Emma ran her fingers over the article that had haunted her for as long as she could remember. A picture of her, wrapped in her blanket from the Enchanted Forest, gazed back at her. By now, Emma had the article memorized.

"What're you looking at?" David asked, walking into the station. "That looks like a beat up piece of paper."

"It's an old newspaper article," Emma said. She set it carefully back inside of her drawer, not bothering to tell David anything more on the subject.

David looked over in concern at Emma. "Are you okay?"

"Just peachy," Emma said. "Nothing happened overnight, so you don't need to worry about any new paperwork. Should be a pretty boring shift."

"Are you sure you're okay?" David asked. "Something seems off."

"I'm fine," Emma said, turning her attention back to her computer. "Don't worry about it."

"Usually when someone says that, it means that I should worry about it," David said. "So spill. What's going on?"

"I said that it's nothing," Emma said.

"Does this have to do with the fact that today is Neal's birthday?" David asked.

Emma winced. "Let's not okay? We have a job to get done."

David sighed. "Emma-"

"You know, I think I'm going to go for a walk," Emma said, standing up and putting on her jacket. "I'll get in touch later."

"Emma wait," David pleaded. But his plea fell on deaf ears. Emma had already left.

"I thought you were working on running from confrontation," Regina said, stepping out of the alley and walking beside Emma.

Emma jumped. "What the hell? How did you know where I was?"

"I knew what today was and what it would do to you," Regina said. "I've been keeping an eye on you all morning."

"Stalker," Emma mumbled.

Regina rolled her eyes. "So what's going on?"

Emma sighed. "Today is Neal's birthday and I know that they're going to have this big thing planned. My first birthday I was in a foster home with 10 other kids."

"You envy him," Regina said.

"Sort of," Emma said. "But more than anything I wish that my parents could see where I came through. How I was left in the woods with only a little boy to help me."

Regina bit her lip before speaking tentatively. "So let's show them."

"What?" Emma asked. "They won't want to leave town."

"They might if you tell them why," Regina said. "You can't just go the rest of your life not telling them any of your problems."

"They didn't care about my problems until my magic got out of control and I hurt people," Emma said. "Then they were concerned."

"That's not true," Regina said. She sighed as Emma raised an eyebrow at her. "Okay maybe a little true. But that's not the point."

"How is that not the point?" Emma asked.

"The point is that they are your parents and should know what's troubling you," Regina said. "They care about you, and want to know if something is going on."

Emma sighed. "I'm not sure I want to go back there."

"I'll go with you," Regina said. "You won't be alone, and then they can see what your life started out as."

"Fine," Emma said. "Let's get this over with."

"I've never been outside of town before," Snow said excitedly. "This is kind of exciting!"

"Until you see where we're going," Emma mumbled. She was the one driving since she knew how to get to her tree by heart. She had been there too many times not to know the way.

"Where are we going?" David asked. "Regina just kind of showed up and told us to get in the car."

"You'll see," Emma said.

They drove for some time in silence before Snow spoke again, this time to David. "Are you sure Neal will be okay with Ashley? I don't want anything to happen to him."

Emma gripped the steering wheel so tightly Regina was afraid she would rip it off of the car. She reached out and gently covered one of Emma's hands with her own, rubbing her thumb over the top of Emma's hand until she relaxed her grip.

"We're here," Emma said softly, pulling over onto the side of the road and parking.

Snow and David looked around in confusion. "Where is here?" David asked.

"You'll see," Emma said, getting out of the car.

Snow and David followed behind quietly, taking in their surroundings. This is not what they had expected the outside world to be like.

"Why are we in a forest?" David asked. "It doesn't look like there's anything around here."

"We're here," Emma said, stopping in front of her tree.

"A tree?" Snow asked. "We drove out of town for a tree?"

"Not just any tree," Emma said quietly. "This is the tree that the wardrobe was connected to. I came through this tree to this world."

"Oh," David said. He reached out and gently touched the tree. "This is a nice tree."

Snow reached out and touched the tree delicately as well. "Thank you for helping us give our daughter her best chance."

Emma's knees slightly buckled at hearing those words. She hated hearing that. Regina quickly reached over and wrapped an arm around Emma's waist, steadying her and holding her close. Emma gratefully leaned on Regina for support.

"Why did you bring us here?" David asked.

"To show you how my life really started," Emma said. "You thought that you were giving me my best chance. But you were really sending me straight to hell."

"You weren't dead," Snow said in confusion. "That's not possible."

Emma glared at her. "It's a figure of speech. I would have been better off with you guys. Instead, I was sent to this world through a tree with only a little boy to protect me. A little boy who ended up abandoning me at the first chance he got."

David looked at Emma in shock. "He wasn't supposed to-"

"I know," Emma said. "But he did. Instead of being raised by two loving parents like Neal is, I was raised in homes with different siblings and parents until I finally ran away."

"That's why you were acting so weird this morning," David said. "Today is Neal's birthday, and a reminder that you spent your first birthday with a family who wasn't really yours."

Emma nodded before pressing further into Regina's side. Snow and David watched as Regina leaned over and pressed a kiss to the top of Emma's head before whispering something in her ear. Emma nodded before slowly stepping away from Regina and walking to the tree.

Reaching out, Emma pressed her hand up against the tree. She smiled as she felt the magic pulse beneath her fingers. Magic wasn't supposed to exist in the real world, but she and this tree had a magical connection somehow. "Thank you for keeping me safe," she whispered.

She walked back to Regina and grabbed Regina's hand in her own before they both headed back to the car, followed by David and Snow.

Before Emma could get in the car, Snow grabbed her arm and pulled her in for a tight hug. "I'm so sorry for everything you went through. And I'm sorry if it seems like we're celebrating Neal more."

Emma smiled before hugging her back. "That's all I needed to hear."