The overwhelming sensation, the anxiety coming on. Having the weight of the world thrust on your shoulders and you don't even know how to begin to handle it. It was exactly what he had felt every day for the past 16 years. "It's going to be okay," he repeated, pressing a kiss to her temple. She let out a small sigh and he could see her lips going into a slight frustrated pout, the same one she got when she was little and couldn't reach something or play with what her older siblings were.
"We should go downstairs," she announced, finally. "Before Snow and Charming get worried."
Emma pushed herself up off the bed and August followed her down the stairs. To her surprise, the king and queen were still fast asleep in their bed. The princess shrugged.
"Or they're still sleeping. Thought he would've had enough over the past 16 years."
August snorted. "Guess not."
Emma's eyes cast to the bags that Snow had brought in the night prior, they were piled up in the kitchen. She had seen a shower during her tour of the loft, it looked a little different than the one where she was from, but she'd give it a shot none the less. She definitely could use one. "I guess I should shower and change…I think we're supposed to have a meeting today."
"A meeting? For what?"
"I don't know, how to proceed I guess." Emma shrugged.
August slowly nodded. "I should probably head back to my papa's too. I'll see you at the meeting."
Once again, it was clear the two were apprehensive about leaving the other, but they knew it wouldn't be too long. After another quick hug, he was gone and she sorted through the bags. Lots of pants, she noticed. Typically, she'd only wear them for riding or if it was going to be a slow day at the palace. Seemed better than some skirt, so she pulled out a pair along with a red buttoned down short sleeved shirt. Once in the bathroom, she came across some strawberry scented soap that was in a strange tube labeled "body wash".
"Can't hurt," she mumbled.
Snow awoke to the sound of the shower running. Rolling over in bed, she saw Charming was still sound asleep, so she figured it was Emma. Sitting up and stretching, she looked around at the loft before her. For 16 years it had been home to her. She had been all alone, reliving the same day over most of the time, though it didn't seem out of the ordinary for her. She was a teacher at the elementary school and then she would go and visit Charming. Dinner at Granny's most nights before heading home…alone. That made sense. Regina blamed her for her having to be alone. Though, at the same time, her step-mother had also been alone during all this time. Yes, she had power but Snow had seldom see her date. Had this really been everything she had been imagining all this time? After all, what is victory without someone to share it with?
Snow headed into the kitchen and started on breakfast. Charming was always a heavy sleeper, though typically he rose early due to his shepherd days. At the same time, she figured the day before had been a lot on all of them. The meeting today would hopefully get the town to settle down for a bit and then there were some people she had to talk to. Regina could wait, she had cursed them all for so long, she could stand to be locked up for a while.
Blue and Geppetto couldn't. She knew the latter was going to be tough. Even if Blue hadn't told them, he still should have. Yet, he was also the father of Emma's brother. They weren't going to punish them for what they had done, there would be no point in that, but a talk still had to be had. She hadn't expected this from the carpenter. He was always so kind, he built things for them all the time. They had been so kind to him when Pinocchio became a real boy.
Blue, she was starting to realize, this wasn't much of a surprise. She always seemed to show up at the most random of times. Grumpy had always seemed to have a vendetta against her because of Nova and he didn't seem to be the only one. She said that she cared about people's happiness and she always seemed to be doing things for the greater good but how was any of what went down a result of that? One of them could've gone with Emma, they could've been able to raise her. It was proven that they didn't have to wait the original 28 years to break the curse either, she could've found a way to Storybrooke with Emma when she was still little.
None of it was fair. Her daughter wasn't calling her "Mom". And she understood why, she wasn't sure she would if she was in Emma's shoes either. She already had parents. They might have been dead, but Snow understood better than anyone the pain of losing the people who raised you.
Eventually, the shower stopped and a few minutes later, Emma emerged through the kitchen entrance. Her curls were still a little damp, but she was in fresh clothes. Snow couldn't help but stare at her again. This was her little girl, her beautiful little girl.
"Good morning," Snow said when she finally stepped out of it. Emma gave her a faint smile.
"Good morning. I um, hung my dress up, I wasn't sure what to do with it?"
"I can do your laundry, no problem. Though, I'm not sure how equipped this world is to deal with that type of outfit," Snow nervously laughed a little.
"It's fine." Emma lowered herself down on the stool at the island. "August went back to Geppetto's."
"Oh. We'll see them at the meeting, yes?"
"I'm sure." She could see Snow was holding back from saying something. "It's okay…I get it. You have to talk to him."
Snow's face softened a bit. "I wish things didn't have to be so awkward."
"You didn't decide any of it…he and Blue did."
The queen was silent for a moment as she scrambled the eggs in the pan. "You have to know Emma; we didn't want to put you through the wardrobe. Your father, his first thought was at least we'd be cursed together. I just…I had to give you your best chance."
"I understand," Emma whispered, causing Snow's eyebrow to rise. "Look…even my mother put it in her letter. You didn't have a choice. I just…I'm not ready to talk about it right now. I know you probably do, but just know that I understand."
Snow nodded. She didn't want to push. They'd have all the time in the world to talk about what they needed to. "Okay. I do want to get to know you."
"I want to know you too." Emma wasn't sure as what yet, if she could ever look at them like her parents, but she did want to know them.
Snow smiled. "Great."
Movement could be heard from the living room/master bedroom area and a minute later, Charming appeared in the kitchen. He gave the girls a smile.
"Everyone sleep well?" He asked, not sure what else to say.
Emma nodded. "Yeah. Surprise you slept at all, considering you just took a 16-year nap."
David laughed. She had his tact. "What can I say? You can never have too much sleep."
"I guess that's true." She smiled a bit as he sat down on the stool beside her. Snow put the food onto some plates, pouring what she had been working on in a separate pan into some mugs. "What's this?"
"Hot chocolate," Snow replied. She grabbed some whipped cream and added it to the top, handing it over. "It's just a favorite of ours." She smiled at Charming, who grinned back, happy that she remembered. "Do you like that?"
"Love it," Emma said. She saw that Snow was taking out a little plastic bottle labeled "cinnamon". "You put cinnamon in your cocoa too?"
"Yeah," Snow beamed. "It makes it taste that much better."
"My family always found it was weird how much I loved it," Emma's smile was becoming wider and more genuine. "Even my horse, his name is Cinnamon."
"You have a horse?" Charming asked. He wasn't sure why he was so surprised. He knew it wasn't out of the ordinary for royals to have them, he had just always pictured teaching Emma how to ride one. He had one picked out for her already…he wondered if he had made it through with the curse.
Emma nodded. "I got him as a birthday present when I was 4. He's brown, with a little white star on his forehead. I go riding all the time…or I used to."
Snow caught the look on David's face. A mixture of pride and sadness was there. She understood and reached over, squeezing his hand.
"I had a horse as well. I've been riding since I was about 10," Snow said to break the quiet as she ate her breakfast. "It's lots of fun." She didn't add that riding was the way she had met Regina.
"I hope he's okay," Emma mumbled. They had been driven in a carriage to Misthaven, so she knew the one that took them would be returned once the driver realized they had disappeared. She hoped the stable hands were looking after him.
"I'm sure he will be," Snow's words interrupted her thoughts.
Emma nodded. "So, this meeting…what exactly is going to be said exactly?"
Charming set his mug down. "How we're going to proceed. I know we all want to try to find a way to get back to the Enchanted Forest, but in the meantime we can't have things going haywire."
"Who was in charge before the curse was broken?" The blonde asked Snow.
"Regina," the woman replied with a slight frown. "But we'll step up as rulers."
"We just need to keep peace, make sure everyone knows that we're safe here. From what Snow has told me, no outsiders can come in, everyone here is from our land. The only way to get through is if you are," David continued.
"We just need to give people hope," Snow said, the frown now gone and she was smiling again.
Hope. Emma didn't understand how any of them had hope, but she wasn't going to pick a fight so soon.
"You're coming, of course," Snow added.
Emma nodded. "I am the savior after all."
"We just…we're not sure how much we want you out of our sight."
The blonde bit her lip. "I can look after myself."
"I'm sure you can. We just would feel more comfortable, you're new to this place and all."
"Regina's locked up. We should all be fine."
"Regina isn't our only threat. There are others that were imprisoned that are free now as a result of the curse being broken. We can't have you getting hurt."
Emma let out a long sigh. She knew they cared, but she didn't understand how they could so much already. They had just been reunited. Then again, August had always been like that. She was just hoping for some breathing room. She had found ways to sneak out in the past, she would do it again. Her goal was to not make these people think she was difficult to handle. What if they just wanted her help in getting them home? What if they weren't really looking for a relationship with her? After all she was 16. They were still in the bodies of what appeared to be people in their late 20s. They could have another baby, if it was what they really wanted. One who they wouldn't have to put through a magical wardrobe.
After breakfast, David and Snow took turns using the shower to get ready. Emma wandered around the loft, looking at everything. She walked over to the T.V and pressed a button, it suddenly coming to life. She jumped and let out a tiny yelp at the sudden picture that came across the screen. Snow appeared from the bathroom, changed and giggled a bit.
"What is this? Some sort of magic brought over?" Emma asked.
Snow laughed. "It's a T.V. Kinda like watching a live show," she explained, kindly.
"Oh." Emma turned red. "Sorry."
"No, it's quite alright. I have fake memories of knowing about all this stuff."
"How does that work exactly. I mean…what did you think all these years?"
Snow's lips moved together as she thought about it. "I was a schoolteacher, went to a nearby place for college…" She realized that Emma probably had no idea what that was. "It's like higher education, like vocational training." The blonde nodded, catching on. "As for everything else, parents had died, no siblings." She shrugged. "Not far off from the truth."
"Your parents passed away? I'm so sorry." Emma felt terribly for her. She understood how she felt about it.
Snow smiled a little. "Thank you. My mother died when I was young, my father when I was a little older. Actually, that's what I need to explain to you…Regina, she's sort of my step-mother."
"What?" Emma's eyes nearly popped out of her head. The person responsible for it all…had been her biological mother's step-mom?
The queen nodded a little. "Yes, she's only about 7 or 8 years older than I."
"Why would she do this to her own step-daughter?"
Snow bit her lip. "I was 10 when I met her. At the time, she was a princess in her own kingdom. Her mother was very manipulative and cruel, though I didn't know that at the time, I had never even known her. Regina was sneaking around with a stable boy. She saved me from getting hurt by my horse." She winced. "Anyway, my father was very grateful for that and wanted to marry her."
"But she was in love with the stable boy," Emma could tell this wasn't going to go well.
"I found out and Regina explained it was true love, that she was going to run away with him. I wasn't going to say anything but her mother came, she…she manipulated me into telling her. I swear she already knew. Anyway, it didn't end well. Regina's mother killed the stable boy and Regina became my step-mother. I didn't find out that any of this happened for many years after."
Emma digested all of the information, trying to understand all of this. So, Regina was angry with Snow because she didn't keep a secret. A 10-year-old not keeping a secret. Was that really so shocking? Plus, Snow said she was manipulated into telling the other woman about all of it.
"This…this makes no sense. Regina set this whole curse because you, at 10 years old, couldn't keep a secret?" Snow nodded, biting down on her lip. "That is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard and this is coming from the girl who just found about this whole crazy curse a few days ago."
"So, you don't…blame me?"
"Blame you?" Emma looked at her curiously. "How old are you now?"
"28….well, I was before the curse."
"So, you're telling me this woman held a grudge for 18 years against you?" Snow didn't even have to respond. "We were separated…because of something like this…I can't…" She shook her head. "And she's locked up?"
"Graham made sure of it," Snow assured her.
"Good." Emma let the anger wash over her. She had heard of villains doing things for all sorts of reason, but this one? Didn't come close to even making any sense.
Snow put a hand on her shoulder, she understood the anger, the confusion. She felt it all. Though underneath, she would always feel guilt. If she had just kept the damn secret, none of it would've happened. Regina deserved a happy ending, she had been such a sweet person before all of it went down. Snow blamed herself for her descent into evil.
Emma glanced down at her hand and gave her a small smile. She didn't want to have an outburst in front of her, not yet. Gently she pulled away and pushed her hair out of her face.
"Will you um, teach me how this weird thing works?" She gestured to the T.V. Snow agreed, knowing both needed to get off the subject for the moment.
They all spent the morning learning about the various technology in the apartment. Around 11:45, they left for the town hall. Emma helped them set up the chairs, unsure of how many would actually show up. She was surprised when it seemed to be about every person from the crowd the day before. August sat up front with Geppetto and Jiminy. Emma smiled at him from the front. Before they could even get started, Grumpy lead the dwarves over, holding Sneezy by the collar.
"Can't this wait?" Charming asked.
"No. We wanted to see if any of us could cross over the town line," the dwarf explained. "So, Sneezy volunteered. He doesn't remember his real self; he thinks he's Mr. Clark again."
"I don't think!" The other dwarf shot back. "Now let me go! I have to get back to the pharmacy!"
Emma stared at them. "You just decided to test it for yourself without checking with anyone?"
"I'm sorry princess," Grumpy bit back. "I didn't realize you were the boss."
"Don't talk to her that way," Snow told her brother, her voice warning. "We'll sort this, just get Sneezy to sit down."
"My name is Mr. Clark," Sneezy rebutted as the dwarves lead him over to a corner of the room.
"Now you all see, we have to stay in town," Charming announced to the room. He didn't agree with how the dwarves had handled it either, but he couldn't say he was surprised. "Unless you want to lose your memories again, you have to stay here. We are all safe and protected from Regina."
"Why are we still here?" A blonde asked from her seat. The king instantly recognized her as his ex-fiancé, Abigail, the daughter of King Midas.
"We don't know."
"We're going to find a way home," Snow assured them. "In the meantime, as I said yesterday, we have to keep up this town. We can't let it go to hell in a handbasket just because we're all in a tizzy."
"But Regina was our mayor," Jiminy pointed out.
"We're going to be the leaders now; we'll keep all of you safe. I know this is a strange land, but for a good percentage of us, we have false memories and we'll do just fine until we can return home."
"Does anyone have any concerns?" Charming asked once his wife had finished.
Many people did, about how their society would work and just what they would do to try to find a way home. The next order of business was assuring that indeed everyone had a place to stay in the meantime, it wouldn't be surprising to Snow and Charming if Regina had cursed them with nowhere to go. After sorting that out, there was some more discussion of keeping Regina's cell guarded and looking out for potential threats. For example, no one had seen Rumpelstiltskin since the curse broke and his shop he had run during the curse was closed. There may have been no magic in the land, but they were going to try to keep an eye on him, see what he possibly had up his sleeve.
Emma noticed how aggressive the townspeople seemed to be. She had listened in on meetings between her parents and different traders in the past, had heard them address large crowds and while there were some who complained, never this many who doubted anything. Snow and Charming were authoritative yet kind during the whole thing. She understood some were just disgruntled and wanted to go home, but a few kept interrupting the rulers and many kept glancing at her as if they expected her to say something. She hated the attention on herself. Luckily, Snow and Charming had anticipated that and didn't plan on having her address the crowd. That was their job. She was just standing with them as their daughter.
After a couple of hours, the meeting finally ended. A few people lingered, Geppetto, August and Blue the ones who did. The three of them approached Snow, Charming and Emma once Abigail and Frederick were done catching up with them. Emma was just starting to get a feel of her biological parents' love story and it already seemed unusual.
"August, Emma, can we have a moment alone with Blue and Geppetto, please?" Snow asked, her voice still kind. The two nodded and headed over to the buffet tables that had been set up. (Granny had been kind enough to cater the meeting.)
Geppetto was shifting nervously in his spot while Blue just stood there, pretending to be oblivious to what was going on. Snow drew back a deep breath, how could see be so coy? She knew what she did.
"We need to talk," Charming said, finally. "We know that at the end of the day, Regina is responsible for the curse and it would've happened regardless of what the two of you did. But you played a role in our family being separated. This can't just be ignored."
Uh oh…we will see how this talk goes in the next chapter, how do you all want it to go down? As always, feel free to check me out on Tumblr: just-an-outlaw for my main account and justanoutlawfanfiction where I post updates about my series and stuff. Until next time friends. =)