Disclaimer: I do NOT own anything but the idea. I do NOT own any of the Once Upon a Time characters. I repeat: I own NOTHING - all characters belong to Disney, ABC, and the Grimm Brothers.
Warning: Spoilers!
Summary: After the curse broke, things didn't go as excepted.
[A rewrite of OUAT starting with season 2.]
REVIEWS WELCOME!
Chapter 1
Emma, holding Henry's hand, slowly approached Charming and Snow from behind. Her body was shaking, and her head was light. What was going to happen next?
Snow pulled back from Leroy, now again Grumpy, and made sure to hug each of her friends.
Red asked, "what do we do now?", as she held her grandmother's arm.
Snow smiled at Charming. "Now? Now, we find our daughter."
Emma felt her chest tighten and she squeezed Henry's hand, willing herself to speak. "So it's true?"
Her parents turned, slowly, to take in the sight of their long-lost daughter and their faces turned soft. As they took a step towards her, she took a step back, confused and hurt. Snow reached out with both hands and cupped Emma's face, tears running down her cheeks. She brought her child in for a long overdue hug and cried.
"You found us." Snow whispered into Emma's ear.
Charming held the back of Emma's head and brought her face into his shoulder. He couldn't believe he was finally holding her. He closed his eyes and cried.
Henry looked at the embrace and smiled. "Grandpa?"
Snow and Charming laughed and the embrace broke.
"Yeah." Charming patted Henry's shoulder, with a fond, but disbelieving expression on his face. "Yeah."
"Emma saved us." Henry stated as he was pulled into Charming's side.
Grumpy rolled his eyes and frowned. "If she did, then why are we still here?"
"That's something we've got to figure out." Charming looked among his family's faces and turned in the direction of Regina's house. "I suggest we start with Regina. She enacted the curse. It makes sense she would know something."
"What about Rumpelstiltskin?" Snow asked. "He created the curse."
"We can visit Regina first and then Mr. Gold." Emma offered.
/
Regina peaked through the peep hole in her door once the pounding knocking stopped. At the sight of Henry, standing willingly outside, she threw open the door. She was highly aware of the others, but she only had eyes for her son. "Henry." She made to pull him in for a hug, but he stepped back, a little frightened. Her face fell. "Henry. Why did you dodge me?"
"Maybe because you're the evil queen." Emma crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her. "You also haven't been a nice person lately."
Regina straightened her suit and pushed back her shoulders, trying to regain some dignity. "Why are you here? Want revenge?"
"No." Charming stepped to the front of his family. "We want to know why we didn't go back to the Enchanted Forest. Why did magic come here?"
"You call this magic? It's a little power surge." Regina flicked her fingers and a cloud of magical power floated off them. "It isn't much, but it's enough to cast some minor spells."
Snow frowned and she draped her arms over Henry's shoulders. "Regina. What's going on?"
"How should I know? I didn't make the curse." She turned her attention back to Henry and her face softened. "I love you, Henry."
Henry opened his mouth to say it back, but he couldn't. He was confused and he couldn't forget the mental and emotional abuse she had put him through for the past few months.
Regina felt her heart turn to dust, and she retreated into her house, the door closing with a quiet click. She barely made it to the dining table before crying her eyes out.
Outside, Charming sighed and faced his family. "I guess it's time we go see Rumpelstiltskin."
/
The Charming family were half-way to Mr. Gold's shop, when Red stopped them. Storybrooke was in complete chaos, and they needed leadership. Everyone was running around, begging for any information on their loved ones.
Red grabbed Charming's arm. "We need your help. You're our king."
Charming looked between his family and Red before slowly nodding. "We can ask Rumpelstiltskin later. There are more pressing matters." He sighed. "Emma, can you and Henry try calming people down? Perhaps we can make lines and you can take down descriptions. That should help."
Emma hesitated before answering. "I can do that."
"Let's go!" Henry grabbed her hand and pulled her off.
"Charming." Snow tapped his arm. "I'm going to take the dwarves to the border. We need to know if we can at least leave town."
He glanced at all the panicking people before pulling her in for a hug. "Be safe."
"I will." She kissed him and ran off to find Grumpy and the others.
/
Snow and the dwarves arrived just short of the town farewell sign and got out of the car.
"How are we going to test this?" Doc asked.
"Before, if anyone tried leaving, they would get into accidents before they reached the border." Snow spoke carefully and watched the road for anything out of the ordinary. "So far, nothing has happened to us, but that doesn't mean anything."
Sneezy sneezed and took out his handkerchief to wipe at his nose. "Should we just start walking?"
Happy bent over, picked up a rock, and threw it as far as he could. The rock bounced off what must have been the barrier and almost hit him in the head.
"Huh." Sleepy walked forward and put his hands on the invisible wall. "That answers that."
"Maybe this has always been here?" Doc suggested.
Grumpy frowned. "If this has always been here, how did Emma get here? Or how did Henry leave?"
"They're not part of the curse." Snow stated simply. "This makes sense. No one has ever been able to leave or get close like this. – We need to get back to Charming."
/
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I know. It's been a hot minute, but I got a new job! I get up at 4:30 in the morning and I'm back home by 5 in the evening. I do get breaks thrown in, but I don't have access to my computer. Sorry for this long wait. [PS - thank you, Baratta Jennifer; you'll find one.]
Next, we'll be visiting our favorite gold man and maybe our favorite hatter.
Thank you for reading and I hope you have a good day.
