Guest Reviews

Guest: Thank you so much! I try to read through to keep my memory fresh of what's happened, but it also kinda plays like a movie in my head sometimes. I am so glad that you see and appreciate those things! Gosh, I am always so amazed at people loving Maggie. Thank you, thank you, thank you so very very much! And I am always taking requests! This entire fic is prompt-based, so it is on the list!

Title: Reunion
Summary: Emma finds what pieces to use to ease them into the changes that have happened.
Note: Directly following Coincidences. From multiple people wanting a follow up to that chapter. I am so sorry it took me so long!

"Excellent. So's Graham."

"Wait, Graham?"

Emma gave a half smile and wiped her cheeks again. Tears still were falling down her face with each swipe, and she couldn't get a damn handle over them. She sniffed and nodded. "Yeah."

Mary Margaret's mouth was still dropped open, clutching around David's arm as if to hold herself up. "You mean—you mean Graham? Sheriff Graham?"

Emma gave a short chuckle and leaned against the wall. Why did she feel so exhausted? "Yeah, that Graham."

"I don't … I don't understand," she stammered.

Emma brushed back her hair with both hands. "I … I don't exactly understand, either. We don't, I mean. He was there when I woke up."

"You woke up married to someone?" David asked, his voice strained.

She couldn't help a tight laugh, and shook her head. "No, not like that. Not like you guys had here before. Nothing was forced, it just—you see—"

She thought a moment, wondering how to explain it. She didn't know how Graham was alive, didn't know how to push back the fear that came with the fact that they couldn't manage an explanation. She had long pushed down that terror where she could almost keep it hidden, and now it was bursting in shock waves over her body again. It itched through her veins, tightening in a band around her stomach. She knew she had to release it before it started affecting her. She pressed her palms into the wall behind her and let the energy shoot out, flicking the lights above them.

"Emma, is that you?" David asked in confusion.

"Yeah, sorry," she said with a shudder. She looked back, noting dark lightning streaks across the whitewashed bricks. Her jaw dropped as she saw the physical effect her powers had. "Oh—I- …. Sorry. It's not usually like that."

"You're using your magic," Mary Margaret murmured thoughtfully.

She shuddered. "I have to sometimes. It makes me sick if I try to hold back," she admitted. The idea that it wouldn't be so easy to hide was unsettling. She had another burst of worry, of how Graham would react to it. She traced the ash on the wall, her heart sinking.

"It's just paint, Emma. Don't worry about it," David said and smiled shyly.

After a moment, she looked up, her eyes bouncing over her parents' faces. "Thanks. I'll help fix it."

David waved her off. "It's nothing, Emma. But … you were saying that the Sheriff … it wasn't anything set up, right?"

She could hear the sharp concern in his tone. The last curse must have truly caused deeper scars than they all thought originally. Just how was his relationship with Katherine constructed by Regina's hand?

She swallowed. She couldn't go down that road right now. Thinking of Regina would only end in rage.

She took a breath and focused on his question. The Sheriff. That wasn't a name they used in quite some time. "He was just … there. In the City, at the bar, at work. In the background."

"Oh, Emma," Mary Margaret said, and she can hear the pity in her tone. Mary Margaret had been the only one to see her after she had finally made her way back that night, the only one to witness her fall to pieces before she was able to brick her emotions back in.

She swallowed thickly and rested a hand over her stomach again. It helped to ground her, to steady her emotions to feel their baby. "We officially 'met' the first day. We all got our memories back a couple weeks later."

"How?" Mary Margaret asked, brow furrowing.

To use the actual terms for what she and Graham had was strange enough. To have to explain it to her parents was downright embarrassing. Snow White and Prince Charming may be those fairytale characters with bursts of true love magic all over the place, nothing uncommon about it.

But Emma Swan? Emma Swan was still getting used to the idea of normality; a job, a home, and a family was just on this side of absurd. Curses killed with a kiss still fell into the "logic not found" category for her. The baby kicked out as if in amusement at how embarrassing this was for her and she nearly huffed in disbelief. Kid was taking sides already.

"It was me and Graham. When we, uh … when we …." she trailed off, heat rushing to her face.

David and Mary shared an amused look, and she realized she didn't need to finish.

She sniffed. "Anyway, once we did we found Henry and realized he'd gotten his memories back, too."

"That's amazing, Emma," Mary Margaret said proudly.

"I still can't quite believe we found each other," she said quietly. "And we're married now," she said and shrugged one shoulder. She spun her ring around her finger nervously.

David beamed at her, even though she could see the conflict underneath. "It's—it's good?"

She nodded with a half-smile. "Yeah. Henry's happy."

"You're happy?" Mary Margaret whispered.

She smiled fully, and felt the tears continue down her cheek. "Very," she managed, and realized how much she believed it.

Her mother leaned forward with a smile and gently tucked her hair back behind her ear. Emma forced her eyes shut, wincing back on the parts of her that wasn't ready for this. Oh, but she had also missed this. "And you're pregnant."

Emma swallowed and let out a huff of a laugh. She wondered at how she could feel so very young but also so very adult around these two. "Yeah, I am," she said, then looked down at her stomach. She looked so much further along. "But you two—"

Mary Margaret smiled and rested a hand on her belly proudly. "Your brother. Just a couple weeks left."

Emma wanted to only feel happiness for them, she did. But she couldn't help the wash of something darker flood the corners of her soul, and ultimately her smile was a little forced. "What you wanted," she said softly.

David grabbed her wrist, tugging her forward slightly. "And you're back. That's what we wanted, too."

She nodded compulsively and pulled her arm free. "We missed you, too," she offered, and brushed her hands over her arms. She felt chilled all of a sudden.

David's features pulled ever so slightly, and he stepped back a pace. "How did you make it back to us?"

She shrugged a shoulder. "Hook. He dragged us down."

He looked a little struck. "Oh."

Emma winced, realizing the callous of her words. "Sorry, I didn't mean—I want to be here. Me and Henry … we both really do."

Mary Margaret wiped her cheeks, doing little for the tears there. "Not … not Graham?"

Emma swallowed, remembering that morning. I wish pretending was easier. "He wanted this for us," she said slowly. She knew he did, truly and without question. "And he didn't say anything against coming, of course; he was ready to leave right away. But I know that being here … it's a lot for him."

Having him be in this town, this place where Regina always seemed to rule no matter what, she knew it was devastating for him. There really was nothing here for him; less than that, even. He was just here for Henry and her. A burst of love and intense appreciation came from the pit of her stomach at the thought of it. He would do anything for them.

Mary Margaret still had that look of concern. "You know," she said hesitantly. "Neal will be here."

Emma felt her stomach shift to roll in disquiet. She looked down sharply. Suddenly, she remembered the feeling of pressure, the seemingly foregone conclusion that she was supposed to end up with him. The thing that everyone believed, but never fit in her own soul. "I'm sure Henry will want to see him," she offered finally.

Mary Margaret frowned slightly and then perked up. "How is Henry?"

Emma smiled slightly, remembering how Henry had been drawn to her before the curse broke. She looked at David next, the tales of sword fights and gentle reassurance fresh in her mind. "He's just thriving. It's good for him. Really, really good."

David gave a soft look, of pride and wistfulness. "He needed this, didn't he?"

She brushed her cheek. "Yeah."

"You all did."

She parted her lips to answer, and then leaned back against the wall. She thought of how much more secure, strong, happy she had felt over the last year. "Yes," she finally said, conviction clear in her tone.

"And now," Mary Margaret said cautiously. "Now you need to be here."

Emma looked down at her mother's stomach, then to both of their faces. At length, she replied, "yes."

It wasn't until the word was out that she realized how much she believed that, too.

But as they finally came to wrap her in a hug, one so similar to the one after the curse broke, she realized it was what they needed as well.

You found us. They've been reunited before, but something about this time was different. She felt consoled. She felt comforted. She … she was ready.