We've got some more Daddy Charming bonding in this chapter!

Chapter Twelve: Hot Chocolate and Candles

Charming made his way back down the stairs, finding Snow sitting on their bed, her head cocked to the side. "I didn't expect you to be gone so long."

"We sort of bonded." He saw her eyes light up with excitement. "Just a little. I told her about how I took her to the wardrobe. She…she actually thanked me."

Snow smiled. "And that's bad?"

"No, I was just surprised. I thought she would hate me." Charming settled down beside her.

"She's really trying to understand," Snow put a hand on his arm. "I can tell that. It's just not easy for her." She was quiet for a moment while absorbed her words. "We never really talked about you taking her…about you fighting the guards."

"I did what I had to do, I had to keep her safe," Charming shrugged. "I'd do it again."

"You really are a prince charming," Snow whispered sincerely, kissing his cheek. "We're going to get to know her and she'll understand us better. It's just going to take time."

"When we go back, where do you think she's going to live?"

That got Snow quiet again. She had thought about it and wasn't really sure what Emma would decide. She had mentioned that she wasn't even close to being next in line to be queen in the kingdom she had grown up in, but that didn't mean anything. It was still home to her. August was most likely going to be returning to the Enchanted Forest with all of them, but that still didn't mean anything. Emma had her older sister and brother-in-law. From what it seemed, she didn't have any friends, but she wouldn't have any where they were going either. It wasn't as if they could force her to go and they wouldn't want to. As heartbreaking as it would be to only get to see her on occasion, it was a reality they were going to have to accept.

"I…I don't know," Snow finally said. "I've thought about it and as of right now, I don't think we know her well enough to know what she'd decide."

"Would we even be able to take her? She was adopted, wasn't she?"

"Her adoptive parents are dead, Alise is responsible for her. Though, that's another potential roadblock even if Emma wanted to come with us." Charming frowned. "What if she doesn't let Emma go?"

"I'm sure we could convince her, it's not that we want to take Emma away from that world, we just want to be able to have her in our lives…" Snow bit down on her lip. "We've already missed so much."

Charming could see the distress in his wife's face. "We've got a lot going on…for now, let's just focus on making sure that our family is safe and that we have a way home, alright?"

Snow nodded quickly, giving him a quick smile, one of half-hope. She reached up to kiss him before laying down, watching as he got ready for bed. "I love you, you know?"

Her husband turned to look at her, a smile on his face. "I love you too and I know that you know."

A few hours later, Emma thrashed around in her sleep, lost in a deep dream. Well, it wasn't really a dream nor was it a nightmare, it was really a memory.

Emma crept towards the kitchen, itching to get her hands on the last few cherry tarts that the chef had made. She would've finished them off at dinner and August would've let her, but Alise stuck her nose into it and insisted they could wait until morning. But at that point, everyone was meant to be sleeping, her parents had most likely returned from their ball a few hours ago. She hadn't heard them, but it was well after midnight. As she turned the corner, trying to be as discreet as she could in the dark, she could see a lantern glowing in the main entrance hall. Sobs could also be heard, familiar ones. Alise didn't cry very often, but when she did, it was distinctive.

Emma followed the light and the cries, pausing when she reached it. Alise was standing there in her sleep clothes, her hand over her mouth as tears fell down her face. Hank was on one side of her, rubbing her arm while August was on the other, his face stricken with pain but he wasn't crying. One of the knights stood before them, looking quite forlorn himself.

"What's going on?" Emma dared to ask. Everyone turned to face her and it was that alone that brought tears to August's eyes.

"Emma, what are you doing out of bed?" Hank was the only one who found his words.

"Don't answer my question with a question."

They all looked one from another, trying to figure out who should be the one to say it. Emma's heart was pounding heavily in her chest, suddenly something about the picture didn't make sense. Why would a knight be waking Alise and Hank up? Wouldn't they be doing that with her parents? Where were they?

"Where's Mama and Daddy?" Emma asked. No one answered and that caused her heart to sink all together. "I asked where they are?"

"Emma…" August stepped forward, putting a hand on her face. "Emmy…"

Emma stepped back from him. He hadn't called her "Emmy" since she was 9 and banned the nickname. He was the only one to respect that. "No."

"There was an accident…it was storming quite badly…"

Emma couldn't hear him anymore, his voice blended with Alise who was trying to add to the conversation. She felt like she was going to pass out, be sick. This wasn't possible. They had headed to a ball, just them. They always came back. She could remember being little and begging them not to go. Her mother always gave her a big hug and said "Daddy and I will always come home." They always had.

Until that night.

Emma shot up in bed, blinking a few times to adjust to being awake. She was in the loft, in Storybrooke. Looking down, she could see that she wasn't in her usual nightgown as she would be at home, but instead flannel pajamas Snow had purchased. She pushed back the covers, knowing she wouldn't be falling back to sleep any time soon. It wasn't the first time she had that dream. She never knew if she could classify it as that or a nightmare. It was one of the worst moments of her life.

Emma could never really remember what came after that. Once August and Alise finally stopped talking, it was as if she blocked it out. The next thing she knew, it was late the next day and her entire bed chambers was trashed. She demanded to know who do it, but everyone was quiet and it took her a minute to realize it had been her. August would later explain that she stormed back up the stairs and just started destroying everything in sight. No one could calm her down and she eventually cried herself to sleep in her brother's arms.

The funeral was a couple of days later and she didn't cry, in fact she didn't cry for a long time after that. She didn't go to the mausoleum, she didn't talk about it, she didn't want to. They were gone and nothing was going to change that.

Emma headed down the stairs and into the kitchen. She could see Charming and Snow were still sleeping and glanced to the analog clock that hung above the stove, well after midnight. Nothing good ever seemed to come from that time. She spotted the tea kettle and decided she would fix herself some hot chocolate. She filled it up and set it on the stove, fumbling with the knobs. She still didn't really understand this modern technology too well.

"I think Snow would be upset if you burned the apartment down." Charming's soft voice startled her, causing her to whip around, calming down a bit at his presence.

"God, you scared me…I thought you were asleep."

Charming chuckled softly. "Sorry."

"Did I wake you?"

"I'm a really light sleeper."

Emma frowned. She hadn't meant to wake anyone up. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I could do that for you, if you'd like?"

"You're about as new to this technology as I am.'

He rolled his eyes. "Maybe, but I know how to work a teakettle."

Emma stepped to the side and allowed him to handle everything while she grabbed the hot chocolate packets from the cabinets. Snow had made it from scratch in the short time she knew her, but she also had those and said they tasted almost as good. Once the kettle was settled, Charming grabbed the mugs and sat with Emma at the island, waiting for it to be ready.

"So…light sleeper?" Emma asked, trying to learn more about him.

"Yeah, kind of a bad combo considering I'm an early riser. I guess old habits die hard," he told her with a small smile.

"What do you mean?"

"When I grew up on the farm, early starts were what we worked on"

Emma's eyebrows arched. "You grew up on a farm?"

It dawned on Charming that he had never explained any of his past to Emma. She knew a little about Snow's, but none of his. "That's right, I never told you. I was born a shepherd."

"How'd you end up as Prince Charming?"

"Well, you see, my parents were very poor when my mother gave birth to my brother and I. They couldn't care for one child, much less two. King George contacted Rumpelstiltskin to try to find an heir for him," Charming sighed. "He offered to make sure my parents could just barely afford me and keep our farm in exchange for my twin, James."

Emma's eyes widened as she stared at him. "That's…that's terrible."

"It was what they had to do. I didn't know about any of it until I was older. My father died when I was quite young and then it was just Mother and I." The kettle began to squeal and Charming rose, taking it off before it woke his wife. He started to fix the cocoas while he continued the story. "One day, Rumpelstiltskin arrived at our farm and told me everything. My brother, James, had died. He was due to slay a dragon and they still needed someone too. And since myself and James were identical…I was the only one who could do it."

"But your mother," Emma frowned.

"King George promised he would make sure that the farm didn't go under so long as I did what he asked of me and so I did." Charming frowned. "It was only supposed to be for that, but soon it got complicated. He wanted me to marry someone else's daughter and I didn't. I swore I would only marry for love, not that it mattered to him. Abigail was in love with someone else, too, so it's not as if either of us would be happy."

"You're with Snow now, though," Emma said, a little confused.

"We met during my ruse, Regina was framing her for horrific crimes so she was on the run as a bandit, not that I knew she was being framed at the time." Charming could see that it peaked interest in Emma, but knew that Snow would enjoy telling her those stories. "She'll tell you all about her bandit days…"

"She was a bandit?" Emma nearly choked on her hot chocolate.

Charming chuckled. "Yes, for a bit. Eventually, both of us were able to take the kingdom back."

"Whatever happened to George?"

"Well, he was free here during the curse from what I understand, but he's locked up now," Charming stared into his mug. "I made sure of it."

Emma could tell there was more to the story in his eyes. "What did he do? Outside trying to get you to marry Abigail, I mean."

"His guards were responsible for my mother's death," Charming replied, his voice a little hoarse by that point. Suddenly, he could feel a hand on top of his. He looked up and saw it was Emma's. Even though she was 16, it seemed so small in comparison to his own. His eyes met hers and he saw a look of remorse.

"I'm sorry…to lose both of your parents…I know how hard that is," Emma whispered.

Charming bit his lip. Sometimes he didn't realize that it was something that the two of them and Snow had in common. Yes, Emma would always have them, but she barely knew them. Odette and Derek had raised her and she had lost them both in one fell swoop. In many ways, it was almost worse than he and his wife. Snow still had her father for many years and he had his mother. For so long, Emma had just assumed that she had lost her only parents. Even after finding Snow and David, that pain was never going to go away.

"Thank you," Charming told her, squeezing her hand for a moment and giving her a small smile. "I'm sorry for your loss as well."

Emma nodded, thinking about her dream. "I had a dream about it…tonight…it's why I was down here." The words were out before she could take them back. She wasn't sure if she was ready to open up about it, she hadn't before, but if Charming could share with her, she wanted to try to return the favor.

"Oh?" He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't want to push too far, but he did want to be there for her, to comfort her or even just listen. Whatever she needed.

"Just about when I found out…it was really late…I had snuck down to the kitchen to have a treat. Alise was crying, Hank and August were trying to calm her down and I knew something had to be wrong." She drew a deep breath. "I don't remember much about how I really reacted, but apparently, I flipped out. Trashed my room, screamed, cried…that was the only time I cried about it for a while actually."

Charming understood that. He could remember crying after the men showed up at their door to tell them that his father had been killed, but not much else. "That's okay, you know."

"Is it?" The question was only half rhetorical. "August didn't cry much about our dad, but our mom…he can't really talk about her. He just gets so upset. Alise cried for days. She still cries about it sometimes."

"Everyone's different, it's definitely okay," Charming promised, squeezing her hand again. "My mother would cry every night, I didn't cry after the first initial day either."

A fraction of a smile went across Emma's face. "Thanks."

"What for?"

"I don't know." She shrugged a little. "It's not that I blame them for not being able to talk about it without getting upset, it's just nice to be able to without worrying about upsetting someone."

"You can always come to me, Em," David told her, sincerely. "We can talk about anything. Even Odette and Derek."

Emma studied him, a little puzzled. "Really? It's not…weird?"

"I can't say that it won't be, but I do want to know you, everything. I missed 16 years. It's hard to think about other people raising you, but I am glad you had them. I wasn't sure what was going to happen…I'm grateful." He gave her a smile.

Emma nodded, her own smile not leaving her face. "They were good. I wouldn't say they understood me, at least not my dad. He still loved me, though. He supported August following me around everywhere. I guess I know why now." She sipped her hot chocolate, the cinnamon smell wavering up into her nose.

"I'm sure…I'm sure they had their reasons for not telling you," Charming said. He was finding it hard to stand up for these people, but he wanted to try to see it from their side. Would he have told Emma if he was in their shoes? He wanted to think that he would, but the fact was he was never in that situation.

"They did, or so my mom said in the letter." Emma shook her head, lowering the mug. "She made it out like they were trying to protect me but then in the same breath, she made it seem like they didn't want to lose me."

"Seems like a legitimate concern, as a parent."

"But they wouldn't have lost me," Emma whispered. "I would've wanted to come here and break the curse, but it's not like that meant that I would never see them again. I wouldn't choose one over the other."

Charming's breath hitched for a minute. He so badly wanted to ask her if that meant that she was going to come with them when they got home. It wasn't the time, though. She was pouring her heart out to him and he had to listen. "They had no way of knowing."

"Aren't you mad at them? I probably could've broken it sooner."

Charming looked into her green eyes, they were full of curiosity. He wasn't sure how to answer. Of course he wished that they had told her, of course he wished that he hadn't missed 16 years. There was so much that could've occurred had they just told her. He was angry with them, as much as he wanted to understand, he couldn't deny that. A part of him wondered if that's what Emma wanted to hear and another part realized that he just had to be honest.

"I wouldn't say that I'm thrilled," he admitted. "I wish they had told you." He waited for Emma to get mad at him for his truthfulness, instead she just nodded.

"Human," she said.

"That doesn't make you upset?"

"I asked you a question, I wanted you to be honest. I'd think it was weird if you weren't at least hurt."

Charming's smile returned a bit. "I try to look at it from their side, think about what I would've done, but the truth is, I was never in their shoes. I don't know what I would've chosen."

"I still love them. I always will…I just feel like everything I was ever told was a lie. How do I know what to trust now? What if they weren't the people that I thought they were?"

"I didn't know them well," Charming told her, unsure if it was going to help.

"I know. It's not something anyone can just answer, I understand that. I just wish there was a way."

"Maybe it's good that you don't know. You can remember them for who they were." He couldn't help but laugh at the face she made at that thought. "Easier said than done, I'm sure."

"I've been trying to think of the good, but every time I do, I just think of all the lies."

"It'll get easier in time."

"You think?"

"I really do."

Emma smiled a little. "Thanks, Charming."

"Anytime." He glanced over at the clock. "As much fun as this has been, I think Snow would kill me if she found out you were up this late."

"It's no use, I don't want to fall asleep and have that dream again."

Charming paused for a moment. "Can I try something?"

Emma raised an eyebrow but then nodded. "Okay."

She helped Charming clear the mugs out and watched as he rifled through a drawer, pulling out some matches. Following him through to the living room, she watched him grab a candle and lead her back upstairs to her room.

"A candle?" Emma tried to hold the disbelief from her voice, but found it hard.

Charming smirked. "Yes, a candle. Just trust me, it keeps the bad dreams away."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously." He set the candle down on one of the nightstands and lit the match, slowly lighting the wick. "You should be good for the night."

Emma was truly touched. She had never had someone do something like this for her before. When she was little and had nightmares, August would typically be the one to come calm her down and he would just hold her until she fell asleep. This was certainly a new approach.

"Thank you," she said, feeling like a broken record.

Charming smiled. "No problem." Before he could lean down to kiss her forehead, she was on her tiptoes, kissing his cheek. He was caught off guard for a moment. She had kissed him once before, to wake him from his coma but he didn't even remember that one. He hadn't expected her to open up so much in one night.

"Night Charming."

"Goodnight Emma, I hope you have better dreams now."

Charming headed for the stairs, watching her climb under the covers, her baby blanket still present. She seemed a lot calmer than she had before. Had he really been able to manage that?

The next morning, Snow woke up earlier than Charming, which she found to be a bit of a surprise. However, after heading into the kitchen and seeing the mugs in the otherwise empty sink, she understood. Emma and him must have had a late-night talk. The thought brought a smile to her face. If Emma was opening up, that was a really great thing.

Unfortanately, she knew that her happiness was not going to last long. She had to meet with someone that day and she was not looking forward to it. She knew it was essential to her family's (and the town's) safety and that was worth any price, but it still made her apprehensive.

After a quick shower, she wrote a note for Charming saying that she had to step out for a bit and would bring Granny's takeout back before getting in her car. The drive to the mansion wasn't long and hardly anyone was out on the streets at that hour. She knew Regina would be up though, and that was all that mattered. No one knew that she had released herself from prison outside Graham and they were trying to keep it that way. As much as they wanted to keep her locked up for what she had done, if what she said was true, they were going to need her on their side in all of it.

Regina didn't take long to open the door and when she did, her eyebrow arched. "Mary Margaret."

"Snow. Mary Margaret is the name you forced upon me."

Regina rolled her eyes and looked behind her. "You came alone?"

"You're lucky that I did. I'm not sure that David's temper is under control," she replied, a bit frostily. She wasn't going to be scared of Regina, she had spent far too long doing that.

"So, you've come yourself to arrest me again?"

"No. You said that it wasn't you we had to worry about, it was Zelena."

"I did."

"Is that true?"

Regina shrugged. "Why do you want to know?"

"Regina." Snow's eyes fixated on hers. "Are you worried about her?"

"I can handle her myself, I don't need your arrow to protect me," Regina replied, the sarcasm dripping from her voice.

"Is she on your side or not?"

"It is safe to say that Zelena is very far from being on the same page as me, but that also doesn't mean that she's going to join your team of freaks."

"I'm not looking for her to. However, if she's against us both, then…" Snow sighed. She couldn't believe that she was going to be asking her this. After all she had done, she wanted her on her side. It wasn't that she wanted Regina fighting with them, just the knowledge that she was going to be their ally. "Will you be on our side?"

Regina laughed. "Your side? Why would I do a thing to help you?"

"Look, I'm not asking that we have strategy meetings or anything. Trust me, the last thing I want is to work with the woman that took my daughter away from me…"

"I didn't do that," Regina interrupted, holding up a hand. "You're the one that put her in a pine box…"

"That doesn't matter!" Snow took the opportunity to cut her off that time. It seemed to at least catch her step-mother off guard a little. "You know what you did and it was wrong. However, I also know you hate me and you blame me for everything. I can accept that we're not going to be fighting this together. All I want, is the knowledge that you're not going to team up with Zelena to hurt us."

Regina studied her for a minute. "So, you're looking for an ally."

A deep breath escaped Snow's lips. "Yes."

"And you think I'd agree, why?"

"Because you said it yourself, Zelena isn't on your side. We have a common enemy, so as much as you hate me, you know that we could all benefit from it."

"I can handle myself."

"You're one person. Yes, your magic is powerful, but magic isn't the be all, end all, we learned that before. So, what do you say?"

The two had a face off for what seemed like forever to Snow. She knew that Regina could say no, slam the door in her face. But she also knew this woman, she had since she was a child. She had never seen her step-mother scared, but she could tell that she was seriously considering the offer.

"Fine." The word came out so fast, Snow almost didn't process it.

"Fine?"

"Like I said, I'm not going to be strategizing with you all, but I won't aid Zelena. In exchange…" Snow sighed, of course Regina wanted more. "Don't look so down, there's always two sides to a deal. In exchange, before you go attacking my sister, you will run it by me first."

"You just said you don't want to strategize."

"I don't, but no matter what she's my family and I'm going to be the one to handle her if anything happens," Regina retorted. "I don't want you running in there without me."

"I guess that's only fair, but you know I won't stop at anything to protect my family."

"That I do. So, we have a deal?" Snow nodded. "Great, then we're done here." The queen shut the door, leaving the other to feel a sense of relief. She could keep the townspeople off Regina, for a little bit longer at least.

On her drive back into town, she caught a familiar face and slowed down a bit…it was Emma. She came to a complete stop and rolled down her window.

"Emma?"

Emma jumped a little, noticing her mother. "Snow…"

"What are you doing out here?"

"Oh, you know…just going for a walk…"

"Emma."

"I left a note this time."

"Get in the car."

Emma sighed and walked around to the passenger's side, sliding in. She bit down on her lip as she stared down at her lap.

"Now, tell me what you were really going to do?"

"I told you, I was just trying to take a walk…"

"Emma Ruth."

Emma's head shot up. "Ruth?

Snow realized that Emma didn't know her middle name, or at least the one they gave her. "It was your father's mother's name. We always planned on it being your middle name."

"Oh." Emma smiled a bit. "I never had a middle name growing up."

"Well, now you do. Tell me what you were doing, Emma."

The teen let out yet another sigh and ran a hand through her tangled curls. "I was going to try to find Zelena."

Snow's eyes widened. "Emma!"

"I just wanted to try to see what we were up against! All I know about her is what she told me as Sara and that was all lies…"

"She told August that she wanted to bring war to Storybrooke!" Snow was trying to remain calm, but was finding it hard.

"That's exactly why I was going to do it," Emma tried to explain herself.

Snow sighed. "Look, I know you want to help, I do."

"I'm the savior. It's my job to protect people."

"Not at the expense of yourself. She's so powerful even Regina isn't on her side." She let that sink in with her daughter. "We won't let Zelena win, but we're also not going to be barging to wherever she is and confronting her like that."

"So, we just wait?"

"There's not much more we can do at this point. Maybe, she's all talk. Maybe we can find a way to get home and she won't be our problem anymore," Snow told her. She saw the disbelief on Emma's face. "You just have to trust me here. We do this as a team."

"A team?"

"We're on your side, Emma. You may be the savior, but you're not alone. Just promise me you won't do this again."

Emma looked into Snow's eyes and saw fear mixed with concern. She wasn't used to seeing that in her. It was such a…mom look. "Okay," she whispered.

"Okay," Snow let out a deep breath. She reached over and hugged Emma in her seat, a little surprised when she returned it. When she pulled away, she gave her a smile. "Let's go get some breakfast."

"Sounds really good right now."

Snow watched her put her seatbelt on and she started the drive down to Granny's. She knew the problem wasn't completely solved and they may have to have a repeat of the conversation, but for the moment, her daughter was safe and that was all that mattered.

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter and of course, let me know what you want to see! This story is shaping up to be a lot longer than originally planned, so I should be able to fit all of it in. I hope to have another chapter of this along with the next installment of I Won't Let Go up soon. (I haven't forgotten about it, the inspiration for the story is just lacking as of late.) As always, you can feel free to ask me questions or send prompts via my fanfiction Tumblr: justanoutlawfanfiction. Until next time, friends. =D